Moment 9
I had spent two Christmas' in Antarctica, then one in Southern California, as my parents were there at the time. For the next one I flew down to Mexico to spend it with my parents at their house. I got lucky and found a real cheap charter flight down to Los Cabos from Denver. I had not been there for a few years. My parents house, which is in an area called Las Tinas, is about eight miles north of Los Barriles, and forty-five miles south of La Paz. It is a wonderful place to do nothing. That is, in fact, my favorite thing to do there, so it was like heaven for me. I spent a number of days just unwinding and enjoying the atmosphere. My dad was the quintessential fisherman, so I had to get up off my butt and go fishing with him, though. The problem with that plan is that Winter time on the East Cape of Baja is quite windy. It is one of the best places for wind surfing, but for fishing it can be rather rough. I managed to get away with going fishing only once during my stay. While we were getting ready for Christmas dinner my mom made us all some margaritas. Oh, those margaritas were good, and strong. They did not really taste like tequila, but they had plenty of it. By the time the turkey was put on the table my dad was in no condition to carve. The margaritas had taken their toll on him. So, I was nominated and had my moment in the spotlight as I carved the turkey for the first and only time in my life. We had a grand Christmas dinner. The next day my dad asked when Christmas dinner would be served. Those margaritas were even more powerful than we thought. Later on I learned that this was not the only occasion where my mom's margaritas had put someone down for the count.
View of the house
View from the house
Map of the tip of
the Baja peninsula