Changes in Latitudes

IMG_0505Tonight, we’ll be sleeping in our own bed, and, as usual, God’s timing is perfect. Knowing yesterday would be our last “tourist” day, we had a plan—have breakfast at Baja Peppers in the Mar de Cortez hotel (touted as the best, cheap breakfast in town) and then walk out to the ocean and see if we could get to Lover’s Beach. It was the first truly windy, cloudy day we’d had thus far (and much more of the same today) which makes it easier to head home where the weather forecast shows elevating temperatures and lots of sunshine.

The first night we were in Cabo, we had a heck of a time finding Baja Peppers, where we planned to have dinner. After traversing the streets a few times, it was a cinch. Isn’t that always the way when you go somewhere new? We sat out on the patio and ordered breakfast. Our waiter, a Hispanic man (what else?) conversed with us for a few minutes, and Chris said, “Your English is very good.” The waiter replied, “It should be. I was born and raised in Oklahoma City. Wonderful place, but the weather stinks.” We all laughed and Chris said, “Tell me you at least speak Spanish.” We were assured he did. It figures, the first person we can easily communicate with isn’t even Mexican! After breakfast, we made our way through town on foot and headed to the beach.

I think I mentioned before that one of the things I love about vacationing with Chris is that he has an adventurous side. We had to walk through a resort hotel to get to the beach. One very sweet, non-English-speaking resort employee was kind enough to give us some direction, “Go left,” he said in broken English, putting out his right hand. “Left?” Chris asked. “Or, do you mean right? Derecho?” The man laughed and nodded. “Si. Derecho.” We climbed the steps to the patio, passing a group of workmen and their construction site, only to run into another employee. “No,” he said. “Beach closed.” And he refused to let us pass. “Go back.” As we did, Chris was scoping out another avenue of entry, and  the first, sweet employee reappeared. “Right,” he said, smiling, and pointed us toward the construction crew. Never in the U.S. could you walk in the midst of a construction job without a reprimand. But no one said a word as we made our way through the broken bricks and mounds of sand.

Sure enough, we found our way to the other end of the resort and the wide open (not closed) beach. Had it not been for Chris’s perseverance, I would have caved at the first “No.” I’m a rule girl—if someone says it’s against the rules, I don’t hesitate to listen. Chris has a more…lacksedaisical…view of black and white. Is it a gender thing? I suspect so. Anyway, we got to the very turbulent waters of the Pacific Ocean, took off our shoes and trudged through the coarse sand.

I’m pretty sure we could have engineered our way to Lover’s Beach, but it would have required some hefty rock climbing, which I was very tempted to do. However, my skating-the-rules-husband nixed the idea. “It would be a shame to end our vacation with a serious injury.” Kill-joy. Breaking the rules is one thing—breaking bones is horse of a different color, as my mom would say. Instead, we enjoyed the crash of waves against the massive rock structure and flirted with the surf. Swimming here is not an option as the waves are extremely dangerous and the undertow severe.

After some conversation with a couple from Minnesota (they were definitely not missing home) and snapping a few pictures, we backtracked to the center of town.

Vacations are wonderful, but we are ready to head home. We feel truly blessed to be living in our little slice of heaven-on-earth, and both of us are creatures of habit, so we operate best with a routine—even if that routine includes the clang of an early morning alarm clock! I’ve enjoyed the adventure of seeing new sights and the extended quiet time with God each morning. And although the break has been refreshing, I’m ready to get back to days filled with purpose and direction.

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Comments 1

  1. I am glad you had such a good trip. It is always fun to go on vacation with you vicariously. The poor man from Oklahoma lived in the wrong part of the state. Northeast Oklahoma is much better weather-wise than central Oklahoma. It is also prettier because we have more rain. It is called Green Country. I love to go places, but it is also great to be back home.

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