Christmas South of the Border

Off to Huatulco on Christmas Eve for a week of relaxing, good food, and some beach time.  We checked into our condo at Sueno Real, and were very impressed.  The condos were well equipped, clean, and had 24 hour security....plus the location was very convenient to everything.  Grabbing a taxi we headed to Super Che to grab some groceries, the rest of the day we relaxed at the pool and unpacked.  The view overlooking the Santa Cruz port was fantastic, and sunsets were amazing.

Spending time at our favorite beach, La Entrega with all the locals was very enjoyable.  The water was warm and I did some snorkeling.  I had been craving a good Mexican Shrimp cocktail and had several during our stay.  Of course a Margarita on the Rocks was the drink of choice.
During our week we visited La Bocana, La Crucecita, and the beach at Santa Cruz.  We found a great pizza place on the square called La Crema, and enjoyed pizza there on two nights.  After our meals we would walk around the square or sit and just people watch.

Family Christmas 2017

Christmas was at Omar and
Lanell's home.  Good food, gifts, and Gigi's crazy Christmas game.
Lanell, Chuck, and Lexi were
the big winner in Christmas
attire. 

It was a great evening!

     

Texas Blizzard of 2017!

    Surprise, Surprise......we wake up this morning to find a blanket of snow covering the landscape. 
It was beautiful!
Texas Weather strikes again!
2017 will be a year to remember....a Super Bowl, Harvey a destructive hurricane, the Astros win the World Series, and snow blankets South Texas in December.

Gobble, Gobble Cruise

Setting sail on the Liberty of the Seas out of Galveston we were looking forward to spending Thanksgiving on the Caribbean.  Dinner the first night at Chops was delicious and a great  start to our week.  Our first port was a new one for us at Costa Maya, Mexico....we grabbed a trolley and went to Mahahual beach after watching the Dance of the Flyers....Danza de los Voladores!

Thanksgiving Day we docked in Coxen Hole on the island of Roatan, Honduras and grabbed a shuttle to Little French Key.  The weather was overcast and it did shower off and on, but the highlight of the day was a chance to swim with a 60 pound jaguar in the Caribbean.  A big wet kitty kat!  Our final port was Cozumel were we booked a food tour....visiting several local restaurants tasting different authentic Mexican dishes.  A stop at the mercado and some yummy bake goods ended the day.
 
We enjoyed a great week, with calm seas and some interesting folks...although the  ship did  have a bunch of kids.  We docked back in Galveston and were soon on our way home!
 

Love Thyself!

You might be wondering about the photo I just posted......I volunteered to be part of a project called Love Thyself! Dayna Wiles, a local photographer is the mastermind behind this endeavor! The ground rules were simple.....no makeup, no jewelry, and wear something white for the black and white photo session! Dayna also sent me a list of questions to answer. The photo session was fun and pretty painless! The ultimate goal of the project is to empower women to love themselves and to let your raw beauty shine through! Mission accomplished!


LOVE THYSELF<3 span="">
Gayla Goff, 69
Wife, Mom, Daughter, Gigi, Dive Buddy, Friend!

My goal is to live life to the fullest! Have no regrets, and always remember that my next challenge is just around the corner. Cherishing my gypsy soul, my love of travel, and appreciating all the friends I have made along the way!
At 15, I would tell myself to dream big, and shoot for the moon. Stand tall and hold your head high! Always have confidence, and forgive yourself for your failures. And........always walk to the beat of your own drum!
I especially hope to encourage women of all ages to challenge themselves. It's so easy to settle in a rut, and coast along the path of least resistance! No matter the challenge, big or small, difficult or easy, you will benefit! No matter if you succeed or fail, you will be the big winner in the long run!
My sense of adventure is what I love most about myself, although sometimes it does get me in trouble! I think the title of my blog describes me best...................
"Adventure Before Dementia"!

Nasty Nate!

Hurricane Harvey--August 26, 2017

Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25 near Rockport, Texas and came calling just before dawn on August 26.  We tried to sleep that night, but the howling winds and blowing rain kept us awake.  Dale and I sat in the living room getting updates on the storm path and wind speed, until we lost power at 2:30 am.  Our cell phones then became our only means of getting information and updates.  During the strongest winds.....approximately 130-135 mph we watched as our oak trees were violently whipped back and forth, tree limbs were torn off the trunk and came sailing by the windows, and a big oak gracefully fell across the driveway barely missing a water faucet.  The wind continued blowing, gradually getting weaker and the rain continued for most of the day.  Over 15 inches of rain fell during the storm, but we suffered no flooding. We got a chance to go outside finally  and survey the damage.....it looked like a war zone, debris covered everything.  Luckily the house and shop were okay, but we did have several trees down.
Then it was time to get the generator hooked up so that we would could have power.....little did we know we would be without power for almost 11 days.  The purr of the generator became a very comforting sound and the little window AC unit kept us cool at night.  We were lucky to get a crew out here and they cleaned up the debris on our 4 acre front yard.  Thank God.....we would still be raking if they hadn't come.
We had fueled stored up before the storm, but Dale did have to go in and get more!  We had family come our to shower, since they had no water in town.  We carried water into town for Mom and helped neighbors and family with their generators. Everyone pulled together!
Dale celebrated his birthday, one that he will never forget!  My daughter baked him a cake....as she got power back before us!  We were lucky, it could have been so much worse! Our lives are getting back to normal, but we will always remember when Harvey paid us a visit!