Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

 We had purchased airline tickets to Las Vegas for this weekend as Brooke had a track meet scheduled at UNLV.  Unfortunately, the track meet was cancelled for her team at the last minute, but we decided to go ahead and enjoy a weekend in Las Vegas anyways. Since Las Vegas is a quick and inexpensive flight from Fresno, we have been there many times. Over the years we have seen lots of Las Vegas shows, spent some time at the blackjack tables, and have even done some touring of the surrounding areas. One place we had not visited was the Red Rock Canyon, so we booked a 1/2 day tour with a local company. The tour included a bus ride out to the park, time at the visitor center, and then a few stops along the 13 mile scenic drive. It was beautiful afternoon spent amongst the red sandstone rock formations.

Calico Hills

Jim and I at the overlook at Calico Hills

The petroglyphs in this area of the canyon are at least 800 years old

The path to the Calico Hills

A fun day at Red Rock Canyon 

Yosemite National Park

 Living in Fresno, California we are lucky to have Yosemite National Park only 1.5 hours away from our house. Due to its close proximity, and the fact that we own a cabin at Bass Lake which is only 20 minutes form the entrance to Yosemite, we tend to go to Yosemite frequently. However, we have never timed it right to be at Yosemite (nor our Bass Lake cabin) after a snowstorm. Well, that changed this weekend. We watched the forecast and knew that snow was predicted for Bass Lake and Yosemite, so we headed to a weekend in the snow.

We arrived at our cabin in Bass Lake on Friday evening where we found lots of snow on the ground and more was still falling!

The following day, we woke up to a winter wonderland. After taking a few pictures, we bundled up and drove to Yosemite to see its beauty veiled in snow.

Looking across the front yard of the cabin.

Our cabin blanketed in snow!

A picture from the docks at Bass Lake

We spent some time wandering around the Wawona area of Yosemite before heading to Bridelveil Falls where we trudged through the snow to the base of the falls.

The meadow at Wawona

Bridelveil Fall

A chilly selfie!

We continued our drive through Yosemite valley enjoying the winter view of El Capitan.

The Ahwahnee hotel provided a warm and cozy lunch stop where the lentil soup was delicious!

Ready for some hot soup!

It was such fun exploring some of our local stomping grounds in the snow!

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - Day 4

 For our last full day in Mexico we decided to venture outside of the city of Cabo San Lucas. We purchased tour tickets to the town of Todos Santos. Prior to arriving in Todos Santos, we stopped at a roadside shop that makes colorful woven Mexican blankets. We were shown how the blankets are made on large looms. Of course this vendor had many blankets for sale, but we did not buy one.

In Todos Santos, we spent some time wandering the cobblestone streets, browsing in the artisan gallery shops. We also took a look at the Hotel California which many have speculated is the hotel mentioned in the Eagles song. We returned to our hotel in the middle of the afternoon to enjoy our last few hours in Mexico by the pool.

Some more pool time.

The stunning Grand Solmar resort

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - Day 3

 On Day 3, we walked back into town to do some shopping along the waterfront. One of the “must do” things in Cabo San Lucas is to take a boat ride out to the Arch of Cabo San Lucas, so while we were at the waterfront, we found a boat tour heading that way. We enjoyed getting out on the water and took plenty of pictures of the arch.

The boat ride

The Arch of Cabos San Lucas

Back at the Grand Solmar, we had dinner at an outdoor restaurant by a fire pit. A perfect ending to another day in paradise!

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - Day 2

 The next day was spent primarily at our beautiful hotel - The Grand Solmar. The temperatures were in the low 70s and it was mostly overcast, so our fair-skinned family was able to enjoy a day by the pool without getting sunburned. 

Apparently 70 degrees is too cold for Brooke!

Katie and Brooke taking advantage of the swim-up bar at the hotel.

Look at the gorgeous view behind us!

Jim and I also enjoyed a walk on the beach to the east of the hotel property where there are some neat rock formations. 

In front of the Grand Solmar

In the evening, we walked into town and had dinner at Cabo Wabo (very touristy, but had to try it). 

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - Day 1

 We were able to get away from the gray, foggy skies that envelop Fresno during winter and head to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for four days of fun in the sun! We arrived the afternoon of New Year’s Eve and quickly set about figuring out the best spot for watching the fireworks at midnight. We learned that most of the resorts along the water charge $75+ per person to be allowed to enter their NYE parties. Since that was more than we wanted to spend, we found an alternative. One of the beachside restaurants had a small bar section that would serve us without being part of the main party. Just before midnight we found a place to sit on the jam packed beach to watch the fireworks. And what a show it was!

The beachside bar

Katie just killing time until the fireworks start.

Waco, Texas

Katie is in her 5th year as a student at Baylor University - 3 years as an undergraduate and 2 years as a graduate student. Since Katie will be graduating in May and due to the fact that we had never attended a Baylor football game, we decided a quick trip to Waco, Texas was in order to see Katie and cheer on the Bears at their homecoming game against Oklahoma State University. We arrived on Friday afternoon and spent some time visiting with Katie. We went to the Waco Mammoth National Monument which is an excavation site where the remains of 16 Colombian Mammoths were found beginning in 1978. It’s a small, but well done exhibit and very interesting!

Waco Mammoth National Monument

The fossils of the Mammoths

The Baylor homecoming parade is always held before the game, and since the game was scheduled to begin  at 11:00 am, the parade started at 7:30 am! We got to the center of campus early and found a good viewing spot. It was a really large parade and lots of fun to watch!

The marching band

Once the parade finished, we walked across campus and over the bridge that spans the Brazos River to Baylor’s state-of-the-art McLane Stadium. This newly built stadium was completed in 2014. Katie’s freshman class was the first to get to run the Baylor Line in the new stadium. 

The three of us with McLane Stadium in the distance

We're ready to find our seats!

A beautiful day to watch a football game!

A very happy Baylor Bear!

We thoroughly enjoyed rooting the Bears on to a 34-31 Baylor win over Oklahoma State! The next day we flew back to Fresno, so it was a short, but very sweet time spent with Katie and her Baylor Bears!