tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3872354551426452485.post1864615058109203513..comments2023-04-03T07:01:25.195-07:00Comments on True North: Baja Tuesdays...A Journey Through HilarityUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3872354551426452485.post-57329404915556232942008-08-09T17:43:00.000-07:002008-08-09T17:43:00.000-07:00bwa ha ha!!! we'll never know if my shaming did i...bwa ha ha!!! we'll never know if my shaming did it, but if it did - what shaming words would work best to get the next installment out of the literarily verbose br'er??<BR/><BR/>and do we really have to wait for tuesdays for these installments?? quicker! quicker! *cracks whip*<BR/><BR/>:DAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3872354551426452485.post-6779704298021011042008-08-03T00:59:00.000-07:002008-08-03T00:59:00.000-07:00"we are saved the traumatic scene of recompense sh...<I>"we are saved the traumatic scene of recompense she would have foisted upon the luckless crew"</I><BR/><BR/>LOL<BR/>Oh yes, I definitely got that impression. *gufaw*<BR/>I'm glad y'all had a beautiful trip despite the rough start. Doesn't that always make the good part better?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11201400189235996235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3872354551426452485.post-57404162136852160652008-07-30T08:45:00.000-07:002008-07-30T08:45:00.000-07:00Melissa, I love reading your blog. You always make...Melissa, I love reading your blog. You always make me laugh. I had no idea you were such a talented writer. Keep it up. I love hearing about the life of the R Kendall's. <BR/>MelindaMelindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18208811824101799049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3872354551426452485.post-9811410490727961612008-07-29T22:24:00.001-07:002008-07-29T22:24:00.001-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.melissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01081774550373903061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3872354551426452485.post-88533314349116972032008-07-29T22:24:00.000-07:002008-07-29T22:24:00.000-07:00Klyn, in answer to your question, yep. We were onl...Klyn, in answer to your question, yep. We were only there for a week! I had every intention of sucking THE LIFE out of every day, beginning at sunrise and going to midnight!! <BR/> We were exhausted by the end, and I haven't woken up at 6 since- but it was fabulous while it lasted. ;)melissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01081774550373903061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3872354551426452485.post-41684122382601225982008-07-29T22:04:00.000-07:002008-07-29T22:04:00.000-07:00DIL (Darling Daughter-in-Law) is getting WAY to fa...DIL (Darling Daughter-in-Law) is getting WAY to far ahead...I will either have to spend more time on this machine, or capitulate no..that's not going to happen! OK, so will someone please tell me how THEY can get away with letting you buy your Mocha & scone breakfast at one end of the corridor and just expect you to DUMP it at the next check point??~!! WHAT? People on the other side don't drink coffee, or eat?? And then 50 feet on the OTHER side.....Yep, more fast food, snacks and COFFEE!!? The AMIR stops,freezes in the security lane and unloads a baleful stare directly into the vacant eyes of the "uniform". FIL, Ryan and Sweetiepie begin to shuffle, press against his unmoving bulk, and whisper little words of comfort like: Cabo-Cabo-Cabo, there's more coffee, Cabo, cabo, c... PD takes a huge munch of leftover scone, washes it down with a good 6.5oz swig of Double-Tiger something or other, never breaking eye contact with the vacant-eyed uniform and discards the still warm coffee and cup into the nearby trash can. Which I might add, is already 1/2 full of other cups, scones, etc. I'm now positive they are recycling them to the poor of Bosnia. Eileen is whispering encouragement to move forward, DIL is in her mantra, Cabo..Cabo..Ryan is grinning like the cheshire cat and saying nothing. PD moves ahead through the checkpoint and tries to keep up with DIL, who has bolted for the departure gate like Seabiscuit in his run for immortality against Man-O-War. PD is the pack animal for this trip, and it is a short run until the pain in the right shoulder begins to drag him down...in the nick of time he staggers onto one of the moving sidewalks and begins to make up a little ground while catching breath. Then it is a dead-heat as they all four thunder into the departure gate and swarm the boarding counter. No one there, of course, why would they man a boarding counter?? For people who need answers???!! The smile has disappeared from DD??)IL. There is a distinct tenseness in the lovely facial tone. Her movements are jerky and unsure, the grip on her paper cup Latte'(she has a LATTE'?)is begining to crinkle the edges. PD to the rescue! Melissy, someone will be here anytime, we are early. She raises one eyebrow slightly, as if to say, "are you just saying that?" But PD enlists the aid of son Ryan again by looking DIL in the eye and rattling off a discreet one-liner that actually brings a lessening of the tension. Ryan, not to be left out, picks up the ball and has HDW (his darling wife) laughing and thumping him on the chest. We all find chairs where we can stack the luggage (all carry-on)an we sit and wait. In the process of time, not too much time, a suit arrives and We all storm the counter before they turn the lights on. Ryan asks about signing up for Standby for the Phoenix flight and the suit looks at him and says, " I guess you didn't look online at your reservations this morning, did you? Well, NO! Everything was fine lastnite,? Well since then this flight has been cancelled due to mechanical problems....you can cut the silence with a dull butter knife. HDW bangs him with her elbow and demands, Ryan, tell him something!! There are no words. I'm sorry the suit says, we will try to get you on the next flight, it leaves around 9:50am.!! Great, we only have 3 1/2 to 4 hours to kill! Our saving grace at this moment is that DIL is speechless. She wants to scream and she wants to cry, "what about CABO!?" Mostly she wants to scream at the suit who robbed her of her vacation to CABO! PD & son guide her back to the seats, restack the bags, pour the dregs of her latte' into her trembling lips and look at each other in desperation for inspiration. Eileen has self-medicated and is singing a little ditty, "we're going to Cabo, Cabo Ca-a-bo..." The light of inspiration comes to PD FIL AMIR...Melissy, my daughter, listen to me, her head turns, her eyes lock on his and those brown beauties leave a plain message....This is no time for FLUFF~! Her vacation she has planned for is slipping from her grasp, and with it her sanity. Those twin brown pools of delight have a tinge of MENACE in them...one wrong word could bring down absolute mayhem on everyone at gate 33. PD never wavers, he reaches out and touches her hand and says, "Melissy, look around, everyone who came for this first flight is on the cell phone! They're calling their travel agent or another airline, I'm telling you they will be deserting this gate like rats leaving a sinking ship! In 10 minutes this place will be deserted and we will be the first in line for standby on the next flight to Phoenix, and we will still be able to make the connection to CABO! The bright light of realization dawns...there is a sharp intake of breath...YES, YESS there IS life after a cancelled flight!! DIL has returned, we are renewed. She is on her cell phone calling her travel agent who is lieing in bed 100 miles away, groping for the phone wondering who killed who? whatever she says to the travel agent we will never know. She discreetly turned her back and spoke directly into the phone...Ryan takes his life in his hands, turns to the AMIR with both "thumbs-up" and does the silent, double nod of the head and "Right-ON-DAD"! We are saved...Melissy has returned, Eileen is slipping away, but peacefully, PD sits down to enter once again into the bloody adventures of UTRED the Northumbrian Giant, and by the grace and mercy of our LORD himself, we make the 2nd (and only) flight to Phoenix. Now you might just be thinking about the smiles on FIL's charming countenance as she skips down the boarding ramp and onto the actual airplane that is taking us all to CABO! Well, to Phoenix, anyway, and she is even immune to the fact that we are not sitting together on this flight. No...I'm pretty sure that if you wanted to separate a group of 4 as far from each other as possible, we won the toss! Even so, DIL remained happy and talkative right up to the moment when we taxied away from the ramp and then sat on the airplane while they "checked out" an instrument malfunction!!?? DIL begins to scan the aircraft for someone with answers...the laughter slows...in 10 minutes or so we begin to move forward again. We approach the active taxiway, cross a runway and stop...yep..STOP! There are no smiles, no words, there are lines of tension in the face..the right eyelid has this unnerving...twitch! DIL's lips are a straight, thin line devoid of mirth. She looks for Ryan, she only sees the back of the seat where he sits...she looks for eileen, her prescripted calm might help..but MIL is too short to be seen, and prob'ly still humming her little song..then she locks eyes again with FIL. Good, old, Dependable,(scratch old)PD. He sees a trapped animal in great distress, DIL is about to chew her leg off to get to the pilots and get them going...PD hands her his best smile and mouths,"Don't worry, it's O.K.! Just as it looks like she is "buying" this silent comfort, the intercom comes on.."this is the captain, we have some problems with a few of the instruments and are holding for a maintenance crew to come take a look, we're sure we will be able to continue after they take care of the situation." Words fail me. The look and whole body language of DDIL went from despair to bloody, hands-on murder, agony, crying and back to hands-on-the-throat, MURDER. Desperation, I am Melissy! As luck and providence would have it, she is wedged firmly between two adults who are also wedged in to the "cattle-car" seats provided on international flights, these days, and she cannot escape. we are saved the traumatic scene of recompense she would have foisted upon the luckless crew....Then a mere 45 minutes later, the news....Ladies and gentlemen our instrument anomaly has been fixed and we are now cleared to takeoff for Phoenix. For those of you who have connections to make in Phoenix, we will be arriving a few minutes ahead of these departures,and there will be airline personnel in red jackets waiting to direct you to your gate, upon deplaneing in Phoenix. Oil, lots of soothing oil has calmed the raging waters of desperation and murderous intent...DIL is smiling again, but it has a Charlie-McCarthy appearance...I catch her eye again and with the toothiest grin I can manufacture, I mouth, C-A-B-0, C-A-B-0.. DIL relaxes, smiles and sits down again. The airplane lifts off and we are actually, physically, separated from Portland International Airport, and headed for our new ADVENTURE!! Phoenix!eekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06456608459087799084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3872354551426452485.post-36142078197487579932008-07-29T20:31:00.000-07:002008-07-29T20:31:00.000-07:00Okay first off, you actually were awake at 6Am to ...Okay first off, you actually were awake at 6Am to watch the fishing boats leave!!! As in daily and intentionally, or just accidently as you took a pre-wake-up toilet trip?? You actually used the word love and 6AM in the same sentence - scary.<BR/><BR/>I want to be on your next trip - it's sure to be adventurous. Alas, mine is to the midwest in August... Sticky, yes, but adventurous...we'll see.<BR/><BR/>ha - another muffin break - will Fuzz ever live the airport (sans cash) muffin down!!<BR/><BR/>Sorry, Mrs. K, that the ride wasn't what you had envisioned. Some of my more interesting memories were from events that didn't go quite as planned!klynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745462799091412285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3872354551426452485.post-73241086472419775362008-07-29T19:46:00.000-07:002008-07-29T19:46:00.000-07:00This is MIL.....OK.,O.K. IT's ALL TRUE!!!!!First, ...This is MIL.....OK.,O.K. IT's ALL TRUE!!!!!<BR/>First, I want to say that I had to wipe my eyes again. It's just so real in my memory to relive it thru DIL's words. DIL is so kind to not give you the whole vision of EEK trying to get into the water taxi.....But the Water boat to the tip of Cabo was wonderful. Water was so clear and it was so tempting to get off at one of the beaches and just roam around. But the daunting task loomed on how to get out of the boat without drowning and then trying to get back in the boat with the waves bouncing the boat higher than I am tall. (no dock here).So staying in the boat was the only option. The scenery was amazing..... <BR/> Melissa and I had been planning the horseback riding. I had wonderful visions of my riding a prancing steed along the beach at sunset. But reality is a bummer. Short Legs, sturips too long and soon I'm rethinking the vision I had and experiencing the pain of reality. So for me the trip was SHORTENED. The ride back to the ranch was wonderful...... The Beach, The Wind, ThePounding surf, GREAT !!!! and the kindness of the staff..<BR/>But the best picture in my mind is when I was looking at the setting sun and seeing the black silouette of the horses and riders coming along the dune with the brillient orange sun setting behind them....(if only I had the camera). But even tho I wasnt sitting on my prancing steed, I still have a beautiful memory.......eekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06456608459087799084noreply@blogger.com