Wine about it!

**Okay, so I totally got called on not posting this sooner.  I know, I'm a loser...lol.  No excuse for not posting this on time, besides just being lazy.  So Jordan this one's for you, kid!

Our wine is finally ready!  And it's time to party!  Well, sort of.  We called it a party and provided food so that people would come and help us bottle it.  Pretty smart, eh?

Okay, so it was Greg's (The owner of Oeno Winemaking) idea...lol.  Still it worked out pretty nicely.  Everyone had fun bottling and drinking wine.  Not to mention munching on the freshly hand-made by yours truely pizzas.

Zac, Storm, Jordan, and La'akea digging in before getting to work.

 The spread.  Pepperoni and roasted garlic pizza and prosciutto and arugula pizza.  With a glass of wine, delish!
*Secret confession:  I was slightly obsessed with making pizza at this time.  I made pizza after pizza a few weekends before this party to get it just right.  I'm a dork, this I already know.  The result of my crazy massive pizza making weekends, a damn tasty authentic Italian style pizza...lol.
 (I can share the pizza recipe if you all would like.  Just hit me up with a comment to and I'll put it on my list of posts to write.)

Wine bottling 101:

Step 1: Fill the bottles with wine up to the bottle neck. 

*Note: Go slow or risk getting wine on your clothes, or worse, spilling it all over the floor.  Wasted wine = Sad Christmas.

All of the men felt like this was a very manly man job to do and took it upon themselves to take on the task.

 Speaking of men at work.  I had to take a picture.  It's a rarity that none of us women had to jump in to rescue someone from either getting injured, dirty, or otherwise making a mess.  Hehehe...it had to be said, but I mean it in the most loving way.

Who am I to stand in the way of men wanting to work?

Shh...just don't tell them that I didn't really want to do that job anyways...lol.

 Adam filling bottles.

 The hubby hard at work.

 The key is to make it look like you really know what you are doing.

 Jenna keeping an eye on things for me at the bottle filling station.

Step 2: Top off the bottles with just a bit more wine so as not to leave too much air between the cork and the wine itself.

You can see La'akea in the background topping off bottles.

Step 3: Put a cork in it!

 That, my friends, is a corking machine.  It looks pretty scary, but is quite easy to use.  Just be sure to keep your fingers out of the way.

Jordan jumped in there to prove that girls can do it too!

When it's all corked you should be left with this product, as modeled by the lovely Jordan.

Step 4: Apply the plastic cork wrapper.

For all you crafters out there, it's kind of like using shrink wrap.  You place the plastic tubing over the top of the bottle.  Heat it with a heat gun, being sure to turn it every now and then, until it shrinks to the form of the bottle.

By the way, Storm was the master at this.  Everyone else who tried ended up having theirs redone by him because theirs came out all bubbly.  I like your perfectionist ways, Storm!

Step 5: Slap a label on it and be done!

 This turned out to be my department.  What can I say?  I have mad label placing skills.

 Look at all those labels that I needed to place on.  Guess who had the team on her back?  Me, that's who.  Lol...just kidding guys!

 The A-team over there.  Best label putter-oner and best shrinky-dinkinker.  Oh yeah!

Step 6: Drink and be merry!

Our finished bottle.  Isn't it pretty?

Post bottling.  We seem to look a lot happier now...lol.  

Thanks to everyone who helped us bottle and partake in the festivities.  Special thanks to Greg and the Oeno crew for the awesome brewing experience.  We had a blast!

Day 4: Todo Santos

In order to really soak up some Mexican culture, we decided to do a guided walking tour through an old town, somewhat off the beaten path, called Todo Santos. 

Just in case you all wanted a little bit more information about the town: Todo Santos is a desert oasis.  Thus, the town gains most of it's capital via farming.  In it's hay day it was one of the major producers of sugar cane.  Now it's mostly filled with artists, farmers, and retired hippies. 

Our first stop was the town's cultural museum.

The interesting thing about the museum was that it wasn't run by the government like many of our museums are, it was run by the people of the town.  Each person gets to bring something that they find interesting about their culture to put on display in the museum.  Kind of a blessing and a curse at the same time because you got to see some really cool things and some just crazy weird things.

The corridor of the museum.

A replica of a traditional Mexican farm home.

Spurs and other farming tools.

Cave drawing.  Told you there was lots of diversity in the displayed items!

The inside of the museum.

This museum was, if I am speaking honestly, was the strangest thing I saw while in Mexico.  It was great that everyone in the town brought something to share, but none of it really made sense together.  Also, they took all that time to bring their treasured items in, but no one bothered to paint or upkeep the museum.  The window screens were tattered and torn, bugs were eating holes in photos and maps, the light bulbs were flickering or burnt out, pictures were hung haphazardly, and the list goes on and on.  It really made me appreciate all of our wonderfully kept museums back home.  I will never look at a museum the same again.  (If you are a museum employee, just know that I totally appreciate all that you do!  Thank you!)

Next we walked through the town.  Our tour guide was great, though he didn't really have much to work with seeing that it was such a small, laid-back town.

Everything in Mexico either says "Se Vende" (For Sale) or "No Se Vende" (Not For Sale).  Check out the super thick walls on this building.  They don't make 'em like that any more!

Me in town square.

The town church.

"Am I done holding your purse yet, honey?"

One of the various stores that sold handcrafted items.

The strange note on the side of the phone reads, "JOC group is also against the toxic mining."  I'm not sure what they are talking about, but it doesn't sound good.

A typical family home in Mexico.  This one looks like it's a one bedroom.  (Most of the homes there are.)  The black container on the roof of the house holds their tap water.  The container both heats and provides added water pressure since it sits up on the roof.  The rebar sticking out of the roof is for when they decide to remodel and build upwards.  (Pretty much every house and building had rebar sticking up out of the roof.)  

One of our tour guides told us that his family of four lives in a one bedroom home and that it is the norm.  I couldn't get over that!  I love my family, but if we all had to squeeze into a one bedroom home...let's just say that there probably wouldn't be many of us left...lol.

Last stop, lunch at the famed Hotel California.

Day 3: Yummy Mexican grub for my tummy

Zac had gone parasailing with Tom and Danielle earlier in the day and had been smart enough to ask the sailing crew where the best place to eat was.  The answer?  Baja Cantina.  

I know, I know.  I too was a little leery about eating the food and drinking the water on the shores of Mexico, but I'm sure glad that I took a chance.  This was, hands down, the best food we ate the whole entire trip.  I wish that we could have eaten there 5 more times before we left.  Honestly it's the best Mexican food I've ever tasted, ever!  (And if you know me, you know we eat tons of Mexican food.  I think we've been to almost every Mexican restaurant on the island...lol.)

Baja Cantina, where meals become fond memories.

We wanted to try a little of everything, so we opted for the combination plate and a couple of margaritas.  (You can't fully enjoy a Mexican meal without a margarita!)  They even gave us a bowl of tortilla soup as an appetizer. 

MEXICAN COMBINATION PLATE
Chile relleno, cheese enchilada, chicken tostada,
carne asada, served with rice, beans and guacamole.

Everything was delicious!  All hand-made from scratch.  You'd think they had grandma in the back serving up the dishes.  Even the margaritas were made with freshly squeezed lime juice.

My tummy was in food-loving heaven.

We totally cleaned the plate.  I don't even think they had to wash it, it was so clean.  If we weren't so full we'd have probably ordered another plate and scarfed that down too!  That's how good it was!

My advice, if you make it out to Cabo, skip Cabo Wabo and park your little behind at the bar at Baja Cantina.  You could get a table, but if you sit at the bar it's happy hour all day long!  Oh baby!  (Just a little insider information for you all because I love you so much.)

Once our meal was finished we happily paid our check and were on our merry way back aboard the boat.

They gave me pesos for change.  This comes out to roughly $13 change.

Zac and I in line to get on the tender boat for a ride back to the ship.  A couple of margaritas makes waiting in line much, much less painful.

Goodbye Cabo.  We'll be back again tomorrow.

Day 3: Cabo Wabo

After the quick boat trip to the arch we headed out to see the sights.

What's more Mexican than hitting up Cabo Wabo Cantina?

Come on, it's Sammy Hagar's place!  (For those of you that don't know, he's a member of Van Halen.  You know, you know all the words to "Hot for Teacher".  Don't try to fool me!)  It's one of those things.  If you're there, you have to see it.  If not, then you didn't really miss much...lol.

On the walk there we saw various things.  Jewelry shops, tourist-ie stores, the occasional pharmacy selling prescription drugs over the counter.  You know, nothing too out of the ordinary...lol.

Yes, apparently even Viagra has a super hero spokesperson...lol.

Also, if you're ever lost and can't find your way to Cabo Wabo, just remember that it's directly behind the "Titty Bar".  Those were the directions that my brother received from a local...lol.

You thought I was kidding.  I was not...lol.

The atmosphere was cheesy and the food and service were lacking, but the drinks were scrumptious!  So when you go, pass on the food and expect to have less than stellar service, but definitely have a margarita.  Yum!

My fierce supermodel pose in front of Cabo Wabo's red carpet area.  

Next stop, finding some authentic Mexican grub.

Day 3: Off the boat in Cabo San Lucas

After all of the days at sea, we were ready to set foot on some land.

First stop a boat trip to the famed Land's End Arch at Lover's Beach.  (I know!  We just got off a boat.  But it is pretty much the only way to see the arch without having to hike in.  So on the boat we went!)

Lover's Beach.  Beautiful!  Only bummer was so many people wanted to see it.  They drove tons and tons of people out there via water taxi.  Thus it kind of took the romance out of the whole "lover's" part of the name for me.  Now they should call it over-exploited beach.

 There were a bunch of birds circling over the top of the mountain.  Turistas, anyone?  I know, I was kind of freaked out too.  Too many scary movies I guess...lol.

Here it is!  The famed Land's End Arch.  Carved from the land via the currents of the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez.  According to Destination360.com, pirates used to hide in the arch and ambush passing ships.  We didn't see any pirates, but I do think it would be a cool place to hide!

Here are some of the homes on the hill.  The tour guide told us that those are the homes of various movie stars.  What a view, huh?

Me on the boat.

The opposite view of the arch on our way back to shore.  This is also the opposite side of Lover's Beach.  The water is choppier there because it's on the Pacific Ocean rather than the Sea of Cortez, so the locals call it Divorce Beach...hehe.

The hubby on the front deck of the boat. 
*Teaching moment! 
It was super sunny out and all the photographs that I was taking of him were of him squinting from the sun.  How did I get this one, you ask?  You have to know the secret. 
Since we're friends I'll share it with you. 
Ready? 
You have your subject close their eyes.  Then you count to three.  When you get to three you have them open their eyes and you quickly snap the shot.  Voila, eyes open every time!  Perfecto!

Beautiful isn't it?

Once we made it back to shore, we headed out to have a day of fun and adventure, seeing the sites within walking distance in Cabo.

We look like total dorks in this picture, but hey it's one of us together.  I blame my dad for this one.  It's his bad photography skills, not the fact that we just got off a boat and were totally wind-blown at that point...lol.

Cabo, ready or not, here we come!

I just had to butt in...

Sorry for the interruption of vacation posts, but this is too good not to share.

I was leafing through our vacation pictures and stumbled upon this...

I thought, "Hardy, har, har.  There's my husband being funny taking random pictures of people's butts.  How silly!  Always the comedian.  But why am I in the center of the frame?  Eh, whatever..."

Then I saw this...

Hmmm....now it's only my butt.  But it's a whole body shot.  Maybe he meant to do that!  Maybe it was some kind of artistic shot that he was going for.  You know, me tip-toeing to peer into the water.  The wonder of the great blue sea.  Possibly...I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Finally I stumbled across this...

Ricky, you got some 'splainin' to do!