IT'S A BOY

Our fourth grandchild, Gabriel Jordan Bridges, finally arrived on March 26th at 12:53 pm.  He weighed in at a hefty 9 pounds and 15 ounces and is 21 inches long.  I say finally because, after a call from our daughter Kristine, while we were in San Diego visiting our other daughter Carol and our other grandsons Haven and Jovin that his birth could be very soon, we drove to Shreveport in almost record time to wait for 2 weeks. 

 

While we were in San Diego we attended our oldest grandson's robotic team competition.  His school competed at the regional level and did so well that they are going on to the National "First" Robotic competition in St. Louis next month.  He is 15 and a freshman so he has 3 more years to develop his talents and skills.  Jovin is a very active 7 year old and loves soccer.   

GABRIEL JORDAN BRIDGES

DAD AND SON

BIG SISTER PAYTON, GRANDMA AND GABRIEL'S NURSE

PROUD MOMMA KRISTINE

THE WHOLE FAMILY

HAVENS TEAM THE HOLY COWS WITH ROBOT 1538 RECEIVED THE SAN DIEGO REGIONAL COMPETION CHAIRMANS AWARD. ALTHOUGH THEY DID NOT WIN THE COMPETITION THE CHAIRMANS AWARD IS THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARD GIVEN AT THE COMPETITION AND EARNS THEM A PLACE AT THE NATIONAL FINALS IN ST LOUIS NEXT MONTH. (GO COWS)

HAVEN KING, GRANDSON
WITH CHAIRMANS AWARD MEDAL

1538 ON RIGHT SCORING (note white streak entering right hand scoring box)

 

BLUE TEAM WITH 1538 THE WINNERS



SEEING AS HOW ALL THE OTHER GRANDKIDS ARE ON THIS BLOG POSTING WE COULDN'T LEAVE OUT OUR JOVIN. SO HERE HE IS AFTER A SOCCER GAME.

JOVIN KING (GRANDSON)

CATAVINA AND ENSENADA

After departing Guerrero Negro we stopped overnight at Catavina and had a social and a great dinner with "hobo" soup, clam chowder, salad and bread.  It got cold as soon as the sun went down so soup was a great choice.  We stopped there because it was too long a drive to Ensenada but it was a beautiful place with many varieties of cactus and lots of rocks.   

 

The next morning we drove to Ensenada, which was the last stop on our journey.  While there, we had a tour of the city including a stop at La Bufadora and the old Riviera Hotel.  La Bufadora is a natural blow hole which is a narrow opening in the rocks that allows the waves to come in and get trapped, forcing the water up (at high tide only) causing a spray that can get you wet when it is forceful enough.  The Riviera was very famous in the late 1920's and early 1930's and was managed by Jack Dempsey and many movie stars were frequent guests.  Ensenada is only about 70 miles south of San Diego and has become a stop for cruise ships.  The area is also  growing as a wine producong area.  We had some Mexican wines while there and they are very good.  Unfortunately, they are not widely available in the States.

 

On our last night there, we had our Farewell dinner with lots of hugs and a few tears.  It has been a great trip and we will miss our old friends as well as the new ones we have made. 



So, on that note, Ken and I will bid you a farewell.  We will do another blog update when we go on our vacation this spring, then we expect to be home for the summer and fall while Ken has his knee surgery.  We wish you all safe travels and a good year.  ADIOS AMIGOS

 





 

 

OVERNIGHT STOP AT CATAVINA LOTS OF CACTUS

THE BLOW HOLE AT LA BUFADORE, ENSENADA

RIVIERA CULTURAL CENTER
FORMALY RIVIERA HOTEL AND CASINO 1930'S

 

THE GUIDE EXPAINING THIS WAS THE ORIGINAL SHOW HALL

 

 

 

ONLY ORIGINAL CHANDELIER REMAINING

 

 

THE BAR IS OPEN 

 

 

SOMETHING PRETTY NO SAND, DUST OR ROCKS

LAST SOCIAL BEFORE THE FAREWELL DINNER. WATCHING THE SUNSET OVER ESTERO BAY

WELL FOLKS THATS ALL. HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THE BLOG OF THE TRIP
 

GUERRERO NEGRO AND THE WHALES

OMG!!! This is always the highlight of the trip.  How many people get to TOUCH A WHALE or like Danny, KISS one.  One whale in particular seemed to crave attention and went from one boat to the other wanting to touch the humans.  The boats don't approach the whales;  the whales come to the boats and there were alot of them that day.

The facts are that Guerrero Negro (Black Warrior in Spanish) is the mating and birthing area for Grey whales.  They migrate annually from the Bering sea in Alaska to this place on the Pacific side of Baja, Mexico.  There is a large lagoon there where the high salinity of the water makes it easier for the newborn calves to rise to the surface.  That is also why there is one of the largest sea salt plants in the world in the area.  We are playing on a mountain of rock or road salt.  There is a separate area that produces table salt and they won't let you climb on that.

Thanks to everyone who contributed pictures. I had over 200 pictures to whittle down to a reasonable number to post ENJOY

FIRST STOP VISITING THE SALT PLANT

OUR GROUP

HARVESTING EQUIPMENT

NO IT'S NOT SNOW

OH REALLY DAN THINKS IT'S COLD

WATCHING THE WHALES FROM A DISTANCE

THAR SHE BLOWS

 

OH ROUGH DAY AT WORK

 

 

WAGONMASTERS BOAT

TAILGUNNERS BOAT