For the last leg of our trip, we moved to another part of Mexico City, in a very nice area called Polanco where we had some excellent Argentine cuisine. The following day was our last real day in Mexico, and for that we took another van tour north of the city to Teotihuacan where there are some ancient Olmec Pyramids. We were able to climb to the top of the Pyramid of th sun for a fantastic view, and our guide gave us a very detailed history of the area, most of which I don't remember right now, but they are very old and very big :) (BTW, I made it up the Pyramid of the Moon, too, but Marcela wimped out on the second one:)
With that, I'm tired of typing, and I'm out of ideas, so check out the pictures on this page, and the two links below for even more photos.

Photobucket Photos

Snapfish Photos

Our second leg of the trip definitely kicked it up a notch with the tropical beauty. We were greeted with the view above when we checked into our Room, which was definitely a good start. After lounging around for the afternoon of our arrival, the next morning we went zip-lining through the forests above a raging river. This consisted of 14 lines back and forth accross the river, flying as high as 80 meters (240 ft), with the longest line being 1/4 mile long. This was by far the most exhilarating part of the trip.
After that, the next day we took an excursion into the bay on a catamaran. We visited a small island for some snorkeling, and then on to a nice sandy beach for some swimming and relaxing. Marcela even managed to not lose her lunch on the boat. She turned a little green, but there was no hurling. After that, we were off again to Mexico city.

Well, we just got back from our weeklong adventure to Mexico, so I'd probably update this Blog :)
We started out with a day and a half walking around the Mexico City center, including the Zocalo, and the closed down Paseo de la Reforma (for biking and the running of "the human race") which was very nice. At the Zocalo (city center plaza)  we saw the Cathedral, which if you look closely at the photos you can see is sinking along with the rest of the city, and the Templo Major. Templo Major is where the ruins of an ancient Aztec pyramid / temple have been uncovered just off one corner of the Zocalo. This was quite interesting, but unfortunately, I only have limited photos of it due to an unfortunate battery situation with our camera :).


The Third day, we took a van tour to Cuernavaca, and Taxco. We only spend a short time in Cuernavaca, checking out the city cathedral, and stopping for a quick icecream. The real treat was Taxco, which is famous for silver mining and silver making. There were hundreds of stores with all manner of silver jewelry, and just about anything else you could think of that could be made from pure silver. The city itself is set high in the mountains, and was very beautiful. After lightening our wallets on some small trinkets, we were back to Mexico City, and the following day we were off to Puerto Vallarta. 

And now, we're finally caught up with late July. I picked up a new mountain bike, and the associated hardware for the Volvo a little while back, and finally got to really use it this weekend. Went to Maybury state park with a buddy, and took to the trails. I must say, this was the most fun I think I've ever had exercising, so it's definitely going to have to be a regular occurance. Hopefully it will help with my ongoing weight-loss goals.

A severe thunderstorm warning calling for large hail led to the above trick: 4 cars in a 3 car garage :)  Of course, as Murphy's law would dictate, there was no hail, and only about 5 minutes worth of storm. There was then, inexplicably, a day and a half without power.

Here's the inside view

For Memorial Day we had a very enjoyable visit with nearly the entire Arana crew. Somehow in the frenzy we didn't take many photos, but here are a few of the better ones we took. Our activities for the weekend included a visit to the Ford Rouge Tour, a Tigers game, and a LOT of Wii playing.

Two days of driving (1400 miles) took us from sun and fun to cold and snow. I must say though, the quick brick made for a very comfy ride the whole way.

We once again took our yearly pilgrimage to the sun in Miami for Christmas. On the way down we stopped to see my Dad and Dolly for a couple of days, and then drove on to Miami where it was in the 80s and sunny almost every day. Marcela's Parents, Sister, Brother-in-Law, and their two kids were also in attendance, and made the trip a lot of fun. See the photos in the Christmas '07 collection for more.