Running Week In Review part 2

For the week of June 25 - June 30, 2007

Last Week's Distance: 45.08 Kms

Last Week's Prediction for this week: 50.00kms

This Week's Distance: 57.17 kms

This Week's Time: 5:23:47


Last week I predicted the 50 kms for this week, I was a little unsure whether I would be able to meet my prophecy. Usually when I work, I have a hard time fulfilling my program due to long and at times exhausting days.


I did it, 57.17 kms! It wasn't so hard to do; the sure beauty of Prince Rupert made it quite easy. I woke up each morning looking forward on hitting the road. Everything about running in Prince Rupert was awesome; the constant temperature of + 16 - 20 with all day overcast, the view of the inner harbour and the mountains, and the incredible screams of the hundreds of eagles soaring overhead and sitting atop of the trees.

When things are as perfect as they were this week, I can keep going and going and going. On the last night I was in Rupert, I ran a 15.56 km run. I could have ran further, however, I could hear the voice on my right shoulder telling me to stop because you shouldn't increase your distance by more than 10% a month of sustain injures, although my voice on my left shoulder was telling my right shoulder to "screw off, leave Stan alone, he's a big boy you know." I ended up listening to what I consider a no-brainer, and stopped.

I was inspired this week by, what I thought was a young man, Tony Shirt from Peace Hills Trust. I've known Tony for quite some time and I always thought he was my age. After asking him, he told me he was almost 50! I was blown away, and totally impressed with his fitness level and his youthfulness. He works out and runs with his children; he is a true model fitness to his kids. Tony came running with me one evening; we went on a 9.6km run. It was great to run with someone like Tony; it was great to get to know someone doing something we both love to do.

Next week's prediction: 58 kms.

I'm off next week, so I should be able to pull this off.

Conference a Huge Success

June 28, 2007...

Whenever I'm asked to attend a conference there is always a considerable amount of pressure, pressure that I have come to embrace. Being a delegate is hard enough, you sit through presentations, some of which are riveting and some of which are challenging enough to stay conscious. That's where I come in, something I call Enter the Dragon. To keep them on time and to engage the delegation with some fun and energy.

I was told it was going to be a challenge, because previous National Aboriginal Capital Corporation Association (NACCA) have been tense and have been plagued with delays in the agenda. My style is simple, be stern with a lot of humour. People know that I mean business but clearly stay compliant because of my effective blend of humour and meaning.

I am pleased to say that the meeting started on time every time, and the atmosphere was the best it's ever been. I can only take a certain amount of credit; I also want to thank the NACCA membership for hanging tough throughout the meeting.

I live alone, as most of you know, and I really don't like to cook for just myself. I find myself eating out quite a bit. I'll usually get take out or take a friend out to dinner at least every day. As a parting gift, my good friends at Tri-corp gave me great west coast print and 75 cans of locally canned sockeye salmon. That's big bucks; each tin goes for a few bucks. Man that was funny.

Thank you again to Tri-corp for adopting me into their great family. I feel enriched by this experience.

The view from my Jacuzzi suite at the Crest Hotel. I overlook the harbour at Cows Bay with the beautiful snow capped mountains. Check out the clouds, it's grey like this most of the year.

My mother asked me one time, "Stan, do you ever have a bad day at work?" Because I usually tell her that work was AWESOME or AMAZING or FANTASTIC. Mom, work this week was absolutely MARVELLOUS.

What a night!

On the evening of June 27, 2007...

The Conference is going great. The reports are being reported, the membership is doing what membership should be doing, and I am doing what I do best....putting out the vibe and having a blast.

The evening reception was over at the Museum. Firstly, we had a great dinner; the main attraction was the demonstration of Northwest BC Culture. I must admit, I left tonight a better man for what I saw. If you ever have a chance to see this for yourself, do it. Go out of your way to see the most powerful displays of First Nation Culture on the planet.

Here I am with my old friend Chris Nelson, a gentle spirited young man who I met the last time I was in town. He's laying down a drum track while I get busy in an eagle dance.

Here are two other friends I ran into, Shayla and Victoria. They are in their traditional Tsimshian outfits. I couldn't resist getting in between these beautfiful ladies.

Nisga'a group in action. My friend Barb says "they are the best, you all have to come to Rupert to see them."

Here I am with the Nisga'a dancers with Gary Coons, MLA for Prince Rupert. The lady with the talking stick is Marlena, she is the first woman with the honour of leading dances. She was telling me how proud she is with this responsibility, after she led her troupe of 40 + dancers, some of which were 2 or 3 times her age. The confidence this young lady displays is what role-models are made of, I can see her being an inspiration to other woman in her nation.

Fourskins FORING!!

Greetings from Prince Rupert BC

This week I am at the National Aboriginal Capital Corporation Association (NACCA) AGM. I am facilitating and MCing the conference. Talk about a hard day at the office, I played in a golf tournament and WON. We were a respectable 1 over par, just 1 shot better than the second place team. My team was calling me "The Ringer," and it wasn't because I spent too much time on the can and now I have a ring around my....well you know. I think it had to something with my surprising good play.

I walked away with a decent prize, a nice Prince Rupert Golf Club towel for my golf bag. But the real prize was playing at such a wonderful course, I love the sight of snow capped mountains off in the distance.


Here I am with my winning team. Me, Ron, Jake, and Ike (left to right). I was honoured to be asked to play with the board of directors of NACCA, we had a blast.

Here is the view coming from Bigsby Island to Prince Rupert. The Airport is on the island, and you have to cross via ferry to get to town. It's so beautiful here.

Stan Wesley's travel survival tips

Greetings from the Vancouver International Airport!!

As most of you know, I spend a lot of time venturing around the country and over the years I have acquired an excellent way of coping with the stressors of travelling. Here is a list of what I think could possibly save your life.

1. Smile. Sure, you'll look like you have issues standing around smiling but once you start to interact with people it will pay off. You will find that people will want to talk to. In my experience, easy going, happy travellers are somewhat of a rarity.

2. Get Mad!! By getting mad, you look like a freaking baby but you get the attention that you wouldn't often get if you were tactful. You will then get poor customer service that usually follows from your tirade. Although it's poor service, its still service and it usually comes a little quicker, usually from a supervisor with crisis counselling backround. Just be sure to look back when you walk away, because most likely they are giving you the finger for being such an ASS.

3. Never mind, be tactful!! On a recent trip, I was stuck in Toronto heading to Ottawa from Sudbury and I was going to be delayed or even cancelled due to a snow storm. The flights were all backed up and it was doubtful I was going to make my conference in Ottawa. And you know what happens when I don't make my gigs? I don't get paid..PROBLEM! But I displayed my vivacious personality and got on the next flight. One poor SOB who as a real prick got bumped because he brushed the counter attendants the wrong way and yours truly made it on the flight, which resulted in me getting paid.

4. Embrace the experience. It's amazing what you see when you’re at the airport. There was one time I was travelling from Fairbanks Alaska to Seattle when this lady's dog shit all over portable kennel. Man that was funny; it stunk up the front section of the plane. Travelling can be a drag, but it can be a funny. At other peoples expense, hopefully.

5. Dress for it. There are some business folks that dress up for travelling because they head right their meetings from the airport, so they have to. If you don't have to, dress for comfort. I was reminded by this by Bob Izumi; he was dressed in his usual golf shirt and khakis. Dressed to kill....fish.

6. Watch TV. You never know who you will run into. I was in Montreal and I saw that Canadian Tire dude with the salt and pepper beard, glasses and 80's hair do. I called home and talked with my "old moccasin" and she had no clue who I was talking about. So watch TV, if you don't then you'll never fully appreciate the has been hockey star, TV anchor or Première of Nunavut your sitting beside.

And finally, most importantly..............

This is not my finest moment, but here it is.

7, 8, 9, 10. Go the washroom before getting on the plane!! Man I was thirsty, I hadn't drank anything for a while so I picked up a bottle of water in Thunder Bay before jumping on my 1:30 minute flight to Sudbury. I could feel a sensation in my bladder when they called my flight, but I decided against going to the can, and I proceeded to board the plane. 20 minutes into the flight, I could feel the pressure building and building and building. I was in trouble. I tried to sleep, hoping it would go away. But I couldn't, the pressure was too much. I looked in the back of the plane, and the last two seats were empty so I ran back and sat down. I told the lady who was in the second last row to go sit up in my seat because I was going to unleash the hounds. She looked at me with a disgusting look and moved. "Do what you gotta do." Some guy told me when I told him what I needed to do. So I was set to make history. But where can I store my pee? The emergency kit! Yes! I opened it up and saw a rubber glove. hmm....no way! I always wanted to try that gag with the inflated rubber glove, but not with my pee, so that won't work. The barf bag! Yes! Oh shoot, how I'm I gonna do this? I tried to position myself in a number of ways, it was like Stan Wesley's Urination Karma Sutra Edition. Was it going to be the Peeing Lotus? I decided on the double dragon technique; kneel down between the two seats, facing toward the back of the plane. One and a half barf bags later, my plan was a huge success. The worst part of my ordeal was getting the stuff off the plane, I decided to drape my coat over my arm and conceal the pee under the coat. It worked, yes!! As I walked around the Sudbury airport, I felt that everyone was looking at me as if they all knew what I did.



A few things that could maybe save your life, or least your reputation.

Heading to washroom now, they just called my flight. Prince Rupert, here I come!

My Point of view as I wait for my plane to Prince Rupert. The washroom is just off the right.

Running Week In Review

June 17 - 23, 2007...

Distance: 45.68 kms
Time: 3:57:44
Total Since September 24, 2006: 1209kms

My best week yet: October 8 - 14
Distance: 73.10 km
Time: 6:47:16

Have you ever had a moment in your life when you acheive something and have said to yourself "I don't know if it could better than this?" I have, it was the week of October 8-14 when I ran 73.10km. I've used that week as a basis of trying to achieve a new level of success. It's hard though, it's like trying to make a Bannock better than my mom's, or a rice pudding better than my late grandmother's. It's tough to do.

This week has been great, I have had some wonderful runs. The highlight, of course, was the Tom Longboat run. It was inspiring to run with people and feel the encouragement from other people. Usually running is a solitary activity, I decide to head out the door alone and take off in and get caught up my own world.

Running works!! I was struggling with something this week. I was a little stumped on my speech for the JC Hill School Grad luncheon, so I went for a run without my ipod to get my brain greased up. And what do you know, it worked! Unleashing the inner Monkey Dog was born. I am pleased to report, that it's sticking. I have heard some great feedback from students and parents about how effective that statement was.

I'm just about to head out to Prince Rupert BC for a conference. I'm not sure what my distance is going to be next week, sometimes I have a hard time fitting in a good run when I work 14 hour days. I'm hoping to have another 40 km week. I'm going to push myself, and boldly say 50 km. GULP!!

We had about 40 people show up for this year's Steppin' into 2007 up in Moose Factory. The temperature was warm for January 1st. I was hoping it would be cold (-20 or so) but I beleive ot was only about -5. I want to thank my mom and dad for co-sponsering this event.

What a great way to celebrate being...Cree and Me!

Happy Aboriginal Solidarity Day. June 21, 2007...

Thanks to Michelle, Dave and Lleyton, I was turned onto the Tom Longboat run. What a great experience.

TIME: 45:08

DISTANCE: 9.2 Kilometres

FEELING: Tired. It was a tough course; gradual hills really took a toll on me. "Oh my body." I guess it didn't help that I ran a fast 10 k the night before. I usually give myself 24 hours between runs, since I only gave myself 12, I felt surprisingly good. Thanks dad on your Advil advice, I popped a few before the run and it helped.

INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT: 11 year kid, who ran the entire course. He was in the lead most of the way, and only got passed by people 3 and 4 times his age.

THE MOMENT I FELT LIKE ROLLING IN THE DITCH: 38 minutes in, we turned onto 5th line and the sun was shining right on my face. It really hit me, I was wiped baby.

HOW IT FELT LIKE TO GET PASSED? Pretty good, only three people passed me. Although it wasn't a race, I wanted to fair well so I stayed in the front of the pack.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION MOMENT: This is a big moment in the Six Nations community, it celebrates the accomplishments of Tom Longboat, a world class runner, and it also celebrates the great athletes within the Six Nations community. Chief David General made special mention to me, being a Cree from up north. He wanted to make mention of that people are travelling long distances to join in the 8th annual run.



Here's my friend Joon and I right after we finished. Way to go Joon!!

Michelle, Lleyton, Dave, Bruce, Shaley, Joon and Pancho. We are standing with the many tropheys brought home by Tom Longboat.

Dave and Lleyton chilling out after the event. Lleyton and Dave biked the course. Lleyton did awesome. Look at him, he didn't even brake a sweat.

Dave Davey and I after he crossed the finish line. Check him out, he's all set for a wet t-shirt contest. Dave ran the whole course, I am impressed with his level of fitness.

Dave is a good friend to my mother an father. So mom and dad, this one's for you.

Have a great day everyone.

Turning up the heat, monkey dog style

On June 18, 2007...

I was invited to attend the JC Hill School year end graduation luncheon as a guest speaker. I knew it was going to challenging, because I was competing against food. And whenever people go up against food, food always kicks every speakers butt. I came armed with a secret weapon.......

The Monkey Dog!! What is a Monkey Dog you ask? Well it's almost like the Six Nations version of Big Foot which is a mythical figure that people have heard about and only a select few have been lucky enough to see.

Although I didn't physically have the Monkey Dog with me, I found a neat way to incorporate the Monkey Dog in my speech. When people see the Monkey Dog, it's exciting! People ask questions, they laugh and it's somewhat of a celebration because the allusive Monkey Dog does exist and perhaps people get pumped that they may see it one day. I challenged people to find and show off their inner Monkey Dog. That beautiful, unique personality that only a select few get to see, because we tend to let others influence what we should do, say and think. So other words, just be yourself....Show off your inner Monkey Dog.

On June 18, 2007 at 1:20pm, I kicked some food ass. The meat, starch, corn soup, pumpkin pie, fruit tray, vegetable tray, vegetable dip, apple pie, mashed potatoes, scone, beef, gravy, ham, macaroni and lasagne could not compete with me. Definitely one of my better appearances.

Thank you JC Hill School and Home and School for asking me to attend.


Here I am giving it my all.

I'm not a stage boy, let me stand in the crowd so I can be close to the people.

A true measure of a man, my father

Its days like this, I miss my family. I feel so far away, but thanks to my strong connection with my parents and my family, I feel like I'm sitting around my folks oval shaped table along with my brothers, sister, sister-in-law, my three nephews, my lovely niece and my amazing parents enjoying a great home cooked meal prepared by the loving hands of my mom.

Today being father’s day, I can’t help but ask myself...What is a true measure of a man, my father?

Here are a few things I am thinking about.....

His strong devotion to God and his work through God to serve the people of the community. I call home and my mom will often say "Oh your dad is out at a meeting, you know him, he's always getting involved in things."

I recall the time in North Bay, my father and I were walking around looking in a few music shops. "Ouch!!!" A bee snuck up on me and stung me in the neck. My father looked at me and said "are you going to be okay son?" I told him I was fine, but just to be sure; he wrapped one arm around my shoulder and walked with me down the street. I felt so close to my dad, I didn't want him to let me go.

His unconditional support and love for his children. This is true for both my parents, their love for us, myself as well my brother and sister, is never in question. It's so easy to be there in the best of times, but to willingly want to be there in the worst of times is something powerful. My parents once said, "one of things that hurts us the most, is when the our children are hurting, and we wish there was a way we could take the pain away and carry it for you." And as someone who has felt a fair amount of pain, I am thankful for the pain. The experience in having dealt with my losses, the grief, the defeat, the humiliation. What makes that pain I have felt tolerable is knowing that I never walk alone; my parents love and support always get me through.

My brothers have a strong connection with my father; they hunt, trap, fish, and go outdoors with him. My sister has a strong connection to my father; she is his baby, his only daughter. And I do to, we work together. There is no other man I would rather have stand with me in my work, my dad has proven to me and people all over the country that he a man of wisdom, integrity and a great sense of humour. He is so versatile, able to connect with any group and any age.

Are these a true measure of a man, my father? Partially, but I feel the true greatness of my father or the true measure of a man, as I am referring to, is what I have learned about him as a man. A man who is not a picture of perfection but strives to be the best he can be. A man who struggles from time to time, but remain strong in his convictions. A man who made mistakes as a father, but as proved his manhood to his children to say "I'm sorry." A man who is still my hero.

This is a true measure of a man, my father.

I love you dad, today and always.

Stan

Here we are in Norway House, Manitoba at one of our highly successful conferences, Walking to The Beat of Your Drum. These incredible youth in the picture are the youth mentors of Norway House.


My father looking his best in a place where I'm sure he feels his best, on the land.

In the summer of 2004 my parents Bed and Breakfast and my company sponsored a goose plucking contest. Here is my father preparing the contestants and the crowd prior to the event. I'm just like him, I love the attention. That's where I get it from.

My father's no HACK!! Although he's in the hack preparing for a big shot during the 2004 Michael Trapper Memorial Gathering.

Stan Wesley, the interview

At 1pm this afternoon...

Lenny Carpenter, reporter from Wawatay News in Sioux Lookout called me to do an on-line interview for the new Youth Newspaper, Celebrate Life! With the Seventh Generation. I had the pleasure of meeting Lenny before in Attawapiskat. He's a good looking, gentle young man, and I immediately liked him. I thought, here is a cool kid, who likes reporting the news that will empower our people. He likes reporting good human interest pieces.


Here I am at my computer in the zone.


Here I am at my computer struggling. He gave me a run for my play money. The questions were at times challenging.

Here is something I wrote for my final comment....

I love watching movies with superheros, because they do stuff that we can only dream of doing. If you play it right, you do can you do only that you thought you could never do by only taking a chance and a risk. You too can be a superhero.

I think it was inspired by a movie I saw last night, Fantastic Four II. Thanks to Joe, Aisha and Carrara for having me along.

Peer Helpers workshops a great success!!

On June 15, 2007...

The Peer Helpers of JC Hill School finished up their Peer Education workshops today, and it was awesome.

The proudest moments of my work is not when I do a great job, it's when I see young people taking charge making a difference.

I am so humbled to have worked in such a progressive school, with an administration and staff who recognized the need to invest significant time in helping young people succeed outside of the class. Special thank you to Mr.s Louise Jill, Principal of JC School. She is retiring after this school year. And the kids, what an amazing bunch of young people. The best I have ever worked with! The grade 6, 7, 8's have not only made a difference in the school, but also in me. I thank them for trusting me and allowing me to work with them.

Here is Geri, Felecia, Holden and Chase presenting their workshop in Bullying. Check out how well this class is paying attention.

Here I am with the Peer Helpers.

Last but not least, I also want to thank Michelle for being the backbone for this program. She initiated this, and without her help, this opportunity for JC students would not have been possible.

Rockin' out at "We Will Rock You"

On June 13, 2007...

Wow, what a great play!!! It didn't hurt that I was sitting in the........FRONT ROW!!! What a treat, the play was absolutely amazing. It was a great blend of drama, humour, many interesting references to music of the present as well as the past, and even more references and live performances to the music of Queen.

I was a fan of the band before, but I really appreciated the many great hits of Queen and the versatility of their music. At times it felt like a live concert and the crowd as going absolutely crazy.

All the music was accompanied by a live band, which was incorporated into the play in the last scene. That favourite scene was in the encore during when they sang Bohemian Rhapsody, the entire cast was on stage singing and dancing and the gates opened up and out came the lead guitarist for the famous guitar solo. It was like the gates to a universe known as Freddy Mercury opened up for a taste of true beauty of music. But alas, the guitarist turns back and walks off stage, and the gates close back up and we all must live out our time here on earth surrounded by crappy music.

As awesome as the play was there were a few things the annoyed me. For one, the cast couldn't even properly air guitar the guitar. They were holding their guitars and strumming them as if they were strumming a bass and there was a real lack of rythym. There were times I felt a little uncomfortable in the front row, because there is stuff you can see that you can't see from the back rows. For example, HAIR. Man, some of those male cast members were blessed or cursed (depending how you see it) with a lot of body shag. Depending on the costumes, it was like a flock of beavers dancing around on stage. I thought of donating somebody max to the Canon Theatre. Once I could see past the thick patches, I settled down and felt comfortable.

What a great experience sitting in the front row though. I could have reached out and touched someone, I was that close. Oh baby, let me tell you, I wanted to at times. Thanks to my buddy Joe for holding me back, which would have surely got me kicked me out.

Here's Joe and I from in the front row. Thanks to Aisha for taking this picture that got her a tongue lashing for taking an unauthorized pic.

What a great play, I highly recommend it. I can't see how live theatre can get any better than We Will Rock You.

My work in the safe SEX industry Part 2

I have no shame in my game. Although some would call me lame for doing what some would say is reserved for a dame, I overcame the defame of my masculine name. I'm not shy about taking risks to celebrate personal fame.

Here I am at the salon getting applied powder for the photo shoot. I have such a t-zone problem I oil up very quickly, so extra powder was required. It was funny, my look is so low maintenance, and I only took about 30 seconds to get ready, while everyone else was in the salon for a few hours.

Peer helpers making me proud

On June 10, 2007...

I have been working for Six Nations Police Service under the Community Service Section as a trainer for their Peer Helping Program in JC Hill School in Ohsweken. It's been a learning experience for me and my friends at Six Nations Police. Having to coordinate in such a productive school. I tell you, that school is awesome. They always have so much going on, and sometimes it's hard to get scheduled in. This is a reflection on the school, and also a reflection how busy I am travelling throughout the year.

Anyhow, the school year is almost done and we wanted to end off with a bang. We had a meeting today doing our final preparations for our peer helper workshops. Our peer helpers are divided up into three groups, all delivering a different workshop, Healthy Relationships, Self-esteem, and Bullying.

Here is a picture of our meeting today. These young people are absolutely amazing! I've seen them in action, preparing and practicing their workshops. They are making a difference, and will continue to so. These young people are going places, I so honoured to be working with them.

We have grades 6’s and 7’s tomorrow, and grade 8’s on Friday.

My work in the safe SEX industry

On June 6th and 7th, 2007...



I was up in North Bay working for the Union of Ontario Indians HIV/AIDS program. My good friend Jody Cotter came calling looking for a model on a Billboard to be posted on Highway 17 just a few kilometres west of North Bay on the Nippissing First Nation Territory.

I think I found my true calling! How do you say....oh yes, supermodel. Maybe not super, but definitely spirited. What a cool experience. Our photographer, Ed Regan, really brought out the best in us. With phases like...

"Look through the camera."
"I'm not feeling it Stan, I feel like you can give me more."
"Come on tiger, give it to me."
"Light it up man."

Okay, I think he brought out the best in them. I actually had a hard time. I usually go into every situation confident, that I can do the job, but this time it found it hard to really work it in front of a camera. It wasn't the condom that I was holding; those bad boys are my friends. I don't know what it was; but I found it difficult to unleash the blue steal.

My initial feeling about in my involvement in the billboard was...concern. Concern for all those drivers, they better widen the lanes or have some emergency vehicles standing by, because it's going to get dangerous. Speed + Me + Sex = Chaos.

But seriously, I was honoured and excited. I've been thinking for quite some time that there is going to be some serious spread of HIV/AIDS up north if people continue having unprotected sex.

Since we just shot last week, the pics are not out yet. When they are, you will see them here first.

So keep checking me out. You never know, you may learn something.

Wonderful time in Waswanipi

During the week of June 4 – 7, 2007...

I was invited to do some work with the youth in my second home, Waswanipi Quebec. I have been there so much in the last few years; my contacts in Waswanipi have sincerely turned in to family and friends.

Also in Waswanipi were Mervin and Carol Anne Cheechoo, the loving parents of Jonathan Cheechoo, the other pride and joy from Moose Factory. Who is the other pride and joy you ask? Isn’t it obvious?

Mervin and Carol Anne were presenting their session, Parenting with Confidence Seminar. I have known Mervin and Carol Anne for years, and they are such wonderful people. It was an honour to be in the same community while they did their workshops with the parents, I did work with the youth on being a positive part of family.



Here is Mervin and I at the radio station. We were on the air talking about our work in the community.

Julie-Anne Cooper and I down at the gathering place.

Gloria Jolly and I, once again, at the gathering place.

On Wednesday night, we had a cookout and all my young friends showed up. We were planning on having some games and activities as well, but I just couldn't compete with all the food. The kids and I were having so much eating, telling stories and laughing. We managed to squeeze in a few games once they were done eating.

I have always admired Waswanipi for all the events that they offer the community. It's always a pleasure to work in a community that is so dedicated to the health and wellness of their people.

Thank you my friends and family from Waswanipi.

Mexico, what a trip!!

From May 26 - June 2, 2007...

I took a little journey down to Los Cabos, Mexico. It is located on the southern tip of the Baja California, which is the Peninsula on the upper west coast of Mexico, just below California, USA. I decided to go 3 days prior, I said "what the heck, let's go." I said this to myself of course, because I went alone.

Here are a few pictures of my vacation.

Just ran down, jumped in the sand and snapped this pic. Check out those legs, you should see them now. Brown, like over cooked, crispy turkey.

My new friend, Jesus Miguel Garcia Rodriguez. He saved a lady's life in the pool just before this photo was taken. Look at him, he's so collected. If I saved someone's life, I would surely be struttin' around less sleepy looking as him.
He was introducing me to his beautiful family. He wanted to introduce me to his youngest son (I forget his name) but he refused to come over. I think because he knew we were speaking english. His excuse, "I'm taking a holiday from my english." He told his father. Good one kid, I wish I could say that.

With looks like that, I totally passed for local. I'm not referring to my good looks, my brown skin of course. Many of the locals couldn't believe that I wasn't Mexican or I couldn't even speak and understand the language.

The town square of San Jose Del Cabo. A cute little town of about 40,000 people. It's the town capital of the county, so it’s a fairly rich city compared to other neighbouring communities.

Here I am in Cabo San Lucas overlooking the town. Quite the view I must say.

This picture was taken a few days after I got my Mexican name, Pancho Pelle Caliente. Luis at the leather shop did a double take looking at me thinking I was his Tequila drinking cousin. I was named after him.

Here I am on the southern point of Baja California. Right now, I'm on the Sea of Cortez side. On the other side of the point is the Pacific Ocean.

I did the trip on my own, definitely out of my character. I get all my energy from being around people, so this was a different trip for me. What a great experience. I look forward to my next trip.

Wacheay my friends

Here it is, my blog. Greetings to my family, friends around the country. This has a cool way of keeping in touch with people you don't get to see on a daily basis, or even a monthly basis at that.

After checking out my dear friends Aisha, Joe and Carrara's blog, I thought whatever they can do, I can surely try and do too. So yes, they have inspired me. I have enjoyed their posts very much so, and although I live 20 minutes away, in some respects it feel like I live just next door and I am always welcome to visit daily by just logging on.

Welcome, come on over anytime.