Just one week ago today, the alarm went off shortly before 5:00 am, the radio came on and we were greeted by the news that the temperature was hovering around zero. It felt like the height of luxury to roll over and say to my husband, "But we're going to Mexico!" And so we headed out to O'Hare for a flight to Los Cabos - the "twin" cities of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. DH had a conference there starting on Monday, so he went a little early and we made a long weekend of it.

When you arrive at the open air lobby of the Westin, you are given a Margarita to sip while you enjoy the amazing views.

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Then you wind your way through the courtyard, enjoying the creative architecture and design.

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Finally, you reach your room. Every room faces the Sea of Cortez, which is an amazing shade of blue.

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The surf is rather rough, so you're better off relaxing poolside.

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And then a murmur goes around the pool deck, and you hear the word, "Whales!" You spot what looks like a wisp of steam not too far off the beach, and then you see something black rise out of the water. The gray whales are just off shore, and quite active. Unfortunately, they are very difficult to capture with a basic camera, but the black speck near the horizon, to the left of the volleyball net, is a whale.

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You can find more domesticated animals in unusual locations. This rooster had the run of a bar called The Giggling Marlin. He was quiet most of the time, but when the song, "Come On, Eileen" was played, he crowed incessantly. I thought that perhaps someone told him the song was by Dexy's Midnight Roosters.

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The ultimate luxury was having a massage in one of the beach cabanas.

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And one touch that I loved was that they raked the beach sand into patterns.

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It was a wonderful mini-vacation, and very hard to come home on Monday!

V.