As luck would have it...

Our doomed vacation to Cancun suddenly shaped up to be something wonderful!  I hate to benefit from the misery of others but our trip to Cancun, a place I don't love, was cancelled due to Wilma.  Instead, we were able to book tickets to Cabo San Lucas for only $18 more.  Cabo is not really our dream vacation either, but we found this wonderful spot about 2 hours north on the sea of Cortez called Cabo Pulmo.  The first night we will stay at a big "upscale" resort in Cabo so we can check out the town, have a margarita, see the hoopla.  Then we go to the grocery, load up the car and head north to Cabo Pulmo for 6 glorious nights!  It is a national marine park, and home to the only living coral reef on the pacific side of things along the interior of Baja Sur.  The area is called the East Cape.  The community is pretty rustic, not a touristy place.  There is only solar power to homes, propane refrigerators, etc.  I told Joe the planets are going to have to align to make this a good vacation at the last minute and I believe they did.  A woman who went to college in Fort Collins owns "the only luxury property in Cabo Pulmo."  Apparently, a family that had reserved the week cancelled at the last minute. The villa normally rents for $350 per night, $500 per night in the high season. But because she needed to rent it on the fly, we got it for no more than a regular hotel room in Cabo. We rented an immense private villa with everything you could want.  It actually sleeps around 12 people, so we will be floating around in the place.  You walk right out the door to a big covered sleeping patio on the beautiful white beach.  You can snorkel from shore, there is scuba diving, big game fishing for Joe (if he catches anything we can grill it right on our secluded beach), and we are told there are wild horses that "play in the tide" according to the owner.  I'm guessing they are not wild but belong to a local .  All water toys and gear are even included. A family called the Castros runs things when the owner is not around.  They take care of everything, including bringing fresh tamales and homemade tortillas to your patio each afternoon.  Various trucks come from La Paz throughout the week with fresh produce, locally caught seafood, fresh baked goods, etc.  I can't wait to see it!  As for Dia de los Muertos, we won't impose ourselves on the community unless invited.  We leave Thursday, get home the following Friday.  I will keep a journal of my experiences and transpose later. Any good reading suggestions for lounging on the beach? Nothing gut-wrenching or intellectually taxing, it is vacation!