Started the day at the farmers' market, which is just outside the center of San Jose, down a long dusty path to an open field -- the Mexican version of where the Grateful Dead would play. I was a little nervous when all I saw were stands selling clothes, local crafts and honey, but we walked to the end of the field under a tall Mesquite tree where we found the fresh vegetables. The scene was like something out of a painting, it was so beautiful.

First I hadn't seen a tree this tall in Mexico and marveled at its size as well as the shade given by its ample arbor. Then there were the big wooden crates filled with tomatoes: red, teardrop, plum and cherry. There were beets and radishes and lovely lettuces in large galvanized pans, and the whole place smelled of freshly picked Mexican basil. When we were done shooting, we all had a handmade sopa from the woman with a tiny coal-burning make-shift stove, who kept repositioning her freshly made corn cakes over the hottest part of the fire, smearing them first with beans, then salsa and then cheese. Wash it all down with a honey lemonade or mint hibiscus tea and you have a perfect meal. A single acoustic guitarist was doing a very good job capturing the vivacity of the Gypsy Kings with his six strings. We were all sad to leave.

Day 2

While in Cabo, I got to do some pretty fun activities, like zip-line tour across the canyons, which I was excited about from the start. I have done a few zip-line tours now, but always through the canopies of rainforests. Gliding across a canyon sounds a lot more thrilling to me, and it was. Being out in the open like that and seeing birds of prey circling not much higher than you is very cool. At the end of the tour, participants are treated to handmade blue corn quesadillas with fresh salsas. I think my favorite activity was a ride in a clear-plastic kayak. I've never hidden my fear of being underwater, and in the eight years I have been with the Travel Channel, I have had to go snorkeling more times than I care to remember. The clear kayak allows you to see what's below you. It was a very difficult scene to shoot, seeing that cameraman Paul and soundman Tony were in a kayak of their own, paddling while doing their jobs, as well as doing their best not to get their extremely valuable equipment wet. We were hugging the coastline and then paddled farther out to sea.

We were facing the coast when my eye caught something moving right where we once were. I dismissed it as a wave when the wave suddenly reared higher, and it turned into the beautiful and awesome sight of a whale passing by. I instinctively let out an excited scream. What a fantastic way to see a whale, in an unobtrusive kayak, so close to the water that this mammoth elegant creature was in. We all felt better after seeing the whale and were hoping that we would see him come up again, but we saw that three other motorboats, including one large catamaran, were all zeroing in. My guide, Michele, said that the whale would know the sound of the motorboats and would not come back up until it absolutely had to. I thought about how amazing it would have been to be in the exact same place as the whale, had we not moved. Oh well, even from afar, it was wonderful.

The Cabo Crew Michael Petrella, Ginny Somma, Mushy, Christina, Paul Kloss and Tony our audio guy for the trip.

Eating hand-made Sopa's sitting on a grassy field. It's the best lunch break you could ever ask for.

I was standing next to this man who was selling these balloons when he just handed it to me to see what it would feel like to hold 50 of them. It felt pretty great.