Zihuatanejo and other ramblings

I realize as I write this post that the title really doesn't apply to most of the content, but I had to start somewhere.  We both are finding it more difficult to make the daily or even weekly posts that we managed to do last year.  We first thought that we weren't as enthused because much of the area covered this year was a repeat of last year, but here we are in Zihuatanejo, a totally new and exciting place for us and still no blog posts.  Until now.

We arrived here in Z-Town two weeks ago and we are heading south tomorrow.  We've had a great time here.  We are anchored in the main bay with about 25 other boats.  The dinghy ride into town is only about two short minutes.  I don't even bother putting the dinghy wheels up, but opt to simply let them drag in the water below the keel of the dinghy.  At shore there are a couple of guys, Jesus and Alphonso, that meet you as you come up to the beach.  For a small ten pesos tip they assist with getting the dinghy out of the water and rolled up above the high water line on the beach.  While your gone they provide security to ensure that your dinghy is still there when you return.  And, when you do return, no matter what hour, they assist with getting it back into the water and give you a good push off into the surf.  Essentially they are dinghy valets.  Such a deal.

Once in town, there is a wonderful malecon full of restaurants, bars and shops.  We of course went directly to El Cafecito, the best coffee and espresso in Zihuatanejo, and quickly made friends with the owner and staff.  From that point on they know our drink and would automatically bring it to the table when we arrived.  During the heat of the day it can be fairly quiet in town, but as the sun sets, the town comes to life.  There are all kinds of taco stands and various other eating options that simply appear from nowhere.  We loved it.  But by about 10 PM, unlike most other Mexican towns, the city settles down and becomes very quite for the evening.

We managed to make it up to the old mercado just about everyday to buy a few things and eat at Irma's Fonda, our favorite lunch spot.  The mercado is the best we've seen.  They have everything from hardware to fruits and vegetables to fresh squeezed juice, fresh meat and fish, delicious baked goods and of course the fondas.  Near the mercado are numerous other businesses where you could find just about anything you needed.

Any discussion about our stay in Zihuatanejo would not be complete without talking about the Super Bowl.  We of course began searching out the best place in town to watch the game almost from the first trip into town.  Our search ended with us watching the game right at the end of the municipal pier in a second floor restaurant and bar overlooking the bay.  What a wonderful spot to see our home town team simply crush the Denver Broncos.  It is great to see the Seattle Seahawks take it all the way.  It's been a long time coming.

A short narrative of some of our shore adventures:

We mentioned earlier in the narrative about the fondas. Fondas are lunch counters run by the ladies. The food is generally of local flavor, cheap and prepared much like you would find in a Mexican home. The kitchen is open to view, the seating is at a counter and everyone finds room on the bench for lunch. The prices range from 18 pesos for a beer to 60 pesos for a platter of fish, fajitas or a combination of any Mexican specialty items. Beans and rice are included. The fonda usually has one lady making corn tortillas by hand. always delicious. Our favorite fonda was like eating at home. The ladies recognize you, engage in conversation and make sure you are well fed. Cost for a killer lunch for two is 100 pesos for us. That's around $8.00 USD and includes the beer.

We took the bus with some friends on a day outing to explore the other side of the bay at Ixtapa. The town was nothing more than a planned community of condos, big hotels and resorts. The marina was pretty deserted. They have a beautiful beach which was great for walking but nowhere to stop in for a beverage or lunch. All the resorts have guards at the beach entrance and the use of facilities are for guests of that resort only. Very strange and unwelcoming if you are a visiting cruiser. We didn't stay long and were very happy with our decision to anchor off z-town. The next bus adventure was to a small working town called Petatlan. This town was written up for three special things. They have a huge church by Mexico standards. It is said that the location was visited by holy spirit (s) and thus the church is very special in the overall scheme of things. The church was lovely and the business of selling prayer candles was going strong. The other two attractions are the cabrito tamales and gold jewelry manufacture. We could not find a tamale stand but did ask a policeman whom appeared to like his food where we could go for the best cabrito. He pointed the way to a taco stand on a side street. It was thumping! We ordered a taco each....after the long bus ride we felt we needed something to make the journey worthwhile! The cabrito was good but one was enough. Finally we walked down the street and viewed way too many storefronts selling gold jewelry. Julie and Ken pleaded to go back to Z-town. We agreed, practically running to the bus and jumped on. It was an interesting outing but we were less than excited by the rewards. 

To recover from the Petalan experience Julie suggested a trip to a Park Bio. We took a cab the following day. The cab driver tried to take us to the wrong place but we realized when he got to the hiway and had him turn around. The park was well marked with signage once we got on the right road. It turned out to be a wonderful day of relaxation. A French Canadian woman and her Mexican husband have turned their 10 acres of land into an oasis. There are many areas developed to house local animals of the region including insects, snakes, birds of prey, water reptiles and water fowl and mammals. The animals all are well kept and interact with her to an amazing degree. It is not the kind of place where you see exploited animals in poor health. The most fascinating of information was about the insects and spiders. I was very impressed by the time our 90 minute walkabout was finished. After the tour we had lunch at the restaurant and she showed us a room you can rent at their villa. It was very luxurious. They have an infinity pool which overlooks the bay of Zihautanejo. She supplies the towels and visitors are encouraged to spend the rest of the day at the pool relaxing. I felt like we were at the 4Seasons in Punta Mita. The only thing missing was the cabana boy spritzing us with Evian water.

We are now provisioned and ready to depart tomorrow at high noon.  The plan is to make an overnight run to Acapulco (about 20 hours), where we will stop for fuel only and then motor around to Puerto Marques, just to the south.  A quick overnight there and then on to Huatulco, yet another two days and nights further south.  We will wait out the Tehuantepec winds there before heading direct to El Salvador. I'm sure we'll have much to say about that when the time comes.


But before we go there, there is still much to say about getting from Barra de Navidad, our last blog post, to Zihuatanejo.

We had a great stay in Barra (about a week).  We were mostly anchored off in the lagoon, but spent our last two nights at the marina.  Barra is a great town.  Water taxis pick you up at your boat or from the marina and ferry you into town.  Again, our favorite spot was La Brueja, yes another coffee shop. Janets's cousin lives in Barra and we connected with them for dinner one night.  Dictating the timing of our departure south was the Seahawk vs SF 49er game.  We watched the game at one of the local restaurants with a crowd of Seahawks fans.  It was great fun.

After leaving Barra, we headed about 20 miles south to Santiago Bay where we spent three nights.  One day we caught a bus into Manzanillo and spent the afternoon touring the town.  Not much to say really. The city is home to Mexico's largest port facility so it is very industrialized with lots of container ships coming and going and containers stacked everywhere.

We then motored across the bay to Las Hadas, a large, up scale resort with a wonderful beach and small anchorage.  Other than the pool at the resort, which you had to pay $200 MXP to tie up your dinghy to use, there really isn't much to say.  Because of the cost of landing the dinghy we felt somewhat trapped.  On our second night they set up a huge stage and the rumor was that Gloria Trevi, one of the top Latin American singers was to play a concert that night.  The stage was facing out toward the water and it appeared to be a corporate event of some sort.  We decided it was time to go and pulled anchor at about 8 PM to make the two night passage to Zihuatenejo.  Friends from sv Nekko who were anchored next to us said that we didn't miss much.

The passage was uneventful and you now know the whole story.

Zihuatanejo  has been a great stopover!

The resort at the marina in Barra de Navidad.  You can
just see Talos IV's bow in the foreground.

The sign says "Closed, out surfing".  Not what you want
to see on the door of your favorite coffee shop first
thing in the morning.

Tia enjoying the cool morning air.

Janet keeping watch as we rounded the corner into
Santiago Bay.

The beach at Santiago.

The Manzanillo malecon.  Paul is dwarfed by the
size of the artwork.

Paul always has to be in charge.

We're pretty sure the pilot boats they use today to
guide the freighters in are a bit larger than this.

Manzanillo Harbor is a busy place.

The Las Hadas resort from the deck of Talos IV at
anchor in the bay.

We really wanted to get our monies worth for
the dinghy landing so we took a stroll
up through the resort.

Janet posing for a photo op.

The beach at Zihuatenejo.

The Navy base at Zihuatenejo.

The old mercado.  They had everything you needed to
provision.

A $45 MXP lunch of chille rellenos, beans and rice at
Irma's Fonda in the mercado.

Janet enjoying a swim in the pool at Parque Bio overlooking
the Zihuatenejo Bay.  If you look closely you can
see Talos IV anchored right about in the middle.

This hawk just couldn't get enough head scratching.
Parque Bio was a wonderful visit.

Bahia Bandaras to Tenacatita

The run south to Tenacatita and then on to Barra de Navidad would include stops at Ipala and Chamela. The goal was to avoid an overnight passage by making multiple stops.  Last year we made the overnight run both heading south and again when we came north.  It takes a bit longer this way, but is much more relaxing and enjoyable and hey isn't that why were out here doing this.

After leaving Yelapa we headed off shore a few miles to give Cabo Corientes a good wide margin.  The cape is known for its nasty winds and waves and the closer to shore you are the more enhanced it can all be.  For us though it was not to be.  We motored in light wind and light seas.  It was one of our easier passages.  It was a long day though and our stop in Ipala was a welcomed respite.  We arrived just before sunset and after getting the anchor set jumped in for a swim in the now 80 degree water. Dinner and we were off to bed quite early for our run further south to Chamela.

The next morning we were again off at sunrise for yet another long day for the run to Chamela. Enroute we had many whale sittings to keep us invigorated. The coast along this stretch is known as the Happy Coast and it pretty much lived up to that reputation today as we made our way again under motor and light sea conditions. When we arrived in Chamela there were about 8 other boats already there.  We did our usual thing and proceeded in past the others and dropped anchor close in and just off the beach. We dropped the dinghy in the water and went ashore to stretch our legs.

The following morning we went back into town for breakfast at our favorite jazz cafe.  We met up with Nancy from sv Shindig who informed us that Rob was under the weather and at the doctors office.  There is a bug working its way through the fleet.  After breakfast we were back to Talos IV and underway by noon for what turned out to be a fantastic day of sailing as we worked our way down to Tenacatita.

We motored out of Chemela and once clear of the islands that lie just to the south end of the bay we hoisted the sails in winds off the beam at about 10 knots.  Seas were flat and Talos IV was at her best. Winds shifted forward and increased to about 13 knots a bit later and we were making great time as we headed south.  More whale sights capped off a wonderful day.  We literally sailed right into the anchorage, dropping our sails just before motoring in to set the anchor.  I wish they could all be like this.

Our plan is to stay here in Tenacatita for a few days and then head into Barra de Navidad.  Days were filled with kayak paddels to the beach and swimming in the incredibly warm water.  One day we motored over to La Manzanilla on the SE corner of the bay.  Paul wanted to watch the Seahawks vs New Orleans game.  It was great to walk the streets and hit some of the spots we stopped at last year, especially the espresso shop at the end of town.  And of course, topping off the day was the Seahawks victory, setting the stage for this next weeks game vs the San Francisco 49'ers.

Sorry no pics to post.  It seems that all the photos we took last year are enough for now.

Yelapa

After a wonderful stay in La Cruz and a great visit from friends up north it was time to leave.  We headed to Yelapa across the bay on the south side of Bahia Bandaras. It is a quaint fishing village that also caters to the tourist. There are many palapas on the beach, lots of vacatrion rentals and water taxis that scoot you to and fro.

There is no road to Yelapa. The streets are cobbled paths and you see many horses and burros. No cars! We hiked to one of the waterfalls and found a pretty good bakery. The shore excursion was capped by a couple of beers at the palapa and a water taxi back to the boat.

We are currently on a mooring ball that they charge $200 MXP to tie up to.  What a rolly night it was. As the boat swung with the wind we were side to the incoming swell.  Probably one of the most uncomfortable overnight stays we've had.  We left for Ipala at first light. It was good to be underway again.

We were greeted by one of the locals when we went ashore.

There are no roads in Yelapa, just cobble stone paths and
the best way to get around town is by burro.

Waterfall above the village.

Talos IV on the mooring ball in Yelapa.

Mazatlan to La Cruz (Bandaras Bay)

We had sun, light winds, more winds, clouds, rain, lightening, thunder and steep short seas that carried us from Mazatlan to San Blas. Emma and mark were good sports and managed the discomforts in good humor. Tia got sea sick

The plan was to stop at Isla Isabelle after an 18 hour passage for a day of exploration and spend the night at anchor. We arrived at the island with first light to find the anchorage at Isla Isabelle rolling and uncomfortable. We woke Emma up so she could say she had been there, but Paul and I decided the backup plan was to head for San Blas and stay at the marina. We pulled into San Blas around mid day and everyone was glad for calm conditions, hot showers and a chance to get off the boat.

The four of us explored San Blas and had a great time doing dinner in town that night. The following morning we opted to do the jungle tour and see the cocodrillos. It was fun but the rain and cooler weather kept most of the animal sightings to a minimum. The boys did get to swim in the sweet waters before we headed back into town.

We made a short stop back into town to explore the fort and church. The walk felt great and we were rewarded by sunny skies and a lunch of street meat downtown.  

The next morning we made a quick run into Chacala and dropped anchor. A wet rainy visit kept us from too much exploration, but Emma was relieved to have good WIFI at the local café. We had a cocktail party onboard s/v Aurora who anchored off our stern. What a beautiful boat they have!

Our arrival in La Cruz was graced with more rain. I suspect we had over two inches the next day. Needless to say, we decided not to go to Buceria that day to explore. The following days saw improvement in the weather and allowed us a final 3 days with our guests under sunny skies and warm temps. The final day was spent at Sayulita beaching it, eating well and wondering why the weather was so nasty during the one week we had visitors.

Mark and Emma went with us by bus to the airport. We dropped them off and continued on to the marine supply store. We were able to get everything on the list which made Paul a happy boy. Chris from s/v Scintilla came over later Saturday afternoon and we drank beer and cooked up fire roasted tomatillos and tomato salsa with jalepenos on the BBQ. Yumm! The rest of the time in La Cruz was great in regards to weather. We left the marina to stay at anchor with the rest of the fleet. The dinghy ride into town each day was easy and we finished off the experience by going to the Sunday market for provisions. 

We sailed out of Mazatlan under warm sunny skies.

After a rough crossing with lightning in all quadrants, we
arrived at Isla Isabelle.

Sadly our stay at the island was brief as conditions were
simply not good for an overnight stay.

Tia and Louie made the best of the situation, wondering
when it would all end.

Emma, Mark, Janet and Paul all lined up for the
jungle tour.

The highlight of the trip was a dip in the fresh spring water
at the head of the spring.

Even though it was cloudy with a bit of rain, the boys
managed to have a good time.

Talos IV anchored off the beach in what appears to be
a peaceful, tranquil setting at Chacala.

Moving the camera just a few degrees to the left revealed
a whole different story.  It was Semana Santa and the
Mexicans were out to enjoy themselves.

Mark and Paul hiding under the dodger trying to stay dry
as the rain came down in buckets.

Emma keeping the fury crew company and staying dry
down below.

The clouds brought some beautiful sunsets and sunrises.

Enjoying a meal with Chris, Chris, Mark and Emma at
Tacos on the Street in La Cruz.

Emma and Janet on Puente Beseo (kissing bridge).  They
were just blowing a few kisses our way.

The famous Farmers Market at Marina La Cruz on
Sunday.

Mazatlan

Finally, we will share our trials and joys at being back in Mazatlan. We had a textbook perfect first 12 hours on our crossing from Bonanza towards Mazatlan. The winds were a constant blow off our beam, monitor was working well and life was good. We expected a bit of increase in the winds but nothing too exciting. We reefed down before dark as a routine safety measure and prepared for our night watches. All went well until around midnight when the winds really started cranking at around 25 – 28. The seas became 6-8 ft with a 6 second interval. In short, it was nasty. We felt like we were in a Maytag washer. The heavy rain cells that were forming looked like huge globs of fat on the radar. We ended up fully reefed with the stay sail helping to balance the boat. The foresail was furled.  That strategy worked beautifully as Talos settled down and maintained 6 kts with monitor on the helm. We realized during the crossing that our house battery bank was not maintaining a charge, dropping down to 9 volts. OUCH! The end result was that we arrived in Mazatlan at first light and immediately started planning on how to replace the batteries without having to modify our battery bank vault. Paul determined the age of the AGMs to be 9 years so we certainly got full service from them. In hind site we should have replaced them last year……

The marina at El Cid welcomed us like old friends. We had lots of visitors to the boat once we docked. It seemed that most cruisers had returned within the last week or so. Mazatlan is booming with new construction including some new restaurants which are now some of our favorites. The cruise ships are coming back into port. There is a new elegant fashion mall north of town which has a mega cinema and a “Liverpool” dept store. It reminds me of Nordstroms. We walked over for our morning exercise and a coffee only to find the facility was still closed but due to open in an hour or so. The perimeter was heavily guarded with men and assault rifles. I used to find this a bit unnerving, but now it seems so normal…just life in Mazatlan…….Anyway, the Starbucks was posting their hours as 10AM open. Since it was 10:30 I was a bit confused and asked the young man with the machine gun standing close by if he could confirm the hours for me. He confirmed that they should be open. I suggested that maybe he could use his weapon to nudge the lock. He laughed and laughed and said “no, there would be BIG TROUBLE” if he were to do this. Oh well…I think Starbucks has changed their gun policy.

We have discovered some new galleries and a new bakery/butcher/organic market type food court in old town. It holds lots of promise for future development. We were able to get some nice looking steaks for the BBQ for our trip to Bandaras Bay.

So, back to the battery problem. Paul finally found some batteries in Phoenix AZ. We decided it was smart to replace the starter battery as well. Paul rented a car from AVIS and made plans to drive north. Once word was out that he had wheels and heading north the cruisers started coming forth with wish list items and pesos. It is hard to buy boat stuff here, so any one going north presents the cruising community with an opportunity for stocking up. He will be home tomorrow and has stated that he will be glad to get back on the boat. I don’t think he is a Ford Focus kind of guy.

During Paul’s absence I was busy socializing. I was able to go to a small village outside of town called Callita for breakfast with a group of friends. One couple has a motorcycle and side car that they rode. The village was all dressed up with colorful homes and lots of greenery. There is a world famous breeder of game cocks in the village. We walked to the ranchito to take a look at the roosters. There were big dogs camped out within the pasture keeping the coyotes away. On another day, I was able to go with one of the ladies to the “Golden Zone” on a shopping trip. Without the boys we had lots of fun going in all the jewelry stores and shopping around the galleries.

Paul called mid trip with word from the road….he had a blowout on the rental car tire and was delayed until he could get a tire the next day. Thankfully it happened on the US highway where they have shoulders.

Ok…Paul returned safely, the batteries are installed and life is fully charged. The head security guy for the marina helped him get the batteries from the car into the boat. He took our bead batteries and the questionable starter battery and was happy for the option. He is using the deep cycle AGM starter in his car.

Our friends Mark and Emma have joined us here in Mazatlan for a sail along the coast south to Bandaras Bay. We are scheduled to leave today at 2pm. The plan will be to arrive at Isla Isabelle at first light. If conditions are calm we will spend the day at the island. From there we progress to Chacala and then finally into Bandaras Bay. Stay tuned!

Janet enjoying a dip in the El Cid swimming pool.

Paul found a place near the bar.

We made several trips into the center of town to visit some
of our favorite places.  This is the shrimp ladies who
line both sides of the street selling freshly caught shrimp.

We also stopped by the old Mercado Pino.

An of course any trip to Mazatlan must include a stop
by Plazuela Machado.

Janet perfected her salsa making technique. These are
jalapeno peppers and tomatoes roasting on the BBQ.

While Paul was off to the US to get batteries, Janet went
to a small village near Mazatlan for breakfast with
some of the other cruisers.

The cock ranch.

Our friends Mark and Emma enjoying a juice at the street
side juice stand near the old Mercado.

Another visit to the old Mercado.

We stopped by the Angela Peralta Theatre.

Janet and Emma enjoying the view from the malacon.

Playa Bonanza, Isla Espiritu Santa

After a short motor sail around the south end of the island and through the San Lorenzo Channel we arrived at Playa Bonanza.  The wind was flat and there was virtually no swell coming into the bay.  We had found the paradise we were looking for.

Playa Bonanza has a crescent shaped white sand beach that wraps around the bay for a good 2 or 3 miles.  Including us and sv Enchante there were a total of only 3 boats on our end of the bay and we could see two power boats way over on the other side of the bay.

Once anchor down and set, we made plans with Al and Lindy for a hike on the island.  The plan was to follow the arroyo across the island back to Bahia San Gabrielle.  We set out with high expectations but managed to get only about 3/4 of the way there before we all said enough.  It was hot and we had forgotten our water on the boat.  It was a beautiful walk though with some amazing views of the island landscape.

Al and Paul took off in the dinghy to check out the snorkeling off the reef on the far side of the bay.  Unfortunately, Paul's mask was leaking so much he wasn't able to enjoy himself.  They had a great run in the dinghy though and a good swim off the reef.

Our second night there we had dinner aboard sv Enchante and traded some videos.  It was good to get to know each other better.

On our third day, sv Enchante pulled anchor and headed up and around the island to some of the anchorages we had been to last year.  We had been keeping a close eye on the weather and it looked as if a good three or four day window for making our crossing of the sea had opened up.  After that, the long range forecast was for a big honking norther to kick up.  Not wanting to get caught up in that and concerned that the norther might keep us pinned down for awhile we decided to pull anchor as well and at noon did just that and were under way for a 42 hour crossing of the sea to Mazatlan.

sv Enchante as she sails off in search of yet
undiscovered destinations.

Isla Espiritu Santa

After leaving La Paz we headed directly out to Isla Espiritu Santa, one of Mexico's national parks and only about 12 miles from the city.  Our first stop was Bahia San Gabrielle, a wonderful bay with white sand beaches on the south west side of the island.

We were a bit rusty on our anchoring technique, but got the hook down and set on our first attempt.  The waters of the bay shallow rapidly so we found a spot well off shore but with only about 6 feet under our keel.  All looked good for a planned couple of nights stay.

Shortly after our arrival a call came in over the radio from our friends Al and Lindy on sv Enchante who were anchored across the bay.  We made plans for a happy hour rendezvous later that afternoon. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and relaxing.

It was very peaceful with very little wind and calm flat waters when we went to sleep later that night.  That all changed at about 2 AM when the wind kicked up and the swell came funneling into the bay.  It made for a very uncomfortable and largely sleepless night.  The following morning we woke up to more of the same and discovered that at least one of the boats in the anchorage had pulled up and left in the middle of the night apparently not able to deal with the conditions.

By about 10 AM we were anchor up as well and headed around the island to Playa Bonanza where we hoped we would find more settled conditions.  sv Enchante led the way.  So much for a planned couple of days just hanging out and relaxing.

Return to Mexico

Well here we are again with much time having slipped by with no blog posts.  But rather than dwell on that, let's get caught up on things.

We left Seattle on Halloween via Alaska Airlines direct to Cabo del San Jose.  The furry crew was medicated with happy pills and our friend Emma was kind enough to drive us to the airport in the wee hours of the morning.  The flight was uneventful, however it took a good hour and a half to get our rental car which forced us to make the drive to La Paz after dark, a very dangerous proposition.  That said, we arrived at Casa Buena safe and sound where we crashed from the long and tiring day of travel.  Tia and Louie slept the entire way, including the three hour drive to the hotel in La Paz.

The first order of business the next day was to check on Talos IV.  She had been on the hard at Marina Palmar since June and we were anxious to make sure that she was in good condition.  Our worries were for not, as we found her in the same condition as when we left, but covered in dirt and dust from the hot dry summer.  We made arrangements for the bottom job to be completed and set a date about a week out for the re-splash.

That done, we started almost immediately on the installation of our new water maker and new solar panels.  The work was not easy as the water maker literally needed to be shoe horned into a very small compartment in the bilge just aft of the mast.  Milton at Casa Buena was kind enough to let us use his shop to manufacture various mounting components which would have otherwise been challenging to do.  In the end, the water maker and solar panels are both operational and working as we planned.

Meanwhile, the yard was moving fast on completing the bottom job and were on target to get us back in the water several days ahead of schedule.  Once re-splashed, we headed for Marina Palmira, which would be our home for the next several weeks.  There was still much work to do getting the boat ready to go.

A good boat wash was on the top of the list as was getting the sails back up so that we could re-claim space down below.  With that done, we began the process of laying down four coats of varnish on the bright work.  In the weeks that followed, we touched nearly every piece of teak on the exterior of the boat.  Talos IV is beautiful again.

After what was longer than we had hoped, we left La Paz for Isla Espiritu to hang for awhile before making our crossing of the sea.

Talos IV was tucked back into the corner of the yard
where she spent her summer.

She was covered in dirt.

Talos IV with her new bottom paint was ready
to re-splash.

For comparison, this is what the bottom looked
like before the paint job.

The new solar panels.

While in La Paz we of course found time
to enjoy ourselves.  This was just a part
of a parade we happened upon.  I think
they were celebrating Revolution Day.

There were some unusual entries, including this group
of chefs from the local restaurants.

And then Thanksgiving dinner with 165 of our friends.

Janet seemed pretty happy about things.