Sitting in Mazatlan....

Hi Everyone,

It seems so long since I have written.  Chris keeps posting and it is so nice to see him putting up some insights to our trip.  I love reading his blogs :@)  There has been so much that has happened since the last time that I wrote.  I will try to quickly summarize it and spare you some of the boring details..

We left Escondido and tootled our way back down to La Paz.  We realized that when we left Puerto Escondido that our auto pilot was acting a little cranky,,, it wasn't a big deal then... we didn't have any overnights to do and they were short day sails to La Paz.  We had a great time at some of the chorales we did.  The weather has definitely turned colder and a lot of people had told us that the cold weather and northerlies will chase us out of the northern part of the Sea of Cortez.... well I guess it did.  Unfortunately it is such an amazing, majestic, tranquil place that I can now see why a lot of cruisers come to La Paz and the Sea and stay.  I really do love this place and could easily come back and visit for a very long time.   Chris and I are both worried that we are making a mistake and rushing through Mexico to quickly.  I just can't say enough about the communities/towns/villages that are located on the Sea.  We are so welcomed, there isn't a day that goes by where we are offered assistance from a local to help us find our way, open doors, carry my groceries... etc.  Everyone goes above and beyond to help each other out.  So refreshing... to have complete strangers try to lend a hand... not that it doesn't happen in the states... I am just saying that it definitely occurs at a much higher rate down here.  Boy do they ever love big families and kids... thank goodness :@)

Chris was battling that ear infection so we returned to La Paz early to have him see a doctor.  Once we had changed our plans we thought that we should make our way over to Puerto Vallarta earlier.  Tristan and I were talking and passing the time while on a watch and we thought lets go to Mazatlan and then make our way down the coast from there.  It isn't much farther and we could see a few more places.  So here we go again with the provisioning, systems updates, oil changes for the engines... fueling and then off we go.

I really hated to leave La Paz... I know it sound silly but that town really grew on me.  Or maybe it was just that I was getting comfortable... I knew my way around town, knew where to go for laundry, food, and fun.... we were happy with the amazing people in the cruisers network.  These people really make you feel at home and are incredible in helping in anyway they can...  The kids were happy with their friends there... Amaia had met up with a really good friend on a boat that was on our dock.. They were in the Baja Ha Ha with us and these two little girls were inseparable for 3 days.  Amaia was in heaven... even attempted an overnight.  Amaia decided to try to stay the night on their boat... now granted she usually does okay staying the night at peoples houses.. but so far we have had two failed attempts at overnights on other peoples boats.  One was during the strong northerlies... Chris and I had to put on our foulies to dinghy over in the dark to go and get her... and this one.

So I woke to a little pitter patter on the boat at 2:30 and thought to myself.... someone is on our boat.  Low and behold Amaia had decided to come home because she had a nightmare.  Unfortunately she didn't tell Karen (the mom) that she wanted to go home... she just left.  So I had to write a note and sneak over to their boat, climb on board and try to tape this note on the stair way so they would see it in the morning and not be worried that she fell overboard or something.   Karen was so good about it the next morning... I just felt bad for josintha..... Amaia ended up going back over at 7am when she woke to start their day together.

So with that said on our last day there Chris and I both realized that we felt we were leaving home .... again... and moving on.

We left La Paz and made our way over to Mazatlan... not such a fun trip.  I am realizing that I am not enjoying the overnights as much as I thought... or maybe it was just because autopilot wasn't working and you truly get exhausted standing up there for 3 hours or more at a time driving the boat.  It isn't just like you are sitting in your car seat steering.  When the boat is rocking and you are constantly trying to keep your balance, the wheel was hard to turn after awhile with the force of the waves on the rudders... my arms really got sore after this trip... I was just plain exhausted.  I felt like such a wimp!

We have had a great time here in Mazatlan.  As it turned out we ended up in a marina that has several of the Baja Ha Ha boats.  One has 2 boys Tristans age and a little girl that is close to Alina's age.  Then there are 2 boats here with girls Alexia's age.  They are now having a sleepover one of the girls boats.  Amaia has made another little friend, Hannah and they played in the pool all day today.  It really is amazing how the kids come out of the woodwork and find each other and become instant friends.  It is really fun to meet up with the parents and have the kids on one boat and the parents on the other... a little playdate and adult conversations are fantastic.  Tomorrow we may try to get together for a cookie exchange.  It just doesn't feel like christmas with out it.  I miss you Jamie Smith and your cookie party!

Speaking of which... I think the walmart christmas decoration section got sea sick on my boat.   The kids and I decorated to try and bring the christmas feel but... it really isn't the same.  We love the lights.. all the stockings are hung... except yours Kava!  and the christmas tree is decorated... but... something just doesn't feel like christmas.  We seem so busy and I am not hearing the christmas music everywhere we go... It almost feels forced.  But the kids love it and it is nice typing here with all the lights on.

We visited the old part of Mazatlan yesterday and had a blast going through the traditional market where you can buy anything from Vanilla to sneakers, to baked goods, to pigs heads... The fruits and vegetables were the best I have seen anywhere in Mexico so far and the fresh meat (really fresh meat) looked amazing...  The kids had a good time going through there and seeing what they could buy for very few pesos... We ended up eating in the restaurant section of the market upstairs... and when I say this I mean there were several rooms each with a different family cooking things and trying to get you to come in and eat in their room.  The kitchen was literally a cooktop, crockpots, and OLD cooking kettles.. plastic glasses and when we ordered... they would send someone down to the market to buy the ingredients and then they would bring them back up to cook them.  No need for refrigeration... a little sketchy but we all came out without any stomach issues... YAY!

I do have to say it was fantastic and the kids really enjoyed riding in the back of the truck on the way there... playing in the market and just roaming the town.  We passed by a drive thru Pacifico ... Gotta Love Mexico...

The kids have switched rooms now.... We decided it is only fair to give each of them an opportunity to have some space to themselves... Now that Tristan is with Lexi... and lexi is a very deep sleeper, poor lexi wakes up like this most mornings... You're so funny Tristan :@)  NOT!

Tomorrow we are off to a little Island known as the little Galapagos... It is as close to the galapagos that you can get without actually going.  It is 93 miles away.. and should take us 12 hours to get there.  We are trying to time it so we don't get there in the dark.. not a good approach when you can't see.  After that we will be heading down to our next stop and Marina in La Cruz and will be there until the new year.

I will try to upload more pictures to our picture page.... tomorrow... it is now 2:30am and since we are leaving tomorrow and we have to do night watches... I am not going to be in the best shape. :@) Hope our auto pilot feels like working tomorrow.

I hope all is well for everyone and the holiday season is going well and you are able to enjoy yourself and have a little merry cheer.

Hugs and life is good...

Heath