Happy Easter! 3.23.08

Michael flew back to California on Wednesday morning to meet with the buyer of the Electric Boat business & get some items in order for our return to the States. Michael's trip hasn't been too good so far. On his way out there, he realized he left the Jeep key on the boat. He already knew he didn't have a key to storage as we lost that in Catalina, and he had an appointment with the new buyer at 9:30. He contacted Jeep and they said they could make him a key with the VIN number. So he started out about 7am by going to storage and asking if they could cut the lock to the unit. The owner was out and they were not able to until he returned. But he could drill it out hisself. So he walked over to the boatyard & borrowed a drill, walked back to storage. While drilling it out, the battery died. So he walked back to the boat & plugged it in....waiting. He calls the person he's going to meet and tels them he won't make it and if there was any way they could come pick him up, he'd be happy to meet them! At the same time, the owner of storage calls and says he is there and could cut off the lock (for $45!) so he walks over there for that. He gets inside storage, copies down the VIN# and by this time, someone was there to pick him up. Thinking it would take just a little time, he asks to go to the Jeep dealership first. He gives the VIN# to Jeep and asks for a replacement key....and they tell him the Jeep must be brought to the dealership for them to make it! Of course he can't get inside the Jeep to move it - it's a viscious cycle...haha. Finally they make him a valet key that will at least allow him to get inside the Jeep. He calls AAA and they come to storage & tow the Jeep to the dealership so they can make him a key. Several hours and $100 later...he has a Jeep key - whew!! During the middle of this all, he stole away and met the buyer. What a first day back!!

I just talked to him and he said he picked up a pretty awful cold and has been battling it for the last 2 days. Poor guy!!

On the other hand, I've enjoyed hanging out with friends & doing my 'normal routine' since he left. I have been amazingly busy - and enjoying the people watching this week. It's Semana Santa here in Mazatlan, or 'Holy Week' and the place is hopping with tourists - but from other parts of Mexico! It's quite a change and it's amazing how many people can pack onto the beach for the festivities. Starting on Thursday, several bandstands were erected on the beach and have bands playing there all hours of the day & night. Most businesses & government offices are closed from Thursday through Sunday and many people take the entire two weeks off since it also coincides with Spring Break.

Let's see...today I went for my Malecon walk with Anne & Lena (the Swedish gal on the Boat Esprit), got my hair cut & a pedicure - an experience in itself - came back to the boat for a couple hours & then met Anne & Jeff, and Lee & Nancy from Buena Vista (a boat originally from Ventura that is in their second cruising season) and we went to Playa Bruja for happy hour, sunset, music, & dancing. Yesterday I went back to the lending library to return the book I borrowed and decided to walk the Malecon to see what was going on. The beach was packed and there is a wonderfully festive atmosphere. All the families are out & enjoying. Unfortunately, Michael took the camera with him and I didn't take the 'big' camera out with me today....so no pictures. I walked the entire Malecon and then ventured off onto the beach in the Golden Zone as there were more people & bandstands there. I kicked off my shoes & was walking around the beach, zigzagging through the people, umbrellas, & towels with hundreds of people. I walked until I could barely get through the hordes of people and suddenly felt out of my element. There were so many people & I had a backpack that kept getting snagged on umbrellas - I had to get out of there. The hotels along the beach have guards that keep watch on the place & keeping everyone out except for guests. Well, I just walked right up to the guard and said hello as I flew past him to get out of the hordes of people. After I was in the shade of the palapa on the beach, I ordered a beer and settled down & watched the show from the comfy hotel pool area! I made my way back to the boat around 5pm and needed to ask Anne & Lena to meet me early for our walk so I went over to dock 3 to see them. I chatted with the people on Esprit for a while, instructing them on using Airmail & receiving weatherfaxes and spent the rest of the evening on Anne & Jeff's boat - including a wonderful pasta dinner!

Thursday, Anne & I went for our Malecon walk & instead of walking the usual route once we got to Olas Altas, we decided to tour the old town area & take lots of pictures. We had such a wonderful walk! We found lots of cute, quaint shops with wonderful artwork. One such place is called NidArt. http://www.nidart.com/ They make have several items in the shop - clay & leather figurines, sculptures, but the most impressive item they make & sell is leather masks & sculptures. They use different colored & textured leather & mold it around resin molds - faces, nudes, sailboats, horses, etc - then mold additional leather around that to make a beautiful item. They are so difficult to describe and pictures just don't do them justice. There is a gallery on the website that shows different designs. We spoke to the owners - Rak & Loa - and they took us into the back room where the kids were making the items. We were shown the different leathers & skins they used - and were able to watch them as they worked. It is a family that makes all of the items they sell in the store. They make their own molds over the summer (as business is slower), then make the items as often as they can during the rest of the year. The leathers were beautiful colors & the skills of the kids were magnificent. Loa told us that each of her kids had a different skill set and they were all given tasks that used their special skills - one was good with larger pieces, one specialized in molding the leathers, one was good in the 'details', one was good with the nudes, etc. It was great spending the time to talk with them & get to know their family. If ever you're in Mazatlan, make this a 'must see' on your visit.

If you know me, you know I really like to take photos - I don't take them as well as I could, but I try. Every once in a while I end up with a good one. This one below I took on one of our trips into town & I think it's a good one!! It was an abandoned building that they were beginning to clean out & remodel. By the way - to get this photo, I ended up with like 10 mosquito bites - something I've managed to miss until then!

We finally made it back around 1pm and I quickly changed & took a trip into town to see about getting a hair cut & pick up some groceries. I ended up back on the boat around 6pm and made a wonderful dinner & read.

Wednesday Michael left in the morning and I had some surprise visitors - Tony & Shannon Morelli from Sweetie came over & visited with me for most of the afternoon.

Definately sounds like I'm having much more fun than Michael, huh?! :-) He'll be back on Tuesday. I don't have much planned for tomorrow - Anne wanted to come over for a bit in the morning & Lena needed some computer help, but other than that, I'm just going to hang on the boat unless I get a more tempting offer! I'm thinking I may go up to the pool at El Cid in the next day or so, but who knows...

And I forgot to post this picture of our outing to Thai food recently. We had a wonderful time & found a cute statue to post in front of.... Ahh....Mexico.... ;-)

I hope all is well with you all and may your Easter and the days ahead be filled with little miracles that warm your heart! Have a Wonderful Holiday and a Beautiful Spring.

More to follow...
Rene