March Madness Before Semana Santa

Well, our time here is getting short and we are working on enjoying every moment of our beautiful home here.  We have been looking for next year's place and there just is nothing to compare with what we have.  We are so thankful that we were lucky enough to be able to call this place home for two years:  656 Chula Vista, Sector Villa Hermosa, San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico.

One of Boo's favorite places to walk right down the street

Boo loves this chair in particular.  He can stand
up on the arms and check out the cars and the
dogs walking by.  

Our swimming pool, which we are using alot now that it is
so much warmer (80s most days).  That is just a painted
shadow on the turtle, but it does look like 3D.

Views of the Tetakawis even from below.
That's Selena's panga covered up in her
driveway because she's gone back to the
states for a few weeks.  We are going to
miss her being our neighbor next year.

Another beautiful night at the fire pit 

From the grill area on the balcony

Our bedroom which has views of the mountains, the ocean
and parts of the city.  

Probably playing Words with Friends

It's spring!

 On Tuesday, I went on a foodie tour of Guaymas, with mucho history thrown in.  Ruth, from Ruth and Rudy's Bakery, is a masterful tour guide and a whole lot of fun!

Joyous Ruth

We all rode in the back of Mike's big van!

Our first stop was the La Superior Tortilleria which makes corn tortillas for Guaymas and San Carlos.  

The assembly line

The dried corn

The corn is soaked in hot water and limestone.

Then it is put through this mill, making the dough.

It is then cut into the appropriate size and
is fried in oil-usually corn oil, but
sometimes canola oil.  This lady is packaging
the finished product.

They also make chips, tostadas and a wonderful
snack called churritos.

Although I had been to the church before, I hadn't seen this
lovely statue of Mary.

Inside was this statue where parishioners
write their wishes on ribbons on the left,
and when they come to fruition, they move
them to the right.

This was a wonderful little taqueria
next to the market.  Afterwards we
roamed the markets and had a fabulous
dessert of a malted milk concoction!

Suzanne Hale celebrated her 65th birthday at Delfines for
dinner and afterwards, we all went dancing at Froggy's to
the Red Hot Blues Band-a very full night!

Our table

Suzanne and Jerry dancing the night away at Froggy's

The Melodrama was exceptionally fun and hilarious this year.

Joe and Margene's beautiful view

Cocktails prior to the Melodrama

The following evening, we were invited to Karen and Dee's
gorgeous house on the Caracol for a great St. Patrick's Day
feast.

The sunset and views were stupendous!

We ate in their wonderful little Palapa down below.

There is always something going on.  Tonight it was Sam's
birthday party at JJ's with The Dudes.

Sam, after many tequila shots

Elizabeth, Sam's wife, and Susan King

 As if the celebrating thus far had not been enough, there was a fundraiser at La Posada Beach for Castaway Kids.  It was a whole afternoon affair and I am proud to say that we lasted until about 3 and then had to go home for some peace and quiet.  Every band in town played two or three songs and had us entertained thoroughly.

We sat with Karen and Jim, Win and Cinda and assorted
others over the course of several hours.

Cinda and Marjorie 

A few of the highlights from the day:

Athena and Janet Visit San Carlos

It just happened to turn out that Janet wanted to come back to San Carlos (her earlier trip just wasn't long enough) and that Athena could leave her studies at the same time.  Thena arrived on Thursday but Janet was delayed in Phoenix and didn't arrive until Friday.  It worked out perfectly as we had lots of together time and a little individual time with each on both ends.  Thena had a really long day of traveling, so after a short time relaxing on the deck and seeing the sunset, we took her to the Captain's Club to hear Omar and the Gypsy Fish and scarf down some pizza.  

The two cutie wooties at Bachachibampo Bay

One of the favorite activities was sitting on the deck, enjoying the view and sharing a chair with Boo.  He was very popular with these two ladies.  We found out that our house sold so we will not be able to rent it next year.  When the ladies leave, we will be on the lookout for a new place.  Really will miss this castle in the sky!

Boo always gets first choice on chairs.

Athena on our deck, looking beautiful as always.

Me by Athena

 We took her on a whirlwind tour of some of the neighborhoods and ended up at the marina for the breakfast buffet at the Embarcadero on the Malecon.  We are not doing any boat trips with her as she gets really sea sick, unfortunately.  This is the closest she got to a boat!

Marina and Athena :-)

Our table-she looks right at home here

We took a peek into the local church-so peaceful!

Next we drove up to the Mirador which was voted #1 ocean view in the world by National Geographic Magazine last year.  We saw whales up here the other day, but not today.

Wow, I never feel quite as short as I do around my girls!

We got an invitation for wine and appetizers at Cinda and Win's.
A little windy but beautiful at Creston Beach!

Off to JJ's for dinner with Athena.
He lost his liquor license for a day or two, so, even
though he served us a margarita, he put the coke and Fanta
bottles on the table to thwart any prying eyes.

A great day at the beach the next day where we took walks,
loved how much Boo was enjoying the beach and watched
a really active pod of dolphins swim by.

Home for showers and the next event:  Country on the Beach with Six and a Half Mexicans.  The half was the guy in the red shirt below, Mark Mulligan, our local beach musician.

Janet, Cinda, Moi, Win and Jim

The Band

Beautiful as the sun went down

Our table, right by the stage on the beach

Maggie, Win and Athena

Susan King-happy until someone tried to
steal our chairs

 Sue Lay and her husband, Bill, my chiropractor
 who saved the day-long story!!

Next Morning:

I had just finished telling Athena how we hardly ever saw
humidity around here and, low and behold, we watched
the fog cover almost everything in sight.

Later that day the fog lifted and we ventured out.

A big bank of clouds came rolling in early on Sunday
morning (thus humidity and frizzy hair).  We went to
La Playa Hotel Beach for brunch and Lorena Robles'
beautiful spanish tunes.

Two cutie wooties

Sunset Grill (our favorite restaurant) was having a special jazz performance with Omar and a trio.  We went for drinks with a bunch of buddies to enjoy the music and then had dinner inside.

Happy Pup to be with us all

The gang

Cinda and Win

James, our favorite Grill waiter

Janet and Lupita, the doggedly- determined-
to- sell- you- anything beach vendor

Another gorgeous sky

Happy guy sitting with his Dad

Beauty before me, beauty behind me and beauty all around!

Our view from inside

Next day, we simply had to take Athena to the Soggy Peso, as we hadn't been there yet.  It was very chilly and coffee was the order of the day.

We drove out through La Manga and then had dinner at La Conquista with the Canadian and Boulder contingents.

Athena left early in the morning but we got one more day
with Janetski as she got a free day from American for
messing up her first day.  Bonifacio's for wonderful
taste treats and a not-to-be-beat view.

WE MISS THESE TWO!