Virtual Skin Diving Now Available! or Translations #3

They will just email you some pics of little fishys and eels and rocks and coral and sand and you won't even have to get wet!
Just think, no sand in your bathingsuit bottoms...
No water temp worries...
No jellyfish stings...
No sunburn...
Just stay at home on vacation!

Heeeyyyyy, wait a minute, I could do this!
Make a little money on the side...

OK, here we go - hang on!











Watch out for that jellyfish!





Ok, now everyone that just esnorkled along on that little journey, you may now go ahead and send me a check for $50.

Baja Road Trip Book ~ A Quick Easy Read!

Ann Hazard is famous with Baja cruisers and Baja ex-pats for her cooking books, "Cooking With Baja Magic" and "Cooking With Baja Magic Dos", which both include wonderful recipes, information on the places and people the recipes come from and stories of her travels.

John found her novel, "Cartwheels in the Sand" up in the book exchange ~ a signed copy, no less...

If you have ever done a Baja road trip, this will remind you of your trip (except for the characters ~ the didn't remind me of anyone)!
The descriptions of the road, the views, the places, the restaurants, the Pemex stations, the people and the atmosphere are right on!

The story follows four women doing month-long road trip camping in a motorhome. If you can get past some of the crap the women discuss and the cattiness, it's a good, quick read that will "take you there".

So Mom, Bob and Nancy, if you are missing our "Baja Road Trips" we had SO much fun on... here ya go!

Every Morning... Unless we don't have any...

We take four or five of these.
Cut them in half so they look like this.And mash the crap juice out of them in the squeezer.To make two incredible glasses of the best orange juice in the world.
For really, really cheap.

Here I am waaay back on Christmas morning in 1999 anchored at La Ropa Playa in the Bay of Zihuatanejo.
My gifts from Jim were the squeezer, a bag of oranges and a bag of coffee beans.Of course, I was laughing so hard my eyes were closed...
But hey, the squeezer still works!
I will always remember receiving it!
And we still use it!

Uh Oh...

I did a "Google" search on the motor vessel "Justine" in La Paz...
And this is what I found:

"Stay at Justine In Mexico in the heart of La Paz!

We are sorry, but this listing is no longer available. Below are similar listings that might be of interest."

There is a reason they aren't advertising it anymore...This is what happens after a boatfire and then the boat sits there for months on end with pumps running and then the pumps quit...
It sinks...
I bet you can get the rooms real cheap now!

El Tesoro and Berkovich Boatyard Afternoon

Wayne needed to "discuss" and purchase bottom paint out at the far, far and away outside of town boatyard, so to make this a fun trip because you know how much I love hanging at boatyards and to save him probably a $500 peso taxi ride...
I suggested a limonada and float out at the beach at El Tesoro!The water was the absolute perfect temperature - not too hot and enough to cool you off!I think the high tide had something to do with it.
On a low tide the water gets very shallow and can get too warm to be refreshing.

Then we saw the afternoon thunderheads building...Time to head back, as both boats had all the hatches open!

But first a fun and exciting stop at the boatyard!
Yeeehaw!!!
While Wayne discussed bottom paint with Abel, Carol, Jim and I watched some incredible lightning strikes!
And pet the two boatyard dogs, who were actually pretty clean and appeared to be "tick-less".
Amazing...

5 gallons of extremly heavy bottom paint (and a whole pile of pesos later) were put into the back of my car by a very large and strong boatyard worker.
Lowrider...

And a stop at Costa Baja for a visit with Dave and Kellie!

Then back to the boats, where Jim and Wayne loaded the paint into a dockcart.
Jim had to walk to the store for cerveza so Wayne was on his own with the paint...
I haven't heard from Wayne, so I am assuming they got the paint onto their boat somehow...

Happy 14th Birthday to Caitlin!

Happy, happy fourteenth birthday to our beautiful niece, Caitlin Brynn Carter!

She had the perfect "Gerber Babyface"! Here she is with her Mom at our wedding. Here she is at her own wedding, when she married her Barbie doll.Sorry Cait, but I still think that is one of the funniest ideas you have ever come up with!

When she was four.
At a family party ~ that was sparkling cider in her glass...
With her cousins in San Francisco, which by the way as I like to remind these "kids" was one of the best days of my life, as they let me go along with them, being the only "adult" (even though two of them were over 18 at the time)!They said since I didn't have kids, I was one of them ~ thanks!
And they hate when I say this but I will say it again anyway just to irritate them, but "You kids will understand how I feel about you when one of your siblings has kids".
I guarantee it ~ the lightbulb will go off.
And you will think of me, "The Coolest Aunt".

And a recent photo of the birthday girl all dressed up!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAIT!

Carol and Wayne's Of "Capricorn Cat" Birthday Celebration!

It was Carol's birthday yesterday, so a celebration was in order!
Wayne's birthday is two days after her's so we celebrated his as well because if he thinks we are going out to dinner again tomorrow night and staying up til really, really late, he is CRAZY!

But first we had to get them off of their boat...
Not quite sure what they were doing when we went to get them...Not sure I want to know...

And give Wayne his birthday bottle of "Arrogant Bastard" Ale!Then the walk down the Malecon where we saw the preparations for a "Gay Parade"!
Wayne wanted to pose with the King and his family and he will talk to anyone, which is why we kept losing him during the evening... so he arranged this picture!These guys were great ~ we loved their decorations!







We would have loved to stay and watch the parade, but Dave and Kellie of "Sweet Lorraine" were meeting us at Las Tres Virgenes Restaurant in less than five minutes...
So found a cab and away we went.
I, of course had a few birthday decorations for the birthday couple and the party guests!









Dinner was excellent ~ I enjoyed medallions of filet with jalapeno sauce.Like I said, I enjoyed my dinner...Then Carol's birthday dessert!









Carol had brought some people decorations too!Looks just like something I would have bought...

Then the walk back ~ sent Dave and Kellie off to Costa Baja in a cab and we meandered back towards Marina de La Paz.

Found "Sidewalk Hazard #4 ~ The Decapitation Tree". Found a giant watermelon VW Bug Convertible. Found a karaoke bar ~ one that luckily there was no way we could be talked into singing any of these songs... Had a glass of really bad Mexican boxed wine in a cool Alta California wine tasting glass... Watched the hundreds and hundreds of locals cruising the Malecon at midnight... Stopped at Salsipuedes for one last drink, which included a tequila shot for the birthday girl!

And got back to the boat at 1:00 am...Which is why Wayne does not get his own birthday party tomorrow!

Mexican Women's Shoes ~ I Just Don't Get It...

Ok, now remember the average sidewalk in town?


And they insist on wearing heels...



And these weren't even the rhinestone encrusted gold, shiny pink with glitter or silver sparkled ones!

Today on My "Walkabout Town"...

I avoided holes when I walked down The Malecon...



Signed up for a tour
of Baja... not




Hit the dollar store for dental floss and cotton balls talk about exciting!...

Listened to a little street music.Came across this beautiful home with it's lovely fence, gate and garden.Came across this house that has to be a transplant from Santa Rosalia!You just don't see wood houses here ~ only in Santa Rosalia!

Found this church I had never seen.Found a street garden.And got confused...


How do you go in and out of this building?






Which way do I go?




Back to the boat, I guess...