Islas Manana!

Time to get back in and on the water!Time to swim!
Time to float!
Time to go to No Name Cove #7 and not be concerned with a bathingsuit!Because we are always the only boat there!
It is too hot in La Paz during the day right now.
I need to be in the water...
It got up to 99 flippin degrees inside the boat today.
It's 88 degrees at 7:30 pm.
Tomorrow, I will be floating in No Name Cove #7 at this time.
Naked.

Fifteen Minutes at The Korean Festival

Lovely costumes!
Lovely fans!
Lovely smiling faces!
We just had no idea what was going on or what they were doing.











This lady didn't even have to walk in the parade.
She was carried.

And apparently quite happy to be carried...





We weren't sure what this guy was or what his costume represented.
We were especially confused about that thing on his head with the ribbons.But later during the ceremony he would spin his head around in a circle, first one way then the other.
That thing with the ribbons was swinging around in a big circle.
We figured it out then.
It was to keep the bugs away.

We also weren't sure what this black widow creature was.Never figured that one out.

And other than it being some kind of ceremony didn't figure this part out.Except the guy in white with the ribbons on his head.
He was keeping the mosquitos away.

And we certainly figured out why children and most adults are afraid of clowns.That one was easy.

Something About a Cancer Swim

We missed exactly what this was for, but there were people either doing a swim from Balandra to The Municipal Pier in La Paz, or a triathalon, or kayaking or something.
We think to raise money for cancer treatment or cancer research or to raise awareness of the problem or something.
What we didn't miss was seeing the Port Captain's boat and several pangas, one with flags blowing in the wind surrounding two kayakers and four swimmers.
We also didn't miss the big stage and loud music they had going on at the landing spot except that we really would have liked to have missed it.
Apparently this was so the swimmers would know where to go and never have to raise their heads out of the water or something.
I'm sure they could have heard the music from Balandra (about 10-12 miles away).

So to get away from the loud music we went to the new Rancho Viejo Restaurant on The Malecon for drinks, tacos, chili rellanos and so Dave could entertain us with his Pope impression or something.When the swimmers got close to the beach all the participants in "The Korean Festival", which was being held 1/4 mile down the road from "The Swimmers and Loud Music Other Festival" came running down The Malecon to watch.A convergence of festivals!

Moo Shoo Pork Duk Kwan

Interesting name for a tae kwan do club...Being that John, Jim and I were the only gringos there, we were probably the only ones that found the name funny.
We watched Ricardo and Vero's two sons, Ricky and Chumbo do their tests for their next belts.
Chumbo was in the 275th 10th group we watched and did great!Ricky, with an injured hand also did great.



Notice the bandage on his right hand.





It was amazing to see how many kids and grownups do tae kwan do here.


Also fun to once again be the only gringos!

Chinatown a la La Paz

Yes, La Paz has a Chinatown.
All five buildings of it.
On what we call "The Financial Street", because is has a bunch of banks on it.
We have names for several of the streets, just not the right names.
"The Rancho Viejo Street", because Rancho Viejo is on it.
It's really "Manuel Marquez de Leon".
You tell me what is easier to remember...
"The Financial Street" is really "16 de Septiembre".
The town also has "5 de Mayo" and "5 de Febrero".
I (not sure if I should include Jim in this one) have enough time remembering all the dates I am supposed to ~ birthdays, dates things are due, dates our visas run out, you know...
Now I am supposed to remember Mexico's important dates?
Oops ~ off track here.
Anywho, back to Chinatown in La Paz.
A gift shop, a green building and a restaurant.



Oh look! Two more shops.




And around the corner ~ my favorite!
This sign makes me happy. Ok tour is over.
Just like San Francisco huh?

The Two of Us Actually Did a Walkabout Town and Met Laz

Well, Jim had to go because we both needed to get our new FM3 pictures taken...
Not sure he went by choice!
So bank, photos taken, sit and drink some water and Jim is hungry, so I suggest a hot dog.
How convenient ~ a hot dog stand is 10' away.
Why do you think I suggested it?
So he orders, is eating his hot dog and talking to the hot dog man.
Talking, talking, talking.
Talking for a long time.
So I join the conversation and it turns out the hot dog man, Lazaro speaks perfect English and lived in SoCal for most of his life.
Laz said people are always taking pictures of him and putting the pictures on the internet.
I, of course am now obligated to continue this tradition.
So here goes...Then a haircut for Jim (sorry Jim that you couldn't get your picture taken after the haircut, but this was a way to burn time while the pics were being printed), poke in a junk store, a quick spin around the Solo Un Precio store, pick up pics, now we are sweating and need to walk the mile back to the boat.

Will "No Fumar" Lead to "No Perros"?

Aha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
Mexico is no longer allowing smoking in bars and restaurants!I love it!
It's about time.
But hopefully they will continue to allow dogs.
Dogs add flavor.

Copycats

We haul out and get pretty new bottom paint and "Sweet Lorraine" just has to do the same thing.
Gotta be like the "Meerkats".
They just follow in our wake.
Copycats, lemmings, whatever.







Actually it was planned this way, so we would not have both boats out at the same time.
We still are in "hurricane season" you know...
Have to have someplace to hide out!
And get away from the boatyard bugs (as opposed to book bugs).

Book Bugs (Book Bugs, Not Book Bags)

I recently read this book by Ann Vanderhoof about cruising in The Caribbean.Very interesting and enjoyable.
I liked how she tried all the local foods and how she included recipes with these local foods in her book.
She was very afraid of getting the local bugs, such as cockroaches on her boat.
So afraid, she would spray down her docklines and sometimes even the docks with Baygon.
If someone gave her a paperback, she would place it in a ziploc bag and spray Baygon in the bag.
Then open the bag a few days later.
I thought this was pretty funny.
A little bit of overkill.
Overkill ~ get it?
When we cruised Mexico 8, 9 & 10 years ago, I would not allow cardboard from Mexico on the boat.
No beer cases, no cereal boxes, no cartons of any kind.
I never thought of books as being bug carriers however.
Then I was calmly reading my next book, and noticed this strange hole.
Sort of like someone stuck the book with an ice pick.Poor book...
So I continued reading for awhile, but curiosity got the best of me.
Just how hard did someone stab this book?
And why?
How deep was the injury?
So I opened the pages where the hole was and ICK there were two brown squirmy squishy wormy kind of bugs in the hole!Disgusting!
So I squished them both, flung them overboard (hey, if they don't help pay slip rent they are gone!) and then finished the book.
I will now check the books for bug holes before bringing them aboard.
Maybe I will go buy some Baygone too...

What We Like to See !

This!
This is what we like to see!

Turtle Tracks

There was something interesting on the small beach at Costa Baja!
A turtle had wandered all over the beach in circles and loops then finally found a spot to lay her eggs.Someone had marked the nest with small clumps of seaweed and a traffic cone.The next day we noticed a fence around it.
We were all happy to see the protection that is given to the turtle nests.

We also found a dead eel on the beach.Interesting things come up on the beaches the day after a hurricane...

The Last Word on Hurricane Norbert ~ Really I Promise!

Here is the final track of Norbie.
It shows where he went and what category he was at the time.
Everyone knows where La Paz is now right? And now back to our regular scheduled programming!