Happy USA Thanksgiving!!

The INN put on a full thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, stuffing, roast beef, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. They have hired a new Food & Beverage Manager and he seems very determined to make a difference. The buffet dinner was very good … so we can only hope!!!

It was difficult to find an American in the crowd amongst all the Canadians. I heard many of them were deep frying their own turkeys and celebrating at their Loreto home with friends in the traditional manner.

At this table we had Drew and Cathy McNabb (FN49), Garth Mitchell (FN14), Jennifer Rix (FN154), Dan and Janine Murphy of Ecoscapes, Janet Rubenstein (FN162), Maureen Mitchell (FN14), Boyd Kelly (FN22), and me (FN62). The vino tinto was delicious and in full abundance … as usual.

Going clockwise is Jim and Barbara Gettis (FN457 & FN458), Carol and Steve Morgan (FN482), Carl and Sarah Zichella (FN306), Janice Leppard (FN301), Mike and Sue Matthews (FN463). It is interesting how smaller groups and friendships are forming based around the proximity of the homes. There was also another table of AV owners, but I didn’t get a chance to take their photo. My lame excuse is that since they were in Aqua Viva, they were still a figment of my imagination! Of course, this is a joke and no disrespect meant.

This was a very busy travel week for me. I drove 1.5 hours each way to Constitution with Andres from my office to go to Tel Mex. We had telephoned that morning to say that we would be coming in the afternoon from Loreto. We arrived at 4 pm. Tel Mex never mentioned that they close at 3 pm! What kind of corporate office closes at 3 pm… not to reopen until the next day?? Quien Sabe!! Then we drove for one block and were stopped by a group of policemen stopping vehicles for various “infractions”. I was not wearing my seatbelt as we were only going 2 blocks to Super Ley, but that did not matter to the police. They were going to take away my driver’s license and I would have to go to the Municipal Office and pay the 400 peso fine to get it back. Andres was very diplomatic and stated that we did not live in Constitution, and there was no “infraction”. The policeman said I could choose instead to buy 4 tickets at 80 pesos each for the charity dance. We had no choice but to buy the dance tickets. Luckily I found some friends at the INN who live in Constitution and they would like to go. I had no intention of going to a dance where the advertisement was a Mexican cowboy with a gun! Tip of the Day: When going through Constitution make sure you follow the road rules to the letter. No illegal turns, excessive speed, and always wear your seatbelt!

Captain Mateo took a group of us out for a boat ride. The weather has been very warm with little winds for this time of year. It is still in the high 80’s during the day and tough to believe we are almost in December. Every time I go out on the water, I have to pinch myself that I LIVE HERE!!

We found a deserted town on the end of Carmen Island and now I’m on the hunt to find out the history of this place. I could imagine the activity in its day with the boat docks and plentiful housing. There were no signs except to say that landing here and exploring was prohibited. Oops, too late…. You had to be on shore to read the sign.

The beach was long and sandy, and the water crystal clear. We set up a picnic and roamed around for hours as if this was our private playground.

If you are thinking of docking near this beach, be very careful. The depth is very deceptive in many places and our boat seemed to run aground very quickly, even though we thought it was safely anchored out far enough. It was a little tense as the four of us tried to push the boat back into the deep water against the strong current. We managed to get the boat unstuck from the sand and anchor it out far enough to still enjoy the afternoon, without too much worry about being stranded. Every day is an adventure.

I’m back in Cabo today and it is always a surprise to see the large cruise ships docked side by side so close to shore. The cars in the bottom right hand corner give you some indication of the ships' size and how overwhelming they are. I took this photo while driving on the main highway to San Jose. What a sharp contrast to Loreto!

This has been another week of living fully and treading lightly in the Baja.