Time to Celebrate

What can I say about the game other than it brought out Canadian pride in many of us in San Carlos.



Fourteen Canadians gathered at a friend's house to watch the big game and we weren't disappointed. Most were dressed in red and white and there were Canadian flags waving all afternoon.







Immediately after the game, we held a victory parade through the streets of Tecalai. Fred, Ken and I led the parade on our bikes with the flag proudly displayed. The rest of the crowd rode in the back of a truck, waving Canadian flags and singing 'O Canada' over and over again. Many Canadians come out of their homes to watch and soon were singing the anthem along with us.

It was a harmless way to display our Canadian pride and I can assure you that there were no cigars or beer involved in this celebration!!



Somewhere along the "parade" route we even managed to pick up a German supporter!

February Birthday

We had so many plans, so many different ways, to celebrate my birthday that we just couldn't make up our minds. We had originally planned to go to Tucson, then we decided to go south in Mexico and finally we decided to spend the day on the golf course in San Carlos.

If you know us at all, you will quickly realize that all of our plans fell through. Tucson was chilly; going south meant we had to get the truck camper ready and that required more energy than we were ready to give. Our last alternative was golf and in the five years we have been visiting San Carlos we have never been turned away at the club house. Today was a first! The course was busy and that ended up being okay with us - we weren't even certain we had wanted to golf due to the heat that has moved in.

So... we spent the day just lazing around, visiting some areas we have been wanting to see and going out for a nice meal. It was a nice day, nothing like we had planned, but relaxing and interesting.

Back to reality today! We are varnishing all the inside doors as the sun dries them out so badly. Isn't this Mo's job?

With Glowing Hearts

Like most Canadians, I have been glued to the TV for the past week and will be on the couch for the rest of the Olympics. Cheer loud!

The Climbing of Tetakawi

Yesterday, twenty-two women attempted to climb Tetakawi - the landmark overlooking San Carlos. We met at the base of the mountain [coming from Canada it is difficult to call these mountains] at 8:30. They called this a physically demanding climb, but I was sure they were mistaken because from the base it doesn't look difficult. How wrong I was!!!! If you look carefully at the picture above you can see a tiny hole [in the V]. Our goal was to crawl through that to get to another path.



The first third of the climb was a comfortable, moderate hike. The difficult part came after this. Before we started, the leaders stressed the need for safety and when we reached the second phase of the climb I could understand their warning. We needed to climb over boulders and avoid loose rocks.

I was able to reach the top not too far behind the regular hikers. Coming down was a different story. It took me over two hours to make the descent. It was steep and my hiking gear needed a little upgrading - runners just don't work on rock faces.






We spent a very rewarding hour at the top with many photos being taken from all angles. I was able to get to the edge and have my picture taken just underneath the highest point.

I am very glad I made the climb even with all the scratches from cacti and bruises on my butt from the climb down. A butt descent is the only way down in many places. The long pants and leather gloves we were told to wear definitely helped me!



This morning I am not as stiff as I thought I would be. I assume that is because of how we chose to rehydrate ourselves after the climb - beer at the Soggy Peso!

Valentine's Day

Our next-door neighbours had their annual Valentine's celebration on Sunday with 25 people joining in the festivities. We decided to set the tables in the open area beside our house to give more room in their front yard for sitting and visiting before and after.

Turkey and all the fixins' - what more could you want?

Golf in San Carlos

What a great way to spend a day!

Cruise Ship Activities

Some cruise lines are now including Guaymas as one of their stops and this has been a boost to the local economy. The city rebuilt the docking area and has organized all kinds of activities for the passengers as well as for the local gringos. Holland America's Zaandam (about 1500 passengers) arrived yesterday morning so we headed into Guaymas to check things out.



Our usual mode of transportation is the efficient bus system and we continued that today as we knew parking would be scarce. Much to our surprise, when we boarded the bus to the ship it was filled with friends from Tecalai.





We couldn't resist the lure of a shrimp festival, locally made crafts, mariachi bands and folkloric dancers.

Tucson

We have been without a dryer for the last three months and finally we decided it was time to make the effort. No more white fluff on the blacks! We purchased a new washer and dryer on Craigslist and so headed off to Tucson to pick it up.

One problem - when we got to our destination ( a seven hour drive including a 1.5 hour wait at the American border), the items had been sold to another couple. The sellers didn't bother to E Mail us with that little bit of news though.

We refused to come home with an empty truck box so the next two days were spent looking for deals on washers and dryers. The Desert Diamond Casino actually paid for the set as I was a winner at the slots. Fred helped contribute with his $2.00 winnings!

It was nice to get away even if it was just for three days. But... it was even better to get home! The slower pace of San Carlos is hard to resist.

Fresh Fish?

In Mexico we often see the vendors on the side of the road selling fresh fish and we think nothing of it. It is a common sight that we take for granted and expect to see on a daily basis.

Today's vendor was selling fish that was caught this morning in the Sea of Cortez. And no, we don't buy fish from them!

Carne Asada

Carne asada? We accepted an invitation to a large carne asada hosted by friends from golfing. We weren't exactly certain what was involved with a carne asada, but since the hosts were from Alberta we knew it couldn't be all bad.


The evening was a fun-filled BBQ, serving Mexican tacos with many different side dishes. The Pacifico flowed freely as did the conversation. Because the host was a diver he had invited many of his Mexican friends, some of which we got to know throughout the evening. The lady on the left is our next door neighbour from Manitoba and the one on the right lives two blocks over. She and her husband live in Northern BC.


I spent part of the evening with an 81 year old woman [in black turtleneck] who had just returned from a live-aboard diving trip to the Mexican Galapagos. She is in fantastic shape and convinced me to join her in a climb of Tetakawi, the signature mountain of San Carlos. She was very persuasive as the date of the climb is when we had planned to be in Tucson for the PGA golf tournament and I am giving that up to climb a mountain!!!