From Whale shark snorkeling to Balandra Beaching….and all the in between…..

The most common question people ask is: “What do we do in our spare time?’ It’s a good question because I wondered what we would do to fill our time. I made sure I brought lots of knitting, painting, and art supplies. Finally, we are at the time of year that those things are starting to come in handy.

It seems that people start to head north from Los Barriles in April. We were happy our friend organized a whale shark snorkel for all of us in La Paz. It was our second snorkel with the whale sharks and while both were fun, we could relax more and enjoyed it more the second time. We were happy that it is now better regulated with less people, fewer boats and a lot more time given to just swimming alongside the shark. A La Paz marine biology student served as a tour guide. Not sure how to explain but there is a certain peacefulness in swimming along next to him. Initially the guide yelled for me to move to the side a bit as I was headed straight into the whale’s mouth. I was able to stop and then start swimming right next to him for several minutes. It felt like a half hour but was much less than that. Brant initially got swished away by the tail but then was able to catch up and swim along as well. All four of us had a wonderful experience.

So that was our anniversary celebration——our 40th. We also had an outstanding meal at the Tiger Club. Asian fusion foods and unique, excellent wines at a restaurant owned by a woman from France who grew up in Singapore and now lives in La Paz. While our home is only 1.5 hours away, we loved staying at the Cathedral Hotel that had been recommended by so many.

After that trip, we continued to fill our time with saying good bye to all the folks headed north (wimps). We took a couple of trips as well. First, a trip to Brooklyn to visit Maris and assist with Gabe and Maris’ new apartment move in. It was a great way to learn the location of every hardware store in Brooklyn. Then onto North Carolina where we were thankful to have an elevator in the building. Sarah and EB planned a great trip to visit Brant’s nephew and explore the Carolina sea coast. Not to mention a playdate on Mother’s Day with Jack the great nephew… others (several mothers) were there but it’s the little ones that make it so special. We were only back in Los Barriles for a couple weeks before taking a quick trip to Shingle Springs/Coloma. So great to have friends so willing to put up with us and our crazy shopping sprees. Not easy to find Miracle Whip in the Baja! As much as I love Baja Sur, California will always be my special place.

At last, back home in LB for a couple months before we head to Canada for 5 weeks. Time to catch up on more of those DIY projects. Today the last of the tomato plants were removed, and the bed covered with plastic. (Hoping to solarize to death the fusarium wilt). Working on making new planters out of metal barrels, propagating succulents, fertilizing citrus and many painting/varnish projects including a mural. Very hard to fit it all in between our pickleball 3x a week, weightlifting at gym 3 x a week schedule. (We take Sundays off). And of course there is happy hours with those left in town, scrabble games, chess, duo lingo, and finally time for a little reading. As I think everyone finds in retirement, there is never enough time…. And at the moment I am watching an iguana wander very slowly across our pool deck. Sorry for the length of this post but rest assured at least a thousand pics were left out.

After sort of catching up on house chores it was time to celebrate a birthday. Brant set up a perfect day of snorkeling near the sea lions which happened to be on a tiny rocky island that was surrounded by beautiful coral and reef fish. I was impressed that we swam around the island twice until I realized how tiny the island was. The water was much warmer (no wet suits needed) and crystal clear compared to our whale shark visit in April. We shared our boat with a young couple from Germany traversing Canada, US, Mexico, Central and South America over the course of 2 years with their new camper. Our boat captain deftly parked the boat up on a secluded beach in Balandra Bay where we had a picnic of shrimp ceviche and burritos and beer and our own private beach. I felt very pampered as the boat captain set up 3 umbrellas for the 6 of us to dine under. My favorite stuff all in one day….snorkeling, and a spectacular beach. Then a nap in a beautiful hotel (Casa Al Mar) ….and a wonderful meal at Nemi. (We went to Nim the night before which was also very good). We could not remember which was the place people always recommend so we just went to both. We are good at problem solving. Both were very good. Nemi had very unique and special foods, after a nine course tasting menu paired with eight wines, I don’t have an excellent recall of what they were…. But I do recall enjoying every bite!

Except for a couple days in Cabo for health maintainence appt, we will be here and back on our summer schedule until we seal up the house with storm shutters and head to Sioux City/Canada/ Seattle/ Sacramento travels for high hurricane season. Was going to get the islands painted on my mural today but need to get my appetizer fixed for happy hour——hasta luego! As always so thankful for this kind of crazy place we live that is filled with adventures and fun people… always ready to help out or just have a great happy hour together.

Sorry if you get this twice, bizarrely post fell out of site and had to “republish”. I noticed a friends comment was truncated so checked on site and noticed the entry had disappeared!