Road Trip

Saturday, Feb 21st - With our boat dreams shattered, okay, okay, overly dramatic, but still, we were bummed, and our boat surveyor gone until March 2nd, we were at a standstill. Our 3rd choice boats we didn’t want to make any offers on until the surveyor returned so, Road Trip! I thought it would be a nice mental break as well as a good opportunity to venture inland for a while. When, not if, we get a boat, we’ll be coastal for a good long time, and you know the saying, when life hands you lemons, just add vodka! Hey, that’s how I remember it.

Friday (February 20th, Happy Birthday Baetz if you’re reading this - Feb 21st) we pack up to go but realize we have way to much crap for a simple week long road adventure, so we delay leaving until Saturday. We shove most of our things into storage.

With suggestions from numerous sources, we head off first to Obergon. What a disappointment. It was suppose to be a modern city, a little nicer and bigger than Guaymas. Maybe so, but it certainly lacked charm. I ate dinner at Carl Jr’s, if that doesn’t say it all! At least the salad was fresh and crisp, and the Papas & Quesos was stellar (and a refreshing change from my choices of Mexican food). Next up, heading to Alamos. My expectations are high.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/sets/72157614881652764/

Take a Hike!

San Carlos is like a little mecca for American's, retired Americans, and sailors/boaters, and as with any community, there are a handful of activities directors. This particular person, Pat, had being organizing an all women's only hike up Mt. Tekikawi for the last 15 years, and as she had recently turned 80, this was to be her last.

So how hard could this be, you ask? Well, judging from the older crowd (only one 19 year old, one 29 year old and a couple in their thirties, me being one of them), I completely misjudged. In our official briefing, we were instructed that this was not a race and we were to proceed in a civilized manner. I guess there were issues in the past but it was made clear that this time, it was to be the journey -aka, relax, enjoy and take in the sights. No problem, I'm not looking for a race. When Pat said it would take 2 hours up and about the same coming down, I really didn't believe her until we started hiking.

Luckily, I ran into my Yoga/Pilates instructor, Betty, at the start. We decided to hike together in the 2nd to last grouping of ladies. It was really nice to know someone at the start and in which we had something in common. Immediately into the hike, the grade started to increase. The mountain didn't look this big, hmmmm.

When I said I had misjudged, it was an understatement. I am just so impressed with all the women who completed the hike. It was tough and very technical in some areas - scrambling and a little rock climbing involved. It was very steep, but the views - well worth it. And boy, was I sore the next day!

Enjoy the pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/

(I finally figured out which online system we wanted to use for our photo albums. Now we will be able to show more pictures ~ click on the link above to enjoy.)

Beach Pictures - Empalme

Here's the pictures. Oh, and just to clarify, we did not get the boat (1st choice - KP) due to the selller being a psycho! That's, count 'em, 3 times she pulled out of the deal, once swearing on her mother's grave! It's in writing and Brian giggled when he read it the first time, asking is her mom dead? Guess not! Hence the beach trip!

In the small town of Empalme

The Shell Seekers

Okay, so you are not going to believe this one, but here goes. We came back to San Carlos early part of February to check out and purchase our 2nd choice boat. After a week of negotiations and rigging, boat and engine checks, we learned on a Thursday (end of day), the engine was seized. Hence, we decided to pull out of the deal. There was just too much wrong. Bummed out again, that we have no boat, we return to our hotel room and check email / surf the web for other opportunities. So, you know that old saying, when one door closes, another opens? Well, it was immediate, their it was, an email from Brian's dreamboat, the KP saying they came to there senses, again. They would sell us the boat (our #1 choice) and even promised on their mother's grave. To top it off, the seller would be down from Canada on Monday! Wow, we were very excited, but still a bit leery. After all, they have pulled out of the deal twice before.

The meeting with the owner on Tuesday went well, with us describing where we were coming from and her reciprocating. She then went through the entire boat with us, over every piece of equipment and detail. We were there 2 hours! Okay, so this might happen, but we wanted to have the boat looked at by our surveyor and/ or at least our engine guy. After all , we were plunking down quite a bit of cash. Engine guy scheduled the very next day, go Brian! However, when he went over to speak with the boat owner - she freaked out. She told him to guy buy someone else's boat, stop trying to take hers, and even pointed at a few others in the boat yard! ARRGGH! Unbelievable! What a PSYCHO! Oh, did I mention she works in the psychotherapy industry. A true nut case.

To blow off steam, Brian and I decide to go to the beach. Yes, a shell seeking day for us. That always makes us feel better. We used to go to SOB (South Ocean Beach) all the time in the city to collect sand dollars. Rumor had it, this beach was the bomb for shell collecting, as well as being long & gorgeous.

Armed with an eight pack (don't you just love it, comes that way, not 6 packs) of beer and a bottle of tequila, we head off to Empalme. It is just outside of Guymas, about 45 minutes away. When we get there, we drive right onto the sand. It's amazing. It's everything it's rumored to be. The only negative would be the trash, but that seems to be the norm for Mexico, unfortunately. They are not very environmentally aware yet. Anyhow, enjoy the pic's!

We're Back

At least in San Carlos (Mexico), for round 3 of boat buying! Hopefully, we will be making an offer on our 3rd choice boat, I'll keep everyone posted. In the meantime, wow, what a difference a week makes (well, 9 days). Our adventures inland were much needed and very fun. You'll get all the details as soon as we can type up the stories. Stay tuned.
Meow