Tom took most of the photos and even a little video so I will give the narrative and he can add the photos.
Wednesday:First, the trip down was a piece of cake. Tom had walkie talkies so we were able to be in contact the whole way. That was great. I got sent to the Mexican secondary (2nd time in 3 months) but with a quick inspection, we were on our way.
We tried to have fish tacos in my favorite place but alas, there was no parking available and we were forced to try a new place down the street. Fish tacos for the adults and quesadillas for the kids. I was duly impressed with the knowing palate of Amanda and Nolan who declared their quesadillas the best they have ever had and immediately ordered more.
After lunch, we moved on to Commercial Mexicana, also known as the Pelican Place, and proceeded to buy far more tortillas than humanly possible for 5 people to eat in 3 days but we didn't want to risk running out. We also got some queso "Perfecto para quesadillas", pastries, carne asada, and other various and sundry items. We bought a hose to replace the one that was stolen. A successful shopping adventure.
We got to the house and it was sparkly shiny thanks to the efforts of the ladies of La Bocana (Cathy, Emily, and Elaine) who offered to mop the floor for me. We explored the house, put away the food, made the beds, and settled in for an evening dinner and fire. Tom and Sheri brought a bbq and we had a wonderful dinner.
Thursday:The next morning brought a fire, coffee, pancakes, a walk to rock beach, rock collecting, greeting and meeting of labocanans, and people hungry for lunch. We ate lunch, rested, and spotted some whales (that turned out to be orcas! Go to
http://www.labocana.org/ to see the photos).
We prepared for the party that was to be at our house that evening. We brought in tables and chairs, set up the belly bar (aka the old water tank), and turned on the music. In all, there were 19 of us socializing and eating the potluck dinner. The weather was so nice, we adjourned outside to the patio where we lit a fire.
Around 8 pm, we set out for the firework show. We walked by the two story house, went down the hill, and were greeted at the next house by those we have aptly named the Tequila Sirens. They lured us in with their flashlights and calls and when we entered the house, they had lime, salt, and tequila at the ready. Then they joined our merry gang and we all walked to the house of Art and Jen Smith. All together, we were about 40 people. We ate desserts and watched the firework show. Amanda and Nolan quickly became best pals with some of the other kids. After the firework show, we walked back home.
Friday:
We woke, started another fire, enjoyed egg/bagel sandwiches (thank you Sheri), and had a mellow morning. At 10 am, Sheri, Nolan, and Amanda went to the beach to meet some other families. Sharon picked up the lobster we ordered the day before.
And Tom got busy. He fixed the door to the propane, he fixed the light in the bathroom, and then he set up the windmill and got it working. This was important as we were really stretching the limits of our power system. Some of our 12 Volt Compact Fluorescent light bulbs had gone out so I replaced them with normal 12 Volt lightbulbs. This, coupled with it being near the shortest day of the year and only having two batteries (before the thieves, we had 5), meant that we were keeping a keen eye on the power system. So the wind generator really helped.
That afternoon, we lounged around, did a little laundry, even a few naps were taken. I did take this one photo of Tom enjoying the patio.
For dinner, we enjoyed a most excellent lobster /carne asada taco night. Wow! What a great way to start the year. We lit a fire and played a really fun game of Guesstures. Amanda was the best: she won the prize and even gave a speech.
Saturday:We enjoyed a nice morning of breakfast near the fire.
Then we went into high gear of packing, burying things, making sandwiches, setting mice traps, and putting the boards on, etc. We left La Bocana at noon.
We drove home by way of the free road from Rosarito to Tijuana. Sharon crossed in 2 minutes and Tom/Sheri and kids crossed in about 25 minutes. Not too shabby.
Oh, Pat, did I forget to mention the trees? The trees were doing great. Tom took some photos and I'm sure he'll post them.
What else? The weather was perfect. Warm days, little wind, and cool but not cold nights. We were able to eat lunch outside on the patio. Full moon so bright that you could see shadows at night. Amanda and I got up early to watch the moon set just as the sun was rising. It was amazing. Tom and Sheri met a lot of the other families since so many people were down for the holiday week.
All in all, an excellent trip.
This is probably way more than you ever wanted to know about our trip but... too bad.
