Off to work in Sayulita

Logan got to borrow a golf cart for the evening and then off to work in the morning......

Another week in Paradise

Typical day is coffee and breakfast then walking the dogs down to the beach ( about 5 mins) and tossing the ball into the waves for them to swim. Then back up the hill to gather gear for us to swim and surf either the local beach or drive 10 minutes to a beach that is much less crowded. Either way, ya can't go wrong...........
Then dinner plans for town or gather produce for dinner at home. Food is much cheaper here and I get the car gased up only once per month rather than once a week in Waldport.
The electric bill came today and it was $20. Only the frig, fans and a few lights.... nice not to have to pay for heating in the winter.
Next up......... figure out whether to work on a cabana on the roof top or start the 2nd bedroom under the home. It's sooooo easy just to relax and not get working on expanding the home.

Steps down from Casa Gloria to the beach.                                                      

La Playa

Sunset behind Puta Mita south of Sayulita

 

 

Buddies on the beach, getting ready for a swim

 

A morning walk on the beach..............

 

Semana 2 & 3

Town life and a trip to Puerto Vallarta..........
Street dinners every other night. Surf daily. Toughin it out ...................

Morning through the bedroom....

 

Evening in town, looking for a new dinner spot - again...........

 

 

 

Street art in Purto Vallarta.................

 

 

 

Cathedral in Puerto Vallarta

 

 

Walking down to the beach in Sayulita ...............

Viernes Mercado y Mas

We went to Friday Farmers Market today. Got a great lesson in coffee from an American coffee grower who now resides in San Blas about an hour north of Sayulita. We purchased just a small amount of his coffee because he only had a little. He is waiting for a little more dry weather for the beans to dry on the plants before they are picked. Also got some very good local salsa for the kitchen.

 Fishing net being mended along the beach.

From there we walked to Playa de los Muertos where familys were honoring their love ones who had pasted on to another place.

 

 Sayulita centro next to the plaza.

 

Celestino to Sayulita

For the drive to Sayulita from Celestino we took the toll road for about half the trip. We took the 'libre' road to San Blas and had some great fish tacos before continuing to Sayulita. Once we got close to San Blas it started to get very jungle like. Beautiful terrain. I should have taken photos but we were worried we would not arrive before sun down in Sayulita so - no photos.

Sunrise at Casa Gloria in Sayulita.

 

 

At long last we are here. But........we have a problem, Houston. The plumbing has a leak above the shower. Amazingly the plumbers arrived at 9am and began tearing into the concrete walls. Here's what we had on our first day....

Tonight is a Dia de los Muertos celebration in the plaza. We will go, even without showers. The tile and concrete are now drying and tomorrow we will have showers again.

San Carlos to Celestino

The border crossing was a non-event. Had a few Canadians in front of us at the Immigration check-in so we waited about 30-40 mins for the paperwork to be completed.
The road from Nogales to San Carlos was mostly divided highway and total cost of tolls was only about $15.
The dogs are now panting heavily as they experience this heat.
Spent the night in San Carlos after arriving just before sun down.

Had some great marlin taco's in Hermosillo. We were the only gringos around, so we got to practice our Spanish for the first time, since in San Carlos they spoke fluent English.

Next day was onto Celestino, about 1 hr north of Mazatlan. We were the only campers in the park since they just re-opened because the road had washed out due to heavy summer rains.

Nice shady campground and a deserted beach.

Patagonia State Park

Left Flagstaff around 9am for our drive to Patagonia Lake State Park, about 1/2 hour from Nogales border. The morning low in Flagstaff was 25 degrees. When we arrived at Patagonia it was 90. It's starting to feel like summer at last. We want to cross over early-ish so we can get to San Carlos, on the Sea of Cortez before dark. No driving after the sun goes down in Mexico !

Zion N.P.

The main bike trail was just off the campground. It traveled along the river and crossed over at least 5 bridges as it criss-crossed over the river. Because of the number of visitors in the Summer, Zion has a great shuttle bus system that takes hikers from the campgrounds to the trail heads up the river.

 

 

Leaving Zion after a good breakfast and dog walk.

 

 

On our way to Flagstaff for the night and from there then its onto Patagonia Lake State Park, about 1/2 hr from the Nogales border. The weather report has Patagonia Lake as 85 degrees tomorrow !

Tonopah, NV to Zion National Park

The road from Tonopah to Zion was mostly deserted and no service for 120 miles. We cruised at 65mph thru the Nevada desert until we reached Utah where things began to get green and colorful. After getting groceries and gas in a little town just outside the park we headed in about 3pm. At the park entrance I discovered I was eligible for a senior national park card - so for $10 I now have access to any national park forever, and camping is 1/2 price. Pretty cool!

At night the moon was just to the right of this cliff, lighting
up the campground so you could see pretty well. The day was warm but it got cold at night.

The campground was about 3/4 full but we snagged a really nice site by the river. All these pictures are taken from within the campground and trails leading out of the campground. A beautiful park that features the Virgin River and Canyon walls.

Sacramento to Tonopah NV

 

We were surprised that all the roads out of Yosemite were closed because of snow. Our only option was to take I-80 over the Sierras to Lake Tahoe. And we almost did not make that either since chains or 4W drive were required - but I lied and told them the van was AWD. We made it fine. I think they were just being extra careful since it was the seasons first snow fall. Once we got to Tahoe the snow ended and it was beautiful. But it is cold. We checked into a motel in Tonopah, Nevada as it began to get dark. Tomorrow we're off to Zion National Park, some 350 miles from here. It's supposed to be sunny but cold........

Oregon to Sacramento

All packed up and ready to hit the road to Sayulita. First overnight will be to Sacramento. From there we'll check out the weather to see if the roads out of Yosemite are good to travel over the Sierras.