Desayunos a la casa de Roberto

Breakfast at Roberto's house. This morning we rode bicycles (loaned to us by Jack) a couple of miles to the neighborhood of Costa Azul in Guaymas where Roberto lives. L-R: Roberto, Francesca, Arlete, Jack.

Chorizo & eggs - que delcioso!

Roberto's house is up a short steep cobbled street, so we walked our bikes.
The view from the terrace was great. The little island is thick with cactus.

The next morning

We spent the night at Jack's. This morning he took us on a little sight-seeing tour of the area north of San Carlos which I'd never seen before. The local busses don't go to this area, so I was amazed at the nice hotels and developments. This is the view from a lookout called El Mirador.

Looking north at the distinctive Tetas de Cabra. The older part of San Carlos is on the other side of the mountain.
Jack bought us breakfast at the Marinaterra Hotel. Marina San Carlos is in the background.

Dinner with Jack and friends

We met up with Jack Nolan, a long-time friend from Rio Linda. He invited us to dinner at his house in San Carlos.

Beautiful home, great food and drink.

We also met some of his friends. L-R: Jack, Roberto, Francesca. Roberto takes care of the house when Jack is away and speaks quite good English. Thank goodness Jack is fluent in Spanish because his ability to translate was essential for the rest of us.

Leobarto and his wife.

Jack's house is right on the beach and has a great view of the Sea of Cortez from the patio. The bay is Bahia de Algodones and the beach is sometimes called Catch 22, because the movie was filmed here. The next 3 pictures span from south to north:

Wiwichus

If this was a real word in Spanish, "wiwichu" would be prounounced "wee-WEE-choo."

This was a display on the counter at Blockbuster, a promotion from Pepsi. Inside the clear plastic sphere is a small toy, apparently you can collect several different figures. The funny part is the caption below the title:

Wiwichu a Meri Crismas an a Japi nu Yir.

Bota navideño

Christmas stocking.

I'm not a creative or artistic person. I can follow a recipe and sewing pattern directions and I'm usually happy with the results. But to have an original idea and create has not been possible until now.

Living on a boat means you can't have a lot of "stuff." A Christmas stocking, however, is the appropriate weight and size. We can see the towers of Iglesia San Fernando from the deck of our boat and, for us, represents Guaymas. A couple of weeks ago, I took paper, pencil, and chair to the front of the church and sketched the part that would fit on the curve of the stocking. It was hard to eliminate detail. Tracing the darkened lines was also difficult through the thick white felt. I decided to do only black lines because of daughter-in-law Nicole Docimo, a real artist. You can see her work at her blog: bluebicicletta.wordpress.com or at her Etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/bluebicicletta.
And now, my sincere hope is that I won't make another Guaymas stocking in 2010. I'm hoping for a different port in the world.

Feliz navidad

Merry Christmas.

Dick got me this t-shirt for Christmas. The "Ostioneros" are the Oystermen of Guaymas, a local baseball team. The malecon was filled with families and children enjoying their new bicycles, roller blades, remote-control vehicles, battery-operated 4-wheelers, new puppies, and skateboards.

Before this little guy got going, he was parked in front of the seal bench behind him, he was "revving the engine" and watching the rear wheels spin.

The most unique tricycle was a miniature version of the ones that some local vendors use.

Nativity scenes

There are many nativity scenes around town, but no baby Jesus . . .
until this morning.

This was the biggest nativity in town, on the malecon. The donkey was especially large and goofy.