February 4-18, 2023
Larry and I started this week out with a fun bike ride and then hike up the hill overlooking the beach. We ride our bikes for as long as we can, up the steep hill and then ditch them in the bushes. We walk the remainder to the cool castle house they have been building for the last three years. It’s a long, steep and dusty road. It’s a super workout especially for our calves.
We see things up here that we don’t see anywhere else.
The first view from the castle house.
I love this one!❤️
One of these days, we are coming up here for a sunset.
This is the roof….. they still have so much work to do on this house. I’m glad we can come up here.
These tiny flowers were on a cactus. They were the size on my pinky fingernail.
This moth was much bluer than the picture shows.
It’s quite a jungle up here. Not many houses are built yet…..
Can you see the castle house on the hill?
I have to admit, it took us two weeks to get to the beach for a sunset. Crazy huh?
A furry visitor we had one day.
I saw this beautiful display in Sayulita before Valentine’s Day.
Our friends Trini and Amelia came from Calvillo, Aguacalientes to visit us. They are the wonderful couple that own the property we are staying on. We love them like family and enjoy spending time with them. They brought a young man, Fernando,19 with them. He wanted to see the beach. His father works for Trini on his guava orchard.
One day after an errand in Bucerias, we stopped in Sayulita to see the beach and get lunch.
We walked around the center of town and snapped a few photos.
We took a walk on the beach to work up an appetite. ha ha ha
Larry and Fernando. We really loved getting to know him. He was born in California but moved to Calvillo when he was 14.
Fernando has a remarkable story. Shortly after moving to Mexico he was in a terrible accident. One day he was riding his motorcycle and drove too fast or close to some men that were drinking. The men got in the car and chased after him. They banged into him twice and he fell off and hit his head. Fernando was taken to the hospital where he stayed for 7 week, 3 of the those weeks he was in a coma. During this time, they had to open up his head to help reduce the swelling. Fernando is 19 now and still continues to do physical therapy to regain all that was lost. I would say he’s about 90% but has lost his high school years. Another sad thing is that the men that caused this have never been held accountable for their actions.
We loved Fernando. He was kind and funny. He didn’t have a bitter bone in his body.
We at at the ChocoBanana. .https://www.restaurantsnapshot.com/ChocoBanana/
I had a fabulous green smoothie and a delicious salad. I didn’t try the chocobanana this time but I’ll come back!
💕
This is our friend Suzy looking for a bargain in San Francisco (San Pancho). We took Trini, Amelia, Fernando and Suzy for a day trip here.
Relaxing on the beach. We wanted to show Fernando as many beaches as we could while he was here.
Suzy and I power walked down to the end of the beach and back.
Suzy is 10 years older than me and I had to run to keep up with her. She’s in amazing shape!
The whole gang!
Amelia was negotiating a good deal on sandals.
Trini is better than a Taco!
Love the flowers 🌸🌺
I saw this poor snake on my run. I’ve been jogging 3 times a week and adding a mile each week. I might run a half marathon with my daughter Jill and her boyfriend Riley in the summer somewhere in the world. 🌎
Goodbye Trini, Fernando and Amelia. I sent them off at the bus stop. It’s an 8 hour bus ride home.
This is the day the gym owner put me in charge of the gym…. He had to leave for an hour. I got to play my own music too! 🤘
I see these lovely horses when I walk to and from town.
Someone told me this guy is a donkey. I just love his striped legs.
We caught another sunset.
This guy flies over everyday and lands right at sunset.
This is a mural project that started and was completed is less than a week in the plaza.
It’s beautiful scenes from Lo De Marcos.
We went hiking with Nayarit Rivera Hikers. The group was a nice size with about 30 folks. We drove to Los Ayalas beach about 10 minutes north of LDM.
It takes you to a great lookout in about an hour.
This is the kissing beach on the way back. We did noticed a lot of trash (bottles and cans) on the trail. We made a plan to come back with trash bags soon.
The beginning of the trail with a great Mexican sign.
Larry hiking in the jungle.
Los Ayalas beach.
The hiking crew….. look for Larry’s green shirt.
This made me smile 😊
Crazy thing…. We saw this awesome green guy right when we walked through the gate. We were not prepared and he ran like hell to escape us.
The row of gringo golf carts arriving for the silent auction for Amigos de Lo De Marcos.
Here is the model for the mural.
We walked around to find something to bid on.
The whole town seemed to be out tonight. Larry got a snack box filled crackers, dips, chips, nuts and sauces and more! I got a gift certificate for a vegan restaurant.
This was our Monday morning walking team! A short stroll at 8 am to start the week out on the right foot.
Me arriving at the Annual Pickleball tournament. It’s a fundraiser for Casa de los ninos.
The tournament organizers, Robert and Tamera asked us to be the scoreboard keepers. Tamera asked me to dress like Vanna White- from Wheel of fortune. I said I had a dress for that!
Suzy brought her new puppy, Dora, and we got to meet her the very first day.
Tamera and Robert with the pickle ball champ Ben, in the black hat.
All the pickle ball players, about 60!
The Big check we presented to La casa de Los Ninos.
Our Beautiful friend Deb!💕❤️
Los venados beach. I run a mile here and meditate before I finish the rest of my run. It’s a great way to start my morning.
My view from the gym on morning. Lots of policies with guns. I’m glad I’m protected here.
We have this gorgeous orchard growing in our yard.
Walking on Los Ayalas beach to hike to the lookout again. This time we brought Deb and trash bags to clean the trail up.
Our first up close and personal experience with a Blue footed Boobie!
He even let Larry pet him.
Deb is one of the happiest and fun people I’m lucky to know. She’s a good sport when I ask her to pose too!😊
We look time to peek at the views along the way.
This is El Toro beach. It’s small, secluded and was deserted.
Deb climbing around the rocks picking up cans.
Me!!! Ha ha ha
Sitting on the rocks at the mirador.
This signs says if you call the number, they will send a boat to pick you up. That’s if you didn’t want to hike back. it’s $100 pesos. About $5 US
Danger! Don’t eat the fruit!
This was at a horse ranch. Art display for a special Argentinean dinner. Deb, Larry and I went with a group of 20 other folks.
They had a cute set up.
They had a percussionist under a palapa playing music in the background.
It was a nice evening but a lit too long for me. It starts at 6 and we left at 9:30. They had a vegetarian option for me, a spinach frittata. Apparently the Argentina people only eat meat. They was 5 courses of bbq animals I got to watch people eat. That is checked out my bucket list…if it Ever was there! Larry and Deb enjoyed it as well as the others. I just should knew.
Can you see these two helicopters? They flew over Lo De Marcos for two days straight, morning to evening. They were filming for the Netflix series, Mr. And Mrs. Smith.
This is how creative and ingenuous Mexican people are…..they welded a truck bed on their car! Classy.
The end of this story 🤣😂
It's much more crowded than when I was there 8 years ago. Beauyiful place, beautiful pictures.