Mazatlan's baseball team

The past two evenings have been pretty noisey here on the malecon. Night before last, about sunset, the horns began to honk and flags were flying out windows of cars, pulmonias, etc. with lots of yelling and screaming in pure exhalation! Turns out the Venados (Deer), Mazatlan's baseball team, won their game against Los Mochis (a town about 2 hours north of Maz) which makes them the champions of the Mexican Pacific League. This puts them in the Caribbean Series which starts next month. Their first games of the series will be February 2nd against Venezuela and Puerto Rico in Mexicali, Baja, California. Here is a link to more information on the Series.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/winterleagues/?league=cs
Everyone was sooooooo excited and the horn honking went on way past midnight. Then, last evening we had a parade that started down the malecon just after sunset to honor the Venados.

Here's a short video clip of part of the parade. It's kind of dark but if you increase your page size (upper right menu bar-use the zoom feature) you can see it better. The second big truck/bus is the Venado's bus.

The Mazatlecos (locals of Mazatlan) are very proud of their team, as we gringos are too.

Also, there was a celebration at the stadium behind our building with music, announcements and spectacular fireworks last night. Lots of excitement again. So we wonder what tonight will bring.

Salud to the Venados!!!

1 month since Christmas.......

And this is the sunset tonight here in Mazatlan. It was just gorgeous!! We can't believe it has only been 1 month today that we were in Washington celebrating Christmas with our families. And all that snow........ Just seems soooooooo long ago now that we're back in Maz. Just loving our days here so much.

We also went to the Plazuela Machado for dinner last evening for the first time since we have been back. Just as magical as ever. We enjoyed chicken fajitas at one of the restuarants on the square, great food, music and people watching. Also, lots of interesting vendors. Here is a little video clip of the evening. Enjoy! :)

10 days back in Mazatlan

We thought we'd let you all know what's going on with us here in Mazatlan. We've been back now 10 days and, of course, just loving the weather. The days are still in the mid to upper 70s. No humidity to speak of but have had a couple days of overcast skies but still warm. The sunsets have been spectacular and the sun is now setting directly out front of our condo. Just beautiful! Here's a shot we took the other evening.

Greg and I are still trying to loose a few pounds so we have been watching our calories and doing lots of walking and I'm doing lots of yoga too. We have been trying to eat most of our meals in so we don't over indulge in the chips and salsa and margaritas, beer, etc. By the way, when you come down we won't be watching our calories though. :) So no worries. The walks on the malecon are so great. We've been walking around sunset so we get an even more gorgeous view as we walk. So far our days are going somewhat like this:

7:00 - rise and have coffee/breakfast on the terrace
8:00 - shower - get ready for the day
errands/orphanage/shopping, etc.
12:00 - lunch on the terrace
1:30 - 3:00 - take in some rays on the terrace (pool is still a little too cool)/read a book/siesta
4:00 - yoga for me
5:00 - walk on malecon or beach/enjoy sunset
6:30 - dinner
9:00 - bedtime, however, sometimes we stay up a little bit later. :)

Sound like a relaxing day in paradise?

We went back to the orphanage last Friday. Our housekeeper came that morning very upset. Seems she was having some issues with her 19 year old daughter whom has a 2 year old daugther that she is caring for. She was asking for advice from us and we just couldn't really communicate that well with her to help. We went to the orphanage and ask if the lady that runs things there could give her a call. She was more than happy to do so. Just hoping things will get worked our for her and her daughter. The orphanage looks really clean and spruced up. They have painted the outside and inside and done some remodeling. Very nice. It was so great to see the little children again. They seem happy and doing well. We'll be going back again soon to help with some repairs. They have a list for Greg of things that need attention. He is such a great handy man and loves doing it for them!

Well we'll try to post some pictures very soon. Hope some of you are making plans to come down this spring. We're waiting for you. :)

Back to Living our Dream in Paradise!

We made it to Mazatlan last Saturday with no problems getting across the border at Nogales. After 6 days of driving we are here and it is paradise!! Mid 70s during the day and 50s at night. Just perfecto!!

Right now I am using the internet connection in the lobby of our condominium as we won't have internet/phone service in our condo until Thursday, hopefully. The lobby is open air with a gorgeous view of the ocean. It's about 75 degrees, beautiful blue, sunny skies, I can hear the waves and feel the slight tropical ocean breeze. It's just wonderful!!

We've spent the past few days just getting settled into our condo; unpacking, grocery shopping, visiting with our snowbird friends, soaking up a few rays and just enjoying the wonderful warm days. We left Yakima with 21 degrees and snow on the ground so this just feels so great. Back to shorts and flip flops!!

Well check out our blog in a few days when we get service back and we'll have a few pictures of our trip and our home here in Maz for the next 5 months. Hasta luego mi amigos!!

Day 4

Today we started our day with breakfast at the "Metro Cafe" at the London Bridge Resort where we stayed the night. Then a nice walk over the London Bridge and a little shopping in the stores along the lake. It was a beautiful sunny morning with a temperature of 51 degrees at 10:00. Here is a link to some info on the history of the London Bridge you might enjoy reading. http://londonbridgeresort2-px.trvlclick.com/history/london_bridge.html


Here we are on the London Bridge.









We really enjoyed the Lake Havasu area and would like to go back again someday.

At 11:00 we headed out for Phoenix but at Buckeye we cut over to Highway 85 which took us to Highway 8 (the Phoenix bypass route) to Tucson. We were able to avoid the congestion around Phoenix by doing this. On our trip down to Tucson through the Sonoran Desert (about 119 miles from the cutoff) we saw alot of sagebrush and a few saguaro cactus here and there. Definitely not as scenic as it was coming down from Flagstaff/Sedona through Phoenix on our prior trip to Mexico. We arrived in Green Valley at 4:45 with a temperature of 70 degrees where we are staying tonight. It is about 25 miles from the border at Nogales where we will cross tomorrow morning.

This may be our last posting until we get to Mazatlan on Saturday, as we may not have internet access at the hotel we stay in Friday night in Mexico.

Day 3

Wednesday, January 7

Today we drove from Los Banos, California to Lake Havasu, Arizona. About 500 miles. We have traveled 1,300 miles so far - half way to Mazatlan!

We left Los Banos this morning at 9:00 and drove 3 hours in fog before we hit blue skies. Along I-5 south from Los Banos to Bakersfield we saw many almond, pastachio and we think olive orchards. Also, many orange and persimmon groves and grape vineyards through the San Joaquin Valley. As we headed to Barstow over the Tehachapi Summit the sky turned blue with snow covered peaks in the distance and the temperature was 68 degrees! This summit reaches an elevation of 3,900 feet so we were really surprised. On the road to Barstow we also saw some wind turbines, about 4,500 of them on the hillside. Also, passed Edwards Air force Base and the turnoff for Twenty-Nine Palms where my son Josh was stationed when he was in the Marines.

We arrived here in Lake Havasu at 5:30 mountain time. The sun was just setting and it was beautiful. We are staying the night at the London Bridge Resort and Convention Center. Here is a link to info on the hotel. http://londonbridgeresort2-px.trvlclick.com/ We had martinis and tapas at the Martini Bay Restaurant here at the resort tonight. Greg had a Parrot Head and a Washington Apple. I had a Cosmo and a Peppermint Patty. Very yummy.

The resort sits right on the lake and next to the London Bridge. We are planning to do some exploring here tomorrow before we head for Tucson and over to Green Valley where we will spend the night before we cross over into Mexico on Friday.

Day 2

Tuesday, January 6

We drove 520 miles today. We left Roseburg, Oregon this morning at 8:30 and arrived in
Los Banos, California at 5:00 pm. It was a great day with no problems at all with the weather. The Siskiyou summit was dry with patches of snow on the side of the road and 40 degrees. The elevation at the summit is 4,310. The Mount Shasta pass area was in the 40s too. We had been a little concerned about these two areas but we think the rest of the trip won't be a problem weatherwise.

We saw our first palm tree in Redding, California and many olive groves along the way. Our first sighting of grape vineyards was between Sacramento and Stockton. The temperatures ranged in the 40s up to 59 degrees with some nice sunshine along the way.

We are at the hotel this evening after a very nice dinner at a restaurant here in Los Banos called Espana's Southwest Bar & Grill. The building had been owned by a German immigrant back in 1850. He came to America with $6 and made his fortune here. This building had been his headquarters and to his honor they have restored the building and turned it into a mexican restaurant. Here's a site you might enjoy reading about this man. http://www.espanas.com/about.html

We'll have more to post tomorrow on our journey through California and Arizona to Mazatlan.

We're headed south...... Day 1

We left Yakima this morning, Monday, January 5th at 9:30 am. It was 21 degrees with 3 more inches of snow on the ground.

Satus Pass towards Oregon was snow and ice with bare pavement in places. It wasn't too bad just slow driving. The Columbia River Gorge had high winds, lots of rain and standing water on the road. So that was a little scary when we passed the trucks. Greg is a great driver so he did a terrific job keeping us on the road.

We are here in Roseburg, Oregon for the night. Headed out for Chinese dinner. The temperature here is 51 degrees, a heatwave, and not a bit of snow in sight. It feels so warm to us. Just hoping it stays about like this the rest of the trip.

Stay tuned for updates on our adventure south to Mexico.

Happy, Happy 2009!!!

We hope you all had a safe New Year's Eve and are enjoying your day off today, New Year's Day, with no hangovers. :)

We all need to keep a positive attitude for 2009. Today is our chance for a new beginning, the day we discard destructive habits for healthy new ones. So let's all count our blessings, be happy with where we are in our lives and move into the new year with a positive attitude.

May this New Year bring with it peace and joy. And to one and all -- a happy, healthy 2009.

We will be posting photos soon of Christmas with our familes. Right now our computer that has our photos on it is in for repair.

We are scheduled to leave for Mazatlan on Monday, January 5th. It should take us about 5 days, as we are driving down, so will be back on line around the 10th. Until then, stay warm and we'll give you a weather report from Mazatlan in about a week.