Hello from Yakima

This morning, about 7:30, Greg hiked to the El Faro Lighthouse here in Mazatlan. El Faro was built in 1879 and is the best known lighthouse in Mexico. Famous for it's spectacular views and is one of the highest lighthouses in the world. It's 500 feet above sea level and has incredible views of Mazatlan. It took Greg 20 minutes to climb to the top. He said in the beginning the path was challenging with gravel and lots of ruts but then turned, about half way up, to stairs. He mentioned he didn't run into any banditos but lots of tourists, since this is Easter week here in Mazatlan. Enjoy the pics he took from the top of El Faro. In case you don't know, Faro is lighthouse in spanish. Looking north from the lighthouse. Road to the path, Pacifico Brewrey in the distance and Old Mazatlan. Port of Mazatlan where the cruise ships dock. Looking south to Stone Island and Estrella del Mar. El Faro Lighthouse. 500 feet above sea level.

As we make our plans to leave Mazatlan the week of April 12th, we find ourselves in the middle of Semana Santa (Holy Week) or Easter week. This is a popular time for families from all over Mexico to take a beach vacation. Mazatlan is getting very crowded right now and there are live bands along the Malecon and a general party atmosphere. They figure an additional 40,000 people will be in the city this week. There are many umbrellas starting to go up on the beaches, as families enjoy the ocean. With the violence that has recently hit Mazatlan, many had thought families wouldn't come this year, but it's looking like they're coming anyway. The government has sent in additional military, ie Army, Navy, Municipal Police, Federal Police, lifeguards and other entities to help keep the city safe. However, we continue to hear of incidents on a daily basis. We just hope and pray the families will be safe this week and be able to enjoy their beach vacation. Happy Easter to you all.

Sorry for the delay in posting. Last week, was Semana Santa (Holy Week) here in Mazatlan and my sister, Cindy and our nephew Alex were with us. The holiday brought 400,000 more nationals and internationals to the Maz beaches as many were on spring break. It was a very noisy, crowded time here but Cindy and Alex enjoyed their vacation and all of the excitement. They left last Sunday and we sure do miss them. We have some fun photos to post very soon. We are now spending this week, Moto Week - Sunday, April 12 - Sunday, April 19 at our timeshare, Torres Mazatlan. This is a very noisy week at our condo too so we have decided to get some peace and quite here at Torres. Really enjoying our time here. We have internet access but the upload speed for posting photos is extremely slow so we won't be posting any just yet. Next week, Tuesday, April 21 - Sunday April 26 my cousin, DeAnna and her two grandsons, Philip and Damien will be with us. We are looking forward to their visit too. During...

We are well into Semana Santa (Holy week) here in Mazatlan. It is just incredible the droves of mexican families that have arrived and flooding the beaches. Take a look at these pictures and the attached link with an explaination of this event here in Mexico. For those of you that have been to Mazatlan, the last two pictures were taken just north of Valentino's. The others are taken from the beach right in front of our building. We have never seen the beach with this many people. The families seem to be having a great time enjoying the ocean with lots of food and music too. Oh and I am sure lots of cervezas too. The traffic is very heavy and the noise is at a level that we are sleeping in the guest room in the back of our condo. But, it is just for a few nights, so we will make it through yet another "party" in Mazatlan. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g150792-i257-k1094075-Semana_Santa_explained_Sort_of-Mazatlan_Pacific_Coast.html