Walcott

I’m sorry I have gotten behind on posts.  I’ll update with some past events soon.  But for now I’m going to go ahead with our San Carlos Trip from this past weekend.

We left on Friday around 3 with the Jankowskis, Ashley, the three dogs and a boat.  The trip progressed smoothly up until the permit station.  The permit station is always a bone of contention.  Legally we are supposed to essentially sign in and out of the country stating that we are only there for vacation, but since no one seems to care about it, it seems to be just a needless waste of time.  However, in the interest of following the law we stop for 30 mins to an hour for the permit.  This time we also needed to get a permit for the boat since apparently sneaking boats into Mexico is a big deal.  Sadly for Ryan and Yunuen permitting the boat is overly complicated and the necessary information is not easily determined.  So after approximately 2 1/2 hours we were able to continue on our way.  It was really hot and waiting around wasn’t fun, but I’m sure it wasn’t nearly as annoying as dealing with the permitting people.

Anyway, we did make it down to the beach and were able to do a little late night swimming.  On Saturday we pretty much just hung out at the house and relaxed on the beach. Ryan and I played a little Bocci ball and I got some reading done.

That night we went out to eat at Pancho Villa’s Restaurant.  It was probably one of the best meals that Beth and I have had in a while.  We followed this by going first to a bar in Guaymas and then to a club in San Carlos.  The club was fun and it had been a really long time since Beth or I had been dancing.  It was a fun (and late) night and although the majority of the music wasn’t that great it was great to see Yunuen and her brothers belting out some of their old favorites at the end of the night.  I would equate it to a club playing Bon Jovi or Journey just before closing and everyone just singing at the top of their lungs.

After the late night we mostly took it easy and relaxed on the beach and made a trip out to the Estuary.  We got a shock collar for Walcott due to his antics the last time we were at the beach.  I was able to spend some time with him on it in the morning before anyone was really on the beach.  After just 30 mins and only two really good shocks he seemed to catch on and I was able to walk with him without a leash down the beach and back twice (approximately 2 miles).  This is really encouraging and will hopefully continue.

That evening we headed down to downtown Guaymas to the marina which serves a a kind of city square.  It was cool to see so many families just walking around and enjoying the evening.  It really gives a sense of community that is definitely lacking in most areas of the US.  It would be great if our culture would pick up some of these characteristics.  Also there were dancing fountains (think of the Bellagio in Vegas) that were fun to watch.

The next morning we were planning on leaving.  Now since the boat had some issues we had to take the boat to get repaired and the guy that was fixing it told us that we could pick it up at noon on Monday.  However, he did not answer his phone when we called that morning.  After waiting a couple hours Ryan and Yunuen went to see if the boat was still at the shop.  Luckily it was there, however to get it back took enlisting the police, the shop that referred him to us and numerous hours.  Due to the time delay, we decided that it would be better to delay our return until the morning.  So all of us were able to call or email our respective people that we needed to tell that we were going to miss the next day of work.  It was sad that the majority of the extra day was spent expecting to leave at a moment’s notice, but we still found some time in the evening for some fun, including a side splitting game of telephone pictionary.

The trip home was right on par with the rest of the trip.  We left at about 9:30 and after having to unload all of our bags at a military checkpoint, we were able to make it back to the dreaded permit station.  There they needed to check that we were leaving with the same boat that we came in with.  And even though everything was the exact same, due to some supposed missing plate and missing 4 numbers they held us there for about an hour before sending us to the back of the line to do it one more time.  We then proceeded to the border where we had a reasonable 1 1/2 hour wait.  When we finally made it back to Tucson, we were literally just a few blocks away from Ryan’s house and his clutch went out. We were able to coast off to a side road and Ryan and I hiked back to his house to get the Jeep and his truck which we used to haul back the boat and Rodeo, respectively. Overall the trip home took about 10 hours (it should be about 5-6).  Well needless to say this weekend was somewhat of a comedy of errors. Luckily we all made it back (and with the boat as well) and despite the craziness the weekend was fun and we look forward to the next time we head down there.

I’ll end with a cool picture that Beth took while Ryan and I were asking our bosses to let us off another day.

This past weekend we took our (now seemingly annual) Memorial Day trip to San Carlos.  It is always a welcome retreat after the end of the semester.  It is also a nice change of scenery at the beginning of the hot summer months in Tucson.  Beth and I really enjoy the trip and it is sad that the dangers of travel in Mexico are greatly exaggerated by the American media.

This year we stayed with Yunuen’s brother who has a house in Guaymas instead of our normal condos around the bay in San Carlos.  It was nice to keep the cost down and it was fun to be more immersed in the Mexican culture instead of the Americanized resort condos.  Also, since his house is right on the beach there was really no downside.

This year we went with Ryan and Yun as well as two of their friends Chris and Brit.  Traveling with people is always a great way to get to know them and we always come back from this trip feeling a lot closer the the people we went with.

Walcott, Scout and Tila also came.  Traveling with dogs is always an adventure, but they really are a ton of fun.  They also seem to really enjoy the beach.  We left Tucson around 1:30 on Friday and after a quick stop in Hermosillo for some tacos we got into Guaymas and spent the evening on the porch just enjoying the nice ocean breeze.  The next morning Beth and I woke up early to try to get Walcott some exercise on the beach.  He is definitely doing better than he was last year, but he can still get distracted by other dogs on the beach and just keep running.  Twice this trip I had to chase him down the beach to bring him back.  It is extremely frustrating, but I guess I only have us to blame for not being better about being consistent in our training.  All impromptu 1 mile sprints down the beach aside, Walcott is a source of a lot of entertainment for us.

When we didn’t want to be dealing with Walcott we would tie him up on the back porch.  He loved to tangle his paw up in the hammock then act like he didn’t know how to get it out.

Later on Saturday we chartered a boat to go out to see the sunset.  The boat ride was fun and we got to see some really nice houses out on the rocky outcrops.  I couldn’t help but think about how the area would be different if it was a US city.  It was kind of nice to see undeveloped land around the area.  It definitely added to the beauty.  There was an upper level of the boat that was cool to climb up to as it gave a panoramic view.  Beth seemed to simply like the climb up while bouncing on the waves.

After a nice devotional and time of prayer on Sunday morning we left for snorkeling on a new beach recommended by Gary of Gary’s Dive Shop down in San Carlos.  The snorkeling was better than in years past, with lots of wildlife.  We had to navigate around a jungle of seaweed, and while peering into the shadows of the swaying vines I couldn’t help but think of a scene from some scary shark movie where all of a sudden you see an extremely large shark just swim beneath you. We then left for a late lunch at JJ’s.  The fish tacos there are definitely the best I have ever had.  The atmosphere there was also very relaxing.

That evening we went up the the overlook and got some cool photos of the moon (which was almost full).  Chris, Ryan and I also had some fun double exposing photos.  Hopefully I can get the photos from Ryan and post them here.  Otherwise you should check out his post (which I’m sure will be coming soon) at his blog.  Monday morning before leaving we spent another morning playing with the dogs in the ocean.  We were also able to catch a few crabs and let the dogs play with them (a favorite pastime).

The ride back seemed fairly fast, besides the ~2 hour wait at the border.  And although the trip was relaxing, there is always something to be said for sleeping in your own bed.  For more pictures, check out the Photos page.