Work is fun -- and fun is fun, too.

Every day we have a plan of what to get done...and some days that plan is about having some fun in and around San Carlos/Guaymas, Mexico.  It's a beautiful place with a wide range of ways to appreciate the culture and beauty.  

Here's a picture of San Carlos taken by Vicky on one of her many morning and afternoon runs:

Notice the two tips of the hill toward the right of the picture...it's called the "Goat's Tits" mountains.  It was a goal of Vicky (in preparation for the 50K WayTooCool Run and her own quest for a challenge) to find her way up that mountain.  Stay tuned.  

Here's some pics of our fun in San Carlos/Guaymas/Empalme:

DEPARTMANTE ADLAI:

We have always stayed at the Departamente Adlai.  Tom and my room with a kitchen is $30 US a night and Vicky's room with 2 beds, microwave and frig is $26.  Lot's of cruisers stay here when their boats are in the work yard.  We met some terrific new folks (Sue & Barry from the catamarin "Wave...", Scotch Mist II's Barry, Cada Mia Mas' Bob, Bruce & Bridget of "Sojourn", and Dorothy's friends - now ours - Mystique's Patty & Terry), so we hosted a
  "Friday the 13th - What can possibly go wrong?" BarBQ/party
in our courtyard.  Everything was perfect -- well, except for a little squall that blew through -- the only rain they've seen in February in 3 years -- but we all just laughed about it and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

EMPALME 
Sunday we have always enjoyed the 20 mile drive south to Empalme to visit the outdoor market and experience a bit of "old Mexico".

Vicky buying some uncommon foods (eg. - Tamarin candies) at the local market

Delicious Tacos with seating in the shade of a tree

They close down a long road for this open air market in Empalme every Sunday.  This Sunday was quieter than most thanks to the unseasonable morning rain. You can find everything from clothes to tools to washing machines to fresh produce.  The people watching is great and both Vicky & Tom turned the negotiations for price over to Suzanne.  (Hey, we saved 45 pesos - $3.00 - in one day!)

 AND THEN THERE's CARNIVAL !!!  
We saw the posters, but it was Tom who really wanted to go into Guaymas to see the last day of Carnival and their parade for Fat Tuesday (2/17).  At first, I thought oh, it's a bit of a hassle, but realized it would be a shame to miss it -- we had been to Carnival in Mazatlan and La Paz -- so we had to see how they celebrate in Guaymas (the city 13 miles from San Carlos).  Yes, indeed, It was a ton of fun!  Floats, Families, Music, Dancers and the streets were lined with onlookers...Here's a few pictures

 HORSEBACK RIDING:
Vicky and Suzanne met another Suzanne at the San Carlos Yacht Club.  We were invited to join a horseback riding group that next morning from the horse stables - Astid Ranch - right on the beach near the Soggy Peso.  

                                                               www.AstridRanch.com 

 So Vicky and Suzanne left Tom to work on Begone - and off we rode with Astid (the ranch owner) as our guide and 6 guests - Suzanne, Karin, Suzanne, Karin (not a duplicate, really), Vicky and Larry.  It was a gorgeous and fun morning - we got to visit the ruins from the movie set of Catch 22 and the Mask of Zoro as well as bushwack trails and ride along the beach -- it was terrific!

Vicky on Frijole , Suzanne on Tequila

 AND THEN THERE'S VICKY'S RUNNING HABIT
Vicky is training for the WayTooCool 50K Run so after a day working on the boat, she swaps her clothes and takes off on a run.  This day, we drove her to the Nacapule Canyon (7 KM away from our hotel).  She ran the canyon, then found an off-road trail to get her home.  How much energy can one person have?????

Vicky entering the Nacapule Canyon -- a challenging hike and even more challenging run.

 Favorite places for food and beverages:
No work in the boatyard should go unrewarded.  We have a number of favorite places for lunch, dinner and beverages.  JJ's Tacos has just moved to this big new palapa restaurante location (his old place was fun and funky).  Bayron (JJ's son) runs the lunch show and his Dad keeps the people coming back with his amusing quips like "Why Not? Who Cares?" as he tries to get you to order just one more taco.  

Tom's favorite after work stop is the Captain's Club.  Very cold Chope draft beer, guacamole, and a very fine staff who have been working for Mike (owner) for a long time.  You can also drop off your propane tanks here for refilling and they have USA satellite TV.

So that's what we've been up to since we left Port Costa - so far.  

But there will be more to come.  

Life in the boatyard ...work is fun, indeed.

It is a bit daunting to read our TO DO list to prepare Begone.  But it's amazing what can get done with a crackerjack team and a deadline...we gotta get Vicky back to the Bay Area in time to run the WayTooCool 50K Trail Run/Race before March 7th.  
Tackling the TO DO items are: 
Tom - the wizard engineer who also orchestrates the overall project plus takes care of everything in the mechanical/electrical/glue/shmoo/spare part department and is our master bar-b-que'er.
Vicky works magic with varnish, sanding/painting and practical what needs to get done/when decisions plus brings hours of amazement at what she can get done everyday. 
Suzanne is the multi-purpose player -- chief cook, errand runner, scuff'er/taper, laundry lady, inventory taker, photographer, communications officer and social secretary. 
So here are some snapshots of the work we're doing here in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico...

A Woodpecker decided our wood mast was as good a place to bang it's head against!

Repairing a few fissures in the mast

Tom working in Tyvek to protect himself from toxins

 

Suzanne taping the mast to prep for Vicky to paint

Vicky working her magic!

And here's Tom down below getting everything organized and inventoried !!!

But there's also plenty of fun in and around San Carlos.

Preparing Begone to Be Gone! San Carlos, Marina Seca work yard...

Taking off across the ocean is one of those things that takes quite a bit of planning and a lot of work.  Tom has been contemplating all the things he need to do, Suzanne has been making lists and accumulating necessities, and Vicky Oswald is rounding out the team with her amazing boat finishing, sailing and cruising talents -- not to mention her good nature and ability to climb masts.

We arrived in San Carlos (Vicky had never been here before) with a rather long list of things TO DO but we think we could get it all done during the 2.5 weeks we planned to be in San Carlos - this trip.   

First job -- cut off the 2 year old boat cover made from "retired" vinyl billboard fabric and PVC pipe...clever design, Tom!

Assessing the situation, Tom made the call to pull the mast out for necessary repairs and painting! Now I've never watched a mast come off a boat (well, once when I was racing the mast simply broke off - but that was different) Watching these guys (and Vicky) work was just amazing...check it out:

Loosening the standing rigging and electrical wiring - Tom And Vicky.
Watching and taking pictures - Suzanne (we all need a job to do!)

Tractor Begone over to the hoist with Vicky and Tom watching

Center the boat under the hoist

Shimmy the hoist line up to the spreaders

Inspection, plan and then comes the work

So that's the start of this first trip to San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico in 2015.  The next entry may be titled "There's more to fun than work..."

The Road to Begone - Port Costa, CA to San Carlos, Sonora, Mexcio

We said we were leaving Port Costa, CA at 8:30 AM on Saturday, February 7th...and so we did.
Our PT Cruiser was loaded with just enough room in the back seat for the easily compacted crew and master boat everything, Vicky Oswald.

We had an planned a long 11 hour drive to the reservations Suzanne made (a luxurious King Suite in Tonopah, Arizona).  First stop was 4 hours later for gas and our first taste of Mexico in Lost Hills (I-5) at the El Dollar Taco Truck (everyone should stop and eat there).

No trip to a boat is complete without a last minute stop at West Marine...but thanks to our smart phone, we found out that there is not a West Marine in Tucson and the Tempe/Phoenix store was closed on Sunday -- so our search for Epifanes varnish was looking grim.  Until, Vicky found just 20 minutes off the of the I-10 was a West Marine in Riverside (LA area) who were open and had just 2 cans left!  We programmed the GPS and off we went on a little side adventure!  Success!!!

On the road again for our dinner stop at the Quartzsite Yacht Club (Really?  A Yacht Club in the middle of the desert? Yep!  And we're "members")  The restaurant had a country swing band playing, great little dinner and the "motel" consists of converted mobile homes!

And finally at 10:30 PM we arrived at our motel -- the Sagauro Hot Mineral Wells Motel, Tonopah, AZ.  The clean luxury suite consisted of  king bed, a twin bed, a bathroom, a lamp/night stand and a Gideon Bible -- all for $65.00 on a Saturday night including tax!

 A couple things about Tonopah.  1). The best coffee is at the Shell Station.  2) There's nothing luxurious anywhere in Tonopah.  3)  If you see some amazing plums of steam on the horizon, it's NOT Hot Springs...it's the steam from the Tonopah Nuclear Power Station!

The Chicken Plant

We did find time to uncover the major Chicken Controversy...We saw these signs to stop the Poultry Plant.  Found out this huge Chicken coupe  just west of town.  The smell and flies were driving the price of real estate into the ground.  We had to leave before we could decide what we thought.

We were sure having some fun on the road to Begone.  Sunday night we were staying with Dorothy Kiesling in Naco, AZ, but not before a little gun slinging in Tombstone, AZ....

We had lunch at the Four Deuces, stopped into Big Nose Kate's and headed down the road a bit to visit with our friend, Dorothy Kiesling.  John and Dorothy had restored and sailed "Begone" and we had bought her from them when they decided to design and build their home in Naco.  Sadly, cancer took John from us last year ... but his spirit lives on in our fond memories, in Begone and the house he and Dorothy built in Naco.  What a great evening with our wonderful friend, Dorothy!

Vicky and Dorothy for cocktail hour on the roof overlooking the golf course

Enjoyed a walk around the golf course before heading off to San Carlos.  I love the long shadows in these pics!

We all enjoyed a wonderful evening by the fire pit at the house

 The next day, we left Naco, AZ to cross the boarder to Naco, Mexico (after purchasing our 6 month MX visa, shutting off the data service on our phones, and starting the Mexico automobile liability insurance)...we were ready for the 7 hour drive to San Carlos, MX.

!