Christmas Wrap Up

As the year bubbles to a close, many events spring up to make this a busy and exciting time!

Last night was the Christmas concert at Bear's school. Each grade performed a song and danced, dressed in full school uniform with Santa hat and scarf added for accent. The performances ranged from preschoolers wandering around the stage barely remembering what they were there for to a chorus of middle school girls who could really belt out the songs. Bear's second grade sang "It Must Be Santa" and the choreographed dance was well done. In my humble opinion, they stole the show!

San Sebastian with Philo and Fowlers

With our friends from Minnesota visiting, Mary and Dick Fowler, we drove an hour and a half inland to a mountain pueblo called San Sebastian. A local ex-pat who runs a bar/restaurant in La Cruz set up an overnight party with music, food and local accomodations. Philo is well-known for gathering talented musicians, employing the local people to help and having a dedicated following. We joined them this year and were not disappointed!

Kat and Clay Visit

Eric's daughter, Katherine (Kat) and her boyfriend, Clay, were able to squeeze in a week's vacation between raft guiding in South Carolina and ski jobs in Utah. We had a fabulous time showing them our worlds here. We have the best of both: Bucerias and the local Mexican communities versus Oso Blanco in a resort marina and cruising in the bay.

Guadalahara

We spent a long weekend in Guadalahara, the second biggest city in Mexico (about 3 million people). We stayed near the center of the city where the tourist sites are: the Cathedral, the Teatro Degallado, the market, plazas, etc. Friday night we attended the Mexican Philharmonic Orchestra at the theater. They were spectacular! Even Bear was astounded at the glorious production (even though he fell asleep in the second set because it was 9:30pm). Saturday we took the open-air double-decker bus tours around the city and into the neighboring town of Tlacapaque. Shopping in Tlacapaque was fun and interesting - and the prices were much lower than in Vallarta. If I were to furnish a house here, it would be worth the trip to shop there. It was funny how many items we bought that we didn't know we "needed"!

Jumping for Joy!

My Spanish teacher, Wendy, is also a photographer. She did a sunset photoshoot of us and our freinds from 4-PACK. We had a great time doing it and got some really fun photos! Go to the Shutterfly site (see links at left) to view more photos.

Hurricane Ricki

Yep, that storm was Ricki! He actually went below Cabo and came ashore on the mainland just north of here. We had one great rainy day and the temps cooled substantially! Now it's the great Mexico weather that we know and love! The tourists are beginning to arrive and we see cruise ships coming and going in the bay.

Our friends, Andrea and Karl, and Eric and I went for a drive inland today. We went through four small pueblos that were clean, quaint and busy with local daily activities. We walked around the central squares of a couple of them and visited their churches which are always the centerpiece of town. We had a fabulous, inexpensive lunch in Valle, got lost a couple of times and returned home in time to pick up the kids from school. Fun day!

Living in Bucerias

Since September, we've been living in a rented house right on the beach in the small Mexican town of Bucerias, ten miles north of Puerta Vallarta. Bear is attending school here and loving it! After hurricane season ends (December), we'll move back on the boat in Nueva Vallarta which is only a few miles from Bucerias. Bear will continue at school through Christmas after which we'll resume homeschooling. Our plan is to spend January in Barra de Navidad, February in the States, March back in PV and then leave for the South Pacific in April. The current plan is to spend two years in the South Pacific then head for the Mediterranean.

Storm

It's blowing here today in Bucerias. This may be part of Hurricane Rikki that is off the coast of Cabo San Lucas. The waves are really rolling in, the wind is major and the rain is pouring!