Playa Bonanza
Wayward Adventure
Thu 5 Mar 2009 16:38
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24:26.999n 110:18.479w
Good bye LaPaz, it was fun while it lasted.
The past few weeks we stayed on the dock once again in Marina Palmira. We
had a long checklist of things we wanted to accomplish before we headed south
getting ready for the "puddle jump", as the trip across to the South Pacific is
called. The first order of business on our list was to make a sun
awning. We drew up a picture of what we wanted and talked to our friends
John and Lisa who said they would help us. After getting started we
realized that our awning would have been very amateur had we done it
alone. The putting together of an awning 28ft by 17ft is no small
project. Lauren armed with a new Sailrite sewing machine began her first
sewing project. John joked that any project she sews from here on out
would pale in comparison in scope and scale. One week later an awning was
born. It was one of those few times where you make something and it turns
out better than you had hoped it would and every single stitch was done
personally by Lauren herself. With that out of the way we could get to the
other things that are necessary in planning a passage. It reminded me of
preparing to leave Seattle, you just never have time to do everything and at
some point you have to cut it off and just go. I know of some people who
have been preparing for years and years and are still doing just that and I also
know of some who just go and figure the pieces will fall into place as they
go. I am trying to fit in somewhere in between. Now despite all this
getting ready "Carnival" was happening in LaPaz and it is no small
deal here. We had the pleasure of attending parades and sampling food
but I think the most memorable was attending our first and I would bet our
last Cockfight. Yes that's right a good old-fashioned Mexican
Cockfight. Any PETA members may want to skip this section. Now I am
somewhat of an animal lover but I also do enjoy a nice chicken dinner so I was
torn between feeling bad for the little pugilists and hoping the rotisserie was
going out back for the unfortunate ones. Actually these birds were
quite impressive, "Gamecocks" with their colorful feathers and high price
tags. The first few minutes of the fight are very exciting as the birds
are amazingly quick and agile, jumping and striking at each other like two
fencers fighting to the death. The problem is that the stamina goes
quickly and after the first few minutes it starts to get ugly usually ending
with one or both birds either dead or close to it. After a while we had
enough and put a checkmark in our books, done that. Carnival did finally
wind down and I have to say the people of Mexico do know how to throw a
party. Lauren and I had the pleasure of a visit from her best
friend Angie and together they put many miles on their flip-flops
exploring the shops and eateries of La Paz. So now we are anchored out of
town and heading south to who knows where, and feel alittle sad
leaving our new adopted city. It's one of those places you intend on
stopping for a few days and never leave. The blog has suffered for the
last few months but that is all going to change as we are now about 10 days away
from jumping off of North America and will try to help worrying
heads sleep a little easier at night. That's all for now.
AP
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