So we’re settled here in Mazatlan for January. Yes, we’re hunkering down for an entire month somewhere. It feels strange to have wheels and a full tank of gas but not be going anywhere. It’s not something we’re very accustomed to doing. And actually I’m not sure we would be doing it at all if not for Ali’s wonderful sister. The lovely young lady is engaged to be married. In February. In Minnesota. Like some sort of crazed ice fisherman. I swear she did this just because I swore last winter that I would never step foot in a Minnesota winter again. Or it may have just been a calculated move to have a honeymoon in the depths of winter.
Anyway, we’ve got a month to hang out in one of our favorite Mexican cities. Good time to catch up on a lot of projects.
Ouest made her own earrings, and wore them for two days straight. Glad to see she went with something simple and understated.
Lowe would gladly ride the bus forever.
I might start a photo series with the simple theme of Plastic Bags.
Pigeon feather tickling.
We walked around old town and visited some of our old haunts. The house we lived in for a few months had a guy who worked the street out front parking and washing cars. He shook our hands like old friends, no doubt confused as to what the heck we were doing there.
It was Sunday, so nobody was at Ouest’s school. I half expected her to tell us she wanted to go back to school again, but she didn’t say anything about it. She was happy to see it though, and to walk the neighborhood. “I remember this. I remember this place. I remember. That’s the lady that I got my bracelet from. I remember this place too.”
Twenty pesos for a broom. Twenty minutes of sweeping. Tomorrow it’ll be a witches broom.
Speaking of pesos—since we crossed the border the dollar has gone up over 10% versus the peso. We’re now getting nearly fifteen pesos to the dollar, which is far and away the best exchange rate we’ve ever gotten. Life for gringos down here just gets better and better. (Gas is still ~$3.50 a gallon, though. The government isn’t letting that slip yet.)
14 Comments on “Mazatlan”
Please start a photo series on plastic bags – that first shot, the way the lady is just lifting her foot is so perfect you would think she was posing just for you… was she?!
The kids look super sweet playing around town.
Love your posts
A
No, she wasn’t posing. Or maybe she saw me and she was. 🙂
I dunno, and it was not her footfall that caught me. Nor can I say just what did. But that is one fantastic picture whether for the light, the hat, the flowing clothes, the birds.
Or just the vicarious pleasure of being there for a split second.
You do post some simply terrific images.
Best to all –
I assume you’ll all be flying into Minnesota for the wedding. Seems you’ll have the best of both worlds, sun and warmth all winter with a little winter fun in the snow for a couple of days and back to paradise. The dreary days of snow and cold are just now hitting us in northern Indiana and I won’t get to see sun and the Caribbean until March. Enjoy the sun and palm trees for me! 🙂
Good bags.
Hey! Whadoya know, K-Mart is still in business!
Mark and Cindy
How come the kids don’t have that pogo stick?
Haven’t run across a pogo stick store for a while. Just a matter of time I suppose.
$3.50 a gallon??? http://www.californiagasprices.com/Retail_Price_Chart.aspx
Believe me, I’m well aware of what this drop in oil prices has done to the price at the pump. Here in Mexico we’ve got Pemex, the state-owned petroleum company. They set the price. Though I’ve heard prices are going to be allowed to float beginning just a couple of days ago.
LOVE the photos, especially the one of Lowe in the shadows and Ali on the bus with him.
But man… I don’t get Mazatlan. We drove in and drove right on out. We went over to Stone Island to check THAT out and I liked the road in because it reminded me of the Pacific (- I grew up in Fiji). But it was still just too*too once we got into the RV park.
I want to know where you guys are going in Mazatlan that make you love it so much.
We felt the same way the first couple of times we came through Mazatlan. Then one day we ended up in Centro/Old Town walking around and got totally lost. After that we finally got it. The market, the plaza, the cathedral, the taco stands, the local’s beaches, etc.. Aside from a couple of small pockets the Old Town area is 99% Mazatlecas.
We’ve never been to Stone Island. It’s always sounded like a gringo enclave to me, though I honestly have nothing to base that on.
You already know that your pictures are skillful and precious, especially those of your kids. Unfortunately, when your kids become teenagers, hope you keep them away from school, because such pictures will cause them to be teased without mercy.
Maybe, but I doubt it. I think that is how the Boomer generation might have seen it, but kids born in the 21st century will have spent their entire lives with a camera never more than ten feet away. There won’t be a kid out there who doesn’t have pics of themselves online for the searching.