Friends Arrived Today

This afternoon the Gonzaga Bulldogs took on the Duke Blue Devils in New York City. We found the station on our TV at the house and tuned in to see the very end of the Fighting Irish and the Bruins game on CBS. We were all excited, Linda and Beth made drinks, I opened a beer and we settled in for the fun. The first game ended they went to a commercial and when they returned they had a roller derby game on! What!!!! No Zags! We were bummed. Beth and I scrambled for our computers, but the best we could do was a live update site. We watched it update until the dogs were getting beat down. I guess we were meant to watch roller derby after all.

Don and Caroline arrived this afternoon. It was great to see them! They wandered up to the front of the house at about 4:00 pm and we sat and talked for about an hour. We made some plans to get together and then they went back to LaPloma to get settled in.

We walked into town and had a wonderful meal. I had Flautas con Pollo and dos Tacos al Pastor. I sure wish I could figure out why the food tastes so good down here. My meal of four Flautas and two tacos cost me about $3 and I was very full. You have got to love the fact that you can fill up on wonderful food for less than $5.

After dinner we went to the plaza and walked around a bit. I spotted our old friend Buzz and chatted with him for a bit. I know I have said this before, but seeing Buzz always makes my trip seem right and complete. He is such a nice person and I worry about him every year. He is getting very old, but he is sure looking healthy and happy.

I took the picture of the hibiscus on our walk during the afternoon. It was such a bright yellow flower growing beside the rood I just had to capture its color.

Night & Day

Beth arrived last night and we went out to dinner at one of the little places by the plaza. We did some shopping and then walked back to the place and went to bed. Yes, quite a big night, but Beth had traveled all day and we had played volleyball twice.

We slept OK up until about 5 AM when all the power in Melaque and Barra went out. It's funny how quiet it gets with no power, and it is even funnier how the quiet wakes you up. I could not go back to sleep so I got up and read, Linda went for a run, and Beth slept on.

Release, Don't Catch

Last night we went out to dinner with Larry, Maggie, Lola and Hank to one of the restaurants down on the far end of the beach. When we arrived we noticed a crowd of people gathered on the shoreline taking pictures and generally looking at the sand. This intrigued us. I thought that someone had caught a large fish and everyone had gathered to see the trophy. Linda caught the attention of a couple who were just returning from that area and asked what was happening. The couple said that we were in the midst of a turtle release.

Linda and Hank walked down to the waters edge and witnessed the release of baby sea turtles. We were told that the little guys are released only at night so that they have a better chance of survival. They place them on the shore facing away from the ocean and the critters smell the salt water and turn, heading out to their new life. Linda took several photos while I looked at the menu, obviously I decided against the tortuous soup.

We had a wonderful meal, almost everyone ordered some form of camarons. I had the Camarons Melaque and they were fantastic. Just about the time we sat down Maggie started feeling bad. She made it all the way through the meal, she ate very little of her dinner, and then we had to leave and get her home. We all felt bad about her quick illness, but today she was feeling much better.

We woke up this morning and played our usual pool volleyball. I use the digital video recorder to tape some of the action. Once I returned to the place I found that I grabbed the wrong cable for the camera so I can not upload any of the video. This will give me something to look for in town. Wahoo, a true test of Linda's Spanish skills!