ok this is a dear diary. Getting ready for my trip. Tomorrow I fly to Calif, San Francisco, and then the hour drive north to my little village, Petaluma. Ha ha not a village, a town, about 60 thousand people, just the right size for us. I think Puerto Penasco is actually a little bigger although when googled, it states about the same population.

My only "anx't" anxiety isactually getting to the airport in Phoenix. I'm not driving cause I don't want to pay for long term parking, and well Everardo can't really cross the border at this point. I have a great friend who loves driving, and she drove me up there to pick up and drop off my daughters when they came to visit in Jan, but she left for Arizona on Monday for a month. So I'm sure when this place was much busier, a few years back, the shuttles were more user friendly. Probly even during the holiday weeks, but for me, this has been a tiny nightmare. I say tiny, cause after this past year, kinda gotta qualify my nightmares- I mean we have electricty, internet, atms, paved roads, and if I get up to the airport late, well there's always another flight in an hour or two...unlike in Acapulco.....where I'd for sure have to go to Mexico City......ok anyway- we went to the shuttle place, and they moved. Ok only across the road, to a tiny office with a desk...and a phone. Paper taped in the window with phone numbers and shuttle departure times. We called last week and the guy said he be there the next morning, but when we went to meet him, he didn't show. We returned a couple of days in the afternoon when we thought there were departures, but they changed the time. But to be honest the one thing we did not do, was return at 7am which is when the first shuttle goes up there.

It goes from here to the border, in a tiny town called Sonoyta (so-no-eeeta), then up to Phoenix, However it does not go to the airport. So last week we drove up to Sonoyta which is only an hour north and talked to them up there. They seemed so uninterested in our questions, answering well it leaves about 8 or 8:30...for me this is not great cause my flight is at 1:15pm, and it's 3 hours from the border to the airport. So ok, 3 hours would be 11:30...oh and the shuttle does not go to the airport- did I say that already? So you have to catch a taxi from their stop to the airport. Kinda sucks cause I haven't traveled thru there before and I don't have alot of time to make a mistake- ya know? When I first heard 7am, I thought ok good, 1pm should be no problem. ha ha. So then Everardo talks to a guy who says, oh for $20 US, we can take you all the way to the airport but you gotta tell us the day before. Yesterday we went back to the office here in Puerto Penasco, wait -we called first, and he said he'd be there in 10 min, so we went over, and he said, oh we don;t go to the airport, oh and we get there...about 1pm I guess. I had a freaking heart attack! More conversation in Spanish which escapes me...and he moves it to noon...I think.

We leave and try (again) to call the guy who had told Everardo about getting me to the airport by 11:30am. New surprise. The reason the call went to voicemail every time, well might have been cause we were calling someone is Minnesota! Well though maybe if they had answered we would have figured it out sooner ha ha. The area code 651 in MEXICO is Sonoyta! Because their other phone numbers besides here, were all Phoenix....well you get the picture. So late yesterday he talked to the guy and he said- come to Sonoyta, not on the shuttle- find him. He'll leave at 8am, of he figures out the shuttleisn;t coming from here cause no travelers- well he'll leave earlier...and he will take me to the airport. Ok now I am no longer nervous about actually getting to the airport. Wow that explanation took long enough-suffice it to say...welcome to Mexico. I was worried cause people tend to answer what you want to hear, or what they think you want to hear. For me- clearly I should have scheduled a later flight, and there is one at 4:30, so if I miss it....ok knock wood and keep fingers crossed I make the flight.

I'm so excited- to see my house and what they've done with it. To see my doggy park friends. To go to as many meetings as I can. Here the English speaking AA meeting are very small, and the Spanish speaking women's meeting is also small. I am soooo ready for a meeting with 50 or 60 people in it. I'm so excited to see some friends. To breathe in the redwoods, to walk in downtown Petaluma, to eat sushi....oooh to eat sushi. I'll probly go alone, eat slowly..and alot...to savor it, to remember it. MMMM. Ok so I'm all packed except for this laptop, the phone charger and phone, and these reading glasses. I'm taking Everardo's phone, so I can't take pictures and I have no camera. Gonna try to borrow one with a chip so I can easily download, or buy a cheap one if I have to. He's keeping my IPhone cause it has the magic jack application so he can call the states for free. I can call him for free on that same number. If I bring the IPhone I'll have to buy a chip, and we never bought Magic jack for the computer which would have given his phone access. His is not a smart phone so the free app doesn;t work for him. But why pay $80 a year when we can just share my phone. I'm taking my Spanish workbook, but I unpacked the dictionary and 501 verbs book cause together they weigh more than 5 lbs and I think my suitcase is close to the limit....after all it's 2 weeks, and I'm not sure how the weather will be....and ok- I don't want to do laundry besides anything small enough to rinse out in the sink ha ha, and I needed to bring a couple of paperbacks...couple a little gifts... Ok now I gotta jump in the shower, shave my legs and wash my hair. Oh I learned today from my students learning English that the word for hair on my head is different than the word for haor anywhere else on my body...crazy eh?
Ok I'll try to write from California, describe how it feels to be back, can you go home again??? Can't step in the same place in the river twice...right? Vamos a ver! Viva

I remember why I love it here! Yesterday was a perfect day. Hot outside but not unbearable. We went to the beach in the early afternoon and played in the water and looked for shells for a few hours.

There are different beaches here, all accessible, and all kind of different. Sandy Beach is like the famous beach; it's very long and a nice beach, but for me not perfect of you have a dog. It's the beach with what I call the volcanic shelf. Not sure if it's actually a shelf since I've never walked way out into the surf at this beach. At one end it is below hotels and an RV park, and there's always vendors selling their wares, souviners and/or cool drinks in pineapples or simply cups but with lots of ice and slushy fruity beverages. But that volcanic rock is a problem for Sam, it has holes and dips, and when he is focused soley on his ball- which is his life (ha ha), he isn't looking where he's running, and of course he can't see when running thru shallow water. I don't think I've been to the beach here without him, so...

We walked on Sanday Beach alot when we first got here; we knew where it was and it was cold, so I wasn't thinking about going in the water. There's a place to park that is at the far end away from the hotels, and there's the old guy who watches the car, who we give 5 or 6 pesos to when we leave. Then, insearch of something better for Sam, I found another place and the area is called The Mirador. A nice beach when the tide is in, way in, so the "holey" volcanic rocks are further out. You can drive out very close to the beach, and not too many people. But again, when I returned I found the volcanic plate, and I saw Sam actually slip once and go down on his shoulder. I was really surprised he wasn't limping after that. So, the search continued.

Enter the beach at Las Conchas. Wow! Beautiful beach, no volcanic rock, and so many shells. A nice beach at both low and high tide. Another really long stretch of beach. Las Conchas is a gated community- however I found out that just means they write down you license number, and wave you thru. There are lots of places between these huge, and for the most part empty houses, to get down to the beach, and Sam and I like this place. During the vacation weeks of Spring Break and then Semana Santa the water was full of banana boats and jet skis, and although fewer now, they're still there. Of course vendors as well, and a good place for Sam to play and me to read. OK, the truth is I barely read cause Sam wants to play continually, and begs you to participate.

The newest beach discovery is the beach at Playa Encanto. This is about a 20-25 minute drive, but enjoyable, and wow the beach is amazing. Really the same I guess as Las Conchas, but much quieter, no jet skis, no banana boats, or the flying minibikes...the shells I been collecting out there are so beautiful. Everywhere here it's very shallow for quite some time before it gets deep. I've actually not been over my head yet, and I've walked out pretty far from shore. In fact further than I've ever been from shore and not in a boat ha ha. Far enough for me to be a tiny bit nervous, although I'm told there's no sharks here because it's a gulf...but after thinking about that- but why not? There's dolphins, whales and seals, so why no sharks?? I definitely need a air mattress at the very least, maybe a plastic kayak like my friend Anda (who has invited me but always cancels....).

So- Sandy Beach is about 5-7 min away, Mirador maybe 10, Las Conchas 15min, and Playa Encanto 20-25min.There's also the beach at La Cholla- 10-15 min, and we haven't explored it yet. In fact I bet there are a few more beaches we haven't discovered yet...

Anyway after a beautiful beach day we came home and took showers, then headed back out to this greattaco place right down the street. Yum. Took a small drive on the way back and saw a horse parade! Ha! Hundreds of horses heading down Benito Juarez, the main street thru town, we found out later they were horses from around the area, Rio Colorado, San Luis, other places. Some of the horses were so beautiful! Some of them were prancing. All different sizes, colors,  and kinds of horses. We followed them and then Everardo got creative and whipped up some side streets to get ahead of them. They walked all the way to the malecon, and then winding thru and away. We stayed at the malecon and walked thru the huge patio area where the small 4-8 person music groups were playing for people and saw a dancing horse. It was very cool. Then of course all the people, families, vendors, chatter, food, music; and Everardo bought me a baseball cap that says Puerto Penasco on it. We watched people dancing, and some kids climbing down to the water where a seal had been spotted. I took pictures of everything, except the seal, who was very elusive. We walked a few blocks and circled back up towards out car, having to pass our favorite ice cream store, and so stopped in for cones. That place must rake in the dough, I've never seen it empty! We were in shorts and tshirts the whole time, and the bearest hint of wind cooled us just enough to stay comfortable.

Yes, a perfect day, and yes, I remember why I love it here! Viva