Arrived in Mazatlan Monday Night

I arrived in Mazatlan Monday afternoon. It was a long trip as we had just been to Montana for Thanksgiving, returned to Alaska Saturday night, repacked, and then left for Mexico on the redeye Sunday night. Once I arrived at Emerald bay, I emailed Angel, drank a cervesa, and hit the sack…about 8:00. I woke up at 6:00, went to the gym for an hour, and then readied myself for a trip to the city to get supplies. I boarded the shuttle at 10:00 after picking up a ticket from the concierge…a new deal this year. The shuttle is still free, but supposedly the ticket lends order to the boarding process….who knows??? After getting off the shuttle at the Pueblo Bonito in town, I headed down the sidewalk, talking to other gringos before running into Sisae, a gal who Angel and I talk with every year. Sisae is a timeshare sales lady, and probably in her forties. I chat with her and ask about her family. I tell her that I just arrived yesterday and Angel will be coming in a few weeks. I see my bus coming down the road and tell her I need to catch it to Sam’s Club. She grabs my arm and says “No!, I’ll give you a ride”. I’m a little embarrassed to refuse, and accept the offer, thinking “this is going to cost me ten times more than the 8 pesos for the bus.” I hop in Sisae’s pick-up and she heads towards Sam’s asking me about Alaska, family, and what we’ve been up to in the past year. Ten minutes later we pull into the Sam’s Club parking lot. I offer Sisae 100 pesos for the ride, but she says "No", and then gives me a free drink coupon at a local restaurant. This is why I love Mazatlan and the people here.
I end up spending nearly 1,000 pesos at Sam’s…about $90 US, plus or minus. For this I get a bag of golden apples from Washington, a bottle of good Mexican wine, a large box of Honey Oats cereal, two large pkgs of cheddar and Monterrey jack cheese, a small summer sausage, chorizo (4), coffee, instant soup (8), tuna fish (8), tortillas (50 count), sardines in hot sauce (6), a large box of Oreos, and 6 Rajas (cans of pickled jalapeño, carrot, and celery). Robinson Crusoe should have had it so good! Endless beach and food aplenty. These items should last me for breakfast, lunch, and snack until Angel arrives in a few weeks. The Deli store at EB is well stocked, so I’ll pick up my milk and a few cervesas at the resort.
I get back to PBEB at about noon, change and head to the beach cabanas where I enjoy the sun, read, and listen to music on the iPod until 3:00. I return to the room, make myself a sausage, cheese, and raja roll-up, chased with an ice cold Tecate, and begin writing on the computer.
I’ll be posting photos from EB and around Mazatlan as the day’s progress. Today, I’m including a few photos from our Montana trip, over Thanksgiving. We went to visit family, and to celebrate Angel’s fathers 90th birthday. John Sr. was a robust 90 on the 17th of November. The family had a nice dinner for him a week ago Tuesday. It was a wonderful celebration filled with laughter and good food. Also celebrating birthdays, were Papa Jack (Laurie and Vicki’s dad), and Ahren (Lauren’s husband). While in Montana, we managed to hunt every day and spent Thanksgiving with Barb, Scott, family, and friends at Maiden Canyon. At Barb and Scott’s, we not only enjoyed great food, but competed in the annual Turkey Shoot. I’ll post photos and a story of that later.
Today, I’ll post a few pics of John Sr.’s bash, a pic of Mike with his muley buck, and my obligatory day 1, Mazatlan beach-toe shot for Cassie, Roger, Kristen, Donald, and Ed, serving their time at sub-zero temps on the North Slope! I’m thinking of you folks!
Wednesday morning.......I had trouble posting last night, so I will try again now......Juanita’s last evening for tortilla soup and sweet corn tamales….$4.00, and I was pleasantly full! The shuttle to town and back is running more frequently in the evenings this year, but, as stated previously, you are required to get a free pass from the concierge at each end. I picked up an eight-pack of Pacifico Light and a liter of milk from a small market in town...less expensive than the deli at PBEB.