Beach Photos

I seem to be having difficulty uploading photos. Not sure if it's the blog site or the slow connection here. It's a beautiful morning in Mazatlan! I awoke early and went to the gym. As I was leaving, I ran into Donna,and (if my memory is correct) Vicki (Brittany's mother). They are settled in at the Villa. London is also here now. Drew, Brittany, and the boys will arrive on Monday. I really enjoy spending time with these folks every year! The beach is inviting today, so I think I'll head down to the cabanas. I did manage to upload the photo of the ray who swallowed the fish, who apparently died in mid-swallow...how strange.

Montana....Maz pics tomorrow???

I was pretty lazy today...it was cool out this morning. I walked the beach for an hour, returned to the room for a bowl of cereal, and then headed to the new Bistro Pool with a book. I like the new pool. It's at the far end of the resort and a peaceful place to relax in absence of the constant activity at the main pool. The sun came out mid-morning. About noon, I returned to the room, ate lunch, messed around with photos, then went for another walk. I managed to sneak in a short nap this afternoon before scarfing down a cup of soup and dressing out for the gym. An hour at the gym on the recumbent bike, then I find myself here at the Deli checking email and blogging....where did the day go?????

The photos today were supposed to be a combo from Thanksgiving week in Montana, and the beach today. I had trouble uploading the beach shots tonight, so...As I said yesterday, we had a fun time with family last week. I was hunting with my nephews, their friends, Papa Jack (Lauri and Vicki's dad),my brother-in-law John, and Mike aka "Uncle Bucky"...John's other brother-in-law...or the other "unfortunate", as I refer to both Mike and myself, for being bonded by marriage to JT...hehheh). Seriously, both Mike and I couldn't have married into a nicer bunch though, and it seems to have worked out well for all of us the past 30, or so, years!

A highlight of the week was the annual Maiden Canyon Turkey Shoot held at Scott and Barb Sanford's beautiful log home. Colby took the trophy this year, but had stiff competition from his new brother-in-law, Ahren; his little brother, Kellen;and Scott Sanford, our gracious host. I managed to come in fifth (I think)...this was my rookie year, as the trip from Alaska for Thanksgiving doesn't happen often. Thanks to Vicki, for "herding" the crew through this event!

One Mazatlan photo is particulary interesting...I'll post it tomorrow...as I walked the beach I stumbled across a dead ray. It had attempted to swallow a fish that must have disagreed with it! I labeled the photo "Mexican Standoff", but I'm thinking it might have been a murder-suicide....go figure! Enjoy the photos from MT!

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.

Trapper Jim

My buddy Jim invited three of us to assist him in setting his trapline yesterday. The trip required getting up early, dressing warm, loading up a bunch of stinky rotten stuff for bait, drinking lots of coffee, and a two hour drive...and all this before we unloaded the snowmachines (aka "sleds"), and headed down the trail. There was about 12 inches of snow with temps between -10 to +10, throughout the day, so it made for an interesting early winter trip. We drove through temps as low as -25 on the way to the trailhead. Once unloaded and underway, we found the trail had numerous obstacles and tricky terrain. We managed to get hung up on hidden stumps frequently. Jeff and I both tipped our machines on slippery slopes. Jim, younger, stronger, and more expert, had less difficulty. Two of the machines were running poorly and "bogging" down, so we abandoned them about halfway down the trail and loaded all the gear on one sled. Jim bullied his way down the trail on the loaded machine, while Jeff, Joe, and I hoofed it on the semi-packed tracks left behind. At the end of the trail we stopped next to a partially frozen stream with steep banks on each side, and mountains towering above. We were semi-spent from the long walk and struggles with the sleds. We were sweaty and chilled, as we were bundled up pretty good for the cold, and had dressed for riding, rather than walking and getting unstuck. The cold breeze flowing downstream didn't help. I'm sure the windchill was at least -20, maybe more. We set to work carrying traps, trap boxes, and bait to where Jim directed us. Joe was unable to cross the stream with his pac boots, so Jeff and I, with higher waterproof gear, were the designated helpers. We spent about two hours building five sets for trapping wolverine on the banks near the stream. It was cold, I was busy helping with the sets, and I didn't have my camera in a pocket, so I didn't get photos of this part of the trip. After retreating to the "trees" and out of the wind, where we began placing sets for marten, I pulled out the camera from my pack. I managed to get a few shots. What you see are Jim and Jeff working on marten sets along the trail. We ended up placing five wolverine sets and about fifteen marten sets. That was a full day. The trip out was a bit easier as we had previously "identified" our problem areas. A few tipovers but no injuries to man or machine. We arrived at Jim's about 8:00, Joe and I got to our place about 9:00. Angel was waiting for us and had prepared a nice spinach salad and cheese stuffed manicotti for dinner. It had been a hard, but blessed, Alaska day with good friends.

Early Winter Moon

It's quickly becoming Winter in our neck of the woods. Clear and cold last night. Here are a few photos of scenery from my ptarmigan walk last week, as well as a "moon shot" early this morning.