Artie waiting to be let outside so he can rip up poor "Flea", his Xmas toy from Christina's visit. Flea has now joined all the other Artie toys missing their squeekers!

Saturday mornings we have carnitas at Danny's where most of the time an empty table is a rare item. The other days when we have been there have given us some pretty fine fish tacos.

Santa Gig in the Square

Saturday Mike and I rode the ATV to the town square. Three Mulege policemen were guarding a parking spot for us right at the entrance. Our friend Marv was there to take lots of photos (see Xmas in Mulege photo postings on Baja Nomad photo forum). Seemed like hundreds of children of all ages there with parents. Mike was sweating rivers in his Santa suit, and our toy giveaway...some 750 toys...didn't start for about an hour and a half. I finally walked to a nearby store for an ice cold beer, sneaked it back into the square and poured it into a foam cup for Mike. We passed out 500 candy canes. The Rotary volunteers had made hundreds of cupcakes. Candy is a huge thing down here, and the kids were bouncing off the walls with sugar, but everyone was very happy, and Santa and his Elf were a huge hit. Next year Mike gets a lightweight Santa suit...maybe with shorts!

Christina and I at the mission...Mike heading out to the kindergarten with candy. What was that about giving candy to children? In this case it is wonderful. I have hardly ever seen Michael as happy as this...Santa to the Mulege kiddies. Really, he couldn't be more perfect. What a guy!

Mulege Halloween 08

Just a sample of the sweet little children who came by the droves to our riverside gate on Halloween. Most of the groups were families of six or eight. They sang a little song, something like, "tricky treat, tricky treat, give me something good to eat," over and over for several hours! Some of the families walked to the end of the river road, then asked for candy all over again on the way back. Took me a little time to realize what was happening, until I recognized one grandmother...actually for the third time! Mike's back was ouchy, so he sat on the deck and watched for tricker treaters. Then he would yell out, "Rozie! Get to the gate!" Artie would bark fiercely at everyone. At first I carried out a basket of candy bars and held it at my hip level. I actually had some kids look in the basket and ask to exchange their treats for something else. After that I kept it tight to my shoulder.

My First Dorado

Back in October I caught this beautiful Dorado. My first one. They jump and jump, really gorgeous fish. Sometimes they swim directly toward the boat, and you would think you had lost the fish. Some of the best fish I have ever eaten. Now we are getting into the yellowtail season. Yippee!!

Thursday, guess it is the 18th...Mike rode his ATV into town for a 10 AM visit with the little guys at the kindergarten. He took his Santa bag of candy, and let the all the girls be first in the line. Then the boys, and after that the teachers all wanted some candy, too. The combo of candy plus Santa was a big hit this morning.

Christmas is coming in Mulege

December 17th...cloudy in Mulege. Might even have a wee splash of rain. Just checked the weather scoop in the Pacific Northwest. So many schools closed everywhere with snow! Let's see....8:30 am and 60 degrees on the riverside porch. Days since we got here on December 2nd have been wonderful, filled with friends and fun.

Three nights ago Mike and I donned the Santa and Santa's Elf garb, put 20 pounds of chocolates in the ATV basket and zoomed all over town ringing the Christmas bell. Children poured out of houses. It was amazing and heartwarming to see all those smiling little faces...of course, open hands to get some of that chocolate. Even the moms had their hands out, same thing that happened here at Halloween. Here we are getting ready to hit the streets for our first Santa Drive-By. The little dog belongs to our friends Tom and Dana Studebaker.