Gary's Awesome Yellowtail

Mike and Gary came back from the Wilbur's Hole area today with two huge yellowtail, both caught by pal Gary. One was 46 pounds, the other around 25. Wow!

Dinner at Pancho Villa's and Denny's Rooster

We took Nancy and Denny across the river to Pancho Villa's for dinner. Mexican time is very relaxed as we know, but it took two and a half hours for dinner. We spent the time yucking it up, and warming ourselves at their firepit.

The next day Denny hooked a 25 pound roosterfish in 17 feet of water. The were jumping all around us, amazingly close to the shoreline, chasing huge schools of small bait fish. The water was completely flat, the sky was clear, we were warm and happy. Another day on the water.

Denny and Nancy

Our pals Dennis and Nancy Watson joined us for a week. We had lots of fun heading out to the dunes, and our hideaway beach. Nancy was cautious on the ATV (her first time), just as I had been in the beginning. Mike and Denny tried a little shore fishing off the rocks, but didn't get anything that day. We walked the shore picking up some nice shells for our yard, and generally had a nice relaxing day. The next day Denny caught a nice cabrilla for dinner.

Rooster Day

Mike and I went out in Mateo's boat. Mateo is our local professional fishing guide, and it was nice to go on his boat to free us of having to take care of anything at all, but just fish. I caught an enormous roosterfish, down here called a pez gallo. It was so big that I couldn't even lift it, so the best shot of MY fish is with Mike holding it. We wanted to send it back to the water, but wanted these photos. Poor Mateo got part of the hook is his hand trying to pull it into the boat for the photo op. Normally he would have gaffed a fish of this size, but as I said, we didn't want to kill it. It was pretty terrible with Mateo hooked badly, and the rest of the hook in a flopping 45+ pound fish. He asked Mike to rip it out, and we all shuddered at the sight. Then we captured a couple of photos, and released this beautiful fish back into the sea. Mateo then said, "Get your gear back out", even though we knew he was in a lot of pain. This was a trophy sized monster, my first rooster.

Then we came across a huge school of cabrilla. We brought two fat ones home for dinner. Quite a day on the water indeed.

Zoey Oriole Cactus Decor and Gary

Gary and Tracy donated their dog Cassie's bed to Zoey. Poor Cassie had gone to doggie heaven, and they felt the bed would be useful to Zoey. She didn't quite get it at first, but now sits on her bed when chewing on whatever treasures she finds around the yard, and spends her nights sleeping on this great bed. Thanks Gary and Tracy! Orioles frequent the hummingbird feeders. They are such beautiful colorful birds, and they make quite a racket, too. While driving around we saw this cactus decorated with two old tires. This is actually not an uncommon sight. Guess the locals think this is a fun thing to do. Riding back home again I took this photo of Gary's head. The next day he got a haircut!

Governor's Tournament

The Governor's Tournament was all planned, but no dock and the river road was unpassable after Jimena. We waited for the road to be cleared, but nothing was done. Finally we hired a crew from Santa Rosalia, and paid them to clear the road from our house all the way to the launch area. It took only one day with heavy equipment. What a feeling that was. To be able to drive the road again. We had felt so trapped, and so did everyone else. We had mountains of rocks, then gravel dumped at the launch area, as there was a huge drop and holes left from the storm. After all of that we elected not to participate in the tourney, but went down anyway to take photos. Here is a photo of Bart (owner of Jungle Jim's) with a big yellowtail. The Mexican women were down there all day preparing for the post tourney feast, shown here making salsa. There were several categories of winners based on age groups, and weight of the fish. Here is a photo of all the winners lined up at the end of the evening.

Thanksgiving at Scotty's

Mike and I, Gene and Carolyn, Stu and Deborah, and Gary and Tracy all showed up at Scotty's to have a wonderful lamb Thanksgiving dinner at Scotty's. We supplied the lamb, and Scotty supplied everything else, including soup, salad and veggies. Great fun!

Governor's Tournament

Yesterday afternoon tents were set up at the dock (well, where the dock used to be and should be and might be again someday) to register kids and adults for the Governor's fishing tournament. For adults I think it's any yellowtail over 25 pounds, any cabrilla over a certain weight, I don't know. Probably biggest of any fish for the children, who have to be over the age of eight to enter. Some of the gringos just showed up to get a free hat, t-shirt and tote bag, but some will be fishing. Why not? Another gorgeous day on the water, though we hear it might be pretty windy by noon. So here are a few photos. Overboard John with Bert who owns Jungle Jim's, our local professional fishing guide Mateo with girlfriend Lydia, Mateo with his boat The Navegador, children playing in the water by a boat and bugging a pelican which got too close to them, and people signing up for the tournament.

Lazy Morning

Drove out to Santispac Beach with rumors of a nice gringo swap meet, but it was completely gone by 10 am, and we got there around 10:30. Inside Anna's, people were taking line dancing lessons, and the beer bar wasn't available, so we drove to Burro Beach and had a light breakfast and a Bloody Mary at Bertha's. On a roll, we then went into town in quest of velcro for a little project, and headed down to El Patron at the end of the river road other side. They weren't open yet, but we found some nice beach glass and a few interesting shells. Ended up at Pancho Villa's for another half hour. Someone had decorated their dog with some amazing eyebrows. On the way back we saw a boat, which someone had lovingly called "Beerguts". On top of a phone pole was an osprey nest, a huge one. How it managed to survive the last hurricane I will never know.

Sea Lion

We took the little boat out today, poked around, caught a couple of fish and saw a bunch of sea lions basking in the sun. Just lying on their backs, with their flippers up. Here was a particularly relaxed one.

Zoey and Etta

Judy stopped by the other morning with her dog Etta. Zoey can no longer leave the yard as we have trained her with an electronic collar, so she welcomed the company until Etta made a beeline for Zoey's favorite toy, Dora and Explorer. Etta refused to give Zoey back her toy, and promptly beheaded Dora.

Mother and Twins Sculpture

Mike and I found this charming sculpture in one of the local stores. We thought it was sweet as Sarah and Ray are expecting twins.

Saturday Night at Pancho Villas

Last night Mike and I decided to hit the other side of the river for dinner at Pancho Villas....again. The food was fabulous. We were the only people there, so it felt as if it had been our own private dining experience. This is a family owned place with two sisters working there, and their father, Francisco. Cute shot of Rosie's baby boy. Somewhere down the line there was a bit of Eastern European influence. All of the kids have beautiful green eyes, and this baby is an adorable blondie.

Siesta Time

Couldn't resist snapping this photo of a sleepy worker.

Zoey on the Beach

Here is our adopted dog Zoey. We finally got her in the car....her first time in the car was when our helper, Adan, took her to the vet. By the time we got to the beach she had been VERY sick in the car. Can you imagine that? A dog with motion sickness. Hope she gets over that cause it's a long long road from Baja to Sequim. However, she absolutely loved the beach. Quite the water dog. Mike threw the ball as far as he could into the water, and with no hesitation Zoey bounded and swam to fetch and return it to us. Wow.

Ho Hum Another Sunrise

Captured another gorgeous sunrise taken on the river side of the house in Mulege.

Oranges on Fence

Every day now we have this beautiful woodpecker who loves to eat the orange halves we place on our fence.