la paz - puerto de ilusión

now that we've been here in la paz for over a month, i should probably get my act together and write a bit about where we live. as per usual, i seem to be failing in my ability to take pictures unless i'm off on some adventure, so my photos are only so-so ... one of these days i'll play the tourist :)



[la paz - puerto de ilusión / la paz port of illusion]


[the dove and/or whale tail (that day with a sand storm mixed in) / la paloma y/o cola de ballena (con una tormenta de arena)


we decided that this may be one of the few opportunities we will be able to afford to live in an actual house near the beach and to take full advantage of that, so we live in a cute, rustic little house a few blocks from the malecon (boardwalk). i looooove this house - its funky and different and has this great garden area and kitchen (my favorite parts). the "bedroom" is a loft upstairs and the downstairs is just an open area that couples as a living and guest room.



[upstairs balcony / balcon arriba]


[kitchen / cocina]


[garden (note outdoor oven) / jardin (ve la estufa!)]


in the mornings, we walk down to the beach to go for a run or a bike ride .... work is a walk down the malecon for iván and a bike ride for me (as soon as it cools off, that is).



[walk to the beach / a la playa]


the malecon is a wonderful thing. it's a 5km long, palm-lined boardwalk in front of the historic, downtown area, lined with restaurants and shops and tons of ice cream and raspado stands (thank gooooodness! best cure for the heat ever!). there are always people here running, riding bikes, and in the evenings the malecon is full of families and kids out enjoying the cool(er) evenings. it's great. we couldn't ask for a better place to enjoy the outdoors, eat, or see the sunset.

backwards and forwards

la jolla -> puerto peñasco -> la paz

on the way to la paz, iván and i stopped by peñasco to collect his things and wrap things up for him there. i started working, saw people at CEDO, we visited favorite restaurants and places, saw friends, etc. etc. it's strangely comforting to go to a place you come from when you are going somewhere new.

en el viaje a la paz, iván y yo parábamos en peñasco para recoger y empacar sus cosas y por el a termina sus pendientes. yo empece a trabajar, vi a la gente de CEDO, visitamos nuestros restaurantes y lugares favoritos, convivimos con amigos, etc etc. en una manera rara es reconfortante a visitar a un lugar que ya has dejado cuando vayas por un nuevo lugar.

the best thing about peñasco continues to be the huge tidal swings and being there during a full moon.

lo mejor de peñasco sigue ser las mareas grandes y estar allá durante la luna llena.



[peñasco malecon - whale hill / malecon de peñasco - cerro de la ballena]




[sunset pools / pozas del atardecer]


we drove down to guaymas and crossed the gulf in the ferry from guaymas to santa rosalia ... an uncomfortable journey reminiscent of ferry rides in the philippines when you travel overnight and they put everyone in a room with uncomfortable seats with the air conditioning turned up too high so you "sleep" surrounded by crying/screaming children, people snoring, people drinking, watching bad dubbed movies turned up too loud. this trip was especially annoying because the military guys searched my car in guaymas then again in santa rosalia where they also took photos and fingerprinted everyone getting off the ferry. craziness. note to self: never take this ferry again. la paz - mochis was so much better last summer

manejábamos a guaymas y cruzábamos el ferry de guaymas a santa rosalia ... un viaje incomodo .... de noche, en un cuarto con sillas incomodas con el aire fuerte y se supone que duermas rodeados por niños gritando/llorando, gente roncando, gente tomando, mirando películas malas y dubbed con el volumen muy alto. este viaje estaba muy molesto porque los militares revisan su auto en guaymas y de nuevo en santa rosalia donde también tomaban fotos y huellos de los dedos de cada persona. ugh. lo de la paz - mochis es mucho mejor.



[arriving in santa rosalia / llegando a santa rosalia]


[my world traveling, gulf-crossing car! / mi viajando del mundo y cruzando el golfo auto!]


[pangas in santa rosalia]


from santa rosalia it's a quick six-ish hour drive down to la paz where we have settled into a very cute older house in the downtown area of la paz close to the boardwalk and beach. we are both working and both enjoying things here so far. more to come...

how the journey goes ...

upon leaving la jolla, ivan and i flew up north for my uncle's fiftieth birthday party in sunriver, oregon. we decided to make a bit of a vacation of it and flew to san jose, where we met up with granijo and drove from there. this gave us a few days in the san jose area post birthday and fourth of july activities.

on the way up to sunriver, we decided to swing by crater lake (it was literally right on the way). as we climbed, snowy patches began to appear and then more and more and more until we were surrounded by snow. in july!

saliendo de la jolla, ivan y yo volamos al norte para celebrar el cumpleaños cincuenta de mi tío en sunriver, oregon. decidíamos a hacer una vacación y volamos a san jose (ca), donde encontramos a granijo (mi abuela) y manejamos desde allá. este nos dio algunos días en la región de san jose después de la fiesta y el cuarto de julio.

en el viaje por sunriver, pasamos por crater lake (un parque nacional y que literalmente estuvo un viaje corto). mientras subimos, empezábamos a ver nieve y luego mas y mas hasta que estábamos rodeado por nieve. en julio!



[a lot of snow / y mucho nieve]


needless to say we were ill-prepared to be in snow ...

sin necesidad a decirlo, no estábamos preparados a estar en el nieve ...





i was here a few years ago, when i lived up in oregon, but the lake seems so different when surrounded by snow. it's still a stunningly amazingly beautiful place. it was definitely a treat to stop by. same beautiful blue color, same reflection.

estuve aquí hace algunos años, cuando vivía en oregon, pero la laguna parece tan diferente cuando rodeada por nieve. aun esta preciosa.









[danger! slipperly slope!]


my dad's side of the family has typically gotten together for fiftieth birthdays, which i suppose will then become a decadal tradition. it's a nice excuse to get together since we are so scattered (covering the four corners of the country). a house in sunriver had been rented and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. birthday celebrations this time included: completing an epic beetle puzzle, hikes in the woods along the deschutes, reading outside on the beautiful deck, bike rides along the beautiful paths throughout sunriver, and a GPS geo-hunt thing where we all walked along wearing matching blue, birthday t-shirts for something like three miles. love my family (not sarcastic).

el lado paterno de mi familia se reunieron por los cumpleaños cincuenta de mi papa y tíos, lo que supongo se convertirá a una tradición de cada diez años. ha estado un buen excusa a reunir mientras estamos por todos lados del pais (los cuatros esquinas). rentábamos una casa en sunriver, oregon y disfrutábamos mucho nuestro tiempo allá. las celebraciones de cumpleaños incluyeron: terminando un rompecabezas de escarabajos muy difícil, caminando en el bosque por el río deschutes, leyendo afuero en el patio, andando en bicicleta por los caminos de sunriver, y un rally de pistas en que caminábamos vestido en las mismas playeras azules por casi tres milas. me encanta a mi familia (sinceramente).



[matching blue t-shirts. we stand out. / playeras azules]






for me, of course, being in morgan hill meant that we had to visit the monterey bay aquarium. and even more so because ivan hadn't been and they just re-opened they're open bay exhibit. i have probably gushed in here before about this aquarium, but i will just continue to do so ... it is truly an amazing place and i continue to be inspired everytime i go. i don't know if it's possible for the sea to lose it's magic ... granijo had found a picture of me from the first time i went there (at age 3) ... amazing how much a part of my life this place has been.

para mi, por supuesto, estar en morgan hill significó que teníamos que visitar el acuario de monterey bay. y aun mas porque ivan no había ido y acaban de re-abrir la exhibición del mar abierto. probablemente he platicado por aquí sobre este acuario, pero continua ser un lugar muy importante y especial en mi vida. cada vez que me voy, estoy inspirado. granijo encontró una foto de mi en el acuario la primera vez que me iba (los tres años) .... impresionante que tal un parte de mi vida el lugar ha sido.





[mola mola]


[fuzzy shark, but cool silhouette / tiburon boroso, pero silueta padre]


[love having the sardines in there! we saw one get eaten by a tuna! / me encanta tener las sardinas en el tanque! vimos una comida por un atun!]


[tunas / atunes




[kelp forest]




we had a great time with granijo in morgan hill ... watching the hummingbirds fight over the feeder on her deck, hiking in coe state park, chatting and relaxing. sometimes these are the best sorts of vacations ...

lo pasábamos muy bien con granijo en morgan hill ... vimos los colibríes pelear por la comida en su patio, fuimos hiking en el parque estatal de coe, charlando y relajando. a veces esos son los mejores tipos de vacaciones...



[deck view / vista del patio]


[hike / caminata]