Back in the USA

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Ron from SV Dawn Trader watches as we approach MV Damgracht, Grace's magic carpet back to Puget Sound

The loading went well though there was anxiety while Grace was hoisted aboard.

  

With Grace on board (just forward of large power boat), and on her way to Victoria, we did the only logical thing....went for a walk.

We were joined part of the way by a friendly street dog  (for some reason street dogs in Mexico usually have very sweet dispositions, and love human company and attention).  He walked several blocks with us until he reached the end of his territory.  .   

But we were seldom completely alone as our passage was noted by the neighborhood watch.

Many homes in La Paz have a feature we rarely if ever saw in other parts of Mexico....porches.

They were usually well shaded with lots of plants and flowers and comfortable chairs.

If you're living without air conditioning then you're probably living out on the porch.  

Sidewalks in Mexico are challenging.  From what I can tell, there are no rules guiding how they are laid out.....if they do get laid out.  Seems to be an owner option. 

Should you stumble and take a header don't bother sueing.  Thousands have walked that sidewalk without taking a fall, so obviously it was you that screwed up.

Say what!


We enjoyed parking strip landscaping, also subject to no rules.

Raked dirt was a popular options

Have some broken concrete?
Don;t throw it away, plant it,

Agave

If you want to earn brownie points with
the Lord, put your sidewalk to work for you,

Ready for launch

Alan Riding in his book Distant Neighbors says "The high walls that surround most Mexican homes serve as both real and symbolic frontiers of security and authority.  When a Mexican steps outside them, he acts as if confronting a hostile society with which he feels minimal solidarity."  A Mexican will sweep his sidewalk daily.....precisely to his property line and not one inch further and is quite content leaving whatever clutter, filth or trash lying just beyond, even if it blocks access to his sidewalk.  Chaos beyond his walls will exist no matter what, so why bother trying to change it.

We spent several days in Mexico following Grace's departure.  Then flew north to met her in Victoria B.C.  We received a call from the shipper's agent in our hotel room the day before she was scheduled to be unloaded, saying "Change of plans, your sailboat has been offloaded and you need to get to the ship ASAP."

We rushed down to the  dock where a launch was waiting to take to the ship, where she was waiting..

We left Victoria the next day and checked her and us back into the U.S. at Roche Harbor in Washington's San Juan Islands.

From there we headed south into the busy Puget Sound, anchoring a couple of miles outside Seattle in Bainbridge Island's Port Madison Bay.  We looked for a place to moor her in Seattle, but had to settle for Everett as there was nothing available in Seattle.  We have a temporary slip in Everett Marina until the end of August, then who knows.

We bought a car and will drive back to Mexico and set up house in our condo in Puerto Vallarta sometime in late September,taking Highway 1 down the Baja Pennisula to La Paz, crossing to the mainland on the La Paz-Mazatlan ferry.