Tuesday, February 20, 2007

What a fantastic day. First thing this morning, we packed up the rv and drove out, positioning table, chairs, cooler to make it obvious that our spot was still in use. I stopped in and told Silvano we were going to town for a few hours, just in case there should be any doubt. We drove up the street to the Pemex station, but left again when we saw that a truck had backed into a concrete hydro pole in front of the station and broken it. The electrical wires were hanging below the level of our roof. We went to the other Pemex in town and filled up (we pulled into San Carlos on a fume a few days ago, thought it best not to go any distance like that), and as we drove away we saw that just a few doors down, there was a book sale going on. It turned out to be a fund raiser for something called SBPA, iirc - a local variation on the SPCA theme. This group can't afford to run a shelter, but they do mass rabies vaccinations, a cause that's dear to my heart, and also to my leg. We spent about fifteen minutes rooting through boxes, and we found ten books that we wanted. I went up to the donation box to leave some money, and found an eleventh book along the way. We are now officially Well-Stocked With Books.

We drove into Guaymas and bought some supplies at the Ley supermarket, then turned around and came back as far as the estuary, where we parked and ate brunch. While we were eating, a group of local guys ranging in age from about 15 to 40 started a soccer game in the huge dirt parking lot, cheered on from one side by us and from the other by a group of construction workers on their lunch break. They set up one of the goals about ten feet from our hood, so the team trying to score there became "my" team. While I watched, each team scored a goal, and one player gave the ball a mighty kick and sent his shoe flying.

Meanwhile, a group of three young men appeared and were hanging about the shore near where I took pictures a few days ago. R went out and hired them to get the canoe down off the roof for us. Brilliant move. They had the job done in about two minutes, and we still had energy to actually use the canoe.

Once brunch was finished and the dishes squared away, we cast off in the canoe and paddled through the lagoon in water that was clear and about a foot deep most of the time. The tide was coming in, so we felt confident of the depth. I don't honestly know how long we were out there. We tried to stay close to the mangroves to avoid sand bars, but from time to time we had to do some serious steering to keep from running aground. Our paddling would change to poling, and there would be a hissing sound indicating that we were sliding across the sand. R suggested that the mangroves to our left might be on an island, rather than a peninsula, and we set out to investigate. Eventually, there came a time when we couldn't figure out how to get from where we were to where we could see the deep blue that indicated the channel. We paddled and poled onto a convenient sand bar, and I waited in the bow while R got out and walked on water, or so it appeared. By the time he came back, I had the giggles. We put the canoe in Reverse, found the deepest of the shallow places, thanks to R's reconnoitering, and huffed and puffed our way to the channel , which led by a rather circuitous route to the sea. Along the way we encountered grey herons and white herons (we think), egrets and buzzards, many pelicans, an oyster catcher, something that looked like an enormous seagull, and several kayakers. Everybody was having a wonderful time.

When we got to the sea, we disembarked and took turns dragging the canoe along in the surf. The wind had come up while we were canoeing (one of the reasons we had to do some serious steering), and out at the seashore it was brisk indeed. It was about half a kilometre back to where we wanted to tie the boat. By the time we got there, we had had Lots of Exercise. We pulled the boat up to the stone wall edging the beach, and R locked it there with a bicycle lock. This is how he figured it: There's a remote possibility that the boat may be stolen, and then we won't have the use of it. The alternative is to leave it on the roof, where we don't have the use of it. Now, all being well, we can cycle up to the estuary, go for a paddle, and cycle home - on a day when it isn't so windy!

When we got back to the park, there was a caravan of rvs lined up to get in. Standing room only. We went on up to the other end of the road again, and I went into a dive shop to ask about a waterproof bag. I really want to take the camera out in the canoe, and R has decided that's a good idea. I asked about a waterproof bag, and the clerk pulled one out. LOL. I said I could get my whole canoe in that bag, and did he have anything about a tenth that size? No, he didn't. The other dive shop was closed, so I have a new quest for tomorrow.

We snaked our way through the sea of newcomers at the park and found our site waiting for us. We are all hooked up again, probably not to move for another month. Altogether, it truly was a wonderful day. I am So Tired.

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