BLOGGING IN THE TIME OF CORONA VIRUS

At the beginning of this season, I said I would blog if I went anywhere 

Sailing on Dragon's Toy

interesting. Back in January, when I went to La Paz to help Dragon's Toy cross to La Cruz, I sat down on the second day out to write about my travels. I discovered that Windows 365 does not function without Internet. Thus, after writing most of a blog post, I was unable to save it. This put an end to my blogging until COVID-19 forced me to stay home long enough to install OpenOffice.

Back at the beginning of the season, I made a crucial error. I had misplaced my immigration file which contained the directions for renewing my residency. I knew there was a grace period, but had forgotten that this only applied if I was OUTSIDE the country. As it was, I only had five days to appear at immigration once I entered the country. Though I went fairly soon after arriving, I missed the deadline and there was nothing I could do to remedy this situation. I was forced to return to the United States to begin the process of obtaining residency from scratch. At the end of November, I returned to the United States for a week. By January, I was a resident, again.

At the end of January, I flew to La Paz to meet Dragon's Toy. I was supposed to fly to Mexico City and then transfer to a flight to La Paz. The air traffic at the Mexico City airport was so bad that we couldn't land. The plane didn't have enough fuel to circle, so we had to land at Queretaro to refuel. By the time that was done, we had missed my connection to La Paz. I ended up having to spend the night in Mexico City and get up in the middle of the night to make a 6:00 AM flight to La Paz.

Sunset from Marina de La Paz

I spent less than 24 hours in La Paz, and I spent much of that sleeping. We did have time to go to the Mezquite Grill for the world's best filet mignon and I got to play a set at Bob Marlin's.

Approaching Banderas Bay

We left the morning of January 30^th for La Cruz. The crossing was quick and uneventful, making nearly seven knots. We made it to Punta de Mita in time for bed on February first. We didn't get any boobies hitchhiking, this time, but we were joined by a moth the size of a swallow.

There was no big rush to get up in the morning. We took our time getting up and sailing on to La Cruz from Punta de Mita. It was good to be home and a relief to know that I had made it in time to start house sitting the next day.

Daisy

Back in 2014-2015, I rented an apartment in the Exotic Point Condominiums in La Cruz. My friend, Charity, rented an apartment there and had asked me to care for her cat and dog while she went to Hawaii to help her elderly father decide where he was going to live in the future.

Cato

She had a mature chihuahua named Daisy and a four-month-old kitten named Cato. Cato was a beautiful seal point Siamese with white feet and blue eyes. He was quite entertaining and sometimes sweet, but he liked to bite and push the potted plants off the shelves. I stayed there for ten days, enjoying the amazing view and hilarious critters. During that time, I got to see the Cheko Ruiz Band at the Bucerias chalk art festival and Geo with the Force of Three and members of Luna Rumba. For a number of reasons, this would not be a great year for live music in La Cruz, at least for me.

Chalk Art Festival

The View from Exotic Point

As soon as my house sitting gig was over, I was forced to return to the United States. The tenant in my rental house had moved out at the end of the year. I was unable to leave at that time because my immigration status was in flux. As soon as I received my new resident card, I made a reservation to return home.

Living Room of My Rental

There was a lot to do to get the place ready to be rented again. I spent three weeks cleaning and painting and then hired a property manager so that I wouldn't need to rush home the next time a tenant moved out.

Roy Rogers

Playing with Janet at the Town House

Point Lobos

Being back in the States wasn't all bad. I got to play some music and do some hiking. I got to meet, in person, an interesting fellow I had met on Facebook. We went to see Roy Rogers play slide guitar and spent a day hiking at Point Lobos. Matt is a diver and wanted to show me some of his favorite locations near Monterey. I left expecting him to come to Mexico for a visit at the end of March.

I had to hurry back to Mexico because I had plans to attend Guitarfest in Zihuatanejo the second week of March. My friend, Cary, and I were flying down to meet Don and Leslie who had sailed there. Leslie's two cousins were flying in from the UK and a couple of friends were coming down from LA. All of us were staying in AirBnBs in the same complex.

Isla Grande Near Zihuatanejo

After Party

We spent an idyllic week in Zihuatanejo, going to concerts on the beach each night and spending our days relaxing in the shade of palapas and swimming in the sea. It would be the last week of life as we knew it. We heard rumors that large gatherings were due to be canceled and were relieved when we saw them putting out chairs for the closing concert.

Zihuat Dressed for Carnival

Ladies' Luncheon in Playa La Ropa

Zihuatanejo from Playa Las Gatas

The following day, I flew back to Puerta Vallarta. My original flight through Toluca was canceled, but I got another through Mexico City, arriving earlier than I had originally planned. The airport was a bit quiet and a few people sported masks, although few were actually wearing them. I was relieved when I finally arrived in Puerto Vallarta and got a taxi back to La Cruz. The following week would see rapid changes in my lifestyle.