Greg Sails Past 60

Greg in a reflective moment with Punto Chivato in the background.

 We were sitting at anchor off of Pasada Concepcion discussing the snowy weather in California when our Columbia, CA friends hailed us on the VHF announcing that they were flying above us and that they would be landing at Serenidad in a few minutes. Suddenly its a Chinese fire drill. It will take at least 25 minutes for us to drive the 12 miles and we don't want to make them wait. We shouldn't have worried.

Hotel Serenidad

We located our friends sitting under the palms at Hotel Serenidad sipping some adult beverages.
  


Hart and his plane.


When we arrived at the airstrip the Mexican welcoming party showed up and offered to carry our luggage. When they understood that we didn't have any they offered to wash the very dusty Jeep. I couldn't see the point since we would be driving over more dirt roads. Disappointed but not defeated they returned when we were loading up the Jeep and they happily assisted and joked around about running off with Hart's Scotch. We were impressed with their good manners and work ethic. Hart promised to reward them if they watched the plane and made sure that no one bothered it while we were in Mulege. I doubt that it was likely since the military has a station right on the runway to discourage anyone that might think about stealing a plane for drug running.



Greg and Ann at the side of the dirt runway at Serenidad.

The owner of Serenidad maintains the airstrip for pilots and guests. Hart offered him some money to help with the strips maintenance and he refused to take it. He said he was happy to do it and wanted people to come.
The river road to
Estrella de Columbia, the Mulege house. This road is never the same from one year to the next due to the fact that it is right on the bank of the river and the annual floods and occasional  hurricane wash it away or drastically rearrange it.


Estrella de Columbia

 It's hard to see our friends' Mulege home for all the vegetation. There used to be even more, mostly bougainvillea, before the floods, but it's still wonderful, only more sunny.  

KR's casita

Each owner has their own casita (a bedroom, bath and some form of little food area) above the main house.










Cultural difference:
Rod's casita on the right and a full-time Mexican home on the left where a single mom & several children live.




Dove (after "dove love")

 

There are so many birds here and they were making love in the trees. There were doves, cardinals, orioles, hummmingbirds, and a vermilion flycatcher. Along the river there were at least three orsprey nests that were sitting on top of utility poles.

The area in between the river road and the main house.




Palo de arco flowers

 



Yellow poker plant and bougainvillea.

  

  Hibiscus thrives here.

 

Greg's 60th birthday celebration!

Most days in Mulege were spent lounging around and catching up with our friends. On Greg's birthday we drove to the beach and spent the day listening to the surf and soaking up sun (some of us drank a few, or more, cervasas).  

That evening we had a great time cooking a wonderful fresh fish dinner. Our friends Tom (R) and Mel are great cooks.  It was rare to ever have left overs.

Fresh fish Vera Cruz per Tomas



A little wine (which was never in short supply) and candle light - an elegant dinner in the tropics.


(Greg didn't keep his eyes closed all night, it's just had to get a picture of him with his eyes open.)

Mel was so anxious to give Greg his special 60th birthday present that he gave it to him as soon as we settled at the Mulege house - a saltwater fishing rod and tackle - yea!

 

Cinnamon had spent the entire week on the boat while we were visiting with our friends so we had to back to the boat every few days to check on him. At the end we had to move the boat from Bahia Conception to Mulege. Almost everyone wanted to join us for the sail back. We had to rent two cabs to transport all seven of us. The winds were great, up to 18 knots at one point, all the way back.            (L to R: Mel, Tom & Hart)



Ann and the others got to see parts of Bahia Concepcion that were new to them and get a different perspective on old favorite areas.

No visit to Mulege is complete without a visit to Ray's Restaurant. Ray is originally from Cuba and used to be a successful restauranteur in the states. He has been in Mulege now for 18 seasons. His first restaurant was on the beach at Santispac. Now he has a very nice but somewhat rustic restaurant up river in the agricultural area. Getting there - at first you feel like you must be lost, then it turns into a safari. Ray has added signs to guide his guests thru the maze now so its not quite so challenging.





The road to Ray's

The view to the left of Ray's from his parking lot.

The farm land to the right.

Ray's Restaurant
full of charm and hospitality (but not up to OSHA code). The stairs up to the dining room are made of very uneven planks and the rise is different for each step. I think it's a test to make sure you're sober enough to appreciate his food.




There were musicians on Saturday night when we where there.

I have never seen Ray without a big smile.

Every meal has to start with Oysters Rockefeller. Hart insisted that we order one of all six entrees. Between us we had cabrillo (fresh fish), steak, calamari, papagallo (shrimp surrounded in chopped scallops and sausage and wrapped in bacon - on my).

A good time was had by all. So sad to see our friends off on Monday. Oh well, back to cruising.
Good night to all.