Worldly Wheeling Locally Eating

We flew out of Mexico City two weeks ago exactly. Being back in BC is wonderful, even flying over Seattle almost made me teary-eyed at the familiar sight of snow capped mountains and grey skies. We have both put our bicycles back together and are currently doing the same with other facets of day to day life. Once we are settled and have visited friends and family, it will be time to start thinking about the next leg of the trip! Not sure about any details in that department, but one thing is forsure, travelling by bike is addictive. Taking a plane home was surreal. It took only hours to travel what had taken us months. With clear skies we could see the coastal route we had pedalled what seemed like lifetimes ago. I’ve brought home memories and experiences that will influence the rest of my life, and met people who will do the same. In fact, just before we left the farm we met a couple cycling from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, their website is www.ralphandpat.wordpress.com and Pat is turning 50 at the end of March! They were both fantastic, we swapped stories over some beers in Malinalco. Meeting up with cyclists was a nice cap-off to our time at the farm and rekindled my longing for the road.  Things did not go exactly as planned; the truth is, they never really do. You just never know and that is a fact to be embraced and enjoyed. Thanks to everyone who we met, who helped us, followed our blog, etc etc. All have special places in my memory and heart. This was supposed to be a quick wrap up, but how to sum things up eludes me, I suppose because it is never the end. Salud!

also I don’t think I’ve posted this website www.legrandroux.com we met this guy in Cali somewhere and he is on his way to the tip of South America. It is in french, but also displays how twists and turns along a bike tour can change everything and anything! Mucho gusto Hugues! J’espere tout va bien!

We are currently dismantling our bikes and getting ready to shove off to Mexico City. What a shock that is going to be! It will be a bittersweet goodbye from the farm. I could stay and play in the dirt forever but am also really looking forward to the City. From what I’ve heard and read there is an endless list of things to do and see there, but it will certainly be a change of pace. Probably a couple more updates before we head home….for now there is some new info on the food log. Pictures are in the works. Both of us are looking forward to returning home but this has been a crazy fantastic unforgettable unbeatable experience. We shall see some of you quite soon. Hope all is well and no more snow!

It’s not all work and no play here at the farm. A few weekends ago was the Candelaria festival, the biggest 5 day party of the year here in Chalma. It is about a Saint, mega pilgrims walk the trail for the event. Chels & I walked into town on Sunday and it was nuts. People everywhere hawking and buying wares. Apparently there was a stampede some years back and people were actually killed, so there is more foot traffic control now. We took a taxi to Malinalco, a larger town about 20 minutes away that we often visit on Sundays (day off), to escape the crowds. Malinalco has wicked ice cream, Malinalli, in a variety of flavors of mixed tropical fruits. It is possibly the best ice cream I have ever had. There are also various vendor stands selling shoes, mugs, jewelery and all kinds of food. A typical Sunday involves a trip to Malinalco but we have yet to visit the museum.

OK, back to the Candelaria. There was a rodeo for Sunday, Monday & Tuesday evening. We ran into Juan, a friend and neighbor of Christians’s, on our way back to Malinalco and went to the rodeo with him and his family. It was jammed with people, cotton candy, a huge brass band and then finally the bullriding. We watched about 3 or 4 and that was kind of enough.  Lucia, one of the marmeladies, had invited us for lunch that Monday. We thought it was just us WOOFers and maybe some family or something. It turns out her son, Arturo, was one of the rodeo ‘hosts’ that evening. Juan had explained to us the previous night that it was a huge honor to be the host and organize the whole evening, riders, band, bulls etc. So when the 3 of us arrived there was a huge table, like 30-40 people seating capacity. We were served and offered some cervezas. As we sat and chatted (kind of) with the family, a sea cowboy hats started streaming in. Being the rodeo host involves having a feast for the neighborhood! It was quite an experience, we mostly hung back and soaked it all in. We did not make it to the bullriding that night but the festivities could be heard from where we were tucked in up on the hill. And firecrackers all day and night echoed through the valley for the duration of the Candelaria.

On Jan 27, also a Sunday, we bought some cervezas and hiked up to a nearby waterfall for the afternoon. We’ve visited there a few times, a nice little hike along the pilgrim trail with the 3 dogs trailing along. It really reminds me of Sooke potholes, except we were anihilated by blackflies. Did not go for a dip, bit chilly still but a lovely afternoon.

Quetzali does the type of acrobatics like in Cirque du Soleil with the 2 long strips of cloth that she twists herself up in, I don’t know what it is called. Anyways, a couple Saturdays ago she and her group (4 in total) put on an evening show in Malinalco at one of the girls’ place. They organized the whole thing themselves, had scaffolding all set up, and music. It was outside so the background was a starfilled sky. An amazing performance, and we watched from bamboo mats and pillows reclined on the ground. There were about 60 people there; the girls did a great job. Afterwards we walked around the property which used to be a water wheel powered mill of some sort. A really great place, the guy is an architect and the grounds and buildings were really sweet, hope to return during the day some time. His 3 other daughters are in a band called The Pinky Panties and they were practicing so we got to rock out with them for a bit. It was an awesome night and great to see so many talented women strutting their stuff.

There is a shed full of treasures here at the ranch, Christian never throws anything away. Anything. We found some old bags of clothes and boxes of shoes. Chels is sporting some very high waisted jeans with converse. Basically an outfit straight out of grade 7. That alternates with fleece pants and men’s work shirts. I was wearing some almost wedge heeled loafers, blue swede, because my runners are letting in a lot of dirt. Those did not last though because they were a bit small and made a high heeled click sound when I walked on hard ground. However, there was about a week with that footwear and a t.shirt (downtown magnetawan!) I cut the sleeves off, paired with my MEC tapered pants. We are very fashion forward these days.   Neither of us takes any notice of our outfits until we try to picture ourselves at home. Practicality and comfort come first here, it will be a jolting adjustment when we return to the city. Furthermore, we are inevitably filthy at the end of the day and the same outfit lasts all week. The evening is shower and ’day off’ clothing time. For a hot shower we need to light a fire under the boiler by collecting some wood and then wait about a half hour for it to heat up. Some nights are just a quick cold shower but man oh man does a hot shower feel great after a day in the fields. When it comes time to wash our clothes it is yet another chore done by hand! Soak em in a bucket and then scrub on the washboard, hang on the line to dry. It sounds like a lot of work for simple things so often taken for granted, yet there is something unbeatably satisfying about performing all these tasks manually. The ‘convenience’ of life as we usually know it has been replaced by thoughtful performance of tasks. Dishes, laundry, cooking (more to come on that), building, garden beds, everything is done by hand from scratch. There is little time for the distractions we are so often bombarded with at home, instead each day is filled with a wonderful sense of accomplishment which I hope to remember and continue with upon return to Canada.

So there is a sample of what we do for days off, general entertainment and passtimes. Playing cards, reading, hanging out with the dogs and eating may also be included. Pictures are on their way….

miss y’all! see you soon

love chelsea & marla

Learning a lot about everything, really. Chores include watering (greenhouse and beds\fields), cleaning the water filter, throwing sticks for the dogs…and many other tasks. We have been involved in building new compost piles (levels of vegetation, manure, soil), digging new beds, building, refinishing furniture, re potting, harvest….there is always much to do.

Moving stones one must be cautious of scorpions. The black ones only hurt but the white ones are quite venomous. The three of us WOOFers each have one in a jar of alcohol, coming home! Sweet souvenir. I even found a venomous one in the bathroom the other day, a pretty big one too, that’s the one coming home with me.

Laurel has been harvesting passion fruit to sell on the weekends. There is a whole orchard of passionfruit trees, kind of a magic place with vines hanging and tangled throughout.

We have all participated in digging new beds. Using a matick to loosen the grass and weeds, wheelbarrowing that to the compost, pitchfork and rake to deepen the bed. The most tedious bit is picking out stones, one can only do that for so long. Filling up bags upon bags of stones, wheelbarrowing them to the stone area where they eventually become part of the road. The weeds head to the compost area where they are layered with rabbit manure from the rabbit hutches and horse manure, then a layer of soil. During the week Don Lecho feeds the rabbits but on the weekends we get to stroll around and collect clover for them and the guinea pigs. The pile is built with a large pipe, like a chimney, for air circulation. It is amazing how much a huge pile compresses in only a few days and how hot the air coming out of the chimney is. Lots going on in there. Eventually that compost will be mixed into a new bed to provide nutrients for the soil and whatever may be planted there.

There is an undercover area attatched to the house that Chelsea especially has been working on to become a WOOFers area. That was the original idea but no one had gotten around to making it happen until now. She built a bamboo wall (all grown and harvested on the property) and organized the space as both a storage and hangout area. There was all sorts of furniture, wood, marmalade equipment scattered about; now all is organized. Two old awesome chairs were fading away among the debris and between the 3 of us they have been sanded and refinished, recushioned and are now beautiful and comfortable. One of the cusion covers is made from an old Barbie blanket which is awesome.

Christian is growing herbs for his buddy Carlos and one day we had a big harvest  (a kilo of each) nettles, alfalfa, comfrey, raspberry leaf, dandelion and a white flower I forget the name of.  Also we have been helping the marmaladies harvest produce for the markets twice a week. There is always weeding & watering to do. Bamboo is harvested around the full moon, apparently to avoid future weavel problems. That is quite a job, using a handsaw to cut it down and then removing all the sprouts and stacking it vertically to dry. I suppose it sounds easy but they are many metres long, and heavy. Selecting the right bamboo with thick walls there are certain things to look for: not too waxy at the bottom, also no sprouts or ‘bamboo paper’ near the base. Stacking is a two person job forsure.

One trend as you may notice, is doing everything by hand. There are no tractors or ploughs…although we did use a power sander for the chairs. Hot water for the shower is obtained by lighting a wood fire under the boiler. The wood is from around the property, stacked near the house. Makes a hot shower very satisfying. Another trend is how everything is used, very little thrown out or wasted. Old wood and paper wasted for the boiler, used yogurt and various other containers for seedlings, bamboo scraps for tool handles and various other things, rabbit and guinea pig dung along with food and yard waste for compost, and the list goes on. It is a great thing to use what one has, then reuse or recycle it. The amount of actual garbage produced by the 7 people currently living here is minimal.

We spent one morning repotting taragon that had some sort of root parasite. They were divided and are recovering nicely in the shade. Potted plants have sacks layed beneath them to prevent the weeds from taking over. Also been repotting some tree sprouts that outgrew their containers. Soil has been collected from a nearby riverbed and needs to be meshed before potting. There are lots of projects underway. A whole section of blackberries has been cleared and is in the process of being dug up and stone picked, probably the area will be planted with medicinal plants for Carlos. I cannot think of much else at the moment…it is amazing how the days slip by here. Definately cultivating a sense of well being, with dirt under my fingernails, fresh air in my lungs and delicious food in my belly. Deep sleeps, physical work, plenty of sunshine, night skies filled with stars…yes it really is as good as it sounds. This is the life right here, I am making an effort to enjoy each moment because it won’t last forever and I know I will miss it terribly when we leave.

Further updates to come amigos! miss you all and we’ll be seeing some of you quite soon. Miss you, much love

Marla & Chelsea

Since there is so much to say, the updates will be made in installments until we’re all caught up. A brief intro: We are at Rancho El Amate, just outside of the pilgrimmage hot spot Chalma about 2 hours South West of Mexico City. The nearest large town is Malinalco, about a 15min drive. The farm is surrounded by hills, it is sunny everyday, we are working hard and loving every minute! Especially since, I don’t believe we’ve made this clear, our timeline has shortened drastically and we’ll be back in BC sometime this spring which we are both totally fine with especially since our shortage of funds lead us to where we are.  OK, here we go. First up: who are we spending our days with while working on the farm?

Christian is the main man here at the ranch. He’s from Belgium therefore I have an opportunity to refresh my French. In Mexico!! He is a bottomless pit of information about any subject and we WOOFers have spent more than a few evenings gathered around the table in deep and interesting discussions. His obvious passion for organic farming as a way of life is inspiring. He has amazing stories from experiences working on communal farms throughout Europe and from travels and jobs in Latin America during the 70s.  He is involved with community projects, including a water treatment project in Malinalco (right now the sewage goes straight to the river, even in the dry season. And a lot of people throw their garbage in there too). I really can’t say enough about this man. He has a beautiful vision we get to learn about and participate in everyday; definately makes me want to have a farm of my own one day. He loves to chat, often one question will spark a huge discussion eventually ending up with the answer. There is no whip cracking here, he’s a pleasure to work with and a wealth of knowledge about agriculture. He studies Agronomy in Belgium and Mexico City.  The rest of the family consists of Christian’s wife Fabiola and their two daughters Amanda and Quetzalli . Fab is in charge of the Wednesday and Saturday markets, where she sells preserves, produce, and products of neighbors. The daughters, both in their late teens, are out and about, sometimes making us yummy lunches. Amanda has a zest for making flans of which we’ve been eating many.

There are 5 local employees. The marmalade ladies (marmaladies) Lucia, Rosalba & Angelica. These 3 are a riot, constantly cracking jokes (from what we gather, Spanish is not flying along as we’d planned), singing and enjoying life. They make the organic preserves sold at the markets and distributed locally. They also, and more importantly in my opinion, make us the most delicious lunches EVER. More details on the meals later in the food log. We also get to help them harvest produce the day before the markets, so we are learning the Spanish words for lettuce, squash, plums, carrots, radishes, and much more. That is a fraction of what is grown here.

The other 2 employees are Don Lecho, an older guy who does a bit of everything. He often explains things to us, we have a vague idea what, very nice man nevertheless. And Miguel, a younger guy building a stone house near the back of the property, a future WOOFers quarters.

The WOOFers at the moment are Chels and I, obviously, and Laurel from Montreal. 3 Canadians all at one ranch in Mexico. When we first arrived there was a guy named Nick from Tazmania who just happened to meet our great buddy Tim Stubley before heading here. What are the odds! This fact was revealed in conversations about planting naturally. Nick was great but headed to Monterey to go climbing a week after our arrival, but he may be back. He’d been here since November so really showed us the ropes.

There are also 3 dogs, each with a very unique personality. Balbooha the dominant but boneheaded female beagle, Saskia a golden retriever who LOVES to retrieve and is constantly bullied by Balbooha, and Camoline a stoic mutt and the only other dude who lives at the farm at the moment besides Christian. There are also 4 cats, a horse, a whack load of rabbits and some guinea pigs.

Everyone here is awesome. The family is generous and welcoming, also making an effort to speak english to us. Laurel speaks Spanish and French so that encourages us not to be so lazy with our language learning. There is talk of more WOOFers in the near future, but who knows? It is wonderful to have such a variety of characters surrounding us everyday. There are also different friends and relatives coming and going, new faces all the time.

That is all for now. Stay tuned for the next installment of life at the farm. Subjects will include: daily activities, food, what we do on days off, and more!

Adios for now, Marla & Chelsea

we are at the farm WOOFing. it is fantastic. a full report is in the works. www.ranchoelamate.com is the website of where we are. it’s in spanish and doesn’t do the place justice. more to come, soon!

so it turns out a flat bed truck with squealing pigs stacked four high and hundreds wide smells worse than road kill in any stage of decay. ..ew i think marla may have said good bye to bacon and i am considering B-lining it to vegan town…

but on a more fragrant note we´ve made it Panjamo, and i´ll tell ya it has never felt so good to be back on the saddle - we were starting to get a bit soft and doughy…

The road conditions for the past couple of days has been great, shoulders as wide as a football player sometimes two,  courtious traffic and for the majority - new pavimento, saying that I will avoid mentioning the traffic report exiting Guadalajara.

There is a bunch to catch up on..like the woofing gig we´re pedaling toward on an amazing organic farm just south of mexico city, or how we are usually the only gringos in any town we pull into, or how some boys brought us lunch while we were riding on the highway and how there is always an awesome 80´s tunes playing where ever we go… but that´ll have to wait until next time…

Here´s a foto Julie sent to us from our second year planting trees 2002, obviously we didnt make much money.  I would love to know what we´re laughing about or is marla crying?

anyways truck loads of pigs love

chels and mar

´cause we would have blown them all off with Dave Mason in town. Ok, a long while since the last up date. Short and sweet here, maybe. Happy New Year everyone! Hope all your dreams come true in 2008,make it happen.

Sayulita was great, campsite on the beach. Not too busy at first but after Christmas the population exploded. Dave arrived on the 21st and we blew the doors to smitherines, jammed in 5th gear the whole time. We spent a lot of time on the beach, also found a great little beach place hosted by Juan bon jovi where we frequented. Dave was wearing the same outfit the entire week as the airlines had lost his bag. Although he called daily to find out where it was and gave the address of where we were, there was no bag. Until we sent him off at the airport, apparently it had been there a couple of days but they didn´t know where to send it. It was easy to recognize him anywhere in his bright green frat shirt, or tuxedo shorts.  Met Nick from Humbolt and Jason from York who we hung out with a lot. Christmas night the 5 of us went to the Red Dragon, having heard there would be a live salsa band. I guess traffic was bad and they didn´t make it but that did not stop Chels and I from cutting a rug. Many beers and great laughs made for a most memorable holiday. The next day we took a snorkling and fishing trip that we´d arranged the previous day in the square. We pulled out around noon into the rough and open seas. Stopped by  a small cove to  net some sardines and we were off to the islands. The water was a wee bit chilly, but we hopped in and swam through a little cave. The visibility was not great but we saw tons of fish and small rays. We saw some whales on the way out, but the way home we saw one jump the whole way out of the water. A moment right out of a nature show, it was incredible. Let out the lines and Dave caught a huge, like 35lb rooster fish! It was an exciting battle and the guides helped alot, they were so pumped, high fives all around. Being in one spot for so long in the rocky boat made me feel a little woozy, never thought I´d be one for seasickness but I guess I am. When we pulled into the beach Dave was like a celebrity with the big fish! A huge crowd and random people back slapping and snapping photos. I wonder how many people went home with pictures of Dave from their family vacation!

Dave had to leave the 27th, Chels and I went into PV to say goodbye at the airport. We tried to convince him to stay but he stayed strong and headed back to chilly Vancouver. It won´t be too too long before we meet again. Let us know when it warms up.  We were both at a loss of what to do when we returned to the campsite, which by this time was really getting crowded. We were at the less populated end of the beach, when we arrived we basically had it to ourselves. Anyways, Chels moved back into the tent after I shook out all the sand and we tried to figure out our next move. The 200 hwy was pretty bad, as I´d finally seen from bussing into PV. Not cycling friendly whatsoever. Muson, Colin, Scotty and Casey had come and gone from Sayulita and we thought of bussing to where they were to continue along with them. Hope to see them along the way! We stuck around till the 28 because Bill and Alvin were meant to come visit from San Blas, they had visitors that were on their way to the airport in PV.  Chels and I were both a bit down with having such an awesome celebration with Dave which ended as abruptly as it started, not knowing where to head next, etc. We are currently looking into WOOFing ( http://www.wwoofinternational.org/home/ ), but having trouble paying the fee online. Although that was not our original plan, it would fit nicely with the idea behind our trip and extend our time. We´ve realized that our diñero won´t get us to Argentina but we hope to make it as far as possible, continuing on other legs in the future. The focus of the trip remains sustainability, but there are infinite ways to be sustainable and I, for one, am learning the beauty and necessity of flexibility.  We certainly have not been puritans during our travels, and that really was never the point. We are keeping our options open and searching for different ways to do our part while embracing the opportunity to experience an epic adventure.

So, where was I? Right, Alvin and his friend Jerry showed up on the 28, Bill’s vehicle had a broken tie-rod but he was on his way. We hung out, ate burritos, and walked a little out of town to a much more peaceful beach. Sayulita itself, as I may have mentioned, was getting really out of control people-wise. Those that know me know I´m not particularly fussy about crowds. So this little hike brought us to some of the most beautiful beaches I´ve ever seen. Some people were camping, apparently it´s federal land and you can camp for free. I don´t know if we would have made it with our bikes, but good to know for next time! We climbed up some rocks and sat looking out at the ocean. The waves in the whole area are pretty rough, Sayulita is a huge surfing destination. Not the best for swimming but so mesmorizing. Jerry was on his way to the airport on the 30th, and with no word from Bill by the 29, Chels and I decided to carpool Alvin and Jerry´s cab to PV, possibly head to the bus station. As we were preparing to leave on the 30, Bill showed up! A matter of minutes and we would have missed each other, but things have a funny way of working out.  So, Chels  & I and our bikes, Alvin, Jerry, Bill and his buddy Arturo all piled into Bill´s van and headed to Puerta Vallarta. We dropped Jerry off at the airport, went for lunch and said our goobyes to these great guys at the bus station. We had decided to head to Guadalajara, away from the crowds of the coast and a kick start to get back on track. We had been feeling a bit of a lull after nearly 2 weeks off and morale was getting a little low. We were fortunate enough to be surrounded by wonderful people, but when it came down to it we knew that in a short while it would be just the two of us again.

So, here we are in Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico. It is beautiful and has a distinctly European feel. We took the bus on the 30 and arrived after dark. The bus station is a ways out of town, so we stayed there for the evening, needless to say with little sleep. We geared up in the morning, both in that odd state of mind that occurs when you haven´t slept and the sun starts to come up. We rode into the city, and oh man did it feel great to be in the saddle again! At that moment I knew that it would all work out, regardless of what that would mean, and the choice to head inland was a good one. We walked around the city, through the pedestrian-ways, squares, entered the cathedral, one of the most amazing I have ever seen. We were there at the perfect time of day where the sun was streaming through the windows, the stained glass illuminated, and the building itself is bright and open. A mass was taking place, the first I´ve attended in my whole life and that was the way to do it. Chels and I returned to the hostel, a great little find, and crashed for a few hours. Got up for dinner, walked around expecting to find some New Years activities, but not a lot was going on. We did stumble across some guys doing some similar stuff to Capeioara (that´s not spelled right), with drums and everything. We watched their performance and then wandered back to the hostel. Bed by 11pm on New Years Eve, who would have ever thought?! We´ve done enough celebrating in the last 2 weeks to last well into the new year. A couple more days exploring this city and hopefully off to a farm in the hills somewhere. Happy New Year everyone! much love

see some new fotos http://www.bikefurthereatcloser.com/blog/?page_id=340

Chelsea & Marla

PS- we miss you david, thanks for coming out!!

We arrived in San Blas on Dec. 14. We were ahead of schedule to meet Dave so stayed until the 18. What a place!!! It’ll be hard to beat. We camped at Stoners surf camp, right on Borrego beach. The first night we went into town and discovered what became our second home, The San Blas Social Club, cheers to Augustine for welcoming us back night after night. We met all kinds of wonderful people and unforgettable characters during our time spent there. The second time we were there, live music night, there was live flamenco-style guitar which was incredible. As the night wore on and people loosened up, other folks from the audience got up to the mike to perform. Keira sang some beautiful songs in Russian, Bernardo did what I think was a bullfighting speech in Spanish. Although the words could not be understood by all, they were heard by everyone. A very special evening, memorable even after a 3am stumble home!

The next morning when I returned to the tent after a lovely walk on the beach, Casey and Scott had just arrived! We hadn’t seen these guys since Cali, and since they´d been pedalling down the Baja. It sounded intense. The next day 2 other cyclists who we had heard about on the road pulled in. Colin and Mu Son ( quitjobridebikefucktheman.blogspot.com ) had also toughed it out and ridden down the Baja. It was so awesome to run into those guys and actually hang out a bit! Such quality folks, hope to run into you all again along the way.

We met Bill the first night we were there who offered to take us up to a little town north for a bike ride. I was a little under the weather after the first night so had to put it off for a day, which turned out great because the little town was having a fiesta in the main square with live music, dancing and kids running around. Apparently later that day there was the loudest rodeo in history, but we’d heading back home which was fine by me.

Walked to the fortress with Alvin and Joel, some more great folks we met at the Social Club, one day for some cultural experience. Spent time at the beach, relaxed, all in all San Blas was awesome! The last night we met up with the cylclists, Alvin, folks from the campsite all in the main square. The doors to the Social Club were closed and people were at a loss. But there was fantastic live music in the sqare, dancing, beers, good times all around. The doors to the Social Club opened eventually and we had an awesome last evening. I don’t think many believed that we would be up at 7am to hit the road, but we packed up and hit the road after stopping for some breakfast. I cannot say enough great stuff about San Blas! Thanks to everyone we met, Salud! It would have been so easy to stay there, but we had to tear ourselves away.

The ride out of town was great, no traffic and I think the freshest air we’ve breathed since entering Mexico. Really lush jungle landscape, Chels saw an armadillo and I saw a little green snake. When we stopped for lunch I spotted a tarantula half hiding in a hole in the ground. We both agreed that we could not relax and eat our lunch there….I hope we can post a video on the website, we decided to poke it with a stick so we could see the whole thing which was the worst nerve-rattling, scream inducing stunt we’ve pulled yet. And it’s all on video. We’ll try to post pictures and stuff soon, but the internet is a bit pricey here and it takes forever to upload pictures. According to Chels, as we know that is not my department. So kids, we are in Sayulita for Christmas, Dave arrives tomorrow, we hear Jody is coming on Saturday, and then it´s on!!!  Life is good, no complaints here. Hope everyone is happy and healthy and able to enjoy time with friends and family over the holidays. If I’m not on here again, Happy Holidays! Peace on Earth. Thinking of friends and family, miss you all. And the same to all the special folks we met in San Blas.

Much love from Sayulita xoxoxo

Marla & Chelsea