March 1, 2020 Sun.- Wow where is the time going? Only 30 days left to go and back on a plane. Half of the remaining time will be spent in Cabo San Lucas, which will fly by I’m sure. A quiet morning today. Walked to church and bought some cookies from the Nuns which was taken to our dinner/games party.
Mission La Paz was established by the Jesuit missionaries Juan de Ugarte and Jaime Bravo in 1720 and financed by the Marqués de Villapuente de la Peña, at the location of the modern city of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
La Paz was the location of the earliest Spanish activity in Baja California, and was frequently the site of conflicts between the Spanish and the local Guaycura and Pericú Indians. Fortún Ximénez, mutineer on an expedition sent by Hernán Cortéz, landed at La Paz in 1533. Two years later, Cortés himself led a large party that attempted but failed to establish a settlement. Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1596 gave it its anomalously pacific name. Isidro de Atondo y Antillón and Eusebio Francisco Kino attempted to establish a mission settlement in 1683 but again failed because of conflicts with the native inhabitants. When Jesuit missions finally took root in Baja California after 1697, the initial focus of activity was to the north, in the area around Loreto.
The Jesuits finally returned to the site of Airapí (probably a Guaycura name) in 1720, in coordinated expeditions from Loreto that traveled both by sea (under Ugarte and Bravo) and overland (under Clemente Guillén). The mission had little success, however. It was sacked in the Pericú Revolt of 1734 and finally abandoned in 1748, when its Indian neophytes were relocated to Todos Santos.
We stopped at a pork taco joint we have passed a couple of times already that is always packed. One must figure if they are always busy with locals it must be (a) cheap (b) good. Well it was both. The most excellent chopped pork ever!!! I still like the fish tacos better only because they have more fixings to dump on top. If the pork guy had the same fixings I’m not sure who would be the best. The fish guy’s shells are better for sure. They don’t fall apart while eating. Cleaned the floor of the courtyard, read and took a nap.
We were invited to Theresa and Nathan Guerroro’s home for dinner and games. I had met Theresa at lunch the other day. The same ladies with their partners were at this function. Theresa and Nathan moved here from San Francisco the end of last year. They have a lovely home up in the hills over looking one of the marinas. What a wonderful view for sunset. Everyone brought a dish and the Guerroros made burgers on the grill and super guacamole. The tequila flowed freely. I got the biggest surprise when Nathan hauled out his putting green and gave me a private lesson. Nathan was a coach for a golf team in San Fran and also the USGTF Northwest Region director. That would be the United States Golf Teachers Federation! IN MX!!! Who knew? Now I wish we were staying here longer to get some on the course coaching so I can up my game. Watch out girls! A wonderful time was had by all and my team took second in Sequence. What a great night.
Mission Church 
sunset 
game on 
my new instructor
March 2, 2020 Mon-Our Mondays so far in Latin America this year have all been the maid’s day. Brenda came and changed the sheets, towels, wiped the bathrooms down, etc. We did a load of laundry, did the week’s veggie and fruit shopping at the Mercado. Also bought ground before our very eyes ground beef and chorizo. Went to the bank, took a couple of walks. A little windy today and cooler. Perhaps blowing in a rain storm for Tues.
March 3, 2020 Tues- No rain today, yea. Just another beautiful day in a beach town. It was time to take the bus up to the big store on the other end of town. We waited for a bus with the store name on it and hopped on. Only two other riders. We didn’t know there were two of these stores and got about a five minute ride. We could have walked if we knew it was there. This store is french Chedrui. It was bigger and better than the one down the road. I stocked up on pastries which I have been missing since leaving Cuenca. Got a few other items and walked back past the fish taco joint. Guess what was for lunch? Yup. Can’t beat them. YUM. Some reading time in the courtyard. Bill wanted to walk down to the “best ice cream in La Paz” joint. So we did. Not any better than anything else we have ever had. Next time he wants ice cream we will stick with the one closer to the house. We had fresh burgers and home made fries for dinner. Another walk out on the Malecon for an evening stroll. Man there are a lot of people out walking at 7:30!!
March 4, 2020 Wed- Hi ho Hi ho it’s off to the marina we go…. We walked the Malecon down to Marina #3. Mostly sail boats but a few LARGE cruisers as well. There were many 88 footers in the mix. One even had the name “off the Grid”. It looked like something from a James Bond movie. We made it back in time for lunch. A little rest time and reading in the afternoon. Kirby our next door neighbor and Jason had Kathy over for three games of Yahtzee. Kathy didn’t win a one.
Off the Grid 88′ 
my little dingy 
mural
March 5, 2020 Thurs- We took the 10:00 beach bus to Balandra. It is supposed to be the number one beach in MX. I was really disappointed. I have heard the hype for weeks now and really, West Michigan truly has better beaches. The same sand dunes only Mi. are bigger. Better water too, as once the tide went out the water was gone! You could walk from one side to the other. It was windy and cool. We stayed until the 2:15 bus. Got to see the car ferry boat, the oil tank fields, the refinery, and two more marinas. The road went out to another beach and dead ended. Guess you can’t get lost going that way.
March 6th, 2020 Fri- Well, I thought we were going to have some excitement this morning when 35 Military personal showed up across the street from our door. There were all kinds of vehicles and two different colored uniforms. Four men which appeared to be high ranking. They all had their flak vests on with weapons. Even a guy with a radio pack on him. I was getting excited. I went to the corner where most of the activity seemed to going on to see what I could see. Hoping for a little action or excitement. Nothing doing. Turns out there were just starting to demo the old building on the other corner. Not sure why they were all there as after a short time all but three left and the maintenance workers pulled things down. Never a dull moment. Morning hike down the Malecon just in time for an early lunch at the Fish Taco joint. It was cloudy and cool and I had long sleeves and pants on most of the day. It sprinkle some and a good day to sit and read. We walked for ice cream in evening and took in a fabulous sunset. All is well.
March 7, 2020 Sat- Pretty quiet day. Took an hours walk to the big market. Hit the Malecon on the way back for a cinnabon and coffee. Round trip 2 1/2 hrs. Read in courtyard, evening walk. Fish tacos for eats.
March 8, 2020 Sun- Sunday church and bought some more cookies from the Nuns. Yum. Did a couple of loads of laundry, read in courtyard, a couple of walks. We ran into a demonstration on the Malecon for International Women’s Day. Even the police car had a purple sticker for the day. Interesting. Saw a man “catching” octopus. He had a huge bag of them. Always something going on down there. Dinner was English fish and chips at Peshke’s.
Octopus or Pulpo 
they all came out in support 
The Lauers Travel 