Getting Ready to Leave Mexico Once Again and Heading Home for the Summer.

We have not put up a blog post for nearly nearly two years! Time flies when you are having fun. I guess we got out of practice and also staying in the same place for an extended period of time is a little different than our normal moving about every month. In the last post we were returning to Mexico in the fall of 2019. We did a lot of work on the boat that winter, having the transmission rebuilt and many other projects. It was very hot when first got back in Oct, 90 plus, so hard to work on the boat. We were also doing a lot of music events. I reopened my open mic for it's second year, which was every other Wednesday and attended another open mic the other Wednesday. In addition to that on any given night in La Paz there might be more then a couple music events happening, so we did music events like 4 to 5 nights a week, along with practice sessions with friends during the day (air conditioning). I (Dave) am a late blooming musician. We also kept very busy with club activities at the Yacht club "Club Cruceros" we had joined he previous year. So we did not get the boat back in the water until March of 2020. We made one trip out to Isla Espiritu and spent a wonderful four days there. We came back in to get re-provisioned and were not allowed to go back out as Mexico shut down all cruising due to the Covid outbreak here. Closely followed by closure of all music events and then the club was the next closure. So by April life in La Paz had changed drastically. We put the boat back in the yard the end of April having been out only two months, and flew back to Washington State. When we got there the Covid situation was calming down down a bit as they were just getting passed their first wave. We waited until we got our Covid tests and then were able to spend time with the grand kids. Our summers are always action packed with family and friends, but Covid put a damper on things last summer, but we still got to spend lots of time with family. We stayed in our motor home through the summer, which has been quite comfortable for us and convenient to store when we are away. Along with fun with grand kids, we bought a motorcycle and took a ride over the mountains to Winthrop and back. No little accomplishment for Leiann who previously would not ride with me on the last bike I had (more of a fast sport bike). This one is a large road bike, with running boards, big seats and a back rest so she felt a little more comfortable. I think she just didn't want any biker babes jumping in the seat, ha ha. Shortly before we left to come back to La Paz, I lost my mother who was 82. A sad event losing a parent, but we were glad it happened when we were home and were able to help with siblings to put things in order and have some time to grieve together. When we returned last October it was hot, hot hot, like 95 plus daily. We managed to get the boat back in the water by January and have been able to get out and enjoy it more this year. However it seems that for every hour we get to sail the boat I spend 20 hours working on the boat. It's an old boat and always has unfinished work to do. But I try to compartmentalize the projects so when one is completed we can use the boat before starting the next. Truth is that this boat could have used a couple of years worth of work in the yard when we bought it, but I got it in sea worthy condition in two months before sailing it to Mexico, leaving many projects that were lower priority to be completed later. As much as we (mostly me, Dave) have enjoyed having and using the boat, it has been a lot of work, time and money and I look forward to selling it. I'm sure once it is sold I will look back longingly to the days of sailing with dolphins and whales. It has been yet another great adventure in our lives and we would not be in La Paz had we not bought it. La Paz has been our home now for three winters. The most time we have spent in one location in the last ten years. Our normal has been to spend a month and move on to new places. We have loved being here, and the music scene has been an unexpected big plus here. If it was not for Covid La Paz is one of the most musically dense places we have ever been and we will miss it and perhaps one day return. We now look forward to getting the boat, the car, all the stuff we have accumulated here sold or given away and getting back down to backpacks. It is amazing how much crap one accumulates if you stop moving. We have a two bedroom apartment rented till the end of May. We plan to try to be out of it on May 25th and into a hostel we stayed at way back in 2015 giving us some leeway to get rid of stuff and get the apartment cleaned out. We have reserved our campsite at Thousand Trials for the first two weeks of June, and will have to get the motor home out of month balls as soon as we get back. This year when we return it will be a lot easier. Normally when we get home we would have to purchase a vehicle, find a place to stay, buy insurance and all stuff you do not think about if you are not living this type of lifestyle. This year we return to a motor home, two vehicles that a friend has been driving through the winter so they don't just sit and a motorcycle. So within a week of being home it will seem like we never left. We are already feeling a little sad to be (possibly) leaving La Paz for good, but excited to head back home and spend time with grand kids and family. We have lots planned and it will again be a fast pasted fun packed summer. We have already been planning the next leg of our adventure to Asia. We will be heading to a city in Thailand called Chiang Mai. We will get an Airbnb there and explore the area around Chiang Mai. Lots to see and do there, lots of temples, elephants and Asian culture to explore. Like our European adventure we plan to have a very vague itinerary, basically heading south with the sun as it gets cooler in the North. We hope to visit Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and possibly Bali. Sorry to take so long to update but we will be doing more travel next fall so will post more often. As we look back this blog has been great for us as it is difficult to remember all that we have done since we left in our little 29 foot boat ten years ago. Stay tuned for more Chrysalis adventures.