Sharon and I along with Scott and Sue on Suebee (Catalina 42) decided to get off our boats and go on an inland adventure. It's time we see a part of Mexico that doesn't have a coastline. We rented a tiny little Nissan Platina (they must only make these cars for small people) and drove to Manzanillo, Colima and Caloma with no real plan for the day except to buy some "dancing dogs". Colima appears to be a rather wealthy city and very clean. It's the state capital of Colima and we think it also must be a financial center. For the first time on our trip we've actually seen people dressed in suits...very professional.

Our fist stop was Colima for lunch. We ate on a sidewalk restaurant right across the street from a beautiful park. On the adjacent corner was the state capital building. We walked around the area for a while to see the sites and then decided to get back in the Platina and drive to Comala.

In Comala we went to their town square to have a few beers and free hors'dourves. While we were there a mariachi band started playing for us and it was so entertaining. The band had three trumpeters, two violinist and a couple of guitars....they actually were quite good.

After about an hour of beers and listening to the band, Sharon and Sue went shopping for the "dancing dogs"...replicas of local tomb artifacts.

The day was getting long and we decided to start our trip home. We tried to get back to the marina before dark, but couldn't make it so we diverted to Manzanillo to have dinner. On our drive to Manzanillo we stopped at a fruit stand and bought water melons. Some of the fruit that we saw and sampled we had never seen before....ever! And...we don't care to ever see them or sample them again. Once back in Manzanillo we drove to the Las Hadas Hotel overlooking the local anchorage and had a wonderful dinner.

By the time we finally got back to Isla de Navidad it was close to midnight. There are no street lights close to the Grand Bay Hotel and as we approached the marina we had to drive through a golf course. There are so many streets on this golf course that we got lost for about half an hour...we were laughing so hard and thought we'd have to spend the night in the little Platina on the 18th hole. The only good thing about getting lost was we were driving around in an air conditioned car...you'd have to be here to reeeeally appreciate the air conditioning.

It was a very long day, but one that we will remember for many years to come. It was filled with laughter, friendship and fun experiences had by all.