While we were still out at Ensenada Cardonal, I let the cat out of the bag while chatting on SSB with some of our friends that Tim’s birtday was coming up. Wow, did that snowball. By the time we got into La Paz, it turned out that Tim’s birthday celebration was actually going to be a bit of a reunion of the BLA summertime crew. We were planning to go to The Shack (awesome burgers, Negro Modelo on tap) and when we got a head count the morning of Tim’s birthday and we had over 20 people, I thought we should go down and give them a head’s up that we’d be coming. The Shack had moved locations since we had last been in La Paz to a nice spot on the malecon, although some people saw it as if they were selling out or something. I figured as long as the burgers are still good, I’m all over it. So, Tim and I walked down there, and my heart absolutely sank when we realized they were closed and found the sign that said they are, in fact, closed on Wednesdays. Wednesdays! Who closes on Wednesdays? We needed a plan B, and fast. So we got on the horn (aka handheld VHF) and called around to get some input, and we ended up walking to the location where The Shack used to be. There’s a new restaurant there called Fuego y Lena and they have pizza and burgers, so we thought that would be perfect and made a reservation. I think we made the owners day by saying we’d be bringing 20+ people there that evening. After getting that taken care of Tim and I ducked into the restaurant Stella, and did what we used to do all the time while traveling, but seem not to make time for anymore. We just sat there and had a drink. Or 2.
The birthday dinner at Fuego y Lena turned out great. The food was slow to come out and some people got a little annoyed, but I have no problem dealing with that sort of thing as long as everyone’s pleasant and enjoyable. After dinner, the kids, including Steve, ambushed Tim with shaving cream as he was leaving the restaurant. It was pretty funny, and unfortunately I don’t have any of the photos of it. The kids actually thought they were buying silly string, so they didn’t intend for it to be quite as messy as it was. But all in the name of fun and games.
Gresham Family Exodus 