Gary and Marsha’s Visit

January 2014

The boys didn’t get a visit from just one grandparent in the month of January, no, they got three!  Gary and Marsha, Tim’s parents, arrived a couple days after my mom left and they stayed 10 days.  We were still at Paradise Village when they arrived, so we were able to shuffle over to the Yacht Club right away to watch the NFC Championship game between the 49ers and the Seahawks.  The place was packed with cruisers, and most were rooting for the Seahawks, but luckily only a few were obnoxious about it.  Our stay with Gary and Marsha at Paradise was brief, but they still got to experience the pool with the kids and the french baguettes.  When we left, we headed for La Cruz and spent just a night there in the anchorage and then went to Punta de Mita for a night before heading back to La Cruz.  On the way we hit Tres Marietas for a day stop, and the highlight was hooking a huge Dorado.  It was just as we were rolling in to anchor and the guys were all reeling in the lines (I’m embarrassed to say we have forgotten to reel in lines more than once leaving it up to a kind fellow cruiser already in the anchorage to yell out, “hey, you’re still dragging lines.”)  Gary called out, “there’s something on this one!”  And sure enough, it was a beautiful 4.5 ft 27 lb. Dorado, so Gary and Marsha got a taste of Tim’s exquisite Dorado grilling ability.  Tastes like juicy chicken!  Unfortunately, the snorkeling at Tres Marietas was not all it was supposed to be, and we were surrounded by tour boats, so we didn’t stay too long.  We found a nice spot in the La Cruz anchorage and that’s where we parked ourselves for the remainder of their visit.

We had fun in La Cruz, and I enjoyed getting to take them to the Sunday Market.  Marsha bought the boys each something (of course!).  Alex picked out a cool hat, and Brenden picked out a small piece of art to hang on his wall.  I really liked Alex’s hat and noticed they came in pink too, so I teased him that I was going to buy one too and wouldn’t that be cool if we had matching hats.  Yeah, just what a 12-year-old boy wants, matching hats with his mom!  Marsha was able to see the boys do the silks class for the first time, and the boys liked having her there to show off to.  It was a wonderful visit, but regretfully, we just weren’t able to provide the same sort of experience for them as when they came to visit in the Sea of Cortez.  Like I said about my mom’s visit, Tim and I were more than a bit distracted with projects and to do lists for getting ready for the puddle jump.  But in addition to that, the Sea of Cortez trip was something special.  We took them to out of the way anchorages that are virtually inaccessible but by boat, and I think they really had an appreciation for that.  This time we were in the hustle and bustle of Banderas Bay, even if La Cruz is a nice little Mexican town.  Their next visit will likely be somewhere in the South Pacific, and hopefully we can find some nice cruising grounds near whatever port they are able to fly in to.