2014 Season Begins

After a beautiful road trip down Hwy 1 in Baja California we arrived in La Paz on January 6.  The night before leaving California we had dinner with Bruce and Alene (Migration) in Los Angeles.  They were close to heading back to Thailand to resume work on rebuilding Migration from the bottom up.  Enroute we stopped in Loreto and visited with John and Patricia (Trick), in their in-town home.  It was great to see them again, and also to see their home which they bought last  year.  It has traditional Mexican style architecture and furnishings, and is very lovely.

Once in La Paz, we started the routine of recommissioning Damiana, getting her ready to sail.  So far, all the projects have gone smoothly -- in spite of all our worrying about all the things that could have gone wrong!  The new electronics have been installed, the sails have been rigged, the dishes and pots and pans have been washed and put away, as well as a few odds and ends.  Next on the list, Damiana will be hauled out to have her bottom washed and painted, the hull washed and polished and the props to be installed.  We've had nice times with Peggy and Don (Interlude) and Kiki and Craig (Oya) and will soon get together with Lynda and Bob (Tahoma).  We also had a nice short visit with Alex and Sue (Maitairoa).

Yesterday we took a day off from boat projects.  We took a short road trip to a small town about an hour's drive from La Paz. Interlude joined us in our car and Oya drove separately -- they were continuing on for an extended weekend out of town.  Triunfo was a thriving mining town in the 19th and early 20th century.  Today it is home to just over 300 residents, many abandoned buildings.  There are two notable destinations in Triunfo: a very interesting Piano Museum, several rooms with pianos, organs, guitars, violins,harps and paintings and Cafe Triunfo, a bakery-restaurant that serves incredible sandwiches and salads.  The bread is baked on premises in a wood fired oven.  The menu tells the story about the self-taught baker, that it takes 24 hours to prepare and bake each batch, and he does this every day.  We purchased a loaf to bring home to Damiana and had sandwiches last night for dinner with a small green salad.  It's crusty, large, oddly shaped, has different flours, a hint of garlic and delicious!

Across the way from the cafe is a hotel in progress.  A man from Los Angeles fell in love with this small town 13 years ago and decided he wanted to live the rest of his life there.  He sells real estate in a nearby town and uses all his earnings to build the hotel, brick by brick.  He incorporates art throughout -- very very nice.  We walked throughout the town, and as the afternoon was wearing down, not wanting to be on the road in darkness, we had to pull ourselves away.  The attached photo is the beginning of a renovation down the street from the Cafe.

  Yes, that's right, just the front wall is built so far.

~~~ Marlene and Roy ~~_/) ~~