Crazy Grandma??

My grand daughters 2nd birthday is coming up soon and I have been trying to figure out what to get for her.  As with most children these days she has lots of clothes and toys already and of course, Christmas has just passed.
I decided to make her a Tutu and Princess crown and searched the internet for instructions.  I found a cute little thing at the fabric store that I think will work for a magic wand.
We will see.
Naturally I never thought to ask my daughter in law if she already has something like this, so I messaged her this morning to ask her.  So while I await her answer I thought that I would confess to be a slightly demented grandmother and ask your opinion of this mess.
The crown is made of the foam sheets with a plastic canvas sheet in between the 2 sheets of foam. I sewed all the baubles onto the front foam and the canvas foam before gluing it all together, I wanted to make sure that the baubles would not come off easily to be put in little mouth, nose or ears.


The whole ensemble.

Close up of the crown.

Close up of the Magic Wand.

Close up of the Tutu.

On a different note we were lucky enough to meet some of the blogs long time readers who live in California.  The wife is from Guaymas and is married to the gentleman from California and they reside there.  They came  down to spend some time with her family over the holidays and they came over for coffee and sweets one day.

After reading my posts about Aconchi and Ures they decided to make a trip up there also and enjoyed the hot springs at Aconchi and stayed in the same hotel we did in Ures.  They enjoyed their little side trip and were nice enough to bring us a bag of peanuts.

They also brought pastries to have with our coffee and along with some raisin tarts that I had made we had lots to eat.

We had a nice visit and they may return for another coffee before they head back up north and back to work.

A nice meeting.

Merry Christmas

A Funny Story

Yesterday was the opening of the exhibition of paintings from the painting classes at the Casa de la Cultura.

Over time I have been working on a 3 painting series of Blue Doors from photos I had taken over the years.  Two of the doors were from old buildings in Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, the other one was of the door of the building that used to house the museum here in Guaymas.

The new Arts and Culture director for Guaymas opened the exhibition after the classes and various dignitaries were introduced and then snacks were served.

While everyone was chatting my teacher came over to me and asked where the one door I had painted was from, was it in Guaymas?  I said yes, it was and explained to him where it was.  He then told me that the new director had asked him who had painted it as he wanted to meet them.  The teacher took me over to him and introduced us and we began chatting.

It turned out that at some point in the directors life he had removed the air conditioner and re- concreted the wall, on the painting I had put in this detail as it showed as a rectangle of a different texture and colour on the photo.  He had also painted the door blue.

What a coincidence!!  He said that he recognized the building and wanted to meet me and tell me about it.  He was surprised when I knew it had been the museum and had visited it before the flood ruined it.

Really odd the things that happen sometimes, to me that was a one in a million chance that anyone would recognize the building or even know anything about it.  Just shows what a small world it is.

This is the painting of the door.  Oil on canvas.

Size: 12 x 15 x 2 in. or 31 x 38 x 5 cm. ssizei

CHILIS AND ON THE ROAD IN SONORA, MEXICO

These are the last of our photos of our little trip in one tiny portion of our home state of Sonora, Mexico.

There are lots of interesting things to see in Sonora and so much history here; even though the majority of travelers pass it over as being desert and therefore boring.  How little they realize.

Most of the highway scenery photos were taken from the car window as we were driving as the road is twisty and curvy and there are very few areas where you can pull out and stop.

As you can see by many of the photos it is obviously chili harvest time.  Amazing to see all the strings hung along the fences, etc..  Lots of tasty food to come.

MOLINOTE AND MAZOCAHUI, SONORA, MEXICO

Two more of the small towns that we drove through on our little trip.  They are both quite small and we didn't really find anything to do in either other than drive around them and stop and take a few photos.

Baviacora, Sonora, Mexico

One of the other small towns that we stopped at on our short trip was Baviacora.  A nice, quiet place to sit in the park and have a cold drink.
We walked around a bit and did just that.

I should have put the map of Sonora on the first posting so that you could see where we went, I didn't think of it, so here it is now.

We left from Guaymas on Highway 15 heading north to our state capitol of Hermosillo.
From there we took Highway 14 or 17 depending on what map you look at and headed northeast to Ures and Mazocahui.
At Mazocahui we turned north to Baviacora and then Aconchi.

We could have continued up this road to Cananea and then done a big loop back down to Hermosillo and home; but didn't feel like doing that this time, so we didn't.

The Welcome sign at Baviacora states that it was founded in 1639.  The church is really something to see on the outside, it was locked up so I didn't get to see the inside of it.

Aconchi, Sonora

We had been waiting until it cooled off before we headed to Aconchi, Sonora to visit the Aguas Calientes/Aguas Termales or in other words hot water pools from a hot water source coming out of a hill in the middle of no where.

After leaving Ures we travelled through some smaller towns, stopping to take a few pictures along the way.  The roads were good; although twisty and curvy as you begin climbing through the mountains.  Very pretty scenery with more varied species of trees than we see here, lots of deciduous trees; especially poplar.  The leaves were just beginning to turn so it would be even prettier in a few weeks.
 
Still in ranching country so lots of cattle and feed.  The crop in the fields seemed to be Milpa, which is Maize which as far as I could figure out they were using for cattle feed; but I am not positive about that.
It also seems to be a big area for hunting and that seems to be the major tourist draw here that they are trying to expand upon.

Arriving at Aconchi, we found the gravel road to the hot springs and followed it.  What a lovely drive; although the road was gravel it was quite smooth; but dusty.  It was not busy anyway and I was in total awe of the fantastic huge, old growth, Black Poplar trees.  Twisting and turning their trunks and limbs they make an awesome sight.  I happened to spot a dead one with a Nopal cactus growing right out of the center of it.  I guess there is lots of nutrition for it on the rotting tree trunk.

We arrived at the hot springs and it was so quiet, not a soul around.  I finally spotted an older man doing some work down at the other end of the park and so we went to chat with him.  He had a zippered pouch with him to put the money in that he collects from people and also a receipt book.  The entrance fee is 20 pesos a day per adult and for this he said we could camp there overnight if we wished.  We hadn't brought our camping stuff as we weren't sure if we could find a place to camp or not, so that wasn't an option this time.  He gave us our receipt and we continued on up the road for a bit to another set of pools.  We decided that we preferred the first area and turned around.  I was looking at the receipt and noticed that he had by accident given us the next one under ours when he tore it out of the book.  I told Roy we had better stop and return the empty one to him as I didn't want him to get into trouble for a missing receipt as the money goes to the Ejido San Pedro and they might think he was trying to pull a fast one.  We stopped by him and returned it and when he saw what he had done he gave me a huge smile and thanked me for returning to him.

The park area has lots of stone and concrete picnic tables and benches and grills, a change room/bathroom, etc.,  a very pretty place with huge trees all around so there is lots of shade.  These are not the smelly sulphur hot springs, there is no smell at all from the water, that made it even more enjoyable.

We spent a couple of hours there relaxing in the water and just sitting and soaking in the tranquility until our stomachs began to let us know that it was lunch time.

We headed back into Aconchi to check out the town and find some food and fill up with gas.  We ended up eating at a hotel restaurant and had one of the regional specialties, "carne con chili", which surprisingly was not spicy hot; but was very tender and tasty.

We then debated going further on to see some of the towns on the way to Cananea or heading back the way we had come.  We had both really enjoyed Ures and so decided to head back there and stop at some of the smaller places that we had missed on the way.

After several stops we ended up back in Ures and decided to return to the hotel that we stayed in the first night.  They were almost booked up as a mining exploration company had come in that morning from Hermosillo; but we managed to get her last room.  We again visited with the amiable receptionist lady and headed to the Plaza.  The young people had finished putting up their altars for the day of the dead so we looked at those and just sat and relaxed on the benches in the park.
We wandered around some of the side streets just looking and snapping photos of some of the buildings and then headed back to the hotel with an ice cream in hand.  The hotel cats fell in love with Roy when he shared bits of his cone with them, so he made some new friends.

The next morning we again had breakfast across the street at the bus station, why mess with a good thing?  When we returned to check out of the hotel the reception lady handed me a bag of their regional sweets that they are famous for, Jamoncillo or dulce de leche and told us that it was a gift for us from her.  What a nice gesture!

The landlady had asked me to look around for some nuts for her called Bellotas which are a small acorn.  When looking them up on the internet so I would know what I was looking for I found out that there is a very expensive ham which comes from Spain called Bellota Ham.  The pigs wander through the forests foraging and eat a lot of the Bellota nuts/acorns and the resulting ham is very flavourful and sells for around $160.00 dollars a pound.
Anyway I didn't find any of the Bellota nuts; but did buy some peanuts which are grown also at Aconchi.  Yummy and as usual for me with peanuts I did not buy enough of them.  Oh well, a good excuse for another trip up there.

A Short Vacation

Time for a vacation, it has cooled off here now to a bearable temperature for wandering around during the daytime, so it is time to explore some of our state that we haven't ever seen.
First stop coming up.

We drove to Hermosillo and then took Highway 14 to Ures, Sonora, which used to be the Sonora state capitol.

We really enjoyed this town.  It is a very pretty little town in a beef ranching area.  Needless to say beef is what is on the menu.  We tried Carne con chili, (beef with chili), which surprisingly was not spicy hot; but very, very tasty.

 We started out by sitting and relaxing for a few minutes in the plaza in front of the Casa de la Cultura and Museum.  When we entered the museum we were very impressed by the quality and quantity of the collection housed there.  Great exhibits very well explained and great murals.  Lots of rooms all opening onto a central patio.

After that we wandered around town, took some pictures of the church, sat in the main plaza, Plaza Zaragoza, and had a nice cold coke to drink.  We watched the young people beginning to set up the altars for the Dia de los Muertos.

We checked into the Mision d' Sales Hotel for a price of 430 pesos for a fair sized room with 2 double beds, free WiFi, coffee, satellite TV, Air conditioning, hot water, secure parking, and all the information about the area from the hospitable receptionist that you can handle.

We wandered around town some more and then after eating we went back to the plaza and just sat and enjoyed the peace and quiet.  What quiet, how different it is from the hustle and bustle of Guaymas.   At first we wondered where all the people were, until we remembered that the whole town has perhaps 8 or 9,000 people in it compared to the perhaps 130,000 in Guaymas.  A big difference and very noticeable.

 The next morning we could find nothing open for breakfast when we were ready, (we are early risers), so we had a cup of coffee from the lobby and the receptionist told us the bus station restaurant would be open at 7 AM.  We waited until then and crossed the street to see.  The door was open; but we were informed they didn't open for food service until 7:30 AM.  We told him we only wanted coffee right then and he said he would get us some, only to return with an empty jar and a sheepish look on his face as he told us they were out at the moment.  We walked a couple of blocks down the street to an OXXO store, (sort of like a 7-11) as they have good coffee.  The door was chained shut and the lady was waiting for someone to come with the key to open up.  We chatted with her for a bit and decided to go back to the bus station as it was almost 7:30.  The fellow shuck his head no, when he saw us coming and told us still no coffee.  We laughed and sat down to wait.  We were in no hurry.  Shortly after the guy ran across the street to the pharmacy store as it had opened and came back holding up a jar of instant coffee.  He waved us in the door and served us a cup of instant coffee.  The cook then showed up and we had our breakfast at the same time.
 In this area they serve the huge flour tortillas instead of the regular size, they are thinner, almost transparent and apparently are made with no lard.  They are called water tortillas.  When we went to pay, I noticed they had miel de caña for sale. Thinking this might be the much looked for and never found here, molasses, I bought some.  (According to my landlady it is; although to my taste it is very light tasting and not nearly as strong.)
Another regional food item here is queso cocido, a type of cheese.  We never did buy any as I had no way to keep it before we went home.

 A regional sweet here is  jamoncillo  or dulce de leche which tastes to me sort of like fudge.

After a good nights sleep we headed out on the road and onto the next town.

Sunset on the Beach

The other day we went out to the beach at Miramar to watch the sunset.  It wasn't as fantastic as it could have been as there weren't too many clouds; but it was still pretty.

Early Morning Visitor

We have a few chickens that live in the streets around our place here, everyone feeds them, who knows if anyone actually owns them. The last few evenings we have noticed that one of them likes to come and hang out on the landing of the stairway up to our apartment.  Last night we noticed that she had decided to roost for the night on the railing there.

We get up fairly early in the morning and it is usually dark when we take our first coffee out onto the patio to drink and watch the sunrise.  This morning the chicken decided to come up onto the patio and check us out.

I was busy getting the garbage ready to go out as it is garbage day, seeing as we have very few bugs up here, we have the door open a lot at this time of year.  I turned around when Roy yelled something and saw the chicken beginning to come inside the apartment to join me.  I like animals, birds, etc.; but didn't particularly want Ms. Chicken inside the apartment.  I shooed her outside thinking she would run away; instead she stood just outside the door, softly chattering to me until I went and got some soda crackers and gave her an early morning snack over on the roof of the landlords house.

After that she began following me around, wherever I walked on the patio she followed.  It was pretty funny, so I turned on the patio lights and took a couple of pictures of her.

She seemed quite happy to have company and kept up a soft chatter with us for quite awhile before she headed downstairs.

A comical beginning to the day.  Hmmm, I wonder if she was trying to tell me the sky was falling???  Maybe we should call her Henny Penny???

Ms.  Chicken AKA Henny Penny

Sunrise From Our Patio

This morning there were quite a few clouds, so I got out the camera expecting a lovely sunrise.

I have to say it exceeded my expectations.  What a beautiful way to start the day.

It is now clear and sunny with a faint breeze.  Lovely day.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did watching it.

Floral Arrangements

Our landlady came up this afternoon and invited us to a surprise birthday get together for a friend this evening.
I had been busy all day getting some of my artwork ready to go to a sale tomorrow in San Carlos, doing laundry and other assorted things and was not really interested in heading uptown to shop for a birthday gift.
Instead I went over to the closest florist shop to us which is maybe 6 blocks away.  I had never really bought a floral arrangement here and wasn't sure what to expect price wise; but I had hopes that I could get something for this evening.
The shop was very busy as they were getting prepared for 2 weddings; but they took the time to make an arrangement for me.
As I really wasn't sure what I wanted the lady showed me some photos on their Facebook page, I picked one and they gave me a seat to wait for what they said would be 15 minutes.
Well, about 10 minutes later I walked out of the shop with the arrangement below.
I thought it was pretty and appropriate for a ladies birthday.
Damage to the wallet was minimal, 200 Pesos or approx. $15.37 CAD.  I was happy, I hope the birthday lady will be.

Playa Piedra Pintas

Yesterday was cloudy and cooler, so around 3:30 PM we packed the car with our stuff and headed for the beach.  We decided to go to Playa Piedra Pintas, there are a couple of coves there and we picked the second, less used one.  There were very few other people there and we enjoyed the afternoon in the water and just sitting and relaxing.  We stayed and watched the sunset and then later the clouds and moon before heading home around 8:30 PM or so.
A lovely afternoon.

Legal For Another Year

Earlier this month we went to the INM office (immigration office) to see what we needed for our paperwork this year.  I always like to check with them first so that when we actually go into the office to do it I am comfortable that I have what they want.

As we were finishing our last year of renewing our then FM3's they told us we had 2 options this year.

We could either leave the country, return and pay for a tourist permit and then come back to the office and apply for another FM3 OR we could just apply for an FMI (former FM2) without leaving the country.
We opted for the FMI rather than making a trip NOB when we didn't need to.  They told us what we needed and as I also wanted to changed my designation to "Artista y Deportista" from "rentista" so that I can sell my artwork, I had a few extra things to do, such as going to Hacienda and getting a tax number.

Once we had everything covered, I filled the forms in online and we returned to the office with our paperwork.  After a couple of days I checked the website and was surprised to see that it said we should go back to the office, very speedy.

We went to the office and were given the papers to go and pay at the bank which we did and also got the necessary copies made of the payment slips; unfortunately by the time we were done with this the INM office was closed for the day.  Their hours are 8AM to 12 noon.  It was Friday and the weekend of Independence Day so when the guard told us to come back on Monday I asked him if they were open Monday.  I expected them to have a "puente" or long weekend.  He told me they would be open.

Monday morning before going to the office I called first and they were open.  We finished up the remaining details and were presented with our new cards.

Easy, peesy and very fast this year.  It only took maybe a week and part of that was because we were too late getting back to the office on Friday and had to return on Monday to finish up.

Done for another year.

Another Party

Yesterday we went to yet another party, I think this is the fourth one since the 15 th of August.

This party was to celebrate the baptism day and first birthday of our neighbours grandson.

 

It was held at the Navy Club on the other side of the bay from us, in the area known as Las Playitas.  We had never been to this building before for a party; although we had driven by the place at other times on our first sight seeing days at the beginning of our stay here.

It is a very large building with a palapa style roof out of metal with walls mostly made of up large screened windows.  The whole building has a large patio all the way around it, a small pool for the children, a large area where they had the blow up jumping things, kitchen area, washroom area, large parking area, yard area,etc..

Inside the building is a large central area which is raised from the seating area and is used for dancing, this is where they had the gift tables set up.

On one side of the seating area a Mariachi band called Oro y Plata, (gold and silver) had set up and was playing.

People were seated all around the central raised dancing area and also outside on the patio all around the building.

We had gotten a lovely rain the night before and it was hot and HUMID, we first sat inside with our landlords family; but it was just too hot so we went outside and leaned against the railing and I took some photos of the area.  As it was in the afternoon the sun was in the west so it made it difficult to get some good shots in that direction.

Pretty soon the rest of the people from our inside table came outside to join us and we sat there for the rest of the time.

We finally were just to hot and sweaty and came home, the temperature when we got home was still at a "feels like" of 42 Celsius, which is around 106 or 107 Fahrenheit, so call us wimps if you want.  I think the humidity was at about 75%.

The Beach

We had some really pretty clouds the other night, we didn't get any rain out of them; but apparently the cities south and north of us did.  As quite often happens the rain went around us; due to the way the hills are situated.

Hard to get a photo without the lines in the way.

We got bored the other day and took a little drive to San Carlos.  We headed to the beach just for a look see, too hot to sit there so we didn't take our swimming stuff.
We stopped first at the Mirador for a look around and then over to Playa Algodones.  We have had a few nice rains and the hills are green and the desert is blooming.  Everything looks lovely.

After looking around we headed back into San Carlos and had lunch at a new restaurant where someone that we have known since we first came down here is now one of the cooks.  Lunch was OK, nothing exceptional; but edible.
Then home for siesta.

Party, Party, Party

I am getting behind on my party postings, they have been coming thick and fast.  Since we attended Diegos birthday party on the 15 th, I/we have been to a couple more parties.

The first one after Diegos was a baby shower for the daughter in law of the fellow who is building and renovating for the landlord and his sons.  Luis has done work for them for years and although he does not live here in Guaymas, (he lives in Obregon), he spends a good part of his year here.  He works everyday for 2 or 3 weeks and then goes home for awhile or onto another job and then returns when he is ready to work here again.  His son has also worked here at times and we have gotten to know Luis' family over the years as his wife comes to visit with some of the grandchildren at times.

So, here are a few fotos of the baby shower held for Luis' sons lady.

The special lady.


One of Luis' grandchildren.  She was very intrigued with the camera and had to see the fotos as they were taken.  Her facial expressions were priceless!

Our landladys birthday is on Aug. 27 th.  Yesterday her daughter in law came up to inform us that she was throwing a surprise party for her in the evening as she knew that her mother and father in law were going to a friends house for a visit for that ladies birthday.
I was happy to have the car so that I could make a FAST trip uptown for a gift!
Everyone sat around visiting on the patio waiting for them to return home, a phone call was received that they were on their way so the lights were put out and everyone attempted to be quiet.  Needless to say she was surprised to see the lights come on and Las Mananitas, (the birthday song) being belted out by many of her friends.  Nice to see how pleased she was.
Snacks were served and then later dinner of barbacoa, refried beans, macaroni salad, tortillas, followed by empanadas, rice pudding and  cake.  A nice evening.  I didn't take too many photos as I was too busy eating and listening to the conversations around me.

The guest of honour arrives.

Diego Turns 4

Hard to believe that the little imp has turned 4 already and will be starting Kinder this year.  Time flies.
This year they held his birthday party at the Hacienda Monarca.  It used to be a working ranch; but now is inside the city area.  It is a lovely building and a great place for a birthday party.  We had been there once before for a Quincenara; but that was in the evening and we couldn't see much of the views in the dark.  It is laid out with the main floor and then there is a long curving ramp; instead of stairs, to the second floor, where they have a bar and hold other types of events.  Spaced along the ramp there are several alcoves with benches in so you can sit and visit. On the second floor there is a huge patio and then the option of heading up other sets of stairs to go to several other, what would be 3 rd floor, patios.  Great views to be had of the surrounding area.  It must have been a grand place to live at one time and in the surrounding yards there are still 3 or perhaps more homes lived in by people, not sure if they are lived in by the original family or by other people; but I think family.  The Hacienda main building  has no living quarters in it now.

They had rented the pool area of the ground floor for the birthday party.  The pool is set out very well for children as one end gently slopes for quite a ways so the wee ones can play and the it gets a bit deeper in the middle for say the 7 to 9 yrs. old group and then deeper yet at the far end for the older ones.

It was, of course, very hot and humid and the kids jumped in the pool and only got out long enough for drinks and food.  They had a lovely time.

We adults also had a good time sitting at tables with shade umbrellas for the most part, lots of snacks and drinks and a dinner of tamales and beans, with cake to follow.

Great time was had by all.

Lots of metal sculptures around the yard.  There was one group of 4 5 metal sculptures that were mariachi players, one had either blown over or had been knocked over by someone so we labeled him as the drunk of the group.

This guy is made of wood.

Guess What We Did

We have been wanting to explore more around the countryside and previously always used the really good bus system.  Some of the places we want to visit either do not have very convenient bus service or once you get there you need transportation, as some sites are outside the town by a few kilometers.

We talked a bit about renting a car for these trips and then broke down and went looking at new little cars.  Once we saw the trunk capacity on those, we dropped that idea.  We like to camp, which entails taking a certain amount of stuff with you and those little cars would just not do it.

We returned home and rethought our plans and decided to look for something a bit bigger and a few years older.  Off we went again to check out some cars.

We looked at a variety of brands, etc. and ended up buying a 2008 Chev. Optra LS.  It "appears" to be in fairly good condition; but who knows, used is used, you get what you get.

Anyway after a few hours of trying to figure out the fastest way to get some money down here and a few hours of getting the paper work done, buying insurance, etc. we are now the owners of the car below.  Wish us luck with it.

Pozole Dinner

Thursday evening a group of friends/members of the photographers group got together for a Pozole dinner in honour of one of the ladies birthdays.  It seems like pozole isn't served here often during the summer; perhaps as it is so hot.   It is served more often during the Christmas season; but it is one of her favourite dishes, so that is what was served.
Nice evening, tasty dinner and lots of chatting and photo taking.


The birthday lady.

Some of the dinner group.

I Guess It Is Summer Time

Well I guess summer is here to stay for a few months.  Nice and warm outside, this was the weather at 8:45 AM this morning.
Just noticed the Lloydminster, AB. weather, a lovely 19 C. ha ha, I would be wearing my winter jacket there at the moment.
Enjoy your summer everyone.

It's Been A While

It has been a long time and now where do I start?  I have been feeling guilty about not updating on here and then I think where do I begin, and so delay once more.

We have been busy with everyday things, a couple of group coffees/dinners, finishing art class, doing some sewing and of course the Festival Mar Bermejo.

I decided not to take the summer course art class this year, as I find 4 classes a week for a month just too much.  I was told there was also going to be a class in printing, that I am interested in and I faltered in my decision; but held fast.  Then I found out there was a photography class also and almost caved as I really want to learn more about photography, sadly the class was already in progress for a week and I decided to skip starting it in the middle.

Instead we have been attending many of the events of the week long Mar Bermejo Festival, which commemorates the 13 of July battle in which the Mexican forces overcame the French who were trying to overtake the port city.

They had tons of events going on, concerts, an art walk, theatre, movies, etc..

We attended a movie, a few concerts, did the majority of the art walk and just enjoyed the whole event.  It gets better every year.

One of the members of our photography group also belongs to a music group so we went to hear them the night they played.







We attended a Baptism Party, which was fun also.

So that's a bit of an update for now.  I will post more photos of the Art Walk on the Art Blog.

First Photographers Group Get Together

A while back a friend of our landlords invited me to join an amateur photographers group that he made a page for on Facebook.  He named the page:  Amantes de Guaymas, aficionados a la fotografia, which loosely translated means Guaymas lovers, photography fans.  The group consists of people who live or used to live in Guaymas and the majority of the photos are of Guaymas.

Lots of the members already know each other; but some don't and I know almost none of them.  They decided that we should have a group get together, kind of a meet and greet over food and drinks.  One lady had a place large enough outdoors to accommodate a group and offered to cook for the group.  Everyone took something and yesterday was party day.

The place was great, lots of room for seating, kids play area, bathroom, cooking facilities, etc., great location.

The food was excellent, I forgot to take pictures of it believe it or not.

I don't think I have ever seen that many cameras in one place and no matter where you turned there was one pointed at you.

A good time was had by all I think or so it seemed.

The place.









Part of the cooking area.
















Kids playing.

A small portion of the group.

















Some of the scenery.