Shrimp Festival

Shrimp Festival

The annual Shrimp Festival is being held in San Carlos is this weekend. The weather was not co-operating today as it was cool and windy. This morning it rained hard in Guaymas and our landlord told us that when they were at the tianguis in another area of the city it had even hailed abit. There is a cold front in Arizona and snow forecast in the higher altitudes there, so it was chilly here also.
They had the opening ceremonies and some things going on last evening; but we didn't go to them. The things I wanted to see, the dancers/singers and of course the food tasting booths were happening today.

We headed out there around 1 PM, picked up our friends from the RV park and arrived just in time to see the dancers begin. We found a good spot to sit and enjoyed watching all the dancers and singers. We also enjoyed sampling some of the many shrimp dishes. Of course, there were so many booths and lots of options at each booth, so we did not get too far in the tasting before we were full. What we did sample was good though.

They also had an art display and craft display; although there were not as many crafts on display as there were last year.

This is the third year that we have gone to this and each year the venue has changed. The first year we really didn't enjoy it very much as it was set up right along the busy street and it was very congested. Last year they moved it to an area close to one of the hotels and it was much better. Lots of room to move around in; but not enough seats in the shade and it was quite hot. This year they moved it to the Golf Club and it was set up very well. There were lots of tables and chairs set up under shade canopies, (although this year it was chilly and people were searching for a chair in the sun, can't seem to win with the weather). They did a good job of setting it up regardless. I think that no matter where you sat you would have had a good view of the stage.

We met up with a few people that we knew and also did some visiting. The lady that we had meet in the restaurant at Thanksgiving dinner, who was raised in the town where we lived before moving here, was also there. We spent some time chatting and it turns out that she worked with my mother in law and also knows 2 of my sister in laws. Such a small world we live in these days.

We enjoyed the entertainment and the food for several hours before heading back home. It was to end at 6 PM, so we didn't miss much by leaving a bit early.

We visited with them for a bit at their motorhome and said our goodbyes. They will be leaving on Tuesday so we will not be seeing them again. We have enjoyed their company and hope they have a good time for the rest of the winter in Arizona. Thank you again M. for all the goodies that you brought down here for us. We will miss you.
More photos here

Walk On The Beach

Walk On The Beach

Yesterday we decided that we would go out to San Carlos and walk our friends dog one more time before she left. We made arrangements with her and she decided that she would be elsewhere when we arrived. We wanted to see how the dog reacted to us coming into the house without his owners around. No problems, the dog was happy to see us and we went for a nice walk along the beach. By the time we returned so had our friend so we chatted for awhile and then went to meet the people across the street.

These people are in need of someone to also care for their dog and their home while they are on holiday. They had someone lined up to do it; but unfortunately there was a tragic traffic accident about a week ago and they were both killed. Very sad. It was a shock to the community as these people seem to have been well known and loved by all. We did not know the couple but sympathise with their families.

We chatted with the new people, exchanging information and meeting their dog, who is an exuberant 1 yr. old. So, it looks like we will be spending over a month in San Carlos over the holiday season. We should be getting an ample amount of exercise with all the dog walking! We will be coming home sometimes during the day to keep our plants watered, etc., so it will be a different way to housesit.

After meeting the second set of dog owners, we headed over to the RV park and visited with our friends for awhile. Their dog had been very sick and now appears to be on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, they have decided to head up into Arizona at the end of the month, to spend the rest of the winter there. The vet. strongly recommended that they keep the dog out of the sea water and being that he is a water loving dog they are hoping to find a place to park along a river where he can be in the water and enjoy himself more.

Today we went to the tianguis and wandered around, it seems like there are more vendors now in the new area than there were in the old place or maybe it is that there are more now that it has cooled off and the Christmas season is coming up. We enjoyed wandering around and then headed back towards home with a stop off for lunch at our favorite shrimp taco stand.

Tomorrow we will again be going out to San Carlos to join our friends and enjoy a turkey dinner for the USA holiday. There were not enough snowbirds here yet in October to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, so we will be having ours tomorrow.

This weekend they will be holding the annual Shrimp Festival, so we will again be going out there. We really enjoyed the folkloric dancers and other talent displayed last year, so we are hoping that it will be just as good this year. Too bad all these activities couldn't have waited until we were living out there, it would have saved us some trips back and forth. Normally we don't go out there more than once every 2 or 3 weeks; but this last week or so it seems we have had to go every couple of days.

I finally managed to take the time to go and get a haircut late this afternoon and that sure feels better. I was beginning to feel like the shaggy dog in that long ago movie.

I hope that all the people in the USA enjoy their turkey tomorrow and that we are all smart enough to take some time and give thanks for all the good things we have enjoyed in the last year.

Shrimp Festival

Shrimp Festival

Yesterday we were sitting quietly, just messing around on the computers, when Ciro knocked at the door. He had a grocery bag almost full of fish for us. He said that the fish were Cabrilla (sp?) and are very good. We haven't tried them yet, as I had made enchiladas suiza for our dinner. He and Roy finished giving the south walls on our apartment the first coat of paint yesterday also. It looks much better and will look great when the second coat is done.
This morning we were just getting ready to go out when he again knocked at the door. They had gone to the tianguis at 100 casas and had picked up a yellow rose bush for me. I still can't get over the idea that you can buy a rose bush for about $3.50 (dollars). He showed us a Jasmine plant that they had bought for themselves.
This weekend San Carlos is holding their Shrimp Festival. We had arranged to go with the couple we had met from Saskatchewan. We left here a little earlier as we wanted to stop and see our restaurant friends for a short visit first. We arrived at the campground at 1 PM and the four of us and another lady headed for the festival. They had changed the location this year and it certainly was better for everyone. There were 2 lines of booths set up by various restaurants with seating in the center, some under shade and a stage set up at one end. The restaurants all cooked their shrimp specialties, you purchased tickets and got your shrimp from wherever you wanted. There were also some craft booths selling their handwork. We enjoyed listening to some bands and watching a local dance group perform. The dancing was wonderful to watch and we really enjoyed ourselves. There seemed to be a lot more people there this year than last year.
Here is one of the videos I put on Youtube. There are some others if you are interested and you can see them here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=brendamaa I had put all the clips together in one video but can't load it onto YouTube as it is larger than their maximum size, so will have to redo it tomorrow.

The costumes were colorful and the dancers talented.



We arrived home and Roy went over to the corner store to get water. They were out for the moment, so he left our bottle and said he would come back later. We had our dinner and sat back to relax. There was a knock on the door and it was the lady from the corner store to tell us that they again had water if we wanted to come and get ours now. Talk about service! We had kind of forgotten about it and really didn't need it until the morning anyway, so we weren't too concerned. Roy went over and got our evenings coke supply and was returning to get the water bottle, but by the time Roy got back downstairs, the store owner had carried it half way over to our place for him.