Breakfast, a beach wak and bye bye Erika and Abby.

 Yesterday morning Erika, Abby and I were off to Torres for a brunch.  I didn't know they were planning to go so I'd already had a muffin and a banana but...how about an early lunch!

Abby started with a cup of coffee and so did I.  I like coffee but don't drink much as it bothers my acid reflux.  We'd been to Torres for dinner last Saturday and the ladies decided the view was so nice a repeat visit was in order.  Good food and a comfortable dining experience as the wait staff is so accomplished. 

Abby ordered the breakfast burrito and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. 

Now if only there was cutlery on the table...😁

Erika ordered orange french toast with bacon.  They each ate half their breakfast and then swapped.  I had a bite of the french toast...yummy. 

Two poached eggs and tasty hash browns for me.

Such a lovely place to sit and have breakfast. 

And...now for a beach walk which we hadn't done since they got here.  They really like the pools in our complex and spent every day at either the front pool which is heated or the back one which is not. We were so busy that they'd only made it to the beach once.

Looking north towards the Bruja.  It was the Saturday of the Semana Santa Easter weekend but it really wasn't very busy.  On Stone Island just south of the city everyone is elbow to elbow...not here. 

Look how much sand the ocean has removed.  A big bank but soon it will all be flat again.  

The beach accesses have been upgraded with new stairs and wheel chair ramps along with showers and washrooms. Not quite finished yet, but soon.  This one is between the Torres beach road and the Cerritos Resort beach road.  This one ends up on the dunes where the nationals like to come and camp.  

We walked all the way up to the Cerritos Resort beach road on the beach and then back on the walking path.  A good hike that took just over an hour.  Their flight was leaving at 5:20 so there was time for a quick dip before heading to the airport.  

Heading up to the truck to load up.  It was busy out on the road as we headed north to the Mazatlan bypass but once on it, all was quiet.  About 40 minutes to the airport and they had a couple of hours to chill before the flight left.  They landed in Vancouver around 10pm and were off on the sky train to their hotel.  We had a really good visit and the got to see and do lots of different things here in Mazatlan.  No tears when they left as we'll be home in a month!

We take Erika to Copala.

 Thursday was our day for a road trip.  The plan was for all four of us to go but Abby had a stomach/intestinal upset and had to stay home.  Erika had it a few days before and it only lasted a couple of days.  I gave them both some Treda which we buy here in Mexico and it has a couple of antibiotics that control bacteria.  Also, Abby tends to get car sick and...it was a windy road.   

We used part light blue line and part dark blue as we like the free road to Copala.

As we got close to Concordia another small town that we like the roadside pottery and furniture shops started to appear.  We stopped and had a quick look at pottery.  I've got a few rescue/stolen plants that I've been potting up.  Just up the street one of the new developments had a presentation back around Christmas and they had Poinsettas and various other plants and 8 weeks later the Poinsettas were dead and the other plants were dying of thirst.  So...Eric and I rescued a few. Not really stealing...right!😁 

Hmmm....no thanks!

I didn't take pictures of the road as....I've taken lots before.  

We are entering Copala here and there are lots of pretty bougainvilleas .

Seated in Alejandro's restaurant and they only had little tiny half size beers for Eric.  I had my usual Topo Chico or sparkling mineral water.  Erika had a jamaica drink which she really liked.  

They don't look very happy but....really they are!  Eric says this restaurant has the best salsa as it contains fire roasted tomatoes and just the right amount of spice.  

Both Erika and Eric had camarones (shrimp) rancheros.  

I had empanizado or breaded shrimp which was a mistake as it was a bit greasy but the shrimp were tender. 

The town square with the church in the background. 

The San Jose church is the oldest in the state of Sinaloa and was built around 1740 and has fallen into disrepair.  Copala was founded as a silver mining town back in 1565 by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Ibarra.  A long history in this town.  

The church sits up high and you can walk all around it.  

It is still being used for worship by the local people. 

An impressive structure that has all sorts of vegetation growing out of it everywhere.  

So nice to have Erika and Abby visit us and get to bring Erika to one of our favorite places. 

I just love this little palm fern.  

Leaving town there is an old ore car in front of the restaurant.  It was a good day and we arrived home to find Abby feeling a bit better😊

Bingo, birds and the Aquarium

 On Thursday night Erika and Abby came to bingo with Pat, Marilyn and I.  Erika had played before but Abby hadn't.   You can guess what happened...the beginner caught on quickly and won! 1500 pesos but she had to share as someone else had a bingo too.  Here Wayne, our bingo caller is giving her the money!

The chachalaca were screeching yesterday morning and when I looked out they were on the neighbor two doors up's car !  Then they flew up on his roof and likely out the back to the bushy area.  Gave me a giggle!

So yesterday we were off to the Aquarium.  Supposedly the best in Central America and opened in May of 2023 in the central park.

Erika and Abby with the dolphin.

We paid and got a map so Arby's trying to figure out where to go. 

This is the Ray tank and they were in a frenzy as people were paying 100 pesos to feed them.

This was a lovely exhibit and all the fish were quite calm.

Here there in the Sea of Cortez shark tank there was an oral presentation and demonstration of scuba gear.

The shrimp tank was a bit sterile as there was no gravel for them.

Across the bridge over the lagoon.  So what did we think?  Well it was a bit hard to figure out where all the exhibits were and of course some were at scheduled times.  We also thought that many of the smaller exhibits for tortoises and crocodiles etc. were barren and cramped.  The parrots had a large enclosure but again a bit sterile and they seemed stressed.  In the end I think we expected more.  Anything captive whether fish or animal always makes you a bit sad. However there were many beautiful exhibits as well and the children were especially enthralled. 

We decided to walk back to the Golden Zone on the malecon which was so pretty although it was a bit windy.  5km..so a fair hike.

When we got to the roundabout by Valentino's there was a band playing and a large crowd as it's Semana Santa so there are lots of national tourists in town.  

Erika and Abby wanted Mexican food so I took them to Margaritas where our ladies lunch group had eaten a few weeks ago and we had margaritas and Mohitos along with a Mexican plate that the gals shared.  I had chili rellenos which I really like.  I even brought one home for Eric.

The Mexican plate.

Look at all those glasses.  Abby gave up on the second one!

Time to head home for a nap.  Now to get home.  Traffic gets all convoluted during Easter so we took a cab instead of the bus.  200 pesos but Abby said she'd pay.  Traffic on the north end of the golden zone was at a standstill due to an accident and we were stuck for quite awhile but the cab driver finally managed to get off the main road and detour around it.

All in all a really enjoyable day.