We’ve been in La Paz nearly three weeks, and yet we’re still not quite ready to leave.
I spent the first two weeks lying around with my foot up, watching movies, losing at Solitaire, and having K wait on me hand and foot (sorry Dad!). After the first week I gave up on using the crutches while onboard and worked on perfecting my hopping technique. Moving about the boat was like playing hopscotch and being continuously stuck on “3”. By Christmas I felt ready for the Hopscotch Olympics.
One of the benefits of being here for so long is being able to meet new and old friends. This is Hughbert and his dog, Emma. We met Hughbert while doing laundry at the marina. He offered to sell her to me for 20 pesos. It’s a good thing I knew he was joking.
On Christmas eve we joined in the Club Cruceros celebrations at Marina de La Paz. There was a dessert and appetizer potluck, complete with Christmas carols lead by a band of fellow cruisers, followed by a worship service put on by Crossroads Christian Fellowship. It was just a wee bit surreal to find ourselves in La Paz on Christmas Eve, sitting on lawn chairs at the top of a boat ramp, with a worship service going on right outside the marina office.
Those are our talented friends Heidi and Russ of Tillicum I on either side of the tree trunk (above). We first met them at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, and have had the pleasure of crossing paths with them in several ports on our way to La Paz. Heidi and Russ invited us over on Boxing Day for a delicious dinner aboard their gorgeous schooner.
The day before, we’d spent Christmas evening with our friends from Journey: Melanie and Craig and their boys Jordy and Marcus at their condo, along with new friends – the crew of Albatross: Kevin and Lisa, and their sons Mick and Teagan. Melanie prepared a scrumptious full-on Christmas turkey dinner.
This past Wednesday we went over to Ciao Molina, an Italian restaurant across the street from the marina. It was open mike night, and there was a band playing composed primarily of cruisers. We happened to meet up with Jennifer and Dean of Emily B, who were dock mates of ours ages ago on J-dock at Shilshole, Heidi and Russ, Susan and Dennis (my heroes from Two Can Play), and a bunch of other new friends. It turns out you only need one fully functioning leg and a good band (and at least one other person to keep you company) to have fun on a dance floor. A couple of margaritas helps too…
Our former Shilshole neighbors Christy and Jason invited us over to Hello World on new year’s eve, and we got to meet new friends Julia and Jacob of Pisces and Naomi of Renova. We were having such a good time that I think we were all surprised to find we’d actually managed to stay awake until midnight. We toasted the new year and watched the fireworks going off all over La Paz from Hello World’s cockpit.
I’m extremely happy to report that my leg is doing much much better, so much so that I enjoyed a full day of shopping yesterday. Christy, Jason, Julia and I shared a cab and hit the local Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and Sam’s Club (thanks Julia!) while K went off to search the local butchers for goat.
Later we all gathered aboard Khamseen and enjoyed the amazing feast K whipped up of goat makloobi, hummus, salad, and even a chocolate pie.
La Paz and the people here have been very good to us, but the effects of all this lounging and feasting are beginning to show on my waistline. So with my leg nearly healed we’re starting to plan our next exit. This will be our third time leaving; we’ll see if we can achieve escape velocity this time.