Big family outing

We all decided to take a day off today – it was windy in the morning, and the waves looked terrible. Instead, we walked up the coast to San Pancho, the next town north. The first part of the hike is through town, then out past all the new big development, then on a path through the real jungle, crossing driveways every so often which appear out of nowhere. It dumps out on a long beach, usually nearly empty except for a few hikers, horseback riders, or really intrepid sunbathers. The waves out here are really different than in town – huge beach breaks that lunge up suddenly and crash loudly on the sand. Quite dramatic and lovely. We walked along this beach for quite a while, carrying our shoes in hand and admiring the views. (I took lots of pictures, some of which I will post later on.) At the end of the beach is a big point with a big fancy house – it used to belong to a former president of Mexico, but was bought and sold several times before becoming whatever it is now. This is relevant because every time we do this hike, it is unclear whether we will be able to cross the point onto the next beach and the town! This time, ignoring the large posted ‘No Trespassing’ signs, we simply walked through the gate, across the driveway, and through the other gate, doing our best to look as if we belonged. No problems.

Once in town, we stopped for a late brunch (it was nearly one o’clock) at a new restaurant and wandered through an arts fair which consisted of some high-quality expensive jewelry, some mixed-bag paintings, and a mask-making workshop with lots of very thrilled children. There was music and dancing promised for later this evening. It was pretty neat, apparently the first annual attempt. San Pancho is a very different kind of town, much more ‘expats retiring to write their novel’ than beach freaks who want to lay out all day and party all night. It feels much quieter and wealthier than Sayulita, which is hopping right now, people (and cars) everywhere. It was kind of a nice change for the day. By the time we did the whole hike in reverse, we were pretty wiped – trekking through sand really takes it out of you. W and I stopped for paletas to help us make it up the hill.

I have a week left, and I’m trying to enjoy every minute, especially when I hear about the extra foot of snow Denver got yesterday!