It’s Thursday, April 12th, and I’m sitting here – under a palm frond palapa, in an enclosed flag-stone courtyard… with a small pool to my left and our private Casita (#1) to my right. Sophie the wonder dog is laying beside my chair… Kath is changing into her sun-tanning suit and Lucy, the most amazing rescued ‘guard’ dog is lazing about somewhere out of sight. This place, Il Tiburon Casitas in Loretto, is owned by Liz who is (as well as a tile layer – who did all her own tile work in each of the four private casitas) is a veterinarian who has just left to fly to California to operate on a horse… She’s quite an amazing person and her love and care for the canine breed is most obviously evident in Lucy – the most gentle, tough dog I’ve ever met. Lucy single-handedly (or single-pawdedly) keeps the entire property safe from intruders of every kind… and she has quite a memory too. We met her once for a brief visit over a month ago when we dropped by (having sailed as far as Puerto Escondido) and Liz assured us she’d remember us; and she did. When we arrived yesterday Lucy let us in after only a quick sniff… just walked away as if to say “ok, you’re in… follow me”. Shortly after we arrived, Liz in her wisdom (and after several warnings from us as to how ferocious PS can be when faced with having to relate to another dog) decided to just let Lucy run free. If I hadn’t witnessed this myself, I’d have had trouble believing it. PSophie did her usual lip curl and soft hiss (you remember the one…it usually comes just before the ‘tasmanian devil rush’)… anyway, she did that ‘beautiful’ (not) thing with her face and posture… and Lucy just looked slightly away (and said ‘oh, really…”) lifted her one foreleg and held it just off of Sophie’s shoulders. Her message, “ you don’t really want to make anything of this… now do you”, was clear even to me. And, after a very short pause… Sophie agreed that would probably be a stupid thing to do. Lucy weighs about 60 pounds, is absolutely solid, and faintly resembles a very well put together large pit bull. I haven’t asked about her make-up… it doesn’t really matter. She’s a rescued street dog, has a great life with Dr. LIz , has a job which she takes very seriously, and is the first dog to quietly, yet firmly, assure Sophie there is a ‘right way’ and a ‘wrong way’ to behave… your choice. It took Sophie less than 5 minutes to figure out which was the ‘right way’ and she spent the afternoon following Lucy around helping her fend off the dastardly garbage men and basically keep the Il Tiburon estate clear of any varmints or un-wanted’s…. The two of them make quite a pair. So, that’s my dog story for the day.
We left La Paz yesterday morning after one last peek at the good ship Shannon. She’s sitting proudly on her stands after being washed, waxed and packed away… and she’s in an area where she’s surrounded by larger but not ‘near-so-pretty’ vessels. We’ve been assured that, after all our work, she’ll still look like a dust bin when we get back…all ratty ‘n unloved. But, that’s something we’ll have to deal with in October. For now we’re on our way home. We’re driving an older van (belongs to a friend who needs it delivered to White Rock), packed from floor to ceiling and front to back…. with her stuff and our stuff. I’m a little nervous about the borders cuz if they decide to check the contents it’ll take us days to repack it… But, there’s nothing to hide…it’s all about time.
Our return home… by road…:
DAY 1: Drove from La Paz to Loreto (0900-1530 hrs.). We stopped for lunch about half way. The roads were in pretty good shape and the drivers didn’t seem to mind our slow moving vehicle (speed limit) lumbering along… we’re taking it easy so as to not push the van too hard. We arrived in Loreto early enough to enjoy a drink by the pool and to meet the other ‘residents’ at the Il Tiburon Casitas.. a nice group of folks. We enjoyed a very nice dinner at a nearby restaurant (in the ‘Gringo’ area of old town) before passing out in our very comfortable beds. We slept so soundly, both of us awoke with stiff backs… probably as much from ‘decompressing’ as from sleeping soundly.
DAY 2: We spent the morning doing a little shopping at a store we’d heard about and then returned ‘home’ to enjoy the afternoon in the sunny courtyard by the pool. We’ve purchased a few things we can use to make sandwiches for our lunch tomorrow and we’ll pull over for a little break during our drive to eat it. Tomorrow’s drive is a little longer so we’ll make an early start. We’re heading to Laguna San Ignacio and will be spending two nights there, sleeping in a yurt. Should be very interesting and it’s right on the Pacific Coast. Tell you all about it later.
That’s it for now… take good care… CJ signing off… the pool awaits.
