La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico       November 12, 2023

I had a great sleep, but unfortunately Lynne did not. She decided to stay home because she was not feeling well so I went by myself to La Cruz which is north along the coast right after breakfast via public bus. I went to see my nephew Matthew, his wife Amy and their 2 kids Olivia and Johnny.  I had never met John and not seen Matt, Amy and Olivia since Jane’s wedding in January 2015.  

It took an hour and a half from the hotel which is to be expected because the whole way is urban so there are lights, stops and starts and people to manage-

I arrived at 10:30 and it’s easy to know where to go because there is only one traffic light in the town and that’s where you get off the bus. I walked down a slight hill towards the marina-

and with a little help from an attendant found Matt and Amy’s sailboat – the Double Deuce-

Inside there’s a bedroom-

and a bathroom-

Johnny, friend Mick, Olivia and Mick’s sister were hanging out in the eating area-

Further along is the kitchen-

It’s a very small living area for four people and they do well to keep sane!  I’d go nuts!

Sundays there’s an interesting market for gringos of handcrafts, jewelry and food.  We wandered around then headed to the local’s  market-

I met a lot of their friends at the gringo market and at the grand opening of friend’s bar.  They even had live music - good rock ‘n roll except it was super loud-

The renovation came together very quickly.  Matt helped weld some tin on the ceiling.  It’s freshly painted and the kitchen will be up and running in a week or two.  After a few beer we went back to the boat for a bit then I headed for home but not before I marvelled at some of the boats that come from all over-

Apparently these people are rarely if ever here-

There is a man from Saskatoon here but I don’t know if this is his boat or not-

I visited with this owner.  He’s heading home shortly via the Panama Canal.  He immigrated to Edmonton from Hungary years ago, then moved to Vancouver, then Toronto and now calls NYC home.  He needs a crew of 8 to run his boat.  We were talking about our countries and he is seeing Canada and the U.S. becoming like the Hungary that he left so many years ago. I agreed with him - it’s scary but unfortunately true.  It will be more than 4 years since he’s been home as they were stuck somewhere for over 2 years because of Covid-

These are four brand new 450 motors just added to this boat-

They’re a long way from home-

Here’s a $700,000 new mast-

This boat was being cleaned.  It’s huge-

I caught the bus home.  This was an interesting add in the bus.  The IMSS stands for Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social which provides defined healthcare services.  Daycare for affiliates is free-

I ended up having nachos for supper. A cashier in Oxxo suggested Ley, a local supermarket, for guacamole but I was too late so I had nachos instead.  They were pretty good.  The lady who served me asked if I wanted more jalapeños and I laughed and said no but they were surprisingly mild-

I also stopped at a sweets shop and bought flavoured leche balls.  They’re made out of condensed milk so you know they’re going to be good-

The first thing I did once back at the hotel was to get in the pool.  It was such a hot day!  Lynne’s feeling better so that’s encouraging.  I’m exhausted from the heat so am hoping for a good sleep.  Not sure what we will get up to manaña.