Thursday 9th

    I was up early and visited with Natalia while she did her morning food preparation for her family. She also sat aside a couple of containers for me to have for dinner this evening. After she left for work I checked my chess games and read the news from the U.S. That lasted until Olivia arrived at 9:30 to clean house and do the laundry. I left soon after to meet Nancy. We hopped on a bus that drove us North to a place called Cerritos, the end of the bus line inside the city of Mazatlan. I would guess it was about 9-10 miles from this end of town. There was a good sized tourist trap out there with one heck of a nice restaurant right on the beach. By 11:30 we were both ready for lunch so we walked the two hundred yards or so out on the point where the restaurant was sitting.
Great view, we could look back down the coast and see the high hill the Lighthouse was sitting on. I took a picture of the view but no picture can ever take the place of actually being there. The picture at that time of day had to be taken into the sun so I don't expect a lot, but I took it anyway. After lunch we sat for a while waiting for a bus to come along to take us back to the Gold Zone. That is the part of the city she and her husband used to stay at while he was still living. She showed me around and introduced me to several business owners she knew from the 'old days'. She gave me a tour of a couple of her favorite hotels from long ago and pointed out some favorite restaurants. The Gold Zone is full of Americans and Canadians down for the winter and she told me she moved away from that because she has so much fun volunteering in the 'Centro' District. [Old Town]. Most of the streets we were on I had already visited but it was interesting listening to tales of the Hotels she stayed at and the spots where her daughters had started different businesses over the years. They never made a lot of money but they did make memories. At one shop they had producing Bagels they had to run an extension cord from the business next door so they could make coffee in the mornings.
One day next week she wants to go across the Bay at the south end of town to Stone Island. It is actually not and island but it takes many hours to get there by bus so she says we can get a row boat to take us across for about 30 Pesos each. Lots of waking and there is a cute village over there that is fun to visit. Sounds like fun and others have mentioned to me that I should not miss going there. Especially since I will be here long enough to really explore the area. I told her I would find her in the city square one day next week and we can work out plans.
We arrived, by bus, back in Centro District shortly before 3pm and I walked her to her door before returning to the house about 3:10. After that huge lunch I had, three tacos, rice, beans, chips and dip I really felt I would not have to eat again for a week but after relaxing and reading for a couple of hours I have decided I will raid the refrigerator after all. It was a good day, the bus ride was an experience. Those buses are all on their last legs, I have no idea what keeps them going.