Lake Martinez

Several times yearly, I return to the states to visit with my kids and grandkids.  This time we met at Lake Martinez on the Colorado River.  I flew from Guadalajara to Mexicali.  I rode a greyhound bus from Calexico to El Centro.  Then the kids picked me up at Carl's Jr.  An hour and a half later we were at the river.

Kayla and Cole are only 25 feet from Lake Martinez.  But, sometimes they just prefer to be in the kid's pool.

Everybody has to help keep the river house clean.  Here, Kayla is taking her turn cleaning the dishes.

My daughter Kolleen with Troy, Kayla and Cole.

My niece Melanie and her son Clayton visited for the weekend.   

All four of my grandkids with my daughter-in-law, Terri.

Dylan, Alli and Kayla doing some tubing.

My son Jeff with Terri.  You will soon see that these tubes were not meant to be used for surfing.

Whoops!  A little blurry, but you get the idea.

I'm still good for a little wake boarding and single skiing.

Ajijic market

The Ajijic market is open every Wednesday.  The vendors sell everything from food to clothes and all items in between.  The market is a must see when you visit the Lakeside area. 

The red rug on the left is $500 U.S.  The orange one is about $400.

The birds are about $5 to $40 each.

Hats sell for about $15 each. 

We paid $6.50 for one of these hand made baskets.  It takes a day to make one.

This vendor is selling candy and assorted nuts.

These are DVD's that sell for $1.50 each.  Some of these movies are only months old.

The music C.D.'s also sell for $1.50 each.

The market is colorful and full of bargains.

 Fruits and vegetables are fresh and reasonably priced.

You can eat very cheaply here.  $2.00 each for lunch.

Hiking the local trails

The rainy season has arrived.  The surrounding landscape has changed dramatically.  All of the plants and trees are bright green and beautiful.  J. C. and I hiked the Sierra El Travesano Ravine trail for the second time.  The first time was during the dry season.  You can go to my archives to see the photos of the dry season hike.

It had rained the night before so we were wet for the 5 mile round trip trek.  The temperature was about 60 degrees.

In some areas we lost the trail because the vegetation was so thick. 

You can barely see the trail in the center of the photo.

We need to bring the machete on our next hike.

We are almost to the top and we are wet and we are cold.  You can see the trail in the lower center of the image.

A cloud was passing through when we reached the top.  It was an eerie sight.

We take this walk twice daily with the dogs.  It's two miles round trip from our house.

Peso and Diablo enjoy this walk more than we do. 

In general, the horses in this part of Mexico are fed well.  This one is very healthy.