Our son and his family were able to get away from the stormy Pacific Northwest to spend Thanksgiving with us this year. What a treat!

They left Bellingham in the middle of a cold snap with snowy conditions and a temperature of 7 degrees…. and arrived in sunny Mazatlán the day before Thanksgiving – and the temperature here was in the low 80’s!  They liked that!

We had such a great time!  We spent the day cooking on Thursday and had a fantastic traditional meal.  We went to a palapa at Playa Norte for lunch and swimming.  We like it there but the waves were pretty big so we needed to head to Stone Island (Isla de la Piedra) for some gentle ocean swimming.

We swam, Phil and the family rented 4 wheelers, we ate and drank and had a lovely day.

We went to a Venados game – they are always fun, although unfortunately the Venados lost.  The Venados play some of the slowest baseball we have ever watched – I finally got out my new iPod touch and started timing the length of time between pitches, and it was  up to 30 seconds after the pitcher received the ball back.  There is plenty of entertaining stuff to watch, though, including the sometimes-lewd Vinnie the Venado mascot and various Pacifico, Toyota, or radio station girls throwing t-shirts.  Of course there is plenty to eat, too!

Erica and Owen’s love of reading was passed down to them as we are all big readers.  So of course a lot of the time they were here they enjoyed relaxing with a book. The hammock was a big winner.

We did a lot of hanging around… on the upstairs patio in the sun or in the back when the sun was too strong.

But we didn’t just lounge around!  We also went to a night time folkloric dance performance on a stage right next to the malecon. Very enjoyable.

One day we  went to Diego’s on the beach up in the golden zone – a first for us but it had been getting great reviews for being “the way a palapa restaurant should be…” and I have to say it was very nice.  Comfortable wood chairs, hammocks, umbrellas, showers, a jacuzzi, good food and friendly waiters.  We’ll be back.

We took a short drive out to Hacienda Las Moras to spend the day swimming, eating, and enjoying the country atmosphere. Unfortunately there was no one around when we got there… so we sat by the pool and after a bit the caretaker came and said he was sorry to not be able to serve us but we were welcome to enjoy the pool and use the bathrooms, etc.  We thought they’d be going full swing because it is the tourist season but tourism is off a bit it seems.  We know cruise ship excursions go there frequently, but they are usually here mid-week.

No problem, though, we enjoyed the drive, and it gave us a chance to take the family to Playa Bruja for lunch and more beach playtime!

Of course we walked all over the place, including several times walking the dogs on the malecón.

It was a great visit – we all had a wonderful time reconnecting and we know they all enjoyed a break from the cold weather. Next up, my big sister comes for a week in January!

If you have any interest in some video from their visit, click here.