PHAT TUESDAY IN LA PAZ and more...

Tuesday
We got into La Paz and stopped by Berkovich Boatyard for an estimate in getting the bottom of the boat painted, seemed reasonable. They did not really have a dock (unless they are taking you out of the water, there was a ramp) so we anchored out in dinghies and Scott. Then we motor down to the anchorage just off of Marina de La Paz. We found out they have a dinghy dock for a small fee. We then went into town and had lunch at a wonderful restaurant and met Anthony, a wonderful young man who had lived for 10 years in Seattle, WA where his mother still resides. His siblings live here and he wants his mother to move back, but they visit. He was wonderful and told us that the FESTIVAL (Phat Tuesday?, I thought that was in New Orleans, Ting's I never know) was still in town and this was the last night. So we wanderer around town, had ice cream cones and saw the floats getting ready for the Parade. We stayed around til the Parade at 5:00 and watched the whole thing. It was fun, noisy and entertaining. There were a couple floats with Drag Queens as well. Wonderful dancers and costumes. They have a custom of throwing hollowed egg shells that have a paper covering over one end and filled with confetti inside at floats or people they like. Lots of bling bling trinkets for sale and food. See pics. Anyway it was a blast and the party and rides and music / bands partied til 4:00 am, man was it noisy (kinda like Cape again) but we left about 8:00. We were tired and wanted to rest up. We must be getting old or something. Anyway, Gary went back in and said it was good people watching. Seems like a nice town.

Wednesday
We got up, loaded up our garbage and laundry and shower stuff and headed in to the wonderful dinghy dock here at Marina de La Paz. For only 15 pesos, you can dock your dinghy for the day, get water from their tap, empty your trash and recyclables, properly dispose of waste oil and exchange old books at the Book exchange. They also have a club that if you join you get coffee and cookies in the morning and can check out DVD's. Way cool and clean and organized place. Very friendly staff as well. We had our first shower in FOREVER. Clean bathrooms, spacious and very nice. Lot's of hot water, oohh la la! I loved it. We then dropped off our laundry as they also have a place that does the laundry cheap as well. What cruiser could ask for more. Then Scott, Gary and I headed to a local recommended spot for a wonderful breakfast with coffee and orange juice for only 45 pesos each. It was Olympia something. Wonderful hostess and food, great price. Then we wanderer around to exercise our legs and found the perfect 7 gallon water jugs for our fresh water storage needs. We'd been searching so this was great. We bought some strawberries from a sweet young man (14 or 15) on the sidewalk and went home. Scott and I headed in later to load up on water and go to the market. We were going to get Scott a haircut but they had closed at 3:00. We are starting to find out a lot of places close early. Oh well, another day. Scott's hair is super long but he is getting tired of it as it is pretty hot here, so it's time for a cut. We shopped around and got an ice cream cone and people watched. Some very sad stories but also very happy people as well. I see a lot of babies with hair lips. I can not wait til Bryan is a surgeon and can fix this problem with babies, so sad.

Had a Margarita and a beer before heading home.
Scott ate leftover burritos but I was full.

WATER (fresh, unsalty kind!)
SHOWER (hot, long and fresh water)
EMPTY TRASH
LAUNDRY AND CLEAN SHEETS
NEW BOOKS TO READ
A MEAL OUT and I did not have to cook or clean up!
POWER to play on Internet AND A GOOD CONNECTION
Since we're not cruising, is beefing up our power in our batteries from all the sun / solar panels. Still need to get our wind generator working, on / off. Bummer

I feel like a new woman and Scott a new man.
Some things in civilization are hard to get away from or do without.
We still need to work on engine and will be getting to the water pump within the week.
Going to try putting the original in and drilling a bleeder hole for air to escape then shut.
Also, another piece of RANDOM DUCT TAPE IS HANGING OUT AGAIN OUR Tailpipe. Scott has to get under our bed and take apart the exhaustive hose and see "WHAT THE * k @!" Is going on with that. I included a pic of the Phantom tape for your enjoyment.

Blessings