Mexican Holiday

We traveled to Mexico over the weekend with Bill and Alba. Friday afternoon we crossed the border (Dan's First time). Alba Rushed passed a blur of political ads in Nogales as we winded our way out of the city and into the Sonoran desert. Shrines and road side stands dotted the landscape. At one stand Bill insisted on buying the local cheese famous to the town. A man handed us the fresh made cheese and tortillas for a few pesos. The cold cheese was the consistency of mozzarella and you could taste the grass the cow had fed on. Singing The Killer's songs at the top of our longs we entered Alba's hometown, Hermosillo. Alba's ever

gracious family welcomed us with open arms and made quesadillas with the fresh cheese and tortillas from the road. After a chat we went to the Zenil's favorite

neighborhood burrito stand. Featured in the photos above the Zenil brothers (minus Santiago) from left to right: Juan Carlos, Miguel, and Benito. Dan is shown with his arm sized burrito filled with delicious meat (yes he ate the whole thing).

Saturday morning we woke up and drove to San Carlos. One of Bill's friends was getting married and Dan and I were about to crash our first wedding. Before arriving at the hotel room we stopped off at a cliff view and got a few snap shots of the Gulf of California.

We then hurried to the hotel and then to the beach in order to get out of the heat and into the

beautiful water. The water was perfect, clear, warm, and clean. The air temp however was quickly climbing and any more than few minutes

outside of the water was enough to send you straight back in. After basking in the water for a few hours we went to a Mariscos restaurant for lunch and gorged ourselves on delicious seafood. With some serious food coma, we then got ready for the wedding. In typical beach wedding fashion, the overall mood was casual. The wedding consisted of several rows of chairs, an altar, and a sunset in the background. It also included a few thousand mosquitos... The couple was very happy and all the friends and family were ready to celebrate. Exhausted Dan and I tucked in early and got some rest for the next day.

On Sunday we all woke up early and headed back to Hermosillo. Sunday was election day in

Mexico and everyone was excited to vote. Alba was voting at her old kindergarten one block from her parents' house. Bill, Dan and I decided to wait across the street and watch the process while Alba waited in the line that wrapped around the block. Everyone in the community was out to cast their vote and it was interesting to see the neighbors interact during the voting process. 2 hours later in 100 degree heat the interest wore thin. Vote accomplished our last stop in Mexico was to Taco Fish. Which had absolutely delicious fish tacos in an out door stall environment. It definitely left a wonderful flavor in our mouths as we made the journey back to

Arizona.

Monday morning we left Rio Rico and headed for San Diego, driving through the Arizona and California deserts before finally arriving in San Diego County. The heat sizzled up to 115 degrees. At one point there were warning signs to turn off your AC to prevent your car from over heating. Talk about a nerve racking 10 mile stretch. When we let Isla out to "make a pit stop" in Yuma the ground was scorching her paws and she jumped promptly back into the car.

We are now staying with Michael (Dan's friend from grade school) in the pleasantly mild suburb of La Jolla. We are looking forward to a few good meals, beers, and conversations before we hit the road again up the coast of California. A big thanks to Bill and Alba for a great

week north and south of the border.