it ain't all pretty landscapes...

Guess where we spent the last 1.5 days? It's hard to guess, as it's a place where I don't like to spend time. a mall, and this case the Tucson mall. Why, oh why would one spend so much time at a mall? No, it wasn't for escaping the roaring heat, but it for sure was a welcome change. Our RV Betsy was due for a proper repair of the steering fluid leak, and let's just say it took a bit longer than hoped. With nothing interesting close by, and with no available rental cars due to a Honda recall, we hopped into the bus and joined the mall walkers (never heard of that term, but Tod explained that people go to a mall to exercise, to stay out from the heat). On the upside, Tessa had a ball playing with several different kids at the indoor play ground, and I scored some great 70% off deals on new clothing for her (hey you gotto find something to do when you have  7+ hrs to kill at a mall)

More enjoyable times in Tuscon were spent with our cruising friends Joel and Chris of s/v 40 Love at their house.  Biking around Catalina State Park, visiting the Puma county fair, and spending a night at the campground next to Saguaro National Park.

Midway to San Diego now in non descript Yuma. No county or state parks here, and all the RV parks have a 55+ yrs requirement. Luckily we found a flexible one, where we can stay for the night.

view of our campsite near Saguaro NP

she couldn't care so much about rides at the fair, but could have
spend hours at the petting zoo

Girl time and end of our 2nd season in Mexico

Tessa is having a blast mixing the dirt and water here in our RV park. Tod is having less fun in another dirt yard 16 km away, Gabriel's yard in Guaymas, where Bliss is being hauled out for the season. Our old girl Bliss is getting some much needed bottom work done, and we thought it would be a good time for the female crew to move to our RV, while Tod is doing the final touches of putting Bliss to bed for a while.

Some random pictures from our last months in the Sea, for sure our favorite part of Mexico by boat. Our last week in marina Fonatur in Guaymas was more social than the last month: we had several happy hours with fellow cruisers, and then, lucky us, s/v Zimovia showed up with 3 kids. Tessa had a blast playing with them. Hopefully our paths will cross again with all the great people we met in Guaymas!

We gotta come back to see that 60' whale shark! On April Fool's day we only saw a baby whale shark of about 15' and Tod did not go in the water, as the water was rough.

Next pit stop for the Bliss Crew: driving to San Diego for a special occasion......

off to my many swims to the beach, and the full lycra suit helps against
the stings of the abundant marine life

Tod's 50th rough housing

and the beginning of that tough hike

still easy at that point, no more pics when it turned into an all-fours hike

Los Gatos, one of our favorites

next year: maybe going up to the spreaders..... 

coloring Easter eggs, which the Easter bunny hide on the beach

arriving near sunset at Bahia Conception

Having fun with Betsy again

whale shark!

Tod slowly slides into the water, fins and mask on. Close to our dinghy is a whale shark, the largest fish on the planet, and we are lucky to see a hug one, about 60 feet long. We spotted it because we saw a small fin in the flat water. Whale sharks are skitterish, so we stay out of its way with our dinghy. Tessa and I watch from the dinghy, while we have the occasional company of a bumble bee the size of a tiny hummingbird, and try not to freak about that tiny little zooming insect. We came to Bahia Conception in search for whale sharks, as we missed them in La Paz, so mission accomplished! Happy April!
(posted via SSB radio. Sorry, no picture of the whale shark.)
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At 4/1/2016 15:33 (utc) s/v Bliss was located at 26°45.78'N 111°53.18'W