2021 – Year in Review

We started the year living in Mazatlán.  We continued to enjoy daily walks and general life, but it did feel like we were somewhat in limbo.  This was most likely because we had planned to move in mid-2020 but our plans were delayed by the pandemic.

The view from one of my typical walks in Mazatlán

Because of the availability of vaccines and their love of Mazatlán, we were blessed by two visits from our nephew Jesse and his wife Jennie, the first one in January with their three daughters and the 2nd just the two of them for his 40th birthday celebration.  It is always wonderful to see them, and these were some of the only social activities we did for the first part of the year.

I had always wanted to take a picture of this mural, but it is above a Starbucks and I didn’t want Starbucks in the picture. Jesse’s and Jennie’s condo they stayed in during their January visit overlooked it — I finally had the chance!
We took an excellent food tour as part of Jesse’s 40th birthday celebration; this picture was taken afterwards

In April, Kevin went beach camping and I joined him for one night.  We no longer have a lot of camping equipment but have enough for basic camping on the beach.  The place we went to in Mazatlán has basic bathroom facilities and a beautiful location.  We made simple meals in camp or ate out in some nearby restaurants.

View near sunrise on the beach we were camped on
Our beach camp

In late May we enjoyed our last few meals in Mazatlán before moving to Guanajuato, where we currently live.

Last night in Mazatlán
Last visit to Plazuela Machado for a while
Our breakfast view our last morning, before leaving Mazatlán

We no longer own a vehicle, so we moved by bus.  This reinforced our minimalism.  Even though it might not seem like much, it was a lot to carry to and from stations and hotels on the way.  Cookbooks and cooking items make for some heavy luggage.

Everything we owned that we had in Mexico when we moved from Mazatlán to Guanajuato

We also prefer a leisure travel pace, ½ day travel max if possible.  So, we planned to take several days to move from Mazatlán to Guanajuato.  Our first stop was Tepic, a colonial city in the state of Nayarit.  This was our first visit.  It was an interesting city with friendly people.

Tepic Cathedral

Our next stop was Tlaquepaque, a suburb of Guadalajara.  We had been one other time before flying to the US.  It is south of the city, as are the bus station and airport, avoiding the need to go into central Guadalajara, where we have been several times in the past.  Tlaquepaque works well for us as a “layover” stop when traveling in the area.  There is a lot of public art and several restaurants near the hotel we stay in.

Some of the street art in Tlaquepaque

We spent most of June in Guanajuato looking for a place to rent.  We moved into a new place in early July and left for our first trip to the US in two years a few days later.

The closest tienda (convenience store) to the Airbnb we rented while looking for a house to lease in Guanajuato
The house we are renting in Guanajuato

While in the US, we took care of some business and then visited family and a few friends.  It was great visiting with everyone that we were able to see!  It was the first time I had been with family on my birthday in many years (possibly decades); there were two celebrations, one at Jennie’s family’s lake property in Wisconsin in the morning, and the other a grilled-pizza extravaganza in the evening at my sister Shari’s house.

Some “up north” lake time is always welcome
Family time at the lake, photo credit Lindsey Paulus

After returning to Guanajuato near the end of July, we were finally able to settle into our new place.  Since then, it has felt like life is no longer on hold because we are living in the region that we want to live in.

I started this blog in August and have written a few times about some aspects of our life here:

In September we had business at immigration in San Miguel de Allende, a good excuse to spend a few days there.  We had been once before, and it is a great place to visit.  We enjoyed eating in many great restaurants while there.

Walking back to our Airbnb after a great dinner out
Wandering the streets and parks of SMA

The final highlight of our year was the topic of my last blog entry, our trip to Mexico City:

3 Comments

  1. Aw, this was an exceptionally nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to create a really good article… but what can I say… I hesitate a lot and never manage to get anything done.

    • cdk0765

      Thank you! Best of luck and when you are ready you will find the time to do what is important to you 🙂

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