We decided one day wasn't enough for Josh's birthday - we went for a birthday week instead.
The very beginning of the birthday celebration (the day of) at Billy Bob's Honky Tonk in San Blas, Mexico.
Some of the birthday loot Josh received. Missing from the photo is a delicious smoked sailfish dinner (courtesy of our friends Glenda and Vick), a massing of Pacifico beer, and a late night pizza feed.
Prior to the birthday celebration in San Blas, Josh and I took a birthday week trip to the nearby city of Tepic, the capital of the state of Nayarit. Here we are celebrating a minor mountain climb in Tepic after scaling the nearby Cerro de La Cruz.
The Cerro de La Cruz in Tepic is the home of a giant Jesus cross. The cross is easily visible from downtown Tepic (up a small moutain), and the actual size is hard to gage in the above photo.
The view of Tepic from the Cerro de La Cruz - absolutely stunning.
Another view of Tepic from the top of the Cerro de La Cruz. There is a paved road/sidewalk leading to the top and it is a popular climb for many in Tepic.
At the top of the Cerro de La Cruz, we also found a healthy dog population. This particular dog had quite the overbite and was excited to see us.
The elevation at the base of the mountain is 3,000 feet above sea level. We estimate we climbed another 1,000 feet to get this view of Tepic.
Another part of birthday week in Tepic was a visit to the newly reopened Museo Regional de Nayarit. Most of the pre-Hispanic artifacts in the museo were from excavations close to Tepic.
As Tepic has expanded and a second hydroelectric dam was constructed nearby in the past decade, the museo has had to expand to house all the new artifacts uncovered.
The majority of the artifacts have been put on display for the public.
An interesting, relatively new find has been an abundance of metal artifacts (as opposed to mostly clay structures).
Here are just some of the intricate metal pieces available for public viewing. Much of what is available for viewing is still being studied by local historians for exact significance.
An older part of the museo contained photos of local, native Huichol celebrations and ceremonies. Look for the man in the above photo with the giant clown nose and glasses on. He popped up in a couple of photos.
Josh's birthday week started with a scooter ride with friends on the beach at Matanchen Bay, a few miles outside of San Blas. Here we are racing an ice cream car with our friends Mark and Zaire.
After beach scootering, we stopped at the Ejido de la Palma Crocodile Farm. Josh and I first visited the farm two years ago by panga (local boat).
The farm had undergone an extensive restoration since we last visited and it's hard to beat the value of this fantastic place ($1.00 per person).
Each adult crocodile pen contained one breeding pair. There are also small heated pens for the baby and juvenile crocodiles. A certain amount of adult crocodiles are released into the wild and the farm keeps enough adults to maintain the breeding pair population.
Pizza Sunday at Billy Bob's Honky Tonk. Above is Billy Bob, Lori, Mike, and Charles.
In an unrelated photo, we saw this shrimper leaving the harbor before Christmas. These vessels are shallow draft and we have seen them leave during very low tides without an issue.
We were also able to purchase a bootleg copy of "El Hobbit" on the beach one day for about $1.00. And it actually worked, quite well, in Spanish!
