This afternoon, after teaching Saturday's Yoga & Art class, I took a bike ride to Tenacatita, a beautiful beach town about 12 miles (the way we went) from La Manzanilla. I'm so grateful to Bill who got the word out that he was taking this ride and invited others to join.
Although I've been surrounded by "open space" during the past year in Mexico, I haven't had as much hiking, mountain biking, camping or trail running time as I would like given the beauty that surrounds me. To my knowledge, there aren't many trails available and riding on the highway is a bit on the dangerous side for my liking (two lane curvy highways with no shoulders and lots of large trucks). We did ride for a brief stretch on Highway 200 today...just enough to give me a bit of a rush, but not enough that my mother needs to begin worrying.
On the way back we opted for a ride through a papaya plantation instead of returning to the road, which involved walking through nearly-waist high grass for a bit to get to the trail. At that point I was banishing all memories of the snakes and scorpions I encountered last summer.
I returned to La Manzanilla exhausted and covered in dirt, so I did the only logical thing which was to immediately go to the beach for a beautiful evening swim. At the beach I ran into a couple kids from last Sunday's Art Afternoon who are excited to return to LiveBliss for more of the same tomorrow. One of the kids sold the collage she made last week, which thrilled me to hear.
After a morning spent guiding yoga & art, an afternoon bike ride with people who were mostly strangers to me 24 hours ago and now feel like old friends, and an evening at the beach where I saw kids who I will get to make art with tomorrow, all I can think is that my life is more full than ever and I am damn grateful. Thank you to everyone and everything that helped bring me to this moment.
Below are some photos from the bike ride. Click the images to see larger versions.
Above: View of the beach that runs from La Manzanilla (at the far end in the image) to Boca de Iguanas
Above: Looking inland of the beach.
Above: The cobblestone road that we climbed toward Blue Bay Resort. It amazes me that even though there has been no rain for months, gorgeous flowers continue to bloom.
Above: Two riding partners from today, including Bill (right) who has spent enough time exploring the area on his bike to figure out today's ride to Tenacatita and a whole lot more.
Above: After a couple miles climbing a cobblestone road, we came to look toward a different gorgeous beach including, I think, Tenacatita at the far end. I'm always sore after a long bike ride, but the cobblestones added an interesting extra element today.
Above: We spent a lot of time riding on dirt roads like this one. In addition to a wealth of birds, we saw bunches of cows (including a very cute and very young black fluffy one that I was too lazy to pull my camera out to photograph...please use your imagination on that one).
Above: Lots of egrets were around as we passed through this mangrove area.
Above: I saw bird's nests and more bird's nests today. I stopped getting excited and counting after the first 5 (short attention span).
Above: One of many papaya fields full of small plants loaded with gobs of large fruit. Someone told me once that the papaya trees have been genetically modified to grow small so they are easier to harvest. Today I was told the small ones are just younger and bear the super-sweet papayas. I hope that's true.
Above: Arriving to Rebalcito.
Above: In Tenacatita I saw this sign (the green one on the right) that said "Parking" for something. I thought it was one of the nicest parking lots ever.
Above: Another shot of the flowered parking lot.
Above: The town of Tenacatita
Above: A mile marker. I have a fascination with highway signs. I can't help it.
Above: Rich passing a roadside restaurant.
Above: When I said I returned covered with dirt I wasn't kidding. My ankles and legs may be dirty but my feet show I left the house clean!
Above: Exhausted, but damn happy. And why not? I'm leaning against a palm tree in front of the house where I live, which is across the street from a gorgeous beach. Everyday isn't perfect, but the views are always fabulous.
