La Cruz de Huanacaxtle!

I'm sitting at the Jardin del Pulpo Cafe (aka the Octopus Garden) where my amazing friend Alyssa baristas, manages the gallery and organizes nightly events. She has not only let me drop in and hang out at her workplace for the past two weeks, she is also letting me stay at her apartment and showing me around the area in her free time! In the two weeks that I have spent with her, I've gotten to see not only the non-touristy fishing village of La Cruz, but also the surrounding fishing villages and slightly intimidating gringo meccas...I walked down the beach to Bucerias, saw a surfing competition in Sayulita, day tripped to the best community center ever in the quiet town of San Pancho, explored Puerto Vallarta for a day with another Washingtonian named Sandra and met so many new friends and travelers! La Cruz is a huge sailing stop, so there are many boaters here from the west coast of the US and Canada, and they have inspired me to go on a sailing adventure someday too! It has been very fun to talk to them about their adventures and I even went to a going away party on a sailboat that was heading out on the "puddle jump" to French Polynesia...three weeks of sailing in the ocean without seeing land! My time here has been an excellent combination of relaxing on the rooftop deck playing guitar, dancing and playing on aerial silks late into the night at the Octopus Garden and splashing in the waves of the Pacific!

Malecon beach walk in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle!

View of the lower level of the Octopus Garden cafe from the upper patio and dance floor. Most definitely the best community gathering spot in La Cruz! 

La Cruz friends Brittani (left) and Mary Jo (right) hanging from the aerial silks above the dance floor at the Octopus. By the way, I'm more at Brittani's level than Mary Jo's at this point! 

A boaters potluck party with live music in Linda's garden on my second night in Mexico.

The fresh mango pie in Bucerias was absolutely delicious! Possibly the only pie bakery in this area of Mexico?? The Olympia Pie Bakers Guild would be so proud!

One of my favorite days so far was last Sunday when Aly had the day off from work and our friends Mary Jo and Julio took us out on paddle boards! We started at Piedras Blancas beach and then we looped around the marina and ended up getting caught in the wind and fighting our way back to the beach! But it was a stellar sunny day and so nice to spend more time with Aly--a good buddy from camp--in familiar salt water (that is SO much warmer than the Hood Canal)! We also took a break from paddling at a killer seafood restaurant midway through and enjoyed the view of the bay!

Former Camp Robbinswold staff reunited at Piedras Blancas beach near La Cruz!! The rocks are white because birds sit and poop on them--how precious! 

Lunching at Mariscos La Colegita with Aly and a pina colada...yes, that is a massive plate of coconut prawns in the foreground.

Paddling into La Cruz from the beaches north of town

All in all, it's also been excellent just helping out at the Octopus Garden, checking out the Native art gallery here and relaxing with friends in La Cruz. I'm appreciating this extended time staying in one place, as much of the rest of my trip will be more fast paced while I'm moving from town to town.

More photos on Vallarta, La Cruz, San Pancho and SUNSETS will be coming soon once I can get my photos off my camera!! Thanks for reading!

The Start of the Next Adventure!

So I've ended up in Mexico! I have plans to stay here for the next four months, until the end of June. Many people asked me before I left where and why I was going, so in this first post, hopefully I'll provide some explaination.
This trip was insprired by graduating from Evergreen last spring and hearing over and over again that I needed to "get out" and travel, learn, experience, etc. away from home. I started to do this during the summer after I graduated, but I was waiting until after the medical school application process to really get out. I knew that this spring would be an important time for me to travel because it fit well with my work and school schedules, because right now I'm free of both of those! But there were so many places I wanted to visit, and I know people in many different parts of the world...where to go? Where to go?
I picked Mexico because I wanted to refresh my spanish and eperience a different part of Latin America, which I loved so much in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Having never really seen Mexico beyond a day trip to a border town, I wanted to understand this place that has such an impact on life in the US. I also thought I would take the opportunity to visit my friend Aly in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle (small town north of Puerto Vallarta) and Cam, who lives six months of the year in Mazatlan. These two amazing women (and their housemates) offered to host me, and with Cam I will be helping out with a medical brigade from the Iowa University PA school. From now through mid-April, I will be visiting these friends and traveling with my mom to the Baja peninsula. After that I will have about seven more weeks to travel in Oaxaca, Chiapas, the Yucatan and maybe Guatemala before meeting up with Jay to go on a WWOOFing adventure in Chiapas. I left the middle part of the trip open, mostly because I talked with friends and family about coming to travel with me during this time, but many were unable to commit, so I'm still waiting to hear when they're free. Regardless, I don't have any doubts that I will meet plenty of interesting travel companions on the way, and hopefully lots of locals who can guide me and show me the back door secrets as well.
It has taken me over a week to get just this first post up, but I will be adding photos and stories from my time in La Cruz very soon! Thanks so much for reading and please contact me at kelsey.sholund@gmail.com with feedback or travel recommendations! Hasta pronto!