Ely's Version of Starbuck's Coffee

Many people have never had the experience of enjoying Campfire Coffee and their view of sophisticated coffee is from Starbucks or Peets. Well when you go hiking in the woods, there are no coffee houses or barrister and you have to make do as best you can.

So on the recent hike and picnic we put water in an old coffee can and put it on the fire.


To get the best coffee you need to get the water boiling which requires a very hot fire.



Then when the water is boiling, you throw in the coffee and let is boil some more and hopefully the grounds settle to the bottom of the can. What you end up with is an enjoyable cup of coffee that really tastes good when the weather is cold and windy.

Tale of Two Springs - Part Two

So now it is the first week of April and we are back in Ely. For Ely the weather has gotten very warm for this time of year but as you can see, this is not the same spring that we had last week in San Miguel. On Wednesday we decided to have a hike and a picnic on the Bass Lake trail so we packed up the troops and headed off to the trail.

As we were walking the first thing we noticed is that the snow had melted significantly, and the creeks that had been frozen over just two weeks ago were starting to run. As the image below shows there still is ice but we now are having some run off.



Then as we came around a bend we saw the first of the new spring growth. This plant is something the locals call Princess Pine, but it really isn't a "pine" tree, but it sure looks like it.






The Bass Lake trail then runs down to High Lake and although the ice was still very thick on Bass Lake you can see that it is starting to recede on High Lake. It is always a happy time when the ice does finally drop as it really means that we have started the transition of the seasons.








As the trail continues around Bass Lake you come to Dry Lake Falls where the creek from Dry Lake runs into Bass Lake. During the summer this will be an area that will be very crowded with many of the tourists as it is usually very sunny and the children can sit in the creek and have the water running around them.

However at this time of year, the water is very cold, there are no tourists yet and we can enjoy the serenity of the seasons with out interruptions.

Tale of Two Springs, Part One

I can't believe it has been almost a month since we came back from San Miguel this last trip. I have had some out of town projects since we came back to the States and of course we are preparing for our next trip to San Miguel in May. However, I wanted to present a two part posting about the differences in the spring season between San Miguel and Northern Minnesota.

Here I have posted a couple of images from our walking around San Miguel, which highlight both the beautiful colors and varieties in the high desert, but also the beautiful blossoms of the cactus when it is in bloom.

The Jacaranda Trees were in full bloom and could be seen all around the city. I have never seen these trees before when they were in bloom and they are gorgeous.

There were also many flowers in bloom that I would have considered normal in either Northern or Southern California, but I guess the topology is similar and I understand that just about anything that can grow in California can grow here.


Here are a couple of other examples of what I was talking about.


















But of course when you are in the high desert, you can not experience spring without watching the cactus blossoms as the plants come out of their winter slumber. I really enjoy the cactus in bloom.


Now hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get some examples of spring in Northern Minnesota, which of course will be several weeks after we had the start of our spring time in San Miguel.

Rancho La Luz

Wow, what a long day, but we finally did it. We have purchased a ranch about 12 miles out of San Miguel de Allende on the highway that heads to Dolores Hidalgo. It is a beautiful property that has been previously been used for agricultural purposes and seems to have a very good water well that has been used for farming purposes.


The purchase/sale transaction had a number of complications, none of which individually would seem difficult, but when viewed all together they were. However, with the help of the Notario, the work of our brokers from Re/Max Colonial of San Miguel, the seller and his tenants we were able to over come them and close the transaction.

After the closing we went out to visit the property again and it was another beautiful day in the country. Once the sun set we headed back to our apartment in San Miguel and started to celebrate.

We have decided to make this our full time residence and will be moving down to the ranch in June. We still have to sell our home in Ely, and of course there is the entire process of moving our personal goods down, but we are so excited about starting to make Mexico our new adopted home.


We have previously owned and operated an organic farm and orchard in Northern California so we think we know what we are getting into, however, no matter what happens it will be another adventure.

Rocking the Jardin en Domingo

We arrived in San Miguel late Saturday evening and quickly unpacking from our long day of traveling we hurried off to have a wonderful dinner at Tio Lucas. As usual it was crowded even at the late hour but the music was wonderful and the service tremendous.

However, that evening around 2a we heard a marching band playing in the street outside our apartment, and then if that wasn't enough the group started to shoot fireworks off. This festival or celebration or what ever you want to call it, continued until around 6a so to say the least we did not get a very good sleep that evening. Oh well, such is the life in a small apartment that is very near el Centro. So after a couple of morning naps, Jo Ann and I started out to resupply the apartment.

Later that afternoon we headed out to walk around town as the sun was bright and shining and the weather beautiful as usual. After walking up to el Charco and then back to el Centro we came upon a small concert in process at the Jardin with many people dancing and enjoying the wonderful day.




Although the sound system was not the greatest, the weather was wonderful and it was so great to see all the families and tourists standing around and enjoying the concert and being together outside.

We really enjoyed watching the guitarist jamming some of these old Bay Area type sounds. The afternoon really reminded us of our lives in Muir Beach and going to the Muir Beach Volunteer Fire Department picnic every Memorial Day weekend, such fun.

So while the group played, many people took to the streets that surround the jardin and started dancing. There was one couple which really caught our eye as they seemed so serene and at peace, even though there were all these others out there strutting their stuff.


Of course there was also others who were really enjoying the music and putting on more of a show than others.

With the sun shining and everyone having fun we enjoyed an ice cream cone and talked about how much we are looking forward to moving to this little place in paradise. We are so happy to have found this gem and can't wait to start this next chapter of our adventure called life.