These star (and one moon) pictures were my attempts at capturing the lunar eclipse on the 22nd. The moon was a beautiful redish orange (which can be seen tinting the sky in the moonless photo) which was quite hard to capture. Seeing as I had no tripod.. or anyway to keep the shutter open... I was stuck with the good old ground and a few rocks for the shutter. Although my patience ran out after a few shots (20min for the top one) they are my first success (maybe) at capturing star trails!

The bathtub Piña Colada

The aftermath of the mud massage

The week in paradise quickly blows by in a blur of beaches, fish tacos, and guacamole. The town of Sayulita is a beautiful one with just the right number of restaurants, surf board rental shops, and naturally.. beach square footage! But every good thing has a darker lining.. and for the beaches in mexico it is the vendors. Untold numbers of them roam the beach trying to sell their wares, to largely no avail, and to the annoyance of the the tourists trying to relax. Though that might be the view of some, for me it was a great opportunity to practice my spanish and take photographs of beautiful and very unique people. The picture above is of a vendor (who's name I cant recall) born in Italy! Some just walk on by, but the ones who strike up a conversation and try to learn a little about you are the ones who win in the end. (we ended up buying two pieces of handmade jewelry from him)

The highlight of my time in Sayulita was not the sand or the tacos or the lavish rental house.. but surfing! Yes, thats right! The waves were great for beginner surfers, and the town was full of board rental shops that offered lessons, but I didn't need them. My uncle (soon to be) Brian is a budding surfer, and he kindly offered lessons for my cousin Laura and I. The water was full of people of all ages learning to surf, and now I was one of them. Alas, as I was the one learning to surf, and without a waterproof camera, there are no photos of us learning to surf! Such a sad tale, hopefully it can be rectified by hunting through others photos.

Shockingly enough, the casa grande did not have internet, so I am posting these photos back in chilly Anchorage while I sift through the thousands from the trip. More to follow! Stay tuned.