My good friends

During my freshman year in college at the University of Minnesota Duluth, I met my great friends Jacquie and Kate. We connected swiftly and excitedly, and found commonalities that bonded us, and differences that we fed off of. Through the years we have remained close, despite the physical distance between us, with Kate in Washington, and Jacquie in Arizona.

The highlight of our time together was a trip to the state of Michoacan, south of Jalisco, a place with beaches that are slightly touched by tourists compared to the much larger pull north in and around Puerto Vallerta.

We rented a small Renault and hit the roads; my first time driving in México.

We reached the coast and a beach called El Faro, or The Lighthouse. This is a beach that will always remain in our memories as the place where Missy almost lost the key to our rental car in the great big ocean. We had walked the length of the sparsely populated beach and Kate had the great notion to ask me if she should hold the keys after noticing me haphazardly lifting my skirt so as to avoid getting wet. I reached into my pockets and the key was gone. I headed back running down the beach to retrace our steps with little hope, as Kate and Jacquie scoured an area where water joined from two sides around a giant rock. Kate spotted it, we tied a big green rope to it, and from that point on I was forbidden to hold onto the key.
After El Faro we drove 15 kilometers south to a tucked away beach called La Noria. We never would have found this place had it not been recommended by our friend Danielle. It was a breathtaking beach, with no one on it and giant rock formations hugging each of its sides.

There was a palapa for us to set up our tent under, and a shelter with bathrooms and a kitchen.

We cracked open some refreshments and sat under the palapa enjoying the view as the waves crashed powerfully in front of us and the sun slowly set. Later we lit a little candle, which was the only light that we had in a place without electricity.

The sky was one of the darkest and starriest that I have seen in a long time. A bit later we were able to see green glowing phytoplankton in the whites of the crashing waves and where sea foam spread along the shore.

The following day we took a walk down the length of the beach and crouched through a small arch to find more to the beach than originally met the eye. We found beautiful polished conglomerate rocks and the small tracks of the endangered black sea turtles.

A bit later we packed up to head back north about 5 kilometers to Maruata, another tucked away beach, which was more populated, but not so much that it mattered. We stayed under palapas once again and ate food from the small kitchen 50 feet from us. The seafood was about as fresh as could be, and the ocean lapped up to shore 20 feet in front of us as we enjoyed our meals and good conversation. The surf was too strong for swimming at La Noria, but was perfect in Maruata. We used goggles to explore the rocks and sea anemone below us. Later in the evening we walked over to two intimate neighboring beaches, which were more beautiful still.




Maruata is home to a small sanctuary for black sea turtles, which are endangered species that thrives at this location. Later in the evening a few local men were rescuing baby turtles that had swum the wrong way and they let us see them up close. The following morning on an early walk down the beach I was fortunate to see a mother sea turtle leaving the location where she had just laid her eggs.

I was reminded again of why I like these friends so, as conversation comes easy and nothing seems forced. I am missing them this evening, and am eagerly anticipating our next adventure together.