a few years ago a group of families in sayulita started an annual camping trip out to santa maria del oro, a gorgeous crater lake about three hours drive north. this year we had the good fortune of being around for the gathering and had an amazing weekend away with our extended mexican tribe.
we rode up in style with our friends jess and alyssa, who own a big van that they used to tour in (they are very talented musicians). even though the road was steep and windy, the van is so spacious and comfortable that everyone was in great spirits the whole way. you don’t get to say that very often about a long road trip with four adults and four kids!
the campground we stayed at was big, clean and well maintained. they even had a pool and a playground!
there were 35 of us in total, and about half of that number were kids. nayou did really well with them, despite hanging out with most of them for the first time.
there was some face painting and silly games with cards.
and a hilarious moustache party as well. seeing a gaggle of moustachioed kids running around screaming was like something out of a david lynch movie. i love how nayou looks like a jaded middle-aged hipster with his facial hair and super tired droopy eyes. so cute!
nayou and his harem:
my favourite part was paddle boarding on the lake. it was nice to be on water with no waves for a change! nayou and i went out for a paddle together twice. the second time around was to this small beach where we caught tons of small frogs (we released them before we left).
nayou disappeared for long stretches of time with his buddies which was nice for both him and us. he did resurface for the bonfire we had on our last night. someone brought stuff to make s’mores, and nayou went crazy for them (who wouldn’t?).
it was cool to connect with some people that we like but never had the chance to hang out with. sayulita has a very high concentration of cool parents, that is for sure!