A Nevada City Encounter
in the Jungles of Mexico

Have You Ever Bumped Into Someone You Know in a Distant or Unusual Place?  I Ran Into Web Master Bob Lickter in Mexico......
                                                                                                                                                     
By Dave Carter                                                       Click Photographs to Enlarge
SAYULITA, Mexico -- So there I was, sitting in the shade of a palapa,  sipping a Pacifico and watching the surfers at Sayulita, a tiny beach town on the Pacific coast of Mexico, about a 90-minute drive north of Puerto Vallarta.
A group of us, three and a half couples, had come to Mexico for a week and rented a beachfront house at Bucerias, a small resort town between Puerto Vallarta and this surfer’s hideaway. On this day, Friday, Oct. 27, my companions went shopping in Puerto Vallarta -- ugh! -- so I set out to explore the coast. I rode a bus an hour and a half north to the town of Guayabitos where I was the only gringo among the thousands of vacationers. I was anxious to return to Sayulita, a spot we discovered on our last trip here five years ago. The express bus dropped me off at the Sayulita turnoff and I walked the three kilometers through the jungle into town. It was just the way I remembered it. Dirt and cobble streets, palm trees, coconuts, funny looking dogs and the wonderful, friendly Mexican people. The beachfront restaurant at the surf break hadn’t changed. Cereveza, Margaritas, Guacamole and the incredibly fresh Coctel de Camerones (shrimp cocktails). This is the life, I thought, as “Hotel California” by the Eagles played in the background. “Carter!” A distinctive and very familiar voice roused me from my Mexican state. “Lickter! Como esta, amigo? What are you doing here?” Bob Lickter, longtime Nevada City pharmacist and photographer, approached with his daughters, Maggie and Katie. They were staying here for a week with a part-time local resident named Bobby, an old army buddy of Bob’s, who owns the Longboard Bungalows and is a partner in the local surf shop. Lickter and I had worked together in the good old days, back in the early 80s, when there were still people around who thought that Nevada City and Nevada County needed a newspaper other than The Union. In recent years, I may see him every six months or so. We shared stories and refreshments, though Lickter didn’t eat or drink much; he was recovering from a touch of Montezuma’s Revenge. I wanted to surf -- I get out once every year or two -- and so did the girls, so Bob took us up to the surf shop where Sergio provided free boards. A few hours in the water, a walk around town with Bob as he did his last-minute shopping (they were leaving in the morning) and a look around the bungalows completed the afternoon. I had missed the last local bus so Bob took me up to the highway in his rental car.
“Good to see you! Adios!”
I was waiting for the bus when a small pickup stopped. A man, his wife and Grandma rode in front; three kids were in the pickup bed, Mexican style. They offered me a ride to Bucerias. I climbed in. Sitting in back of the pickup, the wind blowing, the smiling kids. Another great day in Mexico. And you’ll never guess who I ran into today.....

If you would like more information on getting away to Sayulita,surfing, and excellent accommodations contact Bob Lanz at Longboard Heaven

  All photos by Bob Lickter ©2000