Where's Waldo/Mike?

 April 2025 - Where’s Waldo?

As we head in to April 2025, this first blog post will serve as a bit of a historical catch-up. A number of folks have mentioned, directly or indirectly, that they’ve lost touch with me:  "we know we lost Pat, but didn't think we had lost Mike..."

Relationships
I’ll start with my relationship with Marilyn—Marilyn Martin, to be exact.

I consider her my SO (significant other), partner, buddy.  We’re heading in to our 3rd year together this month.  We’re the same age, which brings a lot of shared experiences. For instance, while I was teaching “ghetto” kids in Portland, OR, during the Vietnam War era, she was doing the same in Hartford, CT. Our politics align, which is also a relief these days.

Marilyn and I met “the old-fashioned way”—no online dating or arranged introductions. Friends invited us separately to join them for the Thursday night Art Walk in downtown San José del Cabo, BCS, MX. When our groups merged for dinner, we ended up sitting across from each other and just started talking. That was March 2023, and we’re still talking. Hopefully, you’ll get to meet her if you haven’t already.

A few interesting facts: Marilyn started an Airbnb in Todos Santos over 20 years ago, just 200 yards from the Pacific Ocean; she rescues dogs [Fluffy pictured below has no teeth, thus the tongue]

(we currently have six); and she’s a committed vegan—no meat, fish, dairy, etc. 

So when I refer to “us” or “we” in this blog, I’m talking about Marilyn and me.

Family
Brent and Livia are still thriving in San Francisco. Their boys, Lucas (10) and Teo (6), ski nearly every weekend at Northstar.

They already ski better than I did at my peak—maybe the Brazilian ski team is in their future? Brent’s fin-tech career has added the role of COO at a B2B bank. He’s busy.

Caitlin and Stu are doing well in Mill Valley. Frances (8) is wearing some of Caitlin’s and Pat’s old dresses while also taking karate and soccer.

Hayes, now 6, is into tennis, among other activities and they both love to ski (off to France for skiing in April).   Little Ms. Meyer just turned 2 —an absolute cutie who reminds everyone of Pat.

She’s still unsure about this Grandpa and usually takes a while to warm up to me. Caitlin is writing a book, and Stu is launching a company focused on suppressing early wildfires with drones—exciting work.

Location
Between us, Marilyn and I have four children, nine grandchildren, six properties, and seven dogs. We quickly realized we needed to downsize (and no, not the kids or grandkids). Marilyn has already sold one condo in Sun Valley where she used to live, with another on the market. I briefly listed Balverne Farms last fall; it was in contract but fell through. I’ll likely re-list it in April—it’s a wonderful home but it’s just too much.

We split our time between Todos Santos (her Airbnb, now for sale)

and my home, Casa Luna, in San José del Cabo.

Marilyn’s property has a tennis court that can be converted into four pickleball courts, while San José offers plenty of activities, including more pickleball. We live an active life here from November through May. This last weekend we hosted a pickleball tournament with 48 players from Baja and Boise (where her kids live).  It was a hoot.  The greatest attribute for Todos Santos to me is the sense of community — lots of activities and burgeoning friendships with ex-pats like ourselves who spend 5-7 months a year there. 

Travels
So far, when we leave Todos Santos, we travel.   The first summer, after some time at Balverne, we went to the UK (England and Scotland) and Ireland.  Then later that summer, we babysat for Caitlin and Stu in Barcelona,

then visited Portugal:  Porto and the Douro Valley as well as Lisbon.

The following summer, we spent three weeks in the Netherlands, staying right on the Rhine, 30 minutes south of Amsterdam. Later, we returned to Croatia, Bosnia, Italy, and Serbia before sailing in the Adriatic. Along the way, we discovered Home Exchange, (most folks want to exchange for the house in Cabo) which has worked well for us.

Health
My “aggressive, acute” metastatic prostate cancer, diagnosed in 2013, is essentially gone. Thanks to the immunotherapy drug Keytruda, I’ve been in remission for about four years. I receive infusions every six weeks, along with continued hormone treatments. At one point, I had 11 tumors—now, the cancer is undetectable. Like many survivors, I don’t take it for granted and monitor my lab results closely.

My biggest health challenge is arthritis. I’ve had a hip replacement, and my left ankle,

affected by a break a few years ago and arthritis, is nearly locked up, limiting my mobility. Still, I manage to play pickleball 2-3 times a week, so it can’t be that bad!

Overall we are both in good health and see our challenge as styaing mobile -- so lots of stretching, some weights, some aerobics, and core work.

Work
I don’t work.  At least not in any income-generating capacity, aside from managing my rental at Casa Luna. Marilyn is trying to steadily get out of her Airbnb role.  I do serve on the board of the Cancer Help Desk, a nonprofit providing PhD-researched cancer treatment navigation. We assist oncology centers with second opinions, “A-Team” referrals, tumor biomarker testing, and clinical trial guidance. I also occasionally consult for Solar Sisters, which brings solar energy to some of the darkest parts of Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.

Animals
The saddle donkeys—as pictured left to right: Larry, Curly and Dom—became too much for Shawll (our neighbor) to manage alone while I’m in Baja.

We made the tough decision to find new homes for them. Fortunately, they’ve found a great new home at a donkey care and riding camp for special needs kids. I miss them, but they still recognize us when we visit.

Riley, now around 12, is thriving with Marilyn’s pack in Todos Santos and spent last summer there while we traveled.

A Boat in Our Future
Last summer on the Rhine, Marilyn and I discovered our “inner boat.” We watched countless rowboats, sailboats, motorboats, and commercial barges pass by for three weeks and realized how much we love the water. Too old (and perhaps too feeble) to sail, we decided on a live-aboard motor yacht for exploring the Mediterranean, Aegean, Adriatic, and Europe’s rivers and canals.

We’re building a 47’ Archipelago Expedition Yacht (a hybrid motor catamaran)

in the UK, set for completion in spring 2026. If you’re curious, you can follow our project at www.Archipelago4702.blogspot.com.

Those are the highlights for the first quarter of 2025. I hope this answers the question, “Where’s Mike, and what’s he up to?”—and hopefully sparks some correspondence.

Our very best,

Mike with Marilyn