The Golden Years

Back in Mazatlan and I think Willie is paranoid now.

2012-01-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday p.m.

The men who are replacing the palapas were at work bright and early this morning.

Well we finally left Aticama – went there for two weeks and stayed five – at 9:00 this morning.

We got to Mazatlan at 1:30 with one stop for gas during the trip. 192 miles. We came back a different way than we went so it added five miles to the trip – but was much easier way to go.

We bid farewell to the fine town of San Blas.

Instead of going back up the mountain over the narrow and twisty road [Highway 74]to the 15D we took a little longer but much easier driving route through the towns of Guadalupe Victoria and Villa Hidalgo then to the 15D. No twisty climb – just lots of topes.
Because it was Sunday vehicular and pedestrian traffic was pretty light – thanks goodness – going through the towns.

Just before we got to the Autopista we had to cross this bridge! We were bigger we got to go first.

Then on to the Autopista which is a very nice highway.

But another expensive trip. And since we came down this same road five weeks ago the tolls have gone up – by any where from 12 Pesos to 19 Pesos a stop – a little over a dollar. Everything else is going up so I guess it was only a matter of time. We spent US$77 for 192 miles – and part of that wasn’t Autopista – just regular roads.

It was a pretty day for traveling, blue skies, puffy white clouds and RAIN? All of a sudden we had big juicy rain drops on the windshield. Didn’t last long and was sure a surprise. Only for a mile or two and never heavy.

We were surprised when we pulled into Las Jabias RV Park – there are five other rigs parked in the back where we are usually all by ourselves. Also got another surprise – not the good kind. I guess Willie is paranoid now and doesn’t want to leave us again. When Bill went to take off the locking pin for the tow bar it wouldn’t come off. No way would it unlock. Just ducky….Tried and tried again – no luck. Finally had to hacksaw the pin and knock it out. So all is okay again. We are parked and Willie is drivable.

Went out to dinner at Fat Fish – for ribs of course. Have lots of leftovers for tomorrow. Then to the grocery store. Now just relaxing at home. Tomorrow is another day and we have a lot to do……Well a couple of things anyway. Need to really clean poor Alfie. And will try putting the satellite dish up to see if it will work. If it doesn't start working I'll have to call HughesNet and I really hate calling them. If they can't help me we at least still have the Telcel which works really fast here in Mazatlan.
Funny but it feels like we came home again.

Leaving for Mazatlan soon

2012-01-29T07:58:00.000-07:00

The sun is over the mountain, the sky is blue and the guys are here working on the new palapa already. Guess they will finish it today.
As soon as I put the laptop away I'll finish packing and stowing everything and we'll be on our way to Mazatlan. So will post later - maybe the satellite will work there - if not I have my Telcel.
So later.....

Activity around El Chaco Rv Park

2012-01-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday p.m.

We are getting ready for leaving for Mazatlan tomorrow morning. Putting things away, dusting the dashboard instruments and noise proofing the dishes, pot and pans. Bill is washing the front window – hard to see out through all the salt and sand on it.
There were some tourists here the other day from Germany. They shipped their RV to Canada, drove across Canada, went to Alaska, drove south to Baja and then crossed on the ferry to Mazatlan. After a two day stop here they are headed for Mexico City. They were not sure how far south they were going to go. So far they’ve been traveling a year.

Just found out from another camper here that the Ultra-lite plane of Chip had an accident. Not while he was in it but after he had landed in a field about 100 miles from here. A big wind gust came up, picked it up and smashed it down. The only parts left intact are the engine and landing gear. Sorry to hear that.

This Telcel Internet is weird. Again this morning there was no service – but eventually it starts working. Maybe it just isn’t a morning thing. But when it does start up for the first couple hours it is pretty fast. And tonight it is cutting in and out. Works for a few minutes then disconnects. Guess it is better than nothing.
Earlier I was watching out the window about six guys starting to rebuild the beach ramadas. It is an interesting process. First the support poles went up. This time they are using wooden poles that are then covered with a white outer pole then cement is poured around the bottom to secure them.

Then the beams on top were put up. They are tied with twine to the support poles. Machetes are used to cut the beams to the correct length and to cut the twine.

A truckload of new fronds was brought in and laid on the grass near the construction.

After the support beams went up the men climbed on top and started putting the new fronds on. One side was completely done by evening.

We went into San Blas for dinner at Tradiciones with John and Carol. As always the meal was very good. After eating we walked around a bit and got to see a procession coming up the street to the church. It is a celebration for the patron saint of San Blas. The fiesta will continue until February 3^rd. Then there will be a blessing of the fishing boats out on the water.

Daily Life around the Plaza

2012-01-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

Friday a.m.

Yesterday we ended up going into San Blas for a little bit and I took some pictures of everyday life just around the main plaza.
But first … we went hunting for the new ATM the we were told about the other day. And after asking several people (who all gave us a little direction) we found it. It is on the main road to the Playa almost to the end. Just a little beyond the Coco Loco restaurant on the other side of the street. Just past the main gate to the Military installation. Here is a picture of it. It is kind of sunk back into the wall there. And it works wonderfully – fastest ATM we’ve ever used in Mexico. We were told it is never busy and never out of money. WOW

From there we went to the main plaza to go to the market. Most morning in the plaza free Internet service is offered. Including the use of the laptops. We’ve noticed that most of the plazas in the towns we’ve been in have free WiFi connections available in the them. But this is the first place we’ve also seen where the computers have been furnished. I think that is a great idea.

Just a couple of the townspeople going about their everyday business. Don’t know what she was carrying in the tub. Most of the older women always wear dresses, usually flowered prints.

Right past the central market is a little alleyway – down at the back of it is a produce store. The red and yellow building is a TV repair place.

Another older woman in her flowered print dress and apron. The aprons are always freshly washed and pressed. Notice the flip flops also very common. The jug in her left hand has the bottom cut off so it can be used as a funnel. She is talking to a couple of women sitting at the curb selling papayas and other produce.

The plaza was getting some maintenance. All the trees were being trimmed by men up on ladders with clippers and machetes. By the end of the day the palm trees will be cleared of old fronds and the other trees will be shaped.

As we continued around the plaza we noticed that this fountain had water in it. It is usually dry. The pigeons were loving it. We stopped to watch for a while. That is what you do in Mexico – just stop, sit and watch enjoying the life going on all around you – even if it’s just pigeons taking a bath.

A couple of really wet pigeons!

Heading back towards the car. The family is very important here. We see many generations together all the time. They are heading towards the Mercado Municipal doorway – central market.

She is tending her fish market. The fish are on a table covered with colorful oilcloth, the coolers are full of ice. She has her scale to weigh the purchase. The stand next to her is also selling fish and shrimp. All freshly caught.

There are bicycles everywhere. Sometimes, especially at night, there are 10 to 15 parked along the curb or lined up against a wall. They are used for everything. I’ve seen some with a Mother and three kids on them. Other carrying loads of firewood. Some with coolers strapped to the back.

There is always something to see in any small town.

Went out to dinner last night to Lucy in Aticama – saw this interesting beehive outside in a palm tree.

One thing that I’ve noticed here – all of the cooks in the restaurants are women. Where as at home most of the cooks are men And in the chain coffee shops they are usually Mexican men.
Today we’ll be starting to put things back in travel mode for an early departure on Sunday. And maybe take a ride down the coast a ways just to get out.
I mentioned that the palm fronds on the beach ramadas are in the process of being replaced. They are usually replaced every three to five years. A lot of course depends on the weather.

2012-01-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

Thursday a.m.

Oops! Forgot to post yesterday – no excuse just forgot!
This is a picture of the laundry at the Casa Mañana Hotel where we took our laundry. Good price and excellent job. They also have a good restaurant.

And here is a picture of George leaving the Aticama area – he’s waving to me. His post today sounded a little less sure about taking a major trip south.

Ms Tioga and George leaving Aticama

Took a ride down the coast and up through the hills yesterday. Such pretty country around here. Lots and lots of flowers and blooming trees. This is a philodendron that is growing wild up a tree. Look at the size of the leaves!

On our ride we went through the little town of Santa Cruz about five miles from here. It’s a pretty small town. Here is one of their buildings. Kind of tall and narrow. The bottom is a pharmacy and the top is for outdoor living.

This is another two story house – check out the Bird of Paradise plant it is taller than the house. The plants growing around here are amazing.

On one of the corners in Santa Cruz was this man, he is making churros – got his gas tank and bucket for the boiling oil. The dough is in the galvanized bucket behind him.

After frying the churros are rolled in sugar. YUM!

We came over a small rise in the road to this sight. We came to a dead stop in the middle of the road – no where to pull over.

Isn’t the little cow cute! They just split and walked around us. Notice the motorhome following them – very slowly following them.

Going around us.

Then over the next hill we ended up behind this. Followed him for awhile till we could get a clear view to pass him. Never know what you’ll find on the roads here. This is the road from San Blas to Puerta Vallarta.

We had passed a little town down by the water and as we headed back we turned down the cobblestone road to check it out. Turns out it wasn’t a town with homes, it was a little cove full of restaurants and small fishing boats. There were two women out on the beach cleaning it off. I suspect they were gathering the driftwood for burning.

Got home and watched a very good soccer game. And basically just watched the world go by for the rest of the day. We are getting real good at that. The owners of the campground are starting to replace all the palapas on the beach. Lots of hard work.

I did figure out how to buy and download books for my Nook using the Telcel. Now if I can just remember how I did it. Need to download it to the laptop then open it and then connect my Nook to the laptop and move it over. A couple extra steps then library books.

No plans for today yet……

Quiet Day on the Beach

2012-01-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday a.m.

The gray skies of yesterday are gone and today we have bright sunshine and puffy white clouds in a pale blue sky. Probably going to be a warm day.
Our only plan for today is to take the laundry over to the hotel Casa Mañana to be done. We have a lot of big stuff to do – jeans, sheets, bath towels and just don’t want to take all that time with the machine in here. Also can’t run the dryer part while the air conditioning is on. Let’s face it – I like taking it in and getting it back all clean and folded!
WOW just read Georges blog – he is leaving here today and is serious about taking a bus trip to Central and South America. Go George! See link on side for his blog.
Evening now. It is cooling down nice outside. We picked up our laundry already – it’s nice to have it done. Two pillow cases stuffed full of laundry 160 Pesos US$12 - Worth it at any price.
George has already left for points south to see about storing Ms Tioga.
Downloaded another book from the library - and put two on hold so when they are available I'll be able to download them.

Not much else went on today.

Another Day in Mexico

2012-01-23T16:30:00.002-07:00

Monday

It is a very overcast day today. Very gray and dreary skies behind the mountains. First thing this morning it was bright and sun shinny.
I heard some noise outside the RV and look out to see this man cutting down the weeds with his very sharp curved machete!

We, Carol, John, Bill and I went out to breakfast at a restaurant that John had heard about in Aticama. The name of it is Lucy.

It is about three blocks off the main road and we would never had found it without being told about it. We were the only customers there. They have tables outside and inside.

We sat inside in one of the three small rooms. I had a ham and cheese omelet with salad and of course refried beans, Bill had huevos Rancheros, John had birria (kind of a soupy beef stew) and Carol had scrambled eggs Mexican style.

We all had coffee – a cup of hot water with a jar of Nescafe. We were all pleased with our meals, very good. And only 199 Pesos for all of us – US$15.00 can’t beat that. They have a very varied menu and we will probably eat there again.
After breakfast Bill and I went into San Blas to renew my Telcel Internet account. We are learning that Telcel kind of makes up its rules as it goes along – or maybe it is the clerks who don’t understand the rules. When we first signed up we were given a "promotional" deal 6GB for the price of 3GB. And were told that whether we used them or not they would expire in one month. Well today they told us that the original 6 GBs wouldn't expire until Feburary 18. (So far I've used less than 1GB) This they told us after we'd paid for another 3GB. So the clerk says come Feb. 18 we have to go in to a Telcel store to activate the 3GB for March that we just paid for. What? Then why did we pay for it now? Because! No money back, no changing what was done. So hopefully they have a good computer system or we're out some money.

After leaving there we had to go to two ATMs before finding one that worked. While standing in line a passer by (who was not feeling any pain) told us there was a new ATM in town down by the beach that was always uncrowded and it worked much faster than the two we know about. But we forgot to check it out when leaving for home.

Then we walked up to the central market to buy some produce so Bill could make up a batch of his delicious spaghetti sauce. We'd bought everything but the fresh peppers when we shopped in Tepic the other day.
While perusing the Internet I read in our hometown newspaper that there was an ice storm in Nashville, IN the other day causing some overnight power outages. Don’t miss that.
Bill is making his sauce right now – smells so good – pasta tonight! George just came by for a visit – he is thinking about taking a bus through Central America. Would be quite a trip to take.

Willie and Bill had problems - Alls well now

2012-01-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday p.m.

Yesterday was a very quiet day around here. Both Bill and Willie were not feeling well. Glad we made it back here to Alfie on the beach before they got unwell.

Friday afternoon when we got back from Guadalajara all seemed well. Parked Willie out in front and unloaded all the groceries etc. All was good in the RV.
Bill went out and moved the car around the side – oh, oh there was a spot of oil on the ground. Look under the car – drips of oily type stuff. John and Bill discussed it – hopefully just the long drive and condensation…..put a piece of cardboard under Willie to make it easier to check the next morning.
By bed time Bill’s leg was giving him fits. So he took a pain pill – he hates to take them so I knew he was really hurting. – All night he was really restless.
In the morning the cardboard under Willie was really oil stained – problem! And Bill’s stomach was upset from the pain pill and lack of sleep. Any way – John and Bill talked to the owner of the RV park. He knows a good mechanic that takes care of all of their cars and trucks. So mechanic was called and came right over. Willie’s transmission gasket was leaking. The mechanic went to Aticama and San Blas – no gaskets – so someone had to make the drive up the hill to Tepic to Auto Zone.
So anyway – this morning Bill is feeling great and Willie is patiently waiting for his repairs.

Willie is all fixed! – new gasket and filter and fluid. 1100 Pesos or about US$85.00. coming back from a test drive.

So after the soccer game is over we’ll go into San Blas to see if Telcel is open on Sunday to extend our service. If it’s not open hopefully it keeps working until tomorrow.

Newly painted and lettered arch going into San Blas.

Well - TIM- that is

Mexico

. We just got back from town. Not only weren’t any of the Telcel stores open the ATMs were taking the day off too. No money available at either one that is in town!!!!!!! But I did manage to pick up a voicemail that came in yesterday. It was from our credit card wanting to know why there was a charge for gas in Mexico.?!?!? Before we left we told them we were going to be in Mexico for the winter. And for two months we’ve been using it here. WHATS THE PROBLEM??? Grrrr…..

And they go on and on and the cell signal kept coming and going so each time it went I had to start all over again with a new person. One of their questions was – where did you use your card for $38.17 on Dec 28^th…….yah like I’m going to remember. So I said we’ve been in Tepic, Mazatlan, Aticama etc. etc. So she said it was Tepic but where? Then she "gave me a hint" it was for groceries. Ah okay – Soriana or WalMart – Yes that’s it - WalMart. Then she wanted to call me back on the cell phone - I'd already told her the signal was coming and going. So any way after a few more questions she finally believed me. She said we’ll put an alert on your account that you are in Mexico - What happened to the alert that was already on it. No one knew of course. I HATE dealing with credit card companies. I know they are just protecting us – but shouldn’t they have done it a month or so ago?
So anyway that is taken care of until the next time. And Willie is running great and the campground is paid until January 30th. So I’m going to post this while I can and tomorrow we’ll go into town again to try the ATMs and the Telcel place. As I said TIM….
Just another picture this of the dress I bought in Guadalajara - that is all hand embroidered.

Remember there are 4 previous posts about our trip up there. The last one #4 is a video with neat sound and action. They are all below this post.

Listening to the Band in Guadalajara - Part 4

2012-01-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is the 4th post about our trip to Guadalajara - 1, 2 and 3 are below it.
We were listening to the band play in the Plaza de Armas in Guadalajara when we noticed the guy in the jeans, light colored t-shirt and red sweater tied around his waist. He was performing to the music. He wasn't asking for handouts or molesting any of the passers by. Just seemed to be enjoying himself. Be sure to turn your sound up so you can hear the music.

Guadalajara Trip - Part 3

2012-01-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

The last post about our trip to Guadalajara.

I forgot to mention the electricity in the room in the hotel. Electricity in Mexico is very expensive so it shouldn’t be used when it is not needed. In the hotel room there is a small box right by the door. You put your hotel key card in it to turn on the electricity in the room. If the card is not in the box you have no electricity. When you leave your room you take the card out of the box and the lights go out. I’d seen this before in China but forgot about it. Took us a few minutes to figure it out after not being able to turn lights on in the bathroom.

We also forgot we were in a different time zone – Central time instead of Mountain time. Later on we were wondering why everything was closing so early – duh!
If you double click on the pictures they will enlarge.
After resting a bit we went out to walk around town a little. I hope this guy gets good pay. The street was uphill.

Between the hotel and the Centro Historico most of the streets were closed to vehicular traffic. Lots of people were out walking around and all the stores were open and busy. One shop was a place that sold Charro (Mexican cowboy) clothing. A couple suits and a dress that were in the window. Big sale 15% off.

Walking around the corner we saw the tailor working in the store's shop.

This area also had a lot of shops selling bridal, evening gowns and gowns for confirmation and 15^th birthdays.

These are for confirmation – for girls about 11 or 12 years old.

These are for special events – like flower girls or attendants at 15^th birthdays. They are for little girls about 7 or 8! It has got to be really expensive to have girls!

Continued walking down the street and happened to look up. These are manikins for a dress store on the ground level.

One of the beautiful old buildings in downtown Guadalajara

The Palacio de Gobierno on the Plaza de Armas. For more pictures and information about our visits to Guadalajara check out last years blog and our web pages.

From here on it was getting kind of dark – remember we were on the wrong time…..So the pictures are a little dark. The south side of Cathedral. The spires are yellow tile. Was surprised it was not illuminated at night. The French bandstand has concerts every Thursday and Sunday evenings. And it was Thursday evening!

A closer look at the bandstand with the band getting ready to start playing.

One of the lights in the plaza. Just thought it was pretty.

There were a lot of vendors selling things children like. This man was walking around and stopping every once in awhile to spread his bubbles. The kids loved chasing and popping the bubbles.

We stopped for awhile to listen to the music, squeezing in on one of the many crowded benches surrounding the bandstand. As we listened we noticed this guy in the jeans and light colored t-shirt. – performing to the music. I’m going to try and post a video of him. It was really neat to watch. And I didn’t see him ask for any money or molest any of the passers by. [I will give him his own post]

One of the busy pedestrian walkways. Stores selling everything from fresh food to clothes, kitchen utensils, yardage and electronics.

Then we turned a corner and found the “ladies who knit and/or crochet.” They sit in small groups along this walkway.

Usually one lady is the instructor the others are learning. They are crocheting slippers. The lady in the red is the maestra -teacher.

We stopped and talked to this group. They are knitting hats. The one lady told us that a lot of women who come to knit are women who have problems at home and this is therapy for them. They sell what they make.

After walking around checking out more stores we ended up back near one of the plazas and decided to have dinner at the outdoor café.

We both had chicken Caesar Salads. Very good. While eating we were entertained by a couple. He played the guitar and she sang. Her voice reminded me of Judy Collins – a pure lilting sound. Beautiful. After eating we headed back towards the hotel as it was getting pretty cool out. Again lack of planning on our part. It gets cold up at 5000 feet at night. Walked back through the Plaza de Armas. The gazebo was all lit up but the band was gone and the crowds were thinning out. (We thought it was 7:30 but it was actually 8:30)

Passed this building with the interesting window design. Don’t know why the horse or what the building was for.

We walked back to the hotel as stores closed down and people headed home. And yes we felt completely safe at all times.

The next morning – Friday, we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Both of us had French toast. Very good. We debated staying another day, but considering we hadn’t planned on even one night we decided to head back to Aticama. After picking Willie up at the garage we drove back through the city heading home. Thought this was interesting – the young girls are looking at the older woman the same way I was.

The Autopista traveling through the cane fields. Remember I said it was a really nice road.

We stopped in Tepic and went to WalMart to restock up on some of the things we can’t find in Aticama. Had a good time but it is always nice to get home.

So now it is time to finish posting about our trip to Guadalajara. This is part three of our trip. The other two posts are below this one. Tomorrow I'll post the band music - I hope.

Afternoon in Guadalaraja - Part 2

2012-01-21T13:27:00.002-07:00

After eating we got busy finding a hotel. There was one directly across from the parking garage so we went to check it out. US$35 for the night (the hour?) – clerk gave us a key so we could go check it out. One the third floor all walk up. Hummmm here’s a picture of it. The small bed was as hard as the floor.

Didn’t stay there. There was another hotel down a couple of doors – a real nice one and less than US$50 a night. Gran Hotel los Reyes.

It was no smoking, had a rooftop bar (didn’t go up there) and a nice street level restaurant (ate breakfast there) and a king sized comfortable bed and TV.

The view of the rooftops from our window.

We decided to walk around the area a little. So we headed for the central market – called either Mercado Libertad or San Juan de Dios. I had to buy some kind of night wear. On the way there we passed this building that is in the process of being restored.

Then we came to the San Juan de Dios church. Would you believe in our many times in Guadalajara we haven’t been to this church? The outside of it.

According to a sign out front. When the city was founded in 1542 there arose a need for a place for the health and lodging of travelers and in 1557 a permit was granted for the foundation of the first hospital in the city. In 1606 it was taken over by the followers of Saint John. The need to enlarge the health and lodging service were the reason for the construction of the present “San Juan de Dios” temple, begun on May 3 1726 and finished in 1750.

It was very pretty inside. The main altar

A side altar.

The outside of the church. Lots of arches with lots of potted plants between them. The view is from a bridge crossing the street to the Central Market place.

One of the old thick wooden doors.

Next to the church was this building.

The metal mariachis on top of the building attracted demanded further investigation.

What we found was the Plaza de los Mariachis. A narrow street completely filled with outdoor cafes. A big stage in the front. Every evening except Monday at 9:30 p.m. musicians gather here to play traditional songs and corridos (ballads.)

But we still had to get to the market. Just a side street we passed on the way.

We climbed the stairs to the overpass walkway into the market. We’ve never come in from this side before and we found ourselves in an area of restaurants. Each restaurant had a person who tried to talk us into stopping there and eating. Then down the stairs to the main level of shops. Walked through them to the center of the market place. We never pass through here without remembering Gil’s infamous bloody nose of thirty some years ago. To read about that click on this link http://www.movingon1.com/guadalajara.html

Bill stopping to watch two men play a game of chess.

Some of the produce in the market. Got some tangerines to snack on later.

Don’t have a clue what these are. The women selling them told us but still don’t know. We did understand that they came off one of the trees growing in this area.

From there we went up the stairs to find the clothing section. Finally settled on a white embroidered dress to wear as a nightgown that night. Hand embroidered and it cost 150 Pesos or about US$11.00 – its really pretty but the material is so thin you can see right through it. Do they even sell slips anymore?

By then we were both ready to head back to the hotel for a while – Guadalajara is over 5000 feet in altitude so it takes some getting used to when walking.
We went out just before dusk and walked around the Historic District. Had a great time. Read about it later.

More about our really nice evening on the town later.

Going to Guadalajara - Part 1

2012-01-21T09:36:00.002-07:00

Saturday a.m.
I think I am going to do this post about Guadalajara in sections. Hopefully I’ll get them all done today.
But before I go on – we will be staying here for another week. A couple of reasons, there is really no reason to go back to Mazatlan now as our friend who we were expecting to meet there can not come to Mexico yet. He has had a virus is not up to traveling.
Also we have good friends (John, Carol and George) here to visit with and we have TV here (compliments of John) and there is an important soccer game on this coming Wednesday. Must see it Barcelona and Real de Madrid – two best teams in

Spain

.
So anyway – we'll eat more good food at Tradiciones and continue to enjoy the sun and beach. And sometime today (or tomorrow at latest) I have to renew my Telcel as it is month to month. Used less than 1GB and we had 5GB available! Guess I don’t do anything that takes a lot of GBs – what ever they are…..
Back to our trip. Left around 7:30 Thursday morning. It was a 180 mile drive from here to the tannery. Just a morning picture of the sky and hills in the background.

One of the little towns we had to go through going up the hill to Highway 15D (the autopisto). See the nasty tope on the road in front of the car. The unmarked ones like this one are the ones that can do damage if you aren’t watching for them. The kids with their backpacks are on their way to school.

Once on the 15D and through Tepic it was an uneventful drive – but expensive – glad we were in the car. Four toll booths - 346 Pesos – around 25 US$. But it is an excellent road all the way. Into Guadalajara. The lane we were in was marked last year for when the PanAmerican Games were held here. At first I thought they were car pool lanes but then saw the PanAmerican information. Lots of traffic here after being on the beach.

More traffic and some of the older restored buildings along the street.

This is a store of some kind; those are manikins in the window. Had to take a picture of it. Glad we were stopped.

The route I had mapped out was great. We went right from the highway onto the street that took us clear through town and to the street we needed to turn on to reach the Taneria Ibarra. Of course I also had Gertrude – the GPS – as back up. But she tends to get lost with all the one way streets. Made it there okay. The street the place is on. There are homes and tanneries and leather supplies along here.

Some of the hides Bill was interested in. It’s a very small place, long and narrow. Those are leather scraps on the floor and more hides. Bill is talking to the owner, Ramón. He told Bill that business is good the Chinese are buying all the leather they can get their hands on. But they are buying the thicker hides not the thinner, supple stuff Bill is getting.

This is a very old machine that is used to measure the actual amount of leather you buy. The big piece of leather goes through it and the machine only measure the leather. If there is a hole in the hide or where the edges are ragged the machine does not measure it and you don’t have to pay for it. The dial measures area not weight. The hide goes through the very bottom part on the table. There are zillions of tiny “teeth” there that do the measuring.

One of the huge wooden barrels in the back of the shop where the hides are put to be treated – tanned.

After loading up the leather in Willie we went to a store/warehouse where dyes are sold. Bill, Ramon and the owner looking at the colors of dye available.

While Bill was inside making his choices I was outside watching whatever was going on. The kids were playing ball in the street when the sugar cane seller came by. They crowded around him buying pieces of cane.

Either they bought him out or he just like the shade of the tree. He stopped to prepare more cane for sale. First he had to clean the outer skin off. He did this quickly with his sharp machete.

When he had several stalks clean he chopped them into about one inch chunks then put them in plastic bags. He usually sells them by the bag full. Note that he is wearing a white apron.

There is another big tannery a couple of doors up the street. I was watching the deliveries there. This pickup has a load of partially processed hides. First time I’ve seen this. He backed his pickup up the driveway into the warehouse and unloaded.

This bigger truck was waiting in the street for him to leave so he could back in and unload his raw? – fresh? – unprocessed skins.

Several small sized dump trucks also came with loads. All oozing a white milky looking liquid from there beds. Smelly too. But kind of fascinating. A quick peek into the place. A load of skins sitting on the floor and another stake bed truck inside unloading. I could hear machinery running in there but did not walk inside to see what it was.

The kids that bought the sugar cane were interested in Bill and me and Willie. They were shy at first but finally managed to ask if we were from the US. Gave them some candy we always carry with us and then they wanted their picture taken. So here they are.

After buying all the stuff we came here for we headed back into downtown Guadalajara. Saw a McDonalds – yes Mickey Dees – and a public parking garage so pulled in to park. This parking was different – kind of valet service – leave the car and they lock and park it. While we were eating we decided to stay the night in Guadalajara not make the drive back to Aticama. Romantic and spontaneous yes. But not good planning. No night clothes, clean clothes, shaver, tooth brushes etc. Oh well.

Oh before I forget – didn’t get a picture of this so you’ll have to use your imagination. While eating we were watching the people going by on the sidewalk. A young man came into view. He was wearing a black baseball type hat decorated with shinny rhinestones or sequins – couldn’t tell which. His very tight t-shirt was bright red as were his legging type pants. Black ankle high boots. But the real attraction was his belt buckle. It was covered in rhinestones and the size and shape of a real handgun. Not a pistol like the cowboys used but the kind the detectives use in movies. It was hard to miss – I wonder if he has manhood issues or if he is just weird.
Time to find a hotel. More later on that and our evening in the city.

Guadalajara Trip

2012-01-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

Actually the title is a misnomer - this is not about the trip. Just letting everyone know that we ended up staying in Guadalajara over night and are now back in Aticama.
Had a very interesting time. Took lots of pictures.
Will sort them all out and post either later today or tomorrow morning.
Got to remember that I have to renew my Telcel time tomorrow too.

Cows on the beach and dinner in town

2012-01-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

Thursday a.m.
I wrote this last night but posting this morning.

We have been on the road for 100 days Wednesday.

Sight on the beach first thing this morning. Where are the cows going?

The yellow car was helping to herd them.

While I was out taking pictures Bill was making French toast for breakfast again. Ended up feeding George breakfast today. He and I had a discussion about spitting while Bill was busy cooking.

Today was much cooler, overcast all day. Temps only got up into the high 70s. Sure felt good to me.
Didn’t do much else till early afternoon when we watched a great soccer game. Barcelona beat Real de Madrid 2 to 1.
Decided to run into San Blas to Tradiciones again for dinner. On the way in we saw a car just barely off the road with a broken front axel. On the way home we saw a small fire burning next to the road. Turned out it was a warning signal for the broken down car. Quite effective.
Our dinner was very good. Big ensalada, papas fritas, Milanese de res (for me) and Milanese de pollo (for Bill.) Bill and the owner of the restaurant had a long conversation about the culture of Mexico. Wish I could write everything that was discussed. They were both laughing so hard about a couple of the things Bill could hardly translate. One thing was about buying tacos from roadside stands. They call them “taco planters” because after buying one of the tacos the consumer “plants” his left foot on the ground so when he takes a bite of the taco and it starts to drip he can shake his right foot to fend off the dogs that come running up to him. Well it was funny when he was demonstrating it.
After dinner we walked around the plaza a little. I got a real cute beaded bracelet for 20 Pesos about US$1.50.
Printed out some maps of Guadalajara today so hopefully we don’t get too lost tomorrow finding the tannery again. Going to be a long day 180 miles there and another 180 back here and we want to be home before it gets dark.
Getting ready to leave - will do short post when we get home.

Life in Aticama - pictures

2012-01-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

Tuesday a.m.

Well so much for good ideas! – didn’t do much walking yesterday – but did a little.
Bill cooked breakfast for everyone – Carol, John, George, me and himself. Then of course had to do some visiting too. So the morning slipped by.
I wanted to know how far we walked the day before. So we took the car down across the sand, over the dirt road and up into Aticama to Wendy’s – the hair cutters place. Turns out it was not as far as I thought. It was almost exactly one mile there. So round trip we did two miles. Not much by most people’s standards but I'm ashamed to say for us it is pretty good.
The main street of Aticama just as the dirt road from the beach comes up to meet the paved road These are all restaurants – mostly serving oysters that are gathered right off the shore.

Our directions to Wendy’s were – when you get to the “chicken place” turn left. Well this is the “chicken place” It is an outdoor grill where chicken is cooked. The lady is just getting the coals to flames up. She is using an electric fan to hurry the process up.

And here is a picture of Wendy’s salon. She does everything including putting on false nails. Carol got her hair trimmed there yesterday too.

Stopped at the minisuper to get some eggs. This time we brought our own empty carton to put them in. Hadn’t noticed it before but there is a Yaka tree (from the breadfruit family) out front full of fruit. These things are so heavy it’s hard to believe they can stay hanging there.

We drove Willie over by the main plaza and parked to walk around a little. The plaza fronts up to the ocean. Just a few of the birds there. Seagulls, pelicans, herons and cormorants.

Also a small fishing fleet there. That’s who all the fish we see cooking come from.

They are working on their nets. It seems to be a never ending job.

So is this man. He was sitting in the rocks on an old piece of log all by himself working away.

A closer look at his hands, the net and his tools.

A tree that was interesting looking growing at the edge of the plaza.

He is watching the world go by. He is always here sitting on the sea wall.

Walked across the street to look into the church. It has been closed every time we’ve gone past it. I heard while in Mazatlan that the roof had caved in but looking in the windows couldn’t see any problems. This pickup was parked out next to it. Neat paint job

More fish restaurants on the other end of town. Seems there are more restaurants than anything here. Does anyone eat at home?

Some of their menu items

Heading back to Willie I saw this palm in the Plaza - Cute

Back to Alfie where we spent the rest of the day. Seems like each day is a little warmer than the last. AC is running more and more.
Oh, forgot, got up yesterday morning to no water from the park. Seems like someone – one of the workers here – filled the water tank yesterday. To fill it they shut off the valves leading to the campsite. Works fine when one remembers to go back and shut off the filling hose and reopen the valves. Thank goodness John knew where to go to fix the problem. –Yes we had water in our tank so there really wasn’t a problem – but guess one person here was running right off the water connection.
Bill called his friend - supplier – of hides in Guadalajara and the leather he had ordered is there waiting to be picked up. So guess on Thursday we’ll take a run into Guadalajara to pick it up. (If we can find the place again!)
Downloaded a couple more library books last night. Sure is handy. Time to post this and get on with todays adventures. Already saw something interesting today.....

Walk into Aticama for Hair Cut

2012-01-17T10:49:00.002-07:00

Tuesday a.m.
After a couple of days of doing nothing we had a busy – well kind of – yesterday.
I had decided that I needed, really needed, to get my hair cut. Not only did it look terrible it was driving me crazy in the heat. Bill and I had both agreed the night before that we weren’t getting enough exercise and that we really needed to get out and walk more. So instead of driving into Aticama to get my hair cut we walked. I don’t think the distance is too great, it just seemed like it to me. We walked down the empty beach (this is looking up the beach.)

Passed this lovely dead spiky fish.

From the beach we took the dirt gravel road that goes along between the hill and the ocean. Lots of interesting vegetation along there. Flowers of different kinds and this papaya plant.

The leaves of everything are covered in dust from the road. The whole are needs a good rain storm, but that won’t happen for several months.

Past the cemetery – big tree right in the middle of it.

As we got almost to town saw this older home with these pretty red plants growing in front of it. This side of the hill is in shade but the leaves were getting a little sun.

The road from the beach comes into town near a lot of restaurants that sell grilled fish and raw oysters. Several men were already enjoying the bounty. Once on the main road we turned left towards the haircutter. Passed this wall. Don’t know how old it is but it sure has seen lots and lots of different coats of paint.

About four blocks further and we found Wendy’s – She has a pretty pink store front. When we got there there was a purple shower curtain pulled across the door. We could hear talking inside so pulled the curtain aside. Wendy was there with a friend. Bill told her that I needed my hair cut. She told us that it was Monday and she didn’t work on Monday. She was just there cleaning up. Bill continued to talk to her until he convinced her to cut my hair. He offered to pay double the price. So into the chair I went. She asked how I wanted it cut. Bill told her to cut it like his – very short. She made him repeat that. Then to work she went. My hair dropped in chunks onto the floor. She looked a little worried as she kept cutting. So anyway – it is done – just the way I wanted it. Very, very short and so much cooler. When Bill went to pay her she at first didn’t want to take double the price but he convinced her to. One haircut 50 Pesos – US$3.70!

But now we had to walk back. Up and over a hill back to the beach we went.

Passed this home where the lady had just finished her laundry. That is the laundry sink.

Back on the road to the beach we were being passed by cars and trucks going about their business. Then this man came along on his horse. Don’t know was was in the milk cans but they were full. The tops were covered with plastic wrap.

Got home and both of us were ready to rest a while. We really need to get out and exercise more!

In the early evening we went into San Blas to get dinner. Neither of us felt like cooking. Our favorite restaurant Tradiciones was closed – it is Monday – lots of things closed on Mondays. So we went to McDonalds found a parking place right in front and had a very good dinner. Walked around the plaza after dinner. Went to a little store to buy onions. Unusual store had a little bit of everything from produce to ribbons to clothes.

After getting our onions we drove home. And discovered we'd missed a beautiful sunset. Oh well another day.

This morning we’ve just been visiting with our neighbors.

A Busier Monday

2012-01-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

Will do a very short post for today and a longer one about today either tomorrow morning or later tonight. We had a busy day today. And took a long walk. Then to dinner in town tonight.

Sunday Morning

2012-01-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Spent a very quiet day yesterday – Bill’s leg was acting up again. The extent of my ambition was to do another load of laundry and watch the last day of NASCAR testing at Daytona. I even got bored. Then a couple soccer games in the evening.
And for a Saturday the beach was almost empty. More vendors then people to sell to – down here by us anyway. And it was one of the hotter days here. Hot and humid. And the electricity was so erratic the air conditioner in here wouldn’t stay on. UGH.
Boy! I see we got a SS raise! It might even buy a breakfast once a month when we get home. Shame on me – I should just shush up and appreciate.
Chip is already up in his ultra-lite. Seems like this would be a nice time of day to go up. Not too hot and pretty clear.
Bill is making French toast for breakfast. I was sure I’d brought syrup with us but can’t find it…..guess sugar will have to do. Next time we go to a big market I’ll buy some as it is now sold here in Mexico.
A new RV came in yesterday and they have a couple of dogs who bark at every one who passes their RV.

Sunny Saturday in San Blas

2012-01-14T08:13:00.001-07:00

The sun has come up over the mountain and it looks like it will be a really nice day again.
What is with Blogger? Some times I can just sign right in, sometimes I have to put in my password and sometimes like today I have to put in my username and the password to get into it? Almost couldn't remember my username.......
Fixed Mexican rice, corn and Italian sausages for dinner last night. Used some of Bill's chimichurri on the sausages - yummy.
I have been reading way to much...my eyes are starting to cross. Wow just saw on TV that cruise ship that is sinking off Italy. Don't expect to see something like that now days. Guess that captain won't be captaining any more.
We're going into San Blas this morning with John and Carol to go to the Central Market and then to a little museum there. Maybe go to lunchwhile there. Not sure yet.
More later....

2012-01-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

Recalculating again. Looks like we will be spending another week in Aticama. Our friends that we were going back to Mazatlan to meet won't be coming for another couple of weeks or more! So here we are.
This morning Telcel was having "technical difficulties" again and there was no on-line here in Alfie. If I get really antsy I can go over to the restaurant and use their wifi....so far haven't had to do that.
Did a load of laundry while watching NASCAR again. And found out much to my delight that we can run the washer/dryer and the air conditioning and the TV at the same time.
Right now Bill is making more chimichurri - parsley, onion, garlic, oilve oil and secret ingredients - its good on bbq and to dip bread in.
Saw a couple who spend winter in Las Jabis in Mazatlan they rode their motorcycle down to Puerta Vallerta and were headed back to Mazatlan. Stopped at restaurant here for breakfast.
Our friend Carol took a ride in Chip's ultra lite yesterday. She loved it. I took some movies of her and gave them to her this morning.
George and Ms Tioga are back over here on our side of the campground. And another couple from Colorado have pulled in. The beach has been pretty empty the past few days. Just normal car and truck traffic using the beach as a highway.

Just watching TV - and not much else.

2012-01-12T14:47:00.001-07:00

Went into town to eat breakfast and get some Pesos from the ATM - exchange rate is not as good as it was a week ago. Can't do anything about that.
Then went to the bakery with all the bees buzzing around. Some of the rolls getting ready for baking. Also found out John is allergic to bees - what was he doing going in here?

Bill also picked up some analgesic for his leg. Got a salve from the Huichol Indians that seems to work pretty good.

George just moved back to the other side of the campground, so now he's in the grass again. And two of the other RVs here have continued on their journeys.
The ultra lite - waiting to go flying.

Got a cute pair of earrings - one a man and the other a woman.

Been watching NASCAR testing most of the afternoon. Kyle has a pretty fast car the #18.
Nothing else exciting going on. Haven't made up our minds whether or not we are leaving tomorrow.

NASCAR is BACK

2012-01-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning bright and early
Just discovered there will be NASCAR testing on TV today - actually for the next couple of days. Might have to rethink our decision to leave here tomorrow!
The TV is MINE for a few hours today. I've got to get my fix.
I mentioned about a week ago that Chip the guy with the ultra lite was here but some pieces of his plane had fallen off his van so he was waiting to get new pieces. They came yesterday and right now he is assembling his plane. So will get pictures of it later. Even take another ride?!?
Hummm Ms. Tioga and George are gone. What's with that?
Need to get ready to go into town for breakfast so I can be back at 11 to watch TV.
Yesterday we checked out a different route back out to the 15D - the autopista and found it will be much better than the way we came in. No narrow curvy twisty road, just more topes going through the town of Villa Hidalgo.

Pretty Sunset - More RVs here.

2012-01-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I write this blog is to share the everyday life of the Mexican culture. There is so much unwarranted negative press I’m doing my best to counteract some of it. All of us here in the campground have had wonderful interactions with the people here. And we all feel safe and have seen nothing of the violence headlined in the North American papers. We wouldn’t be here if we thought it wasn’t safe.
The restaurant here at the campground had a big private party Tuesday afternoon and evening. About 100 people from the schools around here. Mostly administrative staff. Lots of cooking going on and an eleven piece Mariachi band. Walked over by there and listened for a while.
Another RV came into the campground in the afternoon. There are now six of us here. Only one more full-hookup space left. One couple is from Oregon the other from

Canada

, don’t think they will be here too long though. Just passing through on their way south. John and Carol's RV is just out of the picture on the right.

I fixed dinner for a change – Bill’s night off – fixed Alaskan Wild Salmon steaks, olive oil and herb noodles and a salad. It tasted good and looked pretty.

Last nights sunset - one of the redder ones.

Wednesday a.m.

Bill is off and bouncing around outside somewhere – he just asked me if I wanted to go to Guadalajara??? That’s 180 miles away – in one day??? Back and forth??? In the car not Alfie.

Bloody Footprints in the Market

2012-01-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

Tuesday a.m.

I slept in this morning. Was reading last night until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.
Sunset the night before last. I forgot I had taken it – couple days pictures were still on the camera!

Also have a couple from our trip to Tepic yesterday. When we were going up the hill to Tepic (climbing over 3500 feet in 30 miles) we passed this older man (looked to be in his 60s at least) walking down the hill pushing a wheelbarrow – in it were two good sized bags. Like maybe grain or sand. He was miles from any town. After finishing our shopping and heading home we passed him again, still pushing the wheelbarrow and still heading down hill. Still a long way from any town. Can’t imagine how his arms and shoulders felt. And he must have pushed the wheelbarrow up the hill to begin with.

Just happened to see this mask outside a building in Tepic. Don’t know what it is for but liked the way it reflected in the building.

Passing through one of the small town we went by this truck full of green bananas. Two guys riding on top of the fruit.

Bill just asked what we were going to do today. Hummmm Haven’t come up with anything yet. We do need to go buy dish washing soap – forget to get it yesterday in Tepic. Actually didn’t know we were about to run out. We did go into San Blas stopping first at Tradiciones to have breakfast. Any one who comes to San Blas should stop there for a meal – open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had an omelet and Bill had chili rellenos. It is on the street that the churches are on, about two blocks east on the south side.

Went into a small store in the Central Market to get the dish detergent – and guess what else they had - capers! At half the price we paid for them in Tepic! Anyway while we were there one of the little carnicerias (meat markets) inside got a delivery. The pick up with a bed full of butchered pork backed up to the curb.

The delivery guy got out walked around to the back, took his flip flops off and climbed into the bed of the truck amongst the raw meat.

He picked up one of the carcasses and threw it over his shoulder.

Then carried it into the market. Wonder what his t-shirt is like by the end of the day.

His bloody foot print on the market floor. Ah, this is an interesting country. Never know what you might see.

Walking back to the car we passed on of the little carts that sets up in the street and serves food.

This one is here all the time. Just closing and locking up at night. They serve a pretty varied menu. But what I found interesting is the way they give the food to the customer. They use oval plates – hard decorated plastic kind – some time before they open or get busy they put all the plates into clear plastic bags – like the kind you use in a supermarket for produce. Then the plates are stacked ready to use. The food goes on top of the plastic bag. When someone is done eating the bag is thrown away and the plate is still clean. I thought that was pretty neat. Easier to eat off a real plate and no dish washing. Might try it at home some time!

We bought four kilos of the uncooked breaded chicken filets at Todo de Pollo – separated them in to dinners and they are now in the freezer waiting to become an easy meal.
Another RV just pulled into the park between us and Ms Tioga.

A couple of do nothing days

2012-01-09T18:00:00.003-07:00

Monday p.m.

Yesterday we spent the day just relaxing, reading and watching TV. Bill cooked a delicious dinner of chicken filet with fried egg topped with caramelized onions and peppers. Also potatoes with butter and parsley. Also visited with Carol and John and George off and on all day. Talk about laid back.

There were a lot of people on the beach and lots and lots of traffic. Also a bunch of kids from a soccer team from Tepic. They were down here working out in the sand. I got tired just watching them.

Just a few observations and pictures. We saw this guy on his bicycle the other day. Ingenious way to use CDs as reflectors.

These flowers were in a church. Beautiful - they are real - just grow wild along the road.

Taxi service - Looks like the whole team of something. Don't think there is room for the other two guys.

Another loaded pick up - this one with cane.

This morning before I got a chance to post we took off and drove up the hill to Tepic to do some grocery shopping. Went to Soriana instead of WalMart this time. Even found capers and veal. After we got home and put away the groceries we both settled down to read - and got so interested in our books I didn't stop reading (Bill was sleeping!) until George knocked on the door wondering if we were okay. And now it is time for dinner so guess I'll just post this and think about tomorrow.

Mexcaltitan - Island City

2012-01-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we drove about 60 miles north of here to the Island of Mexcaltitan. One of Mexico's Pueblo Magicos. Some historians believe that Mexcaltitán is the legendary island of Aztlan the original home of the Aztec people. About 800 people still live there. The road there goes through lots of farm land. Corn, sugar cane, soy beans, tobacco crops and mango and banana plantations. The last few miles of the trip was more like going through desert. Flat and dry with scrubby bushes. But I guess during the rainy season it turns into a big lake.
The town is on an almost round island sitting in the middle of shallow brown water. It is set up kind of in the shape of a wagon wheel. With the few streets going from the hub to the water. There is also a road that circles the island between the hub and the water. There is only one hotel and two restaurants.

Arrived at the parking area and got on a small boat with an outboard motor for the trip to the island. As we motored through the water ways the boat man had to be very careful to keep the boat in the channel. The channel was well marked with bouys with solar powered lights. If he strayed out of the channel we could become grounded.
Our first sight of the town.

Mexcaltitan - Island City

From the dock we walked up a short narrow street towards the hub of the town. The sidewalks are very high. No motor vehicles are allowed on the island so it is very safe to walk up the middle of the road.

All deliveries are made by boat and then either physically carried or hauled on three wheeled bicycle carts. A short walk later we reached the center of town and the plaza. Interesting Christmas tree.

The church on one side of the plaza.

The altar in the little church.

As we arrived at the church a baptismal ceremony was just ending. A beautiful little boy in his fancy white outfit. He had two young girls as attendants. The little girl in pink had on silver shoes with 2" heels. She is carrying a basket with flower petals.

We walked down one of the "spokes" to the outer ring road. Afew vendors were set up in the shade of the buildings. All we bought was a postcard showing the island from the air.

We soon came to the outer ring road. You can see the curve to the street in this panoramic picture.

Again the high sidewalks because during the rainy season from August to September the streets flood. Need a boat to travel around town. Looking the other direction down the street.

Most of the homes had a plaque above their doors identifying their family.

A couple more pictures of the town. The first a very narrow alley and the next a typical street scene.

After walking aorund for awhile we stopped at one of the water side restaurants for cool drinks. After pouring our sodas in a glass filled with ice we wondered if the ice was made with purified water. Hum???...It was not ice cubes it was chunks of ice chipped off a block of ice. My contention was the island was a draw for tourists so they would surely used purified water. Well no one got sick so maybe I was right. When we asked the teenager waiting on us he didn't seem to have a clue what we were asking.

The lack of tourists has really hurt this town. Now they are living off what ever they can make fishing.

Walked back to the docks and engaged a different boat to take us back to the parking lot. but before he did he took us all around the island. Had to stop many times to pull his motor up out of the water and clean the vegetation off it. And had to be very careful to not get into the very shallow water. How shallow was it? A bird about 20 feet from the boat was standing on the bottom and his belly was quite a ways above the water.

The restaurant where we had our drinks.

A view of the town from the boat as we were headed back to the mainland.

Another neat day spent exploring Mexico's countryside.

Today, Sunday, we are just taking it easy. Enjoying the air conditioing and watch a couple soccer teams from Tepic doing their excercises on the beach. Oh to have so much energy.

Drive through the Jungle in Nayarit, MX

2012-01-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

A short video 1 and 1/2 minutes of a little part of our drive up towards the coffee plantations.
More of our adventure is in the post just before this one.

A ride on the El Camino Real in Willie

2012-01-07T08:52:00.001-07:00

Saturday a.m
Just tried to post a short video of our trip into the jungle yesterday. Was taking too long so will leave it for later. And I only took pictures when I didn’t have to hang on. We all had a ball. Except maybe Willie [I think he enjoyed it – after all that is what he is built for.] And The Driver, Bill, got a pretty good work out but seemed to enjoy it too. I know Carol, John and I sure did.
We started off by going past a banana load dock. Many men busy there loading the 18 wheeler

and unloading smaller pickups.

Then through the town of La Palma. It is a pretty good sized town. The owners of the El Chaco RV Park live there.

Then on to the smaller town of La Bajada – their welcome sign.

It’s a pretty little town nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Madre. The road through town eventually reaches the old Camino Real. The Padres Junipero Serra and Kino followed this road from central Mexico all the way to San Blas where they took a ship to Baja where they started to build the first missions. Wow!

After the sign before the town. Road has narrowed done some already.

Going through La Bajada. Keeping on the smoother part of the road was tricky. And it is a two way road.

Heading out of town. We stopped and asked an old man if the road kept going. His answer was yes – it went way up the hill to Tepic. And with the 4 wheel drive we shouldn’t have too much problem. Hummmm… He was laughing when he said it. We asked about the coffee plantations and yes they were up there. He watched us as we pulled away. Willie in 4 wheel drive. View of the jungle – all kinds of plants with some banana trees here and there.

The trees closing in on the road? Trail? Again it was cobblestone and dirt and rocks.

Oops – getting smaller, more jungle. Does it really go around that corner?

Yep almost like being in a Tarzan movie. Lots of bird sounds.

High grass growing down the middle tells us not many vehicles come this way any more.

Just some of the vegetation. Lots of it unknown, mangos, bananas, coffee plants, flowers, ferns etc.

After a particularly rough part of the road we stopped and got out to check out the road in front of us. See John and Bill walking up the road.

As Willie waited patiently. He was having fun.

After walking up the road a ways John discovered an area where we could turn around. It was where another trail came down out of the mountain to join the road we were on. Part of the view from there.

Me Tarzan You Jane – Willie is up the road to the right. Really, really jungle.

Just one of the strangely colored butterflies we saw. Also saw a yellow and black stripped one but I couldn't talk it into landing so I could take a picture of it.

The road that continues up the hill towards Tepic. As it turns out, but we didn’t know it at the time, we’d already been through the worst part of the road – as the plantation people no longer use the lower part of the road. They just go from here up and down. See how nice and smooth it looks. Another day perhaps.

As we were taking pictures and enjoying the scenery a pick up truck came down the other road. He blew his horn to attract our attention and we had to move Willie to let them past. Wonder what he was thinking about us gringos locos!

But we did find coffee plants – this part of the plantation appeared to be abandoned but still lots of plants with beans/ berries?.

A close up of the beans/berries some of them are red others green and some dried up brown.

Even closer.

Soon we were back in civilization - La Bajada. And breakfast and or dinner was just walking down the street. Here chicky, chicky.

Oh oh, Hi Bus – pulled the mirror in for this passing.

Coffee beans drying on a porch. Stopped and asked a man who lives there about the beans. He said they pick them, dry the, roast them, dry them and make their own coffee. They just grow wild in the jungle! Along with bananas, mangos and star fruit. What more could you want? What a country.

Going down through town past some of the neat houses.

As we were passing through town I noticed that the road to the left of us crossed over a fast flowing river. Then I made the mistake of sayin , "Oh look that road goes right through the river." Faster then The Driver could grab the wheel Willie turned left and headed across the river.

But much to his dismay the road didn't go any where so we had to turn around and go back across it. This area is used for clothes washing. A bottle of detergent and two white plastic buckets of wet clothes were sitting beside the road waiting to be washed.

Uneventful trip through the rest of the town and on past La Palma and the banana loaders and over the beach to home. Willie and The Driver deserve a pat on the back. Maybe next time we’ll try the road from the top of the mountain down………ssssh don’t tell Bill.
So ended our adventure for the day - it was lots of fun.
Today, Saturday, we had another adventure - involving lots of driving and a boat ride. Till next time Adios.

A busy Friday from Morning till Evening

2012-01-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Friday p.m.
We had a really busy day today. A really fun day. Started out by going out to breakfast at Tradiciones. Some stores and restaurants here in Mexico put chairs or saw horses or signs out in the street in front of their establishments to keep people from parking there. However, if you know the owner or are going to go in there they come out and move the obstacle. So we always manage to park right in front of the place. They recognize Willie as we pull up and come right out to move the sign. This morning we had delicious omelets for breakfast. Bill and John talking to the owner telling him we’d see him tomorrow.

From there we walked a couple of blocks over to the Central Market to do some shopping. The market here is kind of small compared to what we are used to in Mazatlan. John looking over some produce. You are given a plastic bowl to pur your selections in.

We got some onions, green, red and yellow peppers. Also a dozen eggs - no carton. Didn't realize until today that the eggs aren't sold by the "how many" but by the kilo. After counting out the eggs they are weighed and the price figured. Eggs are 21 pesos a kilo - the dozen cost us 20 pesos or about US$1.45. I happened to notice this bicycle parked in the corner next to the bread and carrots. What ever works I guess.

Finished our shopping and headed for the campground. Fresh fish anyone?

Got back to the RV park and George was gone, he went up the hill into Tepic to do some major shopping at big stores.

We put away our purchases then took a ride up a small road through two little towns and into the middle of no where. It was great. More on that in my next post. It was too much fun to stick in the middle of this post.
After our jungle ride we came home again to recuperate. Especially dauntless Willie and the fearless Driver. After a bit Bill, Carol and I went back into San Blas to the main plaza for the La Rosca de Reyes celebration. January 6th commemorates the arrival of the three Wise Men and is a very important day for the children. Here in San Blas the government provided a celebration in the main plaza with entertainment, piñatas and presents for the children of the area. After parking in front of the restaurant again we walked the two blocks to the plaza. The first thing we saw when we arrived there was the inevitable vendor of plastic pull toys. They are so colorful. He was settled in for the evening.

Then we watched as hundreds of balloons were strung up all around one part of the plaza. There was a big stage full of toys, rows of chairs and tables. The area was already crowded with parents and children.

Tables were covered in bright turquoise table cloths. Just after we arrived a pick up pulled into the area and cake after cake was brought out and set on the tables. There were also cases of fruit juice.

There was the stage in the front and a blow up plastic slide near the back. Lots and lots of chairs in between. The children had to line up and get a number and get their hands stamped.

Piñatas were brought out and set up in two places. Loved watching the children take swings at them. As one was destroyed another was brought out. Colorful pieces of piñata were everywhere.

This girl had a wicked swing. Unlike most piñatas these did not have anything inside of them. It was just for the fun of smashing them.

He was so serious. Each child got three swings then it was someone else’s turn.

This little one could have cared less. The bigger sister was also watching a young brother.

A very short video of the pinata.

After the piñatas were taken care of a there was a magic show. With lots of audience participation. And lots of laughter and music. By now the sun was going down and the lights in the plaza were coming on.

The old church across the street.

We left before the gifts were given out. We’d had a long day. I’m sure the celebration lasted a long time. There were a lot of children and a lot of gifts to give out and cake to eat.
Just as we were leaving the plaza all the lights went out. And I mean all the lights in the town. And come to find out all the lights in the area including the campground which is about five miles from San Blas. The lights came back on just as we reached the car. No big deal. (Well not then anyway.)

Bill cooked a delicious dinner for us. Red potatoes with butter and parsley and some of the breaded chicken filets with capers and lemon sauce. Double yum. He even did the dishes! What have I done to deserve this?
And then the power went out again and is staying out……..Sure glad we have an inverter. Power came back on and then went out again - this time taking the Telcel connection with it. It's now about an hour later and I just got back on line. Kind of reminds me of Brown County!
So will hurry and post this and then work on the Pictures about our trip into the jungle earlier today.

The Bugs are Back !!!!

2012-01-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

Friday
ARRRGGG! The little moth bugs are back. Killed at least five of them last night. Where are they coming from? They must have been hiding in a cupboard hatching. They are like having little spots before your eyes. You see them then when you get the swatter out you can’t see them. So again we look like nuts running around in here waving our arms.
I’m up early this a.m. Was dreaming about walking somewhere and got a cramp in my leg. Woke me up! Had to stand up to get rid of it. And by then I was wide awake so its only 6 o’clock and I can barely see a rim of gray over the mountain.
AND the Telcel stick is being nasty – it will connect for only a few seconds then loses it connection. It was doing that last night too. How about when we’re born they just stick a WiFi chip connection type thing in our fingers. And then we’ll always be connected. Easier? Have to mention that to the government I’m sure they’d love that. Just KIDDING! (at 8:20 the Telcel started working. Don't know what the problem was - just as long as it works.)

Did I write that yesterday after having breakfast at the great little restaurant of Tradiciones Bill went next door to Todo de Pollo and bought some of the uncooked breaded chicken fillets? We separated them into meals and froze them. Quick easy good meal when we want one.

The guy with the ultra-lite is in the hotel next door, we saw him downtown a couple of days ago. Were wondering why we didn’t see his plane. Some how while driving to the hotel he lost one of the bags containing some of the parts of the plane. He thinks it dropped off the car roof (where he carries them)somewhere near here so he has offered a reward for it. And he has all the speaker trucks that run around the beach and town advertising for it. Sure hope he gets it back. Shoot! I was looking forward to another ride.
George and Ms Tioga have left for a trip to Tepic for supplies -
We are going to find a road we can see up in the hills. Don't know where it is from or where it goes. Should be fun.

Lots of Bananas, Mangos and Papayas

2012-01-05T19:20:00.003-07:00

Still Thursday

Wonder of wonders Bill got the air conditioning to stay on in the Alfa – feels soooooo good. We had gone into town to eat breakfast and when we got back here even with the windows open and the fan running it was HOT in here. So he fiddled around and managed to get it to stay on. Can’t run anything else at the same time – so the heck with the laundry it can wait.

Continuing yesterdays adventure. Bill headed up the road till we got to a sign saying La Libertad. There he turned off and headed into the hills. At the first tope we slowed down to watch a housewife come out to buy fresh tortillas from the boy on the motorcycle.

An interesting bright blue house at the outskirts of the town. The bird houses were full of little green birds.

As we got closer into the middle of town we passed many little stores. By little I mean really little – maybe 10’ by 10’ and stuffed full of things for sale. This was a variety store of sorts. For sure brooms and bananas for sale. Guarded by the little cat.

Continuing on up the cobblestone street – it looked like school had just let out. The thing in the middle of the street right in front of the car is a pigeon just landing or taking off. Didn’t realize he was there until I was looking at the pictures.

Passed this place – At one time it looks like it might have been a fancy place. Nothing much left but the front walls (kind of) and the metal gates.

It was getting hot and we’d been exploring for awhile so everyone was thirsty. Pulled over to a small abarrote and stopped so drinks could be purchased and consumed. Bill sat down on the curb to visit with a man outside of the store to find out about the town and its history. George joined Bill sitting on the curb. About then a whole slew of kids came walking down the street. They stopped to talk to us. The longer we talked the more children stopped to listen. Just a few of the kids and a man ridding by on his horse.

While they were talking I was wandering around taking pictures. Don’t know why there was a drawing of a pregnant woman on this building but took a pic of it.

Just a couple more old interesting places.

The man Bill was talking to told him that we could continue on up the road and where it forked take a left and we’d get beautiful views of the plantations. So away we went. Took the left fork – oh oh, soon the road just kind of disappeared. Luckily we hadn’t gone far – as he had to back out no where to turn around. A young man came running over to the car as we sat and contemplated the road –disappearing road in front of us – He told Bill that it didn’t go anywhere but if we go back and take the right fork we’d get to the plantations. While he was talking to us he was eating a juicy star fruit. When we asked him about them he showed us the tree they were growing on and pick a bunch for us. He said it was a great life when you could just walk up to a tree and pick lunch. Have to agree with him.

On the right fork we soon passed this rock wall and beautiful colorful bougainvillea.

Then a whole field of papaya plants. Lots and lots of papaya grow on one plant.

Looking out over bananas, mangos, yakas and papaya groves. As far as we could see.

The road was very interesting – all cobblestone for miles and miles. Up and down and back and forth through the hills. Can you imagine building it? I wonder how many men and how much time it took to build.

A few big trucks, some pickups and guys on motorcycles passed us. They were going back toward town. There was usually just enough room to pull over and let them go by. Then we were passed by this man and his burros.

Stopped to get a picture of this bunch of bananas in a plastic bag. Inside the bag was a sheet of newspaper over the fruit to keep it out of direct sunlight.

Down on hill and we found a little pond. Look at these philodendrons. They were huge and beautiful.

We continued on up the hill through the bananas.

Another bunch of bananas these in a paper covering.

Dusty Willie waiting for us while we take pictures of plants.

Finally decided to turn around and head back to town. And who should we see but the man with the burros and the load of grasses. The bus had to pass very carefully as the other burro was on the other side of the road.

Every day sights in a small town.

Today after getting back after breakfast we didn't do much – just enjoyed the air conditioning – We have been trying to plan some up coming adventures - but everytime we say this day we'll do that - five minutes later we've changed our minds. Oh Well!
Just finishing up a load of laundry - have to fold it and put it away and it is done for a couple of days. When we get back to Mazatlan we really need to give Alfie a good cleaning.

Checking out little town of Singayta

2012-01-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Thursday a.m.

Another beautiful morning on the beach. Going to be another hot day I think. Can feel the sun heating up already. Willie is getting a bath as I write - he really got dirty yesterday with all our roaming through the plantations. More on that later.

Last night we back into San Blas for dinner at Tradiciones – it was an excellent meal. And under $30 for four of us. Probably going there again for breakfast as soon as I get this posted.

A couple of days ago I was looking around on the net for things to do while here in Aticama and I found a web page about the little town of Singayta. According to the web page. It was a town built in the old tradition and the people living there had started a nursery to grow orchids. They also had a tourist center where horses could be rented and boat rides into the mangrove forests were available. So we thought – what the heck lets go find it. Well we found it – a very interesting little place just off the highway. We turned off the highway up a cobblestone road. One of the homes set back from the road. Imagine walking up those steps with your groceries.

This looked like it might have been a meeting place of some sort – no one around it now. In fact we didn’t see anyone as we drove around and through the town. I've just learned that these pointy shape roofs are palapas and the flat ones made with palm fronds are ramadas.

Lots of signs of inhabitants though – laundry on the line drying and sounds of music in the air.

Lots of “living” fences this one would certainly keep me out!

Finally we saw this woman walking down the street heading for a tiny abarrotes – a little general store.

We parked and Bill went in to talk to her – ask her about the nursery. When he got back into the car he knew where the nursery was. As he backed up onto the main street we saw a school where a bunch of the children were out in the yard. They were waving to us and hollering “Hello” “Hello” so of course we had to stop. Bill got out with a bag of candy we always keep filled for just this type of occasion.

He went up to the fence and immediately had lots of friends. The teacher said it was okay to give them the candy. Bill and George had a wonderful time interacting with them. Even some kids who weren’t in school showed up with their Mom.

Some of the bigger girls got brave and come up to the car to talk to Carol and me. Their English was pretty good.

After asking our names and shaking our hands they wished us a good trip and went back to their studies.

Then on to the nursery where we talked to the owner Francisco who told us the sad story of the orchids and tourists attractions. They are no more. The government took control of the orchids and put them on a protected list so they can’t be gathered or raised or sold anymore. They still grow in the hills but the roads getting to them have been destroyed.
As for the horses and boat rides – no tourists came and according to Francisco the village didn’t make an effort to promote it so like so many dreams here in Mexico they have just disappeared.
However the nursery is still up and running. It is a beautiful and well cared for place.

We spent a lot of time just walking around under the shade and enjoying the exotic plants. These are different type of Birds of Paradise.

Just liked the look of this palm leaf.

Francisco told us if we drove further up the highway we'd come to the little town of La Libertad and from there we could drive up into the mountains through all kinds of plantations. We didn’t have to be told twice! Off we went.

We are off to get breakfast now - will continue about La Libertad when we get home. Also just put a load of laundry in - always chores to do.

Found a good restaurant in San Blas

2012-01-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday afternoon
After posting this morning we all piled in the Jeep and went into San Blas for breakfast. We went to Tradiciones, the little restaurant we found last night.

Had a very good breakfast. The inside of the restaurant. It is very small and simple.

I had French Toast, Bill had a ham and cheese omelet.

Here is the cook in the tiny kitchen preparing our meals.

All of us were pleased with our food. And will for sure return there again. Maybe tonight for dinner!

Next door to the restaurant was a place called Todo Pollo – Everything Chicken. As you can see it is a very small place all newly painted with two very friendly clerks.

They sold breaded chicken filets all ready to take home and fry, rolled chicken filets stuffed with cheese and covered with bacon. Just take it home and cook it. There was stir fry chicken with lots of vegetables – take it home and heat it. Also these neat potatoes and onion rings – they just need to be cooked.

Every thing a busy housewife needs for a quick dinner.

From there we headed up the highway to try to find the little town of Singayta. I’d read about it on the internet and thought it might be a neat place to visit. Their web page said they had a nursery that sold orchids and that the tourists could take boat rides into the mangroves and horse back rides. Well it seems that the web page is old and lack of tourists has changed everything.
More about Singayta and La Liberdad another small town in the hills.

Empty Beaches and Closed Restaurant

2012-01-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

Wednesday a.m.
“Recalculate”

Yep that’s what we did. We are going to spend more time here in Aticama. Maybe a couple of days, maybe a week more. Not sure yet. However – yesterday was soooo hot here I had to go to the neighbors to cool off. One problem with bringing the Alfa down here is we cannot run the air conditioning as the power in the campground is not good enough. We do not have roof air units we have a big basement unit that needs at least 30 amps and we don’t have that here. We can turn on the generator but that is annoying to other people. So for now I’ll just go visit. Thank goodness it really cools down at night so sleeping is no problem.

At least I felt much better yesterday. We started off the day by taking a short walk on the beach. Lots and lots of beach and no other people were on it. Guess everyone has gone home and back to work.

We were going to try to find the little town of Singayta but just got too hot too quick. So that is on our agenda today.

Late in the afternoon we all decided ( us, John, Carol and George) to go into San Blas for dinner. And George needed to go to the Telcel store. Drove up to Telcel – they were closed. Got to Walla Walla, the restaurant, and they were closed – a hand written sign on the door said it would open at 5:00 p.m. So we went to buy some banana bread at the Original Juan Banana store. It is so good. Went back to park by the restaurant and then walk around a little bit. Restaurant finally opened about quarter after five. We were the only ones in there – but most people here eat later. We all had good meals. I had breaded chicken with peach sauce, rice and vegetables. Bill had enchiladas.
After eating we walked back to the Telcel store which was open. Bill and George went in there and the rest of us walked around town. Saw one place that had slot machines in it. Quite a few people inside playing the machines. Every time we’d passed it before during the daytime it had been shuttered. We find that a lot – when you go by during the day the place is closed – after 6 p.m. they open up. Also found a restaurant –a very small one – away from the main area. They have a good menu and actually serve a wide variety of breakfasts. So we will have to try it. And John found a place where maybe he can get his TV repaired – a CD is stuck in it and won’t come out.
Here is a picture of the taxi driver’s telephone. The one that rings then he gets out answers it and goes to pick up who ever called.

Need to get ready to go out to breakfast. Bill is up at the office paying for our extended stay.

3rd Day of the New Year

2012-01-03T07:31:00.001-07:00

7:00 a.m.
Sun has not come over the hill yet but looks like it will be a good day. Today I want to go up the road a way and try to find a small village where supposedly the residents grow orchids. But no one is sure where it is??? Adventure awaits!
Sure will be glad when this "Iowa" thiing is over - but then it will just go on somewhere else till November - come on people almost two years of this is way too much.
We are maybe leaving for Mazatlan again tomorrow - but as always our plans are written in jello.
I have a back ache this morning - Bill says I've been sitting too much - probably right - have read two books in two days. Need to get active.
9:30
Just got back from a walk on a very empty beach and have made a decision to stay here for another week. What the heck - we still don't know when our friends are coming from Indiana for their vacation in Mazatlan so will wait to hear from them.

Very Quiet Day

2012-01-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Couldn't get on line this morning and then didn't think about it again till now - 6:30 - oops. Also was not feeling too hot today - spent most of the day just reading. Feeling fine now - maybe I just needed a day of doing nothing.
Yesterday the beach was packed. The most people we've seen there since we've been here.

The man with the two horses had people riding them all day.

We went into Aticama to buy some stuff we needed. Looked at these fish but really weren't in the market for them.

The "super market" we went to.

Bill picking out some produce. It all looked and smelled so good.

While we were there this young boy delivered packages of corn tortillas.

We also bought a dozen eggs. The clerk put them in a plastic bag and handed them to me. I very gently put them in my lap for the bumpy ride home down the beach. Got them all home in one piece.
Sunset last night.

So that's it for today - tomorrow will be our last day here. Heading back to Mazatlan on Wednesday.

2012 - Happy New Year

2012-01-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

Happy New Years to Everyone

Today is our 47^th Anniversary – lots of roads traveled through the years. Literally and figuratively.

We had a very quiet last day of the year. Figured it was a good day to stay off the roads including the beach used as a road.

But I’ve told my first lie of the New Year – eek! We did go into Aticama for short visit and bought some pollo asado (grilled chicken) its very tasty but looks kind of funny. The chicken is split down the front and spread out and flattened cook. Kind of looks like it has been hit with a very big sludge hammer – splat. When they sell it to you you can have it whole or they will chop it up for you. If you want it cut up they lay it on an old tree stump that is their cutting board and take a machete to it to chop it. Watch the fingers! We took ours whole.
Bill made Italian chicken salad for him and George for lunch.
And he bought me more fresas con crème (this time I spelled fresas right – last time I spelled it fresca which means fresh - not strawberry) from one of the beach vendors. Now I have an extra one in the freezer for later.
Not as many people on the beach yesterday as we expected. But lots of auto traffic and horse rides. Last night the restaurant at El Chaco had a band that started playing about 7:00 – luckily with the windows closed it wasn’t too loud. But every once in a while they would stop playing and then shoot of fire works. Knew what was going on but still jumped in my seat. Much preferred the music. Their song for ushering in the New Year? Had me laughing. Achy Breaky Heart! Guess they line danced into the New Year.
I stayed up long enough to finish my Vince Flynn book then took a sleeping pill and went to bed. Don't know if the fireworks kept up or not. Bill did frown when I asked him how he slept last night.
Sun is up today with just a little haze thrown in and so far everything is very quiet around here. Just the guys out cleaning the beach and two kids walking in the sand.
So glad none of the big celebrations had any problems last night.

Last Day of 2011 - Flying Kites

2011-12-31T10:54:00.001-07:00

My third blog posting for the day – getting caught up finally.

The last day of 2011 – I for one will not be sorry to see it end. A real up and down year.

We started the year in Mazatlan and will end it in San Blas, Mexico. Two very different areas. It was the part in between that wasn’t so pleasant. We hadn’t been home for very long when our oldest son called to tell us his wife of five months (they had been together for over 15 years but just married) had suddenly passed away. She was such a loving and vivacious person it is hard to comprehend that she is gone. A month after that Bill had his heart attack and had a quadruple bypass. One day he was fine the next they were telling us he had a heart attack. How quick things can change. Most of the very hot humid (broke records for heat) Indiana summer was spent with me being a not so patient nurse and his recuperation. It took longer than we thought it would. Kind of drives home that we are not that young any more.
We did get a new member of the family this year – a great granddaughter. Born in June.
But the bad continued as in November our oldest grandson was hit by a car while he was walking. Had to be flown to Las Vegas by helicopter from his home in Arizona. Thankfully he is now recovering and should have no lasting problems. At least we got to see him and his mother and sister for a few days as we were in Vegas at the time.
Come fall we loaded the Alfa up (after putting a new roof on it) and left again for Mexico where we are today – enjoying the sea and sun. Its 29 degrees at home in Indiana! We are surrounded by friends – John, Carol and George – what more could we ask for.
Enough of that – a new year is just around the corner.
Yesterday the wind finally picked up enough to get the kites up. Carol has been trying to get her mermaid kite up for a while – in fact even talked John into going up on the hotel roof to see if there was enough wind up there to get it to fly.

Nope there wasn’t.

But then later in the afternoon the wind came up enough to get a bunch of kites in the air. Bill setting up one of his – that is Ms Tioga parked next to us.

Carol’s kite is airborne. Up up and away!

All four kites up. Yes four of them. Three of Bill’s and the mermaid.

Oh, oh suddenly the wind stopped and the kites came nose diving down. One of Bill’s disappeared completely. Didn’t know where it came down. Traced the string to the roof of the hotel. John went up there and found it tangled in the rebar and hanging over the side of the building. Rescue complete. Everything put away till next time.

John and Carol invited us to dinner – John BBQd rib eye steaks from Idaho. Delicious, Carol fixed salad and baked potatoes. Heavenly meal. Thank you guys!!!!

Sunset at the beach.

After eating we all drove into town to see what was going on in the plaza. Lots and lots of families and kids. The kids with their new clothes and toys. Lots of laughter and chasing each other around. One boy had a skateboard that the wheels lit up when he moved.

One interesting thing at for me and I forgot to take a picture. On the main street next to the plaza is an area where the taxis park and wait for passengers. While we were standing next to them I heard a phone ringing – loud ringing. Up on a pole was a telephone – push button type. The door to the first taxi in line opened and the driver got out and answered the phone. After listening a while he got back in his cab and drove off. A customer had called. No central dispatch – just a ringing phone. The next driver in line pulled up next to the phone …..waiting. I will have to look for that the next time I see taxis lined up waiting.
Then we watched some young gringos put on a show with flaming poles. They were pretty good but not as good as the show we saw last year in Mazatlan.

By then the bugs were out and it was getting cool so we headed for home.

Well the beach is starting to fill up and its only 10:30 so imagine it will be really busy the rest of the day. Tonight the restaurant will have a band so will go over there and check it out.

Till then. Happy New Year to all.

Checking Hotels out in San Blas

2011-12-31T09:32:00.001-07:00

Thursday we kind of just took it easy.

(Just realized it is Saturday already - I need to get cracking on this.)

Thursday we went to the campground restaurant for breakfast. I had pancakes. Nice thick fluffy one they were pretty good with Karo maple syrup. Did a couple more loads of laundry. Have to do them more often cause the machine just doesn’t hold a very big load. Spent half of the day trying to upload that video of the boat ride. Internet just wasn’t cooperating at all.

I still haven’t decided about the shout box at the very bottom of the blog. Should I keep it or not? That is the question? And who really cares about the answer? The blog does have a comments box – and thank you to all who make comments. I do read and appreciate all of them.
I try to make the blog interesting to any one who happens by it. Guess that is one of the reasons why I include so many pictures. They show so much more and are more attention-grabbing (used the thesaurus for that descriptive word) than just my blah, blah, blah. This is a very colorful country. From the mundane –fruits and vegetables – to the magnificent – buildings and murals etc.
For as cool and cloudy as the day started out it warmed up fast and was more humid than usual. Lots of smoke in the air. Don’t know if someone was cooking or if some fields somewhere were being burned out.
When we were at the place waiting for our boat ride I picked up a little brochure about a small hotel in San Blas. After reading about it we ( I ) had to go see it. So we all piled in Willie and took off for town. Found the hotel with no problem – the Hotel Hacienda Flamingos. It is a gem! Built in 1880 by the So Pacific Railroad to be used as a terminal. [At one time San Blas was a very important shipping port.] In 1912 there was a bad flood that washed out the railroad bridges. This caused the abandonment of the terminal. Later that year a German businessman, Señor Delius, purchased the house to be used as private quarters for his employees. At this time many ships from the Orient docked in San Blas so there was an economic boom. In the 1930s he went bankrupt. It was purchased in 1938 by a wealthy man to give to his wife. In 1950 she turned it into a hotel. In the 1990s there was extensive remodeling.
Of course we went inside. The rooms rent for about US$120 a night. Some pictures of the place.

The entrance

Hall around the patio -check out the floor tile

More hallway -

What the chairs were looking at - the patio

The pool area -- little chapel in the background

Star fruit teee - lots of fruit trees growing around pool area

Inside the little chapel

Mosaic Last Supper on altar

From there we went to another hotel and checked it out. The best thing about it – in my mind – was the piece of onyx behind the desk.

And the hanging plants in the lobby.

After visiting the hotels we had lunch in McDonalds again – no not The McDonalds burgers but Mike McDonalds Restaurant. I had filet empanizado – breaded fish – very good with salad (usually have to squeeze lime on the salad as you very seldom get any dressing) and fries. Bill had been salivating thinking about Chili Rellenos but when he got his it was too spicy for him to eat. The last time he had it here it was perfect. Guess there was a different cook today. There was a big sign out front about the days special. Shrimp. But when John asked about it the waitress didn’t seem to know anything about it. TIM – that is Mexico.

It’s amazing the neat things you can find in these little towns if you’re willing to walk around and really look at things. And talk to the people who live here.
The front of the Palacio Municipal is almost completely painted now.

Hang Glider Video

2011-12-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

Watch as these guys try to get the Glider launched. First the sideways run then facing forward. Oops heading towards the truck And finally barely into the air before hitting the water.

Hang Gliders on the Beach and Revisiting Tepic

2011-12-30T08:27:00.001-07:00

Friday a.m.

Very cold and hazy and damp here this morning. At least the Internet is working a little faster today. In fact my jungle boat ride video just uploaded - and is right below this post - and I hurried up and published it. I’m ahead by one already today.

I mentioned that when we got home from the boat ride there was a motorized hang glider here. It was a good afternoon’s entertainment. This is just after he came down from flying around the area. Quite a contraption he is harnessed to.

He has to run down towards the water then the sail part of the glider comes up off the ground and fills with air and hopefully he takes off before hitting the water. Kind of neat to watch.
Then they decided to do a tandem flight. First they had to spread out the sail just right and get all the ropes to it untangled and just in the right place. See the second guy on the right in the white shirt and white helmet.

They there are hooked together getting ready to go. The guy on the left has a video camera on the pole he is holding. All systems are almost go.

Here they are - ready set – they had to run sideways the first few steps then turn to face the water and run like the wind.

Oops. They ran over the video guy and came to an abrupt halt. Try again. A couple of times as they were picking up speed in their run towards the water a vendor on with his cart would wander by and they have to come to an abrupt halt. Tried getting into the air a couple more times but there wasn’t enough wind so they gave up until later in the day. Here they are when they successfully got up in the air.

Coming in for a landing. Which they managed quite gracefully - well at least without breaking anything.

While watching them fly around I decided to try something from one of the vendors. His sign said Frescas con creme –well it used to say that anyway. – sounded good strawberrys with cream. So Bill bought me one.

Not exactly what I was expecting but very good. It was a small carton – like a small milk carton – full of frozen strawberrys topped with heavy sweetened cream. Yum. Going to have to eat them again. You could get full just trying out all the things that are sold from carts on the beach. Even tamales.

One man takes his two horses up and down the beach selling rides. The kids and young love it.
The next day we went back into Tepic with John and Carol for the day. Their first trip there.
I am so far behind on the postings - if I'm not careful I'll have to fire myself for not doing my job. Will post pics from our second trip to Tepic with John and Carol the other day.
Be back in a few minutes. Bill just cooked me an amazing breakfast. Have to stop and eat.
I have a video of one of their flights - will see if Internet keeps cooperating. Watch for it.
Will add our trip to Tepic to this post - it's kind of short - then will try to work with video.
Clear back on Wednesday – two days ago – we went back to Tepic with John and Carol. Their first trip there. How can I be so far behind? Maybe we’re having too much fun here.
Because parking is so hard in Tepic we went in one car. Bill driving Willie up the mountain again. As always the beautiful green ride up. Through the tunnels of trees.

Stopped at the fruit ladies stands so we could take pictures. A bowl of bright star fruit. In this shot we can really see the star shape.

A big variety of fruit – lemons, yaka, watermelon, bananas, star fruit, avacados and tangerines just to name a few. Didn’t buy anything this time. Just admired them. I know I post a lot of pictures of them but I love the colors.

Traffic in Tepic is always crazy – for one thing you turn left from the far right lanes. And all the people selling things at every intersection. Floor mats for your car? Window shades? Want your windows cleaned?

This year it is so much easier to drive to downtown as all the construction is done and the bad pavement gone. We didn’t get to park in our usual lot as it was full clear to the sidewalk, couldn’t have put a bike in there. So we went around the corner to underground parking. Keep Willie cooler too.

As we approached the main plaza we noticed a lot of Huichol Indians. Their clothes are incredible – so colorful and so many different designs.

Stretching across the entire upper end of the plaza were Huichol Indians selling their wares. At least a hundred of them. From babies to grandmothers. Either she has a lot of children or she was babysitting.

Just some of the tables with all kinds of jewelry, dolls, purses and blouses.

The dolls for sale

Just another look at the crowds.

Tepic is not a gringo tourist town so most of the customers were people from Mexico. They will be here selling for the next three days. Sure glad we came today. More of the tables. Young people were helping to sell.

Grandmother was helping to take care of the young one.

He is about 10 and is already in the family business. His is very serious about his beading.

This time we stopped at KFC for lunch. Carol and I had chicken and Bill and John had hamburgers. Hamburgers at KFC? Oh well.

From there we crossed the street to the cathedral.

This is the mural on a dome you pass under to go into the cathedral.

The inside – it is very pretty.

Tepic Cathedral

We also found a Michaels type craft store that of course we had to go in and investigate. Lots of stuff but we restrained ourselves and didn’t get anything. Picked up Willie and drove to another parking lot so we could take John and Carol into the government building to see the spectacular mural in it. I posted pictrues of some of it last week.
Then over to WalMart for some shopping. This time I managed to get a shot of some of the trees along the street. This one is a piggy.

Got back to Aticama just about sunset. And discovered that George has moved Ms Tioga over to our side of the campground. So he is now our next door neighbor.

I still have to take yesterday's pictures from San Blas off my camera and sort through them. One of these days I'll get caught up.

What I try to do with my blog is share Mexico - through my eyes and feelings - with others. It is a beautiful and very interesting country.

Jungle boat ride - Short video

2011-12-30T07:53:00.001-07:00

Revisiting the old Fort and Church in San Blas, MX

2011-12-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

Thursday a.m. –
Sitting here watching the sun slowly coming up over the mountain. As soon as it does it will warm up in here. It cools down enough at night that we need covers on.
Got a dilemma – I’ve got that Shout Box at the end of the blog. Had it there for quite a while – it is the free version so I had no control who could post on it. I get a lot of junk posting/spam – so far nothing obscene just gibberish. So I go in and delete the junk every once in a while. But as of Jan 1st there will no longer be a free version. There will be a minimum fee - very minimum. So do I want to keep it? Is it worth it? If I have to pay for it I will want to use the version where people will have to sign in to eliminate most of the junk. Will people use it if they have to sign in? I kind of enjoy legitimate "shouts". An ego thing I guess. Have to make up my mind soon.

John we miss you and love you. And think of you often. Doesn’t seem possible it’s been five years already.

Back to Tuesday

After getting off the boat ride we went into San Blas and went to visit the old fort and church up on the highest point around. Last year I wrote a lot about the fort and the church in my blog so will not dwell on it today.

Going up to the area we passed one of the stands selling lobsters. They sell fish and oysters too.

Also heading up hill. These kids are playing on the sidewalk in front of the Panteon Municipal – the cemetery.

After paying our 20 Pesos the first structure we come to is the old church. It is in kind of a state of arrested decay. The entire floor has been replaced and electricity has been run but the ceiling is gone and the walls are crumbling. It was built by Fray Juinpero Serra. Who left from here to establish the California Missions.

Looking in from the front door. The pillars and arches down the left side of the church.

The doorway in back leads into a small side room, the closets doorway to the outside.

Across the street are more ruins. The jungle hasn’t quite covered this arched doorway and the walls around it.

More walls. Soon they will disappear altogether.

One part of a wall still standing. The construction is very interesting. All sizes of rocks from big square chunks to small filler stones.

The vegetation around the area.

Did this used to be a coffin? Don’t know but it looks like some kind of fancy container.

The front of the church.

These pieces have fallen off the top of the walls. Decorative edging on them.

One of the pillars inside with its decoration. At one time the walls were all plastered. Bits of it remain here and there.

This is in the very middle of the first arch. Not enough left of it to figure out what it represents.

This is on the outside wall to the side of and above the main door. It is in better shape. Wonder who he is. Can even still see the decorations on his uniform.

Drove on up to the actual fort. The town was established in 1529 when the Spanish took over the area. San Blas was one of the major sea ports at the time. And because of the wood available around here it became a ship building area too.

In 1768 a naval station was opened here. There still is a naval school/station in operation here. Didn’t take any pictures of the fort. Most of it was rebuilt after a bad hurricane.
Did take some pictures of the San Blas area from up there. A palm grove and in the middle a baseball field.

A zoomed picture of the new church and the old one next to it. The center of town.

Just part of the town.

When we got back to the campground we discovered a group with a motorized hang glider. Fun to watch.

More about them on next post. Have to fold laundry now and try to post video - Internet not cooperating - maybe late for the video.

Trip through the Jungle on a Boat

2011-12-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

Wednesday a.m.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was really really busy! We took the jungle boat ride through the manglares – the mangrove forest, then we went up to the old fort and when we got home we watched some guys with a motorized hang glider. Almost wore my camera out. So this will mostly be pictures with a little commentary thrown in. John and Carol our friends from Idaho and George went with us on the ride.
I’ll say right off the pictures don’t do it justice. We were lucky in that we went early in the morning – well early for us – 9:30 well before any of the other boats were out. But the sun was kind of hiding behind hazy clouds so not as much sunshine as I would have liked for the photos. Getting ready to leave. If you click on the picture it will set up a slide show of sorts with the image quite a bit bigger.

Heading into the manglares. The water in most places was clear enough to see the bottom and the vegetation over hung the banks and formed tunnels for us to go under.

Saw lots of birds. They are so majestic looking. Seemed to be posing just for us.

The roots? growing off the trees into the water. I think there is a bird there too.

The boat was slowly moving through the still water when the boatman stopped and put the engines in reverse. He pointed to a couple of dead trees. THERE WAS A COCODRILO! A real live wild one. Okay so he wasn’t very big but he was there. The boatman said he was always in this same area.

Another type of bird. As you can see I don’t know birds, can’t name them just take pictures of them.

And just below this bird this nice snake rested on the branches. He was hard to get a picture of – took me a long time to focus in on him.

The water was very smooth and the boat motor quiet so listening to the all the bird calls was great. All that was missing was soft flute music. Then we went around a bend and saw these. They look big enough that you could spend a night in them. Awesome thought.

Some of the trees and other vegetation. So eerie.

Loved the roots on this tree. They looked like some kind of monster rising out of the water.

Lots of bright green plants with white flowers on them. Some kind of water lily we thought.

An air plant. We saw a lot of them, some of them almost as big as the boat!

Another inhabitant of the area.

Caught this one in flight.

Suddenly George broke the silence – “There’s a croc over there.” The boatman slowed down, backed up and sure enough another crocodile – this one bigger. More pictures.

On down? up? the waterway and we interrupted this dispute between two birds.

More pictures of the fantastic vegetation. Big ferns growing here.

Trees growing out of the water.

A whole area filled with bright green ferns.

And our stalwart spotter George did it again. Another croc. The biggest yet. And he opened his mouth for us. A WOW moment.

Further on we spotted a big bird in a tree.

The boatman stopped so we could take pictures. As we were snapping away Carol suddenly said – “There’s an iguana there. Next to the bird.” Sure enough. They blend in with the trees so well.

Nice blue water at the crocodile sanctuary. Of course we had to stop there and check it out. 10 pesos each to go in. Worth the price.

A baby croc resting on a rock in the lagoon.

One of the big ones behind a fence. They almost look dead they are so still.

My finger touching the tail of one of them that was close to the fence. His other end was far away. They just feel cold and the tail is very hard.

George touching one of his front legs. I touched there too – felt cold and scaley and squishy. And he moved his leg as we touched it.

In a cage was this beautiful jaguar.

Always food for sale any place you go in Mexico. This group just got out of a couple of boats and are buying pastries before checking out the crocs.

Back out on the water. These are cactus type plants growing on the tree.

Just a view of the beautiful scenery. Real jungle.

Heading back through the tunnels of vegetation. A couple of times we all had to duck. I’m sure glad we got an early start. Our boatman took us on a very slow ride going in.

Coming out we met several other boats going in and they were setting up big wakes. I don’t think they had as nice a time as we did.

Our boat and boatman. I’m so glad we took this trip – it was great.

So enough for this post. Unless the telcel is working fast it will take a while to post it. Then later I’ll post about the fort and church and still later about the hang gliding (no I didn’t try it - they weren't offering rides- just doing a commercial of some sorts.)

Music video from Christmas Day

2011-12-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

Going to try to post a video from the Plaza in San Blas taken on Christmas Day. Just a view of the plaza with some music in the back ground. Today the telcel stick seems to be working a little faster.
While it posts I'll be working on pics from yesterday. Hope it works.

Would you like bees with your bread? Day in San Blas

2011-12-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday a.m.
Need to hurry and get this posted as today we are going to take a boat ride to see the crocodiles and the manglares - Mangrove Forest. Hopefully we’ll see some neat stuff. Have all my camera batteries charged and ready to go.
Yesterday, Monday, our neighbor Carol called to me that there were dolphins swimming past us. Went out to watch them. There were two of them and they were jumping clear out of the water. Of course my camera was inside. Ran in to get it and then they stopped jumping. This was as good a picture as I could get. Grrrr.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them. And turn you sound on for the videos.

Later we set off to do some errands in San Blas. On the way we stopped at the manglares boat tours and set up our excursion for tomorrow. A couple of their buildings – I think the orange one is the baños – bathrooms.

From there we went out to the ocean. John and Carol wanted to check out the little boats that take people out to see the rock not too far off shore that looks like Jesus. And it really does. Click on the url to check it out from my blog last year. I have a couple of good pictures of the rock. Here is the link to last year.

http://www.mexicobymotorhome.blogspot.com/2011/02/ride-in-panga-ocean-and-mangrove-forest.html

I was looking through my telephoto lense across the water at the men in the little boat. Just as I snapped the picture the gentleman on the dock lifted his shirt. A half flash I guess.

Then we wanted to show them were the bakery was. Off the main streets the roads are cobblestones and mud. This one was no exception. Notice the puddles right next to the clean laundry. Hope all the cars go by slow so as not to splash.

The panaderia – bakery. I had never been in there. Usually waited in the car while Bill went inside to buy things.

He always talked about the bees. I thought he meant the bees flying around outside. NO he meant the bees flying around inside. Inside? He said the workers say the bees won’t sting if you don’t molest them. Hummmm??? So of course I had to go in. And yes the place was full of flying and buzzing bees. Looking into the production area. Those are all rolls waiting to be baked.

A look at some of the pastries. The girl is sorting them to send out to stores and hotels. The bees were flying all around her and us.

A close up of one of the cakes – yes here are some of the bees- bees not nuts.

After leaving the bakery – we didn’t buy anything. We wondered Do bees poop???? Maybe I’ll look it up. Well here’s the answer. Yes they do but……"All bees eat is honey and pollen, and (for our purposes) that's all their poop contains. It's probably the least noxious poop in existence and quite safe to consume, at least when it's fresh." More information than you needed?

This long block wall is completely covered with graffiti type paintings. Each section has a message.

Downtown street in the center of San Blas. Very busy one way street. Church on one side – plaza on the other.

Parked and ate lunch at a restaurant called McDonalds. Very good food. I had quesadillas with guacamole – some of the best I’ve ever eaten.

After lunch we walked back up to the plaza and were surprised to see the government building being painted. It was repainted the two shades of blue only a couple of years ago. Bill got into a conversation with a man watching the painting. When he asked why it was being repainted so soon the answer was surprising. When ever the governing party changes hands the building gets painted in the new governments colors. The old party was blue, the new one is rust and beige. Interesting. As the guy with the roller painted the side of the building big chunks of the fading and peeling blue paint were coming off on his roller. Keep track to the guy in the upper left hand corner. The one in the blue shirt and jeans.

This guy was a joker – he climbed up on the tower and started to ring the bell. Everyone was laughing at/with him.

Now it was time to move the scaffolding. Everyone grab part of it to move it. As it was moved it swayed back and forth, creaked and groaned and threatened to collapse. See the guy in the blue shirt and jeans. He is standing on the ledge outside of the wrought iron railing.

Scaffold is in place.

The guy in the blue shirt was stranded outside the closed doors of the middle window. His paint was still on the balcony at the first window. So he carefully climbed across the ledge, over the railing and into the open window. OSHA would have a stroke. But everyone was having a good time. We stood and watched this quite a while.

On the other side of the plaza is this purple building. Kind of fancy – the pillar is made of sea shells.

Purple with deep purple trim and a palapa roof. I know I take a lot of pictures of buildings but the colors and architecture are so interesting.

Again watching the Huichol Indian doing some beading. He was making a bracelet. All of the Huichol vendors here in San Blas are related in some way. They live in a small town near Santiago Ixcuintla. And he told Bill that they only marry within their tribe. They do not marry outsiders.

Looking at the bell tower of the old church. Don’t think I’d even think about climbing those ladders.

When leaving town we were surprised to see the arch over the main street leading into town was undergoing some kind of renovation? Painting? Rebuilding? We’ll find out next time we go to town I guess. Nothing was being done to it when we passed through it going into town.

And on the way home we bought a seedless watermelon that was one of the sweetest we’ve ever eaten. For 10 pesos - 1 US dollar is worth 13.82 pesos – so it was less than a dollar.

Saw on TV that there was rioting in Indianapolis over Air Jordan tennis shoes. Actual rioting – not just pushing and shoving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StQVCeVoqVI We live 40 miles from there. And Mexico isn’t safe? Read this a.m. that another 9 year old girl was found murdered in Indiana.

It got pretty cool in the afternoon and almost cold at night.
Now we get ready to take another boat ride in the mangrove forest with all the animals there. Hopefully I'll have lots of pictures.

Christmas Day in Aticama

2011-12-26T08:57:00.001-07:00

Monday a.m.

Still cool and cloudy out. The sun just now peaked over the mountain but it is almost obscured by the clouds.
Every morning first thing I sort through the pictures I took the day before and try to figure out which ones to share. Sometimes it’s hard – maybe I shouldn’t take so many pictures. Them I write my commentary about the day. We can’t do anything else until I finish “my job.” So here I am this morning hard at work.
Christmas is over already – where does time go when you get older. I do know for sure that it seems to pass quicker. Seems like it was just yesterday that we were heading towards home last spring.
Just wanted to put in a close up of one of the figures of my beaded Nativity set. This is only 2 and ¼ inches tall. Imagine doing this for a living!

It continues to amaze us how many people will drive their cars out on to the sand and get stuck there. What part of passenger vehicle and soft sand don’t they understand. Yesterday was no different. The black truck is stuck solid. They had been pushing, pulling and digging for a while with no luck. Bill is on his way to tell them he will help.

Getting lined up and attaching a tow rope. Luckily our friend John had a tow rope. Ours was lost when Willie had his adventure. [note to self need to replace it]

Pull hard and push hard

All clear – Willie’s Christmas present to the family.

Then we took a short trip into Aticama via the beach road. Well kind of road. Its funny there are about five topes on this stretch of dirt, gravel, holey road. Believe no topes are needed to slow you down the road does that just fine. At least we met the truck where the road is a little wider. The horse will have no problems going around us.

I saw all these people out swimming in the ocean – looked like most of them had black inner tubes with them. Our friend John who was with us explained them to me. They are out there “fishing” for ostiones (oysters.) They float their baskets for their catches on the tubes.

Some of them had wet suits some didn’t. Today’s Christmas dinners in the making.

No real reason for adding this picture – just thought the architecture of this home being built was interesting.

Going back to the RV Park I saw this home sitting back in the jungle – how did I not notice it before? Very colorful.

Back on the beach the vendors were starting to set up shop.

And this little boy was having fun with his stick and ball.

Through out the day more and more families came to the beach to enjoy the water and sun. We got restless and took a ride into San Blas where we found the streets almost empty. Everyone was at the beach.

Rode out by the marina – actually the marina with its big sail boats and cruisers is off in the other direction. These little boats take people for rides in the ocean and manglares (mangroves).

Watched these guys fishing off the dock. They wrap their fishing line around the plastic bottles add a hook to the end and their all set. Didn’t see anyone catch anything. I think they were just hiding from all the women at their houses cooking Christmas dinner.

Our neighbor asked us to stop at a Farmacia (pharmacy) if we saw one open as he needed Epson Salts? Found a small one open and while Bill went in I was checking out the signs out front of it. Kind of one stop shopping: Urgent care medical service, renew time on cell phones and internet sticks and a public telephone. Enterprising person.

We went by the campground Los Cocos RV that we stayed in in 1978 when we were here the first time. It’s a nice campground except for the biting bugs that hang out there. To read about that adventure click on the url http://www.movingon1.com/sanblas.html

Los Cocos Rv park San Blas, MX

Then we found something we’ve been looking for. The place we bought banana bread back in 1978 – it is the best made. As we drove by we could smell it being baked. Around the block we went and stopped to buy some. Way better than what we’ve been buying from the other stands. Way, way, way better.

Drove back to the campground via the beach instead of the road. Long beautiful vistas of sand, water and jungle.

Lots of people coming to the beach today. All the kids with their new toys.

Playa Matanchen

And those just enjoying the wet sand.

Or the warm water.

After getting home we just relaxed – getting good at that – for the rest of the day. Visited with George for a little bit and watched soccer and read. I’ve been downloading books from the library on to my Nook. When using Mexican Internet I can’t download anything from Barnes and Noble – which is just as good – any way much cheaper.

No plans yet for today - Hum Bill just said his computer game cheats. So does the one I play all the time. But it is hard to catch them doing it. Just know they do it.

Christmas Eve Party at El Chaco

2011-12-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

The rest of Christmas Eve Day

Later that night the owners of the campground invited all of us to a party with them and their extended family. Here is George watching the sunset before the festivities.

Over next to the area behind the restaurant and found the meat is already cooking. One of the sons went out to the farm and picked out a little pig (five months old) and prepared him for the evening’s doings. –that’s all I’ll say about that

The oil – corn oil I'm glad to say – is boiling and the pieces of meat are being added. And stirred of they wouldn’t burn. The buckets hold chunks of meat waiting to be cooked.

The skin of the pig is shaved using disposal blue razors. Fascinated me. It would be cooked later – chicarrones.

Just a view from the picnic area looking towards the ocean at dusk.

Almost ready to eat. I had some ribs. It was delicious. Had grease all over my fingers and face when I was done!

The Huichol Indian musicians that were there to entertain us. They played from dusk to almost dawn – 4:00a.m. We bought one of their CDs. The music was different from what I’ve heard before in Mexico. It reminded all of us of bluegrass music.

The bonfire that was built to help keep the jee-jee-nees away – nasty microscopic biting bugs. Worked pretty good.

Listening to the music – the musicians.

A shirt video - not much to see but you can hear a little of the music.