Final entry for this trip

3-5-2010

Our two months here has been a whirlwind to say the least. The trip down was uneventful, but always great to arrive. We have spent lots of time with family and friends this year, with the pinnacle being Ellie and Sean’s wedding on February 6^th. Once again, a big Thank You, to all that were able to come and share this joyous event with us. Hopefully we will see some of the first time visitors back again some other time. Judy and I both think that the wedding was even better than we had hoped for.

We have seen some firsts this trip for us. RAIN! In all of our trips since 1997 we have never seen a drop of rain until this year. Starting with the little thunder, lightning, rain and wind on our first Friday night here. This also included a two hour power outage. Then 3 days before the wedding, it started to rain and rain and rain, for two days. We received about 12” in 36 hours. Then the sun came out and the weather was perfect for the wedding.

It is always fun for us to visit with all of the friends that we have made down here. Whether it is on the beach or running into them downtown, we always enjoy it. We have seen a few places in Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa that we haven’t been to before. It is always fun to check out a new restaurant or rental unit. The water in the bay has been exceptional this year for cleanliness and for warmth. This week we have been enjoying more gentle breezes coming in off of the water. We have also seen a lot of our friends head home over the last week. Tonight is reserved for dinner with two couples that are still here, and will be leaving a few days after us. Thought we would go for one last dinner at La Escollera. Always a nice view, good food and service.

Timeshare update: Yes we did go for a timeshare presentation. No, we did not buy anything. It was really more to help out a new friend that makes his money booking the presentations. They are beautiful with a great view, but we are happy with what we have going on for now. The presentation was actually nice and really no pressure. They tried to throw a little bait out in front of us, but it wasn’t very fresh and had a bad odor to it. Besides, we have friends that own up there, so we can visit them and use the facility once in a while. Maybe someday we might be ready for a little more comfort and service.

Next year is already set. We will be moving back to a one bedroom suite just behind where we are now. Alfredo was a little concerned that he wouldn’t see us. I told him the other night that I will be watching him from up the hill now. He is fine with that. I might even get a scooter ride to town once in awhile. We will miss not seeing him every night, but knowing that we have a friend for life down here is comforting for all of us.

Judy and I carried out one of Ellie’s wishes this week. She decided that she wanted to give her wedding dress to someone that can’t afford one and needs one. After asking around a little, we took it down to Liliana’s. She cuts Judy’s hair and does her nails. She is also a seamstress. She understood what we wanted to do. After we dropped it off, we went down the street to Casa Café for a late breakfast. The owner’s daughter works there and we were telling her about the dress. One of their employees is getting married on the 27^th of this month and can’t afford a dress. Lisa was also thinking about using it to renew her vows in their church later this year. They went and looked at it that afternoon. We saw both of them later that night at another restaurant they are part of and work at. They found someone to alter it for them and it looks like it is going to work out. What do you do with a wedding dress after you wear it once? It seems like we have been in that pay it forward mode this year. It does feel good, and doesn’t cost you anymore. We already paid for the dress last Spring. Thanks Ellie!

We survived the tsunami last Saturday afternoon. That could have been one of those events that would ruin your day real fast. Thankfully it was pretty much a non event here. The water did suck out a little, then, came back in a little higher. I wasn’t interested in going to the beach to watch. If it was going to be a problem, we could just watch it come up the street toward us from the safety of our elevated location.

Birds: Normally I have seen and reported on lots of different birds down here. This year was a little slow, with only a couple of unusual birds showing up. I have been watching a pair of wild parrots across the street. You can hear them squawking but can’t get very close. I have seen them the last couple of years flying by. There appears to only be one pair, but they always fly together. Occasionally they will sit in a large tree about a 150 yards from the house. Hard to get a good look, but you can see them.

Time to wrap up the blog for this year. Tomorrow we will be gathering up and packing barrels and bags. We head out of here on Monday at 5 PM, then overnight in LA and leave for Seattle at 10:30 AM the next morning. It is much easier than running for a late night flight to Seattle.

See you at home next week.

Adios

Warren and Judy

Judy feeding Ponchita an apple. She is also one of the residents up at La Escollera. Sean and Ellie made friends with her during their stay up there. She is very social and always comes over for attention from anyone that comes by.

Celine and one of her new members of their Ecological display behind La Escollera. This is a raccoon like animal called a Tahone. They like to stick their head through the fence to be scratched.

We caught the end of some of the free entertainment on Thursday night. They have been having a variety of entertainment on Tuesdays and Thursday nights. These dancers were very good. This was their final dance, the traditional Mexican Hat dance.

Here is the girl that is going to use Ellie's wedding dress. She was very excited to get the dress. Her friend and employer, Lisa, wants to use it after her.

Our friend Israel, fixed dinner for us last Tuesday night. He fixed a meal for us last year also. He has about 9 more months of culinary school. His plan is to open a restaurant this coming fall. We will certainly be there.

Bananas flambe for dessert.

Sunday in Zihuatanejo

2-28

Sunday in Zihuatanejo

It is going to be another quiet day for us. Our plan today is to lay low and do whatever later. Probably a walk on the beach and a visit with friends down the street. Our friends Vera and Richie are heading home tomorrow. They, like many of the other east coasters, are heading home to snow. Hopefully they won’t have major flight delays.

We walked to town yesterday morning and had breakfast then headed for a haircut. I needed one more of Rigo’s haircuts before I head home. Then we walked down by the basketball court for a beverage and to watch some of the cruise boat parade from the pier. After talking with a few local folks, we found out about the earthquake in Chile. They asked if we had heard about the tsunami warning. Of course, we hadn’t. There were conflicting reports about when it might arrive here, but the most common one was about 4:15 PM local time. We decided that we would be on the safe side and start toward home. There was still plenty of time to walk for most of the way, so we headed for the beach walkway along Madera beach then caught the bus from there to home. When we arrived home there were a couple of e-mails from friends down here. They had headed up the hill with passports in hand to La Escollera. They spent the afternoon up there waiting out the all clear. Our house is higher than where they are staying.

There was a couple of reports of the water going out about 50 feet, then surged back in about 5 feet higher on the beach than when it went out. The Carnival Spirit was in the bay and wasn’t scheduled to leave until after the tsunami was scheduled to arrive. I heard that the Mexican Navy was a little nervous but there was no order to evacuate. In true Mexican fashion, there were no warnings until everything was over. I did notice that the ship had fired up their main engines, which you don’t normally see until they are almost ready to depart. We watched the news and reports on the internet closely but didn’t feel like we needed to head to higher ground after seeing some of the NOAA wave mappings from the quake area.

We had reservations to go to a restaurant down the street last night. There is a local singer that has been singing there on Saturday nights since we have been here. We saw here a few times last year at a couple of local restaurants. Mostly for just a couple of songs and a few tips, then she would move on. Her name is Michelle LaValle and she has a great talent. She sings in French, Italian, English and Spanish. She is originally from Montreal, so French was her first language. It was a wonderful evening of songs with some great backup artists with her, once they showed up. The lead guitar player was at least 40 minutes late and the base showed over an hour late. Right on time for Mexican time! It was still a wonderful evening of song. We sat with some friends from down here that work with Michelle and have helped her get some recording done. Here is a link to U Tube with some photos and her singing. Hopefully it will link up for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXiZQgN8-Ag

Another cruise ship in this morning, the Radiance of the Sea, I think they leave in the early afternoon. According to the cruise ship schedule, we will see one more ship before we leave.

We are heading to a timeshare presentation in the morning. We have made friends with one of the presentation solicitors. We stopped him yesterday to chat for a few minutes. He is a nice guy just trying to make a living. He also waits tables at one of the restaurants downtown along the water. He makes a $100 bucks for bringing people to the presentations for a “FREE” breakfast. He knows we have no intention of buying anything. If I’m going I might as well be entertained. I always like it when the closer moves in for more writing upside down on the paper in front of you. Sales is like fishing, some days you catch em, and some days you don’t. My money is on don’t. I will have more to report in the next entry.

Looks like I have run out of things to report for this entry. We head home in one more week, and that time is filling up fast with getting together with friends at least one more time. This year has been a whirlwind for us. Next year will be calm, as it should be.

Warren

Our evening last Saturday night, just down the street from our house. The singer is Michelle LaValle. She has a great voice and a great talent. She really can sing the blues.

This shot is from the walkway heading from downtown toward Madera beach. It is also known to the locals as "lovers lane". This is looking to the southeast.

Playa Municipal. This beach is right along the downtown area. It was real busy on Saturday mostly with locals. The cruise ship was also in and the beach restaurants were busy. This shot was taken from the beginning of the walkway that goes from downtown over to the next beach, which is Madera.

Judy made a new friend while she was waiting for me to finish my haircut with Rigo. She lives next door to the Barber shop and wonders in and out. They had fun. I think she is about 6.

A catch up photo. This is Alfredo's old scooter. The "Flintstone" scooter. One of the last straws was the kick stand breaking off.

Catching up

2-26

Not a lot going on this week. I finally went and got a blood test for the blood thinner I am taking. It took me a while of dragging my feet and finding the right lab to do the work. After going to one lab downtown, and getting a glucose test, which I didn’t want, I went to the right location. I sent an e-mail to the doctor we have used down here, and he sent me to a lab across from the fire station. They did the blood draw and the testing for 168 pesos, or about $13. Something is wrong with health care costs in the US. Maybe you have read about it. Back to the blood test. The level was high, so I made a couple of calls and some e-mails back home. Hopefully I will have a better reading on Monday. No waiting just walk in.

Monday we did go over to Los Gatos beach for the day. It was nice over there, and we always enjoy a day on a different beach. We hiked over along the shore.

Tuesday we had a potluck here at the house. One of our friend’s had caught a dorado when he was here and froze it. We had the fish and to much other good things. There were eight of us that night.

Wednesday we were invited to another potluck at the Villas De Arca. It is where a lot of our friends stay just down the street from us. We know the owner and his wife. They also work at the airport during the day. We had lobster and steaks and of course a bunch of other goodies. It’s always fun to get together with friends from down here.

Yesterday and last night we stayed home except for a walk on the beach at sunset. We stayed home today all day and went for another walk on the beach at sunset. We were invited to go into town for dinner tonight, but begged off in the afternoon. Our time is winding down now, so we are just enjoying some quiet time at home.

2-27 This morning the Carnival Spirit is scheduled to come in and another ship tomorrow. I think we see one more ship before we head home on March 8^th. The departure time has arrived for many of our friends, starting this weekend and then a steady stream over the next few weeks. A few of them are heading home to snow storms on the east coast. Hopefully some of the good weather that has blessed the NW this winter will hang around for our arrival. I know that the lawn will need attention as soon as I get home.

Time to get this published before the internet slows down. My wireless internet is a little spotty at times for downloads, so morning is the best time.

Lobsters, or better known as Lanugustas. They are spiny lobsters, with no claws. Pretty tasty.
Our potluck at Villas de Arca on Wednesday night.
Potluck here at the house on Tuesday night.
Sunset last night on La Ropa beach.
Heading home from a tough day at Los Gatos beach. Franco, our waiter, grabbed our camera off of the table a snapped a couple shots.

Alfredo's new ride

2-21

A fun day for us

Today I went with Israel, a friend, on a special mission. I went to look at a scooter. Our caretaker, Alfredo has an old scooter that is falling apart. His son calls it the Fred Flintstone scooter. I had been asking around and saw Israel riding one the other day. He stopped to say hello and I asked him about scooters in general and prices. He knew a guy that had won a scooter in a lottery and wanted to sell it. We went and looked at it today at his carwash / taco stand near the Comercial. It is brand new and only had 7 kilometers on the odometer. I made a deal on it for a lot less than the original price. I saw the receipts for the original purchase. Gave him what I thought I would get it for and rode it home. I could have had a free goat meat taco as part of the deal also. I of course had to do a little quality control test drive and it worked great.

We hung around here most of the day not wanting to do much more than swim in the pool and read. Alfredo showed up around 7:30 this evening. Sunday is his only day off during the week. When he showed up I handed him the keys and said no more Fred Flintstone scooter! He couldn’t believe what he was seeing and what he was hearing. I told him to ride it home and show Lupita. He came back about 45 minutes later with a big smile on his face, plus it makes it up the driveway. The other one wouldn’t make it anymore.

It was worth every penny to see his face. He is turning 55 in a couple of weeks and works two jobs, construction during the day and caretaker night watchman here at night. I’m sure his coworkers up the hill on his construction job will be doing some chop busting when they see his new scooter. I bet he handles it with a big smile. At this point I am wondering if his smile or the smiles on Judy and my faces is bigger.

Our plan this morning is to head over to Los Gatos beach for the day. We can walk over there along the shore line just down the street from us, haven’t been there yet this year.

I don't know who was happier, Judy and I, or Alfredo. I think Alfredo will edge us out.

The two photos below appear to be a new feature on the blog. Bug of the Day. I took these this morning.

Warren

2-21

Here’s a little catch up for the Blog.

Caught up with some friends off the cruise ship on Friday. There were a total of ten of them in the group, but only four of them came over to the beach and the house. I treated them to a bus ride out to the house, then down to the beach for a few beers and snacks at Paty’s. They really liked being able to come to the beach and not look like deer in the headlights on the beach wondering where to go. They headed back to downtown mid afternoon for a little shopping and then back to the ship.

Yesterday, Judy went to a cooking class over in the Madera beach neighborhood. She went with Vera and Dan to learn about making chiles rellenos. She had a great time and signed up for a couple more classes. Next week they are going shopping at the Mercado for ingredients and the following Saturday they are making tamales.

This morning we are headed for a couple of laps on the beach then I have some errands to do. Looks like we are eating out today if we want anything cooked. The gas tank up on the roof ran out this morning. I wondered why the gas guy was here the other day. I thought we were on a gas main. No such thing down here. We also ran out of water a couple of weeks ago. The water does come to us via a water main, into a cistern then it is pumped up to a day tank on the roof. Little did we know that the water had been off for at least ten days. The city will just shut off the water to areas to push more to Ixtapa to the rich gringos that don’t want to be in Mexico. Alfredo called a water truck to get us by until the water came back on. It appears the water is only on at night right now. We will have enough to take care of the two of us.

Yesterday was the hottest day we have seen so far. The good news was that the humidity was low, but it was 91 in the shade. Looks like another hot one again today.

Went into town last night for dinner and then walked around a little. Stopped at the basketball court and watched a game for awhile. There are adult basketball leagues here. At halftime, I watched one of the players sit down in front of us. He took off his uniform and gave it to one of the other players that was waiting on the sideline. There appears to be a shortage of uniforms for one of the teams. In Mexico you just make it work.

That’s about it for this morning. We are down to two weeks left and I am sure that is going to fly by. We are set for our move next year to the smaller place. Our landlady for Casa Ita is coming on Tuesday. I know she wants us to stay, but we just don’t need this big house anymore. We are working with her on getting it advertised better and passing the word around about the house. They understand our situation.

Warren

Patiently waiting at home.
The finished product from the class. Three different types of chiles rellenos.
Instructor for Judy's chiles rellenos cooking class.
One man band at Berra De Potisi. He played for at least an hour for the three bus loads of seniors at the restaurant next to us. They had a great time with him and most of them were dancing.
Linda and Ginny swimming at Berra De Potisi last Tuesday.
This little guy was crawling on the outside of the screen door yesterday morning. It was about 2" long. He looked friendly but didn't find out. This kind of stuff really "bugs" me!

2-18-2010

The last of the wedding visitors left on the Alaska flight yesterday. It was Judy’s sister Linda and her cousin Ginny. They were here for two weeks. On their last full day, Tuesday, we took them to Berra De Potosi. The trip on the bus and the truck is always a novelty for all parties. We had not been down there for a couple of years. A lot of changes have happened. For one, there are realtors trying to sell lots in small developments across from the beach in Berra. The sales office consists of a palapa and a table. Time will tell how it works out.

The beach restaurants were busy that day. There was three buses at the one next door to where we went. It appeared to be Mexican seniors on a day trip. They were having a great time. We enjoyed the water and the beach and had a big red snapper for lunch. After spending most of the day there, we headed home and went for a light dinner down the street from the house.

Today is a what ever day for us. Judy just headed to town with Vera and I am heading to the beach soon. It is overcast today and a light breeze blowing off shore. There is a cruise ship in the harbor this morning. I believe it is the Radiance of the Sea, owned by Norwegian line. Tomorrow we have some friends from Bellingham coming in on the Carnival Spirit for the day. They want to come to the beach. Hopefully the clouds will be gone. The forecast shows partly cloudy.

Town is full of a lot of new faces this week. Presidents day week is one of the busiest weeks in February. Lots of sunburns!

I’ve run out of news for now, and it’s time to head to the beach.

Warren

Some wedding photos

The upload stars were in the right alignment this morning so I added some wedding photos. There are lots more, but for now you can get the idea of what we had.

Oops! You have to load the last pictures first and the first pictures last. Makes perfect sense. This is the Mariachi band that played for an hour after the wedding ceremony.
flowers floating on the pool and candles around the edge.
Issac played prior to the wedding and for the procession in.
Sean escorts Judy into the ceremony.

Sean and Ellie exchange their vows. Notice the Yenta in the front row admiring his work.
Sean and Ellie with Joe and Fanny. Joe was the Yenta. Joe called Sean 2 years ago after they were here. "Listen, you have to marry that girl". Joe and Fanny had front row seats of honor for the wedding. They are from Montreal.Some of our sedate friends at the reception.

2-14

A little more of the dust has settled on the Wedding. This morning Sean and Ellie left the house at 6 AM for an 8 AM flight to Huston and then on to Baltimore, they hope. They were scheduled to leave this last Friday, but rescheduled due to the heavy snow in Baltimore. They are in transit as I write this. Camille and my Mother are in route to Seattle this morning after staying in LA overnight. They should arrive in Seattle about 1 PM this afternoon. That leaves us with Judy’s sister and Cousin until Wednesday. It is real quiet here this morning, but that is about to be shattered by the visit of the “God Children” for swimming and lunch. They have been wanting to come over since we arrived, but the other events have kept us busy. They did attend the wedding and had a great time. The girls spent most of their time after dinner gathering up balloons the DJ turned loose during the dancing.

We are going to try to get out to Berra De Potisi maybe tomorrow. Linda and Virginia would like to see it before they head home. The bus ride and the trip in the back of the truck to the beach is always fun. Hopefully that will all come together. It will be quiet here after Wednesday and Judy and I will spend the rest of our time visiting with our friends down here until they leave. We do have some friends coming in on a cruise ship this coming Thursday for a day visit. They want to see the house and the beach. That won’t be tough.

We have also decided that we will be moving to a smaller location next year. The three bedroom house has served us well this year and last year, but it is time to downsize again. Besides, we have never stayed in the same location for more than 3 years. Change is good. We are moving to a one bedroom suite that is located right behind the house we are in now. It is owned by a couple of guys from Edmonton. He is making us a great deal for the rent, including wifi and Sky satellite TV, kitchen and a little better view of the water. Just like our trailer, drinks for six, dinner for 4, sleeps 2.

Here is the latest update on the Telcel bill and activation. I mentioned in a previous entry how I went to Ixtapa to pay the bill for my wireless internet. He told me to come back before the 13^thof February and bring the device so they could update the chip. So, last Wednesday I went to the office with Camille. She wanted to see Ixtapa. I walked in and all seven windows had customer service people working them. There was no line, and I am thinking what a score. No waiting in line for an hour. I spoke with the receptionist and she told me I couldn’t update the chip until the next day after 10:30 AM! Sooo, I went back the next day in the afternoon to take care of it again. This was my third trip. Of course when I arrived there were only three customer service agents working the seven windows. Another forty minute wait in line and it was my turn. The same person that was working the reception desk the day before was now helping me at the service window. She remembered me and got a cell phone, pulled the chip out of my little wireless gizmo and updated it. Ah, Mexico, where people wait in line at the bank for hours sometimes to conduct their banking.

By now most of you, hopefully have seen some of the wedding photos on Judy’s Facebook page. There will be more coming eventually somewhere. We downloaded photos from our friend’s cameras and we are still in the process of sorting through all of those. Needless to say, there are lots of them. The waiters at La Escollera told the kids that it was one of the best parties they have had there in a long time. They were even dancing.

Carnival has been going on all of this week. We just didn’t have the energy to attend any of the events. I heard that the parade yesterday was pretty good with lots of floats. It ended last night with a big fireworks show, but once again we didn’t have the energy to get up and watch it.

Our friend Eric and family just left after about 4 hours here in the pool. Judy and I are worn out after this one. A good time was had by all. The kids really enjoy coming over for an afternoon of fun and food.

Time to get this posted, if it will upload. This time of day my Telcel internet is a little sluggish. If not today, maybe in the morning. We are on Mexican time.

Warren

We are moving to this location next year. It is about 100 yards behind the house we are in now. The large open window in the middle is the one bedroom suite we want.
Eric and Adrianna brought the kids over for an afternoon of swimming. It was wild to say the least.

Wedding Pictures

There are now lots of pictures from different cameras out on Facebook. Go to Facebook for Judy Vose to see some of them. We will probably be posting some out on Snapfish later also.

The girls just left for town for shopping this morning and left me alone. Darn! I'm heading to the beach to stare at the water for a few hours.

Warren

The Wedding

I know everyone wants pictures, but we don't have any of them on the computer right now. Just wanted to say that you all missed what I think is an all time best for the Voses. We finally pulled the plug about 11:30 last night, we started at 5:30. The wedding ceremony was great, the bride was beautiful, and everything went off flawless. We had about 65 people, a Mariachi band, live music prior to the wedding, and a great DJ. Needless to say a great time was had by all. We will get the pictures and more details out soon as we can get them gathered up. Judy and I didn't take any pictures because we didn't want to mess with a camera. There were lots of other cameras going non stop.

Some of the guests are heading home today, tomorrow and through the week. I made 6 trips to the airport in the last week.

More to come soon.

Warren

2-5-2010

This will be a quick entry due to the fact that we have been a little busy this week. I made 5 trips to the airport this week to meet people coming in for the wedding. I have showed Sean the ropes on how to get there on the Combi. It is only 10 pesos.

The biggest story this week is the rain! That’s right, rain. It started on Wednesday morning about 3 AM with a huge thunder and lightning show that lasted a couple of hours. The rain started about 3:30 AM and rained hard for over twelve hours. How hard you ask? It appears that we got 12 plus inches in the last 36 hours. Needless to say there is mud and water running everywhere. This morning the sun is shinning and the forecast is sunny for at least a few days. The forecast for Saturday is sunny and 86 degrees for the wedding. Everything seems to be in place for the big day. We are having the rehearsal dinner at Jungle Pizza tonight, even though there isn’t going to be a rehearsal. We will just call it the wedding party party.

I am going to close this out for now, because I need to start running some errands. I will include some photos of the rain.

Warren

The construction workers headed up the work in the morning, as usual but soon returned to head home. On one of my trips to the airport I did notice a lot of workers under some of the store awnings playing some sort of dice gambling game.
Mexican rain coat. This is not an original idea.
It rained like this for at least 12 hours on Wednesday.

I'm trying to keep up, but we're a little busy this week

As you can see, Mom won the shopping contest in Ixtapa.

2-1

It has been busy here the last few days. Sean and Ellie arrived on Friday, Mom and Camille arrived Saturday. We have been getting everyone settled in and moving forward with wedding plans. Sean and Ellie are up at La Escollera as I write this working on plans. They are meeting with the Judge that is performing the service for them, the manager of La Escollera who has done most of the arrangements, and a musician who will be playing pre wedding. Tomorrow they move up there for the rest of their time here this year. They have a couple of very nice rooms that they out rent up there. It has a beautiful view overlooking Zihuatanejo bay and La Ropa beach.

Today, Judy and I took Mom to Ixtapa for some shopping. I needed to pay for my Telcel wireless internet card for next month. More on that subject in a moment. Judy took Mom to her favorite clothing store for some retail therapy. All I can say is it is a good thing that I went to the ATM for Mom this morning.

I had to go to the Telcel office to pay my bill. This is where the fun started, sorta. I waited in line for one of the three customer service people out of the seven stations that were available. I had plenty of time to observe how some of this worked. Most of the people were dealing with cell phone issues. I waited in line for close to an hour. Then I went to the counter for my turn. He spoke pretty good English, so that wasn’t a problem. I soon found out that I should have brought the wireless gizmo with me so they could communicate with it and let it know that I am paid up. Then he sent me over to the cashier to pay the bill. While I was doing that he didn’t start waiting on anyone else. I could see that coming from my hour of observation in the line. I still need to make another trip to Ixtapa to handle the last part of the transaction. That office is the only place I can pay the bill, even though there are numerous locations around downtown Zihuatanejo. Oh well it’s Mexico! You should see the Banks on Friday afternoons and Saturdays. The locals are lined up out the door just to use the ATM, if it still has money in it. We Americans are spoiled when it comes to banking. I went to the bank the other day to try and pay some wedding bills with Celine the manager from La Escollera, and I counted 35 people waiting in the lobby of the bank for their turn. The businesses get some priority, but they have to request it. You come in the front door and swipe your card to get a number. Why do they have 7 windows but only 3 people working them? Mexico, you got to love it!

I must admit that our connection with the world has been much better this year with a more reliable internet connection and Skype. We have made many calls back to the States for no additional charge beyond the $36 dollars for three months of international calling. I wish that we had Skype a few years ago when I had some cell bills that looked like the National debt.

This is like the calm before the storm. I will be making trips to the airport for three days in a row starting on Wednesday mid day. There are 11 people on the Alaska flight on Thursday. Looks like the count is at about 65 people for the wedding. More on that subject to come.

Warren

Cruise ships and birds

Thursday the 28^th

Cruise Ships and birds

Judy and I are heading to the beach today. No question about it. In all of our years down here I don’t think I have ever gone this long without spending time on the beach. It has hit a week now. We need to see who is here. This is the time that more friends show up.

There are two cruise ships in the bay this morning. You don’t see two very often. You start seeing the tour busses come by taking people up the hill to take a few photos of the bay and Zihuatanejo Centro. It is a great view from up there. They might even encounter a vendor or two up there when they get off of the bus to snap a few photos. The taxi drivers that can speak English do a great business all day long. You can always tell the taxis that are giving a tour, because they are the ones driving nice and slow. Not like the regular go like hell until you have to slow down for the topes, (speed bumps) in front of the house. I spoke with some folks last week from one of the ships. They had just finished a little tour with one of the locals. I think the local was free lancing with a private vehicle. Don’t let the taxi drivers catch you! They were happy with the tour which included up the hill by us, out to Playa Larga, Ixtapa, and finishing up driving through the squatter neighborhood where there are roads. You have to make a living somehow.

One of the reasons for not going to the beach has been wedding plans and our head colds. The colds are almost all gone now, but the wedding plans still have our attention. It doesn’t absorb the whole day though. All of the big items are in place now and little details are being worked out. Sean and Ellie will be here tomorrow and will have a few things to approve or change if they want. Mom and Camille arrive on Saturday and the bulk of the others arrive Wednesday through Friday. It sure is quiet here right now.

We were in the Madera neighborhood a couple of days ago for breakfast at La Casa Café. Took our friends from Ferndale there and then walked into town from there. The road follows along the canal with a couple of foot bridges to get you to the Centro side. The canal is one of my favorite bird watching locations, especially around the mouth where it empties into the bay. The city has improved some drainage issues up stream now and the canal doesn’t flow much water unless it rains. Consequently, I haven’t seen as many birds up stream. This years spotting has been a Roseate Spoonbill that just showed up a few days ago. I ran into my friend Larry the other day at the Comercial Mexicana and he told me what the bird was. He is a much more avid bird watcher than I am. Google Roseate Spoonbill and you will get lots of good pictures and info. There have been lots of the regulars flying around the house and you can hear the Chachalacas calling from the trees up the hill. I went for my first walk up the hill yesterday and saw a few up in the trees. They are hard to get close to see. When you are tasty you tend to be a little more elusive! Check out the Plain Chachalaca on Google. You can even get a sound bite to hear what they sound like.

Got to go to the beach now, I have worked hard enough for the day. Not much in the way of new pictures right now, but a couple of cruise ships might bring a photo op of some sort today.

Warren

Photo post

These are pork rinds from the Mercado. I picked up a couple of bags a few days ago. Judy and Rory love them. They are one of the basic food groups to the Mexicans. I draw the line on eating deep fried pork fat and skin. I don't believe the American Heart Association endorses these.
Our waiter Bruno last night. We asked him to get in one of the pictures. He got me good! Matt would be in a comma today.
Dinner last night with Ferndale friends. It was lamb barbacoa and very tasty.
We see these buses on a regular basis, especially on the weekends. I don't know where they come from. They arrive first thing in the morning, sometimes before daylight. Lots of families and they spend the day on the beach. Yesterday I noticed one of the ice cream vendors and the shaved ice guy by the buses to make that last sale before they leave.

Saturday Evening Post

Mexico is almost like Texas, they grow them big down here. I believe they call this guy a wood bee. I think they burrow into trees and soft wood.

I’m getting a lot of flack for not posting often enough. Obviously you folks don’t know what we are going through down here. Just this morning, I had to go to the Mercado for a few items then to the bank, and then picked up a roasted chicken with rice. Then I had to wait for the bus, and, pay the increased fare. It now is costing another peso to go round trip. Life just isn’t fair some times! Plus, I have to get up early to get the blog to go. My wireless card gets bogged down in the afternoons and evenings.

We have both been fighting colds this week. Mine is almost gone, but Judy is on the beginning of hers. I picked up some cold medicine at the Farmacia along with my other shopping this morning.

Judy went to Ixtapa a couple of days ago with Jeanne for a little retail therapy. It appears to have been a very therapeutic venture. I was not feeling so good with my cold, so I stayed here to rest. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a little bug hit the wall on the back patio and wound up on it’s back. A couple of shots of raid and it finally quit moving a couple of hours later.

I also picked up some junk food earlier in the week for some friends, but Judy wouldn’t let all of it go. Pork rinds from one of the vendors at the Mercado. They are in a big wash tub in pieces about 8 x 10 or so. I will eat almost anything, but I do draw the line at deep fried pork fat.

I might try to catch the Vikings vs Saints game with Dan tomorrow. I believe it is on about 5:30.

We are both ready for a beach fix. We haven’t spent much time on the beach yet. To much other stuff going on. Our company starts arriving next Friday and we will have a house full for a little over two weeks. We will be busy this week with more wedding plans and of course a trip to the bank or two.

I started this entry on Saturday and it is now Monday morning 7:30 AM. We hung around the house for the last couple of days getting over our colds, but we seem to be much better now. I am still having some trouble with posting photos, but might just make one of the posts photos and not much text. I will keep trying to get the bugs worked out.

Last night we went to a place we have never been to. It is a restaurant called El Pueblito. It is a large court yard and they have barbacoa on Sunday. The specialty for the baracoa is lamb. It was very good and we had a nice time. We went with two other couples from Ferndale. I missed the football games last night, but we did follow the end of the Saints vs Vikings when we got home via internet updates. It looked like a good one and hopefully the Superbowl will be a good game.

I will end this now and work on some additional photo entries.

Warren

Sitting at the Marina restaurant across from the commercial fishermen. Early in the morning there are all kinds of fish available for people to buy for restaurants and fish stores. The location is close to the pier so we also watched sweating cruise ship folks headed back to the ship.

1-18-10

Not much going on the last few days. Judy took the kids from the family we help out to get some clothes. School uniforms, some shoes and dresses for the wedding. They were all worn out after the shopping, but very excited about the new clothes. I spent some time watching New Orleans take care of the Arizona Cardinals from an adult beverage location downtown.

We went to the Comercial Mexicana, the local Costco affiliate store, on Sunday morning. That really appears to be one of the better times to go. The store wasn’t very busy. You know you have been coming here for a while when you run into people you know and chat with them at the grocery store. Just like home. We spent the rest of the day hanging around the house. I will hit the Mercado this morning some time to get our veggies fruit, and of course, a little more string cheese from our friend Bernardo.

I was up early enough this morning to give Alfredo a cup of coffee. He looks at me in my shorts and tee shirt and asked me how I can stand the cold. He has on a long shirt and looks a little cold. It was about 72 degrees this morning at 6:30.

Another cruise ship came in this morning. Yesterday the Carnival Spirit was in for the day and this morning is the Radiance of the Sea. Last year the Carnival Spirit was about the only ship that came in on a regular basis. The Swine Flu rerouted most of the other ships.

Right now we are contemplating riding the bus up to Playa Linda. It is located at the north end of Ixtapa. It is the end of the road over there. You can catch the water taxi to Ixtapa Island if you want to snorkel. We have been there and done that one a few years ago. There is also a lagoon there loaded with crocodiles, on the other side of a fence. We haven’t ever spent time at Playa Linda, so maybe we should check it out. When the cruise ships are in, downtown gets busy.

It’s about 9 AM now and I see what appears to be a mother daughter team waiting for the bus back to town. They go up the hill on the bus with the workers in the morning and sell food at one of the bigger construction sites. Then they head home and reload for lunch about 1 PM. I watched them last year also. Everybody has some sort of work going on.

Time to take a break. Hopefully I will have more to report later about our bus ride to Playa Linda.

Well, that plan didn’t come together. Our friends Dan and Jeanne showed up and visited for a couple of hours. They left about noon, so we caught the bus down to the Madera area to look around. We haven’t been down there yet this year. Judy made a nail appointment at Lilyana’s. She is her hair dresser and her daughter in-law does nails in her shop also. We walked up the street to the Casa Café to check it out. They had a large tree limb crash through their kitchen roof last Friday during the storm that rolled through. I helped the owner move a table with an espresso machine on it so he could get up on a ladder to finish some work. Their new roof is a blue tarp. They will be open for business on Tuesday. We finished our walk up the street and wound up at the Marina restaurant for a late lunch. Spent about an hour there right across from where the fishing boats come in after fishing all night long. We watched the cruise ship parade come by on the walkway. It was time to move on, so we hit the Mercado for a few needed items and picked up a couple of chiles rellenos to go for our dinner tonight. We got them from one of the many little lunch counters in there. They were very zesty and tasty for our dinner tonight.

Currently we are trying to stay awake at 8:40. It appears that it will be another early night tonight. We brought some DVD’s with us and we happen to have a TV and DVD player in our bedroom. Looks like Tony Soprano will be visiting us again tonight.

That’s it for today.

Warren

It's been a couple of busy and wild days

Saturday morning 1-16-10
It is Saturday morning and Judy and I are sitting here checking our e-mail, reading the newspaper, listening to NPR streaming into our computer, and of course just saw an old guy from a motorhome across the road walking around in just a Speedo. Some things are just wrong, even in Mexico. Let’s move on from the Speedo sightings, especially the one on the beach the other day that we had to guess if he had one on!
I know I’m a little behind on posting right now. This has been a busy week for us getting set up and working on wedding plans.
Our wireless internet card is working great and allows us to access the internet, use Skype to call out and receive calls, and currently to stream in radio. Judy is working with her Kindle and figured out this morning how to access Facebook and send e-mail. The Voses must be some sort of techno wizards, or maybe not.
Thursday our friends Robin and Sanford came over from Ixtapa for the day. They got here about 9 AM for the day. We were getting ready to head to the Mercado for dinner makin’s so we asked if they wanted to go. They have been here 6 times and had never been to the Mercado or ridden the bus. They are now able to check that off in their dance book. We introduced them to Bernardo the cheese guy, and Poncho and Rosa, our fishmongers. Rosa is a master with the filet knife. Picked up some dorado and prawns for dinner later, some veggies and some bolios. Bolios are fresh rolls like a hoagie roll. They are still warm when you pick them up. Then it was on to Bananas restaurant for a late breakfast, and on to the secret bakery for their first introduction to the chocolate cake with the flan topping. We spent most of the day here around the pool, a short walk on the beach for sunset then a wonderful dinner of dorado, shrimp, and fresh tuna salad on a half avocado.
Yesterday we did a few things here at the house while we waited for Mida, our maid to show up. We went to the beach for a few hours while she was here and visited with our friends Dan and Jeanne. We caught the bus to town about 5:30 for dinner at Don Memos. Nice fish fillet for 70 pesos (about $5). Next was a little window shopping on our way to a haircut from my favorite barber Rigo, (el barbero). I had to wait about 20 minutes for my turn. This was 8 PM and there were 4 more people waiting after me. Haircut, including razor trim around my beard for about 70 pesos.
When we were sitting at dinner we noticed some waiters coming outside looking at the sky and pointing. It was very dark and looking like some sort of storm brewing. A lot of the restaurants are outdoors, so they had a concerned look on their faces. After my haircut we headed for a cab about 9 PM. On the way we felt a few rain drops, and by the time the cab headed for the house it was starting to rain, then harder. By the time we got to our front gate it was pouring down big drops. This was a good old fashioned thunder shower, which we have never experienced here in all our years of coming down here. It was very unusual for this time of year. Then the lights started to flicker and out they went right as we got to the house. The storm lasted about 15 minutes with big wind to finish it up which even brought a roof tile down on the pool deck and into the pool. Just before the rain ended Alfredo showed up on his scooter. He normally comes a little later at night but I think he figured he needed to be here. I carry a good flash light with us now, and shined the light down by the gate as he was bringing his scooter in. He had a large black plastic garbage bag with head and arm holes cut into it for a rain coat. Pretty soon he showed up with some lit candles for us. It was wild to say the least. I am hearing about some trees that came down from the wind. The whole thing lasted about 30 minutes, and then the stars were out again. The power finally came on about 11 PM. We were in bed asleep. The only problem with no power is no air conditioning in the bedroom (and no power for Judy’s cpap machine). It was a little toasty until we had the power. Downtown had power and didn’t stop the live music coming across the bay loud and clear. A little storm ain’t going to stop that on a Friday night.
This morning the air is clean the sky is clear with a wisp of clouds and it is about 75 degrees. All is good again.
Warren

Catching up on photos

Here is another lesson relearned about posting pictures. I have to start with the most recent first and the oldest last. Makes sense to me. You can click on the photos to see them larger.

Alfredo was proud of his Christmas decorations this year, especially the inflatable snowmen. He took them down on Tuesday.

We will work on more photos soon. Our schedule is so busy you know.
I am still getting the hang of uploading pictures. I do know that it works better in the mornings when the system isn't so busy.

This post will just be some pictures that needed posting.

The above photo is our arrival. Try to imagine how red faced Alfredo was that he wasn't here to greet us. We waited about 10 minutes after a couple of phone calls.

Another plan comes together, sorta

I just love it when a well orchestrated plan comes together. I believe I told everyone that we were waiting for our dedicated phone line and internet connection. It was only going to be a couple more days. Wrong! We now have a wireless internet card that our landlady Ita brought to us today. In the long run it will be cheaper for us. The wait for the phone had no date attached. So much for that plan. At least now we don’t have to sit in just the right location and hold your mouth just right to steal the free weak wifi signal from Jacque. This is much better and we are now using our Skype without dropping the signal anymore.

I made my first trip to the Mercado yesterday for a few items. Not too much, just some string cheese from our friend Bernardo and fresh tuna from Pablo. Judy boiled up the tuna with a few spices and made a pound of tuna salad today. It just didn’t taste the same as the canned stuff.

Yesterday was almost a felony offense for us. There were 4 items on our to do list. The Mercado in the morning, while Judy met with our maid to get her started. Then it was up to La Escollera to meet with the manager Celine about wedding plans for a couple of hours. We rushed home in the taxi and had him wait for us while we changed real quick and headed to Ixtapa to meet our friends Robin and Sanford for dinner. They have a time share at the Pacifica in Ixtapa. It looks to the north along Ixtapa beach and a couple of the holes of one of the golf courses. We had an adult beverage and then rode a gondola up the hill to a very fine restaurant. It had a beautiful view of the beach to the north also. Needless to say there was nothing on our agenda today. We didn’t leave the house until about 7 tonight for a little look around downtown and a quick dinner. After a little looking around we settled on a place called Don Memos. Very good snapper fillet and steamed veggies with a very tasty little side of pasta.

This afternoon Alfredo’s son, Christian came over to visit. His English is getting better and he likes to practice on us. He is trying to finish up high school and hopefully get into Army school to finish his education. He is 20 and still has a couple of years left in High School. Christian told us that he dropped out for a couple of years and now is back. In his words, “I don’t won’t to be a loser”. Those were words we liked to hear. He is trying to pass the entrance test with the Army school. It sounds like it is more like a prep school that will give him a good start on an Army aviation school with his High school diploma. We wish him luck. Alfredo is working here in the evening and on the weekends taking care of the house and the bungalows they built next door. He stays here at night as the watchman, then goes home about 7 AM to eat and then goes to a construction job up the hill where he probably is working at least 10 hours. We can see the worksite from here. Tonight when we were leaving, Christian was helping Alfredo take down the inflatable snowmen and lights. Christmas is over!

It appears that I am still having trouble uploading pictures to the blog. I will work on it and hopefully have it resolved soon.

Warren