The Tex-Mex Connection

Going to the Fair

2008-03-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

Last year, we saw reference to a fair in Tepic called the Feria Nacional de la Mexicanidad. But I couldn’t find any information about it online and we didn’t go.
This year, knowing more people, and more Tepicans, we found out more about the Fair. It is essentially the State Fair of Nayarit, and this year it went 3 weeks and admission was free for everyone.
Since it was free, and we knew a little of what to expect we thought why not go? We’ve been to Tepic before and enjoyed it and it’s only about a 2 hour drive from Bucerias.
Checking our busy schedules, we picked a Wednesday and Thursday for our trip. It’s funny how retired people can be so busy that an overnight trip takes as much scheduling as a moon launch.
And as usual, the trip didn’t go as planned. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun, but things often seem t work out differently than expected.
We left Wed. morning and first made a stop in the town of Compostela. Our friend Alex was taking his wife and kids to Guadalajara to visit her mother over Easter and his car broke down along the way in Compostela.
By the time we got there, the car was fixed but Alex wanted Harold to come visit the Civil Protection and Red Cross station in Compostela. The guys there had put Alex up overnight when he was stranded and he had been trying to get the car fixed. They have a new to them fire truck and were learning about using it. Alex figured Harold could help them some. We stayed at the station for an hour or so. We promised to see what we can do to help find them some equipment as they have very little.
Then it was off to Tepic. We had reserved a room at the Villa de las Flores Hotel. We found it with no trouble. For less than $50US per night, we got a decent room and continental breakfast. The hotel also has off street parking.
That afternoon we explored around Tepic and saw the new mall under construction, looked at areas of town we hadn’t seen before, and ate lunch at a place with the very Mexican name of “The Barbecue Factory.” We chose the ribs over the BBQ chicken and it was very good. We aren’t sure if it’s a franchise or how they got the name.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel to rest up for the fair. Although we had been told the fair opened around 4, we’ve been in Mexico long enough to know nothing much would happen until much later.
We took a cab to the fair, because the car was safely parked in the mini parking lot at the hotel. Not being sure there would be space when we got back and not sure of the parking arrangements at the fair, the cab was a good bet. For all of 25 pesos we figured we couldn’t go wrong.
It was about 6:30 when we arrived, and there were some people out. We visited the pavilion with exhibits from each municipality in Nayarit. Our municipality’s booth was not nearly as nice as many of the others. We attributed this to the week long Festival of the Bahia de Banderas which just finished up here and probably got all the planning and attention.
There was a geodesic dome with displays from the Riviera Nayarit area and a coffee shop in there. We enjoyed a frappe while looking at the displays.
Next was a tent with many products made in Nayarit. I bought some mole sauce and we got a few other little items. Next was a display of many of the state departments. Lots of things for kids to look at there. We didn’t get to see the show at the portable planetarium, maybe next year.
There was a big area with lots of booths with souvenirs, sunglasses, clothing, and other priceless stuff. The booths were much neater than the average tianguis. Of course we had to buy some little things for friends.
Not only was admission to the fair free, but there were a number of shows that were also free. The night we were there didn’t have any big name entertainers, but many other nights did. We did go to the Rex Bronson Show de Osos (bear show).
The bear show was like something you might have seen in the pre-PETA days in the US. The bears all looked like they were in good condition and they weren’t mistreated during the show. But they did have muzzles and leashes and did bear show kinds of things. And we know PETA doesn’t like that!
First, a group of good looking young women dressed in Indian costumes complete with feathers in their hair came out leading animals around the ring. A bear, a wolf and a llama paraded around, along with a number of the girls beating drums. That was the last time we saw the llama.
The show featured Rex Bronson, who looked decidedly un-Mexican. Rex wore a back leather outfit, from cowboy hat, to fringed jacket, pants and boots. I’ll bet he doesn’t do this show in the summer! Rex has long wavy grey hair which he wore in a ponytail. He smiled through the whole show and his musical selections were theme songs from old Westerns like Rawhide, Bonanza and others.
Rex’s bears did the usual tricks like walking on their back legs, playing basketball, riding bicycles and of course dancing.
There were also trained wolves. They pulled a cart, did some jumping tricks and then jumped through flaming hoops.
In between the animal acts, the Indian girls came out and beat on drums and danced around in their short Indian dresses. Harold said their purpose was to keep the fathers from wanting to leave during the show. The Indian girls also sold plush bears which came with American chocolates and assorted trinkets.
We enjoyed the show, but wanted to go backstage and ask Rex if he was on the run from American authorities. The name of the show really should be the Rex Bronson 100% Politically Incorrect Bear Show. The show was about 45 minutes long.
We got out of the bear show just in time to catch the Robert’s Circus. There were acts in the circus, but there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the acts. Some were pretty good, some were odd, and others were really strange. There were the standard acrobatic acts and a few clown acts. Then there were 2 acts featuring motorcycles. And the strangest of all was the Kids Dressed as Butterflies. These kids were maybe 5 years old. Three kids came out and flitted around the circus ring to some nice music. Then the ubiquituous smoke machine was turned on. Every self-respecting Mexican entertainment includes a smoke machine. And randomly flashing lights. The smoke machine put out a big puff of smoke and all the kids fell over on the stage like they were dead. A man came out from the back and grabbed two of the kids by their ankles. Those 2 kids grabbed the third kid. The man dragged the kids off stage. The third kid got left behind, so the guy came back out, picked the kid up by the ankle and carried him off stage. End of act.
The exciting conclusion of what we called “Robert’s Circus for the Easily Amused” was Mickey Mouse directing the dancing fountain. After the circus was over, all the performers came out for a bow. Then came Snow While, who hadn’t been in the show before, and Beauty and the Beat, also for the first time. You could have your picture taken with Beauty and the Beast, but neither the photographer or the Beauty and Beast were very enthusiastic about recruiting customers.
It was pretty chilly out that evening and Harold had forgotten to bring a jacket. After the circus, we walked around the fair a little more, but it was too cold to check out the midway or the rides. We did look at the food booths and they had the usual tacos, salchipulpos (see photo), ice cream, churros, beer and coffee. The prices were very reasonable.
Because it was so cold, we didn’t stay to watch the entertainment. Possibly it was karaoke, or some other type of audience participation thing. We did say hi to the Civil Protection guys who were there with the ambulance.
On the way back to the hotel, our cab driver told us he used to live in our area. Turns out he lived about 2 blocks from Alex in San Jose. We got back to the hotel around midnight. Next year we think we’ll have to plan 2 nights for the fair.
In the morning, we went for our continental breakfast. The desk clerk told us it was normally one free per room, but she gave us each a ticket. For that, you got coffee or tea, orange juice and toast. Harold also had some hot cakes.
We planned on going on the Tepic tour bus. It’s a free bus tour around the city. We had tried another time to go, but the bus wasn’t running that day because of Christmas decorations.
I went to the office to sign up about 10 a.m. Tours are supposed to be at 11, 1, 3 and 5 each day. I was told the only available tour was at 3. Since that would put us back on the road pretty late and possibly not off the highway before dark, that wouldn’t work. I tried pleading with them, but it appears special events were planned that day and only one tour was taking place. They did give me a phone number to call in the future to possibly make reservations ahead. Or not, who knows? We plan on having our friend Hector from the local tourism office cal on our behalf next time.
Instead of the tour, we decided to continue our driving tour of Tepic. Despite my complaints that it would be boring, Harold wanted to check out the airport. The Tepic airport is out in the middle of nowhere. When we pulled up to the entrance, there were several cops there. We stopped and were asked for ID. One of the cops had a mirror on a stick to look under cars. We went into the airport and saw probably 50 or more cops standing around. We also saw a Civil Protection ambulance, so we went over to ask them what was going on. They told us that President Calderon was coming in about an hour. We wanted to hang around, but knowing how things always happen late, we left.
We went back near our hotel, noting along the way that there was a soldier or a transit cop at every intersection, and there are a lot of intersections. In the park across the street, soldiers were in many places. It appeared the President would be in the area. While crossing the street, we talked to one of the transit cops. He told us the President would be coming through very soon. We decided to stay there and wait. We bought the cop a bottle of water since he was stuck out in the sun. Turns out that he used to work in Bucerias not far from our house. His family is in Tepic. While Harold was talking to him, a woman walked up and handed the cop another bottle of water. It was his mom, and he introduced Harold to her.
A police car with lights and siren came by and announced that the President would be coming in 2 minutes. All the intersections were closed then. Thenext police car through announced the motorcade was just behind him. Then came the motorcade of several motorcycles, followed by some vans and Suburbans, all with deeply tinted windows. Then more vans, more motorcycles and one last police car. They all went down this city street at about 50 miles per hour. You could have missed them if you blinked.
After all the excitement of not seeing the President, it was time for lunch. We ate at a place Harold had seen an ad for called the Golden Restaurant. By the name, I would have guessed Chinese but it was more of a bar/grill kind of place. The hamburgers were good as were the fries.
After lunch, we headed home. We did make a stop in La Penita to go to a nursery we like there. We bought some plants for our yard. Then we stopped to visit our friends Jeannie and Dennis in La Penita. We hadn’t been out their way recently so stayed for a short visit, ten back home to Bucerias.
Sorry we don’t have any original pictures to go with this, our camera doesn’t work well at night and is half broken as well. We’ll be getting a new one soon.

On the Road to Patzcuaro and Guanajuato

2007-06-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the year, I talked to my former sister-in-law (but still friend) Kathy about a trip within Mexico. Kathy lives in Asheville, NC and is a teacher. She’s thinking of spending some time in Mexico after her retirement and wanted to check out a few places.
We decided on Patzcuaro, Michoacan and Guanajuato. I told my friend Jeanie, who lives in nearby La Penita, about the trip and she decided to join us.
Jeanie and I took the bus to Guadalajara, arriving early afternoon. We stayed at the Hotel Tonala. It has a good location right in the center of Tonala. We spent the afternoon looking around the shops. Since we didn’t know what we might find on the trip we held off buying anything. Kathy flew into Guadalajara later that evening and met us at the hotel.
Early the next morning we caught a bus for Morelia. The scenery isn’t very impressive along the way. We did pass one very large lake near Morelia. From Morelia we took another bus to Patzcuaro.
Our hotel, the Casa del Refugio, was an excellent choice. It is right on the smaller plaza in central Patzcuaro. Our room was on the second floor. The hotel is built around a central courtyard and is very nice. We ate breakfast there a couple days. The staff at the hotel was exceptionally nice and friendly. When we wanted to take a tour around the lake, the desk clerk made several calls for prices for us and even took messages for us and helped us decide which tour would work best for us. Mainly in Patzcuaro we shopped for crafts. There are many little shops and we wandered around town looking. We also stopped for a cold drink once in a while and did some sight-seeing.
The weather was nice during the day. It was sunny and warm. At night it cooled off quite a bit, and the evenings it rained it was sort-of chilly.
There is not much “night life” in Patzcuaro. We expected more activity, well, any activity, in the plazas in the evening. No taco stands or other vendors at all in the evening.
One day we hired a taxi driver to take us around Lake Patzcuaro to the various towns which each have their own craft specialty.
We went to some ruins near Patzcuaro first. There are many, many rock walls and some remains of structures. We mainly liked it because it was so quiet and peaceful!
One area we passed through had several cantera stone carving places. There were so many statues, pots, fountains and things. Most of them were different from the others, no mass-produced things here. We wanted to buy plenty, but really, can you bring a 200 pound statue home on the bus? Jeanie and I both said we’d like to return there and buy some things for the house.
The village of Tzintzuntzan is the village where many straw things are made. There were lots of Christmas decorations and many baskets. We also visited a very old church with 400-year-old olive trees in the yard. We only went to a couple shops, it would have been interesting to see more of the town.
Quiroga is somewhat of a regional center for crafts. It also has an area with a whole row of carnitas vendors. It is funny that there are about 10 stands right in a row, all selling the same thing. We ate some carnitas and then wandered around town. We found some really pretty flower posts in one shop on a side street.
I can’t really remember which other villages we visited. The mask-making village was one we were looking forward to, but it was disappointing. Many people weren’t working due to a fiesta, and we only visited a couple mask workshops and didn’t find anything we liked.
The next day we took a boat to the island of Janitizio in Lake Patzcuaro. It is the site of a big Day of the Dead celebration. The boat ride was fun. Once on the island, we walked up to the top to the statue of Morelos. There are many shops lining the walk up there. We passed the cemetery and wondered how a large Day of the Dead festivity could take place in such a small cemetery. Once at the top, we went in the statue and saw the view from the top.
We were told that the only people allowed to live on Janitizio were people who were originally from there. It is a very crowded little island. We walked back down, visiting more shops and then took the boat back to Patzcuaro.
Near the boat dock was a row of wood-working shops. We each purchased something hand made to take home. Again, there were many things I would have considered getting, but didn’t want to carry them home.
We left Patzcuaro to go to Guanajuato. Kathy later commented she felt like we were on The Great Race. We took a local bus to Morelia. The bus was delayed because of a wreck with overturned tanker trucks. No fire or leaks, but traffic was slow while the trucks were being cleared off the road.
We got to the Morelia bus station and had to figure out how to get to Guanajuato. We were told to take the bus to Irapuato then on to Guanajuato. The bus was leaving in 5 minutes. We bought our tickets then off we went. Once we got to Irapuato we had a choice between a first or second class bus. The second class was leaving right then, so off we went. Looking back, we should have taken the more comfortable and air-conditioned first class.
In Guanajuato we got a cab to our hotel. We were amazed to go through one of the underground streets for several miles. The tunnels are pretty narrow and seemed to be unmarked. We got to our hotel, the Posada Santa Fe. It is on the Jardin Union , a very busy plaza in the center of town. After we checked in, we walked around the area. The central area is very well maintained to have the traditional feel and look. There are no signs except the ones on the front of the stores, which are very unobtrusive. There are no traffic lights or neon signs.
Both nights we were there, there were many people in the plaza. We saw a parade, students getting ready for graduation, and many people just enjoying the area.
We went on a city tour that included going to the Mummy Museum. These aren’t the kind of mummies like in Egypt. Apparently a combination of the soil and air conditions caused the bodies to dry out and mummify before they could decompose. Very weird to see! We also went to a silver mine, a very pretty church in Valencia, and to a museum of replicas of torture devices from the Inquisition. On the bus tour was a Mexican family with grandma, grandpa, various aunts, uncles and grandkids. It was obvious that Grandma was the Queen of the Family. We had fun watching the family, except when we had to wait a long time for them to shop at one stop.
The tour also included some great panoramic views of the city. It is built on many hills and the houses are very colorful. It is a very scenic and picturesque town.
We walked many places each day and all enjoyed the feel of the town.
We did visit the Don Quixote museum, which was the inspiration for the annual Cervantes Festival. There are many churches right in the centro area, too.
Jeanie and I took the bus back to Puerto Vallarta from Guanajuato. We ended up having to take the bus to Guadalajara and then change buses for PV, even though the first bus was also going to PV. It was full, so we had to get a later bus which was OK since it wasn’t full.
The trip was really fun. I would recommend Guanajuato to anyone, it is so scenic, historic, clean and interesting. I also liked Patzcuaro a lot, and if you want to shop for crafts stuff, you’ll love it!

Mothers Day in Mexico

2007-05-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

Mother’s Day is celebrated May 10th in Mexico. And it is a very big deal. I’ve heard some people compare it to Christmas for Mom. There is lots of advertising of restaurant deals, appliance sales, and candy and flowers are prominently displayed in the stores.
I had heard from a couple different people that our municipality, Bahia de Banderas, was having a big Mother's Day event. Our friend Alex said that there were raffles with some decent prizes and it was open to all moms and didn’t cost anything, so I thought I’d check it out.
I’ll start out by saying this event was not like any other I’ve been to.
I knew it was scheduled to start at 3, but then again I know that if you get to an event at the starting time, you are almost always early. I got to the small town of San Jose right before 3, figuring that would give me time to get it ahead of the crowd.
Much to my surprise, I easily found a convenient parking spot near the entrance to the Esplanada, which is a big, enclosed park area used for futbol games and big events. There were hundreds of people walking in the streets near the Esplanada entrance. As I got to the entrance, I saw a huge line of women. This line went a block down the street then turned down another street. I went to the entrance where we went in for other events with the fire department or with our press credentials. From there I couldn’t even see the end of the line! I was told to go back to the main entrance. I did not have to wait in line and went in. There are some advantages of being part of the press.
They had just started letting the women in and I entered with the first group. As I stood in line with a group of women from one of the senior citizen groups I talked to several of them about their kids and grandchildren. A couple ladies who had walkers were placed in plastic chairs and carried down the hillside to the flatter area by some men. We each had a ticket to enter the raffle and the first thing we did was put our tickets in the hopper. Then each lady picked a colored ball out of a box. The color determined which prize you got. I saw mixing bowls, knife sets, glassware, plastic containers, utensils and other small kitchenware. I received a set of bowls with plastic covers. Then each person got a bottle of water and a bag of candy.
The main area was set up with a big stage and lots of chairs. Women were quickly scouting out sections of chairs for their groups. I noticed a number of the groups had matching outfits. These were groups of ladies from the “Casas de la Tercer Edad” or senior citizen centers throughout the municipality. Many groups had been brought to the event by buses.
I quickly found my friends in the municipal press department. They told me that about 7,000 tickets had been given out ahead of the event and that before long the whole area would be packed. The event was a joint effort between the municipality and DIF, the social service agency. Today’s newspaper reports attendance at about 10,000!
People just kept steadily coming in, getting their gifts and filling up the seats. I had been there about an hour and nothing much was happening. There was some taped music and the announcer made a comment or two. Then I noticed that the other gate had been opened and people were now flooding in through 2 gates. I offered to help collect the raffle tickets as people came in. The present giving out area was really busy!
The entertainment finally started around 4:30. First up was Alvaro Martinez, a young boy who sang mariachi type songs. He was followed by Ruth Nayeli, the girl who won the Festival of the Bahia de Banderas talent contest in February. She is only about 11 years old and a great performer. Next up was the Municipal Orchestra. After that, the announcer gave away some raffle prizes. The names were called out and the ladies came up to collect their prizes.
Oh, the prizes! When Alex told me there would be prizes, he said maybe you will win a refrigerator. I thought he was kidding. Nope. The prizes ranged from irons, blenders and pots and pans sets up to home theater sets, TVs, stereos, stoves, refrigerators, microwaves, a dining room set and a living room set.
Only a few smaller prizes were given out at that time, then the entertainment resumed. The main act was a woman named Lucila Mariscal, or Dona Lencha. She is an actress, comedian and singer. She and a partner entertained the crowd with their comedy, then after that she sang and told more stories and jokes. My Spanish isn’t really up to all those jokes! But the crowd really enjoyed it.
Throughout the whole time, more and more people were arriving. The available chairs were quickly filled. The announcer said chairs were for mamas only, and staff people were going around making sure that kids and men were aware of that. As far as staff, there were literally hundreds of staff doing everything from controlling the line, handing out water and prizes, helping people find chairs, and just being in the crowd to help if any problems arose. Many police were around and the entire fire department was also there with all the trucks. They were stationed at each corner of the area with medical bags ready.
I saw trucks steadily coming to the event delivering more chairs. Ladies crowded around the trucks to get a chair, but there was no jostling or arguing. A set of bleachers was quickly assembled at the back of the field and ladies anxiously awaited that seating. Still, with all that, there was a standing room only crowd. Many of the ladies were prepared and brought parasols for the sun and small blankets to sit on. Those in addition to the “home in a bag” that many women carry – tissues, toilet paper, snacks.
After the entertainment ended, about 7:30, the real business of the event started – the raffle prizes. As names were called out, a seemingly endless parade of ladies went to the front to claim their prizes. I didn’t hear one complaint about what they won, whether it was a set of knives or a new TV. There were hundreds of prizes, and the crowd stayed pretty quiet so everyone could hear the names being called out.
As ladies got their irons, blenders and other smaller gifts, I wondered how a person was supposed to get their new stove home. The announcer said if anyone won a prize and could not get it home due to the size, go give your name, address and telephone number to the fire department and it would be delivered to your home. I did see women hauling off their stereos and microwaves, not taking any chances that it would be lost or delayed in delivery! Prizes large and small were given out steadily. One short break was taken when the medics had to attend to a person in the crowd and carry her to the ambulance. The announcer said he would wait a minute so no one would miss hearing the names called.
About 9:45 the prizes were finally all gone. I didn’t win the dining room set or the “kitchen package” which included a stove and a microwave, I didn’t even win an iron.
People packed up their presents, kids and belongings and headed home. I had to wait at my car for a little while since there were so many people walking in the street that it would have been dangerous to drive.
All in all, it was an unforgettable event, something my local friends thought was interesting. “It’s just a party,” they said. “What’s the big deal?” I had a hard time explaining to them how you would never see an event like that in the US. One where everyone who came was given a gift by the government, where people would be willing to sit patiently and wait for hours to see if they won an additional prize, where arguments wouldn’t take place over the few available chairs. To me, it was nice to see so many women of all ages out enjoying the afternoon and evening. But I did have one question – who cooked dinner?

The holidays continue!

2007-01-18T22:11:00.000-08:00

Harold got the outside Christmas stuff up in plenty of time. We had a big inflatable snowman on the roof, rope lights and our Feliz Navidad sign. Downstairs we had snowflake lights, candy canes, and an inflatable Santa. When we mentioned to people we met where we lived, several people said, oh the house with the Christmas lights!
We have a little Christmas tree that hangs on the wall and we have many snowmen and other decorations.
It still doesn’t really seem like Christmas when it’s hot and sunny though. The stores do their best to keep everyone in the mood even with live Christmas trees for sale.
We were invited to a Christmas Eve party at the Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza (RISE) where we have done volunteer work in the past. It was a pretty low key event. First all the children were fed dinner. There was turkey and dressing, sweet potatoes, tamales and more. We all helped feed the kids since there are so many little ones there now. The kids just love to have people there who can pay individual attention to them. They all ate a big dinner then went inside to watch videos.
The 15 or so adults then ate dinner out in the courtyard. I guess before we went I thought a dinner at an orphanage would not include alcohol, but I was wrong. There were soft drinks and wine, plenty of food and good company. It was a nice way to spend the evening.
Our friend Alex is a fireman and had to work a very heavy schedule through the holiday period. Called Operative Blanca Navidad, the fire fighters worked shifts of 36 hours on, 12 hours off. Alex’s wife and daughter decided to go to Guadalajara to spend the time with her family since Alex would hardly be home at all. Each fireman got one day off in the 3 week period, and Alex was off December 24.
We invited him to stay at our house since not only was his family gone, but so were most of the neighbors. He went to the Refugio with us and had a nice time. After the wine was gone, he decided to try the whiskey. Apparently other times he had whiskey it was not very good and he wasn’t very hopeful but decided to give it a chance. Someone had brought a bottle of Johnny Walker which Alex decided was excellent. So excellent in fact that we had to stop at a liquor store on the way back to Bucerias to buy a bottle of Johnny Walker and some Coke. Yes, the liquor store was open as we headed home about midnight on Christmas Eve.
One reason Alex went with us is because his parents live right across the street from the Refugio. But they didn’t get home until late so we only had a chance to say hi.
The way the week went was that each fireman/paramedic worked his normal 24 hour shift in the fire station, and then the next day worked on beach duty. The civil protection department also provided lifeguards for the holidays. A group of college kids volunteered to help as well.
When Alex got off after his 36 hour shift he went home, cleaned up the house, fed the birds, washed his lifeguard uniform then came over to our house. We usually grabbed something to eat then when we got home, Alex spent most of the night drinking beer. He seemd very happy to be able to relax, visit with us and drink some beer. Several times he said he was really enjoying his few hours offf work. This repeated for most of the vacation period. We helped him out some by taking care of a few bank tasks and taking his clothes to the laundry since he was at work so much.
On Christmas Day we had a pretty quiet morning then had a cookout for some of our friends. We had probably 20 people altogether and everyone brought something to share to eat. Everyone seemed to have a good time.
We had plenty of leftovers so we packed them up the next day and took them to the fire station.
On New Year’s Eve last year we went to the beach in Nuevo Vallarta with Luis and Monika. This year, Luis said they had some new rules prohibiting bonfires and they weren’t going to go. We all decided to have a bonfire at the beach in Bucerias. Joann and Patricia had guests who wanted to celebrate on the beach so we decided to do that. Altogether our group had 20 people or so and we all had a great time. At midnight we could see fireworks all across the bay. Some of the displays went on for a long time. It was cool out, but not cold enough to keep anyone home.
Mary Lou and BZ were here for 3 weeks staying at Casa Tranquila. We met them last year and were glad to see them back. They plan on moving to Bucerias in the late spring.
They were here for 3 weeks and it seemed like the time just flew by.

It's The Jaime Cuevas Show

2006-12-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

The area we live in is part of the municipality of Bahia de Banderas. It stretches from Jarretaderas to the south to Lo de Marco in the north, from the ocean way up into the mountains.
Dr Jaime Cuevas is the Presidente of the municipality. It is an elected office for a three year term, they cannot be re-elected. He has just completed his first year in office. In honor of this, an event called an Informe is held. I compared it to the State of the Union speech a US President gives.
I thought I’d go check it out. Harold didn’t want to go, so I went by myself to San Jose. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was taking place but as I got to San Jose it was clear I would have no trouble finding it. As I got close, many of the streets were closed so I followed the traffic. Luckily my press credentials got me a good parking spot in what is the local soccer park.
After getting parked, I looked around. The main event was taking place in a huge tent. I mean huge enough for Ringling Brothers huge! There were hundreds of plastic chairs in the tent. As you entered, each person was given a book about the accomplishments of the administration, a CD with the same info, a small paper fan like funeral homes give out, and a bottle of water. The fan featured a picture of Dr Cuevas, so now I must be a member of the Jaime Cuevas fan club.
I went into the tent and saw that it was a very nice set-up. Besides the usual stage with all the dignitaries, there was an enormous fruit sculpture in front of the stage. On either side of the stage were big monitors so everyone could see.
There was a center entry in the back of the tent. I went over there to watch the dignitaries enter. Someone told me I could come to the front where the Presidente and the Governor would be entering. So I was right there when the entourage entered. I had to choose between taking photos of the Presidente and the Governor or shaking hands. I chose shaking hands.
After everyone important was in and settled, the talking began. There was a color guard, the Mexican national anthem and some more pomp. Some introductory remarks followed, and then Dr Cuevas began his speech. I can’t understand Spanish well enough for a big speech, so I went outside to look around. Every vehicle belonging to the municipality was there – pickup trucks, cars, police cars, garbage trucks and fire trucks. There must have been 100 police officers there and almost all of the fire department.
I stayed around for a while because lunch was to be served after the speech. I visited with some of the firemen, then decided that Dr.Cuevas had more to say than I had time to hang around.
After leaving the Informe I went to Karina’s house (Alex was at work) and visited with her, Mirtha and the neighbors for a while. As I was leaving San Jose, I could tell the event was over since traffic was really tied up.
As part of the celebration, the municipality sprung for a big concert the following night. The whole concert was free. As you entered, men went to one line, women to another and some people were patted down, bags were looked at, etc. No drinks could be brought in. Beer was sold at the event and there was some food for sale. It appeared there was a good attempt being made to keep it from getting too rowdy.

The municipal orchestra played and we really enjoyed them. If we had known how good they would be, we would have arrived earlier. Next up was a singer named Ninel, who was very good and had a lot of energy. She put on a good show.
While we were at the concert we hung around with some of the firefighters. They were all there along with many police officers.
Next on the program was a comic an impersonator. We knew we would not understand that show, so we left before the big act, a norteno band called Los Tucanes.
It was a lot of fun and there were thousands of people there.
By the way, I think Dr. Cuevas is doing a good job as Presidente.

It's the Holiday Season

2006-12-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

In Puerto Vallarta, the winter holiday season begins with the Virgin of Guadalupe festivities. December 1st is the official start. Traffic is tied up in town because every day there are peregrinations to the church in the center of Puerto Vallarta. Until December 12th, Dia de la Virgen, there are many groups walking to the church. Every group has a person dressed as the Virgin or a poster, or other image. Many people carry candles as they march, others bring offerings of food. A good number of the groups have bands or recorded music and marchers sing as they walk. It is a very interesting thing to watch. Every weeknight and all day on the weekends different groups participate. Towards the end, marchers arrive continuously throughout the night.
This year we went three times to the festivities. The first time was with Kelly and Deanna. That was the first day of the peregrinations and not all the vendors were set up. We still found plenty of tacos, crepes, potatoes and cake to go around. The second time was on a Saturday night. That night was groups representing stores in Vallarta – Woolworth’s, Lans, and Comercial Mexicana were some that we saw. The crowd that night was pretty big and more vendors were out. Santa hats, balloons, kid’s toys, and any kind of street food possible were all available.
December 12th is the big day. Last year, we were downtown on the 12th but because of where we were located we missed seeing the fireworks. So this year we wanted to go see the fireworks as well as the marchers. The last night is the hotels and they have large groups and some cool floats.
About 8 o’clock we were getting ready to leave. First I told Harold I needed to call Karina and Alex about Friday night plans. When talking to Alex, I told him we were heading to Vallarta. They also wanted to go, so we agreed to go pick them up. At first we were leery because we thought there might be too much traffic out since it was a holiday and also that 6-year-old Mirtha would be up too late and maybe would be cranky.
The evening turned out really well. There was much less than the usual amount of traffic heading out to their house, they were all ready to go when we arrived. We got downtown about 9:30 and found a spot to watch the parade. We all had some tacos, Harold had a crepe and we watched the parade and the other parade-watchers. We asked a cop what time the fireworks would be and he told us there weren’t going to be any. We were disappointed but know how budgets change. Well, imagine our surprise when about 30 minutes later we hear fireworks. We were at a good spot so we could look and see them. Harold motioned to the cop to watch, the cop said “they never tell us anything!” We had no doubt that was true.
After the fireworks and the last of the parade we walked down the street which was still closed to traffic. We walked back to the south side where we were parked by way of the Malecon. Mirtha was full of energy, looking at all the sculptures and running around. After getting into the car, Mirtha and Karina fell asleep on the way back to San Jose. They all seemed to have a great time, and so did we.
Harold and I talked about it on the way home and we agreed we were really glad we had taken the time to go get our friends since they would not have gone otherwise. The Dia de la Virgen is an important day to Mexicans, especially Catholics, and we were happy to have helped them be able to celebrate.

Edited to give credit for the beautiful Virgn of Guadalupe painting - Hop David, website http://clowder.net/hop/vog.html

Traffic lesson

2006-12-12T07:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was on my way to the "Informe" being held by Presidente Jaime Cuevas of the Bahia de Banderas, also attended by the Governor of Nayarit, Ney Gonzalez.There is a point just outside of San Vicente where 2 lanes of traffic merge into one. There is often the usual jostling and jockeying for position there.Yesterday there was more than the usual amount of traffic. I saw one of the collectivo mini-buses trying to squeeze out a Nissan pickup. The driver of the pickup didn't yield, but came to a stop in front of the van, causing [b]all[/b] traffic to stop.The passenger of the truck jumped out of the truck and was yelling at the van driver (who had a full van of passengers). I was watching since I was directly behind them. The truck passenger kept yelling and went and opened the drivers door of the van. I grabbed my camera as I thought someone was about to get his butt kicked.I about fell out of my seat when I looked closely at the truck passenger. Despite being dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, he was [i]carrying a gun! And handcuffs[/i]! I bet that poor van driver about had a heart attack!I snapped a photo quickly while waiting for the butt-kicking or shooting to start. Of course, everyone behind me was honking their horns. I was thinking "cut that out, we're all gonna die here!"The gun-toting guy finished yelling and got back into the truck. I figured I'd be following them all the way to the Informe, but he stopped in El Porvenir at the Osiris Nightclub.I told a friend about this and he said, oh yeah, there are plenty of plain clothes cops in unmarked vehicles. Well, the gun sure gave [b]that[/b] guy away.Lesson here: You never know who is in the other car you are about to cut off, so mind your manners.
The truck passenger and Close up of "hardware"

2 Birthdays and a Busy Week

2006-12-07T07:41:00.001-08:00

Some weeks are just busier than others! Our friends Kelly and Deanna from the Dallas area came for their annual vacation. Every year they come around Thanksgiving, and hopefully are here through early December. They had asked if we needed anything brought down from Texas so they had a bag of goodies for us. We offered to pick them up at the airport and take them to their hotel. The first couple days they stayed at the Tropicana on the south side so we dropped them off there. Then it was rushing off to another obligation, we didn’t even have time to join them for a beer. Looking back, that is terrible. Won’t happen next time, guys!

A whole week went by, I was busy helping get ready for the Christmas bazaar and helping Rita get ready for the library party. I kept thinking we needed to stop by the Villa del Palmar to say hi or to joint he group on the beach. Again, bad priorities, no beach time this week.

Finally we did catch up with Kelly and Deanna at the processions for the Virgin of Guadalupe. We wandered around trying food from several different vendors, watching the groups and just checking out the scene.

Saturday was the Christmas Bazaar and I needed to be there all day. Harold went to take pictures of the kids from the Bucerias Children’s Shelter being creative painting the new trash barrels. After that, he went to the Villa del Palmar to get Kelly and Deanna. They had stayed a week at their timeshare and weren’t flying home until the next day, so they were staying one night at our house. The three of them toured around some and went to lunch. Just about when Harold had to leave for an Amigos de Bucerias meeting, I got home from the bazaar. It was a very successful event, raising about $4,200 US for our sorority to use on things for the School for Exceptional Children. It is a special-ed school in Bucerias.

We had what at first glance was a scheduling conflict for the evening. One of our friends in San Jose was having a birthday party for their 2-year-old. His name is Alex, but he is called mini-Alex so as not to be confused with fireman Alex who lives next door. His party was to start at 5 p.m., but we know Mexican parties never start on time!

The other party was at Playa del Sol on Los Muertos beach. This birthday party was for Ira, a friend of ours who moved here from Dallas. His party was set for 7 p.m., and we know gringo parties usually start on time. The travel time between the two places is about 45 minutes.

So, we decided the thing to do was to get to mini-Alex’s party 5:30’ish and stay for an hour. The plan almost worked, we got there about 5:45 and the party was getting rolling. We watched the kids do the piñata. The littlest kids went first, barely touching the piñata with the bat. As each kid had their turn, the other kids sang the piñata song. All of them knew that when the song was over, so was their turn. Nobody was whining or crying that they wanted more time. As the bigger kids got their turn, the guy holding the piñata rope made it jump more and more. After all the kids had a turn and the piñata still wasn’t demolished, the candy was dumped out on the street. The kids each got some candy. Next was some thing involving balloons. A big bag of balloons was turned over and some of the kids were stomping n the balloons, some were picking them up. We didn’t really know what the deal was, but it was fun to watch. Of course, while all this was going on, some of the adults were drinking beer, kids were drinking Jamaica, and most of us were sitting in plastic chairs in the street. Two cars were used to block off the street.

After the piñata, several of the ladies served us all some little sub sandwiches. Then we all had cake. The party was not breaking up, but we decided we better get over to Ira’s.

We arrived at Ira’s party fashionably late. Ira and Linda live in a condo with a beautiful ocean view and with a lovely balcony overlooking Los Muertos Beach.

We were late-ish, so many of the guests had already come and gone. We arrived at the party just as a few folks were leaving. But since there weren’t many so people, it gave us a chance to visit with Linda and Ira.

Linda, being the smart lady she is, had gotten the food catered by Sol at Café Bohemio. His food is always delicious! Linda had also purchased plates and napkins with “racy” pictures on them. Harold took one look and said “Mamacita!” Sort of bachelor party type of napkins. Ira, you dog, you!

After the Ira party, we came back to the house and called it a night!

Kelly and Deanna had a Sunday afternoon flight back to Dallas. In the morning, Harold and I went to look at our neighbor Jose’s condo while Deanna repacked the suitcases. We got to the airport around noon so they could check in early and dump off their luggage. Then we went to Isla Maria for lunch. The menu says their ribs are “better than Texas.” We all disagreed with that, but still enjoyed our food. Lucky we allowed plenty of time to eat as the pace was quite leisurely. We dropped them off at the airport, did a little grocery shopping then came home for a siesta!

High Season is Here!

2006-11-22T22:25:00.000-08:00

After a few months of relative quiet around town, things are starting to pick up for the high season. Restaurants have made it past the September slump and have fixed themselves up and are ready to go.
Snowbird have been flocking back to Bucerias, and with them comes a flurry of activity. We have been helping with a couple different fundraising efforts and are back on track for this year.
Our neighbor Rita is the driving force behind building a children’s library for Bucerias. We have helped with the cocktail party and BBQ last year and with several book sales/ Today we had the first book sale of the season. We ask anyone who has them to donate used books and we sell them for a very reasonable price. It raises money for the library and is usually quite a social event.
The library is also planning a cocktail party for early December. We helped pour beer and wine last year and plan to do the same this year.
I recently joined the sorority Beta Sigma Phi and we are having a Christmas bazaar in a couple weeks. Those of us who were here over the summer worked on crafts many weeks. A literal sweat shop it was!
The Puerto Vallarta children’s shelter, RISE, is currently home to about 50 kids. As you can imagine, the monthly expenses for that size group is very high. RISE has a fund raiser each year called RISE for Hope, a fancy drinks and food and entertainment bash. The last two years we have helped organize and run the event. Our first planning meeting was this week.
I am taking Spanish classes at the International Friendship Club. Most of the material is review, but that is fine. My vocabulary is getting better and I find I can have longer conversations with less trouble.
Of course, much of the credit for my improvement goes to our friends Alex, Karina and Mirtha. They tolerate, even encourage, our every effort. We always have a good time when we do things with them.
Harold gets practice talking to some of the firemen we have become acquainted with as well. Just today, he rode along with the chief on a fire call. During the busy Christmas season, he plans on volunteering to help the fire fighters with highway calls for ambulance and fire.

Mazatlan Part 3

2006-11-22T22:09:00.001-08:00

Friday morning we went back to the Pueblo Bonito where we took the timeshare tour and had the breakfast buffet. It was very good. We sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather. After breakfast we drove around near that hotel. It is a desolate looking area but will surely be building up soon.
We had noticed an event being set up in the hotel zone. There were a bunch of small tents ad we saw a banner for an Expo, but couldn’t really tell what it would be. When we drove by Friday morning, it was open so we went. It was sponsored by Dicansa, which is a government organization which provides some food to poor elderly people. A number of companies which provide things to Dicansa had booths and some gave out samples. Each Mexican state also had a booth. We walked around the expo and got many samples and brochures. There were two men working in an area with what looked like charge card equipment. They have developed an electronic system for accounting for the food purchases, like many US states have. One of them spoke excellent English and explained their system to us. His partner had just gotten back from looking at the booths and had purchased a bottle of tequila. He opened it and gave us each a sample. That was a very typical Mexican thing to do, many people are generous with what they have.
We got samples of soap,soup, and several bags each of masa flour. The most unusual thing we got was a broom. At the Nuevo Leon booth, one of the workers gave Harold a broom. Another person gave me a bag of oranges and one of apples, about 6 of each. We ended up with 2 bags of stuff and the broom.
After looking around town a little more and taking a few more photos, we went back to the hotel. I went to the pool and Harold napped. For dinner we went to a place Ken recommended called Fat Fish. They offer 2 full BBQ rib dinners for 150 pesos total. The ribs couldn’t all fit on the plate. They were very good, too.
We had seen an ad for another expo so went to check it out. It was like a small state fair. We paid our 25 pesos each and went in. We figure we got enough pens to get our money’s worth. We looked at the displays from local businesses and looked at new cars. Since we had already eaten we didn’t buy anything from the stands. We sat and listened to the bands for a while. The last band was sort of like the Backstreet Boys. They featured 3 femae dancers. One in particular danced in such a style that she would have done well in a men’s club! She also had a skirt which barely covered what it needed to.
After the expo, we stopped at Burger King and had a milkshake and used the Internet.
Saturday morning we went to breakfast at a place called The Place, another of Kenny’s recommendations. It was a good, inexpensive breakfast. While the restuarnat didn’t have wireless, the waiter told us that we could probably pick up a signal in there, and we did. Checked the email and then off on some more sight-seeing.
We hadn’t seen the Pacifico Brewery yet, so we worked our way down the malecon to the waterfront area where the cruise ships dock. Pacifico is in that area. We looked at the building, but had not booked a tour. Maybe next time. Another stop was to buy coffee for Monika and a few other people. We got the coffee and had a frappe and enjoyed sitting in the plaza.
We did some more looking around in El Centro and along the oceanfront. North of our hotel is a point, and there are several seafood places right there. These also looked like something worth checking on a future trip. A new trailer park and shopping center are being built there so parking was at a premium. The beach looked great, too.
We did some shopping for souvenirs and headed back to the hotel. I swam while Harold napped. We went to Cilantro’s at the Pueblo Bonito to use the last of our credits. After dinner, we had been thinking of going back to the Plaza but ended up watching a movie on HBO. We also packed in anticipation of an early start Sunday.
Our last breakfast in Mazatlan was at Panama Restaurant. It was very busy, but didn’t take too long. The food was excellent.
On the trip home, we decided to go through Tepic instead o along the coast. As we got farther south, the mountains and roadsides were very lush and green. The 6-hour trip was uneventful and we got home late afternoon.

Mazatlan Part 2

2006-11-22T22:08:00.001-08:00

Tuesday we went on the Pueblo Bonito tour. We had a very nice breakfast buffet and had the tour. The sales woman was very nice and didn’t get angry when we decided not to buy. For our time we got a city tour and also $250 US credit for dining in the Pueblo Bonito restaurants.
The city tour was sponsored by Dianomds International and was pretty fun. We rode in a trolley bus and saw various things around town. After the tour we went to dinner at one of the Pueblo Bonito restaurnats called Angelos. We had a nice meal, it was an Italian place.
After dinner we went to a coffee shop and had a frappe and checked our email. It gets dark much earlier in Mazatlan than Puerto Vallarta so it seems late when it really isn’t.
The next day, Lee and Ken came to pick us up to go out to lunch. We went to one of their favorite spots called El Memin. It is in the small shopping center adjacent to one of the grocery stores. The specialty is seafood, mainly shrimp. We started off with ceviche tostadas. I had Kahlua shrimp, Harold had coconut shrimp, Lee had a really gooey and yummy looking shrimp dish with loads of cheese and Ken had breaded, fried shrimp. All had lemonades and the total bill was about 400 pesos. We were all stuffed, but Harold managed to choke down a slice of chocolate cake from the dessert lady.
After lunch, Ken took us on a great tour of town. We got out of the car near the cruise ship dock and watched one of the ships leave. From a vantage point high up on a hill, we saw it go out into the ocean and another ship leave. We saw the shrimp fleet and many sites around town. After the tour, we went back to the hotel and relaxed.
Thursday after breakfast we joined the hip and happening crowd at the grand opening of the Mazatlan Home Depot. There was plenty of activity and lots of shoppers. We bought light fixtures for the rental house, ceiling fans for our rooftop patio and the guest bathroom and a few other items.
In the shopping mode, next we went to the Gran Plaza Mall. It has quite a few stores, some pretty nice, some quite plain. There is a Sanborn’s, which surprised us as it is like a small department store. We thought Sanborn’s was only a restaurant.
Returning to the hotel, we took a dip in the ocean and the pool. After the swim, we went to the Pueblo Bonito hotel to meet Lee and Ken for dinner. Since we still had plenty of credit from our timeshare tour, we treated them to dinner. The place was right on the water and we had a great sunset view. The dinner and vist were very enjoyable!
After that, it was back to the hotel to relax

Mazatlan Part 1

2006-11-22T22:07:00.000-08:00

We had a week of banked timeshare time that was about to expire so we decided to take a trip to Mazatlan. Our friends Gil and Maria agreed to stay at our house and baby sit pets, plants and house.
Our check-in was for Sunday, they said 5 p.m. so we started our Sunday morning. The drive north was uneventful. We went up the coast instead of through Tepic. Other than a missed turn in San Blas the trip was uneventful. It took about 6 ½ hours including a stop for gas. We probably should have planned a lunch stop or something since it seemed like a very long ride.
I had been in touch by email with a lady who lives in Mazatlan. Lee and her husband Ken live in a relatively new neighborhood just off the main highway into town. Lee had sent instructions and we easily found thier home. It is very cute! We were welcomed in and offered a nice cold glass of iced tea. They also had some really delicious cheesecake. After a nice visit we headed to the hotel. Lee had provided us with names of places to try and we made plans to meet later in the week.
Our hotel was the Mayan Sea Garden. I had researched it on Trip Advisor and knew that the hotel was pretty far out of town. Since we drove to Mazatlan, this was no problem. When we checked in, we were offered a 25% disocunt on charges at the hotel if we took a one-bedroom unit instead of the two-bedroom we had reserved. Since only the two of us came, we thought that would be OK. We went to see the unit and it was on the fourth floor, no elevator. I fell in the street going to catch the bus a few days before and really beat up my knee, so that wasn’t going to work. We ended up in the two-bedroom in the building with the elevator. The room was nice, but not really very modern. The master bedroom has barely enough room to walk around the bed. The second bedroom was very strange, a pull out couch and chair, no other furniture. And if you pull out the couch, there is no room at all. We used it as a walk-in closet!
The first evening we drove toward town and ate at a touristy place called Ernie Tomatoes. It was pretty good and not too expensive. A time share “shark” came and talked to us. He really didn’t bother us, and we eventually agreed to go on the tour of the Pueblo Bonito Emrald Bay resort. We scheduled that for Tuesday.
On Monday, we took a dip in the pool and checked out the beach. The waves are much stronger in Mazatlan as it is directly on the Pacific. After swimming, we took a do-it-yourself bus tour. We rode the bus from in front of our hotel to the end of the line. We were quite a ways from the toursit zone and saw lots of things. We took another bus to el centro and walked around some.We saw the Plaza Machada and ate lunch at a place called Beach Burger. The burgers were good. We also walked around the central area of town some more looking for a coffee shop Monika told us about. It was closed for siesta, so we decided to return later in the week. We had seen Waldo’s, a Mexican “dollar store” on our bus tour so later we went there to shop. So much better than the PV “dollar stores.” We ate dinner at Panama Restaurant, a local chain. Very good, reasonable and a pretty place.

What’s been happening?

2006-10-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

It’s been so long since I updated the blog – I’m sorry! I keep meaning to do it, but then get side tracked.
The good news is that summer is (almost) over. We managed to tough it out through the heat and humidity without owning the electric company! The nights and mornings are cooler now and sometimes even less humid. There is hope that the perfect weather of the winter will be here soon.
Let’s see, in September we hosted a birthday party for our little friend Mirtha. We were helping Joann and Patricia by watching the house and pool while they were gone and Sylvia was on vacation. We asked them if it was OK to have some friends over to swim and they said yes. We invited Alex, Karina and Mirtha to come for her birthday. We also invited Dennis and Jeanie. Jeanie was in the US so couldn’t come. Alex asked if it was ok to invite his coworker Ramon, so we did. He, his wife and 3 kids came; Alex, Karina and Mirtha, of course; their neighbors Faviola and David and their two boys, and our neighbor Sheila and her daughter Lala. We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs and swam. It was a hot afternoon so it was great to be in the pool. Everyone had a wonderful time, all 17 of us! We all pitched in to clean up Casa Tranquila’s pool and patio so it was as good as new.
Later in September we went to Texas for 2 weeks. M&M/Mars was having a party celebrating 30 years in Waco, and the Waco Wild West bike ride was the next week so we were able to be there for both things. We also spent time with my parents, went to my sister’s house, and saw my brother. Here's apicture of me, my brother Tom and my sister Mary.
We flew from Puerto Vallarta to Waco so it wasn’t a bad trip at all. We did a lot of shopping for ourselves and also for others. The airlines have a limit of 2 checked bags per person, 50 pounds each. We were right at the 50 pound mark on all of them. Among other things we bought were 3 pairs of work boots for the firemen.
Right after we got back it seemed so hot. People had reminded us that early October is hot, hot, hot and very humid. The A/C got a workout for sure.
That wraps things up through early October. The summer here was not boring, but there isn’t nearly as much going on as in the winter. That’s a good thing since the hot, humid weather encourages one to be very lazy!

Kitty Update

2006-09-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

The new cat has decided to stay. After he got over being mad at us right at first, he has settled right in. His name is now Cy (the one-eye guy). He has absolutely no fear of the dogs. From when he returned from his little sojourn, became a source of amazement for Sarah and Fox. They are used to cats being cautious or afraid and Cy is neither. He walks under Sarah, rubs up against their legs and just ignores them. They didn’t know what to do at first, but now they usually just ignore him and Rosie.
Once in a while, something happens that upsets the cat-dog harmony. If the cats catch a lizard, the dogs want it. And this morning, there was an uproar in the bedroom. When I went in there, the dogs both had their heads under the bed and their back ends up in the air. The cats were both under the bed, and there were feathers everywhere. We don’t have feather pillows, so these feathers must have been from an actual bird. However, I saw no evidence of a bird or former bird. Hmmmm, wonder where it went? Probably not behind the stack of boxes with the big lizard! I’ll keep you posted on the bird and lizard situation.

The Bikini Jam

2006-09-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Our “careers” as intrepid reporters are a little bit slow in the summer. Low season in Puerto Vallarta means fewer events, less business news, just generally a quiet time. The 21st annual Ujena Bikini Jam decided to take advantage of low season to have the event here in Puerto Vallarta.
So on behalf of the Banderasnews.com and the Guadalajara Reporter we covered the Bikini Jam. It turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be.
The first event was a press conference. Accompanied by a few models, Ujena CEO Bob Anderson explained what would be taking place. A nice side onus was the buffet lunch that was served!
A ribbon cutting by the Mayor of Puerto Vallarta was scheduled for the first morning, but he sent a rep instead. After getting our official press credentials, we went to the Golf Tournament. While it sounded like the bikini models would be either golfing or caddying, they were not. After a few set-up shots with golf clubs and players, the girls were just stationed around the course so photo ops and chit chat. We had never been to the El Tigre Golf Course before so we took advantage of the use of a cart to check it out. It is a beautiful course with many nice homes already around it and many more under construction. We rode around and talked to several of the models. Some work for Ujena, they are staff models. What a tough job, right? Travel cool places and get your picture taken.
The girls we talked to were all very friendly and didn’t seem like airheads at all! Some are college students, some are professional models and some just took time off from other jobs to compete.
The next day there was an Expo where the sponsors had booths and the models and photographers could schedule photo shoots. Networking was really the name of the game for them. Who knows when the photographer could sell her photo and make her a little cash? Sponsors were having competitions for “spokesmodels” for their websites, calendars and TV shows. All offered cash prizes and employment opportunities.
We talked to some of the photographers and some of the other press people. All seemed to be enjoying their visits to Puerto Vallarta.
Outside we saw some photo shoots taking place. It is amazing how the models just have to tune everything out since sometimes there were numerous people stopping to watch what was happening.
I have to say that every one of the models I saw had the figure for a bikini. None of those “what in the world is she thinking?” types at all.
I also went to the 5K run which Ujena sponsored. Bob Anderson is a runner, having previously started a magazine called Runner’s World. He encourages all the models and photographers to participate in the race. I thought it was very funny that the race was actually won by a 40-year-old mother of 3. Lilian is a native of Guadalajara but is now a housewife in the NYC suburbs. She has been in Guadalajara caring for her dad and took a short break to come to Vallarta with her 4 year old. She saw the banner, entered the race and blew away the competition! Take that, you young bikini babes!
The final night of the Bikini Jam was the Image Awards. The show itself was very nicely put together. We were pleased to find out that the winning model was from Tijuana. She won some cash and will be working for Ujena.
All-in-all the event was fun. Most of the models defied the stereotype of bubble-headed beauties. Bob Anderson has said the Bikini Jam will return to Puerto Vallarta next year. It is great for the local economy as over 500 people came for the event.
We are now back on reporting hiatus until another fun event comes along.

Dia del Bombero

2006-08-23T22:45:00.000-07:00

Since we have been in Bucerias, we have spent a lot of time with some of the Proteccion Civil guys. The department provides fire fighting and ambulance service to the Bahia de Banderas. We’ve brought some donations for them from Texas, too.
Alex, who is one of the training officers, speaks English pretty well. He and his partner Ramon go to schools and teach about fire prevention and safety. We have become friends with Alex and his wife and daughter.
Alex told us that August 22 is the national Dia del Bombero, or Day of the Fireman. For several weeks the fire fighters were collecting donations from area businesses for a party that day. Additionally, the Bahia de Banderas was planning formal ceremonies
We received a written invitation to the ceremony and a verbal invitation to the party. The official part began at 9 a.m. We went to the plaza in Valle de Banderas where the municipal offices are located. All the firefighters were there in their dress uniforms. We had never seen them in anything other than their usual fire .
department T-shirts so we were impressed with how official they looked. The short ceremony involved a speech by Dr. Cuevas, president of the Bahia de Banderas, and one by Dr. Claudio Estrada, head of Proteccion Civil. After the official ceremony, the fire fighters got into the ambulances, pick-up trucks and pumper truck for a mini parade. We rode in one of the trucks and got to “help” with the siren.
After the parade, a breakfast was planned at a local restaurant. By this time, Harold was not feeling well so he headed home. I stayed for the breakfast, which was very nice. Some of the wives and a few kids came. Another round of speeches from Dr. Cuevas, Dr. Estrada and a few others took place. Certificates were presented to the fire fighters, breakfast was served, and there was mariachi music.
After breakfast, there was a special Mass held at the church in Valle de Banderas. Other than the Proteccion Civil crew, a few wives and kids there were only a couple people at the Mass. I hitched a ride over to the church with one of the wives. Of course it was all in Spanish, so I don’t really know what was said. Dr. Estrada and assistant chief Clemente Contreras spoke during the Mass. Afterward, the priest blessed all the fire equipment and the firefighters, sprinkling holy water all around.
That was the end of the official program. Then it was time for the fiesta. It was held at a house in San Jose del Valle. The house has a very large, beautiful lot and pool. There is a separate outdoor kitchen. The guys went and brought all the supplies for the fiesta – the grill, tables, chairs, beer, tequila, soda and of course plenty of food!
Since Harold had gone home, I needed a ride to the party. I was given a ride there in one of the new ambulances. All day long, people asked me where Harold was. When I told them he was sick, they all were disappointed that he couldn't come to the party. They also made sure I had plenty to eat and drink, and that I was having a good time.
The families were all invited, so pretty soon lots of people arrived. The swimming pool was a big hit with everyone. All the ladies pitched in and chopped vegetables for salsa, made guacamole and helped set up for the meal. The guys took care of the grilling, of course. The party got going around 2 in the afternoon. Eventually almost everyone went into the pool, either on their own or were thrown in. There was plenty of eating, drinking and fun. Of course there was a boom box so there was music. The location was excellent.
I think I was the only person at the party who was not a member of the fire department or a family member. A few of the guys speak some English, but I definitely got a workout in speaking Spanish, especially with the wives.
About 9 or so, it started raining. Other than moving clothes and towels under cover, the party went on as usual. Then it started raining very hard and there was lots of thunder and lightning. After a bit, Claudio tried to get everyone out of the pool and under cover. He told everyone not to leave until the storm died down. As the storm was tapering off, most of the firefighters ended up going back into the pool before starting to clean up the area. They seemed to get everything picked up pretty well. Claudio, the chief, lives in Bucerias, so his wife and daughter gave me a ride home. Alex also had offered to take me home. Ramon, who lives near Nuevo Vallarta, also offered to give me a ride if I needed it. Harold didn't need to worry about whther or not I was safe!
I had a very fun time all day, but was sad that Harold had to miss it. When I got home, he was still not feeling well and was glad he had come home early.

Cat Tails

2006-08-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

Cat Tails
Part One –Monday August 14
A couple of weeks ago a grey striped cat starting showing up on the patio of our next door neighbor. The cat (male) looked amazingly like our cat (formerly female). On occasion, it would jump from the neighbor's terrace to ours, came into the house and consumed our cat's (Rosie) food.Harold made the “mistake” one morning of giving him a bowl of food, after hearing his sorrowful meow when I went outside. (We moved Rosie's food further away from the door, to a point where he would have had to cross a room in front of our two dogs). He became Harold’s new best buddy at that point.We finally decided to ask our neighbor if they had a new cat or was he just hanging around their house. The answer: "sort of".We asked if it would be OK to take the cat to a vet to check out one of the cat's eyes, which appeared to be severely injured.(We were also going to check on the price of making him an "it"). With a shrug of the shoulder, the neighbor indicated it was fine with them. Actually, she said - the cat is yours, and laughed.Right now, either Roosevelt (Rosie), Blinkie or Winkie is resting comfortably, under the circumstances, in our living room after having the two surgeries mentioned above at Dr. Oscar's. What a troop: 1 normal cat and dog, 1 3-legged dog and 1 one-eyed cat. Gotta love it!

Part 2 – Thursday August 17
An update on the kitty story.When we first posted this story, the cat was in fact resting comfortably in the living room. Shortly after that, the still nameless cat woke up. He came upstairs, hopped over the little baby gate we have to keep the dogs away from the cat food, and headed out onto our front balcony. He then disappeared into thin air! He didn't come back that night or the next day. We were beginning to think he ran away, someone picked him up, or who knows what else.We figured he was kitty history.Well.... this morning we had to get up very early to take a friend to the airport. We went outside and who was sitting on top of our wall than the cat. He jumped down off the wall and seemed to be fine. When we got back from the airport he was on the roof of our neighbor's carport. We could tell he had eaten.Then about 10 this morning, he vanished again.I think he's trying to tell us something!
This picture is Rosie, the cat who likes us.

This is the new cat

My cell phone experience

2006-08-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

For the record, I’m not really a cell phone, need-to-be-in-constant-communication kind of person. But, I do have a cell phone which comes in handy on occasion.
Many of the cell phones here are on what is called the Amigo Plan, which is a pay as you go service. You need to put more time on the phone at least once every 60 days to keep the service active. Cards are sold in many stores and you punch in the numbers on the card to add the time. My phone only speaks Spanish so I am always afraid I will somehow mess up adding the time. I found out that at Wal-Mart if you buy air time there, you tell the cashier your phone number and pay for the time and it magically appears on your phone. So I usually do that.
Last Friday, I really wanted to use my phone and discovered my 60 days were up and a new card was needed. So I stopped at Wal-Mart to buy 200 pesos of air time. The cashier didn’t really seem too familiar with adding the time and he actually had to punch the numbers in twice. He gave me my receipt. I told him that I had not received a text message on my phone that there was time added. He said it sometimes took a few minutes to show up. I had never had that happen before. I went out to the car and waited a few minutes. Still no time added and I couldn’t use the phone as the 60 days were up. I went back into Wal-Mart to the service desk. The woman there looked at my phone and at my receipt. She, too, told me that it might take some time to show up. I asked what I needed to do if the time didn’t show up. A couple employees conferred and told me I had to go to TelCel, the service provider, if the time didn’t come through.
The TelCel office is near the Sheraton Hotel, and is only open Monday through Friday. Well, over the weekend, still no air time. So I still couldn’t use the phone. I stopped in a TelCel shop where I know the employee speaks English. She confirmed that I needed to go to TelCel.
After Spanish class on Monday I went to TelCel. You get a number and stand in line for assistance. I waited maybe 45 minutes in line and finally got to talk to a clerk. Edgar, the clerk, speaks English, which is a plus since explaining a problem is difficult for me in Spanish. He looked at my phone, looked at my receipt, looked at his computer. Then he went to consult with his supervisor. He came back, looked at the phone, the receipt and the computer again. He went back and returned with the supervisor. They told me that they needed to do further research on this and Edgar would call me the next day. I expressed disbelief that he would call, but he said he would.
Well, of course he did not call so back I went to TelCel on Wednesday after school. I was able to speak to the same supervisor right away. He explained that Edgar had not called me until that morning because he had nothing to report. He said it would be another day or two to resolve and Edgar would call me.
I tried to convince him to at least give me some more days to use the time I already have, but he couldn’t so that. He also couldn’t just give me the 200 peso credit.
Thursday, Edgar called to tell me that I would need to return to Wal-Mart as they were the source of the error. I explained to him that Wal-Mart had already told me to go to TelCel. He was unable to give me a letter to give Wal-Mart explaining their error. I was very frustrated and told Edgar I was certain Wal-Mart would not help me and it would be useless for me to go there. I also said I would return to TelCel on Friday if I couldn’t get it fixed.
We went out for a while Thursday evening and when we came home there was a message from Edgar. He had gone to Wal-Mart himself on his own time after work and gotten them to add my air time. I checked my phone, and sure enough, there was my credit!!!
I told Harold I should take a little something to Edgar for fixing the problem. I made a little bag of candy for him and took it Friday afternoon. I also thanked him for his help and care.
If this were the US, I would have written a note to his supervisor pointing out what a good job he did. But I wasn’t sure if he would possibly actually get in trouble for doing it on his own, so I did not.
When I got home, Harold said Edgar had called in the morning to make sure I had gotten the message and that everything was OK. Harold thanked him for going out of his way to help me. Harold said that Edgar somewhat sheepishly told him that he went to Wal-Mart since his wife asked him to pick up a few items. Harold told him that he should then thank his wife for us!
No matter why he actually went, Edgar did go out of his way to solve my problem and I really appreciate it!
(I left out the detail here of all the bad things I said about TelCel while this was going on)

Learning Spanish

2006-08-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

Learning Spanish

Before we moved to Mexico I took several Spanish classes. Actually, the first class I took was an immersion class in Guatemala before we even thought of moving to Mexico. I took a couple conversational classes in Waco, too. We have books and CDs to help us learn.
I try to use my Spanish as much as possible but it is still woefully inadequate. Harold has always resisted signing up for a class until a couple months ago. Several members of the Amigos de Bucerias group were forming a class in Bucerias so he signed up, too. His class is one hour a day, 3 days a week. I can tell he is learning a lot!
I looked around at the options and decided to sign up for a class taught by Melchor Cortes. He uses the Warren Hardy method of teaching. http://spanishschoolvallarta.com. The curriculum is 4 levels. At first I wondered if I should sign up for Level 1, since I didn’t consider myself a rank beginner. Let me tell you right now, Level 1 was an excellent choice for me. There are several other folks in the class who had the same thoughts and have reached the same conclusion. Everyone says that the have gaps in their knowledge which would prove to be a problem if they didn’t follow the curriculum from the start.
The class is 3 hours a day, 3 days a week, for 3 weeks. And there is a fair amount of homework, too. Summer seemed to be a good time for the class since there isn’t so much going on. And the school offers a discount for local folks in the summer. There are 13 people in the class. Most are Puerto Vallarta residents, some run their own businesses, some are retired, and a few are here on vacation.
The class is very structured which is actually a big help. We don’t get off the topic with questions and stories like some classes do. Each class is a combination of review, some new material, reading, listening and vocabulary. As opposed to some other classes, there is a lot of instruction in English. The curriculum was developed to teach Spanish to English speaking people. Our teacher, Melchor, is Mexican but speaks English very well.
I asked one of the other students who is here on vacation if he would recommend the class. He said yes he would. He felt like there is adequate classtime and homework to make real progress and still plenty of time to enjoy his vacation.
I can tell that my comprehension and ability to converse have improved. I have been speaking Spanish as much as possible. I tell people that I am learning, and have told people I know to be sure to correct my errors.
The beginning course really helps in knowing how to structure sentances. I know how little children must feel when they are first able to do something. I am still amazed when I can have a conversation and both parties know what’s going on!
Having a telephone conversation in another language can be difficult. This week, I managed to place a call andleave a message for someone. It worked, as the person called me back. And today a friend called and even when I spoke English, he was only speaking Spanish. We arranged that Harold would help him buy a load of gravel tomorrow. Or maybe I agreed to give him Harold’s truck. Ha ha.
I am pleased with the progress I am making. I know there will be setbacks and frustrations in the learning process, too. Heck, little children learn to speak Spanish, I should be able to, too.

Our neighbor Flash

2006-07-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago one of the neighbors around the corner from us started parking a trailer and specially adapted pickup truck on the street. At first, the trailer was covered with graphics advertising a sea lion show. I figured they had bought a used trailer from an aquarium, since they removed the graphics pretty soon after arrival. My thinking was that no one would have a sea lion show in our neighborhood.
Well, I was right about the show, but wrong about the sea lion. The special truck carries our neighbor “Flash” from his salt water swimming pool home to his job at the marina in Puerto Vallarta. Today I was walking home from Curves when Flash got home from work so I was able to see him close up.
After getting out of his truck, his handler had him wave to me, stick his tongue out at me, and dance. When I left to walk home, Flash waved good bye before walking up to his pool. He is “employed” by a local tour company and they take pictures of people with him and sell them, probably for some huge price. I guess he also does a few tricks for the crowd.
I’ll try to get a picture of Flash one day (and hope they don’t charge me big bucks for it!}

Tania

2006-07-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

Kinder graduation

2006-07-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Celebrations!

2006-07-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Our friends Alex, Karena and Mirtha live in San Jose. It is a small town in the valley of the Ameca River. Mirtha finished kindergarten in early July and Alex wanted us to attend her graduation. He told us that the graduation was at 4:30 so we should get to their house around 4:15 to go to the school. We arrived and preparations were still being made. Alex’s sister Sandra was fixing Mirtha’s hair and Karena was getting dressed. Alex’s mother was there, too.
We walked over to the kinder school, about 4 blocks away. Some of the kids and families were already there, but others were still arriving. Nobody seemed to be in any sort of hurry. About 5:30 or so the graduation started. There are 3 years of kinder here, sort of like pre-K and kindergarten. Mirtha was finishing the 3rd year of kinder and will go to another school next year. There was a flag ceremony where the outgoing class passed the flag on to the next younger group. In the younger classes each child got a certificate for completing the year. Each class performed a dance. Mirtha’s class was very cute, all the girls had on white dresses fit for princesses and the boys were wearing their school uniforms and ties. There was even a short speech by the man who was “padrino” of the class.
After the ceremony, Alex’s sister and mother headed back to Vallarta and we went to a neighbor’s house with Alex, Karena and Mirtha. Two other girls and a boy from her class and their families were also there. We sat outside and ate snacks and drank beer. Even though Alex was the only one of them who spoke much English, we felt very welcomed by the whole group.
Apparently there had been some type of mix-up with school fees and the kids didn’t get their certificates. The parents were complaining about the school officials and Harold decided to teach them some English to help out. He told them that in the US, when something like that happens you say “Thank you very little.” They all practiced saying that, and Harold told them an alternate expression was F%#* you very much. They all seemed to understand that. And Alex told them another good saying to know was “Shut up.” So if you are ever in San Jose, Nayarit and here people saying Thank you very little and Shut-Up, you know why!

A couple weeks later we were invited to a quinceañera. It is a party to celebrate the 15th birthday of a girl. The quinceañera girl is named Tania and she and her sister Michelle spend a lot of time with our friends Patricia and Joann. We have met their whole family and went to their house for Christmas.
The first part of the quinceañera was a Mass at the church in the plaza in Bucerias. We had never been to that church before. The Mass was open to anyone and there are many people who attend church regularly there.
After the Mass was the party. It was held at an outdoor salon in Bucerias. Probably several hundred people were there. There were soft drinks and beer, music and videos, a special dance by the girl of honor and her escorts, and later dinner. It was a fun party.
A quinceañera is lots and lots of work by the family. Invitations were sent out; the dress bought and then spiced up. Little souvenirs were assembled for every guest in the color chosen, in this case orange. On each table at the party were decorated salt shakers, napkin holders and dolls. All of these were made, painted and arranged by the family.
Obviously this is a very big event for the girl and her family! We really enjoyed being able to participate in it.

So what do we do all day?

2006-07-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

People often ask us what we do all day, now that we are retired and live in Mexico. That’s a hard question to answer since it can vary so much! For example, here is what happened one day recently.
It was a Saturday morning and there was a meeting scheduled for the Amigos de Bucerias civic group. Harold is the vice president so he was going to the meeting for sure. Manuel, the contractor who has been working around our house was due to come over and work, also.
I stayed home from the meeting because Manuel wasn’t here yet. After Manuel arrived and had been working for a while, some friends of ours, Dennis and Jeannie, stopped by. They had been in PV for an errand and wanted to know if we were interested in going out for brunch.
I told Manuel where we were going and also left a note for Harold. As it turned out, that isn’t where we went. The Red Apple is a nice breakfast place in Bucerias but it is on the 3rd floor. Dennis hurt his knee last week and can barely get around much less climb to the 3rd floor. So we went to Bambu which is right across the street.
While we were eating breakfast, we talked about Dennis’s injured knee. He thought crutches would be good to have. Patricia lives near Bambu so we went to see if she had any crutches. She looked and did not have any at her house. She was fairly sure there were some in the Friendship Club closet at the Regional Hospital. We visited with Patricia for a while and she gave Dennis some suggestions for doctors.
After stopping by the house to see if Harold wanted to ride over to the Regional Hospital (he did not) off we went to Pitillal. It takes maybe 30 minutes to drive over there. Jeannie, Dennis and I went to the hospital and parked in the (dirt) parking lot. Despite it being Saturday afternoon, the hospital was pretty busy. Since it is where the cleft palate program takes place I am familiar with the hospital. We found the closet and took a look inside. Plenty of stuff for sure, but not crutches. About that time I remembered that last year our friend Monika hurt her foot pretty badly. I thought that perhaps she had used crutches. Her husband Luis has a lot and bodega neat the Regional Hospital and he is often at the bodega when not at work.
We piled back in the car and went to the bodega. It is maybe 6 blocks away from the hospital on another dusty street. Sure enough, Luis was there as was his brother Eddie and friend Rafa. They were watching the World Cup. We sat down to see the end of the game with them. Of course, beers were offered and accepted. Rafa was busy making ceviche so we also sampled that. Luis showed Dennis and Jeannie around his shop, bodega and party yard. But no crutches were located. Luis said Monika is a hard-headed German and refused to use them. The yard has several fruit trees and they had bunches of ripe bananas so we each took a bunch and headed back to Bucerias.
Harold was home when we got back. He was talking to our friend Alex who is a Bahia de Banderas fireman. Dennis and Jeannie stopped in to visit for a little while before heading back home to La Penita where they live. Alex had brought over some photos from a course he taught at the Vallarta Palace hotel. It was a week long class held each morning covering life saving, CPR, fire fighting and first aid.
Alex asked us if we have a Sam’s card, which we do. He and his wife Karena wanted to go shopping at Sam’s but don’t have their own card. We didn’t have anything else planned so off we went to San Jose del Valle to pick up Karena and their 6 year old daughter Mirtha Zarai, who is also called Mirzai, pronounced Mere Zye Ee.
But first, dinner! Mirzai wanted to go to KFC because she likes to play in the Chickylandia play area, and Alex and Karena like KFC too. The locals refer to it just as Kentucky, pronounced Ken-tooky. We were surprised when Alex insisted on treating us to dinner. The chicken was very good and Mirzai had fun playing. Harold and I were the only gringos in KFC at the time and it was fairly busy.
Sam’s was really busy. Alex explained that payday had been the day before for many people, including him. They are paid on the 15th and 30th of the month so right after that the stores are full. They stocked dup on some household essentials and a couple treats. Karena, Mirzai and I went to Walmart to look for something while the guys checked out at Sam’s. Walmart was also packed! Mirzai was like every other kid and saw many things she liked. But unlike most American kids, she didn’t ask her parents one time “can I have that?” We took them back home and then returned to Bucerias, put away our few things we bought at Sam’s, and crashed in front of the TV.
So, now you know what we did that one day. Every day seems to bring something unexpected.

On the road again!

2006-07-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

When we moved to Bucerias in October we came down in one car, our Mazda Tribute. The Dodge Dakota pickup truck stayed at my brother Tom’s house until we came back to get it. A tentative plan was to come get it in June, around our daughter, Ann’s 30th birthday on June 20.
We were invited to a wedding in Atlanta on June 3rd. Originally we didn’t think we would be going, but as the time drew nearer we came up with a plan. What if we went to Atlanta for the wedding then got back to Waco in time for Ann’s birthday?
I found a great airfare round trip PV to Atlanta, changing planes in Dallas both ways. So, we would fly to Atlanta for the wedding, and then use only the Atlanta-DFW portion on the way back. Then drive the truck back to Bucerias.

We flew to Atlanta and spent 2 nights there. The wedding was very nice. The bride and groom both were Georgia Tech coop work students at M&M/Mars while I was there. It was fun to see them again.
After Atlanta, we drove to Asheville, NC to visit my brother, Rick. It was pretty chilly in the mountains especially when it rained. We stayed there for 4 nights. Rick’s house is very secluded on several acres and has lots of trees and a stream. He has seen bears in his yard
Besides spending time with Rick and his girlfriend Forrest, we also visited with our former sister-in-law Kathy at her house. She has added on to it since last time we were there and it is really cute. She teaches English as a second language and school had just gotten out for the summer.
Harold’s cousin Nancy also lives in Asheville. Her husband is an architect and was extremely busy so we just had a chance to say hi to him. We went out with Nancy and her son Zeke for pizza. Harold had a chance to catch up with what’s happening on that side of the family.!

After Asheville, we drove back to Atlanta and returned our rental car. We flew to Philadelphia to visit Harold’s sister Debbie. We stayed 5 nights with her. They hadn’t been able to open their pool yet due to wet and cold weather. But we went out to eat, and shopped! We also went to their aunt and uncle’s house for a cookout. His Uncle Len is 80, and Aunt Doris is “a little younger” and they both still work 3 days a week The attorney she has worked for the last 20 years is retiring soon and she says she will also. Uncle Len is an attorney and has no plans for retirement yet.
After Philadelphia, we flew back to Atlanta, then caught the return leg of our PV-Atlanta round trip. We flew to DFW and then told American Airlines we would be unable to complete the trip. Didn’t want to get on anyone’s black list by just not showing up.
My brother Rick decided to fly to DFW as well, to surprise our parents. As we greeted Mom in the baggage claim area, Rick snuck up behind her. They were both surprised he was there.
While we were in Waco we did some shopping for things we needed here in Bucerias, and for some hot weather clothes. We were able to visit with several of our friends in Waco, too. Cyndi and Matt, some of my former coworkers, had a pool party which was nice since the temperature was hot! We ate dinner with Susan and Paul, just like we used to do almost every Friday night.
On Father’s Day weekend, my sister and her family and my younger brother Tom (keeper of the truck) came to Mom and Dad’s. It was really nice to have everyone together!
We visited the Masterfoods (M&M/Mars) plant and ate lunch with Kitty. I used to sit next to her and we became good friends. She told us that there is going to be a Masterfoods USA 30th anniversary dinner dance/casino night in September. We may have to make another trip north for that!
Finally it was time to drive back to Bucerias. I’ll recap our trip in the next installment. Also, I’ll answer the question – what about Ann’s birthday?

An evening in Jarretaderas

2006-04-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

Some of you might remember a story we told a few years ago about a car in a hole. Well, here’s another one and it is the hole truth.
First a disclaimer – Harold did not want me to write about this. He says everyone will think “what a dummy he must be.” I thought the story has a happy enough ending to be worth that risk.
We had finished eating dinner in the little town of Jarretaderas. Most of the streets there are pretty rough and bumpy. Sort of like many of the towns around here! And curiously, many of the streets are one way for no apparent reason. The streets are wide and there is very little traffic. It also seems most everyone ignores the one way signs.
We had driven by a big tent that we saw from the restaurant, it was a circus set up in the middle of a big field. The loudspeaker announcing the circus, the times and the prices was loud enough to hear for blocks around. After passing the circus, we drove toward the plaza. Jarretaderas has a very nice plaza with lots of plants and a nice gazebo.
The street on one side of the plaza was blocked by big piles of dirt. We headed down another side of the plaza, the road looked like it had recently been worked on. As we turned the corner, we saw a big pile of dirt in that street. We drove down that street and were going past the big pile of dirt when Harold noticed a very large hole in the dirt street. It was right next to the big pile of dirt. And right about then the car came to a sudden halt. We were stuck! I got out to look and the 2 wheels on the passenger side were firmly on the street, almost in the big dirt pile. The front driver’s side wheel was on the dirt, but inside the hole. But the major problem was the rear driver’s side tire, which was, well, just hanging over the big hole, not touching the ground at all!
We walked up to the nearest person we saw and asked if they knew where we could find a tow truck. They did not. On the next block were a couple taco stands. I asked at the first one, and the woman running the stand said yes, she knew a guy, Chuy, who could help. She had her son take me to the Chuy’s house about 3 blocks away. Harold stayed behind with the car.
When I got to the house, the kid, Reynaldo, explained to three guys standing on the street what had happened. They had him repeat the story and they all looked surprised and laughed. They asked me, did I really drive my car in the hole? Well technically I hadn’t, but this was not the time for explanation. I said yes, I did not know the hole was there and yes, the car was stuck. They asked a few questions about the car and told me they would meet me back at the car with the dump truck which would pull the car out.
They arrived with the dump truck and chains. After analyzing the situation, they wrapped the chain around some portion of the back of the car, underneath. I am sure they knew what they were doing, and I didn’t have a clue. Harold had the dubious privilege of staying in the car to steer while they pulled it out. They seemed to be taking good care to not cause any damage to the car, but just as the chain got tight, the car shifted and I was sure it was going to flip over into the hole. But, it didn’t and the dump truck was able to pull it out with no problems.
I talked to the truck driver an asked him how much I owed him. He said, nothing, that’s OK. I asked couldn’t he use some money to buy his buddies a beer for the help. He said, well, OK, I guess. I tried to hand him a 200 peso bill (about $20 US) and you would have thought I tried to hand him a snake. He pulled his hand back quickly and then said, oh no, I can’t take that. He really wouldn’t take it, he said next time I could pay him. (ha ha, next time!) I hurried and got a 100 peso bill and asked could he please take it. He still looked uneasy about it, but did take it.
This was after dark in a little town where we knew no one and barely can speak the language. Don’t you know we would have been willing to pay much, much more to get our car safely out of there? And the man wouldn’t take 20 bucks! You just have to love it!

The customer is always wrong

2006-04-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

One of the big differences between retail stores here in Mexico and in the US is their view of customer service. In the US, once you get home if you notice a product is defective or even just not what you really wanted, you return it to the store and get your money back or another product. If you see something advertised on sale and they are out of it, you generally can get a raincheck. If an item has a sign in front of it that says it is on sale and the register doesn’t show the sale price, the cashier corrects it. (I know there are exceptions, but you get the idea.)
Well, shopping here in Puerto Vallarta really demonstrates that you aren’t in Kansas anymore!
We like the bakery at Gigante, and buy chocolate croissants there frequently. One day we got some off the tray and the price card said 3 pesos each. When we took them to be wrapped and priced, they were marked 4 pesos each. Harold told the clerk the sign said 3 pesos. She went and looked at the sign, then moved the tray elsewhere on the shelf. Then she went behind the counter and looked in the big box of price signs and found one that said 4 pesos. She took it over and put it in front of the newly relocated tray, and then proudly pointed at the sign and said, “See they are 4 pesos each.” Yeah, how silly of us to think they were 3 pesos. Of course, now the normal price is 3.5!
When shopping at Soriana we saw signs all around the paint department for Meriadano brand paint 20% off. Well, it actually said “tola pintura”, not toda. We took a can of spray paint, which was directly behind one of the signs, to the register. It was not 20% off. I went back to the paint department to check. Sure enough, the sign was right there in front of the spray paint. I asked the clerk if the spray paint was 20% off, he said no, only the regular cans of paint. I asked then why did the sign say all the paint, he said he didn’t know, but spray paint wasn’t on sale. I went to the service counter and she thought about it for a minute and looked at the spray can and pointed to where it said acrylic. She said it was acrylic, not paint, that’s why it wasn’t on sale. I showed her the sign and my receipt which clearly said “pintura”. Then she tried telling me that the sign said “tola pintura”, which doesn’t mean anything, not “toda pintura” which is all paint. Next, she called the paint department and the same guy that I already spoke to came up to the service counter, so I knew we were doomed.
One day at Walmart we had a similar experience with caulk. I think they would have sold it to us for the sale price, except it did show in very tiny print on the sign, the particular type of caulk (not the one we got!)
I tell this to people who have lived here a while and they give me the look that indicates “rookie” and tell me that I’ll learn to accept that the customer is rarely right. Even if you try to bring something back that is defective, the store attitude is that if it was defective, you shouldn’t have bought it in the first place, so why should they take it back?
We did actually successfully return something once! We bought 3 gallons of paint at Gigante and 2 of them didn’t end up being the color we wanted. One we kept as it didn’t need to match anything. The other was for touch-up so it needed to be correct. We went to the service counter and were told the paint person would be in later, come back in 45 minutes. So we came back in an hour. Still no paint person, so they wanted us to come back later. Luckily for us, one of the timeshare sharks was hanging around near the service counter and he convinced them that we had waited long enough and we didn’t want to come back with our gallon of paint. So they actually gave us a refund!
But for the most part, “buyer beware” really applies here!

El Bombero Harold

2006-04-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

When we lived in Iowa and Texas, Harold was a volunteer firefighter (total of 17 years). He had some old fire gear that he brought with us when we moved to Bucerias. He donated those things to the Bahia de Banderas Bomberos, whose fire station is located in Jarratederas.
Board member mddfire has also donated equipment to the Bahia de Banderas firefighters
Harold has always been a "siren chaser." We have witnessed several grass fires and other civil protection calls just by hearing the sirens or following the trucks while we were out driving around.
We have become acquainted with many of the bomberos that serve this area.
Thursday night, we heard the fire truck sirens and they sounded very close. Harold looked out the window and saw the fire trucks go by. so he drove to see where they were going.
The fire was one block from our house. Harold thinks there was an electrical short in the bedroom and things had smoldered all day before a neighbor smelled smoke and, upon investigation, saw flames in the window of the house at about 10 p.m.
Lacking spotlights or flashlights, the bomberos were working in the dark (the electricity had been turned off) trying to put the fire out.
Harold came back home, got his flashlight and went back to help the bomberos light up the scene, remove smoldering clothes/furniture and ventilate the house.
When he got home 2 hours later, he said that was just like the old days.
Harold is in contact with a fire department in Texas to get used equipment donated and perhaps establish a “sister fire department” agreement.

San Sebastian

2006-04-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

While walking down a street in Puerto Vallarta, I saw a poster for a festival called Arsterra to be held in San Sebastian. There was very little detail on the poster other than the date.
We’d been thinking of going there anyway, so we thought what the heck, let’s go! Our friend Debbie, who lives at the Suites Marbella agreed to come along, and so did Susan, a neighbor from Bucerias. Susan’s friend Robin from San Miguel came along, too.
The road to San Sebastian is pretty good for the most part. A bridge is being built over a river and that part is still ongoing. There is a detour, well not really a detour; we heard it was the original road. But now the traffic is limited to one direction at a time. We ended up waiting about 20 minutes for our turn to go. The road at that point is very narrow and is right on the hillside at times. The backseat passengers did a great job of not screaming too much!
The road into San Sebastian from that main road is pretty bumpy and dusty. From the Domino’s pizza on highway 200, it took about an hour and a half to get to San Sebastian.
The festival appeared to be more of an art show really so we looked around some. There was supposed to be some demonstrations and entertainment but they would be later in the day.
We all commented on how clear the air is there. And it was very nice and cool. We ate at a restaurant on the square. It was on the porch of one of the buildings. After we ate we just wandered around some of the streets.
As I was looking at a poster, I heard someone say, “Don’t touch that poster!” It was a woman named Geri that I had met at Casa Tranquila. She and her teenage daughter Alejandra were in San Sebastian getting away from the crowds in PV.
We told Geri we were thinking of driving to the mountaintop called Cerro La Bufa. She offered to go with us. In her VW bug and our Mazda Tribute, off we went up the mountain.
Our first stop was a little village called Real de Alto. There is a very huge, old church there. We visited the church, which was having Mass at that time. Alejandra told us the stories that go with that church. First was the story of the priest and the burro that brought the statue of the Virgin to the church. This church is way the heck up the mountain; it must have been quite a trip for them. Well, just as they got to the church with the Virgin, the burro died. They buried the burro in front of the church and soon a huge rosebush sprung up there. It is a massive rose bush!
The second bit of lore involved a thief who was robbing many churches in the area. He would enter the churches and take anything of value he could find. He robbed the Real de Alto church and took the communion cups, candlesticks and other things. But the gold crown remained on the statue of the Virgin. Everyone wondered why the crown didn’t get stolen as well. When the thief was finally caught, the police asked him why he didn’t steal the crown. He replied that he tried to take it, but every time he reached for it, it floated in the air just out of reach!
After the church visit, we went on to Cerro La Bufa. It is the highest point in the area, about 8,000 feet. On a clear day you can see all the way to the ocean. Only Harold and I were brave enough to join Alejandra on the hike to the top. It was about 2 km, I would guess. Not bad hiking at all. The view from the top was incredible! I wore my Crocs and was concerned my footing wouldn’t be good. Well, I wouldn’t recommend Crocs for strenuous hiking, but they were fine for this adventure.
After enjoying the crisp, cool air of La Bufa it was back down the mountain to San Sebastian. The road up to Real de Alto and La Bufa is mostly dirt and rocks. The car got very dusty! We were really glad our car has high clearance and good suspension. The scaredy-cat back seat passengers weren’t too white knuckled by the time we got back to San Sebastian. We walked around the square a little more, had an ice cram and decided to head back to the big city.
We had just gotten back to the main road when we heard a strange sound coming from the front of the car. We stopped and sure enough it was a flat tire. Harold looked and could see there was a small hole in the tire. I walked over to a nearby truck and asked the driver where we might find a tire shop. Keep in mind this was about 4 on a Saturday afternoon. He directed me about a couple blocks back down the road. I found the tire shop, such as it was, but nobody was there. I walked across the street to where some people were waiting for the bus. A guy helped me ask at a woodworking shop about the tire guy. They directed me down a side street. When I got there, a woman told me the tire repair guy was gone. I said he wasn’t at the shop, she said that wasn’t his shop it was another guy. So I walked back to the main road. The guy from the bus stop waved me over and said the tire shop man had returned.
I talked to the tire man, who had no way to go get our tire, and when I asked for a jack he told me ask the guy at a place nearer to our car. That guy, who sells gasoline from his house, found a jack much better than the wimpy little one we have, and helped us change the tire to the little spare. We gave him something for his time, of course, and drove over to the tire shop.
The tire repair guy was able to fix our flat tire (yay!) and then put it on the car, put air in our spare since it was low, and we got everything back in the car. His charge for the repair was 30 pesos. We had asked ahead of time just to keep from having one of those unpleasant surprises when the job was done. Under the circumstances, we would have not been surprised if the price was 5 or more times what it was!
The whole tire thing didn’t take all that long and we were very relieved that the flat happened so close to the tire shop. I would have been suspicious that the repair guy had put nails in the road or something, but he was too laid back for that have to been the case. I was glad to have Robin along as she speaks Spanish very well and she was able to talk more to the tire guy after we got to the shop. If anyone is interested, the Spanish word for a jack for the car is “un gato.”
The return trip was uneventful after that. We are now considering where to go on our next adventure. Any suggestions?
There are lots more San Sebastian and other pictures on my Webshots at http://community.webshots.com/album/549334263NXAjNE

Roving Reporters

2006-04-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

When we moved to Bucerias, our friend Bob encouraged us to write some articles for an online publication he is affiliated with. That sounded fun, so we have been writing articles for the Banderasnews.com.
Writing for the Banderas News is pretty much fun. There is no particular thing we have to write about, and no particular deadline for doing so. The drawback is – no pay either.
A couple months ago, we were approached by the Guadalajara Reporter about writing a twice a month column about Bucerias area activities. We figured we’d give it a shot so we are now official roving reporters.
We met with one of the publishers of the paper and went over the expectations and requirements. We also received very official looking press credentials complete with pictures!
So far, we haven’t had trouble finding material to fill the column. There are plenty of organizations having fundraisers, new businesses opening, events in town, and festivals to write about.
With our very official looking credentials, we have been able to get into some events as press people. One thing we went to was the Senorita Bahia de Banderas beauty pageant. We knew there was an admission charge so we thought what the heck, we will try the press badges. Once they determined we were reporters, we were directed to reserved parking and not charged admission. We wandered around looking for a seat, and were shown to the press table, which was right up front. Harold said he thought the idea of a front-row seat at a beauty contest was OK!
Recently, we went to a number of events associated with the Nautical Festival. I rode on the press boat in the opening boat parade. We have been to a couple dinners and a concert as well.
I have now been on the lookout for upcoming events and contacting them regarding press passes. Writing for the Banderas News and for the Guadalajara Reporter has encouraged us to attend some events we wouldn’t normally go to.

Back to the Old Blog

2006-04-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

I have neglected my blog (and my blog audience) for too long! I will try to do better.

Let’s see, what has happened? Harold and I both worked on the committee organizing the RISE children’s shelter fundraiser in February. It was a lot of work, as those event s can be, but a big success. It is something we will do again next year.
We have also helped the Bucerias Children’s Library with several events. Right now, the library is in the process of building a new building, so money is needed for construction.
The library group has had a couple used book sales which have done well. People are very generous in donating their old books and buying some new reading material.
Another event that took place was a Gourmet Texas BBQ. Another success!

We’ve had some company, too. Our friends Jamie and Rob came in late February. They were our first official visitors that we had to plan for. Rob had just taken his law board exam and was ready to relax. Since neither of them had been to Puerto Vallarta before we gave them a sampler of the fun things to do in the area. I think they had a great time and said they would come back next year.

Our next guests were my Mom and Dad. No entertaining needed for them. We had a nice visit and did a little sightseeing. We also had a cookout and some friends over, which was lots of fun.

The next week, my friend Kitty came from Waco. She and I used to sit right next to each other at work. I was so glad she came to Puerto Vallarta. She came with her 14-year-old daughter, her 18-year-old senior in high school daughter and a friend who is also a senior. They stayed at an all-inclusive resort which turned out really well for the girls. Harold and I took them shopping one day and another day went and picked up Kitty and brought her over to the house. While I may not miss working, I do is some of my former coworkers – especially Kitty!

OK, enough for now!

Happy New Year!

2006-03-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

This is totally out-of-order in the course of time, but I wanted to mention it.
On New Year’s Eve, we decided to forego all the fancy parties, midnight cruises ad the street party on Olas Altas. Instead, we went to the beach with Luis, Monika, Melissa and Rudy.
We went to the beach club in Nuevo Vallarta. Luis made a big bonfire and everyone brought snacks and drinks. It was a cool night, not nearly as cold as it had been. The ocean was really rough. For several weeks in December and January we could hear the surf pounding at night even at our house.
The beach club is located between the Grand Velas and Marival resorts in Nuevo Vallarta. Both resorts were having parties. The velas had a big stage set up, but we didn’t try to sneak in and look at it.
At midnight, the whole coastline was lit up with fireworks. We watched the ones that the Velas set off. Probably we were about 50 feet away from where some of them were fired from. The displays that the two resorts had were great. Then we saw numerous other displays up and down the coast.
We didn’t stay out too much past midnight. But we had a really fun time and enjoyed visiting with our friends and their friends who came along.

Down on the farm

2006-02-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

Down on the farm

Lest you think our lives only involve sunning on the beach, here is another adventure we had recently. Through the AllVallarta.com bulletin board, we have met many very nice and interesting people.
One couple we met recently was Sandie and Ronnie from Iowa. Sandie contacted me because they were staying at a house in Bucerias and needed a little info.
The house, Jardin del Mar, is very nice! It is beautiful and secluded, great for relaxing and getting away from it all. That’s not how their vacation ended up being, but that’s not my story to tell!
Ronnie is a farmer (yes, tractors, barns, combines, that kind of farmer). He has done work in the past for the Monsanto Corp. Well, Monsanto has a facility in the Puerto Vallarta area and he made arrangements to go visit. Harold and I planned to drive them out to the farm, but instead a Monsanto employee came and got us all.
The Monsanto farm is a station that grows corn and sunflowers. The part we visited is not a research station, but they grow seed corn for the US. After the corn company identifies a hybrid seed they want to grow and sell, they grow some plants. The seed from those plants is used to grow more seed corn. Corn is grown here in Mexico because it allows another full growing season per year. That way, research to production takes half as long.
We were picked up in a nice van. The first thing we were told in the van was to be sure to fasten our seatbelts. This was the first indication of how much attention Monsanto pays t safety. The farm is east of Mezcales near Valle de Banderas. When we got there, we all had to sign in. At the office, we were shown a safety film about chemical safety and safety around the farm. Only Ronnie had worn long pants and closed shoes, so only he could visit the fields directly.
This worked out pretty well for the rest of us, though. In the office is a kitchen. We were curious about the kitchen and the woman who worked there. We found out that Martha, the cook, prepares a morning break snack and lunch for the managers of the farm. She showed us the kitchen and offered us a bite to eat. She made fresh-squeezed orange juice for us! It was very good. She also gave us some sweet rolls.
When Ronnie and the tour guide returned, we rode around the farm in the van. Even though we never got near chemicals, we had to wear safety glasses. We saw that Monsanto provides safety gear for the employees working around chemicals. There were also emergency showers and signs cautioning proper chemical handling. Safety around equipment was also stressed. Lockers and lunch areas are provided for the workers. We even saw that they had port-a-potties around the farm. We were very impressed with how the place is run!
We saw the seed corn area and the sunflower area. Monsanto also has a Mexican seed research facility adjacent to the farm we toured. It was all very neatly kept. Altogether, there are about 150 employees at the farm. All crops are harvested by hand. There is irrigation for the crops.
After our tour, another employee gave us a ride back to Bucerias. His cell phone rang, but he told us that company regulations prohibited him from talking on the phone while driving.
We really enjoyed the tour and we enjoyed meeting and spending time with Ronnie and Sandie.

Festivals

2006-02-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Festivals

I am skipping over some things to try to be a little current! I will go back and get caught up later. Probably.
Every town in Mexico has a festival. Most of them are in conjunction with the church in town. Bucerias has their Fiestas Patronales for the 9 days ending on January 24th. The church here is called Nuestra Senora de la Pax, Our Lady of Peace. The festival mainly takes place in the evenings. We went several times, sometimes getting there as late as 10:30 p.m. and always leaving before the party died down. A person who lives in the vicinity of the square told us that one night the band played until 2, and on the last night, the band played until 7 the next morning!
There were lots of stands: games, bars, candy, junk sales and of course food. There were rides for the kids and many skyrockets. In the evening there was entertainment on the square. There were folkloric dancers, flamenco dancers, a beauty pageant and more. After the scheduled entertainment, the band started. It was a local band called Perla Negra and they play banda music.
We bought hamburgers from the vendors, and tacos and filled churros. About 11 in the evening was the fireworks bull. I’m sure there is a name for it, but what it consists of is a framework shaped like a bull, covered with fireworks. A person “wears” the bull frame and runs around the crowd with fireworks going off. Pretty dramatic, for sure!
The last day of the festival, fishing boats from nearby towns came to the beach to be blessed. There were many, many people watching. While waiting for the boats to come, there was a charro parade. They were accompanied by a band. As they marched in they played “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” The charros (cowboys) had their horses dancing to the music. It was great!
The last night, there were so many people in the square it was incredible. About 11 p.m., there was a fireworks tower. Called a Castillo, there were lots of spinning fireworks and flying sparks! After the fireworks, there were 2 bands playing at the same time. They were maybe 50 feet apart and were playing different songs, of course at high volume. The whole festival was very fun.

December- January Blog

2006-01-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

December-January Blog

OK, all you faithful readers, I have gotten back on the stick and will update you. People here call the holiday season the “Guadalupe – Reyes Marathon.” That is because the holiday season starts with the Virgin of Guadalupe festivities (early December) and continues right on through King’s Day, January 6th.
We attended the Guadalupe festivities several days. Then there were a number of people in town visiting so we “had” to go out to dinner with them, go sight-seeing, etc. Since I know I will forget to mention someone, I’ll not list who has been to visit!

We have met a couple of young girls through Patricia and Joann. Michelle is 11 and Tania is 14. They live with their family in Bucerias. Patricia has helped them get a chance to attend a sailing school and a day camp in Vallarta. They needed people willing to drive the girls to and from day camp over the Christmas vacation so we helped. A couple times each week we either took them or picked them up from camp.

On Christmas Eve, their mother Estella invited us over for dinner. We arrived at the house about 10:30 p.m. First the kids were outside with sparklers and firecrackers. The adults sat out and visited, then began drinking tequila and beer. Estella cooked carne asada and the trimmings and we ate about 11:30. After midnight, the presents were opened. We were there until 2 a.m.!

Earlier on Christmas Eve, we helped a local couple, Arlene and Ron Tackett, with their annual Santa efforts. They collect money and toys and prepare gifts for kids of all ages. The toys were purchased and wrapped ahead of time. A couple days ahead, Arlene hosted a wrappng party where about 25 volunteers helped her get everything ready.
On the big day, a caravan of cars went to the church yard in the poorest part of Bucerias. Kids lined up, boys inone line, girls in the other. Pretty soon Santa Ron arrived and the toys were given out. Each child could visit with Santa and got a bag of candy to take home. Altogether, about 700 kids got toys!

Well, in order to get this posted, I will sign off now. More soon, I promise.

Early December happenings

2005-12-17T12:42:00.000-08:00

Early December is the start of the holiday season in Puerto Vallarta. Believe me, the stores here are full of Christmas stuff. Actually, some of them are getting pretty thin on lights and things like that. In November, the grocery stores had real Christmas trees.
Beginning December 1 through the 12th is the festival for the Virgin of Guadalupe. She is the patron saint of Mexico and the main church in Puerto Vallarta is a Guadalupe church. There are processions every night and they go all day on the weekend.
Kelly and Deanna were here from Texas for two weeks. We went with them to the processions one night and found out we had it all wrong. As Kelly said, it’s all about the food. The parade is just a backdrop for eating! That's Kelly and Deanna in the picture.
While they we here, we joined the Villa del Palmar party central a couple times. They have a group of friends from the years they have been coming to the Villa del Palmar. Of course we also went our for dinner a few times with them. Ernesto’s still has excellent ribs and tortilla soup. One afternoon Kelly and Deanna came to Bucerias to visit and we ate lunch at Adauto’s.
On December 12th, we decided to go into PV for the festivities. Some of the large hotels had very large floats and bands. The whole procession is amazing. Every group has it’s own Virgin, usually it’s own band and they all sing/play the same song, La Guadalupana. The square and area around the church were very full of people. We missed seeing the fireworks because they went off before the processions ended.
As we were coming home one evening about 7, we passed the group from the Royal Decameron Hotel which is near our house. It is probably 15 miles to the church from here. They had a band playing and many of the people had lit candles. We figured they wouldn’t get downtown until around midnight.
We have decorated our house for Christmas. It’s plenty warm enough to have poinsettias outside. We also have some large decorative poinsettias on the gates and balcony.
We have volunteered to help with Toys for Tots which will be January 6. There are several families who will go out together to distribute toys. It should be lots of fun.

Thanksgiving, Santa Cecilia and Revolution Day

2005-12-03T17:50:00.000-08:00

Revolution Day is a holiday in Mexico. On November 20th, every village, town and city has a parade in honor of the revolutionaries. We went to the Bucerias parade. First we went to the square because we thought the parade would be there. We found a crowd gathering and many vendors setting up shop. We also saw school groups preparing for the parade. We wandered up to the highway and saw the parade. I think every school child in Bucerias was in the parade. There were lots of little Pancho Villas and other revolutionaries. There were school bands, gymnastic groups, horses and of course a parade princess. Each group was accompanied by moms and dads, teachers, and coaches.
The parade route was lined with many people. Back in the square, food vendors were busy preparing tostados, tacos, tamales and other yummy snacks. We had to go work on the food distribution so we left before the parade was over.
Later on, we returned to the square for a dance contest. We arrived early so we wandered around the square. After the loteria was over, the dance contest was on. It was a local version of a TV show similar to Dancing With The Stars. A singer named Felix Chaivez performed as well. He was sort of like the Mexican version of Wayne Newton.

The Dia de Santa Cecilia is the day devoted to the patron saint of musicians. Harold and I went to the square in Puerto Vallarta for the special mariachi mass that was held outdoors. We met Patricia, Joann and their friends Cecilia and Gabi. In the plaza there was a norteno band entertaining the crowd. After the mass, we walked along the Malecon listening to about four different mariachi bands. People often honor their friends on their “saint day.” We all took Cecilia to Mezza Luna for dinner after the music. Harold and I had never been there before. It is a very nice Italian restaurant a few blocks up from the Malecon.

Joann and Patricia had a Thanksgiving get together at Casa Tranquila. They cooked the turkey, dressing and potatoes. We brought a corn casserole and rolls. Others brought pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes and appetizers. It was lots of fun. Some guest who just arrived at Casa T joined us all for dinner. We didn’t watch football on TV, and there were no newspapers full of Friday bargains, but otherwise it was a typical Thanksgiving.

The ExpoFeria Ganade

2005-12-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

I saw in the Bay Vallarta magazine and heard on the radio about the Expo-Feria Ganadera (Livestock Fair). It was in a distant area of town called Las Mojoneras. It is on the road to the Vista Vallarta golf course, between El Pitillal and Ixtapa.We arrived at the fair about 9 p.m. and it was not too busy. We parked the car and went to buy our tickets. The admission was 20 pesos per adult and 10 pesos per child. Included in the price of admission were tickets for 12 rides and activities. Mostly they were kids rides, but we did go in the haunted house and on one ride. Had we gone during the week, the tickets were two for the price of one.There were plenty of food stands with tacos, hot dogs, popcorn and more. We got some french fries, but decided against the salchi-pulpos. For those who are not into this culinary craze, it is a hot dog (salchicha) that is cut in such a way that when it is deep fried, the ends split apart and look like a little octopus (pulpo).There were midway games. We played several rounds of ring toss. For 5 pesos you got a bowl of 20 rings to toss at bottles for money prizes. We didn't win, but it was fun.We walked around the livestock area and saw some cattle, goats, horses and a John Deere tractor. There were pony rides and an animal display with ostriches, rabbits, chickens and other farm animals. Whip, we thought of you while looking at the cattle.At the Expo-Feria there was also a palenque, which is a chicken fight. We didn't go to it. Maybe next year - not!Like all good fairs, there was entertainment. In the lienzo charro (rodeo ring) there were a few bull riders. Some of the bulls seemed pretty docile but others more feisty.We saw two bands. It is a wonder that fair-goers across Mexico are not all deaf. The speakers in use were about the size of a 75 Cadillac! I think you could hear the music downtown! The bands both played banda music which we enjoyed. A few couples danced at the top of the stands.While listening to the music we talked to some local folks from Las Mojoneras. Just as English speaking folks joke that their Spanish improves after a few beers, these guys English improved after a few beers. We talked to them for a while and they invited us to their home, but we had to decline because it was getting pretty late. They offered us a beer or soft drink, but it was so chilly I had to decline.I would bet a couple pesos that we were the only gringos at the fair last night! We had a great time.

More Bucerias Happenings

2005-11-21T18:24:00.000-08:00

We have had several visitors to our new house. Besides Deb, Wills, Sandy and Barb who I mentioned before, we also had some other board members come visit. Yvette and Steve and their friend Tom braved the bus system to come to our happy little town. They had an unexpected side adventure when the bus driver misdirected them, but Yvette said that Bucerias really does have a lovely highway. We had big plans to go to La Desembocada with them for a shrimp lunch, but to our dismay, the place was closed. We did get together with them later at Vaca Grill, along with several other board members incluing Tara.
A few days later, Amy and Tim came over. They had just gotten massages so decided not to ruin all that effort with a bus ride and arrived in style in a cab! We have been working on the ten-cent tour so that in the future it will be more professional. Harold will still want to show everyone the unpaved streets though.
It was fun having lots of board activities going on, but it is a little quieter now and we can get more in a routine. I have been going to Curves three times a week. It is about 4 blocks away so I walk over and back. Walking back up the big hill is probably as much exercise as the workout!
Patricia and Joann got us involved in the local Feed the Children program. Every Sunday, volunteers go to the Hotel Pelicanos and get the leftover food from the Sunday brunch. We gather it all up in plastic containers of all sorts, bring it back to Bucerias and then portion it out into plastic bags to give to local kids. The first time we got the food, 10-year-old Michelle and her older sister Iris accompanied us. Michelle was the expert, as none of the rest of us had been before. She knew just what to do and we got the food and returned to Bucerias. The girls plus their mom and another sister helped with the distribution.
We did have another guest from the board. Jeanie and her husband Dennis were going to La Penita. Their plane got it too late for the last bus so we invited them to stay with us for the night. We picked them up from the airport and returned to the house. In the morning, we all went out for breakfast at Bambu in Bucerias. We gave them a ride to La Penita where they had an appointment with a realtor. Harold and I went to the beach for a bit, then ate lunch at Hinde and Jaime’s Restaurant in La Penita then returned home.

Our stuff arrives

2005-11-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

Leon from Lake Chapala Moving called and said our moving trailer would arrive at noon on October 29. We were amazed when Harold looked out our window at 11:45 and saw a Rodeway trailer on the boulevard near our house. Sure enough, it was our stuff!
When the trailer arrived, the first problem we had was that there was a seal on the door and we had no way to remove it. We had arranged with the guys on the construction job behind our house to help unload. They returned to their jobsite to get bolt cutters and opened the seal.
Between those two guys, the truck driver, his wife and 3-year-old son, Harold and I we got the trailer unloaded in less than an hour. We were then left with a mountain of boxes, bundles and tubs! Since then, we have been slowly but surely sorting things and finding homes for them.
Some of the things went directly to the bodega (storage building). Christmas things and winter clothes won’t be needed for a while! There was some damage on the things in the trailer, so we have also been making a list of that.
It is great to have our things here, but seems like it will take forever to get it all organized. Poco a poco!

Getting settled in

2005-11-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

We were getting pretty settled into our house. With so many board members in town, we were busy, too. We went to the beach a couple times with Kevin and Stephanie and ate at Isla Marias near the airport. We were pleasantly surprised when they treated us to dinner. It was lots of fun hanging around with them. We are looking forward to their return with the whole family maybe in May. After a quick stop at Pie in the Sky, we dropped them off at the airport on Monday afternoon. Too bad they had to leave before the “party circuit” started.
On Tuesday, we met Sandy and her sister Barb at the airport. They went to check in at the Eloisa. I felt like a concierge showing them how to run the AC, where the switches were for the lights and fans, and how to adjust the fans.
We went right over to the cocktail party at La Escondida, hosted by Dave. There was a big crowd and everyone was enjoying the chance to catch up with board members new and old. After the party, a group of us went to Encanto. We had never been there before. It was very good.
The next day was the annual pool party at the Velas, hosted by Howard and Vicki. PVDeb counted 69 board members and guests in attendance. There was a buffet lunch and the drinks were flowing! We were surprised that not many people went into the pool. The Velas is beautiful and everyone had a great time. After the party, we gave board member focsle (Mark) and his wife Linda a ride back to La Cruz. You can really see where the marina construction is taking place.
Sandy and Barb came to Bucerias to visit us on Friday. We gave them the two-peso Bucerias tour and then enjoyed a relaxing lunch at Adauto’s. By the time we got in gear and got into town, we almost missed the crowd at CyC. After happy hour, we joined several other board members for a delicious dinner at Café Bohemio. The food there is really good, and the owner Sol is a hoot! Everyone enjoyed their food and the company was super as well.

All Vallarta arrives

2005-10-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

The invasion has begun! Members of the AllVallarta.com bulletin board are arriving for the annual get together. There are many activities planned for the next few weeks.
Board members pvdeb and Wills came to visit us in Bucerias on Thursday. The took the bus from the south side to Walmart, then another bus to Bucerias. We gave them the grand tour of our house. Deb looked at her room and gave it the seal of approval. We promised that it would be decorated properly before she comes to visit again.
We gave them the 2-peso tour of Bucerias then went to eat lunch. We decided on Adauto’s Beach Club. It is on Avenida Pacifica and is the furthest north restaurant in the row. Lunch turned out to be lots of fun. Adauto himself was our waiter. Deb and I had grilled fish with butter and garlic, Wills had chicken fajitas and Harold had a grilled fish fillet with shrimp sauce. Fresh, hot garlic bread and tortillas came with the meals. Everything was really good. Deb even took the leftover bread home. After we finished our meals, Adauto asked if we wanted desert. Deb is a flan fan, so she couldn’t resist. She told Adauto she was from the International Flan Association and would review his flan. Actually, his wife makes it and uses cream cheese. Deb prefers the denser version of flan and this was perfect. We all had a taste and it was delicious. Next thing we know, Adauto was there bringing us ice cream cones. They were also great and we were stuffed. When he came back and asked if we wanted anything else, we all shouted “no more food!” We left the place absolutely stuffed. Besides the indoor restaurant, you can get beach service there. It would be a nice place to spend an afternoon.
Another board member, Island Girl 317 (Stephanie) and her husband Kevin are staying in Bucerias. We met them for appetizers and a dink at Sandrina’s. We had a great time talking about kids, work, previous vacations and the like. They have stayed in Puerto Vallarta before but since they came without the kids, they decided to veg out on the beach for a week.
Stephanie told us that a local restaurant was doing a turtle release the next evening. After we got back home from taking Deb and Wills into town, we rested for a bit then headed to the square for the turtle release. It was fun to watch the tiny little turtles scramble towards the ocean. Migel Angel’s Restaurant in Bucerias will be doing this every Thursday evening until December.
Friday evening we went to CyC. Many people had gone to Pipi’s for dinner so it was a small group.
Harold and I gave Stephanie and Kevin a ride into town. We had to stop at the Marina to get our big water bottle refilled, then stop at Splash to get our laundry back. We eventually got to CyC and joined Marsha and ChiTownLoca (Michelle) and her husband Beto. After a couple drinks, Harold and I decided to walk over to Los Arcos to watch the drawing of the Mexican Lottery. We watched for a while and were totally confused!
We walked over to Marisco Polo and joined Marsha, Kevin and Stephanie for dinner. It was as good as I remembered.
I think tonight we will go back to CyC as a large group is expected.

Setting up housekeeping

2005-10-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

We are now in total electronic communication. Our studio/TV room rivals the Bat Cave. We have our Star Choice satellite TV and now we have computer central. I got the modem from Prodigy that only hooks up one device since we already had a wireless router. At first I could only get the laptop to work with Prodigy. After a phone call or 3 to Infinitum, I was able to get the desk top computer to also work with the modem. Packet 8 worked fine, too, but the problem was we could use one or another, but not more than that. I tried fiddling with the Linksys router and made no progress.
I got the name of a computer guy from 2 different folks. He came to the house and worked for 2 hours and couldn’t get it to work. He suggested returning to Telmex and exchange our modem for the wireless / multiple port one.
We went to Telmex to talk to Juan Pablo. He told us that we could not exchange the modem, only buy a new one. We explained the problem to him and he gave us the name of another computer guy. Juan Pablo assured us that the guy could help us. So off we went to Bucerias Net to find Omar. Omar came to the house and an hour later we had computer central! Desktop works, Packet 8 works, even the laptop wireless connection works. All that for 150 pesos!
We were happy with Omar’s work and took him over to Patricia and Joann’s house because we knew they were having problems, too. 15 minutes and 50 pesos later their problems were solved.
Once a person enters Mexico for the first time on their new FM3, they have 30 days to register it at the Immigration office closest to their home. We went to the office across from San Javier Hospital to register. We were pleased to find out that the office does have A/C and that there weren’t too many people waiting. We did have to go downstairs to the pharmacy to get copies made of every page of our passports. We now have a receipt for our FM3s and have to return Monday to get them back. Altogether we were there less than an hour. Everyone warned us to get it done in the low season unless we wanted to spend all day there.
We just found out that our trailer full of household goods has cleared customs in Laredo and is on the way to Guadalajara. With any luck, it will get here next week.

Our first week in Bucerias

2005-10-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

We have been getting settled in to our house. Despite the fact that our car was stuffed full, the vast majority of our household goods will arrive in a few weeks. We have been sorting out things we brought for others. A steering wheel for our neighbor’s Ford Explorer was the most unusual thing we brought. We met Brenda, Dave and Linda and Ira Horowitz at CyC Friday. We had sugar free pancake syrup and other goodies for Brenda and a book for Ira.
Denny and his wife Barbara came over Friday and Denny worked on our Star Choice satellite system. It hasn’t been working and he had to come look at it. It had to be taken away to the receiver and dish hospital. Long story short, one part was shorted out and had to be replaced. Denny came through with flying colors and we were able to watch Desperate Housewives, which almost made up for us missing Boston Legal.
On Wednesday we went to Telmex to sign up for high-speed internet service. We already have a phone, so this was an add-on. The first employee we spoke to did not speak English. She had the guard help translate, but that wasn’t overly helpful. I did talk to the one person there who does speak English to make sure we had signed up correctly. We were told that it would take 3 business days to be ready, which would be Monday. They gave us our modem and away we went.
On Friday, I got a call from Prodigy. After asking to speak to an English-speaking tech, it was unclear why they had called us, but I did find out we were ready to go. I first tried connecting with the desktop computer but need a new driver for it. We did get online with the laptop. I will now figure out how to get the correct driver and also how to get my wireless router to work.
We don’t have a washing machine yet so we took our clothes to a lavandaria. Last winter we used Splash, near the Sheraton. Probably we went there 10 times total. We dropped the laundry off Thursday with one of the employees there. On Friday when we returned to get it, Leticia, the owner, had my bag of laundry out before I even got into the store. She not only remembered us, but remembered my first name as well.
After reading on the All Vallarta board about Brando’s at the Marina, we decided to check out the ribs there. On the menu, ribs were 79 pesos. I was glad I knew to ask about the special, which was the same plate of ribs for 49 pesos. The ribs and fries were very good.
Another day we ate at Vikingo’s Hamburgers on Madero. They sell 3 different sizes of burgers. We got the medium, and it was huge!
We have managed to get to the beach and also to the Krystal to swim. The weather has been hot and humid, but apparently cooler than it has been. We have been trying to get by without air-conditioning. The dogs are getting settled in as well. They like to walk up our street. There is little traffic there so they can just wander in the street. They don’t like being in the backyard very much, especially when we close the iron security gates.
Altogether it is very quiet in our neighborhood. The trash truck comes by Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. One in a while a water truck or a gas truck goes by. We haven’t seen many vendors yet.
Today we ventured down to Fidencio’s and met Deb, Jennifer, Ira and Linda for a nice visit on the beach. Tonight the weather seems to have cooled off just a little so maybe we won’t need the AC tonight.

Lagos de Moreno to Bucerias, we are home!

2005-10-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

In the morning, I decided to walk the dogs while Harold made sure everything was secured in the car. Because we would be in Bucerias in the afternoon and expected t to be warm there, I wore shorts. It was fairly cool in the morning when I was walking the dogs. We went to the nearest area with grass. This also turned out to be in the area of two bus stops. There were probably 40 people waiting for the buses, mostly men. So here I was, the only gringa in sight, wearing shorts, with 2 dogs on leashes. Needless to say, I really stuck out in that crowd.
Once we got going, it was off to Guadalajara. On the way through the highlands Los Altos de Jalisco) it was extremely foggy. When you see the road signs for fog zone, they aren’t kidding. Once we got through Guadalajara we stopped for gas and at a 7-11 for coffee. It got sunny as we were crossing the mountains between the toll road and the road to Puerto Vallarta.
We arrived in Bucerias about 2:30 p.m. Joann and Lucila were at the house to meet us. Patricia arrived soon after and they helped us unload the car. Finally after all the planning and organizing, we are here!
We put away some of our things and divided out what we have brought for others. Harold and I went by Luis and Monika’s house to see if they were home but they weren’t. We stopped at Gigante for some groceries then went to La Fabula in Pitillal for pizza. After putting away the groceries and eating our pizza it was time to end another long day.

Saltillo to Lagos de Moreno

2005-10-14T13:41:00.001-07:00

The Holiday Inn website said we would get a free breakfast. When we checked in, we got a card for 2 breakfasts, and it said “cont” on the card. We figured that meant continental breakfast. When we went to breakfast, the waiter took the card and made no mention at all as to what we got. There was a breakfast buffet with fruit, cereal, yogurt, eggs, pancakes and Mexican pastries. We ate a decent breakfast then got going.
The Holiday Inn is closer to Saltillo than the turnoff to Matehuala. We were told that doubling back to the cutoff was the quickest way to go. I think if we had turned sooner and followed the signs we would have been fine and saved some on the tolls.
The drive from Saltillo to Lagos de Moreno was fairly uneventful except for the couple times the things in the car shifted and fell on the dogs. They started getting pretty nervous and as soon as we got on rough pavement they both wanted to jump up front with us to avoid the fallout. Eventually Harold tied everything in place and it all stayed put.
We knew in Lagos de Moreno we had a reservation at the Hotel Paris. Our friend Luis had called around to find us a hotel that allowed pets. We asked him to get directions to the hotel. The best he could get from them was that it was next door to the police station. Someone else told us it was right on the square.
Once in Lagos de Moreno we headed for Centro. As we were trying to decide how to locate the square, Harold noticed we were right behind a police truck. Since we were at a traffic light, he suggested I go ask them where the hotel was. So I asked them and they directed us to the hotel. Harold and the dogs waited in the car while I checked in. I knew the place was different than other hotels we have stayed at when the desk clerk gave me a roll of toilet paper and 2 bars of soap when I checked in. They gave me the choice of two rooms. One had a window into the interior courtyard, the other a window overlooking the street. I chose the street side so we could get some fresh air. We were right across from the police station.
We got to Lagos de Moreno about 3 p.m. We walked to dogs near the river and then we took the dogs back to the room and Harold and I looked around the town some. After a short nap, we took the dogs out for a longer walk. We passed a nice looking restaurant and decided to see if they would let us eat on the patio with the dogs, or if we would have to walk the dogs back to the hotel then go eat. They said as long as our dogs were quiet it was fine. The meal turned out to be very good. I had a chicken breast wrapped in bacon with a sauce, and Harold had arrachera. They gave us an octopus ceviche appetizer and we ordered another appetizer which was puff pastry with a creamy cheese filling and a rich cream sauce. Everything was very tasty. The restaurant was attached to the cultural center and had a very nice setting. We enjoyed our meal which came to 250 pesos including tip for a big meal and two beverages.
After dinner we saw a crowd gathering in front of a church. We waited to see what was happening. It was a performance by a traveling Polish singing and dancing troupe. This was part of a series of cultural events called Otono en Lagos.
We returned to the hotel where I went to the desk and paid my 20-peso deposit for a towel. It had about the amount of cotton contained in a normal washcloth! But the hotel did have hot water and the towel worked fine.
Once we went to bed we figured the street noise would quiet down soon. It did, but we weren’t counting on the police officers hanging around outside the police station most of the night. First they were working on the hood latch of one of the trucks. This involved opening and slamming the hood many times. Later on they were laughing and telling jokes and playing with their police radios. It didn’t make for a real restful night but we survived.

Waco to Saltillo

2005-10-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

We intended to leave Waco at 8, but ended up leaving around 8:30 instead. Our estimation of how much stuff our Mazda Tribute would hold was a little off, we had to really stuff the stuff in.
After stopping at the ATM and topping off the gas, off we went. Our first stop was on the south side of San Antonio for gas. We could easily been in Mexico already we got to the gas station on Flores Ave. On one side of the gas station was a taco truck, on the other side was a little flea market. The bathroom had the ambiance of the one at Ernesto’s. The gas price was surprisingly low. It was just north of Crossroads Mall.
The plan called for us to cross the border at Colombia Solidarity Bridge. There is a toll road ($2) from I35 to the bridge. The exit form I35 is at mile 24. The hours the toll booth is open are 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. At night, only prepaid cards are accepted. If you take that cut-off, you completely skirt around Laredo/ Nuevo Laredo. Just as we got on the Camino Colombia Tollway, one of the ropes on our roof rack came loose, so we stopped to fix that.
After crossing the bridge, you go to the customs red/green light. We got green and went to the parking lot. We were greeted at the door by the immigration official. He stamped our FM3s for our first entry into Mexico. Because we didn’t turn in our FMTs last trip and the Austin consulate didn’t take them, we had our old FMTs stuck in the back of or passports. After answering questions as to why they weren’t turned in (we said they didn’t take them), we were good to go. The official looked at our car permit and said we needed a new one. We had been told that as long as our immigration status was good, so was our car permit. Te official explanation as to why we had to get a new one was that since we left Mexico and were re-entering on an expired permit, we needed to get a new one. Apparently, according to them, as long as we reman in Mexico the permit is good. There really was no arguing with them, when we said the consulate told us we don’t need a new one, they said the consulate was wrong. So we canceled the old permit and got a new one. This all took a little longer than we planned, but actually went very quickly.
After getting our permit, we stopped at the Pemex. It used to be that you wanted to fill up in the US, now gas is cheaper in Mexico. We paid 6.12 pesos/liter for the green.
Once you leave the customs/immigration building and get to the end of that road, you turn left and head toward Monterrey. The turns are well marked. There is a second checkpoint where you get the red or green light. Again, we got green. But as we approached the checkpoint and went over a speedbump, the things in the car shifted and started falling on the dogs. Right after the checkpoint we stopped at the Pemex to repack. We had one other small load shift incident on the road to Monterrey.
Instead of turning south on the Matehuala cuota, we headed toward Saltillo where we had a reservation at Holiday Inn. I made the reservation on line and the website said they accet pets. The rate of $63 plus tax includes a continental breakfast. We got settled in our room and decided to just eat at the hotel restaurant. Harold had a pork and apple entrée and I had spinach-stuffed chicken breast Both came with rice, potatoes and vegetables. Each of us had a limonada as well. The food was very good and our bill including tip was 148 pesos.
After dinner we watched Desperate Housewives on TV, walked the dogs and then were ready for bed. I was going to check my email but the network was down. There was a short thunderstorm while we were watching TV. It was a pretty long day and we were too tired to go out and look around any.
While we were in the lobby before dinner, Harold was talking to a woman who noticed his Puerto Vallarta Tshirt. She and her husband were also driving to Puerto Vallarta. Her anme is Kathy and she is a wedding planner. We really weren’t surprised to find out that she knows Brenda.

Movin' right along

2005-10-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

Our household goods are being moved to Bucerias by Lake Chapala Moving Company (LCMC). They work with a company in the US called Pack Pro. Leon, at LCMC, makes all the arrangements and he is the one who you send your inventory to, he arranges the border crossing, etc. Pack Pro arranges for a trailer to be dropped at your location and picked up. They also arrange the insurance coverage for the shipment.
We had made all arrangements with LCMC, Pack Pro, the storage company where our things were being stored, and some guys to load our trailer. All was arranged for Tuesday, October 4. The trailer was to come in the morning and be loaded in the afternoon.
The company hired by Pack Pro was Roadway. On Tuesday morning, the Roadway driver called to tell us that he would be there in 30 minutes to pick up our trailer. Only problem – he was supposed to be dropping off a trailer to us. So, a few phone calls were made to Pack Pro and Roadway. The driver made some calls and found an empty trailer and had it delivered. Nervous moment #1 solved. Harold and I had some things at my parents’ house that were going to go in the trailer. We loaded up our car and truck and took them over to the trailer.
At the appointed time, our loading guys showed up. Our friend Deanna, who works for a moving company had strongly suggested hiring loaders and she was right. The two guys went and got all the stuff out of our storage unit, put it in their enclosed trailer, then brought it to where the moving truck was parked. The assembling of the jigsaw puzzle began then. The fee for moving is charged by the linear foot used in the trailer. We had been told the trailer was 8’ x 8’. It really turned out to be about 8 ½ feet by 9 feet. Robby, the main loader, looked at all the boxes, tubs and odd shaped things and then packed the trailer to the top and got all our stuff in about 11 linear feet of space. It took them about 3 hours to load it, if Harold and I had done it, it would have taken at least twice that long, amd we probably wouldn’t have gotten it as compact. It helps that Robby is about 30 years younger and 8 inches taller than Harold, too.
Next nervous moment – Roadway had not dropped off the load lock kit to keep our things in that 11 feet. I made numerous phone calls to Pack Pro and Roadway before finding out that Roadway couldn’t deliver them out that day, they would bring them in the morning when they picked up the truck. So of course all evening and until we met the truck driver for the pickup, I had visions of our nicely stacked trailer shifting and all the boxes and other things scattered everywhere.
No worry, the load looked fine, the driver came and put in the sealed divider. It was mych lower-tech than I was expecting. Basically, there is a track at the bottom made of 2 2x8s that span the width of the trailer. Two pieces of chipboard plywood stand up in that track. So at that point there is a chipboard wall dividing off our stuff. Expandable load bars are put across the trailer in 4 spots to secure the wall. Time will tell if everything gets there without the wall falling down!
We signed the forms with the driver and off our stuff went. To Dallas. The driver told us that Roadway hubs all their trailers through Dallas, so our south-bound trailer headed north to Dallas to begin it’s journey.
Here’s how the whole LCMC / Pack Pro thing works. Instead of a full service move where someone comes and packs your belongings, loads the moving truck, delivers the goods and unloads the truck, this is more self-service. You pack everything or hire someone to pack. You load your household goods into a 28’ trailer, taking as much space as you need. Earlier in the process we had estimated 10’ of space would be needed. LCMC bases their estimate on the aount you tell them it will be. From what I have heard, what Leon tells you it will cost is exactly what it costs. Obviously, he priced ours on 10’ and we have 11’, but he gave us a price per extra foot, so we know what our total cost will be. Once the divider is put in place, other freight is loaded in that trailer to be hauled to the border. In Laredo, the additional freight is removed. Your household goods cross the border in the same trailer you loaded them into, by themselves. LCMC handles the border crossing and customs. You provide ahead of time an inventory of the contents. They have your inventory translated into Spanish and do all the paperwork.
Once the trailer clears customs, freight is loaded on in Nuevo Laredo and hauled to Guadalajara. We will have a slightly longer wait, and our cost was slightly higher because the trailer will be delivered to Bucerias. At that end, the driver will deliver the trailer and wait while we unload it. We plan on hiring unloaders as well. We have been told by LCMC that the delivery time will be 2 or 3 weeks. I’ll let you know.

The bike ride that wasn't

2005-09-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons we decided to schedule our moving date for October was the Skittles Waco Wild West bike ride. As I have mentioned, we have both been on the organizing committee for several years.
The week of the ride happened to also be the week of Hurricane Rita. Erring on the side of caution after Hurricane Katrina, weather forecasters were predicting devastating weather for Texas. Even Waco, hundreds of miles from the Gulf of Mexico, was threatened by chances of high winds and heavy rain. If the storm had tracked as predicted at one point, Waco would have been directly in the path of what would have been at least a tropical storm as it passed over.
Wednesday before the ride, we found out that one of our major sponsors that also hosts our premiere rest stop for the riders, had decided to cancel their rest stop for the safety of the volunteers there. This left the committee in a big dilemma. We have never canceled our ride before. We had 600 + riders preregistered for the event. On the other hand, the supplier of the porta-potties said he didn’t want to put his porta-potties out with the likelihood of hurricane winds. Waco was also fast becoming a destination point for Gulf coast evacuees, to the point that every hotel room in Waco was booked.
So, we took stock of the situation and decided to cancel the ride. A very tough decision, but ultimately the only one that made sense.
Luckily, we decided to cancel before we spent some of the money we usually spend. Some of the T-shirts were printed, but not all. No money had been spent for the police escorts, the fruit and cookies hadn’t been purchased yet and we hadn’t yet gotten the big tent we use for registration.
This did leave us the predicament of contacting over 60 people to let them know of the decision. We had email addresses for many of the riders, so mass emails were sent. Others were called on the phone (my new packet 8 VOIP service was handy there!) Our website was updated to show the cancellation.
Friday night is normally packet pickup. We told people they could come get their T-shirts then. About 100 folks did come. We will be mailing out T-shirts to all the preregistered riders soon.
It was very disappointing to have all our hard work go unused. Waco ended up not having any hurricane weather, but we did get lots of Gulf coast evacuees. All in all, we received high marks from almost all our riders on our decision, the communication to let people know of the cancellation, and our interest in the safety of both our riders and the volunteers involved.

Details, details

2005-09-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

Ever heard the expression “the devil is in the details’? Well I am telling you, it is true! I was expecting to have lots of free time after we moved out of our house. Other than going to Curves three times a week and working at my really part time job 2 afternoons a week I pictured having a pretty free calendar. Boy was I wrong!
Both Harold and I are on the organizing committee of a large bicycle tour called the Skittles Waco Wild West Century Bicycle Tour. This is the 21st year for the ride, which averages 1,500 riders per year. Routes are 10, 25, 50 65 and 100 miles. I formerly was in charge of publicity and have been able to pass that duty on to another committee member. Harold is in charge of recruiting groups to run the rest stops. So far, no other committee members have stepped forward to handle that. He has been busy lining up groups, working out conflicts with locations and schedules and ordering supplies. Additionally he and I both have been trying to find sponsors to help defray costs. The ride is coming up on Saturday, September 24. One reason we decided to make our Mexican move in early October is so that we would be here for the ride.
There are many things to consider when moving out of the country. We have been consolidating bank accounts, setting up and checking electronic banking options as well as back-up plans for accessing our money. We have arrangements made for our mail (Mom and Dad will screen it and let us know what’s important). My health insurance will cover us in Mexico. I called Aetna several times to make sure I know how to file our claims properly. Our prescription drug coverage will not mail drugs to Mexico so we had to get an exemption allowing us to get 6 months worth of prescriptions instead of the normal 3. Both Harold and I have been to the family doctor for check-ups.
Lake Chapala Moving Company will come on October 4 to pick up our household goods. We are completing packing boxes to go in the moving truck. An inventory list is required for everything going in the truck. There is another stack of stuff that will go with us in the car.
I called the American contact person for Lake Chapala Moving and arranged the trailer drop-off and pick-up. First we had to make sure the guys who are doing the loading were available that day.
I have also been doing some shopping for things for other people. Ebay has been busy with my orders! Then when the things come, they are packed to go.
We now only have a few weeks to go. After the household goods leave October 4, we plan on leaving here October 9 and arriving in Bucerias on October 11.

Hanging around Waco

2005-09-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Since we left our house in Hewitt we have been staying with my parents. They live about 5 miles from our old house. Mostly we have been taking it easy. I have been working, if you can even call it that, at the Safety Store at Masterfoods. It is only 4 hours a week and mostly consists of socializing with former coworkers. I’ve also been going to Curves three times a week. I plan on continuing Curves when we get to Bucerias. The club there is only 4 blocks or so from our house and it’s a great way to meet people as well as keep in shape.
For the moving company, we have to have an inventory sheet of our possessions. As we packed the boxes and took them to the storage building we did have the contents written on them. This week we took every box and tub out of the storage building, numbered the boxes and made up our inventory sheet. The warehouse looks pretty good now. There are still some things in Dad’s shop, but we have gotten most of them in the warehouse. Our friend Paul and my Dad helped with the restacking so it didn’t take too long.
The dogs have to stay outside here since my Mom doesn’t like dogs in the house. We have been taking them for walks many days. A couple times we have taken them to a park near the lake. Fox likes running on the edge of the water and she also goes in swimming. Sarah will wade into the water but having only three legs keeps her from swimming much. There are some pictures on Webshots of the dogs at the lake.
Our grandson Joshua started kindergarten this year. He has to wear a uniform to school – either khaki or navy blue pants or shorts, and a red, white or blue polo shirt. The kids all look very cute. Joshua loves school and seems to be learning a lot.
Harold and I both are on the organizing committee of the Skittles Waco Wild West Century Bicycle Tour. This is the 21st year for the tour and we expect 1,500 riders. The committee works hard to get this fund-raising ride together. We wanted to stay here at least through the day of the ride, September 24. We’ve been busy with planning and meetings for the ride. Harold is in charge of the rest stops and has to locate groups to man a dozen rest stops along the ride. There are routes of 10, 25, 50, 65 and 100 miles.
Since Joshua’s birthday is October 11, we will stay here long enough to have a birthday part for him a little early. It looks now that we will send our things southbound the last week of September or the first week of October and we will leave around October 10th at the latest.
I keep thinking there is some detail I am overlooking in getting ready for the move. Banking, mail, telephone, bill paying, insurance, credit cards, the list goes on and on.

Goodbye to Hewitt

2005-08-30T22:57:00.000-07:00

After the trip to Philadelphia, we knew we had to get busy for the closing on the house. It seems like all we did for the three weeks between getting home and the closing on the 26th was sort and pack. Harold was in charge of the packing and he maximized the amount of things going into each box. We labeled each box then took them to the storage building. We also worked hard at using up all the food in our refrigerator and freezer. Our daughter Ann got plenty of things and we sent two boxes of food to a local church group. It seemed like we would not get done in time, but somehow we did.
The auction company came to get the furniture and appliances as well as some more miscellaneous things. We have a very large very heavy curio cabinet that we are moving with us to Bucerias. It is really the only large piece of furniture we are taking. It is taller than our doors and hard to move. So we got the two guys from the auction company to move it to the storage building. When we got there, I went to open the garage door to the unit. It usually opens fairly easily. Well, this time it wouldn’t even budge! Finally, the strong guys opened it. Some of our boxes had slid and were resting against the door. They helped us restack the boxes as well as put the curio cabinet in storage. We are going to hire the same guys to load our moving trailer for us.
Almost everything fit in the storage building. Some of the more bulky things such as the lawn mower and barbecue grill are in my dad’s shop. We have a few things to continue to sort through and pack.
Finally the house was empty and relatively clean. We did take a final swim in the pool. It was sad to say goodbye to the place we have lived for more than 22 years. But the plan is moving forward and soon we will be off to Bucerias.

Philadelphia and Dallas

2005-08-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

Philadelphia

After the week in Myrtle Beach, we drove to Philadelphia to spend a few days at Debbie’s house. We packed 7 people and all the luggage in the van and off we went. Actually, packer extraordinaire Harold packed the van. Steve commented that even though we had more people and more luggage going north than they had going south, there was more room in the van.
The trip was uneventful. Mike, a former bus driver, did a great job of driving. A couple gas/pit stops, one stop for dinner and we were back to Pennsylvania.
Mostly what we did at Debbie’s house was eat, discuss where we were eating next and talk about what and where we had eaten.
We did get together with Harold’s Aunt Doris and Uncle Len. They are planning a trip to Italy, so we talked about traveling, caught up on what’s new with Harold’s cousins and had a nice visit. Another day we met one of Harold’s cousins, her husband, their two daughters and granddaughter for lunch. After lunch we spent a relaxing afternoon at the pool at the home of one of the cousins. The day was capped off by having a delicious ice cream cone at Thomas Sweets in New Brunswick, NJ, home of Rutgers University.
The few days we had in Philadelphia went by very quickly. We flew back to Dallas on Saturday afternoon.
Kelly and Deanna from the All Vallarta board had invited us to stay at their house in Grand Prairie. We got to their house and got settled in then went to the sports bar called Texan Station at the Gaylord Texan . It is a huge resort/conference hotel plopped down in Grapevine Texas. We tried several of the appetizers, several types of drinks and all the desserts. The whole place is huge! But then, this is Texas so what do you expect?
Sunday we met Deb and John for lunch. We all enjoyed the good food and the company. A surprise phone call came during our lunch. Everyone thought it would be Howard, but it wasn’t. Richard, from Oklahoma City, was calling to wish us well. How cool is that?
Well, after lunch we came back to Waco. Since the closing on the house was sneaking up on us, we had to get busy.

Myrtle Beach

2005-08-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Harold’s sister Debbie told us she was going to Myrtle Beach, SC for a vacation. She and her son Steve were going with their good friends Mike and Renee and their son Shawn. They all live in the Philadelphia area. The reason for the trip was that Mike and Renee’s daughter Jamie and her husband Rob, who live in California, were going. Rob’s family has vacationed in Myrtle Beach for many years. So Rob’s parent’s (Pete and Gina), Rob and Jamie, and Rob’s brother (David )and his girlfriend (Blanca, and her niece Diana) were all going. OK, now you know all the players. There may be a quiz at the end.
Harold and I flew to Myrtle Beach and were met at the airport by Debbie, Mike and Renee. They had arrived earlier in the day and checked into the hotel. Debbie, Steve, Mike, Renee , Harold and I were sharing a suite. The others were staying at the same resort. Ten of them had driven from Philadelphia with a stop at Busch Gardens. We had been invited to do that also, but decided that was too much driving and too much time away from home.
As soon as we got to Myrtle Beach International airport, we noticed how hot and humid it was. The first few days we were there, Myrtle Beach was having a huge heat wave. The heat index was 118 and there was very little breeze on the beach. We swam in the ocean, which was about 85 degrees! The outdoor pools were so warm it was not fun to swim in them. The indoor pool stayed cooler.
Because it was so hot and no breeze, sitting on the beach, even under an umbrella, was pretty toasty. But we managed.
Myrtle Beach is a very busy family vacation spot. The beach was very crowded. The concession company puts up beach umbrellas and chairs every day. They are as close together as they can possibly be. You have to duck under the edge of the umbrella to get through to the water. Each umbrella along with its 2 chairs rented for $25 per day. On the beach in front of our hotel, there were 50 umbrellas. The hotel didn’t provide any other chairs so the first day we went our and bought a couple chairs and umbrellas.
One night we went to a shopping area called Broadway on the Beach. We would have liked to spend more time exploring the center – maybe next time. There were lots of cool shops, restaurants and bars there. Another night we went to a show called Dixie Stampede. This is a dinner theater type show with singing, dancing and horses. We all enjoyed the show and the dinner.
In the lobby at our hotel there was a timeshare representative. You could get 2 tickets to the Dixie Stampede for $10 for going to a presentation. Since Harold and I have been to presentations before that were very long and high-pressure we weren’t going to go. We warned Jamie and Rob of our experiences but they signed up anyway. Well, imagine our surprise when they returned to the hotel 2 hours after leaving. The 90-minute presentation was really 90 minutes, and low pressure. So Harold and I signed up and so did Debbie. We chose the $75 cash option and went to see the presentation. It was so low key it was almost no key! 90 minutes later we were out the door. I wonder if the level of pressure is proportional to the value of your gift. Pre-packaged sweet rolls and $75 cash in South Carolina equates to lower pressure than a buffet breakfast ad $200 plus cash in Puerto Vallarta. Another difference was that our sales person had 3 couples that she toured and gave pricing information to. After telling her no, we only had 1 other stop. That lady gave us a very brief pitch for vacation clubs and then gave us our money for attending.

Sunday night, Harold and I got together with some friends, Marvin and Sandy. Marvin is also retired from Masterfoods USA. Both of them are originally from South Carolina and have moved back there since retiring. They brought their cute 8 year old grandson Zachary with them. After dinner, we went to take a look at their condo, a nice little studio right on the beach. They plan on remodeling it this year and using it more since they now live closer.
Myrtle Beach was not my favorite vacation spot but it was fun. If it hadn’t been so darn hot the first couple days we could have gotten out and walked around more. The last 2 days had occasional thunderstorms but enough clear weather we still were able to enjoy the beach and walk around the area some. If we go back, we will definitely rent a car and do more exploring.

The FM3s!

2005-07-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

When we went to apply for our FM3s, Francisco at the Consulate told us we could pick them up in Mexia, Texas. Mexia is a small town east of Waco with a population of about 6,500. The Consulate was having an outreach day at a church there.
We arrived Mexia around 11 a.m. Once we were on the correct street, it was very easy to find the church. Luckily, Francisco had told us we did not have to wait in line, because there were at least a hundred people outside of the church and in the fellowship hall.
Once inside we were waved right over to see Francisco. He was busy helping someone with their Mexican passport. He got our paperwork out, had us sign in the proper places and we were done! As a token of our appreciation, we had brought a box of candy – M&Ms, Starburst and Snickers. Since 8 people from the Consulate had made the trip I’m sure it was appreciated. Francisco told us he would be in Puerto Vallarta for Christmas and has already purchased his plane ticket. We agreed to keep in touch and get together in December. Pictures were taken to commemorate this big event.
As we were leaving I remembered that others mentioned having a fingerprint on their FM3. I went back into the church to ask. Francisco told me that usually the first time you cross the border the immigration official will do the fingerprint. But, he said, I could put it on now if I want. So I put the official right thumb print on the FM3, then Harold went in and did his.
The outreach was from 11 until 3. Numbers were handed out starting at 9, and as of when we were there, 350 numbers had been handed out. We were amazed that in a small town so many people needed the services of the consulate. Driving around Mexia we could tell there is a sizable Hispanic population.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called The Farmhouse. Expecting to have chicken fried steak or something similarly Southern, we were surprised to find coconut shrimp on the menu. Served with cole slaw, green beans, rice and some delicious hush puppies it was a good lunch.
Now we have the official documentation to begin the next phase of the Mexican adventure!
Next week, we are off to Myrtle Beach, SC for a vacation with Harold’s sister Debbie. After Myrtle Beach we will spend a few days in Philadelphia.

Matricula Consular

2005-07-14T16:16:00.000-07:00

When we went to the Mexican Consulate in Austin, we couldn’t help but notice the large numbers of Mexicans there. They were all waiting in line, then they had their pictures taken. Later on, they were receiving documents. We asked Francisco Flores, the documentation official why there were so many people at the Consulate. He assured us that there were NOT a lot of people there that day. He said the big crowds come on rainy days when the construction workers, roofers and landscapers don’t work.
We found out that the people were lining up to receive a document called a matricula consular. It is, in effect, a Mexican national identification card. The cards are accepted as legal, official forms of identification in the US. That allows Mexicans to be able to get a lease and utilities in their names. Most importantly, it allows them to open a bank account. Previously someone wanting to open a bank account needed a drivers license or other form of official Texas ID.
Mr. Flores explained that the police department also accepted the cards as ID. He went on to say that the police are very happy with the system. Apparently in the past when Mexicans couldn’t open a bank account many of them carried all their money with them. Thieves knew this, of course, so they would target Mexicans around payday. The victims would be afraid to report the crimes as they were suspicious of police and other authorities, most likely fearing deportation. So what was happening is the same people were robbing the same victims week after week.
Since the ID cards have become accepted the crimes against Mexicans have been greatly reduced. Mr. Flores seemed quite pleased that his agency had been instrumental in making that happen.
As a side note, he also said he was very happy that the ID cards are now computer generated with digital pictures. What this meant for him was that he signed his signature one time and it was digitally reproduced on all the ID cards. Mr. Flores told us that when the cards were produced the old fashioned way he had to sign each card and that the final year of the old system he signed about 25,000 cards. Twenty five THOUSAND, that is about 100 a day, every day! Lots of signatures, and equally impressive, lots of Mexicans living in the Austin, Texas consulate area.
We were thinking as we left that someone needs to open a taco stand in the lobby of the building and maybe a juice stand as well.

Note - these cards are issued to Mexicans living in the US. Obviously, many of these people are illegally in the US, or they could get a drivers license, etc. This write-up is not meant to comment on the legal situation and should not be construed either way about my opinion or that of the Mexican Consulate as to the illegal immigrant issue.

The next step – getting the FM3s

2005-07-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

We had gotten the list of the requirements for our FM3s from the Mexican Consulate. It was sort of like a treasure hunt. We had been to the police station for letters stating we weren’t criminals, gone to the doctor to get a letter of good health, obtained bank statements, statements regarding my retirement, and made copies of our passports and marriage license. Of course, everything was properly notarized. We also got our passport size photos. Actually, we took digital pictures and got the 19-cent prints from Wal-Mart instead of $8.99 each for the official passport photos.
We took all that plus a pocket full of cash to the Mexican Consulate in Austin. We found a parking place very close to the building. When we got in the building and to the correct suite, we found that the Consulate was no longer at that address. The letterhead they had used to send us the requirements still had the old address. Luckily there was a sign giving the new address. So we went to the new office, which was nearby.
As we entered the lobby of the building, we saw many people in line several places. Of course there didn’t appear to be any sign directing people to the correct office. I decided to wait in what appeared to be the shortest line. On the phone, the representative of the consulate’s office had told me to ask for Angelina, so I did. Luckily, Angelina happened to be the person at the desk. She asked us to wait 5 minutes, please. We knew 5 minutes would really be longer so we sat and waited. There were many Mexican citizens at the Consulate obtaining their national ID cards. I will write more about those ID cards and that process later.
After 5 Mexican minutes, we were called into the office. Francisco Flores is the official in charge of documentation. We gave him all our documents that we brought. We had everything he needed, and then some. Even though I had read several places that you need to bring a copy of your entire passport, including all blank pages and the covers, he only wanted the main page with the picture and personal information. In my mind, I kept expecting a situation out of Seinfeld. On that show, a character called the Soup Nazi goes into a rage if the customer pauses too long in ordering or doesn’t follow the rules, written or unwritten. He yells at them, “no soup for you today!” and throws them out of the store. Sometimes he tells them they can never come back.. We were hoping we wouldn’t end up with the documentation Nazi who would yell, “no visa for you today!”
One of the first questions we were asked was what city we would be living in. When we told him, Bucerias, a suburb of Puerto Vallarta, we found out that Francisco and his family own a house in Puerto Vallarta. In addition to doing all the paperwork we talked about houses and Puerto Vallarta. Their house is in El Centro and sounds really nice. Maybe when Francisco is there at Christmas we will visit him.
We filled out the visa applications, paid our $390 (cash) for the two FM3s and were told to come pick them up on Friday or later. Francisco offered that since he would be in Mexia, a small town closer to Waco, on consulate business next week, he would bring them along and we could come get them there. So that’s our plan.
After the consulate, we went to the Customs office next door. When we returned home to Texas after three months in Puerto Vallarta we didn’t cancel the car permit. We wanted to make sure that since we are obtaining our FM3s before the permit expires that we would not need to cancel one permit and get another. We found out that we do not have to get a new permit. Imagine that, customs officials missed a chance to get $35 more from us. FYI, we also found out that you can cancel a car permit at the local office, it doesn’t have to be done at the border.
Of course, just to ask that question required waiting in another line! Mexico ought to change its national slogan to “Mexico, land of lines”.
Altogether the experience went better than we expected. Sometimes it does pay to expect the worst, then you can be pleasantly surprised when things go more smoothly. After finishing up at the Consulate, we did a little shopping in Austin, ate dinner and headed back home.

Getting a visa

2005-07-08T14:39:00.000-07:00

We are going to get our FM3 visas to allow us to live in Mexico. There are different types of FM3s, one which allows you to work, and one for retired people. If you are wanting to obtain your visa prior to moving to Mexico, you go to the Mexican consulate that serves the area where you live. In our case that is Austin, Texas.
The Austin consulate does not have a website detailing what the requirements are for the FM3. I did find out that they are open from 8 to 1, Monday through Friday. I tried calling numerous times only to get trapped in the voice mail web. And if I made no selection from the menu, the phone just rang and rang. Finally, I got through. I asked the woman who answered the phone if they could mail me the information. She took my number and said they would fax it. Well, several days passed and no fax. So I tried many times to get through again and finally did. Again I was told they would fax me the information that morning. That afternoon, I called again when no fax had arrived. I talked to a man who assured me it would be faxed that day. As of that evening - no fax. We decided that we would have to go to Austin to get the list of requirements, then get the things together and return to Austin. I tried calling the Consulate, but of course I wasn’t able to get in touch with anyone. Just as we were getting ready to leave for Austin, the fax arrived.
We need to have passports with at least 6 months before they expire, passport size photos, proof of financial backing ($1,000/month for 1 person, $500/month for each dependent), police clearance letters issued by the local police department, and certificates of good health issued by our doctor. Everything must be notarized and authenticated.
I had no idea what authenticated meant. So I got smart and faxed the Consulate a note asking some questions. Someone from the Consulate called me the next day. He said the police letter and the doctor’s letter need to be notarized, but the bank statements don’t. Authenticated, he said, means bring the originals. We now have the notarized police letters, have requested the letter from our doctor, and had our bank statements notarized (for good measure). We still need the photos. We are planning on going to Austin on Wednesday, July 13th. If things go like they often do when dealing with Mexican authorities, we will be missing something, or else one of the things we bring won’t quite be right. We are hoping for the best – I’ll let you know!

Selling the house

2005-07-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

The three-month trip to Puerto Vallarta was designed to be a “test drive” for living in Mexico. We weren’t in our own house so we didn’t have some of the issues that home ownership entails. We didn’t have repairs to worry about (except the cistern and painting work) and we didn’t have to pay utility bills, among other things. But we still feel like we got a good idea of what it will be like living in PV.
After returning from the Baja trip, we got busy getting our house ready for sale. We hired a guy to come trim the landscaping in our yard. Juan, originally from San Luis Potosi State in Mexico, made us feel like we were right back south of the border. He gave us an excellent price on the work, did a great job and worked very hard. We told him we wouldn’t be home when he finished so we could pay him ahead of time. He told us not to worry, he would come by some day and get the money.
After Juan trimmed all the hedges, shrubs, groundcover and trees the outside of the house looked great. We debated about painting the interior, but decided to check with some realtors first. We thought they could give us some idea of what we should do to improve saleability, and which things wouldn’t really help. We talked to four different agents about listing the house. It was a difficult decision but we ended up with James and Annette Burns who are with ReMax here in Waco. Besides being longtime friends of my parents, they came highly recommended by a woman who had both bought and sold homes through them.
They recommended continuing to declutter the house. We rented a storage space so as we packed boxes of things we want to move, we took them to the storage. We made plans for another garage sale, too. Annette recommended holding off on replacing the carpet, just getting it cleaned, so we did that. Harold wanted to wait until we had several rooms ready to paint so we hadn’t started painting yet. We listed the house on a Wednesday evening. We had agents bring people to see the house on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each time, we had to take the dogs and go over to Mom and Dad’s to be out of the way.
Sunday afternoon, Annette brought a couple to see the house and they made an offer. Best of all, they weren’t asking for new carpet or interior painting. After a couple times back and forth we agreed on a sale price. I was nervous all during this process as it’s been 22 years since we bought that house so we were pretty unfamiliar with the process. After the price was negotiated, it was time for the inspection. In Texas, a buyer has the right to a period of time where they can back out of a purchase with no penalty. We finally agreed on who was paying for what and the contract was finalized. Altogether we ware happy with the negotiated price and especially that we don’t have to do any work to the house. Closing is set for August 26th.
Our garage sale went well. While I don’t think I like having one any better than before, we are definitely getting better at pricing and selling. We asked a friend of ours if she wanted to put anything in the sale. She brought some things and also hung around to help us. Having Peg and her son Jonathan there was nice. We could each take turns going inside to cool off and relax. After the garage slae, we loaded a bunch of things in the truck and took them to the Barkin’ Basement, a local thrift shop. We will have to have one more sale to get rid of the furniture we aren’t taking, right before we move out of the house.
We have continued sorting through and packing things. We pack a bunch of boxes, then take them over to the storage place. It seems like the more we pack, the more stuff there is left! Eventually we will get it whittled down. We have found it easy to part with some things and difficult to discard others. I think we are going to end up in Bucerias with a bunch of stuff we don’t need and nowhere toput it. Oh well, some group or another may need it for a bazaar.

The Sea of Cortez

2005-07-05T00:31:00.000-07:00

The reason for our trip to the Baja was a tour with Lindblad Expeditions http://www.expeditions.com/. The tour was called Where the Desert Meets the Sea.
We met the tour group at the Los Cabos airport at 2 p.m. Rick and Reed, the missing ones from our family, still were missing. But the tour group was large enough that 2 buses were needed and Rick and Reed would be there in time for the second one.
The tour bus was really nice. Not quite as roomy as an inter-city first class bus, but nice. We were given a snack and cold drink as we boarded. We rode past San Jose del Cabo, past Cabo San Lucas and stopped for a drink and snack in Todos Santos. The place, the name escapes me right now, was very pretty with a cactus garden. After that stop we continued to La Paz. Our ship, the Sea Voyager, was docked at a pier right in town. The bus drove out the pier to the ship. The Sea Voyager holds approximately 60 passengers so check in was nothing like a regular cruise. We settled into our cabin and looked around the ship. After dinner, we had time to go out and walk on La Paz’s Malecon. We walked a long ways one direction and didn’t get to the end of the Malecon. We wondered how long it was, since we only walked one direction. It is not a developed with clubs, restaurants and shops as the Puerto Vallarta Malecon but it was really nice for strolling. We would like to visit La Paz again some day.
The second bus arrived shortly before dinner time and the missing Rick and Reed were on board. That was good, because this wasn’t like a regular cruise. We didn’t stop at another commercial port until the end of the trip!
Lindblad trips are filled with activity. We began each day with breakfast at 7. Each day we visited one or two of the small islands in the Sea of Cortez, which is also called the Gulf of California. On the islands, there was the option to take a nature walk of varying lengths. Some of the islands had swimmable beaches, so that was a choice too. Snorkeling was offered many days. We got to the shore from the Sea Voyager by Zodiac boats, those motor powered rubber boats.
Zodiac cruises were given to better view the islands.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was snorkeling with the sea lions at Espiritu Santo Island. Another chance to snorkel with the sea lions had to be cancelled due to high winds. We saw pilot, fin and sperm whales. We saw so many sea lions that it was almost routine. We were joined by bottlenose dolphins several times. They liked to ride the waves at the bow of the ship. The dolphins seemed to take turns in the wake. We experienced two of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. One night the sky was completely pink, which made the mirror smooth water look equally pink. Another night the sunset was very dramatic and looked like a photo studio background. We visited an island called Isla Rasa which is a seabird preserve. Actually, all the islands in the Sea of Cortez are protected by the government. We only saw other people a few times all week.

Besides the outdoor activities, Lindblad took very good care of us on the ship. Meals were all delicious and dinner always had a meat, fish and vegetarian choice. There was a lounge where presentations were made about Mexican history, videos of underwater activity, and recaps of each day’s events.
Seating in the dining room was always open so you had the chance to meet many of the other passengers. The expedition staff also ate with the passengers so we got to know them better as well.
The cruise ended in Guaymas, on the mainland part of Mexico. We visited a pearl farming operation, ate lunch at a local restaurant and then headed to the airport. The Guaymas airport is very small. I think they only have one scheduled flight a day. We flew to Phoenix where we spent the nigh5 at the Best Western near the airport. All the flights into and out of Dallas were delayed that day due to bad weather, so we arrived late in Dallas. Mom and Dad were able to get the last 2 seats on the flight to Waco. Harold and I ended up having to wait about 4 hours to catch the next available flight to Waco. We did get back just fine, but a little late. At least American Airlines did give us a dinner voucher and a $100 travel voucher each for the trouble.

back in Texas, off to Los Cabos

2005-07-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

I realize that I have been way behind on my blog. Once we returned to Texas, I figured no one cared what happened.
We arrived back to our house and found everything pretty well in order. Peg, Koby and Jonathan who watched the pool and yard had done a good job. Mom had come over and cleaned out the fridge and dusted the furniture. The dogs knew right away that they were home. I think they missed their big back yard. It didn't take them long to settle back into the old routine.
I got the pool cleaned up pretty quickly which was good since it was hot here. We did a little sorting and preparing to pack but mostly catching up with our friends and family. We didn’t contact any realtors as we were going to be gone for a couple weeks.
Two weeks after we got back from Puerto Vallarta, it was off to Mexico again. This time we went to the Baja. Mom and Dad had arranged for them, us and my two brothers, my sister and their families to go on a cruise with Lindblad Expeditions. It was called “Where the Desert Meets the Sea.” We were to meet the group at the Los Cabos airport on Saturday afternoon. Mom, Dad, Harold and I flew to Los Cabos on Wednesday and stayed 3 nights at the Park Royal Los Cabos condos. We rented a car, which I would highly recommend for anyone visiting Los Cabos.
We spent one morning looking around San Jose del Cabo which is where the condo is located. We did a little shopping, lounged by the pool and then headed to Cabo San Lucas. We walked around the harbor area looking at the fancy boats, stopped in a few shops and wandered around the upscale mall. The weather was beautiful so we enjoyed the walk. We saw a sign for a restaurant called Señor Sweets. I thought it was just an ice cream shop, but a sign offering 50% off all menu items drew us in. This is definitely not just an ice cream shop! They offered about 20 different flavors of gelato, probably about 10 varieites of sorbet and some incredible cakes and pies. Mom, Dad and Harold all had chocolate mousse cake and I had a scoop of lemon and a scoop of strawberry sorbet. It was all fabulous. One of the owners, David Wexler, came to our table to chat. The place had only been open 4 days. He told us the shop was his post-midlife crisis project, after retiring as a Beverly Hills attorney.
The next day, I wanted to take a boat ride to see the famous Los Cabos arches. There are a number of boat companies and we just picked one at random. We had a boat to ourselves. The driver was great. He took us to see the usual things – the Pacific window, the sea lion rocks, and of course the arch. Even though I don’t think he was supposed to, he took our boat right though the arch. You know, that arch isn’t nearly as wide as you might think! We did have a couple feet clearance on each side. We chose not to stop at the beach near the arch since the beach was crowded, and the water was cold. On the way back to the dock, we were admiring a huge yacht called the Tatoosh in the harbor. Our boat driver took us over for a close look at it and the cruise ship (Carnival Pride).

After the boat ride, we drove to the town of Todos Santos. There is a Hotel California there, which may or may not be the inspiration for the Eagles song. The souvenir shop across the street sure wants you to think it is!
Todos Santos was an interesting little town. We went into some shops and galleries. Later, as we were leaving, we realized there were more galleries in another area that we didn’t see.
We returned to San Jose del Cabo to go meet my brothers, sister and their families at the airport. My younger brother Tom, his wife Val and their two daughters arrived, as did my sister Mary and her two kids. My niece Erin arrived, but my brother Rick (Erin’s dad) and nephew Reed had missed the plane. We got all the newcomers loaded in a taxi van and headed to their hotel. We all met at their hotel, the Best Western, for dinner.
The next installment – the cruise.

The trip home

2005-05-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

All winter we had been thinking of going to Tepic, the capital of Nayarit. Since we hadn’t found a pet sitter, we never took any overnight trips. We decided that we would go to Tepic, spend one night, then leave for Texas. Pretty much the most difficult part of the whole trip is the portion of road between Las Varas and Chapalilla, between Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. By going to Tepic first it would be smooth sailing from there.
We took the non-toll route to Tepic. We drove up the coast on roads that were mostly in good shape. We passed through several towns that had the usual speed bumps. The last section before Tepic is pretty mountainous but we were lucky and didn’t get stuck behind any slow moving trucks.
Some of our “internet friends” we have met live in Tepic. Cliff runs a bulletin board about life in Tepic. Alice, his wife, is a frequent visitor to Puerto Vallarta and contributor to the All Vallarta board. Earlier in the year we had met Alice in Puerto Vallarta. Cliff had made a reservation for us at the LaLoma Hotel. We easily found the hotel and got checked in. We called Cliff and Alice and they met us at the hotel.
One of the places Cliff writes about on his board is called Dutch’s. We went there for lunch. The menu mostly consists of sub sandwiches, salads and baked potatoes. It is a very nice, clean place with a small patio for outdoor dining. We all enjoyed our meals there and the service was good.
After lunch, Cliff gave us the nickel tour of Tepic. It looks interesting and we will surely return there in the future. One thing Tepic has that Puerto Vallarta is lacking is public parks. Our hotel was across the street from a park also called LaLoma. We walked the dogs all the way around that park. It takes probably 45 minutes to walk around the outside of it. In the park are tennis courts, a swimming pool, children’s playgrounds, a zoo and a small train. We didn’t get there early enough to use any of the facilities but the park itself was a great place to walk.
In the morning, we ate breakfast at the LaLoma coffee shop and hit the road for Matehuala. Other than a couple missed turns, one in Guadalajara and one near Lagos de Moreno, it was an uneventful trip. The dogs by this point are veteran car riders so they just sit and look out the window or sleep as we drive along.
In Matehuala we decided to check out a few other hotel options. We knew we could always stay at the Sol y Luna if there weren’t any other pet friendly places. We checked the Las Palmas hotel. It is very nicely landscaped, has a pool and a lot of open space. But they had a sign in the lobby saying no pets allowed. Also, at about 600 pesos, the price was a little higher than we were wanting to spend. Next we checked the Hotel Capri and ended up staying there. It sure looks like it is or was a “no-tell motel”. You enter the property through a gate by the office. There is a large center courtyard with plenty of room to walk the dogs. There were benches and hammocks, paths to walk on and plenty of trees. It looked like the place probably used to be pretty nice. In the courtyard there was a swimming pool that now looked more like a reflecting pool with a small fountain. The rooms all open onto the courtyard. There is parking in front of the rooms. The rooms had no window facing the parking lot, just a window in the back of the room. The bathroom was so small that when you sat on the toilet, your feet were in the shower. Even though the place was obviously past its prime, the room was clean, there was a TV with in the room, and it seemed very safe. We paid 275 pesos for the night. The Capri is located on the main highway through Matehuala, just north of the big arch. It as OK for one night, we give it a solid one star rating. They get the star because the dogs could stay there, too. Next time we will try another place.
We drove into Matehuala for dinner. There was activity at the square for Mothers Day. The last time we were in Matehuala there were very few people in the square. This time there were hundreds of people there. The usual balloon vendors, food stands and entertainment that go with a Mexican fiesta were all there. We decided to eat at a pizza place we had seen the other time. The pizza was very good and we even had a few extra pieces for the dogs.
In the morning, we ate breakfast at a hotel nearby called Motel El Pedregal. I took a look at their rooms. Similar set-up with the courtyard, but these rooms had windows and were a little nicer. Another notable point for a future trip is that some of the rooms are air conditioned. The desk clerk assured me that dogs were allowed. The rooms are in the 300 pesos per night range.
The trip from Matehuala to the border was also uneventful. On the trip down, we had never been stopped by any of the military checkpoints. This time we had to stop twice. Both times they wanted to know where we were coming from and where we were going. One time, they asked to look in the back of our car. One guard took a cursory look while the other guard played with Fox. Neither time were we asked for any documentation or identification.
We had a little difficulty deciding which bridge we should cross at Laredo. Bridge 2 was the correct choice. We waited about 20 minutes to cross the border. The border guard tapped on our car apparently looking for hidden compartments and we drove past a drug dog. Once in Laredo, we returned to the Family Garden Inn where we had stayed on the trip south. This hotel is a good value. For $50 we got a room with 2 queen size beds. The price includes an evening social hour. It is held in a large gazebo near the pool. For 2 hours, they have hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, lemonade and beer. You can also buy margaritas and steaks. This was a popular thing with the guests of the hotel. The clientele varied from traveling families to guys working for an oil company. We talked to a couple from Waxahachie, Texas who was traveling with 3 small dogs. A continental breakfast is also included so once we got settled in our room we didn’t even have to leave the hotel until it was time to hit the road.
We made a quick stop in San Antonio to drop our camera off at the repair center. 2 weeks later, we still don’t have it back or even have a verdict on what’s wrong with it. Last week, a person from the San Antonio repair center called us and said they were sending it to the main repair center in New Jersey as it was a new model camera and they hadn’t had training on it yet in San Antonio.
The smooth, wide highways in Texas made for a fast trip back to Waco. We got to our house and it almost seemed like we had hardly been gone at all.
The three months in Puerto Vallarta seemed to fly by. Since we have been home we have been making slow but steady progress in getting our house ready to sell. We have been continuing the almost endless task of going through all our stuff and deciding whether it is to be kept, put in the garage sale, given to charity or thrown away. Boy do we have a lot of stuff!
Today we are off for a vacation with my parents, brothers, sister and their families. Reports and pictures to follow (of course!)

The final week in PV

2005-05-18T00:22:00.000-07:00

We delayed our return to Texas by a week for a couple reasons. We went on the trip to Quimixto with the RISE kids on Saturday and didn’t want to then have to drive all day on Sunday. Also, the construction on the cistern and roof coating weren’t down and we wanted to stay until they were done, and the last reason was that Luis’s birthday is May 5th and he wanted us to stay for his party.
You would think that for our last week we would spend extra time at the beach and pool. It didn’t turn out that way. Each day we went to Bucerias at least one time to see how the job was going. And each time we were there we had to make a trip to the store(s) for some part or another. When we left, the cistern was in the ground, the backfilling was done, the concrete poured over the top. The pressure tank and pump were working fine. There were only a couple small things remaining to be done on that job.
The roof was done, except for the sloping part over the bedroom needed the tiles put back on. And, Rafa had agreed to seal some cracks and paint some places on the outside of the house.
Meanwhile, Rafa had obtained two more jobs in Bucerias. One was repairing an incorrectly installed cistern and the other was sealing a roof.
Another thing that happened in our neighborhood that last week was the church fiesta. We noticed kids carnival rides, food stands and a brincolin arriving one day. The next night the fiesta started. Our street was packed with people. We were wondering how we would sleep with all that noise. Rigo assured us the fiesta would be over at 11 p.m. We sort of laughed to ourselves and said we’ll see. He was correct, at 11 p.m. a guy with fireworks strapped to his back (yes, you read that right) ran up and down the street about 4 times with sparklers, fire crackers and bottle rockets shooting off from a framework on his back. The church, which is named for Senora Fatima, will have the fiesta for a whole week.
The last night we were in Puerto Vallarta was the night of Luis’s birthday party. It was at the bodega/fiesta grounds in Pitillal. He has a friend who is a Spanish chef. Luis had him come cook paella for the party. We had a great time visiting with Luis, Monika, Monika’s parents and many of their friends. Many of the guests were kind enough to speak English with us. It was a fun thing for our last night there.
Saturday morning we finished loading the car, stopped at Gigante for a few snacks, stopped in Bucerias to say goodbye to Patricia and Joann and hit the road. First we were off to Tepic, then on to Texas.

Happy Birthday

2005-05-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

Our friends Deb and Dave from Iowa have some friends who live near us in Puerto Vallarta. Deb told Harold that it was Maria’s birthday and she wanted to send Maria flowers. She was asking if there was an FTD type place so she could have them delivered. Instead, Harold offered that we could go buy them and take them over. We called Monika and asked where we should buy them. She suggested the Aramara market, so that’s where we went. We ordered a flower arrangement to be picked up the next day. We also bought a card for Maria and Rafael. We were pleasantly surprised when we went back for the flowers. An arrangement which cost 200 pesos would have easily cost twice that much in Texas. We delivered the flowers to a very surprised Maria. Both she and Rafael were shocked that Deb had arranged the personal delivery! We were glad to be able to be a part of this fun surprise.

Dia de los Ninos

2005-05-03T07:56:00.000-07:00

Quimixto

April 30th is Dia de los Ninos, Day of the Children. For this holiday, a field trip had been arranged for the kids at RISE. Since she knows we have car –will drive, Chris Amo asked if we wanted to go to Quimixto with the kids.
We all met at the shelter at 8:30. Kids, madres and volunteers were piled into the cars for the drive to Boca de Tomatlan. There we loaded everyone plus all the supplies for lunch into 2 pangas. The water was fairly calm and the trip to Quimixto went quickly. Once in Quimixto, we carried all the lunch supplies to the house where the party was being held. One of the board members of the Children’s Shelter of Hope, Jim, has a small place there and was hosting the group.
After bathroom stops, a cold drink and a snack, the kids were ready to go. First Jim showed them the huge iguana that lives in his garden. Another, even larger iguana was also there for the kids to feed and touch.
There is a waterfall in Quimixto accessible by hiking or horse. Some of the group rode up on the horses and some hiked up. Once at the top, almost everyone went swimming in the pool below the waterfall. The water was really cold but felt great after the dusty walk up. Even though it is the dry season there was plenty of water in the waterfall. After swimming, everyone headed back down. Luckily, those of us who had walked up got to ride down!
Once all hikers and riders returned, lunch was served. Hotdogs, chips and fruit were popular with the kids. Poor Jim’s house looked like a tornado had gone through!
After lunch, we took the kids to the beach. It was almost like having a private beach. Two guys gave the kids kayak rides, the bigger kids swam in the ocean and the little ones played in the sand.
The kids all walked down the beach to get back to the boat while some of the adults went back to Jim’s house to get the things we were taking back. Amazingly, the house had been cleaned up and looked as good as new. There was a lot less stuff to go back! The boats were loaded and we returned to Boca. Once back in the cars, almost all the kids went to sleep on the trip back to the shelter.
It was a wonderful day in the little town of Quimixto. Quimixto is a step back in time, there are no cars and it is accessible only by boat. The kids all had a great Dia de los Ninos.

An evening in Bucerias

We went home after the Quimixto trip and took a siesta. After the short rest we headed out to check on our construction work in Bucerias. When we got there, the workers had already left for the day. We went to the main plaza to see what was happening. A show was being held for Dia de los Ninos. There were 3 or 4 clowns performing, handing out balloons and running contests for the kids. Apparently there had been a parade as we saw some floats parked on the street. After watching the clowns for a while, we decided to have dinner. El Lugar is located on the north side of the main plaza near the church. It is on the 2nd floor so we decided to eat there and watch the action in the plaza. We heard a band playing and there were many people in the plaza. Harold had a calzone and I had shrimp pasta. The food and service were both good.
After dinner we walked around the plaza. The band we had heard was now playing in another part of the plaza. It was a 16-piece band named Banda Perla Negra. It appeared they were playing at a family event. Some of the little girls who had been in the parade and show were there in their princess dresses. They had food, drinks and were dancing in the plaza. We sat and watched the dancing. We particularly enjoyed watching the kids dance. After about an hour, the band packed up and was headed to a nearby restaurant to play at a wedding reception.
We were worn out after the long day but we had a great time at the events.

What can you get for 100 pesos?

2005-05-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

100 pesos
We have spent a lot of time in the area of town called El Pitillal. Monika and Luis live there and Luis’s bodega is on the other side of Pitillal. The central part of the town is just filled with shops of all kinds. Our dentist is also there about a block from the square.
You can find almost anything you need in Pitillal and the prices are usually good. Here are some of the things we have found there for 100 pesos (less than $10 US)
We had our teeth cleaned for 100 pesos each. Unlike the US, the dentist himself did the cleaning. Harold’s wedding ring had shrunk over the years and he couldn’t get it off his finger. So we went to a jewelry store to get it resized. They had to cut the ring off his finger, add material to it and resize it. This took about 45 minutes and cost 100 pesos.
Our camera stopped working while we were here. We took it to a shop that opened it up, examined it and determined we needed to take it to the Fuji repair center in the US. He didn’t have access to Fuji parts. The cost to check the camera – 100 pesos.
I had a pedicure at a shop recommended by several friends. It was a very good pedicure and the polish lasted for a long time. Cost – 100 pesos.
Harold got this hair cut at a shop near the dentist office. The cost – 35 pesos. He would have gone to the 30-peso shop, but they were too busy.

Cooking lesson
Until a couple months ago, neither Harold nor I had eaten ceviche. The thought of eating raw fish didn’t appeal to either one of us. But then we ate at Beto’s restaurant in Pitillal. They served a ceviche tostado with the meal. We didn’t realize what it was and ate it. Both of us liked it. We mentioned to Monika that we liked it. She said it was easy to make and she would show us how.
Sunday we picked up Monika to go buy fish. We went to the Aramara market. It is on the road that goes between Sam’s and Pitillal. We bought a type of fish called “bota”. They have a machine right there to grind the fish up for ceviche. We also bought some shrimp. They were headless large shrimp for 125 pesos/kg. That is about $5.50 US a pound.
Back at Monika’s house, we made the ceviche. We squeezed many limes on the fish, shredded carrots, chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumber and cilantro. A dash of Worchester sauce and some kosher salt were also added. It was all stirred up and put in the refrigerator to “cook.” We all enjoyed plenty of ceviche with tostados and avocado slices. Everyone ate so much that only Luis and I had any room for the shrimp scampi he cooked.
After lunch, Monika and I took the kids to the Krystal to the pool. Harold and Luis went to pick up a large round wooden table top for the fiesta grounds. It had been discarded by Carlos Slim in a vacant lot near ourhouse in Bucerias. It will now be used for parties at the fiesta grounds.

Construction work, etc

2005-05-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

Construction work
Bucerias has a problem with city water. At times, demand exceeds supply so there is little or no water to the customers. As a result, everyone has aljibes (cisterns) and/or tinacos (roof-top water tanks). Our house has both, but the cistern is small so occasionally there is a shortage of water.
We decided to have a larger cistern installed. We got a bid from a Bucerias contractor and also talked to Rafa, the man who has been doing work on Luis’s bodega project. Since Luis was at a good point for the workers to go elsewhere, we hired Rafa.
The first thing to be done was to shop for materials. This entailed visits to several plumbing stores. The cistern, pump and pressure tank were selected. Next on the agenda was to dig the huge hole for the cistern. The plans were to dig the hole by hand. But as they got to the site, Harold and Cesar (one of the workers) saw a backhoe for hire. They went to see about it and found that the hole could be dug in about 2 hours so the man and machine were hired. 2 hours later there was a very big hole in the yard at a cost of 700 pesos, or less than $70 US. In the process of digging the hole the main water line to the house got broken. Luckily, the city water was not running at the time so the repairs were done before the yard flooded.
We had to go back to the plumbing supply to pay for the parts. The supply house allowed us to pay by check, which was good. It only took 2 tries to fill the check out correctly. You must do everything absolutely correctly. Speaking of that, we needed cash for the project so we got our bank account number from Joann and Patricia and headed to the bank. Well, without our checkbook there was going to be a 115-peso charge to get cash out. On the next trip to Bucerias we got the checkbook and returned to the bank. To get cash out, you write a check to yourself. Mexican banks seem to have a way to charge you for everything!
In addition to the cistern, the workers are installing a new roof coating. The roof is concrete so has to be treated for waterproofing.
So far, the project has been going well. The cistern is in the ground and filled with water. They have started backfilling around the cistern. The hole needs to be filled up, the plumbing and pressure pump installed and the whole thing tested. The roof work is also well underway. We have been to the worksite every day to check on the progress and pay the bills. Many times it seems like there would be a more efficient way to do the job, but the work is moving along. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion.

Juanito’s
When Kathy was here last month she brought us a bunch of Lance Armstrong Foundation “Livestrong” bracelets. The ones sold here in PV are pirated copies and are also expensive. Brenda wanted some, so we dropped off a bag for her. Another All Vallarta board member, Renee, wanted some as well. We had a plan to get together one day, which had to be postponed by our construction project. We decided to meet for breakfast and go to Juanito’s in Ixtapa.
We picked Renee p at the Villa del Palmar complex and headed to Ixtapa. At first it seemed she didn’t know where the place was, but lo and behold we found it. Juanito, the owner of the restaurant, used to work at Memo’s Pancake House in PV. The menu at Juanito’s is similar. The restaurant itself looks small from the outside. It has a very pretty garden location. You can tell the family is fond of gardening by all the orchids, cactus and other plants in the yard. We enjoyed a nice relaxing breakfast on the cool patio. Thanks, Renee, for showing us this cool little place.

You look familiar
People often comment on how vendors, hotel clerks and waiters remember them from ear to year. It is amazing that they can remember you a year or more later. Harold was on the street in town one day when he heard someone calling “Senor, senor”. He didn’t recognize the voice so didn’t respond. Pretty soon he heard the guy say “Senor Harold”, so he stopped to talk. The guy calling him was the OPC (off-premise contact) timeshare guy who works at the Alamo counter. It has been at least 2 years since he sent us on a tour. Not only did he remember Harold’s name, he said, “your last name is Sokolove, right?” Harold was very amazed!

Mom and Dad's visit

2005-04-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad come to visit!
Mom and Dad booked a cruise on the Holland America ship the Oosterdam. They came to Puerto Vallarta on April 20. Ahead of time, we had scoped out where the tenders docked and where the passengers came out and picked a meeting spot. We arrived a little early for our 10 o’clock meeting time and there were Mom and Dad, also early. Since the dock here can only take one large cruise ship at a time, the Oosterdam had anchored in the bay and the passengers were shuttled to the dock on the tender boats. There had been no wait to board the tenders. Sometimes you wait and wait while the ship’s tours go first but not this time.
First we headed into town where Mom and I went to Curves. After I enrolled in the Baylor Curves study and really enjoyed going to Curves Mom decided to join as well. Part of the membership is that you can visit any other Curves location and exercise there. Harold and Dad walked down by the beach and went to check on the Malecon construction.
After that, we brought Mom and Dad to see our house where we have been staying this winter. We gave them the grand tour of the house and neighborhood. Next we went to visit Luis so Dad could drop off the welding mask and gloves he brought for Luis’s welder.
For lunch we decided to try a place in the Marina. We have heard many good things about a restaurant in Ixtapa called El Coleguita but had never been there. They now have a location in the Marina. Mom and Dad split a shrimp plate, and Harold and I split one. Each person received shrimp broth, tequila shots as desired, a fried banana dessert and Kahlua and cream with their meal. The cook had nicely divided the orders so that each of us got a plate with vegetables, rice and half the shrimp. It was a nice touch that they serve the meals that way. Altogether, El Coleguita was as good as we heard.
After lunch we went to the Krystal to swim, relax and use the hot tubs. Too soon it was time for us to return Mom and Dad to the Marina. We had a very nice, fun and relaxing day. But most importantly, it was nice to see Mom and Dad!

Lucha Libre

2005-04-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

There is a free biweekly magazine here called Bay Vallarta. It always has lots of information about new restaurants, events in town, music, etc. In the last edition, there was a contest. There was a Mexican wrestling match coming up. It is called Lucha Libre hear. The event was happening at the Demonio Blanco Arena in El Pitallal. The contest was to answer the question, “Who is Demonio Blanco and why is the Pitallal arena named after him?” I tried looking on Google but had no luck so I took a guess. My guess was that the Demonio Blanco was a Lucha Libre fighter and the Pitallal arena was named for him since he is from Pitallal. I was correct and won a free ticket to the match. Harold decided to enter, too, figuring they might not have given out all the prizes. He won, too.
On the day of the match, we picked up Luis, Melissa and Rudy. Monika decided to stay home and visit with her mom instead of going. In typical Mexican fashion the 6 o’clock start of the match was a little delayed. We waited outside with the other fans until ticket sales began, enjoying a beer from the local deposito while we hung around on the sidewalk. There was a vendor selling T-shirts, wrestling magazines and wrestling masks. Of course, the kids had to try them on and get one. We also bought one for our grandson Joshua. In Lucha Libre, all the fighters wear masks or paint their faces. Pretty soon the ticket window opened so we got the tickets and went inside to wait for the big event
The Demonio Blanco Arena is a fairly small place. We had our choice of downstairs ringside, or up in the balcony. The kids wanted to sit up in the balcony so we did. The even actually started around 7. First there was the introduction of the Demonio Blanco himself. He was there enjoying the festivities and had VIP seating.
This Lucha Libre even was sort of like farm league baseball. The first match was definitely beginners. The matches are pretty similar to WWF. The fighters knew all the moves, but they were still working on their timing. It was comical. The second match was tag team. Just like WWF, there was the good guys and the bad guys. Naturally the bad guys cheated while the refs were busy scolding the good guys for some minor infraction.
The third match was a woman’s tag team event. The crowd was getting more and more into the fights as the event went on. Could it be the guy coming around selling cold beer? The final event we watched was the more polished tag teams. The Chivas were the good guys and the crowd loved them. Their costumes were great, it must be really hot wrestling in a full faced goat mask. This match even featured bashing each other with folding chairs and fighting outside the ring. Too bad we couldn’t hang around lng enough for the final match which featured midgets.
We all had a really good time. The kids loved it even though it was less polished than the stuff on TV. If you ever have a chance to catch the Lucha Libre, go for it.
Be sure to look at our Webshots pictures of this cultural experience at http://community.webshots.com/album/328178253spLlEs

Tacos under the trees

2005-04-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

One day we were in Bucerias at the beach with the dogs. We stopped by Casa Tranquila to say hi to Patricia and Joann. After visiting a little while we decided to go eat dinner. Harold asked them for a recommendation; Joann said we know a great place and we’ll show you where it is.
We went up one of the main dirt roads on the east side of the highway. Down one of the other dirt roads is a little place that is really more of a restaurant than a taco stand. Inside the gate of what looks like someone’s yard is a very nice little garden restaurant. We each ordered a large type of taco called a “gringa” and an agua fresca. I think for the 4 of us the bill was under 150 pesos. The waiter was so cute, too. He is learning English as he wants t go into the tourism industry. Joann has been helping him with his English. One day, he told her he wanted to learn how to take orders in English. First he asked, how do you say taco in English? Joann said taco. Then he asked, what about quesadilla? Joann said quesadilla. He managed to pick a few more words like that and they both got a big laugh out of it.
I don’t know the actual name of the place but Joann and Patricia call it Tacos Under the trees.

The food court
Yesterday we were hungry for a quick dinner. In the area on Francisco Villa Ave. where we buy chicken, there are several taco stands. We went to the Hamburguesas Gigantes stand. We each had a “chica” burger, she was out of “grande” size. The chica size, 20 pesos each, was pretty grande itself. It was actually a bacon burger with lettuce and tomato. While we waited for the burgers to be ready, we looked around the street. There were 2 or 3 taco stands, the hamburger place, the 2 chicken places across the street and another small restaurant all within a short block of each other. Around the corner there is a bakery. Bakeries are very common here, not like in Waco where almost all baked goods come from the grocery store. Harold bought some really good-looking chocolate croissants at the one on Fco. Villa. He ate one as soon as we got home and said it was more like chocolate bread, but said it was really good.
There were so many little eating places in that one area we were joking and calling it the food court. There are many taco stands, hamburger carts and small restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. You often don’t even notice them until you are walking right by.

Hot Springs revisited

2005-04-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

After our first attempt at going to the hot springs, we really wanted to go try them out. We recruited our friends Paul and Maureen and Maureen’s mom, Hetty, to go with us. First we went to La Desembocada to eat lunch. We were all stuffed after that big, delicious meal. I wanted to show them where the river crossing was where you would begin the hike to the natural hot springs. I expected to show them a pretty and peaceful setting. Well, that didn’t happen! First we saw 20 ATVs (4-wheelers) cross the river, obviously a tour group from Dona Engracia. After the ATVs went by, a yellow Vallarta Adventures truck came across the river. Next was a group of about 20 horses, followed a few minutes later by a group of 20 – 30 hikers. When we thought we had seen every possible form of tour, a group of mountain bikers came up!
We all agreed that a hike up to the hot springs was in order for the next trip and headed out to Las Palmas. As I mentioned before, the road to the hot springs is about wide enough for one car in many spots, and is a bumpy dirt road. After riding a while on the dirt road, Paul commented that the only reason he believed there was anything down that road, much less a hot springs, was because Harold said it was there.
We paid our 30 pesos each for admission, set up “camp” and tried out the water. After sticking a toe in the hottest spring, we were sorry we didn’t bring some potatoes to boil! That spring is super hot! We did see 2 people immerse themselves in the water. They both looked like langostinos (lobsters) when they came out. Harold put his feet in the hottest water about 3 minutes and it looked like he had on red socks!
The other pools are progressively cooler. We enjoyed the next-hottest pool and a couple of the cooler ones. The water has a slight sulfur smell and seems to be very soft. It felt good to lounge in the pools.
After we spent the afternoon relaxing, we dropped our friends off in Nuevo Vallarta and headed home. You wouldn’t think all that relaxing could wear you out, but we both laid down and took a nap when we got home.

So typically Mexican!

I told Harold today that we need to take a series of pictures of things that are so typically Mexican that you just don’t see in Hewitt, Texas. Soon we will have pictures and descriptions of things that now seem normal but have caught our interest. Stay tuned!

El Asadero, and relaxing

2005-04-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

The past week we have been taking it pretty easy. We went to Bucerias one afternoon. The plan was to stop by the house for a minute to see if Glenn and Liana were there. They were not at home, so we told their teenaged son Brandon we would come back later. Next we were going to Casa Tranquila to visit Patricia and Joann then go to the beach. We ended up sitting on the nice, shady, cool patio at Casa T and not ever getting to the beach. After leaving Casa T, we went by the house again but Glenn and Liana were not home then either.
On the way back home, we stopped at Gigante (a grocery store) to pick up a few things. Well, who did we run into at Gigante but Glenn and Liana! We are often amazed at what a small town PV can be.
We met a couple, Gil and Maria while volunteering at the RISE shelter. They are a retired couple from Calgary and have been spending the winter in PV. They began volunteering at RISE after some people were walking through their neighborhood on the way to visit the shelter but had gotten lost. Maria offered to help them find the place and they have been volunteering there almost daily since.
Since meeting Gil and Maria we have run into them twice while walking in town. Neither time was particularly close to either our house or theirs.

Sunday afternoon Harold and I were looking for a place to eat lunch. We had several places in mind wanting to go to more to an out-of-the-way place than somewhere downtown. We’ve seen some places in El Pitallal that looked interesting.
The one we picked, El Asadero, is in a large brick pavilion. It is on what has been referred to as the back road to Pitallal. It is surrounded by farm fields and is on a dusty road. (Well, they are all dusty right now!) There is the main pavilion, another area towards the back, and a playground area with more tables for families wanting to eat while the kids play.
We got there around noon and it wasn’t very busy yet. There was a menu board by the door, but we didn’t get a menu at our table. The waiter asked if we wanted the mixed plate. (70 pesos each ) We decided that sounded good so we each ordered a limonada and the mixed plate. First we got beef tacos, followed by chips and salsa. Next we got a bowl of beans and a plate with radishes, onions and a little guacamole. The main plate featured carne asada, grilled chicken, chorizo, pork and lamb. Of course there were plenty of hot, fresh corn tortillas. We could barely finish the plate of food we got but it appeared to be all-you-can-eat.
El Asadero doesn’t have a lot of ambience. It seems to be a place for local working folks to bring their families for a nice Sunday lunch. It is very clean and the service was good. At least one of the waiters speaks English.
Altogether we had a great meal for a total of about $15 US!

The fire department

2005-04-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

Harold has been working with the PV fire department arranging a safety inspection for the kids shelter. After the kids field trip to the fire station, one of the fire fighters was asked to go to the shelter to make an inspection. His report didn’t seem to make a lot of sense as to what was needed. Harold made several visits to the station to talk to Braulio, the chief, to talk about fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, etc. Harold and Chris thought the inspection needed more detail. Harold asked Braulio to make an inspection himself. So at 7 o’clock on a Friday evening, he went over to look at the shelter. The next morning, we had a comprehensive list of requirements.
The fire department is very different than one in the US or Canada. The chief is almost always at the station and goes on most of the fire and rescue calls. He’s a very hands-on guy. The department covers a huge area from the very far south near Boca de Tomlatan all the way to Las Palmas. It is lucky most houses here are built of concrete which keeps fire damage to a minimum.
Next week a volunteer is bringing smoke detectors from the US were they are easier to find and much less expensive. Harold, Chris and Braulio are going to go buy fire extinguishers, too.

board members and shopping

2005-04-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

Meeting board members
Saturday evening there was a benefit concert at Cuates y Cuetes for a local musician who needs back surgery. We stopped by there for a few minutes before meeting up with Dave. The three of us went next door to Langostino’s to meet Marsha (MysteryMs), Bill (Wills) and Bill’s wife Pat . We just stayed for a drink as we had planned to go to a photo exhibition by another board member, Astrid (todopoderosa). Her show was at Vacas Grill, which is one of our favorite places for a burger. We ate dinner then looked at the photos. Astrid is a whale-watching guide and has taken some fabulous pictures. We met her and her boyfriend Azael (nickname Acey). He is also a tour guide but he does canopy tours.

Lamp shopping
Our friend Deb (pvdeb) lives in Dallas. She has always wanted a pair of Talavera lamps for her living room. She had priced them, but never bought them because she had no way to carry them home. Shipping would cost almost as much as the lamps. She asked us to shop for lamps and bring them back to Texas with us. We had been to the World of Tiles store looking at lamps last month. A very nice sales clerk told us that we could order the lamps with the color scheme we wanted and they would be ready in 3 days. I emailed Deb photos and we discussed colors, designs, etc. Since Marsha had the money for the lamps, we went this week to order them. Well, lo and behold, you can get lamps made to order, but it takes over a month to get them. And, they can’t do dark red, which is a color Deb wanted. So we were back to square one. We found a pair of matching lamps as close to what Deb wanted as possible. They are now purchased, wrapped and ready to go to Texas.

taking the kids to the fire station, and concerts

2005-04-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

Visiting the bomberos (firemen)
Harold arranged for the kids at the RISE shelter to visit the fire station. They were out of school for Easter vacation and the madres were happy to have an activity for the kids. There were 5 cars available to transport kids, volunteers and madres. The kids and madres enjoyed their tour of the station, climbing in the ambulance and sitting on the fire truck. The firemen gave the kids a lesson on fire safety. Each kid also got a cardboard cut-out fire truck to put together. At the end of the presentation the firemen planned on making popcorn for the kids. They were somewhat embarrassed when the microwave would not work. One of the guys went to a nearby store, popped the corn and brought it back for the kids. The firemen seemed to enjoy having the kids visit. As a result of the visit, the fire department scheduled a visit to RISE for a fire inspection.
After the fire station we took the kids to Burger King. Just like kids everywhere, they got kids meals with toys and wanted to ignore their food in favor of plying in the play area. I did get quite a look from the cashier when I ordered twenty kids meals. He rang it up as one kids meal, I repeated 20 kids meals. He had a questioning look on his face, I just told him I have a big family.

The concerts
We have never lived in a resort area before so we aren’t used to the number and variety of things going on. We saw an ad for a big concert on the beach so we went to check it out. I think we were 30 years or so older than their target audience. Even on a Friday afternoon there were lots of people on the beach. On stage when we arrived was a bikini contest. Next was a Mexican rap group. We saw a police officer in riot gear on the beach. When we were there everything was pretty calm. Apparently the next afternoon or evening there was a big fight that took many police officers and firemen to control it.
That same day, we went to a concert at the Los Arcos amphitheater on the Malecon. It was sponsored by WOW Records and featured artists from Vallarta. The concert was form 6 until midnight. We heard quite a few very good local groups. It was crowded but we found good seats. They were selling CDs from the participating bands. A percentage of the sales went to a scholarship fund. We bought one CD.

The hot springs

2005-04-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Hot Springs

We have been out to La Desembocada and Las Palmas several times. People mentioned hot springs in the area but we hadn’t gone looking for them. Last time we saw a sign just outside of Las Palmas. Today we decided to go see where it was.
There is a little metal sign alongside the highway. It looks old and rusty and beat up. By the looks of the sign you can’t tell whether the place is still there or if the sign is just old and abandoned. We drove out a dirt road about 2 miles following the arrows and signs along the way. We weren’t sure what exactly we were looking for. But lo and behold, there it was! The fee for admission to the hot springs is 30 pesos per person. Because I forgot to bring my swimsuit, we asked if we could just come in and look. The attendant said that was fine.
Don’t expect anything fancy here. The pools flow from hotter to cooler and there are about 6 or 7 pools. They are concrete pools which we were told are emptied and cleaned twice a week. The water flows up through a small spring in the hottest pool and it is very hot and somewhat sulfur smelling. There are barbecue grills for people to use, seating areas and a small snack bar. We didn’t check to see what they sold.
While looking around, we started talking to a Mexican family that was enjoying their afternoon at the hot springs. We met Salvador, Trini and Sylvestre who are brothers. Salvador and Trini both live in PV and work at the Canto del Sol hotel. Sylvestre lives in Ixtapa and works building palapas. Trini’s wife Margarita was also there and a handful of primos (cousins). All three of the men spoke English and invited us to sit with them and visit. We had a good time talking to them about their jobs, about the hot springs and also about PV in general.
I learned that Mexicans judge a restaurant by the three B’s – bueno, bonito, and barato. Translated it means – good, pretty and cheap. Sounds like a good rule of thumb.
We also learned that although all-inclusive resorts say that tips are included, the amount that is considered tips is very small and is divided among many staff people (waiters, bartenders, maids, bellmen, etc.) Unlike some resorts, Canto del Sol does not have a policy prohibiting staff from taking tips. So, if you are going to an all-inclusive and think the staff works hard, tip the ones who help you.
After enjoying a cold drink with the group, and turning down their offer of sharing their carne asada we headed back toward the Rio Mascota. We drove a little bit uprover from Guero Palancas and followed a trail along the river and across the river. We saw families out enjoying the afternoon, swimming and doing their laundry. We also saw some people on a horse riding expedition from a nearby tequila tour operation called Dona Engracia. We gave up before finding the hot springs, but were assured they are up the river a little farther. The river is very shallow and easily crossed by foot. It actually looked like it could be crossed by car in several places and we did see a truck drive across. Another day!
We followed a road that looked promising. It was paved and seemed to be in good condition. After a bit, the road had very nice high curbs but a dirt surface. We drove along and saw streetlights on dirt roads and some that seemed to be on no road at all. It still remains a mystery to us what the development was or was planned to be.
It was a very fun day exploring some of the surrounding areas. The Las Palmas area looks very different than the coast.

Kathy's visit

2005-03-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

Kathy’s visit

Since before we arrived in Puerto Vallarta for the winter, our sister-in-law Kathy had been planning a trip here. We had been busy thinking of things to do while she was visiting. Kathy arrived on Palm Sunday and left on Easter Sunday. We packed a lot of activity into that week. I’ll do my best to remember what we did.
We were supposed to pick Kathy up from the airport at 4:15. Earlier in the day, however, we heard from her that she had gotten bumped from her flight and would arrive at 10:15 instead. We met her at the airport. Late at night there was no crowd to deal with. She was among the first out of customs. Apparently she got an upgrade to first class as well as a $400 voucher for agreeing to be bumped. That was a good start for her trip.
From the airport we drove down to the Malecon to look at the crowd. The vacationing Mexicans had begun to arrive and even at 11 in the evening the Malecon was hopping.
Since Saturday was her birthday, we had a cake for Kathy when she arrived. She was surprised!
Shopping was one of the main things Kathy wanted to do. We all went a few times and one day Kathy took the bus into town and shopped till she dropped. Not quite, just until we met her for lunch at El Torito for the rib lunch.
One evening we went up to Las Carmelitas for sunset and dinner. Harold and Kathy agreed they have the best guacamole there. We had a nice leisurely dinner at a perfect table. The weather was beautiful and the sunset was gorgeous.
Paul and Maureen invited all of us to visit at their condo in Nuevo Vallarta. We walked along the beach to the Rio Ameca. From there we could see the cruise ships at the Marina. While relaxing on the balcony, we saw the replica of the ship the Nina which is docked in Nuevo Vallarta. Paul prepared a delicious dinner and we all enjoyed the food and company. Thanks again Paul and Maureen for the fun evening!
Since Kathy likes shrimp and adventure, we took her to the restaurant Guero Palancas in the small town of La Desembocada. We each ate a huge platter of shrimp and were totally stuffed. The restaurant is located right on the river and is a fun place to eat. After that lunch, we went to Bucerias for the afternoon. Our tenants were nice enough to let us show Kathy the house. Deb, you better watch out, she thinks that second bedroom is hers! We also showed Kathy around the town and we strolled through the little street market. Afterwards, we relaxed on the beach for a few hours.
Like most neighborhoods, there are plenty of little stands and restaurants near our house. One night we intended to go to a small seafood place. Turns out it was closed but the owners have a hamburger/hotdog cart, too. Kathy and I had shrimp burgers, Harold had a hamburger, we had a couple orders of fries and each had an agua fresca. Cost of all this – less than $10 US. We were thinking it should have been more, but that’s what the guy charged us. Maybe math isn’t his strong suit?
Our “last supper” with Kathy was at the Pacifica Grill. It is a very nice restaurant on the south side of PV. Harold and I had been there before, but not recently. We were pleased that it was every bit as good as we remembered. Each meal comes with soup (onion or a shrimp broth), garlic bread, hand-cut fries, a great tossed salad and all-you-can-eat shrimp. Kathy ordered the ribs and shrimp, I had the steak and shrimp, and Harold got the teriyaki steak and shrimp. The shrimp comes in boiled, breaded and coconut varieties. We all were stuffed when we left and it was a wonderful meal.
It was Semana Santa (Holy Week) while Kathy was here. There were crowds of people on Los Muertos Beach. Even in Bucerias the beach was busy. Everyone cautions how difficult it will be to find a parking spot in town, but Harold must have the magic touch and found them easily. On Friday evening, I talked him into taking the bus into town since the crowds would be huge. It turned out to be one of those plans that sounds good on paper but doesn’t work out quite right.
The bus ride down was interesting. A fellow got on the bus with his dog, Bingo. I questioned him that I didn’t think dogs were allowed on the bus. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “it’s a holiday.” Bingo was well behaved but wanted to visit everyone on the bus. His owner called him Bingo Coqueton, meaning Bingo the flirt.
We planned to ride the bus to the south side to go to CyC for the Friday sunset meeting of the All Vallarta board. The plan started falling apart when the bus stopped a couple blocks north of the Pemex station north of downtown. We started walking towards CyC, which was probably close to two miles. The Malecon street was completely closed to traffic and was full of people. We got to CyC, had a couple drinks with Postie, Dylan and their wives and Jeff and his girlfriend. After that, we strolled back down the Malecon enjoying watching the people and listening to the entertainers. We got back to where we thought the bus would pick us up. Well, we never saw the bus for our route so we were thinking of taking a cab. Well, they were all full. So plan 3 became catch the bus that gets close to our house. We did that and ended up having to walk about ¾ or a mile from the bus home. We sure got our exercise that night! Needless to say, the next night I agreed when Harold suggested we drive downtown.
Kathy did a lot of walking in our neighborhood as well. She even had an offer of a house for sale. We didn’t get to go see which one it was, but will try to figure it out. We took one long walk way up the mountain from our house. Seemed like every time we thought we were as high as we could get there was another trail. The views were fabulous!
We tried to allow enough time for reading and siesta as well. The Big Lots airbed we brought from Waco worked well.
Sunday morning came and we delivered Kathy back to the airport. The week just flew by and there were so many things we did not get to do. I guess she will have to come back.
Any one else who is reading this, you too can have the full PV experience by visiting us, too. But first, we need some time to rest and diet!

The wedding, Palm Sunday

2005-03-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

The wedding

We were invited to the wedding of Joe and Monica. Joe is Pam Thompson’s son and he, Monica and their son Nicholas live in Puerto Vallarta. They had a beautiful wedding at Rancho El Ojo de Agua. We had arranged with Pam that we would pick up some beer and sodas for her and take them to the ranch in the afternoon. We didn’t have an address, we were told “everyone knows were it is.” So, off we went with the skimpiest of ideas of the location. About 45 minutes later and having asked about 6 people, including some policemen, we finally got there! I think what happened is that some people were thinking of another ranch, so we were traveling back and forth between the two ranches. But, we got there and dropped off the stuff.
The invitation was for 7:30. We know that “Mexican time” comes into play here when deciding when to arrive. But for a wedding we thought we ought to arrive at the appointed time. When we got there about 7:15, the ceremony was already going on. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding. Both the bride and the groom looked great and very happy. It turned out that many people are invited for the party and would be arriving later. We sat with another American couple who are also friends of Pam. As you sat down, the waiters brought bottles of mixers to the table and would bring a bottle of tequila, whiskey or rum to the table. There were also big dishes of ceviche served. After a while, many more people arrived. There was a good DJ and dancing. Of course the drinks were flowing! We enjoyed the fajita buffet and wedding cake. Everyone was having a good time. We left around 11 and the party was going strong. It was a beautiful wedding, a great setting and the couple couldn’t have looked happier. Congratulations Joe and Monica!

Palm Sunday

There is a church on the hill at the end of our street. It is a fairly rustic looking church with an excellent location high on the mountainside. Rigo, our landlord, mentioned that on Palm Sunday there would be a palm procession down the street. I went to the corner and found the vendors selling palm crosses and other palm items. I got my palms and got ready to watch the procession. Many people gathered in the street, probably 150 or so. Most were dressed in white and all had palm fronds or crosses. A young boy was dressed as a king complete with a crown of thorns. The priest spoke and blessed the crowd. There were guitar players and songs were sung. The entire group walked up the hill to the church for the Palm Sunday mass.
On Good Friday, the church had a “stations of the cross” procession around the neighborhood, too. They went to a number of houses in the area, sang and prayed.

more goings-on

2005-03-25T09:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is late, I haven't been spending much time on-line recently. Harold is being a Web-hog, and also Kathy (our sister-in-law) is here visiting. So this entry is late, I promise more soon!
Curves
I have been going to Curves three times a week while we have been here. The Curves gym in Puerto Vallarta is near a very popular restaurant, Chile’s, but I have only gone to Chile’s once. Shelley, the owner of Curves, has been very nice about letting me continue my workouts for the Curves study. After one month here, I had lost 1 kg, which is 2.2 pounds. At least the beer drinking hasn’t overcome the exercise!

Children’s Parade
This week I saw several parades of little children dressed in costumes. Most of them were butterflies, bunnies and birds. There were a few Tiggers and Poohs in the mix, too. I asked Melissa if her school did that, too. She said the kindergarten kids had a parade and that it was for the beginning of spring. The parades I saw downtown were really cute.

Tom and Marsha
It seemed like the time went really fast and then it was time for Tom and Marsha to return to Nebraska. We will miss waving to them at their balcony over Olas Altas and sitting up there watching the drama that goes on in the evenings. See ya next year!

Tia Maria
We saw an ad for a little place called Tia Maria in the hotel area. It is just south of Plaza Caracol, almost across the street from the new KFC. We had comida corrida there for 35 pesos each. It was good and we would recommend it to anyone staying in that area or shopping at Gigante.

Fox
Our dog Fox has discovered that she can sit in the windowsill of the front window of our house and get a good view of any action on the street. Now she spends plenty of time perching up there and watching the world go by. The kids in the neighborhood like to come up and pet her and talk to her.

Palm Sunday
This morning there was a procession on our street to the church up the hill. Several vendors set up early selling crosses and other items made from palm fronds. There was a boy dressed in a king costume complete with crown of thorns. He and the priest let the procession up the hill. Many of the people were dressed in white. Two guitar players let a few songs before the procession and while they were marching. The priest also spoke and blessed the parishioners while they were waiting to march. There were probably 150 people in the procession.

Car Wash
Our landlord’s on, Rigo, offered to clean our car. He and Harold agreed that Rigo would wash and dry the car, clean the windows and wheel, and clean the interior. Rigo did a great job and the car looked better than it has since we arrived. An the cost – 30 pesos, or less than $3 US!

Dog Show and Ranch Capomo

2005-03-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

Dog Show
We saw the advertising for Puerto Vallarta’s first Perroton (dog show) so we wanted to see it. It was at the sports stadium near the Sheraton. Friday we just went to watch. There was a demonstration of police dog skills that was quite impressive. There were drug sniffing dogs and attack dogs. Another demonstration was a dog and his handler who are national champions in French Ring skills.
Saturday we took the dogs to the show. It was pretty unclear what categories there were so I registered Sarah for agility. As it turned out, they ran out of time and didn’t have all the categories. They had golden retrievers, Labradors, Chihuahuas and poodles as separate groups. Then large, medium and small dogs had their own groups. It was funny because the whole show had a very informal feel to it, except the judges seemed very serious when looking at the dogs. There was a competition for costumed and trick dogs and one for obedience.
Sarah, the 3-legged Dalmatian, got special recognition in the show. She and Harold were in the ring with the MC while she told Sarah’s story. She used it as an example of how well a dog can adapt to injury and how much people love their dogs.
The dogs enjoyed the show because there were plenty of things to sniff, plenty of new dogs to meet and they got out of the house for a day. There were quite a few people at the show Saturday, Mexican families with their dogs, ex-pats with their dogs, and some tourists who just came by to watch. Of course there were food and beverage vendors and displays by vets and animal groups.

Rancho Capomo
We volunteered to drive a group of kids from RISE, the children’s shelter, to a field day at Rancho Capomo. We met at the house and found that we had 5 cars to transport 20+ kids and an equal number of adults. We loaded 4 adults and 6 kids in our Mazda Tribute for the 45-minute drive to Las Palmas. As soon as we got there, a group of kids went horseback riding. The other kids played on the playground while they waited their turn for the horses. The second group of kids and one madre rode the horses later. The ranch greeted us all with glasses of Jamaica. After the riding, lunch was served The restaurant is set up with mostly table for 4 and 6. Volunteers sat at the tables with the children and ate. Harold and I ate with Beto and Chuey. They are two adorable little boys. Beto kept saying “yo quiero” as plates of food went by, and licking his lips loudly. The waiter brought him a big plate of chicken, rice and beans. Both boys had good appetites and enjoyed their dinners. After the chicken, plates of shrimp were also served.
When the kids finished lunch, they went down to play in the river. Almost all the kids and madres went wading in the river.
After the fun-filled afternoon, we all headed back to the Refugio. Many of the kids slept soundly on the return trip. Harold and I really enjoyed spending time with the kids and meeting the other volunteers.

Visitors

2005-03-07T22:56:00.000-08:00

One of the most fun parts of being in Puerto Vallarta is spending time with the people who are visiting here. We have lots of “Internet friends” from a couple different bulletin boards.
One of the boards I read is the Tepic board. Tepic is the capital of the state of Nayarit, which is the state Bucerias is in. Cliff is the host of that board, and is assisted by his wife Alice. This week, Alice made one of her periodic trips to Puerto Vallarta to enjoy the shopping, restaurants and general atmosphere of PV. It’s lucky she didn’t come for the sunshine as it’s been unusually cloudy and cool!
Harold and I had the pleasure of meeting Alice for lunch at Chile’s. This south-side restaurant is known for their hamburgers and roast chicken. We enjoyed a very nice lunch with Alice. We all shared stories of the trials, tribulations and rewards of moving to and living in Mexico. Thanks, Alice, for the fun afternoon and for lunch. We hope to be able to visit Tepic before our return trip to Texas.
Some other visitors to the area are Missy (MadisonMissy) and Ron, from the Madison, Wisconsin area. We met Ron and Missy a few years ago at a board get together and have kept in touch. It was great to see them again. And thanks, Melissa, for bringing me the “foot care package.” Wearing sandals all the time has been taking its toll on my feet and Missy has rescued me with foot scrub, nail polish, a callous-remover and some great lotion.
There have been many other board members we have met, including some who live here full or part time. As a result, we have had a busier social life here than in Waco. But we will have plenty of time to visit with you, too, if you come to town!

More adventures

2005-03-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

Tom (known on AllVallarta as Sky King) and his wife Marsha are in Puerto Vallarta for 3 weeks or so. We had volunteered to make a dentist appointment for Tom and gave him a ride out there the first time. We have taken several adventurous trips with Tom and Marsha. We went to the Marina one night (OK, not that adventurous) and walked around looking at all the yachts. We ate at Victor’s and had a good meal of fish fillets. We have also eaten at Taste of Italy, one of their favorites and a place we hadn’t tried before. The sub sandwiches and spaghetti are all good and the prices reasonable.
The kids from the RISE shelter are going to go on a fiend trip next week. There is a ranch along the river outside of Las Palmas called Rancho Capomo. They have a restaurant, river access, horseback rides, a playground and plenty of room for the kids to run around. Chris had the name of the place and the location, but no phone number. We went to the ranch to “warn” them that 40 kids and 20 adults would be coming next week. Harold, Tom, Marsha and I walked down to the river, enjoyed the scenic surroundings and had a snack at the ranch. The terrain near Las Palmas is not at all like the coastal area. Many trees, huge rocks in the river and very scenic!
After lunch, we thought we’d see if any progress is being made on the mythical new road to Guadalajara. There is a lot of road construction going on, so maybe the road will be a reality some day.
We drove through the small town of Las Palmas and ate lunch at a restaurant Harold had seen an ad for in the paper. We shared coconut shrimp dinners. The price was reasonable and the food was good and filling. Great mango sauce for the shrimp, too!
Another day, we drove up the very steep hill near our house. The houses at the top have a fabulous view. We watched a kid scrambling up and down a hillside that would have been a recipe for disaster for any of us it was so steep.
We have also sat on the balcony at their apartment on Olas Altas. They have a perfect spot for people watching.
Twice we have taken the dogs to walk along the Pitallal River. Denny told us there was a dirt path along the river all the way over to Pitallal from the Holiday Inn. It is really more like a dirt road, very wide and smooth. No cars can get on the road, at least from the west end. We walked down a ways and then there is a place you can easily walk to the river. The dogs have a great time running around leash-less and chasing birds. Both times we have been there we have see very few other people. It appears a number of workers use it as a short cut to bicycle from Pitallal to the hotel zone.
The weather has been very strange, many days have been cloudy. And don’t laugh you northerners, but one night it was actually cold in the wind! This afternoon, after walking the dogs, Harold and I were going to go to the beach but it is overcast and cool. He is squeezing oranges for juice instead. I bought the oranges this morning from a guy driving through the neighborhood in a pickup truck. A couple days ago we bought strawberries from another truck - 20 pesos a kilogram. That’s about 80 cents US per pound.
Since I haven’t yet figured out how to put pictures in the blog, you will have to look at my Webshots http://community.webshots.com/user/sioux4noff for photos of this stuff!

Out on the town

2005-03-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

Sunday night is the best night to walk on the Malecon, Puerto Vallarta’s oceanfront walkway. It stretches right along the beach in the center of town. Originally, the Malecon was only on the north side of the river that runs through the center of Puerto Vallarta, the Cuale. Now there is a pedestrian bridge across the river that connects the main part of the Malecon to a “mini-Malecon” on the south side of the river. Well, part of it is under construction now, but it will b nice.
On Sunday evening, we ate a fairly early dinner at Machi’s Barbeque. Machi’s was recommended by other members of the All Vallarta board. We enjoyed our meal there, I had tortilla soup and Harold had the chicken special.
After dinner, we started at the south side and walked to the north end of the Malecon. There are always several musical groups playing along the way. The Folkloric ballet was performing at the Los Arcos amphitheater, 2 different pan flute bands were performing, a talented duo of keyboard and violin was there, and the Voltadores. They are a Mayan group that has an act where they fly around what looks like a big May pole, hanging by their ankles. We walked along listening to the music, stopped a few times to sit and watch the performances and to watch the people go by. There is always a mix of local families, tourists, teenagers and others to make the people watching interesting. The weather was perfect, warm enough to wear shorts, but cool enough to be comfortable. Altogether we probably spent three hours on the Malecon.
Last week, we got a phone call one day. It was a woman inviting us to the El Dorado Restaurant on the beach for cocktails. She mentioned the name of Nelly, who was someone we me through the RISE fundraiser. We went to the event not really knowing what it was. It turned out to be an art show of Nelly’s work. We had cocktails, ate a few snacks and looked at the paintings. We saw a few people we knew and visited with them. Nelly’s brother, Julian, was visiting from California. We enjoyed talking to him, also.
For dinner we went to Tia Catrina. It is a small restaurant on the south side of downtown Puerto Vallarta. The food and service were good and the prices were reasonable.
Another evening we went to Chris and Keith’s condo for dinner. Chris is the lady who chaired the RISE fundraiser. They live in a very nice condo in Conchas Chinas. It has a beautiful view of the bay. We had a fun evening visiting with them and enjoying the great meal that Keith cooked.
James, who posts as “earlyretire” on several boards, planned a beach party for Thursday afternoon. It was at the Lazy Lizard on Los Muertos Beach. There weren’t as many people there as James had hoped, but those of us who went had a good time. I think if another party like that is planned, a smaller time range would help. Some people apparently didn’t show up until after most of us were gone.

Carnita fiesta

2005-02-27T09:21:00.000-08:00

Carnitas

Our friend Luis is building a bodega (storage building) on a lot he owns in El Pitallal. The lot is probably ¼ acre or so and has a mango tree and a bunch of palm trees along the wall around the property. The bodega is on one side of the lot, there are 2 palapas being built in the center of the lot, and in one corner is a kitchen area with a sink, fridge and wood-cooking pit.
The building is now 2 stories tall. Yesterday, Luis and the construction crew had a concrete truck come out to pour the roof. The building, while not finished, is now basically closed in. After pouring the roof, Luis hosted a party for the crew and some of their families. They cooked carnitas. We had heard of carnitas, but didn’t know what it was. It is basically a bunch of various pork parts boiled in lard. Now if that doesn’t stop your heart on the spot, what will?
The carnita cooking took place in one of those giant copper pots you see for sale along the side of the road. A 55-gallon drum was split in half. One half was fashioned into the base for the copper pot. A gas burner was placed in the drum and the copper pot on top. The other half of the barrel became the cooking surface for the tortillas. Another gas burner went under that half.
The lard was put into the pot and then heated up some. As the pork cooked, it provided more lard for cooking. The pork was cooked for a while just in the lard. It had to be stirred with what looked like a wooden oar. As the meat got almost done, the cook added Coca Cola, beer and salt to the lard. He then put some fruit on a huge fork that looked like Neptune’s spear. There was pineapple, oranges, limes and onion. All that was cooked in the lard, too, to give the meat a different flavor.
While the meat was cooking, the corn tortillas were being made. First, the cooking surface was prepared by spreading a mixture of lime (the powdered stone kind, not the fruit) and water on it and heating it. The tortillas were made by forming balls from the dough and pressing them in a wooden tortilla press. The woman who was cooking them flipped them by using her fingers, not a spatula.
I helped press the tortillas but wasn’t very good at flipping them. Ouch! My fingers aren’t insulated enough.
The woman who was making the tortillas also made several different types of salsa. They were varying degrees of hot-ness and all were very good. A pot of beans was coked, too.
When the meat was done, it just fell apart into shreds. The meat went into the tortillas along with salsa and beans. They were very good! There was way more food than we could eat so the workers took some home to their families.
Along with the carnitas, plenty of beer was consumed. Since the lot is enclosed, the kids could run around without any worry as to where they were. The only thing missing was the hammocks that Luis will add between the trees after construction is done.
We also got to see how palapas are made. The palm fronds that are used must be green when they are put on. They are tied in place with baling wire. It is a lot of work!
When it is all completed, Luis and family will have a great place for fiestas. They will also have a nice large storage building of 4 or 6 units. We hope to store some of our extra things there at some point. Our Bucerias house doesn’t have a lot of storage space, so maybe out of season things like Christmas decorations, etc could be stored in the bodega.
The biggest downside of the day was that Monika was not feeling well so she and the kids did not come to the fiesta. I guess we’ll have to have another one!

The dogs

2005-02-25T22:05:00.000-08:00

Our dogs love going to the beach. Neither one of them really likes to get in the water but they love being able to run around and play. They really like it when they see birds and they chase them very enthusiastically. Wednesday we took them to the beach. We stayed about 3 hours. After the beach, we took them to the Doggy Banos. We saw an ad in the Mano a Mano, which is a Thrifty Nickel type publication, for a veteranarian’s office that would give them a haircut, flea bath, clip their nails and clean their ears for 100 pesos. That’s less than $10 US. Because they didn’t need a haircut, it was only 80 pesos each. Sarah now looks like a proper white Dalmatian, and Foxxy is very clean plus lost a lot of the fur she has been shedding all over the house.
While we were at the beach today, we saw a large group of dolphins. They were pretty far off –shore, but we had our binoculars. They were visible for a long time. It was cool to see them.
Our landlady cleans our house once a week. It is a one bedroom, one bath house and it takes her a couple hours or more. She also changes the sheets on the bed and washes the linens. For this, we pay her 100 pesos a week. She will also do our laundry if we want, for an extra charge.
I’m sure the landlord’s family and the other people on our street think we are unusual. We walk our dogs instead of just letting them out loose. We even have leashes. We also are gone a lot, shop at the grocery store instead of the local tiendas, and Harold picks up trash out of the street.
Harold had his last dentist visit today. He now has 2 nice new permanent bridges. While he was at the dentist’s office, I walked around the nearby area with Melissa. We ran into her dad, Luis, as we were getting to the dentist. Melissa hung around with us for a while then we went to see the progress Luis has made with the bodega and the palapas on his lot.
Tonight at CyC there was a big crowd of board members. People were spread out over 3 or 4 groups. After CyC, Harold and I went to have birthday cake with another All Vallarta board member Tom. He and his wife have a great view of the street action on Olas Altas from their apartment.
This afternoon, we went for a drive with the intention of finding a local animal shelter. Instead, we drove to an area called La Disembocada. We had heard about this pretty area and great restaurant from several other board members. We decided to have a light lunch there. What we had was a combination shrimp plate. There were shrimp Diablo, breaded shrimp and shrimp cooked in butter. There was also rice and French fries and vegetables. The plate probably had 24 shrimp and they weren’t small! For just about $10, we were both full. Add a couple more bucks for some soft drinks, and we were out of there for less than $15 US total.
We had heard there were hot springs nearby but didn’t have time to investigate. Guess we’ll just have to go back!

The RISE fundraiser

2005-02-23T21:51:00.000-08:00

We have become involved in the organizing group for the RISE orphanage/children’s shelter. The event is an evening party with food, open bar and entertainment. This year is the 3rd annual event. The hotel being used this year has much more space and it was all on one level. That made planning the layout much easier.
Harold and I were busy on Friday picking up things from RISE to be taken to the hotel. We loaded our car full, almost as full as on our trip down here! After all the work, we took a siesta and went to CyC (Cuates y Cuetes) to meet All Vallarta board members. All of us in attendance were local or temporary locals. After a drink and some good conversation, we went to Sr Sweeney’s to see if our friend James was working. He wasn’t there, but we stayed to eat anyway. After dinner we walked over to the Malecon for some fresh air, and who did we run into but James! He needed a ride home, but our car was full of piñatas and trash cans.
Saturday was the big event. Starting at 9 a.m., we loaded and moved lots of stuff! Harold made several trips to restaurants and homes to bring things in. We helped set up tables and chairs, decorate and organize. During the event I was in charge of selling tickets and Harold was a go-fer. Everyone seemed to have a great time. There was plenty of food and booze to go around. The weather was perfect. After we chased the last guest home, we had to clean up the area. There were plenty of volunteers so it went quickly.
Sunday morning we thought we had to help some more, but ended up not having to do anything else until Monday.
Since we were already in town, we walked up and down several streets to look for interesting shops and restaurants. It was somewhat overcast so it wasn’t really hot.
For dinner, we went to a small, out of the way place called La Parota de Pancho Villa. It was good, we had a combination seafood platter. But it was disappointing in that the prices were much higher than we expected.
Monday morning we met the event organizer, Chris, and picked up another load of things to be returned. After Harold’s dentist appointment we took things to RISE and returned pans to restaurants. Finally, we went to the Krystal and took full advantage of the hot tubs they have.
By the evening, we were rested up enough to meet a group of folks at the Burro Bar. There were some All Vallarta board members and some people from another bulletin board. Everyone had a great time.
We met one man whose family was getting an unexpectedly long vacation. The day they were scheduled to leave, their daughter was ill. They went to the airport anyway and while there, she became sicker and was getting very weak. A doctor was called and she was admitted to the hospital. Needless to say, they did not go home. She was in the hospital for 2 nights with a bacterial infection. Now they are awaiting word of when they can get a flight home. It is looking like their trip will be 6 days longer than expected. Thank goodness for travel insurance!

A trip up north

2005-02-21T22:39:00.000-08:00

At the wedding, we met Mary, one of Jeanie’s friends from Denver, and her friend Jan. We all decided to go to visit Jeanie and Dennis at the hotel where they were honeymooning. (Yes, we were invited!)
We met for breakfast at Andales. After a leisurely breakfast we headed towards the north. First stop was Bucerias so we could show Jan and Mary our house. We also looked at the beach and visited Casa Tranquila. Jan really enjoyed seeing Bucerias and will consider it for a future trip.
I thought the hotel was in La Penita. Mary thought it was in Rincon de Guayabitos. Well, Mary was correct but we got a mini-tour of La Penita when we were looking for the Villas Buena Vida. It only took asking two people to find the hotel. Jeanie and Dennis were not in their room, by the pool, or on the beach. We walked down the beach for a little bit then ate lunch at a restaurant next to the hotel. It turned out to be a nice meal. Jan and Mary didn’t like the margaritas and Mary sent hers back. The waiter brought her a replacement which she also didn’t like. The waiter told her that the restaurant had used the same recipe for 17 years and everyone else liked them! He did end up not charging her for the drink.
Our waiter as not very friendly at first since the place was very busy. After most of the crowd cleared out, he loosened up and was joking with us. He had very red hair and explained that yes, he is Mexican, but his grandmother was from England.
After lunch, we checked back at the hotel. Still no Jeanie and Dennis. We drove around Rincon and looked at some very nice houses in an area where we saw very few people. Actually, we didn’t see many people in town at all. We stopped for an ice cream cone before heading back to Puerto Vallarta.
Jan and Mary wanted to see more of the area, so we drove through El Pitallal. We also drove by Monika and Luis’s house to show them the development. Rudy was outside so we had to stop and visit, We kidded Monika about her house being on the home tour. We also showed them our house.
It was a very fun day, really relaxing and cool to see a different beach town. Rincon de Guayabitos seems like it would be a cool place to spend a few days. Plenty of hotels, some shops and restaurants. The beach was very flat and the ocean calm.

The wedding

2005-02-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

The wedding

On Valentine’s Day the weather was beautiful. It was a great day for Jeanie and Dennis’s wedding. We met Jeanie through the All Vallarta bulletin board. Last year, she and her daughter Christa were in PV on vacation the same week Harold and I were here. She told us then about her wedding plans and the plan she has to relocate to this area.
The wedding was on the beach in front of the Playa Del Sol condos. They got married under an arch of flowers in front of a beautiful sunset. After the wedding, a buffet reception was held. All the tables were located right on the beach. It was a beautiful night for a beautiful wedding. Thank you Jeanie and Dennis for including us in our special day.
I also read the Jerry and Anne’s Mexico Board. Tuesday, Feb 15 was a party for Jerry and another board member Candace. We were only able to spend a little while at the party. It was a fun event at a really pretty house. Casa de Reyna is right on the beach in Bucerias. There are many features of mosaic tile throughout the house and pool area. We were sorry that we couldn’t stay longer. Happy Birthday Jerry and Candace!

another week gone by

2005-02-16T20:39:00.000-08:00

After meeting Pam and Scott, the sailors, we were interested in seeing what kind of boat you would sail around the world on. We went to the Marina and got a tour. They have solar panels to generate electricity, a small (galley) kitchen and of course everything is carefully organized. We gave them a bag of Skittles, M&Ms and Starburst to eat while crossing the Pacific.
While at the Marina, we also called on one of the restaurants that are donating food to the orphanage fundraiser. Christian, the manager of Las Palomas Dorado was very glad to sign up to help. He even gave us each a T-shirt as we left! It looks like a very nice restaurant, too.
Friday, we went to La Cruz for the Bubba and the Bottom Feeders. The place was super crowded so we ended up sitting our on the sidewalk. The best part was that we ran into our Bucerias neighbors Rita and Oliver and had a chance to visit with them.
After that, we went to CyC (a bar on the beach in town) to see which All Vallarta board members were there. We ended up seeing some old friends and met some new ones. After that, our friend James, who also lives here in PV, came over for dinner.
We did get to the pool at the Krystal this week. The weather has been really good, clear and sunny. We plan on taking the dogs back to the beach this week.
Saturday evening, we attended a pre-wedding dinner. One of our All Vallarta friends, Jeanie, is getting married on the beach on Valentine’s Day. She and Dennis, her fiancé, hosted a very nice dinner at Café Bohemio. We met lots of her wedding guests and heard about their fun, but rough day out on a boat tour. The ocean looked pretty rough and they verified that it was!
Sunday is market day in an area called Remance. The tianguis are street markets which set up in different areas each day. Brenda, the All Vallarta web goddess, went with us and a couple other friends to shop the market. There were some great clothing buys (Harold got a pair of Dockers shorts for 50 pesos, or about $5 US). We also bought some vegetables.
In the evening, we had volunteered to help at the Rhythm and Ribs fundraiser in Bucerias. A few people in the area are raising money to build and run an orphanage. We ended up helping at one of the two bars. We served probably 25 cases of beer. I almost got good at pouring a beer quickly without spilling or running it over. We had intended to leave early, but were there until after 9. It was lots of work, but very fun.
After the event, we went t see in Rafael’s fiesta was still going on. We figured that since it was for one of the kids, they would be all done. Boy were we wrong! We got to the party and it was going strong. There was food left, and cake and plenty to drink. We stayed until close to midnight before we wore out. The singing and partying was still going strong!

Observations on life in Mexico

2005-02-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

Those of you who live in Mexico, or have lived here, may find this section uninteresting. I think most people new to Mexican day-to-day life notice these same things.
Life here in many ways is like living anywhere. You have to cook, clean the house, go shopping, etc. But there are some things which are really strikingly different.
Life on our street – we live across the street from a small store (called a tienda here) and another small store that looks like it sells beer but we never see people in there. The tienda gets many deliveries a day. Tortillas come in a cooler in the back of a pick-up truck, the milk company delivers, the soft drink truck comes, and so on. Our street is very narrow, so this all causes a traffic jam of sorts. Each truck comes with a driver and a helper. Sometimes we have to wait to leave the parking spot while a delivery is made.
People walk through the neighborhood selling many things. We have a pan man (pan is bread) who calls out “El Pan!, El Pan!” as he walks by with his basket balanced on his head. We have had flower vendors, a tamale lady, a Popsicle guy and others. Then there are the gas trucks. There are 3 different gas companies that come by. Each has their own distinctive little song or bell. We also have a water truck that just rings a bell as it goes by. A fruit and vegetable truck comes by once in a while. We have also had several vendors that we had no idea what they were selling.
There are 2 schools within a block of our house. In the mornings, many mothers walk their kids to school and after school the kids are very glad to be out. They play outside until well after dark.
For about a week or so, there have been 2 trampolines set up on the next block. Each night, they take in the bouncing portion and leave the frames there. Whose they are, why they are there, we don’t know. The neighbor kids love them!
Several of our neighbors wash their cars every day. Harold gets out and does ours pretty often, too. He also picks up trash from the street and puts it in a plastic bag. To keep dogs out of it, he puts the bag up in our tree. We have trash pickup 7 days a week. Everyone in PV does. We are supposed to put our trash out no earlier than 9 p.m. each night. Our neighborhood stacks the trash on the corner across from the taco stand. Some neighborhoods neatly stack all the trash in the middle of the intersection.
We walk our dogs several times a day. We are the only people we see with dogs on leashes. There are plenty of dogs in our neighborhood, though. So far we haven’t had any bad experiences with them. We also have chickens in the streets at times. No horses or donkeys.
Grocery shopping here takes adjusting to. You have to remember which stores get new stuff which days, and which days the sales change. If you hit the store the day before the new produce comes, it almost looks like they are going out of business!
Well I am going to post this and then we are heading to a festival in Bucerias. Thanks for reading our blog! Stay tuned, more to follow soon.

a week in Paradise

2005-02-09T21:55:00.000-08:00

We’ve been here a full week now. We are all getting into the routine of getting up in the morning and going for a short walk before breakfast. The dogs usually get 3 or 4 short walks a day. They are learning about the other dogs in the neighborhood but it seems like ever day we see at least one new dog. Most of them look like they are fed and cared for. The kids in the neighborhood talk to us and the dogs, too.
Monday we took the dogs to Bucerias to the beach. We wanted to start out with a less busy beach than in town. We went to the area south of the Royal Decameron and it was pretty deserted. Many people walk up and down the beach so the dogs got some attention. They also barked at horses on the beach, chased birds and ran around a lot. Sarah eventually got so she would walk in the water part way up her legs. She would go back on the beach when a wave came. Fox ran through the water twice and then would have absolutely nothing to do with it. When we got home they both sacked out after all the running.

On Tuesday Harold went to the dentist to get his bridgework started. Dr. Raul seems very knowledgeable. Unlike our dentist in the US, once the Novocain took effect, the dentist worked on Harold without leaving the room to check on any other patients. Right now Harold has a temporary front tooth. Next week he goes back for more work.
We finally got Internet service at the house. Now at least we can check our mail, etc.

Wednesday we had another meeting of the committee for the RISE orphanage fundraiser. It should be a fun event. Chris, the chairperson, is a former teacher and you can tell by the way she keeps everyone on task.

This evening we went to Philo’s in La Cruz. Pam Thompson had told us about a couple who are attempting to sail around the globe and they were the featured speakers. They are also both legally blind! After their talk and a performance by the Marimba-playing family from Canada, we gave the sailors a ride back to the Marina. Tomorrow we are planning on visiting them at the Marina to see their boat before they go back to sea. You can read about them at http://www.blindsailing.com

our first days in Puerto Vallarta

2005-02-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

We have spent our first days in Puerto Vallarta settling in to our house and neighborhood. There was unusual weather and it rained and/or was overcast the first five days we were here. We have stopped by to see Pamela at San Javier, Luis at Los Tules and James (earlyretire) at his house. We have run into Brenda on Olas Altas, Louis and Barbara at Los Muertos, and Juliana on the street near her house.
Wednesday morning, we jumped right into community service work like we are used to doing in Texas. We attended a meeting of the organizing committee of the fund-raiser for the RISE orphanage. The event is going to be on Saturday, Feb. 19 from 5 – 9 p.m. Tickets are 450 pesos each and include food and drinks. It will be held at the Molina de Agua Hotel that has a very beautiful area for it.
On Friday, we picked up James at his house. We went to La Cruz to see Bubba and the Bottom Feeders and attend their annual auction. Because of the rain, it was postponed until Friday, February 11 at 4. It will be at Britannia bar in La Cruz. We stopped by Casa Tranquila in Bucerias to visit with Patricia and Joann. After that, we headed to CyC, but weren’t able to find any other All Vallarta members. We had the filet dinner at Que Pasa and watched a little bit of “Fake It With Fox.”

2/6
I have been to Curves a couple times already. If any of you coming to visit are planning on working out, let me know and maybe we can go at the same time. Saturday, after I worked out we walked down to the beach. It wasn’t raining but was extremely windy. While standing on the beach near Ritmos (just south of the Blue Chairs) we heard kind of a ripping sound and then saw a palm tree fall over. It was planted up on the second floor and came crashing down, landing between 2 palapas. Because it was still cool and cloudy there weren’t any people on the beach right there so no one was hurt.
We walked south from Los Muertos over the rocks towards Conchas Chinas. It was a nice hike since it was still cool out. We saw several police trucks and a couple bomberos (firemen) but weren’t able to see what was going on. Looked like possibly a water rescue since one of the bomberos had a shorty wetsuit on and had a floatation device with him.
Today the sun finally came out! Harold washed the car and we swept the house. Deb had sent a car-top carrier for her friend Rafael and we delivered it to his house. Turns out we live very close to his family. We visited with him a little and ended up being invited to a fiesta next weekend.
We bought a chicken from Pollo Feliz on Honduras and walked down to the beach there. Since it is sunny and has warmed up there were people on the beach. The water looked great! We are thinking that might be a good place for us to take the dogs to the beach.
As I am finishing this up, Harold is watching the Super Bowl. Thanks to Denny, we have Star Choice TV at the house. After a little mix-up, we now have a phone, too. The number is (322) 223 3529. We don’t have Internet yet, but will soon. So I am writing this at home and will post it as soon as we go to the Internet place. I have all the photos ready for Webshots, too. If there are pictures in this blog, I have figured it out. If not, check my Webshots!

Tonala - PV

2005-02-06T21:51:00.001-08:00

Once again, we got up, walked the dogs, put gas in the car and headed on our way to Puerto Vallarta, 211 miles away. The hotel was just off the autopista so we found our way out of town easily. We stopped at a 7-11 for donuts and coffee before getting on the toll road to Puerto Vallarta. The trip from this point was straightforward, as we had driven it before. We had great luck crossing the mountain passes and didn’t get stuck behind too many slow vehicles.
We took a quick detour to look at our house in Bucerias and arrived at Denny’s house. After a quick call home to my parents, we went to the house we are now living in. Denny, Barb and their renters helped us get the car unloaded very quickly. The owners weren’t expecting us until the next day, so the house wasn’t quite ready. Marta, the wife of the couple we are renting from, swept and mopped the house after we unloaded the car. The living room furniture was not there, it had been sent out to be reupholstered. It came back the next day. We still got settled in and began unpacking. For our first dinner in Puerto Vallarta we went to Vacas Grill. After dinner we went over to see Luis, Monika, Melissa and Rudy.

Trip highlights - 1,238 miles, 24 hours driving time including gas and walk stops, $90 US in tolls, total cost of our trip $420 US.

Matehuala - Tonala

2005-02-06T21:51:00.000-08:00

We got up, walked the dogs and headed towards Tonala, a suburb of Guadalajara, 333 miles away. Based on advice we got, we took a cuota (toll) loop around San Luis Potosi. North of San Luis, it was well marked for the bypass to Guadalajara and Mexico City. The part leading to the Mexico City highway is pretty heavily traveled but the part past that highway to where it meets back up with the highway to Guadalajara is pretty desolate. That part is one lane each direction. Almost all the rest of the trip was 4-lane highway. Once we got back to the highway to Guadalajara, it was still 2 lanes until near Lagos de Moreno. As we approached Lagos de Moreno, we noticed people bicycling along the highway. They were in small groups at first and had signs indicating they were part of peregrinations to San Juan de los Lagos. Pretty soon, we were passing large groups of bicyclists and large groups of marchers. Altogether we passed thousands of people heading to San Juan.
Off the trip topic here – the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos is one of the 3 Jalisco virgins. The others are Talpa and Zapopan. The Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos restored a dead child to life. Each of these three Virgins has a basilica built in her honor and attracts millions of faithful to their festival days. If the car hadn’t been packed to the gills and the dogs with us, we would have stopped to see more.
The hubbub on the highway slowed us down some, but we still arrived in Tonala in mid-afternoon. We stayed at the Hotel Hacienda del Sol. It has a big parking garage and they were tolerant of our two dogs. A room with king size bed was 340 pesos. We ate dinner nearby at Jalapenos restaurant, looked around the square a little, and called it a day.

Laredo to Matehuala

2005-02-06T21:50:00.000-08:00

The second day we got up, ate our continental breakfast, walked the dogs and hit the road. We crossed the border at the Columbia Solidarity Bridge just outside of Laredo, got the green light both places, and drove 371 miles to Matehuala, in San Luis Potosi state. Anyone who wants details of the border crossing experience and the paperwork involved, just email me at sioux4noff@gmail.com.
Interestingly enough, we met another couple at the border that was traveling to Bucerias. They had been traveling for a couple days having left from Ontario on Thursday.
We took the loop around Monterrey and turned south before Saltillo. You climb up into the mountains for quite a while, but there are no difficult roads. Between Monterrey and Saltillo, we passed quite a few roadside vendors selling strings of huge garlic.
The dogs rode very well today. The both slept some and looked out the windows. We made several walk stops when we stopped for gas. After climbing the mountains, the road is fairly straight and level for a long time. The scenery doesn’t change much.
In Matehuala, we stayed at the Hotel Sol y Luna. It is located on the southern edge of Matehuala between KM 0 and 1. It is a small, family run hotel with maybe 10 rooms. We paid 250 pesos for the night and had a nice large room with 2 double beds and a twin bed. The owner of the hotel and at least one of the employees speaks English. We ate at a restaurant on the square called Santa Fe. It was very good. We were the only non-Mexicans we saw in the area but our limited Spanish got us by. There was another American couple checking into the hotel when we were there.
Along highway 57 in the south part of Matehuala is a factory called Las Sevillanas that makes dulce de leche candy. They also have a factory store selling their products and a cafeteria selling tortas that smelled very good.

Hewitt to Laredo

2005-02-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

1/29
We took it easy on the trip down. Traveling with a car full of stuff, a car-top carrier with more stuff, 2 bikes on a bike rack and 2 dogs, it seemed that we didn’t want to attempt a land speed record.
The first day we left Hewitt, Texas at 11:30 in the morning. It took the dogs most of the day to adjust to riding in the car. Neither one had been farther than 10 miles from home before. Sarah, the three-legged Dalmatian, loves riding in the car and acts just like a kid who keeps saying “are we there, are we there?” bouncing from side to side. Foxy, the little brown terrier just sits in the car and has no interest in looking out the window or anything that would give you the idea she likes it. Like good parents, we separated them in the car so Sarah wouldn’t trample Fox.
We drove to Laredo without incident. We made one stop at a lovely Texas Highway Department rest area. The THP designs rest stop buildings to be maintenance free - stainless steel prison style fixtures, open-air without heat or A/C. The buildings look nice, but they are quite Spartan. Since it was a cold, drizzly day you didn’t want to linger there.
322 miles south of Hewitt, we arrived in Laredo. We stayed at the Family Garden Inn right along I-35. The room was big and was fine for the dogs and us. As a bonus, a snack hour with hotdogs, popcorn, nachos, beer and lemonade and a continental breakfast were included. Price was $57 including the tax.

Gettin' ready!

2005-01-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

We have been so busy this week. Monday and Tuesday we had dinner with friends, Wednesday we went to a Baylor Lady Bears basketball game and yesterday the Industrial Engineering department had a retirement party for me. It was really nice, everyone enjoyed dinner and we had a good time visiting. I even got cards and gifts!
At work Thursday, my friend Kitty had a lunch time going away party for me. We had sandwiches, chips and cake. My dad, Harold, Ann (our daughter, age 28) and our 5-year old grandson Joshua all came.
Today Harold continued packing, including putting most of the stuff in the car, I spent the afternoon running around with Ann trying to get her car insurance ad registration all up to date. She and Joshua will be heading to Tyler as soon as that is ready.
Well, I can't believe that tomorrow is the big day. It seemed so far off when we made the plan to spend the winter in Puerto Vallarta and now it is here! We better finish getting ready.

Planning

2005-01-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

We have been planning the move, even this 3-month trial run, for so long it's hard to believe that we leave on Saturday! We've been arranging and rearranging the many things we plan on stuffing in the car and in the car-top carrier. With any luck, there will be room for the dogs us and our clothes!

We will pack the car on Friday, button up everything here at the house, and spend the night at my parents' house. Saturday morning, Mom and Dad will feed us breakfast and send us off into the great unknown!