puppies

More boring for non-dog lovers, but remember those crazy puppies I mentioned during the last post?  Here's what happened when Carol (who is the most dedicated ranch volunteer ever!) and I decided "what would it hurt to let the puppies out of their pen for a bit?

Well, here's what happend.

Lost Keys, Dancing Horses, and Abandoned Dogs

Matt is feeling better! I'm so happy to have him with me as I continue to learn more about this charming little town. As part of his rehab to adjust to the climate, he's walking with Herm and I at least once a day. And playing golf. The first time he rented a cart, but for the last two rounds he's back to walking the course. I think he's nearly 100%.   Our walks throughout the village are lovely.  The weather is still a bit warm but very comfortable.  Traffic is slow along the cobblestones streets and our village is so pretty.  Here's a few shots of what we typically see.

Medical Care - Ajijic Style

O.K., we've been here three weeks and Matt really hasn't been up to snuff since we arrived.

I think the drive down here was emotionally draining for him.  Although it WAS a long drive, I was amazed at the quality of the roads and that, for the most part, the other drivers were cautious and respectful of the speed limits - very UNLIKE the Dominican Republic.  But for him, since we'd never made a trip like this before, he was just on edge.

Then when we arrived in Ajijic.  Since we've been here he's had little energy and been unable to sleep.  He says at some times he has trouble catching his breath.  We're at an altitude of 5,000 feet and although that isn't terribly high some folks do have a problem adjusting.

He tried playing golf the first week we arrived and that really kicked his butt.  The course was extremely hilly and he tried to walk with his pull cart and the course just isn't designed for a pull cart.  He was playing with three other men.....all much older than Matt....yet he was the one that barely limped off the course.

We have been talking for a week about making an appointment with a doctor and Friday we finally did it.  After some research, I decided the Integrity Clinic was the best choice.  They have a dental clinic in that space as well as several specialist that come in from Guadalajara one or two days a week.  Their General Practice doctor is there daily and has appointment hours from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  We tried calling for an appointment but the call wouldn't go through.  So instead we made the short drive up to the clinic on Friday afternoon.  The clinic is very modern and extremely clean and the receptionist spoke excellent English.  She called the doctor to make sure she was coming in that afternoon and then booked us an appointment for 5:30.

At 5:30, no doctor.  The receptionist told us she would be there in five or ten minutes.  From previous experiences in the US with doctors running late, I thought I had time to take a little walk outside.  Well....when I returned from my five minute walk, both the doctor and Matt were waiting for me in the reception area.  The doctor, a young woman barely 30 years old, apologized repeatedly for keeping us waiting.

We had filled out no medical history while we were waiting....instead the doctor takes your history.  As she asked Matt questions about his medical history, any answer he gave here that she thought might be out of the ordinarly, she pursued with additional questions.   She put an oxygen monitor on his finger and then started to listen to his heart and chest.  The entire time she kept an eye on the oxygen monitor.  She probably spent two or three minutes just listening to his breathing.

After the exam she pointed out to Matt that his oxygen level was a bit low, but that when she asked him to breath deeply it went into normal range.  She talked to him about consciously controlling his breathing as he adapted to the altitude.   She also gave him a prescription for something that would relax him and help him sleep better.  She wants him to have a complete blood work done.  We told her we had an appointment to see our doctor in the US in September and he could have it done there.....then she told us that this lab did an excellent job, that she'd like the opportunity to review his results to make sure there were no other problems,  and that the lab  charged $550 pesos (about $45 USD).  We're sold, we'll get the blood work done here and take the results back to the US with us.

The total cost for this 40 minute exam by this professional and very caring young doctor was $300 pesos ($25 USD).  After that visit, it jogged my memory that I had seen an ENT in Ft. Lauderdale before we came down here.  I didn't make payment at the office as I was waiting to see what the adjusted charge would be.  We have high deductible health insurance and haven't met our deductible yet this year so I knew I would be footing the entire bill.  However, he was a preferred doctor with our insurance so it would be an adjusted rate.  I pulled up the statement of benefits and here's what I found:  total charge for my visit was $505 dollars.  The doctor initially charged $250 for the office visit.  He injected steroids directly into my nose to hopefully shrink the polyps.  The charge for him to do these two injections was $240.  The cost of the steroids was $15.  The entire claim was pending as Aetna was waiting further clarification from the doctor regarding this treatment.  I'm thinking that next time I need to visit an ENT, I'll find one in Mexico!
< I think a lot of it was just seeing the doctor and knowing he was OK and being more aware that he needed to breath deeply.  He actually played 18 holes of golf Saturday afternoon!  And he walked to the Plaza with Herm and me Friday night.

Sweet Ajijic

No major theme here, just random thoughts.

First of all, I've been pronouncing Ajijic incorrectly.  I've been saying "A-hee-hick" and is should be "A-hee-heek".  Now that I can at least pronounce the name of my little village, at least I can act like I belong here.

Hermann in the courtyard

Matt and I have just been in the process of settling in here.  Just moving to a new area of your home town can be difficult.  You need to figure out where are the best grocery stores, the best vets, the best liquor stores.....  So imagine moving to a new city in a different country.  Getting acclimated just takes time.  But not for Hermann, he seems to really enjoy all this new space.

We've started to sort out a routine that works for us.  In the DR, getting to the grocery store was a major chore since we didn't have a car.  We'd have a long walk to the guagua, then maybe a long wait for a guagua with room for us, then once you get to the store you might need to completely reorganize your list depending upon what was actually available.  Here we have a car, but seldom use it.  We are only about two block from a small but adequate grocery store.  I'll walk up there a three or four times a week and buy just what we need.  And the Wednesday tienga is just a few blocks from our house.  That's a great opportunity to buy some fresh fruits and vegetables, although I try to be careful to only get what I need for the next few days.  Although the fruits and vegetables look incredible to me, especially after five months in the DR, I'm told that once the rainy season starts I'll be amazed at what's available at the markets.  But the tienga doesn't just have produce.  Here's a list of what I can recall from last week's tienga:  live bunnies, live birds, live chihuahuas, jewelry, ladies bras and panties, yogurt, bread, fish, chicken, CDs, ladies blouses and dresses, shoes, woven bags, spices, juga de uva (grape juice), fresh cheese, tamales, tacos, crocheted baby booties.  And that's just what I can remember!

There is definitely a recurring theme here that we repeatedly here from all of the long time ex-pats:  #1 this is absolutely the best place in the world to live and #2 May is absolutely the worst month of the year to be here.  Although we don't find the weather to be a problem, the long timers go on and on about how hot May is.  We have no a/c in our house....I don't think anyone in Ajijic does -- but we are seldom even a little too warm.  In the late afternoons it gets just a bit warm in the house and one night we turned on a fan when we slept because we thought the bedroom was a little hot.  So I see nothing to complain about this weather.  Everyone talks about the "rain birds" and that they've started singing.  Once you hear the rain birds start singing, the rain will start in a couple of weeks.  Well, every morning the birds are out singing in our courtyard so I thought that was the rainbirds.  Nope.  The "rainbirds" are cicadas. I haven't see one, but definitely heard them singing, and now that I think about it it does sound a bit like rain falling in the trees.

But, again and again I'm told...."just wait until the rainy season!"  Most people say that June, July and August are there favorite months here, that the mountains turn to emerald green almost overnight, and the weather is perfect.  I'm looking forward to seeing just how great this weather can be!

One thing I'm enjoying about the "hot" weather of May, is hanging out our laundry to dry.  We have a clothes line we can string up and clothes dry unbelievably fast, even towels dry in an hour.  Seems like the best time to hang laundry up is about 4:30 or 5:00 in the afternoon because that's when the evening breeze picks up.  I haven't hung laundry out since I was a kid helping my grandmother.  Feels very good to do this!

And then there is Hermann and the chihuahua gang across the street.  We were at the plaza a couple of nights ago and I started talking with a woman who also had a couple of dogs with her.  I told her about the chihuahuas that terrorize Herm and the first thing she asked was "Is Hermann on a leash?"  I always keep Herm on a leash when he's outside and she felt that was the problem.  She suggested letting him out on his own and that he and the chihuahuas would settle their differences.  I thought, great idea!  We live at the end of a dead end street so no through traffic, what could happen?  Well no success yet, Hermann won't leave the front gate without his leash.  I have tried going outside and calling him to me, I've tried getting behind him and pushing him out the gate.  Nothing seems to work.  Those little chihuahuas have really been messing with his mind.  The chichuahua mafiosa wins another round.

Matt and Herm at the Peacock Garden

Roaming Peacock

I love that most of the restaurants here are dog friendly.  I've only seen one with a "no dogs allowed" sign.  When we go out to eat, we usually take Herm with us.  The other night we went to the Peacock Garden, what a beautiful place!  The tables were scattered throughout the back of the restaurant.  Some on the patio, some in the lawn and our table was under a little gazebo. The flowers were beautiful!  There were two peacocks strolling around the garden, one very large rooster, and several hens.  And a parrot in a cage.

El Jardin de Plaza

We also enjoy walking to the plaza in the town center.  Almost always some entertainment going on down there - sometimes musicians and often times just the Mexican families.  Last Friday there was an art auction on the plaza.  Unfortunately a small turn out as most of the ex-pats are snow birds, but there was some beautiful artwork.  I bid on a couple of watercolors, but my banker (Matt) stopped my bidding before I won!  We also love this sweet little place, El Jardin de Plaza.  Good for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a drink and excellent location for people watching.

 

Matt played golf last week at the Chula Vista Country Club, this was a view from one of the greens.  I've got to tell you, there were a lot of hills on this course and the hills plus the altitude kicked Matt's butt.  I'm not sure if he'll want to play there again.  We found another course on Sunday that's further away but much flatter.  I think that's where he'll play next.

 Today I started volunteering at "The Ranch" a local no-kill shelter.  They have room for 70 dogs there, and right not probably have about 60.  Very hard work!  I was there about 4 1/2 hours shoveling poo, watering, feeding and petting these guys.  Sadly, probabl half of these dogs will be there for life.  Here's just a few of the sweet faces.

Exploring Our New Home Town!

Saturday we were so ready to take a look around, but neither of us wanted to get anywhere near a car!  So we walked, and walked, and walked.  All of the streets in Ajijic, except for the caraterra (highway) are cobblestone, so this doesn't make for a power walking experience.  You need to constantly keep an eye on the ground in front of you.

Lake Chapala, not what we had imagined

We first walked down to Lake Chapala and we were both disappointed.  The water level is very low and the water seemed very grey, not the sky blue I had anticipated.  The rainy season will begin within the next couple of months, and hopefully this will replenish the lake.  But that was really our only disappointment.  The area around our house is very much what you'd expect to see in an old Mexican pueblo.....nothing like the shabby border towns or the resort areas.  The houses are built very close together but many have beautiful roof top gardens or courtyards tucked behind their house.  About 20% of the houses have been restored...probably by ex-pats.....and they were easy to pick out with their fresh coat of paint and beautiful wooden entry doors and flowers and ferns spilling out over the terrace.  But the homes owned by Mexicans were beautiful as well....a little shabby maybe but still very sweet.


Along the caraterra there were several vendors set up.  Some selling tacos and tamales, others selling woven baskets, rugs, and pottery. And lucky us...this must be berry season.  Several stands were selling fresh blueberries, strawberries, black berries and raspberries.  It was a hard decision, but I settled on the raspberries.  Two quarts for $25 pesos...that's about $2 USD!  I froze most of these for smoothies, but had a big bowl of them with greek yogurt for lunch!  Yummm!

It does not look like we'll go hungry in this town.  Tons of restaurants and we stopped and checked out menus at several.  We like to always peek inside as some of the restaurants with a very uninspired facade will open up into a courtyard that will take your breath away.  We found several of these that we plan to go back to while we're here.

This is a holiday weekend (Cinco de Mayo) and the Ajijic malecon was crowded with Mexican families.  There seems to be a lot less ex-pats here than we expected.  Although most ex-pats are snowbirds and leave in April, it was my understanding that a good number of them stay year round, but we're not seeing many.

My first impression of the Mexicans we've met is that they're friendly, but not as warm and outgoing as Dominicans.  In the DR, seldom did you pass by a Dominican on the street that they didn't greet you with an "hola, hola".  But here, most Mexicans walk on by without a word.  Matt and I will usually throw out a "buenas dias" or "buenas tardes" and then they'll respond with a smile.

Hermann went with us, of course, and this change in locale may be toughest for him.  These dogs are not very friendly.  Everywhere we go he is being yapped at by little chihuahuas.  I bet he misses his Dominican dog friends!

There was a lake side restaurant that we stopped at and talked with the owner.  He said they had live music that night so Matt and I decided we'd come back for dinner.  The restaurant was about five blocks from our house and walked down there about 7:00 just as the sun was  beginning to set.  We were almost at the restaurant when I think we both had the same thought:  "is this a good idea?"  Here we were in an unfamiliar town and we'd be walking back to her house, just the two of us, after dark.  Doesn't matter if we were in Mexico or the US, this could be a problem.   All through dinner we both stewed about this.  I asked Matt how much money he had on him....as it turned out quite a bit.  So now we were really nervous.  The meal was good but the live music didn't start until about 9:00.  The guitarist had just started playing when we decided we should start our walk home before it got any later.  Well, walk was very uneventful.  Streets were well lighted, there was a smattering of restaurants that we passed.  On every corner there was a tienda (small little store selling just the essentials) that was open, and usually the owner and a couple of friends were sitting outside waiting for business, and kids still playing in the street.

Our neighbors across the street that helped us when we first arrived were having a party.  The husband is Victor and he speaks great English as do his two sons.  The mom is very sweet, but doesn't speak any English.  The house next door to them is very narrow, but very tall with four stories.  It's being renovated and the only story completed is the top floor.  Victor told us that this was his brothers house.  Well most of the party seemed to be on this top floor of the brothers house. The party had started mid day and everyone carried load after load of food and cooking supplies up those stairs.  When we got back to our house after dinner, the party was still going on.  Lots of talking and laughter and loud music.  But this party was very tame compared to the party on the street behind us.  I always get up way too early....and when I got up at 5:00 a.m. that party was still going on!

Sunday afternoon we decided to actually get back in the car and drive to Chapala, which is probably only a 5 or 10 minute drive.  There is also a Walmart between Ajijic and Chapala and we badly needed to stock up on groceries.  While I avoid Walmarts whenever possible in the US, in Mexico they are always a much better experience.  The best selection of groceries, freshest produce, and best selection of meat and fish.  And of course Matt wanted to check out the golf course.

This status should be surrounded by water!

We started out by going to the malecon in Chapala..  Once again, lots of Mexican families and very few ex-pats.  There was a long row of vendors set up along the malecon.  They were selling trinkets, clothing, CDs, toys, drinks and food.  There was roasted corn and lots of ice cream.  Lots of stuff we didn't recognize.  One of the most popular items were fried minnows.  At first I thought they were french fries, glad I double checked.

Lake Chapala Malecon

Lake Chapala Malecon

Park at Lake Chapala

Then I saw familiar faces!  Several months ago I had stumbled upon a blog written by Renee, a Canadian who, along with her husband, ten year old daughter, and family dog had given up their comfortable home and started traveling.  Their first trip had been through Europe (mainly Italy and Turkey) in a camper van.  Last September they had landed in Ajijic.  I loved reading her blog entries on this area....gave me a little insight on what we would encounter.  One of her most recent blog entries was about their border run.  Vehicles can only stay in Mexico for six months....this is a very strict requirement and you don't want to mess with this.  Their permit was almost up so they drove to Laredo so they could cancel the permit, enter the US and then get another permit.  Since we were about to make this same trip, I felt very comforted by reading her details about what to expect.  I even emailed her asking about recommendations for pet friendly hotels and she quickly responded.  So here we were wandering around in Chapala, and I spot this couple with their daughter....and felt like I ran into an old friend.  We introduced ourselves and had a great visit.  I'm amazed at how brave they are to live their life like this, what a gift they are giving their daughter, Emma.  Emma was amazing, she was friendly, articulate and full of advice.  She gave me her own personal recommendations on some of the best internet sites for learning Spanish and also where to buy the best gelatto (better than the gelatto she'd had in Italy!).  She said to her mom...."can we have them over for dinner?"  Poor Renee...not sure if she really wanted us, but we did get a dinner invite.

Beautiful!

After leaving Chapala, we stopped at the golf course so Matt could check that out and then onto Walmart for a very major shopping trip ($175!!!) - the past seven days have been very expensive for us!

Just outside the entrance to Walmart was a roadside chicken stand.  They had three huge grills going.....all filled with roasting chickens.  There was a long line of Mexicans waiting for their chicken so I thought this must be a good spot.  Matt and I joined the line.  We bought one roasted chicken (which came with roasted onions and jalapenos, rice and a green tomatillo sauce), roasted potatoes, a cup of ensalada (cabbage and carrot salad with a few raisins) and a cup of fresh salsa.  The price was $120 pesos, or about $10 USD.  Talk about a meal!  Best chicken I'd ever had.  Plus we have enough left over for another dinner.  This was a great deal!  Even Matt really enjoyed.....he usually only likes his chicken fried.

Pictures! We found the Ipod!

OK....not much yakking...just some of the photos we had on the Ipod:

Here's a photo of the Mexican permit we received for our vehicle.  It's right under our review mirror and is good for six months







This is a typical toll plaza.  We saw MANY of these.  We've got our receipts and we'll add up how much we spent on tolls.  My best guess is that it will be about $150








The mountains on our drive through Mexico were incredible.  Plus there was a lot of cloud coverage and that made them appear all the more dramatic.

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Check out Matt's Intense Face While Driving Through Mountains

Just a glimpse of his hands on the wheel.  He didn't relax for  most of the 900 miles through Mexico

When I wasn't driving I kept this map on my lap to gauge our progress

And here are pics of our beautiful new home!  For all of you who had to suffer through my complaining about the crappy kitchen we had at our apartment, this is my reward.








This is the courtyard outside our backdoor.  I'm looking at this view right now as I type!  Tons of beautiful plants and an orange tree!









Check out this jacuzzi tub!  It's huge.  My Mother's Day gift from Ryan and Brandee was a great gift box from Lush which included several bath bombs.  Can't wait!










Now this is the view from our bedroom, we have a balcony and small table there.  Tons of plants on the balcony, plants grow like crazy in the climate.

This fern is nearly waste high!

Beautiful ficus tree!

I wasn't sure these were real - they are perfect

And then we have this roof top terrace, complete with a hammock and two hammock chairs.

And this is the view from the roof top.  As you can see, we're in a very Mexican neighborhood.  About 1/4 of the houses are owned by ex-pats and beautifully remodeled, but the rest are owned by Mexicans.  So far, all we have met are very friendly and kind.

And finally, here's a photo of poor Hermann.  He has been such a trooper.  In the past 12 days, he's flown cargo to Miami and rode in his crate in the back seat of the car for about 2100 from Ft. Lauderdale to Ajijic, Mexico.  Never did he complain, he just loaded up when we told him.  I can guarantee he was very appreciative of every opportunity he had to get out of that crate and walk.  And every night it was a new hotel room for him.  I hope he enjoys Ajijic...he has earned this vacation.

No Longer Homeless - Well at Least for Four Months

We are in Ajijic!  What a day we had getting here!

We left Saltillo at 7:30 a.m.  The GPS said we should be in Ajijic at 5:30.  OK, so a 10 hour drive.  And that is without long breaks.  So we knew we knew this would be a tough day.....no long stops.  But we had yogurt, cheese and crackers, and of course Matt had lots of sweets so we were prepared to just drive without stopping for lunch.

After harping about the GPS yesterday, I must say she really came through for us today.  I had jotted down some directions I found on a blog and we used those, the map and the GPS.  She was nearly spot on....of course when she failed us was when we needed her the most....but more on that later.  It was a trip listening to her trying to pronounce the very Mexican street names!

The roads were all great and the scenery was beautiful.  Although we were very near the mountains for at least eight hours of our ten hour drive, we didn't have any seriously steep grades....although steep enough to concern Matt.  He is NOT a mountain driver!  Nor does he make a good passenger in the mountains!  The speed limits varied, sometimes we the max was 80 kilometers, then it would jump to 100 and then 110.  And then after about 1/4 of a mile it would go right back down to 80.  Never seemed to be any rhyme or reason why they changed so often.  Unlike in the US, probably about 95% of the drivers respect the speed limits.  And aI would say 99.5% of the truckers follow the limits.  The truckers were the most respectful and safe drivers on the highway....wish it was that way at home.   On level grades, I'd try to get behind a truck and just match there speed...then no need to worry about the constantly changing speed limits.  On steep grades this was not an option, the trucks were lucky to go 30KM an hour up hill.  But they were almost always in the right lane on four lane highways and on two lane highways they always signaled the cars behind them when it was safe to pass.

We came to two police checkpoints today.  At one, he just asked where we were going and for how long and then let us through.  At the other checkpoint, he waived us over to the side where they were searching cars.  There was a car in front of us with Texas plates and a young hispanic driver.  He was getting a thorough search of his car.  We were both thinking "Oh Crap!"  Not that we had anything to hide, but we definitely didn't want to empty this car.  But the police officer came up to our car, asked where we were going, why and for how long.  Then he opened the rear door, stared into Hermann's crate, looked at all the crap we had in the car, and told us we were good to go!  Whew!  Big relief.

And we drove and drove.  We ran into a little rain, but nothing like the first day.  Matt had driven all of the first day in Mexico so he was ready to let me take the wheel.  I probably drove about six of our ten hour drive.  I really never knew this about Matt before, but he's a pointer.  Whenever there was some confusion about what ramp to take, he'd point and say "here" or "there".  NOT a good option when you are trying to drive in a foreign country where you have no idea where you are going!  I kept saying:  "right or left????"  or maybe you could say I was yelling "RIGHT OR LEFT???".  Then next time we came upon the same situation, he'd point AGAIN!.

All went fairly well.  The GPS at this time still said we'd arrive in Ajijic at 5:20 and we were scheduled to meet the property manager at the house at 6:00, so all was good.  We were tired but hanging in there.  And then we hit Guadalahara!  This is where the GPS had the most trouble, there were multiple ramps going multiple directions and some highways running side by side and she couldn't figure out where the hell we should be.  Whatever the reason, we missed the ramp that would take us to Chapala and ended up in downtown Guadalahara!  At rush hour!  Of course I was driving.....and Matt was pointing.  Let's just say this was a nightmare I never want to go through again.  But after about 30 minutes we found our way out of that mess and were back on the highway to Chapala and Ajijic.  We found the town of Ajijic OK but couldn't find the street our house was on. Months ago the owner had sent me a map of the town with the location of our house marked on it.  I used to keep it pinned to the tack board at my desk as a reminder that we'd be there soon.  So I had that memory, but not the actual map.  We drove around aimlessly for a bit and didn't find the street so I stopped at a restaurant for directions.  The man I spoke with was great, he even had a map.  Our street is Privada Guadalupe Victoria and he showed me where Guadalupe Victoria was.  He just didn't know where Privada Guadalupe Victoria was.  So we found Guadalupe Victoria no problem, turns out the privadas are small dead end streets that run off the main road but we quickly found a Privada Guadalupe Victoria.  It was a very narrow, very Mexican street with a mix of Mexican and ex-pat homes...which is what I expected.  But we couldn't find our house #.  Our house # is 26A and there seemed to be no logical order of house numbers.  We'd see a house # 4, and next to it would be house #16.  There was a lady on the street, Spanish speaking of course, and I asked for help.  She said this wasn't the correct privada, there was another Privada Guadalupe Victoria a few blocks away.  Lots of one way streets in Ajijic so we had to go back up to the main road, circle around and we found our privada and our house!  So happy and it was only about 6:05.  Problem was, no one was there.  Our property manager, Coco, seemed to have forgotten about us!

The sweet little Mexican lady across the street came out of her house and greeted us......along with about three chihuahuas....all of whom hated Hermann on site!  Poor Herm, this was his first time out of the crate in four hours and he was being attacked by a pack of yappy little Mexican dogs.  Not a great welcome for him.  Our new neighbors son came outside.  he's about 18 years old and speaks excellent English.  He asked if we knew the property managers #.......no I didn't but I had her email.  He offered to let us connect to his wi-fi (yes, even this small simple mexican casa was set up for wi-fi) so we could email Coco.  Coco had told me that emails went right to her mobile phone and if we had any problem finding the house to just email her.  So I set up on the neighbor's wi-fi, sent Coco and email and waited.  No response.  My very sweet little neighbor lady offered me "agua fria" or "el bano", so kind.  I had gone inside their casa to set up for wi-fi and inside there were at least six more chihuahuas (more mellow than the ones that had attacked Herm) and about three or four cats.  I didn't feel I could stand in their house indefinitely, although they were very welcoming, so Matt and I decided to find a cafe (by this I mean bar) that had wireless.  Luckily we found one right away.  I ordered a glass of wine and we each ordered a slice of quiche.  The sweet little server brought Herm and dish and a big bottle of water.  We connected to the wi-fi...still no response from Coco.  So I emailed the owner of the house who lives in Las Vegas asking for Coco's telephone #.  Then Matt had the idea to get the phone that we use for the Magic Jack and try to call the owner.  He got it set up, I called the owner, he had already received my email and was in the process of sending me Coco's #s.  Very helpful and concerned, but by that time I had an email from Coco saying she'd be at the house in five minutes.  We had the server box up our quiches, loaded our computers and telephone and the dog back in the car and went back to the house.

Remember I said how narrow the street was on the first privada was?  Well, this one was no different.  When we returned we couldn't drive down it because another car was on the street.  Matt let me off at the corner and Herm and I walked down the street to our house.  The doors were open and Coco was there, we stepped inside and into this peaceful, serene little slice of heaven.  Eventually, the other car backed out of the street and Matt was able to drive down.  When he walked in he felt the same way.  The house is beautiful and the garden out back is perfect.   This house is a perfect choice!  We spent some time with Coco checking out the house and then we unloaded the car.  At this time I was barelly functioning.  Matt however, had gotten a second wind and was ready to go.  Finally I told him, I need wine NOW.  So we left the house and walked the few blocks to the grocery store.  We bought a few groceries (mainly coffee and cereal for breakfast) and a bottle of wine for me.

When we came back home, Matt opened the wine for me and we went up to the roof top terrace.  Sunday is Cinco de Mayo and fireworks were going off all around our neighborhood.  The dogs across the street were barking and we could here our neighbors chattering away.  But all seemed perfect to us!

Now....we need pictures.  I took tons of pictures on the drive down.  And we need to take pics of this house.  But I can't find our new Ipod Touch which is what we used for the pics.  I hope it just fell onto the car floor and is under the seat, or stuffed in my backpack somewhere.  And that I didn't loose it!  But neither of us had the energy or desire to look for it last night.  We just wanted to enjoy our new home.  Hopefully we'll find it today!

Foiled By The Shrew in the GPS

What a day.....but we are in Mexico!

We left our hotel in Pharr, TX this morning about 8:00 a.m.  We were concerned about being able to exchange some USD.  On Wednesday night we had asked several people where to find a casa de cambio and no one seemed to know!  So we stewed about what to on Wednesday night and wouldn't you know....on the last eight miles to the border there were about three casas de cambio on every block.  So we had pesos.

I had tried to do research on the procedure to get our vehicle permit at the Pharr crossing, but the best info I could find was at the Loredo crossing.  The blog entries I read stated that the Aduana (customs) building was several kilometers past the border.  We entered the entry line about 8:30 a.m. and a US immigration officer asked for our passports and wanted to know where we were going and for how long.  He seemed concerned about how much money we were carrying.  After a few questions he waived us through and it was time to go through Mexican customs.  There was only two cars ahead of us in line and we all received a green light to go right through....which was good because no way did I want to unpack all the stuff in this car.

There was no Aduana office after the boarder, we were just in the border town of Hildago.  Immediately the shrew in the GPS started sqwacking at us to turn right.  We did...completely ignoring the fact that all the other cars were going left.   We followed her mindlessly as she took through about six streets in Hidalgo before dumping us on a major street.  At this point, I started looking for the Aduana sign.....and we kept on driving and driving.  Finally, after about 45 minutes on the road we saw it!  I was so relieved....but that was to be short lived.  The immigration officer at this stop was just checking to make sure we had our tourist visas and vehicle permit.  Couldn't obtain it here....so we had to back track 45 minutes to the border.

Once at the border we quickly found where we should have been in the first place and there were only a few people in line in front of us.  The whole procedure took about an hour.  We handled our immigration, customs and permit in that one stop.  I've waited longer just to go through immigration and customs at an airport.....never mind getting a car permit!  We met a couple at that Aduana office that were dealing with issues from the permit they had received 12 months ago.  The laws have changed this past year and they thought their car was entitled to stay in country as long as they were....so they let their vehicle permit expire and I know from their experience this is something I never want to do.  And, it turns out, that they live in Ajijic!  They went on and on about how much they loved that town....I'm so ready to be there.

So Matt and I started driving and we decided to take the "cuoto" or toll roads whenever npossible.  We had no idea how many toll booths we'd go through and how quickly the tolls would add up.  I think we spent about $50 in tolls today and we're only about 1/3 of the way there.  But the roads are fantastic....better than US highways and there is very little traffic on them.  The libre (free) roads have a lot of large truck traffic.

We were about two hours into our drive when we noticed a storm coming in.  We're in the dessert here, how often can it rain?  Well, we found out that when it rains it does pour.....and just for good measure we got a lot of pea sized hail and lots of lightening.  The water was standing in the highway in some places about 12" deep.  We decided time to pull over.  We ended up sitting about 45 minutes in a 7-11 parking lot waiting for it to slow down.

Then.....through all the clouds and the mist....we saw mountains!  I had no idea there would be mountains on our drive!  I was amazed....they were so beautiful with those fluffy clouds around them.  I didn't notice the look on Matt's face, maybe not sheer terror but close to.  He was terrified we would have to drive through them.  Well....so far so good, we've stayed at the base of the mountains.

Our reservation for tonight was at the American Business Inn in Satillo, MX - one of the few hotels on our drive that will accept dogs.  The reviews on TripAdvisor noted how difficult this place was to find....the sign only has a stylized "AB" and then Bien Venidos.  One review clearly described where it was on the north side of Satillo so we started looking as soon as we hit town.  But the review said it was on the south side of the highway so we were looking left.  Unfortunately it was to the right.  We drove through Satillo (which is a beautiful college town) and decided to stop at a gas station for directions.  The young man I talked with was great, he knew where it was, but of course he only spoke Spanish.  I swear, I tried to use everything Angel taught me, but about the most I could understand was go down two block to Fernando something drive, turn left and it would be before the airport.  But somehow we ended up in a residential neighborhood, and then a business neighborhood, and then the barrio.  At this point we weren't sure we could find our way back to the main road, but finally we made it.  My next plan of attack was to stop at a hotel for directions.  The Hampton was great!  The man at the front desk spoke English and he even gave me a map and marked where we were and where I was going.  I thought great!  No problem!  What I didn't realize that this map was by no means drawn to scale and although it showed all the Satillo hotels, where they were on the map did not match where they were in real life.  To compound the situation, the main road is a divided highway and everytime we needed to turn around we had to go way back into town before we could turn around again.  Well after stopping at one gas station, two hotels, and one restaurant, we found our hotel.  We spent an hour and ten minutes roaming the streets.

Obviously, although we didn't gain much ground today, it was a tough day.  We were stressed about what to expect at the border and what condition the streets would be in.  Really, if it weren't for our initial mistake at the border, the gully washer rainstorm and wandering through Saltillo for over an hour, this would have been an easy day.

Tomorrow we have much longer to drive to reach Ajijic, probably about 500 miles.  It does look like we can get a toll road for most of the trip so that will really help us make some good time.  And then by tomorrow night we will no longer be homeless.  We're all three tired of living out of suitcases and a car.

I took a lot of pictures today of this beautiful drive, but can't get the Ipod to transfer the pics.  Geez...old people with new toys.  But maybe tomorrow we'll get it figured out.