Yes......We're Still Alive and Well in Mexico!

It's been nearly a month since I've blogged.  What's up with that?  We're busy, having a lot of fun and really enjoying the Lake Chapala area.  But we've just become so accustomed to our home here that most things don't seem that out of the ordinary.  Herm and I are used to meeting up with dancing horses during our walks, the vendors that sell everything from underwear to pizza don't amaze us any more, and Matt and I still love our evenings on the mirador but how many pics to the sun setting behind the mountains can we post.

I've got to say, we're both getting very melancholy over the prospect of leaving here in twelve days.  We're looking forward to seeing our family and friends in Kansas City and Marshall and Alix's wedding, but saying adios to our little pueblo is tough.  I felt very much like this in the DR, but Matt was the one ready to move on.  Here, we're both feeling the urge to stay.  We've decided to visit Kansas City and then spend our six months on the beach (two months in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and four months in LaPaz) and then we'll return to this area next spring.  Being from the mid-west, I'm so appreciative of the fact that here we can spend the entire summer so comfortable without the need for the a/c.  During the"hot" months of May and early June we did use ceiling fans, but haven't even turned those on for two months.

So while we're getting very short on time here, we want to spend lots of time with our new friends here.  Not really a problem, as this a very social place.  Last night was our last Molcajete night.  We have a group of friends that meet up every other Saturday night a Casa de Molcajete for dinner.  Food and atmosphere is great here but the biggest draw seems to be free margaritas or wine with your dinner.  And I don't mean just one.....they constantly top off your glass throughout the meal.  It's night like this that I really appreciate the fact that I'm married to an "ice tea" man.  This has been a great group and we're really going to miss them.  Ken and Debbie are one of the couples in this group and last night was their last night as well; they're leaving here on August 27th to move to Ensenada.  There plan when they arrived in Chapala two and a half years ago was much like Matt's and mine; not to live in one place for more than a year.  But they fell in love with this area and the folks who live here, and stayed much longer than planned.  We totally understand.

The "girls" - Syd, Anna, Sharon, Sally, Debbie, Vickie and CeeCee

The "boys" - back row Ken, Joe, Matt, JC; front row David & Paul

This afternoon we're going to a birthday party hosted by one of Matt's golf friends.  His dog is having her 17th birthday so that seems to be a reason for a party.  And we've got plans to have one last outing with our other Lake buddies before we leave, so should be a very busy 12 days.

This past Friday Matt and I finally made it to the Guadalajara zoo.  We've heard so many good things about this zoo and we were not disappointed.  It was beautiful with lots of well maintained green spaces, very clean, and well maintained and humane enclosures for the animals.  My favorite attraction was the african safari.  They load you up on these large trams and take you through an area with gazelles, antelopes, hippos, ostriches and giraffes roaming around.  Then they stop for a few minutes and let the passengers feed the giraffes.  Muy divertido!  Here's a pic of me feeding one of the giraffes.

There was also an incredible air tram ride over the entire park.  It was a great way to view the park and at the back of the park, the air tram turns around for the return trip and you have this great view of an amazing canyon.

Our Tram Ride

View from the end of the air tram

And of course, I can't end a post without an update of my ranch dogs.  We've had some really nice dogs adopted the past few weeks and I so love seeing these sweet babies find a new home.  But there always is another dog needing a home to take there place, and this week it was a mamma with her five puppies that were dumped at the ranch.  The adoption I'm most happiest about is Sweet Georgie.  Georgie was one of many Mexican roof dogs and looked just like Chewbaca from Starwars.  It seems to be perfectly ok in this culture to let your day spend most of his life on the roof of your house.  And sometimes they forget to feed and water these dogs.  This was the case with Georgie until Martine, one of the ranch employees, rescued Georgie from a house in his neighborhood.  The problem is Georgie was a biter.  Martine was one of his victims and ended up with a bunch of stitches in his arm.  Georgie also bit several of the volunteers.  But this was all before I came and I had no idea.  So when I would clean Georgie's run I had no fear of him, although he originally wanted very little to do with me.  Eventually he warmed up and became such a loving dog.  He just needed his chance to shine.  Unfortunately, the past few months Georgie has had a skin problem and started loosing clumps of his hair.  We took him to a vet and it was diagnosed as a bacterial infections so he's been on antibiotics and we've been using a cream on his skin.  He's getting better, but still far from what you'd consider a pretty dog.  But this past week, someone came to the ranch looking for a job and fell in love with Georgie.  I'm so happy; I was convinced this sweet boy was destined to spend the rest of his days at the ranch.  Who knows why a certain dog seems to make a special connection, but so glad it happened for Georgie.