More Visitors!

We are having so much fun!

Last week Matt and I found Playa Desildorados!  It's a beautiful wide stretch of beach which you can almost have to yourself--especially on a week day.  There are a couple of shacks selling bebidas and comida but you can bring your own if you choose.  The water is warm and clear and the surf very gentle so great for swimming!  We'll be going back here a bunch in the next few weeks.

Matt at Desildoradas Beach

Two of our friends from Chapala came to spend four days with us.  Vern and Kathleen drove over last Friday and left Tuesday.  We really enjoyed showing them around and good for Matt to have some guy (a/k/a golf) time and Kathleen and I did a lot of shopping, sunning and drinking!  On the day the guys golfed, Kathleen and I went to Rancho Banderas, a resort about 15 minutes from our house. We bought all inclusive day passes and made very sure we got our money's worth!  Lots of food and drink along with some great  beach time.

A selfie of Kathleen and Syd

At Rancho Banderas palapa restaurant

The sunset at Rancbho Banderas

Syd, Matt, Kathleen and Vern in PV

 About three hours after Vern and Kathleen left, my sister Sue arrived!  She'll be here for six days on her own, then her husband Rodney comes for a week, and then they go into PV and stay at the Hardrock for another week.  Lots of beach time for Sue!

We took her to Bucerias on her first night to get an oyster fix!  Biggest dang oysters I've ever seen, but still very tasty!

Sue figuring out how to eat this monster oyster

Sue enjoying sunset in Bucerias

 Yesterday we spent  a lot of time at the pool while Matt golfed, and then I took Sue into Bucerias for a massage with my favorite therapist.  We had bought some beautiful, fresh mahi mahi filets and Matt grilled them for dinner.

And today Sue is fixing us Thanksgiving dinner!  Hope everyone has a great day and as many things to be grateful for as we do!

Visitors, Beauty Queens and Great to Come "Home"

Been a busy week or so!  My son Marshall and his new wife Alix arrived in Puerto Vallarta on November 10th for a belated honeymoon.  It was so good to see them at the airport!  This was Alix's first trip outside the US so I was very hopeful she'd have a great time....and want to come back.

Matt and I had earned a free weeks stay at the Hard Rock Vallarta resort as a result of referrals we've made through our vacation club membership.  That free week wasn't transferable so we stayed there and let the kids have our casita to their selves....oh and Herm, they kept him as well.  The week seemed to go well for all of us, just too fast.  We picked up Marshall and Alix several times to show them around but they still had plenty of time on their own.

I cannot say enough how proud I am of Marshall.  When he was younger, I always referred to him as "poor little Marshall".  Seemed like if something could go wrong for someone, it would be him.  But he has grown into an amazing young man:  kind, smart and self sufficient.  He and Alix make a great couple because she is so loving and supporting.

Dinner With Marshall and Alix in PV

When we checked in the Hardrock, this is the first thing we saw:

Dang Matt's luck!  The Miss Swimsuit USA International competition was being held at our resort the week we were there.  Sixty-four beautiful women in bikinis, tough life Matt leads, and you can see that from the looi om his face.

One day we had found a quiet spot on the beach and a photographer and a couple of the girl showed up for a shoot.  This was our view.

The photographer wanted the girls to take off their tops and squeeze into life jackets that were intended for four year olds.  I took this video of part of that process, Matt called the video "squeeze them real tight"  

Of course a few of the girl brought their very hot boy friends with them.  Unfortunately this wasn't the norm.  Most hung out with the fat, sloppy photographer.

And then I enjoyed this guy who had lunch at the pool with us one day.

Saturday, our last full day at the resort, and it was gray, rainy and cold!  We spent a few ours at the beach, but not much fun, so just had a lazy day with a long nap.  Then Sunday it turned out to be the most gorgeous day.  The sun was shining, but the storm seemed to have knocked out some of the heat we've been dealing with, and the sky was so blue.  We arrived back at our casita to spend some time with Marsh and Alix before taking them to the airport, and the view from our little patio seemed even more beautiful than normal.  I think we missed our little home.  So sad to see the kids go, but hopefully they'll visit again next year.

We've been very spoiled here as we've had the entire place to ourselves.  On our property this is also a three bedroom house and a studio palapa in addition to our casita but no one staying in either of those - until this weekend.  It's a Mexican holiday and about six college age Mexican "kids" arrived Saturday for a two night stay.  I can say this for Mexicans, they do have fun.  The music was blasting and they were singing along - and laughing!  I've never heard so much laughter.  We were concerned we might have to spoil the party and ask them to turn it down, but right at 11:00 the music went off and we didn't hear a peep out of them.  

And of course need to add an update about Lola.  Jan continues to send me pics and reports on how she's doing.  Sounds like everyone is adjusting well.  Lola is making friend with the other dogs, and especially likes to stick close to Jan.  Her incision is continuing to heal but there was a problem this past week with a UTI.  I was concerned her health issues were going to make it too hard for Jan to keep her but Jan has reassured me that Lola has a home there until I get back.  Here's the latest pic, Jan calls it "queen of the castle".

On the Edge of a Cyclone and Almost Legal

The gardener calls it a cyclone, but I think it's still classified as a tropical storm.  Looks like it went right over Matzalan last night, and we were just on the outskirts.  We got a nice rain last night and the wind really did kick up. There are always about four or five sailboats near the entrance to the harbor that just stay anchored there rather than pay for a berth in the marina..  Normally they have very calm water; last night we watched those masts sway like crazy.  Must have been a long night for those sailors.

No damage here in La Cruz, just a bunch of leaves in the pool.  The pool guy was here early today to clean it up.  And the clouds over the mountains made for a beautiful sunrise.

Sunrise from our Patio

I also walked down to the marina and took this picture.  It's quiet in the morning, although the pescaderas are there getting their stands ready for business once the fish start coming in.

When we crossed the border we only had a thirty day visa as we had started the process to become temporary Mexican residents while in Kansas City.  We started working on the remaining steps of the process about a week after we crossed the border.  So far this has gone very smoothly.  We submitted our paperwork and had a call last week to go to immigration to be fingerprinted.  Today, Matt got a call that his temporado card was ready to be picked up.  Mine didn't make it yet - hopefully tomorrow.  Being a temporary resident means we no longer need to leave Mexico every six months, and our car can stay in Mexico for up to four years without having to nationalize it.  So trips home will all be by air for the foreseeable future.  Plus when we fly into Mexico we can skip the long lines in immigration for aliens (which is where all the vacationing gringos go); we can go to the much shorter line for Mexican residents.

Saturday we tried once again to go to Puerta Vallarta.  Well, not much luck.  We can never find a place to park!  The first trip in to PV we did find a parking garage but we we passed it by looking for street parking  This time we decided we'd definitely park at the garage; but on this trip we couldn't find it  We decided next time we'll park at Costco and grab a cab into the city.  Should make for a much more relaxed visit.

Sunday was the first market day in La Cruz for this season.  Incredible!  200 merchants selling beautiful jewelry, leatherwork, pottery, glass works, baskets, breads, desserts and main courses to take home to enjoy later, and lots of food to nosh on while you shopped.  Plus our favorite restaurant had set up a bloody mary bar!   This will definitely be a regular Sunday event for us!

La Cruz Mercado

And we had our first run in this morning with law enforcement.  Matt has become just a bit too comfortable with driving between La Cruz and Nuevo Vallarta.  The speed limit is 60 kilometers, which I believe is about 40 miles per hour  Several times I've told him I thought he was driving too fast, but he'll just point out all the other drivers going faster than he is.  Well, that argument didn't fly with the policia who stopped us this morning.  He immediately asked Matt if he spoke Spanish, and probably was a good thing Matt can't.  He asked for Matt's license, and I believe he was telling us Matt was getting a citation and that he was going to keep Matt's license to ensure he appeared in court.  Matt kept pointing out all the other cars speeding by.  This didn't impress the officer at all; he kept repeating that the speed limit is "seisenta".  I tried to translate as best I could, but what I heard most was the officer telling Matt "no esta enojado conmigo!" which is "don't be made at me".  Somehow we got Matt's license back, no ticket and we didn't offer to pay a mordida or "the bite" which is a street side bribe to get out of a ticket.  And Matt's going to slow it down a bit

Now, the best thing that happened to me this week happened back in Chapala.  While I worked at the dog rescue last summer, a lot of those dogs worked there way into my heart.  But my favorite was Blackie.  Can't say he was the best looking dog there, he has this long black hair that seriously needed a good brushing.  I started taking him out of his pen so I could try and do something with that coat, after two days of brushing he looked much better - and that's when I discovered that "he" was a "she".  What kind of name is Blackie for a gal?  Turns out that wasn't really her name.  There had been another black dog in her run that moved on.  The dogs names are on their run and no one bothered to change it.  She had been in a good home and her name had been Pearl, but her owner died and she ended up at the ranch about two years ago.  I started a campaign to rename her, and I thought Lola was much more fitting than pitiful Pearl.  I decided that I was adopting Lola next April when we return to Chapala.  I just couldn't do it now while we're moving around so much;  When I was back in Chapala in October, Lola was in bad shape.  She'd had some sort of cyst that erupted and caused a huge open wound.  This was actually the second time she'd been through this.  Gudrun took Blackie to the best vet in Guadalajara and he operated and removed all the bad tissue.  Lola had a 14" scar.  If it came back again, the decision was she'd need to be put down.  I was at dinner with some of our Chapala friends and I was telling my friend Jan about Lola.  She and her husband Ron immediately offered to foster her if the wound healed.  They are an incredible, kind ane generous couple.  They have already adopted five or six dogs, two horses and I think a burro.  All were underfed and needed a good home; and now Lola is lucky enough to be with these sweethearts until I get back in April.  Here she is making herself at home on her first day!

Lola (on the right)