What have we been up to?

Over a month since I've posted!  I've used this excuse before....it's not that we're not doing anything!  It's just that we do pretty much the same things.  I would say we get in a rut; but it's a pretty nice rut so let's call it a routine instead.   I go to yoga almost daily and Matt plays golf occasionally (the high price of green fees here is a downer for him).  I have Spanish class once a week for two hours and always am assigned homework.  There is a new bowling alley in La Paz and we bowl with friends once a week.  We go to the beach, ride our bikes and take walks along the shore in front of our casita.  We have two sea kayaks here for our use and I finally got Matt to give that a try and it was a lot of fun.  There are a couple of very nice, but small, organic markets here that we like to visit.  We also love to go to the movies here.  There are three theaters near us, all very modern and nice.  The cost per ticket is $37 pesos (which is less than $3.50 USD) and each week they always give us a coupon for a free ticket for our next visit.  Yesterday we saw Monument Men.

Daily chores here just seem to take longer than they would in the US.  First, this is a new town for us.  Secondly, the language issue.  Yesterday we needed to have a crack repaired in our wind shield (or parabrisa).  There is a web board, La Paz Gringos, that all the gringos here use for recommendations and to share information so I went on there asking where to go for this.  I received several recommendations for Jose, who speaks English.  I sent Jose an email and he responded with the cost to repair ($200 pesos) and the hours of his shop.  But not the address.  I called the shop, asked the man who answered if he was Jose - he said "no".  I asked in Spanish "do you speak English?" - he said no.  So in Spanish I asked where the shop was located.  He responded:  "blah blah blah and Jalisco".  Since I couldn't understand the "blah blah blah" I said "repieta por favor".  And he repeated "blah blah blah and  Jalisco".  Matt and I decided to just drive down Jalisco street looking for the shop and wonder of wonders we found it!  When we went inside, I asked the man working there (in Spanish) if he was Jose.  No, he was his brother.  We struggled to communicate, me using my bad Spanish but finally it became apparent that he could fix it so he pulled out a couple of chairs for Matt and I and began to work on it  When it was all done, he quoted me a cost of $300 ($100 pesos more than Juan!) but I didn't care; that's still only about $25 USD.  Our next stop was to get an oil change.  I asked him in Spanish if he recommended a place for an oil change.  He couldn't understand what I was saying.  I kept repeating, the still couldn't understand.  Eventually he said to me, in very good English, "perhaps if you said it in English". This is not the first time this has happened to us.  Many Mexicans here seem to want to hide the fact that they speak good English.  Maybe it's just more fun watching us struggle.

The weather here has been beautiful!  It's starting to warm up; we've had days close to 90.  But with a nice breeze and slightly cool evenings it's still almost perfect.  The nearest beach to our casita is El Magote, it's a great place to take Herm as there is never any one else there he can bother.  To get to Magote, you drive through the sand dunes until the road gets too soft and then walk through the sand dunes for about 50 feet to the beach.  On our last visit we noticed how HOT the sand was when we were going back to the car, burned right through my flip flops and I'm sure not to comfortable for Herm either.  So we've pretty much decided that's the end of Magote.

We did find an incredible beach north of La Paz called Tecolote.  Beautiful long beach with gentle waves.  There are small palapas on the beach for shade and gentle waves.  Also plenty of beach side restaurants serving ceviche, clams and cold cervezas.  It' a bit of a drive, but worth it!

Tecolote

During this past month, Matt needed to make a trip back to Kansas City; leaving Herm and I on our own for a week. I missed Matt mucho, but was a good experience for me.  I drive very little when Matt's here so I felt very empowered zipping through La Paz traffic on my own.  Matt was lucky enough to be in KC for his oldest grand daughter's birthday and was able to spend some fun times with his little buddies.

Abbie - All she wants for her birthday is two front teeth!

Levi

It's been a tough winter for almost everyone NOB and Matt got just a taste of that during his KC visit.  Ten inches of snow one day, lots of shoveling and too much time holed up at his Mom's house because the roads were too bad to drive.

While Matt was battling this snowy mess, I had one of my best days on the water ever!  I took a boat trip to Espiritu Santo Island which is just north of La Paz.  Weather was beautiful and we saw whales, mantas, dolphins and were able to swim with the baby sea lions.  Matt had the camera with him, so I couldn't take any pics.  But were making this trip again next week so should have pictures then.

Annie on the Bed

Hermann and I also cared for Annie, an English Setter, whose owners had to make a trip back to Colorado.  Annie and Hermann got along well, although we both felt Annie seemed to feel just a bit entitled.  Herm isn't allowed on the sofa but there as no stopping Annie!

Annie on the Sofa

While all my friends were posting pics on Facebook of the beautiful flowers they received for Valentine's Day, I was feeling pretty smug.  Flowers are nice, but not everyone receives a gourd for V-Day.  Matt and I went into a shop in La Paz that was hosting a visiting artist from Guerra.  He painted gourds and did it very well.  Very intricate designs and we were amazed.  Here's the one Matt gifted me instead of flowers.  The top opens so it works as a small jewelry box.

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to go fishing.  We left for our fishing trip out of Bahia Suerte (Bay of Luck).  Bahia Suerte was formerly known as Bahia de Muerte (Bay of the Dead) until a developer started building a housing development and golf course there.   Guess he thought Bay of the Dead wasn't a very appealingname.  The developer went bankrupt (guess he wasn't so lucky after all) so nothing there but a few houses and a palapa restaurant and one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen.

View from the Palapa Restaurant

I went with Barney (owner of Annie the English Setter) and between us we caught three cobrillas (which I think are a type of sea bass) and three dorados.  Not a bad catch for the winter season when the fishing is notoriously slow.  Oh, and being the amazing fisherwoman that I am, I also caught two pelicans.  Here's a video of our captain reeling one in.

More amazing pics from that beautiful day of fishing are below and also a short video of the crazy birds hanging on the beach while the fishermen clean their catch.

Sunrise from Our Boat

Bahia Suerte

Barney, my fishing buddy

Captain Jorge

We're at the half way point of our stay here, two more months.  I'm sure it will fly by and it will be time to move on before we know it.  We have our friends from Chapala, Vern and Kathleen, visiting next week so should be fun showing them around.

Finally! Swimming with Whale Sharks!

From the first time I saw a picture of a whale shark, I was enthralled.  These giants are so beautiful, and so gentle.  I wanted to see one live and in person.  Well I finally had my chance.

The Bay of La Paz attracts juvenile whale sharks in these winter months.  They come to the bay simply to feed in the warm waters. Although just kids, these guys hanging out in our bay are already 14 to 17 feet long. One of the first people we met here was Pablo (Paul), a marine biologist who lives in El Centenario doing research on the health of the whale sharks in the bay as well as identifying them.  He offered to take me and a small group out to swim with these beauties.

Last Saturday we had our chance.  I went out with four others, Pablo and the boat captain.  Matt didn't go; he's still uncomfortable in small boats.  One couple on the boat opted to not get in the water but their 15 year old son planned to swim.  The other swimmer was Bill, a retired psychotherapist from Tucson who now lives in La Paz.  Well, the kid got in the water once!  But Bill and I were tireless!  Every time we came upon a whale shark we threw on our mask, snorkel and fins and jumped in.  These guys were beautiful.  The goal is to spot one swimming in the water, let the boat get you a bit ahead of the whale shark, jump in and then swim in a pattern to intersect the whale sharks path.  If you time it just right, you can swim along with him for several minutes before you just can't keep up any longer or he gets tired of you, flips his tail and turns to swim in the other direction.  Pablo was able to identify each of the whale sharks we found, and had a name for each of them.  The only down side of this day was that the day was cloudy so visibility from above the surface wasn't so great; so no opportunity to take pictures.  I found these pics on the internet, just to give an idea how cool these guys are.

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During our trip, I talked with Bill about Matt's unease with boats.  He talked to me about EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique.  It's a method to use to overcome fears, anxiety and deal with pain.  He came out to our casita one evening the following week and showed Matt and I the technique.  We're hoping it works for Matt's boat phobia, hope to test it soon.  Matt also used it to deal with some pain in his hand.  I'm planning to try it for food cravings and insomnia.....not that I can't go to sleep, I just get up too soon.  We will see.  It sounds crazy, but Matt was very enthused about how it helped him already.

We joined a group who bowl every Wednesday.  Unbelievable, there is a very nice little bowling alley in La Paz.  It was fun, but wish we'd had our own balls.  I got started back in Spanish class.  Seems like all the gringos I've met here have the same tutor, Alexsa.  I was a little apprehensive about having to drive into La Paz for classes (guess I should have used EFT on that) but glad I did!  She is a great tutor and I think she's just what I need.  She recognizes I have a good basic knowledge of this language but just can't get it out of my head and to my mouth.  Alexsa is minimally fluent in English so she insists that most of our time together be in Spanish, so she forces me to communicate and understand what she is saying.  Looking forward to our next session!

I love to watch the sunrise every morning over the bay.  I thought this one was particularly beautiful.

Love this pic of Matt.  I had just posted something on Facebook about people missing so much of their life because they're staring at their devices.  Well, that very afternoon we went out to lunch and this is what I caught Matt doing!

And finally, here's a picture of one of the beautiful beaches surrounding us.  The day we were there it was totally deserted, except for the two of us.  Amazing!

Christmas in the Dessert

Definitely didn't feel like Christmas surrounded with sand and cactus, but was a good one none the less.

When we were here nearly three years ago we met two couples:  Robin and Miriam who have a real estate business in El Centenario and Chuck and Sherry who had just built a little house for their planned retirement.  We reconnected with both these couples our first week and they're just as nice as we remembered.

Chuck and Sherry invited us to join them for New Year's Eve celebrations at a nearby restaurant and to help at a Christmas Eve dinner some gringos were hosting to feed some needy families from a nearby pueblo.  Miriam and Robin invited us to a Christmas pot luck dinner in our little neighborhood of Colmitan.

The Christmas Eve dinner was good, although over staffed with gringos.  We tended to just get in each other's way.  Each family received dinner and there were gifts for each child.  There were also bags of groceries for each family as well as new blankets and pillows.  Everyone loaded up their plates with food, and took most of it home.

Sherry Dishing Up Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner was really nice as well.  It was good to meet our neighbors.  We shared stories on how we all ended up in this spot in Mexico and it's amazing to me the variety of people that decide to move here.

The day after Christmas, Matt and I played golf at the Costabaja course in La Paz - it was amazing!  There were ocean views from nearly every hole.  I struggled through nine holes and then decided to just drink a couple of beers and drive the cart.  I think we'll look into lessons for me when we return to Chapala.  Experiences like this one are just too good to miss, and would be a lot more fun if I could actually play!

One thing I think we'll really like about living here is the opportunity for some very cool day trips.  Matt and I took one this week when we drove to La Ventana which is about 45 minutes aways.  La Ventana is nearly always very windy and draws a lot of kite surfers.  We loved watching them; reminded us of Cabarete.  It is incredible the amount of vacant land with incredible ocean vistas.  I'm sure the developers will get here eventually, but thankfully for now it's still just a little Mexican pueblo.  La Ventana also has about six or seven RV parks and they were all nearly full (probably because of Christmas/New Years).  Love seeing all the families that come down here for the water sports and the little kids playing in the sand.  Much better than a visit to Disney!

Kite Surfers at La Ventana

The weather has definitely improved the past week.  Most days have been mid 70s or 80s - so nothing to complain about.  And we do have some beautiful sunrises!

El Centenario Sunrise

 From last blog I forgot to post a pic of Claudia and her kids.  Claudia was our housekeeper and La Cruz and she is such a sweet, beautiful lady - plus really good at her jobs.  She would often bring two of her four kids with her when she was working.  Matt loved to slip Tiffany and Christopher candy....or buy them ice cream.  On our last day, Claudia brought us a little gift of a sea shell painted with a La Cruz beach scene and her camera to take our picture!  We'll miss this sweet family.

Claudia, Tiffany and Christopher

The Trip to La Paz

Well, we're here!  It was a journey but we made it safe and sound with no real problems.

We packed up our La Cruz house on Saturday and had everything ready to load.  We hadn't made it to Roberto's Xocolat for dinner during our stay so we splurged had went there Saturday night.  It's perched on the side of a cliff with an amazing view of La Cruz, the marina and Banderas Bay.  Perfect way to end our stay - and dinner was excellent.  But dang, we forgot our camera!

Early Sunday morning Matt started loading the car.  He is an amazing packer.  He was watched over by this sweet sculpture.  I think it's St. Francis of Assisi, but I'm not expert on saints.

We have our own traveling angel that was given to us by Matt's mom.  This sweet face will go with us to each new home.  Here she is in the car, already to pull out.

We walked down to the Sunday market for one last visit.  Matt loves the marlin burritos that one of the vendors makes and he wanted those for his lunch.  And he wanted to say hasta la vista to Martin, his favorite La Cruz cigar man.

We left about 10:30 and had an uneventful drive to Mazatlan....although I think we definitely took the scenic route.  Matt forged his own way, rather than obey the GPS.  We saw a lot of little fishing villages along the coast and field after field of mango and banana trees, and still got into Mazatlan before sunset.  We found the hotel with no problem.  The malecon in Mazatlan is beautiful with some amazing sculptures.  Unfortunately it was too dark for pics.

Baja Ferries have two routes to La Paz.  The largest one is between Mazatlan and La Paz.  But this trip is 16 hours.  The other option is the route between Topolobampo and La Paz.  Topo is about a five or six hour drive north of Mazatlan, but that ferry trip is only 7 hours.  Because of Hermann, we decided to take the Topo ferry.  They allow dogs on both ferries, but there is no option to walk them or feed them and that's just too long.  But we wanted to buy our ferry tickets in Mazatlan so we could have that all taken care of when we eventually arrived in Topo.

On Monday morning we were out of the hotel by 8:00 and then went to the Baja ferry pier in Mazatlan.  This was definitely a situation where I was glad I had some Spanish!  No one spoke even a bit of English!  I explained to the guard at the ferry pier what we wanted to do.  He told us to join this line of semi trucks waiting to be weighed.....and quite the line it was.  We inched along, sandwiched between all these semis and finally made our way to the weigh station.  There the attendant measured the length of our car and weighed it.  Asked for our passports and some basic info from Matt (name, age, nationality), filled out a slip of paper, and then sent us off to the ticket office.

There were some people ahead of us in line, so we took a number.  They were serving #19 and we were #29.  Not bad we thought.  Well, it was 1 1/2 hours before we got to the ticket window.  This is a VERY slow process.  But the ticket agent understood my Spanish well enough to know we wanted two passenger tickets from Topo, plus the car and our "mascota" and that we wanted a "cabina".  I asked about where Hermann would stay, but she just told me that as long as he had a crate he would be fine.  She also told us we needed to be lined up to load our car in Topo by 9:00 p.m. - the ferry is scheduled to leave at midnight. The total cost was about the equivalent of $300 USD.  Not bad to save at least four hard days of driving!

The drive from Mazatlan to Topo was fine.  Good roads and not much traffic.  This is a huge center for agriculture.  We saw miles of fields growing citrus, nuts, tomatoes, squash, peppers and beans.  We later found out that it's not just and fruits and vegetables that are grown in this area; and that the cartel is very powerful here.

We arrived at Topo about 6:00, not long before sunset.  We located the ferry pier and then went into to Topo for dinner.  There is definitely not a lot going on in Topo!  A few stands on the street selling tacos, hot dogs and ceviche.  And that's about it....and we had three hours to kill here.  Luckily there was a Christmas program being held at the waterfront so we watched a Spanish version of Disney story re-enactments.  It was fun.  Then we had a hot dog and some ice cream....and we just waited.

A bit before 9:00 p.m. we headed to the pier.  We joined three rows of cars waiting to load, we were about six or seven cars from the front of the line.  All the semis were in another lot.  And we waited some more.  We did meet up with one other American who was waiting to board and he'd made this trip several times.  He gave us some idea of what to expect, and also verified that Hermann would need to stay in the car for the entire trip.  I took this opportunity to give him plenty of time out of his crate.  At 11:00 p.m. they started loading the cars onto the ferry.  Only the driver is permitted to drive the car on and off the ferry, so I put Herm in his crate, told Matt good-bye and went to join the other passengers waiting to walk on.  About 11:15 they started to board the walk on passengers and there was a big rush for the stairs.  I went as well.....not sure why.  They let a few passengers go past the stairs, but they were just standing in another line waiting to cross the bridge to the ferry.  The rest of us were still jammed in the stairs, and lots of crying babies!  Who could blame them, way past their bed-time!  I decided to go back to the waiting area, I was in no hurry to board.  Finally about 11:30 they started letting passengers go off the stairwell into another waiting area.  I gave it another five minutes for the crowd to clear and went up myself.  Well, I should have waited.  After you got off the stairwell, they divided the group into two lines, one for men and another for women.  The marina guards (in camo uniformes and armed with ak47s were searching some of the men's carry on luggage.  The women weren't searched, but a drug dog walked up and down both rows.  The drug dog had already checked out our car while I was waiting with Matt, and was especially interested in Herm.  He immediately picked up Herm's scent on me and stopped right in front of me.  Luckily his handler had remembered us from the car search, laughed and went on.

I finally got on the ferry about 11:50 and went to the reception desk for our cabin key.  Matt and I had prearranged to try and meet at the bar, or if he couldn't find me there to come to the cabin.  At this point I really just wanted to go to the cabin and collapse in the bunk, thought Matt could find me there. Well....in Mazatlan we had been assigned cabin 98, but the receptionist gave me keys for cabin 96 instead.  I didn't notice until I was nearly to the cabin.  So I through my bag in the cabin, and headed to the bar to wait for Matt.  I was sure he was already on the boat as they'd started loading the cars so long ago.  Well, the bar was closed and no sign of Matt waiting for me.  I sat on the sofa outside the bar....and didn't move even after it opened.  About 12:20 a very tired Matt Sullins came up the steps.  Our car had been one of the last few loaded, he had driven on just about midnight.

Manny the Mariner wedged in with all the big boys

We went to our cabins, took another dose of dramamine, and that was it for us.  We saw nothing else of the ferry, although what we did see was very nice, much like an older, simple cruise ship.  Our cabin was small, but very clean and all we wanted were the beds anyway.  Matt was out like a light; I slept about four hours but was freezing.  I managed to grope my way to closet and I grabbed his jacked to sleep in, but was still too cold to sleep.  In the morning after we turned on the light, I saw that there were two extra blankets in the room, I could have used both of them!

We docked in La Paz about 7:00 a.m. and I just took a seat and waited while Matt went down with the other drivers.  I knew I'd have a long wait as he'd need to go through customs before I could join him....but didn't realize how long.  Once again, he was one of the last cars off the ferry.  The customs in La Paz did a thorough search of our car.  He had to unload Hermann and some of the bags, but luckily nothing off the car top carrier.  The custom agent was very polite and friendly and admired Matt's cigar collection.  Matt actually offered him one but he refused it.  He also laughed about my stash of Absolut.  Matt eventually cleared customs at 10:00 a.m. and picked me up.  We took Herm to the first open area we could find and finally let him out of his crate and gave him water.  Poor baby, but he seemed find.

Found our new home in La Paz; it's actually in El Centenario.  So different from La Cruz, but beautiful in it's own way.  Sand and cactus everywhere.  Our house is right on the beach.  This isn't a swimming beach, but still lovely to look at.  Herm loves this big, sandy yard to guard and spends most of his days on our front porch.

There is a roof top deck where we can see the bay at night; and the full moon was beautiful rising over La Paz.

We settled into our new home, unpacked our things, and made a grocery store run on Tuesday.  And we slept so good that night after this long trip.  Wednesday morning I took Herm out and he was peeing blood and there were drops of blood around the house.  Of course I went into panic mode.  We took him to a vet in La Paz (English speaking thankfully) who gave him a thorough exam and decided it was a bladder infection from that long trip.  He tried to give him an IV treatment but Herm would have nothing to do with that.  So instead he got about four injections, we left with some vitamin C, pain meds, and antibiotics.  We also bought a months supply of a special food, six months of heart worm preventative, and one month of Frontline.   Total cost was less than $100.  Not too bad.  Herm was doing much better by that afternoon.

So now, we plan to spend just a few days doing nothing.  The hard packed sand along the beach here is perfect for riding our bikes.  I'm starting yoga classes today, and in a few days we'll find a Spanish tutor for me.  But no rush; we're ready to chill!

Time to Move On!

While I love the opportunities that the life style we've chosen give us, the one part I don't love is leaving.  La Cruz is the third stop on our retirement journey and, like Cabarete and Ajijic, very hard to leave.

This has been a short stay.  We were in Cabarete for five months and Ajijic for four.  Our stay in La Cruz has only been two months.  When we found our casita we fell in love but it was out of our budget.  The owner was very helpful and negotiated the rent to a point where we could afford it, but could only do this up until mid-December, which is when their high season kicks in.  I fully understand - with the hot, humid summers here she only have a few months of prime rental season.  But I'm sad to move on, our time here went too soon.  And right now the weather is PERFECT!   We have great pool days even though the water is starting to feel just a bit cool, unlike the nearly bathtub temperature the pool was when we arrived mid-October.  In the evening, you feel just a hint of cool in the air, but not enough to even bother with a jacket.  And the mornings are incredible!  The air is crisp and cool and so refreshing.  My yoga class is at 7:15 a.m. and I walk the six blocks in just my workout clothes.  But the Mexican ladies in my class arrive in thick sweaters or bundled up in warm hoodies.  While we're enjoying this, much of the US has been experiencing unseasonably cold weather, sleet, and snow.

So Sunday morning we leave.  We'll probably start sorting through our things the next few days to see what we can leave behind.  I have a massage scheduled for Saturday afternoon to get me in the mood to travel.  Sunday morning we'll stop at the artisans market behind our house.  Matt's favorite food item their is the smoked marlin burritos and they haven't had them the past several weeks.  But he put in a special order, and they're bringing just two for him.  Then we'll drive about five hours to Mazatlan and spend the night.  In Mazatlan we should be able to buy ferry tickets.  Mazatlan is one of the two towns that the ferry travels to, but the trip from Mazatlan to La Paz is about 18 hours -- too long for Hermann to be in a crate.  So Tuesday morning we're going to drive another five hours north to Topolobampo.   From there the ferry trip to La Paz is only eight hours.  The ferry leaves at 11:00 p.m. each night and arrives in La Paz at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday.  So in six days we'll be at our new home!

The visit with my sister was such a good one!  We had her to ourselves for six days.  We went to Desildoradas beach and had a great day at this beautiful beach.  There are always local men diving for oysters right off the beach and for 80 pesos they'll crack a dozen for you right at your table.  The water is clear and calm, and still very warm.  I did have my first encounter with what I believe was sea lice here.  I was in the water just up to my knees when both legs starting stinging.  I got out and rinsed off with bottled water but this didn't help.  The next days I had multiple patches of bumps that looked like poison ivy on both legs and MAN did it itch.  This went on for about four days before it finally cleared up.  But still.....well worth the experience and this is nothing that will stop me from swimming in that beautiful ocean.  Sue joined me for yoga classes, which we're her first studio classes, and she did great.  And she convinced me to go to strength training classes with her.  And then we had lots of good mornings watching the sunrise from her palapa apartment and hanging at the pool.

Syd and Sister Sue at PV Marina

Sue's husband Rodney arrived on December 2nd.  He booked a fishing trip and Sue and I decided to join him.  Guess who caught the biggest fish?  Yep, that's my bad boy and I pulled it in all by myself.

Syd's big catch

Oh, and here's Sue's big catch.  But she did reel it in without help.

Sue's big catch

 We also took Rodney back to Desildoradas and then spent another incredible beach day at San Pancho - and none of us had a camera!  Love San Pancho!

Matt, Syd & Rodney at Desildoradas Beach

Sue and Rodney wanted to show us the Puerto Vallarta Marina; Matt and I had never been there.  It's beautiful, if you can find a place to park!  Their favorite restaurant there is Victors where we went for breakfast.  At Victors, it's free tequila shots; any time of the day.  So along with our bloody mary's we had a couple of shots; good thing Matt was driving!

Monday we dropped off Sue and Rodney at the Hardrock where they'll spend a week before heading home to cold Kansas City.  Now, Matt and I are back to normal....just the two of us for a few more days.  We do love being on the beach if it means we can have visitors!

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".