Happy 2009 to everyone!

December 31, 2008
Fairhope, Alabama

To our family family and friends all over the world, have a happy and healthy 2009!

Betty and Bob

I'm feeling grumpy...

....because I worked really hard at my blog and nobody, make that NOBODY, has commented. I'm feeling underappreciated.

Back in Fairhope

So we're back in Fairhope for about 6 months before we return to KY and me to my job. It's such a lovely little town, and our cottage--truly a cottage--is in a neighbor of similar homes mixed with bigger renovated (and new) homes. This neighborhood is located on the bluff above the bay. Just half a block's walk to the west takes us to the wide grassy park area overlooking the bay, the city's park with picnic grounds, duck pond, and beach. We can take a set of steps right down to the park.




We've calculated a walk of about 6-7 blocks to the library, fewer to shops, restaurants,etc. on the main street, Fairhope Ave. The weather is a balmy 73 right now, humidity 80%. Great for the skin, I'm told, but awful for my straight hair. Time for a new hair style that can deal with the humidity. Oddly enough, the humidity in Ajijic isn't that much lower-about 70%--but it never seemed that humid. I guess it's welcome to the Gulf Coast. The camellias--pink and red and white--are blooming all around. There are a couple of bushes in our front yard getting ready to burst into bloom.



And as we walked around the neighborhood yesterday with the dogs, we kept catching the scent of something wonderfully sweet but not cloying. We finally located one of the sources at the corner of our neighbor's house. It's a tea olive (osmanthus fragans), and Corey and Candy have a bush, too.

Christmas Eve—Driving south in the driving rain

Heading back to Alabama so Mark and Melinda can have some much needed time alone together after her extended hospital stay. Susannah and John are in Pennsylvania with John's family--lots of Brewers gathering there. They'll be having a terrific time. Corey, Candy, Gaby, and Eliza (their dog) are arriving in Richmond, KY today to spend the holidays with Candy’s whole Weber family. I hope they’re not facing the same weather we are. .From the time we left Louisville, we’ve been driving in a non-stop heavy downpour—sheets of rain, some strong wind gusts of 30-40 mph. Fortunately, the temperature is in the high 50s, so no snow or ice. We’ll be looking after C & C’s kitties when we get back to Alabama. I left there less than two days after arriving to go see Mindy, and Bob hasn’t done any shopping. Unfortunately, by the time we get back to Fairhope the stores will have closed for Christmas Eve. So we may stop at a grocery somewhere down the road if the rain lets up. We have a cooler with us for milk. If not, we may have to go raid C & C’s pantry until the day after Christmas. Hope this rain goes away or we drive out of it. So we’re driving along, listening to Christmas music, thinking about all of you out there. Wish we could be with everybody all at the same time.

Poor Mindy/Mel/Melinda

December 24, 2008

(For those of you who don't know, our daughter Melinda has a split personality. Until age 13, when she decided Mindy was entirely too babyish or something or other, she went by Mindy to everyone--family, friends, strangers, whoever. In the 8th grade, however, she took up the nickname of Mel and has gone by it ever since to new friends, husbands, etc. She still doesn't mind Mindy by us, however.)

OK, catch-up time again. I think I last posted the evening of Saturday, December 12, after crossing the border from Mexico at Reynosa. We drove that Sunday as far as Lafayette, LA, then on into to Fairhope Monday afternoon, December 14. It was really very warm and muggy. High temps in the 70s, very high humidity. What a difference we could feel right away after Mexico. As we were coming through the Bankhead tunnel under Mobile Bay, we got a call from Melinda. She was on her way to the ER, strong possibility of appendicitis. She had been in some pain and discomfort for about a week, went to an Urgent Care Center on Saturday, where they diagnosed a urinary tract infection. Sunday evening they called to report the test results negative for UTI. So, on Monday afternoon, after her next-to-last final exam, she saw her own doctor who sent her straight to the ER. The ER at Audubon Hospital has her on morphine within 10 minutes, then ran tests, including a CT scan. By 8:30 that night she was in surgery for a ruptured appendix. Very nasty infection and complications, peritonitis, but the doctor was able to do everything necessary with three laparoscopic incisions. In spite of the minimal invasion, she still had to spent 5 miserable days in the hospital getting massive infusions of heavy-duty antibiotics via IV. Mark called for me to come up and help by Wednesday morning when they realized how difficult her recovery was going to be. So I flew up from Mobile Wednesday afternoon, and Mark and I took turns on hospital watch. (Don’t get me started on nurses and hospitals.) Then Bob drove up from Alabama Monday with the dogs so he could see Melinda and bring me back. She’s doing so much better and Mark is taking excellent care of her. And, of course, he fed us well in his usual gourmet style. Melinda’s biggest concern right now is making up for her last final exam which she missed the morning after her surgery.

Tangerines

Before we left Ajijic, we harvested one last batch of tangerines from the tree in our garden, knowing we would have to surrender whatever we hadn't eaten once we got to the border. So for two long days, between a hearty breakfast and a very late dinner, all we really ate was tangerines--that is, Bob, Daisy, and I ate them. Howdy's not too fond of fresh fruit. I had an image in my mind of us traveling across Mexico, peeling and eating tangerines, tossing the peels and seeds as we traveled. Sort of like The Elephant's Child in my favorite Kipling story:

"Then he went away, a little warm, but not at all astonished, eating melons, and throwing the rind about, because he could not pick it up."

Except that we are much too neat for that and collected our leavings and deposited them in the trash: "The rest of the time he picked up the melon rinds that he had dropped on his way to the Limpopo--for he was a Tidy Pachyderm. "

Crossing the Border

13 December 2008

We took a different route this time. Spent the night in Matehuala at Las Palmas, our usual spot which felt very comfortable and familiar. But today we headed northeast and crossed the mountains with a very steep descent. It was beautiful, with narrow canyons and gorges, but about 15 miles from the bottom, we began to smell something burning: the brakes were protesting the hairpin curves (curvas peligrosas again!). So we pulled over onto a turn-out to give the brakes a rest. They were very hot. Beautiful spot though.




While we walked the dogs at the turn-out, random rocks fell now and then from the cliff face above us. We had seen signs that warned us of derrumbes. From the landscape, we took that to mean big rocks falling on our heads. Anyway, after resting the car, ourselves, and the dogs, we proceeded very carefully, Bob using low gear instead of the brakes whenever possible. No problems after that, and we were soon on the eastern side of the mountains. The rest of the way we had few issues: missing the turn in Allende, getting stuck in a long line waiting to cross at Reynosa, then totally missing the directions to La Quinta here in Harlingen. But now we're all fed and about to tuck ourselves in for the night. We're figuring two more days to Fairhope but less strenuous. The dogs have been wonderful. Bob not too bad, either.

One Day More

Busy, busy day today. More packing. A last visit to the tianguis to buy some trinkets. I had lunch with Janel and Jan at Roberto's. Then Martina came to bathe and groom the dogs for the last time. Then off to the dentist for check-ups and cleaning. Then a cocktail party at Howard and Susan's. After that, Jan and Jack came over to help us clean out the fridge. We grilled chicken breasts and sauteed the last of the tenderloin, salad, and baked potatoes. Very sad to say good-bye...to everyone, but especially Jan and Jack who were the first people we met from Ajijic and have become such very good friends.

Still Packing

Dec. 9, 2008

At least, Bob is still packing. I've been playing. Yesterday I played poker with a group I've been playing with once a month since we got back. Yesterday, we went out to a ranch where the couple raises horses, cattle, and sheep. Very cool. Maggie put her Andalusian mare through her paces via voice commands. Then we drove home through very dusty back roads winding through brown cornfields with stacks of dried husks arranged artfully in some of them. Didn't have a camera with me though. Darn.

Today Jan and I went to set up nativity scenes for display at a nearby B&B, then rewarded ourselves with lunch at a new restaurant, The Creperie. Very good. We ate lunch in the sunny garden and chatted. Fun. Meanwhile, Bob was home packing. Then Kathy and Jack, Susan and Howard came over to haul out pots of plants we've collected over the past 8 months. Then more packing and dinner. We had shrimp tossed with butter, onions, and garlic in the wok; baked potatoes; and green beans sauteed with onions and garlic. Yummy. Just about finished with packing.

Packing

Haven't written since we got back from the coast. It's been very chilly in the house in the mornings and evenings. I think because of the construction of the house, 16 ft ceilings, and so on. I do understand why people who live here most of the year opt to spend the winter months on the coast. Without heat in the house to take off the chill, it can be quite cold.

We've got the kitchen and bathroom stuff packed. Tomorrow the clothes, then the office stuff. It's awful how much we accumulate in a short period. We'll be leaving here Friday, arriving in Fairhope on Monday--four farily leisurely days.

Sunday, Nov 30, 2008

Today is our last full day here. We woke up to another beautiful morning. We went to bed about 10:30 (central?) and slept in longer this morning. It got a bit chilly during the night so we pulled up a blanket over the sheet. This morning we have our hoodies on (minus the hoods) until we get coffee. Our only plans for the day are to meet a guy with some horses on the beach about 4 pm (mountain time, I think). What a mellow vacation. More pics of the entire week, in no particular order.

Saturday, Nov 29, 2008

It’s overcast this morning and quite blustery with rain showers off to the west over the ocean. The big birds that we think are frigate birds are soaring on the air currents, so lovely to watch until they hit a headwind and then have to flap their wings not so gracefully and drop down to another level.


Recap: Late Thanksgiving Day, the two new guests showed up: Brian and Sue from Colorado. Brian is a self-described ski bum who said he took a semester off from college 25 years ago to go skiing and never went back. He does ski patrol and avalanche control in the ski season and finish carpentry in the off season. He has a 2 year-old golden retriever named Ruby that he’s training for snow rescue. Sue is an ER nurse in Denver, lives in Boulder, but spends most of her time at Brian’s A-Frame in Dillon an hour and a half away. She’s traveled all over the world, including Patagonia and Nepal, Japan and New Zealand. Both are very interesting people and very comfortable palapa-mates. Fortunately, they’re also dog-lovers.

Yesterday (Friday), we had breakfast and bird-watched as usual, then took a hike through the jungle to the beach to the south of us. The jungle hike was longer than the one to the north beach and was just a path carved out of the trees, with some rough dirt steps axed out in some places. In other places, it was pretty slippy and slidey going downhill. The beach was longer than the other one, another cove with a wide beach between rocky cliffs. This beach was completely deserted, although there was a house just a ways up but no sign of life. The dogs romped in the surf, chasing the ball. Daisy seems to have gotten over her reluctance to get completely wet. And again, as soon as we got down to the beach, she rolled and rolled in the sand like a pig in mud. Why? She wouldn’t tell us. There are very strong undercurrents, evidenced by the way the wet beach was deeply carved, so we stayed in the shallows, keeping the dogs from getting beyond the wave breaks. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, very pleasant temperature—probably upper 70s to 80.

Then lunch, reading, swimming in the pool. We had to hose off the dogs and both of them had burrs from something they’d gotten entangled with in the jungle. Bob very patiently brushed out huge tangles in Daisy’s ears; then she promptly threw up. We don’t know if she drank seawater or ate something on the beach or in the jungle, but she seemed to be fine after that. Bob took Brian and Sue into San Pancho (about 3 miles) for some food supplies, then he came back. They stayed on and wandered around town, taking a taxi back here. They scored some fresh fish, mahi-mahi, so we had a great dinner of risotto, mesquite-grilled fish, and salad.

Today our plans are similar to the previous days: eat, read, swim, take the dogs to the beach. Today I think we’re going to take the car and explore some other beaches instead of hiking through the jungle. I think the overcast will clear off later, but if it doesn’t, that’s ok, too.

Time for breakfast

Saturday evening


Because it was so overcast and blustery, we took out books back to our palapa and read into the early afternoon. Brian and Sue found a puzzle challenge and followed it to the finish. Bob and I finished our respective books within minutes of each other and decided to take the dogs for a drive in search of a good beach that didn’t take them through the jungle. We drove north to Lo de Barca, a very quiet town, no particular beaches caught our attention. Then we drove south to Sayulita just south of San Pancho. We saw more gringo tourists there but the streets were all one-way and difficult to navigate and Bob was getting tired of fighting the narrow streets and just wanted to find a beach so we headed back to San Pancho, drove through town and north back toward our place. We stopped and parked along the street and went through an access to the wide, long beach. It turned out that the beach stretched all the way back to the main part of town, maybe a mile or more. We walked the beach that far and then had a drink at an outdoor bar on the beach. While we were there, another couple, also from Colorado, stopped to talk to us and joined us for a drink. Then we walked back along the beach to where we’d left the car.


Meanwhile, we were joined by a great dog we named Pancho who followed us all the way back. Bob wouldn’t let me take him with us. Now we’re cooking dinner with Brian and Sue—mostly they’re cooking and I’m writing and listening to Norah Jones. We’re having steak, shrimp, grilled vegetables, and baked potatoes. The weather cleared up a bit mid-afternoon to allow a nice sunset. It’s still breezy which is very nice.

cont'd

After about 45 minutes, we headed back up the Cliffside—not too bad a climb with the flat stretches to take a breathing break. Back at the villa, we found a hose and tried to wash all the sand out of the dogs’ coats. Later, when they had dried off, I brushed them out and they’re amazingly sand-free—even Daisy! We debated going into town to find a cyber café but just couldn’t summon the need to leave this place. We plunged into the pool to cool ourselves and rinse the salt off. When Bob swam to the far edge of the pool, Howdy went racing down the steps to the pool equipment room below. With the infinity pool, it must have looked to Howdy like Bob was going over the edge, so he raced to save him. He couldn’t figure out what do when he got down there though. Poor Howdy, it’s so tough taking care of his family. After about 45 minutes, we headed back up the Cliffside—not too bad a climb with the flat stretches to take a breathing break. Back at the villa, we found a hose and tried to wash all the sand out of the dogs’ coats. Later, when they had dried off, I brushed them out and they’re amazingly sand-free—even Daisy! We debated going into town to find a cyber café but just couldn’t summon the need to leave this place. We plunged into the pool to cool ourselves and rinse the salt off. When Bob swam to the far edge of the pool, Howdy went racing down the steps to the pool equipment room below. With the infinity pool, it must have looked to Howdy like Bob was going over the edge, so he raced to save him. He couldn’t figure out what do when he got down there though. Poor Howdy, it’s so tough taking care of his family. The rest of the afternoon, we read, I wrote some more, we watched the ocean and seabirds. It was fairly exhausting! For dinner, Bob grilled some chicken breasts and I made a veggie stir-fry and rice. After dinner, another swim in the pool with only the pool lights on and the Beatles cd that Mindy had made for me a few years ago. Then to bed. Last night, Bob set up the kennel right in front of the doorway to keep the dogs in but allow Howdy to sleep inside it. We left the cage door open and he slept part of the night there. We didn’t use the box fan last night because we didn’t really need it, and we wanted to hear the sound of the ocean waves breaking on the rocks below.


During the night—maybe very early in the morning—a dog began to bark somewhere nearby, very insistently and alarmingly. Half-asleep, I imagined a cougar or puma or ocelot getting too close to somebody’s house and the dog sounding the alarm. Another beautiful morning—breakfast on the patio, watching the seabirds again. We’re going into town to find an internet connection and replenish some supplies. Unless Bob and Howdy manage to catch a wild turkey here in the jungle, I think our Thanksgiving dinner is going to be shrimp on the Barbie with risotto and salad on the side. Another couple arrives today from Colorado. Hope they’re nice. And I hope you’re having a lovely Thanksgiving wherever you are. Boy, am I thankful to be where I am right now!

North Beach

Yesterday morning after Bob and the dogs had scouted, we headed for the beach just north of here. But to get there, we had to backtrack up the cobblestoned road, then down a ways to find the path and steps to the flat sandy beach north of us—maybe about a 15 minute walk altogether. The stepped path was much easier to follow than the steps below here because they’re flatter and more level, with some stretches of flat no-steps to break the descent (and ascent). The path winds through the jungle and Daisy scampered off and on the path, delighted to explore. We broke through the edge of the jungle at the beach, which is a cove between two rocky outcroppings and cliffs, not very long, maybe 100 meters. Where we came out of the jungle we saw some shady palapas and a few kayaks for rent, but there were only a couple of men tending those. The sand was soft and deep there, but hard-packed closer to the ocean. Two spear fishermen were taking a break in the lee of one of the rock outcroppings, and a young woman with a baby was sheltering at the north end beneath the cliffs, maybe the wife of the one kayak-renters.

On both cliffsides are houses, some fancier than others. Some are just palapa-roofed snugs like these where we are. The dogs romped with the ball, but the undertow was pretty strong so Bob didn’t throw it out very far, just along the edge of breaking waves. Howdy is so single-minded when chasing his ball that we knew he would keep going if it went farther out. Bob didn’t fancy having to do a canine rescue in that strong undertow.

Even Daisy really seemed to enjoy the surf and sand, chasing and playing, but then she decided to roll in the packed sand over and over, embedding it in her fur. Must have felt good, I guess. I wasn’t too pleased since she snuggles me in bed. The two spear fishermen went back to it, exploring the calmer pools of water among the rocks, but we don’t know what kind of fish they were expecting.

At the north end of the beach, I went to explore some rocks, thinking I might perch on one and watch the ocean. But as I got close, I saw that the rocks were covered with sand crabs scuttling all over them. Decided I wouldn’t perch there, but by this time I was thoroughly soaked from the waves crashing against the rocks. It was fun.

“Does anybody really know what time it is?”

A favorite old Chicago song came to mind this morning when we woke up in our villa. Bob’s watch had mysteriously reset itself to local time which is mountain time here, we think, in Nayarit. But just a little bit south of here, when you cross back over into Jalisco—which is where PV is—it becomes central time again. No matter. The back refrain for the song goes: “I don’t care…”
I’m sitting at the table on the deck, facing the ocean. It’s morning and the sun hasn’t come over the mountains from behind us yet. It’s shining on the ocean and on the palms sloping down to the cove, but we’re still in complete shade. We’re supposed to have internet wireless here, but Juan told us yesterday it hasn’t been working for a couple of days. Doesn’t know why: Ojala que funciona muy pronto. Ojala, indeed! No TV, no internet, no news…..Oh. My. God. I’m out of touch with the world! We have our Mexican cell phone with us, but since we use it so seldom, we can’t even figure out how to check messages. There’s no land line. We’re not even sure how broadband is provided out here. There’s a dish up by Peacock, so maybe it’s brought in…or not…by satellite. It certainly doesn’t deliver TV. It’s interesting though. I can’t web-surf, can’t talk on the phone. Town is too far away to walk to. So, what am I doing? WRITING!

So, now I know the key—total and complete isolation. There’s a wonderful breeze and all the animals, 4-legged as well as 2, are muy contentos.

After our arrival yesterday, which was either 2:20 or 3:30—the trip took us about 4 ½ hours—we unpacked our clothes and put the foodstuff away. I’m glad I brought as much as I did because the stores nearby are just little ones—abarrotes—with minimal supplies, and we didn’t see anything of any size, like a Soriana, on our way here. There’s a Mega store just north of PV, but that’s entirely too far to go. When we run out of what we’ve brought, we can get fish and shrimp in town and all the fresh veggies and fruit we need. I made us a couple of drinks—G&T for Bob, a margarita for me—some cheese and crackers (we hadn’t had lunch), and we plunged into the pool—not with the drinks and cheese, obviously. Very comfortable water temp. The air temp was in the high 80s and humid even at this time of year. I wonder if it ever gets really dry like much of the rest of Mexico. Incredible views of the ocean. We found a very tiny boom box but couldn’t get it to play, so we used my laptop to play cds. Very nice.

As it got dark, we started to prepare dinner. Bob built a fire in the grill for steaks. It has a gas starter and there was some mesquite wood. I made a salad and popped a couple of potatoes in the oven. Very simple but yummy. I was amazed at the flavor the mesquite gave the steaks. We opened a bottle of Chilean red and lit one of the little lanterns with citronella oil we had brought with us. But with the breeze, we didn’t notice any bugs at all. At whatever time we had eaten, listened to music and the sound of the ocean waves, cleaned up the kithen, we had quick showers and went to bed. We had to lock away any food, such as cereal or crackers, because critters from the jungle around us raid these open areas at night. Bob blocked the open doorway of our villa with the collapsible kennel to keep the dogs from wandering off in the night and getting eaten*. We started off with the mosquito nets spread around us, but that didn’t feel comfortable, so we shoved them aside. With the ceiling fan, a box fan, and the breezes, we were just right. Daisy snuggled very close all night.

*From literature here in the villa about the area regarding animals:

“Jaguar, cougar, deer, skunk, possum, warthog, raccoon, iguana, green parrot, macaw, pelican, dolphin, sailfish, mahi mahi, red snapper, turtle, whale, etc.” Oh, and toilet-diving frogs!!

The Spanish version seems to include more: “jaguar, puma, ocelote, venado, zorrillo, armadillo, mapache, iguana, tlacuache, guacamaya, perico, gaviota, pelicano, urraca, garza, caiman, delfin, pez dorado, pargo, pez vela, cangrejo, tortuga, ballena jorobada, etc.” I know at least one of those—caiman—was left off the English list. Hmmm.

This morning, we walked down to the cove, about 100 very steep steps. Once down there, we couldn’t really get to the water because there was a drop-off and a steep slide of dirt between the end of the steps and the rocks where the waves were crashing. The dogs are nimble and young enough to manage it though and seemed to enjoy the romp. Later, we came back up and had breakfast. While I was cooking—with the open-air view to the ocean, remember—Bob yelled, “Come, look right now! Whales!” So we got the mini-binoculars and watched them blowing just offshore. Very cool. Bob says it’s his first whale sighting, but I had seen them once before when I rode Susannah’s ship from Pearl Harbor to San Diego. It’s very calm out there today. We’ve seen a few motorboats and one large sailboat with several sails. Bob scouted out another beach with the dogs while I’ve been writing. I think we’re going to head that way soon.

San Pancho

San Pancho’s streets are cobblestoned; the main drag off MX 200 is called Avenida del Tercer Mundo. Some of the side streets are called Pakistan, Camboya, Egipto, Kenia, Haiti, Africa, Cuba, plus all of the central American countries. (What’s Birmania, I wonder? Sounds kind of like Burma, maybe.) Any street to the right, we were told by Susan the owner, would lead to the jungle road…and what a road. Dirt, very deeply rutted, with holes we could have disappeared into. The road goes up, down, and around all in the space of a few meters, it seemed like. Of course, the dogs weren’t happy with this. Here comes Daisy again, bracing her front paws against the dash, hind legs digging into my legs. Howdy’s back drooping his head between us again. Their body language was so very clear: Please, aren’t we there yet??? Following Susan’s directions (which reminded me very much of the driving directions we got from Martha Fay to get to her Tuscany farmhouse at the top of a mountain in 2002), we twisted and climbed up and down, finally arriving at the villa. It’s approximately 3 miles from the village, but we could probably walk it at least as fast as driving it.

So we were met by Juan Garcia (sort of the equivalent of John Smith), the caretaker, and his assistant. There are three separate villas: Peacock, Iguana, and Butterfly. All are basically one large bedroom with two double beds and a full bath with tiled shower. They have thatched palapa roofs with walls only ¾ of the way up. So they’re wide open to breezes. Peacock is at the top where the driveway ends. It’s built above a laundry and storage area and is the biggest with a sitting area, a table and chairs and its own fridge. Iguana is about 30 twisting steps down from that with a little sitting patio and gorgeous view of the ocean. More steps down and you’re in the palapa with the huge kitchen, dining areas, living room (all open air), deck and patio, and infinity pool, perched on the side of a cliff maybe 150 ft above the ocean with rocks and booming waves below.

. A few steps down from the common area is Butterfly with a set-up similar to the others—somewhat less private I think, as the steps down to the cove go right by that villa. Only Peacock has a door and the means to lock anything up. The other two have no doors or windows, only curtains for privacy—which would block the breezes. There are doors to the bathrooms, of course, but that’s pretty much it. It's amazing to us, having lived in Mexico for awhile now, how remarkably unsecured everything is.

Driving to the Coast

We’re on the west side of Guad now on the cuota. Right this minute we’re driving past Tequila off to our right. It seems to be in a valley with a line of mountains on the other side. Very pretty. The countryside reminds me a lot of parts of California with brown hills and small trees, some mesquite, others I don’t recognize. Ahead of us, directly west is a long line of high mountains, the chain of the Sierra Madres we have to cross before getting to the coast. We’re going WNW in the direction of Tepic, but we’ll cut south of there. That’s not a great road, we’ve heard. Our goal is to get to the villas before 3:30 when the caretaker leaves for the day. No big problem, the owner says (from Washington). If he has to leave before we get there, he’ll just leave everything open for us! We’ll be the only ones there until late Thursday. Should be fun.

We’re now passing acres of fields of agave. According to Mexican law, agave can only be grown in the state Jalisco (this one) and in all the states that border Jalisco. However, tequila can only be distilled in the state of Jalisco. Well, that’s the law anyway. Whether it’s followed to the letter, I can’t say.

We’re listening to Sirius for the first time since they merged with XM, so we’re channel hopping to see what new stuff is on the satellite.

Later:
Well, the drive west through the mountains was twisty and turny as advertised. No worse than many other mountain roads though, here in Mexico or the US or elsewhere. But the dogs didn’t really take to the many curves peligrosas y sinuosas (Yes, I’m showing off.). Daisy kept trying to brace herself on my lap, sometimes leaping off to find a more steady spot in the back. But there weren’t any. Howdy sort of stood just behind the console with his head hanging, drooling and looking pretty green around the gills. (You just have to imagine it.) They were both very relieved when we hit mostly level ground again. The views were spectacular though from the high mountain passes. I think we were crossing the Sierra Madres. We passed an old volcano with huge tumbles of enormous black rocks—almost like obsidian (Maybe it is. Could obsidian be volcanic rock?) Breathtaking views all through the drive, with the foliage getting greener and greener the closer we got to the ocean.

Doggone vacation

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

We have talked for months about taking a trip to the west coast of Mexico before we leave to go back to US, but couldn’t make up our minds about where or when or if. But this past weekend pushed us to a decision. The Fiesta of San Andres, patron saint of Ajijic, began over the past weekend and continues through the next weekend. (here's a link to somehone else's blog about last year's fiesta: http://http//cookjmex.blogspot.com/2007/12/fiesta-de-san-andres-ajijic-gets-down.html This doesn’t mean that every day is a holiday from work, but it does mean that every day celebrates Saint Andres with daily masses and parades, fireworks in the plaza, music in the plaza and the arena just two blocks from our house…..and, oh, the cohetes, from early in the morning to wake you up to go to mass, another major round of them at noon, and then very late into the night. Howdy freaked out Sunday night with the very loud banda music and cohetes, so we decided to explore Monday someplace to get out of town for the week. Went to vrbo.com and found this lovely place north of Puerto Vallarta, San Francisco, between Sayulita and Rincon de Guayabitas. Villa Susana is owned by a couple in Washington—three one-bedroom villas clustered around an open-air common living room, kitchen, outdoor patios and infinity pool. And pets are welcome, so here we go on our doggie vacation.

Dale Evans Reincarnate

I tell ya, she's turning into a regular caballera!! Whether on Luna (above) or Cuerva (below), Mom's looking good. Not quite ready for the rodeo yet, but, by her own admission, starting to feel much more comfortable on the back of one of these beasts! Gotta get her a hat!

Going Out

Well, it's not actually cold cold, but pretty chilly for here, and with no means of heat other than portable electric or propane, it's pretty chilly inside as well. We're layering up inside, sleeping under our down comforter, and when we really want to warm up, we just go outside and sit in the sun or take a walk around town. The thick walls of the house keep the inside chilly, but it's lovely and sunny outside. After getting dressed to go out this evening in my wool blazer and knitted scarf (Thanks, Pam!), I decided I was dressed entirely too warm and went back and changed.

Dia de la Independencia

Lots of noise from the street this morning! This is what we saw when we opened the door! More pics. All the primary schools in Ajijic were lined up to march past our house and on to the square. There were bands, floats, convertibles with beautiful senoritas....

And DANCING HORSES!!!

Candy's Movie Premier

Hope I'm not stealing her thunder, but Candy, Corey, and Gaby went to Pensacola yesterday for the premier of Chatterbox, a movie about friendship among middle school kids. Candy plays the mom. Here's the trailer http://www.chatterbox-themovie.com/trailer.php She's great! Gaby seemed to really enjoy seeing her mom on the big screen.

Links to New Blogs

Notice at the top right, there are three new blog links. One is a new one from Corey, Candy, and Gaby--Fun in Fairhope. Another also has pictures and videos from CC&G--Mobile Gallery. And the third is Susannah's new blog--Inane Chatter. I've suggested that she add pictures but she hasn't had time yet to do that.

Making Tamales

Gaby and I made tamales today. And they are muy rico! First, Gaby made a huge batch of the filling on Tuesday. Then today she brought the corn husks (ojas) for wrapping and the masa (cornmeal dough) for lining the ojas. We had already borrowed her mother's enormous steamer to cook them in. So, today we rinsed the ojas and drained them, then spread the insides with a thin layer of the masa. Gaby used the back of a large spoon (cuchara) to do the spreading but Bob and I couldn't get the hang of it. The more we tried to spread the masa thinly, the more it just peeled loose. Finally, I decided to use my hands and found that I could do it much more easily por mano than with the cuchara. After spreading the masa, we put a large spoonful of the filling inside the oja, then wrapped it up like a little package, later stacking them inside the steamer. I think we made over 50. Anyway, they're done, and we've eaten a couple and they're delicious! I think I can do it on my own now. Yay! Pics.

The filling (se llama Picadillo):

10 chicken breasts, cooked separately and cubed

1 kilo of potatoes, cooked and cubed

Saute 1/2 kilo of tomatillas, 2 onions (chopped), 6 poblano chiles (cut into strips)

In the molcajete, grind 7 (or so) chiles nopaleros, about 20 dried chiles de arbol, and a couple of cloves of garlic; liquify them and cook with water and salt, then strain

Add everything altogether and cook for about 1/2 hour, covered

Add several mint leaves near the end.

Chill in fridge before filling the tamales ojas.

Buen provecha!

Walmart Opens!!!!

La Gran Inaguracion Hoy!

It's official. Walmart has finally come to Lakeside (the area between Chapala on the east and Jocotopec on the west). The debate has been raging among the expat population since the rumors first started last year that Walmart was coming. Would it put the small mom and pops out of business? Would it challenge the only local "big box" store in the area, Soriana in Chapala? Would it cause Superlake, the grocery store that caters to expats' specialty needs, to lower its prices? Would it bring needed work to the area? Well, debates may still be ongoing, but Walmart opened anyway to huge fanfare yesterday with huge crowds, bands, free food, balloons. It looked like the equivalent of one of Mexico's big fiestas. And, in fact, it was a fiesta.

Bob and I arrived just a bit after noon. The parking lot was packed, buses were parked in front of the store. Giant advertising things were blown up and waving in the breeze. There was such a crowd in front of the door that we could hardly squeeze inside. Within, the aisles were so packed that we shuffled along one after another. While there were a few gringos here and there, the overwhelming majority of the customers were Mexican, piling their carts high with goodies. Doesn't seem to be any loss in consumer confidence from what we could see. In the grocery section, there was gridlock with store attendants offering samples of cheese, cold cuts, various salsas, etc. We've never seen anything like the crush of people. Keep in mind that Walmart is not new to Mexico. There are at least three in Guadalajara and one in most largely populated areas of Mexico. But this one here means that shoppers have more choices in one place without having to drive or take the bus into Guadalajara. And there are goods that aren't readily available locally such as electronics and small appliances. (Gaby scouted out the store yesterday evening with her brother to pick out a new mp3 player for her niece.) Of course, I'm not hailing Walmart as the answer to the world's problems--far from it. Just reporting on the phenomenon here.