More of Lo de Marcos

      It's been a week since I last did a post and I have no excuses this time.  Let me see now, could it be because I'm having too much fun being a lady of leisure and that I can do absolutely anything I want to do or don't want to do?  Yes, that might be it.  No that isn't it. My mind is in a fog.  The days are flying by and already it is January 29, 2010.  Today is Dena and Tusi's birthday.  Happy Birthday you two.  We go back a long way, to good old Deloraine, Manitoba.  But, I am digressing.

     This week and most weeks our schedule is as follows;  get up, have breakfast, do dishes, read the news and our emails.  By the time we are finished doing that, it's about 11o'clock.  We have a look outside, see that the sun is shining and it is very warm out and decide it's time to go to the library. It's usually still cool in the library as there is a nice breeze blowing.  Here are Vic, Bev and Mike getting settled in. Alfonso has made a bookcase to house the books that are in the library.
I should also mention that the library is also the Happy hour meeting place.  The chairs are set this way so that the gecko droppings will not land on the seats. :} 
Alfonso is the very nice, capable, Mexican fellow who manages the park.  He speaks English, but his wife, Erica, who is the housekeeper, does not.  There are some bungalows here for rent plus 12 rv spaces.  Right now there are 10 rvs here but no one booked into the bungalows.  We are a family here .  It is a good feeling.
The bakery here in town travels around to the rv parks selling fresh baked goods.  Sorry, Doc.  I know you told me to stay away from sweets, but everything is so good and until I got settled in Mexico I was being really good.  But the bakery isn't the only merchant who is mobile.  The produce truck also comes at least twice a week.  Saul also has a restaurant in town.  This is Saul's son.  Notice the weigh scale on the hood?  There is Walter trying to decide what to get.

 This past week marked a period of very high tides.  After one very noisy night of wave pounding on the beach we discovered that the beach lost a lot of sand.  Much of the lost sand has returned thank goodness.  It felt weird to be walking on rocks.  The wave activity has also left behind on the beach a multitude of stones of all sizes. This is annoying to the boarders who are scraping feet, toes and other body parts on the rocks as they attempt to come ashore.

This is the serious surfers' area at the south end of the beach.  Oh yes, I have to add that I went out with Mike holding my hand and I experienced for the first time what it is like to dive under these waves.  It is an experience only you dear readers can have by being here.  

     Tomorrow David and Kelsi take over rv living while Mike and I take a break in Puerto Vallarta.  They will look after the dog for us.

      Till next time,

Mave n Mike

Still in Lo de Marcos

Buenos tardes,

     We are sweltering here in Mexico.  The ocean is giving us a great display of its powers as the waves continue to crash onto the beach here.  The noise sounds like thunder but I have to remind myself that the sky outside is sunny without a cloud around today. 
     We've made friends with our neighbours who are from Ontario.  We played Mexican dice with them the other day.  Friends from home it is the same as Farkle I think but they have added a clause that when they hit 1000 points then they can use the 2,3,4 throw as a free throw.  The game goes to 7000 points and I was winning for the whole game until Beth came out of nowhere and beat me.  Mike came in third and Vic was in the cellar.
    This week we've been under the weather a little bit.  I'm still not 100 % so I'm  trying to stay out of the sun.  We are not allowed to use our air conditioners because they use too much power but yesterday I was granted permission to use it while the boy cleaned our Rig.  He did a great job so Mike gave him 200 pesos instead of the 150 they had agreed on the day before.  Figure it out.  12.3 pesos to the US(?) dollar.  We don't have any vehicle wax or we would have hired him to wax it too.  It took him about 3 hours to clean it.  None of the teenagers at home would do it for that money.  I had to grab the english/spanish dictionary a few times to communicate with his mom who works here, but we finally got the messages connected.  Alfredo runs the rv park here.  Erica and her son also work here, but I don't know if they are related.  He's busy digging a garden patch along a low retaining wall so he can plant some bougeanvilla (sp) plants.  I see he's quit for now.  At 1pm it is too hot to be in the sun and siesta time is coming up.  Almost everyone closes up shop for a few hours here to go home and have lunch and a rest out of the heat.
     We are true nortamericanos when we go out for a walk at this tme.  Not anymore.  I've learned.  We usually head to the beach about 3 pm and come back by 4. 
     Three more guests have left us.  They were in the bungalows.  Brenda had to go back to work at Newport Beach and her hubby went home too.  Her uncle is staying in Mexico for a while longer.  Walter is taking them to Puerto Vallarta.   We will probably leave on Sunday and go on to P.V. where the other Mike  lives. 
    We've had a few sightings of iguanas the last couple of days.  One was in Walter's palm tree. It is the pure green one.  The other one was caught on camera by Mike sitting on a mailbox across the street.

The vege man just came so I went out and we bought pistachios for 160 pesos a kilo.  We didn't buy that much but we must have bought almost that amount.  2 large red grapefruit, 3 carrots, and a very small watermelon.  Cost 147 pesos.  He also had lovely brown eggs and strawberries, jicama, mangoes, radishes, celery, habaneres, you name it he had just about everything you could want and you don't have to go any further than the rig four doors down the row.  Well, it's time to try to eat something.  I had egg sandwich for breakfast and last night for dinner as well.  Till next time, Mave n Mike

Welcome to Lo de Marcos

     Mike, Dave, Kelsi and I arrived in Lo de Marcos on Thursday afternoon after leaving Teacapan about 8:30 in the morning.  It was an interesting drive and the tolls were the most expensive yet that we had to pay.  We paid about 25.00 dollars Can. at the first toll and not that far down the road we paid about 10.00 Can.  Just before the next toll booth we turned right and took the free road all the way to San Blas.  The free roads are not the best roads to be driving, mainly because they are narrow, with no shoulders and lots of pot holes.  They also go through lots of small towns and villages which slows you down and are fraught with topas or as we call them at home; speed bumps.  At the biggest topa you can often find someone who wants to sell you something.  One small town had ladies waiting to sell you large containers of fresh, sliced fruit.  We early on learned from Kelsi the term no neciceto, gracias.  Not necessary, thank you.   It's hard getting the tongue around the Spanish words quickly enough so that you are not rude to them.  They are just trying to make a living.
     I'm putting in a picture of our moho sitting in the middle of the picture with the blue and white striped awning.  This is the rv park in Teacapan, Mx. at the Pelicanos rv park.  As you can see it is right on the ocean.  A few steps and we're on the beach.  It was greatJusa there.  The people were friendly, the restuarant had the best food we'd eaten in a long time but the con to this piece of paradise was the BUGS.  I'm still scratching.  There are no see'ums that are out in the early morning, middle of the day and in the evening.  We had to leave.
      Yes, Barb we met Dave and Nancy.  They have a very nice place with 3 suites upstairs that they rent out but we found the prices too steep for our budget.  We never saw Hutch but we know where his house is and he is well know by almost everyone we talked to.  Mike thinks he is Wayne Hutchinson from Salmon Arm.  Mike went to school with him somewhere along the way.
     If you want to rv it in Mexico make sure you buy the Mexican rv guide by Mike and Terri Church.  It is a very informative book and gives very detailed descriptions of where to go.  We borrowed a book from Ed and Therese Zibrowski.  Ed is the nephew of Mary and Joe Sirhan from Armstrong and Porcupine Plain, SK.  Very small world out there but we've been meeting people all along that we know who know someone, etc.  Why when we got here at the Savage rv park in L.d. Marcos, we met Ray Anchikoski and his wife Brenda who are staying here in one of the bungalows.
     I just wanted to throw in another picture to show the beautiful Pacific ocean in the background.  The road climbs as we head for Tepic but we don't go all the way to Tepic.  We turned off and still climbed some more as we headed for the ocean. 

    Rest stop.  One of the very few pullouts for vehicles on the way to L.d. Marcos.

     Once we got to Rincon de Guayobitas, I started to get excited.  Dave and Kelsi knew this town and Dave was anxious to have lunch at Abel's.  We parked the moho and car some ways from the centre and went for a walk to loosen our legs and work up an appetite.  Dave wanted his favourite meal, burritos aztecas and he got it. Mike and Kelsi had it too but I chose BurritosNortamericanos. They were good and spicy but three of them were too much for me so I shared them with Dave.

    After a quick walk around the way too touristy centre of town we headed back to the moho for the short drive to Lo de Marcos.  This is the park we are in right now.  I call this street RV park way.  We are not on the ocean but one block behind the ocean front homes and hotels.  The ocean has been putting on a spectacular display of its power over man the last two or three days.  Ocean waves have not been so high in twenty years. Water has come into the town streets and we had to take another road to go back to Guayobito the next morning to find the refrigerator repairman.  Guess what?!  The same wate problems had occurred in Guayobitos.
  Here is one of many pics Mike took of the beach in Lo de Marcos.

The fellow who owned the little stand underneath the palapa had his stand washed away.  You can see some fellow wanting to walk on the beach but the tide is too high.  Mike is fascinated by the waves and goes out as often as he can to the beach just to watch the waves.  Today, the dog and I went with him and we found out that the strength of the wave on the sand can give your feet a good buffing.  Felt good, but boy was it a challenge to keep my balance with each wave that came over me.  The water is very warm and most of the folks on the beach today were over 50 years of age.  For a Saturday afternoon it wasn't very busy.  Even the surfers were older with their boogie boards.  I wish I wasn't such a chicken, I'd have loved to be out there letting the waves push me to the shore.  In another life perhaps...

     Time to get to bed.  Till next time, adios amigos et buenos nochos.

 

Stay positive my friends

     We wish to extend our sympathy on the passing of a long time friend, colleague and neighbour, Shirra Main.  Doug and kids we are thinking of you at this very sad time.
     Lisabeth, our address is http://holoidaysonholiday.blogspot.com for Peter and Sharon.  We probably won´t be back in the States until near the beginning of March but we don´t know what way we are going home.  We would like to see you but we´ll have to play it by ear.
     Vicki, we heard your shrimp boat sank.  Was it time to go?  Thank goodness you weren´t on it.  How´s the course going?
     We´ve been having nice warm, sunny days here but we have decided to move on south on Thursday.  Even I am becoming suseptible to the bug bites and sit scratching most of the time I´m inactive. 
     Yesterday, Mike and Dave went to a ball game and Dave played a little bit for the Teacapan team.  Mike enjoyed himself from the stands, sharing buckets of local beverages with the fans, etc.  Weaver and I stayed home and vacuumed, and did a little bit of laundry, and walked on the beach-our favourite passtime.
     Today was an interesting start to this day.  At 10 am we went to the local boarding school.  It is a grade 7-9 school with students coming from as far as Mazatlan and Gaudalajara.  This event was to welcom some students from Virginia City, Nevada who are on exchange with this school.  The whole thing was in Spanish with a few girls speaking English to the students who were visiting.  We could have sworn that Magic (Brendan) was in that group.  When I get my photos downloaded, we´ll send some photos.  We were entertained by the students with a folk dance, a cheerleading routine, and music by very talented guitarists, an accordianist and a little guy who could sure belt out a tune.  It was a good time.
     Well it´s time to go and take the dog for a walk.

Hasta luego muchachos,
Mave n Mike
     

Happy New Year!!

Good mornng everyone,

      Can you believe it?  Tomorrow is January 1, 2010.  What a great trip we've been having so far.  Of course, we've had our ups and downs, mostly on the roads we've travelled so far.  The trip from Hermosilla to here was a long drive but worth the time spent on the road.
     Villa Celestine is a very small RV park about 75km north of Mazatlan.  There are mostly Canadians here who have been coming here for some time.  BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan vehicle plates are the most prevalent.  The owner is very friendly and speaks very good English.
     Yesterday, Dave, Kelsi, Mike and I went to Mazatlan for the day.  We walked around old town Mazatlan, stopped for lunch and ate huge helpings of quesidillas, fajitas and hamburger (that was Dave's choice).  It was hot and muggy but still felt great with the sun shining, the touristas and locals all mingling on the narrow streets.  Some of the architecture was old and crumbling but a lot had been restored.  Mike took pictures with the little camera.  It was easier to carry than our bigger one so I suggested he use the small one. I will send pictures when I can download them.
     Hola, I´m back from a long delay in getting to a computer to finish up this blog.  I´ll add to it instead of starting over.
     Today is Friday, January 7th.  We´ve been busy relaxing, watching the world go by as the days blur from one to the next.  We are sitting here at the internet cafe catching up on our emails so I had to try again to let you know where we are.
     We have been in Teacapan for eight days now.  Our rv park is on the beach just outside the town.  It is a very small park with only about nine rvrs right now.  More people are expected on the weekend.  We have met some interesting people here.  The beach is wonderful.  Teacapan is located at the top end of an estuary that is full of salt marshes.  The bugs love us.  I am not too affected by them but Mike and Kelsi have been eaten alive and lived to tell the tale.  Mike broke down and took an antihistamine that really knocked the itch out of the bites.  The dog is now free from the hair that was keeping him hot.  We took him to Escuinapa yesterday to the vet to clip him.  He now looks like a little white skinny rat.  We´ve been able to get him in the water too.  He´ll follow Mike just about anywhere.
     There is no wifi service at the park so we come into town on our scooter which is a lot faster and easier than walking, to use the wifi and visit the pan maker ie the bakery.  Boy stay away from them if possible.  Everything is sooooo good.
    We´re moving on down south next week sometime and we´ll let you know when and where.
Just a short note to Doug Main and family.  Our prayers are with you as you deal with Shirra´s illness.

ttfn,

Mave n Mike