Mi Mexico

Our days are lazy and the weather is sunny.  We have done a little traveling but not much.  I wanted to share with you photos of dear Mexico the land of color, light and song.

Egrets Dancing on the Beach

An Iguana Joins Us for Lunch

Mexican Charros at the Rodeo

Street Corner Shrine to  The Virgin of Guadalupe

Strange Art in Mixtla

A Street in Ajijic

Celebrating the Valentine Bridge Tournament With Friends

My Big Trip to Mexico!

I knew that something was going on.  I was so excited that I woke up at 3:30 in the morning.  My mama just shook her head.  My Daddy drove us to the airport and we got on a very big plane.  We called my Grandpa from Denver and he said he was ready to pick us up at the airport with my Grandma Jan.  

Grandpa bought  some toys and some books so we could played together. 

My grandma and grandpa took us to the zoo.  I laughed at the giraffe.  He has a very big tongue. He tried to lick Grandma Jan.

My grandma read Hello Ocean to me about a hundred timesl

Grandpa read Hello Ocean to me about a hundred times.  I like that book. 




I really like the ocean.

Almost every day we went to the ocean.  At first I was shy and did not want the waves to touch my feet.

My mama talked to me and said the ocean was fun and that the grownups would take good care of me.

My grandpa played with me in the little waves.

Then I got very brave and was not afraid.  When Grandpa and I had a big wave break way over our heads I just laughed.  Grandpa takes good care of me.

There are lots of kids in Mexico.  I made friends. One friend gave me a ride on his tricycle.That was fun.

Grandpa and I cook together.  He likes it when I help him.

Sometimes Grandma and Grandpa go to parties at night.  I can go with them for a little while before I have to go to bed/

When it gets too late I go home with Mama and have a bath before Mama reads me Hello Ocean and I go to sleep.  I think that I dream about the waves.

My mama is happy and we go to the airport.  My daddy came on a big plane.  I am so happy.  I really missed my daddy.

My daddy went fishing with Grandpa and Uncle Jim.  They caught two big tuna.  My grandma grumbled when they cleaned them in the kitchen.

My Auntie Denise and Uncle Jim came for a couple of days.   They were lots of fun.  

 

My daddy said I could stay up for the fireworks on New Years next year.

A Fall in Mexico

First, further apologies regarding our trip down.  We spent a delightful two days with our friends, Mary Lee and Jerry and did not take a single picture.  An additional apology to my Uncle John and Wanda who have moved to Phoenix.  I failed to take my camera when I visited them.  I will do better on the way back north.  But on to our life in Mexico...

We settled in to our new condo.  What a beautiful view of the Bay of Banderas  from our deck!  Vallarta is lovely.

Our first guests, Deb and Ralph, settled in for the bridge tournament but Deb had the rule of balance - I balance my bridge time with my pool time!

And from the deck we can provide unfettered supervision of the city.  A vocation that Doug relishes each morning as he critiques the new pier construction.

Our big trip with Deb and Ralph was to a colonial village named San Sebastion del Oeste which is a charming high mountain village that was Spanish mining town.  We discovered one of the finest Italian restaurants ever - que rico!

Our next guest was Jan's cousin, Rina, who was born in Everett but has lived in Turkey for the past 12 years.       Jan visited Rina in Turkey where they had a time.  How fun it was to have her with us.  Jan and Rina took one day and took the boat to Yelapa which is a land locked village on the south side of the Bay of Banderas.
It was a haven for draft dodgers and stoned musicians in the 1970's.

Rina and I hiked to the falls which Doug and I failed to find in our three day stay.

  And we had lunch on the beach.

The three of us drove to a village that is less than 50 miles away but takes 2 1/2 hours by car.  Is it any wonder that we were the only gringos in town?

A few days after Rina returned to the states.  We were joined by Doug's lovely daughter, Shari and grandson, Jude.  Fun times ahead!

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you!  May you be blessed in the new year!

Family and Friends in the Shoulder Season

Given that we are ex-pats with 5 months in Canada and 6 months in Mexico we savor our shoulder season time as an opportunity to connect with our family and friends.  This blog is dedicated to our family and friends and comes with a sincere apology to Denise and John Grosse with whom we had a wonderful visit in Gilbert and left without taking a single picture.  Our deepest apologies!

Seth and Meghan have darling identical twin girls, Rory and Abby.  I am struggling with Doug's picture organization and can't find our most recent photos but you can that they look a bit  like their mommie.

Our first journey was to Jan's old digs - Manson.  We had a wonderful dinner with our Maria and her family.  
Maria and her sisters are excellent cooks and we combined a seafood and traditional Mexican dinner.  It was wonderful.

Nicki and Bob won the great hat contest at Bob and Kathryn's dinner which was a wonderful international affair with the addition of Kristina's sister Kirsten and her husband Chewy from Sweden.  Driving a tractor at harvest is one of Chewy's bucket list items which can be arranged in Manson in the fall.

We can never pass up the opportunity to love on Wendy and Kuzi's beautiful girls who informed us that they are Caucinese (part Caucasian and part Chinese).

Thank you sister, Kathy, for the lovely evening and the opportunity to spend time with my dear friend, Jan.  A wonderful visit.

 Doug;s Aunt Nell was said to be the prettiest girl in North Dakota and I've heard that there were a lot of men that came a courting.  The Shirl Larson family resembles Nell's family in Susie and David.

We had a wonderful visit with our dear friends, Jim and Masa, in San Francisco.  Jim and Jan have known one another and been friends for over 50 years!

WE ARE SO BLESSED!

Bella Bella Vacation Photos

My cousin, Jodi, is a graphic designer with a beautiful artistic eye.  She graciously has provided access to her Shutterfly link.  There are some wonderful pictures of Kynoch and other areas.  Thank you, Jodi!

http://bellabellavacation.shutterfly.com/#

You may need to cut and paste the link!

Wild Guests

We would like to introduce you to some of wildest guests:

Lone wolf

This beautiful and healthy sea wolf visited the shore close to our boat.  Wolves howl and growl but do not bark.  She seems to be from the same pack as the others.  Colors can vary among packs.

Small wolf pack dining at the low water buffet.

Red Fur Crab?  Box Crab?

We caught two of these ladies in our prawn traps.  We believe them to be either Red Fur Crabs or a Box Crab.  Neither are very common so identification was difficult for us.  What do you think?

Moon Jellyfish

This Moon Jellyfish sits in a cloud reflecting calm sea.  Moon Jellyfish are slightly toxic sea cleaners.  We have seen them in schools of thousands.

Sea Otter

Sea Otters are opportunistic and grow in proportion to the supply of food.  They can grow to 60+ pounds.

Worst Fishing in 30 Years

It is widely reported to be the worst year for Central Coast fishing in the past 30 years and we would agree. It was not a year for catch and release for Chinook salmon.  We fretted a bit about Doug's son, Ron, coming up to poor fishing since he so loves to fish but it turned out to be a very good trip.

Ron and his friend, Lisa, joined us August 25th.  The weather was calm and the seas were bountiful.  Our first task was to prawn which is hard, hard work.  Ron and Lisa learned how to prawn and took home two limits of nice, big prawns.

A beautiful black bear greeted us when we entered a favorite anchorage.  This curtailed talk of berry picking for Ron and Lisa.

Ron and Doug may not have caught Chinook salmon the next day but the coho and ling cod were plentiful!

R

And the elusive halibut showed up for Ron which was very nice.

And Ron caught the biggest Coho that we know of in the Shearwater area - whopping 18 lb!

It was a wonderful trip and we were reminded that Chinook are not the only fish in the sea!