On Mexico Time

Photo Explanation

2011-11-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

So the photos below are: our Day of the Dead display, our neighbor Rosemary and Handsome Harry, the flood going into the electrical box, the light on our "eyebrow" of the palapa.

We were in Merida for 4 days. Love the city but could not live there full time for long as it is too busy and noisy constantly. It is fun to be in the middle of so much excitement for short term though. We had some wonderful food at several great restaurants. One was The Chaya Maya, which had fantastic food, Olimpa Restaurant which also had good Yucateac food and we ate at an Italian place, fresh pasta, which was very good but the bread stunk considering it was suppose to be Italian and that is why I went there... for the bread.

I have decided that if I need tiles or wooden furniture I will go there for it, so I guess I better buy a big van or truck to haul stuff in.

Tonight guests arrive but I am hoping to get some Merida photos posted, with the help of Mr. D on them.

More to come...

2011-11-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Several Days of catch up

2011-11-01T18:59:00.001-07:00

I’m going to cover events in a semi-chronological order since leaving Seattle.
I think this is my last flight with American Airlines. The trip was uneventful (except for that hour delay getting out of Dallas – where have we heard that before?), but their way of doing things bothers me enough that I am glad my next trip is on United (I think).
First when we checked in it became apparent that I was on a different Record Locator number than Mr. D, I know how this happened, but it is too long to go into here (but let me say that I said to the woman on the phone, not once, but twice, “we are still on the same Record Locator number right?” and she said “yes” both times). Then during check-in we find out we are allowed only one free bag for international. Since forever it has been two bags. Luckily we did have one each, but I had not received anything from them and I am (was) a frequent flyer.
It was at boarding we became aware of the fact that your boarding number has nothing to do with where you sit in the plane. Now I always book the very back of the plane because I want to get on and away from the craziness as fast as possible. And I want space for my tiny overhead I have, instead of finding out there is no room overhead due to carry-ons being twice the size they should be (which is another point, the crew said we had to put our bigger carry-ons into the sizing box before we could enter, and no one did, just sayin’). So we are in group 3 but we sit just a few rows from the back of the plane. Go figure.
Once on the plane there were no announcements or anything but basically it comes down to this. On American Airlines, on a 4+ hr. flight, domestic, you get nothing. Well you get something I guess if you pay for it. No more soft drink, etc. Nothing. Nada. Again I am a frequent flyer and not a thing was sent about this. Now everyone who thinks I am crazy for carting my own water on board will now know I am the only one with anything to drink!! And to be honest the flight attendants ran past us saying “Does anyone want to buy any food?” and just kept going like there was anthrax on the passengers. Sheesh.
The entire day went really fast (how can it not when you have nothing to drink or eat for hours?), oh but we were offered and given soft drinks on the international leg to Mexico. So we landed and literally flew through Immigration and Customs and boom, we were out on the bus before we knew it! $11 each to catch a bus to Playa and we were on our way. Once in Playa we bought our tickets to head to Merida on Wednesday, hailed a taxi and found our way back to Paamul, safe and sound.
Sunday was definitely On Mexico Time. We spent the day doing nothing but laying around the pool, swimming, eating guacamole and walking around checking out who is here and who is not. The who is not were more than the two of who is here. A lot of people are not here yet and there are just a few camping people. Probably Pepe’s high rents are keeping the campers from coming down. In any case it is very quiet here in Paamul.
We found out the Halloween party has been postponed or cancelled, depending on who you talk to. I think the full-timers here are thinking postponed since there has been basically no entertainment all summer. The numbers are really down on the amount of people who were here all summer.
Finding out there would be no Halloween party we decided to go to Xcaret, a water theme park of sorts, for Day of the Dead that day instead. The day started out somewhat uneventful except for the fact we woke up to …. Bat poop.. everywhere. Apparently the one light up in the loft is not enough to keep them out, so I am wondering how long Anne has had this problem, or if she has even noticed it. But trust me, it was everywhere. So I swept it up and we headed down to talk to Lisa, who is working on finishing a palapa that Bart built. I wanted to see inside, always curious about floor plans and such.
When we got back home the rains came. I have never been in rain like this that I remember. It was a true, straight downpour unlike any I have lived through. The palapa basically stayed dry, you could feel some misty rain coming in but not enough to worry about. The crazy thing wasn’t the river running down the middle of Jungle Ave but how a huge portion of it hooked to the right and totally flooded the lot next to us, kept going and then crossed into our backyard, heading to the jungle. This was true rapids water. You would not be smart to go out in it and attempt to do something, but the worst part was how it flooded the electrical panel box. I just stood and watched it before realizing that the water was backed up to the tile steps and they of course were wet and there I am, standing in the back doorway watching copious amounts of water, and possibly electrically charged water, come towards me. It didn’t take me long to just hide in the trailer. Looking out at the lot next door I wondered how much more rain could come down before our trailer was lifted up and floated away. Photos of this event to follow.
Obviously we were not going to Xcaret that day and as luck would have it, we didn’t make it the last day we were able to either. A big disappointment for me because I am pretty sure this is the last year I will down here to see the fantastic Day of the Dead displays they have. Oh well, saved about $160 USD on that adventure anyway!
So what do you do when you are in paradise and it is raining? I read and listen to music and Mr. D plays with his photos, doing corrections, adding special effects and taking more photos of my Day of the Dead shrine I made for my deceased cats, complete with faux marigolds and candles. Photos of those to come soon too!

Well there you have it..

2011-10-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

All that worry, upset, angst, fear, disbelief, denial, stress, heartburn, panic, helplessness, regret and tears.. for nothing… don’t you feel silly?

Oh, wait. That was me!

So yes Rina has skated past us without so much as a puff of air on the mainland coast. She is probably laughing hysterically thinking about what fun it will be to hit Cuba and set them back another 50 years, not that you would notice, but you know what I mean. She is just a confused storm, and barely one of those, circling around and returning to Belize, near her birthplace.

In the end all the preparation was for not. Like literally not. As in I wasn’t there to do any of it anyway.

I didn’t have to worry about the refrigerator shooting out of the palapa, tumbling end to end only to land on the neighbor with the pointy shoes. Although it would have been fun to hear one last cackle, watch her melt to nothing and the black hat blow away in the whirling masses. Alas, it was not to happen this time.

Everyone we know stayed safe and happy, either driving away in the diesel pusher coach, staying put in Chetumal or heading to a colonial city. Some stayed in Paamul as there was nothing of any value going to happen so why not get done the day to day works of life?

Once Rina was demoted to a Cat 1, with a tropical storm in her future, I started thinking about food and making pumpkin pancakes when we get down there. Well, you know, now that we will have electricity and propane. I am holding out we will even have internet too, but that does seem sketchy at this time. On, off, on, off. Not much different than normal times in Mexico though.

Still bringing the boxes of granola bars though. You never know when another vortex related visitor might come knocking.

Yes, yes and yes

2011-10-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have not talked to me today, the answer is yes.

Yes, I am aware of Hurricane Rina.

Yes it will directly hit Paamul (as of the predictions today).

Yes I am worried/concerned/fearful.

Yes I am still going down. Wish I could get there sooner.

Yes I am totally unprepared for this. No hurricane boards are up. No furniture is put away.

Yes, worried about our friends living down there.

And yet while I am worried, concerned, fearful I am not freaking out. I have no control over the weather and it has taken me 53 years to realize this.

When I purchased the palapa almost 3 years ago I did so realizing that days like this would come. I was, and am, fully prepared if the structure is damaged beyond my budget to repair then I will walk away.

But when I walk away I will know that I have done more than most people ever will in achieving their dream. I actually went to Mexico and bought a place. But not just any place. Not a condo or American style house. I bought a palapa and I have to say that was a pretty big step. I am sure there were people who thought "what the hell?" but I was, and am, so proud of that damn palapa. It is unique. It is quirky. It has its problems. But I did it.

Deep down inside I feel nothing is going to happen too extreme. I could be living in a fantasy. But if the worse happens I can be at peace with it. Right after I cry.

I was moving some things around on my desk today and found this:

"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar" by Raymond Lindquist.

I think that describes what I did when I decided to make Paamul my home. And it is what I will do again in the future. This won't stop me from planning to spend as many of my final days on earth in Mexico.

So when you think about doing something daring in life, think of Lindquist's quote. and then go do it.

Like me, you won't be sorry.

Open for Business or Open to the Public

2011-10-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well as you can see I have opened On Mexico Time up for anyone to view again. I wanted to have my full blog up and running by now but with working the 2 jobs and going to college it just didn't happen as I would like for it to. I have already purchased the domains of www.onmexicotime.com and .net and I have owned www.mividaloca.net for years. My goal is to use On Mexico Time .com and .net as a travel interest blog related to The Yucatan of Mexico and Mi Vida Loca to be more about us personally. Since we are soon heading back down to the greatest place on earth and I wanted to share with all of you while we are there, I will continue to post here for the time being. When I switch to the other format I will let you know.

The last few months has been a whirl. Taking the step to return to college to get a degree in Health Information Management was a big decision. I was horribly scared to death of the entrance exam. After I whittled it down to only the English part it wasn't so intimidating, except I suck at English. I managed to fake my way to enter into College Level English (praise the tiki gods!) and the rest is history. Or English in my case. Returning to college at the great age of 53 is intimidating but I wanted to have something more solid than just my coding certification.

I have great job security but the fact is I am bored with coding. The goal is to maybe do something where I can use my mad coding skills but for a more stimulating piece of work. I am thinking Healthcare Fraud, which if you know me at all, you know is right up my detective avenue. Or at the least it would give me one more feather in my cap to be able to do contract work. I haven't fully decided but I can't help but think that a degree would be a good thing, is attainable and keeps me busy waiting for ICD-10 to come in. After that I will see where my road takes me.

And for those of you wondering, yes, I still have the goal of wintering in Mexico but I just didn't feel I should leave my current job until my employer sponsored ICD-10 training was over and ICD-10 had started, so that is October 2013 and what better thing to do while waiting for that to roll around but go to school?

See there is some method to my insanity.

The negative is that in the mean time my time in the best place on earth will be limited due to college but I think it will all work out in the long run. I would rather be in Mexico and I know I will be spending more time there, just sort of on hold right now until other goals are obtained.

With that I will say Buenos Noches!

Home and catch up

2011-05-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

We made it back to Tacoma. I was sick most of the way. Not fun. Getting so the last 4 hrs on the plane, Dallas to Seattle, is grueling.

We have been here less than 48 hrs and already I have baked bread (when life gives you butter, bake bread!) and baked brownie circles to make into brownie s'mores whoopie pies.. yum. I also found some quinoa at Winco and a great salad recipe for it. Oh and I made ice cream that is hardening in the freezer.

The one happy part about being in Tacoma is baking and cooking. Things that are difficult to do in Mexico due to the heat.

I heard that it started raining down there today and it cooled off to the low 80's. Go figure.

So I will work on updating with some photos now that I am home and on my computer rather than the travel one.

more about the heat

2011-05-25T06:47:00.000-07:00

A few realizations have came to me over the past week or so. I used to come to this part of Mexico during August and September. Mostly because it was cheap and I loved the heat.

I also weighed 60 lbs. less than I do now.

Mr. D commented that when he got up this morning at 6 am the temperature was already at what the highest has been when we come down in November/January.

That is all I have to say...fatter and this is not the time for me. The good part is the humidity is not *that* bad and there is no rain nor overcast. Clear blue sky.

I have already done my work for the day... I washed and organized the snorkel sets. As the day goes on I will get them into their bags and label the bags. I have allowed the equipment to be dug through and drug around, my own badness too, and I want it together in sets and labeled.

The more I am here the more I think about remodeling. The small sleeping area feels like a coffin to me more and more. I need a desk inside to sit at. And a small frig so I do not have to go outside to get a drink. LOL. But Mostly I want to sit inside in a living room and see outside into my palapa with the sun shining in air conditioning.

I can see outside now but it is looking into the empty lot next door which is storage for my 2 male neighbors on either side of me..their toys. Big boat, jet skis, 4 wheelers,etc.

I know it is better than transient campers but the view sucks. ha ha.

Valladolid

2011-05-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, remember when I said the heat index in Valladolid was over 100 degrees? Well, we looked it up and it was actually, hold on for this...130 degrees. Today it is going to be 140 degrees there.

Here in our kingdom we did the calculations and... it is 114 degrees.

I no longer feel so bad about not being outside 'sucking it up'. Even to go to the pool would be too hot.

And these are more photos from Valladolid and Chemax another town we stopped at on our way home.

Valladolid photos

2011-05-23T17:44:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it was in the high 90's and the heat index was way over 100 degrees.....our hotel was across from the main plaza...opposite the insanely fantastic church.

Valladolid and beyond

2011-05-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Saturday Mr. D and I went to the beach. We sat under a palapa and I didn't get burned but Mr. D went for a walk with his shirt on and spent 30 minutes in the water snorkeling and HE GOT BURNED AGAIN!

I am going to have to get him some SPF shirts.

Sunday we took off for Valladolid and it was so hot we could hardly to anything. But Mr. D got great photos of the church.

Update

2011-05-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so what have we been doing for the last 4 days? Well Friday Anne's friend came to town and we went to the restaurant to hear Mark Mulligan, a local musician, sing & play. We were sadden to hear he is leaving Quintana Roo and returning to the state of Sonora! We are sure we will meet up with him again soon.

These are some fun photos from that night. The 2 men I am between at the table are Dick, who lives not far from us in Paamul and Pete, who also lives in Paamul and I would have to say should get 'Biggest Flirt' award!

Heat Index

2011-05-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today is pretty warm, again. The heat index is 108 degrees. Dave put in the temp and humidity via the US Weather Service..yea, in case you are wondering...it feels like it too.

We went to Playa early to get our car, had breakfast on the beach, picked up the car and headed to Walmart, Sams club and the new Chedraui store about 5 minutes from Paamul.

Be it good or bad, lots of American type foods now. Of course you pay for that. A package of chocolate chips, just Hershey brand, was about $5 USD. I am leaning more to the Mexican foods everyday. I don't need cake mixes, etc. They did have a chunk of Montery Jack cheese for under $2.

This is us before we got back to the palapa for the sweat fest. :)

Also,these are just some of Anne's shells she has collected. She has bowls and a sand pail filled too.

yesterday at the pool

2011-05-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

I had 2 caparinias (spelling wrong), we shared a bowl of lime soup.... and we both got burned although we were in the shade. DUH.

And the heat goes on....

2011-05-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

So today was hotter and a bit more humid feeling. Mr.D went diving and I swept, started a fan that blew old crud out of the fan all over the room! Since I was burned from yesterday I stayed in the palapa (not in the AC) all day until we went to dinner with Anne. Dave had 3 BBQ'd beef tacos, Anne had 2 BBQ'd beef tacos and a chicken sabuto as did I. We each had a bottle of pop and the total was 93 pesos which = about $8 USD, the pops being the most expensive.

Here is proof of the heat. The top numbers are outside in the palapa and the bottom are inside the trailer.

veggies for salsa

2011-05-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

We went to the store on Sunday and I was surprised to see that prices are coming down in some ways. I had checked the exchange rate before I left home and it said it was near what it had been in November. But then Mr. D took out money from the ATM and his rate was 11.5 pesos to the dollar, down from 12 something.

So I used the 11.5 to figure the costs of some food items.

First...yogurt. Finally it is reasonable. When yogurt first came out down here in big containers they were about $5 - 6 USD. Now they are 19.90 pesos which works out to $1.73 per large container. No more coconut flavor but if you like strawberry or mango or other tropics that is great too. I bought plain. They never have sold vanilla. Plain works with granola, banana, etc.

So here is the price breakdown for salsa. We make salsa at home but even buying the tomatoes at Thriftway the quality is not so good. These romas were good sized, red and firm, for the most part (it is now 3 days later and one or two were a bit too ripe).

2 jalapenos = 2.4 US cents
6 limes = 22.6 US cents (they all are not for the salsa, I like to add lime to a lot of foods)
8 romas = $1.08 USD
1 red onion = 36 US cents

So that puts a vat of salsa for $1.36 USD which isn't too shabby.

Oh, the celantro. Yea, it was about 25 for a bunch so I guess $1.61 USD for the salsa.

I might go broke here. LOL.

One more glimpse

2011-05-16T18:26:00.001-07:00

At our day at the beach. Stacey sunning, me goofing around...Anne,being Anne....I called us Mr. D's Hareem......

Mr.D's hareem & ice cream

2011-05-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

This is us eating ice cream ... and sharing....and the sign with yummy flavors on it... drool now!

What Mr. D saw snorkeling

2011-05-16T17:56:00.001-07:00

These are a few of Dave's photos while snorkeling at Akumal Bay.

Back Home

2011-05-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

I have decided that this truly is home. I am more at peace this time and more at ease than ever before. The trip here was basically uneventful except for a one hour delay in Dallas. This was the first time we have ever flown first class which was a 5 am decision on Saturday to upgrade Dallas to Cancun. So worth it to wait in first class and to be fed. Mr.D said this was the first time we have landed in Cancun and I was not starving!

Anne (housesitter) picked us up and we joined some Paamulians for dinner in nearby Akumal at a great place called Tequilaville. Super people (from Toronto) running it.

Yesterday Anne (she ROCKS!) took us into Playa del Carmen to the Telcel store where I purchased more Mexican cell phone time and 30 days of internet. Then we hung out at the pool for the day.

Too good. Actually way too good. The weather here is muy buen! Very good! Hot, breeze, not humid. Sweet times.

Today we headed to Akumal bay for the day. Again, weather perfect. Anne took us and Stacey, whose parents live in Paamul and she used to live here in Mexico, so we could snorkel with the turtles. Stacey and I are not great swimmers, okay, we simply are not swimmers, so we sat it out on the beach and let Mr. D and Anne go.

Today was spent eating $2 tacos, sunning, swimming, snorkeling, and at the end of the day...eating freakin' ROCKIN' ICE CREAM. Yes, for the first time since 1999 I ate ice cream in MEXICO!

Sit down for this...I had fresh coconut with actual coconut in it, Dave had nutella, Anne had Carmella and Stacey had Chocolate chip cookie dough and nutella.

Oh man...homemade,sold at a little stand in Akumal, Lucy's place....$35 pesos... which is like $3.25 per scoop in a cup or a cone.

We sat outside until it got dark a bit ago because the weather is perfect.

Welcome home!

Cozumel Island Drink and Drive

2010-12-11T10:58:00.000-08:00

Tequila 2010 Tour

2010-12-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

Or you can go to You Tube, the quality on the enlargement here is not so good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn_PZkrvqFU

We made it back

2010-12-05T00:14:00.000-08:00

Well, we are back, unfortunately. Everything with smoothly.

The UN Conference on ?Environment?? was being held in Cancun and we had heard that the Federal Police where everywhere so we left earlier than normal for the airport. We saw dozens of Federal Police including some with riot gear. But mostly it was a smooth ride to the airport and before you know it we were at Johnny Rocket's eating hamburgers and fries. Then we mostly sat at the airport and were on the internet, etc. for the remaining 3 hrs or so we had to wait.

For some reason the flights felt so long this time. The 2 hrs from Cancun to Dallas felt like 4 and the 4 hrs from Dallas to Seattle was exhausting.

It really feels strange to be in the condo. Not really home feeling to us. This time in Mexico it felt as if we had been there for a long time, like longer than 3 weeks. I was thinking about why I want to stay there every time and it really isn't because I don't work while I am there, to be honest I would like to work because it would lessen the boredom that occurs some days. But mostly it is just the weather and the overall feeling you have while there.

last evening

2010-12-02T16:10:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we are leaving tomorrow. I feel like this is home, like we have been here for months and now we are having to go to some foreign place that I know I do not want to go to. I especially do not want to be in cold / rain / possible snow. I don't even own a turtleneck!

The work on the palapa is coming along. The little palapa umbrellas from the front deck are cut down and laying in the street. Sigh. I hope Abi wants them so they don't have to be chainsawed to pieces. Sob!

We have left Anne with instructions for everything from Fire Extinguishers to leaking pipes at the water pump/tank. Never ending but then again that is home ownership anywhere.

The new Chedraui store opened today but I did not go. I want to go once it has settled down and they have all the shelves stocked, etc. Maybe they will carry bikes like the Sorriana's has for $157 USD and I can buy one and bike home with it but more than likely it will have to be Sorriana's.....

That is all I can say for now.

Palapa repairs

2010-12-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

As I suspected from earlier today the workers did return about 30 minutes after Mr. Rapid Fire Spanish left. Better early than never I say. They started working on the roof after pointing out to me they only saw one hole and not two. This is because you cannot see the 2nd one unless there are blue skies... go figure.

When we got home from shopping this is what the main horizontal cross beam looked like. This is THE support for the cat walk but also for the roof/building. Only in Mexico would you come home to a main support not only cut in 'half' but also the cut part tied up by a rope.

In the detailed photo you can see the part of the beam that has been ate by beechos... beechos are any little insect that does not play well with others, in our case the wood beam. This would not have happened if when constructing the palapa in the first place they had used the hard wood like all the other beams are. I imagine that due to cost they shoved this soft wood in instead.

It's 74 degrees & almost Christmas

2010-12-01T16:28:00.000-08:00

And we are cold. I know we are hated right now but seriously, it is really cold for 74 with a slight breeze. I have goosebumps! I told Mr. D he could close the back door but he said he wanted the fresh air. This should make you all laugh as our entire house is open to the outside.

We went to Playa today to get some grocery items we needed to replace of the house sitter's, more ant powder, bracelets for Dianna and cash for the work to be done.

We went to Walmart so I could get clear vanilla and it was a mad house. Christmas decorations and music everywhere... people everywhere... and this was about noon! I can't get past all the American Christmas things they have, trees, deocrations, SNOWMEN! and Santas. Oh and Walmart had a Santa already for kids to have photos taken with - and he was so dark at first I thought he was African American!

Anyway, at one of the squares we passed they were putting up a huge Christmas tree and were fresh planting poinsettas in the flower beds! Poinsettas are native to Mexico and will grow outdoors here. We saw HUGE ones on our road trip.

I love the ring of them around the palms... nothing says Feliz Navidad like palms and poinsettas!

Today

2010-12-01T06:53:00.000-08:00

Well today I start putting things away, washing clothes that will stay and basically crying. :)

I just had the most wonderful man come by and speak only Spanish to me and all I heard was David (this is pronounce DAA-VEEED). David is the guy we hired to fix the roof and beams so the place does not implode on us. (joke).

I heard guama (do not know the spelling) which is the word for the roofing material. He came inside and pointed to the holes in the roof and spoke rapid Spanish at me again. I said "TODAY?" and pointed to the ground, because I have now became part idiot and part mime.

He spoke more words and I heard "manana" and we all know that means some time between 5 minutes from now (doubtful) and 2 weeks (more than likely).

We have placed Ann in charge of this project as I am sure it will not be started until we are gone. 2 nights ago DAA-VEED said this week and yesterday Ann said Abi spoke to DAA-VEED and he said next week.

It is Mexico and in the end it is not important when it gets done but what will be important is that we are happy with the work, which I hope means DAA-VEED cares about what we think and not what he thinks. (another joke).

In the mean time we found yet another rotten beam that needs to be replaced and are waiting to hear a price quote on that. So far the price has gone up by either $50 USD or the unknown fact of what value a peso has to the dollar at that moment and for what amount. I wish we had USD as it was $1,000 and now it is $12,500 pesos. Oh well, it is all good.

One thing we have going for us is Ann is here and she is a stickler about everything. We hope. She said she was. She is friends with DAA-VEED as is her boy friend Abi, who I think we are in his circle of trust now, so we should be well taken care of.

Abi trimmed plants and oiled wood before we got here. This is typical attitude in this area: he was shocked we thanked him. Like good shock. He told Ann "She said Thank you Abi".

One good thing about us is we consider these people our equals. Everyone has a job to do in life, it does not matter what you do for a living but in the end how you treat the world and others.

I think we are in good company here.

Vulture

2010-11-30T19:20:00.000-08:00

This vulture up in the dead tree was too classic not to photograph, along with the jungle now. I always find it amusing on some level that even the lowest housing seems to have a TV dish these days.

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale....

2010-11-30T19:17:00.001-08:00

I had to take a photo of this boat.. it looks so much like the SS Minnow sitting there!

You can't complain when you have a Sol beer with chips on salsa on the beach.

Majahaul

2010-11-30T19:08:00.000-08:00

I have to post some photos of our side trip to Majahaul. Eleven years ago I was in Xcalak which is about 6 miles by boat from Belize. Majahaul is about 30 miles north of Xcalak and we drove through there on our way out. A few years ago they built a dock for cruise ships and I always wondered how much it must have changed. Back in the day it was pretty much funky, hostel hippie looking - sort of how you would think Tulum was in the 80's.

I don't have much nice to say about the town. The beach and water is still the same - absolutely beautiful. There is something intoxicating about the beauty of the water there.

The sad news is that when Hurricane Dean hit a few years ago it totally wiped out the jungle. I was in shock. I almost didn't understand what I was seeing for a few minutes. There is NO jungle, it looks like a forest hit by a fire or what Mt. St. Helen's looks like.

This is going to take me 3 posts to get the photos up. I couldn't share just 5 photos.

These are photos of the cute buildings we saw. Of course the town is not all like this but there were these adorable places. This was something I loved about Xcalak years ago, more Caribbean than Mexico looking.

And we are home

2010-11-28T17:29:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it back from the road trip and we are so happy to be here. Once we hit Tulum on the highway we felt so much better. There was a military check point set up in Tulum, something I have never seen there before. As with the check point out by Majahual they were only searching Mexican's cars. They waved us through both times.

But we now have a queen size bed (yippeee) and are happy to be here. Of course it is dusty and palm pieces (the roof) are all over but I will take that just to be back here.

I am so in love with this palapa it isn't funny.

Some people call it 'gentleman's camping' but after seeing the housing that the normal local people live in here in Mexico this place is a mansion. So what if we have inconviences? These are small in comparsion to how the majority of the world lives.

I am proud to live in a palapa casa.

Bacalar

2010-11-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be unfair to not show a couple of photos Mr. D spent time taking. One is at night with the glow of Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo, from across the lake.

The other is the magnificant sunrise we were lucky enough to see from our room.

Muy bien! (very good).

Around the town of Bacalar

2010-11-28T17:21:00.000-08:00

I try to not photograph things in Mexico because they are 'weird' in the sense of not the way Americans would do things, but rather unique even for Mexico.

I could not believe my eyes when I saw this trailer at a campground located right on the lake. This was way too cool and brought out the gypsy in me...

And this house was on the lake too.. right smack dab in Mexico too..

The ways in Mexico

2010-11-28T17:05:00.001-08:00

I find how they do things very creative and interesting in Mexico. Mr. D and I discussed why the trend has always been to have open closets. I suspected it either has to do with air circulation or insects. He seemed to think that it would be up to each family to put on doors they wanted, but really I see so few with doors. Kitchens are the same way, the open concrete shelves are typical.

Basically I wanted to show how creative they can be when doing something. In one photo you can see the attachment for the clothing rod, it is attached to the wood. Normal huh? But the other side is concrete... so they made a hole in the concrete and put the pole in.

Done.

The bathroom

2010-11-28T16:58:00.000-08:00

Although nothing had been updated to modern standards everything was in excellent shape. The bathroom was small and it went toilet, shower, bidet room. I was so clausterphobic that I made Mr. D stand outside the shower and hand me my soap, shampoo, etc. I just could not stand the thought of being in there alone.

Oh, no photo of the sign. I started to take the bathroom photos but had to ask Mr. D to change the camera setting and he took the photos then. So there is no good shot of the bathroom sink with the shells embedded in it and none of the crazy Spanish/English sign saying don't put anything hot on the sink or it will melt!

I sell seashells down by the... laguna?

2010-11-28T16:56:00.001-08:00

Okay, here is a glimpse of the ceiling of the restaurant... the ENTIRE thing was covered with these shells and there were smaller ones on the walls. Even the bar outside had shells all over it.

More on Hotel Bacalar Laguna

2010-11-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

I can't let this go. This place was too cool. We did get some photos, these show the front of our "room". There was also a sitting area below the walkway, like each room had their own little patio space. There was also a 'lovers chair' - the kind where you sit facing in opposite directions so you can make out.

If I could turn back time

2010-11-27T18:08:00.000-08:00

This is what a classic “upper crust” 1950’s motel in Mexico would be. The funny part is that it was built in 1972 so I guess 1970 for Mexico equals 1950’s USA style.
Hotel Laguna, located on Bacalar Laguna, is as if time stopped. This is seriously a place that could be transported to Miami Beach Art Deco District or Laguna Beach California. I half expect to see women in old fashioned skirted swimsuits with hair bands sporting huge flowers. I also expect to see couples playing shuffleboard.. if there was shuffleboard here.
And while Hotel Laguna is frozen in time it is lovingly taken care of. I get the feeling it has been in the same family since it was built.
Whoever built this did so as a labor of love. Why else would they put thousands of seashells on every inch of the restaurant ceiling and walls? The check in desk, along with the bathroom sink, is seashells in epoxy!
I think this was for the upper crust because – hold on here – there is a friggin’ BIDET in the bathroom! I have never seen a bidet in Mexico (although some toilets without their seats resemble bidets!).
All the signs, except for one in the bathroom (photo to come later) are in Spanish. Yes, I know, I am in Mexico after all, but most places have some English somewhere, but not here.
I imagine this place alive during the Mexican tourist season – people sitting on their decks watching boaters, lunching by the pool, children snorkeling in the laguna.
Now here is the eerie part – we were practically the only ones here the first night! There was one woman in the hotel part but that was it! We joked maybe we are in The Hotel California or a Twightlight Zone episode.
Now about the food… MAGNIFICIENT!
As I always I can’t just post 5 photos, but no matter how many I put up you will never get the feel unless you turn back time and visit Hotel Laguna.
UPDATE: The person who is does the photography (I just found out) has not taken a single photo of the front of our room, the bathroom or the cute sitting areas in front of our room. These are the best of the first 150 photos he took here. I guess I need to just do my own photography because I don’t need more sunsets or foggy sunrises!!!!!

Inside our cabana

2010-11-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from inside the cabana we are in. I hate to say this, but it has grown on me... yep, I know, it is our last night here and now I love it. Mostly I love it because we have managed to only hit up one ruin yesterday and one today. A waste of time to come this far for just one per day but it has made me happier. Of course my idea of vacation is down time and drinks...

So upon our return I took a shower. I was in happy heaven - the water was HOT! Not burning like at the palapa but a great hot warm. Then it happened, I got an electrical shock. Holy crap. Mr. D said something the other day about 'electrical' when he was in the shower and I yelled to him, asking what was he talking about and of course he didn't answer me (I pretend he is answering me in his mind and then just forgets to say it outloud).

So we have figured out that there is a water heating element of some sort (I am hoping commercially made) in the shower head. And if you are under it and raise your hands too close to it (by too close we mean like 6 - 8 inches) you get an electrical shock.

WTF? So my love affair here has ended.

This trip has taught me that I should own just 3 colors of clothes, underwear and bras, white, cream/beige/tan and black. Also everything I own needs to be quick dry tropical travel wear. I try to have that sort of thing anyway but need to have just that type of clothing and nothing else.

We also have talked about heading by bus to Chetamul and crossing to Belize and maybe even to Merida by bus. I think this is a big step for me because I am a bubble girl and don't like to be too close to other people, but we shall see.... as long as they don't have the water heater in the shower head.

Calakmul Eco Resort & Ruins

2010-11-25T13:16:00.000-08:00

I figure if I am not the one who gets on line and finds a place for us to stay on our journeys then I cannot complain. This time it was mostly due to the fact I had no clue where we were going.

We are staying at an Ecological ‘retreat' which equates to: no AC and no hot water. Our cabana doesn't have walls and windows of the real sense. We have concrete or concrete and wood pole walls. But the windows are... just screen. Yes, I said SCREENS. And I would say there is more screen walls / windows than solid ones.

I seriously equate this to a cross between summer camp (without the fun activities) and a POW camp (without the beatings). Mr. D says it is not that bad and lucky for him it is not hot nor is it humid so I can stand 4 nights here.

I am sort of germ phobic so I brought my flannel Costco sheets with us. I roll up in the bottom sheet like I am a burrito or I am cocooning to hatch, hopefully into a beautiful butterfly, which by the way, there are a lot of them and they are a beautiful blue color.
My biggest worry, now that nights one and two have passed and no bugs have gotten me, is that a real wild animal will smell the peanut butter or the granola bars (recommended by the hotel for ones trip to this place on earth)I have hidden in my backpack and rip open the screens.

Mr. D came here for the fact of howler monkeys, jaguars and toucans live here. So far we have seen wild turkeys (LOTS of them) and gray squirrels. You can stop laughing now. We had not seen any exotic wild life, be it good or bad.

You just have to be here to understand. I would like to say 'charming'. I cannot. I would like to say 'quaint'. I cannot. I would like to say so many things but basically I probably would not stay here again because I am a princess who likes HOT water to wash my body and hair in. I also like AC. I am a spoiled gringa I admit. I don't care for roughing it but then again I did see some hotels in town where I would really be roughing it for $130 pesos per night (which by the way is around $12 or $13 USD so think that over really, really slowly).

This place is NOT worth the $120 USD it is costing us but we committed to 4 nights and I committed to this part of the world for the Ruins of 2010 Tour.

As I stated before the eco 'resort' is located at the gate to the Calakmul Ruins. You pay to enter the gate and then it is 60 kilometers (not about, it IS 60 kilometers) on a road where 1/2 is great and 1/2 has some deep pot holes. When you get to the end you get to pay AGAIN to get into the ruins.

The hotel's website had said that it was an hour drive to the ruins and to plan to spend about 5 hrs. I would suggest getting up early because the drive is going to take 2 hrs but only if you care to not destroy the rental car you have. The ruins are too spread out for me and they are in the jungle and my view is they are not well marked. Meaning I thought we were lost more than a couple of times. And if you know me I am pretty directionally functional but not when I am just feet from the border where I have been taught they are going to cross over and take my passport, slice my throat and not even leave a trace of the granola bars. By *they* I mean the Guatamleans.

But that is another story.

About the photos: inside the palapa roof of the entry to our 'retreat', the view from inside the sweet restaurant here, the pool (part of the POW Camp feel) and me with Snuggles & Little Fred going into the 'big ruins'.

Then to Playa del Carmen

2010-11-24T16:21:00.000-08:00

We did stop in one of the small villages on the way back for everyone to shop. Dianna and I tried out some chairs... mighty comfy if you ask us.

Then we stopped at the Pizza place (sorry, no photos) to get the free extra large pizza Dianna won at the crab races. We were so hungry we forgot to take any photos! Then after, literally, inhaling the pizza, we headed to Playa so the girls could shop.

Mr. D and the girls loved 'little Italy', which I find it hard to accept but what the heck... I think the photos of the girls in little Italy is adorable, but then again, what photo of those two isn't?

Let's go back.... to Coba

2010-11-24T16:12:00.000-08:00

I seriously messed up because I didn't have photos of the girls resized to post and just jumped right into the road trip.

Saturday we went to Coba so Dianna and Nemo could see a ruins, which to me Tulum is not a good example of a ruin, so we buzzed through Tulum and made the trek to Coba instead. Once we got there D & N decided to rent a bicycle taxi to wheel them around while Mr. D and I choose to bike it, all things considered we needed the work out.

The girls soon discovered the taxi driver, Pedro, was turning 23 next month and had lived in Coba his whole life. His parents speak only Mayan, he speaks Mayan, Spanish and English and his sisters Spanish and English. He was a great tour guide for the girls!

Dianna was the only one who climbed the largest pyramid at Coba!

Where are we? Day 1 of the road trip

2010-11-22T14:38:00.000-08:00

We are actually about 50 miles from the Guatamalan border in the jungle. We are at an Eco 'hotel' which is actually about 15 seperate 'huts' sprinkled in the jungle. There is a small restaurant here. There is no town nearby, maybe 36 miles to the nearest one. This is the closest accomodations to the ruins here, Calakmul, and the gate to the ruins is about 700 meters down the driveway of the hotel. Then once you get in the gate it is another hour up to the ruins.

And yes, this is real time and we DO have internet. Go figure. It is through my '3 times the charm' Telcel stick! Can you believe that? And I have Mexican cell phone.. and my US phone is working too.

We ate an interesting dinner of spaghetti with a smokey chili flavor and goat cheese quesedillas with onions and honey. They probably sound gross but they were DE-LISH-OUS.

More Yal Ku Photos

2010-11-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

Mr. D took these. I just resized to post here but he is going to take some of his photos and redo them nicer so I can get them up later. In the mean time you get an idea.

Yal Ku Lagoon

2010-11-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

After the cenote we went to Yal Ku where the fresh river water meets the Caribbean Sea. Although you cannot *see the sea* you can feel it if you are out far enough. The cool river water meeting up with the warm sea water and you can see it swirling under water too… it looks a bit like when you add oil into water and swirl it around.
Di and I did not feel comfortable to attempt this, plus to me it just was not warm enough. Nemo went out a bit and then came back and once again Mr. D was gone taking photos. I think we need to get him an antenna for the top of his head so we can see where he is and also use it as communication with him. “Are you okay?” LOL….
After snorkeling we returned home, the girls had some drinks, we all ate dinner that Mr. D made (chicken and cheese quesadillas, salsa, guacamole, black beans and yummy rice) and then headed to the crab races. Dianna was the big winner, the first round she played she won a free Extra Large Pizza from the pizza place 5 minutes down the road. We have never eaten there but know that they deliver to Paamul and have heard they were really good.
Then the girls all stayed for karaoke. It was pretty fun, especially the table of drunken old ladies sitting behind us.
All in all I would say it was a most excellent day.

Cenote Cristalano

2010-11-22T14:28:00.000-08:00

Naturally we had to take Dianna and Nemo to a cenote and Yal Ku. We had never been to this cenote, but it was only 5 minutes from home and on the way to Yal Ku. I think all of us agreed the temperature outside needed to be hotter for us to really enjoy both places but it was still fun.
The cenote area we choose was a bit ‘cave like’ so Dianna and I didn’t venture far, Nemo a bit more and Mr. D was gone! He snorkeled all the way over to the big open area and took photos on the way.

Sorry forgot

2010-11-20T18:31:00.001-08:00

Here is the photo of us doing tequila shots. I don't remember when the last time I did them was, but I know this is the last time for a long time!

Buffets

2010-11-20T18:29:00.001-08:00

More photos from Cozumel

Cozumel Drink and Drive

2010-11-20T18:27:00.001-08:00

These are from the first part of the trip. Someday I will get the order memorized and how many photos each post can have. So this at the Raggae Bar.

To Cozumel we go

2010-11-20T18:19:00.001-08:00

The 2nd day 'the girls' were here we went to Cozumel. It was raining off and on that day but we made it to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville where we had the most fantastic lunch and drinks. Then we rented a car and drove to the windward side of the island. First stop was the Raggae Bar, which I thought would have loud raggae music and be a crazy scene, but it was not. Then we headed to Playa Bonita (yes, beautiful beach) where we had green drinks and free shots of tequila. Back in town walking and shopping our way back to the ferry dock Dianna and Nemo discovered that even jewelry stores give free shots of tequila. I don't remember much after that except being told to be quiet on the ferry boat and then we went straight to McDonald's in Playa del Carmen so Dianna could have a sprite. The last photos are not our finest moments, I am sure our parents would not approve. But it was fun. Dianna had no hangover, I was pretty sick until we ate breakfast and then was 100% after that to held out the next day.

Here is proof that we really took advantage of what I call the 'drink and drive island tour'.

Salud!

House guests arrive

2010-11-20T18:16:00.001-08:00

Dianna and Nemo made it on Wednesday (we have not had internet again until this morning). They were super excited to be here and fell in love with the community and water view immediately.

photos from around the area

2010-11-16T19:37:00.001-08:00

This is a neighbor's house. I LOVE the color!

This is local, real palapa housing in the Mayan village the medical team went to.

My view while having coffee, looking out the back door.

And the view from the restaurant at night.

Also, the night view from the restaurant.

Really??

2010-11-16T15:58:00.002-08:00

Okay, so it is now Tuesday and I was forced to buy Playawireless internet, the most hated internet for me. The SIM card still did not work today and it appears it is a problem with the card itself so we get to go back to TelCel with Anne tomorrow when she gets off work tomorrow. This will mark the 3rd time but I am hoping in the end it works because I can blog from anywhere down here with that. Playawireless is only a local internet company.

I will post photos when I get them resized. All this time I never thought about resizing the photos so they would be ready.

Go figure.

new housing

2010-11-16T15:58:00.001-08:00

Well, I have to say I was not prepared for the new lots that Pepe, the land owner, put in. They are ocean front and he was selling the right to build for $30,000 each but never did I think that people would build REAL houses there! WTH? And they have 40 amps of power each house! We have 15 amps. Yes, 15! I am hoping someday we can upgrade as blowing the breaker is not fun. For example we cannot run the microwave and washer/dryer/fan/light/air conditioning/insert any appliance in here at the same time. Lucky for us we don’t need the microwave very often.

Anyway, these are some photos of around our neighborhood and the new houses. I am going back to reading my book and catching the breeze.

I be smilin’

2010-11-16T15:55:00.000-08:00

So Sunday arrived and I had no headache, no aches, my life was good. Set out to find my shampoo, soap, etc. I had bathed at the hotel but had no clean clothes, toothbrush, shaver, etc. so showering was a priority this morning.

About this time was when we realized, and when we say this you cannot even comprehend it, that we were being invaded, outside but they were heading in too, an entire, MILLIONS of army (literally) BIG BLACK ANTS. There was a carpet of them in the backyard.

We never thought to take photos.

We knew had the ants, we saw them yesterday at the front of the palapa but this was like someone blew a whistle and they just charged out of the jungle and toward the palapa. After the mayhem (killing them inside by stepping and spraying them, outside Mr. D was spraying and sprinkling ant killer like a mad man) we had them to some degree under control, which was good as we were out of spray and powder.

Let me also tell you about these things - they are not real. They are like some form of zombie ants. If you step on one, they just pop themselves out and keep on walking. I know you cannot even imagine it but they are very difficult to kill. Stepping does not do it. I swear one time I had the body in one spot and the head in another and the friggin thing took its legs and put its head back on. Okay, maybe this did not happen but it seems like it does.

The other issue with them is they bite. They bite hard. And it hurts for a long time afterward.

I hate them. I can do small ants but the big biting black ones are HORRIBLE.
About the time we got it somewhat under control Anne came down to go with us to the Telcel Store.

Now in Mexico it is a long process to get a cell phone and we wanted the wireless flash drive internet stick. But being one who knows when to get in action I skipped my shower and Mr. D, Anne and I headed to town.

On the way we were pulled over by the police, for the first time in all the years of coming to Mexico. Apparently the speed through the military checkpoint is 40 kph and who knows how fast Mr. D was going. Anyway, the cop was NICE and just said to go 40 through there and sent us on our way. I am sure that we had the one nice police officer in the entire state.

Once we got to the Telcel store everything went… smoothly. And not only did we get wireless internet (3G) but we are now official. I almost want to cry….. We have a Mexican CELL PHONE! With a local Playa del Carmen phone number! How sweet is that? And I can just pay for time each time we come down there.

I had to get the cell phone because it was only $299 PESOS! That is about $25 USD for the phone itself. All it does is makes calls, but it also has a flashlight built in (in dark Mexico that comes in handy) and a radio! Now if I am lost I can see and have music at the same time. Oh and make phone calls.

To explain the Telcel store you have to understand that in Mexico most people do not have credit/debt cards and very few people have checking accounts. So if you have a cell phone and / or the wireless flash drive you have to go in person each month to pay your bill. So this usually means long lines at the store and if you think service at a Verizon store in the US is slow, just try it Mexico style.

You check in at desk, then stand in line (none this morning as they had just opened) wait for a customer service person to help you. You tell them what you want, they do ‘something’, you sign 4 copies of whatever it is you are signing, take the copies to another line (again, none today), pay for whatever it is you are doing, they give you copies back, you return to the first person, who does more magic, gives you one copy to keep and then you get your equipment from them.

Of course we had Anne to speak Spanish to them, which is totally my issue as I do not know their language and I should. I hope to someday but right now I needed a communication agent and I am forever in her debt for doing that.

I also want to mention that they flash/wireless stick cost $619 Pesos which is about $52 USD.

Overall we were very impressed with the cost of these things and the service plans.
If I were going to be here for any length of time I would want to go on the month to month plan vs the pay as you go as it is cheaper but that requires you to have a different type of residency and one I am not able to even begin at this time since I am not down here enough to do so.

So we now have these things and are waiting for Anne to come back from visiting friends today to help us finalize how to get them working.. SIM cards and all sorts of things are involved but I am sure it will go smoothly once she helps us finish setting up.

So far, so good… and I be smilin’!

Sunday November 14th

2010-11-16T15:52:00.000-08:00

Well so much has changed in the last 24 hrs I am going to try and do this in sections.

We arrived yesterday afternoon to the palapa being absolutely spotless and tastefully arranged. The inside the trailer was so NICE I didn’t feel creepy about it like I usually do. And it smelled NICE.

Anne, the house sitter has now raised to a new high in my book. Everything here is in great shape. The shower was fixed, tiled and all. The only complaint? Now the water is too hot. LOL.

We had dinner at the restaurant seeing Martin (pronounced Mar-teen) our favorite waiter and we saw the usual help staff there. Later we returned to the restaurant for the Mark Mulligan concert (we hired Mark to sing there). Of course you probably have not heard of Mark Mulligan but you can go to MulligansIsland. Com, I think and see/hear about him. He sings Jimmy Buffet style songs.

There was a good sized crowd there so I hope the restaurant did well. Saw the owner of the restaurant, Kalu (he is from Brazil).

I want to add here… I have made it locally because when the men shake my hand we also kiss on the cheek. Silly as it sounds I take this as great respect. It tells me that we are friends. Now when I say men I do not mean the gringos (ugh!) but rather the locals, the waiters, Kalu.

I am in the circle of trust. And it makes me smile.

So we stayed until Mark was done singing, meeting many people (who live in Paamul). I know it is good to be known but I really do not want to be ubber friends with many or any of them. What can I say? It is more important to me that the wait staff kiss me on the cheek than I have best buds in the gringos.

I would like to say

2010-11-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

so many things.... manly something witty with a photo of me on the beach with a drink in my hand and waving my servants around with a flip of my wrist and a touch on my hair.

But alas, that is not to be.

today has been a travel journey I have never been on in my life. Things did not go well from Seattle on. I don't know how to explain it but there was a "FUNK" in the air to me but I thought I was just upset because someone, who will rename nameless managed to put a KNIFE in my carry on.... yes, I know.. they supposedly thought they were dropping it in my packed bag, which was the same design as one of the carry-ons but it was really the carry on. Thank god I found this before I hit security. I know it sounds silly but I was in tears. All I could think about was if I had gone into security with a knife in my bag.

Then, the flight to Dallas we had the most horrible, rude flight attendant. One was terrible and one was not really there. There was no food offered for us to buy, etc.. just a bad situation. the bitchy attendant ignored me a couple of times as I held my empty can and glass out for her to take as she came around for garbage pick up. You had to be there.. but she was a BITCH... trust me on that.

Then a weird thing happened. We were told by the pilot that there were thunder storms in Dallas and we were in a holding pattern. Then he said we were going to be diverted to Austin. Then later he came on and said there were too many planes in Austin. Then he came on and said....you won't believe this... we don't have enough fuel so now we have to go to San Antonio! So we get to San Antonio and we refuel and some people actually got off there on the tarmac... and we took off and Mr. Pilot says we will land in Dallas in 39 minutes. So I sit and wait.

And I wait.

And I wait.

And I am thinking, this is really long to 39 minutes.

Then he comes on and says we are in a holding pattern still to land.

Then we land, and we get off and the 'helpful' agent at the end of the gate says to go to D29. So we go to D29.. and they said to go to D18....and of course they are loading a plane to PHOENIX and step away from the podium if you are not going to PHOENIX and after 3 or 4 "final boarding calls" the Phoenix flight leaves and then the 2 desk people, who said they would be with the Cancun people as soon as the Phoenix flight leaves... they disappear.

I am unsure if God came and got them but they both just magically disappeared into thin air.. so now we have stood there at least 30 minutes.

You won't believe this but we were still standing there an hour later with NO ONE SHOWING UP.

And finally some one found someone who came and got a 'supervisor' in charge to get a couple of people helping us.

And now it was 2 hrs of standing there.

Then about another hour and half of waiting to see if we can get on the standby of the last flight of the day.. it FINALLY takes off 1 1/2 hrs late... and no we are not going to get on this because we are 25 and 26 on stand by

Sigh.

So they said we can get discounted hotel vouchers only at the ticket counter so we head there and yep, you guessed it, it is not quite 7 pm and the there is NO ONE at the ticket counter. As a matter of fact EVERY ticket counter we saw was closed... at 7 pm on a Friday????? WTH????

So we just go to the Hyatt that is right in the airport and get a room for $159 per night because we have to do something.

But we have no clean underwear (for those of us who wear underwear), no toothbrush, NOTHING and who friggin knows where the luggage is!!!

I did have a margarita at the bar. Okay, I had 2 and they were strong and some spicy chicken soup and bread. I am tired. I am still cranky.. I want to be home in Mexico and now I worry, will I really have a seat on the 4:30 pm flight, but then I get in at 7 pm (or later as American is always late leaving Dallas), get the car, drive 1 1/2 hrs to home!

It has not been a good adventure and I am mostly shocked by the total lack of concern by American Airlines staff toward those of us who have paid money to fly on their airlines. The tickets I had were the most expensive in 20+ years of flying to Cancun I have bought and I feel that they could at least be more responsive than they were to their customers.

Okay, eyes beat. It is 2 hrs later here and I really need to be up by 6 am to start my 'give me a ticket and let me go standby' game.

Not one I want to play but must.

Thank god we are here for 3 weeks...

Test

2010-11-05T18:38:00.001-07:00

I am testing the email aspect for the blog. Apparently I can upload to the blog via email. Who would have thought huh? And photos too so I am going to find a photo and give it a whirl. Also.. look at these photos, this is how much the plants in the backyard have grown since January 2009. Amazing.

Testing

2010-11-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

I am testing the email aspect for the blog. Apparently I can upload to the blog via email. Who would have thought huh? And photos too so I am going to find a photo and give it a whirl.

Eat, Pray, Love - Read & Watch

2010-08-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

If you were following my blog last year you will remember I posted once about the book Eat, Pray, Love. Well, now it is a movie and you must see it. I do recommend you read the book first, it helps to explain more about why she wanted a divorce and the hell she went through to get it. But Julia Roberts is so darn sweet and how can you not just love anything she is in?

As I have said before, pick your dream. Go for it.

That is the best advice I have on any given day.

On another note, Cost Plus World Market is having a contest to win a 7 night trip to either Italy, India or Bali, so check out their website.

I really want to go to Bali! How fun!

House sitter extraordinaire!

2010-08-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

This is Soffhea the first house sitter we had. She was very excellent! I miss her already. LOL... behind me in the photo is Phil. Phil and his wife Heidi are the party looking for a place to happen. They organize a big party every year in March and it is themed each year. This year Soffhea went as Frieda Kahlo!

Happy faces from Mexico

2010-08-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

So here are a couple of photos of me and Snuggles drinking... and our sign on the main highway for our 'resort'.. I like how they say it is 4 stars.. I guess it all depends on who is doing the counting!

Photos from Mexico

2010-08-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

I thought some of you would like to see the airport in Cancun. It has grown so much in the last 22 years (sounds like a long time but really it has been a blink of the eye). The photo looking toward the doors of the airport are where you go when you are departing. There is a photo of the signs inside, so once you check in you head up the escalator, at the top is the security check just like in the US. The last photo is for those arriving to Cancun. The blue doors on the right are where you come out after getting through immigration and customs. If you are being picked up you would go through the metal 'gates' on the far right, but if you are taking a taxi you would head past the bar and to the far left where the taxis are. Yes, if you want to get a beer or margarita for the road you can do it at the bar. Ole!

Margarita Mix

2010-08-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, forget the experiment.. I found the word's best margarita mix that has no calories, fat, or carbs! You can find this at Thriftway stores but if you go to the website you can search for other stores near you. Thriftway has the margarita and the sweet and sour mix!

The (about) 100-calorie Margarita Project (i.e. experiment)

2010-07-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

I have to explain how I got to this point in the first place. Three things converged at the same time in my life. Within several days my manager told our team that Applebee’s has a wonderful 100-calorie margarita, I received the July issue of Cooking Light Magazine with a 105-calorie watermelon margarita recipe and I used up my last bottle of store-bought margarita mix.

I didn’t want to keep using store bought (i.e. convenient) margarita mix anymore. I felt it was too ‘heavy’ or sweet or something. Too strong is a good description for it. I wanted a lighter drink and not so many carbs. Now before you think “strawberry margarita” I have to let you know that I don’t like strawberry anything. And I do love limes and all lime drinks and products, so I wanted my 100-calorie (only because my manager and Cooking Light Magazine said it could be done) margarita to be original flavor.

I did some quick research and watched an on-line video of a low carb margarita being made. The woman doing it added lemonade to the juice of limes. An interesting concept that I thought I might try if the lime only didn’t work out. The reality was she still used regular, sugar carbed up lemonade!

My other research was into the alcohol calorie content. I found that 80 proof at 1.5 oz equals 100 calories. So basically I knew the only calories I can have in my margarita have to come from the alcohol, so all others must be zero to almost nothing in calories and carbs.

I also decided I needed to try it out on someone besides myself so I packed all the products and took them to my fiancé’s aunt’s house. Being a long heritage of drinkers I figured she would give me honest feedback.

My first challenge was finding a lime-aide type drink made without sugar. Crystal Light does not make one and neither did any of the generic brands I found. My search is not over, I have a few more stores to check out before I finalize this. I did buy some ‘lime’ only flavoring that had no sweetener in it, but I left them in Mexico. I just need to go back to the store and find them. I think adding some Splenda to them might do the trick if the first batch doesn’t work.

What I did find was Crystal Light (on the go) Citrus Splash (with a photo of a lemon, lime and orange on the box) and Pure Fitness Lemon Lime. Even though individual packets would make party sized quantities more difficult I was willing to give it a try.

My first batch consisted of this:

2 packets of Crystal Light Pure Fitness Lemon Lime (each packet was for 2 cups of water)
4 cups of water
4 limes – 3 ½ of them juiced into the Lemon Lime mixture
½ lime sliced and added
1.5 cups (or 12 oz) Tequila (I was looking at each drink as 8 oz here so I realize that the amount of tequila was not equal to what you might typically have in a drink. You can add more alcohol but then your calories will go up)

I put this all in my carafe pitcher and placed it in the frig for the flavors to meld and to let it chill. (I don’t like blender drinks either so I serve mine on the rocks).

The video I had watched the woman put part sugar, part salt together to rim the glasses. I did the same thing with margarita salt and organic sugar.

Best guess breakdown of what was used for the entire pitcher:

Crystal Light (2 packet total) 30 calories
0 fat
70 mg sodium
6 gram carbs (6 gr. Sugar)

Tequila 800 calories

Results:

Auntie Hoke (Dave’s 87 year old aunt) loved them. She agreed the store bought mix is too strong and she liked the lightness and freshness of the ones I created.

How I would do it differently? I would add 1.5 oz of tequila after placing the lime mixture in the glass with the ice, stirring to blend well.

Or you could add the alcohol when you blend them (something I did not do).

I did mix up the Crystal Light (on the go) Citrus Splash but did not like it at all. First it was orange in color but it also did not have a fresh lime taste but rather a citrus almost orange taste that wasn’t nearly as good as the Citrus Splash.

What would I do differently? I would not use as many fresh squeezed limes. Maybe 2 or 3 max (and I love lime). Outside of that nothing else would change.

You have to realize these are not going to be as sweet as what you may be used to, but they are healthier for you!

Watermelon Margaritas (re-designed) from Cooking Light Magazine

2 teaspoons Organic Sugar
1 lime wedge
3 ½ cups cubed seeded watermelon (I cubed mine and put them in the freezer until it was time to blender them)
½ cup tequila
3 packages of Splenda
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon Triple Sec

Use the organic (this is my change as I had just bought a bag of organic sugar for this experiment) sugar to coat the rim of each glass after rubbing with lime wedge.

Combine remaining ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Fill each prepared glass with ½ cup of crushed ice. Add ½ cup of margarita mix to each glass. Yield 6 servings.

Per Cooking Light Magazine:
105 calories
0.2 gram fat
14.1 gram carbs

Since I used Splenda I thinking the carbs should be less due to that. ?

Results:

I didn't care for them. They were flavor-less but that could be because of the unripe watermelon. If I found really ripe watermelon I may try them again.

Errors I immediately realized I made:

Watermelon – unless you are an expert at picking ripe watermelons just buy the small ones (2 in a bag) from Costco. At least you know they will be ripe because I bought a store bought one and it was AWFUL. It was all pale meat and basically tasteless.

Organic Sugar – since I had never used this before I would buy raw sugar instead for the size of the sugar particles.

Sugar and Salt mixture for rims – I put half organic sugar and half margarita salt. This was way too salty as the organic sugar (remember I have never used or tasted it before) was very mild. So I dumped out about 9/10 of what I had and added more sugar and the results were a mild salty sugary flavor. I would put the sugar amount you think you will need and then start added SMALL (less than a teaspoon) amounts of the salt.

Welcome Everyone

2010-06-23T19:25:00.001-07:00

Hi, well if you made it this far then you are one of the select chosen few to be invited to read this blog. As soon as I have time I will start posting here again. I am really looking forward to keeping this up!

This is home

2010-05-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

These photos are where we live.. this is our home to us, we consider coming back to the US an inconvenience. Sort of a short blip on the radar screen of life.

The photo of the grocery store is the one on the main highway. It is "Dave's Super Mini".

Building the highway in Playa

2010-05-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

The overpass in Playa is coming along. I was so excited as this trip we saw it is going to be a bypass of the entire town and not just Juarez!

In Mexico they put crosses up on the construction sites to protect the workers. This one was wrapped in red, white and blue ribbons. Dave thought it was appropriate to photograph.

Building a new palapa

2010-05-13T17:31:00.001-07:00

There is yet another new palapa going up on North Jungle Avenue.

Clubs

2010-05-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

SMB was commenting this time how glad he is that the 'gentlemen's clubs' are mostly all closed in Playa. He even took photos of them.

The last time through Merida on the highway we saw this club. In case you can't read it... it says...

"Milk - Gay Disco".

Anyone got any milk?

LOL

Road trip to get hammocks

2010-05-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well, we did do the road trip and have the hammocks.... didn't hang them up but we have them. They are gorgeous and we should have taken photos but we did not.

On our way to Santa Elena we stopped briefly at Hacienda Yaxcopil, we do plan to go back to tour it but here are a couple of photos of what part we did see.

It was 43 degrees when we were there... centigrade.. which is 109.4 F.

Can we say 'white girl melting'?

Keeping the palapa clean

2010-05-13T16:34:00.001-07:00

When we arrived to Mexico this time our palapa was spotless.. it was SO clean. Our house sitter Soffhea had worked her buns off, along with the local house cleaner, getting it clean for our arrival. The next day we left on an all day road trip, arriving home late. I opened the door and was saddened by the mess. The wind had been blowing quite hard and there was 'stuff' all over the floors and counters.

Living in a palapa is challenging. You want the wind to blow to create coolness but it also blows in and down parts of the roof.

I decided this time that sweeping the floor and wiping counters daily is a requirement. And that mopping should be done very 3 days at the least. While I failed at the mopping (I only did it once while there) we did sweep most of the days. Sweeping in humidity creates quite a sweat.

Rather than being frustrated at the requirements to keep it clean, this time I looked at it as a small pay off to living in the most beautiful place on earth. And it is nice to have clean floors and counters.

Today as I was around our place back in the US I noticed dust. I had to laugh. Here I rarely dust and I don't think we have vacuumed every floor more than twice since we moved in. The dirt does not bother me here.

But there, there is just something about those clean counters and floors that make you feel comforted.

Almost Returning

2010-04-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it is time for us to return to the most fantastic place on earth - our home in Mexico. We will only be down for 10 days for a family function. I spent today getting a couple of suitcases packed. Not as much 'stuff' as I thought there would be this time. The best part is my daughter and her family will be there for the first time.

No car but we get a new water pump

2010-01-27T18:12:00.000-08:00

Alas I have failed on many missions. I did not get down anymore to meet Palapa Life, the people selling the car changed their minds (and I wasn't even bartering yet), the water pump went out the last night we were there and the breaker kept blowing at the main power box the entire time we were there.

We have the electrician coming to replace the pump (slightly larger motor size) and to repair some of the electrical (remember the burned up outlet from November? Well the GIRL figured out that is probably why we keep blowing the main breaker).

We have a house sitter watching the place and making sure everything keeps working as it should and to help keep it cleaned.

I never realized that our palapa is pretty large but after viewing a few this time (getting up close and actually inside helps) I see we do. Not bragging, but really realizing that the bigger the palapa, the more the dirt it gathers.

The Winchester Mansion of Mexico

2010-01-21T17:48:00.000-08:00

If you have heard of the Winchester Mansion in California you know it was owned by Mrs. Winchester, the widow of the rifle maker. She thought she had to atone (or some such thing) for the souls of the people killed by the rifle invented by her husband. Her way of doing it was to have her house under construction 24 hrs per day, 7 days per week for years on end. She had the workers build, so there are stairs that go nowhere and basically it is a confusion of rooms, rooms and more rooms.

In the city where I am from there was a man (who coincidently knew my brother years ago) who worked on his house at all hours of the day and night. It was a unique house in the worse area of our city. I figured anything he did would be an improvement but apparently the neighbors in the ghetto did not think so and neither did the building inspectors as he never got a permit and most of his stuff would be ‘illegal’ or ‘not kosher’ in the minds of most normal citizens.

I, on the other hand, thought that the Winchester Mansion and the funky house (which was eventually sold by the city and torn down to my dismay and the delight of the local Bloods and Crips) were – inspiring. Of course I didn’t have to live next door to either of them and listen to the pounding, sawing and general construction sounds 24 hrs per day, 365 days per year.

My neighbor in Mexico is remodeling. He was remodeling a couple of months ago and I think he may be remodeling in a few months when we return. The sawing, pounding and general noises do NOT bother either of us. We marvel at what those noises could be… floors being grounded down, beams being put in, concrete being poured, etc.

But we also wonder: What the heck is going on? The building itself is not large What could a crew of 2-7 guys (varies each day) be doing over there from 7 am until 6 pm day in and day out? They do mix all the concrete by hand but that has been done since the last time we were down. They may be doing tile now as we see tiles out in front. I don’t see any cabinets in the kitchen (occasionally when everyone is gone I do spy in there).

The best part is I have not heard their nippy little rat dog for days. Maybe he got buried in the flooring? Tiled in under the bathroom sink? Eaten by an iguana? To be honest, we just now noticed we have not heard him for awhile.

The house is going to be called the Mexican Winchester Mansion. Not due to size but due to length of construction.

On another note the wind has been blowing so no diving has been done by SMB. Today we did a research project of cenotes that are near where we live. We have many more to investigate before our final analysis but the 2 we were at rated well over Grand Cenote, which had been our favorite one (okay it had been our only one).

Right now I am operating a death chamber for cockroaches. Two nights ago I went to use the inside bath and there was a small cockroach running around in there. I screamed and SMB ran and stepped on it. My hero.

Last night I went to use the bath in there and a HUGE one was in there. Being prepared (I had the roach spray this time) I sprayed him and – it did nothing. He kept running around and I was afraid he was going to run out into the rest of the trailer.

This time when I screamed “COCKROACH” SMB never budged from his slumber. I kept screaming “COCKROACH, COCKROACH - THE SIZE OF MONTANA” until he got up and came to kill it. Then he proceeded to explain to me that cockroaches were a way of life, get used to it.

In the mean time I had sprayed enough spray that both of us were choking on the spray and we had to turn a fan on to push it away from us to go back to bed.

Several times today I checked the bathroom and found some small ones dead in there. This evening I found an alive cockroach, sprayed more and then stuffed a towel under the door (huge opening).

We think they are coming in around the plumbing pipe and plan to caulk before we leave.

I do believe any coming in tonight will be met with their death. I have not seen any in the palapa since last June. I will not tolerate them in the trailer. If there is one place I want free of critters it is where I sleep.

The road to Punta Allen, or ‘are we there yet?’….

2010-01-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

Today we made attempt #2 to go from Tulum to Punta Allen. Punta Allen is about 52 kilometers down a very rutted mainly dirt road where the posted speed is a ‘maximum of 40 km/hr’ but you couldn’t go that fast if the devil were chasing you.

The last time we made this trip we got about 30 kilometers when I got hungry and demanded we turn around and go back to Tulum so I could eat.

So much for an adventure.

This time we stuck with it. We were on the highway heading to Tulum about 10 am and at noon we were at a point where we could see Mar Caribe on our left and occasionally the lagoon on our right. At 1 pm we saw the sign that says “Punta Allen 10 km”. The best part is there is one road in and out of this area and no turn offs. I am glad they let us know occasionally we were still heading to Punta Allen.

The town was a bit Isla Holbox to us. Dirt streets and handmade ‘Alto’ signs. We saw the ice factory. It was also a bit like Playa del Carmen where the hecklers called to you to come eat or take a tour but not as bad.

What is there? Not much. If you want to get lost or stay drunk I guess you move there and do so. It is known for fishing and tours – snorkeling, dolphin and manatees. I could not see going there for more than an overnight visit, but that is me. I seriously doubt we will go there again, but who knows? Stranger things have been known to happen.

The pictures here are the beach on the way to the town, the dock at the town and the world famous ‘welcome’ sign. (The last is a joke).

On other news, SMB is still punk after being sick the other day. He did dive yesterday and fell when a wave hit the boat as he got back in, so he is sore in multiple spots. To add insult to my dislocated toe I started the journey with, I managed to stab myself with a knife trying to get a seal off a water bottle. (What part of ‘cut AWAY from your body’ did I not practice?) Anyway, we are falling apart here.

Today was a lot warmer than it has been – it was 72 when we got up at 7 am and was probably up to 80 by the time we left. So it was a good day to road trip and be in the AC.

Which sums up the photo of the car dash… did I say I LOVE this car? I discovered the other day that the back storage area makes into seating.. so you could haul 6 skinny people back there plus 2 in front. (I love this car).

As for the list of things to do we are slowly losing the battle. We did price the tanks (too much so far) and start the paint job. I have neglected to get back to Glen and Susan’s in the last couple of days. The rest just will not happen, so buying the car and meeting Palapa Life are #1, #2 and finishing the painting #3.

Road trip = No trip

2010-01-18T16:37:00.001-08:00

We did not get our road trip today. SMB got sick before we made it to Home Depot (we were stopping in Cancun to buy paint and then heading to Santa Elena). We did go to Home Depot but he got even sicker so we came back. Worse we have had no internet and I did not have a phone # for the B&B we were going to stay at to tell them we were not coming.

I have spent time painting primer on the wall to get the entire inside of the house painted before we leave. I have gained one and a half days by not going anywhere today (although it took all day to get there and back) so I should have it done.

The weather has been perfect. Not too warm, hardly any humidity and a great breeze blowing. The water was deep blue this afternoon. Gorgeous!

Hurricane covers are off the windows and tonight when it gets under 21 degrees C I am opening the windows! A first. I hope they open. LOL

You say it's your birthday.....

2010-01-17T16:54:00.000-08:00

Well, what can I say? 52 is a-okay with me. I am alive and basically happy and own a home in the most beautiful place on earth! Life is not much better than this.

Today SMB cleaned the refrigerator and I primed the walls for paint.

Basically we did NOTHING.

We went for some walks, my dislocated toe (too long to blog about) is doing much better. I read for a bit and we walked and paid some of our debt to our local peeps.

R&R never showed up. Which was okay but if I had known I would have went to town or something to celebrate the big 5-2.

The neighbor's dog has barked ALL DAY and that is not an false statement. I think he hates my musica which I have decided must be driving him nuts so to drive the neighbor on the other side insane I am going to play it all night long. I cannot hear it in the trailer and if it drives hopalog insane then I am all for it. Again, god bless Mexico.

I think the good lord has a magical way of working if you know what I mean. LOL.

And.. we have a house sitter now. She is going to come here after we leave and stay until we come back in April. She is the local massage and chiropractor specialist and she house sits for people here. We figure she will keep it clean and working and anything she does is a bonus so I am thinking that she is our hero today. We have sort of wanted someone more directly involved here than we have had. And she needed a home and we needed someone to stay. So it works out really well.

And to sum it up, as I have had so many times before, it is 7 pm and dark and so quiet it is unreal. We have ate dinner at the restaurant, I have had 4 drinks (two here and 2 at the restaurant) so I should be a happy and sleeping camper for the ride trip tomorrow!

I laid on the couch after dinner and stared at the cat walk and thought bout how we are all part of this and I marvel at where we are. And how this is, in fact, our home.

Happy Birthday.

Saturday's post on Sunday (no internet on Sat)

2010-01-17T06:32:00.000-08:00

Our car, furniture, clear plastic ‘cans’ and tortas-

Here is a photo of our car – it just does not do it justice. HONEST! It is brand new, so new it still has its 30 day temporary permit, which by the way expires in a few days from now. LOL… but anyway it has under 1,100 miles or kilometers or something on it and it is beautiful. The guy gave SMB an ‘upgrade’ (SMB thinks it was because the guy next to him was being a complete ASS to the Hertz employee at check in). Regardless, it is, I say again, the best car I have ever rented in Mexico. It even has – hold on here – an iPod connection. And best yet, I have the cable with me that will now play my iPod. And it has a remote (something I have not had here in 2 ½ years!)

Does life get any better than this? Yes. Keep reading.

We headed to Tulum to the furniture store for the beautiful wooden bar and stools we had ordered. The store is closed – appearing out of business. We did not give a deposit or anything but I would really have liked to have the bar – it was very original and I am sure we will never find another.

After that disappointment we headed to the beach area of Tulum to buy copal for SMB to burn. It is the only ‘incense’ I allow him to have and it (supposedly) keeps mosquitoes away. The pink sign is for Zama's beach bar. Where else can you get "Funky Jazz Hip-Hop' music but here?

Then we went to the San Francisco supermarket in Tulum where I found… the most unique ‘can’ on earth… it is clear plastic but the top is the metal lid a normal beer or pop can would have. Of course I bought one, in Limon, and drank it down in one sitting. Not much to write about as the flavor was like a wine cooler (6% alcohol) but the ‘can’ itself is too much to throw away.. I may bring it back to the states with me. If you look closely in the 2nd photo you can see the liquid in it.

More fantastic yummy goodness at the grocery store.

In Mexico you don’t find lemons. It may even say lemonade. But it is always limeade. Limon is lime. I found ice tea mix with LIMON. Yes. Limon.

Did I say I love lime? LIME. LIME. LIME. Give me another LIME!

Anyway, besides beer with lime juice in it, mayonnaise with lime and now tea with lime this is really my country. It is my home. When that stork dropped me he dropped me in the wrong friggin’ country for sure!

And I found a great flavor of Tang. No, not lime. It was my 2nd favorite.. watermelon. I don’t like fake watermelon flavor like gum but I love watermelon juice (another food reason I know I was placed in the wrong country as I never had a watermelon fresca in the USA).

Then for a grand fanale for our first day we tried the torta and taco stand across the highway from our community. Yummy, super yummy. We both had pollo tortas and Jamaica juice.

God Bless…. Mexico!

And on a final note, one of my favorite palapa houses is for sale. The one that my youngest spawn’s fiancé loves.. the one with the arched front door area. It is $99,00. The owner told us to come back tomorrow and we can see it. (They were having guests for dinner at that moment). Anyway, R&R are coming tomorrow to see houses and we will definitely take them down to see that one.

So for now, adios.. Buenos Noches. We love you all!

We made it

2010-01-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

Well, everyone, we made it. We had a late start taking off from the airport. Apparently the food service people didn't shut the back door tight so after sitting and waiting we turned around and went back so the repair man could come out, open it and shut it again.

The woman next to me was ubber sweet, as was her husband across the aisle. She is scared to death to fly. She was shaking, crying and practically passing out. I am sure I will write more about her later, but her name is R and his name is R so we will refer to them as R&R from now on. When we need to define which one it shall be Girl R and Boy R. Anyway, in an attempt to make her feel less fearful we bonded (yes, I was actually NICE to her) and they are coming down to see us on Sunday!

We got our rental car and tomorrow I shall post a photo of it. If I say it is the nicest car I have EVER rented in Mexico would be understating it. I got it through Hertz via Expedia. I paid for it ahead of time and it was like $225 for the 10 days including tax. So.. you must come back tomorrow and see our photo. I have seriously thought about stealing it. LOL.

The house is clean.. the cleaning lady did a grand job this time. Upstairs... not so excellent but down stairs spot less.

Bad news: the inside the trailer smells. Like musty / mold. How the hell did that happen? I am thinking maybe we did not have the AC cool enough? The mold is in the bedroom, inside the closet doors in the bedroom, only in the bedroom. So that is good. I will have to clean and run some things in the dryer and try to over come this issue and see what we can do because I absolutely cannot have mold or mold smell at all. We were only gone 2 months... so we have done something wrong.

Now on to the internet. Hold on here. It still sucks. I am being eaten by mosquitos now up on the deck to do this post. I hate those little fm-ers. Anyway, so much for the upgrade to the local system. LOL.

Check back tomorrow.

Adios.

Words you do not want to hear

2010-01-12T11:57:00.001-08:00

This is on our community web board where we are heading...

Water Aerobics
There will be no water Aerobics tomorrow Tuesday Jan. 12, 2010. It is just too cold!!!!!!
See you Thursday if the weather warms up.

UGH!

Addition to "To Do" List

2010-01-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

Addition to list (the most important item, which needs to be #1)-

*Go to scuba shop (and Sam's Club) to price and possibly buy an air tank.

(sorry I forgot this)!

To do list.. for Mexico

2010-01-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

Well here is what I need to, want to and hopefully will do, once we get down there in a few days..

1) Attend my first crab race
2) Sit by the pool and finish the book "Eat, Pray, Love"
3) Finally meet Glen and Susan from North Jungle
4) Buy an automobile
5) Head back to Santa Elena for hammocks
6) Visit Pedro's studio and buy more interesting 'stuff' from him
7) Go back to furniture store in Tulum and hope they have our ubber cool 'bar' made
8) Finish painting inside house, but only the orange. I am not starting anymore paint jobs
9) Find someone to paint the outside of the house
10) Find someone to re-finish the front deck wood
11) Go to a restaurant supply store and buy a heavy duty manual juicer

While i would like to say I will be swimming or snorkeling either in the pool, bay, Yal-Ku Lagoon or a cenote, I really doubt that will happen as the weather is a freezing cold mid 70's to low 80's for highs and down to the high 60's for night time. For me to get in the water there has to be heat and humidity, preferably together! And by heat I am talking mid to high 80's.

And while I realize I have put photos like this one on here before, I never cease to love this view. There is something SURREAL about sitting at this restaurant and looking out on the blue water while eating breakfast or having a drink.

And to think.. we are part of this!

Looking for On Mexico Time?

2010-01-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

I have taken down the old posts and will be starting anew with our trip this month to Mexico.

Thanks.