February 28, 2015

February 28, 2015

Mmmmmm....Mmmmmm....I love siestas!  Not sure how it is possible to sleep so much but both Lynda and I are rising to the occasion and doing our best. LOL

Wandering around Campeche this morning we saw massive gates into the city (sea gate pictured above) little doors within big doors, doors in walls that open into grand homes complete with courtyards, windows with magnificent iron work coverings (you can see the size when you look at my head in the photo and consider that I'm standing and the window comes right down to the ground!), and doors that lead into tiny taquerias where they serve muy rico conchitas (pictured above). A conchita is typical local fare for breakfast or lunch (so only served in the morning) and as the photo shows...it is a bun that has been lightly toasted/grilled and stuffed with meat of your choice, lettuce, tomato, onion, and avocado.  It was yummy!  One interesting and funny thing I will add about this little taqueria place is about the napkins in the holder on the table. This little place had them alright but they sure weren't conducive to absorbing much!  They were in fact little pieces of paper - plain kraft paper - the lightweight kind, that had been torn (neatly of course) into rectangle pieces. There is one under my sandwich on the plate too....now that's efficiency for you!  Super cost effective, definitely ineffective for blowing your nose, completely effective if you roll it up to use as a tooth pick!  LOL!  Something new every day!!

We had planned to go to Joanna's place (the girl we met the night before) but when we got there and looked at the menu...it was a little rich and a little touristy for what we were planning on so we decided to move along to something a little more in line with our tastes and our budget.

After breakfast we managed to re-find the "Italian Coffee Company" shop that Lynda spied while we were out yesterday and that resulted in two moka frappuccinos and a piece of rom poppe with coconut cake.  Rom Poppe is a Mexican alcoholic beverage that I discovered a few years ago. It goes VERY NICELY in coffee and is my Mexican version of Baileys in coffee and you all know how I feel about Baileys in Coffee! LOL!!

While we were out housekeeping was in and because nothing really dries here....the marble floors in our room were like a skating rink when we returned. That's not to say that they were cold...just slippery!  Dangerously so. To mitigate that danger, Lynda in her creative genius came up with a solution. She put a towel on the floor and "skated" wherever she needed to go. It was quite a sight! LOL!

Just back from our evening adventures.  This afternoon before going out and as I rolled over from my second snooze and said, "It's so great to have NOTHING to do" I realized that Mexico is where a lazy summer day lasts for weeks.  Wahoo!  Now before you go getting all envious over that very self centred statement I'll give you something to provide you with some additional perspective that will give you as much cause to laugh as it gave Lynda and I. Almost immediately after I said "it's so great to have nothing to do" Lynda played a video link from her FB page that was all about how men's brains have boxes and women't brains have wires that govern their thinking processes.  Before you read any further on this blog please go to you tube and search for Mark Gungor and A Tale of Two Brains so you can enjoy the comedian who is describing that process.  Once you've watched the link you'll understand why I had to change the statement about Mexico being a place where a lazy summer day lasts for weeks to...Mexico is where everyone learns to think like a man. LOL!

Once we finally made it back out onto the street (it was almost 6:00!) we were treated to much cooler temps than had been there when we left it about 4 hours earlier.  There was a nice little breeze and it was so enjoyable to wander down the cobblestone streets looking at the rainbow of coloured houses...all with their iron work windows and little balconies.  Campeche Historic District truly is a pretty little place and even though we thought we'd get lost in no time after only two days we have completely got the lay of the land figured out.  On our way to find a spot for dinner (we had shrimp on our mind again) we came across a family with two young children playing ball on one of the pedestrian streets. The little girl was 5 and her brother 9. In no time at all Lynda was playing catch with the little girl and the young boy was performing for me. He was actually quite amazing with his little india rubber ball (those small hard rubber balls). He would bounce it off the wall of the buildings and catch it in a disposable plastic cup from whatever direction it came rebounding back to him. He gave me the ball and the cup to try it and trust me when I say it is NOT as easy as he made it look!  It sure left an impression on me about how kids here know how to play without all the trappings of fancy toys.  It made me remember how we used to be able to play with a ball for hours....making up games and working to improve our skill.

Eventually Lynda and I did locate a place for dinner and it must have been really good cuz I am still full and it is almost 10 pm!  Each of our plates had 6 shrimp on it and each of those shrimp was the size of a small lobster tail!  In addition to a wonderful meal we also met a man who was having dinner there and who spoke a little english. He's also spent his entire life here in Campeche so is really familiar with the region. He was able to give us the name of a possible accommodation in Merida (our next stop) as well as the name of a tiny little town that is near Chichen Itza where we might be able to get a room for a night rather than backtracking to Merida. He also told us that there is a road that goes from Chichen Itza to Playa del Carmen so we won't have to go over the top of the peninsula through Cancun en route to Tulum and Playa del Carmen and that stretch of road.  We'll be able to cut across the middle and come up from the bottom so we end up in Cancun as our final destination without having to backtrack at all as Cancun is where we catch our flight home on April 1st (and no it's not an April Fools joke!).  Wahoo!

Part of our dinner conversation was also worth sharing as it really was quite funny. Lynda commented on the fact "that our shoes (Keens) must look really funny to folks here."  When I questioned why she said..."think about it"..."from all the shoe stores we've seen have you seen anything that remotely resembles this?!"  She is absolutely right!  There are sooo many shoe stores here and they are filled beyond anything you can imagine (unless you've seen them) and they are all fancy shoes!  Hardly anything functional at all (other than runners). Women all wear platforms and high heels no matter where they are going or what they're wearing!  (photo above gives you just a bit of an idea how they have window after window after window of shoes on display and knowing there is store after store after store of them....it's mind boggling!)

After dinner and en route to a show we had plans to see we came across a set of swinging western style saloon doors that looked like they were straight out of a movie. To top it off there was a sign over the doors that said "saloon".  As you might imagine...we had to check it out so in we went....right through those swinging doors looking like a cross between Miss Kitty and Mae West I'm guessing cuz once through those doors we were met with about a dozen sets of eyes all checking us out.  Oh ya....all the eyes in the place belonged to men!  We decided to pass on staying in the saloon cuz it was pretty smoky and even though it was tempting to stand up to the apparent challenge of breaking some kind of gender code...we thought better of it. It was shortly afterward that it was pointed out to us that the ladies section is through a glass door right next to the swinging doors.  LOL!  Oops!!

The show we attended tonight was a Light Show performed at the Land Gate into the city. The first 1/2 was all in Spanish so some of that was lost on us but we did get to climb to the top and walk along the wall where we could get a real feel for what it would have been like to have been a resident of the city several hundred years ago as they were staving off the pirates and others who threatened their city.  From that vantage we also had a magnificent view of the lights of the city. There are several cathedrals and each of them is well lit so the vantage from the Land Gate was beautiful.  The second half of the show was an outdoor film that had english subtitles (just for us I'm sure!) and that described the history of Campeche right from the original Mayan people who found "the bay where the sea doesn't make waves".  It was really interesting and seeing it projected onto the wall of the fort made it that much more interesting.  At the same time as the film was going on, the staff were enacting parts of the story from the top of the wall where we had stood looking out over the city a few moments before.

It's been another fantastic day in Campeche and tomorrow will be more of the same I'm sure.

Till then....
L & L

February 27, 2015

February 27, 2015

Currently en route to Campeche from Champoton...yes....that means today I am starting this post while riding on the bus.  We are back in the same seats we had on the last bus...maybe they saw us coming...  On the upside, we r right next to the bathroom in case we need it and on the downside we r right next to the bathroom!!

We had such a great sleep last night!  Room was one of the most comfortable I've ever been in.  Would it pass our 2 star standards?  Maybe...on a good day... but in truth it was more comfortable than some of the 5 stars that I've stayed in.  For what it lacked in opulence it made up for in foundational basics that in the end are really what make for a comfortable stay.  The curtains kept it dark, it was quiet, the air con worked perfectly and there was no cold air blowing around in the room.  The bathroom was large and the shower spacious. There was a brand new shower head and the water pressure was perfect.  The beds were super comfortable and maybe best of all...the sheets smelled like,they had just come in off the line on a fresh spring day.  Everything was spotlessly clean and we even had a couch and coffee table in our room.  Right outside our door there was a pool and a swinging chair to relax in.  Heh...why didn't we stay there longer??!!  Oh ya...there are new adventures to be had an hour down the road.

After a full twelve hours of sleep we were hungry and in search of something for breakfast before getting on the bus. Yep that's what happens when you're buried in fresh sheets in the dark where the temp is perfect and the room is dark...you can roll over and go back to sleep as many times as you want to!  We made our way to the mercado (market) and located a new taste treat.  It is called a panocho and is basically two deep fried corn tortillas with chicken, tomato, and lettuce between them.  It was delicious and I will look for that again!  For dessert we found a pink custard filled donut of sorts from a vendor on the street.  It too was good but not as good as the panocho was.

While in the mercado we were met with a man and two women who spotted us in the crowd as being "different" from everyone else.  They were visiting home and now live in LA. The man couldn't believe we'd found Champoton and then was even more amazed that we were travelling on our own with no itinerary or agenda other than a final destination of Canada.  He assured us that we would enjoy Campeche (next stop) and that there were some great little hotels in the Centro area.  Nosotros muy suerte!  (We are so lucky)

Bus trip is already 1/2 over according to the time on my watch.  We just went through a toll station...many highways in Mexico have tolls on them. Glimpses of the water out our left hand side shows that it may be getting a little bluer again...hmmm...maybe we'll find that elusive beach at the next stop???  Basta por ahorita....luego amigos.  (Enough for right now....later friends)

It's now just after 9:00 p.m. and since I signed off while still on the bus this afternoon...a lot has happened!  We arrived in Campeche right on schedule at 1:30 and within minutes were packed into a taxi and headed in the direction of the Historico Centro. In conversation with our driver...we were able to get across that we were in search of a reasonably priced hotel that was representative of the culture and near the centre of the city (ie: not a Holiday Inn etc).  He thought for just a minute and decided that we might like Hotel Lopez on 12th Ave in the Historico Centro. Now when I say Historico Centro...let your imagine run to it's furthest reaches and then go a little bit further because in Campeche the entire Centro is within the walls of the original fort!  So we circled the walls of the old stone fort until we came to the land gate (there is a land gate and a sea gate into the fort). That put us right on 12th Ave and within seconds we were double parked in front of Hotel Lopez. I jumped out of the taxi and Lynda stayed with our bags and the driver as they circled around and around the block until I was finished "checking out" the Lopez as a possible accommodation for our stay in Campeche.

This story now leaves the taxi where Lynda is and comes inside the hotel with me.  Keep in mind that my Spanish is minimal at best but heh...I'm game to try and remember the theme of this trip...to just roll with it.  The desk clerk has no english which means that we're gonna have to rely on my spanish to make this work. I ask if they have a room with two beds...yes is the answer. I ask how much...and the answer is $750 pesos. (which really isn't all that bad when you see this place but we really are working to stick to our budget of 600/night). I ask if there are any other hotels nearby where the price is a little cheaper...and the answer is no not really and how much would I like to pay.  I say $600 pesos is my maximum...and she hands me a key to go and look at a room that she might be able to give me for $650, so I do. It is a tiny room with two single beds but the hotel looks sooo nice and the location is sooo great that I decide the room will be fine. I go back to the front desk and say yes we'll take it but I have to go back outside to let my friend who is driving around and around the block know that she can get out of the cab. I do that and a bell hop retrieves our cases from the taxi. (yes...this hotel has everything!). Lynda and I come back in to sign in at reception and whether the front desk took pity or appreciated my feeble attempts at spanish or we hit the jackpot without knowing we'd even bought a ticket the end result is that we paid only $600 pesos per night and we were upgraded to a fantastic room with two double beds and tons of room. In fact as I type this I am sitting at a proper desk on a real chair!  So here we are each paying $25 CAD per night. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why we decided to spend three nights here! LOL

Once we were settled into our room (unpacked since we're here for 3 nights!) we decided laundry might be in order. And since we're in such a posh place....lets just send it out to the service. En route to the pool (yes...we have a pool too!! ) I dropped our 14 pieces of laundry off at reception and for a total of 100 pesos ($8.37 CAD) it was returned to our room clean, folded, and no missing pieces before 10 pm the same day.  I always wonder at how they do it at the laundry services in places like this. They get bags and bags of clothing and all of it comes back to the right place. When I compare it to the lost luggage (and my suitcase is much larger than a pair of my panties!), or when kids come home and say they lost their homework or their jacket or their whatever...it just reinforces my amazement at how they keep all this laundry straight...and keep in mind that much of it is washed by hand and hung on a line to dry so at some point some things must get mixed in with other things!

Anyway...our swim in the pool this afternoon was refreshing and since we had the whole pool to ourselves we made the most of it and lounged around reading our books for a while afterward.  From there it was up for a shower and to get dressed to go out to explore. Exploring before 5 pm is kind of a waste of time as everything is closed for afternoon siesta time which I am growing to LOVE!  We're just three blocks from the heart of the Centro and all of the little one way streets are spotlessly clean and have much wider than usual sidewalks. They are also really well signed (which isn't all that common) so it is really easy to get around.

There are so many things to see in this historic district so we decided on a tour via open air tram. It was all in Spanish but it was okay as we got the gist of what they were saying and the Mexican family from Cancun who were sitting right behind us were able to fill us in on anything we weren't sure of.  One interesting stop was at a Benedictine Cathedral where there was a black Jesus on the cross at the front of the church. Neither Lynda nor I had ever seen that before so it was another first for both of us. According to the driver of our tram (who spoke a little english) that Christo Negro had come from Italy and it is not uncommon to see Christo Negro in southern Mexico.

Another of the points of interest on our tour was an open air restaurant where they serve food that is typical of this region so we made note of it's location and decided right then and there to wander back that way after the tram ride for dinner.  That thought was easier said than done though and it took us some lengthy wandering before we met up with Joanna who was able to direct us to the spot. We had come close on our search but not quite close enough!  Ironically, Joanna is an owner of another restaurant we considered going to but she recommended that we plan to come to her place either in the morning or for lunch as it is better then. If you can't take that advice from the owner then who would you take it from so tomorrow...we'll be heading to Joanna's for brunch.  Tonight we supped on Enchilada's that had some kind o

f green vegetable (like spinach) mixed in with the dough, filled with cheese and fried. We also had panochos with turkey in them this time. Once again...they were delicious!  Lynda tried a tamale too but decided the corn was too mushy so moved on to the enchilada and panocho (I always think the corn is too mushy in them!) For drinks Lynda went with the jimaica (a floral fruit water) and I went with the orchetta (a rice water with coconut). My orchetta was the best one I've ever had!!

While we were wandering looking for our dinner place we passed a street vendor who was making what looked like some kind of super thin rolled sweet pancake. I made a mental note of where he was so we could return there for dessert and sure enough...after dinner I walked right to him!  If only I had been so capable with finding the place for dinner!  Anyway...we ordered one of the rolled pancake things (20 pesos) and discovered that it is a pancake alright but a pancake that has some kind of cheese melted into the middle of it. That wasn't the sweet thing either of us had in mind but heh....we're gonna roll with it right?  The little old man who was making the Flauta must have fingers of steel as he was able to roll that hot little thing right up on the griddle. It was so hot even after he passed it over to me that I could hardly hold onto the bag it was in!  A half block further down the same street we came upon another vendor making the same thing only this one had nutella on his cart so Lynda ordered one from him. We had to laugh when in addition to the nutella he topped it all off with more cheese.  These flauta things are definitely supposed to have cheese in them!  In the end, Lynda's vendor was not nearly as practiced as mine was as her flauta looked amateur compared to the tightly rolled one I had.  We finished off our evening back in the Centre of the Centro in front of the cathedral where we people watched while we ate our flautas. From there it was a short walk back to our hotel.

We're feeling very lucky to have found our little home away from home tonight as we settle back into our room. We got word from home today that the world lost a very special man this afternoon. He lived a long and happy life and we were so lucky to have had the opportunity to have him in our lives.  I know I will miss him and my heart goes out to all of his family at this very sad time.

Hasta manana,
L & L Here are a couple of photos. One is of our hotel in Campeche (taken right outside the door to our room), another is of a street cart selling candy as we got on the bus this morning. The third is of a typical street vendor (motorcycle driven cart).

February 26, 2015

Hard to believe we only left ZIH 3 days ago!  Hmmmm.....might have to slow down the spending a little. LOL....not to worry folks...we're old and we have plastic. LOL :)  In truth it is hard to believe its just been 3 days as we've seen and done so much already but the bit about needing to start using plastic is just a joke. We're doing really well on the spending front and starting now we're moving out of the more expensive cities and into some where we'll be able to find better prices for everything. For example, where we are right now (Champotan) is a flat 25 pesos for a taxi anywhere in the city. The last place (Cd Del Carmen) was 35 so even though it's only 10 pesos...those all add up in no time and when you compound it across everything you spend on in a day...it really adds up quickly.

Leaving Cd del Carmen this afternoon was again easy to arrange. A quick cab to the ADO (bus) station, purchase two tix for Champotan (about 2 hours away), wait for about 20 mins for our departure time and voila...we were on our way. We laughed as we passed Playa Norte (where we had come the day before) as on the bus it took us MUCH longer than it had with the cabbie who drove like a crazy person yesterday. All kidding aside...he truly was a madman!  During this trip it was interesting to watch the scenery change as we got further and further from Carmen. Where the water had been a dirty brown and the beaches hard packed and dirty the view began to look a little more like we'd imagined the gulf would look. Travelling by bus in MX is the way to go. They are very comfortable, run often, are very safe (they are locked from travelling over 100 KMH) and are reasonably priced. The trip from Carmen to Champotan cost us each $180 pesos (less than $18 CAD)

We travelled along the shoreline for most of our journey and at times the waters were azure and the shores white and sandy. For the most part though...the Gulf is not quite what I had thought it might be.  Maybe tomorrow we will get to see a different perspective.

We're travelling just an hour or two per day and following the shoreline all the way to Merida where our intention is to spend a week or so. But...that will totally depend on what we find there. Gotta stay true to the plan and just roll with it. :)

Once we arrived at Champotan we climbed off the bus, retrieved our bags from underneath and began the next leg of today's adventure. (btw...they're VERY careful about making sure your bags are safe - we could not get our bags back until we could show the ticket stubs that matched the ones they had put on our bags at the time of stowing them. They take their job VERY seriously!!)  We dragged our bags through the mid afternoon heat and humidity about two blocks till we located a nice little hotel where we secured a twin room for one night for $600 pesos.  Our hotel is also just around the corner from the Centro part of town and as a bonus...it has a pool!

We spent the afternoon wandering around this chica pueblo (cute little city) and discovered that it is clean and seemingly quite prosperous. Fishing is obviously a main industry and we are both 100% certain that we are likely the only blue eyes they've seen in a very long time here!  In fact, we're willing to bet that they've never seen two grandmas travelling through here like this. LOL! :)

You never know quite what you might stumble across when you're out wandering and that is so much of the fun of it. Well, today was no exception and the surprise gift today was when we came across Santa, his sleigh, and his reindeer in the park at the centre of town!  Santa was laying on his side and the sleigh and reindeer looked as though they were ready to be hauled away but...there they were...larger than life!  In fact, they were quite a bit larger than life. I'd say Santa was at least 20 feet tall!  We laughed when we came across Santa as at about the same time the clock tower in the centre of town struck 6:00 pm and both of us had 3:45 on our clocks so our first thought was that we'd just experienced some kind of time warp and we'd gone Back To The Future or something equally as exciting. Whatever it turns out to be...we're still gonna just roll with it as that seems to be the theme of this day.

After we'd explored about all we could explore and given the fact that it was mid afternoon so most everything was closed for siesta time we decided to head back to the hotel so I could facetime with my grandson Kingston as today is his birthday. Happy Birthday Kingston!!!  6 years old aready!!!

Decided to spurge tonight and go all out on dinner. Since we're in a fishing village and since shrinp is what they're famous for that was the plan for the menu.  The desk clerk at our hotel was sooo helpful and wonderfully sweet and he referred us to the best place in town which meant another taxi but it was worth the trip. We were seated on a balcony overhanging the Gulf with the sun setting over the water and a waiter assigned to our table alone so service was outstanding!  The sun sets here in seconds and it burns a huge bright red ball until it disappears on the horizon. Once the sun was down and the wind picked up Lynda realized she was freezing. I, and all the other locals there, were fine with the temperature but Lynda was frantically digging in her bag for something to put on. It reminded me of another time in Mexico when she ended up wearing the tablecloth!  tonight though she located a long sleeve shirt and her sweater so the tablecloths were safe. The funny part is that when she realized she was eating this lovely dinner wearing the same thing she's slept in for the past several nights...it was cause for more hysterics. Yes...we do laugh often! :)  If you're wondering why she was sleeping in her clothes...it's because I maybe sometimes perhaps leave the aircon on a little long in the night. But heh...it's hot here right?  You understand don't you?! :)

So as we finished our shrimp dinner and looked out over the pink and green picket fence that would look tacky anywhere but here we heaved another sigh of gratitude for all that we have and all that we are getting to enjoy on this great adventure.

Hasta luego amigos,
L & L

February 25, 2015

Well....this post will begin with me laughing at myself!  This morning I discovered that I have one "extra" day in Mexico. While I thought I had missed a meeting last night due to wifi connection issues...this morning I learned that the meeting is tonight and my internal calendar is one day off. So...it's all good news...I didn't miss my meeting and I have an extra day of adventure.

Ciudad del Carmen has proven to be a surprise to both Lynda and I. While we have enjoyed our time here we will be ready to leave tomorrow. It has been really interesting to experience what we've come to dubb as the Edmonton of Mexico first hand. The city is overflowing with oil workers. The difference here is that the oil rigs are all out on the water so everyone works on a platform. Again today we ended up sharing a taxi with a guy who was on his way to a 28 day stint on the platform. After 28 days working, he has 7 days off before the cycle begins again.

As much as it is the same it is all very different too. For example today as we were returning from an "iced coffee" (that is a whole other story!) we passed a young man (20 something) sitting on the curb passing the time crocheting a red and black something or other.  Maybe a little purse or something like that as the crochet cotton was very lightweight. Can't say I've ever seen that before!

For breakfast this morning we decided to go for Tamales (chicken encased in crushed corn paste and then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked/boiled/roasted till tender and delicious)  We purchased them from a street vendor and then took them across the street to a little cafe where there were tables in the shade and we could sit with a drink and enjoy our breakfast. The bonus for us this morning while we sat there was the realization that while we were people watching we were the people being watched!  There are no other white people here at all and so for the locals to see blue eyes...it is a novelty.  It was fun being their entertainment for the morning.

As we left the hotel for breakfast this morning we faced a painter starting work on the common areas from the reception area and right up the stairs. By the time we returned from breakfast he was well established on the first floor hallways and by dinner time tonight he was completely finished the entire hotel!  Now that is some fast painting!  The size of his brush likely had something to do with the speed of his work!  He just carried a bucket and a brush that was at least 8 inches across and moved through the place with an air of efficiency.  There were no wet paint signs anywhere...just the aroma of fresh paint hanging in the hallways to warn you to keep away from the walls!

This afternoon we decided that it was time to locate a nice beach where we could park ourselves under a palapa long enough to have a cerveca or two and get our noses back into our books. We flagged down a taxi and for 30 pesos made our way to Playa Norte expecting to find what the tourist materials all talk about....white sand beaches with clear water that is good for swimming.  But....that was not to be!  All we've been able to find here is brown water, hard pack beaches (cars drive on them with no difficulty), broken palapas, and very expensive restaurants.  That image of a quaint beach restaurant with hammocks that invite you to stop and stay awhile we're accustomed to from our time in Troncones does not exist anywhere in Ciudad del Carmen - at least nowhere we've found anyway.

We didn't spend much time at Playa Norte but rather made our way back toward the Centro area and got off in the mercado (main market) instead. After some time wandering those streets we found ourselves back at the little coffee shop near our hotel so decided an iced coffee would help with the heat exhaustion we were experiencing. Yes folks...it is HOT here!

Now this is where the story I alluded to earlier comes in...when we ordered an iced coffee our little waiter looked at us as though we had a third eye and while we've been getting a lot of stares here...this one was very different. He eventually explained that there is no such thing as cold coffee here...only hot. We gave him instructions on how to make an iced coffee for us and he nodded his understanding of the request. As we waited at our table we knew the liklihood of getting anything even close to what we had asked for was small but we kept our fingers crossed anyway.  In the end, we got two glasses of ice cubes, one steaming cup of black coffee, and one steaming hot cafe con leche (coffee with milk)...yes...it is hard to smile and say thank you when you know what you want and you just can't get it. But then that's why we travel right...for the adventure and the experience and the stories/memories. LOL.

After our "iced coffees" we decided to embrace the Mexican practice of siesta and we both fell asleep in our air conditioned room waking just in time to head out for dinner tonight.  By that time the sun had set and although it is still warm and humid...it is much cooler and as a result all the shops re-open (they close in the afternoons for the most part), families come out and begin to gather in the parks and the zocalo.  Once again there is an air of festivity on the breeze as people laugh and meet friends, couples hold hands and cuddle on benches in the park, children play in the musical fountains, and once again....everyone takes photos of themseves in front of the dancing waters of the fountains.

Tonight we went back to the Cultural Centre as the Festival is still underway and so there is another free show there beginning at 8:00 p.m.  The performers were coming in from Campeche and according to the little girl working at the Centre...they were supposed to be great!  In true Mexican fashion they were about 15 minutes late in getting started but the Centre is so comfortable with it's new seating and airconditioning that we didn't really mind the wait. As the show got underway it didn't take long for either of us to know that we wouldn't be staying for long. The opening scene of the play was short but shocking as the performance depicted the plight of woman kind from the beginning of time. I'm sure it would have been interesting to see the whole thing if we were able to understand more than the gist of it but as luck would have it...I had my meeting at 9:00 p.m. on Facetime and so we had a good excuse to slip out the back door of the theatre just 20 minutes into the show.

Tomorrow we will make our way onto the next little town along the gulf. Supposedly this one (Champotan) is supposed to be the up and coming place to go so...we'll see just what that means. Perhaps we'll find our white sand beaches and azure waters there.

Hasta luego,
L & L

February 24, 2015

Remember those times when you stayed at the bar till last call and beyond....the times when the lights came on to tell you it was time to go home?  Well, morning in Villahermosa is kind of the same!  Last night as we wandered around the Centro District...it was lovely, the buildings were lit and backlit, there were statues and people mingling amongst the vendors, it had a sense of vibrant culture and life BUT...by the light of day...it was another story!  Looking out the hotel window this morning we had to laugh as all we could think of was that somehow overnight we'd been transported to a much less desireable location!

We persevered though and once we got rolling the dingy layer that seemed to hang over the District began to lift and over the course of a busy morning...it was all good again.

We started our morning with breakfast (included) at our hotel. From there we decided to head over to the Museo La Venta (or Parque La Venta) which is a combination museum of anthroplogy/zoo/park. While Dorothy followed the yellow brick road we stayed on the path of the little red footprints and wandered our way through the tropical jungle canopy that was dotted with archaological finds from 2500+ years ago.  Most of the finds in this region were turned up by the Pemex workers (an oil company). I guess that says a lot about the fact that they're turning over a lot of earth! Villahermosa is the headquarters for Pemex and as we learned on our flight yesterday....there are a lot of guys employed in that industry!

But I digress....so back to the Museo La Venta. The indigenous people in this region were the Olmec and the carvings that were featured in the park were primitive but moving. The park was a wonderful venue to show the pieces to their best and having them located in these jungle surroundings added an air of mystique to the experience. The air was hot and humid, there were tropical birds calling from the trees, monkeys were plentiful and roaming freely, and even though we can't say we enjoyed seeing the jaguar and other animals locked in zoo "cages", we agreed that the $40 pesos we each paid to get into the Park was well worth it!  One of the things that will stick with me from the visit to this site was the regular reference to life having started in a cave (often represented by a woman) and that caves were considered to be the connection to the underworld...an interesting angle.

After our tour around the Park we taxied back to our hotel ($35 pesos) to pick up our bags (we'd left them with reception while we went to visit the Park) and then had our cab take us to the ADO terminal (another $35 pesos). ADO is a bus line. There are multiple bus lines here and each of them fills a different need. ADO is one of the more expensive lines but even at that...our ticket to Ciudad del Carmen (3 hours away) was just $252 pesos each (about $25 CAD). That rate was for the ADO gl line...a service that is second only to the Platinum Line. They give you drinks and earphones as you board, there are movies playing, the bus is spotlessly clean and air conditioned, there is a little more room in the seats, and safety/security is paramount. Before climbing about our 2:00 pm bus we hit the local pizzaria (Dominos) for a quick lunch and we were off.

The scenery flew by (well as much as it can fly by when you're travelling just 60-80 km/hr) and the further we went the greener it got. Yards were filled with water, animals (including horses) stood knee deep in water eating the plants that floated on top, banana trees replaced the avocado trees of the west coast, and eventually the Gulf appeared out our windows.

I'm pretty sure Lynda and I were the only two people awake on the bus. There was snoring and a lot of heavy breathing going on from the dark recesses of the back of the bus so I'm sure hoping they were all sleeping!  Actually, there weren't very many people on the bus at all...maybe 15 or 20 at most.

The final few minutes of our trip into Ciudad del Carmen was across a bridge that is the longest span in all of Mexico and an engineering feat they're very proud of. It was built about 30 years ago and is still something to marvel at!

Arrival at the ADO terminal here resulted in meeting our new friend Luis who has perfect English - 101% according to him.  So we took advantage of his language proficiency and had a one hour tour of the town. It was great to get the lay of the land from a vehicle and to have someone who was able to explain what some things were, where the oldest part of the city is, which areas of town are best to stay in, etc. In the end, we located the Hotel Del Parque right on the waterfront and settled in. Great room BUT Gail and Darlene you will appreciate what we might have uttered when we were faced with more stairs!  The good news is that we're on the first floor BUT the bad news is that there are 25 stairs to get there.

Our hotel is across the street from a park where there is entertainment beginning at dusk, it's around the corner from several coffee shops, its at the end of a pedestrian road that borders two more parks/zocalos where there are fountains, a cathedral, lots of people, music, and vendors wandering throughout the evening. We spent a couple of hours tonight being two of those people and were amazed at how many men there are here. On top of that...they were all taking photos of the fountains and themselves in front of the fountains! The water was lovely as there were lights and the spray was timed to coincide with the music that was playing over the speakers. (Bryan Adams, BeeGees, Michael Jackson, etc) but...it was odd to see so many men taking photos of something pretty like that. Our guess is that they're all workers missing their families and sending home a photo of the town where they work.

We also stumbled upon a free show in the Cultural Centre. As luck would have it we are here right in the middle of a cultural festival so all the performances are free and we plan to take advantage of the one tomorrow night too. Tonight's show featured a clown and the theatre is really modern and comfortable.

Tonight we also found a vendor selling chichorones on the street so we had that for dinner and also purchased some kind of brandied plums from her for dessert. Our second dessert was some icecream from another shop...yep...not gonna go hungry here!

Came back to the hotel in time to sign into a meeting via facetime back at home but alas...the wifi signal in our room was not strong enough and by the time we'd changed rooms it was too late for me to sign in to my meeting. On the upside...missing the meeting means that there is time for another margarita (in true Mexican fashion) LOL!

We're here in Ciudad del Carmen for two nights and then are off to somewhere smaller. Still wondering if we're going to see anything that resembles a beach you'd want to swim at along the Gulf. So far...nothing like that at all!  Just ships and jungle and a lot of brown water.

Hasta luego,
L & L

February 23, 2015

Wow! This morning we were enjoying chilliquilles looking out over the Pacific Ocean from Roberto's Bistro in Troncones and tonight we were being chauffered around Villahermosa in a little red Fiat by our new friend Alberto.  Yep...nosotros muy suerte!!  There is a story here I promise but before I jump right into that I'll provide you with a little of the background....

After a tranquillo morning in Troncones it was off to the airport in Zihuatanejo where Lynda dropped me off with our bags while she returned our car to our friend Ruben (yes...LOL...we have a lot of friends...)  All was good with the car....but....it was a close call this morning just prior to our arrival at the airport.  Lynda has been doing so well with finding her way around and she is always so careful that it was a shock this morning when we almost "bumped" with another car on the highway.  It was one of those crazy moments when there is a little car in your blind spot and it isn't until you've checked both mirrors and are into your third shoulder check that he moves into your line of vision.  It all turned out good in the end though and she saw him in time to avoid the "bump" so returning the car was much easier than it would have otherwise been.  John, if you're reading this....you'll appreciate what we would have had to do to avoid any penalties at the return desk!  LOL!!

Our plane was scheduled to leave ZIH at 1:11 pm but by the time we were boarding the plane it was a full hour later than that. The flight had trouble getting out of Mexico City due to heavy air traffic and so our flight was delayed. The good news is that we still had time to make our connection in Mexico City and so right on schedule we arrived in Villahermosa just before 6:00 pm.

My seat mate on the flight from DF (Mexico City) to Villahermosa was an interesting man who lives in Vera Cruz and who was en route back to work in the Gulf. He works 15 days on and 15 days off. His job is as an electronic engineer working as support for the compressors that drive the engines used on a platform oil rig in the Gulf. After he got off the plane in Villahermosa he had a 70 minute drive to a village on the coast where he would then board a boat that would carry him out to the platform where he will spend the next 15 days. If he's lucky...that boat ride will take just 5-6 hours but there have been times when it has taken as much as 12 hours for the boat to get them there!  That does NOT sound like fun to me!!!  All I can think of is how sea sick I would be if I had to be out in rough seas for 12 hours!!!

Lynda's seat mate on that same flight spent the first hour of sleeping but once he awoke she made short work of making friends and within minutes Alberto was insisting that he and his brother would drive us to a hotel that would not be as expensive and that would be better located that the one we had seen online.  Alberto grew up in Villahermosa and although he lives with his wife and 8 year old son in Mexico City, his business is still based out of Villahermosa. He owns his business and works in sales of all types of paper. Everything from copy paper to napkins and his region covers four states in the Yucatan region so he is a busy guy!  He spends one week at home in DF and then returns to Villahermosa where he begins his month of work travelling around his region in his little red Fiat.

Now this is where the story starts to get a little more interesting...Alberto was bound and determined that we would not take a taxi into the Central part of the city but rather that he would drive us and since his brother was picking him up in his little red Fiat...his brother Antonio would in fact be the one who would be driving us.  We tried to dissuade him from his mission but he would hear none of it.  We followed him out of the airport and as his brother pulled up the look on Antonio's face was worth a million pesos!  I'm sure he thought...."what has Alberto done now and why does he have two grandmas with him?!"  Within minutes Alberto had the TINY car open and one of the two rolled mattress pads Antonio had in there was stuffed into the even tinier hatch back along with Lynda's purse and her backpack. My pack and my purse were stuffed into the space under the mattress pad that was still in the back seat. Lynda and I were also stuffed into the back seat (she half on top of me and half out the window). Alberto was the worst off though as he moved the passenger front seat as far forward as it would go (and Alberto is not a small man!!) and stuffed his 6+ foot frame into the space. It meant his knees were up around his ears (literally) and then to make matters worse, he took both mine and Lynda's carry on suitcases and held them on his lap. In truth, I don't know how he did it and I can only imagine what any passers by must have thought of us as we drove by. When we finally stopped I am certain we must have looked like a clown car....you know the kind at the circus that opens and clowns just keep piling out...

Antonio and Alberto dropped us at the Mision Express Hotel right in the heart of the old part of the city (the Centro area). We were able to negotiate a rate of $985 for the night and made our way up to our 4th floor room that was very comfortable and as promised...right in the middle of all the action of the Centro. We made a date to take the brothers out for dinner at 9:00 and set off to explore the Centro district until it was time to meet them back at our hotel.

During the 2 hours we had to explore we located the central zocalo, Lynda found some REALLY good corn in a cup (made and dressed the way its supposed to be), we hiked across a foot bridge that is massive and spans the Black Lagoon (one of 2 lagoons and 3 rivers that are in the city), we talked to strangers about the possibility of getting a ride is a little tuk tuk type taxi to no avail, and we crossed back over the Black Lagoon on a foot passenger barge that runs back and forth as needed for 1 peso per person. Yes folks...that is right....less than 10 cents per person!  How much do we pay for the little ferry that takes us from Granville Island to the other side?  I think it's a little more than 10 cents!

Anyway...at 9:00 on the dot, Albero arrived at our hotel to pick us up. His brother Antonio was not able to join us so the three of us set off for a driving tour of the city. Alberto had wanted to take us on a walking tour of the most interesting section where there is a park filled with birds but as it turned out the skies opened and the rain poured down right at the same moment as we were getting out of his car so the plan changed and it became a driving tour instead. Villahermosa is a city of about 400,000 people and it really is quite lovely. We saw the rich sections and the not so rich section, we drove through the business district and past the parks, we saw a pizza delivery boy on a motorike in the rain and are certain the pizza he is delivering is not only cold but wet as well, we felt the humidity that comes with 80 degrees + temps and tropical rains, and we loved it all.

At the end of our "tour" our hero Alberto stopped at a great spot for street food and we all enjoyed tacos pastor carved right off the spit along with bottles of sweet rice water. It was delicious and in no time we were all full.

Our intuition was telling us that Alberto had had his fill of touring grandmas around and so the time had come to say adios....oh ya....did I mention that Alberto and his brother are totally spanish speaking?  Yep....it was an interesting evening!

Before we said adios, Alberto gave us all the info we would need to get the best bus out of Villahermosa en route to Ciudad del Carmen tomorrow (a 2 hour trip). Our breakfast is included with our hotel so once that is behind us tomorrow, we will call a taxi and for just 30 pesos head to the ADO bus station where we will purchase a ticket on the superior bus (larger seats and better service) for just a few pesos more.

Hasta luego amigos...our adventure is well underway,
L & L

February 22, 2015

The last time we were getting on a plane it was my son's birthday and here I am getting on another plane in the morning and today is my daughter's birthday!  Happy Birthday Lani - hope you had a great day!!!

Lynda and I are off onto the next leg of our adventure now that my Coaching Retreat is finished.  Once again, Troncones has proved to be a magical experience for all of us who were able to be here!

It is hard to believe that just three weeks ago we were preparing to wave good-bye to the Indian Ocean and Zanzibar and here we are getting ready to move from the Pacific Ocean and over to the Gulf of Mexico and the Carribean.  And when you add to that a quick stopover to grab a change of clothes in Canada...it is little wonder we're both feeling like our lives are a little surreal of late!

Spending this past two weeks in Zihuatanejo and Troncones has been like coming home to family. The people here are so warm and welcoming that we're both a little sad to leave.  Having said that...we're also very excited to be moving onto our next adventure and that is just what it will be as we have neither accomodation nor activities planned for the time we've committed to exploring the states of the Yucatan.

This weekend the regional fair started in Troncones and so we were treated to all of the festivities that go along with that as we set about saying our good-byes.  From the castillo to the cock fights and the dancing horses to the lotteria (bingo)....the fair sure gave us something to remember and talk about!

So we've said adios to our final Pacific Sunset, supped on sopes con pollo and tacos pastor at Rufi's (a local backyard cantina where dinner is $20 pesos - less than $2), popped back into the fairia for one final farewell, and managed to stuff the clothes, that seem to have grown during our two weeks here, back into our carry on bags yet again.  Yes...that's right folks...we're doing carry on only and this time we'll have been gone from home for a total of 8 weeks!  So yes...where there is a will there is a way and you too can do it if you choose to leave the stuff you'll never need anyway at home. :)

Buenos noches amigos....hasta luego,
L & L

February 9, 2015

February 9, 2015

We're not sure just what's going on but boy oh boy did we get a unique wake up call this morning!  Full on marching band complete with miked announcements.  Supposedly it is a group practicing next door but I'd swear that they are right outside our door!  In fact they're still practicing....the good news is that they're actually pretty good.  It's too funny though as it's not just a few of them there are hundreds at least.  And....the clapping that is coming from outside where they're performing is being echoed by the clapping that is coming from inside our bathroom where Lynda is enjoying the entertainment that is being performed for her shower this morning.  OMG....I think there is a school right next door too as I can now hear the voices of several hundred kids playing and singing!  What day is this??!!  I know Mexico celebrates often but really.....at 7:30 on a Monday morning?!  LOL...a perfect opportunity to remember our recent African lesson of Hakunamatata and appreciate the fact that we're here to hear it.  Lynda says it is no wonder they take afternoon naps (siestas)...they've been up since dawn drumming!

Another little story to start this morning is that there was no water so Lynda had to don something decent and go down to the office to get them to turn the water back on...gotta love Mexico.

Great breakfast again this morning topped off with a delicious latte.  Based on my recent success with my "designer" in Zanzibar decided to check out the fabric store and found a couple of cotton prints and am going to see if I can find someone to sew me a couple of summer dresses while we are in Troncones.  Fingers crossed because the last time I tried to get something made in Troncones it was reminiscent of my Vietnamese experience and that was not good!

Hopped in the car and off to a nearby beach location, La Ropa, to see what trouble we could get into there.  And....drumroll please....we did not disappoint!  On the way into the crowded little 'town' Lynda managed to get an entire squad of taxi drivers excited when she went the wrong way on a one way street.  It was only for a minute and she explained that it was just because she is an old grandma so able to make that kind of small error.  LOL. The taxi drivers laughed along with us as we pulled into our parking spot which is why she turned around in the first place.  From there it was a short walk to our first stop where we located two great lounge chairs (padded to boot!) at a fancy hotel on the beach and in the shade.  The fact that they had towels on them did not deter us though and in a flash we were settled into our new fancy digs. We read and relaxed and made ourselves at home for almost an hour before the couple who belonged to the towels returned and we had to vacate our comfortable beach location.  Don't feel too bad for us though as within minutes we were two hotels down the beach and settled into two more padded lounge chairs that were even closer to the water (20 feet from waters edge). The staff dug a hole by our chairs and erected an umbrella so we were back in the shade.

So here we sit with a margarita in hand, the breeze blowing in off the water, the sun shining down on the sand around us, and the waves lapping up on the beach where we have an unrestricted view of the ships at anchor.  Yep, Nosotros muy suerte!

Stayed at the beach till they started to set up dinner tables around us.  Figured that was about as obvious a sign as you can get!  Fortunately enough time had passed to allow the effect of the margaritas to pass too and we made it out of La Ropa without any untoward incidents. Although...there was a moment or two as we sat first in line at some major road construction. There was no one there to tell us whether to go or not and it seemed that the cars had stopped coming from the opposite direction. Lynda's common sense prevailed and so we waited - thank heavens we waited!  Eventually a worker did appear and waved us forward to make our way back down the hill.

Back in Zihuat there was time to wander a little (temps are perfect tonight!) before stopping in for pizza. There is a wood fire clay oven near our hotel and their pizza is yummy!  I can assure you that not all Mexican pizza is good!  During our wandering we came across a leather shop where Mario is the man who makes all the goods in the shop. I found a purse and so will be able to throw away the one I've been carting around for far too long once I get home.  Price was 1200 pesos (about $100) and it is solid leather. Would pay at least $250 for it at home so am happy with my purchase!

Tonight we celebrated taking the last of our little pink malaria pills (have to take them for seven days after leaving Africa).

Tomorrow will be a busy day as it is when the focus will shift to work for a while so...adios for now amigos...will reconvene this blog shortly after Feb 21st.

L & L

February 8, 2015

February 8, 2015 Nearing the end of day two in Zihuat and what a full day it has been! By the time we get to Troncones we're gonna be ready for a hammock! Had a great sleep at Posado Citlali last night in spite of the Saturday night festivities that were going on at the club across the street. I'm guessing that might have had something to do with the fact that we were both falling asleep on our feet! In fact we were so tired that we almost didn't notice the fact that our room was on the second floor which meant we were back into climbing stairs with our cases yet again! My shower this morning was a RUDE awakening as it took forever for the hot water to come and so I had resigned myself to a cold one. By the time I was finishing up...the hot water decided to make an appearance though so I got to have my final rinse with lovely warm water....back to keeping your mouth closed in the shower here though...that luxury only happens in Canada. LOL! Desayuno (breakfast) was down the street at DiDi's, a popular local restaurant with the Mexican community. It hit the spot and the price was right. It seems impossible to pay more than $5 for any meal here! After breakfast we stocked up on water and hit the road in our oversized luxury ride. Fortunately, it is Sunday and so there was little traffic which made the driving MUCH easier I'm sure. As we headed south from Zihuat we passed orchards of avocado trees and several little pueblos en route to the ruins we were headed for just this side of Patalan. The highway we were travelling along would have taken us to Acapulco had we continued on it for another hour or so. One would think that a ruins would be fairly easy to find but no....not for us. We ended up missing the turn which took us further south than we had planned but....since we are the luckiest people we know that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After several stops for directions (in Spanish of course) we lucked out when we met Alexi, his mom, and her friends having lunch at a roadside location. In no time at all, Alexi's mom had volunteered him to come with us in our car so he could show us the right turn to take off the main highway. Alexi hopped in and we were off, back across the river (which they refer to as sweet water since it's not salt) and to the elusive corner we'd been searching for. Once we knew where we were going we returned Alexi to his family and since they were such a nice group of folks...decided to join them for lunch. So it was chili rellenos con queso for us. They were DELISH! And again....under $5! Once we'd said our good-byes to our new friends we were back in the car and headed to the ruins. By the time we finally arrived at the site I have to admit that it was a little disappointing as they're pretty small in comparison to some of the others we've visited on previous trips around Mexico. We did make it to the top though (yes Gail and Darlene....more stairs - lots more stairs!) Once we'd had our fill of the site we hit the road again en route back to Zihuat but along the way decided to take a little detour down to the oceanside at Playa del Barra Portisea. It was an interesting stop as there is a little bay that comes in there and so there were dozens of locals wading in the water throwing out the fishing nets looking for lunch or dinner. The little town (and I use the word 'town' loosely here) is known for it's great fish options in the restaurants. After a little wander on the sandy shores of the Pacific we were back in the car and off to the airport where we were able to change the oversized luxury ride we'd enjoyed for the trip south. It was kind of like when we were in Zanzibar and asked for a downgrade...we were happy to be granted it once again and now Lynda is finding it much easier to manoeuvre through the crowded streets of the city. This evening we got lucky again and stumbled upon an annual celebration in Zihuat where the community comes together to intentionally send out a collective consciousness for world peace. The event was very stirring and I think they called out the names of every country in the world! After the official statement in support of world peace, a group of local indigenous dancers took the stage and once again Lynda and I were in the line of fire (or in this case ceremonial smoke) and so were blessed by the process. I will admit that it's hard not to cough and splutter when you can't get your breath for all the smoke but....it is still a pretty special experience to be gifted with. After the dancers (and our smoky blessing) we ambled along the beach and into the zocalo where many food vendors were set up and as we learned earlier today every Sunday you can get fried quesadilla's....which we did line up for and enjoy immensely. Now we are sitting on a pedestrian roadway just down from the zocalo enjoying an after dinner drink and catching up on this blog. Hasta luego amigos, L & L

February 7, 2015

Happy Birthday Dean!! feb 7th is always one of my favourite days to celebrate! It was an early morning wake up,at the Four Points Sheraton in Kelowna! Our 6 a.m. Flight dictated that we were in the shuttle by 4:30 so there would be no sleeping in for us today! It was all worth it though and we are now sitting on a rooftop patio in the centre of Zihuatanejo Mexico. Our first flight was less than an hour from Kelowna to Calgary and then the next leg was a little more than 5 hours. After the long flights we've recently endured....this was a cake walk! I'm always surprised by how small the world can be at those moments when strange and unusual things happen or you bump into people you didn't expect to see. This morning at the Kelowna airport we ran into Summerland residents Randy and Karen Jones and then a couple of hours later as I boarded the flight from Calgary to Zihuatanejo I was met with two familiar faces who recognized me right off. They were a couple from Saskatoon who I met on the flight home from Zihuatanejo a year ago. That was the flight that was grounded for mechanical problems and that ended up being the trip home from hell. Connecting with that couple again today brought that memory back to life which gave us both a point of reference that we didn't really want to remember! Luckily today's flight was smooth sailing and we arrived in Zihuatanejo right on schedule. We had booked a rental car online and although we had some challenges in getting a car at the airport it all worked out in the end. Again, we have the kindness of locals to thank for some of the happy ending to our car rental story. David, staff person at the Dollar counter, had to inform us that there were no cars available until tomorrow. In no time at all he was helping us by asking the other car rental agents if they had any cars and if they would honour the incredible quote we'd gotten online from Dollar. Ruben, from Eurocar, agreed and David drove us and our luggage across the airport property to where Ruben had a car for us. The story doesn't end there though...there were no little economy cars so we've ended up with a brand new Dodge Journey that is much larger than will be easy to drive and park in the crowded city centre. Ruben promised that he would have an economy car for us tomorrow and we got the Journey for the price of the economy car for the day. From there Lynda did us proud and was able to navigate that big car through the traffic and and narrow streets and get us to our hotel, Posado Citlali, in the centre of Zihuatanejo. We got settled into our room (for 3 nights) and love the real Mexican ambiance of the place. Amazing to think of the fact that just one week ago we were frolicking in the Indian Ocean on Zanzibar and tonight we are looking out at the Pacific from Mexico! When you factor in that we also had 3 days in Canada during this same week....it is little wonder that we are both yawning as I type! Tomorrow we will make use of our fancy vehicle and head south to visit a ruins that we've been wanting to see. Hasta luego, L & L

February 6, 2015

We've caught up on enough sleep since our African adventure and now two of us are off again to Mexico this time. For the first couple of weeks I will be hosting clients at a Retreat and then Lynda and I will be on our way to explore the Yucatan...pretty much our final frontier in Mexico. We're kicking off this adventure by having one of our African crew (Gail) drop the other three of us off at the airport hotel in Kelowna this afternoon. In the morning Darlene is off to Arizona and Lynda's and my flight to Zihuatanejo departs at 6 a.m. so thought we'd be better off being in Kelowna already! Wouldn't want to start missing planes now! Won't be doing a lot of posting during my Retreat but once that is behind me I'll do my best to keep you all apprised of our latest Mexican adventures. :) Hasta luego, Lorrie & Lynda