Made it to Melaque

We decided to make a right rather than a left and here we are in Melaque. I think this is the furthest south we're going, decided against going to Zihuatanejo. We're enjoying Melaque. It's a quaint village with cobble stone streets, dirt roads and friendly people. They have everything we need here, beaches, shops, restaurants, nothing big, no Walmart and no McDonalds thank god. The beaches are shallow with lots of sand and big waves. We're staying at Laguna del Tule, they have RV spaces and bungalows to rent. They have a pool, swim up bar and restaurant over looking the beach. We have a prime location in the park, right on the the beach. We have some fun partying neighbors, under 50 thankfully. Most days I've been drinking, swimming, playing Bocce ball in the day and drinking by the bonfire on the beach at night. Man this is a tough life.

As you can see from this picture, I'm looking more and more less like a gringo every day. The locals all think I'm Mexican and the gringos are shocked when they say hola to me in the morning and I reply with a hey how's it going. I hope they let me across the border going home.



We went out last night to Barra de Navidad, the town next to us. We went to a blues bar and grill called Piper Lover. It was full of Canadians. I drank a gallon there and then we moved on to a local nightclub called Jarro, pronounced Harro with a rolled Rrrrr. We had fun at Jarro's dancing and drinking with the locals. We grabbed a taxi back for a reasonable 50 pesos and arrived at the RV homestead at 3:30am. A good time was had by all, and now I need some Tylenol and a nap on the beach.

We're hoping to stay here for 2 weeks if we can keep our spot, we're here for a week for sure. If they can't find another spot for us we'll sick our new guard dog on them!

Ron

On the road again...

Hmmm Guadalajara or Tequila?

We've left Mazatlan and we're in Guadalajara now. On our way here we boon docked at an RV park in Teacapan. Boon docking is when you park right on the beach for the night. We had no power or air conditioning but we opened all the windows and it was quite comfortable. There's nothing like falling asleep to the sound of the ocean.

After visiting this 'ladies room' in Teacapan I don't think I'll ever complain about another Canadian restroom again, talk about a lack of privacy! Gotta love Senor Mustachio's commentary lol








Today we met our new Mexican friend Myrna and her adorable 2 year old son Ashton. If anyone's traveling to the Guadalajara area and needs a tour guide I can pass her information along. Myrna is a flight attendant and speaks great English.

Myrna took us on a tour of the historical area downtown (Centro Histórico) and to the Guadalajara Cathedral. The cathedral was built in the 1560's and took almost 50 years to build. The interior was gorgeous, I was in awe, it actually brought tears to my eyes. I didn't expect to be so emotional, it was just so beautiful and peaceful. The stained glass windows and murals were incredible. Everything was covered in gold, I've never seen anything like it.

A creepy part of our cathedral tour was visiting the coffins of the dead priests they have hiding in the basement. Equally as creepy was seeing the remains of a martyred little girl called Santa Inocencia (Saint Inocencia). I'm not sure why she was made a saint, Myrna tried explaining it to me but I couldn't pay attention because I was too freaked out. Her face isn't real but her hands and urn of blood are. Remind me to avoid this section next time.











Ok onto happier and less creepy things now...today we went shopping at a huge silver and gold mall downtown. Here they have high quality silver and gold, unlike the fake stuff we bought on the beach in Mazatlan. Ron bought a nice silver chain and a gold charm for his 'I Am' necklace. I bought a white gold chain and two charms, a Jewish star of David and a cross. Yes that's an odd mix, but hey so am I. :)

Adina

It's a bird...it's a plane...it's Flying Ronaldo!

Hola! from Ron

Today I was busy relaxing amongst the palm trees on the beach beside my wonderful 1987 motor home. She's working great, no problemo's.

Here's a lesson on buying silver in Mexico. Today we found out that when you spend only 300 pesos (about $27 US) on two sterling silver bracelets, they're probably not really silver even if they are stamped with 925. Our very convincing Mexican beach salesman with the big smile, said "Senor 925 is the best silver you can buy, see the stamp? I give you best price." So we bought. Then Adina was trying to take off a link to make the bracelet smaller and one of the links broke in half in her hands. She's gotta stop eating so many Wheaties or maybe we need to be more cautious with our beach purchases. After the fact, we found a webpage explaining what real silver in Mexico should look like, it's suppose to have the 925 stamped on it and it also has to have Mexico stamped on it, fake ones don't have the word Mexico on them. Live and learn.




For the last couple of days we rented a scooter to zip around with, sure beats walking. Yesterday after finding a beautiful deserted point overlooking Mazatlan we managed to get lost, ended up somehow on Highway 15 going south. When the traffic became unbearable I finally had to stop at a gas station and ask for directions. Getting directions was an experience in itself, we had 4 guys and a map and only one of us could speak English. And the solution was - go back! After making 2 lefts and a right we found our way back. Not blaming Adina cause she packed the translator and it helped with the street signs, but somebody should have brought along the GPS, maybe me? I'm not admitting anything. All in all we still had fun.



As it turns out, the guy from Manitoba who's parked next to us here at the RV park has a scooter for sale, and we've decided to buy it. So we're staying here in Mazatlan a little longer until he's ready to give it up. We'll be heading out of here on Monday morning, into the south and on to a hotter humid climate. My tan is going well, Adina is still pretty much white with a slight brown tinge. I've decided the rooftop of the motor home is a great place to tan. God I love the sun!

Oh and by the way does anyone have any Raid??



I just took this sunset photo from the roof of the motor home. Who needs expensive hotels with a view like this!

Ron

Bad Santa!

Well I've found out what Santa does during his off season...it seems he roams the streets of Mazatlan by night. I caught him with his pants down outside a bar downtown. I of course had to snap a quick pic as he was changing into his Santa suite, I cut off the top his head because I had no time to focus the camera oopsy. Santa was busy smoking and drinking beer with two 'ladies of the evening'. He'd hired them to walk around Mazatlan dressed as his helpers. The ladies didn't speak any English but they seemed to be good sports about it all...what a naughty Santa!

Adina

We're having a blast in Mazatlan!

We're at the Mar Rosa RV park in the middle of the hotel zone, right on the beach, it doesn't get much better than this. Its about 80 degrees during the day and a comfortable 70 at night. The sunsets are incredible. The sunset photo I've posted isn't edited, its like the sky is on fire, its amazing. Everything here is within walking distance or just a short Pulmonia ride to the markets and the nightclub zone. Pulmonia's are open air golf carts, like taxis, except they drive really fast, weave in and out of traffic and they blast loud music while their driving. Its quite the adventure. Our driver Saturday night played Michael Jackson for us on our way to the 'Disco' (as they call them here). Ron took video of our ride, in the video you'll hear him say we're in Manila, now that would be long drive! Its now a running joke with us, he never remembers where we are, where are we again?? ;)

We went to a really cool bar the other night called Sumbawa, its a funky beachfront club with a pool. Nightlife here doesn't start until 11pm, so if you show up early around 10pm there's no cover. Drinks are cheap too, 2 for 1 Corona's for only 4 bucks. I of course had my usual Kahlua, which they were making more like doubles or triples. I had so much fun.

Yesterday we went into Old Mazatlan for the afternoon. We visited the cathedral, checked out some abandoned buildings and had a delicious authentic Mexican lunch at an outdoor restaurant. We walked around for a few hours trying to find the flea market area, we finally found it but most of the shops were closed because it was Sunday. We'll have to go back again during the week. I think we're here for another 3 days. I'd love to stay longer. :)

Adina

Happy New Year from Mexico!

Yes we've made it. We crossed the border in Nogales with no problems, no searches or loss of any fruit. When we crossed the border into the US they did an hour long search, made a mess of our stuff only to apprehend a bag of grapes and one potatoe. (I'm not sure where they found the potatoe) This time we got to keep our grapes woo hoo lol.

Aside from hearing what we thought were gunshots all night, we had a quiet New Years eve in Hermosillo, Mexico. (not sure what was going on with the gunshots, hmmmm fireworks maybe??)

Now we're off to sunny Mazatlan!

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year.

Here's one of my favorite New Years quotes:

Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves they believe are negative. A majority of people revert back to how they were before and feel like failures. This year I challenge you to a new resolution. I challenge you to just be yourself. - Aisha Elderwynv


Have a wonderful 2010.

Adina