Carnival La Penita, Quading, Pig Roast

We celebrated Valentines Day at the RV park in a grand way - the annual pig roast! This years theme was red & white - lots of fun costumes, we were boring in our red & white clothes . Everyone decorated their tables, unfortunately didn't think to take pictures. The meal centered around 2 pigs stuffed with fruit & roasted in pits in the ground - quite the process. Dancing followed, under the stars, to an excellent DJ.

Life continues as before, we walk 6 days a week, 8 km. over cobblestones & dirt roads, not quite as difficult as when we started. We have done a few road trips to neighboring towns & beaches, best find was the coffee producing area .No signs but we found the "guy" - back yard covered with coffee beans from the recent harvest, drying in the sun. In his tiny shop was the roaster & the grinder, we watched him grind our order & package it for us. The whole town belongs to a cooperative so there are many of these "shops".

We have most everything that we need brought right here to the park or it can be found in town, a short walk away. The bread truck comes thru 2 days a week, fresh whole wheat jalapeno cheese bread, warm from the oven! The old "honey guy" walks thru carrying a 5 gallon pail on his shoulder, full of bottles of mango honey, bee pollen & jack fruit. What's not so good is the fact that there are way too many good paces to eat here, we went out for rib dinners to 3 different places over a week & a half! We have weekly hamburger nights, we have volunteered twice to help cook & serve. Movie nights under the stars is also popular. The Cancer Walk was a big success, several hundred "gringos" walking in support of local mammography efforts, then a fun street party.

Carnival in a big deal here - a 2 hour parade, lots of fun floats, all ages dancing, the usual queens & princesses, even some pretty old women princesses. I was in awe of the crazy high heels that so many women wear, marching along the cobblestones & pot holes. We spent some time in the midway, games of chance, rickety old kids rides, food & of course the tequila booth! I threw some darts & won a box of cookies, lucky it wasn't for toilet paper, also there as prizes! After the parade several bands set up on the street corners to entertain until the wee hours.

I have no experience on a quad, I was too afraid to ride them when we owned 2, any little hill had me panicked. I was invited to go on the Ladies quad ride, so I decided to bite the bullet & give it a try.  10 machines, 20 women - most who don't usually get to drive so they made up for it with a lot of speed! I held on for dear life & hoped for the best. Great scenery, thru the jungle, down the beach, country roads, crisscrossing rivers & thru lots of mud. I even had mud in my ear! Came home tired after over 6 hours of riding, a bit sore from my "death grip" on the handles, but over all a great day, complete with lunch on the beach ( a 2 beer lunch, thought that might make the return trip easier).

We have a good spot right out in front of the RV for bird watching, keeps me busy sorting & deleting excess pictures. We have enough for a pretty good bird book if I ever get to it. Floating around the pool on a pool noodle has become the afternoon activity, before our daily happy hour. We are in the process of packing up ready to turn & head north. We leave here March 1 to begin the slow trip home. We don't plan to be out of Mexico till at least mid March then on to Tuscon for some exploring. We must admit that it will be good to get home, starting to really miss all of the family!

Guadalajara & Tequila Adventures

Still hanging out in La Penita, not sure where the time goes.
The Cancer de Mama event was a success as always. 480 Mexican women, breast cancer survivors, traveled to our RV park where they were each fitted with 2 prosthetic bras, 1 regular bra that then had a pocket sewn in, 1 silicone prosthesis & 2 lighter, cooler handmade prosthesis. They then could be fitted for a wig, choose scarves or hats, have make-up done & then head to the "free store" to choose an outfit. Of course everyone was fed - this is where the men came in (Robin included), busy chopping veggies & fruit at 6:00 am. I was put to work as a fitter, as well as providing the occ. nurse assessment of concerns. The army of volunteers was amazing, many from outside the park. I actually ran into a nurse from Penticton that I had worked with who has a winter home here. It felt good to be useful for three days. Unfortunately it rained, but it didn't slow anything down. We were shocked to hear that we got 16 inches of rain in 4 days!

that's Robin in the back, finished chopping

We headed out on our road trip the next day, drove the car to Tequila & Guadalajara, a distance of under 300 km. We drove past fields of agave & thru mountains. Saw a semi-truck on it's side, tomatoes everywhere - and Mexicans running to & fro taking baskets & buckets of those tomatoes!
We stayed one night in Tequila, wandered around the town, then hopped on the Chili bus for a city tour & a tequila distillery tour. Learned a lot about how the agave plant is harvested - all the outer "leaves" are removed leaving the core or "pineapple" which is then cooked, mashed & the liquid put to ferment. It is then distilled twice & the "better" stuff is aged in used Jack Daniels barrels. We were given tastings & learned that lime & salt is a "no, no"- tequila is not for me, even the good stuff!

On to Guadalajara where we stayed 3 nights at beautiful old  Hotel Morelos, right in the heart of the historic old town. We could walk everywhere, day or night, to the churches, squares & markets. We toured the cathedral which was built in 1568, the Government palace where huge murals were painted by the famous Mexican Jose Orozco, even got Robin to visit a museum & art gallery. It's a beautiful city, full of colonial buildings, huge public squares, monuments & it's all very clean. Lots of people & tourists but few Caucasians. Our first tour was by horse & carriage, all thru the main sites of old town, past historic homes & down very narrow streets. We walked thru most of the huge 3 story indoor market, over 40,000 sq. meters of shops, everything from fruit to food stalls to bootleg DVD's to herbal remedies, clothing & shoes, shoes & more shoes!  Our second day we hopped on the double decker bus tour, complete with commentary in English - of course we did all 4 routes in & around the city (all for $10). We sat on the top but had to be watchful & duck for overhead wires! We stopped in Tlaquepaque, an upscale artisan community, bought a couple blown glass goblets for happy hour. There was a shop there with 1426 different types of tequila! We took a city bus the 3rd day to Tonala (cost $1), a huge street market two days per week where everything Mexican is available & for pretty good prices. Robin endured over 5 hours of "wandering" but it was fun!

local specialty, torta ahogada (huge sandwich)

strange art exhibit

3 story market

beautiful gowns in lots of shops

our hotel

double decker bus - "duck"

our hotel Hotel Morales

Back in our RV park in time to celebrate some new friend's 50th anniversary, then off to a Mexican rodeo the next day. It didn't quite measure up to Two Hills rodeos but it was "interesting"!  Of course everything was in "Mexican time" - calf tail pulling to "tip" them over, bull riding but the bulls were pretty docile, an impressive display of roping skills standing on his saddle on horseback and just fun seeing the caballero's in their outfits with their beautiful horses.

Next adventure was a trip to a local hotsprings - a grueling 1 hour drive on a "goat trail", but a lovely setting at the end. Over a dozen stone & concrete pools, all with varying temperatures of water & fresh hot water coming in, all under the jungle canopy. Refreshing soak & a picnic lunch in the company of more new friends.

Some days we just sit around, Robin has taken to feeding the turtles & crocodiles our kitchen scraps & dog food, then we sit & watch them eat. We still walk most days at 6:30AM, a "pleasant" 8 km speed walk.This helps to balance the eating out & the happy hours.

one of the crocs in the swamp below us

green iguana, lots of them around

We are on the last 2 weeks here, will turn & head north slowly on March 1. Still living the dream!