Thurs. Feb. 27 - Fire and Water

A cool air walk on Cardenas street
Introduced us to Joan from Thornhill
The 8 km cobblestone stroll
Finally brought us to the sand and water

Kathy was waiting to begin the search
Glass and clay tiles were no where
The tide was in and the surfers were gone
Breakfast in the treehouse was next

The van was searching for parking
At Sam's and Mega
Olive oil, spare ribs, and a mop
Was high on Betty's and Darlene's list

Fresh steak from the butcher
Began the beet stew
It bubbled and boiled for hours
Ready to serve Sue and Betty around 1 p.m.

Dave skyped from Ontario
Guitar theory and piano scales
Improved the minds of the parents
Then off to the beach below

Donuts, peanuts, pigeons and vendors
Amused three seniors  resting under their umbrella
The silver waters beckoned the bathers
Only up to their knees

Supper was served while computers puzzled the ladies
Robert swept and arranged
While Betty and Sue secretly consumed more cake
It was time for the night life

(Sue's shorts are too tight and Betty wants another crepe)

Carmen and Luce creped Susanna and Isabella
With whipped cream, chocolate and strawberries
Movies were made out of fire
The day closed under the stars

Wed. Feb. 26 - The Crepe lady in Bucerias Mexico

Wed. Feb. 26 - Bucerias Betty

Betty is so friendly here in Mexico.  She speaks with everyone especially the Mexicans.  She has become known around the town as Bucerias Betty.

Wed. Feb. 26 - Longboarding

7:20 a.m.

7: 30 a.m.

Robert was feeling ready for a long walk this morning so he and Sue walked down Lazaro Cardenas St. which is a long street through the centre of Bucerias, parallel to the ocean.

 It is about 8 km. long.  It is a pleasant early morning walk and many "gringos" and Mexican people take advantage of the cool morning air and the beautiful street to exercise around 7 a.m.  They met Peter the donkey along the route and promised to bring him a treat tomorrow.

After about 3 km, we came upon a very fancy beach hotel called the Riu.  Rob looks like he could manage the place.  This hotel is almost as nice as our treehouse at Ana Ruth's.

 This street also hosts a Thursday evening "ART WALK", which is worth participating in.
Rob and Sue plan to do this walk most mornings.  They walk in one direction on the street and return on the beach.  They might stop at the market on Wednesday mornings, like they did today, to buy a carrot cake.  Everyone needs a carrot cake on Wed. mornings.  Today they watched the "longboarding" and decided to give that a try very soon.  Strong core muscles are needed to do this.




The middle of the day involved a giant siesta back at the treehouse.  Betty paid Rob and Sue a visit because she was having computer connecting problems again with her ipad.

Around 4 p.m., Rob, Sue, and Betty went to visit Kathy, Bill, and Jack.  When they arrived, Jack invited them for a swim in his pool.  He wanted to show them how great of a swimmer he has become. He even beat Rob in a swimming race.

Kathy and Bill prepared a delicious chicken and steak dinner.  Pops Bill is an expert on the BBQ!  Yum!!  Kathy provided the "oldies" music by tuning into an Edmonton radio station.

Kathy, Bill, and Jack kind of live in a treehouse too, and their resident iguana is a lot bigger than the one at Ana Ruth's.

The evening ended around 8 p.m. and Rob, Sue, and Betty headed back through Bucerias Centro in search of the crepe lady.  Low and behold, she was whipping up a batch of crepes on the street corner.

She told Betty that she is in the same location 7 days a week making 12 different kinds of crepes from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m.  Betty was thrilled and the crepes were delicious.  We all went home on a full stomach but we will be back.

Tues. Feb. 25 - It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman

Sunrise 7:15 a.m.

"Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's Jack's Superman"

(Jack buried me under the sandcastle and left.  Thanks Sue for saving me.)

Today started with the usual walk on the beach around 9 a.m.

 We walk and look for coloured clay tiles and beach glass.

but today we found the surfers.  These boys looked about 13 and we have seen them every morning around the same time.  We wondered why they weren't in school, and then thought about how classes are staggered here, so maybe they didn't have to go until the afternoon.

 

Around noon, Sue, Betty, and Rob set out in search of a great bakery, where they sell fresh bread.  Only a couple of blocks away, Paninis was discovered.  They had lots of varieties of fresh bread and other goodies that would expand anyone's waist line.  We decided to stay for lunch.

We enjoyed a siesta time back at the treehouse before heading to the beach again, around 4 p.m.  Jack was waiting for Rob so that they could build another sand castle.  The rest of the seniors sat on their asses under the umbrella, ate and gained more weight.

  

There was lots to talk about too.  The beach is a "happening" place.

Families that swim together, stay together.  Betty's granddaughter, Danielle, learned to swim today back in Ontario at the YMCA.

Horses go by every few minutes looking for riders.

When swimmers walk in the water, they need to do the beach shuffle to warn the lurking skates of their presence.  His stinger is on his back tail.

Willet birds scurry along the beach shore looking for insects, crustaceans, and worms.  They are considered at risk.

Filmed on location at Bucerias Mexico centro beach Feb. 2014 ...

(produced by R. Fox)

Mon. Feb. 24 - Jack the dancer

Mon. Feb. 24 - Tequila

The beach at Bucerias is a wonderful place to be first thing in the morning.  The warm ocean waves lap at your feet and deposit all kinds of treasures in the sand....beach glass, shells, interesting stones and coral. This is how we often start the day.

Beach Treasures

a shovel

frigate bird

Treehouse Treasures

bouganveillia

a flycatcher

parota leaves

leaf beetle

Rob and Sue went for a walk through the town.  Rob visited his physio one last time and he also got a haircut.

Sue spotted the new Tequila Museum and decided to go in for a tour.  She learned that in the early 1500's, the indigenous people

of this area called the Huichols, dug up the agave plant root ball and made it into a toxic alcohol that affected the brain and caused blindness in those who indulged.  When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico in 1521, they used their wine-making skills and worked with the Indios to develop a better tasting alcohol called Tequila.  Today, this part of Mexico is responsible for the world's quality Tequila.  Pedro, the museum tour guide was very knowledgeable.  Of course today, this tequila is organic and very expensive and no, there aren't any worms in the bottle.  Some cheaper types of tequila have a worm in the alcohol in order to capture the customer's interest.  This marketing ploy does sell tequila.

the museum is close to the De Cameron hotel near the beach

the blue agave plant is a member of the pineapple family and the root ball is harvested after 10 years of growth

Pedro teaches Sue

Betty, Bill, Kathy, and Jack celebrated the end of a great day with Rob and Sue with a feast at the famous Ana Ruths restaurant below the treehouse.

  

Pops Bill tries to tell Betty about his day at Sayulita but Betty is busy buying rice pudding from the street kids.

Sun. Feb. 23 - Road Trip

Sue and Rob woke early and hiked across the centro to the Mexican market which is located in the dry river bed every Sunday morning.  They were on the hunt for fresh veggies and fruit.
Today they returned with 4 big heavy bags of bananas, beets, broccoli, jicama, strawberries, potatoes, garlic, cheese, peppers, celery, mushrooms, papaya, avocados, tomatoes, spinach, romaine lettuce and pea pods.

The pitbull blue puppy was offered to Rob for $400 U.S.

After the market, Bill, Kathy, and Jack stopped by the tree house and invited us on a road trip to the countryside.  So we stopped by Betty's place and added her to the van, and off we went.  We drove inland for about 40 km into Banderas Valley and passed by orchards of mango trees, corn, bananas and pineapples.  Robert spotted 4 white horses and got 4 wishes by reciting, "Lucky, lucky, white horse, bring good luck to me", before anyone else.  

Note:  Superstitions:  White horses are supposed to be good luck. When you see one, you say: 

"Lucky lucky white horse,
Lucky lucky Lea
Lucky lucky white horse
Bring my wish to me..."

And close your eyes and turn away. If you look at the horse again, you've jinxed yourself, and you won't get your wish.

Old folk talk / superstition from the New England area of the United States

Jack spotted a herd of cattle.

The cows reminded Jack of ice cream so Pops (Bill) found an OXO store in a town called San Juan and Jack was treated to a chocolate drumstick.  He ate half and shared the rest with his best big kid friend, Robert.

Robert asked Bill to find a spot somewhere along the route that might sell a used guitar so not far up the road, Bill stopped at a bazar.  It seemed like all the stores in this Mexican town were bazars.

Betty bought 3 glass bowls with lids.

Robert bought 10 tubes of acrylic paint so that he could paint Jack's portrait.

Kathy bought a brass bull which was the find of the day.  (Bill called it ... garbage)

Onward up the dusty cobblestone road we went, until we reached Mercales where Kathy and Bill's friends lived.  Ben and Carol live here in Mexico for 6 months of the year and in Alberta for the other 6.  Sipping cold drinks, touring their beautiful home, chatting with their Hungarian visitors, and listening to Ben tell tales of Dave, the "mud healer", while Jack played with his Harley, the rest of the afternoon passed by peacefully.

The road trip ended with Kathy and Bill taking Jack to the doctor's for another needle in the bum, while Sue, Betty, and Rob, lounged under the umbrella on the beach.

The evening ended with caesar salad, pesto pasta, cabernet sauvignon from Chile, and Betty officially becoming a FACEBOOK member!

THANKS FOR THE ROAD TRIP POPS!!!

Sat. Feb. 22 - Feliz Cumpleanos

This was a very special day.
The friendly female iguana that lives in our parota tree decided to pay us a visit this morning.

  

Today was special for these reasons too ...

friendly party people

Betty calls Rogers in Ontario and gets a new password, so now she can receive and send emails.

candy on the beach

a cormorant watching the swimmers

Darlene's warm and positive personality is shared with sister Roberto.

Sue made the head/ Jack made the tail/ and Nana made the body.

Her majesty - Elizabeth Egret - watches over the beach.

Cyril and Dierdre win gold on their birthday.

Thanks Jo-anne for the great palapa party send off!

Count the parachutes if you can.

Jack is surrounded by love.

Sue went for a walk again this morning by herself.  She came upon a Mexican family of 4, who were fishing for their breakfast.  The mother is standing on the beach holding one end of the net while the father in the little motor boat, takes the other end of the net, and swings out in the water making a large loop, while the net sinks to the bottom.  He returns to shore and begins to pull the net in, and so does his wife at the same time.  The young son stands not far in the water from the beach, waiting to feel the net.  That indicates to him, when the mother and the father should come together and put the net to the beach.  The older sister holds the net and waits for her breakfast. 

Breakfast is served!