Author: zihuathyme

I'm a traveler, not as frequently as I would like , but I plan on doing more. After working full time at Mount Rainier National Park during the summer of 22 I have decided to retire completely and forever. Prior to that I was semi retired as a Wedding Officiant I officiated at about 20 weddings a season, and with my small delivery service I handled the distribution of a local high-quality Home and Garden magazine . Prior to my "semi retirement" I was in corrections and before that I owned and operated a bail bond agency. I now plan to travel to new places and exciting places, getting ready to do that as a solo as the Senior is no longer with me, his choice, and I am OK with that. For hobbies I'm a reader and love my kindle. And I enjoy writing.

BACK AGAIN IN ZIHUATANEJO MEXICO

We traveled this year with far more luggage than usual. Normally 2-3 suitcases max, but due to wanting to get our shopping cart that rolls upstairs to Mexico we had to put it in our largest suitcase. Between the suitcase and the cart we had already used up 25 lbs of the allowed 50.That and 3 months supply of meds for the Senor 3 months supply of protein

Our 3 wheel cart that rolls up and down stairs with ease

powder for me and a few other items that we can’t find in Mexico we soon had two big suitcases and 3 carry ons, only one of which we planned to carry on. We had arranged for a wheel chair for Doyle as he doesn’t walk or stand well for long periods. We breezed through TSA with just the customary full pat down I receive because of my artificial knee. But after 20 years or so of traveling to Mexico we finally hit the “red light” where their security folks take a very in-depth look through all our 5 bags and my small back pack. No problema, just a few questions about my protein powder , were soon on our way We got a cab only to discover that both the Senor and I had a brain fart about the name of the street we were going to. We know the way and can give good directions, but not so good in Spanish. A few blocks from our apartment our driver fell afoul of the local traffic cop and got pulled over. I have never heard such arguing, hand gestures and money offered. If it hadn’t have been for our luggage we would have bailed at that point. But again no problema and we were soon on our way . From there it is a right turn and 2 lefts and we are at the foot of our pedestrian street where our apartment is. But it is at the opposite end of the block, and here we are with 5 bags. Doyle was going to wait with the baggage and I was going to run them up the street one at a time. ( That’s figurative speech) As I started up with the largest bag the friendly “little old lady”who sells fans, grabbed my suitcase and almost ran it up to our building. What a dynamo! Needless to say I bought a fan and gave her a bit extra. Friends and apartment mates were gathered outside socializing and bless them they carried it all up the 3 flights of stairs. Isn’t Mexico wonderful!

I arrived with a bit of a cold, which has left me with less than my normal energy and since the Senor’s energy is improved but still very low we have been slow to get organized and out to shop for supplies. Oh well, manana! Signing off KO

Things I will miss and things I won’t

Our time in sunny Mexico is drawing to a close, sadly we are on our last day. I love Mexico and Zihuatanejo with all it’s quirks and interesting culture. There is so much I will miss, but there are somethings that you just have to say “Ah it’s mexico” and overlook. I will miss all the friendly faces that speak to you on the streets and greet you with a quick Hola! or Buen Dia even when they don’t know you at all. I will miss warm days at the beach with

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — View of sail boats from the beach

the breeze blowing, I will miss nights without ever needing a sweater, I will miss 25 peso cab rides, and riding water taxis, I will miss the pigeon who lives in our balcony planter and the iguanas that entertain us during dinner on the balcony at night. Let’s face it I will miss my balcony!

I will not miss toilets with no seats in public facilities. Where do they all disappear to? I won’t miss needing to discard TP in the waste basket instead of the bowl. I will miss daily fresh fruit. I will miss fresh fish cooked to perfection. I will not miss Mexican bars that play music until 6 am, but I will miss yummy drinks expertly prepared. I will miss mercado shopping, but not barking roof dogs, but I will miss the sweet, gentle street dogs.I will miss swimming long course at 8 am at the “Alberca Olympica.” I will miss walking all over town and taking 10 peso bus trips for longer distances. I will miss our Zihuatanejo friends new and old.

I will miss always seeing folks I know where ever I go in town. I will miss taking my camera every where as there is always something interesting to see. I will miss the time I have here to read book after book with out guilt. I will miss having time to blog about simple daily events. I won’t miss washing dishes by hand.I will miss coconut palms, flowers and greenery all winter long.

I will miss my trips with Sylvia to the the little Saturday morning market, where everything is home grown, or made or recycled and hand made or organic. I will miss lovely sunny mornings as we return to gray rainy weather, but all good things must come to a close. So this is my final blog of the season Signing off until December 30 2016. KO

A Stormy Time In Troncones

Friends had a certificate for a couple of day at Mi Casa Su Casa in Troncones. We decided to join them and reserved a room. They had a very nice 2nd level room with good cooking facilities and a very large balcony with a hammock. Ours was a very nice, but small room

The Troncones bus stop on the hiway

Our veranda

The Senor with Paul’s bottle of rye whiskey

and no cooking facilities but a large tiled out door area with hammock. We arrived noonish and were able to get right into our room, we had lunch and played in the pool and joined our friends at their room for conversation on their large balcony over a couple of bottles of wine and a bottle of Rye Whiskey. We could see the weather starting to deteriorate as we were discussing where we would go to dinner.

Well the weather decided that issue for us as it began to rain like it can only rain in the tropics. The guys quickly bared the elements and made the rush to the in house restaurant that was starting to close up due to the weather and ordered dinner for us that was soon delivered to the room. We enjoyed a pleasant meal while we watched palm trees sway and listened to the ocean roar.

The Senor and I ran to our room as quickly as two senior citizens run and were only mildly wet. We were tired from a good meal and plenty to drink and had no trouble falling asleep, but woke very early in the am to the sound of crashing thunder and a few flashes of light and the sound of dripping rain. Yes, dripping rain inside our room. To be exact directly

20160308_124128 — This is where it rained

dead center dripping on our bed. Fortunately it was dead center as we each hugged the outer edge to try to sleep at least until daylight.

Once we informed the manager he was quick to up grade us to a nicer, larger room across the hall from our friends at no additional cost. The rest of the day was an on again off again rain storm and during one off the off periods we attempted to make it down the road a block to a restaurant for dinner. But wouldn’t you know half way to the restaurant another tropical storm dumped on us. But we continued on, a little torrential down pour can’t frighten us, we are from Washington! It was a good meal and retreated back to our 20160309_050653 neighbors balcony for more libation and conversation and then on to our own room and a nice dry bed. The storm seamed to abate in the morning I walked the beach for an hour and marveled at the high surf and heavy waves.But all good things must come to an

end and we left in sunny skies to return to Zihuatanejo and an evening at Guitarfest. Signing off KO

Playa La Ropa to Guitarfest

20160304_114456 I was surprised when the Senor suggested going to La Ropa instead of our regular Friday at Playa Las Gatas then it dawned on me, no walking. We could catch a cab at the end of our street and it would take us directly to El Marlin. At Las Gatas we would need to walk a couple of blocks to the water taxi and then the length of the beach. He is really having a tough time getting around.

La Ropa was wonderful, the surf was low, the sun was high, we snacked on jicama, bobbed in the water. I don’t care for the swimming at La Ropa, too many boats and skidoos

zipping round. It’s always fun to watch the Picante come in and see the folks flying on .the spinnaker. And nice to see the Senor out and enjoying himself.

I enjoy getting out and around town, nice people to meet and visit with and interesting things to see. Zocolo there is art in many forms, at the artist park there is always something of interest.

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And if you choose to take a break a little charmer will sell you her wares, with mama always close in the background.

Last night was Guitarfest at the Casa de Cultura, a fancying sounding name for what at first glance looks like a large out door lot with some sail shaped coverings overhead. But it truly is a spectacular music venue.

Of the 3 performers I watched Lipbone Redding was my favorite with a New Orleans vibe. I have a ticket again for Thursday night and I’m looking forward to it. My taste in music run more to the country/bluegrass than anything classical so I was fairly selective as to which nights I purchased tickets for but I will say there was something for everyone’s personal taste. A really great week-long event.

Today we meet up with friends Paul and Faye for a couple of days at Mi Casa Es Su Casa in Troncones. Then back to Zihuatanejo for a couple of days before heading home.

Signing off KO

The Fish Market

I finally figured out how to download pictures from my cell phone. But because the phone part doesn’t work I’m not in the habit of carrying it with me. As a result I have no pictures of a lovely day spent prowling around Troncones with my friend Bonnie and no pictures of the grand opening of the Flophouse under new management featuring Jimmi Mamou.
The Flophouse has long been one of our favorite spots. Carlos the proprietor and bartender served good drinks, friendly ,knowledgeable conversation with great music weather live or recorded. We will miss him. Time will tell how successful the new managements endeavors will be, but it will never have the same vibe.
I wanted to buy dorado but there is none at the fish stalls at the Mercado, so I decided I

would try buying direct from the fisherman at the beach. My spanish is quite limited so I have shied away from shopping at the beach as it is a super busy place with folks buying fish by the bucket or bag load and I just want a couple of fillets. In my very best spanish I requested dorado and the reply was the same every where “no hay dorado, muy dificil” There is

20160303_052331 — Red snapper by the bag full

no dorado, it’s very difficult to find. I think it is probably the end of the season or run as there seemed to be plenty in December.

The fishing industry is the heart of Zihuatanejo, weather it is the commercial fishing, subsistence fishing or sport fishing. It’s what pays the bills here. I was Playa Principal at 6 AM, the night fishing boats were in with more arriving on the beach every few minutes, the ice seller was busy delivering ice, women selling fruit drinks, knife seller hawking wares and of course the fishermen and their wives were selling their fish.

Some bought fish by the bucket load, other by the fillet, house wife and restaurateurs alike. At the pier it was crowded with folks headed out for a day of sport fishing trying to find the right boat captain, packing coolers of drinks and little mystery sandwiches just purchased from the ladies at the head of the pier. Out on the bay are the net fishermen who seem to be in competition with the pelicans. All

dependent on the fishing industry. Signing off KO

Feliz Cumpleanos and Frustrating electronics.

My camera is broken, now I am using my cell phone camera. It has taken me 3 days to figure out how to get the pictures trapped in the phone down loaded to the computer and once there find them again.The Senor and I gathered with friends at El Meditereano for dinner, a lovely courtyard restaurant shaded by a huge tree. As it was an outside location I thought it would be cool. Wrong! the courtyard seemed to have trapped the heat of the day.

I guess that big tree doesn’t provide enough shade during the day because it was very warm there. The courtyard is pretty, but so dimly lit it was difficult to read the menu.On the positive side,the menu was excellent and the food was very good. I was serenaded by strolling Mexican troubadours who upon request sang “De Colores” for me.. It was a fantastic evening spent with good friends

Oyster appetizers

The Senor and I split a fish fillet, this is half!

.
Everything electronic is just a bit wonky right now. The real camera will only snap 1 picture and that is as it is turned on, so you have to have it aimed before turning it on. Then turn it off and aim and turn on again. The cell phone only functions as a camera here. Now my new computer is stuck on trying to shut down, but it won’t shut down, so I can reboot it. I unplugged it and I thought that when the battery ran down I could re boot it. . Nope still won’t work.Computer isn’t 6 months old yet. sure glad we brought both computers. This all makes taking pictures a bit more of a challenge, but I will pursue. Signing off KO

Stranded by the side of the road!

I woke up yesterday morning feeling just a little queasy and no energy at all. So I laid in bed and read my book until it was time to get ready to go to the Sailfest volunteers Party at Las Palamas. I had looked forward to going to this event being held at a big beautiful new hotel and beach club on Playa Blanca. I was sure I would feel just fine once I got going. I prepared the tapas I’d been asked to bring and loaded up my chilled box of wine and headed out to catch the bus to the airport, then transfer to a taxi to Playa Blanca. I caught the very first bus that said “Aeropuerto”only to discover it turning off just prior to the Airport. We traveled through several small villages and finally drove 3-4 blocks through a village with only dirt roads where the driver honked his horn the whole way through alerting residents of his arrival and 4 more folks hopped on. one of the ladies asked where I was going and I said areopuerto and she said no and said something to the driver. I did pick up the word “regresso” and I assumed I would have to ride back into town and catch a different bus that actually went to the areopuerto, but no he back tracked a little and left me off at a side road by a highway with a sign saying Aeropuerto 2 miles.

Now it was too hot to walk there so I went into the gas station to call a taxi, no one working there knew a taxi phone number. While in the gas station I saw the little bus pull up at the corner where I just standing that said aeropuerto but I couldn’t get there before he left. So I figured another one would be by in about 15 minutes, but in just a few minutes a taxi drove up dropping folks off next door to where I was waiting and I flagged him down and headed out to my party.

What should have taken 45- 60 minutes max had taken me almost two hours. But none the less I was there. I set out my tapas which survived the ride just fine, gave the wine to the bartender to re-chill, pulled out my camera to take my first picture of the lovely place only to discover the chilled wine had sweated all over my camera and the camera was not operating. One picture and it would not “click” again to take a picture and the view screen was blank. I got one picture that was it. Still not working today

Still not feeling my best, I choose to spend some time in the beautiful infinity pool. It’s a beautiful spot with The food was great, but I had no appetite, an open bar but I carried around the same drink all day just not quite able to drink it. It is a beautiful hotel and Beach club with two pools, lovely grounds and ocean front views. While I certainly had a nice time I just wasn’t up to party mode.

I left early and was able to catch a ride most of the way back to the apartment where I went to bed and slept all night.

I feel OK today, but still no energy, finished my latest book and plan to continue watching Game of Thrones the rest of the afternoon. Signing off KO

Surprise Trip to Troncones

Friends invited us to go with them for a day trip to Troncones. Much to my surprise the Senor said yes, he would like to go. Even though his sciatica is really bothering him he was tired of doing nothing. So 3 couples set off for Mi Casa Es Su Casa, a new destination for us in Troncones.

The trip in itself is always an adventure as you travel through many dusty little villages with folks getting on and off along the way carrying a variety of packages, including one very well behaved chicken that sat on his masters lap and was very content to just be petted. Luckily we caught the big bus on the trip out and it wasn’t even crowed, but not so lucky on the return trip, where our 14 passenger bus soon held 20 some people and a large basket of bread, the kind they wear on there heads while hawking it.

Mi Casa Es Su Casa is a lovely place right in the village with a white sand beach with

rolling surf, a nice pool and covered patio dinning area. I think paddling around in the pool helped the Senor feel better, at least relieved some of the stress. .water in the pool was delightfully warm and we all began to look “prune-ified” before getting out. We enjoyed a pleasant, leisurely lunch while watching the waves.

At the Sailfest auction Paul and Faye had purchased a 2 night stay at this establishment and wanted to make reservations for it plus one

night. We enjoyed our day so much that the Senor decided we could come out again when they did and we reserved for 2 nights in March. All in all it was a lovely day with good friends, and looking forward to more good times.

Signing off KO

Street Art, Ixtapa Island and Chula Vida

One of the pleasures of being a pedestrian in Zihuatanejo and varying your route from time to time is running into unexpected visual treasures. They may be in the form of architecture, flora and fauna, or wall art. One of the problems of being a pedestrian is that at times you feel like a visual target for the Mexican motorists,or maybe just open season on gringos. Anyway to avoid a particularly problematic street crossing I decided to adjust my route back from the swimming pool and that’s when I discovered this lovely street art. The long wall is actually the far side of El Pueblito, the others are located at the front side of El Pueblito just past their big wood door.

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With the Senor not feeling up to par it has been a great pleasure to have friends to go

places with. Bonny and I did Ixtapa Island. It is one of my most favorite beaches as I can swim out and around where the sail boats moor and then go snorkeling on the other side of the island where the fish are beautiful and plentiful. On our return we watch as a generous fisherman was feeding the pelicans.

We visited ChulaVida yesterday with our friends and neighbors Will and Sylvia. We had been looking forward to this trip as it always is a bit of an adventure. We bused to the airport and planned to wait their for the pasajera for the trip along Playa Blanca. The Senor

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Fish

Waves that would suddenly shoot horizontally

was up for this trip,but struggling with sciatica pain so we choose to wait in the little restaurant for the truck.Several taxi drivers tried to get our business but we choose to wait for the far less expensive pasajera. Well I think we got “Tom Sawyer-ed” as we were quite sure we could see from where we were when it would turn around but we also thought either the man at the fruit wagon or the taxis might signal us.Secretly I think they told the driver to turn around and then told us it came and went. No harm ! We took the taxi and got there just the same. After some mango daquris which were so thick they were almost a meal in itself we had a delicious fish pronounced “wahoo”, don’t know how to spell it correctly but it was very good with a side of ratatouille. The Senor seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to get back so we didn’t stay for the sunset, disappointing, but I try to understand his discomfort. Every day is a good day, every day is an adventure here in Zihuatanejo. Signing off, KO

Las Playas very different from “Beaches”

Even before coming to Mexico I enjoyed going to the beach whether it was a lake or on the Pacific coast. In my youth it was beach parties at Stinson Beach or Lake Berryesa. Family vacations to Lake Tahoe and Donner Lake. My folks retired to Twain Hart and so I spent much time with my children at their lake beach. All of these trips would consist of bringing a beach towel, maybe a floatie and a cooler or picnic basket and the main activity was swimming. Then I came to Mexico and find a whole different scene.

The beaches here are one palapa restaurant after another. Tables with chairs and lounge chairs are provided by the establishment for your comfort. You can spend your whole day at the beach and not even need a beach towel. Last Sunday 7 of us enjoyed a day at El Marlin on Playa Ropa,only 2 of us ever went in the water. We all enjoyed beer and drinks all served ice cold by the friendly staff, lunches of everything from fish fillets to hamburgers and club sandwiches were ordered for lunch. On a hot day there is no place better to be than a beach side palapa restaurant with always present on shore breeze cooling you, plenty of people watching to be had and a circle of good friends. Swimming is just an option and not the focal point for many. I like Mexican Playas!

The latest sand sculpture at the Zocolo has a valentines theme. Valentines day is a huge

event in Mexico, the stores are full of trinkets, candy and balloons. Extra booths are set up all over town. My contribution to Valentines day was to cook my husband his first every quail egg omelet. He is normally the breakfast chef and it surprised me he got out of his

ingredients for a 24 quail egg omelet

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comfort zone, to ok the idea of quail eggs. If I do say so my self it turned out wonderful. Signing off KO

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