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.

Hoy es muy interesante/ today was very interesting

2 9 11  A couple of days ago we were invited and attended a time share presentation and were given a full day pass, ( full food, beverage and use of facilities) at  Resort in Ixtapa.  The senor and I had actually stayed there 6 years ago for a week.  So we set off with our neighbors Dwight & Lynn to shamelessly retrieve the fruits of our “time share whore routine”.  We arrived about 10:30 for breakfast, enjoyed a great buffet breakfast and of course it was all you could eat so we took our time and made the most of it.  Then we moved over to the pool and sunned ourselves and swam and visited with some folks that we knew that were staying there.  Then of course it was drink time, screw drivers for the gentlemen, a margarita for Lynn and brandy Alexanders for me.  Then we went back to the buffet for lunch followed by more drinks and more swimming and sunning . Then our friends invited us up to their quarters to get a little better taste of how the other half-lives. Jo & Des are from Canada also and spend 6 weeks in Mexico, 3 weeks in the apartment right under us and 3 weeks at Pacifica where they have had time share for over 20 years. Des prefers Zihua as there is so much activity and life right out your door, but they both agree the view they have at the Pacifica is fantastic and as is the quick access to the beach.( Just call transport and they will drive you down to the beach).  We spent a couple of hours visiting, having cocktails and enjoying the amazing view of the ocean and beach from their condo deck.  Then to round out our day we went to one of their more upscale restaurants at Pacifica with an Italian menu. We were seated beside an infinity pool with a great view of the sunset and the ocean.  The senor prefers more plain food, he wants his spegheti with meat ball or meat sauce, not with shrimp and anchovies and other great sounding stuff, but he finally settled on duck and said it was good.  I had “catch of the day” which was mahi mahi in a great white wine sauce.  I would probably like french cooking as I like everything saucy. Our friends ordered lasagna and pork cutlets.  Dinner was fantastic, the service excellent and we left a nice tip as we did for our breakfast, lunch and bar service.  Tips was all the whole entire day cost us, plus 90 minutes of our time 2 days ago. And lets face it we are on vacation with a lot more time than money. Just maximizing our vacation pesos!  Signing off KO

2 8 11Text didn’t publish

Ready to go down under the sea!

How disappointing, my entire text and 2 pictures failed to publish. So here goes again.  Today was my first ever deep-sea dive, I took the instruction class 2 days ago and today I did the real thing. I wore a full length dive suit, a bit of a challenge to load this old, soft body into, but I made it Then into the water to get into my diving vest with the tanks on, add weights so I’ll quit floating like a cork and we are ready to descend to the sandy bottom of the ocean in Manzanillo Cove.  We hand over hand down a line trying to clear the ear pressure as we go, I have a lot of pressure and can’t get it cleared properly so we are only going to go about 20- 25 ft.  We see 6 or more sting rays, a couple were buried in the sand and then came flying out, we see porcupine puffer fish, a beautiful black and white polka-dotted puffer fish, neon blue fish, many stripped fish, some small some large.  There are some bright blue soft squishy plants called sponges and a coral colored plant that has suction that stick to your hand when you hold it.  There are big fish, little fish and they are everywhere, it is absolutely fantastic.  As we come up I have some ear discomfort as I just can’t seem to equalize the pressure properly.  They still haven’t cleared completely, but that’s ok, it was an absolutely great adventure. 

Later that evening we went to “Frank’s” in Ixtapa for dinner, we’ve been several times in past years to have Azteca Stew and were serenaded by a 6 piece mariachi band.  Another great day in Paradise

2 6 11 Superbowl Sunday in Zihua

Good food, good drinks best way to spend a day at the beach

The big screens are appearing everywhere were they weren’t before.  Small bars, large restaurants, everywhere.  The senor has scoped out his favorite bar where they will have the game on in english with full commercials.  Most of the bars have it in mexican with mexican commercials and the only english is when the ref turns his microphone on for the penalties.  I will avoid the noisy bars  as I’m not a football fan. My first choice was Casa Arcadia on the beach, I brought my kindle and ordered a drink and the next restaurant over turned up the volume on their big screen and blasted away my peace and quiet so I headed off to my favorite place, Agave, where I had vino blanco, cream of avocado soup, peace and quiet and a nice piano player in the background.  Went back to my apartment put a movie in and retired early.  Just a pleasant Sunday for me.  The senor partied quite late celebrating the Packers win as he one 1,000 pesos on the first quarter.

The view from the new Time sharre/club we visited

2 7 11 This morning we did what we refer to as our “timeshare whore’ routine.  They offer us gifts to come see their resort, they try  to sell you time share or this one refered to themselves as a club membership.  We go for the free food and gifts. Our Canadian friends, Dwight and Lynn thought it would be nice for us to do this so we could get an all day food and beverage and pool pass to Pacifica in Ixtapa with them.  It was a pretty soft sell, very little pressure, the facilities were gorgeous, but tacked high on a hill sort of above Las Gatas Beach.  I would feel stranded, really nowhere to walk to, steep hills and trails.  I just don’t do steep with my knees any more.  Nice buffet breakfast, and not an unpleasant way to spend a morning and now on Wednesday we will hob nob with all the people who are paying more money for their one week stay, that we are for a whole month. Money aside we really do like being in El Centro Zihuatanejo, it’s where the action is.  Yes on weekends it’s a little noisy at night, but not enough to disturb us, and we are still capable of doing a little disturbing of our own. We are eating in tonight, fish taco’s.  Signing off KO

KO with Jimi Mamou, a gereat musicianJust a few of our Mexican, American and Canadian friends who gather daily in the steet in front of our building to visit and drink Tequila straight.

2 5 11 Scuba Dive Lesson

The senor with Jimi note the guitar that looks like an M16 rifle

  The senor and I went to the Comercial Mexican to pick up a few items and then back to the apartment to put them away.  That seemed to occupy the whole morning so it was siesta time for the senor and I headed out to the mercado for fruit & eggs.  I’ve selected on booth where we purchase most of our fruit and veggies.  The young gal doesn’t seem to mind that I’m an idiot with Mexican money. But today I think I have actually mastered the coins and I am able to give her exact change correctly the first time.  This brings a big grin, from both of us! Then it’s on to my egg man where he counts out 12 eggs and puts them in a plastic sack for me to put in my shopping bag.  Next I find my cheese man who unrolls a yard of cheese for me, probably should say a meter here. Then to the bank atm to withdraw cash, the atms give better rates, are quick and easy, especially the one we go to as it is also in english.  That eliminates the fear factor of banking in a foreign language. On my return I ask Javier who manages the apartments and has a scooter rental and liquor store (unique combination) under our apartments how I get a new garrofon of water I give him 20 pesos and I mind his store while he goes around the corner to the water store, returns with the garrofon hauls it up stairs and puts it in the port.

Now  all my housewifely duties completed I can start what I think is book  #7 and then on to my dive class.

I walk to Adventure  Divers in La Madera neighborhood at 4, and arrive just ahead of my instructor Paco.  He speaks perfect english and he teaches me the hand signals and the safety theories of diving and then we cross the road to a small hotel that has a small pool.  For the next hour I am either laying on the bottom of the pool, or kneeling on the bottom of the pool while “Paco” teaches me how to find my respirator should it fall out of my mouth, or get pulled out and how to get in back in my mouth.  This is not to difficult.  How to “clear your ears” to help with the under water pressure, this is not to difficult.  Next came clearing your mask of water should any leak in.  This sounded easy enough, but it wasn’t. When there is water up over my nose inside the mask I just really want to surface, but I did learn to do it, most of the time. I learned to swim in the superman position and how to inflate and deflate the air in my vest.  So I’ve passed the class and am ready to dive. I will meet Paco art the pier on Tuesday at 2 for my undersea adventure.  The senor is so happy that his health issues, asthma, sinus, high blood pressure,

Mexican still life/ eggs in a bag with fruit
Eggs in bag

keep him from going, this way he can simply say “I can’t” instead of” no way in hell are you getting me down there”. He will come along and take pictures.

After swimming I’m starving and we decide to eat a a beach front restaurant called Daniels as Jimi Mamou is playing there.  Great dinner, great music another great day in paradise.  Signing off KO

Sailing on a 46 ft sailboat

2 5 11  What  a great day we had yesterday, the skies were partly over cast which made it a great day for sailing.  We signed up (with a donation of course to sail fest  boarded our boat to benefit the local kids) to take a day sailing in one of the many boats visiting Zihuatanejo.  Ours was a 46 foot beauty called “The Rose”  We had the company of 2 other couples, one from Iowa the other from Powell River BC, our Captain John a retired harbor pilot from San Francisco and his wife Pat. Of course we motored out, but eventually the sails got set and as the wind in very light in this area we didn’t go fast or far, only about 3 -5 miles beyond the bay in the open ocean. Thank god for sun screen #70, While the Senor is beginning to look like a local, I’m able to maintain my lily white color which is far preferable to the bright red I normally have after anytime in the sun.  We were served drinks and lunch, the senor took a brief time at the helm, fished some, got 2 really good hits, but they got away. Some of our compatriots went swimming, I was not dress to do so or I might have been tempted.  Well maybe not as I’m not sure what else out there might have been looking for something big and white to eat.  It was a great day! Signing off KO

The senor at the helm
KO under the spinaker
Jim & Patty swiming
Captan John with the senor in the back ground

Hoy is muy interesante, very interesting day.

1 2 11 Today was very interesting!  This AM or my morning caminando (walking) I located my dive shop, and then I stopped to have coffee at a open air coffeeshop.  I asked a solo gentleman if I could sit with him as I hate to occupy additional tables for 1 person. I know this sounds like a pick up line, but people here are friendly.  It’s nice that way.  He was glad to have the company.  He was Minnesota, fleeing the cold for 2 months. We had coffee and he had breakfast and thenI was on my way.  Tourisim is down here and it is tough on the little guys. Many busineses are just barely hanging on. I returned to my dive shop after it opened and I’m set for my beginer class on Sat at 4 PM.  Then if I’m comfortable with it we can set a date for a sea dive going only 20-30 ft .  Our class is conducted in a pool. The Senor can’t dive due to asthma, high blood pressure and other things, secretly he is over joyed as he had no intention of ever doing it anyway.

We attended the” Sailfest chile cookoff” this afternoon, lots of great chile, but it sort of got to the Senor’s “wimpy digestive system” again.  They also had a silent auction I got something Inca for Morgan, and some thing interesting things for the other  grandchildren.  Sailfest is a great happening for the kids, the  poorest kids in Zihuatanejo, we now have dinners at an upscale restaurant, one at Las Gatas beach, (not upscale), one at Franks in Ixtapa, and  we took our Canadian friends with us to dinner last night all on things bought at the auction, things we would do anyway.  And we also bid alot of other folks up, making more money for the kids. The Senor loves a good auction!

Our Canadian friends convinced us to repeat out “time share whore routine” so that we could accompany them on a day pass to an all inclusive day at a resort.  I guess they don’t know how much free booze we can consume when it is offered. 

Now our calendar is getting full, last night we took our Canadian friends with us to dinner at Rufo’s Grill in La Madera, and we still have 1 upscale dinner at Amulettos (sp), 1 meal at Las Gatas beach, I dinner at Franks in Ixtapa, Scuba diving lesson and then a dive at Manzanillo Beach, a trip to Refregio de Potosi  all purchased with Sailfest activities to benefit “Los Ninos”.  We are so busy how can this be a vacation!!!  Signing off KO

Incoming with spinicar flying

Las Gatas beach and opening day of Sailfest and a waiter from Hell

2 2 11 I had planned to go to Las Gatas beach with our neighbors & friends today but when the Senor woke up he said he was feeling better and could also go. So we set off for the water taxi to take us across the bay to our favorite beach where we settled in on the  beach lounge and ordered drinks, and lunch later.  The snorkeling was great, more fish today than I have ever seen at this spot.  So I tucked some tortilla chips into my swim suit and when I got out to the reef area I tore them into tiny pieces and began to feel  pied piper of the sea.  Suddenly there were 30-40 beautifully colored fish all swimming under me eating the bits of tortillas.  They followed me around as I swam, there were stripped ones solid one tiny neon blue ones, and a pair of rather plump black fish, (about eating size) with white polka dots all over.  It was the first time I ever saw any like that.  Fantastic experience!  Back at the beach our friends had ordered nachos, absolutely the worst nachos I have ever seen in Mexico, a few chips on a plate with “cheeze wiz” spread across them.  They sent them back, they were ugly!  But our meals were good.  I had avocado stuffed with shrimp and octopus. I had to pick out the octopus as it is far to dense and rubbery for me to eat, but that was ok as there was plenty of shrimp. We swam some more and then back to the water taxi for the return trip.  Thank god for strong young men as the tide was such that the water taxi didn’t match up with the stone steps and we all needed  help hoisting our old creaking bones from the boat to the pier.  A few pesos for a tip keeps us all safe and smiling. 

Back at our apartment we have just enough time to shower and head out to Rafa’s Bar, just a 1/2 block away for the Sailfest opening auction. It’s very crowded and noisy, you can’t hear the musican for the talking and our young waiter doesn’t seem to know any english and can’t seem to understand our spanish.  The Senor ordered a Pacifico and I tried to get a Kailua and milk, he returned with the Pacifico but no on my drink, so I ordered a mojito and he returned with a Pacifico for me , I said no and he returned with another waiter who spoke some english saying no mojito’s (appears there is a lack of mint in Zihu and/or it takes to long to make them when they are busy) so I order Kahlua on ice it comes in a glass with 2 huge chunks of ice on top of the Kahula, strange, but I drank it and next round I ordered white wine, he brought me a bottle of water, sent it back and he finally brought me the wine the next round I ordered white wine again and yes I do know how to do it in Spanish, he brings me the check. We had to call over another waiter to convince them we weren’t ready to leave.  I think it was wishful thinking on his part as I’m sure he thought we were the customers from hell, but our reality was he was the waiter from hell.

The auction was great, all proceeds from this week-long event go to supporting schools for the poorest children in Zihuatanejo.  It is strictly a volunteer organization that provides materials, so parents of these children can build the school themselves.  Rotary International then donates the tables chairs and such. The basic school will usually be a wash-house and one room that looks more like a rustic out-door shelter than what we think of as a school.  This money is also used to pay the wages of a teacher.  Many children in Mexico never have a chance at any education, many are working full-time by the time they are 12 or 14.  Anyway back to the auction, the Senor does love an auction, he bid on many items, but we picked up a couple of dinners out, I bid on a painting I really wanted until it got more than I could pay, but I did win out on a scuba diving trip for 2. I’m really excited about that, the Senor isn’t and I doubt that he will dive, but I will.  And so ends another busy day of leisure here in sunny Zihuatanejo.  Signing off  KO

El doctor en Zihuatanejo

1 31 11 Yesterday while at a beach side restaurant this young girl about 6 plopped one of the items she was selling on the cover of my Kindle and began to fiddle with the buttons like she was invited.  She was about 6 years old and found the numbers and poked them and counted to 10 for me.  This little girl,with her mother not far away, will sell these little bobble head animals until the bars close for 20 pesos  each (about $2 ) and unless she gets more that an a basic education she will do that for the rest of her life. She has probably been doing this for 2 or 3 years already.  Want to talk about child labor laws ??  She was very sweet and of course I bought.

The Senor paid a visit to El Doctor Grayeb today as he has a “wimpy” digestive system.  This seems to be an annual event, but this year caught it quicker so just pills no need for a shot.  Already he is better.  Me being the wonderful nurse that I am abandoned him to go swimming at La Madera Beach this afternoon.  I had some of the best nachos I’ve ever had.  definitely my style, chips refried beans and chopped tomatoes and grated cheese.  Super yummy and of course dos margaritas.  After a brief siesta we watched a movie supplied by my daughter April.  While sitting on the balcony this evening listening to the evening sounds of Zihua I noticed a crowd  of folks about a 1/2 block up the street.  So I went to investigate, it was definitely a private Mexican party, and I think maybe wedding, but across the street at Rafa’s bar I heard  the most haunting music in the vein of Peggie Lee  and Julie London.  Her name is Josie Kuhn, a true blues singer I caught just the last songs of her act ,Fever and Moonglow.  But let me tell you I will be back tomorrow night.  The Senor spent most of his day with the news of Egypt.  I hate to say it , but I’m on vacation and a modicum of news is welcome, not hours of it.  But he likes it and his old westerns.  Thankfully our sling box has worked great and has kept him happy with American TV.  Our neighbors have invited me to go to Las Gatas beach with them tomorrow.  I will surely take them up on this invite, maybe the Senor will be well enough to go also. 

It’s 10:30 here, but still lots of street activity, not noisy, but sounds coming up from several different areas, some music, some the clang of the “garage” doors being rolled down to close up their business as almost all of them are only walls on 3 sides with the street side being wide open untill the doors roll down, there is a roof dog barking a couple of buildings away, children calling out, happy conversations as people head for home.  Somewhere a game is being played, either on TV or a field as a cheering crowd in the distance can be heard.  Night time in Zihuatanejo.  Signing off KO

Election day in Mexico

Some of the many beautiful ststues in Zihuatanejo
Statue in the zocolo or main plazaMorning street view fom my balconyFisherman in the morning
From the balcony towards the bay

1 30 11 Today the citizens of the state of Guerrero will elect a new Governor.  I’m told that they have a dry law that went into effect Sat midnight and lasts until Sunday midnight.  Except the restaurants that cater to tourists can still serve beer and booze with a special permit.  It’s kind of like their traffic laws, they are “more suggestions than laws”. 

Yesterday we did some grocery shopping, we went to the Senor’s favorite store the Comercial Mexicana,  and I will admit they do have just about everything and it is fairly quick to shop there. We can even use the debit card there. It’s a 20 peso cab ride away, which is the equivalent of almost $2. And the same back.  We bring our groceries back and then head out to the mercado for fresh fruits and vegies. Bought our daily supply of avocados, papayas, tomatoes, and even found some mangos.  We bought kilos of sea salt for friends and family at 5 pesos each about (50 cents) and some of the best string cheese I’ve ever had.  I must have bought about a yard of it, he kept unfolding a continuous strip about 2 inches wide until I said alto, stop.  A few more purchases then we walked back to our apartment for lunch, followed by siesta time

Later in the evening I tried, unsuccessfully, to find a good place to get a sunset picture and ended up watching the basketball game in the zocolo. Then back to the apartment for dinner and then across the street to the movie theatre.  Saw Los pequenos Fockers” or so the playbill said.  It was in english. Signing off KO