Homeward Bound - Day 8

The day was absolutely gorgeous with sunshine and NO clouds - was I really ready to go home? Of course not, but one must!

Packing to go home is never much fun but at least it's easy as you don't have to worry about folding everything just so - but of course there was a bottle of tequila to pack (and no matter how tight the lid is, it always leaks - this time was no exception -luckily the zip-lock bag held!!) I also had bought a couple of ceramic bowls and they made it home too with no breakage!

We actually got ready early so we sat on the gazebo the last hour just gazing at the ocean and the waves, knowing that SOMEDAY, we would come back here!

The drive to the airport was without incident and we turned the rental car in with no problem! With a couple of hours to kill, we shopped - there were 3 or 4 stores that had Christmas ornaments AND book marks. Note to self: don't bother shopping for these 2 items until you get to the airport to go home - seems like they are ALWAYS available at the airport! I indeed bought another ornament for the tree, this one with Zihuatanejo on it and it's cute as can be!

We grabbed some lunch, headed through security and soon were in Phoenix! Customs went just fine but the luggage took FOREVER to come through - even though we had an hour layover and customs only took about 15 minutes, it was NOT enough time with the darn luggage taking so long! I truly believe ours was the LAST two to come out and by this time we were down to 15 minutes before take-off! No problem, right?? WRONG! We still had to go through the checkpoint with our luggage and then recheck the luggage - and then we started running! Of course our gates were about as far away as you could get - and when we FINALLY got to the right section, we could hear the last boarding call - we raced down to the end and our gate wasn't there - I had taken the wrong turn and went the wrong direction - duh - so back up that section and way down on the other end! We raced up to the door, completely out of breath, and they shut the door behind us! WHEW - I really didn't want to spend the night in the Phoenix airport as this was the last flight of the night!

And soon we arrived in Denver, again picked up our luggage, took the shuttle to our car and made it back to Jaime's house by 9:30 - in our shorts of course - we had planned on changing into our jeans in Phoenix but of course that didn't happen!

All in all - one fantastic trip!

Vacation - Day 7

Our last full day of vacation - where did the week go?? Again we had some cloud cover but it sure made for a nice walk on the beach in the morning without that full force of the sun hitting us!

We took a drive up the road as I wanted to check out a gift shop that the Iowa man's wife worked at! Below are pictures of the vegation on the way - I have never seen such dense, tangled vines as this - pure jungle -and I was silently thinking to myself of all the creepy crawlies that were probably lurking on the floor of the jungle!

We found the gift shop and talked to the gal quite a while - it was definitely NOT a trinket shop - a lot of expensive, nice items! Then it was back to our place where we swam in the ocean and the swimming pool!

Our gardener, Elfonzo, came and started cutting vines and thorny bushes on the lot next door and TRYING to burn them! Glenn watched and watched him until he couldn't stand it any longer - he put his jeans on and headed over, determined to show him how to start a PROPER fire! So for the next hour or so, he helped Elfonzo cut and burn - it was hot out by this time of the day and by the time he finished, he was to the point of being over heated! But a cool shower helped!

Below is a picture of the dogs that followed us on our walks on the beach - they certainly wouldn't stand still for any length of time so it was hard to get a picture of them!

Sunset was going to be better than the last few nights so I raced upstairs to the rooftop as I wanted to capture the palm trees in the swimming pool next door - it did turn out better than I expected it to!!

And our last sunset over the ocean........................

I just had to have the grilled shrimp again next door (as did Glenn) so we headed over for our last night - we enjoyed talking to the people at the next table who had been coming to Troncones for years and had just bought property a little ways from where we were staying and were starting to build!

Bedtime was interesting as the air conditioner (which was located on the wall over the bed) started dripping - of course Elfonzo had already went home by this time - Glenn looked at it but couldn't figure out either why it was leaking! Of course the leak dripped right on the headboard and had soaked down into the bed and pillow - and I thought the logical thing would be to put a pan there to catch the drips - but I didn't think about the dripping sound - not a good thing when you're trying to sleep - so we ended up just shutting it off for the night and using the fan which was fine............The Journey Home will be our last, to be continued..............

Vacation -Day 5 and 6

Wednesday we woke up to rain - I knew it was bound to happen on at least one day since it's still the rainy season there.......... Cooking breakfast just didn't sound like fun so we hopped in the car and drove down to the cafe to eat but guess the owners thought they could sleep in since it was raining as it wasn't open - it was back to the house for cereal.........

We decided since it was raining to go ahead and drive into Zihuatanejo for groceries, my Christmas ornament and bookmark, and some fishing supplies for Glenn! It rained the entire time we were gone - I don't mind the rain of course but the bad part was trying to keep the windshield clean from all the rain and humidity! About the only way to keep it from fogging up was to turn on the heat - and let me tell you, even though it was raining, it was NOT cool outside!

Traffic was awful in town - again I'm SO glad Glenn drives as well as he does in the Mexican traffic!! We found the same store from before so stopped there to get groceries but needed to head to the "centro" to get the rest! I think everybody and their dog was in the centro that day - my, my it was busy!

We parked the car and headed into this HUGE indoor market - I think everything under the sun could have been purchased in there! Glenn actually found the fishing stuff he was looking for but the Christmas ornaments were not out yet - I settled for a cute shell with a frog on top that was attached to a key chain - it will work just fine and I'll write "Troncones" on the shell! We looked and looked ONCE AGAIN for fresh flour tortillas but none were to be found - darn!


Neither Glenn nor I are big shoppers so we basically found what we wanted and got the heck out of there! Just TOO many people in that crowded spot for us!! And guess what we did on the way home?? Took the WRONG turn AGAIN and had to backtrack - that's how confusing the road system was!!

After arriving back home, I checked my email through the property manager's computer and found out via Jill that it was snowing like crazy back home - I just giggled to myself and wondered if I was missing a snow day (yes, I was!!)

It rained and rained the entire afternoon - I didn't mind it - books can be read in the sunshine and in the rain too! Luckily it stopped enough so we could grill hamburgers and foil potatos for dinner that night!

So the only photo I took during the day was in the early evening when the rain let up a little bit!

Thursday dawned extremely cloudy in the morning but by afternoon the sun was out! This is basically what Glenn did all morning!

As you can see by the picture below, there were still a lot of clouds around but that only made for more dramatic beach pics!

This is a photo of where we stayed taken from the beach! I should have waited till the sun came out though!

In the afternoon, Glenn and I walked over to the little cove I had found where Glenn went fishing - yes, he bought line and hooks and weights and wrapped the line around a bottle, just like the locals do!! I took my beach towel and book and read for a while but forgot to put on sunscreen so I didn't last too long!

Late afternoon we walked uptown for more smoothies - I tried the tropical one this time - it was great but I actually liked the berry one better! Another walk on the beach completed our lazy day and we grilled chicken and more potatos for dinner that night - Glenn fell asleep by 7:30 - what a life!! To be continued.........

Vacation - Day 4

Glenn was up early for his fishing adventure - I guess that's what you call it - I couldn't imagine going out in a boat for 3 or 4 hours with someone you couldn't communicate with!!


Anyway, I was stiff and sore when I woke up, probably from sitting in that lawn chair hour after hour reading so actually did some exercises to loosen up! After breakfast I took a long walk on the beach and of course ended up back on the gazebo with my book - the maid was cleaning our room at this time and I was reading "The Shack" - well, the tears started flowing as I was reading this book and I had no kleenex on me (I know, that's hard to believe!) so I sniffed and sniffed for the next 1/2 hour until I could get into our bedroom and retrieve my kleenex!!

Glenn came back earlier than I expected - it was not a great fishing trip for him - he did catch about 3 fish but not the ones he wanted to catch - oh well, that's life!! He wanted to make "shushami" which I believe is how you spell it so we walked into the village and luckily they had soy sauce so he mixed up some garlic with it and ate the raw fish dipped in the sauce - I declined his offer to help myself!

Our afternoon was a typical one - siesta time for Glenn, reading for me! I decided to shoot a bunch of pictures of the lovely surroundings as it was just so pretty. This shot is taken from the roadside as soon as you walk in the gate.

I'm not sure what kind of berries these are but they looked delicious!

This picture was taken from the side of our house, looking back towards the street! In the area to the left is an outdoor seating area for the guests that stay in the 2 casitas (in the right of the picture) and the palapa style building is the kitchen for them!

Another shot showing some of the bushes around the gazebo.

And this photo was taken from our rooftop kitchen, looking back at the casitas!

We took a long walk on the beach late afternoon and were joined by Bobby, a dog who looks like a black lab but of course who knows? The owner next door told us that he used to belong to the cook who worked there but when the cook left, Bobby stayed. I'm not sure if Bobby belongs to anybody now but he loved us and followed us wherever we went! He would sleep outside our door at night, follow us down the beach, and sit patiently on the sand at the restaurants and wait till we were done eating!

Also joining us were the 3 calico cats who I named Tom, Dick and Harry! Tom slept up in the kitchen ALL the time and sometimes the other 2 would join him - naturally we fed the cats and Bobby so we were all good friends!

Dinner that night was back at the Burro place and they cooked up the fish that Glenn had caught and served it with the most delicious rice and veggies - yum!! Another night of lightning and thunder and unfortunately RAIN!! To be continued..........

Vacation - Day 3

Monday dawned bright and sunny, hot and humid! We're not used to sleeping in air conditioning of course so unfortunately, I didn't sleep great the night before - but no matter, I could sleep in! Glenn grabbed his coffee and I got my juice and we headed to the gazebo for a while before breakfast! There was a nice breeze blowing on the roof while we cooked breakfast so that was nice!

The property manager stopped by for the rent on the house so we visited awhile - he spoke great English! Also our maid and her husband Elfonzo who tended the gardens came by but of course they spoke very little English!

Glenn headed up to the fishing area to talk to some other people who were fishing with Oso for the day so I decided to grab my suit, lather on the suntan lotion and do some sunbathing! I pulled the lawn chair out on the sand and thought these 2 palms made a neat picture! It was VERY hot just sitting in the sun reading so I actually only stayed out a little while! The tan I DID get was just from walking on the beach!

We strolled up to Cafe del Sol for lunch - I was having trouble reading their Spanish menu when the lady behind the counter handed me a sheet of paper - not only was everything in Spanish AND English, but you actually marked on the menu what you wanted - I thought that was a neat idea! They served smoothies - berry and tropical - I tried the berry first and it was awesome! My turkey/avocado/bacon sandwich was out of this world!

While we were sitting at the outdoor cafe, I looked over at this extremely vegatated lot that had lots of coconut trees on it and there was a huge iguana - and I mean huge - his tail alone had to be 2 feet! During the course of our meal, several iguanas went up the trees - must have been having a party or something..........

I took a walk after lunch down the beach but you can only go so far this one way because of the rocks - but I saw a pathway that went through so walked on it and it came out on the other side of the rocks - a neat, small cove with a great sand beach - I can never resist taking pics of my footprints!



On the walk back, I saw this bird sitting on a post - a most unusual bird and I have no idea what kind it was! I tried to get closer but he flew off!

Glenn took a LONG siesta while I read out in the living room area - the views aren't quite as good as on the gazebo but the padded couch was a lot easier to sit on!! (just for the record, you might want to know that I read 8 books from the time we left till the time we arrived home!)

After naptime, we put on the swimsuits and headed out to the ocean! And yes, I LOVED wearing my new suits!!

The ocean was wonderful - I have never felt such warm water before - guess it's because we were so far south! Because of the large waves coming in, you really have to be careful and it was all I could do sometimes to hold my footing when a big wave came in!! All the same though, it was great fun! After the ocean, we headed next door where we had stayed the first night and swam in the pool - that water was even warmer than the ocean! So we had the best of both worlds!!

As evening approached, I was hoping for a good sunset -it was cloudy enough out that I thought we would have one - I loved the way the ocean looked at dusk!

And sure enough, there was a sunset!

We headed to a new restaurant for dinner that night, Cafe Bravo - it seemed we were always eating earlier than everybody else and I thought that was a little strange so when we sat down and our waiter spoke a little English, I asked him the time - duh - I had set my watch wrong!! It was actually an hour earlier!! Didn't really matter since we were on vacation but arriving at the airport to go home an hour EARLIER than we needed to be there would NOT have been fun!! So we got a chuckle out of that!

The pina coladas at this place were HUGE!! And because we ordered guacomole as an appetizer, by the time my chicken fajita came, I could hardly eat any of it!! The waiter (a young guy who was fun to talk with) asked me if something was wrong and I said, no, I was just full! When he came back later to wrap up my food he asked me "Are you still drunk?" Apparently he was a little mixed up on his English - ha ha!!

That evening there was a lot of thunder and lightning so I sat on the gazebo for a while and watched it!! There is also a beacon light at the end of the beach that I guess was for the boats as it would flash on and off 4 times, then wait a while and start again - I had fun dreaming up stories that the drug runners had put it up and were sitting in their boats out in the ocean, waiting for the right light to come ashore! To be continued...........

Vacation - Day 2

Glenn and I both slept like rocks (thanks to the air conditioner) and didn't bat an eye until 8:00 the next morning! We cooked bacon and eggs on our rooftop kitchen and loved sitting outside to eat and watching the waves!

We drove up the road a few miles to the next little village of Majahua where we knew we would find "Oso", the guy who takes people out to fish!! I loved driving by all the places that I had looked at online - there were also several private homes on the road and one neat thing about Mexican homes is they all have names!

After parking the car, we walked around on the beach and saw a 5th wheel all set up on a small bluff overlooking the ocean - what a view - and after seeing that the license plates on the truck were IOWA plates, we hollered over the fence and met the owner! It's always fun to talk to people from the midwest!

We located "Oso" and found out he didn't speak ANY English at all - after doing a lot of looking in the Spanish dictionary and gesturing with our hands, he went and got the neighbor who speaks English so they could get a date set to fish - whew, I was sweating like crazy by this time - just not used to the humidity!

After doing some reading on the rooftop and peeking over at "our" place, just wondering how soon we could move over there, the time finally came! I'm always a little worried to actually see the place I rented online - in fact, I don't have high expectations at all - that way I'm not disappointed! I spend hours and hours doing research to find the perfect place and I was hoping this would be a great spot - it was!!

Our place was called Las Casititas De Margarita - and it was just beautiful - brick walkways through the small complex, beautiful gardens with trees, bushes and all kinds of flowers with solar lights lighting the pathways, and the main house which was ours, facing the beach! It was MUCH, MUCH more than what I expected!

Our bedroom and bathroom were on the main level - don't you just love the bright colors that are always in Mexico?? I was REALLY happy to see there was air conditioning because this was something I had no idea that we would need! The headboard and end tables are all built- in concrete and the place was beautifully decorated! Across from the bed was an entire wall of built-ins, with one corner full of books - I was in heaven!

I have never seen a place with so much storage - besides the place to hang your clothes, there were shelves after shelves for folded clothes and another huge storage space in the bathroom! Of course the shower was huge as most Mexican showers are and the tilework was gorgeous!

Below is a picture of the steps that you went up for the rooftop kitchen and dining area - again, the steps were all inlaid tile with recessed lighting ! Believe it or not, there was actually another bathroom on the top floor too!

Check out this view -it sure wasn't hard to cook up here when you could look at the ocean while you were cooking! Although the kitchen area was small, the appliances were nice and new and we enjoyed many meals up here!

This is a picture of our living room - yes, it was outside too! 2 sides of the house had wrap-around porches so along with the wicker furniture, there were more tables and chairs and rocking chairs!

But the BEST part of the entire house is the picture below - the gazebo (as I call it although technically it's not one) is where we spent hour after hour after hour - just watching the waves in the ocean and reading - it's what made the place!

This place had a lot of little details that I really appreciated -lids on the wastebaskets (in Mexico, the toilet paper goes IN the wastebasket), nice teflon pans to cook with, not only a frig in the kitchen but one in our bedroom, rugs on each side of the bed so you could wipe your sandy feet off before climbing in, a lamp on each side of the bed for reading along with recessed lighting built right into the headboard, books and a stereo system, lots of hangers, plenty of hot water, maid service EVERY DAY, and a nice built-in BBQ! As you can tell, I was impressed with the place!

After unpacking, I spent the rest of the afternoon on the gazebo watching the waves - this place has huge waves and is a great place for surfers - we enjoyed watching them but decided we were too old to try it!

Dinner that night was next door again - the food was just so good that we decided to eat there again and I wasn't disappointed with my chicken enchilada with lots of guacamole! To be continued.............

I'm BACK!!! (from vacation that is!)

WOW - it's been OVER 2 weeks since I've blogged - and YES , I missed it!! In fact, I kept a pretty detailed journel while I was on vacation so it would be really easy to write about it without having to use my brain and remember what happened! So I dug through the paperwork in the backpack and found my journal so I could start in tonight -although it's really late and I SHOULD be in bed because it's BACK TO WORK tomorrow!

We left a week ago last Saturday, Oct. 24th - seems like a lot longer than that............Our destination was to fly into Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa and then get our rental car and head to a little village about 30 miles north called Toncones for our week's stay - and here is the story.................

Glenn was swamped with work the 2 weeks before we left - so busy in fact that he didn't go to bed on Friday night - that's right - he worked till 12:30 am and then showered and laid down for 20 minutes - and then the alarm went off at 1:30 am - actually the alarm DIDN'T go off - I had reset it from it's usual 5:40am wakeup to 1:30 am wakeup and even set the backup alarm a couple minutes later - neither one went off!! Luckily for me, I had woken up when Glenn came up to shower and knew I had to get up in a few minutes so wasn't sleeping hard!! I NEVER sleep very well the night before our trip, always worrying about the alarm NOT going off and missing our flight - duh!!! Now I REALLY have good reason to worry!

I decided I better drive to Denver since poor Glenn hadn't got any sleep yet! I detest driving at night - but made it just fine to the airport where we parked in the shuttle parking lot and grabbed a bus to the terminal! This was our first time for paying to check luggage! Times sure have changed.........

We did have time to grab a quick bite to eat and then headed for our gate - since there was no Caribou Coffee around that I could see, I had to settle for Einstein Bagels coffee and it really wasn't too bad - until I sat down at the gate and saw a woman coming from the OTHER direction carrying her Caribou Coffee - darn - my fault for not checking around the corner!

The flight to Phoenix was uneventful - it was kind of weird flying in the dark - I didn't think much about it as I immedicately turned on my light and started reading. After we took off I looked around and mine was the ONLY light that was on - so then I started thinking that maybe I should really turn it off and get some shut eye - so I did........(although I was disappointed that our seats didn't recline because we were in front of the exit door seats!)

Phoenix was nice and sunny and we had a 2 hour layover - time enough for another breakfast and to exchange some money which by the way, was a great peso to dollar rate!! Then it was time to climb back in the plane and I was NOT happy with our seats which were the second to the back row - but what's a person to do - at least we weren't in the BACK row where you couldn't recline!

Besides freezing on this flight and a little rough in places, it wasn't too bad! I took this time to get my IPOD out of my backpack and try it out - WOW - it worked just great and I was thrilled to sit there and listen to great music while reading my book!

We arrived at the airport and of course in Mexico you always climb down the steps and depart outside - it was a blast of heat and humidity like I NEVER expected!! This trip had taken us the furthest south we had ever been in Mexico and also a little earlier than we usually go - hence the heat and humidity! The airport was small and customs took a while since we were basically some of the last ones to climb out of the airplane - after customs, we were checked for the swine flu!! That certainly surprised me in MEXICO of all places but I was glad they were checking for it! We grabbed our luggage which by this time were the only 2 pieces floating around the carousel and once again I lamented that I had packed too much and why didn't we just do carryon????

Since the airport was small, we weren't bombarded with time share people the moment we walked out the door - only one guy even asked us and when we said we were going to Troncones, he left us alone!! There were 5 rental car agencies, all packed together in one tiny corner of the airport and check in was a breeze! Since Glenn and I don't speak the language, we're always thrilled when people we have to deal with speak some English!

Soon we were out the door with a map in hand and directions from the rental car guy on where to stop for groceries and how to get to Troncones! I always admire Glenn for driving SO WELL in the Mexico traffic - they drive a little crazy down there and I could NEVER drive in the traffic as well as Glenn does! We found the grocery store and were surprised once again when we walked through the door and there was a guy spraying hand sanitizer on your hands!

After much debating and walking back and forth in the store, we FINALLY purchased our groceries and drinks and headed out the door, back into the traffic! Like I said, we had a map but it wasn't a GOOD map and we kicked ourselves later for not purchasing an actual road map! Since this was our FIRST time in this area, we had no idea where to go! We drove along and pretty soon realized we had somehow gotten off the main road as we were in the hotel zone of Ixtapa!

Glenn found his way back to the road and we drove and drovem at least that's what it seemed like!! Thinking we had missed the turnoff to Troncones (although at this point, we didn't even know if we were looking for a road or a sign) we turned around and drove back a ways - no luck - even stopped and asked someone and he said it was up ahead a few kilometers!! More driving - by this time we're getting a little cranky from lack of sleep and we just want to find the town! We round a corner and there's the sign to Troncones, 3 km!! HOORAY - we found the road!

We pulled into the tiny town and I dug out my directions for our place - since we couldn't check into our main place until Sunday, we were spending the night next door at the Tropic of Cancer - when I asked for directions in my email, Luis said to take a left at the intersection, find the Tropic of Cancer sign, park, and our room was in the main house on the 2nd floor to the left and the key would be hanging on the door!! Only in Mexico can you receive directions like this!! Glenn and I have both learned that usually what they say, is exactly what they mean!! And once again, there was no need to have worried because we found the little Tropic of Cancer resort, climbed up the steps to the second floor and there was the key, hanging on the door!!

We unlocked the door to a bedroom that absolutely had NO character whatsoever but DID have a huge and nice bathroom!! And there was air conditioning!! I'm not sure we could have slept without it!! Outside the bedroom was another set of steps so we raced up there (well, not really raced of course because by this time we're sweating like crazy!!) and THAT'S what made the place - an open air kitchen, dining area and living room, all under a palapa roof -with views of the ocean!! Ah, that's what I'd been waiting for.........

Of course we didn't unpack since we knew we were moving the next day but did get the groceries in the frig and while Glenn collapsed on the bed for a nap, I headed up to the top to read and relax in the heat!!

After asking the owner of the place where to eat, she directed us next door to the Burro Burracho - and when we got there, the entire sand part of the restaurant was filled with tables and chairs and LOTS of people - it was a wedding party!! We could still eat though in the regular open-air restaurant and that pina colada and garlic shrimp tasted fantastic!!

About 1/2 way through our meal, we were provided entertainment, courtesy of the wedding!! They had 2 Mexican couples all dressed up in their finery that did traditional Mexican dances - oh they were wonderful and we loved watching them!! After them, the music changed considerably and 3 younger guys came out and did some break-dancing!! I'm not sure that's what it's called anymore but that's what I CALL it - they were fantastic!! And later, the Mexican couples came back out and just danced - did I have my camera so I could take pictures of all of this??? Of course not........... We were just going out to eat - why would I need my camera??? Trust me, I never left the place without it again!!

And then it started pouring rain - I knew it was humid for a reason!! Luckily our place was next door so we didn't have far to run in the rain - and neither one of us woke up once during that first night - we were both exhausted and just ready for some sleep...........To be continued