Les Miserables

A few days ago we left Punta Perula for Hacienda Contreras, giving up the warmth of the beach for the cooler dryer air in the mountains. It was a pleasant drive with no ugly detours through town plazas and no police escorts. We got back to the Hacienda around 4 PM. In plenty of time for a Spanish lesson. Barbara had arranged for a woman to teach us some very basic Spanish, as used in Mexico. Later on Brian and Sue asked us to join them at a restaurant that they had been to earlier . It sure didn't look like much from the street and there was much construction in progress, but Brian led us into the restaurant and deeper and deeper into the inner courtyard.

Sue, Brian , and Me ready for service.

The restaurant was AMAZING!! We ordered drinks and meals, but they kept bringing us one appetizer after another and Brian insists that they treat you the same way even if you only order a beer. A young man was constantly at our table with one plate or another. He was so eager to please and had such a winning personality that he should go a long way in life.

We were surprised by the rain that got to Valle de Jaurez shortly after we did. This is, indeed, the DRY season and rain is almost unheard of. More than that it was COLD!!!

This is a picture of a volcano north of Colima which Helen took as we drove north. Later we were surprised to see pictures of the same volcano covered with SNOW. There is a large mass of moisture that extends well south west of Mexico and extends all the way to the Northeast and Canada. Cold temperatures and constant rain has been the condition for the last three days. As dismal as this my sound, Helen and I got lucky again because this weather pattern also extends to the coast where we had been. Here we have a place to gather, play games, eat, and have our Spanish lessons. Back at Perula everything is in the open so they can't gather for Happy Hour unless they are well covered with rain gear.

Mother Barbara, always thinking of her campers made a big pot of lentil soup. It was a big pot and the soup was DELICIOUS!!! Helen now has the recipe. Again, a lot of us gathered around and that took the edge off the rain.

As an extra added attraction, Barbara arranged for Spanish lessons for those who were interested.

From Back to Hacienda

Unfortunately, Helen took this picture with the maestra turned to the blackboard. From left to right it's Me, Brian, Mayra's behind, Sue, and Mike. It was interesting and informative and gave us all a much better understanding of the Spanish language as it is spoken in Mexico'

Later on last night, Helen and I joined Barb and Sal, and Pete and Madeline in a couple of games of Sequence. Barb supplied chips and dip. We had a good time and it did pass the time.

Helen and I learned a lot about travel south of Mexico from Pete and Madeline and agreed that it is not for us, though they must have had some extraordinary experiences.

Through all this time, Helen and I were blessed with three energetic Labs who had needs that had to be attended to. Sometimes we would both take them out and sometimes one would take them out and the other would be on "Towel duty" as the dogs came back.

Oh, we did get an email from Punta Perula mentioning the mud hole that comes when too much rain falls on dirt roads. I would guess that no one will be able to leave Perula for a while after the rain stops.