Day 2 at Punta Perula

I slept a long time this morning and when I woke up, one fishing boat was already back with the catch.

These are two of the larger fish, with the big one weighing 19 pounds. A little while later a second boat came in and there were more dolphin to clean. The boats are small Zodiac inflatables with about 20 hp on the stern. Still, they are up to the job of going out for the dolphin and mackerel and also to watch some of the whales wintering in this cove. Shortly after the second boat cleaned their catch, we were offered a couple of pounds of fresh dolphin fillets, Carl already has his freezer full and is giving his excess catch away. The fresh fish was delicious!!!

One camper recognized the dive symbol on my front plate and asked if I was a diver. Of course I said yes. He is a diving instructor way up in British Columbia. I shivered when he told me that he never dove in water warmer than 56 or 57 degrees Fahrenheit. In Florida, we switch to diving in the 73 degree springs when the ocean gets cooler, and that's with dive skins, full wet suit and a hood. He told me that he has never been diving in anything but a dry suit. I believe him.

I mentioned that Helen and I have our snorkel gear and might try that. He told me that at the far north of the beach there is a small tributary and beyond that there are rocks. Snorkel along the rocks and there is a lot to see. We will have to see. Fortunately, we still have Helen's Nikon with the underwater housing.

This is another view of the bay and you can see a number of boats. We seem to be collecting them as there are even more this afternoon.

The day was quite warm and last night was cool. We've paid for a week and will make a decision later as to if we'll stay longer.

You've seen some fish. I will be going out later this week or early next, and I would like to come home with a bragging size fish. I'd also like to see the whales, and I'd like to snorkel the rocks.

The dogs are having a ball. Some of the other campers saw them yesterday up the beach and couldn't believe how much they enjoy the water. We may have to stay here for them.

Later

From Mexico's Central Valley to the Pacific Shore

Sunday was the day when several campers at Hacienda Contreras moved toward the Pacific Coast. It was difficult to say good-bye to the campers and camp owners that we have grown so fond of. However, we did come to Mexico for the heat and it was due time to hit the beach.



This is the road leading out of the valley. Elevation of the campground was about 6400 feet! Clear air, bright stars, and very cool nights. Nothing like the 19 degrees they had in Inverness, Fl, though.



The roads through the mountains are just one curva peligrosso after another. That means dangerous curve and we could see numerous monuments to people who didn't make the turn.



In the lowlands, there were not acres and acres, but square miles and square miles of sugar cane. When the crop is ripe. They burn the cane to get rid of all the leaves, then the stalks are cut and piled. We saw a number of trucks heaped way to high and dropping cane when they hit a bump.

Further on we passed a coconut plantation.

Along the way we passed through Tamazula de Gordiano, a city or village on the way to Colima. They have this story that they tell:

A la vez un gringo venía de lejos y trató de llevar a su casa rodante a través de nuestra hermosa ciudad, hermosa. Acostumbrado a nuestras calles y avenidas, se perdió entre las calles de un solocamino y callejones sin salida. Después de un rato, se encontró en la carretera de acceso a la plazaprincipal de la ciudad, justo enfrente de la catedral. Tan tonto que era, que él condujo la derecha en la plaza, apenas faltan varios peatones y un coche fúnebre funeral. Lo hizo de bypass varios bancos ygrandes arreglos de flores y la herida de su camino a través de los toldos del hotel y por el otro lado.Allí, una fuerza de nuestra policía valiente lo escoltaron fuera de la ciudad.

For those of you who do not read Spanish I offer this translation:

There is a folk tale told about a Gringo lost in the city.

At one time a Gringo came from far away and tried to drive his motorhome through our fine, beautiful city. Unaccustomed to our streets and avenues, he got lost among the one way streets and dead ends. After a while, he found himself on the access road to the city’s main plaza, right in front of the cathedral. So foolish was he, that he drove right in the plaza, barely missing several pedestrians and a funeral hearse. He did bypass several benches and large arrangements of flowers and wound his way through the hotel awnings and out the other side. There, a force of our courageous police escorted him out of the city.

These are the police that escorted us out of the city.



Even with the escort, navigating the narrow streets was no picnic.



You may notice how we are forced to the right side of the road, where some of the roof overhangs can gouge the side of our camper. In reality, the police were extremely courteous and helpful. Without their guidance I would still be in the plaza in front of the cathedral, blocking the funeral procession. There was also a senior citizen who directed us around the hotel awnings so we wouldn't take them with us.



Later in the day we stopped at Boca Beach, a campground recommended by Heinz and Ulli. In fact, we met them and they were surprised to see us. The beach seemed nice, but there was only 15 amp electricity and NO wifi. NO wifi, can you believe that?



This is the beach there, but we didn't let the dogs get close. Since we were moving on to Punta Perula in the morning, why get sandy wet dogs for the night.



A sunset picture taken by Helen.

This is the lagoon at Boca beach. Later we found that those lagoons can contain alligators!!! Not a place to take the girls swimming.



Sunset at Boca Beach. Enjoy yourselves, Ulli and Heinz!



The end of another day in paradise!



This is our spot at Punta Perula RV and Trailer Park. The camper is located about 40 feet from the cleaning table where all the fish are taken. I was drooling at the sight of the large fish being cleaned this morning. A half day fishing trip is $1,000, in pesos or about $74.00 US. I'll just have to go!

This is Punta Perula beach looking southeast. Beautiful!!! The water is clean and I can easily cast a lure into the blue water beyond the surf.

I'm getting ready!!!



These are the ones who really enjoy the water. They will chase a stick until I just can't throw it anymore. The surf doesn't bother them a bit and all three have had waves wash over their heads without slowing them down. They come back up and continue after the stick, all of them.



This is looking back at our campground. I can drive the beach here with my Jeep, so we take the dogs down a ways where there are no people. We had a group walk past us today and their dog joined ours in the water. The people were surprised as their dog generally doesn't do water.



This building was supposed to become a hotel some time in the past. It had gone to ruin and someone decided that it had to come down. Kevin and Ruth were there when they tried to blow it up. What they have left is a death trap, too dangerous to get near to finish the job.

This is Helen's last picture of the day. Trust me, It's as good as it looks. I could get used to Mexico in the winter and Canada in the summer. Florida is good for three weeks in the spring and three in the fall.

Later

Catching up in the New Year!

Yes, I know that I have been irresponsible in my posting my blog. If you will give me a few more minutes I will try to come up with an adequate excuse................ Sorry, no excuse comes to mind. I have promised myself many times that I would surely get a blog done.....tomorrow. Well, today is the tomorrow I've promised myself.

We got to Hacienda Contreras on Sunday, December 18th, late in the day, as I reported earlier. The next couple of days were spent getting organized here and resting from the grueling drive from Celestino. On the 21st, there was a feast in the clubhouse of the Hacienda.

From the left, Sal, Kevin, Ruth, Linda, Jurgen you can barely see and Adolph and Millie you cant's see. At the far end is Ulli, Heinz, me, Helen, Sandy, and Sue.

There was a tray of shrimp prepared five different ways and each way was excellent!

A pan of steak and chiorozo (spelling?).

There was a lot of other food as well. If this is Mexican food, we should all be so lucky. Keep in mind that this is only the 21st.

Saturday the 24th, all the ladies were gathering up at the clubhouse to prepare tamales, a traditional Christmas dish. The guys wandered up in time to sample some sopes, another traditional dish, I think.

Here Sal's sister, Juana, and mother Doña Theresa are organizing the sope and tamale work. Doña Theresa was up well before the crack of dawn to take her corn to be ground. From the amount of corn in that big bowl, one would think that the job would never end.

However more hands help make the work easier. Left to right it's Ruth, Helen, Sue, Millie?, Sal, Juana, and Mama.

Helen doing her best to learn Mexican cooking with Jurgan on her right and Linda on her left. The ladies made hundreds (literally) of tamales.

Later on on the 24th, a whole group of us went out to eat at a restaurant right on the plaza in Valle de Juarez. We had a nice meal of enchiladas and very pleasant company.

Nearest the camera is Jurgen, then Sal, Barbara, Robin, Kevin, Me, Sue, Brian, and Linda.

The special was chicken enchiladas and we all had the same thing, varying only in the beverages chosen.

Only after the meal was finished and we were preparing to leave did Barbara thanks us all for helping her and Sal celebrate their 39th anniversary. I did notice that Barb was all dolled up for this dinner and figured that it must be because of Christmas Eve. After the meal, we wandered around the plaza and enjoyed part of a Christmas program at the church. It was a beautiful evening spent with special friends.

A couple of days later we were invited to hike over to the "Castle", an intriguing building we could see off in the distance. It was an interesting building as seen from the campground, but when one gets up close it is really amazing.

The stone work on this building is absolutely amazing. This is the project of a very rich somewhat eccentric man who insists on absolute attention to detail. You would have to see it up close to appreciat the fit of all the cut stone that makes up this complex.



The lower level windows look into the dining room, as this has been conceived as a restaurant with owner's quarters above. The domed room above is actually a small kitchen/sitting room.

This shows the two domes. The larger dome is the bedroom/family room, I suppose. There is a huge bed, bath and shower, refrigerator, fireplace, sofa, and big screen TV. The dome is painted brightly on the inside and the dome shape gives some unusual acoustics. Beneath the large dome is a fully furnished modern kitchen. I was told that he even had a chef in residence in the past, but has not been able to open his restaurant yet. The "castle" and grounds require a great deal of upkeep and we saw a number of people working around. The grounds are beautiful.

In every group you will find a couple of bone heads. Long after the group was led back down stairs and the doors locked, these two (Heinz and Me) came from the other side of the dome to find our egress blocked. Ever dependable Sal ran back up the stairs to unlock the door even as Helen and Ulli were telling him to let us stay.

Walking out from the castle we walk the road of John Deere Tractors. The owner has more than a dozen really old John Deere tractors including some horse drawn machines. There a lot of items, such as swings, around the grounds that are made with ancient John Deer wheels and things. I'm allowed to go fishing in that pond and the only reason that I have not is that I am lazy. I have adopted the manner of "mañana, but I did learn how to put the squiggle over the n.

Just a quick look back.

This is Kevin and Ruth of Travels with Kevin and Ruth fame. I hope you checked his blog for information when I was being lazy. I see that he did 402 blogs in 2010, which makes him one sick puppy!


This is the new Sal Contreras family. Just so you know, that's Sal on the left, Barb on the right, and Donkey Hotay in the middle. Barb thought that Helen might like a donkey, but Helen explained that I was enough ass for her.



"Walking" Donkey Hotay back to his pen.

On the 29th, we were invited to the wedding of Sal's nephew, Luis. Luis is Juana's son. Sal's has been like a surrogate father to Luis since Luis' father passed away.

The chapel was very beautiful adorned with lace and flowers.

Here is Luis' younger brother, Mother Juana, Grandmother Theresa, Uncle Sal, and Aunt Barb.

I have to tell you that this wedding reception was not for Gringos!!! There was a Miriachi Band that was great, BUT SOOOOOO LOUD!!!!! There was all the soda and tequila you could drink and the food eventually arrived, but the music was very loud and intrusive. It was nearly impossible to chat with anyone. SOme of us managed to have a good time anyway.

Helen and Juana movin' and a groovin'

More happy times!!! Behind Helen are a Dutch couple from the campground, John and Anna, a very lively and happy couple.

This brings us to New Years Eve. Not that this blog references all that we did or all that we could have done. There was so much going on all the time and we were ill for a short time so we had to forgo some trips.



Here's Helen taking the covers off the New Years Eve food. Have you noticed that there's always a lot of food?



More food and I will not name the people this time.



Dutch Canadians John and Anna.

The hostess with the mostest. Barbara has been in the center of everything, morganizing, planning and working her tail off. Ex nurse and mother of five, she just naturally worries about everyone. I talked to other campers and we all agree that we have never been at a campground that makes us feel as comfortable and at home as we do here. Keep in mind that with all the campers, we're talking about the whole North American continent, perhaps even Europe. They should franchise Hacienda Contreras throughout the US and Canada.

OK, more food! This was the group outing yesterday. We rode to Mazamitla to eat at the Alpine Restaurant where Helen and I ate early in our visit. It's more fun with the group. What's especially nice is that Sal can translate the menu. Heinz kept raving about the bean soup and

most of us tried it. He was right on!

Helen ahd to check out this atrium with all the plants. She was enthusiastic about so many of the beautiful flowers, but it's unrealistic to believe that we could get them back to Florida.

I found this fuzzy little friend among the plants. What a little doll! Like our three, she loved to have he belly scratched, but can you picture me trying to hold one of mine like that? A very cute little dog with a huge personality.

OK, that's all for today. It might be quiet for a few days until we move back to the coast. Then, we should have more pictures of the dogs, beaches, and (I hope) fish that I catch.

later.