Draft February week 3

Lots more to come here.

Monday 15^th

Gillian had another dentist appointment this morning, and since her temporary crown came off last night she decided to forgo breakfast. The car was still in the shop so she walked to the taxi stand at the end of the lane--no taxis. Fortunately the bus stop is here as well but going by bus made her late and another client got in ahead of her. By the time she had her new crown done the gym was closed until the afternoon so she caught the bus home and advised Art that it was lunch time!

This was a great excuse for lunch on the beach once again, this time at El Pirata Restaurant, just down the Andador (walk way) just outside the entrance to the RV Park. The photo was taken from our table, a couple of Beto's crew sitting on the seadoo waiting for customers, their parasail tow boat bobbing at it's mooring.

On the beach we ran into Peter who was just getting his Davidson Dinghy ready for a sail. The boat is carried on the roof of the truck, his little home made trailer disassembles and is carried inside.

(Photos)

Peter sailing off Playa La Ropa.

Later that afternoon we took our happy hour drinks over to Peter and Celine's trailer and stayed so long they invited us to stay for supper! After a few false starts we figured out how to work the timer on the camera. They don't appear to be too upset with us.

Next day we took a panga across to Playa Las Gatas for a gathering of people that post on the local message board. We met a few and were able to put faces to a few names. We joined our good friend Julia and others, had a few drinks, lunch then headed back to the dock for our 2:30 pick up. No Boat. We were 15 minutes late.

Gillian decided to take the beach "trail" while Art stayed behind to take a few photos and enjoy the ambience. Gillian would send the boat when she reached Playa La Ropa. If you click the far left picture you will be able to see Gillian and her route along the rocks.

Photos taken from the pier at Playas Las Gatas

Left photo; Pelican on the bow of a panga, Center: Pangas in the foreground, Zihuatanjo in the distance. Right, telephoto of Playa La Ropa. Click to enlarge, you can just see the end of the footbridge to El Manglar Restaurant at the far right of the photo.

The boat arrived in good time, they didn't even want extra money for the extra trip. We have become good friends with Beto and his crew over the years and got a good deal for the ride. Art felt a bit guilty so he gave the crew an extra tip.

Wednesday afternoon Peter gave Art a ride into the GM agency to pick up the car. It was ready to go except for the fuel filter which had been plugged. They didn't have one in stock, it had been ordered from Acapulco and would be here in a week! They had washed out the original filter and put it back in temporarily.

During the evening we again went out with Peter and Celine to an Art show at La Sirena Gorda, a restaurant on Paseo del Pescador. There were some excellent works; we were tempted but didn't buy. Since the Sirena Gorda (Fat Mermaid) was closed for business – just the Art Show – we dined at Valeria, a new restaurant a few doors away. They are struggling to become known—the decor is quite bland, the waiters have minimal English (read “none”) and less knowledge of wine. The waiter was able to tell us that they had red wine and white wine. Not from their exclusive cellar either!

To entice us in the waiter had told us that if we didn't like the food we wouldn't have to pay. At the end of the meal Art told the waiter we hadn't liked it but the empty plates showed he was joking. The food was quite good, not the best on the strip, but good, and prices very reasonable. If they can to something about the décor they will probably do all right.

There had been a bit of light rain so the cover went on the car before bed!

Thursday morning about 1:00 AM a strong wind began to rock the motorhome —Art's turn to wake up and bring in the awning. Fortunately it is all electric and there weren't too many things (like Christmas lights) hanging from it so he was able to tend to it without going out side.

At a more normal waking hour Art woke up with sniffles, sore throat and sinus headache—bit of a cold. Colds don't usually bother him too much, with any luck will feel better tomorrow. The day continued with rain and wind on and off, clearing in the evening.

It was a good day to lay around and watch the Olympics—Canada Gold in ladies 1000 meter speed skating, then watch Canada's women's Curling team go to 5-5 in the regulation 10 then in the extra end Canada managed to get an inch or so closer to the centre for a 6-5 final. This puts them in a 3-0 win-loss position. Later that evening the men's team took on France for an impressive 12-3 win in 8 ends. StarChoice Satellite HD TV from home—now that's camping!

That evening we stayed home for dinner, Art having been unable to walk by some good looking steaks in the CM yesterday; 1 inch thick nicely marbled steaks less than $10.00 a Kilo! The load on the BBQ set us back about $5.00.

While was tending to the BBQ Gillian was setting the table and opening the wine. Or trying to. CM obviously stores their wine bottles upright as the corks are frequently dry and the cork screw often just turns the cork in the bottle. This one was particularly bad and she ended up pushing the cork into the bottle which of course caused a small fountain of wine. Art heard comments coming from the motorhome very similar in nature to what Gillian frequently hears coming from Art's workshop at home! Fortunately we had already planned to replace the carpet

Friday Art returned to his vet for more needles. It helped some but there was not such a noticeable immediate improvement as after the first visit. We'll see how it progresses.

Draft February Week 2

Monday the 8^th

As mentioned in the last blog entry, rain began falling in the wee small hours which Art slept through. Gillian went out to cover the back of the car as wind can blow water through the screens that we use for back windows while we are in Mexico.

By morning the rain had stopped and it looked like it may be a nice day after all. At least we can let the car dry out a little.



Today Gillian had another dentist appointment for another
temporary crown. She'll go back next week for the permanent one.

We thought that the estuary would have broken through the sand but it is still holding out. The water level seems a bit higher but so is the sand.

Tuesday the 9^th was the start of Carnival. Carnival hasn't been a big deal in Zihuatanejo for a long time but a few years ago the tourist department began trying to encourage it. The new administration has obviously got firmly behind the idea and things are a bit hectic in Centro today, lots of entertainment and vendors, just no parking! We don't plan to take in any of Carnival until perhaps later in the week.

The estuary is still filling--almost ready to go. This was also a good day for some wildlife photos at the restaurant.

These are high resolution photos, click for good detail. Can you find both baby crocodiles in the picture below, right?

The middle picture is of a large well camouflaged iguana and the left one of course, a squirrel. This nut tree is right above and over the path to the restaurant. It is not unusual to have pieces of nut shell dropped on your head as you pass below!

Today Gillian was off to centro to Curves and a hair appointment while Art went to the Vet in Ixtapa. (see the End of January blog page) Here, after a chat with the doctor, Art went through a bio-magnetic treatment followed by an acupuncture treatment which was augmented with an electric component. And finally a series of injections of 1% solution lidocaine into his shoulder. To locate the most effective spots the doctor poked Art's shoulder with a long slender probe. If Art reacted with an “OUCH”, that spot got the shot!

All in all a successful appointment—the shoulder felt a lot better for a few days. Art is still a bit skeptic about the bio-magnetics thing but what the heck! Most of the communication was done in Spanish, switching to English if Art didn't understand exactly the doctor's comments. Or when he wanted to ensure that Art understood fully.

On the way back Art stopped off at CM (Commercial Mexicana) for a few things then carried on home. As he entered the traffic circle on the road home his cell phone rang—suspecting it was Gillian, he bypassed this exit and went round once again while he answered—He was right; she was hoping for a lift home from centro. (cell phone use while driving is still legal here—but we are very aware of traffic around us before picking up. Often just not safe)

Back at home we were just settling down when Art's cell phone rang again. It was our friends Peter and Celine who we were expecting on the 15^th. They were a couple of days early, in were fact only about 10 minutes away! We knew there was no space here and had been waiting for confirmation from the park across the road. Art walked over and a space was ready by the time they arrived.

We had first met Peter and Celine here at El Manglar about 4 years ago and again when they came in their sail boat to visit us in Victoria. They have been busy building and moving and just got time to visit Mexico again. Great to see them again.

Sometime that afternoon Gillian mentioned to Art that he should go for a massage in the next day or so. Not half an hour later a lady walked into the park with flyers on her massage service. She had a portable and would come to the rig. Art immediately made an appointment for the next day!

We heard a strange crunching noise coming from somewhere nearby and on investigation discovered Keith and Steve busy crushing cans.

They will give these to a Mexican lady, one of the beach vendors we have befriended over the years, who will sell them to the recyclers for about 8 or 10pesos per kilo! (80 cents!) There are 67 cans in a kilogram! Makes you think about the value of a peso. Or dollar.

That night we went out for dinner with Peter and Celine to Puerta del Sol, a hillside restaurant over looking Playa Madera. Well it over looked the bay until a couple of condos were built in front of it!

Drinks, Caesar Salad made at our table, Filete en salsa verde times 2, Flambe of Beef Medallions in mushroom sauce, Filete Strogonoff flambe, crepes flambe, bananas flambe, herbs and zambuca shooters, bottle of wine: 1500 pesos We felt quite safe as the fire department is just down the hill! Of course, no camera!

Thursday noon the masseuse arrived and as she was setting up her equipment a neighbour walked by. The masseuse noticed her, did a classic double take and called out Elaine? Elaine glanced over and she too did a double take before the two of them, emitting shrieks of surprise, hugged and laughed. The had been good friends, had worked together years ago and not seen nor heard of each other in 7 years! They made arrangements to meet for breakfast and the massage began.

Art pronounced it excellent by Mexican standards—there are very few qualified massage therapists here, but many provide a very good relaxation massage. A few really know what they are doing. He will likely call for further appointments. You will note of course that the standby photographer got a good clear shot of Art's bald head!

After lunch: siesta? Or a cup of black coffee and tackle battery maintenance?

Guilt? Who knows, but something prompted Art to forgo his siesta and attack the batteries. First step was to retract the bedroom slide to make access to the battery compartment easier. Then collect the tools and pull out the lower battery tray. This contained the two batteries used to start the engine, referred to as the chassis batteries. These batteries also supplied power to a few other things in the coach such as the hydraulic pump motor for the slides and stabilizer jacks, front steps, security alarm and for some strange reason the gauges that show the levels in holding tanks! Everything else on that panel is powered by the house batteries. (Lights, water pump, fridge, furnace, inverter etc) Go Figure!

When Art was retracting the bedroom slide he noticed that the chassis battery was very low—12.1 volts. This is very very low for a “12 volt” battery which is 12.6 volts when fully charged and 11.8 when completely dead ( and probably ruined) It actually dropped to 11.8 when the pump motor was running. This was not good news.

So pull out the battery tray. Try to pull out the battery tray. Try really hard to pull out the battery tray. Try really really . . . well you get the idea. Get the hose, spray the heck out of the tray slides to dislodge the suspected dirt and gravel. Eventually there was a bit of movement; more water, more pulling and pushing and eventually the tray was working normally.

With the tray extended the batteries were accessible and we could see quite a lot of corrosion on the terminal where the small 900 mA. charger attached. The cables were removed and the batteries lifted out and carried to the back of the rig to be washed, inspected, cleaned and serviced as necessary. Both jumpers that paralleled the battery were badly corroded as well so there was more work for the water and wire brush. Soon everything was as clean as possible, next was the chemical condition of the batteries.

Because these batteries are powering a few things all the time they are discharging continuously. For some reason, known only to the design engineers and the manufacturers, these batteries charge only from the engine alternator. When parked there is no charging even when plugged in. There is a tiny solar panel on the roof that is supposed to maintain a trickle charge but although the panel is putting out current it is not reaching the battery. Haven't been able to trace that yet. To top up the batteries from these small current draws the small charger and turn it on and off as battery voltage indicates. Obviously he hadn't checked recently! He had obviously left it connected for too long sometime as well, as the electrolyte was below the plates—another bit of permanent damage. The “good” news being that only about 1/8^th of an inch of plate was exposed—could have been worse. Also the previous owner had put deep cycle batteries here and they stand up a bit better to deep discharge than “starting” batteries.

All cells were down seriously low on electrolyte except one—this may mean a bad cell—just what we need. We will see how things look after adding some distilled water and charging them up.

We did have some distilled water on hand, just enough to cover the plates with about 1/8 of an inch to spare so Art distributed it equally and connected the battery charger to let it run its course. It will switch off when done. We will have to try to get some more distilled water tomorrow.

When the charger had been on for a few hours there was enough power to extend the bed room slide so Art called it a day and we went across the street to have a beer or two with Peter and Celine.

Friday

Today started off with Gillian's morning to do her own thing. It began ( after breakfast and dog walking) with a trip to Curves with our friend and nighbour Anna, then to a pedicure and a stop at Commercial Mexican (department/grocery store) for a few things—like distilled water if they carried it.

Art stayed home and made a toggle for the screen door out of half a wooden cloths-peg. The latch had broken a few weeks ago and Trekker had finally figured out that it wasn't latched!

The chassis batteries seemed to have charged up well over night. Maybe when Gillian gets back with the distilled water Art will top them up and then attend to the house batteries.

Well CM didn't have any distilled water so Art decided to drive into one of the many auto electric/battery shops to look for it. He lucked out at the first place he tried and while there noted 8 6 volt deep cycle batteries lined up on the floor—1,622 pesos each. Nice to know—they can be very hard to find in Mexico.

As he pulled out onto the highway the car coughed, sputtered and died. He managed to coast across the 4 lane highway, going about half a block on the wrong side of the road then onto the lateral (frontage road) and coasted half a block the wrong way to the GM dealer. (Here he had an appointment for service this coming Monday!) Closed for lunch/siesta, back at 4:00 PM -- an hour and a half (I'm in Mexico) Left the keys and a note for the service department and took a taxi back to the RV Park. Phoned them a while ago, they are looking for the problem.

He somehow found the inspiration to tackle the house batteries. First he topped up the chassis batteries with the distilled water and let them charge a bit to mix the electrolyte.

The house batteries looked good--just a bit of dust which was easy to brush off and this tray worked just fine. There was no sigh of corrosion on any of the terminals and all the cells that could be reached tested good with the hydrometer. The last three cells on the inner batteries can't be accessed without disconnecting the battery cables as the positive cables are too short to let the tray pull all the way out.

Friday drew to a close with yet another ho-hum sunset. Boring!

The water in the foreground is the estuary just about ready to break through. I would like to catch is as it starts and take a series of pictures as the estuary discharges; starting from a trickle to a fast flowing stream, cutting quite a deep channel in a relatively short time.

Saturday, last day of Carnival

In front of El Manglar Saturday morning it looked like the estuary had broken through during the night and the waves were already in the process of rebuilding the sandbar.

This morning Peter gave Art a ride to the GM dealer were he had a talk with the service manager—they would look at the vehicle Monday. Art gave him the list of things that needed to be done—including the driver's seat belt that is hard to release. On the way back they stopped at CM for a bag of ice and to visit the bank machine—we needed some cash to pay Peter for the solenoid he had brought down for us and to pay Gillian's dental work on Monday, as well as what the car was going to cost. Fortunately the Canadian dollar had regained some of its position and we got 12 pesos to the dollar.

During the afternoon we just lazed around and at 5:30 caught a taxi to go into town for the last night of Carnival, hoping to catch at least part of the parade. The taxi was unable to get even off the La Ropa road to centro—the police had the road for the parade. Art suggested that the taxi drop us off at the end of Calle Adelita where we could take a foot bridge over the canal and just be a short walk to the basketball court where the parade would end and the entertainment would be. The taxista was quite surprised that we knew the area so well!

As the taxi proceeded along Adelita we could hear the parade on the other side of the canal, but by the time we walked in to the front things were pretty quiet, nothing starting yet so we strolled a few blocks in to Zorro's sports bar for a drink. Half an hour later we could hear the noise approaching so we walked the two blocks to callle Cinco de Mayo where we spent the next couple of hours watching the parade roll by, just a few feet away.

Spectacular and imaginative floats, wonderful costumes, dancers—one of whom dragged Gillian out into the street to take part. As the last floats approached we set off back to the basketball court. Not a chance to get close enough to see anything, let alone cross the road through the parade, which was still passing this final point. We were hoping to go to one of the beachfront restaurants for dinner but opted instead to head inland a block to two and settled on Hija del Capitan. We all had lasagne with salad and garlic bread which we all enjoyed very much.

PICKS TO COME

Art had been on his feet for long enough by now so he flagged a passing taxi and headed home. Not before however giving Gillian the key to the RV Park gate! Gillian carried on with Peter and Celine to investigate more of the end of Carnival. Art got home just in time—as he walked through the gate the staff was just leaving, locking up behind them!

Some time ago the plastic tip on the latch for the screen door broke off. Trekker's favorite location is sitting on the steps watching the world go by--It was only a matter of time before he realised that it wasn't quite closed and that a little gentle nose pressure would yield great results. Art scrounged around looking for something suitable and settled on a wooden clothes peg as a stop gap (pun intended) measure. Not pretty but it works. So far.

Sunday

The estuary is starting to fill again after being drained the yesterday. The level is still down a couple of feet. I will try to post a series of pictures showing the cycle of the estuary draining, the waves and tide rebuilding the sand bar and the estuary re-filling. Watch this space!

Not much doing today; walked the dogs, did a bit of house cleaning, lunch in the restaurant watching the squirrel with a small coconut. Trekker thought that was interesting!

It was quite windy for much of the day which kept things relatively cool though we did put the AC on for a while this afternoon to cool the interior of the rig to make it a bit more comfortable to work in. You can see the wind on the beach; one of the parasail operators was able to get up in the air without a boat; just the rope just tied off to a beached sea-do!

Oh Yeah! We watched the Olympics thanks to our satellite system!

And of course it's Valentine's day.

To celebrate this day we went to dinner at Zihua Blue, a restaurant with a 5 star reputation. We have been meaning to go for years, but heard that though good it was very expensive. But what the heck; Damn the expense—full speed ahead.

We had not made a reservation so of course we did not get a table overlooking the bay but we weren't stuck in a blind corner either. Besides the regular menu which was extensive (Art wants to go back to try the Duck a l'Orange) they had a complete 54 course dinner;

Appies of vol au vont with pate and a cheese ball of goat cheese, grape and ground nuts.

Shrimp salad in a vinegret.

Vichisoise

choice of Filet Mignon in mushroom sauce or Mahi Mahi with lemon capers

white chocolate mouse

We both went with the Filet Mignon, ordered a bottle of Madero Syraz (Mexican) which was very good.

We relaxed for a while over with espressos while listening to the very pleasant voice, guitar and panpipes of the musician.

Of course we forgot the camera again!

Back home we sat back to let our dinner settle while we watched Alexandre Bilodeau bring home Canada's first Gold Medal of the games.

more picks to come

February record rain, SailFest, Super Bowl

This post is almost complete--but going to try to post links to more pics.

Here is a link to a map of most of Zihuatanejo:

http://www.zihuatanejo.net/images/maps/owenmap.html

Centro is the area from the top of the map down to Playa Principal. El Manglar Restaurant and RV Park is on Playa la Ropa, at the end of the road that is third from the bottom. The road to Cerro Del Vigia doesn't really end at Playa Las Gatas; it is about 1,000 feet above it. To get to Playa Las Gatas you either have to scramble across the rocks at the base of the cliff or take a boat. There is a water taxi from centro.

Unfortunately it is not possible to walk the beach to centro. The road between Playa La Ropa and Playa Madera climbs high above the beach there. The rocks shown on the map are at the base of the cliffs, which support a variety of hotels. To walk the beach to centro it is necessary to walk a very steep pedestrian way to the road, along the road for a bit then down hill to Playa Madera.

A note on a couple of beach names; two are named after shipwrecks that occurred in the bay. The one to the south resulted in a large quantity of clothing and fabric washing up on the beach, hence Playa La Ropa. Ropa=clothes. The one futher north was the repository of masses of timbers. Madera is Spanish for lumber.

We'll try to find out what Cats had to do with the bay around the corner (Las Gatas)

Tuesday February 2^nd, Start of SailFest!

We woke very early this morning to the typical sound of rain pouring down, drumming on the roof. For several hours the rain was accompanied by the rumbling of thunder and flashes of lightning. Sounds normal? Not for us--we thought we had escaped the wet, dark, dreary Victoria winter weather by taking our motorhome to Mexico!

Dog walking today involved a bathing suit and rummaging through cupboards for rain gear!

Zihuatanejo locals tell us that they have never seen rain in February but are happy for the rain as last summer, the rainy season,was far drier than normal so they need the life giving water.

We heard from others in the park that in town water was spewing out of the storm drain manholes up to a metre high!

More pics to come when I figure out how to do the link to Picasa photo albums.

Current temperature about 22C, thinking of the furnace!

We later discovered that we got off easy--only minor damage here in Z. Other parts of the country were hit much harder:

Here is a link to a news video of the flooding in the town of Tuxpan, Michoacan, which is located about 20 kilometres due west of the town of Rosario at the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, which we visited 4 years ago. The sanctuary is now closed to the public due to severe damage and danger of slides. The town of Rosario destroyed. It is a day's drive by car from here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/feb/05/mexican-floods-kill-three-michoacan

As we mentioned earlier, this is Sail Fest week—The rain and the depressed economy may result in less than the target total though the response from the merchants has been excellent.

Tuesday was the opening party and live auction which unfortunately because of the rain (though it had decreased for the time being) to mostly shower had to be moved inside to Ricks Bar. This made for a very crowded and smoky environment so we didn't stay long. The crush around the bar was so thick we gave up trying to push through and ventured a few doors down and bought a couple of cold beer from a small variety store. We hung around the area for a while then headed home.

Wednesday evening we went to the SailFest Benefit Concert at El Pueblito Restaurants, always a great evening. Though there were a lot of no-shows (who had at least paid for their tickets in advance) the crowd was better than we expected. Since the road in front of the RV Park was flooded about 6 inches deep and the car still under the collapsed cover and soaking wet, we phoned for a taxi which as usual arrived promptly and we were dropped at the restaurant door—no hunting for a parking place. Taxi fare: 40 pesos—about 3.50.

Two our favorite local musicians were there, Jimi Mamou and Josie Kuhn and several others that we hadn't heard before. Two whose names we remember were Juanito Zihua, and a Canadian jazz and blues singer, Michelle Lavalle. Michelle plays once a week in a restaurant about 5 minutes walk from here so we will certainly hear her again. We stayed until closing, a bit after 11:00 and caught a ride home with one of the other Canadians here in the park.

Thursday again by taxi we sloshed on to Centro for the Chili Contest and silent auction. Here Art found that he had won a raffle prize: dinner for two at a beachfront restaurant—TATA's. Before some of our incorrigible friends make comments on the name, it's the owners surname. This could be embarrassing, as this was one of donations Art had obtained—but only after several visits. He will feel uncomfortable using a gift certificate that he had filled out! We'll have to find a deserving person to give it to.

Pics above, Tanya of Hija del Capitan and a competitor with a secret ingredient! Or a bribe?

We stayed at the chili contest to sample taste 5 of the 10 offerings, and cast our vote—done by placing a bean in the corresponding container. We still haven't heard who won, but there was a wide variety to choose from, from a white bean and chicken to chipotle flavoured chili.

Gillian trying Lorenzo's entry. Lorenzo is the SailFest Chairman. Don't know how he found time to make chili!

We bid unsuccessfully on a few items in the silent auction then decided to return home so went in search of a taxi. This was the first time we have ever been on the front near the basketball court without a row of taxis waiting. We spotted one as we approached but another couple beat us to it. We started walking towards the main street and in about half a block a taxi showed up. Another set of clothes to hang in the motorhome to dry!

Friday dawned with a big yellow thing in the sky! The sun was back. As soon as he had had a cup of tea Art started getting the laundry together—he had planned to do it last Monday but slept in a bit—the laundromat gets busy after 9:00 AM and there can be a wait for the machines. So he ha decided that manana would be fine. Ha! That's when the rain came down, the canopy came down, the car was soaked inside. . .

So Friday morning, prop up the canopy, bail out the car—there was an inch or two of water in the footwells and the carpet in the back was soaked—load up with dirty clothes and off to Centro. Although he was a bit late there was still parking in front of the Lavanderia and two vacant machines—one large one (huge--will take 27Kg!) which took most of the towels,bedding and coloured stuff and a regular sized front loader for the rest. Feed them their tokens then down the street to Margaritas for breakfast and to read the newspaper.

Lots of stories of the damage done by the rain and the municipality's response to it. It made for interesting (though slow) reading. Art thinks that he gets best value for money buying the local papers: about 40 cents worth of Spanish language newspaper takes him about as long to read as a second hand 4 dollar English language paperback!

Breakfast and a couple of articles later the laundry was ready for the dryer—one very large dryer did the lot in half an hour. While waiting he wandered down to another restaurant (Zihua Pancake House) for an espresso and to continue with his newspaper.

Total cost; laundry, 125 pesos, 80 for the breakfast, 5 more for the paper, the espresso was 25, another 50 for a kids jigsaw puzzle map of Mexico (why?) and detour to the mercado for fish for dinner (mackerel) 60 pesos.

A morning out on his own?—Priceless! :)

By evening, most everything except the car mats were dry. Those will take several days.

Art cooked the fish as recommended by the man he brought it from; pound the filets flat (they weren't very thick to start with) then breaded with lots of garlic and whatever other seasoning comes to mind, saute in butter (used butter and olive oil). It was actually was quite edible!

One half of one filet was enough for the two of us, the dogs got the the other half (without the breading garlc and seasoning) for their breakfast in the morning along with a bit of left over rice. And we still have half a fish left! Probably fish tacos for us and dogie food with the rest.

We are going to have to start making food for Trekker as he is rapidly running low on his dog food. We bring food for him because of his allergies—grain--and it is almost impossible to get grain free dog food in Mexico. Some how we had miscalculated in Arizona when we stocked up.

Saturday Feb 6^th

Sunny again this morning, Gillian and our friend Anna went of to “Curves” (a gym). We laid out the grass ground mats to dry a bit more and when Gillian got back from town she parked the car in the sun with doors open to continue the drying process. Its going to take a few more days.

In spite of all the rain and excess water on the roads, fields and in the ditches, Zihuatanejo has been out of water for the past while. It started with an illegal strike by the waterboard employees last week, we're not sure what the current problem is. Water does not flow to every area all the time, it's on a rotating schedule with each property filling holding tanks when there is water in the mains . For the time being water is brought in by tanker truck (“pipa”). The water is free—just pay for the trucking!

Sunday started with quite a lot of white fluffy clouds, some with quite dark undersides—a bit ominous but by 10:30 skies were clear. Art again took the camera down through the restaurant to the beach and noticed that though the ocean waves and tides are building up the sand, the estuary was still filling, very close to breaking through the sand and draining again. These two pictures were taken about 22 hours apart. One yesterday around noon, the second this morning. It will be interesting what tomorrow morning looks like.





After breakfast and a short dog walk it was off to the grocery store to stock up. Art has decided that in the interest of science and economics he is going to try making his own Margaritas! Therefore first items on the list were: tequila, controy (generic Mexican Cointreau) limes and jarabe (sugar syrup). This had him off on another scent: he also picked up a dozen smoked chile flavoured wieners and a container of tomato sauce for tonight's game get together.

OK, OK, here is the top secret recipe:

Chop a bunch of wieners into a pot. Pour in some tequila and controy, squeeze in a bunch of lime juice, (about equal to the tequila volume) add a chopped chili or two if you want, add some sweetener—jarabe if you're a margarita purist--but Art used brown sugar for the flavour. Stir in some tomato sauce and put on the stove. Art put it on the BBQ as it is too hot to cook inside if you don't have to. If the mixture looks too wet don't worry about it, just let it simmer longer! If too dry. . . . do you really have to be told to add more tequila? After a while taste the sauce to see what you need to add more of. Oh. Gillian says don't forget the salt! Put some in at the beginning. Not too much though.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday—a bit of tradition in the park even though many of us aren't American football enthusiasts. Brian and Arlene set up a TV borrowed from Cal in front of their 5^th wheel. We all get together and enjoy the fun, food, companionship and the rivalry which seems to depend more on pool scores drawn than team favourites.

Before the game however we had to attend the windup SailFest BBQ at Playa Madera. Here were the last speeches and presentations—the sailor who placed last in the pursuit race was presented with a phone—so next time he was out so long he could call home and let everyone know he was all right! Lots of laughter and applause.

We couldn't always hear the announcements clearly, but we think that a Canadian boat, a catamaran from BC called Pantera, was first to finish.

Another fund-raiser for the sailors—every minute of engine use cost 10 pesos (about 80 cents).

We walked along the path above the water at the south end of Playa Madera ( actually, this section is probably more correctly Playa Caracol) to Calle Adelita and walked to the end where we found a single vacant taxi at the stand. We waved from a block a way and were soon back at the RV Park just in time:

The game was about to start. Though neither of us are football fans by any stretch, this is always good fun. Art put his Margarita Wieners back on to simmer until half time, grabbed a beer and sat down just as the game began. Gillian missed the first quarter walking the dogs, and didn't win on the pool ticket that Art had bought her. He didn't win on his either!

We had a great time snacking throughout the first half and at half time grabbed a platefull of hot food--chicken, ribs, chili, Art's wieners etc and watched the half time show. Keith commented about The Who--"Geez, are they still working? If they had invested their money properly they could be retired by now like us!"

Teaser for next blog entry:

Gillian bolted awake at dark o'clock this morning to the sound of rain on the roof once again! She dashed outside to put the tarp over the back windows of the car while Art snoozed on peacefully.

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End of January

Monday the 25^th was the start of canvasing local merchants asking for donations of goods or services for SailFest raffles and auctions, which would take place early in February. Talk about an opportunity to practice speaking Spanish with the locals!

Here are a couple of links that will tell you a bit of what SailFest is all about:

http://www.zihuasailfest.com/

http://www.losninos.us/

We had been invited over to Paul and Linda's condo to visit with mutual friends Steve and Nancy who had just arrived. Gillian came by car and Art by taxi from centro where he had been out begging. We had a great time as always, catching up and chatting and were hugely entertained by our friend Julia' story about going to see a Vet (yes as in Veterinarian) in Ixtapa about her various ailments which had been giving her more than usual discomfort—Fibromyalgia, arthritis etc.

According to the story, the vet had his own medical problems and was not getting relief from his doctor or pharmacist and began to explore alternative medicine including herbal remedies and acupuncture. He was so impressed with the results that he began to really look into the subject and finally took a leave from his veterinary practice to study in China and returned to qualify as an holistic practitioner. He now continues to practice both professions, his veterinary clinic on one side, his human patients are seen next door!

Art is considering consulting him about his frozen shoulder. We'll let you know how that comes out!

All this week we were busy going from business to business, having to frequently return several times as the boss was not in the shop.

On the 22^nd we attended a Rotary Benefit for sick or handicapped children at the Catalina Hotel. Jimi Mammu played for a while before leaving for his usual Friday night gig at Daniels. Our friend and neigbour Colin played and sang and kept everyone entertained and dancing. Well almost everyone. Art decided that he has spent enough time on his feet already, especially considering the 100 or so stairs down to the lounge from the main entrance!

Art took the mic at one point while waiting for the raffle to start and spoke about his year in hospital as a child recovering from polio, reminding people that kids are amazingly resilient and to not to forget the parents, who often suffer more than the child.

Returning home we were offered a ride by golf cart up the road where we caught a taxi home.

As we pulled up the the now locked gates at the RV Park we realised that neither of us had brought the key! We keep it in the car but of course the car was behind the gate. Art wishes he had remembered the camera—Gillian rolling under the gate in her long dress would have made an interesting post on the blog!

Some time during this period we realised that we hadn't seen our friends Dieiter and Anna, who's motorhome is opposite ours, all day and their car had been gone all night. We soon heard from other friends that Deiter was in the hospital with an as yet undiagnosed abdominal problem. To make what to us (and them for sure) a long story short, Deiter was suffering from severe food poisoning, probably from eating ceviche. Several days of gastric lavage and antibiotics he was soon back with us, though looking a little tired! Within a few days he was his old self.

We spent most of the 25^th to 29^th canvasing centro for donations. We found it interesting and challenging as well as fun and rewarding but were glad when we were finished!

On Wednesday Gillian had to interrupt her canvasing for another trip to the dentist for the permanent crown—total cost 4200 pesos. ($350.00 Canadian)

She returned to her rounds in centro later in the day and when done she called Art on his cell to come and meet her for dinner at Paccolo's restaurant and to bring her a clean shirt.

Sporting a clean blouse, the SailFest T shirt draped over her bag, we sat down to eat at a table overlooking sidewalk. Across the street Art spotted Kenny at La Playa Bar, which is downstairs from La Hija de la Capitan, and owned by them. We exchanged waves as our drinks arrived.

Dinner was fine, though the glass of wine Gillian ordered to accompany her pizza was, not to put to fine a point on it, crap. Art told the waiter he made better wine in his basement! The wine was exchanged for beer without argument or cost.

When we arrived home, Gillian's SailFest T shirt was nowhere to be seen! Next day our first stop was at Paccolo's where she recovered her shirt.

Thursday arrived on schedule but unfortunately not up to standard—overcast! Art as he frequently does in the morning wandered down to the restaurant camera in hand and managed a few pics. Today a couple of cruise ships were in the bay, offering a contrast to the usual vessels. The cruise ship shown is the Arcaia, of P&O

In the evening after we had done our canvasing we met John and Angela for drinks at Porto di Mare, where we knew the bartender. Art greeted him with “Hola Tocayo! (a Mexican expression for two people with the same name.) and we passed a very pleasant half hour or so before heading over the bridge to Lety's Restaurant, of which we had heard great things but never proved.

Over the bridge, stairs up then down and a short distance up the road to the restaurant. Art was heard quoting from an old Dave Allen skit: “More bleedin'g stairs!” The climb was worth it; the food supurb. We have since heard from a friend that there is another restaurant in the area that is at least as good and much cheaper. It's on the list.

As we walked back to the car where Trekker and Tia awaited we realised that the tracker had only two seats. (John and Angela had come by taxi.) John and Gillian rode in the back with Tia and Trekker!

Don't remember what else we did on Sunday but Art took several photos at or around El Manglar: The one year old in the picture is Esmeralda, the waiter's daughter. She is quite shy with us, but has no fear of the dogs.

These are high resolution photos. Click for more detail.

The last day of the month we decided to try another well known restaurant, Capricho's. We had been before in previous years, but had had to sit in the outer part near the street. This time, after having a drink while we waited for a table in the courtyard, we were seated next to the guitarist, Ruben Reyes, who was playing Al Hambra as we entered—one of our favourites.

Again, another wonderful meal, great music at a very reasonable price.

Iguana and heron in the mangrove trees alongside the restaurant. Memo and Steve relaxing.

A great end for another wonderful month in Zihuatanejo. One more to go before we head inland and north.

January, 3 rd week

Friday, January 15th

Ever since our first visit to Zihuatanejo we have enjoyed reading “Another Day In Paradise“ magazine. http://www.adip.info and this year is its 10^th anniversary. We attended their reception at the Zihuatanejo Museum. There was a display of local volunteer organizations, artists, beer, wine and of course music. And, unexpectedly wind and rain. Perhaps I should say WIND AND RAIN.

It started with a light shower and as people began to trickle in under cover it increased in intensity to a veritable downpour, accompanied by a tempest of wind. It blew in the open doorway and down the open courtyard, swirling round every which way, spraying the rain everywhere—including the electric guitars and amplifiers and the beautiful original paintings on display

Some of us ran to protect the art work, others to pull the plugs on the amplifiers; someone arrived with a key to an empty store room for the paintings, then the lights went out! Candles appeared in tables and ledges and the party continued—fortunately the bar didn't use an electronic till—just a cardboard box!

We hadn't eaten yet so we asked Tanya, the owner of a restaurant called Hija del Capitan (the Captain's Daughter) if her restaurant would be open during the power outage—she said probably, phoned her brother Kenny to be sure, so we headed over there for dinner. This restaurant used to be called the Captain's when it was owned by her father! The power came back on before we were finished dinner and was on back at Playa La Ropa when we got back.

Fortunately we had left the dogs home, as the car, without the rear window and side curtains, was soaked inside—it took 3 days to dry out!

Wednesday, Jan 20^th This morning Art wandered through the restaurant at the park to the beach as he often does, just for a look and as usual took the camera, hoping for some wildlife pictures. It may be hard to see but close examination will reveal the track on the sand left by a crocodile going from the lagoon to the bay. No return track—he may be still out there somewhere among the swimmers!

Croc tracks on beach, Click for a close up.

While Art was playing with the camera and just lazing about, Gillian was off to see the dentist for a crown. She got the temporary one in and will return next week for the permanent one.

While she was away he did find time to locate the phone number of an A/C guy here in Zihuatanejo, called him around noon and was promised they would come around after 4. The crew arrived promptly at 4!

They eventually diagnosed a faulty circuit board which of course is not available in Mexico. After some poking around and discussion they got the compressor working by wiring it directly. Some more poking about and measuring voltage and current in various places they put a jumper in place and closed it up. We now have cooling but will replace the board when we get into the USA or back into Canada which ever is easier.

We'll have to keep an eye on things, not sure what we are missing with the jumper rather than the board deciding when the compressor should run.

It will be nice to be able to lower the humidity a bit!

That evening we drove into centro to dine at El Mediteraneo, an Italian restaurant on the Paseo del Pescador opposite the main beach where during the day fishermen sell their catch. The food was excellent as usual, prices reasonable but not as cheap as some locales, much less expensive and just as good or better then others. The owner, Julien, stopped by for a quick word—Art had met him over coffee at The Zihua Pancake House last year and continues to run into him there from time to time--usually while Art is waiting for the laundry!