Saturday 29 February 2020

Supper out

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

We did normal things all day long today.  If I put pictures of our day here you would be bored silly.  We swam in the pool, did grocery shopping, watched some whales, and just generally lived life.  Around 4 o'clock George and Henny who were our neighbours in the RV Park came to spend the evening with us.  We sat on our patio for a while and then moved down to the palapa.  There is always something interesting going on, on the ocean.  We saw some fishermen getting their nets ready for tonight's fishing and a few fish jumping in the water in front of us.

Friday 28 February 2020

Just a Regular day

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

We headed back downtown to the doctors again today to let him check me out again.  My ear has gotten better just in one day so everyone is happy.  We asked him how much for the appointment and he said nothing!!  We did leave him a little tip.  After that we went wandering on the hilly side of town.  It is a poorer end of town with lots of overrun properties but so typically Mexican.  The streets are cobblestone from many years ago and have to be like that because when it rains, the water rushes down the streets and would wash them away if not for the stones.

Thursday 27 February 2020

More Exciting Things.

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

I guess I should tell a little story here.  You have probably noticed that Kenia has been with us a lot down here.  She is a young lady who was a waitress at the RV park when we arrived in La Penita and she worked for her aunt Cecie.  When we first met her we saw a young ambitious lady who is coming to that critical fork in the road where she will have to decide which way to go.  She is single with no kids which is good because the average age of motherhood here is 15 I am told.  She knows a bit of English but needs to know more to get a good job.  She has been to baking school and is talented in that field, but her ambition is to work in emergency services as a paramedic.  That requires her to take more education and learn more English.  Now she could do that here in Mexico and will probably take her medical education here, but in the meantime we have offered to bring her to Canada for the summer and immerse her in some English culture.  So before she can come, she has to have a passport which is tricky because she is 17 and does not live with her parents. So we have had to chase down signatures from her parents allowing her to apply which has finally happened.  So today we went to complete the paperwork needed for the passport.  She was told today that she only needs a notary public to endorse the mother and fathers signatures and she will get her passport.  We are pretty excited to see how hard she has worked to make all of this happen.  We are confident she will fit in well in Canada this summer and hopefully learn and see lots of different things.

Wednesday 26 February 2020

Friends come for Supper

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

I'm going to give you a little more of a tour of our new yard.  We are amazed at how much cooler it is here with the breeze that comes off the ocean almost continually.   We are actually closer to the pool than we were at the last park, and we are certainly are closer to the ocean.  And there is lots of green grass for Charlie to walk on with his tender feet.

Tuesday 25 February 2020

Carnival Day

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Today was the last day of the Carnival here in La Penita so we all decided to go see the parade again.  It was supposed to be bigger than the one last week, and it was, but it was as slow as molasses in January.  When we got down town about 4:30 or so the streets were blocked off and the cars were mostly gone.

Monday 24 February 2020

And the Surprise is???

WHERE ARE WE?  Boutique RV Park and Suites, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION?  Guadalajara MX.

The other day I told you that a little surprise was on the horizon for Monday.  So now I have shown you all a little bit of what it is like to live in Mexico and experience the meaning of Manana.  Although this is Mondays blog, today is actually Wednesday and you have all been very patient, with the exception of a few prods in the comment section, so here is the news.

For the last 3 months we have walked to town on the beach and admired all of the beach front properties.  One of them had a little RV park with only room for smaller rigs.  It is right by the beach and one day I thought, mmmm,  I should go have a look so I did.  I met the maintenance guy Sergio and asked him for some information about the park.  He took me to meet Suzanne and Robert who are the owners.  Yes they only can handle smaller motorhomes, EXCEPT for the one spot in the back which can take up to 40 feet and guess what!!!  It became available that very morning!  We arranged to have lunch with them and worked out a deal.  The lady in the spot has bought a house and will be moving when her house is ready in a few weeks.  We felt really good about this spot and the owners and Sergio.  We think it will be a quiet little retreat for us.  So today the few week wait is over and we moved here to Boutique RV Park and Suites right on the ocean!!!!

Sunday 23 February 2020

A Busy Sunday

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION?  Something is in the works.

Sunday was a busy day in the park.  Today was the second poker walk of the season.  Now at home they have poker runs but here in the old geezer park we have poker walks.  Its starts at 11 and the bar is open at 10:30.   You go to 5 different RV sites to draw a card and have a drink and visit for a while.  They have hot dogs at a couple of spots so you cant go hungry!!  The last site is at the pool where you draw your last card.  If you remember the first poker walk, Sue and I each won for our hands and everyone gave us the gears.   Well guess what?   We won again this time.  Second place this time but everyone really got on our case!!  It was all in good fun.

Saturday 22 February 2020

Checking out the Carnival

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Today was another easy day around here.  We did get some exciting news today which we will share with you on Monday!!  I know, I know, we can't wait either!!!! So because nothing happened until evening, I didn't take any pictures of nothing in the afternoon!  So lets just move right to the evening.  I took a walk into town to check the carnival.  This Carnival is not for tourists but rather for the local Mexicans.  Now because I am nieve, I just thought it would be a couple taco stands with a couple vendors.  Well was I surprised.  They had a stage set up that was similar to the ones they set up for rock concerts and stuff back home.  They had an awesome kiddy midway, and a whole bunch of games of chance.  Lots of lights and music going on.

Friday 21 February 2020

Friends leave and a Parade

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Yesterday our neighbour Michelle came over to tell us that due to a family situation back home they will be packing up and heading out for home on Friday morning.  Her and Tim are from Pennsylvania so they have a lot of miles ahead of them.   Rob and Ann will be going with them for the first part of the way out of Mexico.  So there was a lot of hustling to get hooked up and ready tonight.

Thursday 20 February 2020

Kenia's New Business

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Wednesday night after I had posted we got in the Jeep and went to check out Kenia's new business.  She has always wanted to do a "Better than Starbucks" sort of little bar so she has set one up outside her Casa.  Tonight was opening night and we got together with Pat and Harold and George and Henny and went down to try out what she had.  The name she has chosen is Mini Pops Kenia.  I have no idea of the significance of the name but we will go with it.  She has set up a couple tables right outside her house and put up some pretty lights and a menu and off we go.

Wednesday 19 February 2020

Anniversary and a couple Birthdays.

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Well not much has happened for me in the last few days.  I'm just going to put 3 days into 1.  I failed to mention that Sue had the same cold as me last week and has since recovered.  So she is good to do things now which lets me just hang out in bed feeling sorry for myself.  She went out for supper with some of our friends to celebrate their Anniversary at Mario's which is right near the park.  I might mention that it was Harold's birthday that day also and Sues was the next day so they covered a lot of bases.  Happy Birthday Harold and Sue!!

Sunday 16 February 2020

Boy Soup

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

So whenever our grand daughter Grace stays overnight with us, my job is to read her a bedtime story.  Since she was wee little, her favorite book has been Boy Soup!!   It is a story of a Giant who gets a man cold and the only cure is boy soup.  It is a good book and the boys don't end up in the soup.  Anyway this book describes to a "T" what Grampa is going through right now.  This is for you Grace!

Saturday 15 February 2020

A Special Baptism

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Lots of action around today.  We are going to a Baptism today and here is a picture of all the candidates!!  NOT!!!  We will do that later.  But they did have a park pool volley ball tournament and it draws a big turn out.  They had 4 teams of 10 I think and they played in a double knock out tournament.  It was an awesome day weather wise with just a little overcast but temperatures around 25C.  Lots of hooting an hollering and splashing went on.  I'm not a volley ball player so I passed on encouragement from the sidelines.

Friday 14 February 2020

El Dia del Amor y la Amistad!!

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Valentines Day in Mexico is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm.  February 14 is celebrated as El Dia de San Valentin, but it's more commonly referred to as El Dia del Amor y la Amistad, the "day of love and friendship"!  That means if you want to celebrate like a Mexican, you shouldn't just focus all your attention on your beloved, but rather on your friends and family too!  I think I like that interpretation.

Thursday 13 February 2020

An Oil Change Maybe?

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Another of those Manana (manyana) days in my life.  If you remember I was to get the oil changed in the Ponderosa today at 10 o'clock here in the park.  The mechanic and his shop are just down the road from us so he is coming up here to change it so I don't have to move.  Well 10, 11, 12, 1 o'clock came and went and no oil change.  Not to worry because we have come to understand Mexican time.  So I go down to the shop to see what has happened.  One thing the Mexicans can do is come up with a good story real fast.  I love to hear them spin the magic yarn that makes a person go from wanting to yell at them to feeling sorry for them real fast.  So apparently Sergio who I talked to got real busy and had to go out and left Jose to get some oil and do the work.  Now Jose says he came up to the park to find me but he couldn't find me.   He said he look for big wiggly thing (flag) from Canada but no find!!!  I asked him if he went up the hill and he looked all puzzled and says "no hill!!"  By now I am feeling that all of this is my fault cause my directions weren't so great, but I'm positive I told them up the hill to Canadian Flag!!  (wiggly thing) and I don't think you can miss the flag!!  So I said when are you coming?  He says we no have oil until Manana!!  So the real reason is he can't find oil.  Lol.   So I ask him when he coming Manana.  He says 10 maybe 11 or right after lunch.  Hmmm lets see what happens.  Any bets???

Wednesday 12 February 2020

A Thank You Supper for Brian and Jolynn

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

When we woke up this morning Facebook showed us why we are in Mexico and not in Manitoba!!  The snow last night along with some wind made driving extremely treacherous.  And by morning the temperatures had dropped to a chilly -30C (-48C with the wind chill)!!  Crazy!  There are days when I just want to experience a good old blizzard, but that soon wears off when I step outside for my morning coffee without a shirt on and see this on Facebook!

Tuesday 11 February 2020

Zooooomba!!!

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Tuesday in the park!!!  Well where has time gone.  I went for a wee walk this morning down to see the ocean.  I have always said that watching the ocean is like watching a bonfire, you just sit an stare for no particular reason.   And it was no different today.  There was absolutely nothing happening out there, not even a boat, and yet I sat there for a good hour just looking.

Monday 10 February 2020

Banana Splits!!!

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

We have a local guy by the name of Ramone that comes around every day to do something.  His main gig is selling water but he also sells and rents potted plants.  When he is not doing that he is like a general contractor for everything and will hook anyone up with whatever they need done, from motorhome painting to cement work to tire fixing.  I asked him if he cleans chrome rims and of course he does!!  So I got him to do mine.  Mine are showing some surface corrosion so I asked him to get rid of it if he could.  He tried his best with what he had  but it wasn't working that well.  Now Mexico has more technology than you think and he immediately got out his iPhone and googled what he needs to do.  He said for today he will clean and polish as best as he can and later he will come back with a fix for the corrosion.   Manana!!!  My favorite word.  He actually did a good job of polishing them today!!


Sunday 9 February 2020

We Won!!

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

With all of the silly illness that has gone around the park in the last month or so, many of the people that we have associated with have gone into hiding because they just don't feel up to doing much.  The illness makes you feel like you have no energy and so it has been with us and friends Steve and Julie.  They are the people that we came with in the caravan and we got to know and appreciate them early in the season.   But we haven't had much to do with them in the last month.  So Julie says she is now feeling a lot better so we decided to go out for breakfast at a new little restaurant called Jacqueline Suzanne's Bistro, which is located in the Romantic Escapes RV park just down the beach from us.  It is a neat little restaurant and they serve a delicious upscale breakfast.  Today was opening day for them and they were quite busy.  Steve's sister Kathie and her friend Shirley joined us as well.  They will be heading home in a couple days so we toasted their safe travels.  We had the Eggs Benedict which was really delicious and Mimosa to start with.   We enjoyed a nice visit with all of them, but it was so nice to have the bubbly Julie back!!!

Sue, Steve, Julie, Shirley, Kathie, and the Ghost is Me!!

Saturday 8 February 2020

I May be Rich!!!

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Had a nice little walk on the beach again today.  I love the beach.  The ocean was agitated today.  There was lots of white water as the waves were swirled around the rocks.  The tide was the lowest I have seen since arriving here, so there were lots of rock shoals to mix the water up!!

Friday 7 February 2020

The Girls Trip to Tonala

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Today the girls returned from their trip to Tonala which is kinda a suburb of Guadalajara. Tonala is the place where most of the stuff you buy on the beach or in a local market comes from.  Five girls from the park jumped on a bus and took the 4 hour ride over there on Wednesday and came back today (Friday).  They went through a lot of different areas and saw lots of Agava being grown on the side hills.  This is what they make tequila out of.   Lots of little towns up in the hills.

Thursday 6 February 2020

Market Day

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while


Thursday is market day in La Penita and it is like some sort of a reverenced day for the white hairs of the park.  Absolutely nothing happens in the park and even the restaurant is closed for the day.  Now market is only from 10 - 2 and most people only go for an hour or so but I guess everyone is so played out from it that they need to take the rest of the day off.   So there is no reason to hang around the park so off to town and the market I went!!

Wednesday 5 February 2020

A Rare Kind of Post - 3 days in one

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Monday was a do nothing day because it is overcast and raining a bit.  When this happens we just stay put and catch up on chores and such.  I have very few pictures to entertain you with because I just don't want to bore you with silly pictures.  Well not much anyway but here is one from last week when Kenia and Sue were in Costco.  Kenia is a fun kid to be around and we have a lot of laughs with her.  They stopped for a quick snack!!!  Hardly a snack.  Almost a full course meal!!

Sunday 2 February 2020

Super Curl Sunday!!!

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Our hometown of Rivers Manitoba, Population 1200, just pulled off one of the best Manitoba  Provincial Scotties playdowns of all times.  I am a little biased, but if you don't believe me just call up any review of the 2020 Manitoba Scotties.  We have the most amazing little town and when we get an opportunity to shine, get out the sunglasses, cause it will be bright.  Congrats to all of the volunteers and I look forward to many more great things coming from this town.
 

Saturday 1 February 2020

Fixit Day

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Fixit day comes every once in a while around here.  Because some of my batteries are coming to the end of their life it seems like they are starting to leak a little bit around some of the posts.  That is ok except for the corrosion it causes.  So every once in a while I have to replace some battery cables.