Just a Ho Hum Day!

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita, Mexico

Today was a computer type of day.  Everyone seemed to have a project on their computers.  Today was the first day of booking campsites for any British Columbia Parks, so John and Lauren were both working against the odds to get the ones they wanted for the summer.  And Sue was starting to work on a project that her and Lauren had dreamed up.

When I say I go for a walk after supper downtown it is usually dark by that time.  Let me show you part of the trip downtown.  There are 2 big dogs down this street that I am showing you, Bruno, and Luna.  They have a terrifying bark and are actually guard dogs, but with a few treats and meeting them outside their fences in the daytime, we have become good buddies.  You may ask if I am concerned for my safety on these walks?  Not in the least.  The people here are the friendliest in the entire world I'm sure and if I ever needed help because of a trip or fall, I could knock on any door along this dark alley, and they would welcome me into their home and fix me up.  The only real danger is tripping in a hole in the road or stepping in a pile of doggie doo doo.  

Tonight, I had to get a couple things downtown and met up with Kenia who was on her way to the Carnival to play a couple games, so I went with her.  Its only a couple blocks from the store.  We played the marble game which cost 15 pesos and won an intermediate prize.  There are not a lot of people here tonight because it is Monday.  Tomorrow is the big day with a parade and all.

Kenia chose a bubble thingy because she is expecting to spend some time with her niece Kataleen in the near future.  She is always so thoughtful about things like that.

Us gringos are really good at brutalizing the Spanish language.  One of our big mistakes is putting emphasis on the wrong syllables in words.  And when we try to ask or explain things in English to a Mexican, we look very stupid, because we tend to revert to baby talk first, then we start to yell like we think louder is easier to understand, and then we just try in a whole bunch of ways to tell them what we are trying to say, which just compounds the problem.  We don't really understand how bad of a job we do until we try to teach a Mexican some English.  We get a lot of good laughs here while we try our best to learn to communicate.  It always reminds me of the Mexican Word of the Day Cartoons.  I wonder if Mexicans have Gringo Word of the Day Cartoons???   Goodnight!!

Dinner and Fireworks

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita, Mexico

Today we have been invited to the old La Penita RV Park that we started our Mexican adventure in, to participate in the day's activities.  With all the crazy Covid stuff, they have been limiting people visiting from outside the park, but they are sick of it and have thrown the gates wide open.  We made lots of friends in our stay there and today was the day for us to go say howdy!!  We were invited to join washer toss at 3 pm so that's when we headed up.  Louise and Joel had put our names down on the entry sheet, so we had to make an appearance.  Sue was on a team with George, and I was teamed up with Marge.  Neither of us got a sniff of the winner's circle. 

Susan was the score keeper for a game or two.

After washer toss it was time for hamburger night.  All the profits from hamburger night go to the education fund which provides financing for students to attend University, and we are always happy to contribute in some small way.

After supper there was a special treat performance by a group in the park who put on a dinner theater for our entertainment.   It was a play that was written and produced by Scott Wilson and was quite well done.  It was a murder mystery entitled Margarita's and Mayhem!!  

George won a bottle of wine because his number was chosen from the buckets where they guessed who done it!!

We got home just before Blair lit off the fireworks he had purchased downtown earlier in the week.  It was actually a good show.  Thanks Blair.

This day went out with a bang!!  Goodnight!!

A Night With the Kids at the Festival

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita, Mexico

This morning we woke up to a familiar sounding beep beep beep.  2 years ago, in La Penita RV park the bread truck used to roll in and it had a unique sounding horn.   I recognized it immediately and saw them driving by our gate.  I waved them to stop and backed them into our parking lot and the people came from all over the park.  Fred had talked to them about coming a couple weeks ago and they never came, so today they decided to drive by, and I think they were glad they did.  They sold lots of stuff and promised to be back next Saturday morning.

I'm not really sure why I am including this picture of Jeff, but I am!!!  He would like the world to know that he is young, handsome, athletic, rich, and single!!!  He says when he grows up, he would like to be a dentist!  Too late, he already was one!!  He is the manager of Numero Uno Boutique RV Park and Suites where we hang out.

We got all filled up with all manner of pastries and tasty treats to the point where we spent the rest of the day lazing and getting prepared for a big night on the town tonight.  Remember the festival is in town and tonight we promised the kids we would spend some time there with them and have some fun.  So about 7:30 we headed downtown to have some fun. First things first, we got Oscar and Journey on some rides.  They were all smiles and enjoyed themselves for the most part.  Oscar's stomach couldn't take the swings and he had to have a break.

Harold had won at the throw the rock and win a beer contest a couple years ago, so he tried again and sure enough he won another beer!!!

Then Journey and Kenia got to conspiring to win something as well.  Journey thought maybe Kenia would be good at the gun game.  I think she had to talk her into it.

Once the gun was in hand, they slowly went over the rules.  I got this; Kenia says!!

Look out ducks here I come.  How do you load this thing anyway??

Journey says to herself "self, things are not looking good so I'm gonna grab a gun and help out".

Well, all in all there were not many prizes to be had in this game and no one got hurt or shot, but it was fun!!  I think the poor Carney was a bit nervous with the girls waving the guns around.

Oscar gave it a couple tries as well to no avail.

The big girls were full of giggles tonight and were doing the typical teenager stuff.  Kenia's best friend Alejandra had some time off from her studies to party tonight.  She is studying to be a doctor.

Kenia and Josie took us out for some supper about 10 pm.  We rode in the back of Josies truck.  We are almost too old for that!!  We went to a quaint little restaurant in someone's living room and had pozole and tacos and tostadas. I didn't get any pictures!  It is a little different to eat that late.  Thanks Kenia and Josie for the supper.

It is very different for us to arrive home at 11 pm.  Archie wanted to play but it was bedtime, so Sue told him to quiet down.  Hope your day was great!!

Beer Can Races and the Festival is in Town

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita, Mexico

The ocean had some big waves today.  It wasn't exactly angry, but rather just showing its power.  It slams down quite aggressively and makes a resounding thump.  It is sort of a warning to pay attention.  If you are swimming in it, you never want to turn your back on it because the waves will knock you flat.  The kids love the challenge in this kind of water and laugh all day long.

The shrimp boats were working quite close to the shore today for some reason.  We rarely see them in this close.  

One of the things I used to enjoy at the big RV park was beer can races every Friday night.  They have been in lockdown up there all winter and are finally letting some of us outsiders to join in some of the activities they have.  We were uptown earlier this week and Paty and Wally invited me to come this Friday as the restrictions there have been relaxed.  I jumped at the chance and headed up there about 4:30 for the fun.  It was great seeing a bunch of the people we used to hang out with,.again.

The races are held in Skunk Hollow and there are a few peso's involved.  

It is like horse racing only with decorated beer cans

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They even have names.  This is Happy Jack.  I will show you another time why they call him that!!

This is a race car which was lucky for me once and won.

They have a table marked off in squares with numbered lanes.  You bet on which lanes will win the race.  

Sometimes they roll 4 dice and sometimes they have a steeple chase race.  It's all in good fun!!  They drop the dice in a sewer hose, and they come out the bottom into a pan.  Then the caller announces which numbers move.

At the end of 7 races, I went home 10 pesos ahead.  But the sucess was all the laughs everyone had.  On the way home I just happened to witness another sunset!!

 When I got home, Sue and I headed downtown to check out the festival.  On the way we stopped to pet our two favorite little puppies, Rikki and Sarah.

Tonight, is the first night and things are just getting set up.  There will be lots of activities for the kids and a big dance for the adults.  It all ends on Tuesday night with a big parade.

After touring around for a while, we stopped and had a delicious smoothie at Kenia's.

It sounds like a fun weekend for everyone so stay tuned for more.  In the meantime, think about this.  It is all too true!!  Goodnight.