Hola Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta, Jal, MX…Once again the return to the PNW in late July was over and it was time to go home.  When we arrived in Seattle/Lynnwood on July 23^rd it seemed that it would be eons before time to return would arrive.  However, between Dolores and I getting our annual and bi-annual physical checkups and retuning, visiting with family and friends, and doing the social scene, it was suddenly time to head back to Puerto Vallarta on November 3^rd.  The weather in Seattle had already turned (36 degrees F) at 4:00AM the morning of our departure to the airport via a scheduled Shuttle Express pickup.  The flight to PV, with a short time to walk around the San Francisco Airport, was uneventful except for a jarring landing in PV which had everyone gasping and buzzing.  Dolores asked the “driver” if a cow was on the runway and we left him smiling with his thumbs up and a promise to use that excuse in the future.   Even with the entire luggage load, Customs allowed us through with a green, but I noticed more than one raised eyebrow.

Our trip from the airport to our south end condo, accompanied by 8 pieces of luggage each weighing 49.5 pounds, was by a van (no room for others).  Our local niño’s were waiting to deliver our baggage into the condo which our maid had opened, cleaned, and aired out.  Weather was at its best and has remained perfect since our arrival!  The daytime highs are in the mid 80´s (F) and nighttime in the low 60´s.

As we approach the holiday season, our plans included a trip to the mountains at Hacienda Jalisco with Pam Thompson for Thanksgiving complete with deep-pit roasted turkey; a romantic Christmas dinner with friends; a toasting to the New Year with wonderful acquaintances; and watching football on New Year’s Day.  Yes, TeleCable has finally caught up with 89 regular plus 51 digital channels.  And after 3 years of putting up with marginal reception-to-no reception on many channels, several visits by TeleCable technicians, we finally have perfect clarity on all channels.  The problem (discovered by our “pool guy” and jack-of-all-trades) was a cross-threaded splitter.  Go figure!

Essence of Cuisine Cooking Classes have started with two scheduled for December, a slow but welcome delay for the 2012 Season.  At the moment we have activities scheduled daily, including the annual renewing of our FM 3´s.  We first arrived at the Immigration offices, INM,  last Monday only to discover that it was a holiday and the banks were closed.  Since we were able to get the form to pay the bank for the renewal and the formal submittal letter format, we left after tipping the guard for his help in parking the car.  The next morning we stopped at the bank, made our payment and returned to the INM Building, and parked our car.  We had made the decision to get professional assistance from next door in filling out the Personal Data sheets, in Spanish, making all the necessary copies, and getting all the pictures taken.  The guard upon seeing us rushed inside and got us our sequence number with the INM personnel (value of a tip and kind words).  By the time we were ready with all the paper work, $200 MXN each – the best investment of $ and time you can make in this process - and returned to the INM our sequence number had already been passed by four persons.  Being determined, when the next number was to be called, Dolores presented him with our number.  He firmly asked why we hadn´t been there when our number was called, Dolores just as firmly said she had been in the banjo.  Without any more question he processed us and we were away.  Pickup is January 9^th and I hope the banjo is still in service!

Feliz Navidad y un Feliz Año Nuevo a todos!

We´re Back in Paradise

Hola…Once again the return to the PNW in late July was over and it was time to go home.  When we arrived in Seattle/Lynnwood on July 23^rd it seemed that it would be eons before time to return would arrive.  However, between Dolores and I getting our annual and bi-annual physical checkups/retuning, visiting with family and friends, and doing the social scene, it was suddenly time to head back to Puerto Vallarta on November 3^rd.  The weather had already turned (36 degrees F) at 4:00AM the morning of departure to the airport via our scheduled pickup by Shuttle Express.  The flight to PV, with a short time to walk around the San Francisco Airport, was uneventful except for a jarring landing in PV which had everyone gasping and buzzing.  Dolores asked the “driver” if a cow was on the runway and we left him smiling with his thumbs up and a promise to use that excuse in the future.   Customs allowed us through with a green light and raised eyebrow without a stop and we were transferred to the taxi and small truck area.

Our trip from the airport to our south end condo, accompanied by 8 pieces of luggage each 49.5 pounds, was by van with no one else aboard since we  took up all the space in the luggage compartment.  Our local niño’s were waiting to deliver our baggage into the condo which our maid had opened, cleaned, and aired out.  Weather was at its best and has remained perfect since our arrival!  The daytime highs are in the mid 80´s (F) and nighttime in the low 60´s.

We and approximately 100 other persons celebrated Thanksgiving with a trip to the mountains at Hacienda Jalisco hosted by Pam Thompson and her son Joey. The day was complete with deep-pit roasted turkey, all the trimmings, Mariachi´s, home made pumkin and lemon pies, and our own libations.  As we approach the holiday season, our plans include a roamantic Christmas dinner with friends; a toasting to the New Year with wonderful acquaintances; and watching football on New Year’s Day.  Yes, TeleCable has finally caught up with 89 regular plus 51 digital channels.  And after 3 years of putting up with marginal reception-to-no reception on many channels, many visits by TeleCable technicians, we finally have perfect clarity on all channels.  The problem (discovered by our “pool guy” and jack-of-all-trades) was a cross-threaded splitter.  Go figure!

Essence of Cuisine Cooking Classes start with two scheduled for December, a slow but welcome delay for the 2012 Season. 

This has been a wonderful beginning to the new season.  The weather is at its best and happiness seems to surround us! 

Feliz Navidad y un Feliz Año Nuevo a todos!

Creating with Olimpia

Lynnwood, WA...A couple weeks ago Nicole and Heather excitedly called us about an event being sponsored by the Waterwheel Lounge in Ballard, WA.  They had responded to a Facebook announcement by Carol, owner of the Waterwheel Lounge that they were featuring, for one day only, a visiting Chef from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Since they had visited PV on many different occasions they arrived at the Waterwheel with high expectations of meeting with someone familiar, however, the reward was more than expected when they found owner and Executive Chef Olimpia Ureña of Cuale Paraiso presiding over the kitchen.  Nicole placed a quick telephone call and Dolores and I were on our way to Ballard.

Backing up for a moment, approximately 12 years ago my sister and brother-in-law, Shirley and Charlie Sacamano, then full time residents of Puerto Vallarta, had discovered a new restaurant in Paso Ancho on the Cuale River just before the traffic had to ford the river (no bridge at that time).  We had arrived by taxi and planned to return to town by bus which turned around at the river.  The restaurant’s name was Quale Paraiso and was owned by Nic and Olimpia.  We had a wonderful evening, so much enjoyment that we missed the last bus, there was no telephone, so Nic had to load all four of us (and himself) into his VW “Bug” and drive us back into town.  Over the ensuing years we´ve become well acquainted with both Nic and Olimpia.

We visited with Olimpia and Carol at the Waterwheel and enjoyed a very special luncheon featuring Pollo with green mole and Olympia’s special Pollo Paraiso.  Since hard times have hit much of the restaurant scene in Puerto Vallarta, including her restaurant, Dolores suggested to Olimpia that she would like to sponsor a special Essence of Cuisine cooking school class featuring the two dishes we just had with all the proceeds going to her and her family.  She agreed we had 8 very happy students at our condo in Lynnwood. 

The Agenda

Dolores and Olimpia

Olimpia has since returned to Puerto Vallarta and the Cuale Paraiso.  Those of you lucky enough to be already in PV can take immediate advantage of dining with her.  We´ll do it as soon as possible when we return in early November.  ¡Buen Provecho.

Back in the Pacific Northwest

Lynnwood, WA, August 2011…the return for this year occurred the last week of July, seemingly just in time for summer days and nights in the PNW.  The month of July in Puerto Vallarta was nice, hardly any “gully washers” or flashy lightning storms and displays, day temperatures in the low 90´s and evenings cooling to high 70´s, and daily emersions in the swimming pool evened all the extremes to a comfortable existence.  

The Essence of Cuisine Cooking School had ended with one class in mid-June and the order of the day revolved around swimming (including the local niño’s), and reading our Kindles on the veranda accompanied by tall gin tonics or a cold cervesa.    On the 23^rd of July we taxied to the airport, flew into San Francisco then on to Seattle.  Nicole picked us up and delivered us to Lynnwood and into the sack by 12:00 midnight.

 The next few days were followed by reestablishing ourselves with TV and broadband networks, re-licensing (including emission testing) the car, setting up Magic Jack as our primary telephone service (201-753-6278), getting the world’s most obstinate HP (and I don´t mean Harry Potter) wireless printer to function, sorting through two boxes of already sorted mail, pay some discovered bills and cash in some surprise refund checks, undo and redo subscriptions to a myriad of misapplied  startups, and clean and organize our condo which had slumbered for 9 months.   

 We´ve been entertaining (giving and receiving) 7 of the 11 days since returning with 5 of the next 6 days committed.  I´ve been enviously watching the people enjoying the pool and hope to join in soon.  Dolores has started up her flower pots and today I watched the Sea Fair Hydro Races (on TV).

Everything’s becoming NORMAL!

 “Don” David who owns a pension at the end of Calle Pilitas came to Seattle with his wife and two daughters to visit with his son and family just ahead of us and we were able to entertain them all for dinner – just like being back in PV.  Since the conversation was 80% Spanish I was fortunate enough that “Don” David’s son, Nálo, was able to translate enough to keep me into the conversations.

 When we arrived in Seattle we found out that our PV neighbors famous Burro, Andale, had been” rustled “ from his home next door to us. Andale appeared nightly at the restaurant of the same name on Olas Altas, for pictures and tours around the block for the visiting gringos.  However, a Facebook follow-up several days later confirmed he had been found in another part of town and returned safely to his home and fresh bales of hay.  I don´t think the American press was notified since no Cruise Line´s have announced canceling their port of call in PV over the incident.  Whew!

Entertainment - PV Style

Puerto Vallarta, Jal. MX…one of the exciting activities we do (retirement wise) is monitor the many varieties of neighborhood functions and activities that seem to be changing constantly.  We have street soccer nightly from ages 8 to 38, at least 2-3 construction projects going on simultaneously, local parades of sunbathers to and from the beach in an amazing collection of accessories on their backs, street vendors and their attention getting announcements, lost delivery vans/trucks/pickups who roar down our street (dead-end) then turn around and sheepishly “creep” away, and the list goes on.  If you’re “into” people, as Dolores and I, it is an endless source of free entertainment.

The LP Gas Truck plays he´s recorded message announcing his arrival and every dog within blocks starts howling and the donkey (burro) braying; the fish monger sings his early morning arrival announcement, the whistle of the water truck and the word “Aqua” hollered loudly, the local fruit vendor in his pickup announcing todays varieties, the bread vendor in the evening shouting “pan” while balancing his offerings on a large tray on his head and carrying a X-stand to place the tray on for a interested client, and the occasional Knife sharpener alerting you to his presence by playing a flute (shades of the 30´s when I was growing up in the states).  These are some of the endless sounds you hear every day in Mexico.

This year we watched our neighbor from near Vancouver, B.C. work on adding security features to his home directly across the street from us.  He has owned his home in PV for more than 12 years, working slowly and surely to continue expanding it each year.  We first saw it as a one-level home with garage and living quarters and it now is 2.5 levels.  This year he became concerned with the possibility that persons could enter his place from the backside and more probable from the front.  This has been proven more than once when the street soccer games were sometimes interrupted as an errant kick placed the ball on the second floor patio and the boys were able to climb from the porch railing of the adjoining condo to retrieve the balls when our neighbor was absent.  To prevent this he installed cement blocks at each corner, and as an afterthought, added iron gates to prevent anyone from exploring the home and reaching the third floor level.  Just before returning north he held a large party with the neighborhood residents to proudly show off his handiwork.

Dolores and I were sitting and reading on our veranda last evening when the noise from an enthusiastic soccer game abruptly subsided and while we watched a short extension ladder materialized against the front of the home and a very cautious player was able to perform the necessary aerobatics to regain the ball – see the pictures I was able to take from my nearby camera.  By the way, not only was the game able to continue, but three balls were recovered by this maneuver.

So much for security…soccer rules.

The Climb_Please Hold the Ladder

Success

RESTART THE GAME

On the Road Again - La Manzanilla

Once again we loaded our XL-7 with three days of necessities and headed for La Manzanilla, some 240 miles south on the Jalisco coast.  This small fishing village of approximately 1000 persons is located in an area called Costa Alegre, which means Happy Coast. The neighboring towns around La Manzanilla are Cihuatlan, Melaque, Barra de Navidad, Isla Navidad, Tenacatita, Boca de Iguanas, Los Ingenios, Emiliano Zapata, Rebalsito, Careyes, El Tecuan, and Tamarindo.

The trip on MX 200 is on a good two lane ribbon of asphalt and which is currently experiencing a significant amount of maintenance improvements.  The trip is a driver’s joy – assuming you like the challenge of driving through a shadow draped landscape on a winding, twisting, and hilly motorway.  Highway 200 is a few miles inland from the ocean, and straightens out as you enter the area where Costa Alegre starts some 75 miles south of Puerto Vallarta near a village called Playa de Quemaro.

It is a beautiful easy drive passing by many different plantations and gorgeous scenery.  We barely avoided a very large Coati who was hustling across the roadway – first time we’ve ever encountered one near the road.  Located nearby La Manzanilla is the La Laguna Mangrove Ecosystem one of several small and unique ecosystems that are located throughout the coast of Jalisco.  It supports a large population of the American Crocodile  (who can grow to 15 feet and 450 pounds), mammals such as Greater Fishing Bats; Raccoon’s; Coati’s; Iguana’s; a large variety of birds (20+); and many fish, shellfish,. And last, but, not least, many different types of insects.

After approximately three hours we arrived at La Manzanilla and our temporary home away from home – Brisa del Mar located on a hillside directly above the Zocalo and overlooking the green/blue waters of the Bay of Tenacatita. 

The first evening we had intended to visit a local restaurant favorite, Figaro’s, however, as luck would have it they actually closed for the season the evening before we arrived.  In fact our second-third choices were on alternating schedules and were also closed.  We spent the dinner hour at a local sports bar which had just reopened after a couple weeks of vacation.  We were out on the town early due to a localized power failure at Brisa del Mar caused by an over enthusiastic tree trimmer who dropped several tree limbs across the power lines.  We were told that this was the second time in the week – when asked about the damage the trimmer shrugged and said, ¿Quién, yo? (Who, me?).  He then calmly placed his tools in his truck and drove off. 

The next two days were spent on the veranda reading, on the computer(s), and watching local life unfold slowly in the town center.  The main avenues and the road around the Zocalo have been re-paved with adobe bricks since our previous visit and greatly helps local traffic which is made-up mostly of trucks (all ages and types), bicycles/motorbikes, an occasional car, and foot-traffic.  In the evening many locals get together in the square to socialize and or just sit on the benches to watch others watch.  We observed a traveling circus circumnavigated the Zocalo and disappeared to the south end of town. Later in the evening a pickup truck equipped with a mega-speaker traveled throughout the town advertising the upcoming attraction.  Upon inspection tour before dinner we discovered its location and saw two tents and at least two miniature ponies and four goats teetered outside – did you expect more for a town of 1000 residents?

Leaving La Manzanilla Friday morning after a wonderful Dutch/Indonesian breakfast at Yolanda’s (plus 5 sausage rolls and 4 apple turnovers just out of the oven), then purchasing 4 floaters (inner tubes) for our pool we headed back to our home in Puerto Vallarta.  Arriving safely after two and a half hours and 89 topes (speed bumps) we unloaded and settled in for an overnight sleep-in with 5 of the local niño’s.  For your info 26 of the topes were located between La Manzanilla and Boca de Tomatlan (a distance of 116 miles) and the other 63 were ¨homegrown¨ between Boca and Garza Blanca (distance of 6 miles).  They range in size from a 4” radius to a cross-section of Mt. Everest and are identified by yellow or white “antique” paint or the newest of asphalt black contrasted with several year old asphalt black.  My favorites are identified by black tire skid marks and a local mechanic shop within viewing distance.  In all cases you can be assured that local traffic treats them like roadside bombs about to explode if you exceed 1 to 1.5 mph while negotiating them.  Consider it your highway planning in action, or who has a left over surplus of asphalt?

Deanna and Darwin Hammersley, who have managed the Brisa del Mar property the last 10 years have decided to move to Merida in the next several months; however, have found another couple to take their place.   We know we´ll return next season, earlier before everyone heads north for the cool clime.

HASTA LUEGO

The Niños and the Circus

.Puerto Vallarta, Feb 13, 2011...The Circus is in town and it's time to take our neighborhood niños on an adventure. Starting at 4:30PM the youngsters were treated to hotdogs (3 each) and refreschas in our condo, and then with Dolores’ purse completely stuffed with various treats it was time to embark on our adventure. The circus is located on the large vacant lot directly across from the Holiday Inn in north Vallarta.

Dolores and I, along with the 6 neighborhood kids, ranging in ages 8 to 15, loaded into our SUV at 5 PM, and headed to the Circos Do'Portugal lot where we were able to park for a grand total of $20 pesos. Of course we misunderstood the attendants request for $20 pesos and gave her $200 for which she patiently made change. I believe they must have made special provisions for all the “gringo’s” since this was the first time in all my years in Mexico that I was able to get change for such a transaction, i.e., $180 pesos change returned for such a small, $20 peso, cost.

After waiting at the front of the line queue we were released into the tent and had our choice of seats. Performances lasted approximately 2.5 hours and covered everything from clowns, chorus lines, animal acts (camels, horses, panthers, tigers), aerial acts (trapeze, tightrope, acrobats), and motorcycles racing inside an enclosed sphere. Believe me there’s nothing more fun than watching a circus with young persons. The “Wow’s, Oh’s, and Ah’s were constant.

Leaving the parking lot was a true local experience with all of the next performances guests trying to enter and all of us early "birds" trying to exit without anyone directing traffic; however, with Dolores aggressive driving talents and lots of encouragement from all her passengers we finally escaped. One of the things that truly amaze me about the Mexicans is their patience and graciousness under stress. No horn honking, finger waving, etc. during the exit process. And it really didn’t take that long to leave. Once out we returned home shortly after some last minute shopping at Sam's where I believe all the circus attendees were ahead of us in the checkout lines.

And Here We Are…

Puerto Vallarta, Jal, MX, In my “Office” Bathed by Sunlight…finally I’ve put aside the fear of typing with my carpal tunnel crippled fingers to start “blogging” again. The med people say it’ll be 9-10 months before the hands gets significantly better, it’s already been 6 without any improvement, so life moves along. The “new” knees are doing wonderfully, allowing me to almost keep up with Dolores.

A Reminder - from Seattle Office

We returned to sunny Puerto Vallarta barely ahead of a significant winter storm. There was a “light” dusting of snow the previous day and an hour delay for airplane de-icing before departure. Arriving in L.A. we were told that our connecting flight would be two hours late. Seems when we setup our return flight to PV in June Alaska put us on an early flight going to Mexico City with a connection in L.A. to Puerto Vallarta. What we didn’t know was the connecting flight also originated in Seattle two hours later with a stop in LA on its way to PV, and guess what, it did get caught by the winter storm, hence the two hour delay. Only on the way to Mexico!

Arriving at our condo at 7:00PM instead of 4:00PM we found the local boys and girls still waiting in the street for our arrival. What a great greeting (plus our7 pieces of luggage delivered up to the condo).


We traveled to San Sebastian to an outdoor Thanksgiving repast at the Hacienda, hosted by Pamela Thompson and her son, Joe, complete with several pit roasted turkeys, all the trimmings and pies. Approximately 30+ celebrant’s boarded the Volvo bus for the trip and return in beautiful weather and through fantastic mountain scenery.

Dolores' Essence of Cuisine Cooking School (www.essenceofcuisine.com) has been very busy this season, starting with eight classes in December and continuing on through the first two months of 2011 with several already scheduled into April.

 We’ve just returned from a three day jaunt to Tonala/Tlaquepaque (suburbs NE of Guadalajara) where we purchased a new oil scene of a fruit market and acquired another ”multi-lens” objet d’art in Tonala. There were 36 “shoppers” on the trip and everyone made some great acquisitions (including 3 other multi-lens).

Crear un blog

Crear un blog