10-22-05

Carolyn-Jill-Carol on their way to town in the morning.

Well it was a major trip to Melaque. We stopped on the way in and the girls dropped off their laundry that was supposed to be ready to pick up on our way back. I had one pair of pants that I thought wouldn’t hurt to wash since I have been wearing them for a week and put them in the pile to go. It turned out that the laundry wasn’t done when we got back so I don’t known when I will get them back now. I may have to ride twenty or thirty miles or so to pick them up if I decide to leave early. Dang, I knew better than to do something dumb like that down here. Time is not taken serious down here and schedules are rarely kept.

Carol was having some trouble with the guy that is building her a house and they had to go see a lawyer. Jill was the interpreter for her. The car took longer than they thought to fix as well as a few other things that seemed to take time, so we spent all day in town and it is a long way back to camp here. Actually now the sun is starting to set I think. It has been hazy all day and they attribute it to the hurricane down south.

I had what I thought was going to be a bar-b-que sandwich but it turned out to be a piece of meat like steak sliced about as thin as baloney. Not much food value there but I ate the pile of corn tortillas with hot sauce that came with it.

I never did make it to a pharmacia or even a doctor that they were talking about. I will have to try on my own and see what I can come up with for malaria drugs.

One thing I have been going to write about is the huge white butterflies that I have been seeing. They are the biggest ones I have ever seen and they are almost pure white. I never have been able to take a photo of one but yesterday was the closest I have come. I ran in the house and grabbed my camera as one landed in a bush outside where the girls were playing a game of scrabble and I was just sitting enjoying the breeze. By the time I got back out, it was gone.

The next thing I wanted to write about but had forgotten was the big church in Durango that I went in. This was a really huge Catholic church. It wasn’t a busy time so I felt comfortable walking around and looking it over on the inside. This is the fanciest one I have ever been in except maybe the one I was in, in San Francisco a long time ago. There were maybe four or five little areas off the main open area on each side where they must have places to pray or talk to their special saints (?). It is really complicated but I figured that this must be the place for me to bring out the little saint Christopher medal that my buddy Roger made a special effort to give me before I left on my trip. Roger has had it since he was in the eighth grade and feels that it has special protective properties. I was really touched deeply by this and have kept the medal with me in my coat. I don’t know if it will help or not, but it cant hurt, eh? I took the medal around and showed him (St Christopher) all the sights in the church. The rockwork and woodwork on this building are fantastic and the huge bells in the towers must weight a ton apiece.

I decided to go down to the beach and take a dip in the ocean this morning. We spent the early morning watching the TV, which had some special programs that they like to watch in the morning. One of them was called Sunday Morning and there was another about the markets for the week, which is the one I left in the middle of. It was already getting very warm and the swim in the ocean was very refreshing. The beach has a gently sloping bottom that makes it nice to walk out on. There are a few big waves that come in that you have to dive under until you get out there far enough. I can then stand out there or gently float around. The temperature at first splash seems like it is too cool but after being in it for just a second, the temp is absolutely perfect and takes the body heat out. There were several Mexican families out in the surf and it is always so nice to see how well the families get along.

After a nice swim I came back and had a shower and then took my air mattress out on one of the big porches and took a nap. By that time the TV was playing some Flamenco music with dancers and singers. It was great to lie there and listen until I fell asleep. This afternoon I walked down with Jill to one of the restaurants on the beach and had a meal of breaded filet of fish with a small salad and rice. They gave me a big stack of tortillas so I made fish tacos as per Jill’s suggestion. While we were watching the beach one of the fishermen came in towards shore and they waited for a big wave and charged in at full throttle and ran the boat up as far as they could on the beach. There are several boats tied to ropes along the beach. Jill says that some of them they get a pickup to pull them up further on the beach and when they need to get them back down they get plastic bottles to roll the boast back down to the water. The boats are rather simple heavy-duty fiberglass affairs. Yesterday we stopped at a place that Jill knew about that is owned by some rich Canadians that are protectors of turtles. There was an egg nursery there in the yard that volunteers watch and take the turtles down to the water and protect them form the birds. This place was certainly a show place as I think one of the owners is an architect. They had several of the old hand hewn dugout boats that were used in one of the local rivers near Puerto Vallarta to get up it and around. The work that it must have teken to build one of these with primitive tools is amazing.

I am writing this now back in the yard where the girls are playing a big game of scrabble. They get along so well when they play and have a dictionary handy just in case for disagreements.

10-24-05

I loaded Jill on the back of my bike this morning and made a run to Melaque. God, what a wonderful motorcycle road. The road canopy with trees every so often and it is wonderful. The road crosses a little range of mountains and you cant see the ocean very often. There are roads that lead down to the coast and there are hotels and some development down there or os the girls say. I may go down and take a look if I have time. The butterflies were out in force today and they were everywhere. I did mention that there are lots of trees and bushes in bloom. One thing that was really cool was riding back when gusts of wind would blow petals off the flowers and we would ride through a cloud of red petals. I have never seen that before.

We stopped at the laundry and the clothes were just then in the washing machine. Those gals at the laundry are a busy bunch and seem to have a niche market. We went on into town and I stopped by the Internet shop and checked email. I sure do like getting mail from home and across the country. I got an email from Ted who is the guy I road into Mexico with from the crossing in Presidio. He is back in Alabama now and it is good to hear that he made it home safe. Not such good news from my new friends in Colorado who had a small accident on the way home but it sounds like they are not hurt too bad. That darn sand and snow can really be tough on bikers.

After email we went to check on the malaria drugs that I would need when I go much further south from here. The first place was no luck but we left the bike on the street and Jill asked her to watch it for us. We had much better luck at the second pharmacia where |e met Jill’s doctor who was buying a paper and some other stuff. He and the owner looked up in the pharmacy book about chloroquine and were able to get it ordered from Guadalajara or someplace. It should be in tomorrow so we will have to go back into town and get it but maybe not tomorrow. I left about thirty bucks down and I don’t know exactly how much it will be but not much more they thought. It is really nice to have the really nice doctor help reading and being sure I got the right drug.

We stopped at a little restaurant where there was a very beautiful blond gal sitting. Jill knew her and introduced me to Penny. She is form England and has been in Mexico for many years. She is partner with a Mexican guy named Daniel who is a veterinarian, fumigator and teaches biology at one of the schools. The professional folks don’t get much money for what they do so they have several jobs. His family owns the building and they live there and rent out the corner for the restaurant. She is preparing a small shop for herself to sell specialty baked breads and pastries to the gringo’s. We sat down at a table that is really part of the street and were part of the street scene. There is an amazing variety of vehicles that occupy the roads. Some of them are so rusted and beat it is amazing that they are still running, but I guess they are simple enough that they are much easier than the new electronic ones. Huge busses went just a foot or two from me and always lots of bicycles everywhere. The bicycle is one of the main methods of transportation. I really love being in a place where most folks are on bikes. You see bikes going down major highways sometimes but mainly on the smaller roads. The little town of Perula is well served by bikes. Not just kids are riding them either. Lots of older gray haired men ride them too. Young girls do ride some but mostly boy and men ride. Most of the bikes have a way to strap on something to the rack on the back or have a big milk crate type box attached. Kids on their way to school sometimes ride with one person standing on the back axel and standing holding on to the shoulders of the rider. Often a little kid will be on the handlebars. I love the way Mexicans overload their outfits.

I bought lunch for us and we had breaded fish in a corn tortilla and a side of beans and rice. The sauce was good and hot and the tomatoes were like homegrown. The food down here is great if you know how to order. I am learning…….

On the way back I stopped not to far from home and pulled into a little place on the highway that had a big sign out front that said ‘pollo asada’. Ah, roasted chicken. I bought a chicken that the gal cut up and put in a box as well as a huge stack of corn tortillas and a side of rice. In the evening the girls got everything warmed up and we had a wonderful supper. The dogs had special leftovers too. I think we all had a good meal out of it and it only cost eight bucks. Two buck apiece for supper. Pretty cheap, eh?

10-26-05

It was a lazy day yesterday. Jill asked if we could put off going to get the malaria drug for a day since she had to go today to the next town down the road and pay the electric bill. I don’t have any time I have to take the drug, just that I need to wait a week or maybe two before I get into the danger areas. I guess we will head to town today sometime. Yesterday Jill decided that we all had had enough Mexican meals for a while and she decided to make a pork loin roast. It was wonderful. She is a decorator as well so the supper setting was well laid out with special plates and silverware as well as small wine glasses. The meal was served in a beautiful platter and I sure do wish now that I had remembered to take a photo of it. It was that beautiful. I did get a photo of her while she was cooking but actually she posed for it.

In the afternoon I went down to take a swim in the ocean. I was the only one on the beach. I guess later in the season there will be more folks out but for now it is really nice. The clouds and heavy mist are gone now and I guess things have cleared up from the hurricane. It has been noticeably cooler and even at night I have to shut the fan down and grab the down sleeping bag for cover during the night. That is much better than sweating at night for sure.

The girls are waiting to hear the gasman as he makes his rounds. I guess it is a guy that rides around in a pickup with propane bottles in the back and he has a speaker system and he says “gas” every now and then. There is no schedule for him to come. You just have to wait until you hear him.

I went out and took a picture of Carolyn pulling grass this morning. She gets out in the early morning and pulls the grass out. She then rakes it up and the yard sure looks nice when she is done.

That tree is the one I camped under last year in the little red Subaru.

I also got a photo of Carol and Carolyn playing some sort of gin rummy you play with those little plastic number chips. I got talked into playing a game with them and lost by a whopping 27 points or something. It was beginner’s luck that I did so well. I didn’t want to play but they talked me into it, I don’t like playing games.

I am going to try to take a photo of one of their scrabble games. They sure do get complicated and they keep score every game.

I went out and took some photos this morning around Perula.
I took this looking  back at their house which is behind this hotel.

This is main street looking east.

Here is a small market that sells about the same thing as all the others.

The beach looking west. This is a nice protected beach that faces south so it is protected form storms and unfortunately it has no surf waves. It is nice in that it is always gentle and kids can play in it without danger. There are no stingrays on the bottom of the ocean to worry about either.

I was walking by the little kindergarten school and took this of the power coming to the school. They just use two wires in this country and it seems to work just fine. I think the school gets free power so they don’t need a meter.

The coconuts are getting ripe and this little stand is guess is getting ready to serve them. They cut off the top and open it up to let you drink the milk and then cut it open and scrape out the meat for eating.

I got a note from Carla and she liked the photo of the dolls and small weavings that the Tarahumara Indians were making when I was at the Copper Canyon near Creel. Here is another one of those weavings. I wish I had taken photos of someof the other      girls  baskets  as they were really spectacular.    

Well I never did make it to Melaque today. Jill called Penney and had her go to the pharmacia and check to see if my malaria drugs had come in yet. She called back and so far it hasn’t come in yet. It was supposed to be in yesterday but maybe down here in Mexico it may take some time. I probably should have gotten closer to the malaria zone before getting the drugs. I did hear from Oscar and he says that the chloroquine is a very good drug so I feel good about getting it. I will take two pills of 200mg twice a week. This drug is not supposed to have the side effects that some of the other ones have.