Our next trip up north....

We are making plans to fly up north in July. We will be arriving in Portland on Friday, July 13th. Just in time for the Smith Family Picnic on Saturday, July 14th. We are so happy we will be able to attend.

We are planning to purchase a car while we are in Portland and then drive to Tri Cities to visit Jake and Jackie, then on to Yakima to visit my Mom and Al and then up to Seattle to visit with all the other kids and grandkids. We will be leaving for Maz on Sunday, July 29th out of Portland. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone during this trip, as well as, a relief from the hot/humid weather down here for a few weeks. We will be returning in September to drive our new car back to Maz. You can certainly get by with the public transportation, ie buses, cabs and pulmonias but having a car will be more convenient and allow us to do some leisure traveling into the interior of Mexico. Lots of interesting towns we would like to visit.

On June 30th we will be retired 1 year. Just can't believe it! Has gone by so fast. It has certainly been a transition year for us in a lot of respects but we are settling into the mexican culture and trying hard to understand the mentality. No big rush for anything down here which really is a better way of life but hard to adjust to when you come from the fast pace of Seattle. Reminds me of this story. You may have seen it before. A little long but worth the read. Enjoy.

A little story about a Mexican fisherman illustrates success in a simple life well lived.
A Little Story
The businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The businessman complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.The businessman then asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The businessman then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor."
The businessman scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor and eventually open your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But señor, how long will this all take?" To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years." "But what then, señor?" The businessman laughed and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions." "Millions, señor? Then what?" The businessman said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "Isn't that what I'm doing right now?"-Author Unknown

The kids have left.....

We had a wonderful visit with Jake and Jackie who left last Thursday and Jessica and Serena who left last Saturday. The temps/humidity were quite high during their stay so they spent alot of time cooling off at the beach and in the pool. Jake and Jackie really enjoyed early morning walk/runs along the malecon, soaking up the rays around the pool and just relaxing with a good book. The jelly fish warning was still in effect but they were able to spend sometime at the beach and even in the ocean, trying out boogie boarding, without any incidents with jelly fish stings. Jessica and Serena enjoyed their visit to the orphanage even though it was quite hot there. Serena also enjoyed Senor Frogs and dancing on the stage. It was a little too warm for Jessica and she plans to come back earlier in the year next time. Maybe in March during Serena's springbreak. We hope so. We also took them out to some of our favorite restaurants, even celebrating Jake and Jackie's 1st anniversary at one restaurant. We had a wonderful time together and hope they can come back next year if not sooner.

Enjoy the following photos of some of the fun times with had together.

As we await the arrival of our guests....

We are busy getting our air conditioning adjusted just right for our next guests that will arrive on Friday, June 15. Just three more days and Jake and Jackie and Jessica and Serena will be here. It has really warmed up here in Mazatlan. Daytime temps in the mid 80's with about 75% humidity. We have starting using our air conditioning and trying to figure out what the best temp overall should be. We don't have central air down here. We have a thermostat in the living area, one in the master and one for the 2 guests rooms. This type of air helps with the cost of electricity which is very expensive down here. It's a little tricky to get it comfortable throughout. We've tried to just use it at night but finding we're using it more during the day now. So we're hoping that the temps won't be too uncomfortable for our guests.

Another potential problem for our guests is the arrival of the jelly fish. Lots of them on the beach and in the water. So we'll have to be careful. We understand a jelly fish sting can be quite painful. There hasn't been anyone on the beach all week. We do have the pool so that is probably where we will be spending most of our time to cool down.

The sea turtles are again coming ashore at night to lay their eggs. We hope they will come ashore again while the kids are here.

The pictures I have included in this post are:

The first photo are flowering trees that are blooming all over the Plazuela Machado. They are just beautiful. I am not sure what they call them but I think I heard it was "Golden Rain". Not sure on that though. The blooms remind me of Wisteria flowers.

The second photo is an Egret (type of Heron) in the wild life reservoir just a few blocks from our condo. There are even crocodiles in this reservoir. One day when we were walking by we saw the head of one emerge. Was pretty scary.

The last three are photos of our deserted beach. For as far as you can see, up and down the beach, it's empty. As I mentioned this is due to the jelly fish that have arrived. If you look closely at the last of the three photos you will see a white flag. That means "caution jelly fish". We hope this season will pass soon.

Aroma Spa experience

Today we went in search of massage spas here in Maz. We found an Aroma spa in El Centro (Old Mazatlan) just a block from the Plazuela Machado. It was quite different from any spa I have been to but thought what the heck and we both made appointments for 1 hour, full body massages. The price was quite reasonable $150 pesos each. (That's $15 US). The place is named "Aroma Spa" but the only scent we detected was in the air when you entered the spa. Sort of a pepperminty aroma. The spa rooms (air conditioned) were very interesting with tree trunks from floor to ceiling, draped with fabric and ribbon and strange things hanging from the ceiling. I tried to take a few photos but the spa rooms were quite small so they didn't turn out very well. Hopefully, you can get an idea of the decor. The photo with Greg in it is where they give manicures and pedicures (no air conditioning). Don't think I'll be going there for that. All in all, the experience was not too bad and the therapists seemed to be well trained. We might just try it again. Certainly was reasonably priced. Some interesting packages though. You can get a "20 - 40 finger massage." This is where 2 - 4 therapists work together on you. Suppose to be the "ultimate pampering". I guess not many spas in the world offer this. For a 20 finger (two therapists) the cost is $500 pesos for 1 hour ($50 US) and for 40 finger (4 therapists) the cost is $1,000 pesos for 1 hour ($100 US) So on your next visit to Mazatlan, let us know and we'll get an appointment set up for you.