Hello from Yakima

Last week a new grocery store opened in Mazatlan. It was actually located in our Gran Plaza mall area but moved to another location across the street from Sam's Club. It's much bigger and brand new. Very, very nice. We are so excited! Beautiful produce and nice selection of meat and much, much more. Besides Sam's for large quantity items, we will be shopping here for our groceries. Here are a few pictures we took this morning during our first shopping experience at Mega Foods. Please come grocery shopping with us! :) Covered parking garage. Entrance to store. Even a parking spot reserved for "future mamas" An escalator takes you up to the store with your shopping cart. Technology very new to Mazatlan. Very roomy,bright and cheery. Lots of windows to give light when you are shopping in the afternoons when they routinely turn the lights off to conserve energy. Even has a small restaurant in the store. Even a coffee shop. Nice wide isles With location signs in Spanis...

The Mazatalan Carnaval is this weekend. In case you don't remember, it's a huge party with lots of events and noise. It's like a Mardi Gras. In fact, the Carnaval here in Maz is the 3rd largest in the world, next to Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. The theme this year is "Legends of Long Ago". Here is a link to more information about Carnaval if you might be interested. http://www.carnavalmazatlan.net/-c2.php They didn't put statues up on the malecon this year but something different that are very interesting looking. I have'nt taken pictures of them yet but they had some at the Plazuela in El Centro/Old Town. Here area few pictures we took last week. Carnaval really gets geared up on Friday and goes through next Wednesday. So look for more pictures on our blog next week.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the town of Tlaquepaque to start our shopping adventure. This town is home to over 300 shops and art galleries. For the most part, they're high-end, with jewellers, glass blowers, painters, ironworkers, and furniture makers exhibiting and selling their wares. Much of it is made in another suburb, Tonala, where an estimated 6,000 artisans reside. This is the other town we actually stayed in and where we shopped the Sunday market. Almost every house in that town has a workshop, and what's produced can be found throughout the country. Artwork lines the outdoor market, which runs for several blocks. Prices are lower and there is more room for negotiation in Tonala than in Tlaquepaque. Here are a few photos of both of these very interesting towns. We were successful in finding a painting in Tonala for our living room. Also, a few other items that will work well for our condo in Yakima. Just incredible prices! Fountain in the entry to the town of Tla...

We left Mazatlan at 6:30 am and arrived in Guadalajara at 4:30 pm. It was a long 10 hours but they stopped along the way for food, drinks and to stretch our legs. Here is a picture of the bus we traveled on. The bus was very comfortable and new but just like much of the plumbing in Mexico, the restroom wasn't working but the bus was equipped with a dvd player. We watched 3 complete movies coming back. On the highway to Guadalajara there were many, many blue tequila agave fields. These plants are part of the lily family, which is native to Mexico. This isn't a really good shot as we were trying to take the picture out the window of the bus as we were traveling but you can get an idea. The town of Tequila is located 37 miles from Guadalajara. Tequila is famous for one thing "Tequila". We understand there are many distilleries there that you can tour and enjoy tequila tasting. The Jose Cuervo Distillery, which opened in 1795, is the oldest distillery and produces 74,000 ...