Second Home

We consider Mazatlan our second home and we are very happy to be here this week. Especially since the temps in Montana are -25°F all week!  We have a son house sitting so we can enjoy without worrying about our house or the dogs. They are having a balmy winter down here-low 80s every day. We'll take it. Not planning anything too exciting, made it to the supermarket yesterday, maybe el Centro tomorrow and dinner in town on the weekend. Mostly lots of relaxing, beach walking, eating and knitting.

The view from out patio. We prefer to be up a few floors  to see the ocean, but this was all that was left. This is very convenient anyway, a short jog to the bar, pool, and the beach. And no stairs!

Quiet Days

We didn't get too carried away with excursions, etc., this time.  We've done them all and have progressed to being quite familiar with the area and just go where we want to.

Tuesday was a pretty easy day, got some groceries and hung out at the resort.  Tuesday night was the Fiesta the resort holds weekly.  A buffet with lots of good food and great singers and dancers.  Could have won some tequila if I memorized a Spanish phrase and stood up in front and said it.  Didn't need the tequila so I memorized the phrase and stayed sitting! 

Wednesday we went down to Olas Altas, which is in Old Town to meet some friends for lunch.  Irene had a tummy bug (not something she ate, lol!), so it was just the two of us.  We left a little early and got a nice guided trip from our taxi driver.  I had wondered about the Machado family that Plazuela Machado was named after, since I have a friend by that name.  Found out they are very wealthy and at one time lived in a mansion on the Plaza.  The mansion is now a museum and the Machados live in El Cid, one of the most exclusive areas in Mazatlan.

Colin and Contessa, a couple I first met through their blog.  We get together at least once while we are in Mazatlan.  The Jewells winter in Mazatlan and summer in Canada.  The restaurant we ate at was La Cueva Del Leon, The Cave of the Lion, and is a place we will return to a lot!

Al Jolson was in Machado Square, the rest of the statues were along the Malecon, or public beach.

The theme of Carnaval this year is "La Linterna Magica," or The Magic Lantern, referring to the old-time projectors used in the early movie theaters.  Here is Marlon Brando.

Marlena Deitrich

Pedro Infante, a very famous Mexican singer who was born in Mazatlan.

Marilyn, complete with flying skirt!

Back for happy hour and Italian Night at La Palapa, the four star restaurant at our resort.  And of course a sunset.  This night we saw the green flash, but it's just about impossible to photograph, at least with my little carry-along camera.

Gone and Back

We're home from our week in Mazatlan.  Interesting trip, but we still had fun.  We did get plane tickets from Cal Jet and they fit very nicely in with the other connections I had set up.  We were due to arrive in Mazatlan just after 11:00 on Sunday night, but we got as close as below the streetlights when our pilot pulled up and circled for a while.  He came on the loudspeaker and said that it was too foggy to land so we flew to Puerto Vallerta to fuel up,  Then we flew to Guadalajara where we were informed that we would stay the night. By this time it was 3:00 in the morning.  They provided us with hotel rooms and meals and we flew out at 2:00 the next afternoon.  Crazy way to start a vacation but sort of an adventure, too.  I was impressed with the friendliness of Guadalajara, the same as the people in Mazatlan.

The fog had finally burned off, they got new air space, and the crew got their required rest so off we went, all 60 of us.  50 minutes later, 2:00 Mazatlan time, we touched down in Mazatlan.  The whole group clapped and cheered!

We were exhausted, but we managed happy hour and supper, but were in bed by 7:30.  We did get to see the first great sunset.

Au Jus Cups, Little Zippie Bags and Flip Flops

When we travel, we put our supplements into those little bags that beaders use.  And the Au Jus cups are just perfect for sorting the pills.  Those little stainless steel cups are very versatile indeed-I have them all over the house.

I put morning pills in one bag and evening in another.  Before you have a heart attack, rest assured that just about all those pills are supplements!  The big yellow ones are my latest-they're a turmeric pill for inflammation.  And boy, they do work!

After we counted out pills, we realized that, try as we could, we still didn't quite have enough.  We're just not used to being gone for two weeks.  So off to Bozeman we went.  While there, we had a nice late Valentine  lunch at Fiesta Mexicana.

In other news, here is the top I made the other day.  The colors aren't true-it's much greener and yellower.

To finish the neck, I cut a strip cross-grain, folded and pressed it, and then inserted it like ribbing, stretching slightly.  It's a bit tricky-too much stretch gathers it and not enough makes it flip forward and look sadly homemade.  Then I serged the seam, pressed it toward the body, and topstitched it.  I like the look, I think it looks a lot less homemade.  This is a pattern I have perfected and have made many, many times.  I have a few good books on proper fit and was able to make a pattern I could trust to turn out.  If you saw the pattern you would wonder-part of it is out of freezer paper and the sleeve pattern is the original, but cut, patched and taped.  I am so bottom-heavy that I have to make sure that I give myself enough room.  Not too much, it should skim but not cling-that looks terrible.  I have a few purchased tops that are really cute but they look like the dickens around my tummy and posterior.

I was bemoaning the fact that I only have two pairs of shorts and a couple pair of capris.  The shorts aren't too much of a problem-I hate them, but I always take a couple pair to wear when I wade in the ocean.  I spend most of my time in capris.  I started digging through my closet and found this pair of pants I made in the late 90's.  The upper part was fine, but the lower legs were a bit narrow.  Sooo-I tried them on, marked with a pin, added a hem allowance and whacked them off!  They're done, but I packed them before I took a picture.  Maybe they'll show up in one of my trip photos.

And now for the greatest news:  I can wear my flip flops!!  My knee is finally healing enough to branch out my shoe wearing.  I really wanted to take these along, but wasn't too sure it would work yet.  But I wore them all morning and they felt great!  I quit before the space between my toes got sore-mustn't rush these things!  And please ignore the polish, I did a pretty bad job, but I rushed it and besides, the spillover on the skin will wear off, LOL!

Wednesday

Wednesday we all piled on the bus and headed to the Golden Zone.  I'm sure that bus driver did a double take when 13 people got on and all of the same family!

We went to my favorite souvenir shop, "Colibri" only to find out that Mari Lisa had closed up and moved on.  She was well beyond retirement age, so I hope that's what she got to do.  By that time we were already very hot so we stopped at Pancho's for a snack.  They ordered nachos, and since I couldn't eat that I ordered flan, but it wasn't finished cooking.  So after everybody else was done eating, they had to wait for me while I ate a scoop of ice cream.

A mariachi band wanting to play for the diners.

Our view north from Pancho's

Christopher had this wild idea he should get a tattoo, so we split up and they went in search of a parlor.  We walked through the Zone and took a "spider" back.  It's a small pickup with benches in the back and a tarp over the top.  It's called a spider because it seats 8 adults.  Turns out Christopher was creeped out over the tattoo parlor so they hopped a pulmonia and got back to the resort just about the same time we did.

 Father and son cruising along in the spider.

 Dave and Laura.

Gotta love the iguanas!

Then on to the Fiesta Mexicana at El Cid.  Usually we go to the fiesta in the big conference room on the street side of the hotel, but a guy came by and led us to the main dining room which faced the beach and had much better food in the buffet.  They also had the same show.  Irene decided to stay home-I think our mob was tiring her out!

 Gramma got to sit at the kids' table-I loved it!  Millie got the biggest kick out of the fine dining lessons I was giving.  They thought it was so cool to be so fancy.

Had to watch Gracie-she thought it was wonderful that the waiter would keep her in all the chocolate milk she wanted.

She was captivated by the beautiful twirly dresses.  Told me I had to make costumes for her and Sydney for Halloween next year-Syd in a white suit and sombrero and Gracie in one of those dresses!  Notice her fine hair is already popping out of the braids.

Then another ride home in a spider-we crammed all 12 of us in it.  Grandpa rode up front with the driver and had a great conversation with him.  That's what I love about Mazatlan-the people are so open and friendly.  The grown-up kids were not used to the unlimited beverages and were a bit (bit?) tipsy.  Steve and Millie entertained us with constant jabs and barbs at each other.  

The second best part of the night was hearing my favorite singer, Oscar Gomez.  The best part was watching my entire family all together enjoying the evening and each others' company.  Made me all misty-eyed!

More Mazatlan

Our building directly faced the ocean this time. I slept on the Murphy bed in the living room and would open the patio doors just before bed so I could be gently lulled to sleep. Turns out it wasn't so gentle-we were right in the middle of high tide! Lovely, anyway.

Hunting for seashells.

On the city tour we met Rosemary, another owner at the resort. She is 85 years old and suffers from macular degeneration. It hasn't stopped her-she flew all the way from Florida to Mexico alone, with a plane change in LAX. She said all you have to do is ask and people are willing to help. She is a delightful lady!

Judy loved the cathedral-the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. I've seen it many times, but it never stops being a treat to see.

Irene was recovering from a tooth extraction so she missed going to the Fiesta Mexicana at El Cid. Previously we've always gone to the one at Playa Mazatlan, but they have discontinued it. Too bad, the food was unbelievable. El Cid's food was OK but nothing to write home about, but the show was extremely good. Several of the acts from Playa now perform at El Cid, including my favorite singer Oscar Gomez. Dang that guy has pipes! Cute, too. El Cid had a breathtaking Aztec ballet-very worth the price of the ticket.

On Thursday Irene was feeling better so we decided to ride the bus to Old Town. Halfway there this clown got on the bus. Turns out there was a clown parade on the Malecon. (Beachfront walk) Then two guys got on and immediately started playing guitar and singing. What fun!

After we browsed the big Mercado, bought fabric and had lunch at Panama, we grabbed a Pulmonia to go home. Turns out the local college had just graduated and was celebrating with a parade, complete with tiaras, formals, tuxes and decorated vehicles. A Hummer was decorated with Post-its-all over. The cab driver scooted around the parade, cutting BETWEEN the traffic and took a scenic route back to the resort, through side streets. We loved being able to see new parts of Mazatlan-where the REAL people lived. What a fun day!

Friday we took a tour into the Sierra Madres to a little town called Copala. On the way we saw a rocking chair factory, a bakery with a 400 year old wood fired oven, and a brick factory where they still make all the bricks by hand.

We ended the day in the restaurant at the resort, talking until the sun went down. We had many heart-to-hearts that evening. We are permanently bonded and want to make this a yearly trip.

L to R-Irene, Mickie, Judy, and I'm in the back. Sistahs forever!

The Most Fun Ever!

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth-just trying to catch up and regroup after two trips with less than 24 hours in between.

The first trip-off to Mazatlan with "the girls." If I were to think about what was the best thing about this trip, it would be watching my youngest sister enjoy it. Judy has a few delays but is a sweet loving person and is a joy to have along. She started grinning when we boarded the plane in Billings, and nine days later when I dropped her at her apartment in Helena, the grin was still there. She promptly set down her bags, donned her "Mazatlan" hat and headed off to her afternoon tea date to share her trip with her friends.

We tried to show her the most fun activities of Mazatlan. We rode the "Pulmonia" whenever we could, and made sure Judy rode in front with the driver. She was thoroughly infatuated with the Mexican men and probably would have run off with any one of them!

We ate, laughed, walked, sunned, toured, dabbled our feet in the Pacific, and just tried to enjoy as much as possible. We caught as many sunsets and happy hours as possible. Judy decided that margaritas were tasty indeed. White wine went down pretty well, too!

The first thing you do, after catching happy hour, is line up and wait for the sunset.

Definitely worth the wait!

We toured the city, and ended up high on the side of the hills. We could see all of Mazatlan and the harbor from there. This is the harbor that receives shipment of the Korean-made cars that Mexicans drive, and from there are trucked all over the country.


There was a restaurant near the viewing area, and the owner came out with an iguana that hangs out there-iguanas seem to pick an area and stick to it, our resort has a couple. This iguana was the biggest I've seen, and the owner placed in a young British boy's arms.

He wasn't too fond of holding it. so Judy took it. She has been to Guatemala and had a lot of experience with Iguanas. She started talking to it and it licked her on the nose!


Hopefully I'll post more later-we're off to a concert tonight. I do have to say that I agree with my sister-in-law Irene: We've both been to Mazatlan several times, but this has to be the most fun trip ever!

Later, Dudes!

Won't have time to post after tonight so I'll just do a quick one. My two sisters, Stan's sis, and I are headed to Mazatlan on Sunday. I have a craft show on Saturday then I'm coming home to dump off my craft stuff and pick up one sister and various luggage. Then we're heading to Billings where we'll fly out at 6:00 AM (yuck!) Sunday.

I don't think Stan is too heartbroken about not going along. Four women would probably drive him nuts. And he'll be content to go fishing and eat all the foods I can't.

When I get back we'll turn around and take off for Reno for 5 days (bowling tournament). So I'll be gone for a couple of weeks.

Take care, friends-see ya on the flip side.

Booties

I'm making progress on my items for the baby show. I think this is enough Mary Jane booties for now. I might make another style-the show is two weeks away-but mostly I'll concentrate on my hankie bonnets.

At first I didn't like the variegated yarn, but the more I looked at it the more it grew on me, so I had to make a second pair. I mostly have two pairs of each with the exception of the yellow ones and the brushed yarn white ones. It's really easy to sew them together wrong side out, so I ended up with one left and three right yellows, so of course I had to make two more lefts. And the brushed white yarn was driving my allergies nuts-not sure why, it's acrylic-so I bagged it after one pair.

And more news-right after I take down the baby show, I am picking up my sister and heading for Billings. There we will meet my other sis and Stan's sister, and Sunday morning we four women will fly out to Mazatlan. I know! We were just there, but Stan's sis has points to use and we all have passports so that's enough incentive to go again. We four chicas should paint the town red! Then a day after we get back Stan and I will take off for Reno so he can bowl in the national tournament. Fun, fun, fun! I'll have to sleep the whole month of June.

Stan said he'd be fine here by himself. He can eat all the foods I'm allergic to, and go fishing every day. Maybe he won't want me to come back!

Vacation Socks and Missing Stuff You Know You Packed

I did do a fair amount of knitting on vacation. It was so therapeutic to sit watching the ocean, binoculars and coffee by my side, happily ticking away at my socks.


I knitted on the plane, too. Just as a precaution I bought bamboo needles on my way out of Bozeman, but it probably wasn't necessary. I asked about it when I checked in and they said that most any knitting needle or crochet hook is allowed. I said, "I guess they think knitters are happy people that don't want to blow up airplanes!" They got a kick out of that.




I tried to show the surroundings when I took the picture of the finished socks. You can kind of see the grass and walkways on the property behind the railing.

Funny thing-I transferred the project to the bamboo needles and tucked the metal needles into one of the checked bags. They have disappeared! They must have gone where the nail clippers went. I needed a clipper, found one in my checked bag and showed it to hubby. He said he hated that one so I dropped it back into the suitcase. I knew exactly where I dropped it and which compartment, but when Hubs decided to use that one anyway I absolutely could not find it! I looked for a couple of days, finally gave up and bought one at the convenience store. That's when I found not only the hated clipper, but when I opened my knitting tool case I found three more! I guess in order to find the metal knitting needles I'll have to buy another set. No big deal the bamboo are really nice and they came in a set of five, just in case I run across a pattern that uses five.

A Word or Two

Things have been pretty hectic around here since we got home. I posted some pics to Facebook, but have completely ignored my blog. Sorry!

Our trip was completely healing and relaxing. The weather couldn't have been better if we'd ordered it! Even the forecast Tsunami from the Chili earthquake didn't come, other than a bit higher than normal evening tide on Saturday.

Stan and I hung out a lot, just watching the ocean and looking for dolphins. We lucked out our last full day there with the dolphins-they were in the water in front of our resort all day. I got a little video, but they don't like to pose for still pictures. The video isn't very good, since I couldn't see the image in the LCD screen in the bright sunlight and only figured out how to convert to the viewfinder afterwords!

The cruise ships aren't the only ones who make towel animals:

Random sailboat picture:

Brown eggs from the supermarket:

For breakfast scrambled eggs with chorizo and mangoes on the balcony:

Our building:

Spent a lot of time right here:

More tomorrow. (I hope)