Great progress in Arroyo Seco - and a beach trip, too

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - After several months of looking at our 'downtown' Arroyo Seco lot, we finally took action this week with the demolition of three small buildings on the street and the importing of 37 truckloads of fill to raise the property up.

Raise it up? Yup.

During the rainy season (June - November), our neighbors, (Chon and Chena) said the property frequently looked like a 'laguna.' And yes, it's the same word in English and Spanish. When the work is done Friday, no mas laguna, we hope.


Arroyo Seco buildings, before demolition


Admiral Fox poses with her new 'fleet' - after the demolition

Our newest amigo in town - Javier - owns the company that does this kind of work and in fact he drove one of the dump trucks and then worked with the backhoe/grader to get the place leveled out.

He and his wife also own the grocery store adjacent to the lot. His young son (shown in the video below) has a great collection of toy bulldozers, graders and trucks that he was using on the edge of the lot while his father worked yesterday. No worries about who will take over the family business for them.


Dr. John hands over some cold treats to the kids

We also had one of those moments that are hard to describe without choking up a little.

Several truckloads of farm workers who had spent the day picking pepper and pepinos (cukes) - mostly very young children - came through town, with one truck stopping at Javier's tienda so the chief of the group could get a beer for the ride home. Dehydration and all that, si?

We had just run into a new amigo on the street - a veterinarian from California and veteran surfer dude - and when he saw the truck stop with the kids, he and a friend ran and purchased ice cream and popsicles for everyone in the truck. I think in all he bought stuff for about fifteen people.

I haven't seen eyes get that big except at Christmas.


A cold treat after a long day working

After the popsicle episode, we drove out the beach to check things out before heading back to La Manzanilla. While there, we talked with Dr. John who volunteered to come in a couple of times per year to do a free clinic in town for the dogs and cats - if we are able to provide him with a place to practice, a place that can be a 10 by 10 open room.

We're going to throw it in the mix of what to build on the lot.