An afternoon on the beach - with Chinese/Mexican food

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The Admiral and I were prepped early this morning to go to La Huerta to pay our taxes, only to learn from neighbor Chon (as we were ready to pull out of the driveway) that we should pay a lot more attention to the calendar - and when Mexican holidays occur.

Today - May 1 - is a nationwide holiday, a holiday in a nation that is already under a virtual social lockdown because of H1N1 - the disease formerly-known-as-swine-flu.

So, after making a couple of phone calls to be sure we could not go pay our taxes and take care of some other legal matters, we took a relatively leisurely day around the Pink Flamingo and then attended a May Day fiesta on the beach with Chena and Chon and relatives of Luis. Luis is the owner of a tienda in town and also the proprietor of a beach restaurant called Las Brisas where we shared in the family fiesta.

I did make one major social gaffe - one that I know of anyway. When the dinner was over and we were heading back to the Pink Flamingo, I shooking Luis' hand to say thanks for his hospitality. Very bad manners when the whole nation is worried about la gripa porcina (swine flu) and is avoiding all physical contact. Luis laughed and said he had enough tequila in his system that a little flu was not going to bother him.

I fortified with red wine when I returned home in case Luis had slipped some gripa porcina in my direction.

And, of course, I washed my hands quite thoroughly - even before pouring some vino tinto (red wine).


Outward bound on the quad


Three amigas

After a very tasty - and picante - Chinese/Mexican seafood salad and a few beers (ok, three beers) at the beach restaurant, neighbor Chon offered to show us a trail to a hilltop overlooking Playa Chica. We had driven past the trail several times, never realizing exactly where it went, so with Chon's direction, up we went to a hill that gives a breathtaking vista of the area around the beach.

The road/trail had not been used in a long time and so Chon's daughters Juliette and Brianda got whacked more than once with low-hanging tree branches and weeds taller than the quad. Even the Admiral took one square hit while filming a video.

The girls were good sports however, used to such adventuring with Chon, no doubt.


Playa Chica, looking north and west


Rocks and swimming areas to the south

T0morrow - Saturday - we will be doing minor chores around the casa and getting ready for another mini-clinic on Sunday with our veterinarian amiga Rocio from La Manzanilla. At the fiesta this afternoon, Luis' wife Nena said she will be bringing one of her dogs by for a look see. And Rocio has to give another shot to a dog named Leona. Leona has no sense of humor about the series of shots she is getting and we have to put a muzzle on her while Rocio administers the medicine.

I expect to be pressed into service again to hold Leona down as I did last week - but with a lot of help again from her owners.

Here are two short film clips from our quad adventure this afternoon/evening. The first is coming down the mountain/hillside, the second on the beach.

Taking a quad tour of Arroyo Seco beaches at Semana Santa

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - The wind has been piping up to 30+ knots during the afternoons for the past few days, so the Admiral and I - and our neighbor Brianda - headed out Friday early on the quad to reconnoiter the beaches to see how many vacacionistas have invaded our normally traquil beaches.

Not too many, it seems, though earlier today a huge blue tour bus headed to the beach, loaded with tourists. It's the first tour bus I have ever seen come through town. Judging from the way people in the village came out of their houses to gawk at the bus, they haven't ever seen anyone brave enough to come down these roads with a rig that big before either.


Playa Grande on Good Friday

Playa Grande and Playa Chica were both quiet, partly I suppose because of the winds that tore the awning down off the original Grey Goose II trailer today. And it might also be because the beaches are both on open ocean, which Friday was pumping huge waves onto the sand and very few people were willing to risk the undertow to go swimming. There were some pretty sizable encampments along Playa Grande, tucked back in out of the wind. Today even more carloads of people with camping gear were headed out for a few days of fun in the sun.

While Easter is tomorrow, vacations for many people continue right through next week.

And, of course, with the vacacionistas has come an influx of quads and motorcycles - bad news for people who don't like hotrodding kids, good news for the tiendas in town who are selling a lot of gasoline.


Follow that quad


Camping at the end of the beach

Makeshift volleyball nets were all over the beaches and every 200 yards or so there was a furious game of futbol (soccer) going on with the ball usually ending up kicked out into the raging surf. It's amazing how far even a 7-year-old can boot a soccer ball.

But in addition to the volleyball and futbol, we saw one group of fellows who used their ingenuity - and quad - to come up with a sport that looked like a lot of fun. We will be adding it to our arsenal of looney things to do on the beach.

The trees have their water and I needed some of my own

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - After a hour of drenching the transplanted - and planted trees - this morning, I rocketed into La Manzanilla because our Goddaughter Devani was sick.

Her mother Mimi had called me late last night and asked if I could come to the house today. The baby has been sick for several days and didn't seem to be getting any better. Even though Mimi's exact words were hard for me to understand, the tone was pure 'mom' when she called seeking help.

As someone who had pneumonia and now bronchitis for nearly six weeks, I suppose I am something of an expert - on the disease side anyway.


Devani two months ago

I checked her medications - which all look in order - and listened to her breathing. I recognized the wheezing because I am still struggling with the last vestiges of it. In a few days, Adm. Fox and I will make a foray back to see if the baby is better, or if we need to take her to a new doc.


Honda generator

By noon, I was free and flying back up the highway to Arroyo Seco, finding when I got home that the power was out. I ran my trusty Honda generator for about an hour while I did some computer stuff and then decided to head to the beach instead of sitting around looking at all the things I needed to do here.

And when I got to the beach it was all mine, except for having to share it with a couple of flocks of birds. I had thought a swim was in order until I waded out to my knees.

Forget that 75 degree water of just a few weeks ago ... This felt like Seneca Lake in June. And I do not swim there in June.


Egrets catching crabs in the sand


Pounding surf - and cold


Rocky outcropping

As part of my quad-to-the-beach adventure, I carried along my Flip video camera to do a test run to see what the video clips would be like from the seat of a bouncing Honda.

About what you expect, but still interesting.

Sorry there is no narration, but it was hard enough driving the quad with one hand while filming with the other without trying to talk.

But watch for a full-length video about Arroyo Seco (with dialogue and narration) this summer, in a living room near you, or maybe in your living room.