A four-day road trip includes a visit to a volcano

COLIMA, State of Colima, Mexico - After weeks of having fun with amigos from the U.S. - and me hacking Arroyo Seco dust balls up like a cat in need of shots - the Admiral convinced me to go on a road trip to the cities of Colima and Comala, accompanied by our New York amigos Mike and Karen Schamel. Mike and Karen were ending up a three-week stay in La Manzanilla while they escaped the freezing temperatures of central upstate New York.

Except for the confusion generated by having two people named Michael in such close proximity, the road trip was, as we used to say, a blast.

On our last day in Comala, we drove up to a tiny town and had lunch in a restaurant that had a great view of an active volcano. Yup, the volcano is considered active. We told a few Pompeii stories while we dined, watching the volcano occasionally belch out some steam.

We did quite a bit of belching ourselves from the great ribs and margaritas.


Volcano lets out with a little toot


The intrepid volcano explorers

Comala turned out to be a more interesting place for us than the much larger city of Colima. The small town is a warren of smallish houses and stores, mixed with very interesting bed and breakfast places. On the big town square, restaurants serve you free food - provided you keep ordering margaritas.

We had plenty of food one afternoon and enough beverages that Admiral Fox was moved to leave the restaurant table and check out the violin being played by one of the wandering musicians. The Admiral's Celtic tunes clashed a little bit with the banda music around the square, but the people were fascinated to see a blonde gringa playing the fiddle.


Sylvia introduces some new tunes in Comala

That night, we came back to the square just in time to see another violinist perform as he accompanied a great singer. The town square restaurants shut down their margarita machines before sunset but most of the town seemed to turn out to hear the concert.


Singer at festival



Our time in Colima was very short - just a quick overnight at the Hotel Ceballos, but the day we left I did have a nice conversation with a team of dancers from the city who were raising money for their practices and for costumes for some upcoming competition.

At least that was what they told me.

In perfectly accented English, they asked me if I could spare them any cash - anything to help their efforts.

I agreed, but with the caveat that I could get my photo taken with them.

I didn't have to ask twice.


The Captain with the dance team in Colima

They invited me to attend their practice that afternoon in Colima, but, alas, I had to make my way up the mountains to Comala where the volcano awaited.

Sigh.



As luck would have it, our night in Colima at the hotel also coincided with the arrival of 150 Harley-Davidson motorcycles (and their drivers and passengers, of course), part of a rally from Mexico City that drew headlines in all the local newspapers.

They were very well-behaved bikers - perhaps better behaved than us. But Admiral Fox was able to persuade one amigo to let her check out his bike, though she didn't have quite the right outfit for highway travel.


Get your motor running...

Sunday in La Manzanilla: sailboats, the beach and a baptism

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - All of the good photos - and a movie - of the baptism Sunday of our God child Devani are safely on the Admiral's camera in Puerto Vallarta, so I will only say that I attended my first Catholic Mass Sunday in 40 years - and not a single lightning bolt struck anywhere near the church.

(A few hours later a electrical transformer outside the church did explode with an incredible bang, but I was safely away at the fiesta celebrating the baptism.)

Sitting through the entire Mass, then going through the sacrament of baptism as a new padrino, was very interesting, in good part because my Spanish is good enough to understand a lot, but not everything.

I am sure though, that at one time during the priest's sermon, he used the Spanish equivalent of the word 'fornicate' repeatedly - as in don't...

When I have some pictures to post, I'll write more about the whole day - or more likely Adm. Fox will tap the keys from Vallarta and give a full description.

In between the church service and at grand fiesta at Devani's grandmother's house, (only 200 yards from the church), Adm. Fox, our Arroyo Seco neighbor Brianda, a French amiga Miriam, and I headed to the beach for a hour to decompress from the padre's sermon and ceremony.

The beach was full of sun worshippers, the water full of swimmers and while we sipped cold drinks, cruising sailboat zoomed past and dropped anchor.

Quite a Sunday, all in all.


Sailing to La Manzanilla

It's official - the Grey Goose Express II is set for Mexico

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - Timing is everything.

A week ago today, we were steered by several people towards a used RV lot here in Sacramento called RV Max , but it was late on a Sunday and so we decided we would wait until we had exhausted all the private-party sales of trailers we found through Craigslist.

And we found plenty of those. And by late yesterday afternoon, we were exhausted.

We found light trailers, heavy trailers, little trailers, big trailers, cheap trailers, expensive trailers - even wrecked trailers with dubious titles.

But today we decided to swing by RV Max and talk to owner Mike. Yup, Mike, who came highly recommended by everyone in the business. Mike had a unit for sale we thought might work. We had seen it on Craigslist, of course.


Admiral in front of Grey Goose Express II

When we arrived, we were sad at first to see that the unit we came to look at - a 30-foot behemoth that weighed at least 8,000 pounds - had been sold already. It didn't matter much, because the trailer was at least 2,000 pounds over anything we should consider towing with our Toyota Tundra. And after last year's narrow escape of problems with the Isuzu Trooper, I wanted a relatively light trailer. No more cooking transmissions, if I could help it.

But on our way onto the lot, we walked past a unit that had just arrived the afternoon before from the trailer auction, where owner Mike had found it and thought it would make a good addition to his lot.

Just arrived! The afternoon before!

We did a quick walkthru, talked with Mike, and within 15 minutes had:

• Bought a 26-foot trailer at a bargain price, including a special hitch and a guarantee
• Made a friend in RV Max-owner Mike, who is dying to come to Mexico
• Found a Spanish tutor for me, one of people who works for Mike at the lot

Here's what the trailer looks like on the inside:


Admiral by the couch and front door


Galley and refrigerator at right


Dinette slideout

The slideout makes all the difference in the trailer, pushing out the living room, dining room, galley area about three feet to make the place seem like, well, a home, not a skinny tube of aluminum.

And speaking of aluminum, the unit is constructed largely of aluminum and weighs only slightly over 4,000 pounds, well within range of the Tundra's pulling (and more important, stopping) abilities.

A few hours after making our find, we signed a short-term contract for a parking spot about a mile from the university so we can begin stocking the Grey Goose Express II (known at Goose II for short) for our sojourn to Mexico and Arroyo Seco. Now that we have two travel trailers (the original Grey Goose Express and this unit) we have to decide if one of them should be posted on one of the beach lots, or if both should reside in downtown Arroyo Seco.

Decisions, decisions. Where to put the trailer? And how much Grey Goose vodka to carry for the trip.


Parking place for Grey Goose II

A great Sunday afternoon barbecues - without crocodiles

RANCHO CUIXMALA, Jalisco, Mexico - The Admiral and I went to a barbecue Sunday afternoon just a few miles up the road from our Arroyo Seco project, invited by our same amigas who had us out to ride horses several days before.

These Sunday afternoon get-togethers - of family and friends - around Arroyo Seco seem to happen every week. Sometimes people gather on the beach, sometimes other spots. It's all family oriented with kids and dogs part of the mix.

This fiesta was held next to the same laguna where our horseback guide Jose warned me of crocodiles in the water. And the children at the barbecue/fiesta made great fun every time I walked near the water, warning me not to get too close.

Each time I went to the water to take a photo or two, they made great growling sounds behind me, though I'm not sure crocodiles actually growl. Chomp? Yes.


The chef at work

We had a delicious potluck-style meal. But the food highlight was clearly the lamb, chicken, beef and chorizo, all cooked over an open fire.

In the U.S., the amount of carne cooked probably would have required several of those massive stainless steel barbecues that look like leftover equipment from one of the Apollo space missions. Here a few logs, a grate and a spit sufficed.

The party was an interesting mix of languages, too, with Spanish, English and French spoken interchangeably. And one fellow there was from Japan, who is quite fluent in Spanish.

I really have to get more serious in my study of Spanish.

Here's a brief video of the chef at work. He said in his native Argentina, this is how barbecues are routinely done.

Work crews hitting warp speeds at Arroyo Seco

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - What a difference a few days - and having a heavy equipment operator return from a stateside vacation - can make on a construction project.

The Admiral and I stopped by Arroyo Seco on our way back from Puerto Vallarta Wednesday and while progress was evident, it was short of what we had thought might be done. Amazing how much your imagination can boost the amount of work you think can be done is a short time.

But by the time we went back Friday afternoon, we were blown away at how much had been accomplished. The wall surrounding the property is done. The foundation for the bodega is in process. The holes have been dug for the poles for a big ramada over the trailer and - most impressive - there a huge hole in the middle of the property for the fosa septica (septic tank).


Michael down in the hole for the fosa

In good part, the projects leaped ahead because our neighbor Javier came back from the U.S. and fired up his excavation equipment, saving Arturo and his workers days of digging by hand. The work is still labor intensive - stacks of bricks to be placed by the maestro, bags and bags of concrete to be mixed - but with the holes dug, now its time for construction.


Arturo and the maestro work on the foundation for the bodega


Finishing touches on the back wall

One last-minute change - part of some suggestions from amigo Rusty (a retired architect from Grass Valley, Calif.) - was to put in a gate at the back of the property so we would have access from both streets. It will be used for whatever hacienda/house we put in the back next season. It also creates another gate project for our neighbor Chon, who said he is on the case and will put it together quickly.


Admiral peers around through the back gate

In the meantime, perhaps the biggest milagro (miracle) is that our worker guys are pushing forward while most of Mexico is taking a long weekend. Thursday was a national holiday and so is today and Monday. Sunday, of course, is a day of rest no matter what. Later today, we are taking out the makings for a fiesta for the crew to thank them for making us a priority.

The celebrations around here are pretty intense and in Cihuatlan Friday (about 20 miles away), we managed to drive right into the middle of a huge parade and fiesta on our way to do some shopping for a La Manzailla amiga who is about to give birth to a baby girl.

The whole city turned out to watch the parade.

Parade in Cihuatlan

Tractor float


Queen candidate on a pickup


Queen candidate


Somber sombero


College students dancing to the beat

We can now 'phone it in' from our Arroyo Seco lot

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - Utilities are a really big deal in Mexico. I think having your name on the electric bill is almost as important as having your name on the property title.

So today, when the Tel-Mex truck pulled up and we knew we were going to get our telephone line installed, it was kind of like winning the lottery: Not only had we ordered a phone line, we actually were getting it installed.

Un milagro! (A miracle for anyone who hasn't run across that word in this blog before.)


Tel-Mex amigo clips phone line in place

When the installer pulled up, he looked around suspiciously and asked, "Donde esta su casa?"

We pointed at the Grey Goose Express and explained that the trailer is our house, at least temporada, prompting a very worried look on his face. He must deal with a lot of fairly loony gringos. I think he was thinking, "Who lives in a trailer in the middle of a dusty construction lot?"

But after about a hour of climbing around on telephone poles and stringing wires and chatting, we had made a new friend. He refused all offers of cerveza but gladly accepted a cold bottle of water when he came inside and found we had airconditioning.

He was good enough to explain to us that if we got a DSL line in the fall, to sign up for the slowest modem speed (and cheapest) because no matter what Tel-Mex said, the line into Arroyo Seco (for now) is ok but not sufficient to deliver the speeds Tel-Mex advertises.

He said if we could get more Americans and Canadians moving in - and asking for DSL - he was sure Tel-Mex would upgrade the system.

Oh and while it was fairly easy for me to understand everything the installer said in Spanish, he could shift easily into English to explain things, too. He learned English working in Pomona, California about 20 years ago, but decided to move back to Mexico where he has lived, happily, ever since.

Even on hot days installing phone lines for gringos living in trailers.

Semana Santa (Easter Week) comes to La Manzanilla

La Manzanilla beach looking north

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - Perhaps it is because I grew up going to Coney Island and Jones Beach in New York, but the scene above, hundreds of Mexican families enjoying the beach, actually seems more normal than the virtually deserted stretches of sand I have become use to here for most of the year. OK - deserted stretches of sand I enjoy.

Welcome to Semana Santa, or as it is referred to by many people here, Semana Loco.

Carloads and busloads of Mexican families are arriving and setting up camp on the beach, in yards, alongside the highway - any place there is a flat spot. On my way back from Tenacatita, two days ago, I passed two teenage Mexican girls carrying backpacks who were hitchhiking to La Manzanilla. By the time I had passed them and realized I should give them a lift, two truckloads of Mexican fellows were vying for the chance to give them a ride to the beach.

It's kind of an annual Mexican Woodstock, sans the late Jimmy Hendrix, and it's going on in virtually every Mexican coastal city and town.


La Manzanilla beach looking south

The local gringos gird for this event like upstate New Yorkers get ready for a snowstorm. Stock up on food, water, and figure that you are not going to leave your house for days on end. Some leave town entirely and head for the interior - where all the beach-going Mexicans have just left. (And many of them rent out their La Manzanilla homes for a good price...)

I toured the beach area this afternoon and met only one other gringo - a very confused-looking Canadian fellow searching for the beachfront condo he had rented, not knowing that most of the state of Jalisco was going to arrive and was already cooking carne asada and fish on his doorstep.

But good grief, everyone else looked like they were having a great time, with soccer balls flying left and right and even kitesurfers putting on a show.


Kite surfing in 30 mph winds


Working on a sunburn, er, tan

I had planned to go to neighboring Melaque today - it is St. Patrick's Day, after all - but was warned against going near the city. Melaque's patron saint is St. Patrick (San Patricio) himself and the city apparently becomes so jammed with people, cars, tequila and people dancing in the streets, it's impossible to get around.

Sure sounds like fun to me, but I'm blogging instead.

Sigh.

But on the way home from the beach I went by the lagoon to see if the crocs were celebrating - or perhaps salivating - at the prospect of several thousand naive tourists on the beach, some of whom were wading in the end of the crocodile swamp near a local restaurant to cool off.

Not a good idea, considering how many people have been throwing food into that area for the crocs.


Waiting for just the right tourist

The feeding of the crocodiles in La Manzanilla

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - We spent a quiet Sunday, recovering from the rigors of our performance the night before at Palapa Joe's as The Four Headlamps singing the Rodney Carrington hit, "I Think I'm Dancin' With A Man."

But late in the day, after stopping to see our Canadian friends Lynn and Doug (Eh?) down on the beach, we came home via the edge of a swamp that is home to some very large crocodiles.

The swamp abuts the end of town and local kids (and tourists, OK...) take great pleasure in throwing food into the swamp for the crocs to grab.

Being married to a Florida girl (Sanibel Island) who grew up around alligators, I know that feeding these animals is a reallllly bad idea. After awhile, they equate people with food. And if you run out of fish to throw to them? Well... watch the video and think about meeting one of these guys if you fall out of your kayak in the swamp.

Or in the ocean, where they sometimes go, if they get bored in the confines of the swamp

But we witnessed kids pitching of fish to the crocs today anyway.

Scary animals. Or are they reptiles?

Back on the beaches of La Manzanilla & Tenacatita

TENACATITA, Jalisco, Mexico - The best part of having company, especially company that is new to the area, is getting to show off the place.

And so for the past two days, I have been driving around and about with Jen Bills and her mom Ruth. Ruth, of course, is a Mexico veteran now, having been here for two weeks tomorrow. She can say margarita and Cuba Libre like a native.

The dynamic duo spent the morning at a temporary mercado set up in the town square shopping for clothes, souvenirs and trinkets while I aided Admiral Fox in her real estate endeavors by driving some potential buyers around. We went up hills and down hills and around hills.

I wish the Admiral would find some properties to show where the terrain is flat.


Jen Bills takes a picture on Admiralty Beach

We stopped at Admiralty Beach to visit briefly with Mario - Mario of Mario & Sharon and the current occupant of the Grey Goose Express parked under a ramada next to his property. He was napping when we drove up but we took a minute to take gaze at the ocean from his nearly completed homesite. And we scouted for whales.

The afternoon before we sighted several whales right off the beach in La Manzanilla. They were no-shows out in front of Admiralty Beach today.


Grey Goose Express at Mario's

As soon as Mario's house is finished - soon we hope - we are considering moving the GGE (Grey Goose Express) down to our lot, provided we can get the road finished, a concrete pad poured and a ramada built to shade it.

Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it?

But work was not the top priority today as we headed over to Fiesta Mexicana, ready to eat, drink and go boogie boarding. Unfortunately, the wild Pacific surf - so evident at Mario's lot - was none existent around the corner in front of the restaurant.

But I settled for some nice swimming in the ocean and checking out the natives as they enjoyed the warm day at the beach.


Shaking out the sand

The midwest feast comes to Palapa Joe's - meat loaf

PALAPA JOE'S RESTAURANT, La Manzanilla, Jalisco, Mexico - A couple of nights ago I got a 911 call from Admiral Fox, perched on a bar stool at Palapa Joe's next to local bon vivant Jane 'I-Don't-Do-Real-Estate' Gorby, who said that it was 'meat loaf' night at the restaurant, the first in many months.

I was right in the middle of making plans to go with amiga Tia, her daughter Macy, and a contingent of parents and kids to release some baby turtles out in the surf, plans I abandoned in favor of meat loaf, mashed potatoes and Cuba Libres. (It turned out the turtle expedition was moved to another night anyway. These ethical choices are murder.)

Meat loaf isn't exactly the fare people associate with this small Mexican pueblo - exactly why it is such a hit when it makes it to the menu. Kimberly, co-owner of the restaurant with her husband Willy, had the meat to make a meat loaf in her freezer and decided to bring it out (and cook it up fresh) when she heard me in the Santana Real Estate office the day before, wistfully mentioning that I missed the meat loaf prepared by Corti Brothers in Sacramento, a fairly regular item on the FitzFox menu when we are in that zip code.


A feast of taste, and of calories beyond counting

My first encounter with meat loaf - waaaaay too many years ago to admit here - was when my college girlfriend fixed one for us, but misread the recipe and instead of using bread crumbs in the mix, used regular bread. The bread soaked up every drop of grease from the ground beef, making it arguably the heaviest meat loaf ever baked in a small pan. It was delicious, but I still remember the weight in my stomach for about two days.

The words meat loaf also always bring back my first drive into the city of Napa in California, after coming from Jamestown, New York in a blue VW van.

Cruising down Jefferson Boulevard, I saw a big sign in a window of a shop that said:

Meat Loaf - $3.99
Hot Tuna - $4.99

We turned in, hungry, only to see that we were in front of the Jefferson Boulevard Music Store, where, indeed, they were selling Meat Loaf and Hot Tuna.


Meat Loaf


Hot Tuna

At Palapa Joe's this week, there was no mistaking it was meat loaf, the food, and the music was lovely Spanish tunes.

Taking the La Manzanilla, Arroyo Seco tour with friends

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - We spent a fun day Sunday, showing off Arroyo Seco (and Tenacatita and La Manzanilla) to our still-cruising amigos, Dan & Lorraine Olsen and Phil & Nora McCaleb.

Phil & Nora are on their way back from Central America to the U.S.; Dan & Lorraine are heading south to Central America.

The Admiral and I are staying right here. For now. OK, at least that's today's plan.

We showed the cruisers our newest property in Arroyo Seco, an 800-square meter lot right in downtown, if downtown is the right word for a pueblo of 300 year-round residents. But during the season, a lot of people come through the place headed to the excellent surfing beaches.


Lots of room for more surfers


Waiting for the surfers


Nora, Sylvia and Lorraine at Arroyo Seco's north beach

The lot is already walled in (good for security), has power and water, and is flat enough that members of the Flat Earth Society would feel comfortable holding a convention here.

We doubt we will use the property as a convention site, but the lot has plenty of business possibilities as well as just a nice spot to build a house. Like another lot we thought we had purchased, this one benefits from the cool ocean breezes.


Downtown Arroyo Seco

After the Arroyo Seco drive through, we went to the beach at Tenacatita where I went boogie boarding again, this time with much less good result. A big wave picked me up and slammed me head-first into the hardpacked sand, then pushed me across the beach (underwater, of course) for about 10 feet.

Ow!

The women at our beachside table told me some people pay a lot of money for the kind of skin peel I got. I could have lived quite nicely without it - or the neck pain I have had for two days.

But a careful regime of M&Ms (margaritas and Motrin) seems to be getting me back in shape to tackle the waves again.

In the meantime, here's another one of those sunset videos...

Rooftop storage - probably not recommended, but....

LAND PARK, SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - Today's big project turned into, well, a big project. What I had projected to be a one-hour start to finish enterprise turned into about 3 hours.

But tonight the two kayaks, the Captain's Gig (the 10-foot sailing dinghy), oars, paddles, masts and an assorted collection of other stuff is neatly (ok, not too neatly) tied on the top of the 25-foot Aerolite trailer in anticipation of a Friday liftoff for the Grey Goose Express.

The trailer is only about 8 feet off the ground, but the way it shakes when walking on the roof... Let's just say my fear of heights came back for a brief time. How did I ever climb the sailboat mast? Oh. Yeah. I didn't. I sent someone else up all the time.

Still, after about a dozen trips up and down on the ladder, I was feeling pretty cocky, too cocky it seems as I nearly slipped off the edge.

The Admiral would not be amused if I broke my leg a few days before we have to drive 1600 miles.

I ended up making one trip to the hardware store to pick up some extra line, a few 's' hooks and a giant bungee cord all to secure the fleet on the rooftop. You can never have enough bungee chords.

We found crew for our voyage to Mexico in December

LAND PARK, Sacramento, Calif., USA - It's a long way from our driveway here in Land Park to Tenacatita (about 1650 miles, I guesstimate) but the Admiral found the perfect crew member & pet to take along with us on our trek south and east.

He should also be relatively amusing - and/or annoying - once we hit the beach in Mexico, especially once his Spanish improves.