Riding horses around the wilds of el Rancho Cuixmala

RANCHO CUIXMALA, Jalisco, Mexico - We spent a few hours Friday morning riding horses around the famous Rancho Cuixmala, about five miles from Arroyo Seco.

We had been invited to come out and ride by our amiga, Mercedes, who with her sister, brother and mother run the huge organic farming and ranch which borders the Cuixmala River. They have five horses, two of which galloped around the pasture when we went by. I couldn't tell if they were wishing they were out on patrol with us, or making fun of their compadres with the humans perched stiffly on their backs.

Rancho Cuixmala

Mercedes and her brother on one of their tractors

As it has been probably 40 years since I climbed on a horse, I was more than a little apprehensive about the whole expedition. Ironically, the last animal I climbed on the back of (in a pasture in western New York) was a pretty tired old fellow named inappropriately Lightning.

So, in a nice bit of symmetry, the much-younger (and still spirited) horse I rode at Rancho Cuixmala is also named Lightning - at least that's what I was told. Mercedes sister Ana told me to be sure to 'let him know who is the boss.' Good advice, except I had very little idea how to do it, but the Admiral clued me in quickly.

The Admiral owned horses years ago and had her steed well under control the whole ride. For her it has been only 20 years or so since she rode a horse. A mere moment...

The ranch is stunning and we rode through trees and fields with all manner of plant and animal life - most of which I couldn't readily identify. Our guide Jose pointed out that the large laguna on the rancho contains crocodiles.

And at one point, a family of coatimundi ran across the path right in front of us.

My horse barely took notice, preferring to munch the weeds while we stopped to let the family cross the trail.


Riding through the trees

By the end of the ride, I had gotten the hang of how to steer Lightning (it has been 40 years) and I realized that the horse really prefers a nice canter to plodding along like a stereotypical stable beast. We did a few bursts of speed, but the bouncing will take some getting used to for me.

More horseback riding lies ahead, we hope, even in the wilds of upstate New York at Seneca Lake where we will be in just a few short weeks.

The Admiral had so much fun she said suggested we get a horse to trot around in Arroyo Seco, or out at Rancho Cuixmala.

I suggested a burro instead - kind of a low-budget horse and certainly picaresque. I didn't get a very favorable response.

Waiting for a phone call - a baby on the way soon?

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - We are sleeping with the telephone close by the bed tonight, as the daughter of our amiga Irma is within days (maybe hours, maybe minutes) of delivering a baby girl.

And because the young lady and Irma don't have a car, if they suddenly have to get to the hospital tonight, they will be calling us for a quick hour's drive to Manzanillo, where the baby is to be delivered.

I've been waiting for the chance since December to go screaming down Highway 200 at 90 mph in the Trooper. My Ipod already has Born To Be Wild loaded to play on the trip.

Get your motor runnin'
Way out on the highway,
Lookin for adventure,
And whatever comes it will...

If the baby should decide to be born during the daylight hours, there are some other folks who have said they will take to the roads to get mom to the hospital.


Three amigas

Irma and her daughter and husband only have a few family members around here. They came to La Manzanilla from Ensenada (on the Baja peninsula) several months ago and have been scratching out a living in town. But the soon-to-be-born baby and mother have been declared healthy by doctors and we are fast becoming adopted grandparents.

Watch for some baby pix in the next few days.


Sylvia with a young cowboy and his steed

The past two days we have been in Arroyo Seco for most daylight hours, watching the progress on all our projects and visiting with folks. Sylvia discovered the young caballero in the photo above with his horse. The horse is in a small pasture right behind our lot and his owner is very proud of the animal and let Sylvia get close enough to pet the horse.

Tomorrow, Sylvia and I will be saddling up on a couple of horses ourselves near Arroyo Seco for a ride around a rancho.

It will be the first time in more than 40 years since I climbed on the back of a horse, though I have been practicing an old Gene Autry song for some months on the ukulele that would seem to fit tomorrow's activities.

I'm back in the saddle again,
Out where a friend is a friend,
Where the longhorn cattle feed,
On the lowly jimson weed,
I'm back in the saddle again.

We'll see what key I'm singing in after bouncing on a hard saddle for a couple of hours.

La-la-la-la-la-la-la...

Or maybe...

Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow.....


Sylvia in the middle of palapa construction

Gridlock in La Manzanilla - and another retirement party

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - I don't drive all that fast (ok, not any faster than my Mexican amigos around here) but I was moving pretty fast a couple of days ago, headed up the mountain to meet someone, when I rounded a gravel-road corner and found this fellow standing in the middle of the road.

Who has the right of way here?

I tooted my horn to get him to move, but he didn't budge. In fact, he came up and rested his head on the hood of the car briefly. Even when I got out of the car, he didn't move, until I gave him a loud cowboy yell (Yee-haw!). Then he ambled off, leading me slowly for about a quarter mile before wandering off into a ravine. I'll have to brush up on my Spanish for Horses.

The next day, on my way out to Tenacatita, to check on the beach lots (and Mario & Sharon's casa) I rounded another corner a little too fast, only to be greeted by several horses, blithely wandering across Highway 200, the major north-south artery for this entire coastal area.

I don't want to think about what would happen if I had a Trooper-Palomino collision.

Highway horses

But things haven't been all horse stories.

Wednesday night we had the official Jane Gorby retirement party at Palapa Joe's, with Jane's former employer, Joan Santana as hostess. Joan sprang for the whole party - drinks, more pizzas than a hungry crowd could eat, and a beautiful cake that everyone managed to chomp on, despite being full of pizza.

The retirement cake

There were no long speechs (whew!) just a few toasts and one rendition on the ukulele of "Jane Gorby has finally retired." The three Cuba Libres I had didn't help much with hitting the right chords, but because most everyone else had sloshed pretty good, too, I got away with it.

Jane & Jesse

The party table at Palapa Joe's