Puerto Vallarta

Here is my post about Puerto Vallarta.  I don’t know what happened with that last one.  It wasn’t Vallarta.  It was Mazatlan.  Except for the last picture of me standing on a malacon (malecon? malicon?)  That was taken on the malacon in La Paz.  I just did spell check and it doesn’t know how to spell malacon either.  Does anyone have a dictionary?

I just talked to Jay on the phone.  He was surprised.  He wanted to know where I was.  He thinks he’s so funny.  But I needed to ask where we stayed with the Robles in 1966 or 67.  He said it was probably near Barceria just north of here.  We must have stayed with them for 2 or 3 weeks.  We stayed in their boat house on the beach where they stored their dugout canoes.  That was where the scorpions dropped out of the palm leaf roof down onto where we slept.  Luckily nothing got us.  I might try to go there tomorrow if I can.

The top picture is a side street right off the beach where, possibly, I drank out of a spigot back when.  I really remember that because I knew I shouldn’t because it could make me really sick but I was so thirsty.  So I took pictures of several side streets to show Jay to see if he remembers.  He remembers an amazing amount of stuff from back then.  It was really great talking to him awhile ago, to have him remind me of the sequence of things, how we got here (he rode on the running board of a truck to get here!  It’s a wonder he didn’t fall off and get hurt.),  where we went first, where we came here from, (Tepic), so much. 

The next picture is the church and the last the malacon along the bay.

Our ship is docked across the street from Wal mart and a mall that has a Starbucks in it.  I bought a liter of water at Wal mart this morning.  It was only one dollar as opposed to nine dollars here on the boat.  And then went next door to the mall for the first real espresso I’ve had since I left Fort Collins, Colorado on the second.  Tomorrow we leave for Cabo in the afternoon.

Puerto Vallerta

Mazatlan is still here, as hectic as ever. I got an email from Jay reminding me of the places we visited and the beaches and hotels we stayed at when we last visited this town almost fifty years ago. All our old haunts were still there. Not that we ever had ‘haunts’ exactly, but the cathedral and zocalo were still in the same place, and Maxine and I didn’t have any trouble getting a taxi driver to take us to the old Mercado. He told us it was 110 years old, so it obviously was the same one we visited in 1966. It is the greatest market place, a huge space full of the essentials for a Mexican family and then some. Lots of raw meat on display, which is always an eyebrow raiser no matter how many times I see it. The first time we were down here so long ago I saw what I thought must be dog, skinned and turning on a spit, but have since figured it must have been goat. No doubt, a miscommunication. Probably, JAY didn’t misunderstand. I just love this place. It’s so MEXICAN. We should have probably have spent more time down there around that old Mercado where there was so much crowding bustle and jammed traffic (no lights! What’s up with that!) but it kind of overwhelmed us, I think. Anyway, we went back to the ship.

I jumped in the pool then showered and was just in time for the afternoon tea. I had a cucumber sandwich and a fruit tart. Two days ago they served scones and clotted cream. I still don’t know what clotted cream is but it was really good, kind of like whipped cream, but heavier.

I’m going to the computer workshop at 5:30, as soon as we set sail, disconnect from the dock, throw off the ropes, push off; whatever it’s called. Set sail sounds most cool but, of course, we don’t HAVE sails. This young kid from South Africa teaches these computer workshops every day and they’ve been MOST helpful. He’s all about Windows 7, which, of course, is what I have on my laptop and I am not at all familiar with. At 5:30 it’s just for people with questions, but I want to know about the program he mentioned called Windows Live Writer. It’s supposed to be for doing all the work for your blog without being ACTUALLY ON your blog then down loading later, which would be really great for me right now since I don’t have an internet connection most of the time. Everything is all ready to go including pictures.

I was going to try to take a video of this string quartet that plays every evening, which we listen to every evening, but discovered my camera doesn’t have hardly any sound. Maxine took a video but I don’t know how it turned out. Last night they played several songs from, I believe operas, that were really familiar, and soooo good. I wish I could have gotten at least one of them on my camera, but it would have been a waste of time. I would have tried to remember what they were called but it was Italian or something, and there was no way I could have remembered the name. But anyway, too bad you can’t hear them.

Mazatlan

Here I am in Mazatlan and finally being able to work on my blog. Of course, I don't have anything to say since I already wrote emails. I'll write more in Puerto Vallerta tomorrow because I'll be there two days. There should be an internet cafe close to the dock, I hope.

winter trip to warmer climes

My sister, Maxine, has invited me to join her family on a cruise to the Sea of Cortez, so we will be leaving tomorrow for San Diego to board the cruise ship amsterdam there.

winter trip to warmer climes

It's snowy and cold here in North Park but my sister Maxine has invited me to join her and her husband and daughter on a cruise to the Sea of Cortez, so I'm leaving tomorrow for San Diego and the cruise ship, Amsterdam. I will have more to say later, I expect.