Almost the end of January, and it’s now long overdue for another blog. The problem is: Very Little Has Happened! At least photo or adventure-wise.
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| Oceans shots in Mexico and Belize |
However, I have accomplished a project though: I have gone through and edited my
12,500 pictures, and compiled them into groups according to themes. From these groups I have designed slide shows, calendars and greeting cards. I will attempt to share a few of these with you.
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We spent nearly a month at Chimulco, (too long really) a well-known campground/hot springs SW of Guadalajara. The daytime temperatures are fantastic, mid-to high 70’s, with cool nights. Large warm water pools (about 90 degrees) make swimming laps every morning a pleasure. The large pools are emptied each night. This, ecologically, has always bothered me: I can only hope the water goes back into the ground to feed the aquifer.
Many years ago, this campground was always packed to overflowing. These days, only a smattering of the former motorhomes and fifth wheel RVer’s are coming to Mexico because of fear of the drug cartels. Other RVer’s are getting too old to travel, and no new crop of RVer’s is following. It is so sad for Mexico to lose all their tourist dollars because of the drug cartels and fears.
We spent most of our time in Chimulco with one US couple and 2-3 other couples from British Columbia. One couple, Mike and Barbara, spend six months of the year here, and the other six months in Canada. They have a large covered patio of cocktail table, outdoor kitchen, dining for six, and new horno (Mexican oven).Their fifth wheel stays here year around.
We, and other campers, and Mike and Barb’s Mexican friends had many parties on that patio. We were served ham, turkey, pizza, bread and birria from the new oven. Quite fun. Birria (beer-ee-ah, accent on the beer) is a marvellously spicy, not hot, beef or goat stew. Look up the recipe on the internet. I will try it when I get home to Colorado!
The small native town of Villa corona has a Tuesday mercado (open market), a decent grocery, and a wonderful panaderia (bakery). A real shopping trip means traveling an hour plus to the Costco in SW Guadalajara.
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| One pool at Chimulco |
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| Mike and Barb with the new "horno" in the background. |
For years we had heard about an area on the Mexican coast; Melaque, Boca Beach and Tenacatita. Mike and I took a few days to go down to visit. It certainly was not a favourite of ours. This was because of the oppressive heat, no good snorkelling, or even swimming.
In addition, when in a group, the French Canadians from Quebec are quite unfriendly and clique-ish. Even Canadians from the other provinces feel this way about them.
On the third day, it began to rain — for two solid days. All reasons combined, it was time to retreat to Chimulco until after Christmas.
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| Cabanas at Melaque |
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| Leaving after two days of rain. |
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| Lovely couple at a party on New Year's Eve. He is co-owner of the campground. |
Leaving Chimulco
After waiting nearly a week longer than we intended because of a problem Mike was having with his ears, we finally left on Jan 8. Only a couple of hours on the road, we were turning left into our campground (intended for one night) south of Guadalajara and Lake Chapala. Mike has just turned his signal on, but neglected to look in his mirror. We were struck on the front wheel, driver’s side. by a guy passing, very fast. The impact was such a jolt, our front wheel was knocked completely off, out of the ball joint, and broke the front left upright.
The guy passing, hit and knocked off 3 concrete posts which took out the front of his car, in addition to his right front tire, which blew. No one was hurt at all. We are all thankful for this.
An angel couple, now retired, came to our rescue: a Mexican-born who had worked in Chicago for 30 years and his American wife. Sal did all the talking to the police, the insurance adjuster and to the other guy involved who lives in this town too. He pointed out his house that was only a short distance away! A tow truck came and towed us a couple hundred feet to a campsite. Quite lucky, location-wise.
A day later, we realized our refrigerator had quit after being parked on the driveway incline for four hours following the wreck. Irretrievably. In the meantime, I lost my cell phone only two days after I reactivated it. And through it all, we waited, and waited on a tow truck to show up!
To explain a long week; short, we finally made our own arrangements for towing to a closer repair shop than Guadalajara (two hours away). They now have had it for a week and hope to have it ready in one more week . . . .
Campground is nice, people nice, town close and we have the Tracker to go exploring. Mike’s ears are STILL bothering; we are both reading a lot. No wifi for me and trips to town for it are a nuisance, but tolerable. We have kindly been included in all gringo outings here, and yeah, happy hours are great!
OH! And here are two easy recipes I've learned. 1. Fast supper. Flat tostada shell, topped with refried black or pinto beans with crumbled chorizo, then add a fried egg topped with queso fresca crumbled on top.
2. Poblano Spagetti. In food processor, mix roasted poblano peppers, garlic, tomatillos and sour cream thinned with cream. Swirl onto cooked spaghetti. Salt to taste.
You won't find these in an American-Mexican restaurant!
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| Sunsets I've enjoyed. |
