Saturday

 . . . . . . I spent this day working on the pictures and watching TV. There was a time during the afternoon when I could very well have taken the dog for a walk but I didn't do it. Perhaps tomorrow I will go bowling and get some exercise. I know that leaves ChiChi out in the cold but he can handle it. We walked for an hour yesterday and he broke a couple of those long toenails so next time we get out he might break another two or three. There was not as much rain today as there has been the past few days. That is bound to change, this is Washington!

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Friday

. . . My chess games were all caught up by 10AM. A serious rain cloud had just gone by and another one was not expected for a few hours. I worked on the puter for a while and at 3PM noticed the dog was getting antsy so I got his leash and we walked to the river and back. It took an hour for the round trip and I think it did us both some good. For some reason we stayed dry all of the time; that was a nice thing. This evening was spent working on the Mazatlan pictures and wasting time watching commercials on TV.

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Thursday

. . . . We were blessed with a lot of rain this morning. The drought has ended, the flowers will pop up again this spring. Life is good. ChiChi stayed in the car while I bowled today. I was the only representative from my team and only two showed up for the other team so we were finished in an hour. I bowled 134-131-171- for an average of 141. I seem to be getting back in the groove. Just in time to end the season next Thursday. I suppose the Summer League will start up shortly after that. I stopped by the Dollar Store on the way home and bought two more books and found an Audio book for a dollar too. It turned out to be a pretty good day! I tried to watch a movie this evening called ‘Swordfish’ and things were going along fine until the commercials became longer than the parts of the movie between commercials. Enough of that. We have had a full bucket of rain today and the Barometer reading is the lowest I have ever seen it since I moved in here. It is a nice evening to be inside.

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Wednesday

. . . . Doggie and I left the house about 8:30 and stopped by my doctor’s office in Longview for a copy of my PSA test to deliver to the Urologist in Vancouver this morning. The PSA test was a nice 4.4, not perfect but better than a few months ago. The doctor confirmed that my Prostate is larger than before; I could tell that by counting the number of times I get up in the night, and has given me a 30 day supply of RotoRoter in pill form to ingest. I am to return with a good report in a month. We got home about 11:30, encountering some rain drops on the way. ChiChi was complaining because it was lunch time so I fed him before preparing some goodies for my own consumption. After lunch I went to work on my seven unanswered chess games then went back to the Slide Show I am working on. I stayed with that, making much progress, until 5PM when O’Reilly came on. This evening I enjoyed watching four deer out my bedroom window; the grass is very high and they are really enjoying the tasty greens.

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Tuesday

. . . .Another quiet day, I thought about washing the car but that never materialized. Light rain started about 3PM anyway. I worked on my Mazatlan pictures for a while and read for a while. Got in a short nap too. I could tell ChiChi wanted to get outside and go walking but that never happened either. Tomorrow I drive to Vancouver to a doctor appointment, at least that will get me out of the house for a while. If he is lucky I’ll take the animal with me.

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Monday

. . . It turned out to be a really nice day, clouds rolled in later in the afternoon and it began to look like rain but none has arrived as of this posting. I went bowling today 121-123-128-124-163-136. Almost a 132 average. I will keep at it. On the way home I stopped by Safeway for groceries and a tank of gas. I received a 30 cent per gallon discount on gasoline so I took advantage of it. It still cost me $3.63 even with the discount. I was home and had everything put away by 4PM. After that is was snack time and TV. I am trying like the dickens to keep my weight down to the level it was when I got back from Mexico, wish me luck. That did not keep me from buying three quarts of French Vanilla ice cream.

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Sunday

. . . . The morning was beautiful without a cloud anywhere! As the day progressed things changed. Doggie and I left for a walk about 3pm and we were fortunate to experience the company of our shadows occasionally but by the time we got back to the house things were really becoming socked in. There was never a rain drop but I felt the possibility was there. I checked the radar picture about 4pm and it showed rain here but there was none reaching the ground. I watched NASCAR until it was stopped because of rain about 2pm; I turned off the TV and never checked it again. Billy phoned me late this afternoon and confirmed that the race had been called complete at the half way point. That was when I had turned it off. I think this will be a good evening for a funny movie and a bowl of popcorn.

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Saturday

. . . . The weather was really nice again today, ChiChi and I did a 40 minute walk down toward the river but turned around before actually getting to the water. That usually takes a one hour walk and I was not in the mood this time. I spent some more time on the YouTube Presentation; it is coming along slowly. There was a talent contest at church this evening and Caren asked me to go so she brought the baby and the three of us enjoyed the local talent, singing, jokes, music, all of the good stuff.

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Friday

. . . Doggie and I had a light breakfast and light lunch. This afternoon we took a slow walk down to the rail road tracks wearing a light jacket. There were a few fluffy white clouds drifting by over head and the temperature had a feeling of spring about it. I have started editing my Mazatlan pictures and more or less getting back into the Pleasant Hill Road groove.

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Thursday

. . . Snow fell during the night. Maybe a half inch was waiting for the sunshine when I got up. I had to leave the house around 9:30 to keep my doctor appointment but that amount of snow was no problem. It had all melted by the time I got back about 2pm. The  nurse at the doctor’s office asked me why I was there today and I told her when I last saw the doctor in December he had asked me to stop in when I got back. When I saw the doctor he told me he just wanted to hear about my trip. Actually he asked me to get a PSA test to have when I see the doctor in Vancouver next week. I am now getting up four times a night to drain my kidneys and he says that is way too often. There is no doubt my prostate is giving me problems, so it goes. My bowling was pretty stinky, 127-126-114. I’m glad I didn’t have another line, I doubt I would have broken one hundred! As it is I was the only member of my team that made it today, two guys on the other team were missing too so I was out of there after only an hour. Made me happy. I drove home, fed the doggie and watched some TV before turning on the puter and starting in editing my Mazatlan pictures. The actual count came to 923. It will be interesting to see how many I use in my YouTube presentation.

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Wednesday

. . . Had my laundry all caught up by 10:30  this morning. It is going to rain soon, I can tell because the gravel on the driveway is getting dry. This afternoon I happened to glance out my bedroom window down toward the little lake in the hollow and discovered four deer grazing in the tall grass. They were about three hundred feet away so I was unable to make out horns an any of them. I attempted a couple of pictures but I won’t know how that worked out until after I empty my camera onto the computer. I have almost one thousand pictures I took during the winter and I’m waiting for the mood to strike me before starting work on them. I got a note from Natalia, her Mother is doing much better, she is home and is able to walk a little. The gravel on the driveway is no longer dry and it is bed time.

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Tuesday

 . . . I think we will have a lot more rain in the future but the possibility of more snow is vanishing each day. Today is the first day of spring so snow just can not continue! Right? Doggie and I left for Portland at 10am to check on my Pacemaker [the lady said it is working perfectly], there was some rain but not a lot to complain about. The drive back was mostly dry.

I got back home about 1pm and had some lunch before sitting down to the computer and bringing up Taxslayer.com. I started filling in the information they requested and before I knew it I had sent my tax information off to the IRS and got confirmation of it being accepted. No confirmation that is it correct though; I can only hope that is the case. Now I will have to wait and see if they contact me because I sent wrong figures or perhaps not all of the figures.. . .Personally I thought it was all too easy, something must be wrong. The bottom line was acceptable and that is something I was not expecting.

There is no doubt in my mind that they will be contacting me if I goofed. They have done that before.

I think I will watch some TV and get to bed, I did not get a nap today and I do feel a little more tired than usual tonight. ChiChi has already

gone to bed, I have no idea what that is all about. Bad Earthquake in Mexico today, is everything OK at your house, Natalia?

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Monday

. . . .I looked out the window at 6:30 this morning and watched some big fat snow flakes drifting down. I went back to bed and pulled the covers over my head. When I got up later it had all melted. No it was not a dream, others saw it too!. ChiChi and I drove to the Castle Rock Post Office this morning to put some stuff in the mail box. I sent Natalia a package of plastic dish covers, she was telling me they are hard to find in Mazatlan, I hope I sent the right kind. Has anyone heard from Tammy? I don’t think she answered my last note. Della did, a short answer, she said nothing about Tammy though. As I sat down in the easy chair at 5PM I looked out the window and watched three, maybe four deer run by the apartment. I grabbed my camera in time to get a picture of one of them as he disappeared down the driveway toward Pleasant Hill Drive.  That reminded me of a year ago this month when I first moved in here and saw deer at that time too.

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Sunday

. . . . It was snowing here at 9AM! And I told Roy yesterday that I thought I brought the sunshine back with me! Fat chance! There were broken clouds in the afternoon and the snow melted quickly but the off and on rain was still a disappointment. I paid several on line bills today and worked my chess moves. Most of the day was spent in front of TV auto racing. ChiChi is still attempting to get used to being home and I have had to let him out of the house several times more than necessary only because he wants to go out and explore. It was a good day, I’m feeling rested. The sun was bright late this afternoon, perhaps this storm has passed. Trying to make room for the next one, I suppose! I had my Sunday night popcorn, cheese and apple slices with a commercial movie. Back in the groove again!

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Saturday

 Saturday. . . .I was asleep only about four hours when my bladder woke me up. It was 6:15 so I decided to stay up; I was hungry anyway, and had a lot to do. The car started right away when I turned it over the first time in two months, I had been concerned about that but no problem. Safeway took only $74 out of my debit account, it might have been more but I still had some ice cream in the freezer so that was not a necessary purchase. The mail sack was stuffed full, Roy had saved every thing that came in and it took me a good long time to sort through all of that. It reminded me that tax time is fast approaching so that will be on my list shortly. I had things in order enough around here to stop by Teigen’s place and pick up my doggie. He took a minute or so to remember me but he really came unglued when he decided I had reentered his life. I had him home by 2:30 and then I took a short nap in front of the TV after eating an early dinner. At the moment it is after 5pm and I have yet to open my email for the day, or get at my chess moves. I plan on getting to bed early this evening. Perhaps getting a little more rest than I did last night. I’m happy, doggie is happy, life is good.

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Friday

. . . . . I was awake by 6am and ready to go, more or less. I had to get dressed and shave but that is just standard operation procedure. Natalia arrived at 6:30 and we visited on the Patio for a while before she took her shower and got herself ready for work. She told me her mother is better but still not communicating properly… I had breakfast and cleaned the kitchen after myself. Natalia gave me a big hug before she left, we will stay in contact via email, and she told me I was welcome back any time I wished to be in Mazatlan. She insisted I take some bread and cheese with me. I had hardly room in my carryon bag for that but I found a spot. She also gave me a bag of sea salt to bring home. I left the key on the table with the ‘center piece’ I had purchased and pulled my heavy suitcase out the door, pulling it shut for the last time. I did not pull the suitcase more than 300 feet before a Taxi stopped and drove me to the Airport. That was almost a 30 minute drive and his charge was only 250 Pesos, I gave him 300 and was happy to do it. Inside I found that my baggage charge was 265 Pesos. It was also discovered that my bag was four pounds overweight so the baggage man helped me stuff more stuff into my carry on. My first thought was “Great. Now my carry on is too large to carry on”. I am having trouble understanding all of that because the total weight on the airplane did not change one iota. I made the mistake of mentioning that to the man in charge and he explained it but I was not able to follow his broken English. His heart was in the right place so I shook his hand and said thank you. By 10am I’m sitting at gate B3 waiting for the 1:48 flight to LA. I attempted to go online but in order to do so I had to register with the Airport “Wi-Fi” and it was in Spanish so I decided to wait until I got to LA to use the computer. I was not interested in receiving thousands of Spanish language commercials in my email.. . . The plane landed in LA at 4:40 and it was 6pm before I could get anything to eat because of all the TSA hoops you have to go through to get back in the States. After eating I tested my cell phone a couple of times and let Caren know I would be at Portland at midnight waiting for her little smiling face to come get me. I attempted to get on the internet but it asked for a network security key and I don’t know how to find that. If I do find it I will post this before leaving this part of the world. Otherwise this will not get posted until I get home. As of the moment I am well pooped out so I guess I will really be ready to crash when I get home. Caren was waiting for me when I walked out of PDX with my bags in tow. It took me several minutes to find her because I still don’t know how to operate my cell phone. Not using it very often is my excuse. Works for me!. . . . . Caren had me home in record time and by 6:15 Saturday morning I felt rested enough to get something to eat. First, though, I had to post this! Great trip! Wonderful place to be in the winter! I hope to do it again next year.

Friday

. . . I was awake by 6am and ready to go, more or less. I had to get dressed and shave but that is just standard operation procedure. Natalia arrived at 6:30 and we visited on the Patio for a while before she took her shower and got herself ready for work. I had breakfast and cleaned the kitchen after myself. Natalia gave me a big hug before she left, we will stay in contact via email, and she told me I was welcome back any time I wished to be in Mazatlan. She insisted I take some bread and cheese with me. I had hardly room in my carryon bag for that but I found a spot. I left the key on the table with the ‘center piece’ I had purchased and pulled my heavy suitcase out the door, pulling it shut for the last time. I did not pull the suitcase more than 300 feet before a Taxi stopped and drove me to the Airport. That was almost a 30 minute drive and his charge was only 250 Pesos, I gave him 300 and was happy to do it. Inside I found that my baggage charge was 265 Pesos. It was also0 discovered that my bag was four pounds overweight so the baggage man helped me stuff more stuff into my carry on. My first thought was “Great. Now my carry on is too large to carry on”. I am having trouble understanding all of that because the total weight on the airplane did not change one iota. I made the mistake of mentioning that to the man in charge and he explained it but I was not able to follow his broken English. His heart was in the right place so I shook his hand and said thank you. By 10am I’m sitting at gate B3 waiting for the 1:48 flight to LA. I attempted to go online but in order to do so I had to register with the Airport “Wi-Fi” and it was in Spanish so I decided to wait until I got to LA to use the computer. I was not interested in receiving thousands of Spanish language commercials in my email.. . . The plane landed in LA at 4:40 and it was 6pm before I could get anything to eat because of all the TSA hoops you have to go through to get back in the States. After eating I tested my cell phone a couple of times and let Caren know I would be at Portland at Midnight waiting for her little smiling face to come get me. I attempted to get on the internet but it asked for a network security key and I don’t know how to find that. If I do find it I will post this before leaving thsomething to eat. First, though, I had to post this! Great trip! Wonderful place to be in the winter! I hope to do it again next yearis part of the world. Otherwise this will not get posted until I get home. As of the moment I am well pooped out so I guess I will really be ready to crash when I get home. Caren was waiting for me when I walked out of PDX with my bags in tow. It took me several minutes to find her because I still don’t know how to operate my cell phone. Not using it very often is my excuse. Works for me!. . . . . Caren had me home in record time and by 6:15 Saturday morning I felt rested enough to get .

Thursday

 . . . . . Last night Natalia got home right after work and went to bed immediately after asking me to wake her at 8PM so she could get to her mother’s place to help her. I knocked on her door at 8pm and by 8:10 she had left. She planned on staying the night but returned at 9:30 to get her purse and other materials.
She told me she had taken her mother to the hospital because she was not breathing properly and was not responding to questions. She told me her sister and brother were at the hospital or on the way and that is where she would be for the rest of the night. She told me she had taken her Mother to a private hospital because if she had gone to Government Hospital she would die waiting to be seen by a doctor. Sounds a lot like Obamacare to me but she has told me in the past that it is much worse than that in Mexico. I gave Natalia a hug and wished her luck as she rushed out the door. I then returned to my reading. The nap I had had earlier in the day made sleep impossible . . . . . Natalia returned at 6:30am and said she had slept for a while during the night and that her mother is awake and able to talk. Natalia had a cup of coffee and a shower before getting dressed for work. She said she would see me tonight but was not sure that means after she gets off work or after she gets back from the hospital visit with her mother. . . . .Olivia arrived around 10 am to do the house cleaning and I left to take a last walk around the beach front and take some last minute pictures. I had lunch at a little Mom &Pop place close by before returning to the house. Olivia was still busy so I went to my room and brought this blog up to the present time of 1:20pm… . . . . . I also attempted to get airline booking information online but was unable to do so. The notice told me I will have to check with the counter people at the airport tomorrow. Perhaps the plane has been canceled and they will put me up in a 5-Star Hotel for a couple more weeks. Naw, never happen. If I were that lucky I would have won the lottery years ago. Olivia was gone by 2pm and I packed my bag before hiking the ten blocks to the Café for a super large piece of lemon pie and a glass of milk. I was there for a while reading but got home by 5:30, took a shower and generally relaxed the rest of the day. Natalia got home at 6:45 with a cold bottle of wine that she opened so we could have a drink and a toast to ‘next year’. She said she had had other plans; she wanted to cook a very nice dinner for me on my last evening here but that the wine would have to do. I told her the glass of wine and quiet time on the patio was just fine with me. It didn’t last long though because she had to leave to stop by her mother’s place for some things before getting to the hospital to spend the night. She was out the door by 7:20. My packing is all done, ten minutes in the morning and I will be ready to catch a taxi. Natalia will be here about 6 to get ready for work while I eat the last of my cold cereal. She will leave for work at the usual time of 8am and I will be going out the door shortly after that to find that Taxi I was talking about, Natalia said she was sorry that she did not find anyone to take me. I told her that her plate was full, she had done plenty for me and that I was very appreciative for all she had done! She said thank you, see you in the morning and she was gone.

Wednesday

. . This turned out to be a very lazy day. I wandered around Old Town, ate lunch, did some shopping and arrived back at the house at 1:30 just in time to read and sleep most of the afternoon away. The weather was spectacular with a little breeze coming in off the coast. I noticed myself walking on the shady side of the street because the temperatures are beginning to elevate as the month progresses. Natalia came in about 6am this morning from her mother’s place; she was tired but claims to have slept well enough to make it through the day. Her mother is feeling better but has no desire to get out of bed, there are no broken bones. Natalia is concerned about possible pneumonia if she does not start moving soon. This is the last day for the auditors at work so she is looking forward to things easing up a bit for her. . . . . . I have myself pretty well organized around here so tomorrow after the cleaning lady leaves I will begin my packing for the return trip to the ice and cold. Getting myself packed won’t be much of a problem; I was surprised how easy it was to pack up when I was getting ready to come down here. It takes about 30 minutes when I really set my mind to it. Natalia thinks she has a friend who will drive me to the airport Friday morning; I mentioned to her that I would rather pay her friend the 400 Pesos than to give it to a taxi driver. She has not yet verified that that will be the case but I expect she will come through on the idea. Four hundred pesos goes a long way in this town. I am sure she would do it herself if she dared to be late for work but that is not Natalia’s way. Daniel, her Nephew, who picked me up from the airport when I arrived is away at college and won’t be back in town until Easter. Natalia laughed when I mentioned staying until then. She did discover that the woman scientist from Cuba will be arriving on Friday but will not be staying with Natalia. The Cuban Gvt. did not want to pay the fees she was requesting. Natalia is pleased with the outcome of it all.

Tuesday

. . . . I hit the streets by 10am this morning. My first stop was at the dentist’s office to thank them for all of their good work. It was the first time I had been back since having my appliance installed. I told them that the fit was perfect and that at no time did I experience any ‘wearing in’ pain or discomfort. They were happy to hear my report and asked me to come see them again one day. I told them that I might see them next year. After leaving the dentist’s office I walked to the Plaza where Nancy Morgan has her park bench and sign announcing her aid to tourists. She was in conversation with several people at one time, no problem for Nancy, and she also found time to greet me and to give me the envelopes of the pictures she is sending back to Longview and Silver Lake. The plan is for me to drop them in the mailbox once I get to Kelso. I told her I was leaving Friday morning and she said she hoped to see me next winter, I told her it sounded like a plan. She gave me a big hug and wished me a safe journey home. I then found some lunch and time to read for a while before delivering the envelopes to the house. They are large 8 by 10 brown envelopes and I did not want to carry them around all day. I then walked back to Old Town and shopped for a thank you gift for Natalia. I discovered a very pretty artificial flower center piece for her dining room table; the colors go nicely in her house. My plan is to leave it on the table on Friday morning after she leaves for work and before I walk out the door for the last time to catch my plane. After arriving back at the house with the centerpiece I took a nap and awoke about3pm. I then decided to hike to the restaurant on the beach and have a light dinner, retuning to the house about 5:00. Natalia had told me this morning she had no idea what time she would be home because of the auditors at work and her mother’s need for attention after she gets off work. She got very little sleep last night so she is bound to be really tired by the time this day ends.

Monday

. . .After breakfast I started my laundry for the week. While that was going on I sat my sandals in front of the dryer vent to help them dry out. I had worn them during the four river crossings we made on Sunday. They were soaked through and I had no idea what kind of damage was done. I did not wish to wear my only pair of real shoes I had brought with me and I was not going to attempt the crossing bare footed. I would have fallen for sure. The water was above the knees for me [so much for the 30 centimeters Natalia mentioned] and after the first crossing I didn’t even attempt to roll up my pant legs. I had carried the sandals in my back pack and used that to transport the shoes during each crossing. My only fear when falling was ruining my camera. Everything else would dry in a couple of hours. I was told that one lady did fall into the water and after taking several pictures her husband and friends gave her a hand so she could stand up and escape the ordeal. My sandals were dry enough this afternoon to start wearing them again. When the laundry was completed I checked out Natalia’s laptop that she was given by her sister who has recently purchased a new one. This laptop has as much trouble bringing up Comcast as mine so I will let her know the problem is with the router from across the street. Natalia may never have any use for Comcast anyway. I doubt she will use the laptop because she is used to the cable speeds at work and this hardline hookup and week signal from the router will not be something she will want to be bothered with. Like me, she will be happy to have it along when traveling but that will be about it I think.. . . . I left the house near 10am and walked to the main Plaza in Old Town and found the same shoe shine man I had gone to before. He did a nice job on the shoes, they look new again, I thanked him, gave him a nice tip and wandered around looking for a place to have lunch. That turned out to be a no brainer, I found myself upstairs above the market again. As usual the food was good and I am developing a taste for Fresca. I stayed there for a while reading until the whistle the traffic director was using on the street below me drove me out. I spent some time in the park/plaza people watching before starting for home. On the way past the bank I went in and had a couple of 500peso notes broken down for me. 500 Pesos is a tough one for most shops to have change for so I try to not have them on me for too long. I was back at the house at about 3pm and had an hours nap. Natalia told me this morning that Auditors from Mexico City were due in today so she would be late; they like to work 12-14 hour days so they can finish up and get back to their families. I guess the people here don’t have families to get home to. That’s Politics, Mexico style, I guess. Natalia is very pleased because she has received from her new boss the strongest evaluation she has ever received since working for the University. She expects to be getting a nice raise before this year is out. I told her I was very happy for her. She had been expecting a Cuban scientist who will be working at she is coming or not. The plan is for the person to take the room at Natalia’s place, the Cuban Gvt. Is to be picking up the tab. Natalia always has a lot going on! I will post this now and have a bowl of ice cream while reading for another couple of hours.the University to arrive in town the day I leave [Friday] but she has not heard any more about it, so has no idea if he/she is arriving or not.

Sunday

. . . . . . This day began before breakfast. That was at 6am and Natalia and I left at 6:30 just as the sun was making an appearance. We stopped on the way to the bus to pick up one other passenger and arrived at the bus location a few minutes later. Natalia was cold and one of the Canadians kidded her about dressing like they dress in the middle of winter in Canada. I was happy to have my light racket with me but it was no longer necessary after about an hour. An open bus, in this case a large truck with bus seating, is not a good thing when the temperature gets down around 50 degrees and I think it might have been that bad when we climbed aboard. The ‘jumping off point’ was over an hour away but we made a couple of stops before getting there so the walk didn’t start until about 10:30. The walk itself was about one hour to the petroglyphs and two crossings of the river getting there and the same amount of time coming back. We had lunch at a ‘restaurant’ that was arranged out of someone’s house, actually two houses about 100 feet apart. The food was good, made just like like woman cooks for her family each day. The kitchren was more basic than you can imagine but it did have a refrigerator. . . . Without any other modern appliances. A wood fired ‘stove’. The whole story will have to be told when I put my pictures together for the YouTube presentation. The drive home was interesting because we expected to be only two hours on the road but some of the guys in the back of the bus wanted to stop for beer and that took a half hour if not more. There were about eight Mexican 6 packs brought on board the bus. That means 6 cans of beer in a plastic bag with ice cubes pored over the top of it. They were having a good old time in the back of the bus except Harold developed a full bladder and asked the driver to pull over to the side of the road so he could relieve himself. The driver found a wide spot to pull out of traffic and as Harold exited the bus hurriedly Natalia picked up the Public Announcement Microphone and said. “Attention, attention, Harold is going to peeeee.” That created a big laugh and the bus continued as soon as he got back on board. After we got into Gold Zone one of the other guys walked up front and told the driver he would be right back, he got off at a red light and went inside a restaurant to use the rest room. We blocked Sunday evening traffic while he was answering his natural needs. When he came running out of the restaurant he almost got hit by a bus, I have pictures, after he boarded we continued on. When we got back to where we had joined the bus that morning the streets were crowded beyond belief so the driver stopped right in the middle of the block and held up traffic for all the time it took us to exit and exchange hugs and good byes. It had been 12 hours since we had climbed on board. I could write for a couple of hours telling about the day but I am too pooped. It is 9pm, Natalia has gone to bed and I am now going to get a bowl of ice cream. The pictures I took today are going to take a lot of explaining, I hope I can remember it all. It was a great day!

Saturday

. . . . . .Natalia prepared a very nice Mexican breakfast this morning and when we finished she suggested I go to the nearby plaza and explore the farmers market that is there every Saturday. I had not yet been to one so I took her up on the idea. The farmers market had only 6 or 8 booths this morning but it was interesting to see what folks had for sale. The real excitement was discovering what a busy place the ‘Centro’ district is on a beautiful Saturday morning. I think most of the city was there and for sure all of the buses in this part of Mexico. There was a Carnaval spirit throughout the shopping area. I bumped into people for almost two hours before taking a break for lunch at the same restaurant area as yesterday except I went to a different eating place this time. This time I sat outside and since I had not brought my book along I watched the traffic and the pigeons while eating. Today I got a picture of a pigeon actually standing on my table watching me! Crazy bird. They have to be run off like flies. The buses entered the street in an unending line for as long as I was there, almost an hour, I have no idea how many but there was a long chain link of busses loading and unloading. And that fails to mention the Pulmonia’s and Taxi’s which were way too numerous to count. After lunch I paid my bill, 30 Pesos, and joined the crowds on the side walk. I wandered for some time before finding myself back at the original Plaza just two blocks from home. I sat in the quiet for a few minutes then meandered back to the house. It was 1:30 and Natalia had taken off so I decided to read for a while. I slept for about an hour and a half. When I awoke I found that Natalia had not returned so I checked out my computer and posted the blog. Tomorrow is the hike and we will be up before daylight experiencing the cool morning air in the back of an open bus. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Friday

………I left the house shortly before 10am with my book in hand. Back to the Centro Market Area.
That is where all of the action is in Old Town. Having had a bowl of Natalia’s oatmeal at 8am I was not very long getting hungry again so I ventured to the second floor of the Market and sat at the first little stall restaurant I came to. I ordered Carnitas Asada, the same plate I had ordered at Stone Island that turned out to be so dried out I could not eat it. This meal was half the price and was delicious! I ate my meal, read my book and took a picture of a pigeon that had hopped up on the table next to me. There were two that I saw in the restaurant but this one wanted to get a closer look at me so there he was. There are usually a lot of the birds on the ground floor because the pickings are fairly easy for them down there but I was surprised to see them on the second floor also. After a very slow lunch I paid my bill and walked out on the balcony to look down on the city traffic. What a mess that is! You will not want to miss seeing my pictures when I get them posted on YouTube.
All of the streets other than the main street on the ocean’s edge are one way streets. Very few stop signs, very small one way signs that are not signs at all, just little arrows posted on the corners of some of the buildings and no traffic lights that can be seen properly. I was walking against the lights for weeks before I caught on to the fact that it is a good idea to search out a traffic light at the intersection! Sometimes you find one sometimes you don’t. Mostly not. After lunch I stopped by Ley Market [a true super market] and purchased another gallon of ice cream for 88 Pesos. The going rate is 7.84 cents today. The mighty Dollar is taking a beating, folks. Prices are going up! Watch out!...... The little girl upstairs, Jessica age 9, nailed Natalia as she was getting home last night or the night before and asked her if she could come in and have another ice cream cone from Cliff’s ice cream. She and Granddaughter Natalia had gotten some a few days before and she remembered it was there. Natalia invited her in and fixed her a cone and sent her on home. The next morning Natalia told me what happened so I decided to buy another gallon today so she will have some after I leave. I had only one serving left from the last gallon anyway and I did not want to run out before I left. When I returned to the house to put the ice cream in the fridge I discovered Olivia, the cleaning lady was still working so I said Adios and walked to the beach to read some more. Today was a strange day at the breach, all of the boats had been pulled up as far from the water as they have ever been or could be and all of the fishermen were seemingly extinct. I had the beach to myself except for some Pelicans and pigeons. Once I got down to boat level I could no longer hear the traffic above me so I sat in one of the boats and listened to the ocean for a long while. I think I am going to remember that experience for a long time, very relaxing. Love it! A while later I was back at the house enjoying a bread, bean, cheese snack that Natalia had left me from the night before and read for a while. The snack was great too! I like fresh bread and refried beans and when they are put together with a couple of slices of tasty cheese and baked to hot enough to eat, wow, what is not to like? Natalia told me she is going out after work tonight so I am on my own, my plan is to dive into that gallon of ice cream, read some more on my book and get some sleep. We will see what tomorrow will bring.

Thursday

. . . Today I decided to find a shop and get my hair cut. I was successful on both counts. The hair cut was not done the way Bernitta does it but it will pass until I get home and settled in. While on way to where ever that shop was I found Nancy. Or, rather, Nancy found me. I was wandering along and suddenly there she was right in front of me telling me that she was looking for a new pair of pants and women’s pants come in only two sizes in Mexico; one size for 16 year olds and the other size for their mothers. She falls in between someplace and was unhappy that it was hard for her to find a correct size. She then waved and said Bye, bye before walking on. I walked to a plaza and found a shady spot to read after my haircut but that did not last too long because I was getting hungry. I remembered a little restaurant I had passed a few days before so I headed in that direction. I sat down to read and it was several minutes before I was brought a menu. That was fine with me but it was a breakfast menu and I wanted lunch. It was 11:45. The waitress told me that lunch is not served until 1pm, a little fact that I had absorbed previously but still cannot get used to. I pointed at something on the menu that alluded to beans and potatoes and asked to have that with a diet coke. It turned out to be very good, the potatoes tasted hash browned, the beans were good and the two eggs sunny side up on top of two things that looked like tortilla’s in sauce was delicious. I still wonder what that was. Oh, yes, there were tortillas on the side with a 600 Ml Coke…. . Before the meal appeared I again heard Nancy’s melodious voice asking what I was doing so far from home. She went on to say she had purchased some vegetables for her daughter who works on the computer all day for a company in the States and thought she would make a salad for her. I remarked that that would probably be much appreciated and she waved and said goodbye. I left the restaurant about 2pm and walked home to wash my hair and get all those short, sharp little clippings out of my head. I then lay down with the book I had been reading and woke up at 4pm. The weather was extra nice today; I would recommend it to the whole world! I feel I have been here during the worst part of the winter and now spring has sprung. . . . . I left the house this morning with my belt on the fourth notch but after my nap I had to go back to notch number three. Too many beans and tortilla’s…….. I would guess I walked about two miles today. Not bad for a kid.

Wednesday

.I left the house at 10am with no plan in mind except to locate a fluorescent light tube for my room. There are two 48 inch tubes in there at the moment and one has bitten the dust making it difficult to read after the sun goes down. I walked around the market area and slowly worked my way toward the tallest hotel in this part of town. My plan then was to get some lunch but they were only serving breakfast so I decided to go to the top floor and sit pool-side for a while and read. I took several pictures and fully enjoyed sitting up there in the quiet, all by myself, reading. After about half an hour I began to get very hungry and wanted lunch so I left the Hotel and stopped by a little sidewalk café for fish and chips and a coke. After eating I was feeling pretty chipper so I continued my search for the fluorescent tubes. I found several stores in old town who sold such an item but none with a length of 48 inches. I then decided to get on a bus and ride it to Wal-Mart; there was no doubt in my mind they would have what I was searching for. Well, that was a bust so I walked across the street to Ley Market; Ley has everything except fluorescent tubes. I then spent 50 Pesos to have a Pulmonia drive me to Home Depot so I could again be disappointed. Home Depot had a large assortment of such things but no 48 inchers. I then walked a quarter mile to Mega Store. Same story. I purchased a bottle of Bacardi Rum to resupply Natalia’s liquor cabinet and a bottle of Coke for the same location and a box of cereal that will last me until Friday week when I will be leaving this wonderful winter behind me. I paid 10 Pesos to a bus driver to drive me home and drop me off 20 feet from the front door….Last night I helped Natalia make a stuffed red pepper salad with Tuna and she promised to leave one for me to have for dinner tonight so I ate that and wrote down the ingredients so I can attempt to reproduce it when I get home. The only spice it has in it is the Red Pepper itself. It is a fantastic way to make a tuna salad! Oh, BTW I am becoming very excited about using sea salt instead of iodized salt, delicious and much more flavorful. I guess that is saying the same thing in two different ways. Anyway, large grains for cooking and small grain for sprinkling. Tip: When chopping up a pineapple boil the skin and top for a while then let it cool. The water that is left over is great for your liver. Natalia takes the water to work the next day and sips it away before coming home. I stopped by to see Nancy at her Volunteer Stand this morning, she said she only met 4 tourists all morning; she had been there almost three hours. It appears that since Carnaval time has ended the tourist season is coming to an end for this winter, at least for Old Town. The man driving the Pulmonia told me that about 80% of the tourists in town at the moment are from Canada. Can’t say I blame them. I don’t think Canada has a Banana Belt to escape to in the winter time.

. . . .

Tuesday

. . . . I walked to the Plaza at ten this morning and visited with Nancy for a few minutes before moving on to another quiet spot and sat to read for a while. I was not far from the ‘Library’ [a book store run by and American fella] so between chapters I stopped by there to see what was available in the ‘free’ section. These are books that are left that others have read and no longer wanted. He sells only used books but some he does not want to be bothered with so they go in the free section. I found Shakespeare of London by Marchette Chute. I have read in the past a large biography of Shakespeare but this one seems different. It appears to be an account of his part in the theatres of the day rather than an account of his life. We shall see. I had lunch across the street from the library, the food was delicious and the temperature at sidewalk seating was just right. It was a couple of blocks from the ocean therefore no breeze. After lunch I walked on the concrete boardwalk for a while listening to the ocean waves. I was far enough South to be out of the heavy traffic area so there was not at much automobile noise as there is closer to the house. I slowly wandered back to the house and arrived there around 2:30 expecting to nap but that didn’t happen, much to my surprise. I finished the book I had started a couple of days ago then decided to walk to the Café for a Brownie and a glass of milk. I carried Shakespeare of London with me. I left the house just before 4pm and returned close to 6:00. This day had been warm enough but there was a coastal fog lingering throughout the day. It never got to the point of needing a jacket but I could tell walking home the evening was going to be cool.

Monday

. . . .I got my laundry caught up again this morning. Had breakfast and did some reading while that was going on and left the house by 10am. I decided to visit the Artists Fair that was being held in the Gold Zone. The Fair is an annual event that takes place every year at this time. Many artists and craft masters from this part of Mexico gather and show their wares. It is a tourist’s paradise for those of us who appreciate the local artists of any region we may visit. This year it is running for the ten days after Carnaval. I made no effort to walk the entire distance and caught the first bus I could find that was going in that direction. I arrived about 10:40 and slowly walked by every booth they had in the place. The place mentioned is a large tent with many rows of booths selling almost anything that local artists produce in an area like this. I was even lucky enough to find the Mescal I had been looking for! The worm lying dead in the bottom to the bottle is enough to insure my not drinking a drop of it, ever. I have no idea what it tastes like but it looks pretty gross. I did buy a small package of homemade banana slices deep fried and seasoned with sugar and spices, that was good. That wore off about noon so I walked across the parking lot to Chili’s Pepper Restaurant and had three Marlin Tacos with chips and salsa to go with a bottle of beer. I had taken my book with me so I was reading that and generally relaxing when all of a sudden there was an arm thrown over my shoulder and Nancy standing there voicing surprise to see my little face so far from home. She and a Canadian couple who are visiting with her had decided to attend the fair also. . . . I left the restaurant at 2pm and after purchasing the Mescal started walking toward home. I walked for an hour before deciding to stop at Dairy Queen to eat an ice cream cone and continue my book. After the ice cream I decided I had done enough walking for today and caught a bus home. It dropped me off 20 feet from Natalia’s front door at 4pm. I went inside, took off my shoes, laid down with the book in hand and awoke at 5PM. I then posted this bog and called it another good day in sunny Mazatlan.

Sunday

. . . . . Natalia went shopping with her mother this morning and when she returned she had several bags of groceries. She was starting her cooking for the week and asked if I wanted to help. I was more than willing to help in any way I could so she put me to work chopping vegetables. Cooking took all of the morning and at one point she asked me if I liked steak and I told her I liked grilled steak very much. She tried to tell how to locate a place she really liked for grilled steaks and I told her rather than try to tell me let’s just go there for dinner this afternoon. That seemed acceptable to her. We had an early dinner including two beers each and a very tender 12 oz. fillet with excellent French fired potatoes. The total bill was 400 Pesos@ 8 cents per peso. The food was excellent but then it was in the Gold zone so only the best can be expected. We returned by 6:30 and while I am typing this I can hear her back in the kitchen getting next week’s cooking up to date. It has been a good day but I did have to wear my jacket because it was getting cold as we left the house and the restaurant seating was on the sidewalk. Luckily it was not right on the beach so we did not have a direct breeze on us. It was a good day

Saturday

. . . Breakfast was to be at 9am but the guests arrived late, which turned out to be a good thing because Natalia had run a little behind. The second couple arrived about twenty minutes later but they had not planned on eating so no problem. However, since Natalia had done the cooking they made no excuses for not eating again. She had plenty. It was what she called a Mazatlan Breakfast, shredded beef was part of one of the servings and eggs with cactus and white onion was another. Refried beans [thin] made up another dish. Tortillas, of course and the dessert was a bread/cake combination with lots of sugar and cinnamon cooked into it and sprinkled over it. The last guest left before noon and I helped Natalia get the place in order. She then left for a trip to the bank and to take her cell phone in to be looked at, it is not taking calls. She left again about 2pm to have a gathering with her family at a local restaurant. I was happy to sit quietly at home and read while my right hip healed from whatever was giving it problems. It felt very sore at the muscle but there was no bruise. I must have pulled a muscle because it is much improved from yesterday. I didn’t see a cloud in the sky all day but it was not warm. Natalia’s patio gets very little sun and breakfast in the shade today was not comfortable. Next time I come here I will bring a heavy shirt/jacket. I was told today that it is not unusual for the temperatures at the airport to reach freezing some early mornings this time of year.

Friday

 . . . Wow! Only two weeks left of this wonderful, sunny, warm winter season! I hope I return to spring time in Kelso! That does not seem likely though, from what I am following in the weather reports. Oh well, I’ll survive. When I awoke this morning my right hip felt like I have been hit with a 2X4 or a baseball bat. I have no idea what I may have done to it yesterday to release such bone deep pain. There is no bruise and no swelling. After breakfast I painfully walked to the beach and watched the incoming fishermen feed their scraps to the Pelicans in between paragraphs of the new book I am reading. [The Scarlet Letter]. After a couple of hours had passed and as usual I developed an appetite, I limped across the Main Street and ordered three Marlin Tacos with a Fresca. It came with salsa and a radish/cucumber plate. It took me a long time to eat the meal because I was reading more than eating. Plus the fact that I did not wish to get back on that right leg/hip. But eventually I forced myself back to the house to continue the book and fell asleep. 90 minutes later I woke up and saw it was 3PM. I then dragged myself to the nearby plaza two blocks away and sat in the sun for a while. I was only wearing a t-shirt over my arms and the sea breeze was picking up and cooling down. I was home again at about 4:30, finished for the day. I applied some Icy Hot to my hip muscle and hoped for the best.

Thursday

. . . . This morning before leaving for work Natalia and I were talking about Ricardo, the man who had introduced me to her originally via the internet. I mentioned that I had not yet met him and wished to, I asked if she had his phone number and she immediately phoned him. He had no plans for today and offered to come by and pick me up. I told him I had no particular place I wanted to see so he took it from there. He was here with his van at 10am and were gone all day. We were never more than 20 miles from town but we visited several places he enjoys showing people, one of them was a Tequila Factory out in the sticks at the end of a dirt road. They even grew a lot of their own cactus in the nearby fields. I was offered a shot of their poison and said yes. Ricardo said to take a deep breath and swallow the whole shot at a gulp. I did and the stuff sucks. It is no good as a sipping drink either. Later Ricardo showed me two different farms where fighting chickens were raised, very large fields, out in the open where each chicken is leashed to his own little plastic A frame. The leash keeps them from getting near each other because when they do one of them has to die [by the other one]. They kill each other on sight.  I have added pictures to my collection and putting it all together for YouTube presentation is going to be a lot of fun. The two Cities we visited were El Quelite and El Lenora. At the moment I am not certain about the correct spelling of the latter. . . . We were back about 4:30 and after paying him the requested fee I lay down to read. I awoke at 6:30. It was a fine day to be seeing the country. I had asked Ricardo about the cost of renting a joy ride in a small plane to see the city from the air and he said he would get back to me on that. I have since changed my mind because taxi to the airport is about $50us on top of the flight expenses. Tax time is coming around soon and I am afraid I will be paying enough there next month. Natalia arrived at 6:45 with two bags of groceries and an appetite. I started work on my blog while she fed herself dinner. It was a long day. Natalia had forgotten Coffee so she left for the market one more time.