THURSDAY

. . . . . .  .I got a haircut today, I think it was the same lady as last year, she acted like she knew me but that might have been a sales gimmick. I had lunch on the Malecon then caught a bus to Cerritos for another ice cream Sunday. I did walk part of the way because I had gotten on the wrong bus. No harm done and my toe caused me no trouble.

This is inside the Lion Restaurant where I had lunch today.

Two open air restaurants in Cerritos.

This is a better picture of the Fancy Resort Hotel at the far Northern end of Mazatlan

Here is a cowboy on a lime green motorcycle with the Longhorn Cattle horns attached above the handlebars. I don't know where he came from, I have never seen him before.

WEDNESDAY

. . . . .  .Another quiet day strolling around the Central District, I read for a while during my lunch at Macaws and on the way back to the house I picked up some eggs and oranges. Oh, yea, ice cream too. I was home by 3PM. It was a bit cool out, especially when the wind came rushing by, not cool enough for a jacket though. My toe gave me no trouble, that is always nice.

This a composit of three photos, the street does not bend one bit, Natalia's house is the red one on the left.

Here I am standing in the living room looking toward the kitchen. Natalia's room is to the left.

 

In this one I am in the kitchen aiming the camera back toward the living room and front door. My room is the one to the right.

TUESDAY

. . . . . . I was afraid my toe might act up so I didn’t plan on a lot of walking today. I did stroll to Old Town for lunch and after that I caught a bus for a spot I had not been to before, the sign on the bus said Valle something or other. It took an hour to get to the end of the line and I immediately caught the next bus back. This is the second time I have attempted to ride back on the same bus that brought me but that does not seem to be the thing to do. This time I really got way out of what is called town, the streets were dirt and the living conditions were very poor. I have posted some pictures of the neighborhood where I changed buses. I am happy there was no rain because today it would have been a sea of mud. After I got back to town I had an ice cream and did some more reading before starting the walk back to the house. I arrived about 4:15; it was a bit warmer today with little wind, a good day to be out and about. Luckily my sore toe was no problem. Natalia’s Mom is feeling much better and is eating solid food again. Natalia stops in every evening after she gets off work and spends time with her and makes sure she is eating. The family also has a lady who stays with her during the day.

MONDAY

. . . . . I spent the day strolling and reading. I had lunch on the Malecon and the cool breeze was almost too much for me. I also stopped by the Post Office to send off two Postcards and went by the Library to return ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ and pick up a Biography of Alexander Graham Bell. I had another ice cream on the way home and it made me cold enough to be happy being inside by 4PM.

 

I walk by this house occasionally and decided to get this long shot of the place.

 

 

The open door is their living room, the side walk is their restaurant. it was getting dark when I snapped this but it came out pretty good anyway.

I don't think I have posted this sunset picture before, just one of many easily available in MZT.

 

SUNDAY

.. . . . . . Poor Natalia, she got to bed late last night after her laugh filled party and early this morning she was called and told that her Mom is not doing well. She jumped in the car and rushed over there to see what she could do. She arrived back at the house just before ten am and told me her Mom is OK in the mind but just does not have the strength to get out of bed. Natalia had taken her ‘juicer’ along with her [I had noticed it was missing from the kitchen] and created a breakfast for her that she could drink. She is happy to drink the juicy things, whatever they might be but does not wish to chew on anything. Natalia was very tired and told me she was going back to bed. I told her I was on my way out for the day and to expect me back later. . . . .  I had no intention of walking to the Gold Zone but by noon I found myself at Burger King having one of those 2,000 calorie lunches they are so famous for. After leaving there over an hour later {I had been reading} I stepped on the first bus that came by and ended up at the end of the line called Cerritos. This is the same place Nancy Morgan and I had lunch last year. I had posted pictures on YouTube. I took a few more pictures today and made panoramas out of them and will post them below. I found a bar there that had the Daytona Race so I got to watch the last twenty laps of that. The waiter asked me what I wanted to drink and I ordered a chocolate Sunday. Fifty Pesos, counting the tip. One of the Americans next to me asked if the ice cream was good and I told him it was delicious. He seemed to get a kick out of that. The bar backs up to a RV Park full of Diesel Pusher Motorhomes from the U.S. and Canada. I caught a bus and got back to the house about 4:30; Natalia was not here. I imagine she is with her Mother. The weather was overcast today but not cool, a nice day for strolling the four miles on the Malecon. The first picture was taken on the Malecon. There was a foot race and a bicycle race running at the same time on the Southern end of the street so it was very quiet and the crashing waves were very relaxing as I walked along.

I think most of the Bike racers had already returned by the time I got there.

The inside of the Gold Zone Burger King.

To the left of this building is the RV Park. This is Cerritos in its entirety, like a tourist trap for the RV Park visitors.

I walked past the shops out on to the beach then looked back and took this picture.

The buildings way in the distant are in the Gold Zone, beyond that is the Lightouse. The nearest large building is a Resort Hotel for Rich Americans and such.

Can you see the error in this stitch? This again, is the back of the Cerritos shopping area looking East toward the mainland.

SATURDAY

. . . . . . I walked to the Post Office to mail a couple of post cards remembering the last time I was there the doors were open but the sign said closed. This time the sign said open and the place was locked up. I was not too surprised because it is Saturday. Natalia’s explanation for the sign being wrong is that this is Mexico. I got on a bus about 10:15 and rode it to the end of the line then caught another coming back to the Central District. . . . .It was near noon when I arrived so I took advantage of the fact that a restaurant I had been in before was just across the street so I went in for lunch. I had my trusty book with me and spent two hours reading and enjoying a Chef Salad. I returned home shortly after 2PM and Natalia was just arriving with a six pack and some groceries. She said she had some friends coming over and I told her I was going to go read and take a nap. I woke up about four and said ‘Hola’ to everyone while I was retrieving my ice cream from the fridge. I took that to my room and started editing pictures I had taken previously. There was some interest in the church so I have posted more pictures of the inside of that establishment below. I attempted to locate some information about the Madonna but found nothing.

After getting home I discovered there is a bit of a glare on the glass cover, sorry about that.

This shot gives you a better picture of that corner of the Church.

The main entrance. This is two separate pictures stitched side by side. A wonderful feature of my edit program.

The scene above the entrance. This camera does a great job with available light. I am sorry I had not done more experimenting with it before. It is amazing how dark it is in there and flash can not do it justice.

FRIDAY

. . . . .  . . This turned out to be a very lazy day. I walked to the Central Area and stopped at a few park benches along the way to continue reading ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’. At one time I was close to the Malecon but I could feel the sea breeze and ducked back behind some buildings to dodge that experience. I stopped by the church to get a picture inside but it was being used at the time so I will put that off until later. I had lunch at Karan’s in Central Market and returned to the house about 2:30. My daily afternoon nap was refreshing and I never did get out again.

A friendly little guy I found taking it easy in the shade.

The story behind this pic is that I walked by him at 10AM one day last week just as he was starting this project. When I came back by at 2PM he was in the process of finishing up. A couple of stencils and two spray cans of paint would have the job done in ten minutes at home. This was done free hand and I am sure he got a full days wages for the job. I walk buy the decal every day and have yet to step on it.

THURSDAY

. . . . . During my travels today I stopped by the church again. The last time I was there I felt it was too dark inside to take pictures and way too large for the flash to do any good so I made no effort. Today I decided to give it a try anyway. I attempted to use available light with the flash feature turned off. I’m pleased with the results and will use those pictures as today’s presentation. I had lunch at Macaws and while I was so close I dropped in to the library to see what was new. I found another used book for 20 Pesos that I just had to have so I purchased that and lugged it home. When I arrived I found Olivia was there doing the weekly cleaning so I retired to my room and read for a while. When I awoke from my nap I felt chilly so I put on my sweat shirt. Olivia had the house open at both ends and that sea breeze was whistling though the house at like a freight train. It had been cold on the Malecon too, I wished I had had a jacket at times; it is winter here, too.

 

WEDNESDAY

WEDNESDAY. . . . . .After breakfast was over and the kitchen cleaned up I walked to the market and picked up some oranges and cereal. The light bulb in the bathroom had burned out so I bought a replacement for that too.. . . . It was almost noon by the time I returned and put things away. I walked out on the Malecon toward the Gold Zone and spotted a restaurant on the beach I had never been in before so I had lunch and read for some time. Later I sat on a bench and watched the waves coming ashore; it was a nice location because the waves made more noise than the traffic going by on the street above. I arrived back at the house and had a nice nap, waking up about 4PM.. . . . It was a good day. .  .The picture above is of the Loony Bean, a small cafe with good sandwiches at a fair price right on the Malecon.

This is the only McDonalds in the Centro District, selling only ice cream. I was standing in front of Burger King when I took the picture. Burger King is only about 3/4 size at this location. I have eaten inside a few times but the taste is different from BK at home.

This is a Smart Car Sport Model. It is very small but it sure looks speedy. I was surprised when I saw it, I had no idea the Smart Car had anything but a two door sedan.

 

TUESDAY

. . . . . . . .I awoke this morning and discovered my watch had died so I needed to get a new battery today. Also when I turned on my laptop I found that the battery in the wireless mouse was also kaput. Luckily I had brought extra batteries with me for that. I found a street vendor selling batteries and he changed my watch battery for me. I then found a nice park bench and read for a long time before wandering over to the Malecon and trying a new restaurant. The chicken salad was good and they had Blue Cheese dressing to go with it. I was there for over an hour reading and relaxing. I walked home via the beach front and stopped a couple of times to sit still and listen to the waves crashing on the rocks far below. It is peaceful here but one does have to get used to a lot of traffic noise from the Malecon. I have learned to tune it out. I considered pulling my belt one notch closer but after trying it I changed my mind. I was back at the house and by 4PM was enjoying a bowl of ice cream, which is one of the reasons the belt did not need shortening, I suppose.

The little park near Natalia's place is under repair. Mostly hand labor, few power tools are in sight.

This shows the entire Park. Natalia lives two bocks past the red building on the right.

The picture below is the original main church in Old Town, I have been inside and it is very impressive!

MONDAY

. . . . . .Natalia had a very nice breakfast on the table for me this morning. After she left for work I cleaned up the kitchen and put a load of laundry in the machine. I read while that was going on and continued reading right through the drying cycle. After getting my things folded and put away I left with a book to return to the library. I spent a lot of time under a shade tree reading and had a nice lunch with a Coke. Later in the day I wandered toward home and arrived there about 4:30, the cool sea breeze was making an appearance and I was happy to unlock the door and get inside. I was wearing nothing over my T-shirt. I edited a couple more pictures and posted them below.

One day I walked toward Gold Zone and took a few pictures along the way. 

This  one is a hotel but you have to walk past the tourist traps to get to it.

This is Gold Zone high rent district. These are beutiful hotels and much appreciated by those of us who like the very best.

Actually this is a Condiminium located half way between Gold Zone and Old Town. It sits right on the Malecon and these apartments have a western view out over the ocean. When I was here last year they had apartments for sale but I notice the for sale signs are now down.

 

 

SUNDAY

. . . . . .Natalia was gone when I got up this morning. After breakfast I read for a while and checked my email, things have been rather quiet on the email front the past couple of days. I left the house about ten am with no thought to what direction but ended by walking north on the Malecon for half an hour before turning East and exploring some streets I had never been on before. You can’t walk east for long before running into the ocean again so I turned south and arrived in the area of Centro District about noon. Just in time for lunch, what a coincidence. The Caesar Salad was good but I felt it was not enough food for the price. It was about 2:30 when I got back to the house. The book I am reading created a 90 minute nap and I woke up feeling some hunger pangs so I dove into the ice cream. There were signs that Natalia had been home earlier but she had disappeared again. A most busy lady.

 

One of the highest tides I have seen here.

The waves even invaded the sitting area. I'm sure that a high tide and a storm at sea woul play havoc
with the beach side restaurants and their thatched roofs.