Notes from Half Way

It is hard to believe we are only about half way to our destination. This is our seventh winter trip with an RV but this trip the miles seemed to go slowly. It could have been the weather -- we were dragging a cold front all the way to Texas. Each night we stopped we had our furnace and an electric heater going and still we had to dress in layers. This trailer is well built, I think, but with single pane glass and the many venting windows, it's not quite winter rated.
When we stopped in Little Rock, the park was adjacent to a bicycle path along the Arkansas River. Susan had been biking almost every day up in Ontario, so we unhooked our 2-wheelers and went out. It was a beautiful path and we managed to put on about 10 miles, but it was still quite cool, and we were both wearing jackets, and me a toque. We were quite a sight as we met and were passed by serious bikers in their spandex and aerodynamic helmets. We must go back there in a warmer shorts and t-thirt season.
We made our first two day stop in Austin, and took an afternoon to check out some shops, including a good 2nd hand bookstore that gives good value on trade ins. Susan is a high volume consumer of books and we are carrying 3 boxes with us, trading and resupplying where she can.
In the evening we went out again to join the small crowd to watch the bats come out. The Congress Bridge in downtown Austin, is home to a huge bat colony. Every evening at sundown, millions of these tiny bats swarm out to do their evening hunting. They are a popular tourist attraction and very ecologically correct as they eat tons of insects.
We are now at our regular rest stop in San Benito in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The area had many (about 50) rv parks and is the ultimate destination for many snowbirds. This is our 5th time through here, and while it is familiar, and a mecca for shopping, it is not our cup of tea. Comparing it to Ontario, and many of the other parts of the US we have traveled through, the “Valley” seems quite shabby. It does not seem very prosperous, even though there are miles of irrigated farmland all around. And if you take out the big box stores and malls, it appears very dilapidated, even slummy. I think the winter Texans around here mostly are here to enjoy each others company and live a low impact retirement.
Most people here have a very limited experience of Mexico, having only made day trips to one of the service towns across the border. Or they hear the news about the narco violence that unfortunately happens in a few bigger Mexican border cities. I have been following some discussion forums that address this subject, and there seems to be a broad consensus that the simplest solution would be decriminalization. Gone would be the huge profit motives on the criminal side, and much of the huge expense of the (losing) drug war. Many wise people, including conservatives agree that the costs of the “war” is too high, education and rehabilitation more effective, and the moral high ground of prohibition is a losing cause.
'Nuff for now. In a day or two we cross over and down.

A special Thanksgiving.

The highlight of our summer was the birth of our first grandchild.
Amelia Margaret Joy Armstrong arrived August 29.
Susan and I were delighted to be at the hospital to welcome her. The delivery went smoothly and quick, mother ReBecca and father Michael did well too. So for this month we have been in and out of Toronto visiting the little darling. She is doing what most newborns do, feeding and sleeping and fussing on her own schedule. And now, at 6 weeks, is smiling and gurgling. Yesterday we were all together along with our daughter Juliet and her husband Bill, for Thanksgiving dinner. It was just wonderful but sad too, as it will be spring before we see them all again.
Oh yes, here are the requisite baby pictures.

The frost is on the pumpkins.

Sorry, I have let ‘Palapa Life’ fall into a coma, dormant, hibernating, I guess. Summer has slipped by and finally I'm back.
This morning, there is frost, and we are anxious to return to our home on the beach.
Today’s forecast high for Guelph is 7C (44F) with lows this week under freezing with snow flurries expected in a few days. Checking the weather for the Mayan Riviera, this week it will be around 32C (90F) with lows around 25C (77F). Perfect! My apologies to my nordic and Saskatchewan forefathers. I never liked the cold -- never will.

We have been in Guelph, Ontario, enjoying these last five months, this thing called Summer of 2009, which was, hmnn... elusive.
This was our third summer in southern Ontario and while we are becoming fond of the place, the people, and the things to do, mother nature gave us the cold shoulder for much of it. There was a lot of rain, drizzles and overcast. We are parked at Guelph Lake Conservation Park which is large and green and tranquil. It has great hiking and biking trails and for Susan it is great swimming, except this year it was late getting warm enough, and this fall it got frigid weeks ago.
My tennis was often bothered by the wet, with many cancellations and postponements. However, I got a lot of play, social and competitive, and was able to contribute to our club’s winning in league play.

At last we are into final days.

Our Caribbean Beach Home...

This is now the street we live on. We are #179 Jungle North. Ours is the reddish one with two windows on the front.
When we first got here a year and a half ago, the yellow palapa next to ours (far side) was the only one being built. By that spring, there were three more under construction. This has been a busy and noisy winter as our street now has 14 new palapas. The last three available lots on our block will be starting construction this summer.
Of course we are not finished. Hmnnn... We will be adding some more landscaping and garden planting out front.

Our (close to) beach front House... From our front steps we are a 1 1/2 minute walk to the Caribbean water. I counted it out, 160 steps -- about 400 feet. Just far enough to be sheltered from the salt and sand that blows and close enough to hear the waves lapping on the shore.

Our jungle view -- as you may have gathered from previous postings, we back on to the jungle. Our back yard is a mostly clean pallet of gravel, that we put in after we cleared the swamp that was there when we started. We saved a few larger trees, and then tried to build some garden around them. Along with our neighbors Bob and Dot with whom we share our sections of the back yard, we (Susan and Dot) have added about 75 different plants, many from other gardeners in PaaMul and some from the very economical nurseries around here. Things grow well here in the tropics and we hope it will thrive. Fortunately, our neighbors, Doug and Darla, who live here full time, and are avid gardeners, have agreed to add some water to help our plants through the dry season.

The Inside Scoop.

Several people who have read this blog and then come to visit, have said that it is more than they imagined. Perhaps they are being polite and complimentary, but I have a hard time finding angles to photograph that represent the whole thing.
Here are three pics to represent some of our palapa interior.
The lounge and kitchen still need lighting and cabinets.
The baño is a composite photo to show the wide view.
The loft shows our guest quarters for the moment.

Colours... For followers of this blog, you may remember some of our tribulations about choosing colours of tiles and grout. The same happened for our paint colours. We had a few ideas, a bunch of paint chips and still, it wasn’t until we tried our fifth colour that we settled on this interior colour. Amarillo Neapolitano is the boldest of the lot and when we add some wall hangings it will be done for now. Good thing about paint - you can always change your mind.

A palapa is an odd kind of thing. Essentially it is a grass shelter (a big grass shelter - ours covers about 1000 sq. feet, plus loft and balcony.)
It is partly a spiffy tropical home with tile floor and counters, full kitchen and bath, living and dining areas, storage room, laundry, sleeping loft and balcony. It seems out of place to me that someone parked a trailer in our house! So maybe, it is really just a partly walled covered parking garage. Most of the palapa owners here have integrated their trailers as part of the permanent fixtures, and many have taken steps to blend them into the over-all appearance, with paint, wood or stucco coverings. As we are full-time rv’ers and will be taking our trailer with us when we leave, it is just a trailer parked in a grass palapa for the winter.
And certainly much more than just a trailer.

Hurry HARD!!!

“You can’t take the country out of the boy” the saying goes. Even here on the Caribbean sea.
I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan. Winter evenings were spent either at Stotski’s pool hall or more usually at the village social center, our little curling rink. Almost all students from grade 7 to 12 were involved in curling, and then in our senior school years, we were drafted to teams for the two big bonspiels, the farmer’s and the town- spiels.
In grade 12 I was chosen to play for our Buchanan High School team along with Russell Shukin, Alex Kozlow, and Jimmy Shushetski. As I remember, we did okay in the regionals in Yorkton that year, but did not advance to the Provincials.

I have only played a few games in the many intervening years, but I have maintained my belief that curling is one of the most skillful, strategic and exciting games of all. So once again this year, I followed first the Scotties, the Canadian Women’s Curling Championship and, just finishing tonight, the Tim Horton’s Briar Canadian Men’s Curling Championship. Many of the games went down to the classic last rock. In the semifinal, Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton made a double raise and stick with his last rock to defeat Ontario's Glenn Howard. Wow! Tonight's final was an easy win for Alberta’s Kevin Martin’s team which set a record of two straight years without a loss in the round robins and the play-offs.
Back in my day, the Saskatchewan team of the Ernie Richardson, a farmer, along with his farming brother and two cousins dominated Canadian and world curling. To this day, Ernie’s is the only team to win four world titles. We all tried to emulate their flamboyant (for its time) style, chin tucked broom sliding, and noisy wapp-wapping of the narrow corn brooms.
Nowadays, the big-name teams are playing almost year-round, with mind-boggling precision, and those funny little brushes. If you have the time and patience to learn to play, or to follow the curling game, it will impress you with the chess-like complexity and the athletics.
And you can yell until you are hoarse, “Hurry! Hurry hard!”

Exodus...

The march of March has begun. The snowbirds are now leaving for the north, or talking about departure dates and routes.
Of the 180 sites here about 30 are occupied through the summer. The rest of us are seasonals.
Our neighbours Bob & Dot crept away at dawn yesterday, anxious to get back to BC. After a full winter of building their palapa, they are returning to more construction work, continuing with the cottage they are building in Gibsons. Then they will be preparing their boat for the sea. For several years, they have been living most of their summers on their live-aboard boat. Nice life balance, I think -- winters on the Caribbean beach, summers on the waters of the BC coastline.
Our own departure will be in about 10 days. After the exhausting months of the construction, and a couple of enjoyable visits, we are enjoying this period of relative calm.

I touched a monkey...

... last night, and I liked it!
I was musing with Susan and Juliet, that I had never touched a monkey. That evening we went into town and I met my first. Lolita, a white-tufted-ear marmoset dutifully posed for three photos and earned 100 pesos for her handler.
So small, so fragile, sooo cute!

Another fish in the sea...

Our daughter, Juliet, escaped the Great White North for a 10 day visit. Again it was low key and relaxing, mixed in with a few outings. The big discovery is that Juliet takes right after her mum --like a fish to water, literally. I am not a great water person (higher up the evolutionary scale, I insist.)
Juliet donned mask and snorkel for the first time, and away she went, steaming around the reefs in search of her genetic ancestors, the pretty little fishes. It was a first for Susan, as she always has been the first in the water and the last out, until now.
They explored our own beach, Yan Ten, Yal Ku, and then for her birthday, Xel-Ha, where after a full nine hours, they could have swum some more.

Back on land, we spent a morning at the Coba ruins, this time covering the whole site with the help of rickety rental bicycles. (recommended.) Juliet climbed the great pyramid, Nohoc Mul, tallest in the Yucatan. (Susan and I had done the climb last year,) and spent time reading the many signs and crawling over smaller ruins.
My own favorite photo was this one of the tree bark. Very reminiscent of the Tony Onley print that we have in storage in Canada.

Carnival touched down in Playa in a small town way, with a week of street markets and stage entertainment. Very loud, colourful, and exuberant. On the stage we saw one of the most bizarre costumed performances I have ever witnessed - wild dancers led by a geriatric couple in fat costume who were the king and queen of something... ¡Aplauso, aplauso!

Fresh Air Food...and Drink.

In the two weeks Gail & Walter were here, we ate all our meals out in the fresh air.
Our now functional palapa eating area is where we had our breakfasts, and most of our lunches, dinners and snacks. The TV has become a lonely old friend.
After eating, we would retire to our comfy couches and chairs and settle in for more chat and reading time. I consumed two novels these last two weeks, a real measure of relaxing for me.

Taking it to the Street...
It is a common fear of travelers to Mexico that they will, or might likely at least, catch the dreaded Montezuma’s Revenge, Tourista, or more precisely, traveler's diarrhea.
We decided years ago on our first trip deep into Mexico, that we would not deprive ourselves of the tasty local Baja specialty, fish tacos. We held out until the second day, then indulged and became addicted, eating them virtually every day for the rest of the trip.
Since that time, 8 years ago, we have continued to enjoy the local street food, sometimes at open air eateries, but often from the sidewalk vendors. They prepare and dispense a wide variety of flavorful food, with regional variations -- usually tacos, but also barbeced-whole-fish-on-a-stick (Guayabitos), variations of Mexican corn-on-the-cob with all the trimmings. On one trio to Guadalajara, I tried our over a dozen new, different edibles and drinkables, my favorite being a slightly fermented corn brew, tejuino, nutritious and refreshing.
There are few things I don’t care for, such as chicheron -- deep-fried or even worse, stewed pig skin. A lot of street food can be fatty and starchy. To make the popular empanada take a circle of corn dough, fill it with meat or cheese, deep fry it, and then add some salsa and thick creme. Can you say “myocardial infarction?”
A Mexican style sandwich, “torta”, usually starts with a fresh bun, slathered with mayonnaise, which is grilled before adding a variety of fillings, always ending up very tasty. Even the lowly hot-dog is a flavor treat mexican style. When we were in Catamaco last spring, we treated ourselves to several of these hand-made delights with about six condiments over the weiner, all for 7 pesos: about 50c US.
Here around the city of Playa, there are portable lunch stands on many corners, busy with the local workers and passersby. I have my favorites that serve salbutes, and panuchos. In the evenings, many little restaurants feature pastor, pork and/or chicken barbecued-on-a-spit. Even right here where our PaaMul road joins the highway there are two busy taco stands, that have a wide variety of familiar and mysterious fillings including chiles rellenos.
Our neighbors Bob and Dot have a rule never to eat at any food stand that is not permanently bolted down. Maybe I am just lucky, or have slowly insulated my internal systems, but in these 7 years, I have had exactly one instance of overnight purging. (Susan’s number is three.)
So when our Canadian visitors came here for their first trip, we were a bit wary on their account. We have heard the stories of the dreaded ailments that really put a damper on a holiday.
However, they were game to try the local food, and every second day or so, we stopped somewhere for lunch or dinner. (I think food just tastes better in the open air and it is a bonus if you have your feet in the sand.)
We tried a couple of “nice” restaurants, but our favorite was the the busy and economical El Fogon. (See photo from previous post) My prairie-dog brother-in-law even out-hotted me in the spicy salsa too! “Hotter, hotter...!”
The punch line is, we got an e-mail that they are home, safe and sound, full of good memories, and as far as we know, no bugs. Yay!

Open for business... of relaxing.

Now that we were on our own, we scurried around getting the palapa in some semblance of order for our first visitors -- my sister Gail and her hubby, Walter from Regina, Sask. This was their first trip to the warmer climes of Mexico and we wanted the visit to be enjoyable.
We got a coat of sealer on the stucco, installed a few more lights, and switches. The waterworks had a couple of annoyingly slow leaks around the tenaco and pump and these were brought under control. Saturday afternoon, before they arrived, I gathered up all the tools and parts which were spread out over two tables and every available flat surface, and secluded them in the bodega. Suddenly we had living space.
The couple of weeks at the end of January were unseasonably cold and windy here -- bringing out our long sleeves and often jackets. One afternoon as I was working up on the roof, I even dug out my toque! (I don’t like getting my ears cold) and survived the ridicule.
This week though, nature has reverted to its pleasant self.
We have our outdoor kitchen functional, and have been enjoying our morning toast and fruit plates, afternoon snacks and evening barbecues outside on the palapa deck.
Monday we had a reconnaissance mission to the tourist shopping zones in Playa. It was our first trip down to 5th Ave. this winter, and it was lots of fun. We had a nice fish lunch right on the beach.
To get the full experience of Mexico, eating out at the smaller restaurants is a must. Nothing quite like sharing a plate of chorizos, chuletas, cebollas, quesadillos, tacos, and all the sauces with the ambiance of the other diners, roving singers, and the passing parade of pedestrians and traffic next to your open-air table. The blurry photo posted here is to record that the prairie boy Walter, out-hotted the rest of us on the hot sauces. Says they aid digestion and cleanse the bugs which might be around our food. So far so good for everyone.

And finally we are giving ourselves some beach time. We have been collecting shells and getting wet in the waves. Gail and Walter are trying out the mechanics of snorkeling and this week we will try out Akumal and Yal-ku, a couple of the prime snorkeling spots around here.
Yesterday we toured the Tulum ruins. We hadn’t been there since 1990, when we first spent a week in the Yucatan. I could see that tourism in this area had grown immensely, taking account of the crowds around the site. Still it is awe-inspiring walking on paths among the many stone buildings where the original inhabitants had walked more than a thousand years ago. We also share the paths with dozens of gray and wrinkled iguanas that probably have lived here all along. Oh the stories they must share with their grandparents and baby iguanas.

Peace!

The work crews finally left. The digging and drilling, mixing, tiling, grouting is finally over. A bunch of the tiles had to be cut by the electric grinder, as we had all the floor tiles set on a 45 degree bias. Of all the jobs on the site, the noisiest and dustiest were the blocks and tiles being cut by the grinder. Not unlike getting your teeth drilled by the dentist -- not as painful perhaps, but unrelenting, day after day.
I used this same grinder to cut the spaces for our electrical outlets. Usually the breeze would carry the dust away.
My most gruesome task was modifying the underside of the bano counter. The style of counter they build here is a concrete slab of 3 inches with a thick layer of adhesive and the tiles on top. The tap we bought was to stand beside the sink. While I had left a hole for the tap, the apparatus had threads for a two inch counter. I had to lie on my back in a close space, grinding above me. I would take a deep breath, grind for about 30 seconds, and then bolt out of the room for air. When I was done, I looked like a ghost, my face and hair thick with gray dust. More clean up...

On the quieter side, we have installed the living area furniture. Mmm, the couch and seats are wonderfully comfy. They are a resin rattan with weatherproof fabric that is made for patio use. Now I just need to take some time to sit in them.