5C's Que Pasa

First we had to cross the shipping channel and our lancha came to dead stop as this tuna boat passed in front of us. That helicopter looks pretty tiny up there.

Off they go until they catch a full load of tuna. It could takes weeks or months, it all depends on luck.

Finally we arrived at our destination in Centro.  Renee and Greg purchased a lovely home built in 1829 last September and have been busy restoring it to its former glory.  Lots and lots of blood, sweat and tears and even more tears not to mention pesos.  This was to be the first unveiling of the work accomplished thus far.

The front door and foyer.  I believe that that door is original.  You could and folks back then did ride horses right inside.

You walk into a huge open air courtyard. There is even a view of the Cathedral. In a word stunning.

The house itself wraps around the courtyard.  Original floor tiles.  I am certain that I have made some errors in describing this home and I’m certain Renee will correct any glaring errors.

These floors have been lovingly refurbished.  Lovely shutters for privacy.

This room leads into the master. The ensuite is a work in progress but it is going to be fabulous from the little we saw.

So inviting.

One of the two guest rooms, this one I believe is the King Room, if not, it is the Queen Room. A tapestry sits on the floor waiting to be hung. A work in progress.

The dining area which faces the courtyard taken from the yet to be finished new kitchen.  All original high ceilings with gorgeous beams.  The home was built by a ship captain who brought things from all over the world.  Those black posts on the right are ebony from Africa.

This home was once part of a massive mansion that covered the entire block. Over the years it has been divided into a few homes.  Renee and Greg have done a superb job and we can’t wait to see the changes over the next year.

Meanwhile we had a wonderful dinner, participated in some gambling and partied with a group of about 20 of our new best friends.

Such a great time.  It was a wonderful evening.

We were able to catch the last panga back to the Isla just before the witching hour. After midnight you have to pay quite a bit more.

Lucky for us that I started a blog way back in 2010.  Lucky for us that Renee & Greg discovered it and read it.  All four of are blessed to have found such good friends here in Mazatlan.

We are so aware that our days here in paradise are numbered.  Soon it is time to start packing up and to start the long drive back to Canada. Time is short and each hour is precious.  I seem to be seeing things through different eyes, wanting to retain all that I see.  You have likely noticed that from my last few posts.  We headed into Mazatlan for the second time within a few days, unheard of for us.  However we needed to pick up a few gifts and some cheese at the Mercado.

Lucky us, we got the first cut of Santa Rita Chihuahua from this wheel.

We also stopped for our final shrimp burger at Tony’s.  It was just really good, not outstanding as when we had it last in January with Chris and Juan.  I also picked up two cheap day dresses that I like to wear.  A quick trip to town and back and we also picked up our clean laundry once back on the Isla.  It is so inexpensive to have our laundry done weekly, why ever would I want to do it myself.  I will miss this luxury when we get back home.

A food truck has sprung up at the embarcadero. Modern times catching up on the Isla.

We are going to miss our daily fruit and veggie delivery.  This is how we start our day unless I make a smoothie.

I have finally caught up with my paper work for my Dad’s estate.  Nothing more can be done until I get back to Canada and sign some legal papers.  Fortunately the sale of the condo and the van have been completed with no hitches.  It looks like my last few weeks here on the Isla will be computer and telephone free unless I chose to use them  😮

The girls are enjoying their days. I know they will miss the freedom of walking down the beach naked ( no collars ). Not sure why Caeli chose to relax in the corner of this flower bed.

As our daily veggie truck arrives it makes a particular noise, a high pitched double siren sound, to let us know he has arrived.  We can hear him from a block or more away as he stops at other homes along the road.  Often we are inside doing early morning tasks and so the girls are inside also, they just stay near us wherever we are.  While Colin was in Culiacan I made an observation.  As soon as I heard the veggie truck whistle, Caeli did also and would dash down the ramp and to the back gate.  At first I thought it was a coincidence but I began to observe and take note.  As soon as she hears the signal she heads to the gate where I go out to the truck.  I don’t buy something everyday but often enough.  No matter whether I leave the RV or not she does and runs to the gate.  Very very cute.

The ocean is warming up and more and more people are enjoying it on a daily basis.

I fancied a soft boiled egg a while back and as I haven’t cooked them for a while I Googled ‘how to boil a soft boiled egg’.  I read a few of the links that came up and choose one.  The eggs were simply excellent.  Over the past month I have tried this method at least five times and each time the eggs were perfect.  So if you want to try a different method to soft boil your eggs, click here.

Colin is impressed with my consistent record. So am I 🙂

Another reminder to click here if you would like to receive each post from my blog sent to your inbox.  That way you won’t miss one.  Under the comment section you are able to chose if you would like comments to come to your inbox whether you decide to comment or not.  Hopefully you know that all bloggers love to receive comments  😆

No idea why we are so fortunate each evening…..

…it really doesn’t get much better than this.

Just 2 days ago we found these on our morning beach walk.  I have never ever seen a sea urchin with a few remaining spines on this beach before.

The next morning we found 3 large key hole sand dollars, 9 auger shells of various sizes and the first cowry shell of the season.

Then we saw this.

Which turned to this.

…and finally this.

All magnificent offerings from Mother Nature.  We are elated to be here on Isla de la Piedra.

A few days ago we walked down to the restaurant end of the beach on Stone Island.  Usually we walk the other way, but we wanted to see what was happening.  I thought you might like to come along with us.  These photos appear in the sequence they were shot.

Always there are children playing in the sand creating and building a sand structure.

Time for some adult beverages in one of the many local beachfront restaurants.

Oceanside we see two of the new vessels in port.

The girls get ahead of us down the beach.

Just a few of the many strolling musicians. Could you make your living walking up and down the beach trying to get someone to pay you a few pesos to serenade them?

Time to return some of the for rent ATV’s to their base.
Moving three at a time saves on fuel.

An entrepreneur with the hopes of selling shade during Semena Santa/Easter Week.

Time to bring in the boat for the day.

Have you ever been on a banana boat? I did once in Hawaii over 28 years ago. Once is enough.

Some happy beach goers.

Just hanging around waiting for customers.

Not something you want to share a beach with. The owner had the rope wrapped around his hand several times like that would have stopped that dog. We kept the girls well away from him.

This restaurant must be doing very well or anticipating many patrons in the coming months. A roof that size doesn’t come cheap.

Waiting for the sunset.

A fisherman’s day is never over. Today it’s the nets that require repair.

I hope you enjoyed your walk as much as we did  😀

We have several varieties of orioles that feed off oranges that we put out for them.

Love our hummingbirds.

Seeing as we are leaving in a few weeks I have decided to stop feeding all the birds. They will need to find food on their own soon.

The snowbirds are heading north bit by bit. This RV has come to stay for several months.  By the end of April they will be one of two RV’s left till June.

We went into town last Tuesday and spied this Holland American ship in port. It was the Veendam which we had cruised on years ago in the days before we started to RV.

For the first time ever the panga stopped halfway between the Isla and Mazatlan. No one panicked or even turned to the back of the boat to see what was happening.  Colin asked if we had run out of fuel. We had not but there was air in the line.  The operator said it was just a small emergency.  All of this in Spanish of course.  We all laughed and were soon underway.

As we were headed to the Golden Zone we were fortunate to get a pulmonia with a nice large window so we could see were we headed without having to bend our heads.

Colin has decided to ship his guitar to a luthier in Paracho for some repairs.  This is his priceless Kohno guitar that he has had since 1972.  It is deemed priceless because of the sound.  For years now whenever an international guitarist plays Colin’s guitar they want to buy it.  The guitar needs to be completely refinished on the outside including new frets and a new finger board mostly due to being played it so much. The back needs to be removed and repaired due to cracks.  These came about when we moved from the humid climate of Vancouver to the drier climate of Kelowna.

Paracho is well known throughout both Mexico and elsewhere in the world as hub of lutherie. This is because they are reputed to make the best sounding guitars and vihuelas in all of Mexico. The town is full of music shops that sell handmade stringed instruments. Some instruments that can be found in Paracho are: 10-string mandolins, armadillo-backed guitars (concheros) and mandolins, and acoustic bass guitars, as well as regular classical guitars and mandolins, bajo sextos, vihuelas guitarrons and many others. Many of the stores and workshops allow visitors to watch the guitar-making process directly.  This paragraph comes from Wikipedia.

We travelled to Paracho in our RV about 8 years ago and Colin walked the streets looking for a new guitar but none had a sound as rich as his Kohno.  While in Culiacan Colin had hoped to meet Abel a luthier he trusts but he did not attend the festival this year.  What to do?  Should we drive there, should Colin take the bus to deliver the guitar?  Finally after much research a solution was found.  Eric our RV repair fellow built a box for the guitar.

The guitar was put into the guitar case which was repeatedly wrapped in bubble wrap and then put into the box.  Colin then screwed the lid closed.  After much debate we shipped it via Estafeta and via air.  It was flown to Uruapan, Michoacan and then driven about 16 miles to Paracho.

Does Colin look a tad concerned? The lady at the desk actually called the luthier in Paracho twice to be sure of her facts re his address, etc. She was as worried as we were.

Apparently Abel receives guitars from all over the world to repair and has had three arrive broken due to shipping.  He did receive the Kohno within 24 hours and the box appears to be intact.  He has not yet opened the box and promises to email us when he does.  There is no rush as Colin won’t get his guitar back until next November when we return to Mexico.  Likely he will take the bus to pick it up in person so he can review all the repairs in person before he pays for it.  The cost will in be around $2000.00USD as far as we know.  Of course that can change.  Meanwhile Colin does have another guitar to play until he is reunited with his Kohno.

From there we walked over to Panchos for a late breakfast. I liked the sign.

After the food we walked through some of the shops but couldn’t find anything of interest to purchase.  We finally walked over to Mega, a large grocery store for the first time this year.  I enjoyed the walk and revelled in that I could do it.  So nice to be mobile again.  Generally we are happy to shop here on the Isla and at the Mercardo in Centro for food.  I do bring food stuffs with us but we did not use much of them this season.  It was warm all winter and we ate lighter this year.  The one thing I wanted at Mega was a package of very very thin wheat bread ( often referred to as Thins )  which I have seen other years, but they did not have it.

It was good to get back to the Isla.

Yet another wonderful end to the day.

Thanks for dropping by.