Feliz Ano Nuevo

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Bob & I spent our afternoon with the neighbors playing Hearts. Later we grilled shrimp, beef fajitas, stuffed jalapenos and potatoes. We did enjoy a very nice dinner for Christmas Eve. One of the restaurants "Olas Atlas" advertised Cajun Fried Turkey and say no more...we're there. We went only to find the turkey over cooked. But the rest of the feast was wonderful. Ham, prime rib, dressing, roasted potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls and desserts. All was fabulous but yet I was still disappointed. I really wanted my turkey seasoned and juicy. O'well.... Tonight is the Eve of New Year's. Happy New Year to everyone! We wish the best for everyone in 2009. We'll be spending our evening with some friends at a place called Canucks. Dinner, dancing, open bar & party favors at midnight to be enjoyed by all. Canucks is offering free shuttle service to & from their restaurant at no extra charge. How nice! We live a few blocks away so it shouldn't be a problem. We are winding down our time here in Mazatlan. We leave for Puerto Vallarta this coming Sunday the 4th. We played our last hands of Texas Hold'em on Tuesday. I did win one of the rounds but fell a little shy of taking 1st place for the month. I was a little disappointed but had a great time and met some fantastic folks during our months here playing. We also sang our last karaoke song at Puerto Viejo and said "good-bye" our friends there. We've spent 3 months here in Mazatlan and friendships were formed...a little difficult to say Bye. Here's a good laugh for you. I've been teaching Spanish to 2 of my neighbors, Jeanette & George. Don't laugh too hard! I'm only teaching Spanish 101. The basics only. Both of them had signed up & paid for classes with a Spanish teacher. Their teacher only taught them vocabulary words. Hell, I've had Spanish Classes way back when and I know the 1st thing we learned was the alphabet in Spanish. So, they asked if I would teach them. George even had a workbook that I could follow which made my job very easy. These guys got their money back and paid me. Now, I'm proud to say they know the alphabet, numbers(time & money), months, days of the week, colors, how to ask questions of what they want or need, basic directions and feminine vs. masculine words. Not too bad! Plus it was a great refresher course for me. Tomorrow I'll be attending a Salsa/Salsa/Margarita Class. We'll learn to make 3 types of salsas, 3 different kinds of margaritas and Salsa dancing to following. Bob has no interest in joining me so I'll be attending solo. The rest of our time here will be spent surfing destinations in Belize and Guatemala. It's only logically one of the two will be our next country to explore. We do wish everyone a safe evening and we'll talk next year. Lots of love - Bonnie & Bob

Merry Christmas

To all our Family & Friends.... We are wishing each of you a very Merry Christmas. We are missing everyone dearly during this Holiday season. I'm missing my Aunt's tamales... But fortunately have wonderful friends who remind me how good they are. Thanks Trechell & Cindy for rubbing it in. And I know we will be missing a great time at my Mom's yearly Eve party. Who's going to be making all those Pomegranate Martinis? Hopefully my cousin Kris can pick up the slack. I will be calling in on Christmas Eve. Mom make sure you have your computer near by so you can hear the computer ring. Can't wait to hear ya'lls voices. We had been without Internet for 4 days now & it was driving me crazy. We've been pretty busy doing things around town. Bob's played a few rounds of golf, poker tops our list of activities. In fact my luck has turned around (hope I'm not jinxing myself) I've pulled into third place this week with our league play. A few more weeks left...wish me luck. Lots of concerts going on around town. In fact, we had the pleasure of listening to one of the top rated Mariachi bands in the world. They are called Mariachi Vargas. Wow, they guys were amazing. I've had my share of listening to mariachi music (not normally my thing)...but these guys were awesome. I kept thinking about my Aunt Luz and Uncle Ramiro...I know if they were with us, they would be belting out every tune. Well it definitely feels like Christmas around here. Not the shopping crap but all the lights, Christmas trees and parties. Our Christmas will be spend here with the neighbors. We'll be firing up the pit and having a potluck dinner. Plus a few of us plan to attend Midnight Mass. We are 2 blocks from a huge Cathedral and they have been ringing their bells and singing Ave Maria everyday. Sounds really nice except the chimes are starting at 6:00 a.m every morning. I had a painful experience yesterday. I finally had to go back to the doc for my heel problem. Next course of action was a Cortisone shot. O'My God that was painful. I actually screamed several times and I have a high pain tolerance. I sure hope this round works. They told me it could take a day up to 12 days to know if it works in reducing the inflammation. If it doesn't they want to do another round of shots. Not sure I want to go thru that again. But, today the pain was minimal. I'll be laying off of it for a day or two before walking for exercise. Alot of birthdays going on this month. I want to wish my cousin John, my cousin Kim, my cousin Gilbert, my nephew Bret, Kristina Lemieux, Deena Colburn, Ginger Hughes, Shirley Jones, Julia Urbanek, my Aunt Sylvia, Thuy and Chris Walters a very happy birthday. Always thinking of you guys. Lots of love to all - Bonnie & Bob

Early morning today

What a beautiful morning! Ask and you shall receive. I had mentioned out in the courtyard that it would be nice to have a bike...my bone spurs are still killing me and I want to exercise. I'm out walking but I'm paying the price too. My neighbor, George says he has an extra bike I can borrow and if I want to join him on a bike ride in the morning; I was more than welcome. Sure, I said, "would love to". His morning time and my morning time are very different. 7:30 works for me but not for George. He likes to be out there by 5:30. O' Boy...5:00 a.m. came early! (Why do I make commitments after a cocktail?) It was still dark and I'm pretty sure the roosters were still sleeping but I got up. I hadn't been on a bike since "island living" and we all know how that turned out. But today would be different. We were riding our bikes on the Malecon. I didn't have to worry about pot holes or dirt trails. But I did have to worry about those damn spiked peddles. Aye, I was trying to be so quiet for my sleeping beauty, Bob. I ran the bike into the front door and caught my shin on the peddle. That was painful. George was ready at 5:30 and ready to roll. How far are we riding today, I asked? (Why didn't that question come to mind yesterday) He said, "to Valentino's". Humm...by my calculations that's approximately 18 miles. I swallowed and smiled..."cool". Let's go! The first few yards were hard but once we reached the malecon it was beautiful. Not too many folks out at that time but the waves were doing their thing. I could listen to them all day. George is fast on a bike. No way could I keep up but I took in the sites and really enjoyed being out there. He would wait every so often for me to catch up but then I would feel bad. Go on, I told him. I know my way around. I caught up with him when he was on his way back. I turned around and started to head back too. So, my 18 miles was cut to approx 16 miles. Not bad. The Malecon was full of folks by 6:00 - 6:15. I now know why George likes being out there early. By the end of the ride we were dodging people walking their dogs, runners, or roller blader's. There were lots of people running on the beach and several swimmers in the ocean...now that's ambitious. Bob is still sleeping and will be till about 9:00. I'm heading to yoga now. Hope all is going well for everyone.

Change of Plans

Looks like we'll be spending a little more time in Mazatlan. We were planning to head south to Puerto Vallarta from here leaving Dec 4th and then on to San Miguel for the Christmas Holiday but that plan kind of backfired. We didn't make reservation in time. We looked everywhere (San Miguel, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Ixtapa & Zuantenejo) for a hotel over the Christmas week and all decent places are booked. Fortunately the place were we've been living had one apartment available thru the holiday season. We took it. We did have to move apartments; so now we are in a 2 bedroom apartment and paying a little more rent. But it will be nice hanging out here for the holidays. We know the area and look forward to the festivities that will take place at the plaza. We are hoping my Dad & Esther come to visit us soon. Of course anyone else needing a vacation...come see us. Continental flies non-stop here from Houston. Hope everyone has a wonderful day. Miss you - Bonnie

Monday Night Football

Are you ready for some football? We're back on schedule...on Monday nights we normally hang out at a place called Army Wings. Great wings, 2 for 1 beers, nice large screen TV's and fantastic music afterwards. Tonight just happened to be my Houston Texans. WooHoo. They finally looked great. I'm still a little disappointed in the offense but defense showed up. Mario Williams is on FIRE! This is one time where I wouldn't mind being at work and talking a little smack at with the guys....especially with Danny Conner. Danny said over & over, "That the Texans made the absolute worst pick in NFL History". I know he is choking on his words. He needs to leave the NFL draft to the experts and stick to trading. He's much better at that. And Ken Dewey is a huge VY fan...where is he at these days? On the bench! Crying! Reggie Bush well...not bad; but no Mario Williams. We called our tailgating friends tonight...Ina, David, Sonja and Jeff. These guys never disappoint me. They were still tailgating an hour after the game. I love them and miss them very much. Hope everyone has a great evening. Miss you - Bonnie.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families. I hope everyone ate plenty of Turkey, Ham and all the fixings.

Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here in Mexico but we made the most of it w/family. My Mom & Step-Dad, Sandy came to visit. Mom of course didn't want me to cook...They prefer to eat out every meal. There were several restaurants serving up a Thanksgiving Buffet but that just didn't sound very appealing. Nothing compares to a home cooked meal! So we enjoyed plenty of meals around town. I don't think we ever got hungry before our next meal.

Their visit was short but we made the most if it. We had a great time showing them the city we've become very fond of.

Baseball was high on the list of

activities. The weather was

perfect and crowd loud.

Our seats were on the 1st base

side, a few rows up from the field.

Before the game, players hang

out at the entrance gates

to take photos & sign

autographs.

We introduced them to karaoke at

Puerto Viejo.

I think they had a good time.

Mom & Sandy did a

fantastic job w/ Crying Times by Ray Charles. We were surprised how well they performed.

It's all about ME! We celebrated my birthday, AGAIN. I told you I celebrate all month long

Hell if I know what they are singing. How is that Sandy knew what to request?

He's Greek! Very impressive.

We had a special treat for Mom & Sandy. We spent the 4 days in our apartment and had a blast showing them the Old Historical area. We took them to all our local hangouts, shopped at the Mercado, ate & drank plenty at the Plaza Machado and saw some really nice sunsets on the beach.

Well we decided to change the scenary for them. We told them to pack their bags for a few nights that we had a surprise in stored. They had no idea what we had up our sleeve. Mom was a little scared when Bob asked if I had the tent packed. That was classic! Bob had arranged for a couple of nights to be spent at La Jolla resort. A small resort off the beat and path, quiet and nothing to do but lay around the pool and body surf. Sandy is a fish and he is in awe with the ocean. He was like a little kid playing in the waves. Not to mention Bob was right there with him. We did have a personal chauffeur, Regino provided by La Jolla. That was a nice change since we normally "bus it" or walk. Since we were not cooking, Regino took us to Playa Bruja and the Golden Zone for some fabulous meals.

Having some pre-dinner

cocktails on our balcony

Don't think they had a

hard time relaxing.

Playa Bruja is a local hangout for all the surfers. They say

if you want to catch some waves this is the place to be. This happens to be a fabulous restaurant too.

We saw some really pretty sunsets on this playa

We really enjoyed our visit with

Mom & Sandy.

Thank you for spending your

Thanksgiving Holiday

with us.

We love you both!

Fab Day of Golfing

The weather here has been fabulous. Warm (80 degrees) with a nice breeze. My morning started with an hour of yoga and then off to golf course. We enjoyed our afternoon golfing at Estrella Del Mar w/Tom and Blake. Estrella Del Mar is a new "master plan" community near the beach, about 30 mins from our apartment. Huge homes, condos, nice restaurant, hotel, and golfing. The golf course was awesome and one of the better ones I've played at.

Beautiful Fairways

We teed off at 1:30 and finished at sunset.

The guys played really well...my game well...I had a blast. Tom from Minnesota

& Blake from Western Canada

we're suppose to be

golfing not having

a photo session.

Can't you hear him

saying that???

This is the temporary club house

while the main one is being built

Quiet! Bob is in his backswing.

Look at these cute restrooms

They had some great tunnels

Beisbol

Baseball at its finest. Hey there. Bob & I caught a game last night and what a great time we had. We arrived about 30 mins early to the game to purchase our ticket without any problems. We splurged and bought the "expensive" seats which were $105 pesos per ticket. In the exchange process that equals $8.oo usd...wow. The seats were actually too close to the field and the view was bad for any plays made in the outfield so we moved behind home plate 3 rows back. Fabulous seats! The crowd was a hoot! I loved it! There were approximately 5,000 fans at the game but they were lively. My Mom would have a hay day in this stadium. They came around w/Ceviche, Candy Apples, Cookies/Empandas, Peanuts, and Tostadas. Plus, they have a great food court. Best of all the beer was only $1.25, peanuts were $.80, a slice of pizza $1.50...those are American prices. The Venados "Deers" have 5 players on their roster from the states. One of them is Ruben Rivera. Does that name ring a bell with any of you? He's an ex-Yankee and famous for stealing Derek Jeter's bat & glove from his locker. (My cousin Danette would have paid more than the $2500 he sold this merchandise for. ) No second chances for this guy. The team voted him off the organization and now he's playing down here on the Mazatlan team. I wish I had pictures to post of the stadium but Bob had been charging the battery and forgot to grab it on the way out the door. The weather is a little cooler now so we plan to catch more games. We'll get some pictures next time. Hope everyone is doing well. Lots of love - Bonnie & Bob

Where's Maz?

I'm hearing this from a lot of folks out there. Where is Mazatlan? I'm attaching a map hopefully you will be able to pull it up. http://www.maps-of-mexico.com/

Mazatlan is directly east of Cabo San Lucas. In fact there is a 15 hour ferry/cargo boat that runs between Cabo & Mazatlan several times a week.

There are 3 main areas of Mazatlan I can write about. El Centro, Malecon/Boardwalk, and the Golden Zone. El Centro/Downtown (where we have been living). This is the old historical area and south side of town. There lots of businesses, museums, plazas/town squares, restaurants, the Mercado and tons of history. The majority of the buildings in this area are 100+ years old and the sidewalks are treacherous. People congregate at the plazas in the mornings for coffee and chat before heading to work. We find this area extremely easy to get around without a car since everything is within walking distance. Sundays is our quiet day due to businesses being closed and fewer people in the area. The beach on the south side is not as happening as that on the north but the sunsets are very nice and there's enough going . El Centro is the less expensive of the 3 locations.

Malecon/Boardwalk area. This is the main road traveled. It stretches around 8 miles. 2 lanes of traffic running south and 2 lanes of traffic running north. In between is a median of parallel parking. The beach and seawall are on one side of the road while restaurants, clubs and hotels are on the other side. The Malecon is a very active area for the fitness enthusiasts. People are running, walking, or rollerblading at all hours of the night. The baseball stadium is nearby. On the weekends younger crowds hang out in the medians and tailgate. I'm guessing they are jump starting their party before hitting the clubs. The beach along this stretch is nice and Sunday's it filled with families enjoying their time together. Great people watching at all times.

The Golden Zone. This is the major "resort" area. Lots of tourists. Lots of souvenir shops & restaurants and new construction. The beaches in this area are very nice but full of vendors selling "silver", sarongs, wooden trinkets, cowboy hats and so many other things. Here you can rent jet skis, go out on a catamaran, and parasail. Most resorts are private and you cannot use the palapas on the beach but there are some restaurants that have similar set up for your use. Primarily English is spoken and with that you are bombarded with Time Share presentations. I'm sure you can guess this is the more expensive area of the 3 but all in all...Maz is fairly inexpensive. This community also homes a lot of expats living in condos. This area is nice and all, but to me it's like living back in the states and too commercialized.

This is our first time to visit Mazatlan and we've really enjoyed it. We've found that there are lots of folks that visit here from California, Minnesota, Oregon and Canadians.

So what is so special about this place that makes Americans & Canadians want to retire here? There a large number of Ex-Pats (ex patriots) living here and some have been here a long time.

1. Mazatlan's cost of living & medical is still very inexpensive.
2. Safety.
3. Great medical facilities. They have a hospital care, ambulance service and English speaking doctors.
4. Shopping & Mega Grocery stores. Wal-mart, Sam's, Office Depot, Home Depot just to name a few. Nothing 3rd world about this city.
5. Excellent bus service. Why bother with a car unless you just have to have one. Plus the taxis here are cheap for those wondering what to do about groceries.
6. Strong Expat community. They have an organization here called "Friends of Mexico". They meet for a breakfast buffet once a month to discuss all the activities taking place in the city. They even have their own publishing for an English newspaper. Tons of networking going on here. Lots of charitable organizations for those wanting to give back to the community. We attended one of their meeting to see what it was all about and they do a good job keeping the information flowing.
7. You can be as active as you want in Maz. There's golfing, fishing, bowling, baseball games, charities and organizations to be involved in. Stay in shape...The Malecon, gyms, yoga and Pilate's are offered.

So can see the attraction to Mazatlan.

Take care everyone. Hope all is going well.

Lots of love - Bonnie & Bob

Pedialyte

Hi! How is everyone doing? I have to say I'm feeling really good today. I had been feeling under the weather for the past week and a half. Not sure what was going on but it started with flu like symptoms but only lasted 12 hours (chills, fever, & body ache) but soon after...Montezuma Revenge! Yikes. Normally this is Bob's problem. I never have this problem. At first I really didn't mind and if I need to go anywhere for an extended period of time, I just took an Immodium. Otherwise, I was on the Eat N Release program. So, what's the problem w/Eat N Release program? Weight was coming off. Gotta like that. But I also noticed some dehydration. So I bumped up my water intake; I knew what to do. After all, my Mom is a nurse. Well after a few days into this my energy level was way down. I could have slept the entire day away if I'd let myself. I tried to get active and not think about sleeping but it got the better of me. My friend Cheryl told me try Pedialyte. She drinks it after a heavy night of drinking and when she's feeling bad. I've never heard of this. Bob & I went out to play some golf. We were only going to play 9 holes and Thank God. I couldn't have played anymore. I was hot, disoriented, and needed to get back to our apt NOW. I pretty much passed out as soon as we got home. When I woke up hours later, I had a horrible headache. I couldn't take it anymore, I was tired of feeling tired and so out of it. What the hell, I gave this Pedialyte a shot. I drank a liter of this stuff. It's not good I might add but not the worst I've had either. Taste like watered down kool-aid. I tried the Strawberry and Grape flavors. Strawberry was a tad better. Anyway, within a few hours I started feeling better. My energy was coming back and the headache was gone. I must have been a lot more dehydrated than I thought I was plus my electrolytes were all out of whack. Had I only listened to my friend, Cheryl sooner. I'm very glad to say...I'm back! Everything is great again. No more Montezuma, no more feeling like crap and I'm enjoying the outdoors. Who would have thought Pedialyte. Hopefully if you ever start to feel dehydration; you will now know to try Pedialyte. Amazing stuff! Ciao - Bonnie

Birthday Month

As most of you know...it's my Birthday month. Yes, I celebrate all month long. Are you kidding me? I count my blessing to be alive each year. The actual day has come and gone but I never pass up a free drink, cake, birthday spankings...hehehe! I do appreciate all the birthday wishes I've received. Thank you very much, truly means a lot to me. Saturday we spent most of the afternoon and evening with our friends Pete, Cheryl and Suzanne (Pete's Daughter) The last week of their stay here in Maz they moved out of our apartments and into a fancy resort, Pueblo Bonito. They invited us over for the day to hang at the pool and beach. Pete got up early (5:00 a.m.) to reserve a Palapa and chaises for all of us. Thank you, Pete! The afternoon was fantastic. We did catch the end LSU/Alabama game as we were dressing for dinner. What a game that was. After the game we caught a cab to the furthest beach north of town. They call this beach Playa Bruja. "Witches Beach". I don't know the meaning of the name but I do know it's a surfers hang out. We were there for dinner. What a fabulous dinner we had too. Lobster & Shrimp...can't beat that. At the end of our dinner the wait staff came out with this horrible noise maker, pinata, shot of tequila and cake. Happy Birthday to me...Happy Birthday to me... After dinner we caught our cab back to their resort but went across the street to Munchies for a night cap. Actually we thought the bar was having karaoke that night but turns up the guy didn't show with his machine. Bummer! We're really getting into that karaoke scene and not just me! Bob has let loose and he's really good. Sunday (my actual birthday) was laid back. I slept really late (10:00 a.m.) Dang! I must have been tired. Bob was waiting patiently for me to wake up. Apparently he was starving and ready to take me out for breakfast. We caught a bus and went to a place called Panamas. Our normal ritual on Sundays is to hit Caliente's Sportbook to catch all the football games but this Sunday no one was showing my Texans. Which I guess it was a blessing. What happened? Geez! Don't answer that...I know! After a couple of hours we headed back to the apartment where we chilled for the afternoon. Bob took a nap and I hung out by the pool reading. Later that evening Bob treated me to a nice dinner around the corner. Gotta say... I've been eating some great meals. Well our friend Pete and his daughter Suzanne have left to go back home. Cheryl leaves tomorrow. I'm really sad. We had a such a great time and we will miss them. Until next time! Hugs - Bonnie & Bob

Dia de Los Muertos

The Day of the Dead is celebrated every November 1st & 2nd thru out Mexico and what a tradition this is. I'm so glad we were part of this celebration. Families built alters on their porches, cars, and at the plazas in memories of their loved ones. On the 1st, families gather to eat and drink the favorites of their loved ones. There's a party on the plaza to view the procession, listen to the bands, and run w/the donkeys. The parade continues thru the plaza and up the streets for approx 2 miles and is lead by donkeys w/the decorated carts. Each cart carries several kegs of beer and is distributed to those who run behind them. We joined in and walked a few blocks behind the donkey carts. I say "walked" because the donkeys never took off running. Plus it was jammed packed with people pushing their way up to the front for their foamed keg beer. Bands were playing in between the carts, and everyone was having a blast. Like I said the streets were packed!

These ladies are actually ballerinas. After the parade they did a traditional dance on stage in the Plaza.

We had a great time. Thanks to Cheryl; a veteran to the festive celebration...she had us set up nicely. We had reservation at La Tramoya @ 6:00pm. We had a fabulous dinner and front row seats to all the action. Cheryl & Pete hung around at the table for the sideline view while Bob & I joined in w/the donkey walk but after a few blocks we had enough and joined Cheryl & Pete back at the table. Lots of activity was taking place at the Plaza even after the parade had moved on.

So what's happening on November 2nd? More family time but it's spent at cemetery. Families take the time to pray and maintain the grave site by placing new flowers or memorabilia.

Doc Experience

Had to find a doctor today! I've been having excruciating pain in my left heel and I can't take it anymore. I had been given a name of a doctor by one of the expats here and she raved about him. She said all his credential came from the states which meant he spoke English too. If only going to the doctor were this easy back home...I was a "walk in". Dr. Torres was able to see me immediately. He did speak English very well and was very personable. I liked him immediately. Bob & I have insurance but we opted for "catastrophic" which means only major medical. So anything outside those parameters we pay out of pocket. Dr. Torres sent me around the block for x-rays. I was pleasantly surprise that I had no wait at this office either. I walked in, had both feet x-rayed and waited 10 mins for my x-ray copies. Of course I had to pay out of pocket for the procedure but no problem...That only cost $250 pesos with the current exchange rate $20usd. How much are they back home? I walked the x-rays back to the docs office where he read them immediately. I have bone spurs in both my feet. Well Thank God only my left foot is in pain! He prescribed an anti-inflammatory and suggested I get out of my flip flops and use tennis shoes. He also prescribed one of those gel inserts for extra padding. We'll give it a week or two...hopefully the pain will diminish. The doc visit was cheap too. That was only 250 pesos as well. There are pharmacias on every corner so we immediately picked up the prescription ($10 usd - not the the generic stuff either). I'll do as the doc says, I'm really hoping this pain stops soon. I'm not enthused with the alternative plan.

Hope everyone back home is doing well.

Love you - Bonnie (&Bob)

Day of the Dead

I imagine you guys are gearing up for Halloween...one of my favorite times of the year. Unfortunately that is an American Holiday and not too much is centered around "halloween" here in Mexico. But I am looking forward to all the festivities that will take place Nov 1st & 2nd...Dia de los Muertos (Day of the dead). Not sure why "day" is not plural being the celebration continues for 2 days. Dia de los Muertos is a huge celebration remembering those that have passed. Families will decorate their homes heavily with lots of color, build alters, display numerous photos and honor the deceased by serving their favorite foods & favorite drink. This is not a time for sorrow...it is a festive occasion of life. The rest of us will be enjoying the public party. Our neighbor, Cheryl made reservations for us at a restaurant called, La Tramoya in Plaza Machado. They have been coming to Mazatlan for the past 20 years and say the plaza is the place to be. Saturday we will be on the sidelines watching the parade, the dancers, and awaiting the donkey. I'm told a donkey trails the parade pulling a cart full of Pacifio beer which is distributed to the crowd. Pacifico beer is brewed here in Maz. and in my opinion is one of the better beer served. The parade will come and go but the plaza will have live music thru the night. I'll let you know how it goes! Hope all is well for everyone. Take care B&B

Update on the parasailer

The accident was reported in the Mazatlan newspaper the next day and she survived! She has lot of broken bones in her body and will have a long road to recovery but she's alive. The report states she was a tourist visiting here from the northern part of Mexico. She was 20 yrs old (not 15). I don't know why but for some reason I'm glad she was a little older. It was a horrible ordeal no matter what age. But hopefully she had some libations in her system...

Parasailing Nightmare!

Thinking about parasailing? Please don't! Today we sat at a restaurant one block off the beach. We had noticed that the dark clouds were around and that the wind had picked up. Debris was flying around and we notice people standing out in the street looking up. Curiosity got the best of us...we too walked out to the street to see what everyone was looking at. We were shocked to see a parasail whirling in the wind w/a person holding on. Apparently the wind grew too strong for the boat to pull in the individual back in and was left hanging there. Within minutes the rope broke and the individual went soaring in the wind. Everyone in the street gasped in disbelief. Can you imagine? I was sick. This person was no longer attached and soaring thru the air out of control. The person disappeared out of our view. We had no idea where this person would end up...dead or alive. How horrible! About 20 mins later we heard sirens and cars speeding down the street. Our minds wondering what happened to that person? I was in tears and upset. From what we saw, the person was falling fast and totally helpless. What we learned...The person on that parasail was a young girl. They are saying she approximately 14 or 15 years old. She did slam into a building before hitting the ground. The extent of the damage is unknown but she was in critical condition. She was rushed to Balboa Hospital here in Mazatlan. I don't know if we will find out any more details about this incident but she and her family need some prayers.

So What Do We Do?

So what do we do all day? I think that may be a question on ya'lls mind.

I admit it's hard getting into a routine when you have nowhere to report to. It's very odd.

I'm now enrolled in yoga classes which I attend 3 days a week. Mon, Thurs & Fridays @ 8:00 a.m. And it has been wonderful. I've found this amazing instructor from Colorado. I've taken lots of yoga classes over the years and Maureen hands down has been the best so far. Our workout is in a courtyard at Casa de Leyendes Bed & Breakfast. They have a fantastic place for us to relax and stretch. It's very hot here and our workouts are outdoors so I'm sweating my butt off in yoga. I'm not complaining...I've dropped some pounds being down here and have lots more to go. I'm trying to get Bob to join me but that hasn't happened yet.

We are working on being a little structured. On days I'm not in yoga we're out of bed by 8:30 every morning and always eat a good breakfast. It is has been very hot here so we stay by the pool most early afternoons or we are indoors watching movies on cable. The sun sets here @6:30 so we'll walk to El Malecon or "Boardwalk" (4 blks away) to watch the sun disappear and then we walk for exercise. People here are into working out and El Malecon is the place to be. It is considered to be the longest in the world measuring 21 km. There's great people watching on the boardwalk and there's always something going on. There are cliff divers, vendors selling their goods/foods, lots of skaters (board and inline), and live music. It's never boring from early morning to late night.

We've found that most of the expats here are older and have been here for 20 years or more. Everyone has been very nice, its just a totally different atmosphere than the island. We did find the expats play Texas Holdem every Tuesday @ 3:00. There are lots of Canadians here and the bar we play at is called Canuck's. Go figure! We've played the last 2 weeks but no luck in winning. Hopefully that will change soon.

We have learned to play the "Time Share" game. I don't know if you've ever been approached by the sales reps but they don't take no for an answer. In fact they keep offering more and more money. We've sat in on 2 timeshares to walk away with $450 and tour packages. We have no shame in donating 90 mins of our time to look at beautiful resorts and listen to their spill. Show me the money... We'll plan to negotiate golfing, deep sea fishing and various other tours Maz has to offer. I have to admit we've been off the circuit since our friend's visit but we'll start making appearance again. What else do we have to do?

One of my favorite things to do is hit the Mercado. What a great experience. I go every other day for fresh fruits and vegetables. The Mercado has everything from fresh poultry and I'm talking the whole pig to beef (some cuts I have no idea what they are) to fresh fish and seafood and so many other items. I love shrimp...the fact that I can buy jumbo headless shrimp for $8.00 per Kilo (which is 2.2 lbs) is awesome. I've discovered Chihuahua cheese which makes awesome nachos. I'm always making fresh guacamole and salsas. Now there are "grocery stores" but I only go when I need paper goods or something out of the norm.

Mazatlan has a fantastic baseball team called Los Venados (which means deer in Spanish) The city goes crazy for them and it's a huge party every game they play. They have won 7 Championships and the 1st Mexican team to be the champion of a Caribbean Series.

There's bullfighting which I refuse to go to. I saw it on TV just to see what happens and there's no way I can see it live. Do you know they stab the bull several times in the shoulder blades before the Matador steps into the ring? That's crap! The bullfight I saw on TV was horrible. The poor bull was pouring out blood and was dazed before the fight even started. Where's the sport in that?

Who enjoys a good massage???? I Do! While Cindy was visiting we discovered a spa just around the corner from my apartment. Turns out this place rocks (however, not as good as my masseuse AnnMarie back home) but I can get use to it. Every Tuesday and Friday they offer $10/hr massages...woohoo. I've already had the 2 1/2 hour treatment thanks to Cindy...that included 1 hour of a body scrub followed by an 1 1/2 hour of massage. Thank God this place is literally around the corner. I can see this fitting into my "routine".

There are 3 golf courses here, a casino/race & sports book, extreme bowling, a mall and tons of restaurants. I don't think we'll be bored.

Wish everyone back home the best. We miss you guys.

Lots of love - Bonnie & Bob

Our little Casita

Hey everyone. How's it going? I just wanted to share pics of our lil place here in Mazatlan. It's small but we like it. Plus the location is fabulous. I think I mentioned it before how centrally located we are. We are 4 blocks from the beach, 1 block from Plaza Mechado, 2 blocks from the Mercado (the market) and we are on the bus route to the Golden Zone.

How many of you remember Melrose Place? That's what this place, Villa Serena reminds me of. There are 14 apartments here w/a small courtyard and pool. Hope you enjoy!

View from the street.

Our gate remains closed & locked

so we have lots of privacy and security.

Our small courtyard & dipping pool.

On the other side of the pool are stairs that lead up to a deck. We have a gas grill, bar area, sink & bathroom on the upper deck.

This is the hall back to our apartment. Like I mentioned

there are 14 apartments.

Every apartment is named.

Ours is Tia Gloria. Tia means Aunt in Spanish

Yes, this is a full kitchen...LOL!

Not my dream kitchen but it works.

The kitchen overlooks the living room.

Our living room area.

And the bedroom. We do have

a large room w/King size bed.

We've only had 2 neighbors since we've moved in. The 1st week we met Judy & Terry. They were from Canada and visit here every year. Unfortunately, they didn't stay long on this trip. They say they will be back for Christmas.

After they moved out, Cheryl moved in. She's from California. I don't have a picture of her at this time but, I'll get one. Currently, she's here by herself. Her husband, Pete will be joining her in a couple of weeks.

So, we have this place to ourselves. It's been awesome.