Pinata time!

The managers of our little campground have their three grandchildren visiting for Christmas.  We purchased a pinata and filled it with some candy for the children.  Their grandparents added peanuts and oranges to the pinata.

The pinata hangs ready for the game

Valeria (7), Fernanda (5) and Andrea (8) prepare to tackle the pinata

Grandma holds Alexis up to touch the pinata

On Christmas Eve, the children sang their pinata song as they took turns hitting the pinata to break it open.
This is the English translation of the song:

Go, go, go,
Don't lose your aim;
Because if you lose it
You will lose the path.

You hit it once
You hit it twice
You hit it three times
And your time is finished.

 

Fernanda takes the first swing

Then Valeria

Andrea's turn

Grandma Adriana takes a turn

Mavis' turn

Carla's turn

Grandpa Ruben wears a piece of the pinata as a hat

After many tries, the pinata breaks and the kids scramble to pick up the treats.

Christmas Day was a warm 30C with clear sunny skies.  We didn't go to the beach that day as we were monitoring the turkey as it cooked on the barbeque. At 6 pm we decorated the table in the palapa for 4 of us to enjoy a traditional turkey dinner.

Lot em up!

Vic, Bev, Mavis and Mike

December Festivities

We're ready for the Christmas festivities.  We've decorated our rigs and purchased a "natural" turkey (not smoked) and fruit cake at Sam's Club for our Christmas dinner next week. 

our rig

Mike and Mavis' decorations

Walter and Carol's corner

Our managers got into the holiday spirit with these decorations in the public washrooms at our campground.

Friday, December 13th we headed out for dinner and dancing to celebrate Carol and Mike's birthdays (both of their birthdays are actually on Dec 13th!).

The taxi cost us $3.25 per couple each way from Lo de Marcos to Mr Ribs in Rincon de Guayabitos (about 15 km).  Mr Ribs specializes in pork ribs smoked over mesquite wood.  Delicious!  Serving choices of natural, garlic or barbequed ribs. 2 free shots of Tequila were provided for by the owner for our celebration!

The birthday honorees Carol and Mike

Cakes are relatively expensive here.  The chocolate birthday cake cost $480 pesos ($39 CAD).  Last year we paid $420 pesos ($34 CAD) for a coconut cake for Vic's birthday,  But they are delicious!!

Chocolate cake decorated with fresh strawberries and kiwi

Jan, Dale, Mavis with Mike as he serves the cake

Mike takes a spin around the pole (note the flag on the wall)

Tuesday, December 17th we had the Santa Claus parade down the main street of Lo de Marcos. The participants and audience were sweating in the 34C heat at 4 pm!  Afterwards the children lined up in the town square to receive gifts from Santa.

This young lady had her horse prancing down the street

the baton twirlers

the drummers

children in their home made costumes

creative!

And here comes Santa!

Santa arrived in a horse and carriage this year!!

Back in the swing of things

We are getting back into our regular routine in Lo de Marcos.

The weather is hot -- daytime highs of  91F (33C) and low overnight of 66F (18C).  Vic brought our pool thermometer with us to measure the ocean temperature.  The water off our beach has dropped from 85F (29C) to 82F (28C) since we got here but is still great for spending lots of time relaxing in the ocean.

Each afternoon we head to the beach about 1:30 or 2:00 pm until 4 pm.  We had 3 days of boogie board waves this week then another 3 days of calm. Here are a few photos of our view from under the palm trees.

Looking to the north end of the beach.  Someone measured the length of the beach recently.  It is 2.5 km long.

Some friends relaxing with a float in the calm water.  The shrimp boat and fishing boats moor closer to shore when the  Pacific Ocean is peaceful.

A view towards the south end of the beach where a boat is being prepared for a 2 hr whale tour. 

Vic reading an e-book before going for a swim in the ocean.

We've been busy putting up Christmas lights and decorations at our site at Savage RV Park.

Decorations we installed at the base of the palm tree beside our RV

The 14" wreath above and the 22" candy cane below have been hand woven from straw. We hung them via suction cups by the entrance door of our motorhome.  A lady came down from Puebla MX to sell her straw wares in our town.  She came to our campground one evening at dinner time.   Each item cost 100 pesos (about $8.22 CAD)

This year we placed our little Christmas tree in the palapa which is our social area in the campground.

Tuesday Dec 3rd we attended the first music night of the season at La Parota RV Park. Free entertainment.  Guests contribute an appetizer plus bring their own drinks and chairs. Several of the entertainers are professionals.

6 of us are attending Mexican cooking lessons at 9 am on Friday mornings.  Our teacher, Julia, also provides private Spanish lessons.  She and her husband own one of our local vegetable and fruit stores plus the new NAPA auto parts store in town.

Julia demonstrating how to stuff pablano peppers for chiles rellenos

Yesterday morning as we walked the beach, we spotted a large heron fishing in the surf.  Walkers on the beach passed right by him and he didn't fly away!

the heron ignored anyone walking by

the heron allowed us to get up close to snap a photo

We also were able to get up close to a Little Blue Heron fishing in the lagoon near the beach.

Lo de Marcos

We left Mazatlan on Friday November 22 for our final day of driving to Lo de Marcos.  When we arrived in the late afternoon it was hot and humid.

Saturday afternoon the veggie truck and the bread lady stopped by to sell us their goods. Saturday night those of us staying at Savage RV Park headed to the restaurant Las Glorias at the town square for taco night.  Friends from other campgrounds had the same idea so it was like a welcome home party! Cheap meal at less than $2CAD per taco and we only need a couple each as they are very filling. 

Sunday afternoon we enjoyed our first time swimming in the ocean for the season.  It was wonderful! Gentle waves so no boogie boarding but perfect for just floating around. In the early evening we headed to a Grey Cup party at the home of a fellow Canadian. 

Monday a man from the local nursery dropped by with a wheel barrow of Poinsettias, miniature Xmas trees, calla lilies, peace lillies, roses, oregano, rosemary and mint plants.  We purchased a large Pointsettia for our patio along with a pot of rosemary and mint to plant in our garden.  Bev also has basil seeds to germinate for her herb garden.

Bev is joining 5 others to take Mexican cooking lessons on Friday morning.  Should be fun.

We're getting back into routine.  Walk in the morning, beach time from 2 to 4 in the afternoon, happy hour, etc. 

Many of the activities like baseball, stretch classes, etc will not start up until the second week of December when the majority of the snowbirds will all be here.

The manager of our campground is urging us to put up our Christmas decorations.  His wife has decorated the posts of the palapa with a wreath and other small decorations.  But we Canadians bring the strings of lights. Guess that will be our next group activity once the humidity drops a bit.

We are happy to be back in our winter home.  

Our travel buddies

A photo of our travel buddies when we celebrated our first day in Mexico for the season at Charlie's Rock restaurant in San Carols

Mike Holoiday, Liz & Mike Rickards, George & Judy, Mavis

In Mexico

Our little caravan of 4 RVs crossed into Mexico at Nogales on Saturday Nov 16^th.  It was the fastest timing in the 5 winters we have crossed here!  There was no lineup to purchase our tourist visa cards!

We were snuggled in that afternoon at Totonaka RV Park in San Carlos (near Guaymas) on the Sea of Cortez by 3:15 pm.  Heaven!  The daytime temperature was about 81F with low at night of 67F. We spent 3 days in the area: shopping, dining, exploring.   Recommended restaurants Charlies Rock across the road from Totonaka and Soggy Peso on the beach just before the Paradise Hotel north of San Carlos.

Monday Nov 18^th was the Mexican National Holiday called “Revolution Day” so we stayed put to avoid running into local parades as we drive south.  4 of our friends went golfing for the morning while others went shopping. Fresh Christmas trees were for sale at the Home Depot in Guaymus for $50 to $60 depending on the size!

2 days later, we arrived in Mazatlan.  Hot and humid but perfect for cooling off in the swimming pool!  (86F with 82%  humidity) There are many Canadians here at the Las Jaibas RV Park (mostly from BC). We caught up with 2 other couples who also winter in Lo de Marcos who had been a day ahead of us on our journey south.  We went out our first evening, Wed Nov 20^th, to the Fat Fish Restaurant to celebrate Mike and Mavis’ 42^nd wedding anniversary.  The Fat Fish restaurant specializes in 2 for 1 bbq rib meals (full rack each) for $180p. (current exchange rate is about $13p per CAD). The meals include a tossed salad for an appetizer with coleslaw, baked potato, and garlic bread as sides for the main course.

The Pacific Ocean at Mazatlan is warm (about 85F) so doesn’t do anything to cool one off.  Walking on the beach is best scheduled for early in the morning before it gets too hot.

FYI – gasoline at the PEMEX stations in Mexico is currently about $1 CAD per litre.

Tucson

Friday Nov 7th we left Deming, NM with temperature outside at 49F (9C).  We stopped to shop in Bowie AZ for pecans and wine.  By the time we arrived at Lazy Days in Tucson, AZ at 12:30 pm it was 80F (27C).  Wonderful!

We spent one night at Lazy Days and then moved to Rincon Country West Resort in Tucson for 5 days.  This is our first visit to this resort and the pull-through sites are quite pretty. The photo below shows our site with our RV (on the right) next to our friends Mike and Mavis from Enderby, BC.

Lots of birds in this area. A Road Runner comes for a visit once or twice a day. 

Bad news. One leveler jack is not working right and I have ordered a used replacement from a place in Missouri. It is a coincidence that we have stopped in at this place a couple of years ago to look around. Colaw RV Salvage run a salvage operation for RV parts and offer a good way to save a lot of money. 

Deming, New Mexico

We left Dallas the morning of Tuesday November 5th and stopped for the night at a Walmart at Pecos, TX. We met an interesting couple from Calgary who were in the midst of doing a circle tour before they settled for the winter in Yuma, AZ.  They had driven their toy hauler (holding a motorcycle for their alternate transportation) to Florida, then along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.  They headed out to Carlsbad NM to visit the caverns the next morning as we left for Deming, NM.

On the drive to Deming we stopped at Las Cruces for gas.  It was the cheapest we've purchased to date at the price of $2.85/gallon with our discount at Pilot/Flying J. That's about 80 cents per litre in Cdn $.

We stayed at the LOW-HI Ranch in Deming for 2 nights.  Great price and very social group (Loners on Wheels Club owns the ranch).  The weather was sunny and cool:  19C high in daytime with low overnight of 3C. 

Our breakfast amusement on Thursday morning was watching a cat stalking a Road Runner who was sunning himself on a low fence rail in front of our RV.  The Road Runner ran from one end of the rail to the other to avoid the cat then flew up to the top of a bush where the cat couldn't reach him. 

Cat acting like Wiley Coyote

We visited the Rock Hound State Park in the area and did a short hike on what appeared to be their longest trail. There is a pretty view of the valley from the camping area in the park. We were disappointed that the Visitor Center was not open despite being there during the hours posted. Luckily we only paid $5 to enter the park.

One of the unusual grasshoppers we encountered at the Rock Hound State Park.

Big, fat grasshopper.

Thursday night we went out to the movies. $7 each to see Bad Grandpa. Enjoyed a good laugh.

Final day in Dallas area

On Monday November 4th we drove 1 1/2 hrs southwest from our campground to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center.    This is an endangered species research and conservation center near Glen Rose, Texas. The facility has over 1,000 animals from 50 species.

You drive for 9 1/2 miles along a scenic trail through the park viewing the animals roaming at large on 1,800 acres of land.  A visitor can purchase a bag of pellets to feed the animals along the drive through the park.  Some animals will come up to your car window looking for the food, but many wait for you to toss it on the ground for them to eat.  It was amazing to see many species of antelope, deer, ostrich, emu, zebra, giraffe....

We were given a leaflet to help identify the wildlife we saw.

Bison were one of the animals you were not allowed to feed

female Blackbuck

male Blackbuck

Ostrich

Blesbok

baby Wildebeest feeding

Wildebeest

Emu

Emu coming to our car window for food

Bev's photo of Emu as taken above

Dama Gazelle

Fallow Deer

Zebra coming to feed

Big teeth but so gentle taking pellet.

a young zebra among the herd

Giraffes getting handouts

giraffe coming to Vic's window looking for pellets

Licking the post...check out that loooong black tongue!

Arabian Oryx

Scimitar-horned Oryx

Aoudad

This one left a sprinkling of mud on the window sill.

European Red Deer

Waterbuck

We were able to view 5 Cheetah in the special compound for the Cheetah propagation program.

There was also a special compound for Black Rhinos. We were about 5 minutes too late as these were being rounded up and put in a corral for the night.

The drive took us 4 hours but we found it delightful to see these exotic creatures up close.

Link to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center