Zip A Dee Do Dah….we went Zip Lining!

Tuesday January 15, 2013

Last week at happy hour Marilyn informed me that she/Dennis/Frank and Fred were going to go zip lining this week and I thought that it sounded like fun.  As my health is pretty good right now (all things considered)  it seemed like a good time to join in.  Eric wasn’t really enthused at the beginning (probably because he spent a lot of his working career at B.C. Tel and CNT  climbing poles and working on wire) but he did agree to come…..so on Tuesday morning six of us met at the front of the park for an outing.

Our Chariot!

Frank, Kathy, Dennis, Marilyn, Fred and Eric.

First stop was the Bruha Restaurant at Cerritos where we paid our fee and waited for another van as there was another group on this tour as well.   The weather over the past few days has been stinky…..cloudy, cold and windy so we all hoped it would be better inland where we were heading.  

Each group loaded into a separate bus and hit the highway.  Out the highway south past the airport where we turned left towards El Recodo and the small town of Veranos where they have the zip lining tours.

 

 

Wood fired oven where they bake the empanadas every morning.

First stop on the tour was the small village of Lomas de Monterray where we could buy fresh emapanadas (Mexican turnover.)  A choice of caramel, queso & chile (cheese) or a local pumpkin/squash filling.  Fresh from the oven and 7 peso’s each and delicious to boot.  These are gone by noon and are resold in Mazatlan for 14 peso’s so a bargain here in this small town.  A nice mid morning snack to boost our energy for the athletic activities to follow.

Our first stop in Veranos before the zip lining was the equipment outfitting with harnesses,  gloves and helmets.

 

Getting suited up.

Frank and Dennis with Eric, Fred and I behind.  What a bunch of goobers!

Eric and I ready to go.

Fred, Eric and Frank.

 

So….where do you think this part goes?

Up the hill to the instruction site.  The weather is warm but not hot and no wind….perfecto!

These guys are the Mexican rescue team!  If we get stuck part way between take off and landing someone will come out to bring us in.  Funny guys!

So…do I really want to do this ?

I guess I do!  Hang on, brake part way and arrive at the other end.

Here I come!   Turns out I’m really built for speed….the Mexican who was on the catching end had to be on his toes as I came in fast.  They kept telling us to brake but it didn’t work for me so I just let them catch me.   I surprised them a couple of times when they didn’t gauge how fast I was arriving…..zoom, zoom…Zoom!

Marilyn’s ready to rock!

Off she goes.

Perfect landing.   Marilyn did this last year so she is a pro!

Now it’s Dennis’ turn.

Yee haw! 

Here he comes….good landing.   Turns out Dennis ended up more tired than necessary as he thought he was supposed to hold his weight up by his arms instead of letting the harness hold him.   His wife Marilyn set him straight on  that and then it got easier. 

Now who is this guy….looks like the safety inspector!   If he had his climbing hooks on….he’d look like he was going to work.

Look at the length of those legs….Eric aka ….The stork!

Here he comes….ready to land!

Each take off was named and the length of the run noted.   This was a long one.  From the end of each run we walked to the next platform for take off.

Frank’s loaded and ready to go.

Flying through the air with greatest of ease…..

  Up in the air and now on his feet….good job!

Fred getting ready to go.  Fred’s done this before…can you tell! 

Easy peezy nice and easy….no problemo for Fred.  

Three amigo’s heading back down to the town.

Doesn’t that laundry look pretty!

 

Right down in the village there is a hot spring and I do mean hot….too hot to put your hand in.  They can scald and pluck a chicken in this water!  I’m not kidding…it really is that hot. 

Lunch is served.  Queso fondido in a moljacete dish….(hot cheese in a hot stone wear pot.) Tortilla’s, chips, salsa and small burritos….with the best thing of all….cold beer. 

The small town tequila factory right next to the square and the zip lining.

There was a whole wall of beautiful leather masks for sale.  We have one in our rig and we just love it.  Real works of art.

 

 

Bottles of local tequila to taste and buy.  Coffee, almond and just plain tequila.  I liked the coffee one.

Tequila processing stills. This is not the season for tequila making here right now.

 

 

 

 

 

These three murals were in the courtyard where the tequila is made and they show the process of making the tequila.

At this point the tour was over and we loaded back into our bus for the ride back to the RV park.  We had driven out the main highway on our way to the tour but now we took the overland dirt road short cut home.  A bit bumpy but much faster and a bit of different terrain to see. 

All in all a good day that was enjoyed by everyone.  Cost for the day 750 peso’s each (about $65) and well worth the price. 

So what’s next….?

Fish Fry Friday and another stellar success!

Over the past few years the Las Jaibas RV park  has been treated to a fish fry dinner by John and Jeri.  By treated I mean that they along with Manny (the king of fries!) do a huge amount of work to put on this event.  Organization, shopping, set up, cooking and the very messy clean up the next day. 

A week or so before the fish fry Jeri canvasses the park to see who wants to attend (who wouldn’t!) and signs us up for the condiments etc. that need to be contributed.  Jeri knows exactly what we need to bring to make the dinner a success and we are all happy to comply.  A modest contribution of 50 peso’s a couple covers the cost of the dorado, potatoes for fries and all the oil to cook. 

At the beginning of the week John goes to order the Dorado and make sure that it will be ready on time.  On the day of the fish fry he then has to pick it up and get it prepared.  Each piece is cut to an exact size so that when it is deep fried (by Jeri and her able helper Millie) that it comes out perfectly cooked. 

On the day of the fish fry Manny prepares the potatoes that he has shopped for and precooks the fries (yes….he certainly knows his fries) with a little help from the park men.  At the time of the actual fish fry the fries are then deep fried again, sprinkled with sea salt so that they come out absolutely perfect….and they do! 

The men on duty.

Fries chipped and ready to cook.

Precooking the fries.

This chipper really does the job!

So…a lot of very expert preparation makes for a super fish fry and John, Jeri and Manny are the key ingredients. 

We all wandered over to John and Jeri’s site around 4pm for a little happy hour blab and drinks.  The table was being loaded with every manner of condiment ( salsa…guacamole….Jeri’s special fish sauce…onions…cheese…etc. etc.) salads, beans and last but not least the desserts.  The tortillas were being heated in Jeri’s rig in case anyone wanted to make a fish taco. 

The table is ready to be loaded with food.

The crowd is gathering….there were about 50 of us there when we all arrived.  That’s a lot of hungry mouths to feed!

Sandi and Betty….don’t they look nice!

By 4:30 the oil was hot and Manny was on French fry detail.  Manny used to run a restaurant so he knows what he is doing. 

Manny is cooking and Blake is supervising. 

Manny checks and Dick shoots the oil temperature with his electronic gizmo. 

Shortly after the fries started coming out of the oil Jeri and Millie were deep frying the fish.  A finely tuned organized pair they are with Jeri dipping the fish in the batter and Millie (trained by Jeri!) removing the fish when it is done.  Not too many pieces to cool the oil, an exact amount of time and a good eye make for the best fish ever. 

Ready to fry fish and Dick checks the oil temp.

Millie removes the fish….it is done.

John welcomes the crowd for dinner…..thanks John!

The table is full and we are ready to eat….fries, fish and a whole lot more. 

Does that look delicious or what!

We eat.

As far as Eric and I are concerned the fish is always good but this time is was even better than good and was the  best fish ever!  Super double yummy!   Absolutely delicious. 

By 5:30 all tummies were full as we all wandered back and forth to the table refilling our plates.  There was a full array of desserts just in case we weren’t stuffed enough and by 6:00 pm we were all waddling home. 

Thanks to John, Jeri and Manny and the tremendous effort they put in to this great event. 

Bits and pieces

Thursday January 10, 2013

We’ve been here almost three weeks now and are starting to settle into some sort of a routine. 

The first week or so was stressful with my health issues but now….all is well and I feel good.  However, now Eric has had some sort of bug for the last few days a bit of La tourista and just not feeling well.  Along with that he has developed a sun sensitivity due to the St. John’s Wort that he usually takes.  Horrible prickling, itching and pain on his feet and legs if he goes in the sun and it’s much worse at night.  He stopped the St. John’s Wort a few days ago so hopefully that clears up.  Who wants to be in Mexico and stay out of the sun?

Not much else big happening but we are just so happy to be here that it is all good!

The weather was very warm when we got here and the water was warm too.  Eric managed a few swims before he got sick but now the weather has cooled down and so has the water.  It is a bit warmer today but we did have to run the electric heater last night as it was 10C in the rig yesterday morning.  Brrrr!  

I have been walking every morning on the road and every afternoon on the beach so I’m getting lot’s of exercise.  I do really enjoy the afternoon walk on the beach….good for the soul! 

The ladies here play cards once a week, bingo once a week and every afternoon there is happy hour at the Palapa at four so that’s enough organized activity for me.  There is always something to do!  Cooking, shopping, laundry, cleaning etc. still have to be done too so the days always seem pretty full.  Over the next week or so we will try to get out on the bike a bit and have a look around. 

The park has had lots of people coming and going as they stop in for a week or two or three and then head south to other parts of Mexico.  We then usually see them later in the winter when they head back this way.  We know lots of them now so it’s nice to reconnect with old friends.  Quite the thing this RVing community. 

Tomorrow we will gather at John and Jeri’s for their wonderful fish fry.  Dorado, French fries by Manny and lots of other tasty treats brought by the rest of us.  It’s always fun. 

The blog has been quiet!

Sunday Jan. 6, 2013

You might have noticed that I have not had much to say lately. .   Not like me at all but I guess my health has made me quiet.  At this point things have settled down…blood pressure back to normal and my huge flare of the temporal arteritis has passed as well.  I am feeling better and hope to continue with the reduction of prednisone.  I will have a couple of posts behind this “Muppet News Update” but I know family and friends are wondering what’s going on so this post is first.  I’ll try and keep things up to date but I can’t guarantee it!

Lunch at El Quelite

Friday January 4, 2013

The weather was nice on Friday and Sam and Rita along with Eric and I decided to take a ride to El Quelite for lunch.  I haven’t been out on the bike since we got here so a ride was in order.

It isn’t very far to El Quelite but it is a nice ride north on the free road without all the hassle of going south through the Mazatlan traffic. 

El Quelite is one of those pretty little towns with good restaurants and some touristy shopping.  The town has made a huge effort to pretty up the highway coming in and this time all the potholes had been patched with concrete so it was a much more pleasant ride in.

At the far end of town and over the bridge to the right is the Los Arrieros restaurant where we prefer to eat.  We usually sit outside on the patio and it is all quite pleasant.  The service is great and they are very generous with tortilla chips, fresh cheeses and salsas, mini appetizer pizzas and even a nice rice pudding for dessert.  We all ordered lunch and it was delicious as usual. 

After lunch we stopped at the Designer Bar on the way out of town.  Nice clothes and very tasteful art objects.  I saw a little mask I liked but we didn’t have enough dinero.   No big deal….next time!

While Rita and I had a look around Eric and Sam had a blab with a couple of guys out front. 

Eric is talking motorcycles with Jason who is the owner of this shop and the same shop in Zona Dorada in the Golden Zone in Mazatlan.  Jason has an 883 Harley Sportster and his brother-in-law has a BMW.  He was quite interested in the size of engine on Big Red and it turns out the engine size is twice the size of the Sportster.    He and Eric had a nice chat about all the specs, stereo and all the add ons.  The talk then ran to the local economy in Mazatlan and the lack of tourists.  Jason said that two hundred businesses have closed in Mazatlan.  The cruise ships are no longer coming and the tourist areas are very dead.  He said that the wage of a Municipal Police policeman is 150 pesos a day ($12) so it is no wonder they are corrupt….would you take a bullet for $12 dollars a day…I think not.  The young men of course turn to crime as there are no jobs.  A sad situation with no easy solution. 

Little burros all over town and this guy was leaving for a ride.

Saddles for sale in the shop shown above. 

A nice day, good conversation and a pleasant ride home. 

There was still time to hit the beach for a walk when we got back….so all in all….a good day.

Bingo and Connie’s birthday.

Thursday January, 3, 2013

Every Thursday night a bunch of the ladies from the park go up to the Last Drop restaurant at Cerrito’s and play bingo.  Lorraine from Cerrito’s is our bingo caller and it’s a lot of fun.  You get three cards for 50 peso’s and you play four games on each card and we usually play three times so there are lots of chances to win.  The pots vary from small  at the beginning to big at the very end when you need to have a black out to win.  The last pot can be quite large depending on how many people are playing.

Most of us have a couple of drinks and some good food and it makes for an enjoyable evening out. 

 

Don’t Sandi and Betty look happy.  Sandi should because she turned out to be the big mucho winner of the last pot….almost 500 peso’s!   Jeri on the left.

Look at all those dots on those cards….I wonder who’s going to win.  It certainly wasn’t me!

That’s Lorraine our bingo caller behind Rita.  Thanks Lorraine!

We were all prepared for Connie’s birthday and brought little presents so she got quite an array of gifts (some gaggy and some not!)

That’s a hand made pot scrubber from Sandi and around her neck is a head of my home grown garlic to keep the Werewolves away! 

When the waiters found out it was Connie’s birthday they brought her a fancy dessert cake and sang happy birthday.  Nice guys!

Betty was prepared as well and she had made and brought one of her delicious home made cakes.  This was a good thing because now we all got cake!  Even the waiters!

Happy birthday Connie!