New Year!!!!

With the holiday over thoughts of Mexico run through my mind. We were going to run down before Christmas...but with our shopping not even close to being done that did not happen. Add to that Matthew's team played in the Winter Nationals Baseball Tournament out in Glendale for 5 days right after Christmas we have just not had a break. One bright spot of being home was to really enjoy the weather....and it was good. I got a chance to hike the mountain behind our house in Phoenix and enjoy the view. This is right behind our house but I only get up there about three times a year...but in the winter is the best.

View to the north

View to the south....nice smog. Thank god we live over the mountain...but I work down in that stuff every day.

One forgets what a great place Arizona is most of the time....August can suck....but for most of the year we live in a wonderful place.

RCPM Back in Town!!!!

I have not been following Roger and the gang as much this year.....but about this time I can feel a party and they have not disappointed me. Once again we get to enjoy a small show with Roger, and the guys in the best place to really see them.....MEXICO. If you got a chance to see the fun from last year on the blog you know this is always a blast. I hope that all of the gang can make it....and maybe a couple new faces (Jones you know who you are).

So pack a "tooth brush and a razor you probably will never use" and lets go!!!

Thanksgiving 2009

Arizona and Puerto Penasco must be an oddity to all of those who live in the any other place....except maybe Florida. Where else can one have a Thanksgiving with 70 degrees at 10:00 in the morning and a high of 76? The above shot is of our thermometer in the house Thanksgiving day....a nice 72 degrees.

This was our first Thanksgiving at the house and it was very relaxing. It was very much a gringo dinner, with a little Cuban meat stuffing to add some flair. My dad did make up a mixture of mashed squash and potato that was great, and the turkey was good as always. Lourdes cooks the bird in one of the oven bags and it does help to keep the meat moist. It was a simple table, with a few good wines to make the day. The beach was nice and warm with the water a little too cool for my taste, but there were some out playing in the calm water that day.






Friday per the weather report was to be a great day so we planned to pack a lunch, some beer and drinks and go over to the beach by El Golfo. If you recall, Chris and I took the trek over there in the summer and my Dad had been wanting to look for shells there for some time. We know of a few beach zones along this stretch that have great shells from sand dollars, to translucent pink shells, to very large clam shells. The day was great. We aired down the tires on the truck and hit the beach. After about a hour and a half we pulled out out chairs and turned on the truck radio and enjoyed a cold beverage. I went back out to look for a few more shells and when I got back to the truck I discovered I had left the lights on and the truck battery was dead. We waited about 30 mins for another truck to come by (a couple of jeeps passed by us an hour before), and to double our chances I walked up to the main road cut to see if I could see anyone. Just when I got to where I could see the main dirt road a group of ATV's and a Ranger were approaching. They gave me a ride back, a jump for the truck, and a couple shots of tequila. Like most I meet in situations like this they were open and willing to help and relished at the chance to help and meet us.








After a few cold beers with our new friends they took off to El Golfo for other adventures we decided to take the beach farther southeast. There was another shell spot to try and it was getting to be about 3:00. I was off by the cliff bank when kids and my wife started yelling for me to come take a look in the tide pool.....the discovery was a once in a lifetime. What they had found was a live humbodlt squid about 4 feet long. We took large shells full of water and poured them on him to keep him wet (I say him, but who knows) and as we poured the water it would change and flash colors or gray and blue; just wild.











After a few minutes I decided we needed to see if we could give it a fighting chance...so I pulled it by the front wings into deeper water. It was heaver then I thought it would be with a texture like a sting ray....it was a little creepy. This was one of the coolest things we have ever seen on beach and made for a great trip.

Sea Turtles

The Sea or Cortez is a glorious place. Last year I think I noted that sea turtles had hatched on our beach (maybe I forgot to blog on this who knows). They hatched again back on Halloween week end. The attached photos are from our association web site.....what a very cool site to see, just 200 yards or so down the beach from our house....but I missed it again. Still very cool to know they are there.....

Blog, blog, blog

Blogging is an interesting, self fulfilling thing. I started this blog as I liked to read accounts of other peoples experiences of living in Mexico and I thought I could contribute. But is harder then you think to stay on task when you do not live full time in the place you write about. Many of the blogs I read talk about great, simple local events and how their lives in their new country has fulfilled their need to escape the US rat race. My blog is not like that.....I find my self writing about paint, rust, paying bills, and then the great weekends we get to decompress and enjoy the fruits of our labor. I do not know how interesting that really is? I have never added a counter to this thing so I just do not know how many visit; but for those that do...thanks and hang in there as I hope I can add some additional color, experiences, and fun.

Banks suck everywhere.....

As some know, one does not own property on the beach in Mexico if you are not from Mexico. To allow all of the foreigners to have the "rights" to the homes and land, we all enter in a "bank trust" agreement with a Mexican bank. We have "owned" the house now for two years or so, and we have had a hell of a time paying our bank trust....it is like they do not want us to pay it. I thought it was just Mexico, but this blog entry makes me think that there is more to it. They want to force us to be late....or not pay them on time....it is part of the bank's plan (banks suck all over the world I guess), to get late fee's, etc out of you. And unlike in the US where you get a reminder notice for a bill....that does not happen in Mexico. You get nothing. You have to know when it is due and go pay; that is the same for your taxes, as well as phone bill, etc. In order to get this cleared up we sent a good friend of ours to the bank in Hermosillo. Her mother lives there and went to the bank directly for us. She found the guy we had been dealing with and had to wait for him, and got it paid....this article at least proves that we are not the only ones suffering with these tactics.

http://mexicomyspace.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-to-pay-your-annual-trust


Next year we are going to have to just pay it in person. It would have been great if the bank we had the trust with had a branch in town....but noooo.

Just one of the fun experiences one gets in having a house in a foreign country.

Food

One thing we have not been as good about is trying new things. We tend to stick to the things we know and love. I love Mexican food, and for the most part find the common "stuff" in the typical Phoenix restaurant old and boring. That brings me to a recommendation; I really like this web site about Puerto Penasco. http://rptides.blogspot.com/


They talk about food as well as local stuff....a good mix. I hope they keep it up because as things start to pick up again down here they could be the "go to" site. They have a new post almost every day, and with timely information....not a sales pitch for a condo, etc. But back to food......


There are so many good Mexican dishes that I have not tried....I need to have that be a resolution to get out, eat some street vendor items and risk my colon....explore not only the beach but new flavors. Via Mexico!!!