Our 9 days without phone or internet.

So,,,,, it’s only been a little over two months since my last entry!

Sometimes I just can’t seem to get the words out, or maybe the word “lazy” comes to mind????

Although it’s old news, now, we sure had an experience getting hooked up this year.

In the spring, when we leave, we have to return the modem to Manzanillo to stop the internet while we are up north. In the fall, when we return, we have to go back to Manzanillo to pick up a new one,,, Why???? no one knows!

Anyhow we made the trip, applied for the reconnection, and also reported, that our phone wasn’t working. “All will be fixed in 48 hours” they said. After 3 days and no service, we called again and “manana” they said. This continued for 3 more days, by this time we’re getting a little upset, as we were going up the street to our neighbours anytime we wanted to call or email. On the ninth day I was in no mood to talk to anybody, so Betty (my hero) walks uptown to the telephone central office and knocks on the door and a repairman invites her in. She explains the situation and shows him our work order and he says he will be here in ten minutes,,, well Betty had stopped a repairman on the street the day before and he had said the same thing,,, so up goes her back, and she NO, the repairman does a double take and says OK get into the truck and we will go right now. Now, we realize there are five, 26 Pedro Moreno addresses in the area, and this guy drives right past our street, Betty corrects him and about a half hour later, we get our phone and internet working. Something we can look forward to again next season.

It’s not that nothing has happened in the last two months, we’ve been out to dinner quite a few times, enjoyed many evenings with friends, visits to the central square, trips to Manzanillo for shopping and “extended visitor” paperwork.

A wedding,

This is how they “tie the knot” in a Mexican wedding.

Ofilia, our cleaning lady and her husband had been married in a civil ceremony while he was in the army. They decided to have a church wedding and we were honoured to be invited.

With the happy couple, she isn’t that much taller, just high heels.

A couple of birthday parties, Christmas dinner,

Enjoying the view, weather and friends before Christmas dinner in Barra de Navadad, “Christmas Bay”.

New Years eve celebration,

Here we are sending a Chinese lantern afloat from Lee & Barry’s roof on New Years Eve.

and there it goes, off into the night sky.

and we, hosted our first Mexican New Years Levy.

Most of the folks at the Levy, couldn’t get everybody in.

But we still haven’t spent a whole day at the beach.

Now we are in the process of arranging a Mexican-Canadian birthday party for my 80th. Hopefully I’ll report on that soon.

Here I sit.

Well, here I sit waxing philosophically at the sun setting behind the clouds.

A view from the roof.

Within my view is the modern technology of cell phone towers, the rolling hills toward the Oriental Madras mountains, the sliver of a moon, I can hear the music of Mexico past and the new sounds of the modern age. Within a two hour drive we can visit the remains of a civilization three thousand years old, 300 year old theaters and buildings that have seen revolutions and wars. And closer than that, we have a brand new “Sam’s Club”.

Within a four block area, we can spend hours on the beach or take in a transvestite show, enjoy so many different types of cuisine, it makes your mouth water or just sit in the town square and watch the parade of humanity go by.

Some, wonder why we choose to spend our winters here in Mexico, what can I say, we love the country, the people and the life-style.

We live among the Mexicans here in Melaque, they have taken us into their community and become our friends. No, we haven’t forgotten our Canadian friends, both here and back in Canada, not by a long shot, but we couldn’t be happier anywhere else in the world.

This morning, Betty went to an exercise class while I caught up on some of the mundane loose ends of closing up our Cornwall apartment for six months, like putting the internet on seasonal disconnect and reducing the insurance on the car and having our neighbour do some checking in the apartment.

We walked up town and bought some fresh sarangola (fish), for supper, and had to wait as the vendor (who is a son-in-law of our landlord) filleted it for us (yup it’s fresh), Betty had to also buy some huge shrimp, to be used later.

As usual, on the way back we stop here and there to say hi to so many of the local shopkeepers, who are all so friendly, and we try to communicate in our pitiful Spanish and they try their English, but they never look down on us when we use the wrong words or phrases, they just try to help. It sure makes you feel welcome.

After a lunch of “casadias” that Betty makes so good, we have a little rest and jump in the car and head to Cihuatlan, the county seat about 20 minutes south on Hwy 200 (the coastal highway). Here we can find some of the things we can’t get here in our little fishing village.

A stop at “Coppell” a Mexican department store, to get me a couple of new summer shirts and then to the “Bodega” a mini Wall-Mart, where we pick up some flower fertilizer, wine and a few other odds and sods, we find hard to get here.

On the way home we stopped at a local nursery, to pick up some potting soil and a rosebush.

And now, after our wonderful supper of fresh fish with rice, boiled with chopped carrots and pepper, I’ve come up to our rooftop get-a-way and relax.

Later it’s some TV and to bed for the most relaxing sleep. Sure it’s hot and muggy, but we splurged two years ago and have A/C in the bedroom, you can’t give up all the modern conveniences.

Next, “our 9 days without phone or internet”.

Continued,,,

After Selena and Keith left, we just had time to bottle some wine, and meet some appointments and Ray & Tere arrived for a couple of days and had a very pleasant, uneventful time.

Two days later Cora, Eric and Bella came and stayed overnight on their way back to Bella’s home in Montreal.

Things quieted down for a few weeks, then we did our Niagara thing. My sister Kay is the only member left from my original family, and she is turning 99 in November. She is now in a nursing home and losing her eyesight and hearing, but still has a mind like a steel trap, and we had a wonderful visit and dinner with her in Niagara Falls.

A total of 189 years!

Then we headed to Hamilton to spend a couple of days with Cora & Eric in their wonderful lakefront home. We enjoyed a great lunch on the deck with them and were joined by Ray, Tere and her sister Amelda who had stopped in from Toronto, and Bettys’ niece and her husband from Hamilton. It was great to see them all, if not a bit hectic.

Sunrise, from Cora & Eric’s home.

Things slowed down a bit after this trip and we got back into our normal routine.

Now for any Cornwallites who may stumble onto this page, do you remember this place????

Remember this place??? Bring back memories???

Yes,, it’s Heber’s Steak House on the way to Massena N.Y., now called “The Steak Ranch”.

Betty and I stopped there on the way back from golfing, a week or so ago. It must be 15 years since we’d been there and it hasn’t changed a bit.  Hebert’s daughter runs the place now and she tells us that her father trained her how to cut and age the beef, so the menu is pretty much the same as it was years ago (except for the prices). We shared one order of the prime rib, with extra sides, and everything was spectacular, and with wine was still a very reasonable price.

So now we keep packing and re-packing to prepare for our return to Mexico. We’re on the inaugural WestJet flight to Manzanillo, and are looking forward to not having that stop in Puerto Vallarta, and the four & a half hour bus trip.

Dan

Writers block again.

It’s getting time to head back to Mexico, not the time to be updating the blog, but it’s been quite a while since I posted anything! Not that it’s been an uneventful summer around here.

The summer has been HOT, and humid, much like Melaque in the fall . We’ve been out golfing a few times, enjoyed our Friday evenings with Lo and Harry, made our pilgrimage to my hometown of Niagara Falls and had a few visitors.

First was Cora, Eric to make a flying visit on their way back to Hamilton with Bella (their granddaughter).

Then Selena and Kieth stopped for a few days on their cross country trip. We had a blast taking them on a whirlwind trip to Ottawa visiting friends and showing them some of the sites (Ya, we do have a couple) around Cornwall. They had warned us that they were traveling with a camper and trailer,,, but we were a bit surprised when they drove up our street with this outfit..

The Monster Rig!

I was curious to see what was in the trailer and was surprised to find Selena’s 3 wheel motorcycle, Keith’s Harley an ATV and cases of other stuff.

Keith was able to maneuver the rig into our parking area behind the apartment building, where we hooked them up the best we could and they said they enjoyed the time here.

Keith needed a good checkup on the diesel truck, so we dropped it off at a mechanic friend of ours in Moose Creek and continued on to Ottawa. We parked the car at the Redeau Center and walked our butt’s off, visiting the Parliament buildings, the Banknote building, a couple of pubs and restaurants, and of course the girls had to drag us to some shops, Grrrr.

Ottawa’s famous BeaverTails.

Everybody, who visits Ottawa has to try a BeaverTail!

Dancing in front of the Parliament Buildings.

I guess it feels good to be near your money,,, LOL.

Great weather for an outdoor patio.

Before heading back, we stopped for supper in the Byward Market.

We also spent most of a day visiting  “Upper Canada Village”  a recreated 1890’s village, complete with people acting and operating implements in the costumes of the day.

Practicing for a play.

While we were there we came upon a bunch of school kids rehearsing for a presentation for the following day.

If you want more information about the village, here is a link;

> http://www.uppercanadavillage.com/index.cfm/en/home/<

After of four pretty hectic days here they packed up and headed for the east coast.

Hopefully we’ll get the next installment up soon, to be continued;

Dan

Our secret weekend.

First of all, I want to apologize to anyone who we may have p,,,d off by not including you in our fifteenth wedding anniversary.

We figured it would just get TOO involved to try and include everyone in our celebration.

So with our closest (Canadian) friends, Loraine and Harry, we booked a weekend excursion to Toronto, which included Via rail, two nights at the Royal York, “Hop & Go” passes and Toronto Islands boat tour. We opted to upgrade our return fare to “Business” class and see how the upper class lives.

To say that the weekend was a success would be an understatement.

Although there was some malfunction on the train, going to Toronto, and arriving 45 minutes late, the trip was pleasant and relaxing.

The Royal York Hotel

I had been telling the others that we wouldn’t even have to dodge Toronto traffic to get to the hotel, but construction had closed the tunnel and we had to subject ourselves to navigating across Front Street in 5 o’clock Friday traffic and drag our overnight cases to the lobby.

Check-in was a breeze and in a few minutes we were settled into our rooms on the “second floor”, which was a 6 floor trip on the elevator, (can’t figure that one at all).

Out for supper we decided to take a walk and find someplace interesting, and ended up at the “Loose Moose Tap & Grill” where we were able to see the the last half hour of the Olympics opening, enjoy excellent fish & chips, draught beer and service along with the noisy celebrants.

As the sun went down, we strolled back to the hotel and played board games till bedtime.

The CN tower from our hotel window

Saturday morning we met for breakfast in the “Second Cup” restaurant in the lower lobby then headed out to the nearest “Hop & Go” location, about a block away, and exchanged our coupons for “three-day” passes to go just about anywhere you would like in downtown Toronto.

A tour along the waterfront, past the CN tower, the big “O” stadium, St. Lawrence market, financial district, with all their glass walls, Eaton centre, Yorkville and finally we jumped off at “Castle Loma”.

Castle Loma, (a small portion).

As we entered, we discovered that they were having tours conducted by “Upstairs” maids which included an explanation of the maids duties and travelling the back stairs and secret passages used by the maids.

 

Our “Maid”, guide.

Then, we  were on our own to explore other areas of the castle, and we took in the (unfinished) Swimming pool, a 700 foot tunnel under the street to the potting shed, carriage house and stables and finishing in the beautiful gardens.

A small part of the gardens.

Back onto the bus and another tour through the city to an area that has a huge variety of restaurants on Bloor street. One of the tour guides on the bus suggested a couple of places to eat, and we ended up at the “Brunswick Ave Pump House Pub” for a light lunch. We hadn’t realized how far we had walked to the pub, plus the walking around the castle, and another pitcher of ale was enjoyed. Returning to where we got off the bus we headed to the harbour-front and a stroll through some of the stores, listen to outdoor musicians and a tour through the St. Lawrence market. By four o’clock we are pretty tired and head back to the hotel and maybe time for a snooze and shower before going out to our special anniversary supper.

“Harbour Front”

Well the “best laid plans” etc.,,, the only people we had told about our trip, were Tere & Ray Smith, who are probably the reason that Betty and I are together. A short version of the story is that in 1995, when I had returned from my first winter in Melaque, Betty was renting the upstairs of my house and I was going out with a young lady, Tere & Ray came to stay with me for a couple of days and asked, “why are you going out with that bimbo when you have the loveliest lady (who is interested in you) living upstairs”. Now Betty and I had been friends for about twenty years, but had been just that, “friends”. After they left, I started looking at this beautiful lady upstairs and one evening after dinner, “all hell broke loose” and we have been living “happily ever after” since. So that’s why we invited Tere & Ray to join us, and they arrived a little early.

The Toula restaurant.

Harry had been checking restaurants on line before we left and suggested the “Toula” on the 38th. floor of the Weston Harbour-front, with it’s spectacular view in their circular restaurant.

The happy folks.

Things couldn’t have been better, with fantastic food, service and ambiance. As Tere & Ray were celebrating their 25 anniversary in 3 days and Lo & Harry had just celebrated their 40th a couple of weeks ago, the staff delivered a special desert.

Desert for six????. After the meal, we didn’t really need it.

Totally stuffed, we strolled back to the hotel and after some conversation we all turned in.

Sunday morning after breakfast in the hotel again and after checking out and storing our luggage, we hopped on the bus and headed to the harbour-front and boarding the tour boat out to the Islands. Another part of our trip we fully enjoyed, the three quarter hour trip took us past the island airport, several marinas, yacht clubs and conservation areas where we saw all manner of birds.

A different view of Toronto.

After the tour we headed to the “Steamboat Brewery” for a tour and sampling, but we only had time for the sampling, as we had to board the train by 3:45.

Lunch time, and we sampled the wares on the patio at “Jack Astors” on Front street. A quick trip back to the hotel to get rid of some beer, pick up our luggage and navigate across the street to the station.

We discovered by upgrading to “business” class, we were able to avail ourselves of the luxury lounge and “preferred” boarding to the train. The trip back in first class was wonderful with huge, comfortable chairs and free drinks, then a quite enjoyable dinner, with wine and after-dinner drinks included.

All in all, it was a wonderful, memorable weekend, and I have to thank Tere, Ray, Loraine & Harry, for making it so, and Betty for making the fifteen years, the best in my life.

Dan

A road,, path less traveled;

A path less traveled.

It's been really hot here for the last while and Betty and I decided we'd look for
a nice cool place to go for a walk.
Now I've been in Cornwall for 52 years and Betty for most of her life, and we've 
walked along our waterfront by the "mighty" St. Lawrence river before, but this time
we decided to explore the "Eco Park" that was built by the "Rotary Club" when they 
closed the old canal about 30 years ago.

Along the “Eco-Trails”

This area isn't advertized too much, so there's not too much traffic. 
There are paved walking trails with signs and plaques describing the flora and fauna,
and then, there are smaller trails that seem to have been made just from people 
wandering along the shoreline.
These trails were the ones that we were amazed at, we came upon some kids swimming in 
the river along the, quite rocky, shoreline and made our way to the area where they 
are building the new "low level" bridge to the U. S. A. (Now there's another story).

The bridges

We strolled in a jungle like forest that cut the sounds 
of the city and we could only hear the rushing water from the small rapids nearby.

Forest

 
I'm not sure why this place isn't popular, but we're going to keep it quiet 
so we can continue to enjoy it ourselves.
I think we're going to try getting off the "beaten path" more, in the future.
Soon; 
Dan

Eateries

We’ve shown lots of places to eat in Melaque and other places we’ve been, but I don’t think we’ve done any for Cornwall.

On one of our usual Friday night outings with Loraine & Harry, we tried a new restaurant “Truffles Burger Barn”.

The entrance and waiting area.

A really classy looking place that only serves burgers. Not all that expensive, and the selection of burgers is astounding, from Emu and Alligator to Bison and Vegi. We’ve tried Bison, chicken and I had the pulled pork, wow, very, very tasty with a spicy, but not too spicy sauce. All come with small salad or cole-slaw for about ten bucks each, (if you stay away from the bar menu).

Now, that’s a wine rack,,, I think we should have one at home,,,, LOL

Then there is the other end of the scale!

Cora and Eric stopped in, on their way from Montreal to Hamilton, with their granddaughter, Bella, and we had to go to Bella’s favourite place “Billy K’s.

Betty, Cora, Bella and yours truly at “Billy K’s” 79 cent hot dogs.

For ten bucks you can get a burger, steamy, fries and drinks for two. They cut their own potatoes and go through two tons, yup, that’s 2 tons of potatoes a week. The best fries I’ve had anywhere!

Well that’s your culinary report for now, but I’ve got an adventure story coming soon;

Dan

Nag, nag, nag;

Well not too many nags from you guys, just my conscience bothering me.
I just haven't had the gumption to sit down and face this computer, 
(other than to check the news and play games).

Betty and I have been out golfing a couple of times, and our Friday evenings 
with Loraine and Harry have been the highlights since we got back to the 
great white north.

Really, there hasn't been too much to write about till last Friday, 
when Betty and I journeyed, to North Bay and enjoy the hospitality of 
Sylvianne & Jean in celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. 
Now there's an accomplishment to be proud of. 
I suppose I could say the same, but, it took 4 wives to do it. LOL.

Lots of tents set up for shade or protection from predicted rain.

It was a pleasant 5 and a half hour drive, and as directed we stopped 
in Calendar (where Syl. and Jean live) to let them know we got there 
and then drove the ten miles into North Bay where we stayed at the 
Super 8 hotel on the waterfront. Nice place, (with free breakfast) 
and big comfortable rooms. After settling in we drove back to Calendar 
and enjoyed a pot luck supper with Sylvianne, Jean, their 3 children, 
some grandchildren and Linda from the Mexican bunch.
Saturday was the official celebration, getting under-way at one o'clock. 
About 65 people showed up, including ten of the Mexican bunch.

Misplaced Mexicans?

It sure was great getting to chat with the folks we meet in Melaque.
A sumptuous meal was served and there was no lack of cerveza and other 
things to imbibe.

The immediate Ethier family.

Sunday, we went back and enjoyed a wonderful brunch, put on by Sylvianne 
and her kids. (I musta gained 3 pounds!)

I thought this was “North Bay”, but it’s actually Lake Nipissing.

Monday we were supposed to head up to Sudbury to visit Linda & Ron, 
but I awoke a 5 AM. with the most terrible premonition, and just 
couldn't bring myself to go out onto the Highway. Stupid, I know, 
and I'm so sorry to Linda and Ron, so we spent the day being tourists 
around North Bay, taking in the sites, strolling along their beautiful 
waterfront eating "fresh cut" fries from a roadside stand and 
riding on a carousal.

Being kids again, when was the last time you did it??

Back to Syl. & Jeans for leftover supper and some Texas holdem, fond 
farewells and back to the hotel for an early night and the trip back 
to Cornwall. 
We're still eating the brown eggs that Jean's chickens provided for us, 
thanks Jean and also Sylvianne and your fantastic family for the most warm 
and cheerful hospitality anyone could ask for. 
I hope you can make it down here, sometime, so we can reciprocate.
Till next time;
Dan

The terrible 4 letter word.

Well, we arrived home last Friday evening, after being picked up by our best friends,
Loraine & Harry.
We enjoyed a great meal in Ottawa then a pleasant drive to Cornwall. 
Our trip from Melaque was mostly uneventful, with the bus ride to P. V., 
overnight at the Holiday Inn Resort (really nice).

A view from our room.

Yup,,, that's Betty waving from our room.

Our West-Jet flight to Calgary was fine, but when we got there, Ohhhh Boy, welcome 
to Canada and COLD. 
We had booked at the 8 Days Inn Airport, and the place is nice, but out in the 
boonies, so we walked the quarter mile or so to "Earls" Steak House for our first 
taste of Alberta beef. The place was very nice (a tad expensive) but the steak was 
"just" fine.(We had another on the BBQ here on Wednesday, and it was spectacular.) 
As it was now almost eleven o'clock, the walk back to the hotel was 
bone chilling and it took a while to stop shivering.
Our flight to Ottawa left at 11AM and we were entertained by a flight steward who 
was as funny as most stand-up comics I've seen in a long while.

Funny guy.

On most flights, nobody pays attention to the safety message, well everybody was 
watching this guy and laughing their heads off. We were sitting in the front seats, 
so we were entertained the whole trip.
Saturday was spent unpacking sorting, answering phone calls and shopping for 
groceries, another shock to the system,,, the produce just isn't the same and the 
prices,,, Arrrrrg. 
Loraine  & Harry had us over to their place for supper and a game of "Tock" and 
we came home early, exhausted.
Sunday was spent at Diane & Paul's celebrating the "Raisin river canoe race" 
(no we didn't participate),,, Lol  just had brunch, conversation, burgers on the 
BBQ and a little Texas hold-em poker. 

Now the BAD part,,,,,,,Monday morning we woke up to six inches of 
(the dreaded 4 letter word) snow, which lasted till Wednesday,,, for sure, 
this fall we're heading south latter and returning after all the snow has gone.
I’ll try and get a few more minutes together soon, to fill in all the blanks that 
I missed.
Dan

Odds and Ends.

Well it’s getting down to the wire, as we have started packing and storing in earnest.

With just four more full days till we leave, we are in the process of figuring how much food we can use up, give away or throw out. Anything that is prone to rust has to be packed in sealed containers and stored in our storage area as the humidity in the summer here is extreme. Clothes and linens, likewise are packed into large plastic totes and sealed.

Today we went around prepaying the rent, phone and electricity.

There aren’t too many folks left here as a lot of them rent till the end of March and have to leave, by the end of April we only know of four who will still be here.

Leigh, Barry, Liz, Ann, and the Boop and I had a poker night last Wednesday and plan the last one of the season for Monday without Ann, as she left yesterday this will be at our house and will be a “clean-out the fridge” pot luck.

Went to the Isla Navadad Golf club for supper last night with Tere & Ray, we used to go several times a year in the past, when there weren’t so many good places to eat here, they used to have fantastic steaks, but they just, didn’t seem up to par last night.

Looking at Barra de Navadad from the lagoona.

Ray drove us to Barra and we took the water taxi over to the island and back, these “Pangas” are amazingly seaworthy craft, they are double hulled, fiberglass and the Mexicans take them 30  or more miles out to sea.

Betty (as usual) was able to find a critter to cuddle.

All in all another wonderful evening, but I’m still looking forward to the “Alberta” beef on Thursday in Calgary. Tonight we are having Debby & Jerry over for BBQ pork chops and Cora & Eric Sunday for left-over seafood linguine, and that should use up most of the perishables.

The other night we made our usual trek to the town square to people watch (and get a soft ice-cream) and this mime was performing for change, he sure had the locals and many tourists enthralled. When someone dropped a coin into the pail he would mechanically move about and hand you a slip of paper with your fortune on it.

Betty and the mime.

Oh ya, we had another “shake, rattle & roll” (earthquake) the other day, I think it was a 6.7 or thereabout, but it was a couple of hundred miles from here and about 18 miles deep. I was sitting here at the computer, and the room and the table started shaking back and forth about an inch, or so and it felt like I was on a swing, it lasted for about ten seconds but the ceiling fan was swaying back and forth for quite a while afterwards, of course all the neighbours ran out onto the street. Believe it or not we’re actually, (kinda) getting used to them.

For those who didn’t get the Email, we leave here on Wednesday, overnight in Puerto Vallarta. On Thursday it’s off to Calgary, where we have our Alberta steak with Rene & Don then on to Ottawa, Friday in time for supper with Loraine and Harry. So this will probably be the last update from Melaque this season.

We’re looking forward to seeing all our NOB friends in the next few weeks.

Happy trails to all;

Dan