Mexican Junk

 

Just another day dawning in paradise.

 

Today it is time for the obligatory trip to the little village of Bucerias where we check out the street markets.

 

Leather goods, and pretty good quality too. Nothing made in China here.

 

 

It is always very colourful.

 

It was early and not all the stands were open.

 

They see a camera and they call out "Hey, paparazzi".

 

They give the impression that they do not like their photo taken. I learned a trick from reading a National Geographic photographer's blog. You hang the camera from your neck with a wide angle lens, set your camera to 'auto' mode, extend to full wide angle, hit the timer for a 5 second delay, press the shutter and then just stand there with your hands in your pockets and five seconds later the shutter will deploy. You can be looking out toward the beach and nobody suspects they just had their photo taken.

 

Poor unsuspecting 'hat lady'.

 

The quaint cobblestone town square was being torn up, being readied  for a face lift.

 

busylizzy shops, I look.

 

The vendors beckon and cajole. "For you, almost free" "If you buy something from me you get free Mexican luggage" ( a plastic shopping bag) "Everything half price today" "We have all kinds of stuff you don't need" and the list goes on.

 

If you don't bargain, you will be ripped off. One should never walk away with a purchase for more than half of the asking price. Best thing is to act disinterested after looking at something you would like to purchase. Hem, haw, and start to walk away. Then the prices start plummeting.

 

They take $US, $CD and Pesos so you have to be careful in the translation. They will gladly convert the price for you but they round up to an advantage for themselves every time. They do this all day long and are good at it.

 

We walk back home along the beach and are glad we have a safe and clean refuge to go home to.

Colourful

 

I was up at 6:30 every morning to catch the sunrise. I had fourteen of them and I was not going to miss one. They were not all spectacular, but the added bonus is that early morning is the best time of day, cool and fresh.

 

One thing a tourist to Mexico has to get used to is vendors. They are everywhere and for the most part, if you do not make eye contact, or politely say that you are not buying today, they will leave you alone. Each vendor is selling a different commodity and is laden with Mexican junk (their words)  as they walk down the beach or the cobblestone roads. The time share sharks are the worst and will attempt to engage in very fluent English and friendly banter. Once you respond, you are done. We resorted to "Sprechen Deutch?" but to no avail. Best to ignore and walk on by.

 

There was little evidence of Christmas in our location. This tree and a little lit up shepherd boy were the only traces of the type of hype we get here in Canada. Even the Christmas music was missing except at the introduction to the shows where they would play a Christmas music video. I must say that with the heat and humidity, this real pine tree had a wonderful and strong scent that did remind us of home.

 

Mexico is a country of contrasts. Here we have a derelict house that has been there as long as we have been coming, and right next door is the Riu Palace, which really is a Palace. There is old and ratty beside new and fancy everywhere you look. I guess you could say there is little ghettoization in PV.   

 

A beautiful Fan Palm taken at night.

 

This house, which was situated right behind our resort, was what we saw every time we descended the stairs from our room. We commented several times that it reminded us of Bethlehem. The day after we get home, we discover, much to our surprise, that this house belongs to the owner of Clancy's meats right here in Abbotsford.

 

The Riu Palace at sunrise, without the ratty neighbour in the photo.

 

The best time of the day was always the dawn walks on the beach. We would head south so we could watch the sun come up over the Sierra Madre Mountains. One hour every morning and one hour at 4 pm and we had our exercise for the day. (besides the 45 steps up and 45 steps down each time we went to our room) We really toughened our feet and our ankles walking barefoot in the sand every day.

 

We would watch and photograph the sunset every night at 6:15 pm. and then have a lovely dinner as the sky darkened.

 

We had 14 days of sunshine except for one part afternoon of high thin overcast, and two hours of torrential downpour on the day we left.

Nayarit Riviera

 

We have discovered that we are not the only creatures of habit. This our 7th trip to the Royal Decameron Complex in Bucerias north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, but compared to many folks we met there, we are but newbies to this resort. With few exceptions, the new friends we made have been there more times than 7. One British couple have been coming for the last 14 years, a 25 hour journey with three flight connections, and then an 8 week stay!

 

The reasons are many, but one could sum it up with 'bang for the buck'. The complex is large and beautiful, with 6 blocks of rooms for a total of 620 rooms. The colours ooze old Mexican charm and ambience. The place is kept immaculate and it is surprising to see the 24/7 cleaning and maintenance crews hard at it, scrubbing and power washing, sweeping, clipping, mowing, wiping, painting, and just making it squeaky clean everywhere you look.

 

There are 5 pools, two of them being large rambling affairs, and one strictly adult and very quiet. 5 specialty ala carte restaurants, 2 all day snack restaurants, 2 massive buffet restaurants, and one buffet eatery that is open for breakfast and lunch and doubles as a Japanese specialty restaurant for dinner. The beach is wide and long, with more than enough room for hundred of lounges, beach volleyball, boat rentals, etc. Tide in or tide out, the beach is sandy (no rocks) and gently slopes to the surf. While we were there, the yellow flags were up because of juvenile stingrays that were attacking people who accidentally disturbed them as they lay low in the sand just off the beach. The stings were painful but not dangerous if you got a 'shot' from the infirmary. We are not beach people, other than spending some time in the sun there, so we did not get stung.  

 

Above is a photo of block 5 and a section of the adult pool.

 

The food is good with plenty of variety. Each buffet has different themes each evening for dinner so there is something there for everyone at all times. You will never go hungry as there is always something there that you will like, and always new things to try. Because there were many Mexicans there at this time of year, the emphasis on Mexican dishes was heavy in the buffets. This is not my favourite thing, but like I said, there is always something there that is delicious.

 

We keep going back because we know that we will get consistency, quality, and new improvements every year.

 

This was the view from our room on the third floor of block five, over looking the adult pool. On the right, beside the yellow 'pacman' is one of 6 bars in the complex so one is always within reach of pina colada.

I have many more photos and as I post them I will try to have themes.

I'm Back

 

I'm Back!  Was it really two weeks? I missed a huge chunk of December, the month of hype and commercialism that almost spoils my favourite time of year. I now embrace Christmas Eve without the carol fatigue and the shopping anxiety. I feel rested, renewed, and actually thankful to be home.

I debated with myself about taking my camera to Mexico, as I have done in years past. But I did and now I have some photos to post in the next while that will contrast with our northern winter. The temperature, humidity, and colour differences are huge, and as a photographer, I love colour.

So, as my bronzed 'Greek God' body fades to white, I will process the photos and get them on here as soon as I am able.

In the meanwhile, have a wonderful and blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, who came to take away the sins of the world, and they are many. May you make memories that will warm your hearts throughout the year.

Now go eat some chocolate.

 

 

 

 

Farewell to Colour

 

I will leave you with a little sampling of the leftovers of Autumn of 2013, now that the bitter winds have come out of the east to snuff out any remaining life in the leaves.

 

The beautiful red barn on Mt. Lehman Road.

 

A fresh early morning mushroom growing outside my front door.

 

 

 

The North Shore mountains from Nicholson Rd.

 

A llama and a different red barn just off McTavish Rd.

 

The last Angel Trumpet bloom trying desperately to open before the frost comes.

 

The Creeping Virginia growing up the chimney of my house.

Farewell to Autumn.

A Break

 

I will be taking a blog break for a few weeks, probably starting up again around Christmas sometime with a whole batch of new photos to share. There will be one more post tomorrow.

 

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to the big production of "A Christmas Carol" put on by the Abbotsford Children's Theater tonight. I have been to many of these productions and apart from my grandsons performing in them, they are excellent. If you can still get tickets, you would not be sorry if you took this in as one of your pre-Christmas activities.

A Good Guaranty

 

Two years ago, my annual eye examination dictated that I purchase a new pair of glasses. Due to circumstances, I was in a frugal mood and decided I would get the glasses at Costco. Friends of ours told us of a good experience at Costco's Optical Department so I had few reservations. After being assisted with frame selection, and inquiring about the size of the frame being appropriate for progressive lenses, and being assured that they were, I ordered and purchased the glasses. The first time I drove, which was home from Costco that day, I determined that these glasses were going to get some getting used to. I went back several times over the next months to get the fit adjusted. My big complaint was that I had to perch the glasses on the end of my nose while I was driving in order to get the far distance part of the lens to kick in. I resigned myself to the fact that I would just have to break them in like a new pair of shoes.

 

Fast forward to Wed. and my annual check-up. The optometrist was wondering why I was waving my head around to find the sweet spot when trying to read the chart. He looked at the glasses and shook his head saying that they were all wrong. He found the 'cross' on the lens (where the long distance meets middle distance) and told me that spot should be in line with my pupil. It was way above where it should be.

 

So I took the glasses in to Costco today and after very careful measurements and great consternation, they informed me that the lenses were wrong and they would replace them free of charge.

 

This is all fine and good, however, the fact remains that the frames are too  squat for progressives. I will now lose on 'reading' what I gain on 'distance'. I anxiously await the new lenses and hope I will not have to pursue the matter any farther.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

View

 

Mt. Lehman/Bradner heights looking east across the Fraser Valley with the Cheam range in the background.

 

Do these animals appreciate the spectacular view they have?

 

I have lived here most of my life, all but the first 15 years. I never tire of nor take for granted the variety of beauty in my part of the world. I still gawk like a tourist when I drive down the road.

A Pity

 

What a pity that these beautiful vine leaves were growing on a side of our house that we rarely see. I stumbled upon them quite by accident one day and there was only this small cluster of leaves left to photograph.

Isn't that the way it is? We search the world over for pleasure, treasure and happiness and it is usually right there in front of us, waiting to be discovered.

Now You See Them ....

 

Here today......

 

gone tomorrow.

 

I stepped out for my walk yesterday and almost immediately went back in. I just couldn't get myself to walk in the blustery frigid weather and so I opted for option #2. The treadmill. I don't like the treadmill and will only use it in a pinch. This was a pinch.

 

I had not been on it for a while but got in the groove quite quickly, brought it up to speed, cranked up the volume on the TV (hockey game) and was at the 4 km. mark when it happened. The reason I do not like the treadmill is that it seems to require more concentration than I am sometimes willing to give. When I walk outside, I look left, I look right, I think about this and that, and really only put one foot in front of the other, all quite safely. On the treadmill, one has to keep a constant speed and place each foot carefully in front of the next, and not vary from this precise routine.

 

I guess it was the fact that the Canucks let in a bunch of goals early in the game that contributed to my body language that resulted in a misstep. My left foot was half on and half off, my balance was thrown, and I went a tumbling. Thank goodness for the kill switch or I would still be on the circle of life dying a slow and painful death by a thousand blows.

Advantage: Outdoor walking, as one cannot really fall off of a wide sidewalk.

 

I am OK, other than embarrassed, but am again reluctant to go outdoors to finish my mileage for the day.

Advantage: Treadmill, as one can stay warm and dry and watch the Canucks spiral to oblivion which provides enough adrenalin to walk an extra K or two.