February 11-12, 2019
It was good to be back in La Cruz among our friends and
familiar pursuits. I enjoyed the dawn
views from the marina and resumed my exercise routine. I spent my days back at my house, catching up
on my blog and practicing the guitar. It
was nice to have my own shower again.
We had tickets to see Tatewari at the Octopus’ Garden on Monday
night. Tom and Cary came with us. We were all big fans. The show was amazing, as always, and the band
signed the CDs Greg bought. I was sorry that I had already bought the CDs
because it would have been nice to get them signed. I was very happy to have had my CD of the
original Luna Rumba signed. It was
wonderful to have recordings of the music from La Cruz to take with me
everywhere I went.
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| Casino Night on Scout |
Tuesday night, we went for dinner at the Ballena Blanca and
then had the crews of Dragon’s Toy and
Unleashed over for an evening of
Texas Hold ‘Em. Greg fixed the table in the
main salon up like a casino. We didn’t
have any poker chips, so had to use Cary’s laundry quarters. I lost early, so became the dealer until Tom,
too, went bust. I recalled that someone
had been trying to get rid of poker chips a few weeks before but couldn’t
recall who. I promised to work on that.
February 13, 2019
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| Palms in Bucerias |
I went to the gym in Bucerias on Wednesday morning and it
dawned on me that the following day was Valentine’s Day. I thought it would be nice to go to Karen’s Place
for dinner that night so, after the gym, I walked clear across Bucerias to try
to make a reservation. They were already
completely booked. I did, however, manage
to take some really nice photographs of street scenes to paint later, so my
trek wasn’t for nought. I did, however, exhaust
myself after having worked out exceptionally hard. My legs were Jello by the time I got home.
Greg had never seen my house, so we ventured across the
highway to visit the house and go to Tacos Junior for tacos al pastor. It was hard to beat a plate of five tacos for
seventy pesos. We decided to stop for
ice cream at the parlor near the plaza in La Cruz. We found the plaza transformed for a large
private party. It seemed that the Four
Seasons Hotel in Punta de Mita had staged the event so their wealthy gringo guests
could experience “an authentic Mexican fishing village.” They had decorated the entire plaza with
paper flowers and colored lanterns. They
had folkloric dancers and music, catered food, and fancy wine. Every entrance to the plaza was guarded by
tourist police to keep out the authentic residents.
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| The Four Seasons Party in Our Plaza |
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| Decorations in the Plaza |
February 14-15, 2019
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| Valentine's Dawn |
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| Special Decorations in the Marina Restroom |
I got up early to run on Valentine’s Day. The cleaning staff had decorated the
restrooms specially for the holiday. We
listened to the net and then moved the boat from Dock 3 to Dock 10. Greg wanted to get Scout farther away from the dusty parking lot. I liked being on Dock 3 because it was closer
to town and my house, but Dock 10 was closer to the showers and I did have a
lot of friends there, also.
After securing the boat, I headed home on my borrowed bicycle. Instead of cycling up Langosta, I decided to
ride around the marina and take the dirt road that runs up to the highway
behind Oso’s. Somebody must have bought
the lot where the road ran through because I suddenly encountered a shiny, new,
chain link fence around the rectangular parcel containing the road. Not to be discouraged, someone had already
cleared a new road a few hundred feet to the left.
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| Fence Across the Road |
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| So Somebody Bulldozed a New Road |
Greg had also tried (and failed) to make reservations at Frascati’s for
Valentine’s Day, so we had elected to eat an early Valentine’s Day dinner at La
Cava. We were the only people there at 17:30
and had a nice, quiet dinner. We went
early so that we could make it to the amphitheater in time for movie
night. They were showing Just Getting Started with Morgan Freeman
and Tommy Lee Jones. It was a cute
comedy and there was a big crowd even though it was Valentine’s Day.
Friday evening was Mexican Train Dominoes at the Poolside Deli. I hadn't been for a few weeks, so was eager to go. It was there that I had heard someone wanted to get rid of a set of poker chips, but I couldn't recall whom. I asked around and it turned out that it was Alvaro, the owner of the deli. My friend, Judy, asked for me and, the next thing I knew, I had a lovely set of poker chips to donate to Scout.
I was making an effort to introduce Greg to more of the
delights of La Cruz so, Friday night, we went to the Black Forest to eat German
food and listen to Latcho and Andrea. The
place was full and the audience appreciative, which inspired an energetic
performance. A gypsy dancer dropped in
during the second set and danced a couple of numbers. Soon, nearly everyone was on their feet. One of their fans passed the tip jar and they
did well that night. I would have to
remember to do that for them in the future.
We made a reservation to return on March 1st when Geo would
be playing with Latcho and Andrea. I had
never heard them play together.
February 16, 2019
I got up to run on Saturday but had been working out hard
all week and my body told me that running was not a good idea. I settled for walking 2.5 laps around the
marina and enjoying the beautiful sunrise.
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| Dawn Over the Marina |
I returned to the boat and spent the rest of the early
morning helping Greg get ready to fly home.
I made breakfast while he packed.
It was a shame he had to return home, where it was snowing heavily, when
there were still so many things that I wanted to show him in La Cruz and Bucerias.
Once Greg had left and I had showered, I set about removing
the covers from the cockpit cushions to launder them. All of the zippers had corroded and pretty
much dissolved the plastic teeth under the zipper pulls, making them very
difficult to remove. I managed to get
three of them off and soaked the others with lubricant in the hope that I might
be able to budge them later. I packed up
the laundry, closed up the boat, and went home to relax and practice the guitar,
balancing the bag of laundry on my handlebars.
Both my roommates were off sailing and I had the house to myself.
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| Cheko and His Band at the Octopus' Garden |
I had a ticket to see Cheko Ruiz’ band play the music of the
Gypsy Kings that night at the Octopus’ Garden.
For once, I elected to eat before I went and just have a glass of wine
and a piece of fabulous carrot cake at the show. The place was completely sold out. It was clear that Gypsy Kings music
was a big draw for Canadian condo dwellers.
I was a big fan of Cheko’s original music, so was a bit sorry to see
him go in that direction, but it was clearly working for him financially. The audience was enthusiastic, and I hoped
they would support him in whatever else he did going forward. He did announce that he was releasing a new,
original song on Spotify later that week.
February 17, 2019
Sunday being my rest day, I slept in until 8:30. I undid my braid and stepped into the
shower. I always start showering while
the water is still cold, but I wait to wash my hair until it warms up. That day, it never did. I threw on a dress and went to take a look at
the water heater. We were out of
propane. I had to bundle up my loose and
frizzy hair, pack up the laundry, and return to the marina to complete my
shower.
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| Coffee at La Comer |
While I was at the marina, I replaced the clean cushion
covers and successfully removed the remaining ones. Paul and Carol from Unleashed had suggested we have gin and tonics on Scout that evening and we had invited a
few other couples. There was nothing
left in the way of food on Scout, so
I needed to go to the store. I liked to
have Sunday morning coffee and pastries at La Comer but, with all the
distractions, it was after noon before I was able to return home, start the
second load of laundry, and catch a combi to La Comer. I was afraid I’d have trouble getting a seat
because of the crowds for the Sunday market, but I got lucky.
I went to the Scotia Bank at the Mega to get money. They had an agreement with the Bank of America
not to charge ATM fees, but the only bank in the area was at the Mega and not
convenient. It had been much easier when
the agreement was with Santander, but they had switched. I had been using the CI Banco below my gym,
instead, because they charged the lowest fee and were convenient, although
somewhat unreliable.
I finally got to La Comer about 13:00 and enjoyed free WiFi
while drinking my caramel macchiato. The
girls behind the counter were real artists in coffee foam and served me a
credible portrait of Tony the Tiger with my mini croissants. I felt more like I was in Tuscany than Mexico.
I appeased my guilt over having a party on his boat while
Greg was enduring a snowstorm by buying him a bottle of nice gin and restocking
the supply of snack foods. Then I
crossed the road and did the majority of my shopping at the Mega. Between resupplying my home and provisioning Scout, I could not have carried one more
item. It was fortunate that a bus
arrived before a combi. I took the front
seat and filled it with all my packages.
I had to walk a little further from the official bus stop when we got to
La Cruz, but I didn’t have to squeeze down the aisle with all my bundles.
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| Party on Scout |
It was nearly 16:00 by the time I got back. I hung the cushion covers out to dry while I
unpacked the groceries. Fortunately,
they dried rapidly because I barely managed to make it back to the boat before
17:30 when the guests started arriving.
I was still installing the last cushion cover when Paul and Carol arrived with the bar supplies. Paul made a round of gin and tonics while I whipped
up some guacamole. Each couple brought
some appetizers and we had a nice spread.
Judy, from Honu, even brought
homemade tonic. It was a lovely party
and we sat in Scout’s cockpit until
long after dark. Eventually, we moved
the party to the Red Chairs and ate tacos, quesadillas, and stuffed potatoes. We had a very nice dinner, including soft
drinks, for 55 pesos apiece. It was one
of the nicest evenings we had spent in La Cruz and it was a shame Greg missed
it. We took photos to send him to make
him jealous.
By the time the boat was cleaned and put away, it was quite
late. I bicycled home through empty
streets.
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