Week Three - Lo de Marcos 4/19-4/25

We have been finding our way around this area pretty good now. We have walked up and down the beach many times. Walked up the hill to our great birding spot. We walk into town everyday or every other day to pick up a few items from the mercado or tiendas. We even pop on our bikes now and again to look around. Now we are seeing some familiar faces already. We are One with this village, Lo de Marcos. We are feeling at home at El Caracol and know we are at the best RV resort in the area. We are steps away from the beach and I do really enjoy the tiny dipping pool. It’s very shady with lots of tall trees. You can always find a spot here with the perfect temperature! I would highly recommend this park for RV’s and to rent one of the bungalows. We have looked in each one and they are very nice.

We have many highlights this week among the usual beach life we have going on here. We have been waiting for our friend Tino to come from Jocotepec. He is catching a ride with Max and Jan from Roca Azul. They finally arrived on Wednesday afternoon. We planned on having a cornhole tournament and party since Peyton is leaving on Friday. Marvin and Carol’s daughter Holly is only here until Thursday too. It was the best day for most people to come. Unfortunately Max and Jan were too tired after the drive to join us. We had lots of folks that made for good competition. Holly is quite an athlete. We learned a little about her personal training in New York. She has a dynamic and engaging personality. It’s easy to love her immediately. I got paired up with Peyton. I’m not sure how much experience he had at cornhole before this day but between the both of us…..we couldn’t even get one point! We were skunked 0-21! I even changed partners and I just totally sucked. Maybe I am only good in Jocotepec or at elevations of 5000 ft or above. I never got better. After we were all done, we went across the street to the restaurant for dinner together at La Palapa. Dinner was a good consolation prize. Lol...

We gave Tino luxurious accommodations outside the Airstream in his own hammock between 2 palm trees. It’s been so warm during the night, he was plenty comfortable with a light blanket. He’s an early riser so it’s best to keep the boys outside so I can get my beauty sleep. Tino likes to mediate early in the morning and walk on the beach. He says this place reminds him a lot of Hawaii where he has some rentals in the remote lava fields on the top of the hill. It was great having him around a few days. He joined us for dinners out with our gang and went to visit everyone on his own. Deb had her daughter for 2 weeks here and her grandson Peyton for a week. Max and Jan are at the same RV park La Parota. Carol, Marvin, John and Stephanie are right next door at Cruz Maria. Their daughter Holly rented a bungalow there and also stayed with her sister Sarah in San Francisco. They did a bunch of surfing together. It is cool having our friends from Roca Azul here to spend time with. After this, we all plan on going in different directions.

Larry, Tino and I went out walking around the town the first morning he was here. We got juice from a vendor on the main street. It is fun to stroll to see what is open. We also went into an artisan bakery that had fabulous breads and savory treats. Tino did a bit of shopping but for something useful….. a large cup with a funnel spout. I enjoy spending time with Tino as he tells us a lot about the mexican culture. He explains why things are done a certain way. He’s very inquisitive and talks to everyone. Then he translates to us and we get the whole scoop!

We had told him about meeting our new friend Berto on the property that has its own private beach. He said he’d like to meet him. We had a blast with him the other night and we could barely talk to him because of the language difficulties. We all faked it. We first walked to the tienda to pick up some Victoria beer. Then turned around to walk back up the little hills to his place. When we got there, we didn’t see anyone around. We walked back and forth on the street in front of the wire fence. I even called out Berto!!! Nothing. We decided to just leave the beer and go back. Larry went through the fence and was going to drop it by the cooking palapa, when his brother Reuben came out. Reuben doesn’t speak any english and when we met him before, he didn’t seem as friendly as his brother. Larry asked about Berto. Reuben shook his head and said no. He said we could “podriamos pasar'' or we could pass. That was very nice! Next, Tino and I said, “hola” and went through the gate. Tino gradually started speaking more Spanish to him and they ended up talking for 45 minutes! We found out from Tino later, that the brothers do not own the property but work as security for the owners in turn for wages and free lodging. They oversee 50 acres which include the beachfront, the two hills on either side of the beach and across the road for a good portion. We learned that Berto is the fun more social brother and Reuben is the more serious of the two….that’s why we thought he was grumpy! He does his job well for not allowing people on the private property. If they weren’t there, then this would end up a dirty public beach very quickly. He is very happy to live in such a beautiful place. That’s what Berto said too. They are very grateful. While Tino was talking, Larry and I walked the small beach. I took lots of pictures of their dogs and cats. They have a Rasta Dog...check him out. About 7 minutes before sunset, Reuben told Tino to go up this hill on the property for a short cut to the beach to see the sunset. You can’t see it from their beach. The trail or path- whatever it was, started out steep but was doable in sandals. We could kinda see the trail that was covered heavily with forest litter and leaves. Soon we could see the beach through the tall trees. It was down an extremely steep rock face. I thought I could go no further. Tino took off his sandals and went down the leaves and other unknown stuff. He said I might need to slide down on my butt. That would have ruined my shorts and I wasn’t ready to give them up yet. Larry took my hand and helped me down the rock face...it wasn’t as slippery as I thought it was going to be. I made it!!! They both were proud of my effort. We got to watch a very nice sunset to end our fabulous day.

We walked up our hill to do some bird watching early in the mornings. Some days we are able to get great pictures and other days these birds just tease us. They will hide in lots of branches so the cameras won’t focus. Sometimes they will only sit still for 2 seconds...right when we are about to shoot, they fly out of the picture! My personal favorite is being able to hear them but never seeing them! Bird watching is so rewarding at times. Other days, it is the most frustrating thing I can imagine doing. But we both are addicted! Deb says she only knows the crows, seagulls and pigeons! I’m sure she is tired of us talking about all our silly birds!

One of my favorite things as we travel is meeting all the new folks. I especially love meeting Mexican people. At this point in time, both of us are happy when the Mexicans can speak english. We are the laziest travelers for learning Spanish. I have to apologize. Someday...we will be better. We made a few new friends this week. Both groups were here renting a bungalow for a few days. We met John Angelo Cardona and his wife Maureen on Monday. His wife is Canadian and they have been married for about 4 years. They met at one of his concerts in Puerto Vallarta. They were in this area to shoot a video for his Youtube channel. He would play from his balcony in the morning and it was beautiful. He had a flutist and a singer one morning. We got an hour free show right on our patio overlooking the beach!! What a great life. They only stayed 2 nights and left. We never saw them do the video but we come and go a lot. He gave us his card and they both said goodbye.

We ended our week by meeting Marcos and his beautiful wife Elisa. Marcos spoke excellent english and Larry and him had a good conversation the day before. He came to visit us on Sunday before he went back to Aguascaliente. We shared a few beers with him and he told us a little about himself and his family. They hired a driver to bring them here from their city. They had 2 families with about 9 folks. When he introduced his wife Elisa, he spoke very lovingly about their upcoming 25th wedding anniversary on June 26th. It will also be his daughter's wedding and they are having a huge party so I said we would love to come and smiled. He said of course!! He shared that both his brother and business partner had recently passed away. One of his sister’s is gone as well. He said he admires us for traveling around seeing and doing things. He has had a realization that he needs to evaluate where he spends his time. He seems to be appreciating and enjoying his time with his family more. He is a merchant with a dress shop in Aguascaliente called Los Gatitos Novias, XV & fiesta. I can’t wait to go buy a fancy new dress for his party. He showed us the Tango he will dance with his wife.

I have been talking to Chile in Jocotepec to see if our Toys mural is done but he hasn’t had time to finish it yet. He did send me pics of the ones he has been working on since we left. I have asked him to help us with my vision of a tall 2 story mural at our new home in Ajijic. He’s in!!

Another eventful week in the books…….We are still having a blast traveling around Mexico. Life is easy and people are friendly. The weather is perfect and we can always find something new and fun to do.