PUPPIES, KITTENS, CROCODILES & MANTA RAYS

This week we changed things a bit and went into El Centro and grocery shopping on Tuesday instead of Monday. We still had enough groceries to last us - better to go in when we really need to. 

As we always do - we took the combi from Playa La Ropa - just down the way from us - to very close to the Cancha Municipal. We've become very good at getting dropped off at just the right spot. We still have to walk but it isn't far.

First, things first, to the Zihuatanejo Animal Humane Society. I forget sometimes that not everyone reads every post. Elizabeth saw the pictures of us walking a puppy and wondered if he was a new addition to the Wood Clan. Nope - Rufus is enough for us - and the van. However, we are happy to help the Society by walking a dog - or two - each week. If you are visiting Zihuatanejo and can help out - please do - they need all they can get as it is mainly run by volunteers.

Frisky - the pup we so named that we have walked for the last two weeks wasn't there. Dare we hope that he was adopted! This week, Frisky 2 and Frisky 3. The poor dogs - they are so wound up by the time they get out for their walk. First stop - the park for a few minutes then up and over the bridge.

Last time we went left - this time we went right as we noticed this nice sidewalk. 

Only a bit challenging walking a frisky dog and taking a picture. Derek in lead and Cassia the 'bag holder' in the middle.

We walked as far as this open field. 

There was construction going on in the distance so maybe it is new.

I'm gonna love ya and squeeze ya…

Then back over the bridge and back to the Humane Society.

We visited with the dogs/puppies for a bit. They tend to get very excited when humans are there so very loud. There were about 5 pups in this cage. This guy has the look of desperation in his eyes - hard to see.

On the other hand, we were thrilled to see this dog here. She is a stray and was hanging around the RV Park for a few days until someone called. Volunteers came to pick her up. She looks pregnant - at least she is getting looked after here. She has the saddest eyes.

The view from the HS balcony.

Then down to the second floor for our second visit with the kittens.

Then to our place - El Cafecito. Man am I going to miss this place. There is the Owner - a nice guy. I really should get his, his wife's and daughter's name before we leave. 

This has been our table for the last three visits. I could live right there - view of the ocean, shade, a gentle warm breeze, people watching, great coffee…… 

Then on to our somewhat gruelling walk - because of the heat - to the Commercial Mexicana. We stopped by the crocs at the basket ball court for Cassia to visit with them. The same crocs she kissed back two years ago when we had Dinner at the Basketball Court.

I'm gonna love ya and squeeze ya…

We often run into Memo at the Commerical Mexicana - he is the Owner of El Manglar - as he is out buying groceries for the restaurant. Since we ended up behind him at the check out we managed to get ourselves a lift home. 

He only had one more stop to make which was here…… 

Memo parked a few streets away and he and I walked over. I was looking for garlic which I found. I was surprised to find that this was the exact place we purchased our produce - very cheaply - last time during our Market Day in Zihuatanejo. We had lost it but now it was found. Sadly, only weeks before we are leaving. Sigh. 

We were home fairly early - mid afternoon. After walking and driving around in the heat the beach was the only place to go.

Our little goldfish…

Kaden, Keller and Cassia. 

Cloudy and even looked like rain but nothing came of it. 

I can always tell when Cassia has been slammed by a wave by her hair style.

We haven't been swimming alone these last few weeks. We have company - especially in the morning. The manta rays….

Fun to watch - they are small and alone or in groups of 3, 4, 5, 6. Therese and I were really nervous at first and did our research. Seems all is fine unless you step on one - which apparently REALLY hurts. We do the sand shuffle now. 

I so desperately would like to get a picture of them in the surf - it's amazing to see. I think my chances are as good as photographing lightning. 

Derek and I did see one leaping which you can also see over at Roads Less Travelled - Mark and Emily sailed by here and got a few pictures.

So - with last nights post - that has been our week thus far.

Only two more sleeps until Cassia's Grandma arrives. Good thing - I don't know that her excitement - or ours - can be contained much longer. 

Friday afternoon our friend Bill from the RV Park is taking us to the airport. That should be fun - we've never been there before. I'll have those pics next post - fingers crossed - Friday night.

Teresa

MYSTERY SOLVED

Is the title I chose for this post - but really -

WE SCREWED UP ….. or ……

WE REALLY SCREWED UP ….. or …..

IF YOU ARE GOING TO SCREW UP - DO IT WELL …..

are all the other titles that went through my mind.

If you recall from last post - we've been having some trouble getting pesos from the ATM machines at the Commercial Mexicana.

First, it was our bank - Scotiabank - that cut us off a few weeks ago. Then last week all the other machines refused to give us money - twice.

We were all so happy to chalk it up to how things roll in Mexico - right?! Which was fine because there really is much precedents for us foreigners having trouble getting at our money - either the atm is out of money or just won't cough it up until the magic button is pushed.  No worries - I was happy to go right along with that explanation.

Unfortunately upon my return with Therese last week to check the atm again - still no pesos.

Our plan B, of course, was to call our Bank.

I was pretty smug at first - surely it MUST be Scotiabank's fault. That lasted for all of about 30 seconds during my conversation with Alan, who asked …..

"What is the expiration date on the cards?"

And this is when my stomach hit the floor.

Yes, my friends - both of our cards had expired. (Yes, our fault - yes, we should have known better, yes, what kind of travellers leave the country with almost expired atm cards, yes).

And no - it isn't as easy as getting new cards because, well, Scotiabank doesn't issue new cards - you must come in to one of the branches - in Canada of course - for a new one. And if by some miracle that could be arranged - they certainly aren't sending cards to Mexico.

So - after a few days of working with the Bank and Derek's mom - who THANKFULLY is arriving here on Friday - we worked out a plan. A very special celebration will have to take place when Derek's Mom arrives to thank her for saving our butts on this one.

I have to admit - my first thought was not to share our ignorance with all of you. However, since many of our friends here at the RV Park rushed off to check their cards I reconsidered. In the end I decided to share in the hopes that one of you is saved from such a difficult situation. There was no easy fix and in the end the fix isn't perfect but it was our only option.

The thing is we were on top of everything else - Cassia needed a new passport this year ✓- our medical insurance needed to be purchased  ✓ - van insurance  ✓ - all the visa's and permits at the border ✓.

Sigh.

Now - on to better things …..

A few nights ago we took a new dog walking route. It's a road that goes up into the hills somewhat near the park. I've been meaning to take it for a while to get some great views of Playa La Ropa. Knowing that it's a steep climb kept me from going through with my plan.

We threw caution to the wind the other night and decided to go for it.

It starts innocent enough but this isn't the actual road - it's a little short cut.

See what I mean - UP - and this isn't even the worst part. That's behind us - difficult to struggle with each footstep and still take pictures - I didn't have it in me.

Feeling much better now that we hit our stride - and some flatter land. Except for this driveway - imagine driving up it - good thing they don't get ice here!

The reward of course is the stellar views of the ocean and Playa La Ropa below.

Some swanky places up here - just to the right of that deck is an amazing infinity pool.

We only got far enough to pass one restaurant. While Cassia made friends with the seahorse at the entrance - I checked out the menu. 320 pesos for a rib eye?!! - cough cough - not the restaurant for us.

Looking down at the Pacifica Grand.

It was a nice walk to 1/2 way up the hill but we hope to return during a stellar sunset. Cassia isn't so keen to go all the way to the top but Derek and I are. Those pictures next week ….. ahhhh - so happy Grandma is on the way…..

With no access to our own money we have been on a bit of a spending freeze. Last night we finally broke and headed back to Paty's for happy hour. Thanks to the generosity of our RV Park friends, we have enough pesos to get us through until Friday.

 The owners must have kids. Nothing like a playground in the middle of the sitting area.

Have I mentioned how fast Cassia's hair is growing these days. This is all she has acquired in her almost six years - about two inches of it has appeared since we hit Zihuatanejo!

A shot of Derek enjoying his beer courtesy of Cassia. Really - I think Polar Bear was the real subject of the picture - or Minnie….

It's been quite cloudy the last few days. An interesting sunset because the colour was confined to the little break in the clouds behind the boat.

Derek walked out to the beach to get a shot.

Then later he struck up a conversation with a nice couple from Seattle. 

So - that's how it's been here.

A bit of a roller coaster.

Have I mentioned that I don't take stress particularly well? The money thing kinda hit us hard especially since it was preventable. A mistake - a mistake we hit out of the ball park.

Off to check the expiry date on your cards?

I'll be back tomorrow night with our pics from today - El Centro and some beach time.

Teresa

EL CENTRO, NO PESOS AND A WALK AROUND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

As mentioned - and as many of you are used to the drill by now - we went into El Centro and grocery shopping on Monday. We used to go Tuesday's but with low supplies a few weeks ago, leading to a Monday trip, we have kept with that day now. 

Since the combi goes to the Central Market but not the Municipal Plaza, we usually get off at the Kyoto glorietta and walk quite a bit to the Humane Society. That's ok but it is a bit of a trip. On Monday we worked harder to get dropped off a little closer to our destination. Since we had a few minutes to talk to our driver before we left we were able to communicate in our little bit of Spanish what we wanted. All went well as the driver understood and stopped at a place closer for us. 

A little past where we got off the combi we noticed a hotel with a huge poster on the wall. We wandered over to take a look at it - you can see Playa La Ropa - where we are on the right - Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa. Boy - we didn't know Ixtapa had so much stuff. We still don't want to go but sure looks like they have a lot of stuff.

Here's our puppy for the day from the Humane Society - the same little frisky guy from last week!

Here we are crossing over the bridge. 

We decided to head out of the main downtown area with him this time.

A walk down these steps to see if Frisky likes the water. Not so much.

He likes Derek though….

So cute.

Rock climbing.

Looking back towards the Zihuatanejo Bay.

A very interesting shrub - tree - not sure what it is - the only one we have seen here. Anybody?

A nice looking restaurant.

Heading back down to the bridge and then to the Humane Society.

We sat a while for our usuals at El Cafecito - Derek and I stuck to our coffee but Cassia went with the blueberry Italian Soda this time. 

Then it was off to Commercial Mexicana (CM) for our grocery run.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get as much as planned. There are four atm machines at the CM. We used to use the Scotiabank because we have Scotiabank cards. This worked well - and has worked in Mexico the last time and this time - until a few weeks ago when our card no longer worked there. The message says that our cards have been disabled at that machine. A mystery. 

Frustrating, but I slid on over to the Banamex and was happily supplied with my money. Too bad we now have to pay 30 pesos each time instead of the 9.5 pesos at the Scotiabank atm. - but at least we have money. 

Monday, none of the three atm machines would give me money - I didn't even bother with the fourth. Darn.

We are so hoping there was a glitch somewhere between Canada and Mexico that will be resolved by the time I go with Therese and the boys to the CM tomorrow. 

Or - we'll have to figure out a Plan B.

Yesterday, January 6th was Dia de Reyes - Three Kings Day. This is a King's Cake the traditional holiday dessert. Last time we were in Mexico we were in Patzcuaro and saw all the Rosca de Reyes on sale.

Now here in Zihuatanejo at the Commercial Mexicana. The panaderia was filled with them. An investment at 275 pesos.

What are parents to do when the ice cream cart guy parks himself right at the gate and honks his horn? With Cassia we have been able to ignore him but with three kids? No way. Thankfully it was the guy with the good quality paletas. Think these kids have posed for pics before?

After dinner, Cassia and I went for a walk around the neighbourhood. It was nice.

When we reached the beach I was amazed at the sunset. Yes, we get some stellar ones here but this one was the best so far.

Cassia waiting for me at another temptation shop - the term I use for the beach shops. We have three in our neighbourhood. Fun to look each time - you just never know….

This restaurant is beside Rossy's. We've never been - actually we've never really paid attention to it but it looked pretty tonight. I think the red is new - that's why it caught my eye.

I was drawn in even further with these lamp shades. Most of the restaurants here have wicker lamp shades which are good - but these are great. It was hard to get close - especially with the light shinning in my eye. I'll have to go back in the day but I think they are ceramic.

Another sunset pic from that restaurant!

"Just one more sunset shot Cas ….. "

 No, it really isn't cool enough for pants and a long shirt. For some reason in the last few days Cassia has decided to work through all the clothes in her closet. They didn't last long once home.

Ok - just one more - taken down our alley …. nice with the palm.

With all the sunset photo taking I decided to turn the camera on Cassia. 

This one - although blurry - was the best.

And the last picture before we headed back - a mom and daughter selfie (does that exist?). 

So - that's been the last few days other than our time at the beach with Therese and the boys. 

It's been fun - hard to believe we only have three weeks left here in Zihuatanejo!

We'll make the most of them.

Teresa