The Whales of Bahia de Banderas

We had an experience of a lifetime....whale watching!  Sure we've seen whales on TV, read how big they are, but seeing them in person, in their habitat was breathtaking!  Sam's brother & sister-in-law, a couple they know from Minnesota (escaping the cold in Vallarta), along with ourselves, took a private whale watching tour with Whale Watching Vallarta.  December through March is whale watching season in Vallarta, with January and February being the best times....we were in prime season!  

From left - Bill, Paula, Lilia, Dave, Sam, Julie, Mark

The tour left from the Nuevo Vallarta Yacht Club, so we started there with lunch before boarding the 32ft boat for our adventure.  The weather was beautiful for our afternoon departure; calm waters and clear skies!  We can't say enough good things about the tour company, Whale Watch Vallarta!  They don't just send you out in a boat looking for whales with someone who knows the bay, they send you out with a marine biologist who explained the habitat and lifestyle of these magnificent creatures!  Our guide was Lilia and she was awesome!  We spent 3 hours on the bay spotting whales and boating over to them, always respectful of the strict whaling regulations in place in Mexico.  Afternoons tend to be a quieter time for the whales, (the couple days before our tour had no sightings), but we were blessed with several sightings of Humpback whales, the species most often seen in the bay.

We learned the Humpbacks come here from their feeding grounds in California, Canada, Alaska, and some as far as the Arctic for mating and calving.  All the time they're here they don't eat, so prior to coming south, they fill up on krill and small fish (about 1400kgs/day) to fatten them up with enough blubber to survive the winter down here!  We also learned that the same whales are tracked year after year here and elsewhere.  Apparently their markings are as unique as our fingerprints, allowing for this tracking without physically tagging them.  Way cool!

We were very fortunate to see several whales on the Heat Run (multiple males vying for a female) and others just cruising around the bay.  Beautiful displays of spouting, fins and tails were given to us.  None were in the mood to breach (jump out of the water), but we got to see their enormity just the same!  

Toward the end of the trip, the weather was starting to turn and the sightings also diminished.  Lilia brought out a hydro microphone to try and pick up any whales singing....yes, they sing to communicate with one another!  We didn't pick up any sounds, nada!  Lilia said with no songs at all, there was a good chance that meant the Humpbacks were laying low because there were Killer whales nearby.  We did get to hear some previously recorded whale songs, which were so very cool!

Truly an amazing experience, one we will never forget!!  Thank you Mother Nature for these beautiful creatures!

Hasta luego!

Bill y Sam

Meet Gabby.....

When we were planning for this trip we thought having a GPS device just might help.  Yes, we know there are apps and Goggle maps, but none will help you if you don't have connectivity.  Bill researched different GPS devices and decided on the Garmin.  We knew we picked a good one when we were off the beaten path in San Carlos, got twisted around and decided to try the GPS.  We turned it on, put in our destination, and almost instantaneously it said "turn right on Road".

The damn thing knew exactly where we were even without any road names!  We were impressed.  It finds restaurants, banks, gas near by.  It usually knows one way streets (had a little trouble entering La Penita, but in its defense they had changed the entrance into the town).  It continued to impress us time and time again during this trip that we began to affectionately call it Gabby.  We call her Gabby because she can talk a lot especially if you don't follow her directions.   We quickly learned to not rely on her for pronouncing any Spanish words, she really needs some lessons!

As we continue our travels in this beautiful country, it's nice to know we have Gabby along for the ride!  If you're looking for a GPS device, we'd highly recommend the Garmin!

A Day in the Life of Snowbirders in Mexico....

We can't believe it's already January 17th!  We haven't done a very good job of posting our experiences as we're too busy enjoying them and reflecting upon them (ok and just being lazy snowbirders)!  We've spent most of our first 2 weeks in Lo de Marcos exploring the area and absorbing the lifestyle.

Our days usually start slow and easy around 7am with coffee.  Sam is usually up earlier, still struggling with sleep issues (BTW, today is 13 months smoke free!!!!).  Sometimes if we get moving quickly, we'll take a walk on the beach.  Around 9-10am our bellies start to talk and one of us walks down to the market and buys the fixings for Huevos ala Mexicana (eggs, serrano peppers, and tomatoes, we usually have onion in the house) and oranges and other fruit/veg for fresh juice.

While Sam is preparing breakfast, Bill squeezes the oranges and usually adds some spinach, apple, and other stuff to make a blended juice.

Our goal for our life this winter in Mexico is 'no plans, no schedules, no stress', so during breakfast we talk about what we might want to do.  Some days we check out our neighboring towns of Rincon de Guayabitos, La Penita, San Pancho, Los Ayala, enjoying their beaches, food, and shops.  Other days we hang out at our beach.  Some days we just stay home, doing laundry, straightening the house, playing cards or backgammon, walking around our little town getting to know the neighbors and shops.

Playa de Los Ayala

Playa de Lo de Marcos

The last couple days have been spent with Sam's brother, Dave and sister-in-law, Paula...hands down high points of this trip so far (pics to come, we were too damn busy catching up, but we'll be seeing much more of them yet this trip!!

Today will likely be one of those 'stay at home' days as it is cooler and cloudy, with a touch of raindrops.  No laundry today as it wouldn't dry on the line with the weather; glad we haven't run out of clean underwear!  If the bandwidth holds up we just might get a couple more blog posts done today!

The shrimp guy comes today too, so we'll be making Camarones ala Mojo de Ajo (shrimp in garlic butter) tonight.  Most of the shrimp here comes from San Blas (about 2 hours north).  There are a couple shops in town that will open later today with camarones for sale and there's also the guy that drives around in his truck with coolers full of shrimp & fish, on his loud speaker announcing his goods for sale....that's who we buy from.  It surely sounds like a strange way to buy your shrimp, but it beats the hell out of 'previously frozen' shrimp largely found in the states and it's just how they roll down here so we're embracing it!  Oh, and we get a half kilo (about a pound) of beautiful, fresh shrimp for 110 pesos (around $5.50) and we're paying tourist prices!!

The other goal for today (or maybe tomorrow) is to find the library in town (it's tucked away somewhere).  This little Mexican town holds weekly guided meditations at the library on Wednesday and Sam is looking forward to attending!

Well that's it for now as we're getting hungry, so it's time to go to the market for breakfast goodies!

Hasta luego!

Bill y Sam

Beach BBQ ala Mexicana

Saturday, January 7th....beach BBQ day!!  Mirella and Alex came by early in the afternoon and we all figured out what to cook, made a shopping list, and went shopping.  On the menu....

• Guacamole
• Salsa made from roasted veggies
• Frijoles (beans)
• Queso stuffed chiles
• Grilled pineapple
• Carne Asada marinated in pineapple juice
• Tortillas & Tostadas
• Pineapple water, beer & wine

Abraham melted down some manteca (lard) in a pan and heated dried chili pepper in it.  He then fried a few tortillas in it to make wonderfully flavorful tostadas.  The chiles were then ground up in a molcajete for the guacamole.  Can't believe we didn't get a pic of the beautiful guacamole!

Beach BBQ at Playa Los Avenados

The Playa los Avenados is beautiful and we were pretty much the only ones on it.  Beautiful water with the sound of the waves, soft sand, jungle to one side, lava outcroppings on the other, a makeshift palapa area, and good people made this the perfect spot for a beach BBQ.

Getting ready to start the fire

Digging the BBQ pit

The BBQ grill was made by digging a hole in the sand, placing large concrete blocks on the side, filling it with wood, palm fronds, and charcoal brickets (called carbon in Mexico, it's charcoal made from wood, not the stuff we buy in the States), then a grilling grate is placed on top.

Veggies roasting for salsa

We roasted tomatoes (jitomates), chiles, onions (cebollas) that would get mashed together with lime and salt for a simple, rustic salsa that we enjoyed with our Carne Asada.  We also roasted Poblano chiles and when they were fully roasted they were filled with cheese, toothpicked together, and put back on the grill to let the cheese melt...yummy!!

We listened to music, laughed, drank, enjoyed the mota, and Mirella & Sam even sang a chorus of "come on baby light my fire" while sharing a bottle of vino!  Cheba had a blast getting tons of attention, running on the beach, and getting scraps from EVERYONE!!


The most amazing part of this experience is how we managed to work together and enjoy time together, even with language barriers!  Just proves when there's joy and love in the heart, you can overcome any obstacle!!

Hasta luego!

Bill & Sam

Experiencing Lo De Marcos

We've spent our first few days in Lo De Marcos (LDM) settling into the house, exploring some of the restaurants and markets in the town, spending time with Abraham and his friends & cousin, and catching up on laundry.

Preparing for beach BBQ
Abraham, Bill, Alex, Mirella, & Sam

For a little town, there are lots of restaurants, markets, stores, and of course the quintessential town square that is so typical of Mexican towns and villages.  In the morning you'll hear the camarones (shrimp) and propane vendors on their loud speakers driving through town announcing their wares.  Markets are filled with avocado, onions, melons, bananas, plantain, carrots, tomatoes, and chili peppers of all types!

Cobblestone streets weave through the town and down to beautiful beaches that vary from white sand to almost black with lava outcroppings.

Sam also found out the hard way that there are scorpions on some of the beaches at night and they do not like being stepped on!  Ouch!!  We will proceed with caution at night out there from now on!
This little town is known for its RV parks (which we have yet to see) and bungalow communities (what Americans would call studios), and many Canadian snowbirds.  It's truly the kind of town we were hoping for....a great blend of Mexicans and gringos!

Many have asked, "Why did you come to Lo De Marcos?  How did you hear about it?".  When you're traveling in high season, with a dog, and you waited until a month before leaving, you don't get to be too picky, so Lo De Marcos sort of picked us! Bill had found a bungalow for rent and was talking with the local realtor (Galvan Realty) about it and he told us about a full house for rent and that is how we wound up at Casa de Juaregui!  Thank you universe for taking care of us!

Cheba's Thoughts About the Adventure

So my peoples have taken me from Oregon, the only home I've ever known, to this place called Mexico.  They even changed my name on my paperwork to bring me, but it turns out that was unnecessary, seems Cheba isn't a bad word in Mexico after all!  Now that I'm pretty sure they aren't dumping me off somewhere, I'm starting to accept that this could be a cool experience!

Me with Diego from California

I can tell you, I don't like hotels too much.  Lots of noises, no place to be off my leash, and no good place to do my business.  Fortunately, we only had a couple nights in hotels.  I got to meet my cousin (or is he my nephew) Lucky while I was in Arizona.  He's a big Pit Bull and was a little too rough for me until Mom told me to "act like a Doberman and don't let that boy push you around!".  After that, Lucky had to watch out for me!  While in AZ, I got to experience my first dog parks....it was great meeting and playing with other dogs!

Then we went to San Carlos where we stayed at a pretty cool place.  Nice pool to lay by in the sun, comfy bed that I wasn't supposed to be on, but my peoples looooove me!  There was a couple of cool dogs there too, Rizzo (a Portuguese Water dog) and Carmelita (a rescued Mexican street dog).  Unfortunately, Mom didn't take any pictures of us, too busy talking!  In San Carlos we walked on the beach, went to Canon Nakapule, and spent a lot of time together!

Then they packed us up and back in the Jeep I went again until we reached Mazatlan.  I didn't like it too much there.  I had only a small walled patio for outdoor space and I had to be on a leash when at the park.  The first beach my peoples took me too didn't allow me....WTF, that's discrimination!!  But my peoples looooove me and found a beach that I could go on.  We rented an umbrella so we didn't have to be in the sun all the time, I licked ice from my bowl, and had some fish tacos.

Mi amigo, Leo, let's me get right in his face

And I thought I had a big nose!

Then they frikkin packed me up AGAIN, put me in the back of the Jeep AGAIN, and after a short trip we landed in Lo De Marcos.  Here they walked me around the streets for awhile and I was starting to wonder what the heck was going on.  Then we got to this cool house, where there was lots of room for me to explore inside and out!  The owners really like dogs and have two of their own.....Leo and Pixi.  Leo is a HUGE blue Doberman...Mom says we're from the same blood, but I don't know, he's one big dude!!

Sleeping while my peoples eat

Lo De Marcos is really a cool place for dogs.  As long as we behave, we can walk around town off leash, be free on the beach, and some of the restaurants even let me sit with my peoples while they eat... now that's a new experience!

I'm making new friends, having new experiences, truly living a dog's life!!!

On to Lo De Marcos

We're a few days behind on sharing our adventure.  Having too much fun and a rather slow internet makes keeping up with the blog challenging!  Making time to get caught up at least a bit.....

Another day's journey to reach our January home in Lo De Marcos (LDM), Nayarit, Mexico.  We left Mazatlan around 8am to ensure arrival in LDM before dark; no regrets only spending 2 nights in Mazatlan.  Again the scenery on Mexican federal highway 15D did not disappoint!  Those lush farmlands in the state of Sinaloa continued as we began our journey to Lo De Marcos in the state of Nayarit.  More corn, tomatoes, beans and now we're starting to see some blue agave (unfortunately too little and going too fast for pics).  While on the highway we passed through a few typical small towns, but mainly it was scenic driving.

As we enter Nayarit, those farmlands start to change into dense, tropical jungle.  In some sections trees grow across the highway, forming tunnels made of branches and leaves.  The road becomes very curvy and how some of these trucks don't just topple over is beyond us!  Up & down. Curve right, switch left.  Many signs for dangerous curves....tramo de curva peligrosa, and they aren't kidding!!  We took it slow and enjoyed every second of it!!

Before we knew it we were closing in on LDM and it was only 2pm....quick ride!  Oh and we jumped a time zone, time zones are interesting here, so we'll digress for a moment to share....

From best we can gather, time zones in Mexico are assigned by state.  When we were in Sonora and Sinaloa, we were in what the US would consider Mountain Standard Time.  The state of Jalisco, where Puerto Vallarta, Chapala Guadalajara are, is Central time.  Nayarit is the odd one out though as it is split between Mountain & Central, with LDM being the dividing line; north of LDM in Nayarit is Mountain, south is Central.  Why is this the case?  As we heard, many of the tourist that come to towns in Nayarit (Nuevo Vallarta, Bacerias, Punta de Mita, LDM) fly into and out of Puerto Vallarta unaware of the differences in time zone (a particular issue for Nuevo Vallarta as it's right next to Puerto Vallarta).  When all of these towns were on Mountain time, too may tourists were missing flights as they were unaware of the time zone difference, so the Mexican government split the time zone in Nayarit to accommodate its tourists who can't tell time!  Turns out the setting to automatically detect time zones on our technology devices isn't always accurate; laptop had us in Mountain, tablet and phone in Central.  We had to ask our host, Abraham, what time zone we were in!  More about Abraham to come!

The house we're renting wasn't quite ready when we arrived (the owner was working on repairs and updates that fell behind due to the holidays) so we walked around town and had an awesome shrimp lunch for $4 at The 3 Hermanos restaurant and Sweet Pea was able to sit with us while we ate!

Repairs on the house took longer to make and none were fully completed this first day (nothing hampered our use of the house) so Abraham, the owner's son who is responsible for getting the place ready for renters, stayed on in the bungalow on the property to oversee the rest of the work.  Abraham quickly became a valuable source of information and entertainment and before long will be someone we'll call amigo!  Our first night in LDM was spent eating street tacos from the stand right next door and playing backgammon...off to a great start!

Mazatlan Beach Day

Since we only had a day in Mazatlan, what better way to spend it than at the beach?  We had about a 20 minute drive from the house we were renting, so we packed up the cooler and Sweet Pea and off we went.  The first beach we went to had tons of do's and don't and was a "no dogs" beach....really?  In Mexico?  We had spotted another beach earlier, so we went back to that one.  All locals and allowed dogs, that would be our place!

We enjoyed the sun for a while then rented a beach umbrella (for Sweet Pea).  Had some truly lousy tacos from a beach restaurant and after a few hours of sun, we packed it up and went back to the house.  Made mac & cheese, played cards, and called it a visit to Mazatlan.

To be totally honest, we weren't impressed with Mazatlan.  LOTS of people, traffic, and gringo prices!  Not the Mexican experience we're seeking, but glad we can say we stopped.  Think we'll skip this on the return trip.

The Road to Mazatlan

We left for Mazatlan around 6:40am on January 2nd.  This is the longest drive we have planned in Mexico and our goal was to make Mazatlan between 4-5pm, but with Bill at the helm, we made it there around 3pm.

Sonora Desert

The drive from San Carlos to Mazatlan has begun to show us the diverse regions of this beautiful country.  From the deserts of the state of Sonora (where San Carlos is),

 to the bustling cities of Cuidad de Obregon (stinky and busy city) and Culiacan, to the lush farm lands and beautiful beaches of Sinaloa, the drive was anything but boring!  

Corn, Corn, Corn

Beans or Tomatoes...moving too fast

Farm land is by far what we saw the most of....beans, corn, and tomatoes as far as your eyes could see!!  Culiacan, an interesting area....  Let's start by saying our journey did not take us into the city proper, but along its rural outskirts.  This area is known for its tomatoes and as the headquarters of the Sinaloa cartel....bet you didn't know many of the tomatoes in our US grocery stores came from this region!   We understand the city is filled with cultural interests, but we were advised that it's just not in our best interest to stop and visit right now; maybe another trip.

One can't drive on the federal highway in Mexico without mentioning the tolls....they are plentiful!  The roads were in very good condition, except for the construction areas (toll money hard at work).  It also appears the locals have something on top of or in their vehicles, as they get to go right through most toll booths, so glad they get a break, their wages can't afford tolls!

One of MANY tollbooths on MX15D

Dining & Blogging Table

Our Kitchen
making Mac & Cheese tonight

After arriving in Mazatlan, we only had a short wait for our Airbnb host to meet us; FYI, this is our very first Airbnb.com rental.  Our place in Mazatlan is close to the freeway entrance to the city, in a very residential area.  From best we can guess, it's probably a middle-class, family oriented neighborhood; no tourist zone here, in fact we think we're the only non-Hispanics in the neighborhood!

Our not too scenic patio
with beach stuff drying on the line

To those who we can hear asking....yes, we feel perfectly safe and humbled as the minority!  It's a basic home that will meet our needs for a couple of nights, in spite of no coffee pot and a 20 minute, traffic filled drive to the beaches!

Happy trails and positive vibes!

Bill & Sam

Feliz Ano Nuevo from San Carlos

Rosa's Cantina - Chilequiles con Pollo

Spending new year's weekend in San Carlos was a great first stop on our Mexican adventure!  The casita was more than comfortable, the weather was pretty similar to Phoenix, and the food was delish!  From the Chilequiles at Rosa's Cantina for breakfast, to the flavorful, tender steak & shrimp at Delfine's Bar & Grill for new year's eve, finding good food in SC is no problemo!

We had one absolutely gorgeous day, which of course was spent at the beach, as were the not so gorgeous days :)  We just may stop back in San Carlos on our return to enjoy the beaches in warmer weather!

Sweet Pea is doing damn well too!  She's turning out to be a very good traveler and a beach lover, definitely our girl!
We tried leaving her out of her crate, in the yard, while we ran to eat, but that proved to be more than her chewing desires could handle.  Silly Sam left a bag of toilet paper we had just bought out on the chair, which Sweet Pea took upon herself to leave teeth marks in and shreds of toilet paper all around.  Admittedly, it could've been much worse, but it told us she still can't handle being alone without chewing something up!  We have faith that one day we'll break her of that habit.....fingers crossed!

We took a drive to Canon Nakapule (sounds Hawaiian doesn't it??)....for those who notice our Spanish words are missing some grammatical accents, lo siento, can't seem to quickly find how to correct  these with this blogging tool :(

As Bill said when we saw the water after leaving the canyon, if Arizona was by water, this is what it would look like!

Happy trails and positive vibes!

Bill & Sam