Northern Meeting of Southern Friends

Our Site at Lake Wenatchee.

Melaque, Mexico is a small farming/fishing community south of PV and north of Manzanillo. This town has been our winter retreat for 25 years. We started spending 2 weeks over Christmas vacation. The stays were extended to over three months after our retirement. Many posts to this blog took place in this quaint little hideaway.

Traveling south also allowed us to meet many people we now consider friends. We are part of their lives while in Melaque, but when winter passes we go our separate ways until the next migration south. 

Lake Wenatchee views.

Over the past spring one of our friends put together a gathering for all the folks connected by this winter community.  Annie and Mac invited anyone who wanted to join the gathering, to meet at their farm in Ferndale WA, for three days of food and fun. All they had to do was show up with their tent or RV and they were welcome to join the fun and get reacquainted with all their winter friends.

To join the group Linda and I loaded up the camper and made our way west on I-90 to George, WA where we then took Highway 28 northwest through Wenatchee, Leavenworth, and on to Lake Wenatchee State Park where we stayed the night. The drive was good and we only had traffic coming into Leavenworth which made our day very nice.

Once we were all set up for the evening, we walked some trails and enjoyed a nice dinner. We were tired so we went to bed just after sundown.

Our drive the next day took us over Stevens Pass on Highway 2 dropping down to follow the  Skykonish River. The smaller highway was narrow and very curvy. We took our time and only had one seat-grabbing moment. We connected with I5 North at Everett and proceeded to our destination in Ferndale.

When we arrived at the farm, Mac pointed us around the back of the old barn and we found a spot to level the camper and settle in for our visit.

Over the next few days, the group of Melaque friends grew. At one point I estimated our group of people who got to know one another via Melaque to be about 35. With friends and families the total was over fifty guests.

Everyone mingled around the farm setting and found out what was happening in each other's lives beyond Mexico.  Food was in abundance and the entire group explored culinary delights at each meal. Annmarie and Mack were wonderful hosts. None of this would have happened without their hard work.

The Melaque Mob!

Wednesday morning Linda and I quietly packed up, said goodbyes and headed down the road.  We had a couple state parks in mind for our night stay, but no reservations. The drive was all freeway. We hit some traffic slowdowns but in most respects, it was an easy drive. At 2:30 PM we drove into Wanapum Dam State Park where we spent the final night of our adventure.

Annie and Mac's home.

The next morning we got up and drove the rest of the way home. We did have a minor problem at one of the final rest areas we stopped at. Our passenger side window rolled down but refused to roll back up into the closed position. Linda was forced to ride with the window open which was a bit noisy, but she was comfortable with the wind blowing on her the final miles home.

PS  As Linda and I greeted the numerous Melaque friends, the folks with RVs were very interested in our truck and camper.  They inquired about our travels and asked how many times we used the camper.  I looked back in the blog and found that I have documented taking 335 trips in our rig. A trip can be overnight, or multiple nights. These numbers come from the posts I make in the blog only. They don't represent the number of nights we have stayed in the camper. I thought this was a fun little fact to share.

Wanapum Dam State Park.

Living Onward

Our guests, the Andersons, left Melaque on Saturday. We were very sad to see them go. We had been having so much fun with them, but good times have to end. They had arranged a taxi but the driver they had spoken to did not show up and we had to call in a backup at the very last minute. This taxi mishap has never happened to us, they are usually very dependable. Looks like "Eddy" won't be getting our business in the future.  Their flight departed the Manzanillo airport a bit late, which unfortunately caused them to miss their flight from LA to Seattle, so they had to stay the night in LA.  The following day, they boarded an early flight to Boise, ID, and then to Spokane. They were a bit tired but got home on Sunday around noon.

John, Loretta, Beth, and Linda on the beach.

Next, Linda and I had until Monday before Beth arrived. Our plan was to organize our stuff and do some shopping.  We also planned to get re-acquainted with the town.  As we walked about, we met people we have known from prior stays and it was fun to chat and say hello.

On Sunday Iris, our friend from Edison, WA, texted and we went to lunch at one of our favorite spots, Rosa's.  We walked and talked and got a bit caught up. At Rosa's, we were unexpectedly joined by some other good friends AnneMarie and Mac from the North Seattle area. We all enjoyed a great lunch and did some catching up.

Three amigas!

Beth arrived without any problems. She settled into the bedroom on the right. She will be staying for about ten weeks and will be working via the internet the entire time she is here. It's great to have her here. We haven't seen her in person for quite a while.

Three days after Beth arrived, our third guests made their way to our doorstep. John and Loretta Sutherland flew from their winter hideaway in Baja to the airport in Manzanillo and took a taxi up for a five-day visit. They settled into the bedroom on the left for their stay. After their visit here, they traveled to Morelia to view the monarch butterfly migration and explore some different regions of Mexico.

With the Sutherlands and Beth settled in, we wandered around Melaque, eating at the local restaurants and visiting. One day we all went over to Barra, while Beth stayed home and worked (she works eight hours each day online). We visited Jon Karpenko and his girlfriend, Cheri at Jon's new house. It's located in the barrio of Barra and he is working to make it his southern retreat.

Big surf on the beach in Barra.

We enjoyed our visit with John and Loretta very much, but they had to move on around the 18th of January. 

Linda and I have been settling into the rhythm of Melaque.  The little town is growing, construction is booming, gringos are plentiful and there seems to be a quickening in the pace of life in this small town.

Many remembered restaurants have closed but others have opened and are busy. The bigger stores where we shop for our necessities are the same, but the little bodegas have been replaced by Oxxos.

We received an email from David and Rebecca Kilmer inviting us to Barra to see their very nice casa.  We rode the bus over and enjoyed the sunset from their palapa. We all went out to dinner and enjoyed street tacos in the heart of Barra.

Three days later the Kilmers drove over to Melaque and we reciprocated by showing them our casa followed by a walk to Pedro,s for street tacos. It was a great night and we really enjoyed their visit. 

On January 27th, Hal and Jennie Shoener drove over from Manzanillo for a three-night stay. Because of travel issues, we hadn't been able to see them while we were in Manzanillo.  While they were here, we walked daily, saw some great sunsets, took a lot of pictures, and ate at some great places. We often worry about the friends that visit us. We don't want them to be bored, but Melaque is a quiet place to live and that's what we do here. Things to do here are pretty simple: play a game, read a book, chat with friends, swim, play volleyball, walk/run... Nightlife consists of late dinners and hanging in the centro watching the families walk around or watching a Zags game or football on TV. Cancun or Puerto Vallarta it is not.

John, on Mexico time.

At this time we have a break from hosting visitors. Our plans are to lay low and rest up. We will play, live, and enjoy this little town.

Loretta, John Linda and Beth on the sea wall.

The main street in Barra.

Hal and Jennie. Drinks with friends!

Linda's latest heart purchase.

unset in  Melaque.

We finished a very cool Puzzle.

Sunrise over Melaque Bay.

Changes at the Banana Plantation

A restaurant here in Melaque called The Red Lobster, provides a day trip out to their banana plantation for the low price of 500 pesos per person. Included in the price, you receive a breakfast meal, transportation on a bus to the plantation, beer and soft drink beverages, a day in the water pools and a great dinner of BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken or baked fish. We have participated in this event for the past three years and have enjoyed ourselves each time.

This year they had added a second pool and provided more shade areas. It is a very fun and relaxing day. Follow this link to one of the other posts for comparison photos.

Pre Trip Trip

Doughnuts, driving food!

Linda’s parents needed her to attend a doctor's appointment with them on Wednesday which went late so we left town at 7:00 AM on Thursday. 


We drove to Edison, WA via highway I-90 and 405 to  I-5. This was a very quick and uneventful drive, taking only 6 hours. Our plans today were to visit friends and attend a birthday party for Maggie Collinge who is turning 70. We stayed with John and Liz Degloria and were so grateful for their wonderful hospitality



We arrived in Edison and immediately started getting into the party spirit by helping Iris, the event host and one of our very favorite people, with the final food and party preparations. Iris's house is about three blocks from the Edison Granary where the party was set to take place. We prepped food, gathered ice and moved items over to the party site. It was good to catch up with the happenings in Edison and Iris's life.
We walked to John's business, Slough Foods, and picked up the house keys so we could drop our bags off. What a cool store/restaurant he owns! It's filled with wine, cheeses, and all kinds of delicious things. We picked up ice and some other little items while we were there and then went back to watch the party unfold.

Larry doing oysters with Maggie's brother Bob.

People started arriving shortly after all the food and decorations were in place. Most of the folks attending were people we have gotten to know from our travels to Mexico. It was great to see everyone and touch base with them. We laughed about how different they all looked. Everyone was dressed up which is not the everyday look of Melaque. It was a fun gathering with good friends, great food, and good music.

The party wound down by about 9:30 PM and we helped clean up before retiring to John and Liz's place. We both showered and went to bed as soon as we could. It was so nice to get to talk to John and Liz. We wish we could have more time together with all our wonderful Edison friends.

John and Iris, our hosts and wonderful friends.

The birthday girl Maggie and Linda.

Friday, Friday, Friday!

Linda, Sarah, and Iris, goofing in the back of the van.

High tides at Pedro's.

Iris and Sarah contemplate that first margarita.

It's all about the mix.

From left: Sarah, Linda, Jill, Liz, Iris and John.
Background: Maggie, Claudia, and Barry