Tonight's Sunset

Tres Fotos

It’s December 9 and it is 89 degrees in Melaque.  The breeze coming off the bay provides a cooling effect that makes everything very comfortable.  As long as you stay out of the direct sun, you remain the perfect comfort level throughout the day.   This in its self is one reason we come down to this area.   You can’t beat the climate this time of year.

Linda loves Bigote's!

Our daily routine has been established and Linda is just now getting unwound from the stress of teaching.  I could never explain how hard she works to be a good teacher.  The wages she takes home are almost an insult for the time she spends teaching others children.  Maybe if Lindas’ students’ parents would do as much parenting as Linda does for her students, then our next generations might turn out better.
  

Getting prepared for her substitutes, while dealing with some very intense drug related student issues, about did her in recently. (Yes she teaches 5^th grade.)  Then on the day we left town, I had to explain that there had been a mass killing in an elementary school back east. She cried every time we saw any news coverage all the way down to our destination. 

That is all over now.  We don’t get any reports because we don’t ever turn on the TV.  I check Face Book daily, but that is the extent of our news intake.  We relax, eat street tacos, visit Bigotes and walk around the square

Sunset on our beautiful house maiden.

Wednesday was market day in Melaque.  It was the same as last year, maybe a little bigger, more junk but fewer tourists.  The vendors looked a bit hungrier and seemed to be a bit less exuberant then previous years. That is probably due to the slow tourist season.  We are seeing that the lack of visitors is affecting everyone down in this region.
 

Linda bought a bracelet while we were shopping but I held off purchasing anything.  It is still a bit overwhelming to me to have to deal with the language and the currency.  Linda laughs because I basically freeze up the second anyone starts talking to me in Spanish.  I guess I’ll just always be the gringo with the helpless look in his eye.

We have started our quest to figure out what we are going to do next year when we travel down here in our camper for an extended stay.  Linda really wants to keep the house, at least for a while, when we are down here.  I think it would be so cool to get a bunch of friends down with us to share the house. I would love to have some Mexico virgins to show this place to.  It is something you can’t really explain and you will probably never understand until you have the full experience.

From our bike ride around Melaque.

We checked out one of the newer RV parks that is about four blocks from here.  It was nice and it definitely had some openings available.  There were three sites full and about 20 empty.  It is an option, but was a bit spendy if you asked me.

I guess we will keep all options open and keep doing our research.  Something will come up, we have a hole year!   I guess this might be our theme for this trip, hope you don’t get tired of it! LOL

Boating The Big Lake

Darren, Marcy and Linda at Lake View Idaho.

Pano view of the mouth of the Clarkfork River.

Love the yellows!

Goats on the South cliffs of Lake Pend Oreille.

Grande Ronde OP Staff Trip

Linda, Holly, Trina and Erin relax on the bank.

First night's camp, before the storm.

Tents down breakfast up, good times!

The Luchador and the Senora.

Fiesta party goers on Fiesta Island.

Packed and ready to roll.

I Admit It, What A Kick!

About a week ago I received a letter from the North Idaho College Alumni Association.  I opened it and quickly read through the paragraphs.  Much to my surprise the letter was sent to inform me that I had been selected as the NIC Alumnus of The Year!  I was flattered and ran directly to Linda to show her the good news.  In the letter it invited Linda and I to help celebrate the 4^th of July by riding in a convertible car in the 4^th of July parade. 

  

Our usual 4^th consists of staying out of the crowds and basically keeping our heads down. Kobi is not a fan of this holiday and because of his strange aversion to anything that makes noise: Whistling Pete’s, M80’s, firecrackers, doors slamming, broom handles hitting the floor, paper falling off the chair or practically anything that makes an unexpected movement. Yes he is a bit jumpy therefore we tend to stay home.

I looked at Linda and we both said “why not”, it’s an incredible honor and maybe it will be fun too.

On Monday we got an email with all the information concerning our participation.  By this time I was a little less anxious to participate but by then we were committed.  I kept thinking “What if people don’t say anything or even boo me.”  I sort of get carried away when I think about things sometimes.

The morning of the 4^th Linda and I drove down to the parade staging area and met up with all the crew from NIC.  Our ride hadn’t arrived so we mingled with Mike, Julia and Rayelle Anderson and met a bunch of new people including the new NIC President and his wife.  Time ticked away and more and more participants showed up.  Finally around the corner east of us came the most beautiful 1954 Buick Skylark Convertible.  Both Linda and I simultaneously asked “Is that what we are riding in?” and of course the answer was yes.

Our transport pulled up to the curb and we met the driver.  Linda and I talked with Mike about the car and we found out that we had a lot in common.  Mike was a life guard at the city beach prior to when Linda and I worked there.  He was also a local, so we knew many of the same people.  It was fun figuring out the connections.

 We loaded into the car and when our time came we launched into the flow of the event.  Sherman Avenue was packed with people shoulder to shoulder.  As we idled down the street people on both sides that we knew yelled our names.  Linda had kids and parents shouting “Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. Bennett”, and if we weren’t hearing that we were hearing a mix of “Deano”, “Deaner”, “Dean”, “hay Bennett”.  It was a blast, much more fun than we expected.  We both thought it was one of the greatest things that we have done in a long time.

Funny thing was that when we passed the numerous bars along the route, we heard mostly my name.  It would seem that most of the folks I know hang out in bars.  When we passed the Eagles there was a loud chorus “Dean”.  It sort of shows you a little glimpse of my sorted past.  Odd, I am not a member of the Eagles.

Bloomsday 2012

Up Cemetery Hill with all our friends!

Doomsday Hill in the background.

Linda walked with me instead of running this year.

Boston

More to come.

The Colima Trip

The Farmers Market in Colima.

On the streets of Colima, A Poncho!

Nogueras Ecological Park & Museum.

Garden view near the sugar production area.

A beautiful view!

Looking back up from the beautiful view.

Pottery and brick used to build the walls.

Interesting use of materials.

Note the buttress and the various repairs to the wall.

Linda, Bill and agave.  Ouch!

Ahhh, coffee!

Lunch at the end of the trip.

Jardin in Comala.