Texas is HOT!

We flew back to our home in Texas the 26th of July to begin an oddsey with our children. We left out of Shrevport, La. with 5 members of our family; 3 grown daughters and spouses headed for Barcelona, Spain. We overrnighted in a wonderful old hotel, ate tapas and drank wine until late that night. Next morning, we were joined by Daughter Mary and husband Russ, who flew in from New Hampshire. Toured Barcelona together that morning and then got on the cruise ship for a fabulous 7 day cruise of the Mediterranean coast. We went on the Regent Mariner that took us to Alaska 3 summers ago. What a wonderful, memorable trip. It ended with 3 days in Rome, the Eternal City. It is not called that for nothing. I think it is the single most beautiful city in the world. We have done a lot of traveling in our time, but this city is fascinating because of it's history! The ruins are unbelievable as they come to life listening to the guides tell their stories. The walls seem to breathe their ancient breath as you picture what happened in the old Colliseum, or the terraces of the Hill where Nero's palace once stood. The Vatican was built from the marble taken from the ancient ones and all their treasures lie inside. Michalengelo's Cathedral is breathtaking. Almost too much to behold. We were all enthralled that we were actually standing and walking in the footsteps of the Caesars.
Now we are back home and trying to slip back into some symblance of normalcy. My heart yearns for Mexico and the cool of the Caribbean waters and it's quiet and peace. We cannot return until mid September. For now, we rest.

Texas in May

We made the last flight in the BBB this month, leaving PaaMul on the 6th of May to head back to Texas. Such a loooong trip!! Since we now have our casita built under the palapa, we no longer need to keep the bus down south. She will be stored and waiting on us at our former home, now our daughter's home. So now, we will just fly back and forth to Cancun and it will be a short bus trip back to PM.

So far, we have stayed out at our own local lake, Wright Patman Lake. It is a corp of Engineer lake and the camp grounds are so pretty. Lots of deer and wildlife and the birds are everywhere. Lots of migrants are still around, like summer tanangers and goldfinches in transition plumage. Pete is driving into his office every day so I can enjoy time here. We saw one of our granddaughters graduate from high school last Sat. and another graduates here tomorrow (Friday). They are so lovely and we are so very proud of them. Both honor graduates and going off to college in the fall with great scholarships.
We will be returning to Paradise June 10th. We are so ready. It is great to see the family but they have their own lives and we have ours. Cindy and Diana are flying down with us to help us furnish our little place. Really, they are just needing a break and we love to have them come down.

April Tour

While Pete flew back to Texas for business meetings, my sister, Pauline, came to visit! since they are in the middle of building our casita under the palapa, we decided to leave town and do some exploring around the Yucatan. We left Paamul and headed for the little mayan village of Santa Elena and the Flycatcher Inn. The roads were good but it took about 5 hours to finally get there. Beautiful hacienda with old growth trees and bouganvillas everywhere. Fountains and shade..did I mention Hot? I think it was about 95 degrees when we got there. The next day we toured in the vicinity of all the little villages and they were beautiful with the biggest old Spanish churches imaginable. Lots of history revealed here. Entered the Caves of Lotun (rock flower) where the mayans hid to escape the enslavement of the Spaniards in the 50 year caste wars. Saw the beautiful mot-mots that love to nest around the cave entrances.
After coffee on the veranda of the Inn, we retired to sit on the porch and listen to the night sounds and enjoy the cool of the evening. Restful sleep and awoke early for another lovely breakfast at the Inn. Then packed up and headed to Uxmal. What a beautiful jewel of a place. We had a most informative guide named Jorgemish whom we had met the previous day. He is self taught and speaks 5 languages and knows all the history and date of this historic place. It is about 85% restored and is one of Mexico's most treasured sites...ove 2500 years old. One of the sayings is that this ruin could be the poem of Mexico in it's beauty.
Reluctantly, we left Uxmal and headed for the coast and the port village of Rio Legartos. We managed to get a hotel room even though the whole town was full with political rivals driving around with parades and loug speakers. also it was the last night of Semana Santa and the place was booming. We took a panga boat out the next morning with a young man named Juan Luis who took us on a neat birding tour. Saw the orange, not pink, flamingos out near the salt works. Several boats of local fishermen bringing in the sea trout with their hand lines. Saw the herons, storks, tiger herons, ospreys, numberous gulls and shore birds. Left town about noon and drove on to Valladolid. Stayed at the beautiful, old Mansion de la Marque right on the square opposite the church. Once again, HOT. By this time, we were both tired so we cut our walking short and retired early to watch movies and rest in cool A/C. We drove on back to Paamul the next day and it began to rain and has not stopped since! Streets are flooded, the new casa is flooded. Stay inside the coach where it is cool but dry.

Spring Break 2010

Blustery days and cool nights continue here in Paradise. Our daughters, Cindy and Sue came in with 4 grandchildren. Had a great week doing fun things. No frantic running around this time, just beach time, palapa time, and occasional jaunts out of the park. We took the kids to the circus in Playa. What a hoot that was! Right out of the 40s in some areas and then male burlesque in others! Great animal trainer and some good performers. Lots of silliness. It looked like the whole town was waiting in line when we came out of the big top tent.
Trip to the beautiful beach at XpuHa was a good afternoon, tacos at Taco Paco and then swimming at Cenote Azul...what a great day! Akumal was too cloudy for good snorkeling so we did not get to swim with the turtles this time.
The work continues on our Palapa Casa. It is progressing amazingly fast. Papa is ramrodding the venture and he cuts no slack so they are coming along like gangbusters. It is gonna be so pretty! Should be finished by the end of April for sure. Way before we imagined it would be. The Canadians are just about all gone from the park now. Before long, it will be so quiet with only us die hards left. The fishing should improve by mid April and the winds calm down. The mahi mahi should be running by then. Yea! Life continues to be good down in this 3rd world country!!

March already

Here it is the 1st of March and it is still windy and pretty cool. This has been an unusually cold and wet winter. In between we have sunshine and some lovely days. The park is full with lots of winter Canadians that cheered on the Olympians with gusto! The days are filled with lots of book readings, good visits with family and friends. Our girls have each taken time to fly down and spend a few days with us, bringing husbands and grandchildren.
We finally got our FM3's registered in Q. Roo and Playa del Carmen. What an ordeal! Never saw such a beaucracy and useless paperwork! We are now attempting to get our CURP and IMAPAN cards which allow us a senior discount and even more identification as living in PaaMul and Mexico. We are hoping that when it comes time to renew, all this work will make it easier. LOL.
Mrs. Aguti has a new baby! Precious little piglet that I saw this morning for the first time. She wouldn't let him come out of the forest so he kept in the background while she came out to eat.
We are hoping to start on our "boxito casita" or permanent casita under the palapa soon. We don't want to leave our Motorhome here any longer than possible as the corrosion and salt makes the wear and tear really bad. So..we are building a little house underneath. Basically the same size as the MH but a little shorter. Several palapaowners have already built permanent structures and love them. This way, we can fly back and forth and even have the family fly down when we are not here. Best of both worlds.
Still painting on the wall mural. Ongoing labor of love. Still hunting for the art store in Cancun. We go back this Wed and have better directions this time! Every trip is a challenge. Life is good.

Once in a blue Moon

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We took advantage of that Old blue Moon for a delightful way to celebrate the New Year....a Catamaran twilight cruise on the Acamaya out of Puerto Aventuras. Most of the guests were Paamulians and a few of the younger set from the hotels. Everybody had a good time and the lobster and steak was delicious.
The weather has been really lovely. It has been so cool at night that we have not used the A/C in a few days. In the evening you need long pants and perhaps a coverup. I finally dragged out my paint case and started doing the mural on the back wall. I had to change walls and design because of another project we may undertake this summer. It was so good to dig out those paints again. have not painted in about 4 years. Hard to believe. I hated to quit.
Got to make a trip into Home Depot in Cancun tomorrow. Pop has a list! Got to get that bedroom screened before the girls come in mid month. We just had our first guests come in for about 5 days. Sure hope they enjoyed it here.
Our running battle with the marauding raccoons continues. I now have to tie the kitchen cabinet door that holds the trash...they learned how to open that door. I am finding muddy pawprints every morning.
The Saga continiues here in Paradise.

The Palapa Party

We were part of a Holiday Open Palapa Party with neighbors on either side of us. Must of had over 100 Paamulians come by and bring food and libation. Wonderful evening! We really have a truly eclectic, intelligent, warm group of people here in our part of the world. Close to midnight before the last guests went home. We have been asked several times if this is to be a yearly event. Time will tell. We tried to plan it before most of everyone's guests arrived for the Christmas holidays. Lots of friends and family coming and going this year.
Having a problem with the coons raiding the kitchens at night and sometimes in broad daylight. Sorry rascals. We tried to feed them our vegetable scraps and they don't know when to quit! No more scraps! The orioles are feeding on the berries in the back jungle garden. The blue morph butterflies have emerged and are everywhere! On the road to Yanten, they flutter so quickly I have yet to photograph one. They are still taking core samples at Yanten for some hotel org. Don't know what is going on...lots of tongues wagging..just hope it goes away. That is one inhospitable looking area. I feel it should be left alone...but what do I know.
Pop was one of several guys that helped drag Cecil's big boat back off the beach where it landed after it's bow rope broke. Took some manpower to drag that thing out into the southside bay. But they finally got it tied off and secure, I hope. Cec and Bill worked all day long trying to get all it's parts sorted out and attached. The mast is up. He hopes to have it ready to sail soon. Now comes the hard part...learning to sail that thing. I certainly give him E for effort.
We are looking forward to being part of the Park's generous gifts to the community here. Most of the donations start this Friday with a trip to Champon to the school. I can just imagine how the children must look forward to this time of year and the Gringo's Christmas gifts.