On the Road Again!

Well, another crazy week, only this time back in Canada.  Vic and I flew into Kalispell, Montana on Sunday, April 21^st, and were whisked away by a gentleman (Terry) waiting for us from the Best Western Lodge in Whitefish, Montana.  Service was quick, friendly and the hotel was super.  Outdoor heated pool and hot tub, terrific free breakfast, lovely and clean room.  We made the booking through hotwire.com and all this was for less than $100.

Our wonderful friend Murray (of Murray and Germaine) picked us up on Monday morning, and brought us home to Cranbrook.  It had been a while since we’d gotten together, so we were very pleased to spend the 2 hour drive and lunch at Café Jack’s in Eureka, Montana (yummy), catching up on news.  The  things Murray will do for fish tacos and a highway drive!

In Cranbrook we stayed with our new friends, Rana and Shazia and their kids Saad and Huda for the week, as guests in our own home.  What a wonderful experience.   They spoiled us rotten, feeding us some amazing traditional feast meals, and treating us like a king and queen.  With a million things to get accomplished, it was all made possible through their wonderful hospitality.

 

 

It was fun on the couple of occasions that we found a little time to take them to some of our favourite venues.  When we headed up to the Cranbrook Community Forest on a walk in the woods, and then an introduction to the trailhead for the rails to trails (a 25km long paved trail between Cranbrook and Kimberley – no we didn’t make them do it all!), it was great to see these venues through the eyes of people who had never been there, or likely anywhere like it before.

 

 

We even got to show them lots of deer, some that even posed for the picture!

 

 

And we got to enjoy such local beauties as the Rocky Mountains and Fisher Peak, as well as an amazing full moon.

 

 

Managing to wrap up all our work, as well as catch up quickly with some of our wonderful Canadian friends (Glad we caught you Colleen before you ventured off again!) and (thanks Jo and Dave for a wonderful supper and for making a free evening to spend with us), and getting to meet Olivia, Shannon's new baby girl

 

 

here we are on the road again, heading towards Seattle, Washington to visit our favourite son (okay, so we only have one, but he’s a very special one!), and pick up my parents to bring them home to Vernon on Monday.  The weather is amazing with gorgeous sunshine and it’s about 18 – 20 degrees.

 

 We had the pleasure (and pain), of stealing our puppy (10 year old puppy) P.J. back from her wonderful adoptive parents Shirley and Willard.  It was very obvious that P.J. had been very comfortable and well loved by her extra family, and tears were shed by all as we seconded her away.  After 3 months away she still remembered us, and it was a heart wrenching reunion.  Willard had even built her an adorable toy box, which they had obviously very lovingly filled with many favourite old and new toys.



 



So, almost there now, we’ll enjoy some time with our boy, my parents, and our puppy and keep you apprised of our next adventure.

Have a great sunny day! 

Final days of early construction - before and after shots

April 2013

Well, we're on our way home, and the house is as ready as it will be until we get back to our home away from home.

It's been very exciting watching the changes in the front and back yards, and seeing how much progress was made in a relatively short period of time with a good crew.

Where there was once sand...

 

 now there's a clean, finished surface, new clean walls, new step around the pool, a bathroom in the making, and even two flower gardens with plants sewn for the future, (including a lime and orange tree) :-)

Where once there was a chopped up front driveway...

 

 

 

And the guys worked hard both day,

 

and night, to finish the pour for the driveway.  Remember, the concrete is all mixed by hand, there are no machines.  Shovels and plastic pails are the tools at hand, with a second skim coat on top for finishing (with a broom for the wavy design)

 

Now there's a resurfaced driveway and two new planters ready for fall, and nice clean looking walls with lights too!

And while we're not sure we'd say the inside is looking better yet, it is prepped for the three layers of finishing concrete, and the complete refacing when we return to Progreso.  The interior has a new zebra striped look after chipping off the old paint to prepare the binding surface for the new concrete coats.  All the ceilings and walls have been chipped and prepped.

So, we've come a long way since we took possession of our new house on April 3rd, and we're excited for the next stages of our project.  More this Fall!

And you can best see by night how the lights have been added (to both front and back walls) to provide a lovely ambience in our new back and front yards.

 And we had fun getting to know our crew.  We even held a celebration lunch in our back yard on what was supposed to be the last day of work (okay, so they were a little over time, but not by much, and still in plenty of time to clean up and get organized for our return to Canada!)

Pepe, our 70+ electrician, Eduardo, the amazing concrete guy,and Candelario, working hard sore toe and all.

From left:  Xaviero, electrician; Eliasar - metal fabricator - maker of bodega door you see on left; Jose, head plumber/electrician, and Juan, head albanil.  Enjoying the pizza lunch we supplied from Super Pizza, as well as several homemade desserts by yours truly. :-)



 

 And Manuel, a special favourite, a hard working fellow who was, as Vic calls it, the best barometer of the whole group.  He used as many English words as he could any time we were there! 

 

 

 

 

 

Felipe, a gardener, and his wife Nary and one of his 8 children (William) dropped by to sell and plant a few flowers and trees for us,

 

and now Sachi, our friend from around the corner, will take over watering and keeping an eye on the yard for us while we're away.

 

More house updates will follow come October!

 

Have a great day!  Hugs from Denver (on our way home)!

Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico - our little town!

If you haven't been to Progreso, it's a little hard to describe, but it's very special!  The weather is gorgeous, the people are friendly, and you'll feel safe anywhere you go!  I think my most apt description would likely be to think of it as going back in time about 40 years, with almost all of the modern conveniences.  You'll never know what you'll see.

 

 

 

 

 Horse drawn carriage in Progreso - the fellow actually backed up to let us take a better picture!

 

Cold beer stores on almost every corner

 

Friends dropping by on horseback (Camilo - young electrician)

 

Iguana at the grocery store -  Vic calls them the local gopher or squirrel

 

Pinata store

 

Travelling salespeople

 

In the winter months Progreso's population is about 20,000, but come Semana Santa and Easter week (2 weeks of special family time holidays), the city's waterfront population swells immensely with the wealthy Meridanos, as they relax at their beautiful holiday homes.

But also in these months when it is cold and *snowy* - (oops, forgive me for using that 4 letter word!) up north, you'll find a large expat and snowbird population living here as well.

With the Cruise Ships dropping in twice a week, the souvenier markets expand to cater to the needs of the tourists. The regular every day markets open early. What time? No idea....(we've never gotten there early enough to know but we would suggest after 7) until 12 or 1 everything is open, but some shops begin closing after 12 and by after 1 the main market will be half closed. Fresh flowers, chickens, pescado frito, hardware stores etc. After that just tour calle 78 and 80 to find what you need.

If driving in Progreso the streets are mostly one way, especially in the downtown area. So be careful.  Generally we travel by bus, having found that the buses are extremely easy to use, very inexpensive, and it's a great way to get around just about anywhere.

The 3 main grocery stores are Bodega (Walmart), and Soriana Express located near the hwy entrance in to Progreso, and San Fransisco located on calle 80 in the centro (downtown), and they're lots of fun to visit and explore, and provide excellent food at amazing prices! We've left with full loads of groceries including wine, rum or beer, and come up with a bill of less than $50! I'm not looking forward to shopping at home again soon. 

Getting around Progreso is very easy, and we have spent much of our time here using just the local transit system, which is fast, efficient, and very inexpensive.  The local bus can be caught anywhere along calle (street) 27 or 29.  Calle 27's buses head east, and Calle 29's west.  Stand on the side of the street and hold up a hand if you see a white volkswagen type of van, or the city bus, and you'll get picked up.  It will cost you about 5.5 pesos (about 50cents), and this will get you into either Progreso (heading west from where we live), or Chicxulub (pronounced sheek shoe lube) (to the east of us).  You'll want to get off at either "la ultima parada" - the last stop before downtown, which is about calle 76, or at the end of the line (they are not supposed to stop downtown to avoid traffic jams), which is calle 82.  Buses and colectivos (the little vans) generally go by every 3 to 6 minutes, so you're rarely waiting for very long.

 

colectivo - also a popular and easy to catch mode of transportation

 

local bus

 

a local bus

 

Calle 29 sign - a corner downtown

If you want to head into Merida, where there is any number of types of entertainment, the ADO, the amazing first class buses they use for highway travel, will get you there and back for 29 pesos a person.  Very comfortable, much more efficient than driving yourself, and air conditioned.  You may even want a little sweater depending on the day.

Progreso has lots to offer itself, in addition to the Gulf and the long sandy beaches, including a very long boardwalk that will take you for several miles, from the east, right under the huge pier, to about 3km west of it. 

With the Cruise Ships dropping twice a week, the souvenier markets expand to cater to the needs of the tourists. The regular every day markets open early. What time? No idea....(we've never gotten there early enough to know but we would suggest after 7) until 12 or 1 everything is open, but some shops begin closing after 12 and by after 1 the main market will be half closed. Fresh flowers, chickens, pescado frito, hardware stores etc. After that just tour calle 78 and 80 to find what you need.

If driving in Progreso the streets are mostly one way, especially in the downtown area. So be careful. Mopeds will pass you on either side so if you're turning do not do so suddenly! It is normal especially to be passed on the right side at high speed, so look before you turn especially if you turn at the last second.

Driving is an anticipatory sport. Everyone anticipates what the others will do. Turn signals are optional except if you are a rookie at driving here or if there is a policia near by. Any excuse to ticket you may result in a small fee needing to be paid. On a two lane street do not get frustrated as whomever is up front sets the lanes. Anyone who honks is just letting you know they are there. Honking is not considered agressive like in North America.

Be prepared for drivers who stop to let people in or out of their cars and block a lane or the entire street. Of course there is no urgency to get everyone in or out of the car, just be patient. Remember, we are on Mexican time here. :)

You can also venture out from Progreso to so many different and amazing places, but I'll leave that for a further post!

Have a great day!

Hugs from Mexico