Monday night

Today I walked a few kilometres on the beach. My thigh muscles still feel it!

Caro did her usual exercises on the veranda/terrace.

We spent a quiet afternoon reading/internet/pool time etc until a supper of "clean out the fridge".

We had a game of crib after supper

Just before our second game was to start Darlene came up (she is staying on the ground floor below us) so we chatted for about an hour.  She has had a very interesting life and I think she was a hippy in her younger days (she is getting closer to 70 years old now so the timeline fits).

Another couple that stayed here for a few days left, and I wish I had been able to chat with them a bit more. They are in their early 70's and live on a sailboat which is presently in the port of Homer, Alaska. According to Darlene this other couple started sailing when their kids were 10 and 12 years old and took three years to sail from Boston to New Zealand! They have had a couple of boats in their time with the latest being a 37 foot monohull.

Great to see all the grand kids today (on Facetime and a  photo).

Sunday night

 We spent most of the day doing.....absolutely nothing!!

We did our respective exercises and then relaxed

This is how Caro relaxed;

And this is how I relaxed;

We had leftovers from yesterday's restaurant visit for supper and as I write this I am watching my second NFL playoff game of the day and there is ANOTHER gorgeous sunset occurring.

Queso Fondido

 We had the cleaning lady come today so when she got here at 3 P.M. we left her to do her work and we grabbed a cab to the area near Soriano's.

Caro wanted to stop at a taco place with great reviews. It is called Tacos La Sonrisa and to look at it you wouldn't think much of it. They cooked on a portable stand outside on the sidewalk, the chairs and tables were old Pepsi fold up types and did not look classy at all.

Having said that though, the food was phenomenal.We had a cold beer each; we shared queso fondido, a large taco filled with steak and cheese as well as a smaller taco. It was way too much for us so we ended up bringing enough home for another meal.

Even with a huge tip our total cost was only $25. What a bargain!

After our early supper we walked a couple of blocks to Soriano's where we purchased a few items. Outside in the Soriano's parking lot was a tented area with small shops selling food and things from the State of Oaxaca. We picked up some more items (including a small bag of caramel covered nuts which certainly didn't last long once we got home).

And because I just can't stop taking photos of the amazing sunsets, here are tonight's sunset photos taken ten minutes ago at 6:45 P.M.

Very Quiet Day

 We did very little today. I did a bit of a beach walk (very good exercise on my thigh muscles as the beach is a soft one) while Caro made it to the pool.

We did a "Coca-Cola" run to Oxxo. An interesting thing about Coke here in Mexico. There are numerous sizes of "original coke" containers (much more than at home) however the Mexican equivalent of Coke Zero seems to available in only 2.5 litre bottles and is not nearly as prevalent as the original.

We are seeing more and more people showing up to do short term rentals here. I believe all five units are being rented for tonight. The last one was filled by a couple from Alaska.

Tonight we played rummy. Caro beat me two games to one.

The sunset was so spectacular tonight there were a lot of people taking photos of it. The photo below has been modified by me to try and show the intense colour however it does not do the actual sunset justice.

 It was MUCH more intense red.

At LaComer shopping

 Today we went shopping at LaComer store. It is like Soriano's or Walmart but better in our opinion.

Our total bill was about $136 and included lots of fresh fruit, and some alcohol purchases.

Tonight Caro made a couple of great shrimp dishes (with fresh shrimp).

After supper we invited Serge and Marte to enjoy the sunset from our balcony. They loved our place so much they are going to try to make a cash deal (like we did) to have it after we are gone.

We have started watching Ozark on Netflix and I imagine we will watch another episode tonight.

Furry neighbours

 This morning was a typical day here. I completed a 5 km walk and Caro did upper body exercises out on the veranda.

We got to FaceTime visit with all the grand kids today along with all the ladies in the family (and of course I can't forget to mention about our granddog Chelada either!).

Cousin Karen Facetimed from Vancouver telling me of her trials and tribulations to get home (not going well when she called).

Supper tonight was leftovers from last night

After supper I went down to the pool area where the garbage container is to get rid of some stuff and found Serge and Marte enjoying a beer and having a smoke. I started chatting with them and it wasn't long before Caro joined in. A hours or so later we were joined by some new furry friends that didn't seem all that concerned about us.

These little ones were coming right up to me in a hurry so I backed off a bit. All four of this raccoon family are in the photo. We watched them trying to get into the garbage container  (which I am pretty sure they can do).

Serge and Marte were having a late supper (by our standards anyway) so we said our "good night's" shortly after 8 P.M.

A step forward

 Yesterday was quiet,  and honestly so was today! We are not here to travel but to get away from the cold weather so "mission accomplished".

Last night we finished up watching the final two episodes of Bitter Daisies (one hour each)  just to see how they finish up this season's plot line. It is too much of a heavy, dark, psychological police thriller for our liking so any upcoming seasons will probably be overlooked.

I suggested to Caro that she should try going to the ocean. The ocean is the main reason she wants to be here and she hasn't been able to do anything but look out and enjoy hearing and watching the waves coming ashore.

We brainstormed on the best way to get her down to the water. She leaned on me as needed so there was minimal pressure on her broken foot as we clumsily made our way. Caro wore one of her ankle supports all the time (including in the water) but before getting there she also needed her therapeutic sandal while moving across the sand. Once at waters edge I took the sandal back up to the pool area where I waited. Caro used the air mattress in the water so there was no need to walk on her foot. Coming out after her swim was a little awkward but all went well.

Tonight we headed out to an Italian restaurant. The food was pretty good and we enjoyed it.

After supper we were back home sitting on the veranda when Susan and Murray face timed from B.C.

Very nice to catch up with them,

Happy Birthday to me

 The big 6-4 today.

I received many nice comments on-line and a video message from Hannah and Will singing "Happy Birthday". Rachel was there too to provide even more "character" to the song. 

Dad video called from the Lodge so I could see Mom, and Lisa video called as well. 

Lisa also called yesterday to let us know that our basement leaked a bit during the warm-up weather. The crack at the back window by the dryer has leaked a few times over the years but never in the winter. Hmmm. Maybe something we need to concern ourselves with.

We were planning to go out tonight for supper to celebrate however I postponed that until tomorrow as there is a good Italian restaurant nearby that is closed on Mondays.

We took a cab to a small mall called La Marina. In this mall is the Scotia Bank that ate my ATB debit card last time we were here. We gave it a try again and after going through all the hoops and accepting their charges for the transactions the ABM didn't complete it. Darn!! At least I still had the card. We went to talk to a teller to see if they would exchange actual dollars (which I had brought along "just in case") but they couldn't so we carried on.

A couple of blocks further on is Walmart and we went inside the store to a ABM that was from HSBC. There was no problem getting money from our debit card account so we will be using it in the future. HSBC dinged me 5.5% exchange rate mark up plus a surcharge of 80 pesos. ATB charged me a flat $5 for their end of the deal. The total amount I got was 6000 pesos that at current "official" exchange rate of 16.1 pesos/dollar equals $372.67. My cost was about $400.25 debited from account. 

On the streets of this city are numerous small motorcycles.

The price works out to about $1650. An excellent choice for many people here to purchase.

Today was cloudy but very warm (29 degrees). 

Time for rummy, dominoes or crib before heading inside for Netflix

Sunday the 23rd

 NFL football playoff day today, but before that I went for a long walk.

After lunch Caro and walked to the Oxxo and I was surprised to learn that they accept credit card purchases with no minimum purchase amount. That will be a very helpful thing for us as we won't need so much cash as I thought.

The photo above is taken from the main road looking through the parking lot of the Coral Pacifico hotel. The house in the back ground is the back of our building. On the left side are the windows of the second bedroom  (that will be used by any guests we may get) and the right hand side is the door to our apartment.

Approximately 50 metres to the right of the location where I took the photo above, is the location where we cross the street to the Oxxo store.

In front of the Oxxo is where we catch the bus (except not so far on this trip!) or a taxi to Soriano's etc.

The umbrella to the left of the store is where Caro buys fresh fruit from a fellow there (cups of freshly sliced fruits of various types).

To the left of the fruit guy (at the edge of the photo) is a restaurant and behind there (to the left of the car) are a couple of small stores (closed when I took the photo) and in one them Caro buys her atole.

I had a great chat tonight with Serge and Marte (from Quebec) and Darlene (Seattle).  They are all great people. 

Tomorrow I think we will be going shopping and I will "suggest" to Caro that I would like a pizza. We'll see!

Saturday the 22nd

 Today was a quiet one. We have hot water again. Adrian had come by about 7 AM and got our heater pilot going as well as the one for the couple in apartment two.

We had a video chat with Mike and the kids and as well caught up to Dad and cousin Karen

I went for my usual walk and then after lunch we waited for our weekly apartment cleaning (included in our rental cost). We are essentially kicked out of the place for three hours so we went down to the pool area where I listened to podcasts and Caro read or lounged on the air mattress in the pool.

We have a new neighbour in the apartment right below us. She is from Seattle and will be here for three weeks

Caro fried up the fish we purchased yesterday and we watched another magnificent sunset

I could have chosen from any number of sunset photos. They are all so beautiful.

Tonight will be the usual. Maybe some games before watching Netflix

Tried to get money from ABM

 Last night we started watching the second season of "Bitter Daisies" on Netflix. It is a six episode series made in Galacia Spain ( a psychological police thriller). We found this opening episode odd and if things don't get better in tonight's episode I think we will forget it and switch to the first episode of the final season of Ozark (which we love).

Our hot water is out again and no sign of help getting it re-lit (I tried many times). The couple from Quebec are getting angry that nothing is being done about their hot water (their  heater is separate to ours).

We took a cab to Soriano's where we picked up some groceries. There is an ATM there so we tried to get money from our ATB checking account. We went through the complete process but at the final step the machine would not complete the transaction and said for us to go a branch of that particular bank. It is probably good that it didn't go through as the cost was outrageous. First off there was a 174 peso charge for the service ($10.87) and then they would give me only 15.1 pesos per dollar (the official exchange rate is 16.1 pesos/dollar). Based on a $300 withdrawal the cost was 174 pesos plus 300 peso exchange rate rip-off for a total of 474 pesos ($29.63), -essentially a 10% charge!

We will try again at another (different bank) location in a day or two. Our Brim credit card works well and we have quite a bit of Canadian cash we can exchange in a pinch. I may even try a credit card cash withdrawal and then pay that charge immediately (as cash withdrawals on credit start getting charged interest right away)

It is Friday night and no sign of parties (so far). Fingers crossed!

A quiet day

 I went for a walk today while Caro stuck around the apartment

In the afternoon a couple of repair guys replaced some lighting fixtures and various light bulbs. Things are much better now!

We had a nice supper of "tacitos" and mashed potatoes.

It wasn't too windy today so we played a few games of domino's.

Caro wanted to walk a bit so after dishes we walked a block to the girl selling "atole" and Caro bought a glass full.

We met the lady from Quebec. She and her husband moved from the suite underneath us to our original suite here (number 2). She said that they are in Mexico until the end of April but are not sure if they will be staying here or not (she sounds a bit unhappy about things).

As usual more Netflix tonight and an anticipated good sleep.

Today was different!

 Caro had an appointment at a beauty shop for a haircut followed by a pedicure.

Here are the results

Nice looking toes!!

Unfortunately those toes are attached to a broken foot!!

The lady at the beauty salon had had a similar event as Caro had so she strongly suggested that Caro needed to get it checked out because this lady had long term repercussions by not doing anything about her broken foot.

The salon lady knew of a physiotherapist very near our place so Caro went there and the physio fellow said that she (Caro) needed to get an x-ray. So Caro came back here and we caught a cab to the suggested lab (it has over 100 locations in Mexico). The lab was super efficient and after waiting one hour we had an x-ray in hand (and confirmation of the break) and headed back to the physiotherapist where he looked at the x-ray and said we needed to get an orthopedic shoe so.... off we went in another cab back across town to the ortho shop where we picked up a shoe. The cabbie waited for us at the store so no delays there and we were back to our place 15 minutes or thereabouts later.

Some costs on today's events (for the record)

Hair cut -$15.60

Pedicure -$18.75

Physiotherapist-$31.25  (initial consultation and return visit to view the x-ray)

Lab x-ray cost-$11.25

Orthopedic shoe-$23.75

A total of 3 different taxis-$14

Pretty hard to beat that cost!!  

Interesting side notes;

The lab has 100 locations ( as mentioned above) in Mexico and MANY of these labs appear to be in Tijuana so I guess MANY Americans and Canadians use them. The ortho store guy also mentioned he has a lot of deliveries to hotels in town because so many tourists hurt themselves here.

The confirmation of the break (which I am flabbergasted has occurred as I was sure it was "only" a sprain) means Caro has to be careful at least two weeks (using her ortho shoe all the time and NO ocean visits) and then get another x-ray and further physio.

Like I said to her "at least you get to spend more time with me" which surprisingly to me was not received with an overwhelming exclamation of approval!! HMMMMM!     : (

It is too bad this has happened but it just goes to show that a simple moment of inattention can have bad results.

She finally made it

 This morning Caro went by cab to LaComer store to get the proper size ankle support (I had picked up one too big for her yesterday) and after she went a couple of blocks down the street to Walmart to pick up some items we need here.

While she was gone I did a quick walk around the area.

Today there have been a few big ships come into port. The capacity of these ships (all together) was about 35,000 containers. When a ship comes in I go on-line to see the name of it, its' size, and where it has been/is going.

I spent some time in the pool here, and then when Caro got back she headed for her first swim in the ocean.

I suspect I will be seeing her a lot more in the ocean. I don't particularity care about going there however I will go a few times over the next six weeks.

Tonight Caro fried up some fish and later, as the sun starting going down a family came to the beach to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday. It is a nice place for photos.

The wind is not so strong tonight so I imagine we will play a few games outside before coming back in to watched some Netflix.

Monday night

 Another quiet day in paradise.

I went for a nice walk this morning for my exercise and Caro did some stretching out on the veranda.

In the afternoon we took a taxi to LaComer store (similar to Soriano's) and purchased  quite a bit of food (along with some kitchen utensils). The purchase was completed with my Brim Mastercard without any issues so I am happy with that.

Last night I was able to pay a BMO bill on-line through my ATB mobile app so things are looking really convenient for us.

Tonight was just had a  meal of shrimp cocktail (for me) and octopus cocktail for Caro. We had purchased these at the store. Incidentally the cost for the cab going downtown was the equivalent of $2.50 while the return trip was slightly over $3.10.

Well the sunset was again awesome.

We had some Facetime chats with the kids and I had a Whatsapp video call with cousin Karen to see how her going home plans (from Mazatlan) are progressing.

Very windy out there tonight so we didn't get around to playing any games.

A quiet day

 We had an "interesting" night last night.

It started with me turning on the A/C in the bedroom while we watched Netflix in the living room. I had closed the door to the bedroom which was an "Oops" as we were now locked out with no key to the bedroom and the veranda door also locked. A well placed hip check near the door handle solved the issue with minimal damage to the door.

This time here in the apartment seems to be much different than two years ago. There are more loud parties and the people here are all relatively short term rentals so we don't really get to know anyone. So, last night being Saturday, there were loud parties with fireworks/noise makers going off frequently. These carried on long after we were in bed. Caro woke up about 2 AM and found the power was out. Our air conditioning was off and it was getting hot inside. The only good thing was that nearby parties soon stopped as it was pitch black out. We opened our door to the veranda and the cool sea breezes felt nice. Power was restored at 5 AM.

Caro is doing much better but not quite ready for "prime time". I walked to the commercial port entrance on the street and came back via the beach. 

The ocean was calm which is such a change from yesterday. I am wondering if yesterday's sea conditions were a result of the volcano at Tonga with its' expected tsunami's. The authorities here said to stay away from the ocean because of changing currents etc. The beach was red flagged.

Lisa Facetimed us from our house letting us know that she had salted our front sidewalk. Thanks Lisa!!

Caro made another great supper which we ate (as usual) out on the veranda. 

After I did dishes we played three games of rummy while we watched the sunset. I won tonight's games 2-1.

We had another awesome sunset and as I write this at 7:30 we are outside listening to Sirius satellite 60's on 6 station. Great music tonight!

Saturday Jan 15

 Today was not quite as nice as other days as it was windy and overcast for much of the time. Last night there was a very loud party nearby. I am not sure what time it quieted down but at some point it did.

In the morning Caro noticed a large whale relatively close to us. I managed to see it a few minutes later. Nice!

I did another five km walk while the farthest Caro got today was Oxxo. Her foot is getting better but I can't see her doing any running for a least a week.

I noticed that our Brim MasterCard bill from Soriano's has finally been posted. The reason I got this card was the transaction fees for overseas were supposedly MUCH lower than other cards. Sure enough this proved correct. Our exchange rate was 16.03 pesos to the dollar (official exchange rate is 16.17). Our other credit cards all have a 2.5% exchange fee plus a lousy exchange rate so I am super impressed!

Our cleaning lady came today. Last time we were here ( in early 2020) we didn't get a cleaning service but this time it was included as part of our deal. The lady gave the apartment a thorough cleaning over three hours. We were very impressed with her work. The only drawback is we had to be out of the place while she did her thing.

Caro suggested it was a good day to set up a beach umbrella and that is what we did.

We sat out there for quite a while. Caro usually reads and I spend my time listening to podcasts

Tonight we bought our meal from the beach restaurant. Very tasty.

Caro also saw a whale breach. Wish I would have seen that!

I will be looking for something new to stream on the TV tonight.

Friday Jan14

 We had a wonderful relaxing day enjoying 29 degrees, and waves pounding onto shore all day long.

I did about a five km walk this morning but Caro sensibly did hardly any walking as she overdid it yesterday and her foot hurt.

The hot water tank was fixed today. A new ignitor was installed.

Lunch for me was TOAST-trying out the new toaster the owners got for us! YUMMY peanut butter smothered on two pieces of toast.

We spent a bit of time at the pool (with Caro spending much more than me). 

In early afternoon Caro heard a street vendor blowing his horn so she called down from the veranda asking what he had.

PALETA'S !!!!

The fellow made a KILLING with Caro buying about 15 of them. That should keep her going for a few days. They cost only 10 pesos each (16 pesos to the dollar) so a heck of a bargain for Caro and a happy local vendor! Glad our freezer works good.

I had read some weeks ago that there is a shortage of shipping containers in the world (due to many containers stuck offloaded in ports, or ships waiting up to two weeks to get into ports) and today we noticed a loaded container ship headed to Taiwan that was riding very high in the water. I think it was probably loaded with empties.

Caro made a scrumptious supper of cecina meat, frijoles and salad. After that she beat me two games to zero in crib.

As I write this it is 7:45 PM and after posting we will finish the story we are watching on Netflix.

Lisa also gave me her Amazon Prime password so we can stream that as well if we find something that looks interesting. We are using my Chromebook connected by an HDMI line to the TV in the living room for our streaming requirements.

Thursday the 13th

Today I took a walk on the street down to the commercial port entrance and came back via the beach. I must have inspired Caro as she also decided to walk to the port entrance (O.5 km one way) but due to her foot injury came back on the same street. She said her foot was sore after that, so we will still have to limit our time walking around for a day or two.

In the afternoon we watched a couple of huge container ships leave the port. The larger of these ships can carry over 13,000 shipping containers! I went on-line to get the ship info. The big one was going to the largest port on the Mexican Pacific side and that is at Lazaro Cardenas which is south of us, close to Ixtapa.

We spent some time at the pool and then Caro decided to give it a try walking across the beach to the ocean. It was hard on her hurt foot to walk in the sand so she used me as a crutch to keep some of the weight off her foot. The photo below shows as far as got into the water!

While Caro stayed at the pool after our jaunt to the ocean I came back up to our apartment and while there cousin Karen phoned me on Whatsapp from her time-share hotel in Mazatlan. It was nice to catch up with her.

Shortly afterwards Caro came back upstairs and Vanessa (with Beckett) soon Facetimed so that was great.

Caro made a wonderful fish, rice and salad supper. and together we watched another fabulous sunset.

Before we came down south I had asked our host Emma for an electric toaster and today we got it. Peanut butter on toast tomorrow! Yummy!! Peanut butter is not a typical item here but it is available at Soriano's.

This 454 gram container cost over $6 (but worth every peso)

We also got out hot water heater working again so with luck we can have hot showers in the morning (which will only be the second time available to us).

Wed Jan 12/22

 Today Caro's foot was feeling a bit better and after letting Adrian (the co-host) know of our on going issues with no hot water (to be rectified by a plumber-hopefully soon) we enjoyed a quiet morning before catching a cab to Soriano's food store.

Our covid protocol is to sanitize our hands as soon as we get out of the cab and then sanitize the shopping cart afterwards. We also sanitize when we get back home. 

Once in Soriano's we spent an hour picking up things that we will need (and that we would have got last Saturday if Caro hadn't had her tumble). We now have a good amount of meat, condiments, fruits, and various types of juices etc. I had mentioned earlier this week that we had been purchasing our booze and basics at Oxxo. A one litre bottle of Bacardi cost $18.75 at Oxxo whereas I noticed a 1.75 litre  bottle of Bacardi cost about $20.30 at Soriano's. I hummed and hawed about the price difference for, oh, about...0.5 seconds before I put the bottle in the cart! 

I used my Brim Master card with no problem so I was happy about that. The card supposedly has no foreign exchange fees so once the transaction is posted I will see what the rate is.

Once back we watched the Ruby Princess leave port. Caro noted that she couldn't see many people on the top deck or on balconies.

I had a craving for shrimp quesadillas however the beach restaurant was out of some of the ingredients so no luck this time.

Tonight we played tile rummy and watched the sunset. Caro whipped my butt three games to none.

We are watching a series on Netflix called Stay Close by one of our favourite authors Harlan Coben.

Tues Jan 11

 Yesterday was a fairly quiet day with not much happening.

Caro is starting to get around a bit more but stayed in the apartment the whole time.

Caro heard about a restaurant that delivers, so using Whatsapp she was able to phone them, order two days worth of suppers and get it delivered. Other than the delivery fellow getting lost a bit all went well. Our bill was the peso equivalent of $34 (with tip)

The evening was quiet for Caro, but not me, as the US college championship football game between Alabama and Georgia started at 7 PM  (6 PM at home). Lisa (in her place) and I watched it with both of us texting back and forth throughout. A routine kinda draggy first half was followed by an exciting 2nd half with the underdog Georgia Bulldogs winning.

We both had a solid sleep and today we woke up to nobody on the beach and generally quiet times.

Caro was able to walk  (hobble) to Oxxo  as she slowly gets better. We picked up some eggs and a few other minor items and afterwards we went to the pool (first time).

Beach time will have to wait until her foot is better however.

In late afternoon we spotted the whales again. They came quite close to shore at one point before heading back out. We were playing a game of crib at the time so it took long time to finish due to trying to see as much of the whales as we could. You can see the dorsal fins of both of them (Mom and baby) if you look closely. 

Supper tonight was the remainder of yesterday's restaurant purchase. Truthfully I love the shrimp quesadillas from the beach restaurant much more than the other place so tomorrow I will probably get from them again.

Yup,another awesome day!

Tonight we are watching Netflix (using Surfshark VPN so they think we are in Canada)

Another day in Paradise

 We had a quiet day today.

Caro continues to get better after her mishap yesterday, and I think it will be only a few days until we can get doing some shopping etc. 

Covid has hit hard in Mexico so we are being careful. Oxxo requires masks and it seems to be the norm inside all shops so that makes us feel better.

I walked about a kilometre to the pastry store to pick up something for Caro and surprise her (I am nice that way!) but found it was closed so I had to make do with a purchase from Oxxo (junk food).

The afternoon was spent reading,watching TV, being on line etc. I did make a special trip to Oxxo to buy Caro some Squirt pop and vodka. Oxxo (being a convenience store) has high priced booze but it is hard to whine when a 750 ml bottle of Absolute vodka costs only $18.50. I will be sure to double check this price when we get to Soriano's for a "big" store grocery purchases.

We ordered supper from the beach restaurant again. I had shrimp quesadillas (love,love ,love them) while Caro ordered a shrimp and oyster cocktail (only "OK" in her books). Can't complain too much at $22.50 with tip.

It is windy tonight and we did not have a spectacular sunset. As I write this at 7 PM there is rapidly fading light. I am out on the veranda enjoying a warm breeze with the lights of the old part of Manzanillo (the cruise port )  shining brightly across the bay from us. 

Life is good! Another wonderful day

Saturday Jan 8

 The following photo says much about my thinking about why we choose Manzanillo to spend some time in.

Our apartment floor has two different levels with one part about six inches higher than the part where we spend most of our time.

This morning (our first here) Caro forgot the floor height difference and consequently took a tumble down to the lower level, spraining her foot in the process. 

She iced it for a few hours and later, after consulting with Edu in Mexico City I was sent to the nearest farmacia (pharmacy) to get some medical ointments etc. This farmacia was about 1.4 km away so it was a nice healthy walk for me!

Supper was from the beach restaurant. Caro had ceviche and I had quesadillas de camaron (shrimp).The food was awesome and delivered right to us. It cost $21 (with tip) and was so tasty I imagine we will have food from there many more times.

We Facetimed everyone in the family today at one time or another. Awesome!!

The sunset tonight was another amazing one.

At the entrance to the beach you can see the canvas roof where the restaurant people are.After we go there to make our food choices I believe they cook the food in an old abandoned building located right beside us.This location was overgrown,full of trees and weeds two years ago but is now cleaned up and for sale. I think it must be temporarily repurposed until sold.

Finally in Manzanillo

 

The view from our 2nd floor veranda apartment beside the beach here in Manzanillo.

This morning we were up before we had to be. I slept sort of OK, but Caro slept poorly. We ate the hotel provided self serve breakfast which was great and were on the shuttle bus at 0700.

Checking in with Westjet went smoothly and the security was thorough,but quick.My chromebook is like a magnet to the CTSA people and is checked every time for explosives (I presume).

Our flight was delayed 30 minutes until 10:20 and was fully loaded (as expected due to yesterdays cancellation). We spoke to one couple in the same situation as us and they were sent to Puerto Vallarta instead of Manzanillo but they got their hotel paid last night by Westjet so perhaps that was their compensation. They had friends coming to meet them from a town 90 minutes north of here (which is about three or more hours drive south from PV).

After a 40ish minute cab ride from the airport we arrived here. First things first; Caro went to the beach restaurant and ordered fresh seafood for supper. a nice way to start!

We got our apartment tour from co-host  Adrian and later, with Emma (the family/owner representative) on speaker phone we got the go-ahead to pay him (Adrian) our seven weeks rent of $C2200. I consider that price fairly good for being next door to the beach. I am pretty sure we can get much cheaper options elsewhere in town but the location is worth it! As I write this just after 9:15 PM it is 24 degrees, the doors to the veranda are open,a breeze is cooling things down (a bit) and I hear the waves lapping onto the beach. This is a quiet area so even though it is a Friday night and there are no parties on the beach . 

That is why we pay the OUTRAGEOUS price of $44 a night (tongue in cheek!)

We popped over to the OXXO store for some breakfast supplies for tomorrow. 

I have been using Surfshark VPN at home for awhile, making my computer  look like I was located in Vancouver My reasons for doing this was to see if, when I was here in Mexico, I could do the same thing (i.e. setting the VPN so it looked like I was in Vancouver) and be able to do banking easily without grief from the banks (wondering if I was really me and not someone else using my log-ins). I was able to get on ATB and BMO without any issues (which I couldn't go two years ago when here). Fingers crossed this continues to be the case!

Last year when I got A/C installed at the house I put in a NEST "Smart" thermostat. This enables me (and any else I designate) to see and adjust the house temperature. I was able to see the house temperature from here (and I know Lisa and Vanessa are also checking) so that is a sense of relief that our house can easily be checked without physically being there (and the water is turned off as well)

A great day and now it is time to have a rum and listen to the ocean.

or 

Shouldn't the Title heading say "Manzanillo?

We have each received three covid vaccine shots (one Astra Zeneca and two Pfizer) last year and so decided to get out of the cold, thinking that as long as we were careful we shouldn't run into any difficulties. We booked a seven week stay in Manzanillo directly with the apartment place we stayed at two years ago, getting a very good nightly rate in the process (we choose a bigger apartment than last time as well)

Last night Mike took us to the 4points by Sheraton airport hotel (Thanks again Mike) and by 10:30 we were asleep; sleeping much better than we thought we would. We were up at 4 AM and caught the 5 AM shuttle. Check-in went smoothly and our 0715 Calgary flight left pretty much on time.

Upon disembarking and making our way to the next gate we found that our flight to Manzanillo had been cancelled during the time we were flying from Edmonton. Many Westjet employees were coming down with covid (or having close contact) and having to call in sick. There were quite a few cancelled flights.

We had to retrieve our checked luggage (which seemed to take a long time) and get new flights. Passengers were scrambling, looking for alternative flights but in the mean time Westjet had been busy (behind the scenes) re-booking everyone as best they could. We lucked out completely by getting the same flight tomorrow where as others have to go to Vancouver, then Mexico City,then to Manzanillo. 

I was having trouble with the Westjet app and while it appeared that we had been already booked for tomorrow's flight I wasn't completely positive. So while Caro waited for the luggage I left the "secure" area and headed to the departure floor where a Westjet employee very nicely gave me a hand confirming we were good to go for the Friday flight.

Shortly after that Caro texted me saying she had our luggage. EXCELLENT! Turns out we got another stroke of luck as only a few bags from our flight had been off-loaded and ours were two of them. Caro said that hardly anybody else had received their baggage at that point. Not sure why this happened but we're happy with the results!

We booked a room at the Wingate by Wyndham hotel near the airport. We had to call the hotel for the airport shuttle and while on hold waiting,....and waiting ...and waiting  (sigh) I went outside to look around for the shuttle (just in case it came by) and "Holy Cow", there it was!! Major luck there as it is bitterly cold and not nice at all. I couldn't believe it.

Our room is very nice however we were surprised that there were no restaurants nearby so we just snacked for a bit. Caro did an hour long work out in the exercise room (I did a fast paced mile on the treadmill) and afterwards we went to the pool room. Covid rules were that we had to book the pool room at a specific time,for a limited length of time and with just the two of us there. OK by us!!

Caro made it to the main pool; I made it as far as the hot tub.

Supper was a delivery by Panago Pizza, as it was 0.5 km walk to a Tim Hortons (and we are not dressed for  the bitter cold).

Caro and I can not remember ever being impacted by a flight cancellation (while in the middle of a travel day). Still, all in all a good day!