Last day Mazatlan - Sunday 1 Feb - Rain in Mazatlan sunny in phoenix and snow in Edmonton

Woke up at 630, it was raining, and watched some of the TV mini series Jane Eyre on the computer. Got up around 730 and finished off the packing. Brought my things downstairs and then stripped the bed for Diane.

 Diane came down and we chatted over toast, tea and cantalope. Linda came in and asked about the flight which I thought was odd as she told us she never wanted to know anything about anything we did the whole time I here. Why start now? 

 Diane and I left the house at 1030 and walked the two short blocks to the Sabalo Road to catch a cab. There was one there waiting as if it was planned. Hugged Diane and told her I would send her a picture a day to try and make her jealous of me in Edmonton and she said she would send me one picture a day so that I would know what she was up to. Thank you Diane for a wonderful time in Mazatlan.

The Drive was interesting as now I was looking at things not for the first time but as an old hand in mazatlan, We had a tourist driving in front of us and the cab driver laughed when I pointed that out. 

It good thing I like to get to the airport early as I had read the wrong departure time. The airlines/red-tag had changed it a few times and so it is almost understandable.  I got to the aeropuerto by 1055 and went to check in . Had to pay 25 $US to check a bag so of course I didn’t have that much on me so had to go the ATM and get $ and back to the counter to check in to find out my flight boards at 1145 not 1245 which was one of the departure times on my itinerary or the other of 2 in the afternoon which was the original flight time.  So I checked one bag , the second would cost me $40 US, and made it in time. Almost forgot my carry on when going through security as they took it and put it through the machine again and I had my purse and computer bag so thought I had it all and was good until I was halfway to the gate. Turned around and went back and got it and then back to the gate. felt like a yo yo for a minute. One of the girls from the check-in approached me in the boarding lounge and asked if I would like to check the second bag for free. of course I said yes and she did that for me. Very nice people these Mexicans. 

Boarded the plane and got three seats to myself, muchos gracias. The steward told us that Phoenix had fog that morning and that hundreds of flights had been delayed and cancelled. They flew down here with 16 people on board as the rest of the passengers were from connecting flights that didn’t connect. How sad. The pilot announced that the fog was clearing in Phoenix so lets hope for no repeat of that tonight when I have to fly to Edmonton. The flight was uneventful but sunny. Grabbed a few photos of Mexico and the superstitions as we flew over. There was a bit of a wait on the tarmac as the airport was still trying to clear up the backlog from this mornings fog. 

Clearing customs coming in was interesting. New photo id stations in the security check-in. All went very smoothy though. The terminal itself was crazy. There were hundreds of people waiting for flights, trying to get flights, cluttering up the aisles and restaurants. there were at least 50 to 60 lining up at the each of the customer services desks. I did meet some very nice people whose travels plans were thrown very much awry by the fog in phoenix or the big storm out east which cancelled flights and rerouted others. 
The Edmonton flight seemed to be on time though so far. Had a bite for lunch and charged my computer a bit then walked around and got a few shots of the sunset. as I was walking around looking out the windows I saw a flock of bats. Are they called a flock? no I don’t think so.  I just looked it up and they are called a cloud of Bats. well I did see a cloud of them, between 50 and a hundred of them swooping past the window. tried to get a photo but to no avail. It seems that for all the flights that have been delayed and cancelled today out of Phoenix mine is currently still on time. Yea! checked in for the flight at 815 and then went to charge the old computer although technically, I guess, this is my new computer.
My flight ,although it said it was onetime, was not really onetime and came in three hours late and if we couldn't leave by midnight then we would not be able to leave until the next day. I prayed .... hard.... and we did leave at 1130 which put us into Edmonton at 3. thank you Mary mother of Jesus. 
Got home by  430 and walked into the most god awful stench. My grandson had not taken out the kitty litter. He had cleaned the litter boxes but left the bag  in the living room. I opened the windows and took out the kitty litter but it took awhile for the air to clear.  needless to say I was not happy with that homecoming  .... thank you very much, but it was good to be home.

Day 13 in Mazatlan - Saturday 31 jan - Second to last day in Mazatlan - Up, up and away!

It rained almost all night long, not hard but enough to put water in the pool. Woke up around 6 and started packing and sorting and discovering that I really did need another bag to take home all the bulky things I had purchased. They were certainly not going to fit into the one carry-on size suitcase I had brought with me. Came downstairs to find Diane bailing out the pool so assisted her with that. showered and had a toast and tea for breakfast.Then 

Diane and I headed off to the beach and our adventure for today. Stopped in a few shops to see about another bag. They were all basically the same bags with each store charging a different price. The shops on the road you could always talk down but the hotels were firm with their prices. They varied between 200 pesos to 120 pesos. 

I didn’t want to buy a bag until after my parachuting adventure so we went to the Mazatlan Inn and discovered that they were just doing the first happy hour! At 1215 I had a fortifier of a mazatlan Bias ( half pina colada and have mango daiquiri), so good. Enjoyed my last time at the Inn. Edwin, our waiter was happy to have his picture taken and so was the lifeguard. 

We went onto the beach looking for Peter the parachute guy we had talked to days before when we were only interested in keeping our feet on the ground. The sun had come out in full force and all the beach vendors, ( I call them walkmart as they carry everything they are selling with them as they walk the beaches) tried to sell me hats. I am still not as tanned as most everyone down there although I m quite tanned for me. We found where Peter usually was and asked a gentleman, Salo, where he was. it turns out Peter does not show up sometimes as he was a bit of a party person and sometimes got in trouble for it. So Salo took us to the parachute folks down the beach.

Fernando, Garcias and Marco? or Francisco? were the guys who were going to get me up there and catch me when I came down. I had to wait for a few other people to go before me so Diane and I amused ourselves in the shade of a beach umbrella. I wasn’t nervous but a little excited  about going up. 500 pesos or about 50 bucks. I filmed the people coming down and landing oh so gently on the beach . I should have also filmed the take off as it is quite an experience.

My turn, 

'-life vest- on and secure, 

-step into the leg hole of the paragliding apparatus. - done, 

-get strapped in on both sides. two gentlemen one on each side adjusting the straps and getting them snug- Okay, 

-do not carry camera on wrist- no - put camera on strap of life vest - right, 

-received very clear instructions on the operation of the chute- pull the red strap when I see the red flag- yes, 

-squat down and walk when the boat starts to pull you- 

-do not stand up and walk- squat and walk... yes 

-keep squatting and walking and sit down now 

-and up I went after winging one of the ground guys with my foot, 

up 

and up 

and up. 

 like the feather in Forrest Gump

I was floating in the air!

I yahooed very loudly as it was such a great feeling. 

there I was, for just a moment, thinking of falling to my death, for just a moment though. My children would love this,  my grandchildren would love this. there I was

above the beach, 

sailing over the bay. 

I felt for my camera and started to take photos both single and video.
There was a moment when I felt as if  I was not really sitting very deeply in the sitting strap and was concerned about falling out and dangling a 100 feet above the water, but I got over it pretty quickly. ( I was strapped in to the harness and if I dangled then I dangled)

My parachute was multi coloured and I tried to get some shots of it

I was attached to the boat by a single large strong rope. 

It was actually very quiet up there, no boat sounds at all.

I thought that I would see all those birds that we were always seeing from down on the beach but I don't think I did see a single one.

The view was fantastic!

Now the boat was turning around and we were headed back to the beach. I looked for where my crew was but could not see them. I tried to find the hotel and get my bearings for where they might be. I turned on my camera and just let it run to get the landing and then I saw them. 

All my instructions were there in my head. 

Find the red cord with my right hand. 

Pull down with your right hand to your shoulder when you see the red flag. 

I saw the red flag and started to pull. Man oh man, it was hard. 

I Pulled but was only getting about halfway to my shoulder. I need to start working out to get more upper body strength. 

I pulled as hard as I could for quite a while it seemed and was starting to get closer to the hotels than I thought I should be but he had not dropped the red flag so I pulled some more. 

I had been slowly dropping in height as the boat was slowing down, getting closer and closer to the beach and when he the fellow on the beach dropped the red flag, I let go of the cord and the boat pulled me right into their waiting arms. 

i tucked my legs in so as not to hit them in the face with my feet but 'Standup …standup! were the last instructions as they grabbed me and the lines to the chute to make sure the wind did not pull me away again. 

Did I have a good time?
Did I take lots of photos?
 Why yes I did and actually I was still recording right now. I turned off the camera. They helped me out of the para-gliding harness. 

What an experience! Diane was there congratulating me on my success. 

My legs and hands were a little(maybe more than a little) shaky, with all the adrenaline I think.

We went and sat down for a bit in the shade of the umbrella and Fernando came over to get paid. I gave him 700 pesos.  A 200 peso tip for getting me up there safely and back down alive in one piece with nothing broken or damaged. I figure that works out to about 5 bucks a piece for the three guys on the beach and the guy in the boat. He shook my hand very heartily and when I looked a little confused about which way to go on the beach he laughed and pointed us back the way we had come from. A nice looking man.

We laughed too and headed to the next hotel for its happy hour and a well deserved congratulatory and calming drink. Very tasty Pina coladas at two for one. 65 pesos for two are a very good deal.

We looked at the pictures and film that I had taken reliving the experience. Wonderful! Now the landing film shows quite a bit of chaos but it really was a very nice landing. 

After calming down a bit  we decided to have lunch at the Verde Tomato ( the green Tomato) but when we got there we were not that impressed with the menu so decided to go to Pancho’s. Diane had been there before and said it was good. Stopped in at the little shop where I bought the wind chime of brightly coloured fish made of coconuts and wood and picked up a bag for 100 pesos. It is big enough to carry all the rest of the things that I purchased. Diane picked up one of the wind-chimes, hers with coconut  turtles. We passed an old building with a tree growing right in front of the door. who would plant a tree that close to a building let alone in front of a door like that?

We wandered down to Pancho’s and got an inside table at first and placed our order. They brought us tortilla chips with salsa to nibble on while we waited so we sipped our drinks and nibbled our chips with gusto. A beer for Diane and an Ice tea for me. What a lovely place. The very large mushroom and garlic starters arrived and when the two ladies across from us left we slid over to their ocean front table. Lovely. Our food and drinks were transferred over to our new table. The starters were huge so we could not finish it all so got some to go. The green salad for me and nachos for Diane arrived. Good food, good company, sea and sand.  What a great day.



There was one vendor who was selling a lightweight jacket with a hood that I wanted.  Diane had one like it and so I had seen it up close on her. He said four hundred so I got out 250 and went down and told him that it was all I had and got it. The truth was that after paying for dinner and saving money for the cab for tomorrow, it was all I had. The salad was nice but they used canned peas. odd. 

After lunch we wandered out onto the beach as it was one we had not been on before. l think now that we have been on every beach in Mazatlan. Lots of families  with kids playing on banana boats. 

Turned up at a hotel that looked promising for having an exit onto the road. We passed a lovely waterfall and pond with water lilies. A maid coming out  of the area showed us into a man made labyrinth of caves and to another waterfall. there were lots of tunnels and paths, stairs to temples with giant hand chairs and little secret gardens. wonderful to keep the kids amused. 

We found our way out and went to the liquor store as Diane wanted to pickup some Kaluha for the house. At Pancho’s they give you a free drink, a brown cow at the end of your meal. How nice is that? As we were walking down the street the black police went by and I took a photo. how brave am I. the black police ors ethe ones that fight the drug cartels and wear all black to hide their identities so that they and their fails are safe from retaliation.

When we went past the shell museum/store I couldn't resist getting a picture of me getting my wings, seemed appropriate condsidering my activities earlier in the day. on the way home we saw this little lizard impression in the sidewalk. I think it was a real lizard impression or the impression of a real lizard. poor thing. but I guess he is immortalized now in the sidewalk on the way home from the shell museum.

Got home and even after all our walking around were still very full. Downloaded the photos and watched them on the computer. Uploaded the photos to Facebook and then watched the latest Downton Abbey episode. 
Diane went upstairs to read and I finished uploading a few more videos from the days activities. 
checked my packing and the all the drawers and the closet. Walked around the house to make sure I didn't forget anything. I did not ....forget anything that is.
I fell asleep pretty fast and I think I dreamt of men catching me. How sweet it is.

Day 12 in Mazatlan - Friday 30 Jan - A walk to the mall, casinos, mega and Machada Plaza in the rain

Diane and I walked to the bank (all new territory for me)  and not too long or hot.  I did take pictures of the street signs along the way so that later I could look up on a google map where we actually walked. Gaviotas to Calle Rio de la Plata, down Del Vigil across the grassy area and to San Francisco to Sierra India.  across Sierra India

Sierra India, was a wide street and as we were crossing it I noticed a street sweepers pail and rake/broom, no street sweeper just his tools.
It makes sense to hire people to clean the streets. employment and keep the bugs down and I guess when it rains it is really something so to keep the drains clear street sweeping is a good idea. I have seen them (street sweepers) in Ireland when I was there and in Paris so I guess Mazatlan is right up there with the continent on fulfilling its civil duties.

We passed some lovely homes with different features.  Almost everyone down there has wrought iron on their houses in one form or another, gates, fences window grills. we passed a plant nursery which I thought would be nice to pop into sometime when I have time, to see how much they pay for their plants inside and out.

We came across one very bright daycare-school which you could see for a few blocks. we also passed a store with a handicap space in its parking  lot. I think it was the first time I noticed one, a handicapped space that is. Most of the people I have seen in wheelchairs are being pushed by others  on the streets as the sidewalks were not good.

I saw this wonderful large orange butterfly, very fast but I caught a picture of him. Diane (Hurray for me I got out lots of pesos).


The bank was a new experience too. The instructions were good but the security guard thought I didn't know what to do as I was reading the screens and so came over and was telling me to hit this button and that button and not giving me a chance to read the screen to make sure that I knew what I was doing with which account. Upset me a little so I left and came back after the few people who were waiting behind me were finished and the security guard was not there to bother me. Then everything went fine. He was probably used to people asking for help and so just assumed that I wanted help. We headed off to walk to the store.

The walk did not take that long from the bank to the store along a very busy road. We picked up a few things and went home via pulmonia, dropped them off and went to the expensive road to see what was there. We found a mango distillery,  the ONILIKAN, http://www.onilikan.com/en/  great place. If you are ever in Mazatlan , go there and taste a few samples of their wares. Sooooo good. On the way back, after we were finished shopping, I did pick-up a nice variety pack to bring home to share with friends and family. ( and when I got home I realized that I should have gotten a much larger bottle of the mango spirits and liquor so Called Diane who brought me some more when she came home)

We continued on and went into a few more shops. One was made to look like an Aztec temple and sold everything from jewelry to art, and table cloths to clothing, very fun and probably as close as I was going to get to a temple on this trip.

The owner, a young man whose mother did a lot of the jewelry and art in the store, said that the pictures were replicas of paintings found in actual temples, and out back was a replica temple where they sometimes put on shows. I bought a lovely blue table cloth there probably for too much but it was very pretty.

After we went  into the back where they have the replica temple and found the man who takes care of the stray cats living back there. Diane had pointed out the cats earlier in the week and told me about a man who took care of them and here he was in the flesh. older and looking a little shabby and unkempt but gentle and quiet. We gave him some coins for cat food and maybe a meal for himself. and then walked around the area enjoying our temple experience.

 I would like to go and see a real aztec or mayan temple and maybe pick up a small pebble from the area to take home as a souvenir.  An aztec rock which if you think about it I could probably pick up almost any rock in the area and it was around during the aztec reign.  I did some pose matching, called it aztec yoga, for the photos and just had fun all around.

 I believe that the aztecs were on the west pacific coast and the mayans were on the east atlantic coast.  the spanish did in the both of them with disease  and war.

 The store owner said they sometimes put on productions and shows  in the temple area and it would have been nice to see what kind of shows they put on . the area was a little depressed as I am not sure how many tourists there whereto support al the businesses that were there. looking at the restaurants and how empty most of them were was a sign for sure but I heard that at Carnaval they were all full to the brim for two weeks so I am sure that that must help.

After wandering the shopping areas for the rest of the afternoon we went into the shell museum and store. Upstairs is a museum or rather a very large collection of shells. when my daughter, Shauna, was young she wanted to collect shells but we moved away from the coast and so her collection was small. she would have loved this.

All shapes , all sizes of possibly every shell on the planet. there were at least thousand shells up there all in glass display cases and sorted by type and size, phylum class.  along with urchins, nautilus, taxidermy crocodiles, and octopus. it was pretty impressive.there was a large central pool/ fountain  covered in small mosaics with fish in it too.

 There were displays of sharks jaws with its rows of teeth. I never knew that was what they meant when they talked about rows of teeth. Very frightening to look at and imagine one biting into your leg. Yikes! will never look at a shark the same way again. there was a large piranha type fish in a tank who also looked very scary. and very large the size of a dinner plate.
We left the shell museum and went back home picking up the mango liquor on the way. we decided to go out for the evening so got showered and changed and headed off to downtown, the centro historic,  to the Machado square friday night market.

It started to rain as we were looking for a restaurant  and so we ducked into one place but it had very  little vegetarian to choose from so we ducked out and found the WE (Waters Edge) restaurant right next door and they had a lovely ambiance, menu and room so we popped in there.
As it had stopped raining we sat outside in the uncovered part of the patio and the staff said that if it started to rain they would move us very quickly. We had a glass of wine and at that time we were the only ones outside so we enjoyed the small courtyard and quiet evening.  We ordered and it continued to threaten rain but with no results until about 4 minutes after our food came and true to their word the staff were out there and had us moved so fast that we hardly felt a drop. The food was great and as more customers came into the restaurant , we could tell it was a popular spot and were glad of our choice of restaurants.
After a lovely dinner we headed off to the market in the rain although at that time it was only spitting. The market was fun with lots of tables and booths setup selling locally made jewellery, clothes, art and foods. I did not buy anything but when I come back to Mazatlan again I will know to bring more money so that I can.

 We caught a pulmonia home and I tried to get a photo of the lights across the bay but between the bumping and starting and stopping and traffic in the way what I got was more of an abstract photo of moving lights against dark. Kind if nice really, Mazatlan at night.
Got home and watched a bit of downton abbey and noticed that one of the house plants was in bloom with a really gorgeous flower.
hit the hay after downtown and making a few plans for tomorrow and sleep very well.

Day 11 in Mazatlan - Thursday 29 Jan - early risings, markets, art galleries, buses and more.

woke early and watched downtown abbey

 Then we caught a new bus to go downtown. How exciting and there was a detour too so Diane saw new things too. We went to the bead shops first and then two blocks up from the market and to the cathedral.
With directions on how to get to the Machado square (two blocks over and three blocks up from the cathedral) (or was it three blocks over and four blocks up?) We headed off in unfamiliar territory. We did in fact find the square with only one stop to ask a tall good looking gentleman directions. He was very helpful.

Before we came to Mach ado square we saw several interesting old buildings in ruins although some of them were in worse shape than others.  may have been lovely once apon a time but no more, or maybe just lovely in a different sort of uninhabitable sort of way.
Once we got to the square and got our bearings we headed off to find Sixto Osuana street and the art gallery across the street from theefore we came to Mach ado square we saw several interesting old buildings in ruins although some of them were in worse shape than others.  may have been lovely once apon a time but no more, or maybe just lovely in a different sort of uninhabitable sort of way.

We passed several walls and or doors that were painted wonderfully. an art walk on our way to the art gallery. it was getting hot and so we were trying to stay in the shade even though I had my hat on and sunscreen I still try to stay in the shade as much as possible.

We passed several interesting restaurants as well including the one we had brunch at earlier in the week.
We stopped in at one, the Allegro..... for eggs Benedict .... heard they were the best in town and they were, in fact, very good.
Francis our waiter spoke english very well and was very friendly giving us lots of information about the owners who did not live  above the restaurant..  after a very filling and tasty eggs benedict (next time I will order one half size or split it with someone) we waddled out to find the art gallery.

On our way we came across a few private galleries which of course we went into and I found some more postcards and bookmarks and ceramic pendants for necklaces. A dragon belt buckle was a find that i paid 12 pesos for.  I don't think I will ever wear it but it is cool and maybe I will have it mounted into a frame and hum]ng on the wall.
we then went and found the art gallery which was very interesting though small.

There was only one salon open with about 30 paintings in it by two artists and although they were very good and interesting, I was expecting something a little bigger. but there was a gift shop where I found some post cards for Mary and John of fish from the aquarium. Funny I didn't see any of these postcards at the aquarium.

After the gallery I wanted to see if we could find the church with the wonderful spire that we had seen on our walk to the lighthouse. It was very tall and we could see the boatyards and docks behind it. kind of a yellow cross of adobe.

 Francis at the restaurant had asked some of the other waiters and waitresses and found out that it was called the Maria del Mar.
Mary of the Sea.
Lovely.
 So intrepid explorers that we were, we headed off into unknown territory with a map provided by the friend of francs, I guess then we actually did kind of have directions but we were still intrepid.

New streets with new treats. Old beside new, colour upon colour. grillwork windows,  walls painted like a jungle, sidewalks of a variety of heights and sizes all on one block. Newer renovations beside really, really old buildings. So exciting and all so quiet, not hardly any traffic so we thought maybe everyone was at work or just quiet in their homes. If we walked through a residential neighbourhood in the afternoon back home I am sure it would be very quiet too.

We followed our map and found our way to a very busy street. after navigating it safely continued on and asked a street vendor where the church was. My pronuciation of Maria del mar must have been pretty bad but he finally figured out what we wanted and pointed down the street holding up three of his fingers which I interpreted to mean three blocks.

We passed yards with flowers in bloom and lions guarding the gates, grillwork, grillwork, grillwork every where. Back home it is very expensive to have wrought iron so I am surprised to see it everywhere here.
We continued on the road and finally saw the steeple. Not too much further now. By that time we were almost at the docks I am sure.

yes we did finally arrive at the church of Maria del Mar. a circular church, divided in half with half being the church proper and the other half being for meeting rooms and such. there was a school next door so assumed that it would be the catholic school. It was a very nice church with mosaic pictures all around the side buildings of the church and as we walked up to the church door a young gentleman came out of a side building unlocked the front door and let us in. It was nice and cool inside with descending steps to the altar and a statue of Mary on one side. I said some hail Mary's for Shauna and Bill and lit a candle. (an electric candle but it is the thought that counts). Walked around there for a bit  more. One window looked a sitting buddah, nice I wonder if they know it.

We headed back and it was getting very hot out now . I did bring a hat but we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. We kind of, almost, got lost coming back into downtown but a nice gentleman showed us which road (Carnival ) to take back to Machado. He was going that way to pick up his car so it was no inconvenience.

Carnival street has a blue line  painted down the middle of the road and would take us right to Machada square. Wonderful. so many nice people out there.  It seems they painted the line on the road for the tourists from the cruise ships so they could get back to their ships.
1t was a nice walk.

 Machado Square was a very welcoming site with lots of folks sitting and lunching and having coffee. We tried to get into the Peralto theatre but they had a show that evening so we could not sneak a peek. sad . Walked around the square and decided to catch a bus home from the market. Walked down to the market passing the cathedral again.
What a fun full day.

We got home got changed and headed for the Inn at Mazatlan and got a lovely cool mango juice - straight. Yes just mango juice, need something healthy too. A nice dip in the pool to cool off and sip mango juice under the coconut trees. What a life. We are truly blessed. Chatted about the day and what we were going to do for tomorrow. Popcorn and pigeons. What a routine.

Then we went for a wander of a walk down the beach towards downtown and it turned out that we could could not get around the point as the tide was coming in so we had to come back in the dark on a beach that was getting narrower and narrower with the tide coming in. We passed one hotel on the beach that is closed still due to the hurricane that ripped through Mazatlan last fall. When we were just passing it two big dogs came running out barking and growling at us, quite large dogs, a little unnerving. They were confined to the hotel area but still made me uneasy until we were well past.
Found our way back to the road and headed home for a light supper, watched a bit of Downtown Abbey, uploaded, downloaded edited and went to bed. happy healthy and rich with the Mazatlan memories of today.