P.J.’S coming home Tomorrow!

Meanwhile… the past few days have been standard stuff – caring for pets, getting groceries, eating tacos, reading in hammocks and general lounging about the compound. Last night, I was sitting at the table watching t.v. when a gecko fell off of the ceiling fan and landed in my backpack. I think he was more surprised than I was. I pulled him out and and he quickly jumped out of my grasp and ran up a wall so he continue his life of eating bugs and making smoochy noises throughout the night.

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Our morning walk:

Today, I slept late then spent the remainder of the morning doing domestic chores. At one o’clock, I boarded the van with Alfredo at the wheel and we drove into Bucerias. He dropped me off at Plaza Amores near the north end of town so I could check out the language school. I met Saul, a gregarious gentleman in his late forties who runs the Academia Washington. We talked for a while and he invited us to come for a free class to see if they offered what we are looking for. He takes pride in the idea of teaching people the culture along with the language and hosting events where locals and extranjeros get together to practice languages and also get to know about one another. Around the corner sits the Tuk Restaurant, so I sat down to try their special of the day, albondigas. The food was good but the salsa was on fire 🔥! 

I had seen a couple of RV parks along the beach when we arrived in Bucerias, so I decided to go exploring and see what kind of amenities they had. The neighborhoods on the north end of Bucerias have very little traffic and the hotels seem to be pretty quiet. I came across a closed down trailer park, Los Mangos. From what I gleaned talking to people on the street, the owner is planning to put up a hotel in its place.

I walked another 1/2 K or so and came to the other campground wedged between the highway and the beach. I talked to the lady in the office and she said that all of the spaces were full and would be until April. I walked a little further and visited the other park that turned out to be an extension of the first one. The woman’s brother was working there and he said that, yeah they had some open spots. He couldn’t figure why his sister sent me packing. I’m guessing it’s the Hendrix t-shirt. 

Jose toured me around the grounds and we exchanged numbers agreeing that I could call him whenever P.J. and I feel like spending a few days parked on the beach and if something’s open we can cruise on over for a day or two.

I returned to the centro along the beach. The sand was cool near the water’s edge and I would occasionally walk into the ocean just enough to take the edge off of the afternoon heat. It was about a twenty minute walk to the downtown area. I soon arrived in front of the main plaza where I sat at a table in the sand and ordered a soft drink. I relaxed in the shade of the umbrella watching tourists do touristy things and waving off the steady stream of vendors wanting to sell me woven bracelets, silver jewelry, shirts, wood carvings and Panama hats along with other trinkets and baubles.

Called P.J. to see how things were going on her end. Tough conversation with lots of wind noise and a poor connection to begin with. I paid up my tab and went around town doing a couple of other errands before catching a taxi back to Los Arroyos. Taxi fares haven’t gone up yet in spite of the 20% increase in gas prices, the Gasolinazo. At the start of the new year, the cost of gas jumped from around $2.80 to $3.36 per gallon. There have been protests throughout Mexico with some of them turning violent in the south. Prices on everything are set to rise as transport costs continue to increase. Cost of a barrel of oil back when they raised it to $2.80 = $100.00. Cost now when they are raising it to $3.36 = $50.00. Kind of hard to justify.

Around sunset, I clipped leashes to collars and the dogs took me for a walk down towards town. Beautiful evening with the temperature cooling down and the light shining through the trees. Full moon is up early and hovering in the twilight sky. Looking forward to tomorrow.