Thursday March 3, 2016

The vacation is over - and it was quite the adventure from beginning to the end!

Our last few days were bitter sweet - 

Monday evening our Manitowaning group met at El Campanaio for one final dinner before we started heading back home one group at at time.

Howard and Theresa  left on Monday, Allan and I on Tuesday, Ann, Bev., Louise and John are leaving on Friday and Louise and Gaston are going home in April.

It was a dinner to remember - the evening was quite cool again and we sat outside for dinner - brrrr - silly us!  Not Canadian cold but the breeze coming off the ocean was cool. 

Bev being dressed in layers (including a hat)  was the only one in the group prepared for the chill. He wasn't about to share any of those layers either.

It seemed the bathroom door locked from the outside - Yes Really! Ann was the first one of us on  that side of the restaurant to find that out. It was quite a laugh as the door was held closed for those of us who needed to use it. Patrons took photos as you can see and passed paper sheets under the door for writing notes back and forth.  What a hoot!

A musician stopped by the restaurant to play his guitar and sing for us so Gaston took it upon himself to go table to table with Bev's hat to collect donations. 

The next day after Howard and Theresa left for the airport, Allan and I went to say farewell to some of our old friends - This is Juan at his restaurant Tuch Tlan - we had a lovely lunch - mine had cactus leaves in it. Delicious!

After lunch we took a walk on the dock to 

have one last view of our favourite vacation spot before heading back to Casa Pura Vida.

Back at Casa Pura Vida we had our last dip in the pool and a nice cold drink.

For dinner we went back into the Port and 

had a heavenly  dinner at Punta Corcho.

What a view to have while eating dinner!

The bread truck still makes its rounds in the evening - on port side it is around 7 - 7:30 ish, on our side - in the Colonia it is later in the evening - sometimes as late at 10 pm or later.

Finally Tuesday morning came along with the taxi driver. Our good friend Abraham stopped by to say farewell, then we were on our way to the airport by 9:20 am. The weather for Toronto and Southern Ontario did not sound good so we hoped that if there was a cancellation it would be at Cancun end. We weren't that lucky. Our flight from Cancun left on time and arrived in Toronto with out incident. Upon arriving at Toronto we found that our flight to Sudbury along with others leaving Toronto were all cancelled due to the severe storm coming in later that afternoon. And it did arrive, just as they said it would.



For those of you who have been following my blog you will be thinking "Didn't this happen last year?" Well, yes it did - yep - a re-run. Only this time Air Canada did not provide the same level of TLC as they did last year due to a policy change. They did though give us a brochure with 2 important phone numbers on it - one to find yourself a hotel to stay at and  the other to rebook your cancelled flight.

The hotel booking service had the names and phone numbers of hotels that were available - you had to call the hotel to find out where they were located because the booking agency had not idea, then call the booking agency back to confirm with them that you wanted that hotel or ask for another. Not a reasonable plan, but I don't work for Air Canada so who am I to say  anything. Just play their game and all goes well.

We booked a room at a Holiday Inn in Oakville, spent the night, rebooked our flight for the next day and slept much better this year than last. The next morning we were off again - the taxi's are much more expensive here in Canada than we were accustomed to in Mexico - but play their game and all goes well.

Our friend Abraham for Puerto Morelos says "Everything happens for a reason, it is all part of God's plan and who are we to question." We love you like one of our own Abraham, so I have to say, "Whatever God's plan was - I hope it worked out for Him".

All went well with check in at the airport the next moring - our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:05 am. Just before we were called to board the plane they announced there would be a temporary delay due to mechanical problems - so we waited 20 minutes or so, then we were allowed to board. Everyone was on the plane, seat belts buckled, the engines reved up ...  then silence. The pilot came across  the intercom and announced, "We will have a further delay due to electrical problems, one of the 6 generators didn't cut in".  Hmmmm - this is part of God's plan isn't it?

Take off was behind schedule by about one hour and we arrived in Sudbury at 12:05. The day is cold but nice and sunny and I am thinking, in just 2 1/2 hours we will be home - this is great!

Allan headed to the parking lot to get the truck so he could  come back and meet me with the luggage, all is well. "Thank you God, this is a beautiful day". Then I saw Allan walking back to the arrivals door of the airport dressed in his winter coat - when he came inside he said,  "The truck won't start!" The airport staff provided him with a power box to boost the battery, that didn't work. An airport fire department staffer came to our aid, between he and Allan,  they decided there had to be something wrong with the starter. 

Allan, at this point, is wishing he had have taken Bev's advise and wore long johns! 

Security and staff at the airport were awesome help to us. They allowed us to use their phone to make calls to our Ford Dealer and Ford Assist. They even let us put our luggage in their office so we could have food and drink at the restaurant upstairs while we waited for the wrecker. They put on a prickly pear exterior but inside they are sweet mush.

It was a tricky job for the wrecker driver 

to  move the truck out of its parking space while not hitting other vehicles parked so close, but he did it!

We left our truck parked at Howard and Theresa's in Espanola while we were gone, then they brought the truck to the airport the day before our scheduled arrival so we would have it to drive back home. It worked without a glitch for him.

The tow truck driver took us and the truck to

 Belanger Ford in Chelmsford, they took it in right away to assess the problem and let us know if it could be repaired the same day.  That determination would mean having to or having not to spend the night in Sudbury.

It was a frozen starter which we had them replace, 

after spending $360.00 for the part and labour we were on our way home! With no more delays or incidents - we were home by 7:30 in the evening.

God's plan you say...  I hope it worked out for Him because it cost us about $800.00 which included the unexpected expenses in Toronto and Sudbury. I am not going to complain though - if someone or we benefitted from our unplanned delays and slight inconveniences in any way then it was definitely worth it... and it is only money - we can't take it with us.

Will we do it again next year? Yes definitely! We feel we have been blessed to have the health and enough money in our retirement to be able to do the things we do and enjoy them.

God bless each of you. If He is willing, we will be blogging from Mexico again next year. Hosta Luego!

Note Added Friday March 4th 2016:

 

Good did come of the events that transpired after landing in Toronto - we met an elderly couple (in their late 70's) in the line up waiting for direction from Air Canada telling us what to do following the notification of flight cancellations. We took them under our wing and helped them with hotel accommodations and transportation to the same hotel we were staying at and then had dinner with them later that evening. Turned out the gentleman had had a stroke last year and is now not able to handle stressful situations like he used to. The God send to us was that we didn't get to Sudbury at 8:00 p.m. as originally planned - by coming in during the day (even though it was the next day) we were dealing with the truck situation during daylight hours and everything we needed was available to us. It wouldn't have been so the night before. Yes, there is a God and isn't He wonderful!

and

a vacation is not a vacation unless there is some adventure that leaves a story to tell. 

Saturday February 27, 2016

This has been a busy week - we packed in all the socializing that we didn't get to in the previous first 7 weeks of vacation. A catch up week, so to say. I would get up in the morning and instead of thinking - today is Monday, I was thining - "today is beer tasting", Tuesday wasn't Tuesday it was "tonight we have dinner with Kris" and so on. Everyday had something going on, Friday came - I didn't recognize it as Friday and slept in, missing  my Skype Spanish lesson! Wow what a week - but it was a fun one.

Sunday we met Ann, Bev, Louise and John for brunch at El Pirata on the port side. They arrived late on Saturday evening for their 2 week vacation at their favourite condo Casa Banditos here in Puerto Morelos. The website for their conco is:   http://www.casabandidos.com/

You may remember from posts years past,  we tease Ann about  her  personal method of looking after her money when here in Mexico -  Louise and John got in on the fun this year too.  We ate at El Pirata and with your bill you get coin chocolates as  you can see in the picture near Ann's elbow. We teased the waiter "Geronimo" about passing out condoms to their customers - he blushed terribly and chuckled as he stepped back from the table.

This is the Maguire/Marselle group anxious to get on their way exploring Puerto Morelos, this is Louise and John's first year but Ann and Bev have been here a few times before and look forward to all the changes since their last visit.

We stopped in to visit with the paramedics at the Red Cross Ambulance Station. This fellow was very enthusiastic about his job and showed us all through his ambulance. This service is a volunteer service, the medics are on a 24 hour 3 days on, 4 days off, 4 days on, 3 days off rotation. They stay at the station for their shifts and get paid a stipend of $4,000. pesos every two weeks - that is equivalent to  $295.00 Canadian today. They cover a distance of about 70 kms of major highway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen and West to Vallidolid. That is a distance in time of 2 hours depending on the time of day and the amount of traffic of course. They carry auto extrication - a hydraulic system which is very old and on its last leg. 

The town of Puerto Morelos has become a city recently, their fire department is still in existence but they have lost all of their equipment including their fire truck, so the ambulance service is filling in as much as they can until the  fire department is equipped and up and running again.

These fellows come into town late in the afternoon after a full day's work. Look at those hot rubber boots?

Back home at "Casa Pura Vida"/Home of Pure Life"  a bug is dead in our courtyard sink - the ants are taking care of the corpse. Interesting how nature looks after itself.

Monday was the Beer Tasting.....

 We gathered in early afternoon for the event .... there were 5 different kinds of beer to be tasted and to add to the seriousness of the tasting, our pallets were cleansed with salt free soda crackers and a few sips of water prior to the tasting of each beer. Very intense. Each beer was served in a clean glass so not to taint the next brew and each beer was rated on a scale with the final score being out of 100. 

The final score was made up of a) the appearance of the beer, 2) its smell, 3) the taste, 4) the after taste,  and 5) its drink-ability (would you go back for more) = ? out of 100. 

The beers tested and in order of appreciation were:                  

#1 Bohemia Obsucra - Ladies 63/100; Men  80/100

#2 Modelos Especial - Ladies 60/100; Men 56/100  

#3 Corona Pale Ale - Ladies 61/100; Men 53/100

#4 Victoria Amber - Ladies 37/100; Men 53/100

#5 Tulum - Ladies 33/100; Men 1/100(Yuk!)

Between tastings  snacks were served and people mingled. Bev borrowed some of Allan's tools and worked on his Mexican walking stick - a mighty fine piece it is too.

Foxy quietly laid next to his master throughout the afternoon. 

There were non beer drinkers that were converted! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

And Some not!

 We left later in the evening

 and went to Ole's for dinner.

On the way we stopped to take a quick look at the shoe sale - this tent is an annual event which lasts a week or so. Shoes of all descriptions, sizes and colours.

Wednesday Theresa went to Cancun with

 Louise Begin  for a day of  shopping, they had 

a blast shopping in fabric stores.

 Allan, Howard and I stayed at home to do some extra little jobs that needed to be done before we head back to Canada. The main one was paint touch ups. 

That evening we had dinner with Kris, our 

property manager and very good friend.

Then we went for ice cream at the best ice cream parlor in Puerto Morelos.

 Wednesday the 24th our group of 8  spent most of the day at the beach, then went to the Maguire/Marselle condos for afternoon drinks and munchies.

That evening we went to El Pesquero for dinner

The food is always good there - this evening there was no hydro for most of our meal. The wind had been strong earlier in the day and the power became disconnected at the pole  outside the restaurant.

Louise was brave and tasted one of the hot sauces served with chips prior to our dinner being served. She was a little uncomfortable for a while - you can see the surprised and shocked  expression on her face. 

After dinner we stopped by Abraham's shop - he was proudly wearing the Honorary Haweater  sweatshirt Bev and Ann brought for him. 

Howard and little Joshua played peek - a - boo

while Theresa was entertained by Joshua's sister America.

Thursday Theresa managed to get to the shoe

 store to look for shoes but didn't see anything

 appealing so she made no purchases.

We took Dani out for dinner in the evening, when we picked her up we found these flowers  growing just outside their gate.

We are sponsoring Dani's education and her dental work. In this photo Kris is reviewing the most recent school report with her. She is doing well in all of her classes and has regular attendance. We are quite proud of her for her accomplishments.

 Kris is Dani's  guardian angel here in Puerto Morelos, she makes sure Dani has everything she needs for school and that she attends all of her dental appointments. I don't know what we would do without her, Kris has been so helpful in our sponsorship of Dani.

I got my ironing board and iron out this week. Allan thought I was loosing it when I packed them to bring to Mexico. The first time I used it was to iron a blouse and the second time....

I used it to iron these lovely placements I brought with me too. They are from The Little Shoppe Around The Corner at Knox - handmade by Kathleen Harasym.

Saturday was  a special day for the men,

they were up early and off for deep sea fishing.


They caught many fish, there was lots for us, the captain and guides as well as Dani's family. Allan took many wonderful pictures of the event and then lost my little point and shoot camera overboard!These two pictures were graciously passed on by Howard.

Later in the day we went to a birthday party for Juan who is going to be our pool man/gardener while we are back in  Canada.

I passed out puppets and stickers to the children who attended the party.

This is Juan's youngest son JT who is 2 years old - what a doll.

During the chill of the evening we were inside enjoying  the warmth of  friendship and a delicious fish dinner at the Maguire/Marselle Condos

The fish caught during the early morning's fishing trip were yellow tailed grouper, trigger fish and amber jack.

The kitchen was vacated for the sole use of Bev our chef and John his assistant.

Even the chef needs a break.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm..... DELICIOUS!

Well, that ends our last full week in Puerto Morelos Villas Uno for 2016, only a few days left until we will be back in Canada enjoying its cold cold winter. Brrrrrr.