North Beach Cafe

Wow! I have so much to write about tonight!

Yesterday (January 23rd), we went to San Diego for a doctor's appointment at 11:00 a.m. Normally, we would have left home by 9:00, but we had someone coming to fix a plumbing leak, and I had to go to downtown Rosarito to buy a couple of tires. We ended up leaving at some time after 9:30, so there was no time to spare. Even though the Sentri lane was pretty backed up, it moved quickly. I suspended my usual criticism of CPB officers because ours was very polite, and I told him sincerely that I hope he gets paid soon.  I think he appreciated that. We made it to the doctor's exactly on time, although between watering and unwatering Sofia and myself, I didn't make it in time to join Don and the doc, but apparently things went well.

We did some grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Ralph's in Mission Valley. It was like visiting old friends who understand us! We got the things that are either hard or impossible to get where we shop in Mexico, or even in Chula Vista. We got Trader Joe's salads, walnuts, frozen veggies, entrees, low-fat coconut milk, multigrain tortilla chips (irony noted), etc. We got cashew milk, Noosa yogurt (strawberry-rhubarb!), Le Croix lime, Sarah Lee bread, and several other items at Ralph's. With our car loaded with perishables, we anticipated a quick drive home. There are usually no complications. Well, last night, there were so many cars! It was the 5:00 rush hour, and commuters were impatient to get home, so they were crowding and honking. Usually, when we get through the border into Mexico, we hop on the toll road and head south with no impediments except traffic, but last night, there were police vehicles blocking the road. It turns out there was a very bad accident on the toll road, so it was closed for quite a while. Not knowing where I was going, I soldiered on into downtown Tijuana traffic. What a nightmare! Of course, I was going more slowly than most and trying to find a way to get back toward Rosarito. This caused people to pass me on the left and on the right, to cut in front of me, and to lean on their horns. When a three-lane road makes a curve, it is difficult to stay in one's lane because the lanes aren't that easy to follow. I pulled over and asked Google to get me back to Rosarito. Oh  yeah, that was helpful. "In 300 meters, use the middle lane to turn left on [unintelligible] and then make a right on [unintelligible]." "At the roundabout, take the second right on [unintelligible]. It was at about this point that I started having to empty my bladder. Don said, "Pull into the Marriott. We'll have dinner and wait out the rush hour, and you can use the bathroom." Now that was a good idea, but I didn't want to leave my very perishable food for an hour or so, I didn't know if there was a restaurant in the Marriott, and Sofia had already had a long day of sitting in the car (the temp was cool). So on we went, making several wrong turns, passing through very unfamiliar territory, and ending up, after some hair-raising traffic, on  the free road to Rosarito.  The most beautiful sight was the "Bienvenidos" sign that marks the entry to Rosarito! It was another 15 or 20 minutes before we pulled in at home.  I learned today that there was one turn I could have made at the outset of my downtown driving that would have taken me directly to the free road, and we would have been home half an hour sooner! 

Speaking of food, here are some photos of some wonderful food:

Tacos at our friend Jerry's new place, El Paisita

Salad at our favorite crepe restaurant, Caoba

Hamburger and the best fries ever at Caoba

Salmon with cilantro sauce, rice, and veggies at Caoba

Would you believe just over $1 per taco and just under $30 for the salad, hamburger and fries, salmon dinner, and mineral water with lime? Soooo good!

Today, I took Sofia to the vet for a couple of vaccines and some grooming. I love the vet! She has been in practice for 20 years, and her staff and she are so welcoming and good at what they do. She is busy, too!  The name of the clinic is Bites and Scratches. It was recommended on social media, but how could I not, with that name? In Nevada, the vets require a $40 exam before they will do routine vaccinations that run about $30-$40 each. Grooming is another $40 or so, minimum. I got out of this Rosarito vet's office this morning for 730 pesos, or about $40 total! 

This afternoon, I went for a walk on the beach. I don't typically pick up shells, and there are rarely shells that I'd be tempted to pick up, but today, I saw several sand dollars just after my camera battery died, so I brought them home and took a group photo after I charged the battery. Aren't they cool?

 

 Tonight, we went to teach our first English classes at church. The young woman who was assigned to be my assistant knows all of the students, and she teaches English at a private elementary school. She has taught at all levels, and she is really good and completely bilingual!  It was a truly humbling experience to be "in charge" because it was very obvious that I couldn't have done without her. I look forward to working with her for the next 24 weeks. Don had a great experience with his class, as well. His assistant may not be quite as fluent in English as mine, but he's good. In a beginner-level class, somebody needs to be fluent in the native language! 

Well, that's it for tonight, which will be tomorrow in about one minute. Please stay tuned!

Beach House on the Moon

We were in the right place geographically, and the evening clouds held off long enough that I could get a few pictures of the lunar eclipse.

I'm not sure I've ever seen an eclipse before, and I certainly haven't taken any photos of one, so these are very amateur shots, but I'm proud of 'em, anyway!  Emboldened by my newfound success, I tried capturing a photo of the water at night, with the lights from the Coronado Islands in the background. You can kind of tell what it is!

Today has been a work day. We accomplished some things that needed doing, but Don's been having pain issues and I've been freezing all day. I recently bought a small electric blanket, and it's been a wonderful luxury at bedtime!

Hasta soon.

Beaches in Mind

Today has been a good Sunday!

As we were driving down the toll road, we were passed by about ten motorcycles -- the first two going at least 90 mph. I was going just over 65, and they passed me like I was standing still, no exaggeration. We were grateful not to have been victims or witnesses of an accident. Since so many Mexican police departments have cleaned up their act, especially in tourist areas, they keep a lower profile, but I sure would love to have seen a couple of them this morning!  

We went to church at 9:00 a.m. As we arrived (on time!), I noticed a sweet-looking lady in braids, leading four kids who looked more Anglo than she did. I picked up some attitude from the teens. The meeting was very uplifting. We love the people there! I noticed that the lady in the braids was comfortable there, though a daughter had her arms folded stubbornly. I felt strongly that I should greet the lady after the meeting -- something I rarely do, especially when I'm not an old-timer, which I almost never am. I rushed back to catch her as she was leaving and introduced myself. She didn't give me her name but said somewhat apologetically, "We're just visiting." I said, "Oh? From where?" She said Utah. I said, "Welcome!"

I was that mom years ago, insisting that we attend church, wherever we happened to be in our travels, while at least some of my kids protested that we wouldn't know anybody and it was embarrassing, and so on. "The meeting was great!" she said. "We have a good ward," I answered. She left smiling, kids in tow. I was glad I'd followed the feeling that I should greet her.

This afternoon, I went for a long walk on the beach. After the big tides we've had recently, there's a lot of small debris that should be raked up. If I could get my house cleaned, I'd go work on the beach for a while!  I plan my walks for low tide. There's more to see then.

There was a Mexican family visiting the beach. At first, I was really irritated that the lady was standing on the rocks and picking mussels off of the tidepool rocks. Then I realized that (in a variation of "not my circus, not my monkeys"), it isn't my beach or my tidepool. Perhaps she is gathering needed food. A young man who may or may not have been with her group was fishing in the surf. The kids were just too cute.

I thought you might find the fishing interesting.  Have a great week!

By the Sea

This has been an interesting week. We had dark clouds, cold rain, and mud. We had bright sunshine, warmer temperatures, and fun. Keeping in mind that the theme of this blog is our time in Mexico, I will try to stay on task.

This photo was captured by Neil Brown near the Popotla area of Rosarito at the beginning of a rainy day and after a rainy night.

I took this photo as the sky darkened, just before the rain began to fall again.

We've made two trips to San Diego this week, and the crossings were easy-peasy! We're very grateful for that!

We made some progress on our temporary resident visa, and we found out that we hadn't hit the bottom of the barrel of Mexican bureaucracy. When returning from San Diego on Wednesday, we stopped at the immigration office at the border.  There we got the necessary paperwork to turn our visitor visas to temporary resident visas. The people we dealt with were super nice.

The next step in our visa process was going to the government building in Rosarito.  We showed the lady there our paperwork from the border (no, we have no idea). She gave us each a new form to fill out -- apparently something different from what we did for the consulate. We were also told for the very first time that when we return with the completed forms and passport-size photos (we'd turned in such photos before, but this time, we have to have a front shot and a right-facing shot), we will need to pay the equivalent of about $200 each. Then we're supposed to stay in Mexico for up to 30 straight days while awaiting our temporary resident visas. However, if we need to leave -- which of course we do for doc's appointments, etc. -- we can pay another fee and get a letter that says we can go back and forth. 

By now, you're wondering why, if we're planning to go back to Nevada at the end of July, we're even bothering with this. Well, first of all, the renter's insurance won't reimburse us for our loss unless we have proof of temporary or permanent residency. They probably won't reimburse us, anyway, but it's a non-starter if we don't have the proof.  Second, we have invested a great deal of time, effort, and money to get the visas, so we are, as my sainted mother used to say, "Too much loser to quit!"

We were told to expect to spend 30 minutes a week getting ready for our introductory English classes. Of course, we spent hours! Then our classes were canceled because of rain. That sounds strange, but a lot of people live on hills, on unpaved roads. At least we're very prepared for next week!

Our friend Jerry has opened a taco stand at the entrance to our little colony.  He is an amazing chef, and we're giving him all the business we can. Yum!

Well, that's it for now. More soon!

Oh Mexico

It sounds so simple....

 A few nights ago, we had the pinkest sunset!  Here is a photo:

On Wednesday, we went to a doctor's appointment and ran a couple of errands in San Diego. When we came home, I couldn't resist a walk on the beach, even though it was a bit chilly and breezy. The waves were the highest we've seen and were crashing dramatically.

It's fun to watch the birds trying to find the little crabs and shellfish on a day like that. They stand at the edge of the water, wait for the tide to go out, run into the water, dig quickly for dinner, and then get out of the way of the next rush of water. Sometimes, one can't guess the mood of the ocean by reading the tide forecast. It was only about an hour and a half from the supposed lowest tide, and I walked out toward the rocks as the tide went out. All of a sudden a big wave broke, and the waves in front of it picked up momentum; they crashed against the rocks, sending birds flying and me running in surprise. The next time that happened, I was standing with my back to the rocks, checking the photos I just took when I heard a roar and a crash and then felt the cold water hit the backs of my legs. Brrr! That water was cold!

Can you tell how high that wave is? The sun was so bright, the picture isn't as clear as I wish it were, but I think you can tell it's pretty high.

Every day, I am grateful to have this time by the sea. I love it so much!

On Thursday evening, we went to a meeting in Tijuana to learn about our new volunteer opportunity to teach English classes at our church building. There are many challenges, but everyone there seems to have a "can do" attitude, and we're excited to be be able to teach. This is the very first of three 25-week courses. So far, each of us has been assigned an assistant and 15 adult students. There is a 20-30 minute component at the end that will be assigned to our assistants or others in the group, on self-reliance, so we have about an hour for language instruction and practice. I know from experience that the class members will have to do more than go to an hour of class each week, but I also know that many are really interested in learning English.

On Friday morning, I woke up with the worst gastroenteritis. Oh, the suffering! I knew I was really sick when I went to the window, looked out at the ocean, and thought, "Yep. It's still there."  As I write, it's Saturday afternoon, and I'm doing much better. I even went out on the patio for a few minutes today. Still there.

Jimmy Buffet skipped Montezuma's revenge in his catalog of paeans to the beach life! 

Tomorrow's another day. :-)

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay

Watchin' the tide roll away

We're back from a two-week vacation in the U.S., so I don't have much to report vis-a-vis our Mexican adventure. Here are a few  highlights of our trip:

*Stayed in Oceanside, CA. Saw grandchildren Holly and Jacob and took Holly to dinner. Spent some quality time with our son Greg, as well. Greg took us to the airport on 12/24.
*Spent Christmas Eve in transit, including lots of time in the San Diego and Oakland airports.
*Our daughter Rachel's best friend arranged for us to stay that night in Boise after our late arrival. Met the grumpiest cab driver in the northwest. Tipped him well and wished him Merry Christmas.
*Had lots of fun with Rachel and our granddaughters Ariel and Paisley. Granddaughters Ariel and Holly are learning Spanish in school, so we shared stories in Spanish and told them about Mexico. Went to see Mary Poppins with Rachel, Ariel, and Paisley.
*Daughter Ruby Dawn, her husband Roger, and our grandson Scott came through on their way to Utah. At Ruby Dawn's request, I made tamales and lemon meringue pie. We had a good visit. Don went to Boise with them to shop and watch the kids swim in the hotel pool.
*Son Alex and his wife Sharlee and kids Aliyah, Hunter, and Ruby came for a two-day visit. It was super fun to spend time with them. All of the kids are growing up fast.
*Went to church with Rachel and saw quite a few people that we knew from when we lived there. Would like to have spent more time with them and to have seen friends we missed this time around, but quality time with family can't be beat!
*Flew back to San Diego, had breakfast with Greg, and spent New Year's Eve in Yucca Valley, CA. Daughter Julie has arranged for stays for us at the guest quarters of some super nice people who have and board horses, where our granddaughter Lily takes riding lessons. We spent New Year's Eve and the night of January 4th there.
*On New Year's Day, we drove up to Boulder City and spent three nights at our friends' -- Kevin and Tammy Morris. We also visited with our former neighbor, Jean Caler. We saw our doctor, picked up some straggling mail, talked to a friend who was too ill to see us, ran some errands, and talked a lot about when and how we might return to the area.  On January 4th, we returned to Yucca Valley.
*We thoroughly enjoyed time with Julie, Mike, and the kids -- especially Parker and Lily, as Maddie works a lot. We did get to see Maddie's wedding dress and veil (beautiful!), although the wedding isn't likely to happen before March 2020.
*Julie and I Face-timed my daughter Kirsten and granddaughter Katie and the sons-in-law. We got to see our first great-grandchild, Emersyn "Emmy" Isabelle Spurlin (born 12/27/18), who is an absolute doll!
*Don and Parker had dinner and watched a movie.
*Julie and Lily and I went to dinner and did a bit of shopping.
*On January 5th, we drove home to Mexico. We had seen five of our eight children and 11 of our 22 grandchildren, so we batted over .500!

We went to church today and also had a meeting about helping out with some English classes through our church. We're excited about the opportunity to serve.

This afternoon, I took Sofie for a long walk on the beach. I collected a few shells to share with two granddaughters who have expressed interest. Below you will find a photo with my little collection in it. Generally, I photograph instead of collect seashells, but there are exceptions.

Hope you had happy holidays and that 2019 will be a great year for us all, no matter what town or country we call home!

 After they are dinner for the birds, old shellfish turn to butterflies. :-)

 Bright, sunny afternoon at the beach after a night of rain.

Baja Malibu rocks! You gulls agree?