Shrimp Dinner

Last evening we went out for a shrimp dinner. I have mentioned this restaurant before; but don't think I have ever taken a picture of it. It is called Cocos El Novillero and serves good seafood. If you want dinner though, you have to go early as it closes at 7 PM.
Our order was taken promptly and we sat back to relax. This didn't last for long as the owner of the restaurant came up to us and introduced himself. He sat down and began to chat with us. He told us that he doesn't speak any english; but would like to learn as there are more and more tourists coming into the restaurant. It is located right across from the stadium in Guaymas. We chatted with him throughout our meal.
The shrimp were good, the company was unexpected, the staff were friendly and we were well taken care of. A nice evening.
If you are ever in town, I recommend a lunch or dinner there, they have a large variety of seafood on the menu. He said they open at 8 AM and close at 7 PM.

Cake And Roses

As I didn't blog yesterday, today I have to say un tardío feliz cumpleaños a mi amigo Fernando en Canadá. Hope you had a great day!
Yesterday we went to the bigger grocery store Soriana and bought a cake for the evening and then stopped at a fish store on the way home. We got a kilo of fresh shrimp for 80 pesos (about $8.00 dollars a kilo or about $3.63 dollars a pound). They are called medium size here; but are quite large. The "large" ones were 95 pesos a kilo, (about $9.50 a kilo or about $4.31 a pound).
Last evening we had the landlords family up for cake and coca cola and we had a nice visit with them. They brought me a lovely arrangement of roses. It is so pretty and I love it.

Today we are just hanging out at home, as Roy has a big day planned with football (Americano) on TV. This evening we are going to go out for a shrimp dinner, hopefully the place will be open. We haven't been having much luck lately with finding places open. We have gone to our favorite torta place a couple of times and they have been closed. GRR

Happy Birthday Roy

Yesterday was our anniversary and Roys birthday also. We decided to go out for dinner last night at one of our favorite places here. We haven't been there for a long time now and were going into withdrawal.
The restaurant El Coco Novillero specialises in seafood and it is good food at reasonable prices. We both ordered breaded shrimp and when the plates arrived our empty tummies didn't quite seem big enough. We had tons of shrimp, after I had eaten a couple I decided to count and there were still 14 good sized shrimp on my plate. Very tasty. I managed to eat all my shrimp by leaving some of my rice and not touching the tortillas. Service was good; although our favorite waiter was not there, too bad, he was a good waiter and we had always enjoyed his service. Oh well, dinner was great tasting and not hard on the budget. A nice, relaxing meal.
After eating we took a different street home and I snapped a couple of blurry photos out of the car window. Tough scenery to have to live with, isn't it?

Walk On The Beach

Walk On The Beach

Yesterday we decided that we would go out to San Carlos and walk our friends dog one more time before she left. We made arrangements with her and she decided that she would be elsewhere when we arrived. We wanted to see how the dog reacted to us coming into the house without his owners around. No problems, the dog was happy to see us and we went for a nice walk along the beach. By the time we returned so had our friend so we chatted for awhile and then went to meet the people across the street.

These people are in need of someone to also care for their dog and their home while they are on holiday. They had someone lined up to do it; but unfortunately there was a tragic traffic accident about a week ago and they were both killed. Very sad. It was a shock to the community as these people seem to have been well known and loved by all. We did not know the couple but sympathise with their families.

We chatted with the new people, exchanging information and meeting their dog, who is an exuberant 1 yr. old. So, it looks like we will be spending over a month in San Carlos over the holiday season. We should be getting an ample amount of exercise with all the dog walking! We will be coming home sometimes during the day to keep our plants watered, etc., so it will be a different way to housesit.

After meeting the second set of dog owners, we headed over to the RV park and visited with our friends for awhile. Their dog had been very sick and now appears to be on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, they have decided to head up into Arizona at the end of the month, to spend the rest of the winter there. The vet. strongly recommended that they keep the dog out of the sea water and being that he is a water loving dog they are hoping to find a place to park along a river where he can be in the water and enjoy himself more.

Today we went to the tianguis and wandered around, it seems like there are more vendors now in the new area than there were in the old place or maybe it is that there are more now that it has cooled off and the Christmas season is coming up. We enjoyed wandering around and then headed back towards home with a stop off for lunch at our favorite shrimp taco stand.

Tomorrow we will again be going out to San Carlos to join our friends and enjoy a turkey dinner for the USA holiday. There were not enough snowbirds here yet in October to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, so we will be having ours tomorrow.

This weekend they will be holding the annual Shrimp Festival, so we will again be going out there. We really enjoyed the folkloric dancers and other talent displayed last year, so we are hoping that it will be just as good this year. Too bad all these activities couldn't have waited until we were living out there, it would have saved us some trips back and forth. Normally we don't go out there more than once every 2 or 3 weeks; but this last week or so it seems we have had to go every couple of days.

I finally managed to take the time to go and get a haircut late this afternoon and that sure feels better. I was beginning to feel like the shaggy dog in that long ago movie.

I hope that all the people in the USA enjoy their turkey tomorrow and that we are all smart enough to take some time and give thanks for all the good things we have enjoyed in the last year.

Onward And Upward

Onward And Upward

The guys had started working on the railings yesterday morning before I finished blogging and continued for most of the day. There was some discussion about whether to even put the part up, that is shown on the left hand side of this photo (the unpainted part). Ciro asked us whether we wanted it and we told him it was up to him, it didn't matter to us. He finally decided to put it there in case we wanted a gate sometime.

They then left an opening part way down the stairs (on the right hand of the photo below), so that they can access their roof without coming up onto our patio.

Apparently the plan is to sometime have a privacy wall of some sort (ironwork) going from the unpainted corner on the right hand side of the photo below to the other end of our patio and then a sun roof over part of it. It is hard to say when that will happen, as it is so hard to find workers right now, everyone is so busy working in Miramar and San Carlos.

Ciro started painting the railing while the guys were working on the other parts of it. I think he is trying to do it before it starts to rust, which happens quickly here in the salt air. Fine with us.
I went to the laundromat and washed the clothes, and picked up a few things at the store that we need for our trip. Roy then hung the laundry to dry while I did some cleaning in the house. Other than that we just spend the day relaxing and watching the work going on. I made shrimp tacos for supper. I am trying to use up the meat that I have in the freezer before we leave just in case the fridge goes off while we are gone. We are down to bacon and shrimp now, so tonight we are having cheese stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon. Now doesn't that sound like a cholesterol nightmare!! Should be good with some rice and tomatoes on the side. I think I will go and pay the cable/internet bill today and not have to worry about rushing to do it when we get back. It has to be paid by the 13th of the month. I also need to pull all the plants into the shady area of the patio so that they won't dry out too much while we are gone, I will water them well and hopefully they will be fine until we get back.
Tomorrow we will pack and leave on the bus around 9PM, supposedly getting into San Luis Rio Colorado at around 8AM the next morning. I say supposedly, because going north you never know how long a trip will take, it depends on how many checkstops they have that particular day, on that particular stretch of road, could be 1, could be 5, or more. You just never know.

The Old Jail

The Old Jail

This morning we decided to head down to the old jail in Guaymas. There was supposed to be a photography exhibit going on there. When we arrived we were greeted and wandered through one room with photos. When we left this room the receptionist asked us if we would like to see the building, naturally we did. A older gentleman appeared and showed us around the jail. The walls are about 18 inches thick and made of solid stone with concrete over it. He showed us the general cells, the solitary cells, the walkway where I assume the people got their exercise. It was a narrow hallway type area and a person wouldn't have gotten much exercise there. He then took us up a very narrow spiral staircase and opened one of the doors so that I could take some photos. We weren't allowed to walk around out there as he said that it was dangerous. There were 4 more rooms up there with photos and we looked at them all. Many of them were taken at Alamos a city not far south of here; but there were also quite a few from Prague, Chek.. We enjoyed the time we spent there.

Here is an old photo of the jail, thanks to Senor Valles and some that I took today.

One of the cells with the bedframes intact.

One of the corner guard towers.

There are more photos here:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/556224469YzzOJQ?vhost=travel&start=168

On the way home we stopped and had a coke at one of the places we used to go to lots last winter. They welcomed us back and asked where we had been for so long. We sat and watched their budgies and enjoyed our cokes before finishing the walk home.

I think that Gary is leaving tomorrow so we have invited him to have coconut shrimp here with us tonight for dinner.

More About Today

More About Today

I was just going to add this to the bottom of this mornings post and then decided not to.

I put on a long sleeved shirt when I went to the store and got laughed at by the landlord and his family, who were sitting outside. I think Irene told me that I was going to have to get a heavy coat.
The pharmacy was out of my medication; but wrote it down on his "to order" list and told me he would have it tomorrow. I asked him if he could order 2 boxes so that I would have enough for a month, rather than just 2 weeks and he said sure.
The local tortilla place was closed, so I asked the mini market fellow about it. He laughed and told me that she doesn't want to work anymore, she has too much money. HA HA. He also showed me, when I asked, how to tell if an avocado is ripe enough to eat, as I wanted one ready for supper. As I was coming home, Nancy (landlords daughter in law) was coming down the street calling something about the bread man. I couldn't hear/understand her very well as there was a couple of trucks and a bus running and also lots of wind. I wasn't sure if she was asking me to stop him or if she was trying to tell me that this was the bread man that they had been telling me about previously. I walked around the corner and sure enough there he was, just down the street, with his push cart. He lives up the hill a couple of blocks from us (can't imagine pushing that cart up that hill, he is not a young man) and his wife does all the baking. Nancy and I both got some sweet concoctions, she was laughing because I got 2 of everything that I bought (uno por mi y uno por Roy). She told me that is was fattening (it's a little late to tell me that)!! As I continued on my way home another lady stopped me to ask if I had gotten my stuff from the bread man, I told her that yes, he was just around the corner, so she hightailed it after him. Apparently you have to catch him early as he sells out quick, as they are so good.
Dinner was very good, I meant to take a photo of it before we started eating; but forgot. We had coco shrimp, rice, avocado, tomato, tortillas with a little lime on the side (didn't bother making any salsa). We are full, fat and happy as I write this. It's a tough life!!

Shrimp

Shrimp

We had a lovely shower this morning and it is still cloudy and windy, a lot windier than it usually gets here. I spent some time this morning looking for recipes for Coconut Shrimp, as we had ordered some shrimp through Ciro a few days ago. I had just finished doing that and there was a knock on the door. There stood Ciro, bag of shrimp in hand--do I have ESP or what? When we ordered them, I was told that the price was 50 pesos for a kilo (about $5.00 dollars), I thought maybe I had misunderstood, so before paying Ciro I again asked, yes that is the price. OK, fine by me. I separated them into 3 meals, cleaned enough for our dinner and froze the rest. So, the menu for this evening is: Coconut shrimp, rice, tomatoes, salsa of some sort, and maybe some avocado (if I get energic and go to the store) and tortillas and of course the always present limons. Yum, yum, can't wait for dinner.

Just in case you are wondering what $5.00 worth of shrimp or a kilo looks like here, here's a photo.

I got an email from my step daughter this morning saying that it is cold and they have had snow. She said that as she was writing the furnace was running. Here it is 80 F./27 C. in the house with all the windows open and it feels chilly. I guess we have adapted to the climate.

Papas Locas And Other Things

Papas Locas And Other Things

We were quite lazy yesterday and didn't do too much, other than clean the house and get some groceries. We had a nice chat yesterday with the owner at the mini market a couple of blocks from home. Someone had told him that Roy had worked on a fishing boat in Alaska and he wanted to know if that was true as he somehow couldn't believe it. No, we told him it wasn't true. We then had a good discussion about the differences in fresh water fishing and the fishing here and the types of seafood. Apparently people are discussing us, it got us wondering just how people here perceive us, we don't act like the normal "tourists". We take the buses usually, rather than driving and shop locally rather than running to the Wal Mart in Hermosillo, just a couple of the differences. A couple of days ago when I was on my way to the store a lady stopped me to chat. She wanted to know where my husband was, I told her he was at home. She grinned and said, "ah....sleeping", I got a chuckle out of this. Now, I don't know whether this lady has seen us together and just wondered where Roy was, or if she has only seen me by myself and was curious about my marital status, or.. or.. or..?? The conversation of course was in spanish. Anyway it got me wondering.

I couldn't decide what to cook for supper last night, so thought I would try to make the "papas locas" that we like so much at a local restaurant. Typically here they use "carne asada" (grilled meat), cut up into tiny pieces; but I decided to make it with bacon instead. I cooked the bacon (cut up into small pieces), then added onion and peppers and sauted them. Then added some canned elote (corn), crema(cream), leche (milk), queso (cheese) and of course some sal con chili y limon spice (salt with chili and lemon). This was heated until the cheese melted, then put over the baked potatoes. It was very good, as in, we ate tooooo much. It was very rich and I am sure not good for the cholesterol levels. I will definately make it again.

I had a pleasant surprise this morning when I opened my emails. I frequently get emails from people asking questions about this area and I try to help them out as much as I can. Usually what happens is that there are emails that go back and forth for awhile until they find out what they want and then I don't hear from them again. Sometimes I wonder about whether they ever came here or not, if they did--did they enjoy it, etc.. This morning I got an email from a lady in Canada, we have emailed back and forth sporadically over the last 8 or 9 months. She emailed to say that they were in Hermosillo, the city just north of us about 125 kms. and were on their way eventually to San Carlos. It was nice to hear from her and to find out that they actually did come to Mexico as planned.

She also asked about the state of the shrimp here. Awhile ago people were saying that there might be some e-coli floating around with the shrimp. I haven't bought any; but am getting a craving for some, so will have to ask the landlord if they are OK now. Fidel, if you are reading this perhaps you could comment also or if you would ever like to get together for a coffee just let me know.

We may go snorkelling today, we will see. We were going to go last Wednesday; but Ciro said that his brother was coming to install the railings and we wanted to talk to him about the lid for our storage box. He didn't come and still hasn't come, so I guess he is busy at work. This is just a side project for a family member and not a rush job so I guess we are last on the list. Oh well, he will show up one of these days.