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Next stop: Manzanillo.  On the way we stopped by Cuyutlán, our favorite little ocean town.  Carrie tried octopus and loved it.

We stayed at an oceanfront hotel on a peninsula overlooking Manzanillo Bay.  The views were captivating.  We spent our days swimming in pools and oceans.  Just like last time we were in Manzanillo, we weren’t ready to leave so we booked an extra night.  Hotels just keep amazing us.  We paid $75/night for a room with three beds, a kitchenette, a great made-to-order breakfast included and those incredible views.  Can’t beat it.

Shitty view.

We bought iola an awesome pool floatie that lasted 10 minutes before the  plastic built-in seat holding her up broke.  It had a squeaker built in to its tail and we weren’t ready to give it up.  Pink duct tape to the rescue!  My first fix job lasted another 10 minutes only.  I got serious for my next fix and that lasted the rest of the time.  Note the increasing amount of duct tape.

iola was painting Grandpa’s toenails.  We thought they were just playing pretend until he walked over to us.  That’s a good buddy right there, although I think he thought it’d wash off easily.  I’ve been laughing ever since every time I see his feet.

iola commandeered my ice cream cone.  She had her own, then claimed mine.

We headed back to Chapala after a great week on the road.

-Ryan

Next stop on our trip: Colima (capital city of the state of Colima).  We stayed at a great hotel located right on a city park next to a church & plaza area.  We were also just a short drive from some ruins (La Campana Ruins) leftover from pre-hispanic civilizations.  What an interesting place that was!  Did you know human sacrifices were common in these civilizations?

We were pleasantly surprised by a showcase of Mexican dance in the plaza by the hotel that night.

We did a side trip to the town of Comala, a short drive from Colima.  Comala is the fictional setting of the novel Pedro Páramo by Mexican author Juan Rulfo.  I took a class my senior year of college completely dedicated to Rulfo’s work, which was small.  He only wrote one novel and a collection of short stories called El Llano en Llamas (The Burning Plains).  Too bad I was mentally checked out of college by that point!  Otherwise I’d fill you in on some more details.  Here’s a statue instead.

The view of the volcano was great from the town.  It was blowing smoke off and on all day.  It’s amazing how quickly the plume dissipates when not blowing out.

The church was still decorated for the Virgen of Guadalupe.  They really admire that gal.

We stopped by a “magic zone” where you put your car in neutral and it rolls what appears to be uphill.  I thought I wouldn’t be fooled, but sure enough, it really did look like the car was rolling against gravity!  Of course a picture provides no proof of this so you’ll have to take my word for it.  Why the water bottle?  Professor Grandpa was doing some science experiments.

Grandpa Gary didn’t want to leave the hotel pool, so we promised him if we left Colima to go to the beach and he wasn’t pleased, we would return to Colima (it didn’t happen).

On the way out of town we stopped by a free zoo.

The only camel at this zoo causes cancer.

Here’s a tongue-twister for you: iola loves inanimate animals.

My favorite animals weren’t in cages.

-Ryan

We’ve been having so much fun with Grandpa Gary I haven’t had time to blog.  I have taken approximately 300 pictures on my camera since the last time I blogged.

First, a note on my dad.  I’ve always known this but I gave it more thought during his visit:  my dad is one of the most laid-back, genuinely happy people I know.  He finds joy and pleasure in no matter what we do, and what a great way to live that is, because he’s always happy.  I’m sure I took it for granted growing up, but thinking back my dad was seemingly always happy.  It’s a great lesson for me to be like my dad and enjoy every moment we get to live.

After hanging around Chapala for a few days with Grandpa, we took off on a multi-city road trip for a week.  Before that, Carl Car needed prepared.  Since we’ve been scraping on every speed bump, it was time to do something about it.  The mechanic was plenty familiar with that problem.  $70 and four red spacer rings later Carl sat about an inch higher.

First stop: Mazamitla.  We enjoyed the quaint town so much last time we went we decided to show Grandpa.  This time they were celebrating the Virgen of Guadalupe with Catholic masses, parades, carnival rides, and lots of noise.  The impressively loud fireworks at all hours make you feel like you’re in a war zone.  It was rainy off and on for the couple days we were there, almost a blessing as to stop the fireworks for at least a bit.  We had a relaxing two days in the fun little town, despite iola’s nasty head cold.

-Ryan

Grandpa Gary decided to ditch the cold and visit us.  He is one of iola’s best friends, so that news was very welcomed.  We picked him up in Guadalajara & we combined the trip to the city with other errands.

First was the International Book Fair Carrie wanted to check out.  We imagined it being a sort of sleepy, casual event.  It was the opposite…long line to get in & a bit on the crowded side despite the gigantic venue.  It was really fun to experience & we got great new Spanish books for iola.

We once again stayed in a fantastic hotel in Guadalajara, probably the best Mexican hotel we’ve stayed in so far (and still well under $50).

We visited the midwives again.  Mamá y bebé are both doing well!

Grandpa’s flight was running late so we had time to explore the city  before heading to the airport.  Carrie had been on a felt fabric hunt and finally found it in a crazy busy fabric store.  Buying our merchandise was an experience like no other.  First we had to find someone to cut the fabric pieces.  At one point after about color number five I told the employee, “and one of every color.”  She looked back at all the different colors with a stunned look until I told her it was a joke.  She gave us a paper ticket (but not our felt) that we had to take to a cash register.  We had to get a different ticket from a different department for the paint Carrie also wanted.  Once everything was paid for, we waited in one long line to show the paid receipt and pick up the fabric.  In another line we waited to pick up the paint.  I have no idea how this method saves money or prevents shoplifting, but I’m thankful it’s unlikely I’ll ever step foot in that store again.  Between the book fair and that store I had my share of crowds for a few months.  I will admit the results of Carrie’s felt quest made it all worth it (see below).

We ate at the world’s smallest restaurant (unofficial) before going to find Grandpa at the airport.

Grandpa’s here!  The amount of love between these two never gets old to see.

iola loves her new felt Christmas tree.

-Ryan

 

On the way back up to the hills from the coast, Carrie found yet another activity for us.  Once again at the end of a road where I was cursing the potholes and questioning if this side trip was really worth it, we arrived at the Tortugario, a sea turtle refuge.  And I should stop questioning my wife, as this was yet another really fun stop.  They keep huge sea turtles in pools, bury their eggs in sand, and then release the babies once born.  We were hoping to see the latter part the most but were about to leave without seeing babies when…

They asked if we’d like to release some turtles!  Newborn sea turtles combined with a two year old is a cocktail of adorableness.  iola threw her turtle instead of gently setting it down.  It survived, thankfully, else I’d have lingering guilt over my daughter murdering an endangered animal.

Leaving the turtles, we drove through Cuyutlán, a small fishing town.  Carrie was hungry so we explored the little town and found a pot of gold.  Lining the Pacific coast were dozens of restaurants with seating right on the beach.  We got a view of surfers while we waited for our food.  Carrie had delicious fish tacos and I ate garlic shrimp with a coco loco drink, straight out of the coconut.  The loco part was not native to the coconut.  This was one of the tastiest, most relaxing meals in my recent memory.  And oddly affordable.

 

You might not think too much of the middle, darker cloud unless you were looking for it.  It’s a volcano we passed going back into the mountains toward home.

These sunsets never get old.

-Ryan

Gringos have no business being in Mexico for a month without having seen the Mexican coast.  We looked for the quickest driving distance to a beach and went there, which landed us in Manzanillo, on the Pacific coast.  We planned to stay here three nights but as I’m writing this we’ve now extended our stay for two more nights.

The climate in Manzanillo is surprisingly different than by Chapala up in the mountains at 5,000 feet.  Here it’s 90 degrees and sunny whereas by Chapala it’ll sometimes sneak into the 80’s but usually stays in the 70’s and no air conditioning is needed.

Our hotel on the beach sets us back $43/night including tax & resort fee.  If you’re looking for a five star resort this wouldn’t be your place, but we love it.  Our door is about six steps to the pool and the beach is 10 steps beyond that.  We hear the waves crashing while in bed.

Hurricane Patricia surprisingly seems to have spared this area.  It had been predicted to cause unprecedented damage.  The only sign we’ve seen of a hurricane is the missing panels of Plexiglas between the pool and the beach.  Our view is better than it would be otherwise so thank you, Patricia.  It seems like yesterday we were avoiding your rains.

We went to the hotel’s restaurant the first night and were surprised to discover it’s a Spanish restaurant.  Tortilla española & calamares a la romana hit the spot.  Although I’m a one trick pony as a chef, I will say I could show them a trick or two on making Spanish tortilla.  I’ll forgive them since we’re halfway around the world from Spain…and because their beachfront patio is one of the prettiest places I’ve ever eaten a meal.

Carrie invariably finds weird places for us to go.  Once we’ve arrived I’m thankful for Carrie’s exploratory nature 99% of the time, and I’m glad she’s not the type to just stay on the beach (metaphorically, although in this case literally.)  On the trips to get to these places, however, I’ll admit I’ve cursed the decision to go plenty of times.  Our most recent example is the Iguananario, an “Iguanarium”.  If it looks like there’s someone’s makeshift home right beside the place, it’s because there’s someone’s makeshift home right beside the place.

A horror movie could be made in this place.  They estimate they have around 500 iguanas, and they’re everywhere.  Above you in trees, beside you, below you.  No fences for these guys.  They also have cute raccoons, pigs, badgers, guinea pigs, roosters, & some other birds.  Quite the funny mix.  Very fun, I must say.

In case you haven’t heard the rumor, Mexicans love peppers.  I asked the waitress at our lunch stop yesterday if the salsa she brought to the table was spicy.  She said no.  She was a big liar.  Although from her perspective I imagine they were not, in fact, spicy.

-Ryan