Blog

After a long drive from Ajijic Mexico and spending five nights in the first class hotel, the Westin, in Puerto Vallarta, we drove on to San Blas. My friends had invited us to spend a few days at their house. It was an easy drive. What a relief from the first part of our trip. The road was fairly new, no potholes. It was a free road. We drove through beautiful countryside that turned into jungle when we got...

I took an eight day vacation with my friend Tammy from Lake Chapala to Puerto Vallarta and San Blas. We were told that the best way to drive was through the mountain towns (which is the "Libres Roads" instead of the "toll roads"). We left at sunrise and didn't make it to Puerto Vallarta until eight hours later. I would not recommend going that way. It was over the mountains on a very bad road. Sunrise...

Efren Gonzalez had an art auction at the Ajijic Plaza on Friday, January 3rd, 2014. It was at three thirty exactly. Efren said that he had converted to American time instead of Mexican time and he would be starting all his auctions at the advertised time, on the dot. Since he was a few minutes early, he waited awhile before starting. If you have never been to any of his auctions or talked with him, you...

This is my favorite season of the year. Something is going on all the time. I can't keep up with it all. Between the expat community and the Mexican community, there is no resting. There are parties almost every night. Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I heard the big fireworks going off. I have learned to tell the smaller cohetes (which just make a very loud noise) from the ones that burst in the...

If you have never stopped in at Arden Casa De Muebles, then when you do, you are in for a treat. You can't miss it. It is located in Riberas Del Pilar, between Ajijic and the town of Chapala, on the carretera, mountain side, as you drive towards Chapala from Ajijic. The address is 81 Hidalgo. It is a furniture, art and craft import store. Front of Arden Import Store Once a month a new shipment comes...

 The Ranch Illusion, located off the libramento, had a fund raising fiesta on Saturday Dec. 14th, 2013. It was for the Equine Therapy program. This ranch is also called the Pepe Martinez Equine Therapy Center (CET).  Dr Pepe is in charge of the program.  The event started at two in the afternoon and lasted until after midnight. I guess people were having too much fun to go home. The entrance fee was...

The time around the Day of the Dead is filled with interesting things to do and see. I have already written about the big celebration in the Ajijic plaza with the Zombie Thriller dance and parade,  pumpkin carving contest and art and craft show. These life sized, actually larger than life sized, Catrina Dolls were also out on the Ajijic and Chapala plazas. They were created by the school children with...

Saturday, October 26th, was a big day for Ajijic. There were several things happening in the Ajijic Plaza and the entire area was packed with participants and curious onlookers. The Michael Jackson Thriller Dance was one event. This is a worldwide dance to raise money for different charities. In Ajijic, it is for the Local Red Cross. People dressed in the zombie makeup and costumes were mixed in with the...

Tammy and I were on another adventure of the area east of Chapala. We stopped at El Gran Salon restaurant for a bite to eat but their electricity was out. In front of it are Tom Sumner, one of the three owners, and on the right, the musician Cesar Fabien. He plays and sings there. It just opened on July 22nd. They have Karaoke on Thursday nights. I was told that quite a crowd gathers for it. This...

This is the second article in a series that I am writing about the area East of Chapala.  It is a mostly undiscovered part of the lakeside.  The first trip out there was by bus and on this trip I rode out with my friend Tammy in her comfortable car. Both ways were interesting. We didn't go through the first town, Santa Cruz this time. Maybe we will make it on the next trip. On this trip, we focused on...