We're going travelling....or leaving the library by the pool.

We said farewell to our friends Caroline and Dalj on Tuesday and are doing all the usual things that are needed to get our little apartment ready for the next guests who arrive on Saturday.  I guess when you are "retired", running our little guest accomodation here, primarily for friends and family, is as close to a job as we get these days.  That and the unofficial role I still play to assist Monica and her wonderful son Juan to update their website information about her still popular Cooking School at Patio Mexica.  Monica has moved on from her role in the kitchen of Patio Mexica because her daughter has graduated from the local professional chef training academy and now is the head chef at the breakfast/lunch cafe.  This allows Monica time to devote to her passion which is sharing her love of traditional Mexican cooking in the welcoming atmosphere of her home and garden classroom.  The people whotake the cooking classes are giving her a lot of feedback and suggestions for the future and I'm helping Monica to move forward with her ideas and my English skills...

Meanwhile, back at Casa Ceiba, a good portion of the owners and winter renters who are here seem to spend the afternoons reading by the pool.  Currently 3 of us are at the same stage of the 3 book series by Stieg Larsson,  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.   I didn't expect to enjoy it as many of my more literary friends had found it a poor read.  and of course I had made the fatal error by watching 2 of the movies at home in Victoria prior to leaving.  So, I've left these as my last 3 books in paper form to read before I transition to my new KINDLE.  And I'm loving them.   The amount of reading that occurs here is impressive, prompting one of our regular winter visitors to call it "the library by the pool"...a much nicer atmosphere than many libraries of my past.

But our big focus is getting ready for our trip.  We leave on Sunday, when our friends Jim and Gaya arrive back here from their week in Barra de Potosi to stay in our casa and look after Cori.   He's been cut and shampooed, his food has been prepared, but he has no idea until he sees the suitcases roll out. 

Our plan is to head north and go see some of the places that used to be our vacation destinations until we found Zihua.  Then inland past the volcano at Colima City, onto Lake Chapala, and to Guanjuato where we will visit San Miguel de Allende...one of those magical places that people have been telling us about for years.  Then our final destination enroute home will be the butterfly sanctuaries near Angangueo, the small mountain village where last year, the torrential rains washed mud and boulders through the streets and prevented anyone from travelling to the area.  

I'm a bit on edge about this trip this year...maybe it's the lingering memories of our recent experience in Michoacan, maybe it's the number of persons who have said "be careful", or maybe it's just the fact that despite having purchased a new Guia Roja, downloaded updated GPS maps, and having taken many classes in Espagnol....we really can't anticipate what's on that road ahead....but can anyone?  Que le vaya bien!!