Week 13 Ajijic 8/23-8/31
This week we packed in as much fun as we could since we will be gone for the next month. We hiked up our steep hill just about everyday. What used to take us an hour and 15 minutes, we now can do in 48 minutes. I do a bunch of jog/walking down the hill to get our best times! It feels so much better than the first day we started. Peru, here we come…..tomorrow!!! So excited!!
We finally made it to the Ajijic Cultural center on Monday. We tried the day before but it was closed when we got there. I was super impressed by the amount and quality of art that they had displayed. They had a big art show opening over the weekend but I must have got the time wrong. We had the whole place to ourselves, except for the amazing young piano player on the stage. He was practicing before he finished work. He told us that he gives lessons to children. This place seemed like a pretty big deal for the community of Ajijic. It is located on the main square. I was happy we stopped in before we went to our weekly massages. We really are spoiled here with good and inexpensive massages. We like Total Body Care spa the best.
We took a driving adventure on Tuesday to Mezcala. It is east from us. You drive through Chapala about 45 minutes. We stopped at the old train station in Chapala as we drove through. It has been turned into a museum and cultural center. It was small compared to Ajijic. They had a cool yarn display, some history plus bronze sculptures as you enter. I loved the miniature train display outside. It was an impressive building. The train line didn’t last very long though.
You pass through a few small towns, corn fields and the shore of the lake in many places. We drove around a tall mountain to see a small fishing village. Of course, we took the road to see the village. It was beautiful and peaceful. It was a fun little 30 minutes detour.
We made it to Mezcala about 2pm. Such a cute little town nestled up against the mountain. We went first to the church in the center of town. The center wasn’t that colorful...plain compared to many around here. The inside of the church was spectacular! We spent some time walking around the main 4 blocks and then headed to the lake where we knew we would find lunch. Where there’s beer, there will be banos too. The malecon was fabulous. It had the colorful Mezcala sign plus 2 large gazebos on either end. They also had a amphitheater that had a Greek style to it. Our lunch was good. I had ceviche and a michelada. Two of my favorites. Larry had shrimp quesadillas, and shared one with me. Yum! We walked around the malecon afterwards and met a nice gentleman named Jose. He knew a bunch of history of the town and was very talkative. His english was great so we hung out with him. He has a boat and will take folks to the isla de Mezcala on tours. I said we’d be back in October when my friend Heidi is here. We’ve done the tour of the island before but we wanted to go back and stay longer. We took Jose’s number. We skipped the museum and will do it in October.
On the drive back we tried to find the spot to climb up and see the petroglyphs. Jose had given us directions but we never found them. We did stop at a great overlook to the lake. We take advantage of these overlooks because in Mexico, you rarely find one.
The middle of the week, I got really inspired about finishing my book on friendship. I was doing great working on it four years ago…...just about the time I met Larry. Larry inspired me in other ways so I put the book on hold. I recently found a place in Ajijic that prints your books up. I contacted Mike from Ajijic Books. He told me how he helps and the cost and I said, “We got a deal!” I put the all call out again for my friends to send me their stories. This is my favorite part. When friends play my games! I received 3 stories this week and promised 4 more. The book is at 30 stories so far...a smaller version of my first book. I should have it printed by the time we hit the road in Lucy Love in November.
We did another hike on Sunday to the hidden waterfalls. I found many more insects to shoot. We came across part of the trail that had 100’s of praying manitis’. We saw 2 types but only one would pose for a picture. We caught the slower ones for a bit. I love Mantis’. They are my favorite. Larry found 2 new flowers that were magical. He’s good at spotting stuff like that when I’m looking for bugs. One flower was tucked up under a vine. I still don’t know how he found it. Lots of flies and mosquitos were out and about. We found it best to just keep moving. When we got to the main waterfalls on El Tepalo, I made an amazing discovery. I saw my first wild marigold. We have been watching them get little flower buds but I figured we would miss them while we are gone in Peru. I saw one and I was elated!!! Winner winner!
Today is our last day in Ajijic for a month. We are traveling to Peru starting manana! We land In Lima Wednesday at 12:30am…...then this adventure will begin. Both Larry and I are looking forward to someone else planning, driving and knowing stuff. We get to enjoy and semi relax….I’ll let you know how that goes. Hiking the Inca Trail 9/19- 9/23. It’s a bucket list item for me! Yeah! Yippee! Yahoo!