Neighborhood Cafe

We went adventuring n our neighborhood and found a fun pizza, Italian and Steak House. The food was great... portions way to large and the price was good....
It is right next to the Professional Hockey Team training facilities on a little road up from our neighborhood convenience store XOOX (We refer to it as Hugs and Kisses)...

There are hundreds of little cafes and open air eateries and what fun to try them out... They have a atmosphere that is cozy and warm... Most entries are enough to feed a family of four... So split something!

When we were out of our adventure today, we found a nice little neighborhood park where the dogs can run and we can walk a nice little trail.. It has open areas and even its own Cenote! (Natural well)... Sorry, I left the camera in the car...Big dummy me!

We are getting more and more acclimated to our surrounding and where things are... The people are still the biggest joy... Friendly and eager to help in any way possible...

Ross is 63 Years Old Today

Today was another beautiful day in Paradise! Being the anniversary of my birth back in 1947. It was beautiful weather and I spent the day working on our little house. I got a floor scrubber and a reversible drill for my birthday and put them to go use. Scrubbed all the tile in the house (Tile everywhere) hung up some hose hangers and just generally putter the day away. Practiced my siesta technique and watched a little news.

Around six pm, Nacho called and invited us to go to dinner with him for my BDay. The sky was alive with color and some fluffy clouds.

We loaded up in Kathy's new Chevrolet and off to Market 28 for a little dinner party.

Dinner was fantastic! We share a large fish with tortillas, salsa, shrimp cocktails, cerviche' and a margarita! The total bill was 700 pesos (12 pesos to the dollar) under $70. for all three of us and enough food to take home to eat for a couple of days. The food is so wonderful here... Freshness and ripened in it natural environment adds a special favor of it own. The fish we ate slept in the Caribbean Sea the night before..

Nacho, the Royal Resorts Tennis Pro was our host and he is a wonderful friend. We ate and drank as we enjoyed the atmosphere and the local musicians at the open market and eatery.

Becky and Nacho were caught up in the moment and I got the evidence on my camera... But, that is what good food and company will do for you here in Paradise..

The day was wonderful with numerous friends and family sending email, text and some phone calls thru our communication system. I truly appreciate all the thoughts and wishes from so many people..

We are truly loving our new home and surroundings... We do find the language as the biggest hurdle and we need to take the time and focus on it.. To this point we have relied on the local people to help us and they ALL make an attempt to help us on anything we need. We need to put more effort into learning Spanish and not trying to teach the entire Mexican population English...

We do relish the occasional call from our friends (801) 738-1429... It is a standard call to a USA number thru our Magic Jack)..  We speak often to Anna, my sister who is in Manila, Philippines on an LDS mission for the LDS church. She has a magic jack too!

Thru Facebook and email we keep in touch with many friends and family... It is a way to stay connected to their busy lives.

Park Pictures

 Typical Maya House

 Widlife Poster We didn't see any Iguanas

 Inside the family Loo

 Family Garden

 Workout area at the park

 Children's playground

Young school girls with the dogs at the park

Good Day We added a couple of things...

Mayan Calander

Testing the new hammock for Nikki and Pete...
Sunday we took a drive down the Tulum Corridor. We found some Mayan Hammocks for the those that have been wondering wher the Hammocks were! They are here now! Also added a Mayan Calander for the patio.

Becky and her boy, Sport.

The Mayan Calendar is hanging on the patio.
 Good time was ad by all.

Pictures for week four

Here are some pictures from our neighborhood mall.. Wal Mart, Sam's Club & Starbucks to name a few. There is also a large gym & spa.. Some specialty shops.. All very clean and well kept... 

First month in Paradise

We have time..e reach a milestone... One month since we arrived here at our new home. It has been an adventure to say the least. Arriving to our little casa with its bare walls, lights hanging from the ceiling without fixtures, a borrowed bed, a few kitchen utensils and an over grown yard of weeds.
Challenges of language, not knowing where anything was and the layout of this city... We ventured out and stumbled and bumbled our way around. We have met some wonderful people! The people in general are extremely willing to help and try to assist us in anyway possible.
On a shoe string budget, Becky has put together a warm and inviting little home for us.. I tag along as chauffeur and mouth piece to try to get our point across. We have found some GREAT food and place to eat. CHEAP! The fish, fruits and vegetables are the freshest and most flavorful I have had in along time. It is like living on a farm with vine riped everything! The fish we eat today were sleeping in the ocean last night.
This is the hurricane season (July thru October) and we have had a lot of rain. The rain comes and it is a driving rain, but warm.. the individual storms are usually just micro bursts that last only a few minutes and they are gone. Temperatures have been in the mid to high 80s and humidity is high... Electricity is expensive, so you use air conditioning as needed room by room. Ceiling fans are a must to keep the air circulating and there are individual air conditioning units in the rooms that you use as needed.
We have a wide assortment of stores to choose from. Large department stores and malls everywhere. The Mexican super markets are really well organized and clean! And Yes, cheaper than Wal Mart. We do have Wal Marts everywhere... Sam's Club, Home Depot, Office Depot and an assortment of stateside restaurants and name brand stores.. There are many little merchants that sell about anything you can imagine and somethings you wouldn't imagine. Street vendors are everywhere. In all major parking lots there are attendants to help you park, wash your windows on your car and assist you in loading and backing out.. all working for tips...
We have found a little gardener dude to keep the yard looking good and a groomer for the dogs. All come to the house as needed and work very reasonably. We have a neighborhood handyman that does about anything you might need.
We are settling in ... This retirement thing isn't so bad...
Becky has painting projects, embroidery projects and plans for sculpting ... See has books to read and all is well on that front.
I am playing with my fantasy football team, following the SF Giants best season since they won the pennant and went to the world series in 2003. Working on our FM2 visas so we can stay here, promoting the sell of our timeshare and trying to get a little recruiting business... need to stay busy...

We are taking walking mainly around the area but have made it to the beach a couple of times.. All in All... Life is good in Paradise!