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This morning, we were up on the roof having a scribble and The Raggedy Man said, "I think I hear a parade!"

And he did….

All packed up and ready to catch the night bus to Mexico City.

I shall miss you, lovely La Penita.

Go easy ~p

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A bittersweet day in La Penita….
We took a ride with Rod into Puerto Vallarta. A sweet ride, but a sadness in that the reason for the ride was that our new pals, Val and Dale, were heading out to catch the plane home to Saskatoon.

Last night, we had the pleasure of hearing them jam with Rod over at a lovely casa where freinds are staying. Twas grand.

They arrived at La Penita the day before us, and we are staying one more day before heading out to Mexico City.

What a great visit it has been. Rod and Sharyn have been fantabulous hosts and it was great spending time with them and getting to know Val and Dale.

Highlights included….

• The first night dart tournament that introduced us to a passle of fun folks up on the roof
• My morning yoga sessions with Sharyn and Sue as the sun rose
• The Global Gas man – whose cry rang out like a Call to Prayer each morning
• Doing the Walk Against Cancer with Sharyn (and enjoying the wild dancing afterwards)
• Market visits and…the best souvenir ever – A LIME SQUEEZER
• The big Carnival and Mardi Gras parade and party to mark the last days before Lent
• Walks over to Guayabitos and back along the beach (especially yesterday, when the Raggedy Man and I braved the incoming tide and surprised a beautiful young Mexican couple having a wee snuggle amongst the rocks)
• A day out @ Chacala beach and our trek to see the Petroglyphs near Alta Vista. Sadly the petroglyphs have been …raided. Huge chunks of rock chiselled off. Made us so sad. There are still a few. Pics of beach and one very cool petroglyph are in the camera for later posting.
• Sundowners on rooftops with toute la gang
• Wonderful dinners prepared by Rod and Sharyn and shared with them and Val and Dale
• The Raggedy Man finding a not so quiet refuge where he did mucho research on two upcoming projects and….. Buying a pair of huaraches to replace the pair he bought in Guadalajara in 1974
• And……The birds the birds the birds… ( M got a great shot of birds and fishermen but….yep…. On the camera)

I’ve loved it all…

Not may shots taken with the ipad. But here’s a few from a sunrise morning alone on the roof….

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Rod often watches planes fly over from the rooftop. He can tell if they are Happy planes or Sad planes by the direction they are flying. Happy planes are coming South, Sad planes…..are headed North again.

My cold is lightening, and the plan is to catch a night bus down to Mexico City tomorrow. It will be hard to leave these good folks.

And on that note…. I do belive it is time for Happy Hour / Sundowners on the roof.

Via con Dios, mi amigas ~p

Some linky fun for La Penita pics and such….

La Penita Fishermen: great shots by “Johan” http://jaltembajalapeno.com/2014/05/07/la-penita-fishermen/

The Jaltemba Bay Walk Against Cancer – watch the video and look for me near the front in my cowboy hat 🙂
http://jaltembajalapeno.com/2015/02/17/walk-against-cancer-2015-guayabitos/

And :
http://jaltembabaylife.com/blog/2015/02/jaltemba-cancer-walk-2015-raises-nearly-100000-pesos/
( Sharyn in line for hamburgers in the third shot)

A blog post from 2012 of a hike to see the Petroglyphs near Alta Vista: http://jaltembabaylife.com/blog/2012/12/hiking-the-petroglyphs-at-alta-vista/

The party Pam missed cause she was sick abed with that dratted cold:
http://jaltembajalapeno.com/2015/02/18/la-penita-mardi-gras-party-2015/

Written on a sunny Friday, in a cool hotel room, with tissues at hand for the running running nose….

So many murals…. So little time.

Guadalajara is full up on all kinds of beauty.

We went off in search of the work of muralist Jose Clemente Orozco. Stopping first in the Palacio de Gobierno to take in this stunner on the staircase. Miguel Hildago y Costillo – Often called the father of Mexican Independance weilds an angry sword…

You can find his bio over here –http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/latinamericaindependence/p/09mhidalgo.htm

Man I wish I could figure out how to insert tidier hyperlinks with Evernote on my ipad 😦

We also strolled over to the Instituto Cultural Cabanos.

Where I lay out on a bench to take it all in.

This one held me for a long while.

This clear and wonderful picture and many more can be found at
http://portalacademico.cch.unam.mx/materiales/prof/matdidac/sitpro/hist/mex/mex2/HMIICultura_Vida/Artes1920-2.htm

In fact…when we head to Mexico City, we will seek more of them out.

The Istituto also offered up an exhibiton of modern work that you can get a peek at over @ http://arte.milenio.com

Boy howdy it was dark and fascinating….

Here’s a sample, and some info on some of the artists I noted down in my book…

el drama de la sustencia – Paulina Jaimes (photo originally posted by arte.milenio.com)

More of her work @ http://paulinajaimes.carbonmade.com

I also gawped in awe at the Surreal and scary seven deady sins by Liliana Mercenario Pomeroy @ http://www.lilianamercenariopomeroy.com/home/eng/

The scariest White Rabbit ever (El conejo de Alicia en Mexico) @ http://arte.milenio.com/artistas/13jose/_include/img/work/full/milenio-obra-full.jpg

One that is sure to give Lady K and the Icon a shiver… Nimrod by Carlos Cardenas Reyes @
http://arte.milenio.com/artistas/10carlos/_include/img/work/full/milenio-obra-full.jpg

And… My favourite piece.

El Final by Lucia Maya (photo originally posted by arte.milenio.com)

I love that little bird….

More of Lucia’s work @ http://www.luciamaya.com

I’m having quite the love affair with birds right now.
There’s a rooftop here at the Hotel Sol de Mar. I’ve been spending a lot of time up there.
At dusk, the birds do this amazing thing called "murmuration"…they flock and flow and twist and turn in the most amazing patterns and then they….throw themselves from the sky…plummeting to their roosts. It is spell binding.

Here is a video of starlings murmurating in Ireland….amazing, non?

http://youtu.be/eakKfY5aHmY

Oh and so much more we saw in Gudalajara…

But I will stop for now. I am still battling a cold… Luckily, there is good soup close at hand and plenty of mint tea with lime and honey.
There are books to read and birds to watch and short and lovely walks along the beach.
I continue to fill up my eyes with Beauty.
And my wee scribble book with ramblings.

All is well.

Thanks for stopping by.
I send you a wave of warm salty air to you…wherever you are.

Go easy ~p

Written @ 12:43 pm Sunday Feb 15, 2015 in RM 21 of the Hotel Sol del Mar in La Penita de Jaltemba, Mexico.
Ahhhhhhh…time alone in the room to catch up with myself. Precious.

I feel like I have so much to "catch up on" here in this wee evernote diary and on the blog.

First off.. San Diego

We stayed with our pals Todd and Lee in their lovely home (complete with a huge back deck where oranges and avocados grew!). And oh what a wonderful time we had!

• Sitting on the deck each morning, plucking the tasty tart and juciest blood oranges.

• Roaming the neighbourhood, admiring houses and yards and Pubs. Finding funky murals and wee banannas growing everywhere.

• Todd’s fantastic chilli dinner and Caesar salad and Beef Clouds – yum!
• Great talks with Todd and Lee and some of their friends who stayed over as well.
• Listening to Olivia and Luis sing together as Luis played guitar. Heavenly. Luis being… Luis Perez Ixoneztli whose music you can find over at http://www.reverbnation.com/luisperezixoneztli
• Being surprised by a big Market Day in Little Italy.
• Exploring the waterfront – including gawping at the USS Midway aircraft carrier.
• Wandering through Old Town and finding a funky model train museum…

Where I could brush up on my Hobo Signs…

• Galavanting through Balboa Park…

• And finding these beauties in the Cactus Garden

• Then off to see a show by La Jolla Playhouse called The Grift at the gorgeous old school hollywood hideaway….The Lafayette Hotel

A wonderful evening out with Todd and we were all three abuzz with what play WE would write for The Lafayette…. (I even made some notes)

• And on our final night, attending the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle’s 2014 Craig Noel Awards. Todd was up for an award for his outstanding performance in Tru at Diversionary Theatre.

Here’s a review of the show…http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/nov/30/diversionary-theatre-tru-review/

Sadly, Todd didn’t take the prize he was nominated for, but it was an honour to sit by his side and get a small peek into the San Diego theatre community.

We had such a wonderful time and here’s hoping we make it back again. And/or that Todd and Lee make their way North to Mulligan’s Bay.

Next up…. Guadalajara…

2.06.15 6:15 – 9:00 AM Written as we slide down the coast toward Mr. Todd’s in San Diego…
Palm trees, mist and the light arriving soft….so begins stage 9 of our journey.

Got our tickets and found a coffee, sat and took in the train station in LA for 1/2hr before boarding the Pacific Surfliner. Headed to the cafe car for more coffee and a wee nosh. I grow addicted to these Jimmy Dean breakfast sammiches (with added mustard n pepper).

Spent a lovely three hours watching the world go by…looked a lil somethin like this….

Written 2.4.15 – 2.5.15 on the train….

A day of reading and snacking, snacking and reading…

Picture not taken but clear on the screen to my minds eye… A woman in a red bunnyhug (hoodie) walking down an East Texas red clay backroad.

…cue the Michelle Wright song…

Passing through Dallas, the podcast I downloaded from AmTrak had us keeping our eyes open for that ole Book Depository and… we saw The Grassy Knoll. We stared at it and then at each other and the Raggedy Man said, "I feel weird in my belly." I did, too.

1:37 pm Hopped off for a stretch in Fort Worth Texas…

3:49 Passed a field filled with cows. They were black or brown with a white stripe round their bellies. At the end of the field, a herd of deer munched. The land is very green.

4:38M hops off in Temple to snap some pics of the funky looking station and an old old SantaFe train with a Pullman car. Pics to be loaded up here once we get home 🙂

~~o~~

7:38 AM 02.5.15 Just past Del Rio TX…. Desert sunrise. Oh my soul.

Had a stetch in San Antonio while they turned the seats in our car around. Then, another sleep. Woke to movement around 2:45AM as we rolled out of town.

I’m sleeping pretty good on this here train. The hip is a bit achey this morning, but overall I am super-dupe.

Sitting in the new cafe car, I fill up my eyes with pink tinged earth and cactus blossom.

We don’t have the amazing Observation Car anymore. The Cafe Car has tables and regular windows instead of the big wrap arounds we had on the last leg. I guess some might think there isn’t a lot to look at out here, that the desert isn’t that interesting, but it will always be fascinating to me. And always…the sky…the sky…the sky…

I sit here with a goofy grin and take it all in.

I want to jump off this train and go for a walk.

10:08-10:38 A hop off in Alpine TX

2:06 leaving El Paso we see the red thunderbird on the hill… Glorious.

4:13 just past the Quaker town of Lordsburg NM

Time to make some dinner…

In Tucson, we hopped off and found a woman near the station selling tasty burritos from a cooler. The train filled up and we spent the night sharing a seat. I still slept pretty darned well.

Arrived in LA about 15 min after our scheduled arrival time. We bow to AmTrak efficiency.

Off to find tickets San Diego!

Going easy ~p

Written in the observation car of the Texas Eagle as we roll past Marshall Texas 8:00AM 2.4.15…
Woke this morning to a sunrise over Texas. Coffee, a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich, and my sweet Raggedy Man smiling across the table. Doesn’t get much better.

Passing through Marshall, a wave of teenagers were walking through an underpass. I thought, if one looks up, they will be a traveller. A girl with long dark hair stopped and gazed at the train.

Time now, to catch up on my note scribbling, play with some doodles, read and stare out the window. We’ll be in San Antonio by nightfall.

I love trains.

Our car cohorts include a passle of Amish folks with lovely laughs, two soldiers, and a mom with the cutest wee girls. The car was full on the way out of Chicago, but thinned enough for us to each get a solo seat through the night. Ahhhhhhh sleeping on a rocking train….awesome.

Speaking of Chicago….

It was fantastic.

We arrived just as Winter Storm Linus smacked the city – bringing piles of wet snow and wind wind wind.

We explored transporation options to the hotel over coffee in the bus terminal. It was packed with travellers as all the outgoing busses had been delayed. We made it just in time. We decided on a taxi splurge instead of trying to figure out the transit system. Twas a good decision. The roads were already treacherous.

Arrived super early (for checking in) at the Days Inn (644 Diversey PKW) and met an angel named Jaqueline, who gave us a room even though it was barely 8AM. I have to write up a YELP review for this hotel – everyone was so great. Helpful, cheerful, and friendly. Cozy bed, spacious super clean rooms and…. I LOVED the Breakfasts in the Daybreak Room – tasty tasty tasty. Wee omelettes, self-bake waffles, fresh fruit, yoghurt, delicious bread/bagel choices, cereal….and on and on….

We cleaned up and had a wee snooze.

Then I called Steppenwolf Theatre to see if the show would go on…and, of course, it did.
They have this great program where they offer up 20 tickets to each show for only 20.00. I scored two and they were in the fourth row centre. Right up front for an amazing show called Airline Highway written by Lisa D’Amour that is headed to Broadway in April. Beautiful beautiful production that had me laughing and wanting to sing along to "Husband Man" and….weeping so hard by the end that I couldn’t stand up. Yay!

Frack I miss seeing (and doing) live theatre.

Extra special mention of K. Todd Freeman, who played Sissy Na-Na. Super strong. Super performance. It was Sissy who had me weeping hardest at the end.

Getting back to the hotel was…an adventure. Total blizzard time and the 1/2 hr walk was almost an hour through drifting snow, past closed closed closed businesses. It was around 6:30 pm.

Found a pub (the Matisse) open right next to the hotel. Brushed off the snow and settled in for a few punts, some tasty grub and…the Super Bowl!

Slept like babies.

Next morning, I grabbed a tasty breakfast and hopped across the street to Trader Joes to grab room snacks and food for the train.

Then we made our plan…which was to head downtown and try out a "hop on hop tour" and maybe go to the Art Institute of Chicago.

The tour wasn’t running due to the snow clogged streets (which looked pretty clear to my Northern eyes), and none of the current exhibits at the Institute tickled our fancy. We decided to wander through Millenium park in the bright sunshine for awhile.

I noticed a lovely old building across from the park that was the original Public Library.
We had to check it out and…..wow wow WOW…What a find. The building is now the Chicago Cultural Centre. Open to the public. And FREE. We missed the noon concert, but spent a few glorious hours wandering through the three galleries and exploring the building itself. There’s a theatre, a huge and yet cozy reading room, meeting rooms and offices, a memorial room commemorating the Civil War and…the Great Hall that is…. Oh man…. Just stupendously beautiful with a Tiffany dome over it. Breathtaking. Every hallway was filled with art and the three exhibitions where all well worth seeing.

Richard Hunt: SixtyYears of Sculpture
Ian Weaver: Black Knights Archive, Chapter One: Migration
Alison Ruttan: The Four Year War at Gombe, Line in the Sand and A Bad Idea Seems Good Again

I especially liked Ruttan’s work. Again I say….WOW.

I also love that we never would have found it if I hadn’t noticed the building and said, "You think it’s still a library?"

After the centre we walked around downtown for a bit, finding our way to the Theatre district (nothing playing on the Monday we were there), and on down to Union Station for a re-con. Had a pint in the Metro Deli and headed back up towards the hotel.

Stopped off at Duffy’s Tavern for a some food and drink and then…on to Kingston Mines – a fantastic Blues bar about 1/2 way between the hotel and Steppenwolf.

We stayed out past midnight and danced with Carl Weathersby.

In the morning, a big breakfast and onward to Union Station.

Boarded The Texas Eagle around 1:30 yesterday.

Loving the rocking motion and the view from the upper deck.
Plenty of legroom and a cheery crew taking is into San Antonio where there will be a crew change. This train ends there, and our car will be shunted over to join up with another and carry us on into New Mexico, Arizona and California.

All is well.
All is very very well.

Go easy ~p

Written at 5:02pm Jan 31, 2015 @ the Toronto Bus Terminal

Happily munching a ham sammich as we await our departure to Chicago.
Had to laugh when I realized what I left behind at Miz V’s…. All my Canadian money.

Checked the stash of American money four times.
Checked that I had all my ID, passport, cards….ect.
And tucked my wallet back into Big Red (the suitcase that isn’t making the trip)

Gotta laugh.

Go easy ~p

Written at 5:02pm Jan 31, 2015 @ the Toronto Bus Terminal

Happily munching a ham sammich as we await our departure to Chicago.
Had to laugh when I realized what I left behind at Miz V’s…. All my Canadian money.

Checked the stash of American money four times.
Checked that I had all my ID, passport, cards….ect.
And tucked my wallet back into Big Red (the suitcase that isn’t making the trip)

Gotta laugh.

Go easy ~p