April and May are the two warmest
months with temperatures in the mid-80s to low 90s, with low humidity
(thank goodness), but a high UV index. It is dry, windy and dusty,
which makes it less desirable than the remaining months of the year.
Above we were horseback riding while vacationing in the mountain village
of Mazamitla (8,200 feet), which provided a nice little get away.
Dry temperatures brought something we had not seen before in Ajijic, forest
fires! It lasted about three weeks, thanks to firefighters, including
this helicopter bucket.
This
picture was taken from our mirador, which was much more frightening than it
actually was. The damage was contained to the trees and vegetation.
Terry is the Director of the Lake Chapala Society where Glorine spends lots
of time dreaming up cool events like Career Days and Connection Among
Friends.
In May, this event was expanded to an
all-day event that included an Entrepreneurship Fair, where young start-up
companies showed off their wares. The event attracted 30 vendors.
Wayne and Maureen set up a booth to display the awesome work of Have
Hammers, a carpentry school for youngsters in the area.
Connections Among Friends includes a
social mixer where Mexican and foreigners can meet and greet with live music in
the background.
The Lake Chapala Society completed a long-range plan, which includes 42
goals in five categories--campus development, program development, fund
advancement, community outreach and organizational improvements.
In addition to chairing the planning
task force, Larry facilitated the annual LCS Board of Directors' retreat to set
organizational priorities for the upcoming year, including building expansion
and a newly formed capital campaign team.
This is Mazamitla, about 15,000 people live here and is 1-1/2 hours
south of Ajijic. Its primary industry is tourism, which they have done
a great job.
The
city center is surrounded with stores, restaurants, and hotels. All the
buildings are white with terracotta colors around the bottom and roof tiles.
We arrived on Mothers' Day weekend. The main plaza was set up for
these ballerina dancers to perform for their moms and passersby like us.
This
one bedroom, one bath cabin (Cabana) was home for an extended weekend. It
had a kitchen, small dinner area and best of all, it had a hot tub.
Hiking and horseback riding were the two main activities, both took us to
this waterfall, high in the mountains outside of Mazamitla.
There
must be over a thousand cabanas dotting the landscape of Mazamitla. We
took a fancy to this one in particular that had an art deco tree as the chimney.
On the drive home, we took a detour to see this building atop a mountain.
The car overheated on the way up and once we got there, we were the only
visitors.
This
abandoned building had awesome views in all directions. It was a bit hazy,
which meant we could not see Ajijic from the top.
These area farmers still deliver cream the way our grandparents did when
they homesteaded the plains of North Dakota back in the early 1900s.
This
particular Open Circle was a delight with the San Juan Cosola Children's Choir
performing. Some of the older kids entertained us with Mariachi Music.
"Difficult Journey" is an LCS event where locals learning English pretend to
travel to New York and deal with customs, banks, pharmacies, etc. all in
English. It was a fun event for all.
Chad (Larry's nephew) Chrissie and
Zander spent a week in Mexico as a graduation gift to Zander who just completed
an aircraft mechanic school. This plaza is in San Antonio Tlayacapan, just
south of our home.
They spent three days with us, including a day at the spa where they were
treated to a dip in chocolate bath, oatmeal bath, flower bath and a mud
bath.
They
also enjoyed some fine dining at Viva Mexico, where they serve the best and
largest Margarita's in the area.
We took them on a short hike to the Chapel that overlooks Ajijic to prep
them for much longer hikes as they journey on their own in the mountains
near Colima.
We took this selfy with views of the
lake and mountains. The trees are dormant, but by mid-June, they should be
in full bloom.
We toured the lakefront of Lake Chapala with its awesome Malecon. From here,
they rented a car to tour the Colima Volcano and the sights of Guadalajara.
Friends Ron and Jean introduced us to
The Crooners, two brothers who sing songs that predate Elvis, like Frank
Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and the likes.
Larry was also introduced to a new way to drink Michelada, with a "beer
drip" into a concoction of lime juice, tomato juice, assorted sauces and
chili peppers.
We met Dan and Patty the day they
arrived in Ajijic in early 2017. We later learned their daughter lives
less than one block from our daughter in Prior Lake, MN.
At Open Circle, we learned that Haciendas are not a style of home but rather
large tracts of land like plantations. In the days of the
Conquistadors, one was the size of West Virginia and their homes were called
Casa Grande.
On the other extreme from a Casa
Grande is our "little house," which suits us and our house guest quite
well. We recently had this floor lamp made for us in Tonala, an artsy
suburb of Guadalajara. It turned out better than expected.