Randy and Robin's Roving Retirement

Ajijic is a lovely lakeside town of about 11,000 people located on the shores of Lake Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico. It is a friendly community, with both locals and expats sharing farmers markets, holiday celebrations and wonderful dining opportunities. The city has many art galleries, yet the true art is displayed in the city itself.

Robin loved the crew at Scantto’s Deli where she had the best potato soup.

Robin and I became close with Benjamin at our local store.

Barn swallow and Snowy Egret

Art of Ajijic

Celebrations & Performances

Mexico loves to celebrate! We were here for all of the Independence Day celebrations (Sept 16th), the Hot Air Balloon Regatta (small balloons) as well as the Day of the Dead. The central Plaza is the hub of all the gatherings with musicians, vendors, food, parades, families and fun. The Lake Chapala Society hosts amazing music performances throughout the year and we made it to several.

Karen and David

Through a serendipitous blessing, we were able to connect with some family we had never met. Karen is the cousin of my brother in law, Charlie Hoehn. She and her husband, David, have lived in Ajijic for 11 years. We toured their beautiful home in the La Floresta area. We went out dancing a few times, as well as dining , saw a musical performance, explored the Andares Mall in Guadalajara, and spent Day of the Dead together. Fun, active people, it was a pleasure to connect. Their dog, Taco, is a very pleasant and well behaved fellow.

Taco

Jocotepec

We took a fun day trip by bus to a neighboring town, Jocotepec. We were joined by new friends, Ted, Maria and Bruce. It has a glorious, scenic malecon with loads of water birds. We ate birria for lunch at the central Plaza.

Monica comes to visit

My OVS high school classmate, Monica, came to visit us. It was a whirlwind 3-4 days of walking, dining and exploring. She may end up living here at some point in the future and this trip helped her get a feel for the area.

Wonderful Food!!!

Guadalajara Zoo

The Zoo is an hour and a half drive from Ajijic, so we took the long cab ride. We spent 5 hours, walking 15,000 + steps. We rode the skyway upon entering to get to the far end of the zoo where there were very few people. Later we rode the safari mobile that took you in with the animals. At the end we rode the train to see the last sections of the Zoo. Our favorite part was feeding the lorakeets.

Tlaquepaque

What a fun adventure, plus I like to say Tlaquepaque ( tah lah key pah key). A suburb of Guadalajara, it has several paseos that are closed to car traffic. Many shops and dining establishments as well as incredible preparations for Day of the Dead.

Spa Termal Tlalocan (Hotel Balneario)

Located down the road in San Juan Cosalá, the thermal spa was incredible. You spend 20 minutes in each of 6 baths. Apple cider vinegar, floral hibiscus, salt and minerals, coffee, oatmeal and the final bath is a rinse after applying mud to your face and body and letting it dry. Then you have aromatherapy inhalation, steam bath with eucalyptus leaves,the cool pool walk thru and ends with the reflexology walk on cobblestones. The large pools are 95F+.

Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead is an incredible holiday with no equal in the US. The Angelito’s (children) are celebrated on Nov 1st and older family members Nov 2nd. The altars are created by family members and can be very intricate. Many leave beers, cokes, meals or cigarettes as favorites for the deceased. On the 1st, Karen and David took us on a tour of Ixtlahuacán de Los Membrillos, a small town nearby. After lunch, we stopped at the orphanage they support and brought some second hand clothes for the kids.

On the 2nd, we went to the Ajijic Plaza and watched the parade and then the candle lighting at the Muro de Los Muertos (wall of the dead).

At the orphanage that Karen and David sponsor

Ajijic will always hold a special place in our hearts. The friendly people, wonderful traditions, excellent food and markets, plus the amazing celebrations make this a must return location. Next time we will fly into Guadalajara and stay for a week to see the zoo and the museums, as well as the historical center (where we will stay the first 4 nights) and then move to Tlaquepaque for the remainder of the week. Then we plan on at least a month in Ajijic Centro this next time. We miss our friends, the dining establishments, the thermal baths and the lovely weather.

San Miguel de Allende is truly an amazing city, a UNESCO World Heritage city as well as Travel and Leisure’s world’s best city in 2017, 2018, and 2021. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Cost of living is very low here. Our friend, Caulyne, is renting a 1 BR fully furnished, including utilities for $650 a month. We buy delicious street tacos for $.75 each and most taxi rides are $3.50. There are so many places to eat out here that we won’t even scratch the surface. There are many small markets all along our street, selling fresh tortillas, fruits & veggies, jewelry, crafts and flowers. We have watched parades, visited a piano bar, hiked a botanical garden, ridden horses in the country, drank at rooftop bars, danced salsa, and walked many miles on cobblestone roads in this scenic city.

El Charco del Ingenio (botanical garden)

We took a taxi and walked a beautiful botanical garden full of plants, trees and birds. There were lots of trails as well as structures and information boards. We will return the next time we come back to SMA.

Horseback Ride

We did the combination horseback ride and hot springs. We were picked up by Beth in her Suburban along with a group of 4 from North Carolina. We rode for 2.5 hours with several passes through the river, up the ridge to an overlook. After a brief rest we circled around and down to barn. We dismounted and enjoyed a delicious local lunch. Later Beth drove Robin and I to the Escondido thermal springs where we relaxed after a great ride.

Yes, we thoroughly enjoyed our time here and definitely plan on coming back and staying in the same neighborhood. One month was not enough for us. For now it is off to Ajijic, Mexico for 2 months…

We have been planning our USA visit for quite awhile. Randy’s Ojai Valley School 50th reunion, visiting the Baskins in Fountain Valley, CA, a stop in Vegas (timeshare exchange) and visiting our daughters in Seattle were all on our agenda.

We had a lovely 4 days with the Baskins, enjoying food, conversation, hiking and life. Our first stop after being in Central America for 9 months, we were excited about simple pleasures like Walgreens, Starbucks, Outback Steakhouse and Amazon orders.

Next Stop- Hollywood

Although I grew up in Hollywood, there were a number of tourist attractions I had not visited. We stayed in a shared Airbnb with a friendly couple not far from my childhood home. It was a beautiful neighborhood to walk in the evening, with tall palm trees lining the streets.

Paramount Studio tour was very enjoyable and educational. We got to hold a real Oscar.

The Getty Museum

World famous art is on display at the Getty Museum in Brentwood. Neither one of us had ever been here before. Free admission, just pay for parking.

We also did a Tour of the Stars Homes

Getty Villa

On the way to the LAX Airport, we stopped to tour the Getty Villa,in Malibu. We enjoyed this more than the Getty Center. Beautiful grounds, well kept facility, lots of volunteers and rotating exhibits.

Ojai Valley School Alumni Weekend. (my 50th high school reunion)

We drove to Santa Paula, CA and then made our way to Ojai. Friday night dinner hosted at Suzanne Harvey’s beautiful home. Shared a great meal with long time friends. Saturday we spent the day at upper campus for a lunch and tour. Saturday eve took place at lower campus for cocktails and dinner with more friends.

Vegas and Seattle

Our next stop, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

What a beautiful paradise we found just west of Panama City. Playa Blanca is a large resort with condos, villas, hotels, shops, restaurants and the largest saltwater lagoon in Central America. Our unit is fantastic, 5th floor of Founders 1, a 12 story building. We are walking distance to a mini market, happy hours, cafes, and the beach. We take a taxi to Super 99 for grocery shopping every week and rented a car twice for day trips. We love it here so much that we are considering buying here.

Day Trip to El Valle

El Valle is a lovely small town in the mountains just north of Playa Blanca. On Easter Sunday we took the winding road in our rental car. Church bells with a harsh metallic clanging could be heard as we arrived. The Sunday market was in full swing. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at Brucheta.

Coronado and Nueva Gorgona

Our first day trip was to Coronado, to eat lunch with Cinny and Larry, a couple we met on the Monkey Island tour. After a fun lunch at Gold Coast Brewery, we ended up going to their beautiful condo. We were supposed to meet Sharon and Steve from Senior Nomad Facebook group, but called them and had them meet up at the condo. Great conversation and fun along with the usual magic tricks.

Our new condo!!!

We took a private shuttle from La Fortuna to Alajuela, just outside of San José. We stayed at the lovely Alice and Juancito boutique hotel and caught our flight from Costa Rica to Panama the next day. Felix and his wife Mani, picked us up at the Tocumen airport in PC and drove us to Casco Viejo to our Airbnb. Our neighborhood appeared to be a war zone, with destroyed buildings around. Our taxi driver advised us not to walk in the area at night. Although the building and our unit were new and nice, the surrounding area was rough with lots of poverty. We were just 4 blocks from Casco Viejo, a stylish, gentrified area. Our first day out walking, the police pulled us over and told us that the area was very dangerous, but we were 100 feet from our front door. Fortunately, our Airbnb host allowed us to cancel as we did not feel safe.

We scrambled to find a new home for the remaining 7 weeks and settled on the Tucán Country Club in Rousseau, northwest of downtown Panama City. Very safe and quiet here, we have pools and gyms and a restaurant on the premises.

Casco Viejo

Casco Viejo, also known as Casco Antiguo, or the old quarter, is Panama City’s historic district. It is a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site and dates back to 1673.

Veracruz

We took a day trip to Playa Veracruz, a beach approximately 6 miles from us. A unique beach in an impoverished area with several nice restaurants along the strip. The tide was way out when we walked the Beach, but when we finished lunch it was all the way up.

Metropolitan Park

Biking Amador Causeway

Amador Causeway links 4 small islands by the entrance to the Panama Canal. It serves as a breakwater. The first time we rented a Surrey type bike which was pretty slow peddling, but great for looking around.

The next time we biked Amador was with Matthew and Miki, a couple we met through Senior Nomads. Great fun! Our surrey had a low tire, so we went back and traded in for a nicer one that was easier to pedal. We rode to the Biomuseo, which looks worthwhile to visit and we plan to. We ate lunch at La Fabrica, a marvelous spot with great food and craft beer. The owner, Hai, gave us a tour of the brewery.

Taboga Island

Also known as the “Island of Flowers”, is a volcanic island about 12 miles from Panama City. Minimally populated, with about 1600 residents, Taboga relies heavily on tourism. With one of the better beaches in the Panama City region it attracts locals and tourists alike. We took a walking tour with a local young man named Brian.

Panama Viejo

The remaining part of the original Panama City, Panama Viejo was destroyed in 1671 by pirate Captain Henry Morgan. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. We toured with our fellow Senior Nomads members, Matthew and Miki. We had an enjoyable, relaxing walk while reading the information signs alongside the ruins.

Birds of Panamá

Miraflores Locks at Panama Canal

There is a museum and an Imax film, narrated by Morgan Freeman, but all is still closed due to Covid.

Panama Canal, Monkey Island, Soberania National Park Tour

We chartered a private shuttle with Ricardo and his wife to La Fortuna. It took over 3 hours. We had a pleasant ride and enjoyable conversation with the opportunity to pull over for photo ops when needed. Our place is in Arenal Rooms and is quite cozy, that is, tiny. Unfortunately, we have almost no light in our unit, but with a 3rd floor terrace available in the next building and a very walkable town, we are doing fine. We joined the local gym, Arenal Fitness, for 1 month for $30 each and usually go 3 times a week. Just down the block is Travesía, an excellent restaurant and D’ Mi Tierra, a cafe with local food.

Birdwatching from the terrace

Bogarin Trail

The Bogarin Trail is just off the main road through town, about a half mile from our Airbnb. We took a couple of tours with William Bogarin, who grew up there and whose family has managed the previous cattle land as it grew back into jungle over the last 20 years. We learned about the various trees, leaf cutter ants, birds and wildlife. Since we are here for 6 weeks, once we paid for the first tour, they allowed us to walk the trail alone any time we wanted. We went back 10 times and even did a night tour.

The night tour (below) provided a whole new outlook

Full day tour- Mystico Hanging Bridges, Arenal Waterfall and Arenal Volcano hike

Our combo tour was amazing! We were picked up in a shuttle bus at 7:30 am and drove around La Fortuna picking up other tourists. We ended up with 22 people on board. First stop, the Mystico Hanging Bridges. A glorious 2 mile walk through the rain forest canopy over 6 hanging bridges. Next stop, the La Fortuna waterfall, which is about 530 steps down, and of course, back up. Then lunch after climbing back up the steps. Finally, the Arenal Volcano hike, another 2 miles with gorgeous views and rugged lava rock trail. It was dark walking back down the last 20 minutes and we needed our cell phone flashlights to see. We were quite beat at the end and Robin had about 20,000 steps and Randy over 15,000.

Horseback Ride to Arenal River

This was one of the most amazing rides we have had together. Rode down to the Arenal River and actually into the river. We saw a white faced monkey (capuchin) as well as a howler monkey. We were part of a fun group with Jorge as our guide. After the ride, Jorge said to us that he wanted to be like us when he got older. He was excited that we are happy, fun loving people. He said most of the older people he encounters are angry all the time. Pura Vida!

Our time in La Fortuna has been a wonderful experience we will treasure forever! Pura Vida! Next stop, Panama City, Panama.

We flew into Liberia airport from Houston. Pleasant and uneventful flight. We did check our bags. We have come to the conclusion that a 22 lb carryon and a backpack (maybe 15lbs) is a bit much to lug on and off a plane. Once we get back to the states in June, we will sell our 21″ carryons and get a bit larger size bag to check. That way we can lower the weight of our backpacks as well.

We are in a comfortable condo complex about 1/2 mile from the main street in town. Marina loft has about 60 units, only about a third occupied. The units are small, maybe 400 sq ft, but with a table under a gazebo outside our door and a pool, it is more than sufficient for us. There’s a pizza place next door that opens at 5 pm and a Peruvian ceviche place on the other side. We also have a small mini mart across the street, but it is pricey. We tend to grocery shop ar Super Compro and New China, about .5 miles toward town. For larger stock ups we walk to Auto Mercado or Mega Supermercado (1. 5 miles), but then take a taxi home for $2 or 1,500 Colones. We are only .3 miles from the beach and on non shopping days, we walk the beach into town.

We have met a lot of people in the complex, a few Canadians, and US citizens who come here for months at a time. Many people use WhatsApp for calling and texting, so we are now users as well. It is great to hear feedback about where to go to eat, shop and about tours and other tips. My spanish is improving tremendously and I have received several compliments. I took 4 years in high school, but that was almost 50 years ago so I practice on Duolingo daily.

Ocotal Beach

About 2 miles away there is another lovely beach. Our new friend, Fernando, picked us up in his golf cart and gave us a tour.

Palo Verde National Park Tour

We were picked up in a van outside our complex, Marina Loft at 7:30am. We drove about 20 minutes before our driver got a call to turn around and pick up another couple in Playa Hermosa. Rick and Laura were a friendly couple from Colorado Springs. Our driver, Ricardo, was a talkative fellow who like me, uses Duolingo to practice his English, while I practice my Spanish. Total time was about 2 1/2 hours to get there due to our detour. The boat tour was awesome as we were the only 4 people along with Ricardo and the boat captain. They slowly went up the river pointing out crocodiles, birds, bats and monkeys.

Random adventures in Coco

Tamarindo reunion with Jay

Guanacaste Tour

Our tours have been phenomenal! Not cheap, but well worth the money. They picked us up in a passenger van at our complex at 8:30am. Driver spoke English and was very informative. Only one other passenger, an engaging man from Idaho named Jerry. We first drove to Llanos de Cortes waterfall. Gorgeous waterfall was just a short hike from the parking lot. Afterwards, we drove to Bijagua Ranas, a wildlife preserve, where we saw an amazing close up array of flora and fauna. Our guide, Stefani, was quite entertaining and full of information. Then a delicious lunch while discussing our adventures.

Thanksgiving Day Horseback Ride at the Monkey Farm

The Monkey Farm is a non profit about 2 miles from our condo. We caught a cab on Thanksgiving morning and arrived at 8am for our jungle and beach ride. Our guide, Emanuel, was very accommodating and informative. All the volunteers are in recovery or homeless and the founder, Vicki, is a kind soul who is changing lives. We rode through the jungle first, then down to Ocotal Beach. A beautiful, comfortable day as we shared a lot of joy.

Liberia, the capital of Guanacaste

Fun day in a rental car cruising around. We visited a museum, art galleries and souvenir shops, topped with an excellent lunch.

Rincon de la Vieja National Park

The national park is named after the volcano, which due to cloud cover was not visible when we were there. We did a DIY tour as we had rented a car for two days. Patricia joined us and we hiked the Pailas trail loop, about 2.5 miles. It was not a difficult hike, yet tiresome with all the steps up and down. There were many beautiful, varied ecosystems as you pass through the Park.

Next stop… La Fortuna, Costa Rica

We finally got out of the country a year later than planned. La Paz and even Mexico were not on our initial list, but proved to be a relaxing, budget friendly stop before heading to Central America. At an average of $36 per night, our Airbnb is walking distance to many stores, restaurants, banks, quick marts and taco stands. We are on the 3rd floor with a view over the central zone, 6 blocks from the Malecon.

We rented a tandem bike for $4 an hour and rode along the Malecon. Great weather, much cooler, about 78F, as we rode about 9 miles down and back. We returned the bike and walked across the street to 7 Crowns Hotel to the rooftop restaurant on the 5th floor for brunch.

Another day, we took an Uber to Pichilingue to Perlas of La Paz, where they harvest and culture pearls. It was 2 hours long, with explanations and demonstrations of the various procedures used.

One of our last days in La Paz, we went on a boat tour to Isla Espirito Santo, an island group north of the city. We went snorkeling and went swimming with the sea lions. One baby sea lion nipped at Robin’s hand and my flipper.

We spent the last 30 days on multiple dentist and doctor appointments, visiting our daughters and several of our Seattle friends and just further downsizing for the start of our international travels. We visited some old Seattle haunts, went to Ellensburg and Index, Woodland Park Zoo, Edmonds Arts Festival and Green Lake. It was a fun send off before flying to La Paz, Mexico on Sept 14th.

We finally made it back to the Seattle area, residing in Snohomish, about 40 minutes north of Seattle. We are back to visit our daughters and take care of medical and dental visits before leaving the country. We have a great Airbnb in the basement level of a large home. The married couple who owns it are real estate agents, who do flips. Our unit is very modern, with Samsung appliances and a Tempurpedic massage bed. We are close to the Centennial Trail near Machias. Down the road from us is the Machias Community Cemetery, with gravestones from 150 years ago.

Artful Ashes, Whidbey Island

My father passed away in 2015, at the age of 99. His ashes are interred at the Southern Nevada Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, Nevada. We kept some of the ashes to eventually spread in Italy and Normandy. We discovered Artful Ashes when a niece lost her 4 year old son to cancer and used them to create memorials. They actually mix the ashes into molten glass and create beautiful art pieces in the shape of hearts, starfish or orbs. Robin, Rikka and I rode the ferry to Whidbey and watched the creation of the memorials.

On a separate note, I had a great birthday lunch at Moonshine BBQ

PikePlace Market

Debra and Charles came to visit from St. Paul, Minnesota. Robin and Debra have been friends for 48 years. They stayed in Snohomish in the unit next door to us. This made it perfect for quality time, whether with a drink on the patio or a meal inside together.

Fairhaven, WA

Another day we drove to Fairhaven, just outside Bellingham. We wandered the shops, bookstore, and boardwalk. We bought cheese and Charles never said no to an ice cream store. Afterwards, we drove the scenic Chuckanut Drive and stopped at the Oyster Bar for an incredible lunch.

Ferry to Kingston, WA & Port Townsend

Music at the Marina with the Dusty 45’s

Everett, WA

Our next stop is the Greenwood area of North Seattle for a month. After that, we start our international travels with La Pax, Mexico. To be continued…