Mexican Maisie

Maisie, as I said in an earlier post is another beautiful, strong and adaptable Morris woman......she seems to take most things in her stride............except for the loud booms..........no thunderstorms here.....haven't had a single drop of rain but.............fireworks......oh my goodness the Mexican people love their fireworks.  During the month of December there were booms almost every night........On Christmas and New Year's Eve the firework's and music continued all night long making for a shaking, shivering and very scared Maisie looking for a place to hide.  Her favourite hiding place from the booms is our walk-in shower.

Maisie had her haircut in January and was almost scalped.  The vet around the corner had been giving her a bath about every ten days but her hair was getting long so I asked him to cut her hair........not only was it short but she looked like a poodle not a bischon frise.....poor Maisie!

Maisie had her haircut in January and was almost scalped.  The vet around the corner had been giving her a bath about every ten days but her hair was getting long so I asked him to cut her hair........not only was it short but she looked like a poodle not a bischon frise.....poor Maisie!

From the Airport by Taxi

Most people on the many Mexican forums say that getting out of the PV airport is a challenge.  The difficulty is avoiding the many barracuda's wanting to take you on a timeshare adventure to who knows where and for who knows how long....well    .I say b******t.........making our way out of the airport was a breeze compared to the TAXI ride!  Mind you, we had a porter guiding us to the taxi stand and keeping the timeshare people out of our faces.

The porter got us a cab and we negotiated the price for the trip to our apartment..mucho dinero's.$.......  Luggage in the trunk, Ron in the front seat with the driver and Maisie and I in the back..........and we were off.........you could feel the anticipation in the air.......the excitement of the unknown........the end of our long journey..........Ron and I were busy gawking out the windows.  Looking at the wide paved road and all the large hotels.   The cab driver busy looking at the directions I had given him.

Our first clue that he had no idea where to go was when I noticed that he had the map upside down.  Second clue was when he stopped and asked directions from yet a third person.  Third clue was all the narrow cobbled streets we were going up and down over and over again....even Ron said I think we've been down this street before.  Fourth and final clue was when we came to a large dip in the road filled with water (in Canada it would be called a river) and he hesitated, then yelling out the window asking a woman (I am guessing at this) walking by if cars were driving through the water.  She of course said sure (at least I think that is what she said).........and then he drove through....the taxi started spluttering so of course he accelerated and miraculously got us to the other side. 

Were we getting scared or nervous?  Heck no.....we didn't think for even one minute that we might be on "48 hours" in a couple of weeks.  When you've been up for more that 30 hours your brain doesn't work that way.  After driving around for over an hour through the many cobblestone streets of Puerto Vallarta I looked up a saw a building with lots of trees and plants on the roof That's where we are going I told Ron and sure enough I was correct.  I found our apartment from the website photo!  We had arrived safely and could finally get some sleep!!!!!!

 Our local taxi stand around the corner..............

Wake Up Call

As you know we live in the country!  Field after field of potatoes, grains, hay and even more potatoes.  There are lots of horses on our country road but there are NO Roosters....not near enough to hear.....thank goodness!  Just kidding..........here in our area of PV there are mucho roosters.........you can see them in a yard tied to a tree, up on the rooftops or outside the chicken coops!  Not long after arriving here, I was discussing the rooster situation with my oldest son Mike while talking with him on instant message.  Lo and behold later in the day the following email arrived from Mike.  Funny.....yes...I think so!!!!!

STUD ROOSTER A farmer went out one day and bought a brand new stud rooster for his chicken coop. The new rooster struts over to the old rooster and says, 'OK old fart, time for you to retire.' The old rooster replies, 'Come on, surely you cannot handle ALL of these chickens. Look what it has done to me Can't you just let me have the two old hens over in the corner?' The young rooster says, 'Beat it: You are washed up And I am taking over.' The old rooster says, 'I tell you what, young stud. I will race you around the farmhouse. Whoever wins gets the exclusive domain over the entire chicken coop.' The young rooster laughs. 'You know you don't stand a chance, old man. So, just to be fair, I will give you a head start.' The old rooster takes off running. About 15 seconds later the young rooster takes off running after him. They round the front porch of the farmhouse and the young rooster has closed the gap. He is only about 5 feet behind the old rooster and gaining fast.. The farmer, meanwhile, is sitting in his usual spot on the front porch When he sees the roosters running by. The Old Rooster is squalking And running as hard as he can. The Farmer grabs his shotgun and - BOOM - He blows the young rooster to bits. The farmer sadly shakes his head and says, 'Dammit..... Third gay rooster I bought this month.' Moral of this Story? .... Don't mess with the OLD FARTS - Age, skill, wisdom, and a little treachery Always overcome youth and arrogance! Here are some of my MEXICAN ROOSTER photo's for you to enjoy!!!!!

Preparation for Trip

Nothing or no-one could have prepared me for the amount of work involved in going away for six months to another country.  I really thought that with my "experience" moving to Prince Edward Island a six month trip would be a breeze to plan...definitely not so..........

My lists seemed endless and the research I did was fun but time consuming......from flight arrangements (don't forget Maisie our 9 year old bischon was going to take her first airplane ride) to drug runs (6 months worth of meds for both Ron and I to be ordered and purchased) to buying both US dollars (to pay for accommodations) and Pesos (for spending upon arrival).  Oh yes, don't forget closing the house, removing the battery from the car, forwarding the mail and about a hundred thousand other things.  Once all that was done we were on our way....to the airport!!!!!

The Air Flight Adventure

Travelling from Prince Edward Island to Puerto Vallarta was no easy feat........between Ron, Maisie, the luggage and the Charlottetown, Toronto and Winnipeg airports I should have been exhausted upon arrival at the the PV airport....I was......totally!!!!

Maisie, was in her soft sided cage, under the seat for each flight.  We had planned to give her Gravol thinking it would relax her. but.... being the strong Morris female that she is...NO drugs were necessary.  She travelled all the way to Winnipeg without any barking or fuss!  What a trooper!

We arrived in Winnipeg at 12:55 a.m. and after grabbing Tim Horton's coffee and donuts headed off to our hotel....the penthouse suite...or rather the top floor of the Winnipeg airport where you can watch the planes arriving and taking off!  This was a great recommendation from one of the Westjet workers.  It was dark up there. Ron and I quickly found benches and stretched out to sleep until 4:00 in the morning when we had to go back downstairs to catch our flight.  During the night I had a short conversation with a male stranger who was spending the night sleeping on the next bench......and Dad says that Mom always spoke to strangers.....well Dad I guess I do too.....

We had a bit of a flight problem upon arrival in Puerto Vallarto....for some reason Maisie's cage was wedged under the seat ...totally stuck....and I was unable to get it loose.......finally...two of the stewardesses got it loose but not until long after the plane was empty and the cleaning crew had arrived.

After getting our luggage which was on the stopped carousel......we walked and walked until I saw the sign saying "live animals".  I took Maisie in to have her paperwork scrutinized and was told that the paperwork did not clear her for "internal parasites"....oh my g@#$ness........I didn't know whether to laugh or cry....so of course....I laughed, took Maisie out of her cage and said please have a look at her...she is healthy!!!!!!!  The "live animal" inspector did some writing and said welcome to Mexico. 

After putting Maisie back in her cage, I caught up with Ron and we went searching for a taxi.........