Christmas Tucson Style

We took a little walking tour in the Presidio Historic District on Wednesday to see the Christmas decor. The temps in Tucson are sometimes 10 degrees warmer than our neighborhood north of town, so we were stripping off layers and basking in the balmy sunlight.  I love it when old adobe collides with Feliz Navidad!

A Christmas Enchilada

So what's a Christmas enchilada?  It's any type of enchilada (I ordered pollo) covered with half green and half red enchilada sauce.  

 

This one was delicioso!  Muy rico!

                    

 

Today we went in search of Christmas cheer in Tucson.  First stop was the historic El Charro Cafe located in the Presidio District.  As the calendar says, desde 1922.

 The cafe was decked out for Christmas!

 

When we can't be in Mexico, Tucson's a close second.  We've loving our first Christmas here!

Christmas Cheer from the Other Side

In November/December 2010, we made a decision based on air fare prices to try the other side of Mexico.  That side had traditionally been much more expensive than flights to Cancun, but suddenly the tickets were cheap!  We flew into Puerta Vallarta the day before Thanksgiving and cabbed to Bucerias, just a short trip north of the airport.  A penthouse in Bucerias (yes, it was a penthouse) served as our base to explore the Puerto Vallarta area before we boarded the little panga to Yelapa.

One early December day we hired a driver (Gustavo) to take us to San Sebastian del Oeste, a Spanish colonial town high in the mountains of Jalisco which dates to 1605.  The buildings over the entire town are painted white with red tile roofs.  Definitely decked out for the holidays!

Look at the poinsettia shrub (tree!) growing wild in the San Sebastion cemetery!  Obviously, all green house plants derive from someplace in nature, but I was so shocked to see them in the mountains of Mexico!

This boy doesn't need a Santa hat with his bright green feathers and colorful markings.  While waiting on lunch in a beautiful courtyard in San Sebastian, a parrot perched on my hand.

Another day we bussed to Sayulita, a surfer dude beach village up the winding coastal road to the north of Bucerias.

 

Another poinsettia (noche buena) native to this area.

The second half of the trip was spent in the coastal village of Yelapa to the south of Puerto Vallarta.  Getting there requires an hour boat ride in a small panga water taxi.  Yelapa has no cars or roads in the village, and the town didn't get electricity until the year 2000.  We stayed in one of the famous palapas in Yelapa.  Above is a village door decked out with Christmas finery.

I loved these folding paper poinsettias!

Santa behind bars.

One of our favorite little restaurants in Yelapa, Tacos y Mas, decked out for the holidays.

 

Craig enjoying his festive pre-dinner Christmas beer -- Noche Buena!  I wonder if we can buy it in the U.S.?  I don't recall ever seeing it on Isla Mujeres.

A festive red, white, and green door in Sayulita.

Sayulita beach on a sunny December afternoon.

What a fun pre-Christmas trip!  I will say we didn't go for the water because the Pacific side just does not compare to the turquoise Caribe on the other side, but Jalisco and Nayarit are great areas in Mexico to explore.  It's on my return list for the future. 

Some More Isla Christmas Magic!

Santa hats on cacti just aren't doing it for me right now!  Not whining, but boy am I missing Isla!  Thought I'd post some photos today of our November/December month on Isla Mujeres in 2011.  Despite my breaking a crown and commuting back and forth to Cancun to the dentist every week, it was a magical trip at a magical time of year.  Maybe same time/same place next November/December?

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Seriously, with my new job as the sole chauffeur, nurse, maid, and heavy lifter around here, not to mention still trying to get settled in our new home, there's little time for blogging.  I've also made the sad decision this year that I'm not putting up the Christmas tree because it's way too much work (involves a lot of heavy lifting and mechanical abilities I don't possess) since we're leaving the week before Christmas and not returning until the 27th -- just in time to take it down!  I feel like I'm throwing in the towel, but I've bedecked and bedazzled everything else, so there's plenty of holiday cheer.

Once again I digress.  I thought it might be fun to show some cheery Christmas photos from past trips to that favorite little island.  I can't be there in person, but it's fun to post old photos!

Christmas parade ready!

Wanted:  Mangers for Baby Jesus's.

Traditional outfits for sale.

Frosty on a humble casa.

Feliz Navidad wreath.

My favorite island window.

Isla Snowman!

Stay tuned!  More Christmas cookie crumbs to follow!

Paradise Lost

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones . . . .   Remember that old song?  It doesn't really cover dat da clavicle's connected to da shoulder bone!  And dat would be da problem right now.

As some of you have surmised, we're not on Isla Mujeres.  Oops!  The car broke down in Limbo, Arizona last Tuesday and we'll be there awhile.

Craig slid on sand in the street rounding the corner to our house on his bike last Tuesday and met the asphalt. He walked into the house drenched in blood and told me he'd had a bike wreck.  He was fine, but it really messed up his bike.  Alrighty there!  That tipped me off that he might be a little shocky.  After getting him into the shower to rinse off blood so I could assess damage, I saw this ugly bone sticking out of his shoulder and a huge gash in his head.  Uhhhhhh . . . OMG!  A compound fracture and a gash in the head.  I'm calling 911!  

(Note to self.  Call the cable company, add a landline, and go buy a phone today!  We threw all those pesky devices in the trash when we moved because we swore we wouldn't waste money on one of those ever again!  We didn't factor in that we live so far out in the sticks, our Verizon cellphones drop calls inside the house.)

Once 911 patched me through to the paramedics, they talked me down off the ledge and sent me back into the house to make sure he was still conscious.  He seemed lucid, so they gave me the option of driving him to Oro Valley hospital 15 minutes down the highway.  

  

On a positive note, we're now acquainted with the medical services in our area.  The folks at the local hospital are mighty friendly and caring compared to our nightmare experiences in Phoenix suburban area hospitals last December/January.  We were whisked into the ER with literally no wait.  The receptionist took his insurance card and driver's license and he was in a bed in no time.  After x-ray's and a CT scan on the head, the phone rang in the room.  I ignored it.  A nurse came in and told me to pick up because someone was calling me.  Seriously?  Who knew we were there?

We hadn't even gotten the results from the ER doc, so I knew we were in trouble when it was the orthopedic surgeon's office scheduling an appointment for 9 a.m. the next morning with instructions for Craig not to eat or drink anything after midnight.  Oops.

The good news is -- ta daaaa -- no head injury other than some staples to close the superficial gash.  The bad news is -- the clavicle.  Dat bone's no longer connected.  It's complicated. I can't explain technical details, but that sucker was sticking straight up, practically perpendicular, and there was nothing left to reattach it with screws.

Long story short, Craig had surgery late Wednesday after they got the special plate with the hooks.  Sounds rather medieval, doesn't it!  In a few months after that's healed, the plate has to be removed with another surgery.  If all goes well, he should be back to normal in six months.

So, no beautiful pics from our fabulous beach vacation.  We may try to take a few little trips around here while we wait.  I'd love to see Bisbee all lit up for Christmas, and the California coast, while crispy cool in the winter, is only a short day's ride away.

As one rather terse woman told me at a Happy Hour when we first moved to the neighborhood -- You're here now.  Buck up!  

LOL  (That's a story for another day.)

A Little Country Chill

Yes, we live in the sticks now and it's getting cold overnight, but that's not what I'm talking about!

We're into the final countdown.  One week until we leave for Isla Mujeres!  My hair's practically standing on end because I have so much to get done and so little time.

We're definitely in the three steps forward/two steps back phase here at the ranch.  Just when I think I have all these new house problems solved, some other little crisis crops up. And that's when I have to remind myself to chill out!

Escape to Mexico!

I'm actually a closet country western devotee.  I thought I'd share a couple of Craig Moritz videos off YouTube this morning.  The first was filmed on that little island a lot of us love.

See how many locals you recognize in the video.  Love the puppy in the Santa hat from Isla Animals!




I just discovered this second song yesterday and it's a good one too!
 



If you're on Isla Mujeres mid-November into December, maybe we'll bump into each other! 

A Sunday Repeat

Two weeks exactly now until we arrive on Isla Mujeres again!  I'm starting to think about packing.  Notice I said think.   I haven't even finished unpacking here yet!