Pie de la Cuesta, June 11th - 14th

Friday starts good as usual but after lunch Tom is discouraged. The tire, which should have been here from Mexico City on Wednesday, and then today has instead gone to Quintana Roo (Cancun area). Just like luggage, it always goes where it shouldn't! By now, not only myself and Tom but also the owners of the campsite are involved. They are on the phone berating the lady at the recieving end. The answer is the same. Sorry, manana, maybe! Oh well, at least it's Friday. We decide to stay here for the weekend as though we really had a choice!, call again Monday and if the 6th tire hasn't arrived, we will take 5 and try to get another enroute. We cheer ourselves up with a Cuba Libre (Rum, Diet Coke, lots of lime and ice), head down to the beach, read, walk Winston, who by the way, doesn't really care about the whole tire situation and decide to barbeque fish for dinner. At night comes the biggest surprise of all - rain. Tropical rain. Sitting outside in a swimsuit under the awing as the rain comes down. It smells and feels wonderful. Saturday is Danny's birthday so we get up early to wake him up in the States and sing the birthday song, remember we are also 2 hours ahead! That done we spend the day doing a few chores around the RV and back to the beach. I try to surprise Tom with a hammock he wants as a present but he caught me, so he now knows and likes his pressie. Sunday is Tom's birthday. We have decided to make one more trip to Acapulco and visit the underwater shrine of the Virgin Guadalupe. So the day finds us up early, walking Winston and headed for town. Bus time. Not once but, since we have the drill down, twice. No more taxis for us. After you survive one bus ride, what's one more! One bus into Acapulco, cross the street and another bus to Playa Caleta from which the glass bottom boats leave. There must be no liabilty lawyers here. The method of getting on the boat involves a haphazard pull up to the dock and leaping from said dock onto the boat. Thank you God, I didn't fall in! It was a fun trip but very commercial. We tour Acapulco Bay, there is a diver on board who goes over the side and "chums" to attract the local fish. It works. We all ohh and ahh, then on to the statue. But not before a stop at a floating bar/diner thingie! Thingie, is my term because there is not an English word to describe it. It looks like a small barge, no, it looks like a pontoon, no, it looks like a junket..hmm like I said a floating thingie. But on the thingie, they have.. beer, juice, fruit concoctions, like coconut dipping with hot sauce (who'ed have thought!), papaya dipped in sugar and some other stuff. We settle for an over priced beer as it was really hot and humid (oh, I forgot, it's afternoon and we don't need an excuse!) and watch our fellow travellers. Did I mention, we are the only Americans. Everyone else on board are Mexican tourists. They offer us some of their salsa dipped coconut (I declined, Tom tried it and said it was ok), and coconut milk (we both declined). We didn't offer to share our beer but that was alright because the other people who had beer didn't share either. Then it was on to the statue. It is a bronze underwater statue of the Virgin Mary, which I thought was very touristy but then most Catholics have been lured, given the opportunity, to Lourdes, the Statue of Bernadette, the veil of Turin etc. of which I am one of those. So, it was akin to those other pilgrimages and I liked it! Afterwards we decide to try one of the many beachfront restaurants for lunch. Tom's pick and it's Italian. The food is mediocre, we really have to start remembering that no matter what, we are better off choosing a Mexican seafood restaurant. But we have a couple more beers and we are happy. Back on the bus to home. More about the busses. They are uniquely individual, almost as though the same people drive the same bus every day. They, the busses, are decked out with stuffed animals (in the windshield), mirrors (in the windshield, cutting visibilty in half), decals, proclamations of their love for Jesus, Jehovah or some woman (in the windshield). You get the drift - the windshield is more than half covered with stuff, so the driver can't see out, without ducking down. The other thing is the a sound system. I am now convinced that Mexicans are, at least part way deaf. Music is played somewhere between the decibel level of a full fledged rock concert and a Boeing jet entering the stratasphere and I'm leaning towards the jet level. It can be anything from rap, contemporary Mexican rock or traditional mariachi style music. It is all played at the same level. Loud. That, combined with the heavy application of squealing brakes make for an interesting ride home. Another side note on liability. The driver brakes suddenly, a child (2 years old, approx.) being held by it's mother, slams it's head into the handlebar of the seat in front. Child screams. No-one says anything. Child goes to sleep. Haven't they heard that item about not sleeping after a head trauma and watch for dilating irises? Guess not. No-one raises an eyebrow. We get off, hope child is ok but glad to leave behind the raccous music that is playing. Winston, after 5 hours in the RV, is glad to see us. We take him for a run on the beach, read a little and it's an early night. Or not. Tom and Winston are asleep and I am sitting outside at the table writing emails. Suddenly and I mean suddenly, the wind kicks up to a furor and as we are facing south, almost slams my laptop shut. The wind quickly picks up what seems like tropical speed and the rains start. It was incredible. It went from calm (albeit lightening flashes in the distance) to full bore wind and rain in nothing flat. Amazing. I shuttled the computer and electronic stuff inside, covered up what I thought necessary and hustled in to the RV. Winstin was already cowering, he hates wind and storm related noises. The wind and rain continued to rock the RV all night. We wake up to full sunshine, so much for the overnight storm. Monday and another call to the tire shop. Supposedly all 6 tires are there (we will see, why do I have such little faith!). We spend the day readying the RV for the road, cleaning and picking up after 15 days in one place and taking time to spend on the beach and in the swimming pool. We also bathe Winston and Skype and email friends and family. Later, again the wind kicks up but nothing like the ferocity of last night. The rain falls, the surf pounds and it does lull me into a sense of comfort. This, I know, this is secure, who knows what tomorrow will bring!