A mixed blessing

Yesterday’s rain was a real blessing here in Loreto Bay and the surrounding area. The mountains and landscape have taken on a soft green glow that we haven’t seen all summer, or for that matter, since we moved here. It’s an amazing transformation that seemed to take place almost instantaneously.
It’s a blessing, too, for the scrawny livestock that have had slim pickings alongside the highway for the past few months. Now they’ll have something green and tasty to eat. Thank God! It’s such a pitiful sight to see the cattle, goats and horses foraging in the dirt and rocks alongside the highway. At least now there’s some greenery poking up through the scrabble.

The downside to the rain is the mess it makes of the road - the Paseo - in front of our home. We’re on the north end of Agua Viva, which is one of the lowest points of the Paseo. So we’re left with a totally flooded road even though we only got about an inch of rain (I’m averaging the guesstimates we’ve heard). The problem with the road is serious for all concerned. How can the new owners expect to sell homes when the main road through the project is in such bad repair? Any prospective buyer would be taken aback to see the road when it’s dry. When it’s wet, it’s a nightmare.

We’ve heard via the LB grapevine that Homex knows they’ll have to do something about the Paseo. It’s a shame the main thoroughfare through the development ever got in this shape in the first place. Shame on Citigroup, Re:Play, TSD and all those responsible for the road conditions here in Loreto Bay. Here’s hoping Homex steps up to the plate and takes care of this problem soon.

Every little bit helps

George and I have lived through many firsts since moving to Loreto Bay last February, but today was the first time we've seen real rain since we got here. Yippee!
We missed the big four-inch downpour in August as we were on our six-week 'Adventure in Gringolandia' tour. That particular storm wreaked some havoc with our casa in the form of leaks in the ceiling of the upstairs master bedroom. But the good news was that the repairs were all completed before we arrived home and from what we've heard, the rest of the new homes in AV fared better than we did. We were lucky that we had such a good property manager in Robert Ortola. He and Donella did a fantastic job looking after our house and cleaning up after the workers left.

Today's rain has managed to tamp down the dirt (another big Yippee!!) and it's possible we may see more precipitation in the next couple of days thanks to Tropical Storm Georgette (click on the weather widgit on the right side of this page for more weather info).

We ran some errands in town this morning and were treated to a brief deluge while we were at Gustavo's checking out his new offerings. If you haven't been to his store in a while, plan on a trip as he's got some really great new furniture and accessories.

We also had brunch at the new Gourmet Guaycura Restaurant on the Malecon by Augie's. In fact, it's in the same second floor location that Augie's restaurant used to be.

It's one of our favorite spots on the Malecon and we're glad to see that space being used again. The restaurant has some really nice touches like orchids in vases on the tables, nice color schemes, great background music (Spanish guitar instrumentals of Beatles tunes. Awesome!) and one of the best views on the Malecon. And the food was great!

It looks like Loreto proper got more rain than we did here in Nopolo this morning, but right now it's coming down pretty steadily here at home. Wish I had a rain gauge!

We'll keep you posted on any significant developments.

In other good news:

When we left here on August 4 work was just beginning on the improvements at the Inn.

We were very surprised and pleased to see that the pool work was done and other cosmetic touchs could be seen throughout the grounds, including some new contrasting paint and really nice new palapas and outdoor restaurant furniture.




The changes have succeeded in making the Inn look a lot more alive and vibrant.

The evening we got back the Inn was hosting a Viva! Mexico fiesta in honor of Independence Day with dinner on the beach (ala the old Loreto Bay sales events), a scrumptious buffet, music and even fireworks. There looked to be about 40 or so joining in the festivities. Talk about a nice homecoming!

All those changes can be credited to the Inn's new manager, Peter Maxwell. Ironically, Peter, a native of Britain with an impressive resume in the hotel industry, was responsible for getting the original Inn - the Camino Real Hotel - going back about eight or nine years ago.

Peter (one of those managers that jumps right in no matter how small the task and how often do you see that anymore?) told us that for now Homex is taking baby steps in getting the Inn back in shape. That's obvious with the pool which could look better, but we're not complaining. The improvements are real and the whole ambience of the place has changed for the better. So congrats to Peter and his staff.

As for the outdoor dining area that was being demolished before we left, Peter said that renovation is on hold due to a lack of funds. But on the plus side, 90 of the rooms have gotten a facelift.

And we were very happy to see the fitness room full of equipment again. We did hear that some of the equipment isn't working, but hey, some of it is! That's good news for us as we managed to gain a good bit of weight while we were in the states. Sometimes it feels like we ate our way up the West Coast!

On a totally inane note, I was relieved to see that our resident frog (or maybe he's a toad) was still here when we got home last week. He's no friendlier than he was before we left, but it's still good to see him hopping around the courtyard every night.

Something to get excited about - finally!

It’s been a long wait, but tonight we saw real progress being made here in Loreto Bay. Almost a dozen workers were busy tearing out the old tile in the hotel swimming pool and it was a wonderful sight to see.

When we moved here last February, seagulls had taken over the pool at the Inn and it was looking very shabby. Just a few weeks later Homex met with local officials and word leaked that they had indeed bought the hotel and golf course. We’ve all been waiting these many long months to see what Homex has planned and it’s looking pretty darn good.

The main swimming pool is being refurbished and in just one day the workers had accomplished a lot. New walls were going up and the old tile was being torn out and hauled away. As we made our way to the pool restaurant this evening, we also saw surveyors working on the hotel grounds and a large crew tearing down the pergola over the old outdoor restaurant just north of the pool.

Our waiter told us the pool restaurant and bar will be closing as soon as renovations are completed on the former outdoor dining area, which he said would take about a week. We've learned to be a little skeptical when we hear something will only take a week. So now we just add a month or two onto any guesstimate and we're usually not far off. But no matter how long it takes, this is an encouraging and welcome sign.

The pool restaurant will probably re-open once the pool renovation is complete. This information is all per our waiter, who seemed very excited about the work taking place. And so are we!

No news, though, about the former fitness center, which was housed in the building adjoining the restaurant. That space was turned into a dining room, but we never saw anyone actually eating there. Maybe the new restaurant, which will feature a new chef and offerings like Mexican specialties and lobster, will have both indoor and outdoor dining.

It’s incredibly nice to see these signs of life at the Inn and we look forward to many more exciting changes.

Hot fun in the summertime

It’s all about the ebb and flow here in Loreto Bay, from the tides of the Sea of Cortez to the home owners who fly in for a few days and then fly back out. Our lives here have a rhythm that seems to hinge on the ebb and flow.

The weather dictates our own ebb and flow and right now at 98 degrees we're definitely in the ebb phase because we've been heading indoors as much as possible. And that means we spend a lot of time trying to find things to entertain or amuse ourselves.

Today I broke out one of the 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles we brought down with us, but too many of the pieces matched the color of our dining room table so I threw in the towel pretty quickly. Hey, you try finding brown puzzle pieces on a copper-top dining table!

George persevered with the puzzle for a little longer than me, but eventually he drifted away from the table, too, and we both settled down for some Web surfing. It was while I was going through my usual sites that I came across an interesting article about a Web site called ‘I Write Like.’ The site asks you to submit several paragraphs of your writing for analysis and then in mere nanoseconds tells you which famous author you write like.

I took a few paragraphs from one of my blogs and ‘lo and behold the ‘analyzer’ spit back the name Margaret Mitchell. Yes, the very same Margaret Mitchell who wrote that epic Southern novel “Gone with the Wind.” I was surprised to say the least. Sure, I have more than a little Southern in me, but Margaret Mitchell? Sure, we both started our journalism careers in Georgia, but Margaret Mitchell? I just don’t see any similarity in writing style at all. I’d like to think there is, after all she wrote one of the best-selling novels of all time, but I’m thinking not.

Reading a little further into the article I discovered that Margaret Atwood (one of my favorite writers and another Margaret... can that be a coincidence?) had some of her writing analyzed and was told she writes like none other than Stephen King. Yeah, right.

OK, so the ‘I Write Like’ site still has a few bugs (if Ms. Atwood and I are any indication), but it was a fun way to spend some time here in hot and steamy Loreto Bay.

Try it yourself at http://iwl.me/