Cock-A-Doo-El-Do——–Cock-A-Doo-El-Do

Ok it’s time I tell a story about living here in Mexico.

There is something I miss now and then about the United States and that would be Peace and quiet! Yes peace and quiet.

Living in the United States I can’t recall having roosters wake me up in the last 69 years.
Here in Mexico in our little village it just isn’t the same. A few seasons ago my next door neighbor bought a rooster and it happened to be one without a sense of time of the day or night it was. The rooster would Cock-A-Dude-El-Do day and night as LOUD as loud can go. Starting at midnight and 3 in the morning 5 in the morning, 7 in the morning as he wanted to beat all the other roosters in the village to be the first to crow.

I went to my neighbor and asked if he would move the rooster somewhere and I would pay him, because I owned a hotel next door and my guests were getting a bit annoyed and he just looked at me and smiled. He couldn’t speak English and with the little Spanish I know it was a dead end talking to my neighbor.

At one point It started to get real crazy with the roosters never stopping. I went back over to the neighbors house and this time he was a little more understanding, as he nodded much more this time with a much bigger smile.

Well nothing changed and this went on for months and it got more irritating as the season went on. I had had it at one point and I decided to go over and up the amount of money I would pay or ask him if there was anything he wanted me to buy for him.

On my way over I stopped and told one of my guests what I was doing and she was smiling and I told her I was going to offer them $150.00 and she said make it $1500.00 and I will pay and maybe I can get some sleep. I told her if I was to offer $1500.00 for the rooster everyone in the village would buy one hoping their neighbor was getting annoyed.

Well I left for my vacation in August and September and to my surprise when we got home the rooster was gone. I thought about asking, but I left well enough alone.

Something I did notice was my neighbors across the street had bought a few more roosters while we were gone. I didn’t think much of it until the noise level had reached an all time high along with their dogs and chickens. They were now making noise 24 hours a day. Kind of like living in the middle of a Rooster zoo. Well I noticed many chickens running around and even started catching them in my courtyard. Before I could complain to the owners about the roosters I noticed that there were now about 15 to 20 birds.
Now it was time to go have a talk with my neighbors who I got along with very well.

I sat with the son and asked why they needed 18 roosters and he seemed to act like it was no big deal, but at the same time he was telling me about the roosters and he said that his daughter had a real hard time sleeping, because of them. Than he was telling me that his daughter was having a hard time in school, because of not being able to sleep. Then he said that his grandma who is about 90 likes to hear the roosters sing in the morning, so she keeps buying more.

SING? I didn’t know they were singing. I really never thought of it as singing. I just thought it was just a bunch of noise all night and day. Everyday I see the grandma out front of her house sweeping her leaves and listening to her roosters sing.

Well I am not someone to take away another persons joy, so I am just going to let it go and know that I am a very lucky to be a visitor in another country.

Oh Oh Mexico.
What can I say except…….Cock a doodle do!

It’s just another Tequila sunrise

Tequila drinking on the rise
!JUST ANOTHER TEQUILA SUNRISE!

Tequila (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈkila]) or as the Americans say…Ta kill ya!

Tequila is the distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, in the highlands (Los Altos) of the north western Mexican state of Jalisco.

Tequila is the smoooooooooth drink that is now taking the world in a whole new direction. From the pueblo of San Pancho where you can find Roberto’s Bungalows it’s a two and a half hour beautiful drive up highway 200 through the jungle of the Nayarit coast into the farmlands into Tequila.

I drove through Tequila a few years ago and it was a beautiful site, as it reminded me so much of the Napa Valley. The rows of the Blue Agave plants are everywhere the flat lands and up and down the mountains just as the rows of the grapes are in the Napa Valley. The city itself was beautiful and spotless. I have friends who have restaurants in the United States who come down and pick their special barrels of Tequila for their customer’s enjoyment. Tequila is becoming the new sipping drink of the elite and tasking it in a whole new direction. The tequila drinker of the past was the one who did the salt, shoot and bite the lime drink over and over until they passed out is looking like a thing of the past. The tee shirt that comes to mind when talking about Gringo drinking tequila in Mexico is “One tequila, two tequila, three tequila… FLOOR”.

The new smooth tequila is fast becoming the NEW drink of the stars. Justin Timberlake has partnered with Sauza tequila to launch Sauza 901 a super-premium tequila, which bears the numbers of Timberlake’s hometown area code in Memphis, Tennessee. The brand will have a presence at Justin Timberlake’s world tour, The 20/20 Experience, with a Sauza 901 bar at every show.

Justin Say’s “My love for tequila began a few years ago after I visited the tequila heartland of Jalisco, Mexico, and saw the passion and craftsmanship that goes into every bottle,” “That trip inspired me to create 901”.

Sean (Diddy) Combs is another Star on the run to make Tequila the next expensive sipping drink.
Diageo and Combs Wine & Spirits have formed a 50-50 joint venture to acquire DeLeón – which can sell for more than $1,000 a bottle – for an undisclosed sum.
Diageo said DeLeón will boost its share of the “ultra premium” tequila market, which includes brands that sell for more than $40 a bottle. Diageo also has another upmarket tequila, Don Julio. Both DeLeón and Don Julio sit at the higher end of the price scale compared to Jose Cuervo, which Diageo stopped distributing in the US in July.
DeLeón has five variants, varying in price from $120 to more than $1,000, and is popular among US musicians and in Hollywood, the drinks company said.

So my suggestion is if you are paying $1,000 dollars for a bottle of Tequila you better sip it. I’m not sure if this is the tequila you should be making frozen Margarita’s out of. So as I see it the days of slamming Tequila are reserved to the crazy American who hasn’t quite got the message yet. Which living down here I can say it probably won’t change much for the tequila drinking vacationing youngsters enjoying throwing up and hanging out with the toilet bowl as your date for the evening for Spring Break each year, or the parents who find that an all inclusive stay gives you a free pass to all the tequila you can drink and we are not talking Justin’s or Diddy’s top of the line tequila.

I think it’s time to book a vacation to Roberto’s Bungalows while you can still get a sip of tequila for free with a trip to Tequila with Earl and Jane and we can be your designated drivers and you can sip your way through a beautiful day in the beautiful City of TequilA and buy a couple of bottles while you can still afford it!

Postcards from San Pancho, Paradise

This is our Downtown!

I have been taking pictures for many years, but never have I had such a great opportunity to hang on the beach and wait for the sun to set each day. Living in San Pancho has opend my eyes to not only the beauty that the ocean and the sky has to offer, but the peace and tranquility that come with it each day. I feel like the art in the sky each day needs to be shared with those who can’t be here. There are many places on the planet that have breath taking sunsets, but I believe I have landed in the Sunset Capitol of the world. I have thousands of photos of the sunsets and would like to share some of them with you. If you are ever in San Pancho, Mexico only about 30 miles north of Puerto Vallarta stop by Roberto’s Bungalows and say hi or come and book your Bungalow.

They are geting Younger and younger!

Getting to be a part of this has been worth the journey!

I wait months for nights like this!

Lagoon shots always bring a new look to the sky!

Thinking of going to Mexico? 5 reasons you should stay home!

Thinking of going to Mexico?
5 good reasons you should stay home!

I moved to Mexico 3 years ago against the advise of many people from the area where I lived in the United States. I have had 3 wonderful years down here and will spend the rest of my life here. I am part owner of a hotel (Roberto’s Bungalows) in a little village called San Pancho about 30 miles north of Puerto Vallarta.
We get visitors from all over the world come and stay with us and I can’t believe the stuff I hear sometimes from a small percentage of them when they are booking their time to come stay. Usually 99 percent of them are from the United States and are asking about how safe it is.
I came from a town in the Bay area in California and I loved it and it was a safe and wonderful community. The next town and the cities within about 20 miles were not so safe. Now living in the Bay area if you never read the news or watched TV you would think you lived in the safest place on the planet. Well here is where the difference is. If you did read the paper or watched TV you would realize that within a few miles people are being killed and the cities are going to hell in a hand basket. They are trying everything that is possible, but they just don’t have the man power or the funding to keep the cities under control.
Now for the good news I have lived here for three years and traveled here by car from California and all around the area and never had a problem. The Cartel has yet to make me a drug runner or chopped off my head. When people start up with how dangerous it is down here I just ask for them to Google the crime rate in the town in which they live and the surrounding 30 miles or so. It is just folks who really just watch the TV and read the news about the stories about the border problems.
Remember that the reason for the crime and deaths at the border towns in Mexico is the fact that America has a drug problem. If everyone in the United States didn’t need drugs we wouldn’t have a problem with crime at the border. Drugs that pass through Mexico make up a large percentage of a multi-billion dollar industry meeting the demands of American drug abusers. The thing that will blow your mind is that 99.5 % of that is marijuana!
If you heard of a crime in Los Angeles and lived in San Francisco would you never go to LA again?
Well take the border towns out of your vacation plans and come on down to the Riviera Nayarit coast and enjoy the weather and mostly the grace of the wonderful people of this country. They are pleasant and warm and wanting to help you in every way. Stop the crazy thoughts and get down here and see for yourself. This is paradise and we don’t have the crime that exists in the United States.
Oh I know some of you will read this and be saying oh yeah well I just heard that someone got killed in Mexico. For those of you who are always looking for the bad in everything please do us a favor down here.
STAY HOME!

1. If you don’t know the facts about the crime in Mexico Shut Up and stay home!
2. If you believe everything you read or see on TV stay home.
3. If you are not a loving adventure seeking person with a love of people and beauty stay home.
4. If you don’t want to explore and get to know the awesome people of different cultures of the world stay home.
5. If you don’t want to feel the love and make lifetime friendships and surround yourself with beauty and can’t step out of your comfort zone. PLEASE STAY HOME!

I really don’t want to sound like I think everyone from the United States shouldn’t come to Mexico. We welcome you all!
The area in which I live was just chosen as the 6th best place in the world to retire! This is just for the few of you that make all of Mexico sound like a dangerous place.
I want you all to come and see the world with different eyes and an open heart. The people of Mexico are the most gracious people I have ever encountered. They want you to come and feel the love and share the beauty of their beautiful country. Come and relax on the beaches travel the country and see some of the most beautiful sites in the world.
They welcome you with open arms.
I welcome you with an open heart and open arms.

Tropical Golf in San Pancho

Yes it’s true….. You can golf on a very beautiful course in

San Pancho

Las Huertas Gold and Beach Club. It was been a private course for a few years, but the years have produced a lush tropical paradise golf course. I am, or you could say I was a golfer in the states over the years and loved the game. I really love being surrounded by beautiful grass and trees and water and of course sand traps. I was invited by a couple staying at Roberto’s Bungalows here in San Pancho. It is almost like you have been swept away to a tropical Island golf paradise. I believe the cost is $40 american dollars and 11.50 for a cart. I will be on the course a lot more, so come on down or up and let’s do it!

: It’s like the course is all yours!

: From a few holes you can see the ocean

: challenging shots

: Beautiful fountains, and landscaping

San Pancho’s Eva writes a cookbook

SAN PANCHO’S EVA WRITES A BOOK!

Eva writes a cookbook and many from San Pancho show up to wish her well. last night at entre amigos there was a gathering of folks who were there to celebrate Eva’s new book. She was all smiles and there was a story that went with the cooking classes that became the now printed cookbook. Eva’s son was heading to college and he didn’t have a computer, so Eva decided to open her restaurant for people to come and learn how to cook what she had learned during her entire life. She was overwhelmed with the number of folks that showed up. Just after the fourth week she had enough money to pay for her sons computer. That was such a great feeling that now she decided she should put out the cookbook to raise the money to get married. Now the classes are in full swing and the book is doing well, so soon I believe she will be walking down the isle. With the biggest smile on her beautiful face. She has a restaurant right around the corner from http://robertosbungalows.com and serves up some awesome food. Tell her Earl and Jane sent you.

Who let the dogs out?

Do Mexican dogs bark louder than American Dogs?

When we first got here to Riviera Nayarit MEXICO 10 Years ago I noticed a real large mangy dog population everywhere roaming the streets in all the villages along the ocean up the coast from Puerto Vallarta. Most of the dogs looked pretty much the same, small white dogs about a foot tall that had turned brown and black from the sandy streets. It seems as though someone came and dropped off about five dozen of the same looking dogs to each village up the coast then left (laughing).

Dogs here sleep in the streets and will not move when you drive down the streets in your car. I think it’s, because they party all night stay awake barking and running out in front of the Bungalow’s and all over town and down to the beach and by morning they are really tired. At the beach they act just like the tourists, as they are everywhere playing and swimming and they are having a blast.

I kind of liked the idea of a free for all dog World. We came from such an uptight dog world in the U.S. It is so different here than in the states where soon they will pass new laws where you have to have your dog on a leash even in your living room. Now that I have been here for a bunch of years things have changed. The dogs still run wild and it seems as though each and everyone in the villages joined in and got one or two new breeds of dogs for themselves, but I will say it seems that every dog has an owner.

If they pass a law like in the states about every dog needs to be on a leash…..I’m going to open a leash store and get rich. Lately our neighborhood has started to look like a summer spa retreat for dogs of every breed, as there are dogs everywhere. They are really not bothering anyone, but me. I can’t help it I just get a little (no a lot) irritated with all the barking. We got ourselves a bark fest day and night. I’m really not sure what they bark about, but they must be having fun. I actually think they know it irritates me.

We have a little tiny dog a few doors down that knows when the other big dogs that live right around Roberto’s Bungalow’s are locked in, because she comes around and taunts them through the gates and windows and up on their balcony’s with her little squeaky bark and then all hell breaks loose, as she is having the time of her life.

I was so excited to have some of my really good friends move in the neighborhood until I found out they were coming with two huge dogs with what I believe to be the loudest barking dogs in the village. I think one day I looked over on their deck and I saw both dogs standing on their back legs barking into megaphones pointed right at me.

If you measured the distance from their mouths from where they lay and bark all day and night to my pillow It’s probably only about twenty feet. It’s almost like they are in bed with me, so I wear ear plugs and many times put my pillow over my head, so I don’t go out of my mind. If I’m not mistaken I think they bark at every leaf that falls from the trees and vines and we live in the jungle.

Many nights you will find me on my front deck right out over the street below in my underpants half asleep with a flashlight that I bought, because someone told me dog’s don’t like bright light, so I bought one that was supposed to be 180 times brighter than any flashlight. It’s bright enough to see from my deck to the end of town, or maybe even all the way to Russia, so when the barking gets out of control I point it at the dogs next door and one goes and lays down (good dog) and the other looks at me and barks even louder and I think I can see him laughing at me. Maybe it’s time for U.S. laws here on the coast……..No -Not on your life….just going to go with the flow. I’m just going to look at it as real loud bad polka music

Riviera Nayarit Gringo

Gringo thoughts from Mexico

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