As we're leaving soon, one of the things we wanted to do is buy a good quantity of fresh fish we could put in our freezer. We went down to Guayabitos about a week ago where the fishermen sell their catch of their boats but there was no large Dorado fish available. However when we went again a yesterday, one of the fishermen had a couple of good size ones.  We picked out one that was about four feet in length and had it filleted and cut into meal size pieces. Total cost 450 pesos.. about $33.00 dollars.
When we returned home we washed it all in fresh water and put it in freezer bags in meal size servings. Total number of bags.. 17.  So 17 meals for the two of us for $33.00

     17 Bags of Dorado fish

Our departure date has been changed a little as Jane and Jeremy need to get back to Florida for the closing of the sale of their condo.  We'll now be leaving La Penita on Saturday, March 2nd.

For those looking at a map, our trip home will take us around Guadalajara then up to Aguascalientes, then to Zacatecas, from there to Saltillo, around Monterry and then to the border at Laredo/Columbia bridge and into Texas.

We planned a trip to Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday with Fred and Sherry to visit our friends Sandy and Cynthia. We first met Sandy and Cynthia several years ago when they developed a new RV Park on the coast of Michoacan. We stayed there two winter seasons but they had to close the park after a land dispute with local Indians made it too dangerous. They're living now together with Cynthia's parents in a gated community in La Paz, just north of Puerto Vallarta.

     Sandy and Cynthia views from their back yard

After our visit we stopped at Costco in Puerto Vallarta  to pick up a few things including a bag of dog food so that we'll have plenty to last until we get home.

Seeing that we'd be gone all day, the pups got spend another visit at the dog spa. We dropped them off Tuesday night and picked them up this morning (Thursday) morning.

This is the first Thursday market we've missed as I had a dentist appointment at noon to get my teeth cleaned. .. (400 pesos..  about 35 dollars)

     Dr. Abraham Lopez Sanchez of La Penita, Mexico

Just two more weeks and we'll be heading home. Plans are to leave Heaven's Gate park on Saturday afternoon, March 1st and go to the big Pemex station just north of town. We'll meet up with Jeremy and Jane and leave there early Sunday morning. We'll be heading to Guadalajara and Sunday is the best day as far as traffic is concerned.

We're taking a different route home than the one we came down on. Our trip will take us from La Penita to Guadalajara and from there north on Highway 54. There's a mountain range to go through when leaving Guadalajara but we'll try to get to Zacatecas the first night. We'll stay on highway 54 to Saltillo and then around Monterry to Loredo/Columbia crossing.

But until we leave there's still time to enjoy ourselves. We're planning on a one day trip this week to Puerto Vallarta with Fred and Sherry. The pups will be boarded at the groomer for a couple of days so we don't have to worry about them.

With our time here soon coming to an end we're making sure we've bought everything we want to to take home. That includes a good supply of Mexico's great coffee to last us until we come back next year.

     Coffee Store in La Penita.. Notice the exhaust pipe from the roaster.

      Different sizes available

      Getting our order bagged

One thing about Mexico's public bathrooms is that there's never any toilet paper. So this one place we came across had the answer to the problem.

Walking in town yesterday we came across a woman who was busy working but had a young boy who was not happy with things... so she put him in a chair and gave him a bag of strawberries...  Strawberries are a great babysitter.

There's a taco truck that's in town most days and is always busy. The difference between this truck and one you might find north of the border is that the owner makes the tacos on a grill on the street behind the truck.

Today we took the pups to the puppy spa for grooming. This is where they stayed a couple of weeks ago when we went to Tonala..  Melanie the owner did a great job on them.

On the way to the puppy spa we drove by a dental office... not sure if the traditional Mayan techniques are still being used.

We decided to go to the Thursday tianguis (market) yesterday and on the way there passed by the hair salon where Diane and I get our hair cut. She wasn't busy and I needed a hair cut so I stopped in. This young lady does a terrific job for only 45 pesos.  Less than half the price of back home.

Later we wandered through the market where Diane bought a small fruit bowl. There's always an abundance of fruit and veggies and we couldn't pass up a kilo of fresh strawberries for 20 pesos.

The battery of my camera was fully charged so I took a bunch of pictures so that people could get an idea of the market we enjoy every Thursday.