Moscota with our Mexican friends and family

Mascota is a small Mexican village located as the crow fly's east of Puerto Vallarta and nestled in the Sierra Madre on an old back road to Guadalajara. We were so excited when the opportunity came up to travel there with our Mexican friends and family from Puerto Vallarta. Alvaro and Monserat made the arrangements for us to stay in what they called a cabin. To me it was more like a house!

Monserrat and her grandmother prepared a delicious Mexican feast for us upon arrival.

This molcajete you see below was given to me by the grandmother. I told her I had been shopping for a good authentic one at a great price. What a generous gift that I will cherish!

Delicious salsa was finished in no time.

Here's Alvaro and Dente, the 10 month old boy, who's first word was AGUA (water). LOL

Grandmother and the grandfather came along to so that the grandmom could visit her family in town where she was born and raised.

Monserrat and Randi

A laid back trip where some relaxed and some went on the ATV's in the mountains. We visited the remains of a 125 year old cathedral put together with egg whites, catus juice, tiny pieces of rock combined and used as "mortar" along with huge chunks of volcanic rock. Yes, behind the church in the distance is a volcano.


It's one thing to be a tourist and have the opportunity to see things from a distance but I find it to be more meaningful, intimate, and interesting to experience a culture from the inside with wonderful local friends. Thank you Alvaro, Monserrat, and family for your wonderful hospitality and friendship.

Bad news turned into blissful moments with mother nature

My bad news turned into good news. For at least the last 2 -3 months I have been physically unable to go to the gym because my sacroiliac "locked up" and said to me, "no more"! Then a few weeks later, I had a herniated disc in my neck! So, that was frustrating in that I could no longer enjoy part of my routine, a vigorous work out at Golds Gym PV.

This whole debilitating ordeal sent me on a search for what I knew I needed, a GOOD chiropractor here in Puerto Vallarta. Easier said than done when you're in new territory. Everything takes longer than your wildest estimation and well you need to ask questions and listen in Spanish too. After one horrible experience, I was reminded of what I already knew, don't trust a tittle. This put me on a mission to find chiropractors to "interview"! Before I would pay them a thing, I informed them that I needed to hear their "sales pitch"first, period.

How do you diagnose? What kinds of treatments do you do? What do you think of physical therapy? Where did you go to school? Who have you treated?

So, that's what I did. And, Dr. Oscar Margain, passed my test. Please check out his website with testimonials here. Mind you, I have been treated successfully by 3 chiropractors over the last 20 years all in the US. Dr Oscar Margain is a chiropractor GENIUS who goes beyond the text book with great common sense!

So why the picture of the pool for this post? Combing pool exercises, mega doses of vitamin B shots, chiropractic adjustments, special floor exercises, and sonic treatments on my sacroiliac over the last several weeks are all part of Dr Margain's treatment plan. Good nutrition, lots of water, exercise, treatments etc. are all part of the approach. Guess what, it works!

What a beautiful way to spend my time checking out all 5 pools in the common area which are spattered across the condo complex. Doing 30 minutes of water exercise surrounded by the beauty of mother nature, wasn't so bad after all!

Random thoughts about the calm before the storm

The calm before the storm! In about 1 week, we will move next door to our neighbors home. A month later, we plan to pack it all up again to make the trek up north to visit friends and family in Hershey PA. Of course we do want to get all our "healthcare needs" done right before we go and might I add at a fraction of the cost in the USA. That means eye doctors, dentists, orthodontists, general physicals, chiropractic visits and blood work all need to be done now. My calendar looks like a coloring book using graph paper with tiny little squares!

So here we are relaxing at Casa Isabel ,a Boutique Hotel with a fabulous restaurant, my absolute favorite in Puerto Vallarta! I prefer the couch with coffee table seating offering a birds eye view of the ambiance inleu of the rail side tables and chairs for the "close up view".

The best time to be here is at sun set - phenomenal ambiance !!

These were fun :)

At my wits end with back problems that became chronic I was eagerly in search of good chiropractic care which sounds simple, huh? Just pick up a phone and make a call. But really in a foreign country even though there's resources with thousands of expats Canadian and American the simplest task can just take forever! After 7 years of living in foreign territories I understand this fact of culture. Luckily, after several failures to find the right guy, I stuck a GENIUS! He's even better than the several good ones I had in the states.

My Mexican chiropractic treatments have been first class with great theory and experience. He has treated women from the Ballet De Monterrey with great success. He has me doing specific pool exercises and floor exercises. Daily I'm caught marching in the pool like a robot in repeat motion. But hey - it's working. Including the huge vitamin B mega doses he requested that I get. Randall gave me 2 cc's of vitamin B complex in the butt for 5 days. Ouch!! But after day 2 my sciatic nerve was ecstatic!! I didn't realize how much pain I had been enduring for so long.

Taking time to savor the moments of beauty we find here in PV everyday.

Enjoying one of Randall's fantastic creative meals. He's really taken over the kitchen where ever we go. Yummy shrimp wellington....

"White out", but not from snow.

Paradise sometimes get's lost in the rain clouds but not usually in the "dry season". From about November until mid June is the time considered to be the dry season and the time of year when Puerto Vallarta comes to life. The snow birds arrive for a 6 month jaunt and vacationers come and go. Unfortunately mother nature was confused leaving some with little to see and do for 4 days during the "dry season". This view over looks old town Puerto Vallarta where everything is "happening" only here it is like a "white out".

It however made for good nesting time indoors and gave enlighten appreciation of our typical days perspective.