Thanksgiving & Robert's Birthday

Well, the casa is almost done. I am lucky enough to have visited twice this month. I quit my job - last day was November 9th - so took that opportunity to join Michael & Robert for Thanksgiving and Robert's birthday.

We were there for just about a week. We had a great time getting to know the house. We had lots of visitors as well (people just keep stopping by to check out the place!). The dining room table arrived...just in time for us to have big dinners. And one night a sea turtle came up on our beach. Very special!

First nights at Casa Majahua!

Denni and her Aunt Tina were the first to actually stay at Casa Majahua...this was on October 30th, 2007!

It was a rough first night for them, though. The only rooms they could stay in were the guest quarters and the a/c wasn't working. And the cows decided to "sleep" just outside the bedroom wall (they actually barked all night)...and at 4am the cistern overflowed waking them up. On top of all this was the fact that the road was wrecked from all the rain. Needless to say, they had a fun time.

I arrived a few days later to join them for Alejandro & Mariana's wedding (Alejandro is our property manager). Well, I had a good time ;^). We couldn't use the rest of the house, yet, though (so no cooking for ourselves, yet).

The wedding was amazing. The weather and location was perfect and it was a simple and extremely sweet ceremony. Check out the pictures.

Trip Report July 21 - 28, 2007

The four amigos had the great opportunity to visit the casa and check on progress and meet with friends and make new friends!

The trip started easy enough...that was until our connecting flight in LA got canceled because of mechanical issues (Alaska flight 204 LA - ZIH). The bad news is that we didn't get to Zihua on Saturday around 4pm but instead we got there on Sunday at noon. The good news is that we got there safely. More good news...because we were stranded at the LA airport for hours...then at local hotels...we met a lot of people on our flight. We ended up hanging out with several of them during our week! Last bit of good news...Alaska ended up giving us a $250 eCertificate for future travel.

Once in Zihua, we picked up our rental car at the airport. I tried the tactic I had read about which is ... rent a cheap car and when you are there ask for an upgrade. We rented a VW Jetta and ended up with a Nissan pickup truck. The truck was old, quite battered but we really wanted a pickup. So everyone is happy.

We had met a couple from SF on our flight and they ended up following us up to Troncones (since this was their first time). We were happy to lead them!

We first stopped at Commercial Mexicana. We've done this lots of times...but this is the first time I've been there when it was packed with people! It was Sunday...and it was summer vacation for lots of Mexicans. The place was hopping. We had a similar experience driving to Troncones. The gas stations and roads were packed.

Considering this is supposedly the "low season", Troncones was also packed with vacationers. Again, from what I could tell, it was mostly Mexican families. We stayed at Tronco Bay Inn and we met several Mexican families there.

This is the first time I have come to Troncones in the summer...specifically in July. The crowds suprised me...but the rainstorms and thunder storms did not surprise me. In fact, I was looking forward to them. Let me just say that Mother Nature did not disappoint. We really loved this part of the trip. The sky, clouds and waves were beautiful throughout the week.


We ate at the old haunts in Troncones - Inn at Manzanillo Bay, Cafe Sol, Burro Barracho (in it's new location), Tronco Bay Inn, etc. One night we drove into Zihua and had awesome margaritas at Porto di Mare, then had dinner at Amuleto. The food was very good. The view divine.




To the right is Amuleto, to the left is the sunset for Burro Barracho. We had a great dinner there with friends. They have chairs with the names of the town Casa names on the back (i.e. Casa Ki)...and while we were there, they painted "Casa Majahua" on the back of a chair for us. Very exciting!


In regards to our Casa...there has been a lot of progress. The most exciting part was that we were able to swim in our pool. Check it out!

There I am!

On the Friday before we left, we brought cake, sodas and beer to our construction crew. It was nice meeting them and giving them a little something. I only wish we were there more often to know them better.

Trip Report May 4 - 9, 2007

Denni and I (and our good friend Tina) just returned from five days in Troncones. We stayed the first three nights at Tronco Bay Inn (www.tronco-bay-inn.com) and the last two nights at Casa Teresa (www.casateresatroncones.com).

Our normal stress-free rental from Alamo wasn't so stress-free this time around, but we survived. Note to self - learn to drive a manual. I requested an automatic, they didn't have one. But after much frowning (OK, I complained a bit, too) on my part, they offered to drive us up an automatic later that evening. Another note to self - request that they fill the car up with gas (at least 1/2 tank) when they deliver car to Troncones. This they didn't do - thus we were sweating running out of gas driving around Troncones (fyi - no close gas station). Of course, as I'm typing this, a new gas station is being built at the Junction of 200 and the Troncones turn off. Last note to self - make sure CD player works when they deliver car. OK, 'nuff about that. Summary - I will never rent a Jetta again. I'll either have someone else drive the Crossfox (manual) or go with another car company.

On the way up, we stopped at the Commercial Mexicana. I love this place. I know I shouldn't like any place that looks like Walmart...but given that we're in a different country/smaller town, well, it's good to know I can buy whatever I need on my way up to Troncones!

Tronco Bay Inn was very nice! Our rooms were huge...and very clean. We opted for non-view rooms which was just fine since the ocean is only 100 yards away. $80/night. The little restaurant there was good as well. We really enjoyed talking to the staff...and hanging out at the pool! They have very nice lounge chairs on the beach (with umbrellas) which is a bonus since not all places I've stayed (actually have any?) had these.




We stayed at Tronco Bay Inn our first 3 nights, then Casa Teresa the last 2 nights. Casa Teresa is a private home...but the owner has decided to rent it out so we were the first renters. It's a huge 4 bedroom, 5 bath home with pool...very grand! We really enjoyed hanging out there.











We ventured into Zihuatanejo on Sunday afternoon. We walked around downtown (stopped into The Shiva Bar for $1 coronas!) then watched a kids program at the basketball court. The court serves as a gathering place on Sundays for the community to put on programs. The skits were precious! We had planned to have sunset drinks at the Catalina bar but it was too busy and we were hungry so we only used that stop for a toilet break...then went to Carlos N Charlies in Ixtapa for dinner. I had imagined a busy, fun place (CNC is known for the party crowd) but there were only 3 tables with people at them ... and this place must have 100+ tables! So needless to say, it was a dud. But the food was suprisingly VERY good! I'll definitely go back there.


Back in Troncones...we went to see our own casa as much as we could. Especially around sunset. It is progressing very well! Wow, it really is larger and more beautiful than we ever expected. It's very exciting to watch the progression over time.

The greatest part of this trip was hanging out with friends that we've made down there. When you can sit for hours and talk to someone without obligations it truly is special because you can really listen and have long discussions. It makes me realize that I don't spend enough time with my friends. Anyway, this trip we got to spend more time talking with Jesse and CJ...and we made new friends with Annie & Mike Smith (and their two daughters). Oh, and Denni got to talk more with Alejandro...and of course Gustavo & Karina.

But alas, even though 5 days is a long time, we had to leave too quickly. I would have loved to have even more conversations with more people!

The Visit

Gus with Karina & Gustavo Jasso

From January 4th through January 14th, our builder and architect team of Gustavo and Karina Jasso (and their two girls Thamara and Jessica) visited us here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

They spent their first two nights with Moira & Denni in San Francisco. Then Michael & Robert escorted them to M&R's Lake Tahoe cabin...where the Jasso's spent a week skiing (for the first time!). They returned to Berkeley just in time to join the party being held in their honor at Michael & Robert's home. Then, just as soon as they came, they had to go...

But a great time was had by all and it was great to show them our home in the US since we've spent so much time with them at their home in Troncones.