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| Celebrating a friend's birthday. |
Here we are into our third month of 2017 already and it’s been two
months since I’ve posted a blog! As usual, we’ve been incredibly busy with
various charity events and outings which means the time is going by so quickly.
The busy season should be starting to wind down now – or we hope it is.
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| Just like real Mexico! |
Much of our time has been taken up with various PuRR Project activities.I started taking tour groups to our PuRR Project Ranch every other week; some
really great people have been able to enjoy an hour plus of cuddling lots of
cats. There is a 45 minute ride out to the ranch so it gives me a chance to
find out about the people on the tour; to tell them about the non-profit and to
hopefully get them interested in adopting a cat or helping to find a forever
home. On our way back, we stop off in a small village at a taco stand where
everyone can have a real taco experience. One woman commented “I love this –
it’s like real Mexico”. It certainly is!
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| Dog recovery |
The first Sunday of February, and again yesterday, it was our regular
Spay and Neuter Clinic and we processed 72 animals in February and 71 yesterday.
In addition to the PuRR Project, much of my time is spent in trying to get the
clinics more organized and run more professionally as well as promoting them to
the locals. Steve has now been drafted onto the organizing committee as well.
One of the initial organizers felt we needed “a man” in the meetings to help
keep control. He’s a good addition because he’s very logical and forward
thinking.
A friend who organizes some of the PuRR events talked me into modeling
at the PuRR Fashion show. This was so much fun and I got to try on a lot of
clothes. One of the benefits that I took advantage of was a discount at the
stores that were featured. Plus, I took advantage of pampering treatments such
as nails, pedicure and having my hair done. Who wouldn’t say “yes” to all of
that?!?
Mid-February, two more friends were each organizing charity events so I
agreed to help with both. The first one was a day-long medical event with
speakers and a small exhibition. This event was the seventh and each year it
grows tremendously. We had well over 4,000 attendees this year. I was able to
help out by coordinating 30 volunteers on-site and making sure everyone was
where they were supposed to be. It was an incredibly successful day!
The next day was the Corazon de Nina annual Gala. For this event, I was
able to help my friend with the silent auction, and helping out at the event on
the evening. Steve was drafted in to help out that night too but he didn’t
mind.
We’ve both been battling colds and a bacterial infection. Steve came
down with his cold a couple of days before the grandsons arrived just after
Christmas. Not wanting to put a damper on their holiday, he kept going and
participated in everything apart from the snorkeling. After they left, he hit
the meds pretty hard but still had his cold for a couple of more weeks. I was
taking vitamin C while he was sick so I managed to avoid the cold until a week
after he was better when I stopped taking the “C”. Around the first of
February, I came down with a cold and it continued on through all of the crazy
charity event schedules and got a lot worse during our time in Mexico City. It could have been partly due to the high altitude.
The third week of February, Steve and I went to Mexico City for a few
days and then on to a butterfly reserve up in the mountains.ur time in Mexico
was spent visiting museums, churches and archeological sites. Our private tour
guide filled our heads with as much Mexican history names, dates and events as
she could fit into five days. We were able to climb one of the pyramids at
Teotihuacan – actually, Steve climbed two but the high altitude got to me so I
could only manage one. They are a very steep climb on little steps and quite
high.We also visited the Basilica – the new Basilica where supposedly the
original image of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Juan Diego’s tilma (like a cloak) is
housed. This has become one of Mexico’s most popular religious and cultural
symbols. The new Basilica was built because the original structure begun in
1695 was sinking. |
| New and old "sinking" bascilica |
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| Castle where Maximilian lived |
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| Horse back for part of mountain climb |
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| Millions of Monarchs! |
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| This one posed for us |
The Monarch butterfly reserve, El Rosario, is a 3 ½ hour drive out of
Mexico City and up in the mountains. We spent a very cold night in a lovely
hotel in Angangueo. It seems there is not heating in any of the hotels in
Mexico (or so we were told). But we had a lovely fire to warm our room before
going to a very cold bed. The following morning, we headed up the mountain,
first by car, then by horseback and finally a 1 mile trek to the reserve. The
trek to the reserve was all uphill but what I couldn’t understand is the trek
supposedly “down” all seemed to be uphill. Doesn’t seem logical! The Monarchs
usually stay anywhere from 9,000 to 11,000 ft. above sea level. It was
definitely worth the climb as there must have been millions of monarchs
covering the tall oyamel fig trees and just flying around.
Once we made it back down to a car, we headed for Toluca. We knew
nothing about it but it has an airport so it was going to be quicker to stay
the night there than go back to Mexico City. We were right in the center of
town and there was a beautiful Botanical Garden just a few blocks from the
hotel so on Sunday morning, we walked to the garden. The building was
originally a market but when the market disbanded, stained glass was put in and
the gardens were planted. It was a great end to a wonderful week!
This coming week, we are looking forward to our daughter’s visit. It
will be her third within a year and she’s getting more and more comfortable and
used to our area and way of life. She found a really cheap flight so it seems to
make more sense to fly down here and relax in the sun and have the beach than
pay for expensive accommodation and food in the US.
Not sure this will work but here's a video of the monarchs
