According to Quicken, I last set foot in a large store like Costco only three weeks ago.
If you had watched me yesterday morning, you would have thought that I had just got off of the boat from Kyrgyzstan.
For the past week or so, I have been corresponding with the author of New Beginnings in Manzanillo. She was arranging a backup veterinarian for me if I could not get a cortisone shot for Jiggs.
With that project out of the way, we decided to meet in Manzanillo. Neither Darrel nor I had seen the town. I needed some office supplies, and I knew they would be available there. I also wanted to see where the grocery stores were located.
The drive down was uneventful. But when we pulled into town, we knew we were not in our little fishing village any more.
We both felt like the small-town boys that we are. Manzanillo has a population of only about 110,000 -- smaller than Salem. But after the three weeks of living in Melaque with its 10,000, we felt as if we were driving down Fifth Avenue in the Big Manza.
We joined up with New Beginnings, who was kind enough to guide us through this Veritable Oz. I will not bore you with the stores we walked through. But I now know where I can get some specialty items -- when I need them.
Of course, it means planning for those needs. Manzanillo is close by -- but it is still a two-hour round trip to buy hoisin sauce.
But the best part of this trip was getting to know New Beginnings. I have followed her blog before she made the move from Canada.
We had lunch on the beach, and talked about most of the topics any blogger would discuss, including her love for her two dogs.
But we talked most about learning Spanish. She took the home immersion course in La Manzanilla that has interested me.
Listening to her speak Spanish was incentive enough for me to look into that course.
But no "Steve drives in a new place" post would be complete without a near disaster -- in this case, two near disasters.
The first occurred after we stopped at a food specialty store. When I pulled onto the main boulevard, I failed to turn into the correct portion of the divided highway.
The next thing we all knew, we were faced with a wall of traffic heading our way. Any decent cartoon would have included three sets of distended eyeballs accompanied by an oogah horn. A quick exit over the median saved us from being another "tourists in Mexico" statistic.
We were all just recovering from that incident when New Beginnings pointed out a building I had asked about. I should have seen it coming. But I nearly went through a red light while gawking.
All in all, a great day. If any of us need a good role model for fitting into Mexico, New Beginnings will fit the bill.
It may be some time before I see a Costco again. But I can be patient if it means avoiding another accident on the road to adventure.
If you had watched me yesterday morning, you would have thought that I had just got off of the boat from Kyrgyzstan.
For the past week or so, I have been corresponding with the author of New Beginnings in Manzanillo. She was arranging a backup veterinarian for me if I could not get a cortisone shot for Jiggs.
With that project out of the way, we decided to meet in Manzanillo. Neither Darrel nor I had seen the town. I needed some office supplies, and I knew they would be available there. I also wanted to see where the grocery stores were located.
The drive down was uneventful. But when we pulled into town, we knew we were not in our little fishing village any more.
We both felt like the small-town boys that we are. Manzanillo has a population of only about 110,000 -- smaller than Salem. But after the three weeks of living in Melaque with its 10,000, we felt as if we were driving down Fifth Avenue in the Big Manza.
We joined up with New Beginnings, who was kind enough to guide us through this Veritable Oz. I will not bore you with the stores we walked through. But I now know where I can get some specialty items -- when I need them.
Of course, it means planning for those needs. Manzanillo is close by -- but it is still a two-hour round trip to buy hoisin sauce.
But the best part of this trip was getting to know New Beginnings. I have followed her blog before she made the move from Canada.
We had lunch on the beach, and talked about most of the topics any blogger would discuss, including her love for her two dogs.
But we talked most about learning Spanish. She took the home immersion course in La Manzanilla that has interested me.
Listening to her speak Spanish was incentive enough for me to look into that course.
But no "Steve drives in a new place" post would be complete without a near disaster -- in this case, two near disasters.
The first occurred after we stopped at a food specialty store. When I pulled onto the main boulevard, I failed to turn into the correct portion of the divided highway.
The next thing we all knew, we were faced with a wall of traffic heading our way. Any decent cartoon would have included three sets of distended eyeballs accompanied by an oogah horn. A quick exit over the median saved us from being another "tourists in Mexico" statistic.
We were all just recovering from that incident when New Beginnings pointed out a building I had asked about. I should have seen it coming. But I nearly went through a red light while gawking.
All in all, a great day. If any of us need a good role model for fitting into Mexico, New Beginnings will fit the bill.
It may be some time before I see a Costco again. But I can be patient if it means avoiding another accident on the road to adventure.
