Opry

When in Nashville one of the "must do" places to see is the Grand Ole Opry. It was so much fun!  We had great seats just four rows back.

Some of the performers I didn't know and some were vey familiar. Names like Marty Stuart, Vince Gill, and John Oates were some that I knew.  Glen Campbell's daughter made her Grand Ole Opry debut and was very impressive.

Highly recommended!

First Game

I have always wanted to go to an American College football game and in Nashville I got my chance. Vanderbilt vs Texas A & M.

One of the things I was most interested in was the tailgate parties that are prevalent throughout US football stadiums. This tailgate party was a little disappointing as they didn't have it in a parking lot, but rather in a blocked off street. Regardless, it was fun....Texas A & M fans throw a far better party than their Vanderbilt counterparts.

Texas gave away free t shirts, crying towels, beer and hot dogs. They had a fire pit going trying to keep people warm on this cold day.

About five minutes into the game I braved the cold wind and stated to walk to my seat, took a look at one field goal and walked to the Marriot Hotel next door and watched the game in the comfort of a lounge with a nice, big glass of wine. I never did sit down in my $100 USD seat!

I had gone to game with Mo's brother and his wife....we had agreed to meet in front of the Marriot when we were ready to head back to downtown. As I was leaving the lounge to go meet them, I found them just leaving the lounge. They, too, had been cold and watched the game in comfort. It was a rather large lounge!

Don't let the small crowds fool you...the stadium filled up. The empty seats were in the warm up.

A Little Bit of Everything

Cowboy boots were on the agenda today and we spent the better part of two hours checking them over and eventually buying our fair share.

Buy one pair and get two pair free....who could refuse that offer?  By the looks of the stack at the end of the session, not many could.

We did a lot of walking and lots of eating, but fried bologna sandwiches just does not appeal to me! 

We spent quite a bit of time in the Country Music Hall of Fame and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The walk to and from the hotel crosses a walking bridge built in the early 1900s. It connects the downtown to the Titan's football stadium and our hotel is across the street from the stadium.

We have yet to try out the Pedal Tavern, but I'm sure someone will suggest it soon.

Obviously we weren't in Memphis....even so we found our Elvis!

Resting Up

I love how Fred helps me get the house ready for our trip to Tucson....he stays out of my way!

Market Day

The Sunday market has a little bit of everything, from meals to groceries, bikes to tools and clothes to furniture!

There wasn't much that we needed, but we did manage to buy some candied almonds and pecans.

My favourite source of gummies!

As usual we ended the day by buying some shrimp on the way home. We were able to get 1 kilo of grande shrimp for 160 pesos [13.00 Cdn]. Usually when I ask them to clean the shrimp they do a great job...today all they did was yank the heads off so I had to spend quite a bit of time getting rid of all the stuff you don't want to eat!

Changing

We have needed to replace our two patio doors for years now, but have always found excuses not to do it....too expensive, too busy!

Last week, on a whim, we drove to see Sergio about replacing them before we head south. He gave us a pretty good price and here he is today.

Our old ones would hardly slide anymore and these move with the flick of a finger...so nice. In fact, they are so nice that today we booked him to replace all the windows in the house. Not the massive hallway one, but all the rest. We go from one extreme to another...all within the span of a week.

These are the old doors leading to the bedroom and the kitchen

Sergio getting the door frame ready for the new insertions.

The new doors don't look much different, but they work! Someone can't stand dirty windows.

On the Course

Today was a golfing day, even though rumours have been swirling around about the poor condition of the course. It wasn't in great shape, but we suffered through it...so did the horses who have been let loose to feed on the overgrown fairways.

Tradition has it that everyone has to stop for a refreshment after the round, whether it be iced tea or a cerveza and today didn't disappoint! 

Kia enjoyed the round as much as the rest of us, but she wasn't thrilled with the long wait afterward.

Visiting With Friends

Debbie Stevens and her partner, Gord, have chosen to spend the winter in Mexico. They arrived in San Carlos on Friday....we caught up with them at La Trattoria. We had a good visit and some fun introducing them to traditions of San Carlos.

They plan on spending a month here and then are moving farther south. By coincidence, they chose Lo de Marcos and are booked at the same RV park that we stay in. Small world.

Yesterday we introduced them to JJ and his quirky ways and today we are taking them to the Soggy Peso. A group of us are heading out there so it will give them a chance to meet many people from this area.

Another Session

Today was spent making 12 kilos of candied, pickled peppers...oh, so good! But so very hot! We didn't remove the seeds so this batch is hotter than heck.

As you can see, the guys were working very hard on this project...their vocal input was so valuable.

While we were relaxing with a cooling beer after, a small hummingbird hit the window and it took a while before it could recover. Such interesting birds.

Just in Time

We had one of the easiest border crossings we have ever had and were at our house in San Carlos by 12:00.

We had a pleasant surprise in store for us as Chuyita and her son worked for two days getting the house ready for us. They had washed all the dishes, cupboards, windows etc. They had also taken the time to move our outside furniture back outside. That was a godsend as it takes us hours to do that ugly task.

Chuyita is the Mexican woman we hire year round to take care of our house..she comes every two weeks while we are gone and every three weeks when we are around. She is fantastic.

All we had to do was unload the car and change our bedding. That gave us plenty of time to go to the clubhouse for Hallowe'en Mexico style. Each resident contributes candy to the community basket and it is given out to the guard's children and friends.

A BBQ followed but we instead went to our favourite Italian Restaurant...maybe too many fatty foods on the way down?

Zena blew a shoe and was not a happy camper!

Visiting in Vegas

The people you meet in Las Vegas! Bruce, Diane, Fred and I at lunch on Wednesday....Fred's cousins through the Humeny side of the family.

We had a very enjoyable afternoon with Diane...we were able to see the house she is staying at right now while dog sitting, plus we made a detour to her house to borrow her freezer for our scallops and salmon. Both houses are in very nice areas and are all 55 plus homes. No kids in sight!

We are on a mission today to do some grocery shopping and maybe get a little car work done. There is a rattle by the wheel well that is driving me crazy so Toyota Express here we come.

We will get another short visit with Diane on Friday morning when we pick up our food and then we are off to Nogales.

Debbie and Gord had some RV problems so we won't be driving with them to San Carlos. They will follow in four or five days.