Sometimes in Mexico you never quite know how something is going to happen...

Three years ago, Ruth and I had hopped on some local transportation and done a day trip to a waterfall. We suggested the trip to the group, and 10 of us decided to go. But it's tough to use local transport for a group of ten, so we contacted the same minibus company that had taken us to the butterflies, and they sent a van to pick us up at 10:00am.

But before we left, we had some laundry to do...

What a great way to start off the new year!

From November through February there are near perfect daily conditions for paragliding here in Valle de Bravo. And with the fantastic views, this makes Valle de Bravo a world class paragliding location. Every single day at this time of year they are paragliding off the top of nearby Monte Alto.

 And every time we've been here we've thought about going paragliding.

Yesterday, we went to the central area and put down a deposit!

Into Valle de Bravo for lunch, and evening birthday cake!

Yesterday was a day off for the group. Ruth and I needed to go into town to buy a birthday present and do some research on another activity for the group. We made plans to go into town with Roy and Sue, and while we were standing out at the road waiting for a collectivo (shared taxi) Garth showed up and he came along with us.

Pretty tough to get all five of us into a single collectivo because they usually already have at least 1 person in them when they come along, so Ruth and Sue took off in one, and the three guys waited for another one with a plan to meet up downtown.

Our 5th visit to see the monarch butterflies wintering grounds

This is a bucket list item for many people, and we've now done it five times... and it never gets old.

We rented a 14 passenger van for the group. It cost 2,000 pesos ($103 USD, $140 CAD) for the van and driver for the day. So with 14 people, it was 150 pesos ($7.75 USD, $10.50 CAD) per person. Not a bad deal. When these people signed up to travel with Kevin and Ruth, they get to share our frugality!

Well that was a fun surprise!

We made a plan yesterday for the group to go to Velo de Novia (Bride's Veil) waterfalls in Avandaro on the opposite side of the lake.  I had been talking to our host Chago about arranging a minibus to get us there, when he made the suggestion to go by boat.

Ruth and I have been there a couple of times before, and we knew that you could access the trail from the lake shore to get to the falls... I thought the group would enjoy a boat ride over there!

It was a wonderful Christmas Day!

It started off with a bit of cloud in the sky for a change, but the lake was still calm, so I got the kayak all set up and we went for a paddle on the lake.

As a Canadian, some might say it's not Christmas Day without snow and cold... but we do not miss that at all. We think going for a kayak ride on the lake is a beautiful way to spend Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas from Valle de Bravo, Mexico!

We love spending Christmas in Mexico. The traditions are a little different, and it's fun to experience the season from a different perspective. Here in Mexico, Christmas Eve is the big celebration and Christmas Day is pretty much just another day. The kids don't open presents on Christmas morning... that is saved for Three Kings Day on January 6th.

Another gorgeous day enjoying the sunshine, blue sky, and fantastic scenery.

Another great day in Mexico

Valle de Bravo is a popular weekend destination for people from nearby Mexico City and Toluca. It's surrounded by mountains and it's located on the shore of Lake Avandaro. A really beautiful spot and one that we love to return to.

We are staying at a marina on the other side of the lake, near the town of San Gaspar, 5 kms (3 miles) drive from central Valle de Bravo.

Great drive, until the very last kilometer...

We did a 198 km (123 mile) drive yesterday from the Balneario Pueste del Sol to Club Nautico Los Olas del Valle near Valle de Bravo.

Ruth and I have done most of this drive in the past, so we knew that we had a lot of twisty windy mountain roads to do and that it would take some time. We left at 9:00am, stopped for lunch for an hour and a half, and arrived at about 3:30pm... so it was about 5 hours of driving to do 198 kms (123 miles)!

And it went problem free until the very last kilometer!

Learning the features on our new camera

We were given permission to stay at Balneario Puesta del Sol for one more night, so we decided to take a relax day. Nothing wrong with having a few relax days along the way!

Besides, I still had a bunch of little projects to do on Sherman. His heater fan had been acting up, sometimes not coming on at all until you give it a whack with your hand. I had taken it apart in Texas, and thought I had it fixed, but had bought a new one at the time just in case.

In the end, everything came together...

Yesterday was a driving day, however shortly into the drive, we learned that we weren't sure exactly where we were going to end up for the night.

I had made arrangements to stay at a water park parking lot, and I contacted them before leaving. I asked if they could make sure the gate is open for us when we arrived around 1:00pm.

Not a very restful day off...

Yesterday was a day off. But there was no resting to be done.

It started off on a high note though... I checked my bank account first thing, and the missing $625 from the ATM rip off the other day had been credited back to my account. Not feeling so ripped off anymore!

A few of us were going to the big La Comer grocery store and Wendy had volunteered the use of her Class B campervan provided that I did the driving. But she needed propane as well, and one of the other rigs uses 20 lb tanks and one of them was empty. So I took Paul with me in Wendy's van and we got her van and the 20 lb tank filled as well.

We love market day!

A tianguis is an open-air market that is traditionally held on certain market days in a town or city neighborhood in Mexico and Central America.

San Miguel de Allende has a huge tianguis market. It is held on Sundays and Tuesdays, however the Tuesday market is the larger event. So yesterday, our entire group headed to the market!

Nice day trip to Dolores Hidalgo, with a few glitches!

The city of Dolores Hidalgo (pop about 70,000) is where the Mexican Revolution began. The city was a small town known simply as Dolores when Father Miguel Hidalgo uttered his famous cry for the independence of Mexico in the early hours of September 16, 1810, in front of the parish church. After Mexico achieved independence, the town was renamed Dolores Hidalgo in his honor.

Today Dolores Hidalgo is known primarily for its ceramics industry, started by Father Hidalgo, which provides income to well over half the city's population. The inexpensive and mass-produced output of the town is marketed throughout the world.

Another great day in Mexico

Got the group together about 10:30am and called three more taxis to take us back to downtown San Miguel de Allende. If it were just Ruth and I, we would be taking the local bus. But, it's easier with the group to do taxis, and divided by four people in a cab it is relatively inexpensive.

One couple from our group is visiting a friend here, so Lynette and Paul haven't been around much. We'll probably see them again at happy hour today.