Steam powered bike or mobile barbecue?

Either way this vendors apparatus sighted in Oaxaca needs to find its way back to Bridgewater asap!

It reminds me of something from junkyard wars, or Wally Franklin's lab at Kings Point.

Big Honkin Tree

On the way back to Lagunas from Oaxaca we stopped at a giant tree outside a church called Tule. It's over 2000 years old with a circumference of about 55 meters.

Flopsey got to climb the less impressive specimen next door.

Flopsey at the ruins

Flopsey the Bunny enjoyed learning about ancient meso-american cultures over the past few days. We toured several ancient ruins,  it was quite fascinating. Flopsey thinks it was all built by space aliens.

Chucky?

Chucky was located at some ancient aztec ruins we visited today. Apparently they had as poor taste in cinema as modern day americans do.

Chicken Parm?

After days and days of eating wonderful mexican food, I decided for a change of pace at dinner last night. I opted for my trusty standby. It was an interesting interpretation, definitely not as heavy as what we get in the US.

Bed and Breakfast

We stayed at a nice bed and breakfast in Oaxaca City.

La Encantadora

The owners were a very nice couple that made us feel very welcome.

Flopsey enjoyed the fountain in the yard.

As for the dogs I mentioned in one of my earlier posts...when the tiny cab you are in can't make it across the road to get to the place you are staying, find an alternate route. Under no circumstances should you get out of the cab and walk the rest of the way. The dogs are much more menacing at night.

Fish Heads

We stopped at a restaurant on the way to Oaxaca City where you can pick your live fish and they will cook it for you. We tried four different styles of Trucha and all agreed the mexicana style was best. It was cooked with peppers and tomatoes and some kind of cream/mayo sauce. Flopsey did not care for the fact that they came to the table with the heads still on, but he enjoyed the scenic view.

Spelunker

Flopsey joined us for an exploration of a deep dark cave in Chiopas

Plaza Magnolia

We are staying over night in San Cristobal at the plaza magnolia hotel.

Here is pictures of the room key and door.

God Bunny

Flopsey was asked to be Patrick's godbunny. We all had a nice time at the party.

Santo Domingo

Flopsey climbed to the top of the bell tower at Santo Domingo church. It cost a dollar each to go up there, we snuck him up in alisons purse.

I'm On A Boat

Flopsey took a boat ride through canon del sumidero.

Armadillo

After the party we had the after party. Which as per our usual style involved a trip around town searching for more cerveza. We found some and were then treated with some armadillo meat, which was pretty good actually.

Notes from the road...

I can't stress this enough to future generations...pay attention in high school spanish class...you never know when you are going wind up at a baptism in the middle of mexico with no idea what the heck is going on. Senora Hausman where ever you are i'm sorry for not paying attention!

The one thing I was able to follow pretty well was Mass yesterday. I guess that's one of the beauties of the Catholic Mass. It's the same everywhere. The homily was another story...no idea what was going on there, refer back to my above statement on high school spanish class.

I used to complain about the water pressure at my apartment in dunellen. I will never do so again.

There are posted speed limits in mexico...they are meaningless. There seems to be no such thing as a stop sign, and there are speed bumps every where.

There are stray dogs and packs of stray dogs. They seem harmless. In the US people would be freaking out about that in a major way.

Tequila in Mexico is very much different than the rot gut we are served in the United States. They should sell Jose Cuervo at home depot for use as parts cleaner or something. That's about all it's suitable for.

Flopsey's Got A Brand New Bag

Settled In

We're settled in in Mexico, staying with Lupita's family for a few days.

Flopsey is enjoying the trip.

We had a nice breakfast and went for a tour of the cement factory that is the big industry here in Lagunas.

We're headed over to set up for the baptism party in a few minutes, and then the ladies have to go to a baby shower. There is a store called Modellorama in town so I think Tim and I will find something to do.

We might have to quit our jobs and open up a food truck selling the local Oaxaca delicacy tlayuda's. They don't have them in the US and they probably should.

Road Soda!

Houston

Flopsey the Bunny waiting at terminal b at the airport on the planet Houston

Flopsey the Bunny

Jackie's friend Flopsey the Bunny has stowed away on the trip to Mexico. After being frisked by the TSA she is all checked in on the plane to Houston. The plane smells like a porto john. Flopsey is greatful for the Dunkin Donuts coffee that is masking the smell.

Mexico

In a few short hours, we're on our way to Mexico for a nice vacation with good friends.

We wonder if we'll have a new niece or nephew by the time we get back... if not he/she will be here pretty soon after our return.

We also hope that Jackie will remember us...

Inspection Odyssey

Alison took the Explorer to get inspected the other day. The NJ Motor Vehicle Commission has set up a web cam that is updated periodically. Alison gave me a call and I was able to capture her journey with Jackie through the inspection line.

This may have been the most exciting moment of the last several months... i can't wait til next year, when i can make a similar post featuring the Impala.

Reminds me of a song from one of our favorite bands.

Corporate Fat Camp

In many regards, I've been very successful in my early career, and in life in general. I went to a great school, made great friends, found a great job, a great woman to settle down with, and now we have a great kid, a house that needs some work, and a crazy dog. Life is good.

In other respects, I haven't been as successful. I was a fat kid in High School, I managed to lose enough weight to get into the academy, I struggled physically for a while, as a plebe, since I wasn't really prepared for the rigors of the twice daily PT, Tattoo, the push-ups, flutter kicks, and other punishment exercise for stepping out of line, or failing to achieve some regimental development milestone. Thank goodness I could at least run, I can never repay my brother for making sure I could run... if I had been one of the guys that dropped out of every run, I never would have made it. During my sophomore year, I really kicked it into gear, dropped the rest of the extra weight I was carrying around, and started running great distances all over Great Neck, NY and other places. I kept in shape while during my sea duty, and graduated fit as a fiddle.

Well... the last 10 years, have been another story, living on my own with a never ending supply of beer, junk food, cable television, baseball games, xbox, sitting behind a desk all day at the office... things have slipped a bit. When I say a bit, I'm being charitable to myself, I have really let myself go. I've flirted a few times with getting back in shape, tried some of the fad diets, they worked to some extent, but once I got off them, everything came creeping back, and always even worse. I tried to lose some weight for the wedding, and failed, I tried to lose some weight before the baby and failed.

Now, almost certainly as result of the drastic increases in insurance premiums cause by recent healthcare reform, our company is requiring participation in a wellness program to get people to quit smoking, drop some weight etc. I had to go do a biometric screening the other day, Alison came with me, since the last few times I have had blood drawn it has not gone well... I knew my weight was a disaster... but let me say something about pant sizes. What a false sense of security these manufacturers give you with their "Vanity Sizing"... I was shocked at some of my measurements, that's all I'm going to say about that.

So we've hit the high water mark! It's been a lot of hard work to get this out of shape, and it's going to take a lot of even harder work to undo it. I'm enrolled in this "naturally slim" program, which I'm not certain will be helpful, but we'll see. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately we're on our way to Mexico in about a week, so I'm going to have to moderate things a bit on our vacation. That's fine... at least we are not going on a cruise.

Here is a photo of my corporate fat camp identification bracelet.

So wish me luck !

Still Here...

We're still here in Trynosky land, despite the lack of posting. It's been a busy couple of weeks, with company the first weekend of the month, a whirlwind trip to DC for a baby shower for Stephen and Jill, last minute planning for our Mexican Odyssey, car inspections, some biometric screening for my corporate fat camp, and sorts of other things. To top it all off, I finally got my NJ PE activated, so we were pretty happy about that. Now I need to fast track, NY, CO, DC and possibly a Maine License...

I'll have some new stuff in the next few days.