January 13, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

National Rubber Ducky Day

Today, January 13 is National Rubber Ducky Day! This is the day we honor JB Duck, Soapy Smith Duck, Zeb Duck and cousin Eider Duck. We also embrace all our little duck cousins.

In 1970, Jim Henson performed the song “Rubber Duckie” as Ernie on Sesame Street, and the rubber duck bath toy has been an iconic American symbol ever since. Rubber ducks have been around since the rise of the rubber industry in the late 1800s, but no one knows their exact origin.

Did you know that in January of 1992, a shipment of 29,000 rubber duckies fell off a cargo ship in the Pacific Ocean? By 2007, the “Friendly Floatees” had traveled 17,000 miles around the world on the ocean currents. Some are still afloat today! Over the years, people reported sightings in Indonesia, Australia, South America, the Bering Straight, the Arctic and (eventually) the Atlantic Ocean.

Happy Rubber Ducky Day!

Thanks to http://www.punchbowl.com for this information

January 12, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Caring for Coconut Palm Trees at Torres Mazatlan

Coconut palm trees are really tall. We love to see the trees with coconuts growing, but what would happen if it got windy and the coconuts started to fall? Ouch! This tree has a lot of heavy coconuts.

Lots of coconuts on this tree

One day Zeb and Eider Duck saw men trimming the coconut trees. They cut down coconuts and many palm fronds. We first watched them use a ladder to climb part way up the tree.

Using a ladder to begin climbing

When they reached the top of the ladder, they climbed higher in the tree. This man got to the top of the ladder and climbed even higher. You can see that the ladder is still there. The other men on the ground have not moved it away yet.

And still climbing higher

Now he is cutting, both palm fronds and coconuts.

Much cutting

This man just cut a bunch of coconuts off the tree. You can see one of the bunches of coconuts falling to the ground.

See the bunch of falling coconuts?

When he has cut as much as necessary, he starts to climb down the tree.

Starting down

As you can see, he really does not climb down, he repels down the tree trunk.

Repelling down the tree

There were three men climbing and trimming the trees. Several more stayed on the ground removing the fallen coconuts and palm fronds. This is another man repelling down the trunk to the ground.

More than one tree trimmer

Torres Mazatlan has many palm trees, but this is the area they were trimming while we watched.

Trimming trees in this area today

We loved watching, but we ducks do not want to go to the top of these coconut palm trees. We like staying on the ground while they climb and trim.

January 10, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Torres Mazatlan Resort in Mazatlan, Mexico

Zeb and Eider Duck are in Mazatlan, Mexico. We are staying at Torres Mazatlan Resort. We already showed you the Christmas decorations, but today we want you to see more of the resort. When we looked around our condo, these towels made us smile.

Our towels are just adorable.

We took them to the table on our patio so you could see them. When we wanted a meal, this is the restaurant.

What a restaurant. Pool on one side and ocean on the other side.

Everything we ate there was really good. Wandering around the grounds we saw the shuffleboard courts.

Zeb and Eider on the shuffleboard court

Someday we might try this. But, it is rather big for little ducks. Perhaps practice scoring soccer goals here?

Soccer practice anyone?

We would have fun. Further explorations took us to the tennis courts.

Tennis courts are big

This looks like it would be fun, but little ducks don’t think we could hit the ball over the net. Now this we could do. These grills are for any of the guests at Torres Mazatlan to use.

Our humans grill food outside when we are home. Yum!

However, mom does not cook on vacation. Wow! Look at this waterfall by the swimming pool.

Waterfall at pool. Iguana lifeguard on duty.

We even have an iguana as a lifeguard now. He moves around when he wants, but we see him here often when it is sunny. Humans seem to really like this place.

Let’s go inside.

Let’s see what the massage area looks like. We are on the table, ready for a duck massage.

Ducks are ready.

On tropical vacations, this is one of our favorite places to be. We love swimming pools and lounging in the sun.

Tropical vacations are so much fun for us.

Mom, we need a cool drink. We see the waterfall, the slide and the iguana lifeguard.

We still love this. Can we go?

We really want to go down this slide. We really are going down the slide and into the pool.

We love this!

That was great! If you come here, try the slide. You will love it.

January 9, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Making Tiles in Malpica, Mexico

We recently showed you the great bakery in Malpica, Mexico. There is also a fantastic silver store there. But today, we will show you how to make tiles.

So many tiles

Behind the silver store, this gentleman makes beautiful tiles. He is ready to begin. He started with this powder.

From this pile of powder to a beautiful tile

The mixture goes into a form.

Mixed and spread in this form

Then color is added.

Adding the blue color

Today it is blue. Now the tile goes to the next form. He swirls and makes a design with a pencil.

Using a pencil to swirl and make the design

He is finished with the tile.

That is amazing!

This looks great! All that is needed now is for the tile to bake and dry.

Zeb and Eider like these tiles

These tiles are all the same shape.

A perfect fit every time

Thanks to the molds and forms. The individual tiles fit together perfectly. Our tour guide buys a few tiles each time he comes here. He says his backyard patio is almost all tiled now, and he says it looks fabulous. This gentleman makes tiles of various colors and designs.

So many choices

We really liked these tiles, but the humans said they were not carrying tiles home. So, we admired them and took photos to remember the tiles and this man. It is now time to return to our van and leave the cobblestone streets of Malpica.

Leaving Malpica

We really enjoyed our time here and everybody was so friendly and nice to us. When you visit Mazatlan, we hope you take a side trip to Malpica. Have a fresh roll from the bakery, get a tile and think of us, the Colorado Traveling Ducks.

January 7, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Bakery in Malpica, Mexico

One day, Eider and Zeb Duck left Mazatlan and the beaches to go to Malpica.

We are in Malpica, Mexico

Malpica is a small town, heading toward the mountains. We stopped at this panaderia.

Let’s go into this bakery

A panaderia is a bakery. Boy did it smell good in here!

The bread is baked in this oven.

We can see the fire in this oven

Here is a pan of rolls almost ready to come out.

Almost ready

Look at these fresh rolls.

Fresh, warm and ready for us

Some have filling; some have sugar on top. There were so many choices. This lady bakes some of the bread.

She likes Zeb and Eider Duck

She liked us and we liked her. She sold a roll with pineapple filling to Eider’s dad and Zeb’s mom got one called concha, or shell. It had sugar on top. They were both delicious. This bakery could be our favorite place. As we left the bakery, mom spotted this jewelry store.

Mexican silver is so pretty

Guess the bakery is one of our favorites. This jewelry store is another favorite. We liked Malpica. But there is more in town. Next time we will show you more of Malpica, Mexico.

January 5, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Cruising near Mazatlan’s Lighthouse with Zeb and Eider Duck

We, Zeb and Eider Duck, are going on a boat. We took a bus from our resort to near Mazatlan’s lighthouse and now we are cruising in the bay.

We love boat rides

Isn’t this pretty? We love boats. This is Mazatlan’s famous lighthouse.

El Faro, or the Lighthouse

This is the highest natural lighthouse in the world. It is 157 meters, or 523 feet above high tide. In 1933 this lighthouse was converted to electricity and now uses a 1,000 watt bulb. That is equivalent to 600,000 candles. Our guide told us that pirates previously used these caves under the lighthouse.

Former pirate caves under the lighthouse

No pirates here now, though. You can see that we are cruising near the city of Mazatlan.

Close to Mazatlan

This is the first sea lion to arrive this year.

More sea lions will arrive soon. He looks a little scared of us

We were told that many sea lions spend the winter here in Mazatlan. We are approaching these white islands.

Bright white, because???

Many birds spend either the winter, or live here all year. So many birds that our guide told us the rocks are not really white; they are covered with bird poop. Here are some of the birds watching us arrive.

We are being watched

Our guide told us these are brown boobies.

Brown Boobies at the top the rock

This one is our favorite.

Our new friend

We, Zeb and Eider Duck, liked our boat ride. When you are Mazatlan, you would enjoy a boat ride also. It was great, but now we must get off the boat.

This was fun. Hope you go on a boat soon

January 3, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Old Mazatlan with Zeb and Eider Duck

Zeb and Eider Duck visited the market, or Mercado, in Mazatlan. Then we walked to the main plaza, or zocalo. We admired the fruit available from this vender.

These look so good. We love the little oranges

Here is another vender with even more choices for shoppers.

Colors are so bright

The policeman was directing traffic in this congested area.

Directing traffic in Old Mazatlan

Mom told us that most old Mexican cities have a main plaza, called the zocalo and the main cathedral faces this plaza. Mazatlan’s cathedral is old and beautiful.

Main Cathedral in Mazatlan

Inside people were working, preparing for a ceremony almost ready to begin.

Ornate altar. Flowers arriving now.

We are not sure if it was a wedding, but the flowers were being delivered and we saw a young girl in a beautiful long white dress. She may have been the flower girl?

Across from the cathedral, in the park, the gazebo is very pretty.

We sat in this gazebo for a few minutes. Love it!

Near the gazebo, the monument to military heroes stands.

Brigada Sinaloa. Celebrated 100 years.

Since it was near Christmas, Santa’s temporary home was on the edge of the park.

Santa’s temporary home

He was not home when we were there. Probably supervising the elves. We really liked this Nativity scene.

In Mazatlan’s main plaza

Santa Claus and presents are fun, but we all remember the real reason for Christmas. When you are in a Mexican town, visit the main plaza, or zocalo. It is a peaceful and pretty part of any town or Mexican experience.

January 2, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Mazatlan’s Market with Zeb and Eider Duck

I, Zeb the Duck, and my Alaska cousin, Eider Duck, went to the market in Mazatlan, Mexico. This is not like going to the mall at home. The market is exciting! They sell so much stuff here. This man is selling meat.

Fresh meat here

We have a kitchen in our condo, but the humans do not want to cook on vacation, so we did not buy anything from him. Here is more meat.

This will be cut into smaller pieces

Another man cuts this into smaller portions.

Moving away from the fresh meat, we admired these hats.

Colorful, but too big for ducks

This cabinet has so many ceramic skulls and masks.

Skulls of many sizes

Mom bought a small skull. We don’t know why, but she liked it. There are so many booths selling souvenirs of Mexico.

So many choices

These are so colorful.

Can we take it all home???

Look at all these shells.

Shells for all occasions

Other booths sold clothing and leather. This market, or Mercado, has everything. The lunch counter looked inviting, but we did not eat here.

Mom loves lunch counters and food from street venders.

Maybe next time. This man is entertaining people while they shop and eat.

We like him

He is working for tips only. Piñatas are at many Mexican parties. This one is a typical shape.

Big and colorful

At parties, or fiestas, the piñata is filled with candy. The young humans take turns trying to break the piñata and then everybody dives for the candy. It looks like a lot of fun for humans. These are special piñatas for Christmas.

Piñatas for Christmas.

Aren’t they fun? This is a sample of what you might see walking around the Mercado in Mazatlan.

Visit a market soon.

This place is wonderful. We hope you visit a Mexican market soon. You will have a great experience. We did.

January 1, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Happy New Year 2015

We wish you a wonderful 2015

The Colorado Traveling Ducks and their humans with you a very Happy New Year. May 2015 meet and exceed your dreams and expectations.

	Carl on Tabernash, Colorado with The C…
	Cindy B on Tree Rock in Wyoming
	coloradotravelingduc… on Cathedral of the Plains in Vic…
	Dwan Newhall on Cathedral of the Plains in Vic…
	beautifulbarbadosblo… on Return to Calhan and the Paint…