January 26, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Australia Day

Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip. In contemporary Australia, celebrations reflect the diverse society and landscape of the nation, and are marked by community and family events, reflections on Australian history, official community awards, and citizenship ceremonies welcoming new immigrants into the Australian community.

This information came from Wikipedia. We are telling you about Australia Day, because Zeb and Eider Duck heard the humans talking and we are going to Australia later this year.

January 24, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Lunch on Mazatlan’s Stone Island with Zeb and Eider Duck

Zeb and Eider Duck are going to an island today. That means we will be on another boat. When we arrived at Stone Island, these pelicans were there to welcome us.

Welcome to Stone Island

We got off the boat and onto this wagon pulled by the big tractor.

Our ride from boat to the restaurant

Driving around the island, we arrived at our restaurant on the beach.

Beach front dining

We like Molokay Restaurant. We are ready to order our food.

Table with a view

Our table is really close to the beach! While we waited for our food there were many activities for us. First we rode horses with our humans.

This helped us with this horse. It is much bigger than ducks

That was the first horse ride for Zeb and Eider Duck. It was fun! We really like lounging on these chairs, enjoying the sun.

Lounging and enjoying the sun

We wanted to see everything, so we walked on the beach.

Zeb and Eider love the beach

Isn’t this beautiful? Riding the banana is a lot of fun, too.

Fun but water is chilly at first. Banana is pulled by a boat.

The humans could paddle this kayak.

Wow. A kayak!

Some of the humans drove these 4 wheelers on the beach.

Our humans did this before we ducks joined the family. Maybe next time?

So many choices for us. But, we liked the horses best. Of course, mom always finds a place to shop. She didn’t buy any silver today, but this man sold us this wooden sea turtle.

Mom liked this sea turtle and the man was very nice. Ducks liked him, too.

It is coming home with us. It is a great souvenir of this day. Our food came and the humans all were eating. The chicken looked and smelled good and everybody said it was very tasty. If anybody dropped any food, these dogs were ready to eat whatever they could find.

So cute and waiting for food.

I think many humans fed the dogs today, also. When you are in Mazatlan, you would enjoy a day on Stone Island. It was fun!

January 23, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Villas El Rancho in Mazatlan with Zeb and Eider Duck

Our second resort, Villas El Rancho,

Welcome to Villas El Rancho, Mazatlan, Mexico

was very close to Torres Mazatlan, our first resort. Villas El Rancho, or El Rancho, is much smaller. All the villas are two stories

Villas in El Rancho

and ours had two bedrooms, a kitchen, 2 baths, a large living room and lots of huge windows. Our villa was closest to the beach. The bar was small and close to us;

Restaurant is up the stairs behind the bar

same with the restaurant. From the bar, we can see the pool, surrounded by many tall palm trees.

Pool from the bar

Entering the resort, the winding path and lush vegetation enhanced the feeling of privacy.

Path near entrance of resort

Isn’t this wishing well great?

We are ready to make a wish

We think it is wonderful. We are heading for the hot tub now.

Let’s go to the hot tub

Definitely worth visiting. We love hot tubs.

Here we are by the hot tub

Leaving the hot tub we see the pool and the path to the bar,

Let’s go to the restaurant

and beach and the stairs to the restaurant. In the restaurant we sit at our favorite table, enjoying the ocean.

Sitting at our favorite table

You can see some of the repair work below.

Working to repair the damage from high waves

The high waves did a lot of damage, but it is being repaired, and there is no reason for not visiting Mazatlan. The repairs did not interfere with our vacation. We really liked Villas El Rancho in Mazatlan, and we think you would like it also. We love these flowers–and they are yellow, like us.

So pretty and a great color.

January 21, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Mazatlan’s Storm Damage is Being Repaired

Zeb and Eider Duck and their humans had a great time in Mazatlan. We were able to do everything we wanted to do. You may remember that a strong hurricane hit Los Cabos, Mexico in early September. Los Cabos and Mazatlan are really very close. The Gulf of California separates Los Cabos on the Baja Peninsula from Mazatlan on the mainland. For several weeks after the hurricane, Mazatlan was hit with extremely high waves. We want to show you some of the water damage we saw, a few months later. Our first resort, Torres Mazatlan, has a lot of beachfront property. There is a cement wall between the resort property and the waterfront.

Wall between beach and resort

The water did a lot of damage to parts of this wall. There had been many high walls of sand bags to protect things.

Sand bags to protect resort.

Some of these sand bags remain here. One of the days in our vacations we experienced high waves. Not doing damage, because the sand bags still offered some protection. Much of the damage at Torres Mazatlan had been repaired before our arrival. Our second condo was Villas El Rancho. This is a much smaller complex. The repairs were beginning while we were there. From our condo, the doors opened to a grassy area with lounge chairs over looking the beach. However, the water was so high, that the entire area was covered in water, and mostly washed away. This is how our patio area looked when we arrived.

Our patio, but repairs are being completed

However, the repairs were being made very quickly. We bet the repairs are all finished now. The resort sits above the beach, so this was the only area of severe water damage. The water had also damaged the stairs from the beach to our condo.

Stairs will be replaced

Several areas along the beach were being repaired.

Working on beach front property

We just want to show you that there was not much damage away from the beach. We love these palm trees with the bright red berries and no damage here.

We love the red berries on these palm trees

The restaurant at El Rancho is elevated overlooking the beach. The restaurant, Lupitas, was serving tasty food and the view was great.

From our restaurant during breakfast.

The repairs were progressing quickly, so we hope you will visit Mazatlan soon and enjoy the beaches and the friendly people. We are glad we were in Mazatlan.

January 19, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2015

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This American federal holiday, marking the birthday of the nonviolent civil rights leader, is observed on the third Monday of January. King’s actual birthday is January 15. King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. In 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law and it was first observed three yeas later. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000. We, the Colorado Traveling Ducks, like Dr. King’s emphasis on nonviolent activism.

We wish you all a very pleasant day today.

January 16, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Concordia, Mexico with Zeb and Eider Duck

Concordia, Mexico, founded January 20, 1565 was first named Villa de San Sebastian. Concordia is located in the Sierra Madre Mountains in the state of Sinaloa, in Mexico. Most of the people make a living by making and selling furniture and pottery. Last time, Zeb and Eider Duck, showed you a small pottery factory on the way into town. In the center of town, we found the cathedral.

San Sebastian church

This church is more than 350 years old. That makes this church, Concordia’s San Sebastian church, the oldest church in the state of Sinaloa. The church occupies one side of the main plaza of Concordia. We love the pretty white benches around the plaza.

Concordia’s main plaza

Zeb and Eider went inside, but mom did not let us sit on anything in the church. We did not want to offend anyone there. This church is often referred to as a stunning baroque landmark with ornate gold detailing.

Inside San Sebastian church

We really liked this church. It is so nicely decorated. We wanted to see the statues in the front more closely.

The higher statues

Aren’t they beautiful? This church is so pretty and we thought it was very peaceful, also.

We like San Sebastian church

The benches outside by the plaza are the perfect place to have a snack and chat with friends.

Relax with a friend

We hope you leave the beaches of Mazatlan for a while and visit Concordia. We like Concordia.

January 14, 2015 by coloradotravelingducks

Making Pottery near Concordia, Mexico with Zeb and Eider Duck

Today, Zeb and Eider Duck, are going to see a man make pottery. They make frogs here.

Pottery frogs for sale here

We like frogs. This man forms the clay by hand.

All by hand

He uses his foot to turn the bowl, but the work is done by hand.

Ready for the ovens

The bowl is formed and will soon be taken to these ovens in the back.

We walked to the ovens in the back

Wood goes in here to build a fire, which will bake the bowl and other items.

Put wood for fire in here

Even humans need a ladder to climb to the top to place wet, clay items in oven.

Ladder to get to top of oven and put clay inside

This man liked us so he carried us to the oven.

Ducks with man in oven

Hey, don’t leave us here in the oven. We like to see things here and the man does not forget us.

Are we supposed to be here mom?

He got us out of the oven and we are ready to get back on our van. But first, mom has to look at all the finished items.

So many things are made. So many things to buy.

This small pottery factory sells more than frogs. We liked seeing the pottery being made and the man was very nice to us. We hope you go near Concordia, Mexico to see him make pottery. Maybe you will buy something for a great remembrance of your trip, too.

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.

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