# Intro from a lurker



## cybermensch (May 24, 2010)

Hi all, 
I've been lurking on this forum for quite some time and thought I'd take the time to introduce myself. My husband and I live in Flagstaff, AZ. We live in a beautiful home that looks very rural but in reality is only a couple of miles to the mall. But we have to drive everywhere. When I was teaching on the Navajo reservation, this was a boon...a place to really chill out before going back into the fray. But now that I'm retired, it feels more like a prison. Added to that is that my travel compulsion (We've been all over the world) is severely limited now by our fixed income. My husband is an artist and a compulsive tinkerer and has projects up the yin yang. So he loves it here. But he has agreed to give living in Mexico a shot (a happy wife makes for a happy life). 
We've traveled all over Mexico and last year took a preliminary trip to check places out. In fact, we were all set to spend 6 months in Barra de Navidad (had a house rented and everything) when medical concerns forced us to cancel. We both speak reasonably good tourist Spanish and will certainly want to increase our language skills when we get there. Our current plans our to rent our house out for a year beginning next August and drive, with our pet family (2 dogs and 2 cats) to Patzcuaro. We will look for a place to rent there until December when we plan to rent out the Barra house through April. We believe that will give us the experience we need to choose mountains vs coast. (I hate hot humid weather; he loves the beach life; I crave the artistic, musical, cultural life available in Michoacan; he prefers a laid back atmosphere and space for walking the dogs off leash...) 
Any thoughts or suggestions you have for us will be greatly appreciated.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

:welcome:

The Patzcuaro area seems to me to offer what you're both looking for, minus the beach. The beach is reached easily enough for your husband's periodic one-week or short breaks away from Patzcuaro - to either the lightly-visited Michoacan coast or at Zihuatanejo.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

I live in Melaque nextdoor to Barra and Sep/Oct was the hottest part of the year. Dec thru April will be perfect but you shouldn't decide to live here full time based on that


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## cybermensch (May 24, 2010)

Well, sparks, I probably won't want to live there full time anyway. But I think my husband need to get the beach living thing out of his system. When he was a young man, he shared a house on the beach in Imperial Beach in Califrornia. It's that nostalgia that's prompting him. Also, we had found this great place to rent there when we visited. Thanks for your info on how hot it is in September/October.


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## cybermensch (May 24, 2010)

My thoughts exactly, Sparks. But I have to give my husband a chance to see what Barra is like. We fell in love with it last February.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Years in San Diego (Pacific Beach) and in Santa Cruz .... so yes that is probably why I prefer the beach over inland


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## ptrichmondmike (Aug 26, 2010)

Cybermensch, hope you enjoy Patzcuaro -- my destination, I hope, by the next Dia de los Muertos. I've also lived in the Southwest (Taos) and worked with Native American communities -- maybe we'll encounter one another and have a chance to talk shop!


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

ptrichmondmike said:


> Cybermensch, hope you enjoy Patzcuaro -- my destination, I hope, by the next Dia de los Muertos. I've also lived in the Southwest (Taos) and worked with Native American communities -- maybe we'll encounter one another and have a chance to talk shop!


That's pretty cool! I asked about Colima, based on its proximity to the beach, and Conklin recommended Patzcuaro. The more I read about it, the better I like it.

There are some great little casas to rent for a week or two, to see if it's as lovely as I thought it would be, too.


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## ptrichmondmike (Aug 26, 2010)

mickisue1 said:


> That's pretty cool! I asked about Colima, based on its proximity to the beach, and Conklin recommended Patzcuaro. The more I read about it, the better I like it.
> 
> There are some great little casas to rent for a week or two, to see if it's as lovely as I thought it would be, too.


Hey mickisue -- I hope we serendipitously show up in the same place, same time in Patzcuaro! I'll buy you a drink...of whatever you like! Horchata? Lol...


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## cybermensch (May 24, 2010)

ptrichmondmike:
We do have a lot in common. We lived in Oakland for 25 years before moving to Flagstaff. Hope we meet in Patzcuaro.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

ptrichmondmike said:


> Hey mickisue -- I hope we serendipitously show up in the same place, same time in Patzcuaro! I'll buy you a drink...of whatever you like! Horchata? Lol...


Horchata? Maybe a cerveza, instead.

We're thinking about going there for a week this summer, for our anniversary.


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## ptrichmondmike (Aug 26, 2010)

mickisue1 said:


> *Horchata? Maybe a cerveza, instead.*
> We're thinking about going there for a week this summer, for our anniversary.


I jest, I jest...


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Vampire Weekend: Horchata.


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## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

*Michoacan Coast is a lonely Paradise*

Hi cybermensch;

Tell your husband to forget about Barra de Navidad. He likes beaches then start thinking about Paradise Beaches along the Michoacan Coast. 

As stated in previous reply. Find some nice little beach pueblitos to go down from Patzcuro for 3 day long weekends every so often. Start with Puerto Azul and work your way up past Rio Netxpa and all the way to the Colima State line. From Colima, Colima you're at the beach in 30 miles. Find your own cove along that stretch of highway and see no one for a day! Your own beach.

Really.


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