Crazy Things Happen in Mexico

You'd think it all started with a plate of nachos in a tree house in Mexico, but really it started before that.  A few days prior we had boarded a cruise ship, leaving from Long Beach, CA, bound for Mexico.  We boarded around lunch time.  We're old cruise pros now, having been on a few in the past two years.  We know that on the first day of the cruise, if you head to the very back of the boat, you have total peace and quiet.  No one else has yet made it back that far.  Usually, we hit the hot tubs and have them all to ourselves, but not this year, as baby is in embryo and hot tubs and embryos aren't so hot together.

We grabbed some long chairs and spent the afternoon reading, working crossword puzzles, and wondering why an adjacent boat "The Queen Anne" was walled in.  That still remains a mystery.  In between all of that, we were discussing what we were going to do with our future.

We had involved Ryan's parents in the business with us as they needed a more stable financial footing.  Ryan's dad had lost his job a few years back and done different things, but the money wasn't as predictable or as substantial as they would have liked.  They were a huge help in getting the business going and more profitable, but they also put some strain on us, both financially and time wise.

We felt it time for a change, but what.  Ryan had thought of some other entrepreneurial endeavors, but had some hesitations and fears on those.  He had also contemplated going back to corporate America, but felt that would be both a step backwards in salary and responsibility. Ryan suffocates in corporate America though and I can't ever force him to go back to something that drains him that way.

We were hoping that tropical sunset off the boat might provide some inspiration.  No such luck.

So we decided to revisit it later.  The next morning arrived bright and early and we debarked to Catalina Island, famous for salad dressing and tandem bicycles.  We took option 2 as Ryan is a Ranch man.  We rented a tandem bike for all of $15 and proceeded to cruise around the island.  Along the way, we rode past a museum, a casino, an Amish ice cream store, and a really cool, former aviary that has been converted into an apartment complex. Although it's a little creepy I think to live in a former bird zoo.

After our epic bike expedition, which also included a jaunt up the hill, where Ryan's heart almost exploded, it was time for lunch.  A tandem bike and a steep hill burn a lot of calories.  So we found lunch in this cool diner, where the waitress had spent her entire life there, living in a 5 mile square radius and everyone, literally everyone, drives a golf cart.  Catalina Island speed of life = 7 1/2 miles per hour.

Then we set sail for Mexico.  The next day, we hooked up with the rest of the Five Star crew to go see "La Bufadora", which is Spanish for The Blowhole.  Although we had high hopes it was a beached whale, it was in fact, a naturally occurring water spout off some cliffs near a Mexican sea.  Think Old Faithful, but probably not that old and not real faithful, as the geyser explosions were small and random.  After all 5 minutes of fun were had, it was time for some new adventures.

La Bufadora, in action

Squinty shot in Ensenada Mexico

And so we wound up in a restaurant that looked like a tree house eating a gigantic plate of nachos.  And then our lives changed forever.

As we sat there making small talk with one of our fellow franchisees, Tom from Ohio, it turned out that he was looking to sell his business.  He was looking to pursue other opportunities and was looking to find another Five Star franchisee that might be willing to take over his territories in Ohio.

These were the life changing nachos that would set us on the path to Ohio

The more he talked, the more compelling it became.  This might be the answer we were looking for.  Ryan's parents could continue running the business in Virginia, and we could move to Ohio and run Five Star there, which we know can provide for us.

So we talked with the Five Star corporate leadership, started working out details, and then two weeks later were in Ohio for a 3 day visit.  We found ourselves a cute little townhouse, and set a move out date a few weeks later.

The adventures continue.