Gringo's Books & Coffee - 63732 Bucerías

Your hostesses, Patricia Mendez and Joann Quickstad, took the reins of management here at Casa Tranquila in October 2001. They moved to Bucerias from Puerto Vallarta where Terapéutica y Massage, their successful massage studio, was a well-known landmark in the Olas Altas neighborhood near Los Muertos Beach for 10 years. Now, with a history of service oriented careers…travel agent, waitress, home care, massage, nurse, and Moms, they bring years of experience in people care to make you feel comfortable and cared for during your stay in this little corner of paradise.

They arrived in Mexico in 1991, after driving for 6 weeks from Alaska in a '64 VW microbus. And it was worth every mile of it. Figuring that it would be the last time for Patricia and the first time for Joann to drive down the west coast, they stopped at every lighthouse on the Oregon coast and hugged every redwood in California. They came looking for a warm climate life in the small village of Paso Ancho on the edge of the jungle just outside of Puerto Vallarta.

Being avid gardeners, both the home they built in Paso Ancho and their new home at Casa Tranquila have provided the combined challenge and joy of learning tropical gardening. Now, instead of Alaska's Icelandic Poppies it's white ginger and bougainvillea, and they happily share cuttings and seeds and garden gossip with friends and neighbors.

As well as managing Casa Tranquila, they devote their spare energy to volunteer work in the community.. Patricia spent 16 years as coordinator of medical services for the International Friendship Club of Puerto Vallarta and in that job, coordinated the cleft palate surgery program.  You can see some of the results of time well spent by visiting www.ifcvallarta.comand learn more about this effective program.  Patricia is still active in the surgery program and is focusing on the bilateral cleft young adults who are beginning to take their place in society and who need maxillofacial surgeries and prosthetic teeth.  She is currently president of  CAFIN, Children and Families In Need, a 501 (c) 3 foundation in the United States for tax deductible donations to these programs.  For more information about how you can donate and make a difference in the lives of these young people, please visit www.CAFIN.org  

If you find something that tugs at your heart, Patricia and Joann can tell you how to get involved and make a difference.