January 20 to 26, 2013

 

Sunday ; Well, I just finished setting up the new computer to function as our phone, using Skype and VoIP. Joanne has just completed the first phone call with the new computer, having a chat with her sister in Winnipeg. Where it’s 40 below and snowing every day ! HA HA HA ! Uh-oh … did I just laugh out loud at that ?

Today we played on the beach. We went for long beach walks. Joanne did laundry. I climbed up on the trailer roof, removed and cleaned the kitchen vent’s MaxxAir cover, disassembled and cleaned the Fantastic Fan from above, then reassembled and reinstalled everything. Up and down, on and off the roof, must have been at least a dozen times ! I discovered evidence of a small leak of freshwater in the pass through storage compartment. I’ll have to find and repair the plumbing leak very soon ! Wi-Fi was working well here today so I got completely caught up on online work, including posting last week’s blog entry already. I was disappointed that I did not get any further response from the individual who inquired yesterday about our RV lot for sale in BC.

With much anticipation, for supper we made Smoked Marlin Eggs Benedict. It didn’t work ! Smoked marlin and Hollandaise sauce don’t work well together. Or … maybe we just don’t like marlin ?

Monday ; Today was a beautiful, sunny, hot day. Unfortunately I spent much of it trying to solve a plumbing problem.

I slept late. The sun made the bedroom so warm I didn’t want to get up. After I finally got my day started we had a great beach play session and long beach walk.

This afternoon I went in search of the plumbing leak. I found it easily enough. BUT … < huge sigh > … as soon as I started to work on it, a plastic connection fitting fractured. UH-OH ! Fourteen years of aging, one too many hot dessert days, one too many Mexican topés … CRACK !    DAMN !

I spent most of the afternoon making a temporary repair. Plan A didn’t work. Plan B didn’t work. Plan C didn’t work. I lost track of how many different ways I tried to fix it, and I knew that every different approach would be only a temporary repair. At one point I sent Joanne to canvas all the neighbours, looking for some hardware I needed. At another point I went myself to canvas all the neighbours, again looking for a particular piece of hardware. Eventually I managed to achieve a temporary repair that at least allows us to use the freshwater tank and pump, although not remain hooked up to the RV site’s “city water” supply. I’ll be heading into Teacapan tomorrow morning to shop for hardware. And if I can’t find what I need in Teacapan, then I guess I’ll have to head into Escuinapa. I feel an urgent obligation to at least return to the neighbours the hardware items
I borrowed. Joanne and I are both grateful and relieved that my problem solving skills at least got our “travel mode” freshwater system functional. There were many points this afternoon where it seemed as if the only solution today might be to run a garden hose through a window into the trailer to at least provide water for flushing the toilet and washing our hands. I’ve come an extremely long way from the days prior to starting our full time RV lifestyle 8½ years ago when my solution to almost all problems started with me picking up the phone and ended with me writing a cheque !

It will not be possible to “permanently” repair this plumbing problem until we are back in the United States in a month and a half and I can get specific RV parts that are just not available here in Mexico < sigh >.

Tuesday ; Joanne started the day extremely ill, probably with food poisoning. She was sick, and
I wasn’t, because we had different foods last night for supper. I had shrimp, she had smoked pork chop. The worst of her illness was over by noon. She felt weak in the afternoon but was all better by supper time.

Last night I mixed a new bread dough recipe. This morning I baked it in the Sun Oven. I think I did something wrong. It didn’t rise properly. The bread tastes fine but is a bit thick.

This morning I headed into Teacapan to buy hardware. Bo came along for a drivey. The hardware store in Teacapan was not self-serve. The two staff did not speak English. I didn’t know Spanish words for things like “hose clamp” and “flexible vinyl hose”. Well … this morning I didn’t. I do now ! The shopping trip was more than a bit challenging but I got almost everything I needed. Before leaving town I refilled our water jug at the aqua purificadora.

This afternoon I worked on repairing the trailer’s freshwater system. I achieved full functionality, albeit with a temporary repair. I need RV parts that are just not available here. After the plumbing repair I climbed up on the roof and worked on resealing around the kitchen fan roof vent. I was dismayed to find a bit of dry rot. I suppose that’s inevitable on a trailer as old as Harvey.

We had two beach play sessions today, but Joanne wasn’t feeling healthy enough for long beach walks. What a great sunset tonight !

Wednesday ; WHEW … the humidity here is so high ! And there’s saltwater spray in the air. Things are rusting ! And electronics are short circuiting !

Oddly, Joanne was sick again today. Not as ill as yesterday, but … food poisoning two days in a row ? ! ? The only possibility was her beloved Yomi Lala chocolate milk which she drinks at bedtime. And that jug is now finished, so … !

I reinstalled the kitchen roof vent cover today, after doing some resealing yesterday. Another temporary job that will have to be redone when we’re back in the States and I can get some RV supplies. I repaired a short circuit in the truck radio. Bo and I had another two great beach play sessions. I composed and sent a lengthy e-mail.

In other words … < whispering > … we’re getting a bit bored with this place !

Thursday ; Today was another beautiful day, sunny and temperature in the 80’s.

I spent the morning working on minor maintenance projects, to the extent that I am able without access to an RV parts & supplies dealer as well as the likes of Lowe’s and Home Depot. Bo and
I played on the beach.

After lunch we headed into Teacapan. Joanne wanted to see if she could satisfy her grocery shopping requirements in Teacapan, about 10 km. away, instead of going all the way to Escuinapa, about 40 km. away. First stop in town was the ferreteria / hardware store. I bought more repair supplies. Hose clamps are becoming my new Mexican “best friend”. HA HA HA ! Next was the panaderia to restock pan dulce for breakfasts. We had no pan dulce for breakfast this morning.  I had to eat the Mexican breakfast cereal I bought recently. A teensy little box of teensy little chocolate chip cookies. HA HA HA ! Joanne was sceptical that an abarrote ( Mexican “convenience store” ) in Teacapan would have the groceries she needed, but … it did ! Grocery shopping in an abarrote in a little village is very different from shopping in a supermarket. However, prices were reasonable, variety and selection were adequate, produce was fresh … eggs were fresh out of the chicken ! And were “open stock”. Buy as many huevos as you want. Joanne bought diez ( 10 ) huevos. Seemed very odd for us gringos who come from a culture where eggs are sold only in packages of a dozen. Joanne had to hold the little plastic bag of ten eggs on her lap, or even up in the air, depending on how rough the road was on the drive home. HA HA HA ! By the way, eggs were priced at dos ( 2 ) pesos each, about 25¢ .

At home this afternoon we worked on a “home improvement” project then went for a looooong walk on the beach. We started with a beach doughnut play session but cut that short. Bo’s timing was off . He opened his mouth to grab his beach doughnut just as a big wave rolled over the doughnut and his face. He swallowed a lot of seawater. Poor Bo !

Friday ; Another beautiful day ! We worked on two home improvement projects. We had two lengthy play and walk sessions on the beach. In the morning as we were walking about a mile or so south of our RV park we came across a huge piece of driftwood, a large tree actually. We did a
Bo-gility session on and around and under the driftwood tree. I called it a “beach-gility” session. Thinking faster than me, Joanne called it a “playa-gility” session. HA HA HA ! Well done, Joanne !

Another astounding sunset !

Around 11:30 PM we went for a moonlit beach walk, under a bright full moon. It was … romantic. As we walked along the beach, splashing in the shallows, there were distinct patches of very warm air and patches of very cool air. How odd !

Saturday ; This morning Joanne and I finished a home improvement project that we’ve been working on together ; some relatively minor but complicated modifications to the new dinette chairs. I spent the rest of the morning finishing a complicated project I’ve been working on for a few days.
I installed an off / off switch in the trailer’s front trunk storage compartment that enables me to switch the trailer battery’s charging system between the internal 120 volt converter battery charger and solar panels.

We went for our noon beach play session and long beach walk, then I made Huevos Rancheros del Danello for lunch.

This afternoon we played and walked on the beach again, as always. Joanne and I were strolling along the beach at the water’s edge, waves rolling over our feet. Bo was exploring every square inch of the beach, as always. He stopped to dig in the sand a bit, not an unusual occurrence. Suddenly he leaped high up in the air, all four feet leaving the ground, as if he was on a pogo stick. When he landed he was spinning and swirling around and … HOLY MACKERAL ! ! ! There was a huge crab running backwards away from Bo, snapping its big claws in his face ! ! ! Somehow Bo had dug this massive crab out from its hiding spot under the sand, and now it was impossible to tell which one was more stunned, Bo or the crab. HA HA HA ! We hollered the “BO … LEAVE IT” command, and somewhat to our surprise … Bo immediately complied. OH … good dog, Bo ! The three of us watched this huge crab sink its rear end down into the sand, and wave its snapping claws menacingly at us, peering around with its big eyeballs on long stalks. The crab was about the size of Bo’s entire head.

We don’t know what caused Bo to leap up like that. Did the crab grab his paw as he dug ? Or his face ? But it sure was funny ! For the rest of the beach walk Bo was very cautious about digging in the sand. HA HA HA ! After our beach session Joanne and I went to this RV park’s regular Saturday afternoon Happy Hour on the swimming pool patio where we once again witnessed an astounding sunset, the sun slowly sinking into the Pacific Ocean. One of the people staying here in one of the ten or so little casitas / cabins gave me a tour of their unit. Very nice !

As we were preparing for bed we realized Bo had a severe earache. It’s not the first time since we’ve been here that he’s had an earache from getting seawater in his ears, but not this severe. We put some drops in his ears, and he had a somewhat uncomfortable night with not only an earache, but also a fever and most likely a headache as well.

DSK

January 13 to 19, 2013

 

Sunday ; We’ve been sick for so long I think that what we have must be more than a simple cold. Must be a flu illness.

Today we had our noon beach doughnut fetch play session, but instead of a second beach doughnut fetch play session we decided to start having a daily long walk on the beach. We walked for about half an hour north, then back. I guess tomorrow we’ll walk south. We all enjoyed “beachcombing”. Joanne picked up a weird shaped piece of … some kind of driftwood.
I think it’s a piece of some kind of tree root that has spent a long time in the water, and underwater “stuff” has grown on it. She wants to take it home as a piece of yard decoration. I’m not sure whether she means to Yuma, Arizona, or Keremeos, BC.

I was walking on the sandbar just offshore and decided to wade back to the “mainland” beach where Joanne and Bo were. I started shuffling across the ankle deep water when all of a sudden … SPLOOSH ! In one step I went from ankle deep to waist deep. I certainly was surprised ! Especially since I wearing regular clothes, not swim trunks.

We visited with our next door neighbours today. They’re from Quesnel, BC. Like me, he’s a pilot. He owns a Cessna 172, and has a private airstrip on his farm. For the last four years he has been building a Piper Cub from a kit.

I cooked the Corvina fish that we bought on the fishermen’s beach a few days ago. It was quite good ! The Wi-Fi system here was down today. Joanne and I worked on planning for the Haystack Dinner for 60 people that we are making at the Escapees Roadrunners Chapter 7 Spring Rally in a couple of months. We also did a bit of trip planning for where we want go and what we want to do in Mexico in February. Joanne played with the new computer until she mastered the Windows 8 calendar application. I’m unable to export my old computer’s calendar data to the new computer so … it’s going to have to be manually input. Joanne will help.

Monday ; Another day that the Internet here is not working ! I’m getting quite a backlog of online work that I need to do !

Joanne spent much of today manually inputting calendar data from the old computer to the new one. Thank you, dear. < whispering > She’s very slow at it ! I spent far longer than I had expected

I would need to, changing the starter recoil cord on the generator. Bo and I had a fun play session on the beach around noon, and around 4 PM we all went on a long beach walk. Joanne and I collected some interesting shells. Bo just romped and ran. He is enjoying being off leash all the time.

Today I finally felt some improvement in my health ! Hopefully this cold / flu that we both have is almost finished !

Tuesday ; I think I may have figured out the Internet problem. It seems to work during day time working hours, but not in the evenings. And there was a recent change in the RV park’s office personnel. So … somebody new must be turning something off at the end of the work day.

Today was cloudy, cool and windy. We went to Escuinapa to run errands. On the way into the city

I stopped at the Uniroyal / Goodrich / Michelin tire dealer to shop for a replacement trailer tire. And … the shop manager spoke excellent English. Which made things a lot easier. He phoned the Goodyear dealer in Mazatlan and got information on price and availability of the tire I want. And

I decided to “take my chances”. I’m going to use the damaged tire as the trailer’s spare and hope that I won’t need to use it before we get back to Yuma. I’ll buy a new tire ( or four ) there.

We went to the mercado ( marketplace ) and browsed the pescaderias ( fish mongers ) looking for some good, fresh fish to buy. We didn’t buy any. At 2 PM there was hardly anything left, and what was left didn’t appeal to us. We’ll have to go to the mercado much earlier to get good fish, I guess. We had an excellent lunch at one the little food stands on the periphery of the mercado. And the factura ( bill ) was cinquenta ( 50 ) pesos. Really ? $4.25 for that much food ? Before leaving the mercado we went to a dulceria ( candy store ) and bought a few packages of little chocolate bars.

We did our grocery shopping at Ley’s. On the way back to Teacapan we were trying to figure out for sure whether Teacapan is on a peninsula or island. It’s an island ! We explored one of the tiny villages on the way home. There were nearby coconut plantations. Most of the yards were filled with coconuts. I stopped to take some photos and had a chat ( well … a few Dick & Jane sentences ) with a resident. Most of the town’s residents work at processing coconuts … in their yards. They split the coconuts, allow them to dry in the sun, then pry the coconut meat out of the shells.

As soon as we got home we took Bo to the beach for a beach doughnut play session. Joanne made Chicken Chile Verde for supper. WHEW … the local fresh tomatillos are so strong tasting they make my eyes water ! HA HA HA !

Wednesday ; Well … I guess this is winter ! The days have become cooler, it’s often partially overcast, there’s often a strong wind, the surf is always large.

We’re finally both feeling relatively healthy, our cold / flu illness is finally over ! Longer than two weeks for me, three weeks for Joanne !

This morning I worked online for about an hour, deciding that I would do more online work in the afternoon. When I tried to resume working online at 3 PM, the Internet wasn’t working ! HMPH … guess I’m going to have to dedicate tomorrow morning to getting caught up on my online work backlog.

We’ve just returned from a late afternoon long walk ( about an hour and a half ) on the beach. Strong wind, huge surf ! And some interesting discoveries. A huge Blue Bottle Jellyfish a.k.a. Portuguese Man O’War, about the size of a peach ! And a dying seagull. How odd ! BO, LEAVE IT ! Good dog, Bo. Godspeed, little seagull !

Thursday ; Happy 14^th Birthday to Joanne’s niece Madeleine

Nice weather today. Felt healthy … at last !

I spent a lot of time online, still working on old computer to new computer “migration problems”. Maybe I should give up and wait until we’re back in Yuma ? I did finally get last week’s blog entry posted. Internet stopped working precisely at 4:30 PM ! We had a long beach play session followed by a long walk. Twice ! Did some trailer maintenance and repairs. Mounted another Sand Dollar. Didn’t break this one mounting it. It broke when it fell off the wall ! ! ! Guess I shouldn’t have used that cheap double sided tape ! Joanne is complaining that every time she finds a nice Sand Dollar on the beach, I manage to break it ! Sorry !

Friday ; Today was mostly sunny, warm, not much wind. We had a morning beach play session then headed into Teacapan to refill a water jug. < sigh > We discovered that Friday is the day that many businesses in Teacapan are closed, including the aqua purificadora. So … since we were already in town, we went exploring. We drove up and down many of the streets in town, along the malecon / waterfront, and found some of the upscale gringo enclaves on the outskirts of town.

 We found an interesting restaurant in town and had lunch. The restaurant was also the family’s living room. The restaurant’s kitchen was also the family’s kitchen. There was an old man … grandfather, no doubt … watching TV and making little scorpions out of thin wire. There was a young girl … granddaughter, no doubt … watching TV and weaving a scarf. Her father, the old man’s son, was the restaurant owner and chef … and dishwasher and everything else. Joanne had a torta de pollo ( sort of a chicken sandwich ). I had fillete de pescado, the daily special of three fried Corvina fish fillets. MMMMM ! ! ! I think it was one thick Corvina fillet, sliced into three thin pieces, then breaded and fried. I’m going to try that with the Corvina fillet in our freezer.

After returning home I spent much of the afternoon working online at the pool patio. Finally … my online work is caught up ! We ended the afternoon with another long beach walk and play session.

 Saturday ; Well … who knew ? ! ? Sully loooooves smoked marlin. HA HA HA HA HA ! ! !

The last time we were in Escuinapa, shopping at the mercado, late in the afternoon of a weekday, the pescaderias / fish mongers had very little product left. We decided then that we should return to the mercado on Saturday morning. Saturday is traditionally “market day” in Mexico, so the vendors are likely to have lots of selection early in the day. This morning we headed to Escuinapa.

First stop in the mercado was the pescaderias. There were about half a dozen of them. We noticed that one of them had a great selection of fresh, fairly small fillets of Corvina. While we contemplated buying some, the vendor offered us medium size whole Corvina, filleted and deboned in front of our eyes. How could we resist ? Each fish produced two fillets the right size for a meal for us. We bought four fish, eight fillets, four meals, for ochenta ( 80 ) pesos, about $6.50. And the fillets are much nicer than the ones I do ! Another vendor had great looking medium sized shrimp. I bought a kilogram for setenta cinco ( 75 ) pesos, about $6.10. I just finished ( at 11:30 PM ) cleaning them. Whew … sixty-eight shrimp ! Beheaded, peeled, deveined, and … well … I don’t know what you call the last part. De-poo’d ? ! ? HA HA HA !

The vendor with the shrimp also had a thick, dark piece of fish that, as we looked it over, he told us was marlin. WOW … we’ve never had marlin before ! It was wrapped in clear plastic wrap, so we didn’t realize until we got home that it was … < sputter > … smoked marlin ! WOW … it’s NICE ! Smoked marlin … now there’s an item I can cross off my bucket list that I didn’t even know was on there ! HA HA HA !

 After the mercado we shopped at the new Bodega Aurrera. One of the items we have been looking for, and found there today, was cat litter. Not a common product here in Mexico ! And the bags of it that we found at the Bodega were so small … we bought five bags ! Good thing ! We were on the verge of filling Sully’s litter box with beach sand. And Sully is very resistant to change !

We refilled a water jug at an aqua purificadora on the way out of Escuinapa. Ocho ( 8 ) pesos / 65 cents for five gallons of purified water ! We wanted to have lunch on the way home. We turned into the little village of Isla del Bosque ( Wood Island ) about halfway back to Teacapan. We explored a bit until we found a little restaurant that looked like it was worth a try. MMMMMM ! Not only was it worth a try, it’s worth a return visit ! Rico’s Pollos Asados. We are accustomed to pollo asado / “roast chicken” in Mexico being marinated in an achiotte powder and fruit juice marinade before being grilled. In this area, pollo asado is seasoned with a “dry rub”. Rico’s was very good !
A quarter chicken for each of us, a side dish of freshly made macaroni salad, a small green salad, tortillas, and a soft drink for each of us. And two thick slices of fresh watermelon for dessert. Ochenta pesos ! When the very nice female owner placed two dishes of salsa on our table, she identified the red salsa as “pocito picante” and the green salsa as “grandé picante”. YIKES ! Yes, yes … the green one was not suitable for a gringo palate !

As soon as we arrived home we took Bo to the beach for a play session and long walk, followed by this RV park’s traditional late Saturday afternoon Happy Hour at the pool patio. I did some online work. We had supper. I composed a lengthy letter in response to an inquiry I received today regarding our lot for sale at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos, BC. I cleaned shrimp !

DSK

January 6 to 12, 2013

Sunday ; Both of us are still sick. My cold is "progressing", from a head cold to a chest cold. Joanne's cold is "stalled". I'm a bit concerned. She's been ill for two weeks now.

Bo and I now play beach doughnut fetch twice per day. We have so much fun ! He makes me laugh !

I washed the rear and the front of the trailer today. And continued with Mexican road casualty repairs. I spent about two hours in the evening online, an hour actually working, and an hour spinning my wheels with Internet connectivity / functionality problems.

I have begun using my new computer ... a little bit. Windows 8 is confusing. Or ... maybe I'm just resistant to change ? I took some photos this afternoon of a fishing boat that was fishing in shallow water just offshore from our beach, and downloaded the photos to my new computer as well as my old one. My photo "processing" software is in my old computer, but at least I learned how to transfer photos from my camera to my new computer.

 

 Monday ; Today was mostly sunny, sometimes a thin overcast. That slowed down our Sun Oven cooking of a roast. Joanne was determined to feel better today. She was determined but I'm not sure if she was successful.

We started our day with a great beach doughnut session. I took some movies of our play session with my new digital camera and then downloaded them to my ( old ) computer. Worked fairly well ! Right now ( at 3:30 PM ) I'm sitting at the swimming pool patio trying to upload one of them to YouTube and then to my blog. Wish me luck ! I just hurried back to the trailer to get myself a Diet Coke. Next door neighbour's damn dog bit the back of my ankle as I rushed by their site ! Stupid territorial Border Collie ! Where did you think you were going to "herd" me to, Kip ? ! ? Do I look like a ****ing sheep ? ! ?

Joanne did two loads of laundry today. This RV park has a washer and dryer, but charges outrageously for their use. Nevertheless, Joanne would prefer to use the washer and dryer here. The alternative is to take our laundry to a lavanderia in town and have our clothes laundered for us. She doesn't like that, although we have used lavanderias in the past while travelling in Mexico.

We washed the truck today. Lots of road grime !

WOO-HOO ! ! ! The YouTube video thing worked ! ! ! ( 4 PM ) Time to head back to the beach for another play session !

We had another great beach play session and went for a long walk along the beach. The roast had to be removed from the Sun Oven and finished in the trailer's oven. MMMMM ... it was good ! Joanne had marinated it in a marinade she made using zest from a local mandarin orange. The local mandarin oranges are huge ! As are the local avocadoes !

I did more work with my new computer. I'm starting to get more comfortable and proficient with Windows 8. After supper I went back to the pool patio to do more online work. I finally solved my blog photo upload problem.

Tuesday ; We woke up this morning to wind and rain. Not a very good beach play day. So ... we decided to go to Escuinapa to run errands. On the way to and from Escuinapa we explored some local small villages.

Our fist stop in Escuinapa was the almost brand new supermarket Bodega Aurrera. We were surprised to find EQUATE products on their shelves, and then discovered that Bodega Aurrera is a division of Wal-Mart Mexico. While a brand new store, it didn't seem to know whether it wanted to be a grocery store or a general merchandise store. And consequently ... they did neither one well ! We bought some of the grocery items we needed, then went across town to Ley's, the other supermarket.

On the way across town Joanne decided she wanted to stop for lunch at a small ( there's no other kind, actually ! ) pollo asado restaurant. Out front, a 50 gallon drum cut in half, filled with wood and charcoal, achiotte marinated chicken slowly barbecuing on the grill over the half drum. Under the roof ( not really "inside" ) three tables for four. Whole chickens, barbecued, eat-in or take-out. All pollo asado restaurants are essentially the same. We ordered "eat-in" with small "salads" ( we got just a bit of lettuce, radish, and onions, no dressing ). The waitress asked a long winded question that I didn't understand. My response was "todos" ... everything ! She left and returned with two FANTA soft drinks and plunked them down in front of us. Okay ... I guess we're drinking FANTA today ! And I guess my response probably made no sense in the context of whatever she asked.
< shrug > Oh, well ! She also brought about a dozen small tortillas. DARN ... I forgot that a dozen or so small tortillas always comes with a chicken. I forgot to specify "wheat" tortillas. If not specified, tortillas are always "corn", which I can't digest. Joanne ate a couple, we left the rest on the table. There was plenty of chicken left over to take home with us. The chicken was very good !

We did the rest of our grocery shopping at Ley's, a much better store than the Bodega Aurrera. We drove around town looking for, and finding, an aqua purificadora place to refill our water jug. By the time we were leaving Escuinapa the sky had cleared, but it was windy.

When we got home, while Joanne put away groceries, I took Bo for a beach doughnut play session. It didn't last long, because it was windy and the surf was big, and ... there were small jellyfish washed up on shore ! Small jellyfish apparently called Blue Bottles. They were no larger than a cherry tomato, but they had thread like tails that were a few feet long ! And that's where the stingers are ! It was too risky to play on the beach with all those long stinger tailed jellyfish getting washed up on the sand.

I took some pictures of the little jellyfish, then washed one side of the trailer before it got dark. Somewhat difficult to do with that much wind. And that low of water pressure in the hose. As Joanne was replacing her cloth grocery bags into the truck a grain of sand blew into her eye. OW OW OW ! ! ! She suffered a lot of discomfort, even after I rinsed it out of her eye. I guess by the time I got her eye rinsed it was scratched.

I made supper tonight. Plan B supper ! After supper I went to the pool patio to do some online work with my new computer. I'm slowly making the transition from my old computer to the new one. HEY ... I found out that the correct name for those Blue Bottle Jellyfish is ... wait for it ... Portuguese Man O'War ! And they're deadly little buggers ! ! !

Wednesday ; Sunny, warm weather has returned.

Yesterday's winds and high surf have rearranged the beach. The dry portion of the beach now has a "step" at yesterday's high water mark. It was fun to walk to the edge of the step and make it collapse to the lower level. Gee ... maybe I gotta get a life ! HA HA HA ! In the shallows, the previously flat bottom now has steps and holes and sand bars and ... quicksand. Some of the holes are filled with sand and water making a mush. They're invisible ! Bo stepped on one today and sunk so deep that Joanne had to grab the handle on the top of his doggy lifejacket and pull him out. He only wears his doggy lifejacket when Joanne comes to the beach with us < rolling eyes >. Falling into the quicksand increased his trepidation about chasing his beach doughnut out too far. He's taken to running into the water until just before it becomes deep enough that he needs to swim, then waits for the surf to wash his doughnut back closer to shore before he grabs it. Apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks !

This afternoon we finished washing the trailer. Gee ... and I thought traveling through the Pacific Northwest in the fall left a lot of road grime on the truck and trailer !

I felt quite ill today. Joanne and I are both frustrated with these colds which seem to take one step back after each two steps forward. I've been sick for over a week. She's been sick for over two weeks.

I continued loading old software into my new computer as part of the transition from my old computer to my new one. Tonight I was unable to load the software to operate my 8½ year old printer. I have a new printer but ... it's in Yuma. And it's quite a bit larger than my old printer which
I was hoping to use as my "travel" printer. Late in the evening I went to work online to download some software. I'm getting much more comfortable with Windows 8.

Thursday ; One of the gifts I received for Christmas ( from myself ... HA HA HA ) was a bread cookbook. This morning I prepared a batch of banana bread dough and baked it in the Sun Oven. Looks great ... haven't tasted it yet, though.

And I flew my kite today. One of my neighbours took a kite to the beach and was flying it. That reminded me that I have a kite, and inspired me to join him. I haven't flown my kite in a long time. The wind was softly blowing in from offshore, and was perfect for kite flying. I flew my kite to 300 feet, a height I don't think I've done before. Standing on the beach, wearing just a pair of shorts, warm sunlight on my back, waves rolling over my feet ... AHHHHH ! ! !

My outdoor project today was to remove the damaged trailer tire and install the spare. I don’t think the damaged tire is repairable, but I’ll take it to a llantera / vulcanizadora and get an “expert” opinion.

I spent the evening working on the migration of everything from my old computer to my new one. Most of that went quite smoothly. Some of it was difficult. A little bit of it was impossible … tonight. I’m hoping that tomorrow it might not be.

Yes, yes … my banana bread tastes as good as it looks !

Friday ; Well … I’m now typing this on my new computer ! I think I have completed the transition from old to new as far as I am able. There are three “migration problems” that I think I’ll just have to live with. It seems to me that I’ve encountered “migration problems” before when changing computers and / or operating systems. Some of the software I have been trying to load to my new Windows 8 computer is about nine years old, and Windows 8 simply won’t load it or will load it but it won’t function correctly.

This morning while trimming Bo’s dew claws I cut one a bit too short and hit the quick, Sorry, Bo ! That hasn’t happened in a long time !

Right after our noon beach play session we went into Teacapan. I paid the ten pesos I owed to the meubles y madera / furniture & wood shop. We went to the panaderia and stocked up on pan dulce and bolillos. We drove east out of town to the playa pescador / fishermen’s beach on the “inside“ of the peninsula. I was looking to buy some fresh fish. When we got there, things looked a lot different than they did a few years ago. There was a group of fishermen gathered around a large table. All were filleting their large daily catch of small fish. DARN … my camera was on my desk in the trailer ! WOW … were they ever fast ! I wandered over and asked some simple questions about their fish. They didn’t really seem all that eager to discuss their work with some old gringo. Tourism didn’t seem to be part of their job. HA HA HA ! They said the fish were “Sobalo”. They looked like herrings or whitefish. There didn’t seem to be anywhere around there to buy fish, so we drove back into town.

I asked in town where could I buy fresh fish ? I was told to go out to fishermen’s beach. DUH !
I just came from there ! We drove back there. We got out of our truck and wandered down to the beach where a fisherman was just coming in with his panga ( fishing boat ). His wife was meeting him to take his daily catch away while he tended to the boat. I asked her some questions about his daily catch. Most of it were small Sobalo, but there were also two larger, golden coloured fish which she separated from the Sobalo. I surmised the Sobalo were going for sale or processing, and the larger golden fish were to be for their family.

There were three people sitting out front of a shack, chatting. I asked them where could I buy some fresh fish. The lady’s response was the Spanish equivalent of “You want fish ? You’ve come to the right place !” With a frown she told her less than enthusiastic husband to sell us some fish ! With obvious unhappiness at having his rest time interrupted, he took us inside to an old chest freezer filled with ice, and his daily catch of fish. We picked out a large Corvina, and two small Mojarra. He weighed the Corvina, and told us it cost cuarenta ( 40 ) pesos, about $3.20. There was no additional charge for the two small Mojarra. Gracias, senor !

The fish cleaning table at the fishermen’s beach was only the second place in Mexico that we’ve seen cats. We saw one cat entering a home through the window in Escuinapa, and today there were at least three cats around the fishermen’s feet as they were cleaning fish.

At home I cleaned the two small Mojarra, and cleaned and filleted the larger Corvina. The two small Mojarra were for supper tonight. The Corvina we froze, two suppers of fillets, and one lunch of strips for fish tacos. Four meals for $3.20 ! And fish don’t come any fresher than that !

Saturday ; Today was cloudy, windy, and cool.

This morning I took Bo for a drivey and we went into Teacapan. I went to the llantera ( tire shop ) to see if the damaged trailer tire can be repaired. It can’t ! The only tire dealer in Escuinapa is a Goodrich dealer, and I don’t really want to buy a Goodrich tire. Maybe I’ll take the risk of keeping the damaged tire as the spare until we return to Yuma. I’ll take a look at the Goodrich tires next time we go into Escuinapa.

On the way out of Teacapan I stopped at the Pemex to refill with diesel. All the way down here
I had been asking if they accept credit cards before the fuel was pumped because on previous trips to Mexico many Pemex stations did not. On this trip all the Pemex stations accepted credit cards so I made the erroneous assumption that all Pemex stations now did. Today I had the truck refilled with diesel, then offered a credit card. “No tarjeta aqui, senor”. Well … **** ! Mil ciento sesenta
( 1160 ) pesos worth of diesel now in the truck and I’ve got about a hundred and fifty ( ciento cinquenta ) pesos with me ! “No pesos, no dolares … no dinero!” The pump attendant took me to a window labelled facturaccion y ticketas / billing & vouchers. I had to deal with a female voice behind a one way mirrored window with a tiny slot underneath. She wanted my credit card and a few minutes later, my driver’s license. She spoke no English. I couldn’t understand her Spanish through the tinny speaker. After a lot of futile back and forth by both of us, she opened the door and motioned me inside. What the **** ? ! ? There were two women and a man in the small office. AND … < sputter > … four … count ‘em … FOUR credit card machines, each with a different bank logo on it ! ! !

What the hell do you mean … “no credit cards here, sir” ? ! ?

There was my credit card, sticking out of one of the machines. It had read the chip embedded in the card, and was waiting for me to enter my P.I.N. I did so, the transaction was approved, and the machine printed the transaction receipt. We’re done, right ? NOOOOO ! ! ! She had me sign the transaction receipt. Okay. She photocopied my driver’s license. HUH ? She printed another voucher off the pump register machine, showing the pump details. She attached everything with a staple. She filled out a small, handwritten voucher and gave it to me with instructions to give it to the pump attendant outside. Okay ! When I gave the voucher to the pump attendant outside she looked SO relieved, as if … “great, now that transaction won’t get taken off my paycheque”. The whole thing was beyond my comprehension !

This afternoon we watched part of a dog agility competition on TV. And afterwards, we hosted the first annual International Beach Doughnut Fetch competition. YAAAAAYYYYY … Bo won ! HA HA HA !

A few days ago we found the most perfect specimen of a Sand Dollar on the beach. I decided to display it by mounting it in the trailer with Velcro. Today as I was doing that … I broke it ! Darn !

DSK

Joanne & Bo play beach doughnut fetch

December 30, 2012 to January 5, 2013 ; Los Toltecas, Sonora to Teacapan, Sinaloa, Mexico

Sunday ; Los Toltecas, Sonora to El Espinal, Sinaloa

Well ... I was completely wrong. That wasn't an early New Year's celebration taking place last night in the ejido ( small farming village ) behind the Pemex where we boondocked overnight.

Around 10 PM last night I took Bo out for his final "bathroom walk" of the day. Down the dusty dirt road leading into the ejido I could hear loud music and see bright flashing lights. Bo and I wandered down there, about the equivalent of three blocks and ...

HA HA HA ... Bo and I went to our first Mexican wedding !  HA HA HA HA HA! ! !
An outdoor wedding ! An ejido / small farming village outdoor wedding ! Must have been two hundred people there. Many were dancing. Many were drunk. And many were wondering ... "Who the hell is the old gringo ? And why does he have a perrito ( little dog ) on a 'rope' ? And what the hell are they both doing here ? ! ?" HA HA HA HA HA !

This morning I asked Joanne to come for a walk with me through the little village before we departed. Just as we were about to leave, four little girls walked by. The two youngest ones knocked on the trailer door. When I opened the door, they asked for "candy".

It's understood that gringos with large RV's are considered by Mexicans, especially children, to be ... gringos rico / rich white folks. And from their perspective, that's a pretty reasonable and accurate assessment ! BUT ... I don't give out candy, as Mexican children are fond of asking for from gringos. I gave the two younger ones, and then their two older sisters, each a CANADA scribbler and pencil. A little squabble broke out that
I didn't understand at first. The scribblers are all different colours. I gave a pink one ( rosa in Spanish ) to one of the older girls. The youngest one was named Rosa, and wanted the pink scribbler < rolling eyes >. I didn't have any more pink scribblers, but she was happy to trade her amarillo / yellow one for an azul / blue one. I guess I don't understand five year old girls in any culture !

Joanne and I went for a slow leisurely walk through the tiny village. The four girls more or less accompanied us. They would appear, then disappear, then reappear, and so on. Finally they showed up with ... their pet burro. HA HA HA ! A little baby burro, making him a burrito, actually. HA HA HA ! His name was Filimon. HA HA HA ... Bo's first baby burro ! When Filimon put his head down and began grazing, Bo was startled, and jumped back and barked. The girls took Filimon away, then returned a few minutes later with ... their pet baby goat. HA HA HA ... Bo's first baby goat. He's met adult goats before, but never a "kid". We learned the girls' names and ages ; five, eight, nine, and eleven.

We returned to the trailer, and pulled over to the fuel pumps to refill with diesel. The girls showed up once again, this time with their two year old brother, José. Smart girls. They knew that if they asked for a candy for José I couldn't very well give a scribbler and pencil to a two year old. José seemed terrified of me. No doubt the first big, hairy faced gringo he's met ! I gave each of the five of them one of Joanne's throat lozenges. Still outsmarting me, they asked for one more candy for their sister at home, Karin.
I wondered if she was newborn or thirteen years old ? HA HA HA !

Interacting with the girls was the high point of the day. We find it common while travelling in Mexico to have days that make us feel very high spirits to very low spirits, all within the same day. < sigh > This was one of those days. While lost in Culiacan we bickered briefly, but the stress of being lost yet again, and the vicious bickering left both of us feeling absolutely defeated for half an hour or so before we managed to pick ourselves back up. As I type this in the evening I really don't know if travel in Mexico is worth it !

We continued southbound on MEX 15. We alternated between Cuota ( toll ) MEX 15 to Libre ( free ) MEX 15. And frankly, for much of the day, we weren't even sure which one we were on ! We paid tolls three time today. We have three Mexico maps. None of them is the same as the others. And none of them seems to be accurate ! ! ! Mexico's road signage varies from inconsistent to confusing to non-existent < sigh >. Shortly after we started driving it began to rain lightly for most of the day.

This morning I was still bemoaning the plight of dogs in Mexico, bothered by the old girl with the mushy eye yesterday at the Pemex ! Joanne tried to modify my negative thinking about Mexico by pointing out to me that while every fuel station in Mexico has stray dogs, most shopping malls that we've been to in California have homeless people ! ! ! Good point !

We stopped for lunch by pulling off the road near a village called Terreros. Across the road from where we stopped was a farmer and his "fruit stand". He was displaying some kind of small fruit hanging in bunches, as well as bags of larger, spiky fruit. The little ones hanging in bunches were called "aguamas", and the bigger spiky ones were "papachés". Have no idea what either are like. He was selling 600 ml. Coke bottles filled with what
I thought was aguama juice, so I bought one ... for cincuenta ( 50 ) pesos, about $4. We returned to the trailer and tried it. It was very thick, like a syrup. So ... we tried mixing it with water. Didn't work ! We tasted it. MMMMM ... very sweet and tasty. I walked back across the road to get more information. DUH ... it was honey ! Desert Cactus Honey ! Fresh, home processed ! Desert Cactus Honey is quite expensive in Yuma !

We drove through the city of Guasave without too much trouble. The city of Culiacan caused us a lot of grief ! We stopped for the night at another Pemex, but earlier than yesterday. Before it got dark we walked around the periphery of the Pemex station to see what road food was available. There were two vendors, each selling what translated as "chilled coconut with shrimp". They would chop off the top of a chilled coconut with a machete, then use a small sharp knife to thinly slice shavings of coconut from inside, leaving the shavings inside the coconut "bowl". They would add red spice powder ( chili powder, paprika ... ? ? ? ), squeeze juice out of a lime into it, then hand it to the customer with a chilled bag of ... shrimp "juice". I don't know what the shrimp "juice" was ? It was a clear liquid, like water or perhaps coconut milk ?

Before Joanne prepared supper I beheaded and deveined the three dozen shrimp
I bought yesterday. I put the shrimp heads outside for stray dogs to eat.

Monday ; New Year's Eve ; El Espinal to Teacapan, Sinaloa

Well ... we've arrived !

I've been having severe mood swings ! Depression, stress, and fatigue are a bad combination ! Joanne is still sick with a cold and has been suffering the entire trip, as well as being unable to make much of a contribution to the workload. Today I've been ready to declare that this will be our last road trip into Mexico. I don't have a positive enough attitude for this ! However ... while having dinner tonight Joanne was playing cheerleader. We've never enjoyed the "drive hard, drive fast, get from point A to point B" style of travel. It was a mistake to try ( and succeed ) to get from Yuma to Teacapan in five days. And it would be a mistake to drive back in a similar amount of time, especially since there are lots of military inspection points northbound. She suggests that we consider staying here a month, then go explore parts of Mexico we haven't seen before. Slow, dawdling, experiential travel, as we've always enjoyed. Yeah ... maybe that makes sense. The only part of the last five days that I really enjoyed was wandering around the ejido and interacting with the four little girls. Well ... and the wedding that Bo and I went to the night before. HA HA HA !

It rained heavily overnight. So ... I took that as an opportunity this morning to dump our shower and kitchen waste holding tanks right where we were parked, at the far back end of the large, gravel Pemex parking lot We pulled over to the diesel pumps, refilled with diesel, and refilled our freshwater holding tank. Even though our destination today was a serviced RV park, it always gives me a sense of security and comfort to travel with full freshwater and empty waste water holding tanks if possible. That "insecurity" comes from the number of times we experienced breakdowns with our previous truck.

UH-OH ... it's just started to rain ( at 8:15 PM ). I hope that doesn't force me to alter my midnight plans.

We continued southbound on MEX 15, taking the Libre ( free road ) all the way. Today the topography was mountainous farmland and jungle. Quite scenic. We arrived in Mazatlan around noon. We needed to shop for groceries. The Soriana grocery store was on the left side of the road, so I had to pass it, make a u-turn in the "retorno" lane, and come back. The traffic was heavy, and I got squeezed into the curb of the retorno by a bus. Mexican bus drivers are skilled, but so aggressive as to be dangerous. It's a maxim of RV travel in Mexico that if you're going to have an accident in Mexico, it's probably going to be with a bus or taxi. One of the trailer's tires was severely damaged, but did not blow out. I decided to try to make it the rest of the way to Teacapan without removing / changing the severely damaged tire. I succeeded. Finally ... some good luck !

It was sort of fun to shop at Soriana. Mexican supermarkets are an adventure ! We stocked up on groceries ( lots of pan dulce ), withdrew some cash from a Scotiabank ATM, had lunch in the parking lot, and continued southbound on Libre MEX 15. At Escuinapa we left MEX 15 to take SIN Y1-04 a state of Sinaloa / secondary road down the peninsula to Teacapan. We arrived at Villas Onac RV Park around 4 PM. There was a New Year's Eve Potluck Happy Hour in progress and we were invited to join. Of the two dozen or so rigs here, all except two are from British Columbia ! One is from Washington state and one is from Colorado. We selected a site, parked, walked on the Pacific Ocean beach behind our site for a few minutes ( AHHHHH ! ) then joined the party briefly. Just before it turned dark around 5:30 PM we returned to our rig, and got set up ; slides out, hook up power, water, sewer, dump black water tank, etc. I'll unhitch tomorrow morning.

I didn't have enough cash to pay site rental for a month, and they don't accept credit cards here ! I had to negotiate half payment today, half payment in two days. Within two days we'll have to drive back to Escuinapa to get more cash from an ATM.

Joanne doesn't like shrimp so she bought herself some smoked pork chop at Soriana. She's had that before in Mexico. I cooked and tried to eat a dozen of the shrimp I bought a couple of days ago. WHEW ... I could only manage seven. Five went into the fridge as leftovers.

Ever since we had planned a Christmas & New Year's trip here with Joanne's family a few years ago ( they backed out ! ) it has been on my "bucket list" to toast the passing of the old year into the new standing in the Pacific Ocean here with a glass of wine in my hand. HMPH ! I thought we had some wine in the trailer. We don't ! At 11:45 we went for a moonlit, barefoot walk on the beach. At 15 seconds before midnight we walked into the ocean, counting down the seconds. At midnight we hugged and kissed ... and got hit by a big wave. HA HA HA ! What a great way to pass into the New Year ! We returned to the trailer and toasted the New Year with Joanne's beloved Mexican chocolate milk Yomi Lala that she bought today in Mazatlan.

FELIZ AÑO NUEVO / HAPPY NEW YEAR

Tuesday ; New Year's Day

I desperately needed to sleep in this morning. I didn't even wake up when Joanne took Bo out in the morning, the first time in over a week that she's felt healthy enough to take responsibility for that chore. She's finally beginning to feel better. And since Bo was ill on Christmas morning, he didn't get his edible Christmas gift until this morning. As did Sully. Happy New Year, fellas ! I ate my breakfast staring with fascination out the window at the ocean, watching lines of pelicans flying slowly just a few inches over the shallow water along the beach, fishing I guess.

Today was overcast but warm and a bit humid. I needed to wear just shorts, no shirt. Sully thought the weather was perfect, so it must have been somewhere around 80 degrees. That's his ideal temperature. HA HA HA ! I took him out onto the beach and put him down on the sand at the water's edge. He walked quickly back towards the trailer looking over his shoulder to make sure an incoming wave didn't reach him. He wasn't very impressed ! Well ... until he reached the dune grass. HEY ... a snack ! HA HA HA !

This afternoon we took Bo onto the beach for a session of beach doughnut fetch, a game that I expect we will play daily while here. Bo's "beach doughnut" is a styrofoam fishing net float that he picked up on the beach here about four years ago. I throw it out into the surf, he swims out and retrieves it, timing the "pickup and turnaround" between breaking waves. HA HA HA HA HA ... most of the time. The game ended today when I threw it a bit too far, the surf was a bit too big, and his timing was a bit off. A huge breaking wave caught him as he grabbed the doughnut. It flipped him over and dragged him under the water as it tossed him back to shore. Poor Bo ! He came up coughing, having ingested seawater into his lungs and stomach. Sorry, Bo, I guess I shouldn't throw it that far on days when the surf is that big. He was coughing and choking intermittently for the next hour or so.

We went for a long walk from one end of the campground to the other, and then along the beach. We set up the satellite dish, a chore that I was dreading because I seem to be so poor at it. It went reasonably well, so I must be getting better at it.

I spent much of the evening getting caught up on online work. I have to go sit on the swimming pool patio to get a Wi-Fi signal. Doesn't seem like that much of a hardship. HA HA HA !

Wednesday ; GREAT ! ! ! Now we've both got colds ! ! ! While hers is ending mine is just beginning !

Today was warm , temperature in the low 80's, cloudy in the morning, clearing in the afternoon. After a slow, late start to the day we headed into Escuinapa to get some money to pay our site rental balance owing. Escuinapa is a small city about 35 km. / 22 miles back to the mainland. We got directions to the supermarkets from our neighbours, finding out that the new supermarket in Escuinapa has only been open a few days. We went to Ley's, the old supermarket, because we knew for certain that there was an ATM there.

While Joanne shopped for groceries I lined up < sigh > to withdraw some cash from the ATM, then went to the in-store Farmacia and consulted with the pharmacist on cold medications. It was interesting to note that the in-store doctor consultation fee was 25 pesos, about two dollars ! After we finished grocery shopping we went to the town square and looked around and then to the mercado centrale / central market, indoor and outdoor. We had lunch at a comida economica ( cheap food ) restaurant. MMMMM ... good tacos carne asada.

We drove and walked around town checking out exchange rates at banks and looking for the casa de cambio ( money exchange house ) that everybody seemed to know about. Twice I asked for directions from a policeman. I knew I was close but couldn't seem to find it. The second time I asked a policeman, he indicated ... "that man right there" ... pointing. < blink blink > Escuinapa's casa de cambio was the equivalent of "the neighbourhood loan shark on the corner". HA HA HA !

When we returned home we took Bo to the beach for our daily session of beach doughnut fetch. HA HA HA ! What a lot of fun we all had. We were more careful today than yesterday, so there was no "near drowning" incident. We were invited to a neighbour's pizza party at dusk. Late in the evening I went to sit on the swimming pool patio to get online and post my blog entry for last week.

Thursday ; Sunny and hot ! If you're going to be sick with a cold, it might as well be on a sunny and hot beach, n'est-ce pas ?

Five days of hard travel, four of them on Mexican roads, produced about a dozen "Mexican road casualties" on the trailer. The roads are bad, the trailer is old. I hit a couple of topes at highway speed ! That's what I get for driving at dusk and in the dark ! ! ! Screws vibrate loose, things fall down / off, things break, etc. I spent much of today doing minor repairs.

The weather is so fine I decided we should have two beach doughnut fetch sessions daily. Once around noon, and once around 4 PM. Bo is in agreement ! HA HA HA ! Today I tried making movies of beach doughnut fetch. My new Nikon COOLPIX camera makes good movies ! Now if I can just teach Joanne how to throw the beach doughnut < rolling eyes > !

Around supper time I went to the pool patio and did some online work. We watched a bit of TV after dinner. And I began to work on 2012 investment updates and analysis.

Friday ; Another sunny, hot day. Another slow, late start to the day, both of us feeling ill with colds. Joanne's cold seems to be "stalled", she's not getting any better. I took the first of the Mexican antigripal tabletas I bought the other day. I admire Mexican attitudes towards drugs. They fill their cold medications with caffeine. If the medications don't make you feel any better, at least you're wired. HA HA HA ! Hey, baby, wanna go dancing on the beach ? ! ?

This morning I temporarily repaired a couple of Mexican road casualties with glue. We'll replace them when back in the United States. I took Bo for our noon beach doughnut play session in the surf. Joanne wasn't feeling well enough to join us. She watched from her folding chair behind the trailer. Each day that we play beach doughnut fetch Bo becomes more cautious about the big waves. I guess the first day's near drowning, and his advancing age, have tempered his fearlessness.

Despite sleeping until 10 AM, I napped from 1:30 to 4 PM. Still didn't feel any better !

HEY ... what's all this sand on my keyboard ? ! ? We've just returned from our afternoon beach play session. Somebody got sand on my computer !

In the evening I continued working on year end financial updates and analysis. Except for the fact that we spent WAAAAAYYYYY too much in 2012, it was a relatively decent year for us in the stock markets.

Saturday ; Still both sick with colds < sigh >.

This morning I set up the Sun Oven and baked a beautiful loaf of bread. Bo and I played beach doughnut fetch twice today, once just before lunch, and again just before Happy Hour ( Saturdays at 4 PM here ).

Right after lunch we drove into the village of Teacapan. Villas Onac RV Park is a few miles south of the village. First stop was the panaderia. The daily production of pan dulce ( pastries ) was ready, but we were told to return in forty-five minutes for some bolillos
( sandwich buns ). We bought some pan dulce and went off to run some other errands. We found the aqua purificadora ( water purifier ) and had our water jug refilled. We found the Farmacia and I bought more cold medication. We found a "meubles y maderas"
( furniture and wood ) business. I needed about three feet of 2" x 2" wood for a repair project. The entire wood inventory of this "wood shop" was about what you would find in the scrap wood pile of any gringo in NorteAmerica ! I found a piece of 1" x 2" that will probably be adequate. The wood shop owner wanted viente ( 20 ) pesos. I said I would only give him diez ( 10 ) pesos, and then only if he cut it to the exact length I needed. The 30.5 inch piece of scrap 1" x 2" has no measurable value. The saw cut is worth the ten pesos ! After he cut the wood, I offered him the smallest currency I had, a twenty peso bill. He didn't have change < rolling eyes >. I took my wood ( and money ) and left, telling him I would return later with ten pesos.

We returned to the panaderia where we got half a dozen bolillos as they came out of the oven. They were still hot when we got home. On the way out of town I stopped at the furniture and wood shop to pay the ten pesos I owe. It was closed for afternoon siesta
< rolling eyes >. Isn't Mexico fun ? We explored two beach areas between town and our RV park ; Playa Lupita and Playa Tambora. We went to see a couple of older RV parks that we remembered from our last visit here four years ago. Both are no longer in business. It seems as if Villas Onac is the only RV park still in business in this area. And they're less than half full. I guess RV travel in Mexico is way down !

We went for our late afternoon beach doughnut play session, then to the Saturday afternoon Happy Hour where we chatted with neighbours, almost all from BC. There's a new family just arrived, from France, on their way to Guatemala. Quite an adventure for a young family with two young boys ! They were very surprised that Joanne and I could speak French to them.

 DSK

FELIZ AÑO NUEVO / HAPPY NEW YEAR

December 23 to 29 ; Yuma, Arizona, U.S.A. to Los Toltecas, Sonora, Mexico

Sunday ; Another beautiful, sunny, warm day in Yuma !

This morning I did an agility session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog ! This afternoon
I polished shoes and sandals. I visited briefly with Hans and Peta. They will likely be moved to our lot when we depart on Thursday. How convenient ! We will leave the Arizona room and shed open and available to them. Peta will water all my plants. We attended the regular weekly ice cream social, then had supper. HA HA HA ... on Sundays we always have dessert before supper. Late in the evening Joanne went grocery shopping to Albertsons.

Monday ; Christmas Eve ; Today I remember my father, who died on Christmas Eve seventeen years ago.

Last night at bedtime Joanne thought she was feeling a cold coming on. She was right ! She woke up this morning feeling pretty miserable with a sore throat and cold ! Fortunately, and somewhat unusually for the circumstances, she felt better as the day progressed.

Today we began slowly preparing for departure on Thursday morning by packing and storing. Hans came over requesting some computer help. I tried but wasn't able to accomplish what he wanted done because Kofa Ko-op's Wi-Fi signal had "disappeared". HUH ?

Last night Joanne baked a cherry and rhubarb pie as a Christmas gift for our friend Larry. This afternoon she delivered the pie along with three types of fruitcake for Carol Mae. We have "store bought" fruitcake from Penticton as well as two different types of fruitcake home made by my sister and mailed to us recently. Thank you, Sharon. I had some of her fruitcake for the first time tonight.

Upholding her family’s tradition Joanne prepared tourtière ( French Canadian meat pie ) for Christmas Eve dinner. Thank you, my dear. Shortly after we finished dinner, Larry and Carol Mae showed up for a visit, followed a few minutes later by Hans and Peta. Everybody had some fruitcake and egg nog. We spent the evening chatting. And I was able to complete the online task Hans wanted help with.

Tuesday ; Merry Christmas !

We recently learned that one of the park's residents is a Canadian lottery winner from British Columbia. It's satisfying ... and somewhat validating ... to know that we live the same lifestyle as that chosen by a lottery winner.

I'm tired today. Bo woke me up three times during the night frantic to be allowed out. Three diarrhea attacks. Maybe he shouldn't have swiped that large piece of my sister's fruitcake out of Peta's hand last night ! ! !

This morning we had a somewhat slow start. I was tired ... and felt as if I might have a cold coming on. Joanne already has a cold. We had our traditional Christmas morning waffle brunch. We went outside to the Arizona room to open gifts. This year we had our Christmas tree and gifts in the Arizona room. Despite being almost nine years of age, Bo still gets Christmas gift opening frenzy. HA HA HA ... what a funny little dog ! We allowed him to open every gift ... his, Joanne's and mine ! Joanne went off to the clubhouse to peel potatoes while I phoned my sister. BRRRRR ... temperature with wind chill factor last night in Lorette ( Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ) was 40 below ! Sooooo ... I guess having to wear long pants in Yuma on Christmas Day isn't so bad after all ! HA HA HA !

Bo and I went on today's pack walk. HMPH ... small pack today ! Just Bo and Maisie. I did some financial work on the computer while Joanne went to the clubhouse to get set up for communal Christmas dinner. Christmas dinner was fine. We continued our ongoing battle against the "eat and run" mentality found in this RV park ... as well as many other RV parks. Within an hour of the commencement of Christmas dinner the clubhouse was almost empty. We sat at our table and chatted for a couple of hours after dinner with some of our table mates and others who came over after most had "eaten and run". After we returned home Joanne phoned her sister then gave me a foot spa treatment. My Christmas gifts from her included a foot bath along with some foot lotions and creams. Thank you, my love.

Wednesday ; Boxing Day ( in Canada ) For the second night in a row, Bo was sick overnight. He woke me up seven times overnight desperate to be taken outside. Poor Bo ! Joanne was too sick with a cold to share the "take the dog out" responsibility. Poor Joanne ! AND ... Sully woke me the eighth time because the pet water dish was empty. Poor Daniel ! ! ! I did not start my day feeling rested. And I was irritable and cranky all day. So what else is new, right ?

We spent the day repairing things and storing things in preparation for departure tomorrow. I was very frustrated by my inability to get our little generator started.
And I broke the starter recoil cord on it ! I did a temporary repair on the starter recoil cord, but that didn't help get it started !

Late in the evening I went out to run errands. I bought spark plugs and carburetor cleaner at AutoZone and a starter recoil cord at Lowe's. I withdrew cash from the Bank of America ATM and refilled with diesel at Barney's. Great ... took care of a bunch of tomorrow morning's departure errands.

Thursday ; Yuma to Tucson, Arizona

I got up early this morning so that I could repair the generator before finishing our departure preparations. A new spark plug, and carburetor cleaning, and the generator runs like new ! BUT ... I broke my 3/8 drive ratchet working on the generator. DARN !
If it's not one thing, it's another !

We completed our departure preparations, pulled out of our lot, refilled two propane tanks, adjusted the air pressure in the trailer tires, paid our electricity and propane refill bills, and said goodbye to Hans and Peta, who are moving onto our lot for the next nine weeks. My goodness, Kacey is growing fast. I am SOOOO thrilled that we didn't have to head to the Humane Society to drop off a stray kitten on our way out of Yuma !

Before leaving Yuma we stopped at Wally's World and I bought a new 3/8 drive ratchet. We headed eastbound on Interstate 8. Teacapan, Mexico, here we come !

We stopped to have date shakes for lunch at Dateland, an hour or so east of Yuma. Poor Bo ! We didn't give him any date shake because his digestive system has been "out of service" for a few days. Yesterday we fed him small quantities of our home remedy for doggy diarrhea, a mixture of boiled ground beef and white rice. It worked, as always. But ... assuming his system is still fragile ... no date shake for Bo today. He did not understand why we had date shakes and he didn't get any ! I felt so badly for him.

We continued eastbound on Interstate 8. We stopped at Gila Bend so that I could nap briefly. More eastbound on I-8 until it merged with Interstate 10 near Casa Grande. Eastbound on I-10 into Tucson, and then through Tucson we turned south on
Interstate 19 / Nogales Highway. We found a Wal-Mart and did our last Wal-Martin' for a couple of months ( I hope ! ). We went to Lowe's where I bought a couple of items that Wal-Mart didn't have, then we went to Burger King for supper. A few more miles south on I-19 and we found our way to Desert Diamond Casino where we boondocked overnight.

Long day, lots of work, lots of miles, everybody's tired, Joanne is still sick !

Friday ; Tucson, Arizona to Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

Joanne is still very ill with a cold. We departed Desert Diamond Casino's parking lot this morning and headed south out of Tucson on Interstate 19 / Nogales Highway. We stopped at a Pilot fuel station in Rio Rico to refill with diesel. We crossed the border from Nogales, Arizona to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Mexico Customs just waved us through ! About 21 km. / 13 miles into Mexico we had to stop at Immigration.

Driving across the border from the United States into Mexico is completely different than driving across the border from Canada into the United States. Mexico doesn't care who you are, where you live, what you're bringing into the country ... as long as you pay the somewhat exorbitant fees to enter. HA HA HA ! And the process is complicated and inefficient ! We spent two hours waiting in lines, shuffling from Immigration agent to Banjercito agent to Immigration agent, waiting in more lines, filling out forms, waiting while agents filled out lots of forms, and paying lots of money. We paid about $25 for each of two tourist cards ( like visas ), about $50 to temporarily import the truck, about $50 to temporarily import the trailer, and a $300 vehicle import deposit, refundable when we leave the country ... IF we turn in the proper paperwork of course !

When we were finally finished at Immigration it was time for lunch. We had lunch in the Immigration parking lot, then headed south on MEX 15. At Magdalena we left MEX 15 and drove through the city to avoid yet another toll booth on MEX 15. Thank you to Church's Camping In Mexico guide book ! When we reached yet another toll booth just before Hermosillo we turned into the Pemex ( fuel station ) and boondocked overnight.

The scenery today was unremarkable, just a lot of scruffy desert, not unlike parts of Arizona and West Texas. And I had forgotten that in Mexico even a "good" road like MEX 15 is quite poor by gringo standards.

Saturday ; Hermosillo to Los Toltecas, Sonora, Mexico

Oh, yes ... now I remember ! < sigh > Travel by RV in Mexico certainly has a lot of difficult challenges ! And ... we made mistakes today ! That resulted in us travelling for half an hour at dusk and more than half an hour in darkness ! That's a cardinal sin when RV'ing in Mexico !

This morning before departing the Pemex station we pulled over to the diesel pumps and refilled with diesel. WOW ... a thousand pesos ! I need to readjust my money thinking into pesos ! While still at the diesel pump we refilled our freshwater tank. Which took FOREVER with a very slow water flow ! While Joanne patiently held the water fill nozzle
I wandered around the Pemex station. I befriended one of the two stray dogs that obviously considered the Pemex station their home.

There are three aspects of Mexican cultural that bother me. Obviously one of the three is the plight of dogs in Mexico. Most seem "stray" ! The old girl that I made friends with had some Golden Retriever in her. She was old and arthritic, mangy and flea bitten. But most upsetting was her severely damaged left eye. Hard to believe that an old dog could survive such trauma without some veterinary care. Her left eyeball was just a blob of infected mush. Around the eye socket was heavily scabbed. Poor old girl. I fed her some of Bo's food.

Then I wandered over to a vendor selling "road food" for truckers and travellers. What we call "road food" is extremely common in Mexico, and one of the aspects of Mexican culture that we really enjoy. Especially Bo ! But, alas, not today for Bo. His digestive system is still too fragile for Mexican road food. The vendor was selling burritos, obviously prepared by his wife, probably last night. I bought a bag of cinco ( 5 ) burritos for cuarenta ( 40 ) pesos, about $3.20. Tres ( 3 ) burritos were filled with machaca con papas ( shredded beef with potatoes ) and dos ( 2 ) were filled with frijoles ( refried beans ). We ate them for supper. Bo thought we should have eaten them right there and then for breakfast !

A few miles after leaving the Pemex I pulled off the road onto a scruffy gravel roadside area and dumped the shower and kitchen waste holding tanks. HEY ... it's Mexico ! A few miles later we passed through the first of what should have been five toll booths today. It had been our intention to travel from the U.S. border all the way to Mazatlan on the "good" but expensive toll road MEX 15. However, on impulse, we decided to try to evade toll booths, if it seemed feasible. There is always a "free" road ( libre ) alternative, and many of the toll booths are adjacent to cities. By leaving the toll road on one side of the city, driving through the city, and coming out the other side of the city, the toll booths can sometimes be avoided. And each toll booth costs us the peso equivalent of ten to fifteen dollars. We enjoy ( for the most part ) the adventure of driving through small cities. The libre road is always in bad condition, but, HEY ... MEX 15 is not much better most of the time. Today we paid two tolls and avoided three others. And we determined which "evasions" were worthwhile, and which were not, for the return trip.

At a traffic light in Hermosillo two boys, about ten and twelve years of age, jumped up on the truck's front tires, reached as far as they could over the hood of the truck, and began washing the windshield, despite us vigorously waving them off. When finished the older one asked for "a dollar". I said no and gave them each a scribbler and pencil, both emblazoned with CANADA. At least they're doing something productive and not sitting at home watching videos on Saturday morning like most NorteAmericano / gringo kids !

Driving through Hermosillo I saw a small shopping mall with two banks and a large grocery store. We pulled in to check out the banks' exchange rates. We need to exchange some U.S. dollars for pesos. The mall parking lot was not "big rig friendly". WHEW ... tough job getting around in the parking lot. And parking ! All for nothing ... the banks were closed ! And Joanne said we didn't need any groceries yet.

At Guaymas we reached the shoreline of the Sea of Cortez for the first time. And driving along the beach we could see fishermen pulling up their pangas ( small fishing boats ), and selling their wares on the road side. I slammed on the brakes as soon as I saw a vendor holding up bags of freshly caught shrimp. I mean ... caught this morning ! ! ! The shrimp were right out of the sea, not yet washed, not yet cleaned, not yet chilled. I bought three bags full of large shrimp ( about a dozen per bag ) for ciento cinquenta ( 150 ) pesos, about $12. Bo was really upset that we put them on the dashboard until we stopped shortly thereafter for a lunch break, then put them into the fridge to be cleaned and repackaged for freezing later. "HEY ... why are you eating turkey sandwiches when we have PERFECTLY GOOD RAW SHRIMP ? ! ? What is the matter with you people ? ! ?" HA HA HA ! Not today, Bo.

We got lost ( for the first of three times today ! ) driving through Ciudad Obregon avoiding a toll. I was proud of my ability to ask directions in Spanish at a Pemex station. "Good afternoon ! Do you speak English ? ( NO ! ) Where is route 15 to Navojoa, please. Thank you. Goodbye" That conversation repeated itself two more times today, with just the name of the city changed.

Driving through Navajoa I saw a Scotiabank ( Canadian bank ). Thinking that maybe the exchange rate and / or service charges would be better at a Canadian bank when I use a different Canadian bank's ( our bank is BMO / Bank of Montreal ) debit card to withdraw at an ATM, I decided to withdraw a thousand pesos. I did the withdrawal process incorrectly twice, but got it right the third time. Later in the evening I was able to calculate the exchange rate and service charges, and they were quite reasonable.

After getting lost in Huatabampo avoiding a toll booth near Navojoa, we found our way back to MEX 15 at dusk, and then drove in darkness on MEX 15 until we found a Pemex station to park at / boondock overnight. Initially I thought it was in the middle of nowhere but after getting parked we realized that a small ejido ( farming village ) was behind the Pemex. It was somewhat rowdy, tonight being the Saturday night of the New Year's weekend. It was disconcerting to occasionally hear nearby revellers firing their guns into the air, a Mexican New Year's "tradition".

DSK