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 !
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
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