As of 5:30PM today we are parked in an RV Park in Ajo, Arizona. No problems with the RV, the girls nor us. Interesting border crossing, they went through our garbage 🙄 We left at 7:30AM and are too tired to do more than relax a bit, have dinner and get to bed early. Tomorrow we only have a 2 hour drive. Talk to you then.
Month: March 2023
Hola Amigos
Day two on the road went well. We drove 312 miles and all was well. Ferne had a few technical issues to sort out before we left and it all was to the good before we drove away.
We are at the Fletcha station on the turn off to San Carlos. That means no wifi! I am posting this using my iPhone as a hotspot.
I made notes all day long to share with you but I am in the midst of a coughing session and with the wifi situation I am going to eat or not and go to bed early. We did not sleep well last night and I feel worn out.
The girls did better today and managed to sleep a lot but are still unsettled and restless. One is on me and the other on Colin as we drive. Perhaps I can use my iPad to catch up on my posts tomorrow.
Just wanted to let you know that we are well. Tomorrow late afternoon we will be back in the US.
Facts and notes
We have more wine than we need to get home and so I sold some yesterday and today.
The past few days have been spent packing up, moving our plants and cleaning. The dust has been so bad that the RV screens had to washed on both sides and wiped down. The RV roof was the dirtiest we have ever seen it.
Sadly the weather has cooled down again. This morning it was 66F and there was a great deal of fog. Colin loaded our Mr. Buddy, it appears that the road ahead is going to be chilly. April 6th we will be in Ely, Nevada.
Yikes to those temperatures.
Personally I have been reading the same book for close to a month. It is interesting but I need to read it more often to keep up with the story. I am sad to admit that I have totally stopped doing my kinesiology this month mostly because I have had no energy. Nor have I walked the beach but once or twice as I have been trying to protect my chest. A blog reader made a comment on my last post suggesting that I try using an antihistamine for a few days as it helped her cough disappear. Today was day two of using Claritin non drowsy as that is all I have. I think I might be just a bit better. I will take another one tomorrow.
The girls know that something is happening. They are sticking to each other and were not happy at loosing the freedom of their yard when we had to put them in a pen yesterday. They did have a great run on the beach and chased many birds. So happy that they were able to have a wonderful last day.
Carlie is curled up in the sun on the dash and Ciela is leaving over the bed she is in so that her head is retain on her sisters back.
Many are building small palapas all along the beach. Then they sell the shade to the many visitors during Semana Santa.
How have we got to this point? 129 mass shootings before the end of March!
I really missed joining them on the beach everyday. Next year!
We have had spontaneous happy hours for about 4 sunsets now. Last night we were presented with a special gift from a wonderful couple. Looking forward to hanging this in November.
We left the Isla today about 1:00PM and arrived at our favourite first night stop, at KM77 just north of the Culiacan autopista about 5:30PM.194 miles is a good drive to get back into driving after siting for 4.5 months. It was a great day for travel because of the clouds and the roads were quiet and no lines up at the toll booths. For the most part the roads were pretty good. We did have to slow down to 45MPH a few times. Ferne is travelling with us.
This blog post has taken a great amount of time, mostly because I have been unable to transfer photos from my camera to my desk top. I finally was able to download a few to share here by using the laptop. Complicated and time consuming. I still have favourites that I knew I took but can’t find. I think I need faster internet speed, etc. Hopefully I will have more of those photos to share with you in the days to come.
Hola dear faithful readers
I do apologize for not posting. There have been a number of things occupying our minds and our time. I can’t believe that I have gone 16 days without posting. However I am still sick. Fortunately the sore throat is gone. I went to a doctor here on the Isla a week ago and have been on two different types of medications. The meds were to help suppress my constant, painful and irritating coughing. My cough is still there although less frequent. I suspect that I have some sort of virus that just won’t go away. For some reason I have little vitality and need to sit more and even nap a few hours per day which is not usual for me. I wake up tired. It is not Covid as I have done numerous home tests over the past 25 days and am negative.
So many sunsets. Many small palapas are being built along the beach. Easter must be coming.
Colin had the same symptoms for about 5 days but while he rebounded back to normal I have not. In the middle of this under the weather time something happened to us which has created a huge amount of turmoil and resulting stress for us. It has taken us over 14 days of tension and anxiety to deal with the situation. Suffice to say that there will some changes for us here on the Isla next November, things that we have had to put into motion this past week.
The fish market just across the main Embarcadero.
Fresh fish right off the boat.
Our departure day is in two sleeps, meaning we will begin our trek north this Wednesday. Colin has taken up the brunt of the work this month from grocery shopping, to planning and cooking meals. Oh and cleaning 😎 I am hoping that as we slowly drive away that my cough will miraculously disappear.
I have lots of photos to share with you but I need a few more days to get back on track. It has been exceptionally dusty ( perhaps my cough is related to this dust ) here this winter with constant fine dust flying because of ATV’s, horses, tractors and vehicles. We finally did get warmer weather. It actually reached over 84F inside the RV a few times last week.
I have shared a few miscellaneous photos taken this winter. Many more to come.
Good size shrimp after cleaning.
Hazy photo of the moon and Jupiter. So nice to see this every night.
Once again I am very sorry of the lapse in my blog. I really could barely sit at the computer. 
Before Colin left
We attended two evenings out before Colin left for Culiacan.
The first was at El Balche. As you can see it is an open air event location with a pyramid being a feature. This is not the band we went to see. I just wanted to show you the layout. First and last time for us.The drinks were horrible and the food was just okay with very little choice for Colin and I.
We were there to see a Santana Tribute put on by Santana – Maz. Benito is the Mazatlan Santana and he indeed looks like Carlos. As you can see it was a bit chilly as the band were wearing coats and even a Canadian toque on Howard the sax player’s head.
We were there with our friends Genie and Joe ( who is a first class drummer ), I had three layers on at this point. To be honest it was very chilly and we were all shivering. Later we thought about it and as you can see in the first photo there is a very tall hotel behind us. We believe that this was creating a wind tunnel. Genie is out of focus because she was bopping around to the music.
Nice photo of Joe and Colin.
Colin was happy to introduce Benito to Joe. Hopefully next season Joe may find some musical groups to play with.
We were so very surprised to discover that once out of that place it was not windy and was much warmer. We were worried about taking the lancha back to the Isla and freezing but instead it was calm with nary a ripple on the ocean.
A week ago today, Saturday evening we were invited to a bonfire and firework display.
Dave one of our friends here in RV1 decided to host a bonfire and firework presentation in honour of his 80th birthday.
Many many of Dave’s friends from all over the Isla came to celebrate.
And this is when I noticed that I had a sore throat. Obviously I caught it at the Santana evening.
Happy 80th Dave! Wishing you many more.
The next four photos were taken by Colin, he was looking for a mix of people and fireworks.
The following were my snapshots of the very well done fireworks. How fortunate we were to have this happen right in front of our RV.
We really did have a wonderful time at both of these events but I certainly could have done without my sore throat and horrid cough which I am still dealing with 😥 Am I being punished for going out two nights in a row? I am on the mend and I believe that within 2 days, 3 at the most I will be back to 100%. In other news we are finally warming up outside. Thanks for checking in.
He came back
Thank you Cindy for the two year memory. Were they really that small?
Colin took the following few photos of the girls before he left.
The afternoon that Colin left, my good friend here in the RV Park who I have known for many many years, Ferne, came to visit for a bit. The girls love her and it was a good distraction for the girls. For some reason we always are having an enjoyable chin wag and photos are never taken.
Monday around 12:30 noonish, Colleen, a very special lady who came into my life a few years ago arrived for lunch. She has been there for me whenever I have needed her the most. The girls enjoyed her company.
Not only did Colleen come for lunch, she brought it! Homemade vegetarian tortilla soup. She eats the same way that we do.This was my first taste of this Mexican dish in all all the years we have traveled here. Usually it is made with chicken broth. Colleen is an excellent cook. Carlie is already on the sofa next to Colleen and Ciela is coming on the ramp mid right.
We had an exceptional visit that of course included vino. Time breezed past and we were both surprised to see how close we were to 6PM. A memorable long afternoon well spent. Certainly both the girls and I enjoyed our cherished time with our amiga.
So happy with this photo I took of Ciela.
She does the most cat like thing with her paws.
I have to say that the girls became very needy with Colin gone. This is the first time that they have not had us both at home 24/7. They were okay the first full day, Monday, but after that they clung to me. Literarily. They had to both be sitting on me if not next to me. And I do mean both in my lap at the same time. They would run to the window at night looking for Colin and start barking. They would not settle at night in the bed, of course every time I got up to go to the bathroom they got up and wanted out to see if Colin was back. It certainly was not relaxing for me. I had no freedom. If I sat at the computer to write a blog they were both right there pushing against my leg with their noses. Then the whimpering began, a very soul wrenching cry 😥 Of course they were not having their daily beach walks. I can’t mange them on my own. Likely next winter as they should be moving slower 😆 Hmm I might be as well 😎 But we love them dearly and know that they will change as they get older.
The following is Colin’s return. Ferne graciously agreed to pick him up at the Embarcadero. I knew that they had arrived back to the RV park so I took the girls into the front yard to distract them. Colin came ever so quietly into our site. I did a one minute video. They were so surprised that they did not even bark.
We had a grand reunion and today was their first beach walk in four days.
Colin had to let their leashes go before they reached the water as they were pulling too hard. He says that they had a wonderful walk and Carlie had a swim and that they were very obedient.
I was unable to go with them as I have had a sore throat that started last Saturday. We had been to a function on ( I will post about it ) Friday that was outdoors and I caught quite the chill. Then I lost my voice on Tuesday and Wednesday. I have found my voice but still have a very sore throat. I did do a Covid test and I am just fine. But a beach walk will have to wait a bit longer.
Colin left me today…..
Colin left midday to attend the 23rd International Sinaloa Guitar Festival 2023 in Culiacan. He had a long journey even before he left. I drove him to the embarcadero where he took a lancha to get to Mazatlan and from there he took a Didi ( Uber ) to the bus station. Good thing he left with lots of time to spare as the bus left 30 minutes early!! Four forms of transportation.
I am glad that he took the bus. Safer all around.
Do you think that he likes bright colours? Poor Colin his guitar strap ( the one you sling over your shoulder ) broke just as he was leaving the RV. We figured out a temporary solution.
The girls were surprised that we left Colin behind.
Once we got back to the RV, Ciela plopped herself down in front of the gate.
Carlie paced for a while.
They sat there for the longest time, just waiting for Colin.
They had lunch and finally after a few hours they relaxed enough to sit at my feet. It was a beautiful warm day today. However each time they heard a noise they ran to the gate just in case Colin was there.
It got cool at sunset so I made them go inside. Ciela immediately took her lookout position. I covered them to try and get them to relax and maybe take a nap.
Carlie is under those blankets. You can see her dark head between the white and pink blankets.
They finally fell asleep but as soon as I went outside to turn on some lights and close the door they were up and following me. So I decided to make their supper which they had and then once again went out to do a check of our yard and finally lay down on the chesterfield. It did not take long for Ciela to fall asleep but Carlie just follows me with her eyes. They usually nap 3 -4 hours in the afternoon and they have been up since 9:30 AM when Colin took them for their beach walk. I really hope that they will settle down in bed with me later on.
Meanwhile Colin has texted a few times keeping me posted as to what he is up to. I wonder who is going to miss whom the most 😥
How time flies when you are having fun
But really how did it get to be March 1st?
We have done a family beach walk together now for a few days. Colin walks to the far end of the beach and I leave about 15 minutes later and catch up to them on their return. So happy to say that I can walk to El Velero and back.
They are mindful of us going in this direction. When they walk/run in the other direction they go wild and almost out of control. Here they walk nicely and come back when we call them ( a piece of a small treat helps ). The yellow house mid photo at the top belongs to an RV couple from RV 2. At this point the house is not quite ready to live in. Meanwhile they continue to live in their RV in RV2.
I guess on this day I walked to the end of the beach. I had to sit down and rest for a bit.
Carlie is always first in the water. She does have a green collar on but it is difficult to spot. We have lost so many leashes and collars this season. Time to stock up once we get to the US.
I was still sitting on the rocks when Ciela started to bark that she had found something we needed to see. Colin beckoned me over. It appeared to be an eel or a snake struggling very hard to get out of a hole in the sand.
It was a a challenge to keep the girls from touching it. But we stayed to watch the struggle and this is what it looked like when it came out. I have Goggled eels and there is not much known about how they breed and hatch. So perhaps this was a newborn!
We left right after it started moving along the sand. Apartments are being built everywhere on the Isla. 1200MXN per month for a place right on the beach with electric and wifi is a very good price indeed.
So much colour wherever you look.
El Velero to the left and new apartments for rent for 1200MXN are right behind Puesta Del Sol. One of the longtime rvers from the back row have rented the top apartment on the right. They have two balconies, one always in the shade. Another two have also rented apartments starting in November but on the causeway.
I took this snap shot as the brown umbrella in the middle had just flown off the table because of a wind gust.
Dad looks so proud of his girls.
This sunset is from February 19th.
What do you think of the size of these photos? Would you prefer them to be smaller like below?
