Month: April 2023

…life is not perfect it but it could always be worse. We are happy with where we are at the moment. Well if we could get just have a bit more heat from the sun then life might even be perfect. I have read that the local fruit orchards and veggie gardens are at least two weeks behind last spring and last spring was already late. Seems like we will have to start living in the moment and just go day by day. We can no longer rely on the que pasa of past years. Certainly this past winter showed us all that no matter where one is, be it the US, Europe or even Mexico and especially the Isla that the climate has changed.

Today Colin and I took our parasite pill ( that we always take on our return from Mexico ). The first one was two weeks ago and today was the last one. We have never had a problem using this program. However I found it comical that the girls also got their monthly flea pill today. So today was the family day to get rid of bugs 😆

Today our window washers never showed despite that I booked them last August 12, 2022. I even booked this coming July 🙄 Fortunately the lady who booked me recalls that I had booked two sessions last August. They will be sending out a supervisor on Thursday to do the job. Great customer service. Just yesterday I got a call from my very very new dermatologist booking my annual check up next May/2024. How did we get to this point that we need to book so many appointments over a year in advance? I can barely keep track of this month never mind 13 months in advance.

It was actually nice  today to be able to start to clean up things that have been piled on my desk with no stress.

This afternoon we both heard a loon. I love loons but this is not their habitat. Perhaps it was just passing through. I can’t remember the last time I saw or heard a loon.. They have such a unique sound. 

I am quickly learning to live in the moment.

I have been wanting to share this with you for a few weeks. True photos taken in Mazatlan. You can see this almost unbelievable series of heron photos enjoying lunch by clicking on this Facebook link.  

In case you are not on Facebook here are a few teaser photos.

Wishing you all a relaxing evening and a peaceful sleep.

Just in case you are a Carol Burnett fan.

https://www.everythingzoomer.com/arts-entertainment/2023/04/25/carol-burnett-as-the-tv-legend-turns-90-celebrating-decades-of-laughter-and-love/

 

Happy to share that about an hour ago I completed the year end and our personal taxes 😛  It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The package of papers and lots of manually calculated numbers will be shipped Fed Ex tomorrow. Our accountant in Vancouver will then do his magic and figure out how we can pay the lowest in taxes. The company year end is only the end of May but our wonder guy needs the entire picture to sort things out as the personal taxes are due April 30th. Plus we are ever so slowly working on shutting down the company. We are very cautious at the moment about spending any money as instead we are using any extra pesos to pay towards future taxes. Hopefully we will soon ( a few years ) get to the  point where we can continue to enjoy life ( and not work ) while still drawing an annual salary but not have to pay taxes. Of course once we empty the company coffers we will be free and living off of our RIFFS and TFSAS and whatever else might be left. However Colin is already making plans to keep working, just not in our incorporated company. He will never retire 🙄  However I am pretty much done. This was my 32nd year of doing these taxes ( we have been married 36 years ). I am more that ready to retire. If he continues to work he will have to figure out the tax part of it all on his own.

Our weather remains dreary, rainy and cold – well at least to us. I have yet to get out for a walk since we returned home on Easter Sunday. Of course my various medical procedures have affected my freedom to get out and walk. Tomorrow my right leg gets to be free from the thigh high elastic stocking but it will then be the left legs turn. Sadly despite the special glue that can be used to bind the stocking to my thigh, it usually does not work and I am at half mast with my stocking dangling below my knee 😳 After tomorrow I will then be vein treatment free until the end of September.  Between the taxes which are now complete and my face which is now covered with scabs but is always itchy and constantly having a thigh high stocking until May 1st I am rather drained.  For some reason I decided to get all the medical appointments done at the same time that I was doing taxes. Not the greatest plan. I was just trying to get out of wearing stockings during the heat at this time of year. Thus far we have had not heat so that has not been an issue. Oh well I will still be free on May 1st and that is important to me 😎 Of course I am to stay out of the sun forever. Well than never works cuz of the reflection of the sun off the sand on the Isla, but I do the best I can.

Two evenings ago we noticed that the swallows are back. I have no idea how many, but at least over 100 and they do the most wonderful ballet all over the sky. We are so lucky to see these artists doing their thing at dusk everyday.

Despite the rain the girls have been doing very well. Today was the only day they did not get out on on a walk. I can see that they have become somewhat spoiled over the winter. Ciela constantly wants to sit on us. On the Isla they altered between sitting on our laps or on the foot stool that I used outside. They did their own thing quite a bit but they really wanted to be near us and still do. We have been gone re appointments most days for at least 2.5 hours. Via the nanny cam we have seen that they are not barking but they do get restless and on occasion whine a bit. They have become so used to having us in reach.

They are still puppies and in training. Because we have both been at our desks for long periods of time these past few weeks they have taken to nudging our legs with their long noses to let us know that it is time to give them some attention.

FYI ( Dee ) the black headband I was wearing in the last post was not my doing but put on me by the dermatologist. However that is what made me  that I looked like my mother.

One of these days I will get back to showing you photos that I took on the Isla but never had time to share.

Well nothing exciting happening. Basically just doing the annual maintenance on myself 🙄  I am trying to get it all done as well as the taxes so that I can have a do nothing May, well except for planting our garden.

Way too cold to even think about planting anything yet. We woke up today to white roofs all around us. Not snow but frost. It was -2C/28F. Tonight we are expecting 2C/35F, yes a bit warmer but still a risk of frost. The weather guessers have promised us sunshine tomorrow with a high of 55F.

We continue to be busy but its all mostly centred on me. This past Monday was day one of my four annual vein treatments. One session in each leg in April and the final session end of September before we head south. I have been doing this for just over 8 years now and it does help keep my veins in check. Sclerotherapy is a medical procedure used to eliminate varicose veins and spider veins. My legs are much better but this past Monday ( right let ) and likely next Monday on the left leg there are a few troublesome areas. Many of you have seen photos over the years. I look like a human pin cushion. Yesterday we have a longish meeting with our financial advisor. It does look like things will be getting better mid year and into 2024. About time 🙂

Today was the most difficult maintenance of them all. My dermatologist had retired and moved to Victoria. She was pretty much the only on here in Kelowna. Now we have three new ones but I still had to wait ten months to see Dr. B. I have read mostly negative reviews. You can’t always believe those. She is a delightful young lady ( makes me feel old ) who has a great personality and cares about her patient/me and is willing to give. We have the talk about the Que Pasa of the spots on my face and chest. The chest ones are precancerous plus I have two different ‘spots’ happening on my face. About five years ago I had electrocautery done to my face spots.The wonderful thing is that it lasted almost 4 years. The past two springs the dermatologist just used cryotherapy on my spots and that did not last long. However new spots are always forming in my face. One should use a minimum of SPF35 on your face, I have been using SPF 25 followed by SPF 50 or 70 daily for several days. What I have not been doing is reapplying the face lotion every two hours. Today I was told that it really only lasts two years. So despite wearing my hat all the time and I really do, the sun has still been reflecting off the sand etc. has contributed to my blemishes. I have pre cancerous spots as well as sun spots but the worst is the Seborrheic Keratosis which I mostly have. Bottom line, start applying lotion every two hours.

So today we agreed to try the electrocautery. Despite the superficial anaesthetic it really did hurt. The worst part was smelling my flesh burning. So tonight I have a prickly sore face. I was told today that the key is to keep everything moist. Do not let the scabs dry out. Dr. B suggested doing the procedure on May 4th. Colin piped up and asked if it could be done today as I was having a special birthday in May and he did not want me looking horrible. We were both surprised today that she said if we could wait twenty minutes that she would do it then 😀 I really am pleased with my new dermatologist. She told me to get my GP to do a referral for next year. She also asked me to come back in two weeks as a follow up visit. I have never been offered that before.

Fortunately my afternoon kinesiology appointment tomorrow was cancelled by my therapist. I will be honest, I am in a world of a pain tonight. Hope that part will be gone by tomorrow.I am hopeful that this will remove the worst of my spots and that I might not have to do anything for two years. Colin thinks that I am crazy to voluntarily have these things done to me. However he was there for me and didn’t say anything as I squeezed his hand so hard when Dr. B worked some parts of my face that had not taken to the topical anesthetic. She offered to stop and inject me all over with a different anesthetic but I just gritted my teeth and said keep going. I wanted it to be over.

The girls have been left alone for 2.5 hours on each of my maintenance days. They have not barked ( love our nanny cam ) but they do miss us and don’t relax. May 1st is not too far away 😎

 

 

So I spoke with my doctor on the phone last Tuesday and of course she said she had to see me in person. At least I was able to order a few refills for some meds, get an X-ray ordered for my sore knee and a doctors referral for my veins. I saw my doctor in person on Friday. It appears that there is a new policy that is being enforced which is ten minutes per visit. Basically that means that you are only allowed to address one health issue per visit.

So I made a note of the time she came into the room for my 12:00 noon appointment. It was 12:03 PM. Was asked what I wanted to see her about, my cough of course. She listened to my chest and said it sounded fine. I said that it was a dry cough. She said that it was possibly caused by post nasal drip or acid reflux and said she would give me meds for one and if they doesn’t work then we could try other meds for the second possible cause. I strongly said that no this is not what is causing my cough. Cough lozenges, cough syrups and anti-inflammatory meds ordered by the Mexican doctor I saw on the Isla have not helped. The only thing that calms the cough briefly is tequila or brandy. No I have never smoked, not even one puff ever!  No I do not have asthma. I asked about dust, if that could be the cause? Possibly she said.

Colin and I found our RV spot on the Isla has become increasingly dusty over the years. Now there are many more ATV’s and horses and tractors going up and down the narrow road that is beside. Our dust screen has helped but it is not enough to stop the clouds of dust flying over our site both front and back of the RV. This past winter there was some construction started next to us just across that narrow road. It involved moving tons and tons of sand with front end loaders ( I have photos to share with you in another post ). Interesting article on dry coughing.

So after some back and forth with the doctor she suggested I try an inhaler which should help alleviate some of the inflammation in my lungs and might give them chance to heal and stop the coughing. I am taking two puffs in the morning and then 12 hours later another two puffs. I felt a tiny bit better Friday, no change yesterday and but more coughing today. Hard to explain but it is a somewhat different cough but it still hurts my chest when I cough. I am hoping to feel better in the days to come. This is what I am inhaling. Of course one of the side effects is cough 😳 In short I have a dust allergy. No wonder I have been exhausted, I am wearing out my lungs. It is somewhat concerning as both of parents died because of lung complications but as I like to say poco a poco. I will take this one day at a time and do the best that I can. It is a relief to have a cause, that is the first step.

So at exactly 12:10 she started to go out the door. I said that she owed me three minutes and quickly asked her how long I would have to wait for my x-ray and what would happen when she got the results. I got short answers but she wasn’t too pleased pleased with me. Now she was 3 minutes late for the next patient 🙄

The RV has been unloaded and cleaned on the inside. It has just been put into the storage lot. That was a lot of work. I am pleased to add that my total laundry loads for this year was fourteen. I am glad that that is over. Now I can start working on taxes and the company year end. I have decided to take the rest of today off. My long term goal is to have all of the to dos done by the end of April. May will be for resting, walking, planting flowers and a garden.

I don’t know what this means but at the same time that we started the RV engine the business phone rang. It was a client with a  job 🙄 I’m torn.

I finally found some photos of Semana Santa on the Isla. Photos were taken by LINK Sinaloa.

If you are on Facebook you can see the rest by clicking https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=771108871038483&set=pcb.771109001038470

We will be there next year for Semana Santa as well as for the eclipse.

 

Got home about 11:40AM Sunday. No problems crossing the border. Even better I did declare my extra wine and was allowed to keep it. But it  took about an hour to unhook, clear off the cement stanchions that we have used along with a chain to block off our driveway. Then the girls could not wait a moment longer. So we left the RV parked on the road and let them into the yard. They loved it and ran and chased each other and kept coming back to kiss us. They ran all through the house as well. Finally we left them inside ( not very warm out at all – I had a fleece and a Northern Face windbreaker on ) and we got the RV parked.

Then the unloading began. So much back and forth. We worked Monday and today as well. So now the RV is empty as well as the basement and the Jeep. I have done 7 loads of laundry, 4 for the RV linens and towels and 3 for all the dog blankets. Before I continue with the next and 6 – 7 loads of our clothing Colin will vacuum out all the dog hair in the washer and in the dryer.

Door to door we covered 5092miles/8195kms. Some days seemed longer than others. We had a great sleep in the very quiet Omak Walmart. By only driving 138 miles that last day we were able to have plenty of time to park before we started the unloading. The highest we paid for diesel was 5.57 USD per US gallon on October 19, 2022 and the lowest we paid was $3.79USD per gallon in Idaho. Our last fill up was Sunday, April 9th and the price was $4.77 per gallon as the very same station that we first filled up on, October 19th, the day we crossed into the US @ 5.57US.

Overall it was a good drive from Las Vegas to home. The hills in Oregon were so very green. We did have to stop in Pendleton to get the RV engine air compressor belt tightened. They had put in a new one before we left in October and it had stretched and was in need of tightening. The Kennworth/Cummins shop said they were busy for the next few days but Colin asked if they could at least look at the engine. They did and fixed the problem and said no charge. Colin handed the fellow a twenty. We were very lucky to get this service done on Saturday of the Easter long weekend.

So happy to be home but I think I like the bed and duvet in the RV better. And yes the kids have been in our bed since we left Vegas. Hopefully tonight they will be in their crate. They both have been using it for naps.

 

Happy Easter everyone.

We are less than 20 miles from the Canadian border. We will be home by noon today.

A week or so ago the Bayfield Bunch  mentioned this song. I have not listened to it for a long time. Truly one of the greats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKCVAXhVMkY 

Have a listen to this show performed on November 6, 1993. I love how they care so much about what they are singing and how they look at each other not to mention how their voices blend.

https://youtu.be/Bxryb3xN-Lo 

Al Bayfield, thank you for Simon and Garfunkel and stirring my soul. A great link, feeling nostalgic. Robert and Michelle every time we travel this road we think of you.

Oops at the border. Need to publish before I lose my USA internet. No time to put in video format, just click the links please.

We left Las Vegas Thursday morning as planned but just a bit later. I debated sharing this but you all know that I am totally honest and don’t hide anything. At the RV park in Las Vegas, the RV is parked at the back of the site with the car in front. Colin went to move the Jeep around to the back in order to hook up. I caught his eye and thought that he was telling me to drive the RV ahead a few feet. This is about the limit of my RV driving. So I started to slowly move ahead when he jumped out of the car and yelled NO!! So I slammed on the brake but my foot slipped and I went further ahead. I had assumed that he had unplugged the electrical cord but he had not 🙄  I had damaged the electrical post.Yikes  😳  😯  😥 So we called maintenance and they eventually came by ( it was coffee break time for them ). They looked at the damage and declared that things were okay enough. I did crack the 50AMP plug which they said they could replace. They were very nice about it and did not require us to pay anything.

So we were finally driving at noon with no food for us to eat. We stopped in Alamo at 1:15 where we fuelled up, fed the girls and I prepared something for us to eat as we drove. Lowest price yet on this trip for diesel at 4.29. We are travelling with Dianne and Bob and they were ahead of us and took the slightly longer road to Ely ( 42 miles ). They arrived about 40 minutes ahead of us. We had lovely pull thru sites side by side but it was cold so there was no visiting. Fortunately the sun was keeping us warm in our RV. This was our last night with power so I planned dinner accordingly. However because of the expected freezing conditions we did not put our jacks down nor put the slides out. You may recall that a few years ago it froze and we could not get the living room slide in. Colin had to go up the ladder with a boiled kettle of water to pour along the metal cladding over and over until it thawed out. So we were being cautious. We drove 250 miles yesterday.

Today, Friday the 7th, we woke up to no frost or ice. I had got up in the night and did check the outdoor temperature and it was 27F. It was expected to go down to 19F which is around -8C. Fortunately clouds came in and the temperature did not go any lower. We were on the road about 8:15AM, had a stop in Wells at 10:45 and lunch at a rest area along I84 about 2PM. The snow on the mountains and the ground was dazzling. We have never seen so much snow in all the years that we have travelled this route.

Just before our stop for the night tonight on the Idaho/Oregon border we stopped at exit 28 at a Maverick where diesel was only $3.79 per US gallon. A savings of 50 cents per gallon based on the great low price of 4.29 we paid yesterday in Alamo. So we have an extra $34.40 in our wallets. Today was a longer drive, 428 miles. We are tired tonight.

But first I have to explain what happened when we drove into this rest area. There were two other RV’s there ( turns out it was three ) and we knew them all. Folks from where we live, in Holiday Park. Unbelievable coincidence. We all had had traveled Mexico over the winter. Some more than others.

We had a nice drive from Q to Vegas on April 2nd but as we arrived the winds started. It was a bit of a gong show checking in what with a long line up and a very very slow check in system. Then Colin could not get the Jeep unhooked because of being directed into a right lane which left the Jeep torqued. It needs to be straight to unhook. Solved that problem by being allowed to drive to our site and unhook there. Did a quick set up to get inside out of the wind. The girls loved the fact that we get sunshine through a window at some point during the day. They were not impressed with the chilly wind.

The Isla has been consistently 82F/ 28C and now here in Vegas we are dealing with 42F/5.5C. We are expecting rain showers and a high of 53.6F/12C once we get home. However the temperatures here in Las Vegas will getting back to normal but only after we leave 😥

Our neighbours from back home in Kelowna arrived about 45 minutes ahead of us and without planning were only 5 RV sites away from us. We hadn’t seen them since the end of January when they left the Isla to get their RV painted in Mazatlan while they stayed in Las Jaibas. Too miserable to sit outside even in the sun so we did a quick catch up inside our RV. I was too tired to do anything like have a proper happy hour or go for dinner. It was only a 200 mile drive but I am still low on energy. Fortunately they are going to enjoy two shows and dinner out while here. Maybe in November, I just want to stay in the RV right now and regain my health. FYI my knee has not bothered me since early March.

Happy to report that the first two nights here I slept nine hours each and ten hours last night. The first night it was so windy that the RV was actually shaking. Monday, day two, remained windy with garbage flying everywhere. Yesterday remained cool until about 4PM. The girls refused to go out to do their business. Finally we broke out their puff coats which helped with the shivering.

Monday I did laundry and had to be careful the car door was not whipped away. No way could I walk back and forth to move the clothes to the dryer. Yes it was that windy. Yesterday, Tuesday, was a long day of errands and we had the girls with us which they like even if they are stuck in the car. Today I have one quick shop at Walmart for burger buns, fruit, romaine and whatever else I might need. Then I plan to just relax just as I have been doing since we got here. So far no wind. Maybe I’ll go for a walk with the kids.

I did contact my doctors office yesterday and they are taking extra days off for Easter. I have a telephone appointment with her next Wednesday and one in person next Friday. Sadly they are now only doing 10 minute appointments which is not enough time to discuss my cough, never mind a few other issues.

Today Colin was able to find my lost photos by using my camera flashcard in his laptop. So I will get to work on those in the next few days.

Thanks for understanding why I have been quiet since we arrived here.

 

I did some math a few hours ago and since we left home on October19, 2022 we have driven 3,629 miles. More to come and potentially very cold temperatures.

Usually I write a blog post based on photos that I have taken. Today I am going back to when we left the Isla and a few observations, no particular reason other than I am having problems downloading my photos from March 6 – 28th. I should have taken a photo of this incident but I could not believe it. On our first stop as I walked back to the bathroom I noticed that the new convention/microwave oven door was open and the large glass plate that goes around and around was 1/3 out of the oven. So of course I removed the plate and put it on the bed thinking what a lucky catch. Same thing next stop – just the door open. So we now duck tape the door closed. I guess we will have to get Erik to make a fix re the level of the door or something.

Both truck stops were fairly quiet and we mostly slept. I have no idea how ( well I guess I do ) why the girls have been in bed with us. It took 1.5 days for them to settle downs we drive and fall asleep almost as soon as we started to drive. However Carlie who has always sat with me has moved to Colin and Ciela has moved to me.

The entire drive has been mostly overcast and not hot, just warm enough. In the past we have needed A/C at both truck stops and also at our first night stop in Ajo. Just opening the windows is all we have needed to do. I checked the weather today from here to home and we will be getting cold but we won’t be driving in snow.We have certainly enjoyed watching the flowering jacaranda trees and the wild flowers the past few days. We also saw many cacti with almost the end of every arm in full bloom. So beautiful. I was not in a place we could slow to take a photo but I don’t’ think I will ever forget that vision.

Because we were dry camping and really didn’t have a generator unless Colin went to all the trouble of setting up the portable one we usually only use for A/C. I had planned meals that we could use the stove top. We ate delicious ( my best yet ) egg salad sandwiches on fresh bread each of the four days. So yummy. One night I was so tired that I had my shower and then went to bed at about 8PM and slept until 6:30AM. Apparently Colin and the girls slept in the living room and even closed the door to the bedroom and I slept the deepest sleep in have had in years. I am tired.

I like to think that my coughing has diminished a bit. Colin does not think so. One of my blog readers made a comment one or two posts back that I just might have Valley Fever. If I am like this when I get home I will see my doctor asap. I did try taking an antihistamine three days in a row as suggested by yet another blog reader but it did not make a difference. I truly appreciate all of you who make suggestions. This cough has be stopped. My chest is sore.

We had no issues with any of the various police stops, always waived through. That included the huge military check at Benjamin Hill. We always pretend that we don’t understand what they are asking. Eventually Colin says San Carlos – yes that is where we are coming from and it is not a lie, we spent the prior night there. We never say Mazatlan. Eventually Colin points to the Canadian flag sticker and says Canada, we go to Canada. We are then waived through.

We were asked a number of different questions crossing from Mexico into the USA. Like when we crossed from Canada to the US back in October we were asked to take the dogs with us and to step out of the RV. Before exited we were asked if we had any medications from Mexico, did we have any seashells, what had we purchased while in Mexico,They did not ask where we were and nor for how long. They did ask where we got the girls from and how old they were. They were very specific about fruits and veggies. We said we only had two bananas, then they asked about apples and oranges. Colin told them that we had eaten the fruits on the way down that morning. They also asked about eggs and other veggies. We of course had no meat.They did ask about alcohol and we explained that we were still drinking wine that we had purchased in the US on the way down to Mexico and we knew that we had to drink it before Canada. They said that that was allowed, good to know. As we know no raw eggs nor veggies/ fruits with seeds. We told them that we had thrown out tomatoes and cucumber. Cabbage, carrots and spinach were okay. They took our two potatoes? We were never asked about drugs nor guns. They did ask for the keys to the car before we stepped out of the RV. One fellow asked the questions and then he and a female ( possibly his senior ) went inside. I moved towards the door to add that we did not have meat but we had veggies sausages and veggie ground. That is when I saw them in the kitchen garbage can. They came out with tomatoes, potatoes and orange peels. They left us the cucumber. There was a third agent outside with us showing us photos of his brothers doxie. Was he keeping us company, distracting us or what? They never did look into the Jeep but they did ask if there was something they might find that they shouldn’t. We had nothing to hide and were totally honest. They were very nice to us and I think that they trusted us.

We found diesel for $4.45 in Gila Bend at the Circle K. Then we saw a price of $4.15 at both the Pilot and the Arco just as we came into Quartzite. Love’s was charging $4.69. We are happy with what we paid. So we are dry camping in Quartzite tonight. Colin was going to put the generator thru its paces while he made dinner but he just didn’t want to run the generator and disturb other campers. Instead we are using the RV propane oven for the first time in many years.

Tomorrow we are off to Las Vegas for a few day of relaxation. Not sure about posting, you will just have to drop by and check. I so appreciate all your comments. I hope that you understand that I don’t have much time to post never mind answer your comments but I do love reading them 😀

Going to try and download some photos. I may not get to proofing my spelling – sorry!  Send me a comment or email if I should fix something.