Sep 09, 2016
Que Pasa
Just thought I would let you know that we are still here and doing fine. Well except for Carmeh, she has had a few bad days. It really seems to be related to Colin being away. We just have to get through the next seven weeks and she will be with Colin till the end of April. We have a departure date of October 29th. Lots has to transpire for us business wise in those few weeks as well as the prep to head south. I have yet to do my regular arrival things re the past winter which is what I base our winter prep on. I just may have to wing it this year. Those two months I took off during May and June trying to find out if I actually had cancer took a lot of time and now that I know I don’t have cancer I don’t like to be tied down to my desk. Hopefully things will work out but I really do have to buckle down and get the financials in order.
The week ahead looks perfect weather wise…..
Perfect in our books….
However we still have clients delaying their photo shoots. We can only do so much in so many weeks. I just now counted the jobs on Colin’s desk. 29!!! Each of those takes anywhere from 2 to 4 days. So for the week ahead there is one job in Vancouver, aerial photography here in Kelowna and hopefully 2 full homes to be done. All the rest want to wait till after the 20th or later. I try to explain that the weather may change, etc. We do need to get the majority of those jobs done in order to have a relaxing winter.
So cute.
Meanwhile October also includes a visit by Colin to Winnipeg to visit his Mom on her 102nd birthday. We also have to load the RV and do winter prep on our home and a million other things that truly need doing. Those are on some list that I am reluctant to locate.
I like to call them my Siamese twins.
Going to try something a tad different this winter. We are going to take an extra 16 – 18 days heading South to play in the US and maybe 20 -25 days coming North. That leaves us with only four months on the Isla but four is better than none. So our initial plan as of yesterday is to spend five days in Napa Valley and a week in the Palm Springs area, likely at the Catalina RV Park in Desert Hot Springs. The price is right being a Passport America Park. We might need to take out a loan to do up the Napa area in proper style but life is short 😀 Do any of you have any thoughts on staying in the Napa area or things to see? Have any of you been to the Catalina Spa RV Park? Any ideas on things we should be checking out in the area?
The only mistake we made in building this house was the direction the patio door screen door opened.
The wind that blows off the lake tends to push the screen door open. Here the dog door got stuck in the open position.
Two nights ago we had a sudden and heavy rain storm. Interesting to watch to rain pit the lake through the intensity of the drops.
This photo was taken in March of 2008 by one of my longtime readers Al ( or his wife ). We were both headed North and were camping at Punta San Miguel, an RV park in Celestino Gasca for a bit. Colin had left me camped there while he headed onto Culiacan for the guitar festival. Al and Suzette and their wonderful dog Kasey kept an eye out on me and the dogs and the bird.
In the lower right of the photo is one of the two pelicans we had commissioned to have carved in Patzcuaro in the fall of 2007. The same pelican that is shown two photos above in the rain. This is also what our RV looked like prior to our RV repaint in Indiana in early November of 2008. We watched history being made that year when President Obama was elected. What is most special is the white bird cage in the middle living room window. That is where our parrot Cheikka was. We rescued her in Acapulco, the winter of 2007/2008. The next winter of 08/09 was our last in Acapulco. Winter of 2009/2010 was the beginning of our time on the Isla.
Thanks for the memories Suzette and Al. Caeli still has the shell of that plaid bed, just the cloth and she still lays in it. Hard to believe the girls were 3 and 5 back then.
Someone here in the park drives this vehicle. The wind up crank actually turns as the car drives down the road. So cute.
<< Older Posts Home Newer Posts >>
Hi Contessa:
Thanks for the mention and the pictures! You folks are thinking about doing what we do on our winter south, we take a month to get to southern California and then we spend 3 months there and we take a month to get back home. It’s a bit farther for us from Ontario but it’s a leisurely run and there are some great parks on the way.
We stay in Borrego Springs California from December to the end of February, so we may not be there on your schedule. If you need some info about the area, let us know.
In Napa, we stayed North at Calistoga RV Park. I just checked the rate, wow 50 amps 55 a night on weekends PLUS 2 a night for each pet! Price definitely more than when we stayed there. Lots of room, wifi, good walking for the dogs. We spent the big bucks and did the wine train, observation car, it was worth the money. We joined the Elks, most American Lodges have some RV camping, the rate for Napa 25 a night, much less painful for the wallet.
Too bad that work gets in the way of life, good luck with getting all that stuff done.
We Love Catalina Spa and CTC is very good rates for us. We like the lower area but very small sites, The upper is nice too much larger and more open. Two pools and spas are wonderful. Lots to see and do in the area from Palm springs or whatever you want to do.
Enjoy the journey.
Looks like you’re having fun and have a good plan for winter. Glad to see you’re considering going off the beaten path. Four months is four months. It goes fast but it beats two weeks 🙂
Great photos of your hounds. Sounds like you and Colin are going to be extremely busy up until the minute you leave for the winter. October 29th is not that far away. I look forward as always to your trip to and from the beach in Mexico.