5C's Que Pasa

I may have mentioned that we need to have the radiator for the generator rebuilt.  It is impossible to take it out of the RV here on the Isla.  So we unhooked certain things, moved various items,  packed up inside and out and prepared to drive away.  Gosh we sure have a lot of stuff.

And a complicated set up here and there. So we were off to Mazatlan to a shop that would allow the RV tech to get under the front end and remove the generator.

Eric led us to the work site well into Mazatlan.  Colin had to do a U-turn at this intersection but it was too tight for us and Colin had to back up and go forward inch by inch to make the turn.

But we made it and soon we had arrived.  That bus on the right was where we needed to end up but first they had to replace the tires.

Two of these were being installed.

Eric told Colin that these tires still had wear in them.  They are good until they burst.  Glad we won’t be taking that bus anytime soon.

So here were the ramps we went up for clearance to the generator.  We had to wait an hour before getting to this position.

It was not a large shop.  Lots of spare parts laying around.

This was our maximum elevation. We needed to add our jack pads at the start of the ramp as our back end was going to bottom out.

Eric started his disassembly.

He worked for over an hour to get to this point.  The orange strap had been added to raise the generator in order to remove the mounting frames.

Eventually they brought in this small table on wheels to drop the generator onto.  The small jack under the table was too low so they added a wheel hub with a piece of wood on top and the generator was just on top of all of that.

As they attempted to lower the generator onto the table they needed the bar to keep generator level as it was being lowered.  The bar was under the back of the generator.

Eric on the other side of the bar.

Now there are four guys holding the generator up, two on the front bar and two on the back bar.

So four guys are holding the generator with the two bars and the wheel hub and piece of wood were kicked away.  400 hundred pounds of generator being held with two steel bars.

Bit by bit the generator was dropped down to the table.

However the RV was still too high to slide out the generator.

Eric really had to do some heavy thinking.  So the four guys raised the generator again with the straps and bars, each holding about 100 pounds.  The table on wheels was kicked away and bit by bit the generator was lowered to sit on top of a few wood pieces.

Sort of like getting a tooth pulled, now there is a big hole.

Eric pulling the generator out from under the RV, just barely!

And there it sits.  Eric will now take the generator apart and expose the radiator which he will need to rebuild from scratch.  It took a full two hours to get the generator out.

So happy to kick back with Laura and Alan with a glass of wine and watch the sunset.

The invitation which also included a mass at 4:00PM.  The gold was covering the invitation so I had to shake it down to get a photo.

It took three days of decorating to turn an empty area into a ballroom complete with a lighted dance floor.

As lovely as any wedding cakes.

The lovely Barbara.

With her mother.

Her parents.

There with 50 tables ( yes 500 guests ) and each had a lovely center piece.  The lovely white tuberose gave off a wonderful scent.

A doll from her past and high heels for her future.  There are many different traditions and each celebration is different according to the family.

Barbara did a dance with her doll, then her young sister came along and danced with her.  Later in the dance there was a tugging of the doll between the two and in the end Karime got Barbara’s doll.

A choreographed dance. Not sure they symbolism of the young gentlemen.

Once the dance was over they led her over to a special table.

The family followed.

A special toast.

The Barbara changed and did a modern dance.

Now an independent young woman?

Suddenly the young fellows left and her Dad jumped up on stage as he shed his tie and jacket.

The main course was severed after this last dance was a beef plate with pasta and beans.  We stayed with the shrimp pate and crackers.

After dinner a 16 person band complete with a few technicians set up.  They came in from Mazatlan on their own bus.

Another first dance.

On our walk the other morning I spotted this starfish.  It caught my eye because of its unusual position.

We stopped to watch it.  It was moving ever so slowly.

I said to Colin that I thought that it was turning itself over.

It was low tide and I suspect that a wave had turned it over.

But look at how flexible it is yet it was moving so very very slowly.

Success at last.

Stretched out and resting.

Then along came a wave, higher then the others and off it went.  In retrospect I should have done a video of the event.  Never even thought of it as we were so engrossed in watching the starfish.

Yesterday’s sunset.

They are finally here.  Alan and Laura arrived early afternoon Tuesday.  This was their first time driving their RV into Mexico.  It is always a bit stressful the first time.  I still remember our prep and concerns twenty years ago.  Every year it gets easier albeit it depends on the condition of the roads.

They did their initial set up and joined us for happy hour.  Despite the facial expression Alan is more than happy to be here.

A perfect first night sunset complete with cruise ships.  This is one of the Carnival ships.

Followed by a Princess.   They both headed south, to Puerto Vallarta.

We had the fire on in an effort to deter the noseeums which only chewed both Colin and myself up.  Fortunately Laura and Alan are immune and did not get bit. We then went inside for dinner and talked for hours.  Totally forgot to take any photos.  So happy to have them here.

Heriberto and Isela are in Mazatlan staying with his cousin.  They came for a visit yesterday.

Colin picked them at the embarcadero and I walked up the beach to El Velero to meet them for a very late breakfast (12:30PM).  Colin, Isela and Heriberto drove Lichita and Jose Alfredo back to the embarcadero while I walked home.  It was a real stretch to dig out my Spanish as neither Lichita nor Jose Alfredo spoke English.  I surprised myself at what was hidden in the depths of all those grey cells.

Shortly after arriving back at the RV, Erik showed up with our repaired muffler which he installed.

Isela and Heriberto settled in while I cut and arranged the lovely roses that Lichita brought me.

Heriberto was giving Colin a fingering lesson while Erick installed the muffler which went in much easier than it had come out.

Isela supervised that job and then checked out what Gustavo was doing under our generator.

An impromptu mini concert.

Folks came and went until dark.  Here Isela and I are singing two songs, of which one was only the second time I had sung it plus I haven’t sung with her for over two years.

Isela and Heriberto’s sunset, certainly not as spectacular as Laura and Alan’s but still very colorful.

Fabulous clouds in the sky as we headed over to a 65th beach birthday celebration at RV2

The low light made it difficult to take a good photo.  We took several photos but they just did not turn out.