5C's Que Pasa

This past Friday, November 2nd was our final big shop before crossing the border into Mexico.  Note that I said big shop, not final shop.

First stop was Walmart of course and this stop was our last Trader Joe’s stop for 2018.  If I were an American this would be our main store.  As you can see the Jeep is full.  Under that colorful blanket is soil for both my flower garden and my veggie garden.  Yes I can get soil at Home Depot in Mazatlan but for much more money and not the type that I need.  We have lot of space so why not?  PS…Rae, I think that blanket would be a perfect color for your new home.  PPS…I am hoping that some of that Coke in the fridge will smooth the way as we hit our first inspection point in Mexico.

We travel with two five gallon bottles that need filling every now and then. We drink a lot of water.  40 cents per gallon is a lot but it is conveniently located here in the RV park.

My Amazon package arrived.  Yes those are my new trekking poles or walking sticks, however you like to call them.  But these are mine and mine alone and hopefully will open new vistas for me.  Look at  my smile.

Of course we did more things on the list.  Here we have changed the frame which holds a magazine print of a truism, A Fable of Ambition, that we have kept in the RV for over 18 years.  The frame was falling apart and so we replaced it.  The words in our frame are similar to the following but a bit more simple.  Easier for me to show you this off the internet.

I hope that you get the irony of the fable.

Also repaired this piece of faded wood in the bathroom.

Colin always does a wonderful job.

Finally sunset and time to wind down.

I wonder what this all means??

Thursday morning we were back at the to do list.  The new door latch.  The lower piece needs another coat of paint.

As good as new.

The left tail light rubber is perfect but for some reason the right tail light rubber is disintegrating.

We could not find black caulking but did find a black caulking roofing product.

No idea how it will harden or if it will work.  Stay tuned for that outcome.

The next big project was to reseal under the bed.  We had Eric do it last year but Colin did not supervise every moment and we actually could smell exhaust in the back area of the RV as we were driving here.   There were a few tiny corners that were not sealed at all.  So this was a major repair as Colin took everything off and started from scratch.  Needless to say Colin put a lot of thought and detail not to mention time, into resolving the issue and we are confident in his repair.

Yet another lovely sunset.

Next stop, Fremont Street.  We walked for a bit and took in the sights and the lights.

For a few years now we make it a point to have dinner at Nacho Daddy!

A bit noisy with the sports bar background.

But the food is excellent as are the margaritas.  We both choose the seafood combo, a lobster & crab enchilada and a fish taco.

Some flair to serving certain meals.

A bit of a walk after our meal.  Now that is an extra large truck.

Can you see the zip line people@ top center?

Always so much to see.

Somehow we always end up a at Double Diamond slot machine.

Two double diamonds in a row.

Ten dollars doesn’t last as long as it used to.  Double diamond yet again.  Soon it was gone.

Our door latch was broken by the fellows at the truck wash.  They were just doing their job and the door latch was fragile having been repaired in the past.  However the bottom of the latch was gone.  Likely swept down the drain at the truck wash.

Colin took it all apart.

A year ago I had ordered a new door latch except that it was white.  So while out the day prior we picked up some similar colored spray paint.  Certainly not an exact match to our custom paint job but close enough.

Somehow, someone never checked under the bed before the bedroom slide same in and the feet were broken off this fan and crushed beyond salvage.

While at Home Depot we had picked up some free paint stir sticks in two sizes.  Colin spray painted one.

He screwed two pieces into the plastic and added the underside pads.

Why buy a new fan when it can be repaired?  Good job Colin.

Another victim of the truck wash.  Easily caulked back into place.  Aren’t most RV’s held together by caulking?

I spent over two hours doing three loads of laundry.

In between running back and forth, transferring from the washers to the dryers, I took advantage of a large table in the clubhouse and organzined all of my travel recipes.

I then filed them according to category such as appies, soups, salads, veggies, potatoes, crock pot, fish, BBQ, mains and veggies, etc.  It should be much easier to find what I need more quickly.

This is the new gas cap that we had picked up at Autozone the day prior.  Colin came up with the idea of adding a trip of Velcro to the top of the cap.

He then attached the other side of the Velcro piece to the inside of the fuel area.  So now when he removes the gas cap he will attach it not far from where it belongs.  He is unable to close the door to the fueling station unless he puts the gas cap back on.  Problem solved.

We were treated to a lovely Halloween sunset.

I also treated us to a special Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake.  This could be the first time that I have baked in the RV.  You can’t go wrong with a three ingredient recipe.  It was delicious.

The forecast for the week ahead looks great.  It really did warm up on Monday and was a wonderful day. Except we spent most of the day indoors shopping.

Saw this large RV unit pulling an equally large trailer.  Looks like they were about to garage their KIA car.  He was tightening up the restraints on his ATV.  Both the RV and the trailer had a lot of shiny chrome all around.

We were on a mission.  No, not to visit the strip but we were close.  Why is the Statue of Liberty wearing a sports jersey with a ‘V ” on it?

Stopped at a light next to the MGM Grand.

After the movie!  Yes we got to enjoy the movie in these wonderful recliners.  This was only our second movie in ten years, but I am forever spoiled for these luxury seats.  I splurged and  got the biggest bucket of popcorn which I could not finish but it was my main meal of the day so I did not feel bad at the amount that I did eat.  I must confess that my water bottle became a wine bottle for the movie.  Is there any another way to watch a movie?

It was kinda of neat that we were in a casino in order to watch a movie.

So we took advantage of the situation, especially when we found our favorite machine, a Double Diamond Deluxe.  The first $10.00 was fun and then I put in another $5.00 and that went quickly.

The hike is from a parking lot right next to the high end of the tunnel to the top of the Natural Arch.

The official description of the Canyon Overlook trail is that it has long drops offs which are mostly fenced ( not all are ) and that the path is rocky and uneven.

I later read the following. Warning: This rocky, uneven trail is not for anyone fearful of heights, although most drops offs are fenced.

Colin could only take photos when it was safe for me to walk on my own as he was busy hanging onto me to during the scary spots.

I was at my best with the rail to hang onto.

I used the walking stick and Colin’s arm, he chose my footing in the most dangerous areas.  Some of these steps up and down were beyond my normal extended range.

It was the most difficult thing that I have ever done in my life.

The views going up and down must have been amazing but I only peaked occasionally.  I was concentrating on putting one foot ahead of the other.  Then there was the fact that I was trying to catch my breath.  By the way, what you see in the colored rock to the left, is the trail.  Exactly.  There is no trail.

The path which at times we could not even find, was long and mostly narrow.  Each section had its own set of unique challenges.  Well at least to me they were a challenge. I kept asking everyone who was coming back down if we were almost there.  How much further?  Is the worst over?  It wasn’t the worst.  A few times we talked about going back as it seemed to take forever to get there.  We did it in 38 minutes.

As you can see the trail is very narrow in parts.   There is one section that is only 9 inches wide that you must walk along with no railing.  That was the scariest area for me.  I chose to walk facing the rock walk with my back to the canyon.

I was never so happy as to go around that last corner and there we were.  I just stood there overlooking the valley and tried to relax as I soaked in the beauty of it all.

Thanks to Colin I made it.  Sadly we were late in getting the right light for the great view shot.

It was beautiful, but I was worried about the descent.  Could I do it?

A huge step down for me.

I was very concerned that it would be dark before we got to the bottom.

Beyond being frightened of falling it was totally exhausting.  2/3’s of the way down I realized that the hand griping the walking stick and my arms were shaking.  I had only eaten ice cream since the night prior!!!

It took us 45 minutes to get down.  We had to stop often to let others pass as I was the slowest of them all.  It must have been obvious that I was out of my element as twice people came up to us and offered their help.  In this photo I am climbing up in order to get down.  I did do a lot of grunting and groaning along the way.

I could not have done this without Colin, nor the newly found walking stick ( which I totally relied on ) and of course my runners.

We did enjoy Zion, just not in the way we would have preferred.  This is her last gift to us as we drove away.