5C's Que Pasa

That is putting it mildly 😥   We were up early to get things done as we were meeting blog readers for dinner in Mazatlan.   We ended up being in a mini crisis.

First, the inverter fan had been running all night and the temps were spiking up over 140F and down to 99F.  Yes this is the same inverter that we spent around $580.00CAD to repair the end of January.  It worked for a while but the writing was on the wall, we were in serious trouble.  Then we discovered that the toilet which we had just repaired a few days earlier was not holding and every time we flushed, water came all over the floor. The part was not holding the repair.

After an involved 30 minute call to the inverter company tech, it became apparent that for an extra $150.00 – $200.00 USD ( 255.00 CAD ), we could get a new inverter that comes with a 3 year warranty rather than a repair the comes with a 90 day warranty.  Okay, decision made.

First we tried our usual service folks in Lake Havasu City but they were booked solid.  I surfed the net and found a recommended RV company in Las Vegas, our next stop.  The fellow who answered the phone said he could install the new inverter at our RV site in Vegas on his own time, starting at $150.00 US per hour but it was up to us to get the part in.  That took me a mere three hours 😐   But I did it.  As you can see above and below I was doing all I could to sort things out.

At one point I was using two computers at once.

Part of the problem was that we were in Mexico, ordering something in the US to be shipped to an RV Park in the US with a Canadian credit card 😯 So I needed to call the company and speak to them them in person.  Gosh I have no idea how many calls I made but it was a lot.  Then I had another problem.  My Mexican phone will not call 1  800 or 1 888 numbers, only an area code and telephone number.  Did you know that 99% of listed business phone numbers in the USA are toll free numbers?  It took a very long time to finally find a phone number that I could call, find someone who had the part in stock and could get it to Las Vegas in 8 days.  Just a tad stressful.  Meanwhile Colin was taking down the dust screen that I had power washed the evening prior at sunset as well as doing our final storage pack up.   We also then realized that I needed to also find a part to replace the toilet valve that was leaking as we already had an RV tech meeting us in Las Vegas.   More calls, etc.  It was also time to start loading the taxi trucks to get our things into storage.

Also on the list was to move Colin’s piece of art to our back forty to try and keep it safe.  Very heavy piece of wood.

So the two trucks were loaded and it was time to move our wooden stairs away from the RV and load them.  Then Colin tried to put the RV stairs down for me to get out of the RV.  Well guess what?  The RV stairs would not work at all.  So we had to make a quick decision and decided to keep the stairs at our site rather than put them in storage.  There was no way that I could get in and out of the RV without them.  So Colin took off in our car with Ismael followed by the two trucks we had hired.  Of course they had a further problem in that the bodega/storage place was on a newly cemented road and they had to park and carry everything a quarter of a block instead of just park in front and offload because there was a wait time of 21 days to cure the new road.

Meanwhile I was still trying to get the part ordered for the toilet as well as contact Eric the Mazatlan RV tech about the RV stairs.  He was out of cellular range 🙄  I had just finished getting both the inverter and toilet part ordered and shipped to the RV park in Las Vegas when Colin came back.  His next task was to figure out why the steps would not come down.  Meanwhile I finally was able to start getting the inside of the RV ready to travel back to Canada.

Are you as tired of reading this as I was living it?  So Colin checked this and that re the RV steps.  He got on his back under the RV and took everything apart.  A very long time later he remembered that he had Eric re glue/silicone the magnet required for the steps to operate.  Turns out that the magnet had been inserted ( glued ) too far away from the corresponding door magnet and that was the simple reason why the stairs would not go down.  You are brilliant Colin 😀

Next on the list was to get the stairs back to our bodega.  Rather than rent another truck taxi he thought that they might fit in the car.  Not quite, but once he took off the handrail it did fit. So off he and Ismael went to unload the stairs in our bodega.

Meanwhile I realized that we would be a bit late for dinner and contacted Linda, my very long time blog reader and changed the time by thirty minutes.  You might not be able to see, but Colin’s shirt was thoroughly wet and he needed a shower before we could leave.  We then had to say adios to Pierre and Diane who were leaving very early the next morning.

I finally got to meet Linda, a very special blog reader. We had been scheduled to meet last year but then we had to put our girls to sleep and then Colin’s Mom was sick and we had to pack up and leave ASAP. It is difficult to see in this photo but I was gifted with a blown glass hummingbird.  Mille gracisa Linda.

My final sunset this winter season taken from Olas Altas.

Russel and Linda, they are from Tennessee.  Thank goodness we met them last night as I was able to kickback and have a few margaritas and relax.

Bonus!!! I got to meet Janet, Russel’s sister, who is visiting Mazatlan for the first time.  What a special lady she is!

The final photo of the evening.  I have a feeling that we will be seeing more of each other as long as we stay here for a bit in April.  They preferred visiting time here is April and May.

So the day started on a very low note and ended on a high note thanks to Linda, Russel and Janet.  So ended our last night on the Isla.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter.  Things are slowing down here on the Isla.   Today, Easter Sunday had more visitors than Saturday but less than Good Friday.

It appears that we have taken a party pill or something similar.  Our good friend Pierre celebrated his 68th yesterday, March 31st.  We all took a chance and headed into Mazatlan to celebrate.  Due to lesser folks here on Saturday there were no lineups heading back to the mainland.  However all the lanchas were working in full force and they were so very organized and efficient.  We left the RV at 5:30PM and got to the Plazuela Machado by 5:55PM.  Great timing considering we traveled by car, lancha and a pulmonia.

Colin and I had already planed to have an intimate dinner for two at Gaia but then it just seemed logical to celebrate Pierre’s birthday at the same time.  The band is Los Cryps and they are to die for.  The singer is Jim who fills in on occasion and he is excellent.  What a great combination.

Pierre on the left, and his wife Diane, her brother in law Christien and her sister Lise and Colin sand I.

Somehow the evening started with a kiss…

..and progressed from there.  I was so tired from a full day of packing up that I told Colin that I would be too worn out to dance!!   Not true. I even did some jump jive, not in this photo.

In addition to the great conversation and friendship we enjoyed a lot of laughs and dancing.

Surprise birthday flan compete with candle.  At the same moment the band played and sang Happy Birthday.  How fun!

Good friends and tequila!  First time I have ever ever seen Colin drink tequila!!  He doesn’t even drink margaritas.  It was quite the party.

Colin is concentrating on drumming out the beat of the song.  Can you tell how much fun we were having?

Not only did I get all twisted up with Pierre but Colin danced with Lise as well as Diane and I even danced a few tunes with Christien who says that he does not dance.  What a great dancer he was.

We all had a fabulous evening.  Happy Birthday Pierre.  Feliz Cumpleanos.  How many people do you know who get sung Happy Birthday in English, French and Spanish?

It was quiet early Friday morning.

But within a few hours that changed.

The streets were packed.

…in both directions.

Lots of people.

In some places it was only 4 rows deep and in others it was up to 10 rows deep.  This is the end of the beach and we are located way far to the right just before that tall yellow hotel.

So many having a wonderful time.

Line ups starting for the Playa Sur ferry mid afternoon.

So many having a wonderful time.  We never once heard a child cry.

A most interesting day.

We all know that the big days here on the beach are Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday.  We really needed some groceries from the mercado before we leave Tuesday so we took the chance and left early Thursday morning and hoped that we would not have to wait in line coming back to the Isla.

The last two times we were here for Semana Santa we stayed at the RV park the entire time other than walking the beach of course.  It was neat to see so many mini businesses cropping up like this one. Folks were even setting up tables and selling food from their homes.  Good for them.

Just before the butcher shop a huge truck had set up and was selling all kinds of kitchen goods.  To the left of the butcher a very long grill was being set up and the sign offered carne asada.  I saw no fewer than five chicken ladies :). Folks were not going to go hungry and this was only Thursday.  From here we picked up our final basket of laundry as well as a few items at Feddies tienda.  Then off to Mazatlan.

Hey a new shop just across from the ticket booth at the embarcadero.  Note the spelling of souvenirs on the English side.  Great idea.

Once we did our shopping we rushed back to the dock.  The lanchas were filling quickly one after the other.  We got the last two seats on the boat at the left.  There is a different system in effect.  The driver never leaves his seat, someone on the dock helps us on and off and a young muchacho ( boy ) onboard insists that everyone has a life jacket on.  Very organized and efficient, they are ready to handle the crowds.

Heading back to the isla. We were the third boat heading that way.

This is a really fun quick video of our trip back to the Isla.  It will also give you a feel for the joy of Semana Santa that folks come to the Isla for.

Once we got our groceries stored we went for walk up the beach.  More people that Wednesday but still not the full crowd.

There were lots of vendors working hard.

Oysters anyone?

Good PR perhaps!

Some of these photos are inserted for the many blog readers who used to RV here and still like to see the que pasa of the Isla as well as my many readers who have stayed here on the Isla or have visited in the past.  The Union Bar has really been spruced up.

Can you see the RV park behind the umbrellas?