Jan 25, 2022

A few more Isla photos

This is the new hotel on the Isla.  It is on the malecon and we see the sunset over it.  Not open yet. So many solar panels on the roof. This side faces the shipping channel and Mazatlan, the other side looks over the ocean as we do.

These two keep popping up in photos.  Look at those relaxed hind legs. This has become their morning routine sitting in the sun at the back of the RV.

Our weekly outing is to drop off our laundry and to pick up the clean stuff. We used to go into Mazatlan about twice per week and once weekly to a restaurant here on the Isla. So now we take different roads ( well, really  dirt roads ) to see the local sights. I am now going to start taking a few photos to show you how the locals live.

This is a very small home on a large lot.

Some places are tidier than others.  It is their way of life.

Fancy gate.

Relaxing on the dash.

Ciela has a special friend she likes to cuddle. When she is really tired she will tuck her head in.

Taken last Saturday.

An interesting change of colour over a short period of time. We do have sunsets that are not worth taking a photo of.  Life is not perfect. But I love sunsets like this.

I know that this applies to many of you. Feel free to fly down for a visit.

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Jan 24, 2022

A bit of this and that

Some folks get their RV’s re painted or touch up certain areas while here. Much cheaper that back home. This fellow actually hooked up and drove his 5th wheel into the parking lot so as to not overspray his neighbours units.

Taken from a neighbours FB page, showing the painting booth from behind.

Luna is a few months older than the girls, a true Mexican dog born here on the Isla. Her adopted parents live here in the park during winter months as we do. This was from the first play date when we heard a lot of barking. Yesterday on the second play date there was no barking, just wrestling. I think that they make a great Oreo cookie.

I finally got around to making my Christmas cookies last week. They are already gone.

Not all days are sun and warmth. I like the clouds here.

I have no idea who this lady is but we have watched her for years walking her dog on the beach at sunset day after day. This year she has slowed down and with her cane makes it to this log at the edge of our site. She sits and her dog walks himself but always comes back to her. She sits for a very long time after the sun has set looking at the horizon. I’m sure that she has many stories to share about the Isla and her time here. I wish that my Spanish was enough to chat with her. Some days I just want to go down to the beach and give her a huge hug.

Yes we have fog on occasion, great photo by Colin. Our weather has been on the cool side the past few days. Highs of 22C/ 72 F during the day. We are not complaining, we just put on a sweater, after all it is January.

Sent by a friend from back home. The snow has been already melting for days. As you can see there has been a good deal of the white stuff. We were so fortunate that our winter at home last year was mild.

For those still housebound because of snow this might be fun to try.

Sunset from January 16th.

Life is good on the Isla. Wish we had a pool. I wonder if this is a male cousin.

 

 

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Jan 22, 2022

The twins, Bella & Carl

Just some cute photos of the twins taken by Colin over the past two weeks.

Nap at the back of the RV, where the sun is the warmest in the morning. Love Carlie’s leg over Ciela. You can really see the milk chocolate and the dark chocolate in their coats.

Bella and Carl were the second RVers into this park back in 2004 when it opened. It wasn’t long after that I read about this place, Tres Amigos RV Park  and thought it would be a great place to go. However over that first year I read a few very negative reviews including one about smell and pollution so we decided to pass. I later discovered that those were false complaints. We continued to travel all over Mexico and eventually Acapulco became our winter home for four winters.  That is another 858 miles/1378 kms south from Mazatlan. The drive from our home in Canada to Mazatlan is 1631miles/2625kms so a very long 2487 mile drive to Acapulco from home. The roads were and are likely still  in very poor condition especially the coastal road which is single lane, no place to pass and thousands of topes with a driving speed of 25 – 40 mph. We loved it but we were younger. The winter of 2009 my mother was very ill. We stopped here at Tres Amigos and liked it. We were torn as to continue on to Acapulco or to stay here. We made a very long pro/con list. We decided to stay based on the fact that we were only 30 minutes from the Mazatlan airport as opposed to the RV park, Playa Luces, in Pie de la Cuesta, Acapulco which is a three hour drive to the airport. Because of my mom’s health we choose to stay and that was the beginning of our time here. We moved to our current site in 2011.

The winter of 2009 we stayed in the second rv park here ( it is one park but with with two locations separated by a city block ). We moved to RV1 in 2010 and were parked in the front row right next to Bella & Carl. They were the best neighbours ever. We had Carmeh and Caeli back then and they fell in love with Bella & Carl and vice versa. Soon Bella & Carl stopped driving all the way here from Manitoba and started renting a condo in Mazatlan. They would visit us every single winter and the girls went wild with love once they saw them.

Bella and Carl came to visit on January 10th. They were eager to meet our new girls. Love at first sight all the way around.

The treats they were getting was just their regular kibble.

A great time was had by all. We will be seeing Bella and Carl next month before they return to Canada.

This visit lifted my spirits. I am eager to see how the girls react to their next visit. 

 

 

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Jan 21, 2022

Trying to move forward

The past two evenings the internet has been so slow that I could not post. It takes forever just to check the weather so I can only assume that some rvers are streaming something. Yesterday afternoon I spent a few hours replying to emails and I have many more to reply to, I will get to you eventually. Our days are so full because of the girls. They take a good deal time and I am up and down every five minutes using various methods to get them to stop barking at other dogs on the beach as well as the horses going up and down the road next to us. They are much better since we arrived but it takes constant awareness on our part. Then there is the twice daily beach walk, hosing off the sand,, drying them and so on. By next year they will be perfect little girls with good manners. But now is when we need to be consistent in the training.  I prefer to post between sunset and dinner. Depending on what we are cooking it may take a while to prep the food, we eat after 9PM and then it is too late to post. I find it difficult to find the time to concentrate during the day.

There are no lack of photos to share with you, nor stories.  So I am going back to where I left off. Before I do so to encourage you to please go back to my January 16th post and read the last comment left by Kay.  It is heartbreaking what this lady ( a long time reader ) has been through because of Covid. My heart goes out to you and your family Kay. I am so very sorry for the loss of your daughter. Sending healing thoughts your way. I will be in contact soon.

On January 8th I had my first official happy hour. We were distanced and the food was served so that everyone was safe. This is our shy girl Carlie who loves Ferne who is just a few sites over from us. She has been over a few times on a one on one and the girls know her well. You can see Ciela wanting to join in.

 

Ferne is not too fond of the face kissing, ears are okay so we will have to work on that with Carlie.

Explaining about individual plates, servers, etc.

Everyone seemed to have had a good time together.

Just as the sunset some fishermen were bringing in their nets out front. They attracted many birds including pelicans. A lovely way to end our time together.

Almost everyday there is something new to see passing by. Looks like this horse is being trained to pull something.

This truck was loading steel pipes that came in on that lancha.

Note the piece of cardboard to protect the roof of the vehicle.  They spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how to tie the pipes to the truck.  They were also trying to lift them off the ground.

He made it dragging the pipes through the sand.

Carnival cruise ship leaving that day.

Three new hibiscus bloomed that very afternoon. They are gone now but had two bloom today with more buds in the wings.

Stunning.

We are so fortunate to be here.

 

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Jan 16, 2022

I was taking a wee break due to lack of energy

We are enjoying large and small oriole visits throughout the day as well as our assorted hummingbirds.

I appreciate those of you who emailed or commented to find out what is going on.  Not an electrical nor internet issue this time.

It is a different year and we are happy to be here. We knew that we would be isolating from others and that we would not be going into Mazatlan nor going to restaurants. Still it is difficult to isolate from others. We have quick conversations in passing with some here in the park and are careful with whom we spend time with.  Most are carrying on as if there was no pandemic and we have no desire to spend time with those who eat out constantly, shop till they drop, go to casinos and love to enjoy a shoulder to shoulder happy hour night after night. Just being surrounded by all of this is difficult and I have fallen into a bit of a slump. I had no energy to sit and write the blog.

Large tree in a pot.

Hopefully my new plant will grow as large in the years to come.

However we are all doing very well, are being safe and would rather be here than anywhere else. We spend a good deal of time working with the girls everyday and it is showing. They are improving daily. I have begun to read and just don’t want to stop and work on the blog. It takes a good deal of energy to get dinner prepared. I am just going through a phase I guess. However we have continued to take photo after photo and I plan to post them all.  Don’t give up on me, it will all come together. My big joy in life  ( other than wonderful walks on the beach ) is driving off the peninsula and driving to a large grocery store on the highway. We have done this twice since December 4th. Colin has also made two early morning treks via the launcha and his feet into Mazatlan for essential groceries. As you can see only four outings since we arrived.

We are eating well. So very fortunate to have shrimp, dorado, bass and red snapper delivered to our door once per week.

Colin says that this is the best meal I have ever made. Marinated shrimp in orange and other ingredients. It really was very good. Served with a baked potato and coleslaw was all we needed.

We are now wearing our KN95 masks that I ordered direct from China in June of 2020 when they could not be found at home. Our next level of protection will be double masking plus we each have a heavy duty face shield. Cases are slowly rising here in the city of Mazatlan. On January 4th there were 103 new cases per day and yesterday we were up to 652 cases.

The girls are always finding new activities to occupy them. They never play with their toys.

Ciela is having fun digging holes around one of the palms. They are so very cute.

Life is good. Plus we have more wine then we can possibly drink before we leave. For some reason I have slowed my wine consumption, just not interested. I am still dreaming about my first margarita. I know which restaurant I will get it at and figured where to sit, well away from others. However I just am not ready yet. Before you suggest it, I do not want to start making my own margaritas. I have done so in the past and end up consuming too many, best not to have the ingredients in the house. We have friends here on the Isla who would like to make me one but they like us are being very careful. We still have 9.5 weeks left here before we start to drive north 🙁  Never enough time.

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