5C's Que Pasa

Erik never arrived till almost noon on Friday.  First he completed the bedroom slide and then moved into the living room.  that pretty much moved us four out into our yard once again.  At least this time we could use our bathroom 😳  By then project number three showed up.  Can you recall and how can you not, how we were flooded each time it rained and especially after the hurricane?  Five years ago we ordered a quarter load of pea gravel to cover the sand and dirt of our yard.  It has lasted a long time despite various severe storms and high waves.  This year we arrived to very little gravel and decided that next year we would order more.  Well as we were already out of our site it seemed logical to do it now.

The truck arrived noonish Friday with a full load.

We had been quoted 1600 pesos for a quarter load yet this fellow showed up with a full load for the same price.  But we really didn’t need it all.  The park owner offered to take half for 500 pesos.  You can do all the math you want but this is Mexico.

Colin jumped up a few times to make sure we got our half of the load.

The driver then dumped the rest of the load at the back side of the park.  Upon reflection we wondered if we should keep the entire load.  500 pesos was not worth giving up all that gravel.

Colin and Ishmael began to move in wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of gravel onto our site.

They worked side by side, load after load.

A pretty good team who only took a few water breaks. Soon we had 61 loads scattered through our site.

At this point we realized that we could likely use the entire load once we moved our RV back into place.  Gravel behind our site and under the car would keep things very clean as well as in a few other places.  Why give up a half load for only 500 pesos/27.00USD?  However at this point the gravel was at the furthest place away from us, no worries, after all it is only a short wheelbarrow ride away.

Meanwhile Erik was well into the LR slide and came upon a problem. We had major rust on one of the integral parts.

The area indicates the damaged piece. Erick ( he really is the best ever ) discovered that we had a tiny crack in the drip molding that diverted a tiny amount of water along the rail which over time created the rust.

I don’t think there is another tech out there who would have taken the time to figure out the cause.  So now we are awaiting a new piece, only this time it will be aluminum.  Plus he will repair the problem so we will no longer have any diverted water drops.  However that meant that our LR slide was not completed Friday.  Erik plans to get back to us Monday.  You do have to realize that he lives ( only in the winter, rest of the year he works in Canada ) and works in Mazatlan which means a long drive over to us here on the Isla including driving ‘the road’.  Pretty soon we won’t be able to call it that as paving is once again in progress.  For certain when we leave here we will be driving a paved road 😆  Great changes for us RVers ( only because of the road ) and for the restaurants ( income ) but there will for certain be a change as to the ambiance of the Isla.

This was taken either Friday or Saturday from the top step of the RV.  A great new angle.

Saturday was mostly spent spreading all those piles of gravel.

Lupe the fellow doing the palapa work showed up to say that he was unable to pour the new cement post as there was no tube available on the Isla but he would instead spend he day cutting palm fronds for us.  Friday he had delivered a few loads of wood.  So basically Saturday was a no show for both Erik and Lupe but a gravel leveling day for Colin.

Lupe delivered two loads of palmas.

This was the last load…..a heck of a lot of palmas.

Sunday was a day of ‘rest’ so to speak.  We did have to take down lots of our lights and such and move many things away from the palapa.  From past experience we know that it will be a dusty and dirty job.

In answer to a few comments from my last post, it is much cheaper to do this here in spite of the disturbance to our home and our life here in paradise.  We think that we are saving at least $3000.00USD by having the slide rubbers changed here in Mazatlan  😎

We have been waiting since the end of November to get 2 major projects underway.  Sometimes life in Mexico is ‘next week’ or ‘in a few days’ or ‘I will call you’.  Last Thursday morning both projects came together at the same time.  We had 45 minutes to pack up and move the RV.

Somehow it happened.  Throw everything in the middle of the room or on the bed and bring the slides in.  A big jumble but we managed with 5 minutes to spare.  The poor girls were on the dash and I could see in their eyes that they thought we were leaving the beach for good.

We backed up to the parking lot leaving our site open.

This is getting old, the third time this season that we have left our site.  One main project is on the RV and the second one is re roofing both the palapas.  Neither of them were supposed to require us moving the RV.  Suddenly we had to move, in order to enable both projects to happen at the same time  😯   So we moved and honestly it is not pleasant.  Our bedroom window is over the garbage cans which management kindly moved but it is a tight area and just not pleasant.  The most difficult thing is that we can’t put out the dog ramp ( there is no space for the length of it ) so the girls are unable to come and go as they please and need to be carried in and out of the RV.

The slide out rubbers on our two slides need to be replaced.  They have become compressed over the years and when we head North up I5 the rain is always seeping in.  Most nights when we stop and put the slides out the carpet is damp if not actually wet.  Of course there is the odd time that we don’t get rain but in April in the Pacific NW that is rare.  Colin already had new slide rubbers onboard, something he had purchased as a just in case a few years back.

The first thing that needs to happen is to raise the slideout just a bit and pull it out a tad.  Easier to say than to do it.

Next Erik our wonderful tech guy has to figure out how our particular system was put together so that he can take it apart and hopefully put it back together again.  The black rubber is what he is removing ever so carefully.  You can see daylight seeping in at the bottom and at the top.

Not difficult to sort the old from the new rubber.

Erik working on the top of the slide.

That is the length of the black rubber seal being inserted.

Erik and his helper worked a steady nine hours and completed 90% of the first slide.  I have delayed this post and the next few as I was just basically coping with a new situation.  In essence we were living under the palapa while the work took place both inside and outside of the RV as there was no space for us inside.  We didn’t know one day to the next what was coming next.  The palapa work was not to start until Saturday but just in case Erik ran into a problem and he needed several days to sort things out, we had to move back so he could work without palapa dust falling on his head and our open slide out.  Well the bedroom slide went well but not so the living room slide and then the palapa fellow showed up Friday morning.  Stay tuned for the next episode of “Drama of the Isla”.  Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to cancel our social engagement for Friday evening (  and they had such a great time without us ).

This is where we are at the moment and likely for a full week.  I sure miss my palapas, they keep us cool.  We have been running the A/C every day since we moved back.

At one point in all of these projects we expected to be back in our site by Monday evening.  Well it is now very clear that that won’t be happening.  Oh, did I mention that our two projects have now become four 🙄   All I can say that it was very fortunate that we dumped our tanks last Wednesday and filled our fresh water tank.

Whatever is the third project you ask?  I’ll tell you tomorrow, I promise.

Sadly it is Carmeh.  Poor thing, she is just recovering from her back problems and now this.  We first noticed it New Years Eve when she did not react to the loud firecrackers going off in the area.  She is was so afraid of thunder and other loud noises that she used to hide between the back of the toilet and the wall.

Now she can’t hear.

She never relaxed or rested much during the day as she was always following us about, in and out, just everywhere.  Now if she is asleep she has no idea that we have even left the RV.  Carmeh no longer responds when we call her nor to the squeak of toy.  Each day it has gotten worse and now when we call her name loudly she does not respond.  She has a a look of confusion on her face.  I think she is wondering why she can no longer hear our voices.

It hurts me to see her like this.

Colin says that he is sure that she is alright but how does one really know?   We spoke to our vet who explained that deafness can come upon a dog very suddenly and after a few weeks the dog seems to adapt.  I even called Sandie from Where are the Dixons Today for advice as one of her doxie’s also went deaf recently.  She told me that Scooter has adapted very well.  I wish I could understand what a dog is feeling and thinking 🙁

We have always used hand signals on the beach to make the girls come to us from a distance which is a very good thing.

The one thing we can’t figure out is how to tell Carmeh to let something alone.  For instance if one of the girls picks up something in her mouth on the beach that we don’t know what it is we shout in a loud voice “OFF” and she will drop it immediately.  It is a command that has come in very useful over the years, most especially is they have destuffed a toy and are eating the fuzz.

Sometimes we think that she can hear us but then a moment later when we call her name she does not respond.  So did she really respond to us or was it just a reaction to a movement we made?  I find myself constantly watching her and trying to analyse what she is thinking, how she is doing and whatever is she feeling and thinking.  I covered my ears with my hands and decided I would be just lost being deaf.  Of course I am putting human emotions onto a dog.  I have noticed that if I call Caeli to come, then Carmeh will follow behind Caeli.  Hopefully over time Caeli will be a help to Carmeh.

They are such a sweet team.

No matter the weather here it is so easy to enjoy any day here.  I will admit to a light sweater to cover my chest while sitting facing the ocean.  The breezes have been a tad cool.  Rather than a sundress I may have worn shorts and a short sleeve top on the occasional beach walk but no jacket at all.

After our morning walk we always have fruit and for a few mornings this past week we have moved to our back garden well away from the ocean breeze.

My garden has certainly grown over the last year. For new readers I need to explain that five years ago there was nothing in my yard at all. We bought and planted all of these glorious plants.  Behind my chair are two huge ugly black tanks that hold the park water.  I no longer have to look at them.

Always something new to see. I think this boat was in need of repair.

Our personal resident hummingbird. He ( I just know it is a he ) sits in the same spot every day and mostly only moves to chase other hummers away from the feeder. The rest of the time he observes us, turning his head every which way and chatters to us. So fun.

The palms behind us in the botanical gardens got a severe hair cut over the past few days.

I prefer the natural fuller look.

In an attempt to keep the dust down from the road that passes beside us the park owner had some large logs placed to block horses, ATV’s and tractors from speeding past and kicking up the sand.  For some reason this ATV decided to try and drive over the log, needless to say he was not successful.

A large sail boat from Canada overnighted in front of us the other night.

The antics of these shore birds are so fun to watch.

The Mazatlan Port is very busy this year. This freighter is heading out and certainly piled high with containers. I wonder what is in them.

No clouds in the sky so just a regular sunset last evening.

So ends yet another wonderful day in paradise.

As usual after feeding the girls we ventured out for our beach walk. We are so impressed with how much Carmeh has recovered. Her back left leg appears to be working as normal.  Wading in the water and running on the beach seem to have been good for her.  We certainly never expected such a dramatic improvement since her paralysis last May.

You never know what you will find on the beach. In fact we have no idea what this creature is.

We had plans for the afternoon so our time was limited.  Our usual breakfast of fruit and a muffin with peanut butter for Colin was a tad rushed as we were on a mission.  It was time to take the girls for yet another walk over to RV2.

Sandie and Rex, long time blog readers from West Virginia had come in two days earlier.  They were traveling in their brand new gorgeous Class C.

My plan was to invite them over for this afternoon but they surprised me with plans to leave this morning.  As they don’t have a tow car with them it is difficult to get to and from the embarcadero ( although there are truck taxis ) so they were moving to another RV park in Mazatlan where they have the use of buses to get about the city.  However we have plans to meet in Mazatlan over the next few weeks.  We had just enough time for them to walk back to our site to have a look at our set up so they could visualize our spot here on the Isla.  Sandie has been a constant support to me over the last several years.  Colin and I both look forward to spending more time with both Sandie and Rex.

We were rushed for time as Colin and I had tickets to a attend a play reading of The Cocktail Hour by A.R. Gurney at El Recreo in Mazatlan.  El Recreo is a film and theatre group created by expats living in Mazatlan.  As per their website this is a description of a play reading  “We present fully interpreted plays using voice, gesture, lights and sound to develop characters without full sets or costume changes. Local community members direct and act in these productions.”

In the spirit of the play we were all offered a choice of cocktail prior to the opening act.  Very lovely touch.

It was a lovely production and after a few moments you totally are captivated by the words and the actors and forget that there is no set.

The production went from 3 – 5PM allowing us time to catch the Baja ferry literally sailing off into the sunset.

We chose EL Fish Market to have an early dinner. The food is always excellent and the view is not bad if you can overlook the various vehicles passing in front of the patio.  They also do a generous wine pour for 50 pesos, Colin enjoyed a limonada.

We ate and watched the sun set directly into the ocean. I miss seeing that on the Isla.

It was a wonderful Sunday.