5C's Que Pasa

Sunday morning started with our normal beach walk. I have no idea how Caeli ended up flying in this photo.

Their front paws are becoming whiter and whiter.  When they trot down the beach it looks like they have white socks on.  This is actually good for this breed.  Often by 8 years of age the face is becoming rather white.

It was a great morning with . With lots of waves to ‘whoosh’ in.  I tell Carmeh to whoosh and she goes running in the waves.  She only does it if I tell her to whoosh.  I have no idea where that all started from but it is cute and fun.

Now this is where things change up.  I am heading into Mazatlan but without Colin  😥   He is off to Culiacan at noon for the International Guitar Festival.  He will be gone at least seven days.  We had tickets to the symphony so I invited Linda to accompany me.  She picked me up and we headed out before Colin left.  The program this week was Hot Jazz performed by a group of 7, from Poland , Spain , the US and Mexico.

A clarinet, a saxophone, a trumpet, a trombone, a guitar, a bass and some percussion make for a fabulous and wonderfully talented group.  We could have listened to them all afternoon and evening.  Yes they were that great.

The program speaks for itself plus they did two amazing encores.  A great mix of dixieland, jazz, swing and blues.

I also got to see several friends at the theatre including Hannelore and Peter as well as my blog readers, Jenny and Brad from Minnesota, whom Colin and I met last Sunday after the symphony.  After some discussion Linda and I decided to accompany Jenny and Brad to a late lunch or early dinner.  We settled on Angelina’s Latin Kitchen for our meal.  This is the first time I have been to the new location, just off Olas Altas, next to Macaws, a perfect choice.  I loved it before and the love continues.

First we had to walk past this restaurant just being set up. Very cute outdoor area.

A gourmet meal with wonderful friends. Thanks to all three of you for treating me like a queen for the day.  On the way back on the panga someone took my lifejacket out of my hands and placed it up top for me.  It was a special day…

…until I got home.  The girls were barking up a storm when they saw me but they seemd okay with it being just me and not Colin.  Other years when he heads to Culiacan they sit by the back gate waiting and waiting.  Yesterday, after a few moments they just hung out with me.  Shortly after feeding the girls I received the following email…..

Car breakdown just in Culiacan. police took me to heribertos home. now we have to go back and get my things. car in a pemex. motor failing. could be dirty gas or The Road from isla monday, i need a tow or mechanico. no say. exciting but not fun. mucho love. c

It took about an hour before I could manage to speak to Colin and that was just for a few moments.  Nerve wracking to say the least.  After I hung up I noticed the ants…..our kitchen sink was full of very very tiny ants.  I squished as many as I could.  I had no idea where our ant stuff was, not something we covered before Colin left.  Carumba.

So now, Monday as I write this, the ants are gone but our car problem is still unsolved.  I have only received a short email basically saying that Colin may have to come back here to the Isla by bus next week.  Not a lot of info nor good info.  Despite the car problems Colin is in Culiacan for the guitar festival and that is what he is focusing on.  Meanwhile here I sit wondering what is going on.  Thank goodness that Rae got our laptop working before Colin left or I would have no idea of what is going on.

Last evening’s display by Mother Nature.

Please come back tomorrow for the update, will our car be repaired or not?  Will the ants come back?  Will Contessa be able to survive without Colin?  As I write this at days end Monday I have no answers to these questions.  Stay tuned  🙄

We have had Eric, our on the spot RV repairman out a few times in the last few weeks.  Mostly good news but some not so good.

Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis know that we have had major A/C issues for a few years.  We keep getting the dash air repaired and then when we need it, it is not there.  Eric was able to pinpoint three places our system was leaking from.  We will have air heading home which is a blessing.  Not sure I could take yet another year of wetting the dogs down with cold cloths.

What really bothers me is the two places, actually three if you count the place in Canada that we had the repairs done, each time over $1000.00 USD and they did a very shoddy job.  The A/C did work after the repair but over time the freon leaked out.  Not one place had checked for leaks.  We both totally trust Eric and know he has solved our problem for mere 2500 pesos.  Do you know what we could have done with that money we lost to those supposed A/C repair shops?  Well I guess we could have used it to pay Eric for all the other work he has done, such as take our shower totally apart and rebuild it properly.  It has leaked since day one plus a few tiny issues.  Eric told us that it have never ever been put together properly.

He did some fiberglass work on our basement last year but we still had a leak going home.  What do you expect when you travel through the Pacific NW?  Because of what he did last year Colin was able to specifically pinpoint the problem area and that was addressed last week.

The bad news is that try as he did, Eric could not repair our RV steps.  He had a part machined for a mere 300 pesos but is turns out that the problem is the main control circuit or brain as Colin likes to call it.  We will need both a new motor and a new brain before the steps will work.  Colin is in the midst of researching prices and if it is to our advantage to get this repaired in the US or Canada.  I want it done ASAP.  It is no fun to have to jump out of the RV to unhook the steps so I can get up and down.  We will let you know what we decide.  It won’t be cheap that is a given.

On our walk yesterday morning we saw Caeli quickly turn onto her back and roll or just move her back over a certain area in the sand.  Dead fish!  Phew.  Over the years we have developed a solution, not quite a mud bath but rather a sand bath.

Colin holds her in the water while he takes handfuls of sand and rubs her back over and over trying to eradicate the odor.

Of course she doesn’t likes it and tries to get away.

Caeli of course has no idea why we are doing this to her.  After several rough sand scrubs we do finally rinse her off.  Miraculously she no longer stunk when we got home.  We always hose them off after each beach walk to get the salt off.

I was surprised to find this baby dove sitting on a dog bed yesterday.  At first I was worried that it was hurt but it was fine and just resting.  I saw some tiny chicken chicks today so I guess tis the season.

The official last sunset from the Isla for February 2015.

Just as we were preparing dinner we noticed this bus come down the beach.

Buses do not drive on the beach.  Hmmm.  So we had a great meal and watched the end of the movie The Butler that we had started the other night.  Great movie.  Yeah, I’m sure most of you have already seen it.  Better late then never  😮

So what was the bus on the beach all about?  Turns out it was carrying a music band.  Turns out that there was a wedding yesterday, actually not one but two weddings.  Turns out that both receptions were almost side by side here on the Isla, just between RV1 and RV2.  Turns out that the music at the restaurant next door here to RV1 was not too bad.  Turns out that the music at the restaurant next to RV2 was very loud.  Turns out that we actually slept last night.  Turns out that yesterday was a good day.

…in my life.  Between just doing what needs to be done on daily basis just to live here, trying to get some chores done, fitting in some relaxation and going into town for a variety of reasons, not to mention dealing with a multitude of emails and phone calls back to Edmonton, something has to give.  For the past while it has been the blog.  I thought I was back on track but something unexpected always intervenes.  For instance I was going to post first thing this morning but instead after watching Caeli repeatedly scratch her left ear I decided to check her over and discovered that she has an ear infection.  The same thing happened to her last year so I know how to help her and have left over medication.  The thing is, we were at the vet’s yesterday but that is another story.  It’s not that I don’t have things to blog about, it’s that time is too short.  Twenty four hours in a day just aren’t enough any more.

We have yet another dog ramp.

They move so fast it is difficult to capture both on the ramp at the same time.  Now we can have them go to the beach without having to carry them up and down the stairs.

That makes three ramps here on the Isla.  One to get in and out of the RV, again avoiding the stairs and one up to the sofa where they like to hang out.  All other chairs have been blocked off so no more jumping at all.  Makes it difficult to find a place for us humans to sit sometimes  😕   The girls continue to do very well with their walking and seem to love to use the ramps.  So now when we get back home to Kelowna it looks like we shall become a house with ramps.

My plan was for this site separation to become a hibiscus hedge and for the first time in a few years it almost came to pass the other day with so many flowers blooming at the same time.

This is one of my new plants and I just love the color.

However I was surprised to discover two blooms on the very same plant that don’t look the same at all.  Even the stamen in the top photo is a different color.  How odd.

Monday morning beach walk.

We just stood still….

…and the horses parted around us.

However the one on the right was not going to move so I had to move in order to avoid a confrontation.  That is the new foal on the left.

Now that was a very fun experience.  It has happened to us a few times in the past but always so special.  I am happy to report that our humidity levels over the last week broke last night and we are down to 56% humidity.  We have been dealing with temperatures around 30C/86F with humidity averaging 87%.  Sleeping at night was a tad warmish.  It dropped to a nice cool 17C/63F last night.

The best part of Monday, next to the horses, was my 90 minute massage.

Who can refuse a ninety minute massage for 450 pesos or 30.00USD/37.60CAD.  Prices are going up to 525 pesos next season.  Worth every penny for a professional massage by a qualified individual.

Loved watching these two kids play with their Mom on the beach just before sunset.  They had so much fun as you can see by the faces.

…and so ended Monday.

Way back in early January we had purchased tickets for the symphony on Sunday afternoon.  There are a number of them to chose from over a 2 – 3 month period.  I chose yesterday based on the choral group.  I love to listen to choirs and any form of vocal music.  Yesterday it was poems written by Robert Frost and Shakespeare put to music by Randall Thompson and Vaughn Williams.  Simply brilliant.

Director Artistico Gordon Campbell put the program together. Before each song he read the words aloud.

Who would not love to listen to ‘The road not taken’ or ‘ Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost put to music.  I had no idea that these and many other poems had been put to music.  Delightful.

I have to be honest here….it was wonderful but the chorus failed to deliver.  A few missed bars and some off notes and so on but overall a wonderful performance.

The last three songs of which the final two were the encores redeemed the group in my opinion.  I particularly loved the Hallelujah Chorus by Handel which I have heard this group preform before.  Sadly the only instrument at this symphonic performance was the piano played by a very very good pianist.  There was a guest violinist for the Serenade to Music written by Shakespeare which was excellent.  Overall it was a lovely musical interlude on a Sunday afternoon.

Colin and I walked over to Olas Atlas and settled at El Fish for our main meal of the day.  We both chose the shrimp fettucini which was excellent.  At the next table were another couple who had also attended the symphony.  Easy to deduce as they had the program on the table between them.  We were surprised when that couple left and came over to our table.

They stopped to thank me for posting my blog!!! It was Jenny and Brad, long time readers of my blog from Minnesota.  Apparently I keep them warm during the winter with my photos.  What a surprise.  They did not stop more than a few moments other than to say hola.  Thanks for recognizing us. They are only in town for a few weeks.  Jenny & Brad be sure to say hello next Sunday, I will be there but not Colin….or drop by at Tippy Toes tomorrow, Tuesday, between 2 and 4 PM, maybe we can meet for a drink after 4PM.  You were such a breath of fresh air, thanks for stopping to say hello.  I meant it when I said that you made my day.

Shortly after they left we saw two fellows crossing the street.

We have to say that this fellas unique pants that don’t fit caught our attention.  What would you call this ‘attire’?

The port has been busier this season and this vessel was being positioned as we crossed over to the Isla.

The baby slept through the entire crossing despite the waves and loud talk around her.

A typical quiet Sunday afternoon on the main drag on the Isla.

We have seen this bus parked on the beach a while back and again a few days ago.

Yesterday it was moved to the parking lot of the Union Bar by request of the powers that be.  We have not seen anyone here at this RV  but apparently it is a couple with two  young teenage children.  Kevin & Ruth, looks like there is another boondocking site here on the Isla for you.  However I think the one you found is much better.