5C's Que Pasa

We have been dealing with wicked March winds.  The dust is so thick that unless you keep your windows closed it is impossible to keep your RV dust free.  Fortunately our dust screen along the fence spares us from the worst of it.  Plus our palapa simply has the dust going over top of us and further along into the RV park.  It was so windy in Mazatlan that they declared a wind warning a few days ago.

We have a job keeping our 3 fantastic fans dust free. This is after just 5 days.

We have been very happy with our hot temperatures which are getting even warmer by the day, but then last Monday the humidity went way down to 20%.  Suddenly the air was very dry and breathing was an issue due to dry dry nasal passages.  Fortunately that was a one day event and we are back to normal humidity of between 50 to 70%.  We are certainly not looking forward to heading to Yuma and Quartzsite and the dryness.  It takes us a week to readjust.  The Okanagan where we live is also a very dry area.

Colin took Carmeh to the vet on Tuesday and she is now on antibiotics.  He suspects she got bit by an insect or had a perforation by something, a thorn or who know what.  We have run out of epsom salts so the soaks have stopped as we can’t find any here in Mazatlan.  Her toe is still fat but the lump of pus and blood had gone down, mostly due to the soaks I think.  So now it is a matter of time.  We are now allowing her to do her walks but no frisbee catching for a while.

The RVer who was air evacuated to a hospital in Canada for heart surgery will be going home today.  He had done very well since the procedure and now needs to rest and rebuild.  We look forward to seeing him back here next November.

We are enjoying our last few weeks.  Lots of relaxation as we know we will hit the ground running once we get home.  Already the photography jobs are coming in.  We are also doing some spring cleaning in the RV and getting rid of things we have not used in the last few years.  No sense carrying things back and forth for nothing.    Perhaps due to the consistently warm weather this winter I have not made as many soups and stews as I normally due.  We have also been eating out more this year and my staples and canned goods seem to hardly have been touched.  Good thing it can all be used back at home.

I received an unexpected visit from Renee, a long time blog reader. She and her husband are renting a house in Centro for a few months. Due to family situations they have not been to Mazatlan for a few years so my blog helped her stay in touch.

Surprise! You have to know that Renee is a dedicated blog reader if she brings me a gift of a favorite wine! Thanks so much!

Other friends came over for happy hour the other day. The ocean was so calm that Peggy was able to spot the dolphins. Lots of jumping and playfulness. We have seen more dolphins this year than any other season.

Mike joined Peggy & Robin and us for a drink around the fire. Another lovely evening. Sadly the countdown is on for all of us.

Last night we were treated to year another wonderful sunset.

We have two new RV’s in the park, stopping on their trek North.  The people thought the sunset spectacular as is the beach.  We do live in paradise here on the Isla.

Tags: friends, Isla de la Piedra, sunsets

Our first indication of the event were the tents set up across the bay on Chivos Island.

The actual games were held at the south end of the Isla away from the beach goers. All the teams were treated to a boat tour of the area.

They boarded and disembarked at the North end of the beach by just walking on and off the boat via the drop down front ramp.

Later Sunday afternoon the teams were escorted down the beach for a final task. We initially wondered what all the sirens were about.

Colin ran down to the beach to get some closeups for the grandson of one of my readers. They had hoped we would get some action shots but this is the best we could get.

They were certainly revved up and in high spirits.

Each wagon had it's own war chant.

Meanwhile Carmeh still has a fat toe but the epsom salts have helped draw down the swelling.

We have had to resort to the cone of shame to keep her from licking her paw.

The vets are open today and Colin is on his way to get Carmeh checked out.  Caeli will stay here and help me do some chores.

Tags: Isla de la Piedra, The girls

Saturday night of yet another long weekend in Mexico and we discover that Carmeh has a huge ouch!

One of her toes on the front left paw is swollen to 3 times the size it should be and has an ugly looking sore.

What to do?  We couldn’t find any vets that were open.  I spent a lot of time googling the situation.  We had no idea what to think, an ant bite ( no she wasn’t in agony with the itch ), a spider bite ( possible but in the past her face swells ), a broken toe ( don’t think so as she doesn’t yelp when we manipulate it ) and we could not find any thorns or spear grass but we haven’t ruled that out.

She does not seem to be in pain although she is limping and of course wants to lick and lick and lick it some more.  That is how we discovered the problem by her licking and gnawing at her paw.  I found some Viaderm-K.C., a topical corticosteroid, in my dog first aid box and applied that with gauze on top and then a wrap held in place with masking tape.  We did that twice last night.

This morning we borrowed some epsom salts from a friend in RV2 and made her soak her paw for 10 minutes.

She is such a good patient that after a minute she just sat there on her own holding her paw in the warm solution.

After drying her paw I applied more Viaderm and wrapped it up again.

The wrap lasted just over an hour. She bit it off. So now we are taking turns sitting and watching her so she does not lick.

We would appreciate any suggestions you might have.  Meanwhile we will repeat the soaking in epsom salts three more times today along with the Viaderm cream.

I don’t think we will find a vet open until Tuesday but will give our vet in Kelowna a call Monday morning.

Meanwhile Caeli wanted to know why she wasn't getting her photo taken.

Tags: emergency, Mazatlan, Mexico, pets, The girls

Last Tuesday it was time for me to be crowned.  We were off to Dr. Paty’s office for my final crown.  I have to say I have become even more impressed with this dentist.  Have you ever been in a dental office where the chair is wiped down with disinfectant between patients and the floor mopped?

It is a very clean and modern facility. This is one of the photos Colin took for her website, soon to be updated.

This photo was a combination of several photos that Colin had taken. She wanted to show off her office and he had to make do with the limited camera equipement he has here in Mexico.

My crown fit perfectly and once again the attention to detail was amazing.  She also did a complete check of my mouth looking for any further problems.  I was surprised to hear that I had a cavity under an existing crown that already has a root canal.  I will check that out with my dentist at home before deciding what to do.

By then we were hungry and went next door to El Fish Market ( up near the El Cid Marina ) where we happened upon Hannelore & Peter having lunch. I'm beginning to loose track of the number of times we keep bumping into this lovely couple.

On the way back to the Isla it was obvious that the shrimp season was over.

Wednesday morning brought two cruise ships into port.  This is the first time in many years that Mazatlan has had two ships in at the same time.  The article describing the arrival details and the future of cruise ships in Mazatlan can be found here.  An excerpt indicates a better tourist economy next season.

A statement released by the Secretary’s office, said, “After holding several meetings with executives of the largest cruise lines in the world, who are meeting at the Miami Beach Convention Center, we can confirm that the Norwegian and Holland America lines, which already have made calls on the port, will increase their frequencies to this destination.”

Córdova Celaya said that between the 60 already confirmed arrivals between Princess, Holland America and Norwegian, Mazatlán will receive a total of 101,000 tourists and 48,000 crewmen during the 2014-2015 season.

The Norwegian Star arriving about 7:00AM.

Wednesday morning had us going back into town yet again.

The Holland America ship, the Veedam looks much smaller, however when we sailed on it, it was plenty large enough for us.

Always something to see on the panga heading over to Mazatlan. Loved this earring. I have picked shells like this on the beach here on the Isla. An older lady on the boat asked this guy about his earring and he took it off and showed her the large hole in his ear. She just laughed.

I have often wondered who these two beauties are. Their lovely red hair and fair freckled complexion seems out of place for the Isla. They as many older students go to school in Mazatlan.

Then it was time to see Diego, my chiropractor. It is hard to relax while this is being done to you but it works! His hands are so large.

After some grocery shopping and a light lunch at the mercado it was time to head back to the Isla.  It is much warmer in town than on the beaches of the Isla, not to mention that town was full of tourists from the cruise ships.

A freighter was being turned around in port. There was a tug boat on this side on the left and a tug boat on the far side on the right and they were swivelling the ship a full 180 degree turn. This is how the cruise ships are turned when they arrive. Sorry for poor quality of photo, I am buying a new one on the way back to Canada.

Hard to believe that when we arrived the sun was below where the palm tree is pointing, between the two hills. Soon it will time to pack up and head North to our other life.

Tags: friends, Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, medical, Mexico, Stone Island, sunsets

Someone here on the Isla was sharing an email with us.

As they sat under the palm trees listening and watching the waves, they were reminded by a relative back in Michigan, that there is more than one definition to the word “wave”!!!

Michigan has had the coldest winter in decades.  Water expands to freeze, and at Mackinaw City the water in Lake Huron below the surface was supercooled. It expanded to break through the surface ice and froze into this incredible wave.

I was fascinated by the photos and thought it would be nice to share them with all of you, my readers.

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Sadly the story is not true.  I was Googling Michigan and ice waves and came up with this STORY.  For some reason I have a glitch with this paragraph.  Please click on the word STORY in the last sentence to read the newspaper report. The photos are real but were taken in Antarctica in 2002.  “The formation of these ice features has nothing to do with waves being frozen in place. These pictures are from ice that has been compacted and then uplifted by glacial action. The ice is then shaped by wind and other elements. If as described in the email, the waves suddenly froze in place, ice that froze suddenly is rather cloudy and opaque and would not be colored the way this ice is in a brilliant shade of blue,” he wrote.

Well now we have seen ice wave but it is not quite the story we thought it was.  Something fun to read about, no matter where it took place  😀

Tags: Funny, travel