5C's Que Pasa

It is time to say adios to Chris and Roger.  A week sure goes by fast.  They are flying off to their Baja home this morning for two weeks of R & R there.

We enjoyed our visits with you over the past week and our final dinner at Lety's!

We have also had a few RVer’s leave this last week and a very special adios to Jacqui & Rolf and to Maureen & Duncan.  Safe travels.

We welcome Nancy and Randy back to the Isla. They are here until the end of March.

Nancy and Randy did bring their RV here for one season but somehow ended up buying a home in Casa Grande, Arizona for the winter months and now stay in a hotel when they visit the Isla.  They are Canadians and live in the NW part of Ontario in the remote but very special area of Atikokan.  Their home in Casa Grande is for sale and once that sells they plan to buy another RV.  Whether they are RVing or hoteling it, they are Isla lovers and come visit every year.

We also welcomed three more RV's to Tres Amigos in the past few days.

Actually there was another new RV to the park but they moved elsewhere on the Isla to boondock.  They are a young couple from San Fransico enroute to Chile, South America who just started a blog.  It has been a busy week of folks coming and going.

Dental Update

My temporary crown fell out last night!  It seems that my dentist is closed for Carnival so after much scrambling and several phone calls I have found another dentist who is open this morning.  So we are off to Centro to yet another new dentist to have my crown cemented in.  Then we can finally start to enjoy Carnival.

Meanwhile Mother Nature saw fit the other night to say hola and adios to all of our friends.

Tags: friends, Isla de la Piedra, Stone Island, sunsets, Tres Amigos RV Park

This past week seems to be as busy as Christmas was.  So much happening that my head is spinning!

~I had another visit with the dentist for my crown prep.  Good news, she can do it with just one crown.  A few weeks ago she was worried she might have to do a double crown to protect the tooth but it is strong enough with the post she put in last week.  Cost for the crown is 4900 pesos and the post is 1000 pesos, approximately $493.00 CAD ( $443.00USD ), a savings of $807.00 CAD by  having it done here rather than at home.  The root canal was 3200 pesos or $240.00 CAD saving me $1060.00 over the cost at home.  So a total savings of $1867.00 CAD.  That’s almost 3 months of rent here for next season.  I am more than happy with my decision to have the dentistry done here by Dr. Paty.

~Colin was also hired to take photos for Dr. Paty’s website.  We’ll let you know when that is done.

~great news for Mazatlan, Carnival Cruise Lines has decided to return next season as has Holland America.

~sadly one of the RVers here on the Isla was taken to hospital Monday evening where it was discovered that he has very serious heart issues and needs immediate open heart surgery.  He was quickly and efficiently diagnosed here at Sharps Hospital in Mazatlan.  His Canadian medical insurance company insisted he be air lifted back to Ottawa, Ontario for the surgery.  He was air lifted out by Lear jet at 3:00AM Thursday morning.  We wish you all the best Barrie and Helene.  They were happy to have the surgery done here but the decision was not theirs to make.  Certainly the recovery would have been preferable here than in the cold, snow and wind back in Canada.

~another trip to the vet!!  Caeli has intestinal parasites……long story.  Yes she is on heartworm and hookworm medication taken monthly in the form of Iverhart Plus.  A few weeks ago I noticed tiny blood spots on the bed.  I thought she had cut herself.  A few days later I noticed very tiny blacks dots on the bed and when I used the magnifier I thought that those dots looked like curled up worms.  So we took samples and the dogs to our vet here in Mazatalan.  Yes she has worms, he thought hookworms but who really knows and how can it be if she is taking special preventative medication?  So the girls each got a treatment via a dose of  Vermiplex Plus 10. Colin took Caeli in yet again a few days ago as after one week we were still seeing tiny black dots.  The girls were given another dose of Vermiplex Plus 10.  I guess there are different forms of worms out here.  The vet suggested that she got infested by just walking on the beach and possibly by stepping on something that was infected.  Caeli has been a paw licker since a puppy and we have been unable to stop her even using Bitter Apple and at 10 years of age I am not going to stop her.  So the theory is that she stepped on something ‘bad’ and licked it thus putting it in her system.  Hopefully we have seen the end of this situation.

~Colin only noticed that his car keys were missing when he returned from the vet.  So he walked back to the RV park from the panga all the while carrying Caeli.  Once here he found the extra set of keys and was about to walk back to the car when John offered to drive him.  As they were driving to the panga Lorrie flagged them down and told him she had his keys.  It seems that as he got off on the Mazatlan side the keys fell out of him pocket and a Mexican who saw it happen picked them up and handed them to Lorrie.  She was still on the Mazatlan side with the keys when he returned to the Isla.  She wrote her message on our very dusty car ( always a reason to have a dusty car ) when she got back and of course he was back and returning to the car with the other keys.  Nice to have the keys back.  Thanks Lorrie.

~the Canadian Snowbird Association has just published some information to help crossing into the USA.  A fellow RVer has published the info on her blog here.  I suggest you have a look at the list as some of the things mentioned will surprise you and many are ideas that we need to incorporate into the information we travel with.

Colin is keeping our Weber BBQ clean with regular power washing.

Happy Carnival everyone!!

Tags: Mazatlan, medical, The girls, travel, USA

Our fun times continue.

Friends Chris  & Roger ( and their dog Scooter ) flew into the Isla on Saturday for a seven day visit.  They live in Oroville, California, have an RV and do travel with it.  In fact they came to the Isla last year for three weeks.  They did travel here in their RV on January 31st, 2013 for the first time.

We did have a great visit last year but this year they just had to do something different.  Chris and Roger flew here in their in their Cessna 182.   They do live in a house in California but also have a home in Mulege in the Baja.  But unlike most of us they don’t drive there, they fly.  They are staying in a hotel while on the Isla.  We have been visiting here and there over the past few days.

Welcome back to the Isla folks.

Last Tuesday was the first day that we could get all of our busy schedules together for a a formal happy hour.

Marjorie and Bob hosted it at their place. We all got to meet Mary & Steve, friends of Chris & Roger who drove down here from San Carlos. They left their 5th wheel at the RV Park there. It is their first trip to the Isla and they love it. Last year Roger's RV was parked to the right of Bob's which is how they became so well acquainted. Great friends are often made on the road.

Next we headed down the beach to Lety's for a tasty meal of grilled dorado. It was so good that no close up photos were taken as the meal disappeared quickly.

The chef later came out and gave us all of his secrets including how he makes their famous sauces served with the meal and the spices he uses.  I hope someone remembers them because…..

...I sure don't 🙂

Just having way too much fun on the Isla.

Dad, you said that Colin never smiles in the photos, so this one is for you!

Tags: food, friends, Isla de la Piedra, Tres Amigos RV Park

Mazatlan has so many choices when it comes to culture.  Last night we attended a play reading at El Recreo, a centre for film and theatre created from the ground up by local Americans and Canadians.

We saw the play "Dinner with Friends" by Donald Margulies. It was the winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Towards the end of the play I was so caught up with the drama that the lack of props wasn't even noticeable. If you click the play reading link above you will see what this is all about.

We attended with friends Nancy and Paul and his daughter Jessica visiting from New York.

We all agreed that the play was well done and look forward to the next one.  After the theatre we headed over to the Malacon for a late dinner.   The food was delicious as was the ambience of the area all decorated for Carnaval.  We were then treated to a wee glimpse of what we will be seeing during the parade.

A few floats were being transported along Olas Altas. They were almost complete and likely being moved somewhere for the final touches.

They were moving fairly quickly so we were just able to get a quick photo as they passed.

Some Fat Cats perhaps!!

I am so looking forward to seeing what these pink flamingoes will turn out to be about.

That was a fun night out and we managed to get home just before midnight!

Tags: Carnaval, friends, Mazatlan

These past few months seem to be passing by too quickly.  I think that because I am feeling better and have more energy we are doing more activities which leaves us less to just sit and do nothing.  The days seem to pass in a blurr.  Please someone tell me how to roll the clock back.  At least we are making wonderful memories.

Good fireside chats with friends are always special.

More wonderful sunsets.

Last Saturday Colin was hired to do photography of a baptism.

Isn't she sweet?

That is her brother in her Dad's arms and her Mom to the left.

She had more fun at the after party in her play clothes.

This was not the traditional Mexican baptismal parties we have seen here on the Isla. The parents are Mexican and American and so was the fiesta.

The Mexicans danced to their music and the rest danced to our style of music. This is the first time I found the Mexican music totally too fast for me. The music was so loud that conversation was impossible so I never got to really meet our table mates.

I just might be getting a bit of a dancing reputation.

Debbie sure doesn't look like the grandmother!

Blue suede shoes.........

Just another weekend in paradise.

Tags: celebrations, friends, Mexico, sunsets