5C's Que Pasa

We pulled in about 11:30AM Thursday.

The girls knew right away where we were.  We had no internet yesterday and today once we arrived on the Isla we discovered that we have no internet here either. Tropical Storm Sonia that passed thru here Sunday/Monday wiped out much of my beautiful garden, many plants in the park and the internet.  This post is coming to you via a very high tech Debra who has all the bells and whistles and was willing to let me publish this post.  Love you Deb!!!

I can hardly wait to share our 8 person dinner ( we were expecting 4 ) in a Pemex in Culiacan Wednesday night. I have many very special photos to share of that night.  We also were affected by 2 road closures that day due to protests.

Plus we really have seen the signs of the recent Tropical Storm Sonia all along the way this past day of travel.  Mother Nature is most powerful.  Today for the first time we had a few rain showers and it has been overcast all the day.  About 4PM today we had a few drops of wet stuff, nothing much at all.

The road into the Isla has been perfectly prepared this year, best ever.

However we were faced with the ravages of the storm. This was a baby puddle compared to the rest. In a few days this will all be dried up. Meanwhile our RV is a muddy mess but so worth the trip.

I loved this new welcome to the Isla sign. Val & John asked via the CB why it was taking so long. It took as a full hour today to do the road but depending on conditions it can be done in less time. Well worth the trip.

Loved our welcome by the latest foal.

I was humbled to see that 3 of the 5 RV’s in RV1 @ Tres Amigos RV Park here on Stone Island are here because of my blog.  I was royally welcomed home.  For those of you still coming this season, we are here to welcome you.  Paradise awaits.

I have much to share with you from the past two days.  Be patient and the stories and photos will appear.  For now it is suffice to know that we are here, safely and that Carmeh is doing much better.  We even managed a beach walk about 4PM.  Even I walked and I am doing really good.  The girls greeted a few old dog friends on the beach.  It was great to watch how happy they were to be here.  We have much to do over the next few days to set up our home.  I promise to share the past few days and the next few days with you.  Stayed tuned.

Tags: Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, Mexico, Stone Island, The girls, Tres Amigos RV Park

Last year we were stopped at the US border into Mexico with questions and guns.  This year there was not a person to be seen.  Once we reached the Mexican part of the border we saw no one, just electronic signals to proceed.  Once we reached reached KM 21 we were surprised to find that each person from the initial tourist visa form fill in area to the Banjercito area all had English speaking people.  One fellow admitted to only being there one month and that his English was so good because of using it daily.  Of course our conversation took place in Spanish.  But truly this was amazing.  I remember 14 years ago, we spoke not one word of Spanish and the border agents spoke not a word or English yet we managed.  We got through the entire process at KM 21 in an hour and were never ever questioned about anything.

Lots of great new roads but still a good deal of construction. About 80 North of Hermosillo there was much construction happening, almost all the way to San Carlos.

To us that means many more miles on great roads next year.  To my eye it looks like all the new roads will be complete from Nogales to San Carlos by next year…..not so on the return to the USA, but one year soon…. perhaps.

Wish we had been able to stop. By the time we saw this veggie stand we were way past it. All those squash look so good.

This is pretty much how we travel. Caeli always on Colin's lap. Carmeh in her bed beteween us. Only today she was extra restless. Not sure if it was because of her eye or just being bored. Her eye seems to be a bit better but we aren't sure yet if we are on the up swing.

It was so good to turn into Totonaka RV Park in San Carlos. Val & John were happy to be here. This is their first driving trip into Mexico and they seem to be enjoying it. We are on the left and they are on our right. Another 4 RV's showed up about 30 minutes after we arrived. Good for Mexico.

Very shortly after arriving we headed down to the beach.

It's not the Isla, not even close, but it is a beach.

Almost there but one more very very long day to go. 366 miles to Culiacan.

Once there we will meet our friends Heriberto and  Isela.  Next day we will reach paradise.  This is my last internet connection until we reach our winter home.  Stayed tuned.

Tags: Mazatlan, Mexico, The girls, travel, US/Mexico border

We got up early so we would be ready for our new Fantastic Fan install but….

...one look at Carmeh and we knew we had a problem. What happened to her eye? Did she have a scratch from a bush branch or ????

Our RV repair was scheduled for 9 AM and it was the time the local Q vet opened.  We went for the RV appointment which didn’t start on time and only ended about 10:40AM  👿

So we got our new fan which was supposed to be off white but was very white...so we used the old inside portion so that it blended in with everything else. But why did it take so long?

Meanwhile I was using our Magic Jack to find a vet for Carmeh.

The folks at the RV place told us NOT to go the local vet as he was horrid.  However the other vet recommended was back the other direction in Blythe, California and we might have to wait two hours to see the vet.  Finally with the fan install done we decided to check out the local vet and if not happy then go to Blythe.  We ended up waiting for over an hour in Quartzsite to see the vet who turned out to be over 85 or so he appeared.  He also did not seem to be all there…..but what to so.

So finally at noon we were headed towards Tucson.  Only three hours behind schedule.  The entire drive was a discussion of whether to see another vet and stay another day in the USA or what or perhaps this or that.  Meanwhile Colin just kept driving.  We do not have a USA cell phone and our Canadian phone cost us close to $2.00 per minute but now was the time to spend the money.  All the while Carmeh slept.  I had already called our Canadian vet early in the morning and now about 3 PM I called again.  They agreed that Carmeh should see another vet and have her eye dyed so it could be checked for scratches.  The first vet was not high tech at all.  So then I started calling around ( @ $2.00 per minute ) for a local vet.  First appointment we could get was Wednesday, even on an ER basis.  Now I started calling the 24 hour ER clinics which would see us ASAP but wanted hundreds of dollars.  Money was not the issue but logic and time.

However we had to make a quick stop at Walmart.  While I was in the store Colin walked the girls and observed that Carmeh’s eye seemed a tad better.  We had given her 2 doses of eye antibiotic anointment by then.  To my trained eye it did seem to be working.

So about 6PM local time we decided to proceed with our crossing into Mexico Tuesday AM.  Meanwhile it was getting dark.  I called the RV Park we were staying at and let them know we were coming and asked them to advise John and Val that we were on our way.

We arrived about 6:45PM and with John’s help got parked.  Sadly our slides would not go out, but that was quickly resolved, thankfully by Colin who observed a minor detail.  Then we had a problem with our batteries, problem related to our mobile RV tech in Kelowna. Fotunately the problem was caught in the nick of time and Colin added a little water to our batteries.

All day we only had fruit and one muffin to eat.  We finally had dinner about 9:30PM.  Meanwhile I had mucho mas vino blanco.  It helped a bit.

So we are off at 6:45AM.  John and Val are so accommodating.  They did all they could to keep us going and we did all we could to get them ready for the crossing in the morning.

Meanwhile the Isla seems to have survived Sonia. Thanks for the dramatic shot Deb. The best news of all is that our palapa survived. There were a few casualties but nothing serious.

So we are off on the next leg of our adventure.  Wish us well.  Carmeh seems much better.  The antibiotics are kicking in.

Another 285 mile day for us.......

Tags: Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, Mexico, palapa, RV repairs, Stone Island, The girls, Tres Amigos RV Park, US/Mexico border, vino

Tomorrow we cross into Mexico.  Meanwhile we have a busy day ahead of us.  First the new Fantastic Fan install at an RV dealership here in Quartzsite at 9:00AM and then more shopping.  Yes more shopping.  For us personally just a few fresh fruits and veggies but for others more.  We have received a few last minute requests from the Isla.  We will do the best we can.

The most important thing we did Sunday was redo our Pressure Pro Sensors with new seals and reinstall them to the RV and the tow car tires.  We as many others have had problems with leaking valves this past year.  Pressure Pro finally came out with a new kit that has superior seals which will eliminate the problems of air leaking out of the tires.  Often in the past when having tire work done, the tire guys would tighten the valves too tight, damage the seals and create a leak .  These new sensors will eliminate that problem.  the kit for the RV and the car was only $25.00.

Reinstalling the refit Pressure Pro valves.

Checking the tire pressure including the inside duals. We are good to go. Note the girls supervising.

Our route today works out to 270 miles.

Late in the day we will be meeting up with John and Val at a Passport Amercia Rv Park in Amando not too far North of the Nogales border.  It will be a busy evening getting all our paperwork in order for the crossing.  I have an easy dinner planned.

Our last night in Quartzsite and there I am working on this blog post. Gracias para el photo Colin.

John please note that we have the CB antennae up and are ready to rendezvous.

Tags: RV repairs, travel, US/Mexico border

We are really enjoying our time here.  Nice to be just us in the middle of nowhere so to speak.

Things are happening on the Isla.  There is a Tropical Storm Sonia approaching with landfall expected late today Sunday or early Monday.  Winds, rain and high waves are expected as it is a New Moon tide.  Hopefully it will be the last storm of the season.  Debra and John are keeping us apprised of the local situation on the Isla.

Meanwhile I received a few photos from the owner of Tres Amigos RV Park.  The road is being repaired after all the summer rains.  Hopefully this Tropical Storm won’t affect it.

The road has been graded.

...and the brush and overgrown trees pushed back.

This is the perfect time for someone to travel to the Isla to experience paradise.

Meanwhile back here in my private heated desert we did some cleaning.  Mostly the fans.

In all honesty Colin did the majority of the work. We have 3 Fantastic Fans but only cleaned 2 as we are replacing the 3rd tomorrow. We did notice a lot of rust in all of them, due to the salt air we tend to frequent.

Looking very clean indeed. We also have one screen covered pop up vent that was nice to clean up.

With the crazy summer we had we never had time to do a thorough cleaning job in the RV.  Yesterday we also cleaned the window screens and the window frames and mechanisms.  No sense doing the windows until we arrive in Mazatlan.  I’m pretty sure we are going to get some rain along the way.

Finally it was time to just sit and enjoy and sip a cold glass of vino. Carmeh engaged in a game of frisbee. She never stops and is doing well for a 10 year old.

Caeli surprised us by wanting to play also. She usually doesn't like to run. Thought only 8.5 years she tends to be much more sedate that Carmeh.

Although we set up our dish we haven’t had the TV on.  I think we mostly wanted to just be sure we got a Shaw connection which we do.  As we suspected the third new satellite channels do not work.  Not a big deal for us as we seldom watch more than an hour per night and haven’t even done that since we left home last Sunday.

Tags: Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, Mexico, Stone Island, The girls, Tres Amigos RV Park, vino