5C's Que Pasa

Friends and fulltime RVers Debra and John arrived at Tres Amigos a few days ago.  They are months early and love it despite the heat and high humidity.  They say it is like a steam bath.   They plan to become permanent residents of Mexico.

There has been a lot of high tides and hence all the stairs down to the beach at RV1 have been swept away.

That is our RV site on the left, where the red tent is.  The owner of Tres Amigos RV Park, owns an RV and moved it onto our site to enjoy our palapa and gardens.  However our gazebo seems to be missing, Deb and John are going to search for it.  I actually bought a new canvas top for it so hopefully it is still there somewhere, as we do use it for shade.  Worse case we will have to find a metal 10 X 10 structure to bring down with us.

It seems that the salt water coming over the wall has done some damage to my hibiscus hedge. No worries, I can always plant more.

My back garden looks to be growing very well. What a treat to get these photos. Thanks Deb and John.

There is another storm battering the area, Tropical Depression Lorena.  More rain and wind in the forecast.

Doesn't that beach look lovely and so very inviting. I'm sure that the water is warm, maybe even hot.

The new Durango Mazatlan road is 97% ready and is to be inaugurated on October 17, 2013.

It will be quite the trip I think. Certainly it will save days of travel for those travelling from Eastern Canada and the USA.

We plan to leave here October 27th, cross into Mexico at Nogales on November 5th and arrive on the Isla and Tres Amigos by noon on November 7th where we will stay for five full months!!

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

Even though I brought my laptop to Edmonton, I could not get internet.  Perhaps if I was more computer savvy I could have figured it out. In the end it didn’t matter as I didn’t have a single spare moment. My days started at 7AM and went till midnight most nights.  One day I put close to 28,000 steps on my pedometer.  Usually, since my surgery, I am lucky to get 5000 steps.  I even limited my phone calls to Colin as I was very very busy doing what needed to be done.

All I am going to say is that it was more intense than I could  have possibly imagined.  I am beyond exhausted and yes I will admit it,  my body is not happy with how I treated it.  Bottom line, what needed to be done at my Dad’s got done plus more.  I was able to move some furniture around so that he can now take his walker right into the bedroom and into that bathroom.  I am worried at how frail and tired he is and that was intensified by the activities over the weekend.  It was very difficult to say goodbye to him yesterday.

Sadly my camera died on day one so I was unable to take any photos at all.  One photo I would have shared was the wonderful Indian buffet my friend Mary treated me to yesterday.  First of all I took a taxi to her place where she helped me de stress with a healing massage.  Some of you will remember that I met Mary in Mazatlan where lives half the year.  She is a RMT and works half the year in Edmonton and the other half in Mazatlan and weekends at her cottage on the Isla.  Mary’s car had died over the weekend and fortunately my brother was able to step in and drive me to the airport.

The chaos of the weekend continued on my flight home last night with a crew of workers from Fort McMurray boarding the plane rather intoxicated.  They were celebrating their seven days off from the oil fields.  Because they were so rowdy there was no bar service, just coffee, tea and water.  I really could have used a glass of vino.  Another photo I would have shared was the most beautiful sunset from the air.  I also flew right over our house and that would have been another great shot.

It was so good to get home to Colin and the girls and all the love they shared with me.  I am still tired this morning.  Not sure why I didn’t sleep well, lots of dreams.

This morning I hit the ground running.  I have a dental check up in an hour and need to find my old camera, plus, plus, plus…….

Tags: Family, health, travel, vino

Well at least I am.  I was up very early Saturday morning to catch a plane to visit my Dad in Edmonton.  This will be the first time that I have seen him since Mom died.  The plan is for me to spend the weekend going through Mom’s things and sorting out what will go where.  My hope is to be able to give her things to organizations that will in turn will give them directly to those in need rather than to an organization that will resell things.

Dad’s computer is not set up for me to do my blog or go online.  I am bringing our old laptop but not sure it will work without disrupting his computer.  Maybe I can pick up someone’s wifi or just go out to Tim Horton’s and get a post in.

My father did finally see his orthopedic surgeon last Thursday.  While he was in hospital there was only a telephone consult with the on call ortho MD. His doctor actually retook some xrays on Thursday and it was confirmed that his 2 hip replacements were not affected but he definitely  has a 1 inch crack on the hip socket.  Sadly he will have to use a walker for at least the four month healing period and depending on how much weight bearing he can do at that time, he may have to use a walker for the rest of his life.

Fortunately I am here to assess him with my own eyes and help with some cooking as well as driving him to a few appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday before returning home.

Tags: Family, health, medical, travel

We were late leaving Kelowna last year due to my ongoing health issues so we only were away 156 nights.  Our cost per night including electricity worked out to $18.69 USD per night.  During that time we were parked on the beach at Tres Amigos RV Park on Stone Island, just outside of Mazatlan for 135 nights.  We only used RV parks in the US for 3 nights and in Mexico for 3 nights other than on the Isla de la Piedra ( Stone Island ).  The rest of the nights we boondocked ( dry camped ).

Mileage from home here in Kelowna to the Isla going straight down via Osoyoos, thru Ely Nevada, Quartzite and into Mexico at Nogales was 2558.4 miles. The return home was via the Sonoyta/Lukeville crossing into the USA and via Lake Havasu, over to Yreka, California on HWY 99 and then over to I5 and back to Vancouver and then back here which was longer at 3051.4 miles.  A total of round trip of 5610 miles.

We are always asked these details and I apologize for getting them to you late this year.  I am going to just throw some figures out and you can work out the currency conversion yourselves.

~diesel fuel in the US ( we never bought any in Canada & our tank is almost full ) was $1802.00USD

~diesel fuel in Mexico was 9970 pesos

~propane for the RV was $155.00 USD and the tank is full

~propane delivered to the RV at Tres Amigos was 795 pesos.  We use a mix of electricity and propane and run the fridge on propane as a safety precaution

~electricity ( metered ) at Tres Amigos for 135 days cost us $212.oo USD which works out to $1.57 per day.  The year before we had the fridge on electric  and our cost worked out to $2.34 per day.  You pay for how much you use.

~our rent for the privilege of living in paradise was $600.00 USD per month

~laundry is inexpensive and cost us 2080 pesos for the entire time we were on the Isla

~a few visits to the vet cost 400 pesos

~some onsite RV repairs came in at 3500

~I always spend money on plants and flowers but that was low this year at 1500 as most everything is permanently in the ground

~I already have a Mexican cell phone and only put 400 pesos of time on it

~ the tolls were 3870 return and we used all the toll roads.  Remember that is for an RV and for a car.  If you have a 5th wheel or a travel trailer it will be less.

~a big expense was for the pulmonias ( open air taxis ).  We didn’t drive into Mazatlan but took the panga ( water taxi ) across the shipping channel.  Last year I was seeing the chiropractor a lot and could not walk anywhere.  I expect this cost will be down from 3175 pesos next season.

Besides all these expenses you need money to pay for your entertainment in Mazatlan if you attend the theatre, monies for charitable donations over the holidays and extra pesos to get your vehicles washed and waxed and to pay the various locals on site to help you with this and that.  It is nice to give back to the community.

Don’t forget to bring money for food and beverages, personal shopping, gifts, massages, hair cuts and the usual day to day costs.

I always do a budget based on my cost from the year prior and add a bit for inflation and it seems to work out.  Some years certain areas are under budget and others they are over budget.

For those whose state or province allows you to claim a vehicle insurance refund you may get lucky.  Not only are our costs for Mexican insurance both vehicles reimbursed we make a profit.

I like to say that it pays to travel to Mexico.

Tags: Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, Mexico, money, RV repairs, Stone Island, Tres Amigos RV Park, US/Mexico border

First of all Dad is home and very happy to be there.  So is Mom’s cat Angel.  The cat has not left Dad’s side since he got home, even going so far as to cuddle with him during the night which is a first.  Poor pussy must really have felt abandoned by first my Mom and then my Dad.

I got the results of all my lab work and the only thing found was a bladder infection.  I never felt I had an infection nor had any signs of one but it is quite likely that I have had this infection since last November.  The allergy specialist indicated the my rash could be related to such an infection and lo and behold I have an infection.  I have done some research and if the kidneys are not fully functioning one can have a rash and hives off and on.  Won’t that be great if that is the cause of all my problems.  Easy peasy!  However I don’t think that 3 days of 1000mg of Cipro is enough to clear this up.  Surprisingly the pharmacist agrees with me.  So I will take the 3 doses prescribe plus I have enough in my medicine cabinet for a 4 th day.  My current plan is to go back in Sept. 6th for another culture.

Meanwhile we have been entertaining again.  Our friends Jannose and Colin were our first visitors last year when we were using lawn furniture and sitting on plywood.  Wow was I ever heavy then!  They even stayed for a second dinner.  We were happy to show them the completed home yesterday.

After the tour we got down to the important things like chatting and watching the geese.

While we were entertaining, we were being entertained. The geese love to turn upside down to get the tasty morsels off the lake bed.

After a few hours we fed the girls and left them behind as we wondered off to the Greek House restaurant for a fabulous meal.  Jannose and Colin live in Alberta on a lovely acreage, winter in the Phoenix area with vacations from their vacation to places like India, Hawaii and European cruise.  Now that is a life!!!  We have know them for over 40 years ( maybe much longer ) and it is always a delight to catch up in person.

We had so much fun at dinner that it wasn't until the end that we remembered to take a photo.

Sadly they left this morning as they have many more days of adventure on this road trip.

Tags: 319, Duck Lake, Family, food, friends, health, travel