5C's Que Pasa

Finally we here in Canada are going to see Bret Michaels new TV show “Rock my RV“.  I had  previously blogged that it would debut in Canada on August 26th but in fact it will be on Shaw.ca on August 29th on channel 524 , TVtropolis, which is suppose to be renamed DTour and by this posting may have been renamed.

A before example.

The American Travel Channel TV station will be airing the final epsiode on September 1st where it will be revealed who wins a remodelled RV.  It seems that 15 episodes have been filmed.  I am looking forward to watching some RV remodelling and getting a few ideas.

After the remodel.

So my American RV friends, have you been watching the show.  Is it worth it?

Tags: construction, RV repairs

The geese are constantly flying and honking or eating.  They are getting ready to head south.  So are we.

Not a great shot as they are in shadow but they are just hanging around getting fat.

In fact we only have 62 sleeps until departure day.  Considering that I am going to be travelling to Edmonton twice to see my father and Colin once to Winnipeg to see his mother that leaves us with only 46 at home days.  Not much at all.

With the fall comes the plans for the winter.

I know many of you are also making plans to head south to Mexico.  From all the emails and contacts I have been making it seems that we will be getting many visitors this winter.  I look forward to meeting you all.  I will be sure that the Isla and Tres Amigos is all ready for your arrival.  I know that some of you will travelling in that direction for the first time and some for the first time in a long while.  You might want to think about signing up to meet a travel buddy.  That way you will have company along the road.  I also suggest travelling with a copy of the Traveler’s Guide to Mexican Camping by Mike & Terri Church.   Here are some sites you can sign up with.  No one has signed up yet on the first site so perhaps you will be the first.  Don’t worry, there is always someone signing up so keep checking back.

~http://www.rollinghomes.com/Mart014%20-%20Mexico%20Travel%20Buddy%20Search%20Page.htm

~http://www.mexicotravelbuddies.com/index2.html

~http://www.solmexiconews.com/Mexico%20Travel%20Buddies/Mexico%20Travel%20Buddies.htm

While at the pool this morning doing my exercises I met a lovely young couple.  Irene is originally from Monterrey, Mexico where she was a school teacher.  She met and married Jeff two years ago and now they live near Vancouver in Langley.  Jeff has travelled extensively all over Mexico so we had a great time discussing common cities and beaches.  What a treat for me and to also be able to have a bit of Spanish conversation.  Sadly for them I get to head to Mexico for the winter but they will be staying here in B.C.

Enjoy the rest of your vacation Irene y Jeff. May our paths cross soon in Mexico.

Great news……Dad came home from the hospital today.

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

I had planned to spend Sunday catching up with yet more desk things and perhaps take a bit of time to just sit with a book.  However that changed when I was invited to join Colin at the latest very special home he has been photographing here in Kelowna.  The photos are for the owners but their home is also being featured in the Okanagan Home Magazine.  Most of the architectural photography has been done so yesterday was dedicated to family photos.

The house is right on the lake with a huge front and back yard.

I was given a tour of the house and that just about wore me out.  It is close to 12,000 square feet. The following shots were taken by Colin.

Taken from the second floor balcony.

The bar.

The dining room where I shared some vino with Kathy after my personal tour. Kathy and Earl are the parents of the master of the house and have RVed in Mexico in the past. Guess who just might be joining us on the Isla come January?

Taken looking at the back of the house which does face the water.

After we got home ( after 7PM ), fed the starving and much ignored dogs and then ourselves….it was time to finish the laundry.  I got the sheets out of the dryer and put the wet towels in and then….

...while Colin was walking the girls I just could resist. I had to take a nap.

Of course he caught me in the act.  I just lay down for a moment, pulled the sheets up to keep me warm and was out like a light.  The nap did give me the energy to finish and put away the laundry then it was lights out till this morning.  Quite the busy weekend for me.

Tags: CJPS, Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, Mexico, Stone Island, vino

We went out Saturday night.  Our RV park, Holiday Park Resort, we sponsoring a dinner and performance by Bernie and Red.  They are a very delightful husband wife act that do a variety of comedy and music.  They have performed all over the world and tour various RV parks in the US during the winter.  Well worth checking them out if they come to your area.

After happy hour a catering company presented a lovely buffet dinner.

We have lived here full time for ten years and this is the first time we have actually attended an evening event.  Usually Colin is working or too tired, but I really wanted to get out and so we did.  Perfect to just zip down to the rec centre in our golf cart.

The event was well attended as you can see.

Bernie and Red are originally from Liverpool, England and put on a great show. Many in the audience had seen them before and claim that the performance is always different.

Personally I preferred the music part of the evening although they sure did have some great jokes.

I sorta got into the last song and just had to join in. Might have made a wee spectacle of myself. If anything, people in the park have now seen a different side of me.

I had a blast!

Tags: fun, Holiday Park, music

~ I drove yesterday all by myself!!  I did alright but running about 5 errands and getting in and out of the car was exhausting.

~it rained almost all day yesterday and was very cool.  I had to resist turning on the fireplace all morning.  By 5PM it was 22C with the humidex at 25C.  We finally opened the windows. This is major as we have had weeks and weeks of heat and sun, not that we are complaining.

~for the first time in weeks Colin stayed home all day.  Of course it was weather based but he did get a lot of photoshop done.

~I lost an article I had wanted to share with you about using Skype in Mexico.  As I recall, it seems that Carlos Slim is putting some restrictions on the use of Skype, something about affecting his profits. So just in case you might want to bring a Magic Jack device with you.  Personally we only use Magic Jack in Mexico.

~the exchange rate between the USD and the CAD dollar has gone up over 2 cents in the last week.  It was already high when I purchased some US dollars @ 1.0556 a few days ago but yesterday it was up to 1.0782.  Seems like this is the sign of the future.  Our financial advisor told us to buy at around 1.05 as it was only going to get worse.  I didn’t buy enough.  Now I wait.  Some years we have paid around 1.10 exchange and others we came ahead a penny or two.  Over the years it all averages out, certainly not worth staying home over.

~some good news for the first time in a while…..Dad is suppose to be discharged on Tuesday which is fabulous but poses other problems.  He is not allowed to drive until cleared by an MD, preferably his surgeon which might take weeks/months to get in to see, so how is he to get out and buy groceries, etc.

~ for the first time since March 1st, I made a homemade pizza using my normal wheat crust.

So nice to have the entire kitchen to spread out in but I do the very same in our small RV kitchen.

~for the first time ever I used coconut oil to grease the pan and to spread the dough.

On the base I add pizza sauce, thinly sliced vidalia onions, thinly sliced fresh from the garden ( not ours but a friend's ) zucchini, fresh steamed broccoli, mushrooms and canned pineapple tidbits topped with 3 different types of cheese.

While I am running around the kitchen Colin has been galloping around outside as the weather looks good enough for another exterior shot of our house for the Tommie awards. He has lights set up in 3 different areas. Once the actual shot is ready I will show you what he came up with.

Finally we are ready to eat.

Of course we only got half way through our meal when the lighting outside was perfect so off he went to get that award winning shot.

Is it any wonder why when we get to the Isla we only sit and relax?  We have been known to turn down happy hours.  We really need our space and relaxation once we get to Mazatlan.

Tags: CJPS, food, Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, rain, Tommie awards, vino