5C's Que Pasa

I am very sad to report that winter 2011/2012 aka tourist season 2011/2012 is going to be lacking in the people department.  The cruise ship industry has decided to hit Mazatlan rather severely.  Currently there are a few monthly dockings by the Spanish Pullmantur cruise line ship Ocean Dream.  It’s last visit will be in September followed by a final visit Oct. 18 by the Oosterdam, of the Holland America line.  That is it for 2011. The schedule for 2012 promises 7 port visits between 2 Holland America ships.  Per Maz Messenger online that seems to be it until 2013.  How sad for everyone but most especially the economy of Mazatlan.  I will point out that at this time, that the ships are also planning on boy cutting Puerto Vallarta.  There are many in the tourist industry contemplating the next move.  I am mostly concerned with rvers who have been talking on a variety of forums of returning to Mexico this season.  Most did not enjoy freezing in Florida, Texas and Arizona.  So if they return to Mexico this winter, what are they coming back to.  Because tourism in general is down, will that mean more local ( not drug war but local) violence or even just petty theft as people have to feed their families??  We have personally seen this evolve in the Acapulco area. We hope this will not happen but if there are no tourists how does the economy in a tourist town like Mazatlan survive?

Personally we believe that the situation will sort itself out over the next few years.  There are many major projects under way in Mexico that will make travel easier for rvers and others.  I  think that in another year or two Mazatlan will see an influx of tourists by vehicle.  The new road from Durango to Mazatlan is 80% complete and is scheduled to open in late 2012. This new highway has more than 60 tunnels and 115 bridges. This will open the area up to many from Central and Eastern US and Canada and of course Mexico.  Many who now winter in Puerto Vallarta and further south will be able to easily travel into the Mazatlan area saving many hours on the road.  This can only be good for the economy of the region.

Green Angels....

As to this year, the Green Angels are running an escort service down from the US border.  Also a few RV parks are providing an escort caravan to their various parks.  Many rvers will buddy up with someone for peace of mind on the road.  There is no way more rvers will make up for the cruise ship industry but we can try.

The Mexican Government is in the process of making plans to build a four lane highway between Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara which would cut the trip to 2 and 1/2 hours.  More easy travel trips for us in the future.  There is a light down the road, we just have to get through the next few years.

Tags: Mexico

Don’t you dare tell me that the blue bird of happiness made this mess!

…and that was to be my post this morning.  Just a quick what the ??  However fate intervened and now I have to add to the story.

About 5PM yesterday Colin decided to take my car rather than the mess above to do two quick jobs.  While driving he noticed some liquid spewing out onto the windshield so he stopped.  He was in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the city.   Seems like the radiator hose came off.  He tromped up and down the road trying to find someone who had a screwdriver.  He called me…so did he want me to go there, like what can I do.  I reminded him of our Good Sam Emergency Road Service.  I guess he eventually called them because he called me back in a panic as their message said they were closed for the night!  I finally got to the bottom of the mystery….Good Sam has a membership card ( green trees with a road) that lists the Emergency Road Service number as 1 800 842 5351 which is the number he originally called.  The actual Good Sam Emergency Road Service card ( red and yellow) lists the telephone # as 1 800 947 0770. You can be sure I will be looking into that discrepancy later today.

To make a long story short, the tow truck driver that had been sent by Good Sam arrived but could do nothing until he got a proper authorization number which is what all the phone calls were about.  Finally the tow truck driver was able to drive Colin to Canadian Tire to buy antifreeze and back to the BMW where he carefully replaced the leaked fluid and tightened the hose.  Good service!  In the end only the one photo job got done and we had diner about 8:30PM.

..and that is the rest of the story!

UPDATE I called Good Sam this morning and have to say…it is our ( well Colin’s) fault.  The tel # on the back on the Good Sam Club card is only for information on the Emergency Road Service.  If you have need of assistance always use the red & yellow card with the 24 Hour Emergency Roadside Assistance Dispatch 1-800-947-0770. In the panic Colin only found the first card and saw ER Road Service and a tel #.  So in the future just use the red & yellow card. I’ve probably confused you even more now!!!

Tags: BMW, Funny

..it was a perfect long weekend.  Highs of 32C and blue sky.  Colin even managed to slip away for 3 quick photo shoots.

While relaxing with a glass of wine Monday 5:00PM ish we were treated to our very own air show. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds had been brought into Kelowna by the Rotary Club for a 30 minute air show. They flew right over our home.

So Colin just hopped up and went to the front door to take these shots. Of course had his camera been nearby the photos would have been spectacular, yet something good still has to be said for the good old point and shoot. This is the first time since 2007 that the group has performed in Kelowna.

Sorry but more puppy photos...no to the many questions, Hilde is not ours but belongs to friends'. She is so precious that we would love to steal her.

A free for all....

I know..if you are not a weiner lover these are too much...that's it for a while.

The final piece of the house has been removed so we have our perfect view back.

Photo of our area taken by Colin about 7AM one calm morning. You can see why we love living here (until mid October that is)!!

Idle thought….while having our coffee this morning Colin made a comment on ‘where do all these retired people go’.  Everyday the cars start up and come and go and go and go.  Don’t people ever just relax at home anymore.  We work and yet leave our home far less than most.  Same on the Isla, we are content to just stay and enjoy!

Tags: Holiday Park, Kelowna, pets

I have been asked to show the difference in size between the new puppy Hilde and our two doxies.  Until Hilde has all her shots we are keeping the girls apart for safety sake.  However we did have one quick visit.

Carmeh was cautiously curious but as you can see Caeli wanted nothing to do with the new puppy.

When Hilde saw our girls her tail almost fell off with joyous wagging.  She was finally put down and allowed a nose to nose sniff.

Chubby Caeli @ 6 years vs the puppy @ 10 weeks. When we got home from the visit I could hear Colin asking the girls if they wanted another sister. Hmmm!!!

Beaming parents Margot & Ken.

These shots were taken a few weeks ago…..yesterday we took some new photos but the internet has been down for over 24 hours.  Time to get caught up with posts and photos.

Tags: pets

..I do thee wed.  For better or for worse….

..for worse. My wedding rings were engraving my finger.

They told me that the rings HAD to come off of my big date that took place a few weeks ago. I spent a great deal of time on Google. I finally chose a method and only tried it the once and it worked. First I wrapped my ring finger in an ice pack and elevated it above my head for 10 minutes ( it was suppose to be 15 minutes but my fingers were too cold). Then I sprayed everyday Windex very liberally around the rings and all over the finger...I then gently pulled and twisted and off popped my wedding set. Little fuss and no pain. Very impressive.

The next step was the painful one.  I brought my rings in to a local jeweler to have them resized. I only needed to go one size up but I had both a wedding band and an engagement ring and they were very slightly soldered together ( just a teeny drop of gold) at the bottom to keep them from twisting on my finger.  In the business world that translates to two rings, melting the gold to separate the set, adding gold to 2 rings to increase the size and re soldering the set. Gold prices today are $1626.40 per ounce!!!  You do the math.  I sent Colin to pick them up for me! 😆

Reunited again!

Tags: health, money