Sunday, January 4, 2009

Where did everyone go ?



Maggie is noticing a change. She lazed around all day and didn't eat at all until about 3 o'clock this afternoon. Mom and Colleen are missing. I think I notice too.

I drove them to the bus depot in Guaymas last night to catch the 11:20 Tufesa Executive bus to Tucson. Of course it was late. It didn't leave until 12:25, but that's not too bad. Could have been worse. But then again - possibly it was worse. I haven't heard the full story yet but apparently the wait at Nogales border crossing was about 4 hours. Could have been worse. But then again - the flight out of Tucson was delayed. But only 35 minutes. The flight out of Denver delayed - but only by about 38 minutes. Arrival in Saskatoon will be a little late - only about 39 minutes late if all goes well. At least the temperature in Saskatoon won't be in the -30's. Only about -28C.

Then again - it's feeling a little nippy here too at 16C.

I got down to work again here today. I scraped and swept the dried leaves and flowers off the roof so they don't plug the downspouts if we happen to get a stray rain shower. Then I routed a coax cable from the Star Choice receiver into the bedroom. And I removed the top of the clothes drier to try and find out why it is making strange sounds. Nothing obvious so I will explore more seriously tomorrow.
Brian and Sharon from Warman (Sask) stopped over around 4:00 for a visit. They are in Totonaka RV Park again this year and wanted to see why we weren't there this year. They say Totonaka is not as full as last year - possibly because Joseph has raised the monthly rates from $475usd to $520. They think they are noticing more tents and small units like VW Westfalias this year. They think perhaps the bigger units are continuing south where cheaper rates can be found.

Other costs have increased this year. The local bus to Guaymas is up from 9 pesos to 12 pesos. The golf deal (green fees, cart, burger and a draft beer) is up from $39 to $45.
But the fresh jumbo shrimp from the local supplier Abel is still a great bargain at 150 pesos for 1 kg. ($6.45Cdn per pound).

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Power Shopping





The youngest child did it again. Eleanor and I thought we had everything under control until we received Adelle's e mail reminding EH to keep the bills from her purchases. Purchases? We were supposed to buy something?

We decided maybe we were missing out on something important and so caught the bus to Guaymas for some last minute power shopping. After an enjoyable day in the market and at the Marina we finally had some receipts for the border guards!

We went out for a very nice last meal at the Fiesta Hotel across the street and retired early [again]. The temperature has been hovering around the 24 degree mark during the day, but it has been going down to 8 degrees at night.

Fred is going to take us to the bus at 10:45 tonight, so until then we are going to watch some playoff games and occasionally switch to watch the Canada/Russian game.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Keeping Busy





Unlike the Baileys and Frisons, we did not make it to midnight on New Year's Eve. The three of us [four if we count Maggie] were asleep by 10:00. We wore ourselves out by strolling on the beach and visiting with old friends.

The webcam was an adventure for us and especially for Maggie. I always knew she was an exhibitionist, but she took it to extremes yesterday. Fred's family was set to tune in at 11:00 and right on cue Maggie squatted and forced Fred to use his doggie bag. We had to shield her behind the Canadian flag we were waving for the camera.

The days leading up to New Year's Eve were filled with all kinds of adventures, ranging from visiting Guaymas, having lunch at Charly's Rock, touring the historic Cortez Hotel and finally saying "enough". A couple of us had to take a break to revive our bodies.

Two more sleeps and Eleanor and I return to the cold weather. We are taking the overnight bus from Guaymas to Tucson where we have a day room reserved so we can rest before catching the 3:00 flight to Denver. It will be a long 24 hours, but we are ready for the test.