Grey Cup Festivities

Kia, our mascot, cheered hard, but couldn't help Calgary win the game.  And that was all right with me as I was cheering for Toronto!

We have a tradition of watching the game with Canadian friends who have a house on the golf course and this year was no exception.  Thanks Barb and Bill!

A Day at Soggy Peso

What a great day!  None of us were very good at the ring toss game, but the Mexicans were very willing to help Fred!

The weather was perfect and the friendships were even better!

Our Girls

Kia and Maggie spend so much time and energy playing with the screens on our sliding doors that they have to take a nap!  Not always a good thing!!!

Unique Surroundings

San Carlos is located in a very unique area.  I'm not sure we have seen a location like this in all of our travels in Mexico.

We are on the Sea of Cortez, bordered by desert and surrounded by mountains.   We can take Maggie for a run in the desert and in just a few minutes we can have her cooling off in the ocean.

Activities are varied in San Carlos.  I have been boating in the ocean, hiking in the mountains, biking in the desert and climbing in canyons; all which are located right on our doorstep.

The Changing of Guaymas

Mexico is changing and is no longer the quaint and poor country it once was. Guaymas is no exception and today that was evident in the opening of Home Depot.  Walmart and Sam's opened a couple of years ago, but I feel Home Depot will make a huge impact on the area...not necessarily for the better!

For example, the store had a large selection of flowers which will probably put many of the independent flower sellers out of business.  The plumbing and electrical supplies were overwhelming and sadly this will hit the local Construrama stores hard.

Even though we were apprehensive about the opening, we ventured out to see what was happening.  The mariachis were playing, there were speakers everywhere and the crowds were shoulder to shoulder!

Some things change while others stay the same.  We were on the way home and we saw a young man trying to earn a living by juggling fire sticks.

Birds of Paradise?

We are looking after Kia for friends who are vacationing in the Dominican.  They will be gone close to three weeks....Maggie and Kia are good with each other so this is not a problem.

The problem comes in when the vultures show up.  They are night-roosting in a palm tree behind our house and they drive Kia crazy.  She barks at them, expecting them to leave.  No luck yet!

We have tried shining bright lights at the birds, but they ignore us as much as they ignore the dog.  The vultures are now a protected species so we can't go to extreme measures, as much as we would like to.

Any ideas?

Slow Play

We tried our first round of golf today and were pleased with the outcome...notice, I didn't say score!  The course isn't in the best of condition, but we were able to eek out a good time anyway.

The horses on the 7th and 8th holes didn't slow us down, but they did give us something to talk about.

We borrowed a friend's cart and while Fred was putting it away their dog gave him a little directional assistance.  This is the dog we are looking after for three weeks while her owners are in the Dominican and Panama.

Things Never Change

Two things remain constant when we first arrive in San Carlos.  The first, and most important, is a meal on the beach with friends.  The last is the fixing of the flat tires that seem to haunt us every year.

To solve the flat tire issue we have tried new tubes, new tires and slime. The slime appears to work the best, but it is not without its own problems.  Problems like exploding tires when blowing them up...that is another story in itself.

House Cleaning

Chuyita, our housekeeper for the last four years, spent a day with us cleaning and washing cupboards and dishes.  You just never know what has crawled on the dishes over the summer!

The area has been flooded by crickets and some people have had to use a leaf blower to remove the creatures!  Thankfully we keep Chuyita employed all summer so she had things well under control.

Chuyita lives in Guaymas Norte with her two daughters and we have become close friends with her and her family, especially the youngest daughter Paola.  As you can see, Paola and Maggie have become the best of buds!

Stocking Up

Six of us went to the Sunday Empalme Market to stock up on vegetables and such.  The grocery section of the market was considerably smaller than previous visits and so our selection was limited.

The fruits were not as plentiful and what I saw was not worth buying.  But it won't take long and all the fruits will be in season - we will have choices to make.

Selling Our House

The first thing we noticed when we arrived in San Carlos was that our house was up for sale.  Our neighbours had taken it upon themselves to advertise through a realtor’s sign that we wanted to sell.

They actually received two offers on the place, both from workers in the park who knew that this was a prank being played on us.

The mind keeps working overtime to see how we can “repay” their thoughtfulness!

Crossing the Border

We were able to cross into Mexico as planned and were at Km 21 by 7:00 am.  Km 21 is where all driving tourists must stop to buy their tourist visas.  Because we are heading deeper into Mexico, we also needed to get a truck and camper permit and this whole process took about an hour.  Pretty good time considering the paper work involved.  I did feel sorry for the people in line behind us - they came late and had to pay for it by waiting!

The roads to San Carlos are undergoing a lot of repairs so the drive was slow and deliberate.  We arrived around 1:30 and immediately were greeted by our neighbours who had cooled the beer and cooked the pizza.

As usual, the house needed a lot of cleaning and organizing to get it ready.  This past summer there was a lot of rain here and this usually drives in the termites and ants.  Our house was no exception!

We spent far too much time visiting so the only thing we accomplished the first day was to empty the fifth wheel fridge and to remake our bed.  I even found a cockroach in my pillow!!!  Sometimes I think we should stay in the cooler climates!

Seven Days and Counting

We left Eatonia on Thursday noon, after the heavy snowfall we experienced on the weekend. The roads were not great at first, but at Fox Valley they started to clear up and we had smooth driving to Great Falls.

We spent the night in a Great Falls hotel rather than try to fight minus temperatures. On Friday, we had mediocre roads as far as Butte and then the weather started to clear and the temperatures began rising.

We love State Parks and on Friday we stopped at Willard Bay State Park just outside of Salt Lake City. It is conveniently located right beside the Interstate so in a matter of minutes we were settled in a site enjoying TV and the Internet.

We didn't bother making a reservation for Mesquite so we had to settle on free camping behind the Casa Blanca Casino. We usually stop here to de-winterize but because we couldn't get water we had to wait until the next day.

Laughlin was our next stop and it was here that we finally got the fifth wheel "camping ready" while staying at Avi RV Park outside of the city. We used Bullhead City as our supply centre - groceries that we can't get in Mexico.  It took us two days to "sort of complete" our shopping and then it was on to Tucson to finish up.

We spend two evenings at Desert Diamond Casino's free parking area for RVs.  The first evening we just relaxed and enjoyed the warm weather.  The Casino is located nearer to Green Valley than Tucson so we spent all of our time at Green Valley stores, never venturing into Tucson.

Tomorrow we will start the last stage of this trip, crossing the US/Mexico border around 6:30 am.  Mexico here we come!