Land Ho

Friday, January 1, 2010. La Paz.
Happy New Year!!!!! Feliz Años Nuevo!!!! We had our champagne at midnight and watched the fireworks bursting all over the city. Then we went below and I read a little while Dave played his sub game. Then we went to bed around 1:00am. It was pretty quiet in the marina and we are far enough away from the city that we don’t hear all the music and hoopla!!! Not like when we were at El Cid in Mazatlan. There was a party almost every weekend with loud music. Sure don’t miss that.

When we woke this morning the sun was shining and the wind was still blowing hard. It is suppose to subside tonight. So far the weather window for us to leave is Sunday. So we will know more when we listen to the weather tomorrow. There wasn’t any this morning.

Dave and I didn’t do much today. I finished my Clive Cussler book titled ‘Iceberg’ and have started another one titled ‘Golden Buddha.’ I did laundry and there was one other person doing their laundry. I figured it would be a good day to do it. After laundry I came back to the boat and fixed us some lunch and then I put clothes away and read my book.

After dinner I imported pictures to my blog and posted it and Dave went outside to smoke his pipe and check out where the fireworks were going off. It sounded really close but they were safely away from the boats. The wind has died down considerably and hopefully by Sunday all the swells from the wind will be gone so we will have a smooth and relaxing trip to Evaristo, being our first stop.

Tomorrow I think Dave and I are going into town so he can look at some fishing rods and I can get my niacin. Not much going on for the first day of the New Year. I guess that is a good thing.

Saturday, January 2.
Well so much for leaving tomorrow. We woke to wind. Doesn’t seem like there will be a break for us until Wednesday. We were both bummed about it. We had to pay for another 2days. So now we are paid through Monday. There are other people waiting to get going and they can’t leave either.

We were going to go into town today but Dave’s retirement check hasn’t shown up in the checking account yet, due to the holiday, so we will have to wait until Monday and hopefully it will go in then. I still need to get some niaspan. Neither one of us had a lot of energy today. I messed around on the computer all morning and part of the afternoon until Dave put in, ‘Madagascar 2’. That is such a great movie and it put smiles on our faces. After the movie I went for a walk. I wanted to walk the breakwater but the gates that lead out there were locked. So I just walked around trying to get some exercise and fresh air. I think they closed it off to keep people from going out there to shoot off fireworks. Bummer!!! Later on I did see some people out there, but they must have walked on the rocks. Not me man!!!! When I came back to the boat our neighbor, Season, was sitting on the bow of her boat so we talked for awhile. They have a daughter that is 12 and she was with Dave searching for a nut to go on the water faucet handle on the dock. She is a cutie.

The sun is going down and the breeze is still blowing. What is frustrating is we don’t get a good weather report on the SSB radio as there is a lot of static. Sometimes we can hear Don and most of the time we can’t. Dave does go online and check out the weather maps which are still saying it is going to be 20-30 knots north with 10-12 foot swells. Trust me---THAT is not a lot of fun. Been there done that!!! We just don’t want to anymore. So we just wait.

There isn’t much to do on the boat until we get everything off it, so we just read or search the internet for news and whatever just to pass the time.

The afternoon wore on and soon it was cocktail time then dinner. After dinner Dave read news and played spider solitaire and I washed dishes then sat and read for a while. Dave finally had had enough of computer stuff and picked up a Clive Cussler book titled ‘Fire Ice’. I haven’t read that one yet. Not much going on. Of course the wind has died down now and there is only a breeze. Go figure!!!

Sunday, January 3.
We didn’t do much today so this is going to be short. We are looking at leaving on Tuesday now. There seems to be a window of opportunity for us to head to Santa Rosalia so we are going. Dave will have a look at the weather again tomorrow to make sure we can go on Tuesday. So I read my book and then I got tired of sitting so I told Dave I was going to walk on the Malécon and he asked where I was going and I told him I might walk to the tienda called Arambuco. So Dave came with me. We found out it was a further walk than I thought but we made it and looked around. They had a lot of stuff. After that we walked back to the marina. We did the usual of having dinner, relaxing then going to bed.

Monday, January 4.
It’s a sunny day today and Dave and I are going to take the shuttle to Marina de La Paz then walk to a place that sells fishing licenses. We walked several blocks and found the place, only to be told he doesn’t have any of the year passes. He said he gave his last 15 or 16 to a gal named Yolanda at Marina de La Paz. Go figure. Well CCC store was close by so we went there and got some more Vermox Plus to keep our intestines unbugged, and I asked if they had the niaspan and they said no. So I paid for the Vermox and we walked back to Marina de La Paz, got the fishing licenses and walked to the center of town on Bravo Street to go to the pharmacy that does sell the niaspan. I had hoped to get 4 boxes but they only had one so that is all I got. I sure hope I can get more in Santa Rosalia. After that we walked to the ice cream store, got some ice cream and then took a taxi to Marina Palmira, and went back to the boat. We walked a lot today. More than yesterday. Thank goodness it is cool weather now because otherwise we would have died from the heat.

Dave checked the weather and it is going to be good for going north. They are saying 10-15 knots until Friday when it is 15 knots and that is when the northerly starts to blow. So I stowed everything that needed to be stowed and locked all the cabinets and now we are ready to leave. All we need to do tomorrow is turn in our keys for the gate, unhook the lines and we are off. Finally!!!! I am ready to go.

Tuesday, January 5. Marina Palmira, La Paz to San Evaristo.
It was a bit hazy this morning when we got up. Dave went up to get our refund from the deposit on the gate keys while I readied the boat to leave. The water hose had to be disconnected from the dock water spicket, the windshield cover removed from the dodger windshield, pedestal cover removed and the covers to the instruments, the forward water tank had to be turned on so we could draw water from the tank while underway. When Dave came back he secured the jerry cans, put the knot meter back in, and started up the engine. We had plenty of help on the dock so Dave could stay on the boat this time which was nice. We said goodbye and off we went. There was a breeze and the waters were calm. A little bit of wave action due to the winds we had had the last couple of days, but nice and calm. As we moved north we had more swells but nothing major until we got out toward the islands heading north. The wind picked up and the swells were growing. After that the wind was about 15 knots for a long time and then became 18-21 knots. The wind was on our nose so no sailing and the seas got so mixed we were tossed about. We had 5-6 foot swells and then after that we just had a mixed bag and water over the bow to the dodger. Then we started to get behind an island, the wind didn’t let up but the waves were not so mixed but became short choppy waves that made the boat shudder when she came down off them. Soooo. How was our day? Well let me put it to you this way----if you like riding roller coasters, riding on a bucking bronco, being tossed like a rag doll, going through a saltwater waterfall, and parting the sea-----then Dave and I had a splendid day!!!!! In other words------NOT!!! It was a long miserable ride and it didn’t end until we finally got to our anchorage at San Evaristo. We anchored and are protected from most of the wind; however, it is still howling about 15 knots and will for most of the night and then eases up. Dave listened to the weather forecast tonight for the next 3 days and the wind is supposed to ease up tonight and be 5-15 knots tomorrow and 10 knots the next day. So we should be able to have a smoother ride tomorrow and continue with that until we get to Santa Rosalia. I certainly hope so. We definitely don’t want a repeat of today’s conditions, tomorrow. We will listen to the weather forecast tomorrow morning before heading out just to see if they are saying the same thing as they did tonight. So here is to a pleasant night. It is a little rolly here at anchor, but I’m hoping it will calm down the later it gets. So here is to a better day tomorrow!!!
LOG: 7248.1NM TRIP: 53.7NM
LOCATION: 24˚54:568N/110˚42:323W
ARRIVAL: 5:00PM
ENG. HRS: 1397.0

Wednesday, January 6. San Evaristo to Honey Moon Cove.
We started out at first light and the weather and wave conditions were better than yesterday’s but it is still early in the morning. As the day wore on we had a pretty good ride until we got closer to our destination for the night. We passed Aqua Verde because it was still early afternoon and we thought we would make it to Honey Moon Cove which is further north before sundown. Well we did make it but with current, wind and waves it was a little tight on daylight. The last part of our ride was a bit on the lumpy side but much better than yesterday. When we got into the cove to anchor, there was another sailboat there and unfortunately for us, was in the middle of the channel. He didn’t think he would have company. We went on the inside of him and shore and anchored and we did just fine. Dave is a bit under the weather. He tossed his coffee this morning and then felt light headed and stuffed up. Sounds like what people at Marina Palmira were getting. A couple we know said they had the flu and then a cold. So maybe Dave caught a little of the nasty bug. Even though he wasn’t feeling well he still managed to stay alert and helpful through the passage. We both went to bed early tonight as we are planning on getting up at 4-4:30am to leave for Santo Domingo which is about 81 nautical miles from here. There are few places to stop that are good anchorages with north wind protection.
LOG: 7314.4NM TRIP: 66.21NM
LOCATION: 25˚48:528N/111˚15:445W
ARRIVAL: 6:00PM
ENG. HRS: 1407.4

Thursday, January 7. Honey Moon Cove to Santo Domingo.
Dave was up early. He slept on the settee as he needed to have his head elevated due to his stuffy nose so he sort of slept halfway sitting up. I woke up around 3:00am and heard him snoring and then around 3:30am he got up to look outside and check things out. At 4:00am we were up and getting ready to leave. We weighed anchor and were off in the dark at 4:30am. We headed north to Loreto and we were traveling at 7.8 knots which is really good for us. We continued at that speed for quite a while and then we hit the current. It slowed us down a little but still managed 6.8 knots. We were having a good ride and then the wind came up and the waves started to build. We had some swells and short waves which the boat bumped down but not like it was when we were headed for San Evaristo. The boat slammed down those waves. We needed to get as far as Santo Domingo because then it is only 38 nautical miles to Santa Rosalia, which will put us in Santa Rosalia Friday morning.

For the most part it was an uneventful day. Dave was able to keep his coffee down this morning and eat a little more, but he ached all over and his head was stuffed up. But even though he felt miserable, he still managed to navigate. The wind was blowing around 12 knots so we thought it would help increase our speed if we put the headsail out. It did do that, but we knew it wouldn’t last long as it was the breeze off the land and once the sun comes up it will go away. We enjoyed motor sailing for a little while until the wind switch and ended up on our nose. Dave was down below trying to hear the weather report so when the sail started luffing, I rolled it in. When he came up he noticed he didn’t have to do anything because it was already done. The less he had to do the more he could rest and get well. Things were going along just great for a while and then we hit current and wind on the nose and the waves associated with it. We slowed down some but still managed to make good time. We had a hard time deciding whether to continue on to Santa Rosalia and get there at 9:30pm or 10:00pm or stop at Santo Domingo and get to Santa Rosalia the next morning. He made a phone call to the marina in Santa Rosalia and talked to our friend Carlos. He said there was no wind predicted for Friday morning, so with that we made the decision to stop and anchor at Santo Domingo. We hated to stop as the wind had died down and we were going 7.0 knots, but we were both tired and thought a good night sleep would do us good and then get into Santa Rosalia around 11:00am tomorrow. Little did we know at the time that was a bad decision!! We finally arrived at where we would anchor and dropped the hook. It is a little wavy in here, but not uncomfortable. It felt just like we were back in Bahia de los Angeles anchorage. So after we settled in for the night, we had dinner outside. This was the first time we were able to anchor before the sun set and enjoy watching it go down. After dinner I did the dishes then we both sat down on the settee where it didn’t take Dave long to start sawing logs. I am catching up the journal for the blog. It has been 3 long days of travel but we are almost to Santa Rosalia where the next step is to off load the boat and get her cleaned up and move into the house. Lots to do this month. It sure is beautiful up here. The water is a comfortable 72 degrees and the nights are cool and the days are comfortable. I am really glad we left La Paz when we did as after tomorrow the north wind will start blowing again. We lucked out!!!! Or did we?

Friday, January 8. Santo Domingo to Santa Rosalia.
So much for a restful sleep last night. I mentioned after we got anchored that it was a little rolly but not bad? Well the wind must have blown up north and the swells were wrapping around the point and coming into the anchorage. Plus we were turned so the waves were hitting the beam (side) of the boat. It brought back memories of when we had the chubasco in Trinidad anchorage when we first came to the Sea, and the waves were coming at the side of the boat rocking us pretty good. Well it wasn’t that bad last night, but it did get uncomfortable enough to where Dave and I didn’t sleep much. Finally we got up around 6:30am to leave at 7:00am. The sun wasn’t up yet and it wasn’t light enough to maneuver safely out of the anchorage around the point and head north, so we waited until it got light enough to see then we left. There were some swells but nothing bad. Once we cleared the point and heading north, we needed to make a decision as to whether to take a short cut through Craig Channel to Santa Rosalia or go around Isla San Marcos. We noticed the tide was running against us and we know it gets shallow even at high tide going through the channel so we discussed it and thought it might be better to go around Isla San Marcos. After all there wasn’t supposed to be a lot of wind today. No worries. As we got further north and on the east side of the island, the current was pushing against us and the wind came up. We thought we could increase our speed by putting the headsail up, which we did and were motor sailing along at about 7.4 knots. With this speed we will make it to Santa Rosalia before 11:00am. Well of course the wind switched from a port beam to right on the nose so the sail had to be rolled up. As we got further north the wind increased and at the north end of Isla San Marcos it was blowing 16-17 knots. The waves were not too bad but we knew we would have to turn and have the waves come at us on the beam which we were not looking forward to. We had, at this time, slowed to about 5.7 knots. Then we crashed down a couple of waves and each time we did we lost 3 knots and had to build up speed again only to be dropped off another wave that reduced our speed. At one point it was like we weren’t moving. It seemed to take forever just to get to the north end of the island. When we did get there we had to turn into more of the waves and the wind increased to 19-20 knots. The sea was ugly and it was not a comfortable ride at all. We saw several pangas filled with fisherman fishing the tidal current. That is when it was the most uncomfortable ride, to have the wind at 19 knots and waves from the wind and current made for an ugly ride. We did this for hours and 11:00am had come and gone. Now it looked as if we might make it in by 1:00pm. At this point I am sitting behind the wheel watching the instruments as usual and holding on as I do when it gets bouncy and rough. Dave was kicking himself that we didn’t come last night when there was very little wind and we were making good speed. We had no idea the wind was going to be blowing this hard until we were on our way and a little late to do anything about it. We had to go no matter what and it didn’t matter whether we went through the channel or around the island, we still would have been faced with lots of wind and rough seas. So we trudged on. As we rounded the north end of the island we could see Santa Rosalia. You know that saying----“so close but yet so far away?” Well that is how we felt. We thought we would never get there. As it was we didn’t arrive until 2:00pm. We drove the boat toward Santa Rosalia as far as we could before having to turn down and have the waves hit us on our beam. There were a couple of times a wave hit us with such force that we rolled over a bit but she came back. You can feel the power in those waves and they toss a boat like it was a toy in a bathtub. Dave had taken the helm as he needed to steer because the auto helm would not have handled the wave action coming in that direction. I had been praying all morning long when it started to get a little uncomfortable, but at this point we were both praying that we made it in one piece. The only way to enter the marina was to face west which put the wind and waves on our beam and the waves were about 4 to 5 feet in height. It wouldn’t have mattered if we came up the other direction from the channel, as the waves would have still been on our beam. So we didn’t have any choice but to grit our teeth and bare it and pray we made it safely. When you see that water coming at you, you hope and pray it doesn’t push you over too far. Dave did a wonderful job handling the boat and I did a wonderful job of holding on. I did manage to get a stern line on the boat in preparation for docking. We were going to stop at the gas dock and fill the tank but decided it would be too hard to do and then get from there to our slip. So we said we would do that another time when it is calm. As we were getting closer to the entrance of the marina I called them to let them know we were coming in. The man told me they had been waiting for us. When Dave finally got the boat inside the breakwater, I went out and put the fenders down and put the bow line on and saw the two guys waiting for us on the dock to help with our lines. The wind was blowing us off the dock and so we did have a little trouble, but soon had it under control. There are only 2 power boats and 2 sailboats in the marina so we could pick whatever slip we wanted. We chose to go on the other side of Native Son, which is a power boat and we know the owners as they are going to help us take our stuff to the house. Anyway, it is also good because his boat makes a great wind break for us.

We are finally here and very glad to have that trip behind us. Dave and I will sleep really well tonight!! The wind did pick up to 25 knots before we were able to get inside the breakwater. Dave said it was going to reach 25 knots but I was really hoping he was going to be wrong. Oh well. What matters now is that we arrived safely, the trip is behind us and our new adventure begins. Tomorrow we will start off loading stuff from the boat. The marina has allowed us to use one of their empty rooms to store our stuff which is really nice. Alan and Barb off Native Son will be down in a couple of weeks so we will have time to get stuff off the boat, take pictures and clean it up.
LOG: 7435.2NM TRIP: 41.81NM
LOCATION: 27˚20:246N/112˚15:777W
ARRIVAL: 2:00PM
ENG. HRS: 1426.7

After we got tied to the dock and got the power hooked up, Dave went to the office to check in and I rinsed off the boat. It was really encrusted with salt. Then I sat in the cockpit and read my book for a little bit then went below and took a nap. Dave had come back from checking in and hooked up to the internet. They hadn’t changed the access code since the last time we were here in October.

We are looking forward to the next few weeks of settling into the house and hopefully we will get a bite on the boat and/or the vacation club. We don’t want to do any more cruising. We will always have a boat, but just not a cruising one. Short trips and fishing is all we will need to do now.

Saturday, January 9. Santa Rosalia.
Today is unloading the boat day. I started unloading cabinets and figuring out what stayed on the boat and what I wanted to take with me. I took a lot of stuff off so far. It is starting to look a little bare on the inside now. The nets are down so it doesn’t have that ‘cruiser’ look to it any more. Tomorrow I will take more things off and Dave will go through his tools and spare parts and all that kind of stuff. Then I can make up the back rooms so they look inviting and big. While I was packing things up Dave was working on the inverter. It quit working on our trip from La Paz. He did some rewiring and it still doesn’t work so we think it is shot. We’ll have to buy another one. We will probably take pictures Monday or Tuesday of the inside so we can get them sent to the broker so she can advertise it. Dave did get an email from her and she said she had been talking to someone about our boat. So that is good. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for it to sell.

We went to town for dinner. We were going to eat at our favorite roasted chicken place but they were closed. We think that this is the last weekend for Epiphany celebrations so many of the stores were closed. We walked up the street to another restaurant we have eaten in before and ordered a pizza. Then we walked back to the boat and are relaxing. Tomorrow will be another busy day and after we get our FM3’s renewed on Monday, I will come back to the boat and do cleaning. So things are coming together which is nice.

Sunday, January 10.
It is quiet here at the marina. There is only one person working. A perfect day for us to dig our heels in and get more stuff moved off the boat.

Dave got the things we are keeping from under the guest stateroom and I emptied what I could from the cupboards and then Dave did the rest. We took several loads of tools, pots and pans, towels, books, and other things we won’t need on the boat. We are leaving a few things on like dishes and utensils and that sort of stuff because while the boat hasn’t sold we will be staying on it until the end of this month and then we will probably come down once a month until it sells to stay on it for the weekend and charge the batteries and that sort of stuff. We got pictures taken of the forward stateroom, head, and shower. Then we took pictures of the main salon. Tomorrow I need to clean up the galley and Dave the chart table so I can take pictures of all that. Then it is a matter of making the aft staterooms pretty and inviting and then take more pictures. Then we will download them and send them off to Shelly to have her decide what pictures she wants to use in advertising the boat.

So we got a lot accomplished today and tomorrow will be the last of the picture taking on the inside. Then we have to unload all the back lockers outside and inside the cockpit. That won’t take very long. You know when the boat is all cleaned up with no clutter it looks pretty darn good!!!! It has been a fun ride with the boat and living aboard. I am so glad I got to live aboard for 16 years and cruise on the ocean. I at least have that under my hat. It really doesn’t matter if you make it too far away places just so you could say you’ve been there. It is nice if you really want to do that, but we just decided we have gone as far as we want by boat and the rest we we’ll have to see by flying and by car. The main thing is if you want to go cruising you have to leave your comfort zone. It isn’t easy to do, but once you commit yourself to it and you know what you are doing and are safe and self sufficient, and you have a great captain, it is worth every bit of the experience. I know I have grown tremendously as a person, since we have left home, and I found out what I can and can’t do and how much stronger in body and spirit I have become.

Well we are done working for the day. It is now time for a cocktail and then dinner. I am going to wash some dishes and take a shower before I fix dinner though. That way after the dishes are done from dinner I can relax and read or do whatever I feel like doing.

There was a breeze today but no big winds like it has been the last couple of days. It started out a little cloudy, but that all burned off and now it is gorgeous.

Tomorrow morning Dave and I are going to get our FM3’s renewed and then we have to wait for them to be processed which takes about 2 weeks. We are looking forward to getting that all behind us.

Monday, January 11.
We were going to get our FM3’s renewed today but Carlos, who was going to take us there and be our interpreter, had some things he had to do today so we will do it tomorrow. So we walked through town trying to find a small fishing tackle box so we could put spare parts in that need to stay on the boat. Well we didn’t find any so on our way back to the boat we stopped at the bakery and got a loaf of French bread and stopped at the ATM and returned to the boat. Then I started cleaning. I started in the galley and cleaned the counters and shelves and then cleaned the wood with Murphy Oil. Then I did the chart table area. After that came the two aft staterooms. We took pictures of what we needed to, to show the roominess of the boat and then we will download them tonight and pick the best ones and send them off to the broker.

Dave went through stuff stored in the chart table and around it and got rid of stuff and decided what he wanted to keep. I emptied the closet in the port stateroom and then Dave and I carried more stuff up to the storage unit. So that is all done. I still need to go through stuff under the sink in both heads and decide what to pack. The majority of the stuff has already been packed.

I washed clothes this afternoon and then when that chore was done, Dave and I changed clothes and went to the chicken restaurant to have dinner. When we got back to the boat I put the clean clothes away and Dave downloaded the pictures of the boat on the computer. Well we found some of the pictures were a little blurred but we are going to send them anyway. The broker will pick the ones that will show the boat and we’ll go from there. Now the boat is clean inside and what is left to do is empty the outside lockers and decide what stays and what doesn’t. That shouldn’t take long. Then we will wash the boat, clean the stainless steel and if we have time we will wax it. Then we wait to see if we get any interest on the boat and hopefully a buyer.

Tuesday, January 12.
Today is FM3 renewal day. Carlos was busy until 10:30am, and then he walked with us to the immigration office and talked to a gentleman in Spanish of what we needed to have done. Fortunately for us the man spoke English. He looked over all our stuff and the letter the marina typed for each of us and the gentleman told Carlos what had to go in the letter and that we needed another one for the change of address. One was for the residence and the other a change of address. The only thing we didn’t have was a phone bill which the marina had to submit and 2 copies each of our FM3’s and passport. So Carlos and us went back to the marina office and Carlos took our passports and FM3’s so he could make the necessary copies and they would type the letters and get a copy of the phone bill. As they were doing that we went back to the boat and then went up to the office a half hour later which was 11:30am. Everything was done and Dave and I headed back to the immigration office without Carlos. Since the gentleman spoke good English, Carlos didn’t have to go with us to interpret. We got to the office and the gentleman filled out the other necessary forms and we signed where we needed to and then it was time to go to the bank to pay our fees. Once at the bank they took the paper we gave them and we paid them then they gave us a receipt to take back to the immigration office. We left the bank and went back to the immigration office and gave them the receipts and they gave us a piece of paper for each of us as a proof that we were having our FM3’s processed. We are to go back next Tuesday to pick them up. It was pretty painless. Since we already had pictures from the first time we got our FM3 done, we didn’t have to have any taken so that was less for us to do. So now we are good and Alan and Barbara are suppose to be here on their boat on Friday to stay a week and then we all will be going to Bahia de los Angeles. Wow!!! The whole thing is coming together like clockwork.

I emptied as much stuff from under the sink in each head and kept only what I thought we would need for when we come back to visit the boat. Then I went outside in the cockpit and read my book. I am trying to finish the Clive Cussler, ‘Golden Buddha’ so Dave can read it. I should be done with it tonight. Around 5:00pm I started preparing dinner. We had a good dinner and then I washed the dishes while Dave read the news on the computer and then started to play spider solitaire. I just learned how to do that and it is fun. Once dishes were done I got a glass of wine and finished my book. Now I am writing this for the blog.

Tomorrow I think Dave and I will tackle the lockers in the cockpit and the two on the back of the boat. There shouldn’t be much to come out of them and when that is done we will take the stuff I got from under the sinks today and the stuff from the lockers, to the storage unit. Then that will be all until we have to move the food and clothes off which will be a week from Friday.

One thing I will miss about the cruising life is the nice cruisers we have met along the way and still stay in contact with a few of them. But we will be able to see them when they come to visit the Sea in the summer. That will be fun. Our new life is coming soon.

Wednesday, January 13.
It is another beautiful sunny day. It is cool in the mornings but by 10:00am it is starting to warm up a little. The sun feels good. Not like the summer sun which is very intense and burns you quickly if you aren’t careful.

Dave listened to the weather on the SSB (Single side band radio) and it is suppose to be nice today and calm and then the wind will develop from the west and it will blow up to 35 mph Thursday and Friday and slacking off on Saturday. Dave and I couldn’t believe how smooth the water was outside the whole area off the marina. We haven’t seen water that calm for months. Dave wondered why it couldn’t have been like it is today when we were coming to Santa Rosalia. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

We emptied all the lockers and took out what we were going to take with us and left the rest for the new owners. We won’t have a need for most of the stuff. That job took all of an hour to do and taking the stuff we were keeping to the storage unit. After that chore was done, Dave grabbed his book and I went below to bake cookies for the marina. They have been so nice and helpful to us that I wanted to thank them all and the best way I knew how to do that was bake something so everyone could enjoy it. Well I had these cookie mixes on the boat that needed to be baked so I made a double batch of peanut butter cookies, a batch of chocolate chip and walnut chocolate chip cookies. When I finished with the peanut butter cookies I put them on a plate and covered them with saran wrap then asked Dave to take them to the office at it was a little after 2:00pm and most of the workers leave around 3:00pm. So he did that while I was baking the rest of the cookies to give them tomorrow. When I finished with the marina cookies, I baked some double chocolate cookies for Dave. Didn’t want him to be left out. I am starting to use up the supplies I packed on board months ago. Since the weather is cool I don’t mind baking. It helps warm the inside of the boat.

After the baking was done I had enough time to sit down and start reading a new Clive Cussler book titled ‘Fire Ice’. I should be done with it before we leave the marina for the house. When we finish books we take them to where the marinas have a book exchange and drop them off so others can enjoy reading them.

Then it was time for dinner so I heated up some leftovers and made a salad then after dinner I washed the dishes and then sat down and read some more of the book. I think this one will be a fast read as I like the way it is written and it is more exciting than the last two I read.

I don’t know what I will do tomorrow. I am toying with the idea of washing the boat as the birds have enjoyed crapping all over it. If the wind starts up tomorrow morning I’ll have to wait as there will be more water being distributed elsewhere than where it needs to be on the boat. I may walk into town to visit the pharmacies to see if they carry Niaspan (niacin). I sure hope so. There isn’t anywhere else to get it unless I go to San Diego. There are about 4 pharmacies in town so I am hoping one of them carries it. Carlos is going sometime this week to get his blood taken to test his cholesterol and I told him to let me know when so I could go with him. He said he would. I need him to translate for me that I need the same blood work done. You go in the morning and then go back by 1:00pm to get the results all the same day. That is cool. Then I will email the results to my doctor and see what he has to say. Hopefully the niacin is doing the job of raising my HDL. We shall see.

Thursday, January 14.
Before we were out of bed the wind was blowing pretty well so no washing of the boat today. So what can I do today? I think I will walk to town and check out the pharmacies to see if they sell niacin. But before I do that I have to defrost the refrigerator and freezer. It’s been a week since the last time I did it which is really great.

Now that the refrigerator and freezer are defrosted I will go to town. I stopped at the first pharmacy and the gentleman looked it up in his book. He said it was a new item. After about 5 minutes of looking he added it to a list he had already started and I told him I needed 3 boxes. I thought at the time he was ordering it for me because he asked if I could come back tomorrow. He didn’t speak a lot of English but we were able to understand each other. So I thanked him and left. Then I went to another pharmacy, Similars and they didn’t sell it and then I went to one more and they didn’t sell it either. I was pretty sure the man at the first pharmacy was ordering it but I wanted to be sure and find out what time it would be in. So I will have to stop there before going back to the marina. I walked around town and checked out some of the grocery stores and found the fabric store to see what kind and color of yarn they had but they didn’t have a good selection. Then I walked to the bakery and picked up some bread rolls and walk back to the pharmacy and asked the gentleman when the niacin would be here and what time. He told me to come back tomorrow afternoon around 2:00pm or 3:00pm. So now I know I will be getting some tomorrow which makes me feel a lot better. Then I will have to get large quantities of niacin when we go to Ensenada to do major provisioning. So I left the pharmacy and walked back to the boat.

Dave had talked to Carlos this morning and in the conversation, Carlos told Dave he was going to get his blood drawn tomorrow morning for cholesterol and glucose testing. I had wanted to go with him so he told Dave to have me at the office at 8:00am. So I will get that done and then go back at 1:00pm to get the results and pay for the test. This way I will know if the niacin is actually working for me to raise my HDL.

After I had returned to the boat I fixed Dave and I some lunch and then I sat and read my book and Dave played his submarine game. It was just a lazy afternoon. The wind howled all day. Around 4:00pm we heard voices on the dock and Dave asked if that was Barb and Alan coming to their boat which is right next to us. I poked my head out and sure enough it was. We said hello and then we let them get aboard and get settled. They arrived a day early. So Dave and I went back to what we were doing. Then just before 5:00pm we heard a knock on the boat and Barb asked if it was cocktail time. We said of course and welcomed them aboard. They came down below and we sat and chatted for a while. After about an hour they said goodbye and went back to their boat and I started dinner. After dinner and dishes Dave went to his computer to look at news and check emails and I checked emails and now am typing this.

One really good thing happened today, Dave hydroed the house batteries and found out they are good. That means he tested each cell. Then just for grins and giggles he turned on the inverter and low and behold--------it worked. Here we thought it had bit the big one but what we figured was the batteries were low and since we have been at the dock charging up, they are now fully charged so the inverter is able to work. So that will save us a lot of headaches now we know the inverter is still good. When we go back to the states again, Dave wants to get Trojan batteries as he feels they are better and last longer as opposed to LTH ones. So we were really happy we don’t have to replace the inverter or ship it to Illinois to have it repaired!!!!

Well the wind is still howling and I even think it is windier now than it was all day. We had about 24 knots of wind this morning and it was predicted to blow at least to 30 and last all night and tomorrow too. Then it is suppose to get calm again. That will be when I wash the boat and do the stainless steel.

Friday, January 15.
Just a few minutes before 8:00am I walked up to wait for Carlos to pick me up and take us to the Lab for blood work. Instead of Carlos showing up it was his lovely wife Rosie. She said that Carlos got ill last night and went to the hospital where they ran a bunch of tests on him. They think he has high blood pressure. So he asked Rosie if she would take me to the lab. So off we went. We got in and out right away. I go back at 1:00pm to get the results. When I got back to the marina I went to the boat and had my coffee and something to eat. Then I started going through my clothes to take all but ones I would wear for this next week. I emptied all cupboards except one and one of my drawers. So those are ready to go to storage. Alan has just his big truck here with no trailer so I don’t know if all our stuff will fit. We’ll have to show him the stuff in the storage unit and see if it can all go. Dave still needs to pack his clothes and I need to pack up the food. So we shall see. It may take 2 trips. I sure wish we had our jeep here then we could load it up too. Well we don’t so we will work with what we have.

It was another windy day so I am not going to wash the boat. Maybe tomorrow. There wasn’t much else to do so I read my book. I am trying to finish it today. When 1:00pm came around I walked to town and got my blood test results. Unfortunately all it had was the total cholesterol and wasn’t broken down for how much the HDL and LDL was or the ratio. I talked to Carlos when I got back and he called the lab to see if he could get that information but after they do the test they throw everything away. So I have to go back tomorrow at 9:00am to have it done again and then they will break it down for me. My total cholesterol was really high so I wasn’t happy about that. The doctor would have had a fit. But it doesn’t help your test any when you eat a bunch of chocolate chip cookies the day before. I had forgotten how much chocolate can raise it. So hopefully the total will be better tomorrow.

I finished the book. It was a good one. It was hard to put it down. Now I am going to start reading ‘Bad Company’ by Jack Higgins. Haven’t read any of his books yet and this is one that Dave read a long time ago and it’s been sitting on the boat all this time so hopefully I can read it and leave it with the other books for cruisers to read.

At 3:00pm I walked into town to the pharmacy to pick up my order for niaspan and when I got there he said it didn’t come in but to come back in about 4 days. So I will do that. I certainly got my exercise today walking to town and back.

I tried a new recipe making pizza. I made the crust from bisquick and I cooked chorizo and steamed some bell pepper and shredded some mozzarella cheese. My pan is a medium size one and I made a mistake of putting all the pizza sauce and cheese on it because when it baked it bubbled over. The crust wasn’t solid enough to pick up like how you eat pizza but it tasted good. I think next time (if there is one) I will use the bobili bread and not put so much sauce and cheese on it. Oh well. I never have made pizza and this recipe sounded so simple, which it was, but it had a lot of operator error thrown in.

Saturday, January 16.
I went to the lab this morning at 9:00am but she wasn’t there yet. They were closed today but they told me to come at 9:00am and they would process the blood again so I can have the breakdown. I had to wait about 10-15 minutes before she showed up and then it didn’t take long to get it done. She said to come back at 2:00pm this afternoon. Yesterday I paid for the test and it was 150 pesos. Today because they have to do a little more to the blood specimen, it is 200 pesos. Not bad. Once I was done I came back to the boat and had a cup of coffee and something to eat and then started washing the boat. Birds have been flying over using us as target practice.

We rinsed the boat off and scrubbed where the bird crap was and that was all. We know there will be more on the boat in the morning. After that Dave and I read our books and then just before 2:00pm I started to walk back to the lab to get my results. She wasn’t there when I got there but I didn’t have to wait too long before she showed up. She had to type the results for me and then I paid her and left. I still was not happy with the results. My cholesterol is too high but I did get the break down so when I got back to the boat I sent the doctor my results. Dave read where if you are taking high doses of niacin it will raise your good cholesterol. So I will have to wait and see what the doctor has to say. If I have to be on a statin now is the time to get it because there are plenty of pharmacies here in Santa Rosalia where in Bahia de los Angeles there are none. I probably won’t hear from him until Monday. So I was kind of bummed about the results but it is what it is and I have tried everything natural I can think of and the cholesterol keeps going higher. It is in my genes and there isn’t much I can do about it.

I took pillows, a blanket and some clothes to the laundry room and while they were being washed and dried I read my book. When I got back to the boat I put them away and then we went to dinner with Barb and Alan and had Santa Rosalia’s famous bacon hot dogs. They are really good. I only had one and was tempted to have another but decided against it as I knew I would be too full. After we were done we walked around town and visited all the grocery stores and looked at prices of meats and other stuff. I will probably do a little food shopping here of the items I know I can’t get in B of LA, plus the prices are so much better too. Alan thinks we should be able to get everything in his truck so I hope so.

We walked back to the boat and said goodnight to Barb and Alan and then Dave and I relaxed with a glass of wine. It had been a cool day today because it was overcast. It was nice though as there was no wind. The wind isn’t supposed to blow tomorrow either and then after that we are supposed to get southern winds. That is unusual for this time of year. Anyway-----life is good.

Sunday, January 17.
We started with some clouds this morning and the skies looked like we might end up getting some rain. We started our day walking with Barb and Alan to the long breakwater on the opposite side of the marina. It is a good walk. I had a nice visit with Barb and Dave with Alan. When we got back close to the marina, Barb and Alan walked to an outdoor produce place and Dave and I went back to the boat. We were going to go fuel up but we noticed there wasn’t anyone over at the pumps. So Dave walked up and asked Evon when it was going to open and he said at 12:00pm. We had about an hour and a half to wait. So I washed dishes and put some things away and then I looked through recipe books to figure out what I was going to fix for dinner. I didn’t find anything but did decide to make burritos. As it got closer to noon, we got the boat ready to go to the fuel dock. We got over there and it wasn’t open yet so we scrubbed the side of the hull where we had a water stain on it. Some of it came off but we need to clean it some more. That is the side that is away from the dock so in order to get at it we would have to borrow a dinghy and try to clean it from the dinghy. At least we got some of it off. Evon and Carlos were the guys to fuel us as the other guy that is normally there didn’t show up. It was Carlos’ day off so we thanked him for coming down to help Evon. When we were done fueling we took the boat back to the slip and secured her to the dock. Then I rinsed the bird crap off from the fly bys last night. I was going to rinse the cockpit and dodger, but it was already after 1:00pm and not all the cushions would have dried before the sun went down so I will start in the morning tomorrow and get it cleaned. We need to get the dirt off that the wind blew on us when it was really windy. We will have to clean it again when we come back to check on the boat but at least it will be clean when we leave on Friday or whenever Alan wants to go.

I finished my book so now I can get rid of it. I am going to start reading ‘A Fine and Pleasant Misery’ by Patrick McManus. I had started reading that book a long time ago and don’t remember if I ever finished it so I am going to read it this time. There are 3 more of his books on board I will read. They are humorous books so I may be laughing a lot out loud.

The Guaymas ferry has loaded and will be leaving soon. It comes in once a week sometimes more often. It takes 12 hours to get across to the mainland. They arrive in Santa Rosalia early in the morning and depart later in the evening timing it so they get to Guaymas early the next morning.

We are supposed to get some southwest winds tomorrow and maybe for a couple days. Like I said before it is very unusual this time of year. South winds usually start around June. Weather is crazy everywhere especially down south on the mainland. They have been having clouds and rain and Maryann and Ron from Brownsville even saw a water spout from where they were anchored in the anchorage outside of the La Cruz marina which is north of Puerto Vallarta. Weird!! So we are happy to be here. Further south where some of the cruisers are it has been terrible weather also. It’s warm but they have had a lot of rain and wind.

The clouds did go away in the early afternoon and then it was quite warm. As soon as the sun goes down though it gets cold.

Well here is to another day in paradise!!

About 10:00pm I heard a thump in the cockpit and it sounded like a bird had walked on the boat. That has happened before so I got up and looked out and I saw this shadow move from the starboard seat and get off the boat. I stepped out and peeked around the console thinking it was a cat but to my surprise it was a raccoon. A little skinny guy looking for food. He didn’t see me and as I moved he walked off. I went on the dock to try and find out where he went but I guess he got away. I sure wasn’t expecting to see a raccoon down at the marina. Surprise! Surprise! There wasn’t any food so he probably won’t be back. We had been hearing the birds all upset and wondered why, maybe that was why. Interesting!!!!

Monday, January 18.
It is sunny and warm today which is a great day to wash the bimini, screens, cockpit and everything in it. So once I had my coffee and something to eat I started pulling all the cushions out of the cockpit and laying them on the dock to be rinsed. I had to wait for the hose as our neighbors, Barb and Alan, had to wash off the bird crap from a fly by last night. We were missed but they got the brunt of it. After they were done with the hose I started my job. Boy! Was there a lot of dirt! Now it looks so much better and it is clean. It won’t stay that way as we are supposed to get high winds on Thursday which will blow the dust back on the boat. But for now it looks clean. After everything was put back in the cockpit it was time for lunch. After lunch I started on the stainless steel. I did all of the starboard side and then I will do the port side tomorrow. Dave helped me wipe the cleaner off. It sure looks much better. There were a lot of rust spots forming.

Tomorrow we are supposed to pick up our FM3’s. With the storm coming in on Thursday we may have to stay a day or two more here because when it rains in La Mona, where Alan and Barb live, the road washes out and it takes a couple days to dry out before vehicles can go on it. Larry, the owner of the house in B of L.A. knows we are coming so no worries there.

There is a little serge in the marina tonight so we are rolling a little bit. There must be wind out there which is causing the waves to come into the opening of the marina. There was no wind here and it was a beautiful evening but a little damp due to the humidity being up a little. Dave and I, with drink and cigar in hand, went outside to enjoy the evening. Then it was back on the boat to listen to music and read. Then bed time.

Tuesday, January 19.
We were woken by the Guaymas ferry coming in. It was about 6:00am. It seemed like forever before they shut off the engine, but then it was quiet enough to go back to sleep.

This morning we will walk to the immigration office, which is not far, and see if they have our FM3’s ready. Then it is back to the boat to do the port side stainless steel.

I am still going through cupboards and packing most of the food and taking it up to the storage unit. Each day I search the boat to see what else I will need at the house and pack it up. If we can’t get everything in this trip we will bring the stuff we don’t need at the house right now and stow it on the boat and then get it the next time we come back to the boat. We still are trying to figure out how we are going to get the jeep down here. Our good friend Ron is itching to drive it to San Diego so that might be a possibility. So we will have to wait and see. We are going to need to get it soon.

We had an interesting time at the immigration office. They had our FM3’s but they told us we had to fill out a FM1 form due to change of address and we would need pictures. Well when we were there to renew our FM3 Dave asked them if we needed to fill out a FM1 and they said no. Then we asked if they could use the same pictures we had from last time since we had copies and they said yes. Then today they want us to fill out the form and get pictures. Oh well. So they gave us the form and it is in Spanish. We asked them if they could use the pictures we have and they said sure, bring them in. So we went back to the marina and talked to Evon and asked us what it said on the form. It is basically filling out about your physical features. Then we went down to the boat to get the pictures and then went back to the immigration office. They helped us fill out the form and we showed them the pictures and they said they were alright to use. They wanted a front and side view and that is what we had. So after the form is filled out we gave it to the man and he went over to the computer and entered in all the information for both of us and that took about 15 minutes or so, then he pastes the pictures in the new FM3 book and gets our inked thumb prints in there too. They told us we would have to get copies of each page in the FM3 that had writing on them, because their machine didn’t work. (We don’t know if it was actually broken or they just didn’t want to make the copies) but none-the-less we said we could make the copies. So we walked back to the marina office and asked if we could have copies of each written page of our FM3’s. They said ‘no problem’ and did it for us. They are the neatest people and so helpful and didn’t charge us either. When the copies were made we thanked them and walked back to the immigration office. We watched and waited as they put everything together and we signed the papers we needed to and they gave us a copy of the letter for each of us and our FM3’s. Then we could leave. What was I thinking when I thought we could go to the immigration office and just pick up our new FM3? Oops!! I forgot—we are in Mexico! The important thing is we got them so we are good for another year. When we got back to the boat I made lunch and then I went out and started shining the stainless steel on the port side of the boat. Dave’s back has been bothering him a lot so he helped but did the lifelines on the starboard side and I did the port side. We don’t know what he did that caused his back to hurt so much but he is trying to get it better. He is very uncomfortable.

After I finished the stainless steel I came below and had a beer then I cleaned out the food items from under the floor in front of the galley sink and then took almost all of the canned foods out of the bench seat at the settee table. Then I emptied the cupboard above the stove except for the stuff I will need until we leave to go to B of LA. (Bahia de los Angeles). I put all the items in bags and will transport them to the storage unit tomorrow.

We met another couple that have a house in Bahia de los Angeles near Barb and Alan, but come down very little. We went to dinner with them and Barb and Alan and had a good time. Then we walked to the ice cream store and enjoyed an ice cream while we talked. Then we said goodnight and we walked back to the marina while Barb and Alan took Lynsy and Brian to their hotel room.

When we returned to the boat I checked my email and there was one from Group Health. I did get a couple earlier this afternoon from my doctor’s nurse saying he was out of the office until next Tuesday. Well that doesn’t help me because I will be leaving Santa Rosalia on Friday and won’t be back here again for another 4 weeks or so. The nurse had said that if I wanted to she could send my email to another doctor and see what he had to say, so I told her that would be fine. So when I checked my email tonight I had an email from the other doctor which happens to be Dave’s doctor. He recommended I start on a statin. He suggested Simvastatin which is the generic for Zocor. I think I will be able to get that here. Then I need to have my blood checked again in 8 weeks. So I am going to do that. I can’t wait because I won’t be able to get it in Bahia de los Angeles and I need to do something so I will go to the pharmacy tomorrow and get it and stop taking the niacin. I have tried to combat the cholesterol on my own and I was doing pretty well and then it started climbing and that isn’t good so I will give in and take the statin. I know a lot of people who are taking a statin have had good results and others not so good, but I am at a point now I need to do something and medication seems to be it. I’m sure I will do just fine on it.

Tomorrow or Thursday I will be cleaning the heads and shower and sump pump. Thursday is supposed to be very windy so I figure it would be a good day to work inside. I will vacuum and then wash the floor too. One nice thing about living on a boat is it doesn’t take long to do these things.

Time to read then go to bed.

Wednesday, January 20.
When I woke up this morning the sun was shining but there were clouds in the sky and I did see a red sky as well. After getting up and having my coffee I made breakfast then did the dishes. Then I started to gather some more things to take to storage. I after that I cleaned the heads, shower, and sump pump. By this time it was starting to sprinkle and I had the canned and other food items in bags in the cockpit where they would get wet so I took them to storage. I had to make 2 trips. With the plan to leave Friday, I want to make sure we have all the stuff I want to go to the house in storage by today so we can start loading the truck tomorrow and be ready to leave on Friday.

Tomorrow I will vacuum and wash the floor and wash clothes. Friday before we leave I will empty the refrigerator and freezer and turn them both off.

I’m glad I took the stuff to storage when I did because with each load it was starting to turn into heavy mist. When it clears Dave and I will walk into town so we can go to the bank and the pharmacy to see if they have the generic drug for Zocor.

The rain has stopped and the skies are getting lighter so we should be heading into town shortly.

We walked into town around 4:00pm and went to the bank and then the pharmacy. They had the statin so I got two boxes but we will have to come back in a month to get more. Then we stopped at the other pharmacy where I ordered the niacin but the gentleman I spoke to wasn’t there so I will have to go back tomorrow to see if he was able to get it. If he was then I have to pay for it because he already paid for it when he ordered it. Maybe I will get lucky and he couldn’t get it. I’ll know tomorrow when I go into town to do a little shopping. That is if it doesn’t rain. We found out today that when it rains the roads and sidewalks get muddy.

Dave is following the weather and it looks like we will be getting rain tomorrow and Friday. I guess we won’t be loading up Alan’s truck tomorrow. We were planning on leaving Friday, but if the weather is bad we may stay another day or two. It is up to Barb and Alan. The heaviest rain is supposed to be in the afternoon tomorrow.

Not much else going on. Another quiet night.

Thursday, January 21.
More items were taken off the boat and put in storage. We will be leaving on Saturday to go to the house. The weather hasn’t been too promising so we will wait another day. Tomorrow we will load up the truck and I sure hope we can get everything in there, but if not it will just go back on the boat and we will get it on the next trip. We have to come back in a month to pay the bill so we will finish up everything then.

Barb and Alan took me with them shopping for food this morning. I bought some bread, fruit, cheese, chicken breasts and a couple other items. That is just so we won’t have to go to the store right away when we get to Bahia de los Angeles. So our new adventure is going to begin on Saturday. We are getting excited. I took some pictures of most of the stuff that was taken off the boat. Actually if you think about it, it really isn’t that much. Not compared to what you accumulate in a house.

I hate the thought of having more space to accumulate stuff, but I think we will do o.k.

Barb took my frozen food (what little there was) and put it in her freezer for us so I could defrost the freezer. So I have the freezer off and it is slowly defrosting. At least I won’t have to deal with that tomorrow. I will have to defrost the refrigerator and then turn it off Friday night. I think if I put all the stuff that is in the refrigerator in a cooler with ice it will be alright until we get to the house.

I just got through letting everyone know in an email that we won’t have internet service for a couple of weeks or so. Larry, the man we are leasing the house from, is going to make arrangements to get us connected.

Just before we get to the house we will have to stop somewhere and get a 5 gallon container of drinking water since there isn’t any of that at the house. Only water to wash clothes, dishes and take a shower with. Things are progressing.

This afternoon I watched the blue footed boobies dive bomb for fish. Pretty interesting!

It hasn’t rained yet today or tonight but the wind has come up out of the southeast. It is suppose to blow tomorrow but I don’t think it is suppose to rain. I hope not as we have to load the truck.

Well I am settling in for a quiet relaxing evening.

Friday, January 22.
It rained pretty hard early this morning. Another nice rinsing of the boat. After our morning coffee, Dave and I went to the storage unit to sort out the heavy stuff from the light stuff and Alan backed his truck up to the storage room and we started loading things in the back of his truck. Dave and I had doubts we would get everything in the truck but by gosh we sure did. It was amazing! We covered it all with a tarp and secured it.


Now all I have to do is wash clothes and empty my refrigerator and defrost it. The weather had improved quite a bit so we didn’t get any more rain. After I washed clothes and brought them back to the boat, I went through to see what towels and if there were any clothes Dave wanted to keep on the boat. As it turns out just a few towels stayed on the boat and the rest of the items were packed in the laundry basket along with whatever could be stuffed in there. Tomorrow we are getting up at 6:00am, have our coffee, take the last of the items to the truck and then come back and change out the boat lines to more secure ones and move the boat forward a little so the stern doesn’t hit the dock. So we are pretty much ready to go. We should be on the road by 7:30am as Alan and Barb want to get to their house before it gets dark. It is only 5 hours to Bahia de los Angeles and off loading will be easy as it will go from the truck to the garage for us to sort later. Then they will be on their way. We are truly blessed to have such good friends that are willing to help us. We were told too that neighbors let others know when they are making a trip to Ensenada or Guerrero Negro so if we need a ride we could get one. Everyone helps everyone else there when needed. If you need something you put it out on the VHF and someone will be able to help you. It’s a small community with very nice people. It is just like the boating community.

I was going to shine and clean the stainless steel on the aft of the boat, but I ran out of time. When I could get to it, it was already 3:00pm. I didn’t want to start a job and not finish both sides of the stern so I will do it when I come back in a month. We have to return to the marina in a month to pay our bill. Don’t know yet how we are doing that since we don’t have the jeep down here yet, but we will figure something out. We will just cross that bridge when we come to it. So tomorrow our new life begins!! We should be busy for quite a few days trying to find places to put all our stuff. We will have to split some things up between storing them in the house and guest house.

Well I think it is time for a shot of Pusser’s Rum!!!!

Saturday, January 23.
Dave and I were up at 6:00am. We made coffee and had a cup and then we finished packing up the last minute items. I gathered the garbage and then started setting things in the cockpit that were going to the truck. Alan and Barb were up and packing their stuff too and then I went up with them to put stuff in the truck. Dave adjusted the spring lines on the boat so as to keep the stern of the boat off the dock and then we closed the seacock’s and locked up the boat. We are ready to leave. We double checked the tarp and the bungee net that was secured over the truck bed with all our stuff under it and figured it would be alright. Now we were ready to hit the road. It was about 7:30pm when we left the marina. All went well until we were an hour out of Santa Rosalia. The tarp got wind under it and pretty soon Alan could see things dropping in the road. So we stopped and accessed the damage. The clothes and lightweight items on top were sliding toward the back and falling off. We had to go back a little ways to retrieve some of the items. Then we had to repack a lot of the stuff. We put the clothes in the back seat with Dave and I and we took the tarp and pulled it down so no air could get under it and really secured it with the bungee net and extra bungee cords. We couldn’t find one of Dave’s croc’s, but that was alright. So off we went. With the rain we have had, we wondered how the roads were going to be. For the most part they were good and there were a couple of places that had rushing water flowing over the road but the water was shallow enough for us to go through. It wasn’t a good sign though not to see buses and semi’s heading south. We figured with the rain up north the roads had to be bad and therefore, no trucks or buses were traveling. We finally made it to Bahia de los Angeles without losing anything more and once in the village Alan stopped and got gas. Then we stopped for lunch and the last stop was to get a 5 gal bottle of drinking water. There were places on the dirt road to the house that had been washed out a little but nothing major. You get the runoff off the mountain and they dig a groove through the dirt. We had talked to a neighbor in town when we had stopped for gas, and she said that there were 5 bridges that got washed out from all the flooding up north going to San Diego. So there are people who need to get to the states and to Ensenada and can’t because anyone traveling north gets turned around.

We finally made it to the house. Lois and Larry had been to the house earlier and opened it up for us and turned on the refrigerator/freezer. We called them on the VHF when we were close to their house to let them know we were on our way to the house and we would see them later. Once at the house we met our neighbors to the south of us, Mary and George and they even helped us unload the truck which was nice. So we got everything off the truck that was ours and then we said goodbye to Alan and Barb and thanked them so much for helping us move. That was so awesome of them. They were in a hurry to get to their place in La Mona before it got dark due to the rough road and washouts along the way. We thanked our neighbors for helping and said goodbye to them then we started taking food from the garage up stairs to the house. We brought up some clothes too. After lugging all that stuff up the stairs to the house, we were tired and our backs were sore. I started to put the food that was in Alan and Barb’s cooler (which they left with us) in the refrigerator and freezer then started to get more stuff. When we had all the food items in the kitchen we called it quits and said we would get more stuff tomorrow. I stopped doing any work for awhile due to my back hurting and Dave sat down too. Then Lois and Larry showed up and Larry brought a battery for the truck and Lois came upstairs to say hi. I invited her in and we sat and talked until the guys came up. We will get together with them tomorrow to talk money for the lease and other stuff. We met their new dog Buddy as their old buddy had to be put down. So they now have another lab and he is chocolate brown as opposed to black like the other one was. It was getting dark so Lois and Larry left with their dog and went home and I made Dave and me a sandwich for dinner. We sat and read for a while and then I couldn’t sit anymore so I decided to put things away. I had canned goods and all kinds of food items that needed to be stowed so I did that and managed to get it all put away. I may end up rearranging later but at least it is off the floor and in some sort of order. I have lots of cupboard space and a pantry which I love already. We are so glad to finally be here and to start living our new life. I can’t wait to make it ‘our’ home!!!! I am looking forward to having my coffee on the deck tomorrow morning and bask in the morning sun.

Now I am going to read for a while and then go to bed. Tomorrow will be a busy unpacking day and trying to find places for everything. Dave is going to take the bathroom faucet apart and find out why it is dripping. Then Larry is going to bring over the other bamboo chair then Larry will take the green recliner to his new home as we don’t want it and he does. So it all works out.

So little by little we will be getting settled in and getting to know our neighbors. I almost forgot to mention that while we were coming up from Santa Rosalia, we saw a lot of the cactus blooming. With the resent rain they just seem to blossom. It was so pretty to see all the green and a little color. Pretty cool!!!!

Until tomorrow----goodnight!!!!!

Sunday, January 24.
We woke to sunshine and when we got up, we opened the shades so the sun would shine in and warm the house. It does get cool at night. The wind blows all afternoon at a pretty good clip, and then dies down at night. I had opened all the skylights to get some air through the house but ended up closing them after a couple of hours because it got cold.

I love having a pantry. It is so nice to find a spot for most of your canned goods and all. It has drawers that pull out and then there is another cupboard above that to put bulk items. I finished organizing the kitchen this afternoon, now I have to start on the bathroom. I was able to get everything in there and there were a couple of storage bins that have drawers that we brought from the guest house to put in the closet for our underwear and socks. I was surprised at how much I could get in the closet and I still have plenty of room to put more. We have taken a lot of the books to the guest house as there are a couple book shelves there. All the stuff we unloaded from Alan’s truck and put in the garage is slowing going away and we are finding places to put everything. We had to divide up what we had and figure out what went to the laundry/craft room and what went to the guest house. We just took stuff and set it in there and then I will go back and put it in order. Since we won’t have a washer and dryer for a while, we will use the laundry lady, Yolanda in the village. The cruisers used her this summer and it was affordable. So that is what I will do until I can do my own. Everything is so dusty and dirty in the house, but I will just have to do stuff a little at a time. It is starting to look like our home now. We are really liking it. We do have to keep the thought of moving back on the boat in the back of our minds if the boat doesn’t sell. We can’t afford both the boat and the house. So we can stay here for a year and lease it, and then buy the place after the boat sells. I am hoping we won’t have to go back on the boat to live, but if I do, no big deal. I still have my waterfront to look at and what we would do in that case is keep the boat in Santa Rosalia, live on it there and then during the summer tour the islands. So you see it really doesn’t become a dilemma. It works out no matter what.

After I finished putting all the bathroom stuff away and making it look homey, I fixed dinner. We have spent a whole day in our new home and Davey is a happy camper. He moves the solar panels about 3 times during the day so the sun is shining on them. Then he carries things over to the guest house and puts books and things like that away. He is going to use the guest living room to keep his lures and fishing stuff, and I will use it to play my guitar, read, or whatever. It does have a TV there too but all we can watch are VHS or DVD’s.

After dinner we sat down and watched the DVD, ‘Master And Commander’. Then it was bed time.

Monday, January 25.
There is talk of rain on Tuesday, but today is a beautiful sunny day. We were up before 8:00am and went out on the deck to drink our coffee and look around. The tide has been way out lately so we can see where the rocks end from the sandy beach. Dave called Larry to ask if he could go with him the next time he needs to get water so he could learn where to go. Well it just so happens, Larry is going to get water this morning, so Larry told Dave to meet him at his place and they would go together. Well that didn’t happen because when Dave started the truck he couldn’t get the gear to engage so he couldn’t drive it. He called Larry back and told him about the truck and Larry said it probably needed transmission fluid. So Larry said he would pick Dave up and go into town and get some. So about 10 minutes later, Larry drove up in his pickup truck, picked Dave up and off they went, leaving me behind. I was glad to stay home so I could put away a few things and rearrange some other things. I am having fun making things look pretty.

I got the vacuum out and started to vacuum, not thinking that we were running on an inverter and I was sucking the juice out of the batteries. I was just finishing up when Dave came back. He asked if I was done because our battery power had gone down to almost nothing. Oops!!!! I was done, and will remember next time to run the vacuum in the morning so the solar panels can have time to recharge the batteries, or wait and run the generator to do it. We will need to get a little Honda generator so we can save the monster generator for things that draw a lot of current. But at least the floor has some of the dust and sand off it. Everything is really dusty and I am going to have to do some major cleaning. Eventually we will get around to painting the inside of the house, but if we do any painting it will have to be on the outside first. Larry painted over cement with Mexican latex paint, and it is peeling off now. It’s been a couple of years. But we have to do something soon before it gets hot. I think there is some left over in the garage. Dave brought back from his ride into the village with Larry, a loaf of bread, a case of coke, a small bottle of wine, and energy efficient light bulbs for the outside lights.

Dave is messing around in the garage and in the generator room, keeping an eye on the batteries. Luckily I had finished with the vacuuming early enough the batteries got recharged. Whew!!!!

I did some straightening up in the guest living room, which from now on will be referred to as the bamboo room, and put some things away. I call the guest living room, the bamboo room only because the ceiling and walls are done in bamboo. It needs major cleaning also due to dust and sand, but it will have to wait until my back feels better. It is hurting today so I didn’t want to do much. I finished what I was going to do today around 2-2:30pm and went back to the main house to make lunch and then I did some catching up on the blog.

I felt like taking a nap, but as soon as I was getting serious about it Dave called me to come and help him. So I went to the garage and helped Dave pour gasoline from one container to another, because one gas can didn’t have a pour nozzle and the other one did. Then I helped him with putting some gas into the truck. There was like none in the tank. I hope we can go for a drive tomorrow. It should be interesting. It is definitely a rust bucket, but as long as we can drive it to town to get a few groceries and water, that will do us just fine.

Dave and I were back in the bamboo room looking at things and talking about what we wanted to do there, when we heard someone call us. We went outside and our neighbors, Mary and George, came over from 2 houses away to say hello and ask how we were doing. So we talked for a little bit and said that we would get together soon for cocktails to get to know each other. That was nice. After that we started closing things up for the night as the sun was going down and once it gets behind the mountain it starts to get cold. It was cold anyway due to the north wind blowing, but it gets colder until the wind dies then it is pretty decent outside. So I went upstairs to the house and started fixing dinner. I was fixing spaghetti so I wanted it to cook for an hour. Then it was cocktail time and I made Dave and I rum and coke. I sat in the living room and just looked out the window as the sun was going behind the mountain making the sky a little pink. Dave started playing solitaire and a couple other games on his computer. Then I returned to the kitchen to finish making dinner and then it was time to eat. After dinner Dave played his sub game while I did dishes and put them away and got the coffee ready for in the morning. It was a very good day and both of us are really happy we are here in this house. Dave has been humming and making joyful sounds since we have been here. Not that he didn’t on the boat, mind you, he is just doing more of it. There are lots of things to keep us busy and he is having some fun doing stuff. Plus once people know he can fix electrical stuff and do other things, they will be calling him to help fix it. Larry won’t have to do it all now. Larry doesn’t do much with electrical stuff anyway, so that will even out the neighborhood having 2 guys that are well versed in many things.

I have been asked so far if I wanted to join the ‘ladies’ in playing the Mexican Train game, but I said no. I have heard that they are really serious when they play and I want to do it for fun and not all the time. Then I was asked this morning if I wanted to go with Lois to yoga. I told her not today. You have to go to town for that and I just don’t want to get into anything right now. I want to get settled and do things around the house and be on my own schedule.

While I was preparing dinner I was at the sink looking out the window when I saw a jack rabbit hope across from near our house to the neighbors. It was cool. Mary and George said they saw a badger earlier this morning and they have seen a cougar too awhile back. So there definitely is some wild life around here.

Later on this evening we are going to watch a movie titled ‘HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. Dave will be happy because I will make popcorn. So that is going to be our exciting evening tonight!!!! No worries. Did you know that popcorn doesn’t pop well when you use olive oil? I didn’t have any vegetable oil so I thought I would try the olive oil. I got half the amount of popped corn and the kernels were not totally opened all the way. Halfway through the cooking process the oil started to burn. Well we managed to eat the popcorn anyway, which wasn’t all that bad, there just wasn’t much of it or fluffy like it normally is.

Tuesday, January 26.
There were clouds in the sky this morning when we woke up. We were wondering if it was going to be cloudy all day, but we got our answer after we got our coffee and sat and watched the sky for a short time. The clouds were moving south and there was blue sky to the north so we were going to have a beautiful sunny day.

Dave and I went for a walk on the beach to explore and I picked up some shells to use in decorating my crochet purses. We also inspected the runoff from the mountain that occurred in the last heavy rain and saw the houses to the north of us. We came back to the house and while Dave was in the kitchen getting breakfast, he looked out the window and saw a coyote. He called for me to come and look and we watched it cross the front yard and then walk north. It is so cool here. It is so neat to see the wildlife. After Dave ate breakfast he went down to the garage to see if the truck would start and of course it didn’t. Now what? He discovered there was no water in the battery, so Dave called Larry and asked if he could bring his battery charger over. While Dave waited for Larry to show up, he put water in the battery and I sorted dried beans for soaking and will cook them tomorrow. When we were done with the things we were doing, we took a walk down the road to explore the neighborhood. We saw the air strip that was used for small planes, but is now closed. The military has closed it so they can keep drugs from entering the country illegally by small planes. We saw the other houses that are south of us, which are about 4, and then we started walking back to the house. We could see Larry riding on his ATV going to our house but we were too far to holler at him so we called him on the VHF and Lois answered. Apparently he wasn’t carrying one. So Dave picked up the pace and got to the house. The first battery charger Larry brought didn’t work, so he went home to get another one. Well that one didn’t work either. The third one did! So the battery is now charging and hopefully we will be able to drive it tomorrow.

So while the guys were doing the battery thing, I had walked back to the house and started picking up small stones to put in a washed out area on our property to keep further soil from being washed away. Apparently when it rains the water runoff from the roof comes down and is eroding the soil. If we fill the eroded area with rocks, then the soil won’t wash away as badly. We eventually want to put a retaining wall of rocks all along the arroyo to help keep the soil in place. As I was gathering stones, I turned up one that had a baby scorpion under it. That was interesting!

After I had gathered a few more rocks and placed them in the washout, I started getting more things from the garage that came from the boat and put them either in the bamboo room, trailer, or laundry/craft room. We pretty much have everything put away. Dave was able to get his work area in the garage set up which is really neat. He now has a place where he can go and do stuff. He is very happy!! Me too!!! The laundry room is now organized and looks tidy. All that room needs is a washer and dryer!!! Must be patient!!! So there ya go. Within a matter of 3 days we have made this our home!!!

I went to the bamboo room to put something away and decided to get my guitar out and strum a few bars. It needed to be tuned so I started to do that and all was going well until I tried to tune the A string and it broke. Well THAT was a how-do-you-do!!!! Now I can’t play my guitar. I asked Larry if there was a place I might be able to get a string in town and he said the owners of one of the restaurants in town have guitars and they might have an extra I could buy or be able to get me one. So when we go to town I will have to check that out. So I put my guitar away and walked over to the laundry room and got a counted cross stitch I have been saving to work on. It is called the castle and has a dragon on it. It is going to take me a while to do it as it is really involved, but I have nothing but time anyway.

We have a security guard that was hired not long ago and he walks the neighborhood checking on the houses to make sure there isn’t someone there that shouldn’t be. He walks 3 times, one in the morning, mid afternoon, and at night. That is cool because the last guard didn’t do anything and he had a big drinking problem which he died Christmas Eve day. The new guard is getting to know who lives here year round. There are only a handful of people who do live here year round and the rest come when it starts to warm up. So it is pretty quiet around here. Right now the only neighbors near us are Mary and George.

We didn’t get a lot of wind today, just a breeze which was really nice. The water was calm and we even saw someone snorkeling in front of the beach to our house. Dave wants to go fishing so bad he can almost taste it. He found a lot of fishing lures in the shed that Larry left behind. He told Dave he doesn’t fish anymore. So Dave was really happy and tomorrow he will go through them and sort them out and find a place for them.

I have to tell you that while I am writing this, Dave is sitting in one of the recliners snoring. He was reading and then he fell asleep. And it is only 8:15pm. It is funny how when the sun goes down behind the mountain and it starts to get dark, we both start yawning.

Wednesday, January 27.
There were clouds in the sky this morning and still are. It cleared a little but now they are moving in again. We had heard we might get some rain either today or tomorrow so it looks like that will happen. It is still a mess up north on the way to Ensenada. There was a couple that traveled north and told Mary that there is rushing water over the road in one spot about 2 feet deep and there was a tow truck there to help cars get across, but the only problem with that is the clearance. If you have a low riding car, that will not work. Also there are tons of trucks lined up waiting to travel south to bring food, gas, diesel, and propane along with other things and they can’t get through. With more rain coming that will slow it up even more. We need to get propane and fill the gas tank of the truck before we can’t get any. So we are conserving the gas. We tried using the crockpot to cook the beans all day but that is sucking the battery down a bit and Dave doesn’t want it running all day which I can understand. So I took the beans out of the crockpot and put them in a kettle and am cooking them on the stove. As soon as they get soft I will turn it off for a while and then cook them further before dinner. We have a small leak somewhere in the piping that is making the water pump pump, which is also drawing power. We know the faucet in the bathroom sink has to be fixed or replaced as it does leak. It was dripping but Dave went in and did some maintenance and at least it isn’t doing that now but when you turn the faucet on water is leaking from around the knobs. The o-rings are shot. Speaking of o-rings, I was cleaning the shower and just as I was finishing, Dave was in the garage and hollered up to turn off the water. It was leaking down on Larry’s dinghy in the garage. So Dave came up and looked at the drain and pulled out a glob of hair and gunk, and said that the o-ring needs to be replaced and it needs to be re-caulked around the pipe. So we won’t be using that shower for a while. Luckily there is one down by the bamboo room I can use. I will have to go over and clean it soon. It is no wonder things are falling apart because the house has set empty for 2 years. So when we get things figured out and fixed we should be fine. For now there won’t be a lack of things to fix and do around here. It will keep Dave busy. It is just like when you move aboard a boat. You have to figure out how things work and what adjustments and repairs need to be done. No worries!!!

Mary stopped by this morning to ask if there was anything we needed at the store and we told her vegetable oil so Dave can have his popcorn!!! She also said they have a lot of DVD movies and some VHS ones too she can bring over later for us to go through. I told her that would be great. She is working at the museum in town today so after she returns from that and George gets back from fishing, I told her to come over and we will have cocktails and visit while we go through the movies. They seem like nice people. She also asked if we would let their adopted puppy off the deck after she has been gone for half an hour. He follows them when they leave, and with no one home, she didn’t want him to get past the gate that goes to town. So I told her I would let him out. So at 9:00am I went over and unlocked the gate to their deck and he doesn’t trust anyone strange so I got growled at but he went as far away from me as possible. Once I opened the gate, their big dog came out and walked down the stairs and went off on her own. The little guy waited a while and I was at the bottom of the stairs waiting to see if he would come down and he did, but only to the landing of the first flight of stairs and when he saw me at the bottom of the other stairs, he took a flying leap off the landing which is about 4 feet from the ground. He landed hard but got up and I noticed he limped a little so I watched him and he seemed to shake it off. I will have to tell Mary what happened just in case he starts having some problems. She is trying to find a home for him. There is one couple that is interested, but they had to think about it.

When Mary got home I told her what happened and he seemed alright. She checked him out good. We talked for a little bit and then we said goodbye. I went back to the house and fixed lunch. Shortly after lunch Lois called on the VHF to see if we wanted a chair. I said of course. They want to come get the recliner and bring back the bamboo chair that I like so well. So about 15 minutes later they showed up and switched out the chairs. They forgot the ataman that goes with it but the next time we see each other we will get it. So now we are down to one recliner. Dave is going to ask George if he would help him move it to the bamboo room and bring up the other chair that is down there, than that will complete our living room. We visited with Lois and Larry and signed an agreement for the lease. They took one of our propane tanks to ‘Beach Bob’ as he is going to Guerrero Negro tomorrow to fill some tanks and get a few items. Lois asked if he would take our tank as we don’t have much and he agreed. Then he will bring it to us when he returns. We found out there is no propane in town at all. The truck can’t get through due to the bridges being washed out and all the rushing water over the roadways. Bob will find out if a truck from Guerrero Negro will come to town to fill people’s tanks if they need it. We gave Lois the money to give to Bob for the propane. This is like the boating community. Everyone helps everyone else. I’m hoping to get to town on Friday to buy some food as we are running out of a few things.

The clouds came and went and then this afternoon it did cloud over just a little and you could see it raining south of us. We got a sprinkle and that was all. It was a cool day though. We at least got some sunshine to shine on the solar panels to charge batteries which is always a good thing.

I cooked the bean pot for almost an hour and they were done. It will be a good dish to have tonight with some French bread.

The tide is way out this afternoon and in a couple of days we will be able to get some clams. The clams they have here are big ones called chocolates (chock-o-lattes). They make great clam chowder. That should be fun.

Mary came over around 4:00pm and brought some of her DVD movies to go through. George had gone fishing and wasn’t back yet so she said they would have to come another time for cocktails because once he got home he would want to shower, eat dinner, and go to bed. He left early this morning before first light. So we invited Mary to visit a bit. Then she said goodbye and left. Dave and I had a cocktail and sat down and read for a little bit. Then when I was done with my drink I heated up the beans and set the table for dinner. After dinner I washed the dishes and put them away and Dave went to his computer and played some games. We should be getting a used modem for the internet, soon and then Larry will hook us up. So right now all we can do is play games, type my journal for the blog, or watch movies.

There were a bunch of movies we took out of the bag that we have seen and liked and wouldn’t mind seeing again, or ones we haven’t seen. We are hoping we can copy them. So guess what we are doing tonight? You got it!!!! We are watching a movie and having popcorn!!!!

Thursday, January 28.
There was sunshine this morning with a few clouds in the sky and it is warmer this morning then it has been.

There was no wind this morning so Dave took advantage of that and burned some cardboard. Lois and Larry used card board boxes to store things in and from living on the boat we learned not to keep them. Especially in Mexico where cockroaches lay their eggs in the glue that holds the boxes together. So we are getting rid of any boxes that are lying around. We have a burn barrel where we burn all the paper and cardboard and then we will take the garbage into town and dump that. Dave already burned some cardboard this morning.

Dave started the truck today and even drove it out of the garage. It actually goes forward, in reverse and even stops. That poor truck is on its last legs as it is leaking oil like crazy and the whole truck is old and worn out. I’m hoping it will get us to town and back. We have to go grocery shopping tomorrow and pick up a few other things too like a dust pan, as the one here is shot. We were hoping to get a ride in with Alan tomorrow since he goes to town on Friday to do all his running around, getting water and groceries, but we haven’t been able to hail him on the VHF. He will need his cooler to put cold stuff in so when he goes by our house I’m sure he will stop and pick it up.

Dave sorted out the fishing lures Larry left behind. Some of them Dave doesn’t think can be salvaged. He had fun doing it though. I swept the bamboo room as best I could. There is a little vacuum under the sink in the bathroom right outside the bamboo room but it has a bag in it which is coming apart so I can’t use it. I will have to bring my shop vac back with us after we go to the boat at the end of February. There is a lot of sand in the sliding glass door track that only a vacuum will be able to get out. But at least the room looks better. I cleaned the shower and threw a cardboard box and some of the things in it away that were under the sink. I got a piece of cardboard that is going to be burned, and punched holes in it for my floss so I have all the colors for the cross stitch available and I can tell what they are. When I finished that little chore, I went to the house and swiffer dusted the walls to get what few cob webs were around off and the dust that had collected in the texturing on the walls. When that was done I made lunch and then sat down at the dining table and sorted colors and put them on my home made floss board. I still have one hank left but I will have to make another holder. I saved a small piece of cardboard just in case I needed it. So that will be tomorrow’s project. I have to do it when there is a lot of light so I can tell what the colors are.

Dave backed the truck into the garage and that was a feet unto itself. He couldn’t tell when the wheels were straight, but he did an excellent job and we were able to close the garage door too!!! We are going to store the truck under a carport Larry made and when we get the jeep here it will go in the garage. Right now the truck has to be parked in the garage because there is still a chance we will get more rain and there is a wing window missing in it so we don’t want water to get inside. I told you it was a beater truck!!! It’s kind of cool though.

When Dave was finished with his stuff, he sat in his chair and started reading. He finished the book and then took a little snooze.

Later on in the afternoon, Mary came over to invite us to dinner on Monday evening. She is inviting Alan and Barb too so it will be fun.

We watched 2 movies last night. ‘Wally-E’ and ‘The 13th Warrior’. Wally-E was cute and the 13th Warrior was o.k. I’m not sure what we will watch tonight. We want to see if we can copy some of the movies to have for ourselves.

We ran out of popcorn last night so we won’t be having any while we are watching the movie. No worries. Hopefully I will be able to find some in town tomorrow.

It is a beautiful night. The moon is almost full and it is shining brightly on the water. Really pretty!

Dave and I watched two hares hopping around the yard and then further away from the house. They are fun to watch. Yesterday I saw an Osprey catch a fish and then take it to a cactus and eat it. It is amazing to watch all this from your window. No coyote this morning though.

Well off to the movies in the living room!!!

Friday, January 29.
Shortly after we were up having coffee, Alan called and Dave was able to ask him if we could hitch a ride to town with him. He said no problem. He was just leaving his house and would be at ours in about 30-45 minutes. So I gathered the dirty clothes and the garbage. When Alan arrived we put the garbage in the back of his truck and the laundry basket inside the cab and we put an empty 5 gallon water bottle in the back as well. Then we were off. It took us a while to get to town as the road is really bumpy and you have to go slow. So I enjoyed the ride thinking of the cactus I wanted to come back and dig up some time for my cactus garden at the house. When we got to town, Alan filled up his huge water tank and a couple of barrels for his pila. While he was on his boat in Santa Rosalia, his water pipe to the pila broke and he lost some water, but thankfully a neighbor noticed it and shut off the valve. So he had quite a bit of water to buy. It only costs $2.00 US to fill a 300 gallon plastic tank. When that was done we stopped at Isla to fill our 5 gallon drinking water bottle. This was the place we came to when we were anchored in the bay, for internet service. We left there and went to Miguels for a few groceries, then the co-op store, then to the gas station so we could fill a jerry can with gas for the truck. Then we went and dropped off the laundry and it will be ready to pick up tomorrow. Then off to Dos Piños for a case of coke and some grocery items. I was looking for a dust pan and I hadn’t found it yet. Once we were finished there we were off to dump garbage and then to Diaz’ to get chicken and eggs, and there I found a dust pan. Then last we went to the yellow store. Then we were done and headed back to our place to off load groceries. It took us 2 hours for that little trip and the town is only 5 miles away. One hour to get there and another coming back. The road is dirt and rocks with lots of pot holes. So it is slow going. You can’t be in a hurry that’s for sure. As we pulled up to the house we noticed the propane tank we gave to ‘Beach Bob’ was back and there was a small generator on the outside wall of the garage. Then we saw that the garage door was open and figured Larry had been there. We passed him as we were riding back to the house. He was at the ‘Home Depot’. He is fixing the faucet on the pila for us. It was on its last leg and when we started to have some trouble with the flow of water last night, Larry figured out part of the problem was that the faucet was leaking and causing the water not to flow like it should. Dave talked to him this morning and told him we would be in town for a couple of hours. So it was nice to see he was right on the job. Alan couldn’t stay because Larry hadn’t come back yet from the ‘Home Depot’ so he had to move his truck and trailer so he wouldn’t get blocked in by Larry when he came back. We thanked Alan for taking us to town and he drove away. Just as all the groceries were carried up the stairs to the house, Larry arrived and Dave and Larry worked on the faucet. I put groceries away and when that was done I shook rugs and swept the kitchen floor, using the new dust pan which worked great. Then I mopped the floor with the swiffer mop and wet swiffer floor cloths. Then while that was drying I swept the rest of the house. When I got done and everything was back in place again, the guys were finishing up. I fixed Dave and me a sandwich and after Larry drove away we had lunch. After lunch Dave moved the truck out of the garage and under the carport across from the house, next to the guest house. That is where it will remain.

Since I have to pick laundry up tomorrow, we are going to drive the truck to Larry and Lois’ to get the tires pumped up with his compressor, then go into town. This should be interesting. We need to fill the gas tank so we know it is full.

Larry is going to let us borrow his water barrel and pump so we can get water for the pila next week. The next time we go to Santa Rosalia we will buy one of those water containers. We have to figure out how we are getting the jeep down here. The roads going north should be passable now that there hasn’t been rain up north.

I took a walk on the beach this afternoon looking for shells to use for craft stuff. It was a nice walk and now I want to walk further and explore more. Another day perhaps. I returned to the house and set my treasures on the counter then sat down and read some of my book. Then it was cocktail time and shortly after that dinner.

I bought some popcorn today so we are going to watch another movie and have popcorn!!! Waalaa!!!

While I was riding in Alan’s truck coming back from town, I saw several ground squirrels. They are cute.

Just before dinner we saw the moon come up over the hills to the east of us. It was pretty cool. There is so much beauty here!!

Saturday, January 30.
We have been in the house for a week now and it already feels like home. Pretty cool!!!!

We have hazy sunshine this morning. We took our coffee out on the deck and listened to the doves and watched them fly around. Some of them have made a home under our neighbor’s eves. When he comes down for the summer he won’t like that at all.

I read a little bit this morning and then I did some stretching. Dave was checking batteries and then I didn’t see him for a while. I was going to go down to the garage and see if he was there when I looked out the window and saw him fly fishing from the beach. He came back to the house and I met him and told him I was going to walk on the beach. He was trying to catch bait fish. No luck. I had my small zip lock bag to collect shells and I was off. I gave Dave one of the walkie talkies and I took the other one with me. After I had walked a bit away from the house I tried to call Dave, but no answer. I figured I was too far for him to hear me so I would try again on my return to the house. I collected more shells and even found a round sand dollar. They are very delicate and it was a treat to find one. I crossed a dry estuary and continued on firm sand and I was headed for the south end of Bahia de los Angeles. We know a lady who lives in one of the houses there. Right now she is in California for the winter and will return to her house here in the summer. I never made it that far as I saw a coyote coming toward me. I was going to continue on walking, thinking the coyote would turn and go up to the dunes, but he kept coming. So I did the only thing I could, and that was to turn around and walk back to the house. I turned around and watched the coyote turn and go into the dunes. I thought of turning back around to head for the houses again, but decided I would skip it for today. Coyotes really don’t want anything to do with people and the only time they will want to hurt you is if you are near their den with cubs. So I walked back to the house and I did try Dave a couple of times to hail him on the walkie talkie but couldn’t. I even tried right outside the house and no answer. It seemed strange. I looked up at the deck and saw that the screen door was open so I figured he was inside. I went up there thinking I would find him and he wasn’t there. So I walked back down and looked in the garage and he wasn’t there either then I went to the pila and found him digging in the mud to find out where the water was leaking from. Larry and Dave thought they had fixed it yesterday when the new fitting was put on but it was still leaking. I asked him if he had his walkie talkie on and he said yes and I told him I had been trying to call him to see how far I could go and still be in range. Well with him behind the cement pila there was no signal. So much for that!!! While I was on my walk, Dave called Larry and explained the problem so Larry was on his way over. I walked around the yard checking out runoffs and trying to get an idea of how I want to make a cactus garden. I am just dreaming right now as we can’t do anything until we buy the place, but it doesn’t hurt to at least think about what I want to do. Then I went upstairs for a while. I was going to wash the windows that I could reach, but the guys had shut off the water. I didn’t have to wait too long before the water was back on and I could wash the windows. Larry left and Dave came up and helped take the screens out so I could wash both of the outside windows. Then when they were washed and dried he put them back. I moved on to the sliding glass door outside the dining room and after that Dave suggested we have lunch and then take the truck to Larry and Lois’ to get air in the tires. So after lunch we left and the truck made it to Larry and Lois’ house. Larry has a fitting on his dive tank that he uses to fill his tires on his truck, so that is what we used to pump up the truck tires. Then Dave checked email on their computer and Lois and I visited for a little bit. Then Dave and I were off to town. It was a bumpy ride but the truck did pretty well. We stopped at the restaurant Larry suggested we go to, to ask about a guitar string. A man was outside talking to a lady in a truck and he had an apron on so I assumed he worked at the restaurant. I asked him if he knew of a place I could get a steel string and he told me the name and where to go. I thanked him and we left and went to the gas station to fill up the fuel tank. He said if I couldn’t get what I needed, to come back in a couple of days and he might be able to help me. That was neat. So hopefully the next time we go to town we can get one. When Dave was finished filling the tank and paying for it we got in the truck and Dave tried to start it up but it wouldn’t start. The battery is old and with all the bouncing around on the road, it got shook up a bit. The battery is bungee corded down so it won’t fall out. There were a couple of Mexican guys that came to fill their gas tank and they saw we were having trouble and they helped us. The bolts on the side of the battery needed to be tightened so the man was able to tighten them by hand. Then Dave was able to start the truck. He didn’t want to turn the engine off so when we got to the laundry place, he stayed in the truck with it running and I went to get laundry. Well bad news. It wasn’t ready yet. She said it would be ready in a half hour. So we left and went to Dos Piños to get a wrench to tighten the bolts on the battery. We got one but it was more than we wanted to pay. We got back to the truck and Dave opened the hood and tightened the bolts. Then we left and went to Guillermo’s to see if they had anything new in their store. We had to kill 30 minutes. Dave was reluctant to turn the truck off, and I made the comment that I thought we would both go in the store to check prices on booze and other things. So he thought about it for a few minutes and decided to turn off the engine. We went into the store and looked around and he priced the gin at 130 pesos which was the same price it was during the summer. So he hasn’t raised or lowered his prices. When we left there we got back to the truck, got in and Dave turned the key and nothing happened. He was not happy with himself that he shut the engine off because he thought he wouldn’t be able to get it started again. Well after trying and then waiting a few minutes and trying again, it finally cranked over and we were in business again. We drove back to the laundry place and it was ready so I paid for it and left. We drove home and the truck did very well. At least it got us to town and back again. Now we have to haul water in it. That should be fun!!

After we got home, I took the clothes upstairs to the house and Dave went to the garage to do something. I put the clothes away and then washed my shells that I collected today and yesterday. Then I finished washing the windows on the inside and finally washed the other sliding glass door. What a difference!!! We aren’t looking through dirt any more. I will wash the other windows on the inside tomorrow. Can’t wash the other ones on the outside until we get a very long ladder. Dave was back in the truck running it and doing something with it. He did say that the bright headlights work, but not the normal ones. But at least they work. When he was done checking the truck out, he parked it under the carport and came upstairs. I fixed us a rum and coke and I Dave went to his computer to play a game or two and I took my drink and a cigar and went out on the deck to sit and enjoy both while enjoying the view. The wind had died down and it was very pleasant out. After the sun went down and I had finished my cigar I went inside. I sat in my chair and Dave came over and sat in his chair next to me. We talked for a little while and then it was getting dark and time for dinner. I fixed dinner and we ate and then it was clean up time. When I finished with that I sat down and started catching up my journal. Dave left his computer and walked to his chair and sat down. He was ready to watch a movie. He asked how much longer I was going to be and I told him I had a bunch to write, but I would stop and come back to it after the movie. We watched ‘Mummy, Tomb of the Dragon Emporer’. After the movie it was still early so I returned to writing the journal and Dave is getting ready for bed. The movie was good. We enjoyed it a lot.

I think I heard coyotes howling just a few minutes ago. Dave was having trouble getting water to flow out of the bathroom faucet. It is like it has air in the line. It probably does since the guys were working on the pipe and all. When you first turn it on it struggles to get going and then it flows good. Dave said we will have to keep an eye on it. If it continues we think it might be the pump. So we will see.

Tomorrow I think we are driving the truck up and down the road close to the house to get some rocks and throw them in the truck to bring back to the yard so we can start building up a wall along the arroyo before next winter. When the hot weather gets here it is going to be hard to do a lot of physical labor so we want to take advantage of the cool weather now to do that kind of stuff.

Sunday, January 31.
Wow!!! It’s the end of January already. It’s been a quick month. I don’t suppose it has anything to do with moving and getting settled!! Ha!

The mornings are warmer already and it is nice to sit on the deck and have our coffee in the mornings. We not only have a fantastic view of the bay, but it is neat to watch the birds’ fish and fly about and make their calls. When we were finished with our coffee it was time to get busy and do something else. I finished washing the windows on the inside. These are the ones I can’t clean on the outside unless I get a ladder that is tall enough. Actually the windows facing the west aren’t too bad.

I have settled into a little routine after I have my coffee and that is I make the bed, put clothes away and wash any dishes leftover from the night before. Then I do whatever.

Dave checks the batteries every morning to see how we are doing and he is also checking the pila to see how much water we have used. We are doing really well. We have about 400 gallons in the pila right now and so I can relax a little and do some laundry and wash the valances over each of the windows. Dave and I decided we would take the large items like sheets and big towel and jeans and such like that into Yolanda to do and I would wash the smaller stuff here. If we do that every two weeks as opposed to every week, it won’t cost as much. When it starts to get warmer to where she doesn’t have to use the dryer it will be much cheaper. So we will see. For now that system will work.

It was 11:00am when I went for a walk on the beach. This time I made it to the houses I wanted to see last time but a coyote stopped me from going any further. This time there was no coyote but I definitely saw tracks of not only the coyotes but maybe deer or goats and something a lot bigger like a cow or horse. I picked up a couple of fishing lures lying in the sand to bring back to Dave. They were in really good shape and just the hooks need to be replaced. As I walked further I found two bird skulls which I took home to add to our yard display—which at this point isn’t much. I figure I will gather stuff and when we get to the point we can do cactus gardens, we will have other things to decorate with. People around here have decorated with old machinery and skulls of cattle, which we have one that Lois and Larry left behind, and pots and pans and shells, anchors and all kinds of stuff. So I will collect interesting stuff on my walks. Dave stayed behind to work on a project he had in mind. I got down to the houses and then turned around and came back. Dave said it must be about a mile or so to the houses so I walked at least 2 miles. That is good. While I was gone Dave had worked on clearing part of a wall that used to be along the arroyo and collected some rocks to put there. When I got back I stretched and then made lunch. After lunch Dave and I got in rusty, the old beater truck, and took it out on the main road to collect rocks for the wall. We need to build it up to keep the water from the mountain run off from taking any more soil when it comes down here. It doesn’t rain very often here, but if it rains in the mountains, it creates a flash flood and what they call, arroyos. So everyone here has patches next to their houses that they have had to build walls to keep the soil on their property from washing away. We will eventually have to have rock hauled in so we can build a retaining wall around the beach side of the yard. With the high tide it has been washing away the soil. So you see there isn’t much to do here!! You know what? We are enjoying it. We do a little at a time and eventually it will get done and this place will be magnificent. It all takes time and money which we have little of right now. When the boat sells that will change. There is an abundance of rock along the roadside, that isn’t being used to keep soil from eroding, so we can at least start with that. We gathered quite a few rocks and came back, off loaded them and then started building the wall. Tomorrow we will have to get some more. There are two spots right now that need to be fixed right away and the rest can be done a little at a time. When we were finished, Dave parked the truck in the carport and I went upstairs to finish sorting the last hank of floss for the cross stitch I want to get started on.

There is a recipe I want to make from my Mexican cookbook so I needed to start preparing it and then put it in the oven for an hour and a half. It is a pork stew. We had cocktails in the meantime and Dave checked email with the satellite phone. Larry has a modem and antenna coming down from San Diego and should be here next week sometime so we will be having internet pretty soon. Instead of waiting for a new one, we told Larry a used one will do us just fine. After March we will have T.V. as Alan and Barb are getting a new service and we will be sharing it with them along with some of their neighbors. So we are getting there. Right now we are watching the movies Mary, our neighbor, has given us.

After dinner we retired to the living room to watch a movie. Then we went to bed.