We had a busy morning. We left the house around 7:30am. Dave had to stop at the house where the Halloween party was last night to get his sunglasses. He drove the truck and I the jeep. We left the truck with Philipe, in town and will get it on Friday on our way home from Santa Rosalia. Today is a Mexican holiday called the Day of The Dead. So one of the gas stations was closed, but there is another one in town which was open so we got our tank filled and off we went.
When we got to the boat it looked good. Arturo has done an excellent job in keeping it clean. We unloaded the jeep and got settled on the boat. Everything seemed to be in good working order.
We walked to town for dinner and Dave didn’t fall this time. Yahoo!!!! After dinner we made a stop at the bank and then went back to the boat. Some of the cruisers that were in Bahia de Los Angeles are in Cingular Marina so we got to chat with them a little. The North wind has been blowing so they are waiting until it passes. The wind is supposed to start dying down on Wednesday.
We had a great sleep last night and even with the wind still blowing we didn’t rock and roll much. I was going to scrub the grey part of the deck with Oxy Clean to try and get up the bird doo stains, but it is too windy for that so I will hopefully do that on Wednesday. I did wash out the cockpit and got rid of the dirt that blows in. So at least I did some cleaning today. I walked into town this afternoon to see if anything was open, as we were told a lot of the businesses would be closed due to “Day of The Dead”. Monday was to remember children that had died, and Tuesday is for the adults. I was surprised to see that most of the businesses were open. I walked through town and then came back to the boat. Now we just have to figure out where we are having dinner tonight. It is kind of nice when we come here as we eat dinner out. It gives me a break from cooking. The food is not expensive so we can afford to do that.
Wednesday is here and the wind is still blowing but not as much as the last couple of days. Dave got the power washer out and I mixed some oxy clean and scrubbed the port side grey strip. After letting the oxy clean sit for a few minutes Dave used the pressure washer and surprisingly the oxy clean did take up some of the stains. We will need to do it again next month and keep doing it until the stains are so light no one can see them. The majority of the cormorants that land on top of the mast seemed to have flown south. There aren’t too many of them around now. That is good because maybe we will be able to clean the boat enough that the stains will go away. So we shall see.
Dave and I walked to a hardware store to see if they had tarps. We have to replace the one our dinghy is rolled up in. Sure enough they had the size we were looking for so Dave paid for it and we started walking back toward the marina. Dave continued on to the marina and I turned and walked to town to get some groceries. My backpack was full of heavy stuff and my back didn’t appreciate the weight, but I was able to make it back to the boat. Dave was getting things ready for a lady named Laura to go up the mast. We had talked to her husband yesterday and he said she would do it as long as it wasn’t a complicated job. What we needed was for her to go to the top of the mast, take the wind indicator off and bring it down. She is much lighter than I am so she would be easy to haul up the mast. Her husband Patrick and Dave hoisted her up. She got the wind indicator off and was down in about 15-20 minutes. I gave Patrick and Laura a bottle of wine for helping us. Dave is going to rebuild the indicator and we won’t put the new one on until we have a need to move the boat. Speaking of looking at the boat, we did have a guy from the Tucson Sailing Club look at the boat. He is with another guy sailing to Conception Bay. That club comes to Mexico every year at this time for vacation. They cruise down to and around Conception Bay, which is south of Santa Rosalia, then go back home. It’s a time for several of them to travel together and have a good time. I don’t know if this guy will buy the boat, but he was interested. Like we said, time will tell.
Before going to dinner, I took a shower and watched to make sure no Cormorants landed on the mast. They didn’t. We walked to town, had dinner, and then came back to the boat. I called and talked to my youngest son, Jon, for about 20 minutes and called my oldest, Ernie, and the call was made short as I lost my internet signal. I will try to talk to him tomorrow. That was a bummer.
Well tomorrow is our last day here. I have laundry to do, go into town again and get some more groceries, and start packing up the jeep. We will be out of here early Friday morning. The weather in Santa Rosalia is absolutely perfect. It is warm during the day and pleasant at night. Don’t need a jacket or sweater when we go to dinner. We ended up running the air conditioner today as the inside of the boat got a little warm.
The jeep is loaded, clothes are washed and food has been bought. Tomorrow we will take the last minute things to the jeep, secure the boat and we will be on our way. It was a good trip this time. I even got to talk to my oldest son, Ernie, until the internet signal got weak.
We are heading back home. There was hardly anyone on the road which surprised us. But we aren’t complaining. We had a good trip and stopped for more groceries in Vizcaino then came home. As we entered Bahia, we stopped to pick up our laundry and then went and picked up the truck. Dave drove it while I drove the jeep.
After getting home we unloaded the jeep and carried things upstairs. I put some things away but will do the rest tomorrow. Just don’t feel like it today.
Today, Saturday, I put everything away and now things are back to normal again. George, Mary, Smiley and John, our neighbors just got home from a month at the Pacific Ocean. They were camping.
The propane truck came this morning so we have plenty of propane. The guys did good business since they went over to Rincon (La Mona) first where there are many gringos living there, then came to us and worked their way back to town.
I raked gravel to make a path that goes to the fire pit and the beach. Once that is done I will start lining the path with rocks.
Monday-Sunday, November 8-14.
Today, Monday, is a working day for both of us. Larry had had some rocks dumped in the yard when he use to live here so I started to dig them up as the sand had buried a lot of them. I hauled them to the front yard as I want to make paths that go around the yard, to the fire pit and then the beach. Eventually plants will be planted but for now we just want to work on the paths. The path starts at the guest house and goes out from the steps toward the fire pit. I lined one side of the path. Dave came out and took a look at it and said he had a different idea. I told him what I was thinking and planning and we discussed what Dave had in mind. We weren’t on the same page. So we talked and Dave said we should draw it out so we will know what it will look like. I decided to quit for the day as I had been at it quite a while. While I was working in the yard, Dave was draining the water out of the cement pila into two of the plastic tanks. Then he plumbed the water from the tanks to the house. Now he can work on tearing part of the pila down. After I had finished in the yard for the day I came over to help him. I made his job easier by being the gofer. I didn’t mind. Every little bit helps and we didn’t have the luxury of a lot of time since we turned the clocks back over the weekend. It would get dark sooner, plus we were supposed to go into town with a gal named Susanne. Her husband Pete had already left to go home in the states and she is planning on leaving here to go home on Wednesday. She wanted us and Maryann to join her for dinner at Costa del Sol so we said that would be fun. We did manage to finish hooking up the water from the tanks to the house in time to get cleaned up and meet Susanne at her house. She is giving us and Maryann a ride into town. She has a Hummer which is nice, but I wouldn’t want to own one. Down here it is looked upon as a drug car or belonging to a drug lord. She didn’t know that. Anyway, we went to dinner and had a nice visit. I was very disappointed in my dinner as I ordered breaded shrimp and they were over cooked. Oh well. Victoria has had a hard time getting good cooks. After dinner we came back to Susanne’s place after dropping Maryann back at her house. Dave and I said goodbye to Susanne. After we got home we relaxed and watched T.V.
Dave and I worked on drawing out the plan for the yard. I liked his plan and now I have something to work from. I tried to dig up some rocks but the wind is blowing the sand around. I did manage to get one load to the front yard and then I had to quit. I didn’t want to be breathing or eating dirt and sand. I will have to wait for the northern blow to go away. Here are a couple pictures of the waves off our beach.
It is suppose to be windy today and tomorrow. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. In the meantime, Dave and I went into town to get a sledge hammer. We don’t have one here. He is starting to tear down the pila by working from the top down. After our jaunt to town we had lunch and Dave went to work outside and I took a nap. Our water pump is going flaky. It is running more and Dave is having a heck of a time trying to find out where the leak is. He did find it and now it is a process of elimination of things. It is very frustrating!!! He wasn’t able to figure out why the pump keeps running so what we have decided to do is keep the pump off until we need it, run it long enough to do dishes and whatever else we need the water for, then turn it off overnight.
Wednesday, my neighbor Joanne and her friend Jackie and I went and played train for half a day. After lunch we came home and I tried to work outside but it was way too windy again. I did some reading. I am still trying to finish the Eisenhower book.
The wind is still blowing but I managed to haul some more rocks to the front yard and place them. Now the only rocks left in the pile that Larry had are too heavy for me to lift. I am quitting for the day. Dave worked all morning on the water pump. He has been trying all kinds of things, but in the process of trying to fix things he broke our new water pump. We have two other rebuilt ones so he is seeing if any of those will work. He was suspecting the pump may have been bad. He finally got one of the rebuilt pumps to work so the pump is not cycling all the time. We still don’t know where the leak is but at least the pump isn’t running continuously. Now he is knocking down the top of the pila. We were supposed to have a Mexican man come out to help him today, but he never showed. He was doing a project for someone else so maybe he wasn’t finished yet. While Dave is pounding on the pila, I will read a while and then work on my cross stitch.
Dave has the top of the pila knocked down and is attempting to try and find a weak part in the side wall so he won’t have to pound so much. No such luck.
I finished the first area I wanted to rock off. I still have a lot more to go. It is still windy, but I will work until the sand starts blowing then I will quit.
Rafael showed up this morning, Sunday, at 7:00am. He told Dave his truck wasn’t running and that was why he didn’t show on Friday or Saturday. He started to work right away, pounding on the wall. I made breakfast for Dave and Rafael and by noon they were finished with knocking the wall down, cutting the rebar and hauling the broken cement chunks to a gully on our property. Wow!!! We were impressed with Rafael’s work. He is a hard worker. He will be back in the morning to start cementing the existing walls of the pila.
After Rafael left, I dug up some rocks to make a circle in the yard. Then I will fill that circle with soil and decorate with the bones I have. When I get it done I will have pictures.
Monday-Sunday, November 15-21.
Rafael showed up at 6:30am ready with cement, sand, shovel and a willing spirit. Dave had just gotten out of bed when we heard Rafael drive up to the house. Dave got our wheelbarrow for him to mix cement in and a hose to hook up to the faucet to make it more convenient to get water. After an hour or so I made breakfast for the guys. Rafael was hoping to finish the job today, but he ran out of cement. Dave got another bag for him, but by this time Rafael’s back was hurting. He had been working pretty much non-stop since he got here. The cement is still wet so it needs to cure a little before he can do the opening of the pila area. So he will be back at the same time tomorrow morning to finish the job. Dave said it will take probably 2 hours and then it will be finished. After the cement cures we will move the large plastic water tank inside the pila, then Dave will connect the PVC pipes.
Things were going well and Rafael was almost finished. I was sitting at the dining room table cross stitching when I heard a distress sound from Rafael. I hollered to see if he was alright, but he didn’t hear me. I went to the window and saw that part of the entrance wall fell. Rafael was looking much discussed. On the left side of the pila, Rafael had put a lot of cement and rocks to fill the area, but it made it too heavy. So now Rafael has to make another batch of cement and fix it. I felt sorry for him but he fixed it and now everything is curing. It looks really nice. After the cement has cured, Dave will move the large black water tank inside the pila and get it ready to hook up the pipes that go from that to the house. Saturday we are having Pepito deliver water and then we will be done.
Dave talked to Rafael about getting some rocks for me and he said he would deliver a load on Wednesday morning. After those rocks are used up I will get more myself. The yard is starting to look really nice. I’m pleased. My neighbors have commented on how it looks and I guess I have inspired them to work on their yards. I’ve been offered to be paid for working in their yards, but I declined. I told them if I did it, it would be very costly to them!!! HA!! Doing the work in my yard is fun, and I can work at my own pace, but to work for someone else, not good.
The Baja Rally 1000 is happening on Thursday and there have been a lot of free runners on the road going past our house. Today, Wednesday, is a good day to go into town since most of the free runners are traveling to Ensenada where the race starts. So guess what I am doing today? I have a bit of shopping to do for Thanksgiving and I need to take our garbage in and dump it, so I have a lot of running to do. Dave is staying home to work on getting the tank into the cement pila.
Another neighbor just arrived yesterday. They brought me romaine lettuce and a turkey. Hooray!! They also brought an alternator for the truck so Dave was up early putting it in so I could drive the truck to town. After he was done, and I got some things accomplished, I took the truck and went around our little neighborhood inviting them to come to our house around 3:00pm for a neighborhood cocktail social. Of course they had to bring what they wanted to drink as no one here has a lot of alcohol to offer up. The alcohol is usually brought down from the states or Ensenada as it is cheaper there. It is too expensive here in town to replace. So we call it the Baja way and it is also the cruisers way too. When I got finished with the stuff I had to do I drove to town. Just as I was almost to town, there were several racers on quads coming at me. I pulled to the side of the road and let them pass. I waved to them and a few waved back. That was kind of neat. I was surprised to see so many as I thought they would be heading for Ensenada. Oh well. I just have to keep my eyes and ears open for them. I completed my grocery shopping, trash dumping, and then headed home. Once home I unloaded the truck and carried it all upstairs. While I was gone, Dave had moved the large black water tank into the cement pila.
Our neighbor Tom came over to help him which was nice. Dave was trying to figure out how he was going to hook the tank up to the existing house line. He needs to get more fittings to make that happen but can’t do that until Friday afternoon as the race will be going on until then.Rafael delivered a load of nice rocks Wednesday morning so guess what I will be doing tomorrow?
I was suppose to go over and see Smiley so she could dig up part of a plant she has growing profusely in her yard, but I forgot until just before my social get together. I rushed over there, we dug it up, planted it in a pot and I was back in time to welcome my guests. I had set everything up on the deck and after everyone arrived we were sitting outside talking and the wind came up and it got cold. We moved inside to much warmer conditions. The guys sat on one side of the room and talked while the gals were on the other side. It’s funny how that works. Same thing happens when we are all together at parties. Smiley, John, Mary and George are leaving tomorrow morning to go into town to watch the race. The pit crews are already set up and ready to get to work. I guess a few people are taking their campers to town to get positioned for the race, stay overnight then come back home on Friday. It sounds like fun and I wish we could do that, but another time. The Rally 1000 happens every November so if we stay here, we will eventually get in on the excitement. For now we will just have to watch from our house or go to the road to see them pass. The motorcycles arrive first and then later on Thursday afternoon come the cars. That is what I would really like to see and get some pictures. So we shall see. There is another local Rally that happens in the spring which we have seen and it is fun so that is something to look forward to.
Anytime now, the motorcycles should be zooming at ludicrous speed and the dirt will be flying!!!!
Thursday has arrived and the first motorcycle rider didn’t come by until 1:00pm or so. Dave and I took the truck and parked on the side of the road. We had our patio chairs in the back of the truck and a cooler full of beer and our lunch. We waited a long time before the first rider whizzed by us. After that our neighbors, Joanne, Jackie and her husband John joined us as well as Phil and Creela. Phil got there just as the first rider past by so he wasn’t a happy camper he missed him. Oh well. Shortly after the first rider passed, a second and third one came by. Then nothing. After waiting for an hour or so, Dave and I decided to go back home. More riders passed by but we had decided we would stay home. We really wanted to see the cars but by the time the first car arrived it was starting to get dark so you couldn’t see them anyway or get good pictures. Oh well. The end of the race is in La Paz. There was a lot of dust kicked up and it was a good thing we had closed our windows. Friday there was just a hand full of stragglers cars that came by. Then it was quiet.
Monday-Sunday, November 22-28.
Today was set up for the art show. Creela rode in with me and we decided she would work Tuesday and Wednesday and I would work Friday and Saturday with Sunday everyone being there for breakdown. I will be there on Tuesday morning as it is opening day and I want to experience the first day. After all the artisans got set up, we went to lunch. Here are some pictures of the tables. My table is the first one.
Afterwards I had a little shopping to do and got gas.
Dave rode in with me to the art show this morning, Tuesday, and stuck around until noon as he had some errands to run after I was done with the show. Creela stayed the rest of the afternoon and so far I hadn’t sold anything. Hmmmmm!!! We got the hardware items Dave needed for the pila hookup and headed home.
After arriving home I went over to Joanne’s house to pick up the turkey Creela and Phil brought down from the States for us. I let it set out to thaw and tomorrow will be a busy day getting things ready for Thanksgiving. I have invited Phil and Creela to Thanksgiving dinner, but they won’t be able to make it as they had another invitation. I also invited Joanne and her friends, Jackie and John who are staying with her. I also invited Mary Ann. So we have a nice group for dinner. Creela and Phil will come over for dinner on Friday to have leftovers.
I was so glad to have the full day Wednesday to prepare for Thanksgiving. I didn’t think I would be as busy as I was and it worked out great. The turkey was thawed so I removed the giblets and cooked them for broth, and then I rinsed the turkey and salted it with kosher salt, then seasoned it with poultry seasoning, wrapped it in foil and put the turkey in a bag and set it in the refrigerator. After that I cut up celery, onion, and garlic to mix with the stuffing tomorrow. When all the chopping was finished I placed them in a container and put it in the refrigerator until tomorrow morning.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! The turkey is stuffed and in the oven cooking. I have set the table, using my crystal wine glasses, cloth napkins and a white table cloth. It looks festive.
I prepared the yams and potatoes so all I would have to do is cook them later. All the prep work has been done and the turkey smells really good. Mary Ann was the first to arrive and we played a game with dice called, ‘How Greedy Are You’. It was fun and it helped pass the time until the rest of the gang got there. Once Joanne and her friends arrived, I started cooking the potatoes and had already taken the turkey out of the oven about an hour before, so Dave spooned the stuffing into a dish and put it in the oven along with the yams. Mary Ann brought a raspberry/strawberry Jell-O mix salad with cream cheese, pineapple and cranberries in it. She also brought a pecan pie and Joanne brought the pumpkin pie. We had dinner and everything was really delicious. We were all stuffed and even though none of us had the room for dessert, we ate it anyway. Mary Ann left me with the leftover pecan pie, her cranberry chutney, and some salad. Yumm!!! We sat around and talked for a little bit and then everyone went home. It was a very nice Thanksgiving. By sharing the holiday with friends, it made it easier to be away from family.
I was at the museum, where the art and craft show was being held, at around 9:30am or so. I helped with putting the signs out and getting prepared for people. There were 4 of us working the show. We had a couple people come in, in the morning, but no one bought anything from me. Actually I did sell about 4 of my rock creations and 1 small purse on Wednesday so I was excited. At noon we broke for lunch. I hadn’t brought my lunch, and Lois had, so she was staying at the Museum. The other ladies, Teri and Veronica left to go home since they live closer to their homes than I do. I left and got a few groceries and something to eat and went back to the museum. When I arrived, Lois warned me there were people in the art show looking, and she was tending to the people who were in the Museum. The art show was held in a room adjacent to the museum. There must have been about 15 people looking at things and picking things out. It was one big family and they come down every year and drop a lot of money in the museum as well as the town. They bought quite a bit. I was the only one there to help them, so I got stuck trying to keep the artisans items separately documented so each one got the money that was sold. Let me explain. Each artisan is responsible for their own table and each buying customer is to pay that artisan for her things. Since no one was there to watch their table, I had to collect a total for the items, write down at each table what was sold, and then when the ciaos was over, the money was divided between the artisans that sold their items. After that there weren’t any more sales. We did have a couple people come and look but no one bought anything. When I got home, I started getting dinner ready. Dave helped and his biggest help was defrosting the freezer. It needed it badly and I was VERY happy he did that.
Phil and Creela came to dinner and we had a wonderful time. They are really nice people. They will be going back to their San Diego home around the 12th and then return here in the spring. After Phil and Creela left, I set the dishes aside to do in the morning and Dave and I watched T.V. then went to bed.
Today is the last full day of the art show. I doubt there will be many lookers, but you never know. I brought my lunch today. A turkey sandwich, yum!! When we broke for lunch, I went and picked up my laundry and went back to the museum to eat. The art show was closed from 12:00 to 1:00pm, so a few minutes before 1:00pm I opened the doors and waited for people. It was a very quiet day. There was only one artisan that sold an item today. It wasn’t me, however. Oh well. At 4:00pm the doors were locked and tomorrow we all show up to hopefully sell something before 12:00pm when we tear down.
Last day of the art show and no one came to visit. So no one made any money today. We added up our total sales and donated 10% to the museum and kept the rest. I made $147 pesos, which is $12.25 in U.S. dollars. So basically I didn’t make any money. But the experience was good and I learned not to have my table as busy as it was. They wanted it to be bright and Christmassy, but the table cloth I bought, ended up distracting from my artwork. No worries. I will do it again in April when we have the Easter, spring show. I am planning on selling what is left over from this show, add some photos framed in mats, and maybe some different rock/shell sculptures.
We had a meeting to discuss some changes to the next show, broken down the show. The museum room was put back to normal, and then we loaded our cars and trucks and closed up the room. We decided to go to lunch and the ladies went to one restaurant and the guys went to a different one. After that we said goodbye and went home.
Monday and Tuesday, November 29-30.
This morning I went over to Annie’s house to play Mexican train. I had a really good time. Most of the ladies are heading home either on Tuesday, or the weekend coming up. They are going home to do some shopping and decorating their homes for Christmas and get ready for family. Some will be back in January, others in March or April. These are a great bunch of ladies!
