Tuesday I did some grocery shopping so I could make my Mexican lasagna for Ron, Noreen, Fleeta, Carolyn, J.T., and SaraNell and Clark. Clark is getting ready to pack up and drive to Florida where he and SaraNell will be making their home. SaraNell will follow in about a month. So it was nice to have dinner with everyone. It was my fairwell dinner as I am leaving Thursday night for California.
Wednesday I ran around getting the last of the things on my list before I have to pack. When I got back to the boat, Dave said he talked to Kristen and we are invited to her house for dinner tonight. I didn’t expect that, but I am glad we could do it before I left. She made a nice dinner and afterwards we played the game, Scattagories. We got a chance to get to know Ethan and Sam more and them us. Hopefully, Kristen and Dave will be able to get together one more time before he leaves to meet me at my sister’s house.
Today is packing day and then Dave is driving me to Jon’s house where Ernie and Eian, and E.J. will be waiting. I packed everything I thought I would need at my sister’s and then everything else went into my suitcase and to storage until Dave got ready to pack the jeep. Last night I said goodbye to Noreen as she has to work today. We are so thankful to have such good friends like them!!! We always enjoy staying with them!!! Dave and I needed to be on our way to Tacoma by 4:30 to avoid the heavy traffic from the shipyard in Bremerton. I gave Ron a big hug and thanked him for everything, then took off. Dave and I stopped at McDonald’s for dinner in Port Orchard then carried on to Jon’s house in Tacoma. When we arrived, the boys were eating pizza and Jon was packing. No one was looking forward to the long drive, but was excited to be going to California. Dave said goodbye and the rest of us were on the road a little after 7. The weather was nice and the back seat of Jon’s car, a VW Jetta, was uncomfortable in the middle as the drive shaft goes under the center of the back seat. Because I have a bad back, the boys took turns sitting in the middle. That was so nice of them. Eian got the middle for a long time to start and when we stopped for gas in Oregon, E.J. switched with Eian. There were no other stops and the grandboys slept most of the time, and I slept a little. Jon drove until Oregon and then Ern drove until we gassed up in California close to my sister’s house. We stopped at a restaurant near there and had breakfast and then Jon drove to my sister’s. We made it in 11 hours. That was a record I guess from last year. The boys said it took about 13-14 hours last year so they were stoked!!! My sister and Hig were waiting at the kitchen table when we arrived. After all the hugs and some talking, we all took a nap. Then the guys played pool and my sister and I caught up. During my stay at my sister’s, I got to spend a lot of quality time with my sons and grandsons. It was really nice. I went to the fair one night with them and watched E.J. play a couple games and Eian too. The water gun game was played by everyone but Ernie. He stood back and watched.
Dave arrived at my sister’s on Saturday the 13th, just in time for the family reunion. We had a family photo taken when we could round everyone up. Handsome family don’t you think?
Got a message from the boys saying they made it home safe. They had a good smooth trip back. Now it is back to work for Ern and Jon and the grandboys will be getting ready for school. Dave and I stayed until Thursday, the 18th, then headed for home. I was glad to have so many days visiting with my sister. She and Hig have health issues and they are getting up there in age so any time spent with them is good.
Our first stop after leaving my sister’s house was just north of Los Angeles. Tomorrow we will leave for Lois and Larry’s house in San Diego to pick up Dave’s computer. It was finally fixed so now we will be a 2 computer household again.
We arrived at Lois’ in time for lunch. She fed us soup and sandwiches and we had a nice visit. Dave checked out his computer to make sure it was actually fixed and running well, then we all left and Lois took us to the Costco since she had to get gas and we had to get some groceries. We said goodbye and went on with our shopping. After that we decided to stay in San Diego for the night as it was getting late to cross the border and drive to Ensenada. So we found a Quality Inn and relaxed. We had hoped to walk to a place for dinner, but when we ventured out, there was nothing within the 3 block radius so we drove to Denney’s.
We left for the border after breakfast and made it across without waiting. We stopped in Ensenada to use the ATM machine and to get a couple things at Walmart before heading south to home. It was a long drive as there were three places of road construction, that slowed us down considerably, but after that we made up the time and got home around 5:30pm, the 20th. Finally!!!! We unpacked the car and brought most of the stuff upstairs and then I made something quick for dinner. We had to start up the refrigerator and stove again since they run on propane. It took overnight for the refrigerator to get cold enough to put things in it. The house, being closed up for a month and a half, was very hot. The thermometer read 100 degrees. Everything was hot to the touch. It was a little over 100 outside. After a couple of days with the windows open and a breeze, the house will start cooling down.
Things are put away and we can assume life as usual in Bahia. While walking around the yard last night we noticed it had rained and one of my rock sculptures head was missing by the driveway which indicated some heafty winds. We must have had a storm come in with a micro burst of wind and short period of rain. We also noticed the head of the turtle was missing. Apparently the coyotes got hungry and the head still had some meat on it so it was a meal for them. Life for them in the desert!! None of our neighbors are here so it is nice to have the place all to ourselves. The guard, Nassario is happy to have someone here. He took a mini vacation after we got home.
The weather has been hot with some breezes during the day and a couple nights there hasn’t been any to speak of so we have had to run fans. No Worries. It won’t last long as it should start cooling down next month.
Dave got water on Monday, 22nd, so now our pila is full. We had a visitor toward the late evening. Dave spotted what looked like large cat on top of the carport. He called me to look at it. I told him it wasn’t a house cat it was a Bobcat!!!! What a beautiful animal. He was just lying around but he was very aware we were there. He left sometime after dark. Then the next evening he came back again to visit in the same place. I got several pictures of him but here are three. The first one I hope turns out because it shows his eyes from the flash.
I went in to town on Wednesday and did some grocery shopping. The laundry is caught up and now I am spending my days reading and trying to learn Spanish. Lois and Larry left some Berlitz Spanish tapes behind when they moved out so I am listening to them and following the book. It is a slow process but I am confident as I talk and listen to the people in town I will be able to pick up more of the language and be able to communicate better. At least that is what I am hoping for.
I finally got in the water the other day. Boy! Did it feel good!!! It was lukewarm so with 90 degree weather it felt refreshing. Dave was on shore trying to catch fish.
Dave launched Mary Ann’s boat. The aluminum one she lent us, and went out in search of fish. The first time he didn’t catch anything but the second time he caught a 10lb dorado. He said there were a lot of them swimming around. So the fishing is good!
We got some clouds last night on the east side with thunder and lightning. That usually means a Cubasco with strong winds. We closed down the skylights in preparation for the winds, but we didn’t get much. That is alright. It is better to be prepared than not. We ran the fan above our bed most of the night since there wasn’t any breeze until the Cubasco came.
Dave is making bread this morning. We bought some bread flour in the states since you can’t buy it here in Bahia. So we will see how it turns out. I hope better then the last time. It was good just not a large fluffy loaf.
The bread did turn out really good. He made an Italian loaf. What a difference the right kind of flour makes.
It remains hot and the wind blows pretty good in the day time but when we want to go to bed there isn’t any to speak of. Thank goodness for the large fan above the bed. We are looking forward to it cooling down at night. Hopefully next month.
Dave went fishing yesterday, the 28th and caught another dorado. Not as large but enough to freeze some and give some to Mary Ann and our guard. I like to eat fish, I just don’t like all the other stuff that goes along with it. Like what you ask? Well launching the boat. It is light so when it is put in the water and there is any kind of surf, it is hard to keep the stern of the boat with the huge engine from turning toward shore. The same as when we are taking it out to put it on the trailer. With all of that Dave and I end up dripping wet because you have to get into the water to make sure the stern of the boat is straight when pulling it on the trailer. Getting in the water isn’t the problem---it’s the laundry I have to do later which uses lots of fresh water. Then------there is the fact of getting all the tools ready to fillet the fish. I guess I don’t have to help with this, but when we started cleaning fish on the boat I got involved so I’m stuck now. No worries!! Actually I am learning when I help. It is just messy. Then there is the cleanup of the board, knife and fish along with vacu packing and putting it in the freezer. I guess I just needed to bitch for a bit about something. It is a pain in the butt, but looking on the bright side, we have good eating fish. Even in paradise there are times when you don’t like doing something. Actually if that is all I have to bitch about------I can’t be doing to bad!!!
Happy Birthday to me today, the 29th. Next year is the big ‘60’!! We aren’t doing anything special. Just another day. It is nice to be remembered through Facebook!!!
Tomorrow we are taking off to Santa Rosalia to the boat. We need to remove the old batteries and put new ones in, pay moorage and make sure everything is running properly. We will be able to use our air conditioning, which will be wonderful, as it is hotter there than here in Bahia.
The other day, Dave got an email about a man in Canada, saying he is interested in the boat but the price is too high. Dave wrote the broker and said to convey to him to make an offer. Right now the payoff on the boat is 214,000.00. We haven’t heard back so I guess he isn’t that interested. At least we are starting to get some action on it. I hope and pray we will be able to sell it this year. It sure would be nice.
We headed out this morning for Santa Rosalia. It was promising to be a hot day in Bahia and after arriving in Santa Rosalia, it was as hot as home. At least it isn’t hotter. We are running the air conditioner which is really nice after carting all the stuff down from the jeep to the boat. It was like Dave and I ran through water, we were so dripping wet.
We found out the rates in the marina are going up $200 which means we will be paying close to $700 a month. YIKES!!! Dave is going to talk to Carlos and see what he has to say. Carlos is the marina manager. Well good news. Dave came back and said that if we put the amount on our credit card we can still have the rate we had been paying. So we decided to do that until January 1 of 2012. We will just pay on the credit card bill and not have to come to the marina each month to do that. That saves us some money and time. After January, if the boat is still here, we will have to pay the going rate of $700. Let’s hope we don’t have to worry about it.
Dave got an answer back from the broker in La Paz about the Canadian who is interested in our boat. He is interested in leasing the boat for a year with the option to buy and he would pay to keep the boat here in Santa Rosalia. He has a C&C 36 foot sail boat in Canada that he wants to sell. So he wants to have our boat for a year in hopes his boat sells and then he will buy our boat. At first we thought –Hmmmm!! Maybe that will work. Then I start thinking about the what ifs!! What about insurance in the event something happens to the boat while in his possession. And then if he can’t keep the boat then it is back in our hands again, plus while the boat is leased by this man, no one else can buy it. So I don’t think it would be a good idea. Dave is going to sleep on it, but I think he is thinking the same way I am. We don’t want to get screwed. I’d rather sell the boat outright and be done with it. We will mull it over and make a decision in a few days.
The house batteries have been switched out and the new ones put in. Now we charge them up. Looks like tomorrow is a pressure wash day for the boat. We didn’t watch for the cormorants’ last night and we woke to a real mess on the deck. What fun. We had to wash the boat anyway since we were told there was a chubasco a few days ago with 50-55 knot winds which blew a lot of dirt on the boat. When we look at the stainless steel, it makes us want to cry as it is in dire need of polishing. It does no good to polish each time we come because when the boat is washed the water spots on it and we are back to square one again. This trip is too hot to be doing outside work, so I will wait until October, November to touch up the stainless steel. Just about everything inside and out needs cleaning so when it cools off, I will start to work. If we could only keep the damn birds from crapping on the boat!!!!! I’m seriously thinking about getting something to put on the spreaders. Dave and I will talk about it because we have to do something or the finish on the boat will deteriorate. We are sooooo ready to be done with the boat. It was a labor of love---now it is just a labor I’m afraid.
One thing I am glad about---not just living in paradise and not having a job, but having a husband who can do just about anything on the boat!!! He is a God send and I thank the Lord for sending him to me. We have had our moments, but all in all, we are good friends and respect and love each other. I do not have the knowledge about electrical things like batteries and the system on the boat. So I am glad I have someone who does. O.K. Enough of this sentimental stuff!!! I had a weak moment—sorry guys!!! ;-)
See you in September!!
