Progress is coming to Bahia

We are starting the month with going to Ensenada to provision. Today is All Saints Day and the Mexican people celebrate the passing of children. There is lots of candy, balloons and flowers. Tomorrow the 2nd is the Day of the Dead and the adults are celebrated. Shops close and you see flower and grave decoration booths all up and down the road. I think it is a good celebration to have. They honor the dead with lots of food, flowers, balloons, fancy grave markers and much more. We had a great ride to Ensenada and on the way we saw the farmers plowing fields and planting new crops for the winter. Some time I think it would be fun on one of our trips north, to stop and do a little wine tasting!! There are quite a few wineries here in Mexico. When we arrived in Ensenada we decided to get money and get my shopping at Walmart done. Then all we have to do tomorrow is stop at Home Depot and Costco. After I had finished at Walmart we went and checked into the hotel ‘Santo Tomas’. Once checked in we headed to Tonas’ office to get our boat insurance papers and pay. We had to wait a little bit but eventually we got the paperwork, paid Tona and sat and visited with him for a few minutes. He races his sailboat and so it is fun to listen to his stories. We thanked him for his service and said goodbye. We headed back to the hotel and relaxed. We went to dinner at Mc Donald’s which is our meal of choice on a budget. We decided to do that as we will have a big dinner at Jardine’s hotel on Friday. The next morning we ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Then we were off to Home Depot. I needed to get some Min-Wax polyurethane for the critters I make and a couple other things. Costco doesn’t open until 9:00 o’clock so we had some time to kill. We looked at refrigerators and washing machines. Then I browsed through all the isles just to see what they had and dream a little of what I want in my house, whether it is this one or another. When it was 9:00 o’clock we paid for our stuff and left Home Depot for Costco. It only took us an hour to get what we needed and then we headed south. We will spend the night in San Quintin at a wonderful hotel called Jardines. They have many beautiful flowers and chirping birds and cactus and behind the hotel is a garden filled with orange and lemon trees and a lot of other plants. After we checked in we relaxed. Dave was on the computer and I went outside to read. It was a beautiful day and the sun felt good. There was a little breeze which kept it cool. San Quintin is not far from the Pacific Ocean so they have cooler weather and more wind. That evening we walked over to the restaurant and had a couple margaritas then dinner. We celebrated Dave’s 65th birthday!! After dinner we went back to our room and watched some T.V. before going to bed. We left Jardines around 8:00 o’clock in the morning and stopped in town to get more money and then headed for home. It was a good trip. Our gate guard is celebrating his 27th birthday on the 8th so I made him chocolate chip cookies. He was thrilled to get them so he could have milk and cookies. Our youngest grandson, David, just turned 3 today, the 13th. Happy, happy birthday grandson!!!! It is also my friend Creela’s birthday. Creela, Mary and I walked a little bit this morning and then in the afternoon I went and played Hand and Foot with the gals. My partner Wendy and I won the pot. We each got $2. Awesome!! Then it was off to dinner in town to celebrate Creela’s birthday. Larry and Lois were there also and it was a fun night. Next year Creela wants a big celebration since it will be her 75th. I have volunteered to be in the Art and Craft show in March. So I am busy making things not only to sell to adults but children as well. I have been working madly on a baby Afghan for Jon Jr. Jon and Susannah’s first child. So when I’m not creating something from rock, shells and things, I am crocheting. I am also making a birthday gift for my girlfriend Penny which is in December. I keep busy doing things I love to do. The Baja 1000 race is coming through town on the 15th. The motorcycles start from Ensenada in the morning and get to Bahia around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Then the trucks/cars come after that but unfortunately it is dark when they come through so we don’t get to see them. They race on the road behind our house and create a lot of dust so I’m putting off my cleaning until it is over. We have heard rumors that the money; survey and paperwork have been done for a paved road starting from town to past our housing complex. The rumor is they will start in January 2013 and be finished in a year. We will finally have a paved road instead of a rocky lumpy bumpy dusty road. The pre-runners for the race have been loosening rocks and tearing the road up even more than it was and now with over 400 motorcycles and cars coming here the road is really going to be fun to drive on. NOT!!!!! We all are looking forward to the road. There is a copper mine reopening south of us so it will bring people to the town and good business. So Bahia is changing. You can’t stop process. It was just a matter of time before someone wanted to develop this area. The town will definitely benefit from it and maybe we will have more shops and a bank!!!! The bank would definitely be a convience!!! Dave inflated our dinghy from off the boat and we went for a little ride in the bay looking for whale sharks. About the middle of the bay we saw a small one and it came close to the boat. Then it went away so we moved on. Dave happened to look back behind us and saw a whale shark come toward the boat. He was so close to the rear of the boat that we turned off the motor so we wouldn’t hurt it. Its tail hit the dinghy! It was really awesome and what a beautiful creature!!!! Then it swam away and we didn’t see any more. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and we enjoyed it! I wanted to walk the beach so I had Dave drop me off on the beach and he went out to continue looking for whale sharks. I had a nice walk back to the house and Dave made it in before I got home. The race is finished and the road is terrible!!!! It is worse than ever!!!!! Everyone hates to drive on it any more. Our truck bounces all over the place so I have to go slow and the Jeep has better suspension, but with all the washboard ruts in the road it too is a rough ride. We have been told that from the back of whatever we are driving we look like bobble heads. A quad is much better, so I’ve been told, but we don’t have one. We now have our water and propane delivered to keep from driving so much on that road. I do go in every Saturday to get groceries and gas when needed, but not any other time. We are sooooo looking forward to a paved road. Our wonderful friends, Phil and Creela arranged to have a turkey brought down with Phil’s nephew and wife, so we will have a 20 lb turkey for Thanksgiving. We have invited Penny and her husband Murrey and our gate guard, Ramon for dinner. I am looking forward to making the pies and cooking the meal. I’m sorry to say that Creela is having a lot of back pain and is uncomfortable so they don’t know how long they will be here. She has stenosis(sp?) of the spine. It affects the very lower part of the back and it is like calcium or something like that which is closing in around the spinal cord and putting pressure on the nerves. She had a cortisone shot shortly before they came down to Bahia, but unfortunately it didn’t last long. Nothing seems to help. I really feel sorry for her. Well today is pie making day. I made 2 pumpkin and 2 apple pies. Then I prepped the turkey and boiled the giblets for broth. Cut the celery, onion, and garlic, putting it in a container and placed it in the refrigerator. So everything is done and I can relax. Oooh!!! I over did the standing today, which was all day in the kitchen and now my back is complaining. Well it’s time for a pain killer! Happy Thanksgiving!!!!! It is a beautiful day in Bahia. The sun is out and it is about 75 degrees. Wonderful!!! The bird has been stuffed and is in the oven. We should eat about 4:00 this afternoon. Penny, Murrey and Ramon are coming over about 3:30pm. We had a wonderful dinner and sat around and talked. Ramon is learning English so we help him and he helps us with our Spanish. He is a funny guy and we thoroughly enjoy his company. Dave and I were supposed to go to Lois and Larry’s house for dessert around 6:00 but they had just finished dinner about that time so we ended up going around 7:00. Penny and Murrey left with leftovers and pie and so did Ramon. He was a happy camper. Once they were gone we hopped in the truck and drove to Lois and Larry’s bringing Penny’s pecan pie and my apple pie. Some of the people had left but there were still some other friends there we could chat with. Larry and Lois had invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner, but we had already made plans to have Penny and Murrey over. But at least we got together for dessert. Ummmm!!!! I’ll have to walk the beach twice tomorrow!!!! Ha! Dave and Phil are going fishing this morning so we decided we would have pie and coffee for breakfast. I made coffee and took the pecan and apple pie over to Phil and Creela’s around 6:00 am and had a wonderful breakfast. Then the guys were off to fish. That was fun!!! Creela stopped by in the afternoon and invited us to dinner. All I had to bring was something to drink and my pumpkin pie. I figured the guys would be home around 3:00pm so I decided to go for a walk on the beach and maybe meet them on my way back to the house. Lysel, the land landlord, was standing in her front yard watching her dog on the beach when she called to me. I was a little concerned about the guys not being home yet so I didn’t hear her at first. We said hi and she invited me to come and pick out the persimmons, pears and avocados that she brought down with her from her home in San Diego. She had a lot and wanted to get rid of them so I took some of each and thanked her and headed to Creela’s. I asked if she had heard from the guys and she said no. I told her I was a little concerned because I thought they would be back by now. I asked if she could give them a call. Before she did she looked through her binoculars and saw they were coming back and were almost to my house. So that was a good thing. Neither one of them knew dinner had been planned at Phil’s place. I went home and after the guys got the boat tied on the float and headed to shore, Creela gave Phil the good news of having company for dinner. Creela had a bunch of steaks and food she wanted to get rid of so she thought to invite her neighbors. So Lysel, Mary and George, Joann and us were coming to dinner. The guys barely had enough time to change clothes. They did catch some yellowtail and Dave will clean that up tomorrow and then it goes in the freezer. Yum! It was a good day for the fishermen and the women too!!!! Unfortunately Dave loses his fishing partner the 2nd of December as Creela has made an appointment to get another cortisone shot. I sure hope it lasts a lot longer than just a few weeks. We all gathered at Phil and Creela’s and had a wonderful steak dinner and great conversation. It was fun to get together like that. I have to tell you this story!!! I actually grossed all the ladies out. We were sitting at the table before dinner just waiting for Phil to finish cooking the steaks and Creela to finish the broccoli, and I kept feeling something tickle my toes. I was wearing sandals. I picked up my foot and moved it. It happened 2 more times and each time I lifted my foot and moved it. Then I wondered if it was a spider or something crossing over my toes so I looked under the table and there was a white little mouse I had accidently stepped on and crushed its head. I didn’t do it on purpose!!!!!! I looked up at the ladies and said they weren’t going to like what I had to tell them and proceeded to say I had killed a mouse. They didn’t believe me so I picked it up by the tail and showed them. No one screamed, but they made some funny faces. The guys asked if it was a white mouse and I said yes, and George said where there is one there are more!!! Then I tossed it out into the sand. Creela missed all that because she was inside cooking. She didn’t believe I actually killed a mouse so she wanted proof and told me to get it. I told her she’ll have to go find it herself. The gals vouched that it was true and I got a paper towel to clean up the blood. The gals couldn’t believe I was so calm about everything, and Dave told them that is how I am. Things like that don’t bother me. Hmmm! I guess it is all my time with my boys and how they use to bring in snakes and stuff to hopefully scare mom, but it didn’t work. Oh well! Needless to say we did enjoy our meal and had a good time. For the first time in years I boiled the turkey carcass for soup. The weather was cool enough and it just sounded like a good idea. I really hate to waste anything. I would have given some soup to Ramon, but I had put green beans and zucchini in it and he doesn’t like green vegetables. So instead I gave some to my neighbor Joann and some to Penny and Murrey. There was still some left over after we had a meal of it, so I froze the rest. Remember me telling you of a man named Kevin coming down to look at the house and took a lot of pictures to show his wife when he got back home. Larry and Lois have known him for a long time. He worked with Larry as a fireman. Anyway, Lois told us Kevin and his wife were coming down around Thanksgiving to look at the house. So I made sure the house was kept really clean and tidy. Thanksgiving came and went and no Kevin. Then we heard from Lois a couple days later that Kevin and his wife bought a house in Gonzoga Bay which is south of San Felipe in Mexico. It is close to the boarder. So we don’t have to worry about the house getting sold for a while. We did mention to Larry if the house didn’t sell by the time we sold the boat that maybe we could work out a rent to own and have the house paid off in 3 years. We haven’t talked seriously yet because the boat isn’t sold, but at least now we have some time to see what happens. So it looks like things are looking better. Time will tell. Oh and speaking of the boat, the gentleman that has been inquiring about our boat seems to still be interested. He thought he would be back in Baja by Christmas but won’t be so we have made plans to meet in Santa Rosalia after the 1st of January. We have to go back then anyway since our FM3’s have to be renewed. So we shall see. He has been reading my blog and it has helped him to know how we did things to get ready to cruise and the care the boat has had. All good stuff! It has been interesting as Dave has been spending a lot of time drawing up plans for our new house which will be built in front of the one we are living in now. We hope that everything works out to where we can fulfill that dream. He is having fun and I have to say I am too as it is always exciting to plan. The nice thing about planning a house is no matter where we end up, we can build it. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. We miss our friends back home in Washington, but I really miss my family this time of year. To drive up in winter is not good, and flying is a madhouse. Plus the good thing is they are doing their own thing and creating their own memories and traditions!!! Maybe one day they can come and spend a Thanksgiving and maybe a Christmas with us in the sun and warmth!!!!

Still Summer in October

Our neighbors George and Mary, John and Smiley returned from their vacation on the Pacific coast. The hurricane Marian was heading to Abreojos where they stay in their trailer at a camp ground. They wanted to be safe rather than sorry. As it turned out the hurricane fizzled out but it did bring rain to the coast. Mary had gathered up some dried seaweed, sand dollars and shells while she was there and gave some of them to me. It was awesome. I will have fun creating something out of them. I have already started making creatures since I have been back. Let’s see----I made another lizard, 2 fish, a hermit crab, a stingray and some others. I’m on a roll. I need to seal them with polyurethane and then they will be ready to sell. The gals want to have a small gathering before Christmas to sell some of their craft items for gifts. So I will have my creatures and some other things there also.

Just after Marian went away another hurricane was building south of Cabo San Lucas. It actually turned right and started heading up the Sea of Cortez. All the cruisers and us too were concerned. Dave kept a close eye on it and even gave reports to the cruisers that were anchored in the Bay of L.A. (Bahia de Los Angeles). Norman never traveled up the Sea and made landfall north of Mazatlan. Then it turned around and headed back the way it came and died out in the Pacific. We did have a little rain but nothing serious. The cruisers are getting ready to make their voyage south so they are very interested in keeping tabs on what the weather is doing. The cruisers that have been around while we were cruising know that Dave worked for Noah (Oops----I meant NOAA) and trust what he has to share. Dave looks at several different weather forecasts and goes with the ones that are known to be reliable. Hurricane season isn’t over until November and since it has been so hot the water is very warm and feeds the storms. Luckily the season is winding down. We are in Santa Rosalia checking on the boat. Actually she looks pretty good. The red danger tape I put on the spreaders are gone. The wind and heat probably got to them but it looks like they served the purpose of keeping the cormorants off the spreaders. It is hot and humid here and we are enjoying our air conditioner!!!! There are some cruisers here and some we have met before so it was good to talk to them. We arrived on Monday, and then Tuesday the cockpit got cleaned. The tarp we had covering our small solar panel for the start battery had been shredded and needed to be taken off. Dave did that and said it was really yucky underneath. There was a lot of dirt and some fish remains. He was going to power wash it. A quick job right? Well guess what!!!! It didn’t work! Dave ended up taking it apart and since he didn’t have the right tools with us this trip he will have to take it home to work on it. Hopefully he can get it to work. We hadn’t planned on spending $200 to buy a new one. That isn’t in the budget. The pressure washer does make light work of washing the boat, but we can still scrub it like we use to. Matter of fact that is what I did while Dave was taking the pressure washer apart. Now the boat is clean and we will buy another tarp to replace the one we took off. Because of the rain we have had plants are popping up all over the place. There is this one plant that has long white flowers. I have never seen it here before. It opens in the daytime and closes at night. It is nice to see flowers in this dry, for the most part, barren land. It has been like summer this month. We aren’t complaining but it is warm. I can remember last year it turning cold around the middle of the month. Comforters are too heavy and even sheets are too warm!!!! I know----those of you who are into the cold season wish you had such a problem eh?!!!!! The weather has changed all over so it is hard to predict what any given day or month is going to be like. That is alright. Just give me warm days, sunshine, and cool nights and I’m good!!! The water here is still warm and my neighbors have been swimming, kayaking and paddle boarding. I am back playing games with the girls. I played train for half a day and played Hand and Foot another day and won the money pot of $5 but of course that was with my dollar in there. We heard from our landlords, the man that came to look at the house is coming back next month and bringing his wife. Apparently she liked the pictures he took and how he described it. Dave and I are ready for it to be sold, but if not, we will talk to Larry and Lois about long term renting to own. When the boat sells we will be braking even so we won’t be getting any money from the sale, however we will be saving a bunch so things will be much better. My youngest son just got married on the 27th!!!!! Hooray!!! Susannah is a wonderful lady and they seem so very happy! They are expecting their first child (a boy) in January. I am very excited!!!! That will make 8 grandsons. I guess we weren’t meant to have any granddaughters. That’s o.k.!! Jon and Susannah went to the court house to get married and then this summer will have a reception or remarry in the church. Dave and I should be there for that!!! Here is some good news about the boat. Dave got an email from a man who lives in Loreto, south of Santa Rosalia where we moor the boat. He was heading north to the states and stopped at the marina to see if there were any boats for sale. He saw ours and liked it. He called the broker, but no one was there. It was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon and no one was there. He somehow got Dave’s email address and contacted him saying he is interested in seeing the boat. He was heading to Oregon for family business and wasn’t sure how long he would be but he would keep in touch. He asked Dave some questions which he answered and we shall see what happens. It sounds promising but we aren’t going to get too excited yet!!!! Things are starting to happen and I can see good coming to a long and frustrating wait!!!! God has a plan and I know it will be great when it comes together. It’s hard to wait though. In the meantime we have a great place to live and a beautiful view of the bay and mountains and the people are nice!!!! We definitely want to stay here in this area if we can but we shall see. Dave turned 65 today, Halloween!!!! Happy, Happy Day!!! May there be many more happy ones to come! Our friends Creela and Phil arrived from San Diego so we had them over for a pork roast dinner. It is good to have them back in the neighborhood!!!! Both guys are anxious to go fishing.