The Summer Starts With Grandson's High School Graduation

On the road again------and the weather is really nice. Not too hot. We had a little trouble with the jeep driving on the grapevine highway---but nothing serious. It does not like that road for some reason. While on cruise control it starts to surge like it is trying to keep an even speed. On that stretch of the freeway it can get really windy, but there wasn’t too much wind that day. Anyway-----after awhile a bell dings to let us know we have to stop and turn the engine off. So we pulled over and let the engine sit for a few minutes and then turned it back on and off we went with no further problems. About three years ago when we took the grapevine north it did the exact same thing. We had it checked and nothing was wrong. Hmmmm!!! Oh well. I guess we don’t go that way anymore.

We made it to Redding and then cut over toward the coast and ended up staying at Arcata for the night as it was too far to drive to Brookings that day. We relaxed and will head out in the morning and be at Robert and Kristis’ house in Brookings, Oregon in the afternoon.

After breakfast we headed toward the Oregon state line but before crossing the border we stopped at the ‘save money’ liquor store. We called Ron and asked him what he wanted, as we always fill his order and get reimbursed later. We shopped for ourselves and Ron and Noreen then were over the border shortly thereafter. We arrived at Robert and Kristi’s house late morning and Kristi was at Yoga and Robert was busy doing something downstairs. We visited with Robert then he went back to work and Kristi came home and I talked with her for awhile. It was just a relaxing day. It had been raining and continued all afternoon then let up that evening. We were thinking we might stay with them for a couple days, but that plan got changed as they are heading out in the morning for Medford to get doctor appointments and other business taken care of. We enjoyed the time we had with them and we went to the restaurant and martini bar named ‘Super Fly’ for dinner. For desert I ordered a chocolate martini and shared it with all of us. Yummmm!!!! We headed back to the house and relaxed for the rest of the night. We all went to bed early as we needed to get up early (all of us) and head out.

The next morning we headed back to I-5 going north (which is the quickest way to get to Washington) and Kristi and Robert were not far behind us but would turn south to go to Medford. It is always fun and a good time when we stop and see them. They are great people.

It wasn’t raining when we headed out but as we traveled north the rain clouds were building and then it really rained. Neither one of us likes to drive in the rain, especially when it is hard to see what is in front of you, so we decided not to push it all the way to Bremerton and stopped mid afternoon just south of the border between Oregon and Washington. My back was hurting, not only from sitting all that time in the car but from walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes, at the hotel we stayed in last night. Since this hotel had a hot tub and no little kids jumping around in it, matter of fact I had the whole pool area to myself!!!!!! WHAT?????? I put my swimsuit on and went down and sat in the hot tub for at least 30 minutes letting the jets relieve the stress in my back. Dave stayed in the room as he wanted to get on the internet and do a couple other things. When I got out I was relaxed and even though my back was still sore, it felt so much better. When I got back to the room I changed into dry clothes, did my stretching then took a shower!!!! We went to dinner around 6:00pm and came back to the room and chilled for the night, watching T.V.

Our 9th grandson was born this morning at 7:30am. They named him Cameron Graham Adcock. He weighed 7lbs 6 oz and was 21 inches long. I can’t wait to see him.

We will be in Bremerton late this morning. The rain has stopped thank goodness and the weather seems to be clearing up. When we got to the Brownsville Marina, we walked down to Ron and Noreen’s boat. Noreen was at work but Ron was there with the pugs. When we arrived at the boat I called to Ron asking permission to come aboard and he didn’t hear me at first so I hollered again and he shows up at the steps and said come aboard with a pained look on his face. I asked him if he was alright and he said yes he had been working on the toilet all morning replacing parts and that isn’t a nice job. So we visited for a while then he went back to work and later the guys ended up going to the marine store to buy another part and when they returned the job was completed and it works great. We still don’t know where we are going to stay this summer. We will discuss it with Ron and Noreen in a day or two. They are ripping the carpet out of the boat then replacing it with cork flooring. Well that kind of job is not conducive to having guests on the boat. We had already told Ron and Noreen that we were looking at maybe house sitting somewhere in the area or looking at other options. The other options are staying in a motor home at the marina, or staying at our friend’s house from the 19th to the 29th of June, or we could stay on their 38 foot sailboat at the Brownsville Marina. Life is such an adventure!! I found out that if we house sat for our friends I would be living with 2 cats and that is not a good thing as I am highly allergic to their dander. A day or two I could handle but not for that long. Then we talked to the harbor master of Brownsville and asked about having a motor home there and he said there is no long term camping there yet. After a couple of days we would have to move somewhere else. So that kind of blew that plan out of the water. We thought that would be fun to do. Well we could park the motor home at Illahee State Park, but we would have to find out how much that would cost for the summer. The other option would be if Ron and Noreen allowed us to stay in their condo as they spend the summer at the marina on their boat. We don’t have to make any decisions right now as we are heading to Marysville for our grandsons high school graduation party on the 7th and then graduation on the 10th. We were invited to stay at my son’s house for that length of time or longer if we wanted to. That was awesome. On the 11th we were going up to visit friends in Anacortes so that worked out really well. We got to spend some quality time with the grandsons, Eian, E.J., and Brody which was fun. Got to see mama Brooke (daughter-in-law) carrying our grandson to be born in August so it was a fun time. The graduation party was fun and Brooke and Ernie had E.J.’s accomplishment and award certificates out on display, plus a couple write ups in the paper of his accomplishments in high school soccer and track.



We are so very proud of him and all the boys. They are doing well. Eian will be starting practice soon for football this fall and Brody will be starting practice for select soccer. He is 7 years old. Wow!!!!! Shades of when my boys were that age. The graduation was awesome and it was really cool to see after the graduates were seated that all those grads that were in white robes outlined a 1 and 5 for 2015. I tried to get a picture of it when it came up on the big screen at the Xfinity Area, but when I got focused the camera switched to another scene. Oh well. Ernie got a picture of it and posted it on Facebook. It was really cool but the kids didn’t even know why they were wearing 2 different colors; white and red. E.J. wore red and of course was in the front row. Here are some pictures.




My son Jon and Jonathan Jr. made it to the graduation which was held in Everette at the Xfinity area.


E.J.’s graduating class had 300 students so this was the best and biggest place to have it.


After the graduation ceremony and pictures, all but Jon and Jonathan Jr. went to the Olive Garden restaurant for dinner. It was Eian, E.J., E.J.’s girlfriend Roslyn, Brooke’s mom, Brooke, Ernie and us. Jon needed to get Jonathan Jr. home as he was really tired and getting fussy. Because his wife, Susannah, had to have an unscheduled cesarean, due to the fact that the doctor had tried to induce her but the baby was refusing to come out so they had no choice but to do C-section. She wasn’t happy she had to have one, but it is a good thing as the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. So all turned out well but Susannah can’t do much for about 2 to 3 weeks and Jon didn’t want to leave her home too long by herself. He is such a family man!!!!! Jon wasn’t sure what they were going to name him as there were 2 names Susannah liked. One was Cameron and the other Wyatt. Jon got to pick the name for the first boy so now it was her turn. She liked both but favored Wyatt. So after the baby was born and Susannah was holding him she asked him if he wanted to be called Cameron or Wyatt and he cried when she said Wyatt so Cameron it is. Cameron Graham Adcock!!!! Awesome!! They are done having kids now and are happy to have 2 healthy boys. Susannah didn’t get to bring Cameron home with her because he was jaundiced so he had to stay another day under the lights, but soon the whole family was reunited and all is well. I told Jon I almost didn’t get to bring him home from the hospital due to the same problem. I got lucky though. It would be hard to leave your newborn behind at the hospital while you got to go home. Well all that matters now is he is healthy. Susannah wants to wait a couple weeks before anyone sees Cameron, just to give him a little longer before entering him into the world of germs!!!! No worries as we are busy doing stuff so it works out just fine.

We had a nice visit with Ernie and family and now we are in Anacortes with our friends Brent and Bre. We got to see Bre after getting home from work and she made salmon cakes with salad and other good stuff. We stopped to see Brent at his work (Skagit shooting range), visited and went to lunch with him before going to the house. Jessie (their daughter) and her boyfriend Kyle came over for dinner and Bre and Jessie prepared dinner, and then waited until Brent got home before cooking the salmon patties. It was delicious!!! Bre and Brent have to work tomorrow, Friday, and then after work Bre is taking off for Eastern Washington with her sister-in-law to do some river kayaking and fly fishing. Bre has not done that so it is an adventure for her. She will return on Sunday late afternoon. So in the meantime, we get to watch the house, sit in the hot tub, go for walks and do whatever we want. I did some cross stitching----yes I am making a soccer player for Eian as he lost his when his mom and he had to move out of her boyfriends’ house. Everything got left behind and it was all thrown out with no thought of maybe Eian liking to keep his stuff. Anyway----I will make the soccer player and he asked that the colors of the uniform be of Marysville, Tomahawk colors of bright red and white. So that is what I am doing now. I hope I can finish it before we head back home, but we shall see. He also wants his football number 39 on the front of the jersey. I have to order 2 birth announcements cross stitch kits to do for the new grandboys. Those won’t get done until I get back home to Mexico.

While Brent was at work on Saturday, Dave and I drove into Anacortes to check out a couple thrift stores and get a couple items of groceries. The first thrift store we went to was closed on the weekend and the 2nd one didn’t open until 10:30am and it was 9:30am. So not wanting to wait around we ended up at a flea market on the way back to Brent’s house. It was pretty cool as it had upstairs and 2 large areas downstairs to look through. We went back to the house and a little after we were there we called Brent to see what his plans were for lunch. We met Brent at the Shrimp Shack and had some great food and beer. Then Brent was off work for the rest of the afternoon. We were so full from lunch we didn’t eat again until 10:00pm when Brent made some quesadillas. Since they have Net flicks we watched a movie Friday and Saturday night. Brent went to work after breakfast Sunday, and Dave and I got things packed up as we will be leaving in the morning. I enjoyed a soak in the hot tub that afternoon, then took a shower, washed clothes and finished packing. Dave and Brent are making Carbonara tonight for dinner and Jessie and Kyle are coming over. Bre got home and said she had a great time, took a shower then came out and visited with everyone. Jessie and Kyle were already there when Bre returned home. We had a wonderful dinner and I had made a key lime pie earlier that day so we had that for dessert. We watched some T.V. then we all went to bed.

The weather has been so beautiful and nice. There was a little wind the other day and it was cool, but still sunny. No June gloom!!! Here are a couple pictures of the view from Brent and Bres’ living room.

My back is getting better. I still can’t walk a long distance yet but do what I can. I did try to get to the beach which is down the road from Brent and Bre’s but there was no good or safe access so I had to give up that idea. Still trying to collect sea glass where I can. So far on this trip we haven’t been anywhere where I can look for it.

We were able to say goodbye to Bre before she left for work and then said goodbye to Brent as he was leaving for work. He left just a few minutes before we did so we ended up making sure the house was locked and secured then headed for the Edmond/Kingston ferry back to Bremerton.

Once back in Bremerton and on Ron and Noreen’s boat, we had to figure out where we were going to stay. We found out that while we were gone, Ron and Noreen cleaned up the spare bedroom at the condo and got it ready for us to move in. They told us after Noreen got home that night. She had worked out how much it would cost for utilities so we will be paying $125 a month to stay at the condo. We are relieved we finally have somewhere to lay our hat. Now we can have family come visit and maybe have the grandboys come and stay a weekend.

Trials And Tribulations

Here it is May already and our weather is still cool. We have had quite a bit of wind lately and the breeze from the north is cool for this time of year. I’m not complaining it is just unusual. By now we are in the 90’s and sweating a bunch. So I am thankful for the coolness. It is nice for sleeping at night.

Our friend Kenny, from the Fonatur Marina in La Paz, where we moor our boat, came up to look at the little 21 foot boat that was left here with the house. The one we were going to fix up and us for fishing until we found out that there is no paperwork on it so we won’t be able to import it to keep it legally. So when we were in La Paz the last time we were talking to Kenny about the boat and showed him pictures as he is looking for a fishing boat. He said he would come up to look at it. So he and his friend showed up the day before we were to leave for La Paz. The guys looked at the boat and inspected it, took it down to the boat ramp to off load it from the trailer it is on and put it onto Kenny’s trailer. When they were finished, Kenny and his friend spent the rest of the time getting the boat hooked up for travel and cleaning it up. Late in the afternoon Dave said we should return the compressor and table back to our neighbors, Creela and Phil’s, as we heard they were coming down and would be here before we got back from La Paz. At this time Tito, our gate guard was over talking to Kenny and when he heard we were going to Creela and Phil’s and we were returning some things he offered to go with us. I told him he could sit up front with Dave and I would climb in the back of the truck as I hadn’t ridden in the back for a long time and since we weren’t going far I thought it would be fun. I had a pronged small garden rake to dig up their key with so off we went. Dave backed up to their patio as we had to put the table back in the trailer and the compressor in the garage. When Dave stopped I started climbing over the tailgate with the garden rake in hand and as I was swinging my left foot over the tailgate to climb down from the truck the tailgate opened and I flew backwards and hit the cement path near steps to the patio. The rake went flying and I landed on my butt smack in the middle of it and as I hit the grown I felt my spine compress and pain!!!!! Tito came over to try and lift me up but I told him no, no, no as I didn’t know what shape my body was in yet. I rolled onto my left side in pain and Tito called Dave to come over. I felt very lightheaded like I was going to pass out but I didn’t. I was on the ground not too long and when Dave came over I was ready to try to get up. Dave helped me up and poor Tito was watching with such concern on his face. I leaned over the wall to the patio and stood there for a few minutes bent over then I walked up the two steps to the patio and sat down on the wall and pressed my back against the wall. I was in a lot of pain. Then I thought I needed to see if I could walk so I moved real slowly and took some steps. All was good with mobility but I was hurting bad. In the meantime Dave got the keys and unlocked the trailer and Tito and him put the table away and locked it back up. Then they took the compressor to the garage and locked that and they were done. Tito told me to sit in the front seat and he would ride in the back. What happened was that Kenny helped Dave put the table and compressor in the back of the truck and Kenny closed the tailgate but didn’t know he had to slam it hard to close it tight and Dave wasn’t there so he didn’t think anything about it. So that I why I had my accident. It wasn’t anyone’s fault as stuff happens. It is a good thing I had made the beds for the guys before we went to Creela’s because I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. After getting back to the house I put ice on my back and took a pain pill and sat for awhile. It hurt all the way around my lower body. All the muscles were contracting. I scrapped up my middle and ring fingers on my right hand when I fell but that was the least of my worries. I was really concerned of how I would feel tomorrow when we going to be in the car for 8 hours. But no time to worry about that now. I just had to try and do what I could to help get my back better. I wasn’t sure I could stand to make dinner but I did. I was really sore. The pain pill kicked in so I could move around with caution. We all had dinner and afterwards Dave turned the TV on to see if we could get the big fight, don’t ask me who was fighting as I don’t pay attention to that stuff. Don’t like it. So anyway while the guys retired to the living room I washed the dished. Pretty soon Kenny and his friend went to bed. It was about 8:00pm and the fight wasn’t on. Well we couldn’t get it anyway. I put some more ice on my back while watching TV and then went to bed thinking I was going to be hurting tomorrow.

To my surprise I wasn’t hurting as much as I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong, I was very sore and it was painful still but at least I could walk and maneuver. Kenny and his friend had already left at 4:00am so we said we would catch up to them somewhere down the road. We locked up the house and away we went. The ride wasn’t too bad. I had my magnet belt on so I was getting some heat to the back which helped. We did meet up with Kenny just before Loreto and they were continuing on and we were stopping. We told him we would see him tomorrow in La Paz.

We went to our favorite hotel and we were the only ones there so far. Then later another couple showed up. We tried to see our friends, (Robert and Kristi) that live part time in Loreto, but they weren’t home. We had a nice quiet evening and around 8:00am the next morning we headed out for La Paz. At least the ride is shorter today which makes it nice. We arrived at the marina and opened up the boat. The weather was nice with a little breeze and in the 80’s. Not humid like the last time we were here. My back is really sore and actually not just the back but all the muscles around the lower part of my body. Today is the 5th and it is our grandson Eian’s 16th birthday!!!! That is so cool. Happy, Happy Birthday guy!!!!!

Once on the boat we found the batteries were charged and all systems seemed to be working just fine. We noticed Diego hadn’t washed the boat. Come to find out later on when we went to see the boat broker and she told us he came to collect the money and so she thought he had done the job. That isn’t good. I guess they will have to start checking out the jobs they say they are doing before paying them. Dave went up to the marina office to talk to them about getting the boat hauled out around the 10th and they said there was no room. Hmmmm!!!! Last month we got a quote from them of how much it was going to be to get hauled out so we thought it was all settled and then to find out there isn’t any more room. That didn’t sit well at all. Dave didn’t get mad but he made it known that it was all worked out the last time we were here and he even showed them the paperwork. So with some discussion, they decided to make room for us. Now we need to get a survey done before the boat is hauled and then continue with the hull survey after the boat is out of the water. We asked around about who a good survey person was and found a guy named Mark. He said he could come and start the survey on Wednesday the 6th. So the process has begun. We are still looking for another insurance company. Dave has made a couple of inquiries and asked for quotes and no matter what the insurance is going to be high. There are a couple of companies we are looking at but can’t decide anything until after the survey is finished.

I couldn’t stand looking at the dirty cockpit screens so I decided to wash them. Once the boat is out of the water I can’t do it so no time like the present. It looks so much better and we can enjoy sitting out in the cockpit again.

Mark came on Wednesday and did his survey inside the boat. It took about an hour or so. Everything was looking good he said. The only thing we need to do is get our fire extinguishers serviced and a battery for our Epirb. He will be back on Friday to do the rest of the survey when the boat is out of the water.

It is boat hauling day today. We are waiting for them to notify us when they will be ready to do that. We got all the lines out and readied the boat for moving. Around 1:00pm or so we were notified they were ready for us so we fired up the engine and then headed over to the lift. After the straps were positioned safely under the boat we were lifted out of the water. They positioned a ladder for us to get off the boat so they could take it to the boat yard. They found a spot they could squeeze us into and that is where we will sit until about September and then they will move it in front of Kenny’s shop and he will take care of painting the bottom and cleaning her for our return. He did pay us some money for the little boat and then he is trading work for the rest. So it works out for both of us.

We made reservations to stay at Casa Buena for a couple days while we get the boat ready for the summer on the hard. So all day Thursday we were going up and down the ladder taking things off the boat and storing them in Kenny’s shop and then we took the head sail down and folded it up and put it in the sail bag to store that and then we secured the end of the main sail which was sticking out of the mast so it wouldn’t flop around in the wind. We took the BBQ off, the engine for the dinghy, the dinghy, put cushions away and all Kenny will have to do if there is a hurricane is take the windshield of the dodger off and the bimini. I didn’t do a lot of lifting but I was busy all day and on my feel so when we got to the hotel I was beat and needed to put the heating pad on my back. Actually I was surprised my back did as well as it did for all the activity. We relaxed that night at the hotel and there weren’t many people there this time.

Friday Dave needed to go back to the boat yard to meet with Mark, the survey guy, and I knew Dave would be at the boat yard all day so I told him I wasn’t going to go with him but I was going to go to the pharmacy and the fabric store instead. My back was sore but I thought a walk would be good. Dave dropped me off at the pharmacy so I could get some of my pain pills and then I walked to the fabric store, which was just down the street. I always planned on going to that fabric store but it never worked out before so now I was going to take advantage of the opportunity. It was fun looking at all the fabric but I needed to get home as my back was really hurting. So I walked back to the hotel and put the heating pad on and lay down on the bed. I had over done it yesterday but I had to as Dave couldn’t do it all by himself and there wasn’t anyone else. Kenny did help with getting the dinghy engine off the boat and headsail folded up but he was working so that is all he could help with. So I figured I would lay low for the day and didn’t do much of anything. I really didn’t feel good either so that was a bummer. When Dave came back it was later in the afternoon and he said Mark told him the haul of the boat was in great shape and we needed to get it painted (which we planned on doing) and change a zinc. So now we wait for Mark to send us a copy of the survey and then send that into the insurance companies and see which one will give us the better deal and cover us out of the water. We had some food left over from dinner on the boat the night before and then spent the rest of the evening in our room where I put the heating pad back on my back and read my book and Dave was on the internet. Then it was bed time.

The next morning my back was feeling a little better, but still sore. I was encouraged it would get better. We ran some errands and around dinner time we walked to the Bandito restaurant and had dinner then came back and chilled. We are leaving for home in the morning.

We were on the road around 8:00am or so. We were staying at the Angra hotel overnight and were hoping Kristi and Robert were at the house so we could see them. After getting to the hotel we called and we got a hold of Kristi. They had her sister-in-law with her husband visiting but invited us to come over anyway. So we went over to their house. As we were visiting with them another couple showed up which are good friends of Krisit and Robert and use to be their neighbors in Oregon. We visited for a while and then we figured we would leave. It was Kristi and Roberts wedding anniversary and they were making plans for dinner. Robert asked if we wanted to join them and with some coaxing we said yes. So we were to meet them at 6:30pm at Super Burro restaurant. Well we arrived on time but they weren’t there yet. We sat down at a table for 6 and ordered a beer. Soon after they showed up and we had good conversation going. Then dinner came and we got stuffed. It was the anniversary of the restaurant as well so they served us free cake. After that we said our goodbyes and went back to the hotel. We watched some TV then went to bed. We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow.

Well my back is still sore but each day it is getting better. I really have to baby it so it will be ready for our trip to Washington at the end of the month.

Dave has been so good in lifting heavy things for me and making sure I don’t do anything foolish to hurt my back more.

Today is our son Michael’s birthday, May 9th!!!! He’s getting old! Ha!!!! He is 43. Happy birthday son!!!

We got home mid afternoon on Sunday the 10th. It was good to be home again. Now we can relax for a while before we are back on the road again but this time going north. Our grandson, E.J. is graduation on June 10th and they have tickets for us to attend and also he is having a family and friends party on the 7th which would be nice if we could be there for that.

Our daughter-in-law, Brooke is celebrating her birthday today the 24th. It is also our gate guards’ birthday. Happy birthday!!!!

We are just taking it easy right now and enjoying the cool weather. There has been a lot of wind lately. The yellowtail are running out in front of the house so Dave is itching to go fishing but when we tried to take the boat (a friends boat) out the engine worked for a second and then wouldn’t start again. So he was bummed but tore it apart to see what the problem was. Well he checked everything out and found gas wasn’t getting to the spark plugs which mean the carburetor isn’t doing its job. He took that out and cleaned it a couple times, put it back together and yesterday took it to the boat ramp to launch it and waaalaaa!!!! It works like a charm. Our gate guard has been itching to go out with Dave so now he can. However, Tito (gate guard) went out in a kayak yesterday and caught a large yellowtail and a Cabrillo. Dave showed him and his wife how to fillet a fish for future reference and at the end of it all, Tito gave us two nice yellowtail fillets for dinner. It was very good.

Dave and Tito went out this morning to try and catch another yellowtail but they all had moved on unfortunately. Bummer!!! Well at least they were able to get out in the boat and try. Later on Tito took the kayak out to see if he would have the same luck as he did yesterday but he didn’t.

We have decided to leave on Thursday the 28th. So now it is coming up fast. I have already started packing but will get serious about it today the 26th. I put out some danger tape which when tied on the rafters flaps and it keeps the birds away. So last night I did the railing of the deck and this morning I did the rafters and washed the solar panels. All that is left is packing which I need to get to now.

O.k. I am all packed except for last minute stuff. Dave moved MaryAnn’s boat in the garage to keep it out of the weather. The truck is outside under the carport and the jeep is parked under the stairs ready for our getaway tomorrow morning. I defrosted the refrigerator and freezer so all I have to do tomorrow is shut the propane off and put towels in on the shelves and leave the doors open. I packed a lunch for us and have lots of breakfast bars to munch on the way.

Lynn and Tom, our Bahia neighbors invited us to dinner tonight and they served Carnitas. They were very good. We had a nice visit and dinner then we said goodbye and went home. Dave packed this afternoon so all we have to do is load up in the morning. We have already put our 2 large suitcases in the car to make the morning car packing go smoother.

Well it is the 28th and the car is packed, the propane off, and the solar panel has been flattened and turned to where it will get the most sun in the afternoon. We turned off the inverter this time as we didn’t need to keep that on and the water is still on as our gate guard is going to water the few plants we have while we are gone. Everything is locked, the toilet bowls are covered with saran wrap and the drains are covered over to prevent cockroaches. I loaded up the garbage to drop it off in town and burned all the burnable things. We gave our guard food we had left over, which wasn’t a lot, and gave some other things like butter, sour cream, beer, etc to neighbors and friends. I did a pretty good job this year in not having a lot of food items left to give away.

Well we said goodbye to the gate guard and his fiancé and told them we will see them in September.

We took the road from Chapala to cross the border at Mexicali. We normally don’t go that way as about 13 miles of rough road but it was a lot better this time then when we came down coming back last September after hurricane, Odile. Once we were on smooth pavement again we sailed up to Mexicali. It is faster than going to the Tecate border so since we need to be up in Washington close to the 7th, we decided we would try it again and see how it went. We don’t like the rough road, but if you go slowly it isn’t bad. It took an hour to cross the border then another hour and a half to get to our friends house in El Cajon, CA. Creela and Phil had been waiting for us and had dinner ready and drinks right after we arrived. They haven’t been able to go to Bahia due to a bad renter and issues and legal things with him. So it was good to see them and spend a couple days with them. Shortly after we arrived, Phil said his best friend who was his best man at their wedding had a stroke and is bad. So Phil was torn about leaving while we were there, but we told him he should go and see his friend. So the next morning he left for Reno. We were glad he decided to go because none of us know how long we are going to be here on this earth. Creela and us had breakfast, then she asked if we wanted to see the rental they had to go to court for to evict the renter. She said there was a lot of damage done to it. We had no idea until we got there of how much!!!! Went went inside and Creela noticed lights on and said they were off yesterday when she was there. Also food was on the floor and counters and it looked like someone was making waffles for breakfast. Dave and Creela walked down the hall to the bedrooms and looked in each one and the last one they found a young kid standing in the middle of the room fiddling with his fingers. Creela hollered, “Who are you and what are you doing here?” Then she asked again----“who are you” and he mumbled, Ricardo. Creela said she was calling the police and we all walked outside to the side of the house by the window of that room. She was still on the phone when the kid jumped out of the window onto a hedge and then down on the grass in the yard and took off on a skateboard. He has a bag with some stuff in it but we didn’t know if that is something he had already or had taken stuff from the house. Creela couldn’t find anything missing of hers so the police couldn’t file a report. Anyway----4 police cars showed up and looked in the house and gave Creela some advice about taking care of the broken windows and cleaning up the yard. There was all kinds of office desks, chairs, cubicle material, as the renter was selling this stuff from the house. Doors inside the house had been taken bashed in, the stove was broken, all kinds of junk lying all over the floor and broken furniture and all laying around. I had never seen such a mess in all my life. This kid was probably a friend of the evicted son, and was just staying there overnight. We saw evidence of cooked meth and a pipe, plus there was a 5 gallon bottle of water in the bedroom where the kid was found and I think he thought he was going to stay awhile. Well the police went looking for the kid and after they left we helped clean up the yard and put all the junk that was there in the backyard hidden from view. We tried to make the house look like there was someone in it. As it turned out Creela was able to get a nephew by marriage and his friend to help with the clean-up and one of them came back that afternoon to stay in the house to keep anyone else from coming in and taking copper pipes, electrical stuff – anything that can be sold on the street for drugs. So that worked out real well for Creela as she got a phone call around 8 or so from the guy staying in the house that someone knocked on the door wanting to get some of his stuff and Pat told him he would have to come back with the property manager. Creela and Phil have to store all the evicted renters stuff for 13 days until he can get it all out. This guys (renter) has been doing this for a long time and the police are very aware of his actions. So this guy will probably work it until the very last second before clearing out all his stuff. Unbelievable!!!!!! I just don’t understand what is wrong with these people. Well yes I do-------drugs!!! It makes people strange and mean and just plain awful. Creela and Phil are in there upper seventies and they shouldn’t have to deal with this kind of stuff. Plus this is part of their income. Well they have turned over that rental to a property manager and they will be able to take care of the renting and background checks and all. In the meantime, Creela and Phil have to get the house cleaned up, replace what is broken, replace the carpet and make it look nice again. It is a nice 4 bedroom one level house. It is just a shame. Well hopefully this is the end of bad renters!!! I am not naive enough to know that this can’t happen even with a property manager looking after the property, but hopefully less of a chance.

Well we left Creela on Saturday 30th and headed north and seeing how far we can get today. Well we got as far as Santa Nella, north of the grapevine in California to stay the night. We headed out around 7-7:30am the next morning. We made good time and instead of stopping at Redding, we kept going toward the coast. Our hope was to stop in Crescent City, but that remains to be seen.

Just Chillin in Paradise

Happy April fool’s Day. No pranks played on me or anyone else. Today was the opening day of the Spring Arts and Craft show. We had a lot of people shopping today which was awesome. I did pretty well so I am pleased. Usually the first day is always the best in sales. Here are some pictures of the tables and some of the art we had in the show. The table with the glass covers and rock and shell critters are mine.


We had one Mexican lady and her daughter show up and put up a table to display her art. Unfortunately the Mexican ladies were taking a sewing class offered once in a while for them so they didn’t want to miss the opportunity to learn how to make new things. So the one lady, Perla and her daughter Anna, asked us to watch and help sell her items while they were in class. So we did and she did pretty well. She had mostly necklaces, earrings and key chains.

I worked Thursday, Saturday, and half a day Sunday as that was the end of the show. Friday was my day off and I got laundry done and cooked in prep for the next 2 days. I had fun making announcements every morning and evening for the show. Thursday was a dead day. We had some people come in and look but no one bought. Saturday was better and quite a few people came in but didn’t buy much. It was a sad day for me as I was told that my best friend here in Mexico had her husband die on Friday of a fatal heart attack!! Wow!!! I was stunned and Dave and I still can’t believe Murray is gone. We just saw them a few weeks ago and he seemed fine. He will be missed. Then Sunday we figured it would be dead until we got ready to close and low and behold we had a bunch of people and they bought lots. We couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that one Mexican family bought all that was left of my rock and shell critters!!!!! There must have been about 6 or 8 left. That was my biggest sale of the day!!!!! I was in a daze and so happy that they appreciated my art!!! I did sell a handful of glass covers and some earrings so all in all I did fantastic. You just never know from year to year how you will do. There were a few Canadian tourists trying to buy things so they didn’t have to take pesos back with them. It was a fun and successful show. Just about everyone went to lunch after we broke down the tables; packed up everything and cleaned the Museum Salon, except me. I had to get home so I could pack for the trip to La Paz on Monday.

After getting home and unloading all my stuff, I packed and got things ready to take to the boat like some food items and such. Not much had to be done. Then I had the rest of the afternoon to relax and take a walk on the beach.

We left Monday morning around 7:00am headed for Loreto. Our friends from Brookings, Oregon aren’t going to be at their house in Loreto so we booked a room at a cool little motel called ‘Angre’. It is run by a young woman named Anna and her mom and dad. They are a really nice family. Even the sister helps from time to time. We like it there because they have a gate that locks at 10:00pm so our car is safe. We arrived at the motel 8 hours later. We had trouble with the WiFi but eventually got it working. We had a nice room on the top floor and at the end so we only had one room on one side of us. As it turned out we were the only ones there! I called my friend Penny to see how she was doing. She is the one that her husband died on April 3. She wasn’t doing well at all. I felt so bad that I couldn’t be there to help her through this tough time. I didn’t get to talk to her much as the connection was bad. But I told her I would write her every day just to help her through until I could come see her. After my phone call I was able to get on the WiFi and I sent her a message. Then it was time to seek out a place for dinner. We liked the last place we ate when we were here so we walked down to it only to find it was closed. Bummer! Fortunately the chicken place next door was open so we grabbed a bite there. When we walked back to the motel we stopped at a deli and wandered around and found all kinds of great stuff. They had all kinds of cheeses, liquors wines and more. We said we would stop and get some rum on our way home. So we left and went back to the motel and watched T.V. I did some crocheting on the baby afghan and then before we knew it it was bed time. Tomorrow is a shorter drive. Only 4 hours so we don’t have to leave so early. Plus there is a time change from Baja California to Baja California Sur where Loreto and all the little towns south of there to La Paz is an hour later than where we live. So we had a relaxing drive down. Driving does tire us out. Dave for driving and me for falling asleep in the passenger seat!!!!! Ha!! There isn’t much to see but sand, mountains, cactus, cactus and more sand. I’m surprised Dave doesn’t fall asleep. Well we made it to La Paz safely and early in the afternoon. We went to the boat and saw that most of the windshield for the dodger was in place but one piece was missing. The canvas guy must have that and the cover. Dave went down to check the battery situation and found all house batteries were dead. Just like last time. He doesn’t have a clue what is causing them to go dead. So we had AC just no DC which means no boat lights, no stove, microwave, or flushing of toilets, and no refrigeration. No worries as we have one electrical light in the main salon and we have running water except we couldn’t use the bathroom faucet as that drains into a sump pump and then pumps overboard so that is DC. If we run water in the bathroom sink and the sump pump is not working it will overflow into the bilge. Then there will be standing water in the bilge which isn’t good. No worries as we have been through this before. The next morning Dave unhooked the house batteries and had Kenny, our friend at the boat yard, come and help him cart them off the boat and down to the Quaker State battery place in La Paz. The batteries were left there overnight to be charged and then we would find out if the batteries are bad or not. If they are bad we have the receipt from when we bought them a short time ago and they will replace them free of charge. So tomorrow is the telling day. In the meantime Dave was very perplexed over this battery situation. He had noticed when we were down the last time that there was a draw coming from somewhere on the boat that just didn’t make sense. He even thought that the Link 2000 heart was going bad so he brought a extra one down that was given to us by a friend in Bahia.

The canvas man showed up and replaced the one glass panel that was missing and put the cover on over the windshield to check out the fit. Perfect. There is a little wrinkle at the corners of the windshield and he offered to put a solid piece of material there so the windshield would be tighter. So we said that would be great. So when we leave we will call him and let him know he can work on that while we are gone.

Thursday Dave went back to Quaker State to see what the status is on the batteries. They are good and all charged up. So that was a relief. But now Dave has to solve where the mystery current is being drawn from the batteries when we aren’t there. He brought the batteries back and two Mexican boat boys working on the boat across from our slip helped him carry them down below. Once the batteries were hooked up then it was time to reset the Link 2000 so he could read what the batteries were doing. Something was still not right and there was that annoying draw coming from somewhere. Dave asked me if the bow thruster battery was off and I said it was. But he wanted to check something out so he got under our bed and metered the bow thruster battery and it was metering good. So he decided to take the battery out and test it not hooked up to anything. Well it was dead, dead, dead!!!! It had bulging sides which is an indication of it being bad. Dave did a little more digging under the bed and decided that because the battery was dead it was still trying to get current from the other batteries even with the switch turned to off. That was the little draw he couldn’t figure out. Whaalaa!! The next step was to see if our Link 2000 was going on the frits so he took that out and replaced it with the one our friend gave us only to find that it didn’t work like it was suppose to. It did show that the house batteries were charging like they should and there was no extra draw showing up, but other light indicators weren’t working so there was something wrong with it so we couldn’t use it. Dave had to take it out and put ours back in. At least we know we need to replace it. So Dave is going to look on line to see if he can get another one.

Well at least we found out where the extra draw was coming from and how the boat was wired for the batteries and that our Link 2000 needs replacing. Now the next project is to work on the generator and find out what its problem is. Dave had an idea so he went with it and found that a switch is bad. He did something so it would run and when we return in May we will have the new switch and it will only take a few minutes to change it out. So Dave solved the problems we were having and it is all good. Now that Dave is done with all that, I can do what I need to and that is clean the forward sump pump and get water out of the bilge. When we ran the air conditioner the last time we were on the boat the unit in the back of the boat, doesn’t have a drain set up to it like the forward one does with a hose going to the sump pump. There isn’t a way to fix the problem of salt water over flowing into the bilge. I tried to suck the water out but without constant watch it tends to overflow into the bilge. I poured some fresh water in the bilge the second day of our arrival to let it sit and breakup the salt. Now I needed to suck the water out. I took an old towel and placed it in the bilge and let it soak up the water. It took several towel wring outs but I got all of the water out. Now it just needs to air dry. That is all the jobs we had to do this visit.

We are leaving on Sunday the 5th so I need to get laundry done on Saturday. The marina has rented out the large patio area just up from the marina, for a wedding reception Saturday night. It is suppose to start at 8:00pm. Shades of Mazatlan all over again!!!! When the Mexican people throw weddings and receptions the music is LOUD!!!! I will definitely be using my ear plugs tonight. All day people were setting up tables and decorating and it will be a beautiful sight when they are done. The skies are looking a little dark I hope it doesn’t rain. Of course Dave thinks it would be funny if it poured and everyone went running for cover. Well it kind of would be funny, but I try to think of how I would feel having my wedding reception ruined. The marina café wasn’t going to be open tonight for dinner so we decided to go to our favorite place called Banditos. Dave had a hamburger and I a chicken salad. It was yummy. Then we came back to the boat and the reception was just getting started. People were arriving right and left but we had a parking spot so that was good. As we were walking to our boat, there was a couple on board their boat up the down from us and Dave stopped to talk. I went to our boat to get things ready for in the morning when we leave. When I finished Dave was still talking to the couple so I went to join him. We were invited on board. They were a young couple with 2 children, a boy and a girl. The dad, Kerry reminded me so much of our friend Brent that lives in Anacortes, Washington. He is a red neck big guy. His wife Erika was really nice and we hit it off right way. We drank rum and shared a cigar. Kerry had some big firecrackers (m80’s?) and he was lighting them off and throwing them over the side of the boat. They made a big bang!!!! Well we were having our own party. Unfortunately he threw one that made a hook and hit the edge of the cabin roof and fell down by the table Dave and I were sitting at. Everyone yelled lookout, and I couldn’t get out because Dave was in my way sitting. There was a big explosion and I went deaf in my right ear. Funny thing is I am going deaf in that ear anyway. But it made it worse. We all were lucky no one got hurt. We all survived and the only damage was a hole in the carpet in front of the door going into their salon. My hearing came back but I’m sure it didn’t do me any good as far as hearing loss down the road. After that we visited a little more then called it a night. We said goodbye and maybe someday we will meet them again. They were great people. The reception party was still going on and they were serving dinner. It was a huge dinner as we watched waiters bring one dish, then another, and another. It was a big to-do!!! We waited for it to get really loud but it really didn’t. It was a mellow party and the bride and groom were young! I did use my ear plugs though. Around 2 in the morning the wind came up and I heard drops of water on the deck of the boat. We had all our hatches open so I got up and started closing them. You could hear people getting excited and things were breaking due to the wind blowing things around. It wasn’t a pretty sight. After all the hatches were closed we went to bed. It poured for a while and the band members had to rush around to get their instruments out of the weather. The next morning we went up to see what the damage was and they had lost some of the pretty decorations that were made of glass and the panels of material that had been tied around the poles and such had come loose. It was a mess. There was a lot of cleaning up to do. We packed up our stuff, secured the boat and headed for Loreto. We are stopping at the same motel we did on the way down.

We got into Loreto early afternoon and we were really tired so we took a nap. Then I showered and we walked down the street to see if our favorite place to eat was open and it was!!!! They had just opened so we had to wait a few minutes for them to get set up. Dave and I had a hamburger which was really good. Then we headed back to the motel, thinking we would stop in at the deli and buy the rum but they were closed as it was Sunday. Oh well. We will have to get some next month. Once back in our room we watched T.V. and I worked some more on the baby afghan then went to bed.

In the morning we had coffee and a banana and got gas across the street and a couple pastries for on the way. We were headed back to Bahia.

It is such a long drive from Loreto to Bahia. We got home around 3 and I unloaded our overnight bags and put the groceries I got in town away. Now we are relaxing.

I have been trying to find a ride to see Penny. I sent out an email to everyone whom I thought was traveling north or knew of someone who was. Wednesday the ladies played Mexican Train and I asked them if there was anyone I could ride with that was heading to San Diego. Nancy said there were a couple guys that are visiting her significant other and they were heading back soon so she would ask them tonight as they were coming over to her house for dinner. I will know more tomorrow.

I got confirmation from Nancy that I have a ride on the 20th. Yay!!! They will pick me up at the gas station in town early in the morning and then they will drop me off at the road where Penny lives. So now all I have to do is find a ride back home on the 27th. I have put out another email but most people stop overnight in San Quintin and I am looking for someone who is driving straight through to Bahia from Ensenada. Well if I don’t hitch a ride with anyone I can take the bus. We don’t have a lot of pesos so I am trying to be careful because payday doesn’t come again until the first of May. It will all work out.

I told my friend Penny I was coming for sure and she is all excited!!!! Just three more days to wait. Tomorrow is grocery shopping and getting gas in the truck. The gas is going to be the most expensive!!! Speaking of the truck--------I didn’t turn off the switch to the battery in the truck on the 5th of April and it was on all the time we were gone to La Paz which was 8 days. Well the battery was dead!!! Dave discovered it last night and I was to blame. But he was so good about it. He took the battery out and hooked it up so it would get solar charging and we are hoping it will come back. I had a little talk with it last night when I was locking everything up for the night.

Today is a beautiful day. We have had 2 days of 25 knot winds and for the first day the sand was flying. Today it is calm and the tide is way out so I went for a morning walk on the beach. I got 2 pieces of sea glass and I finally brought Matilda the turtle home to my yard. She is still a little stinky but much lighter now so I was able to carry her all the way home. She was an old one as she had large barnacles on her under shell and a few on top. She now is in my yard. She still has her fins and head attached! After getting back from my walk I rinsed out the clothes I had soaking overnight and took them downstairs to hang them on the line. Then I dumped the 2 buckets of rinse water and pulled some weeks. Then I vacuumed and shook rugs. I still need to clean the bathroom but if I don’t do it today I will tomorrow before our dinner guest arrive. Kerry and Dennis are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. I know they are leaving in May so I wanted to get our invite done so I didn’t miss it with me going to Penny’s and then us going back down to La Paz. They are fun people.

We just had our neighbors on the north side of our house show up. We never know when they are coming so it is always a surprise. Two more neighbors are going to be showing up in the next week or two so we will almost be a full neighborhood.

Dave is putting together another jigsaw puzzle. This one is of a Peacock and has round edges so it is a little more difficult to piece together. Mary Ann tried to put it together but gave up. So she gave it to me for Dave. He loves a challenge.

Dave has had the truck battery charging and it seems to be charged up so he put it back in the truck and low and behold it started!!!!!!! Yay!!!!! Whew!!!! That saved us $150.00!!!!! I got really lucky! So now I can take the truck into town tomorrow and do shopping and come home to cook dinner for our guests.

We had a great time with Dennis and Kerry. I am glad I decided to have them over for dinner now instead of waiting as we found out they are leaving on the 4th of May. So that worked out pretty well.

I was all packed and ready to leave on Monday, the 20th to stay with my friend Penny, but I got an email from her saying she got an email from the skipper of Murrays’ fishing boat arranging a round trip flight from San Diego to Seattle, Washington to meet with him and give him some of Murray’s ashes so when the boat got to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, he and the crew would have a memorial for Murray and spread his ashes on the Bering Sea. This was Murray’s wish and his friend and skipper remembered that. How sweet. Well I didn’t want to get to Penny’s and only have 2 days with her because I know she would be running around trying to get packed to leave so she could get her flight on the 24th. So I thought it would be better if I waited. She is going to stop and visit with her family before returning to Mexico. Actually all this happening was a blessing in disguise. I did get a ride to where Penny lives but there was no one going down to Bahia to take me back so I would have to take the bus and I didn’t know how much that was going to cost and we are very low on pesos right now. We had to pay income tax for the first time since we have been married and it has taken a chunk out of our budget. Things will work out, I have no doubt, but it is just frustrating and unnerving at times. Sooooo when she returns to her house in Mexico, I will see if I can afford to go see her. If not, it will just have to wait.

We found out yesterday that Ernie and Brooke have 2 tickets for us to attend E.J.’s high school graduation, June 10th and we wouldn’t miss that for the world!!!! He is also having a party on the 7th which we are hoping to be there for. So plans have changed a lot in our world. We are leaving around the 5th of May to head back to La Paz so we can get the boat ready for hurricane season and haul-out. She has to be hauled out on the 10th as that is when our moorage contract for the slip we have is up. Then we will come back and start getting things ready here to close up for the summer. Hopefully I will get a chance to spend time with Penny. So we shall see.

Last summer when we headed north we had quite a few friends that invited us to stay overnight as we traveled. Unfortunately most of those people will be here in Bahia still. That will cause us to have to pay for motels. Well it is what it is. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel no matter how dark it seems. Too bad we don’t have camping gear as we could camp our way north. Oh well! Just keep us in your prayers that everything will work out for us. I put the word out on Facebook about us needing a place to stay once we get to Bremerton, a house sitting opportunity. So we will see about that as well. Things have a tendency to happen so fast it makes your head spin but that is o.k. Bring it on!!!!

Today, Monday the 20th I am going to my neighbors to play hand and foot or Ponytail. Dave will be going over to Rincon to see our friend Dennis to help with a computer problem.

The weather has been beautiful and the guys that are fishing have been catching yellow tail close to shore late in the afternoon when the tide has turned. Unfortunately Dave doesn’t have the opportunity to take advantage of that. That is o.k. because we still have yellow tail in the freezer from the last time he went fishing. All of that has to be eaten before we head north so we have plenty!!!

Last night we were invited to dinner at our friends’ house in Rincon. They spend their summers here and winters in Rome, Italy. They are really nice people and so friendly. There were 14 people all together and the hosts, Paolo, and Angela made octopus pasta spaghetti, and then came oven baked chicken with cut up potatoes and vegetables, then ice cream for dessert. Before the meal we started with appetizers!!!! There was a lot of food. This is the way the Europeans eat. It is a 3 course meal. It was all so good. That was my first taste of octopus and it was good. We stayed a while after dinner to visit then headed home around 11:00pm. It was a lot of fun and we are getting to know them better and them us. We want to have them over for a Carbanara dinner. It is rich pasta served with white sauce, eggs, bacon and the grease!!!

One morning Dave and I watched two seagulls fight. One had a hold of the others beak and they squawked a lot and moved around as the one that was having his beak held was trying to get away. This went on for quite a while and I did manage to get some shots but you have to look close to see their beaks. The one that was clamping down on the other was a pretty aggressive bird.


He was shooing all the other seagulls away. You can see here where he had his wings out chasing the other gull away. That same afternoon I went to my neighbors and played Ponytail and my partner and I won!!!!! That’s a first!!!! My lucky day!

Cindy and Tom, our next door neighbors arrived and will be here two weeks. They run a restaurant when they aren’t here and this is their getaway so most of the time they don’t want to be bothered as they are down here to chill. I did manage to talk to both of them for a short time so that was nice.

Dave is almost finished with the peacock jigsaw puzzle. He said it is a challenge! There are no books for him to read (because he has read them all) so the only other thing he can do besides the puzzle is work on the boat that came with the house. Before the hurricane the motor worked and other things did too but now they don’t so he is trying to find out why.

I am making progress on the baby afghan and I should be finished with it by next week. Then I start on another one. I have been creating again; making button and shell pins. I made a couple more necklaces. I think I might take all my jewelry up with me on vacation and see if I can sell a few things or give as thank you gifts.

We found out what Jon and Susannah are naming their boy. Cameron and Ernie and Brooke are naming theirs Conner.

Well scratch that about Jon and Susannah naming their son Cameron. They are undecided. She likes Cameron and Wyatt, so it may not be final until the little guy is born.

My friend Penny is struggling with the loss of her husband but I think she will be better after she sees her family and knows Murray had his ashes spread on the Bering Sea. I have arranged to get a ride north to Penny’s house with my friends Ron and Diane as they want to see her too. Then they will leave me at Penny’s house and continue to go home to the States to spend the summer. I sure hope it works out this time.

Our gate guard’s fiancé’s (found out they aren’t married yet) father died today. It is a sad day for Brienda and her family. Her family lives in Nairit (sp?) on the mainland so she has a long trip ahead of. Tito is staying here to do his job.

We just got an email from our boat insurance company telling us our boat can’t be in Mexican waters unless it is up north by San Felipe. There is no hurricane protection up there at all. And if you take your boat out of the water like we are planning on doing for the summer, the boat has to be on a cradle. Well Mexico doesn’t use cradles. So we are screwed!!! Now we are looking for another insurance company to insure us while on the hard for the summer and pay $2600.00-3,000.00 for insurance. I sure don’t know where THAT money will come from. The only other option is to have someone take the boat to San Diego and hand it over to a dealer which our friend Tori (who is a boat broker in Seattle) can make all the arrangements. Our insurance company changed their policy in January and didn’t bother to put the word out until after our claim was settled. What good is insurance if after you use it the rates go up and they screw you. I don’t get it. I guess auto insurance is the same thing. We took all the precautions to have our boat safe and protected, and our damage was due to our broker not getting to our boat in the amount of time we gave him to prepare it for the hurricane. Well we are still waiting to get a quote from a new insurance company and we have to have a survey done on it as well so we will be doing that when we get to La Paz. We are leaving on the 3rd of May to travel to Loreto then the next day to La Paz. We will know more after we get down there. So stay tuned!!

Our water pump to the house quit working the other day after I took a shower. I just used the hot water side as it was warm enough without having to turn the cold water on. When I got out the pump kept pumping and wouldn’t shut off. Dave took his shower and then turned the pump off until he could get to it in the morning to find out what the problem was. So we had no water. I figured I would wait and wash dishes and such after Dave fixed the pump.

The next morning Dave was taking the pump off and examining it and found it froze up. He didn’t know what caused that so he got the spare pump we had and put that on and there were some problems with that so it took Dave all morning to get water running again. While he was trying to get water flow to the house, he heard water running from outside and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. He turned the pump off and walked around the trailer on the north side and found water bubbling up from the ground. We had a leak. He dug down and found there was a leak in the copper pipe on the hot water side. Not good. Dave didn’t have anything to fix copper pipe so I went over to the neighbors and asked George if he could help us. He came over to assess the situation and see what we needed then said that the best thing to do was put a piece of hose over the pipe and secure it with a hose clamp and that should hold it until we can do something different. So George went back home and got the hose and hose clamp and put it on the pipe and it stopped the leak. Dave turned the pump back on and we bled down the water system to get the air out and all is well again but the pump sounds terrible. It is giving us more water flow than the other one did but it rattles badly when we use the water. Dave is thinking about putting the other one we had on there before it quit working. He got it to run again and it is quieter but a little less water flow, but we can live with that.

I have started another baby afghan and it should be done soon. I am back working on the dragon cross stitch again. I always have projects lined up so I never get bored. I’ve been creating cork people and making a couple more necklaces. Here are some pictures.

Enjoying Warm Spring Weather

Dave finished the jigsaw puzzle this morning. It is a beautiful sunny day. I worked on Brody’s afghan today and got all the squares sewed together. The next step is to sew all the seams so nothing will unravel. I am almost finished. When I finish I am going to make some drink glass covers with a hole in the middle for a straw, for the art and craft show next month. During the spring and summer it is good to have your glass covered as the bugs like to take a swim.

We had some clouds moving in last night and this morning the sky was cloudy and it was windy. We even got a sprinkle or two of rain. One nice thing though it isn’t cold. This system will move through today and be gone by tomorrow. That is good as I have clothes to put on the line to dry.

It is a pretty sunny morning and I am glad about that as I have clothes to dry on the line. Well that was short lived-------it got cloudy and now it looks like it will rain. Oh brother!

A friend came over with his back hoe and smoothed out our road inside the community. Dave and George, our neighbor, helped clear the rocks out of the way as the road was being smoothed. It looks so much better. Can’t wait to try it out! George asked Roger (who has the backhoe) if he would smooth and level the road as it was getting pretty bad even after we had it filled in after the hurricane. So we are good for quite a while now. While Dave was out helping with the road, I touched up the walls where the shelving unit had scraped the paint. So that job is done.

I ended up having to bring my clothes in off the line as the clouds were building and it has already rained a little. Some of the items were dry due to the wind, but the shirts and some thicker items were still wet. So in the house they came and draped over chairs. It is a good thing I brought them in as we got quite a bit of rain after that. It rained the rest of the afternoon and was still raining off and on in the evening. Sometimes it rained hard and we ended up having to put a pan on top of one of the cabinets in the kitchen where we have developed a leak. We are waiting for a calm non windy day so we can get on the roof and do some patching around the skylights, because that is where the leaks are coming from.

It rained pretty good last night and early this morning. At least part of my windows got rinsed and the solar panel did too. We have had to run the generator this morning to check emails as we don’t have any solar. There isn’t going to be any sunshine today.

We went to Guerrero Negro today for Dave to get his final cap put on his tooth. We made stops at the ATM, pharmacy and hardware store. We were able to pick out some handles for the drawers of the closet shelving unit. So now Dave has another project.

Brody’s afghan is finished and here is the finished product.


There is going to be a spring Arts and Craft show in April which I will be in, but I haven’t been creating anything right now due to trying to get the Afghans done. I still have a bunch of stuff left over from the November show so I will have plenty.

I started making the covers for drinking glass for the show and I want to start back on the counted cross stitch I started of a dragon and Merlyn last year for Dave. If I can try and do some everyday that would help. Almost half of it is done. It is just a difficult one to do on black aida cloth. But I WILL finish it.

There is a yard sale tomorrow, Saturday the 7th and we are going to try and sell a couple bamboo chairs and a stool. We don’t need or want them so hopefully someone else will need them. I always look forward to this time each year as I am always looking for stuff for the house. Granted we can’t spend a lot of money but each year I pick up a few things. It is neat to see what people are getting rid of. Dave spoke to our neighbor George this morning and George asked if we still wanted the freezer. Dave told him we did and so George is going to hold on to it until we get back from Ensenada on Tuesday. George has been running it so it works well. He must have cleaned it as he was going to do that last year before selling it to us. I don’t know how we are going to pay for it--------but George said we could take it off his hands and we would figure something out later. That is cool.

We sold the chairs and donated some items so we were successful. And guess what------we didn’t buy a thing!!! Amazing but true!

We are leaving for Ensenada on Sunday, the day after the yard sale, to get our jeep insurance. Then we will stop at Home Depot, Walmart and Costco before heading back. We will also stop in to see my good friend Penny and her husband Murray on the way home.

Dave got the handles on the drawers. They look really good. Here is a picture.



This morning I took a walk on the beach. Saw the dead dolphin that was floating out on the water the other day on the beach. The vultures were feasting and also a raven. Dave checked the tide chart and let me know that the tide had turned and was coming in and if I wanted to walk this morning it was a good time. We are expecting more wind (we’ve had wind for a couple days now) so I decided to take a walk as I haven’t done that for 2 days. I needed to rinse the clothes I had soaking and hang them on the line to dry and then I would go. I grabbed a breakfast bar and the clothes and went down to hang the clothes. When that job was done I was on my way walking the beach. It is such a beautiful morning and no wind line in site right now. I walked about a mile and a half before turning around and heading back to the house. I could see the wind line forming and knew I didn’t have much time before it would be windy. I got back just before the wind reached the house so the timing was great. I have the wind and sun on my side today for clothes to dry!!! Yay!!!

While we were driving to Ensenada on Sunday, we had a deer run across the road. I never have seen one here before so that was exciting. I knew there were some, just never saw any.

We made it in one day to Ensenada and got a room at the hotel we usually stay at then headed for Walmart and Home Depot then headed back to the hotel. We had dinner at Mc Donald’s and relaxed in our room for the rest of the night.

Next morning we got our paperwork and paid for the jeep insurance then checked out of the hotel and went to Costco to get a few things then headed to Penny and Murray’s house, in San Jacinto. We had a very nice visit and with them and before we went to dinner we stopped at a men’s old folks place not far from Penny and Murray’s place. Penny took on the responsibility of getting medical care and donated items, food, etc. for these men who have nowhere else to live. They call it the Grandpa house. I met the 5 or 6 men that were there and enjoyed my visit with them. Then we left and went to a hamburger place in town for dinner. It was really good. After dinner we went back to their house and visited for a while then it was bed time.

We left the next morning and came home.

Our gate guard, Tito and wife Brienda, are working out really good here. Tito has helped those people who are here with several projects. Sometimes Brienda helps too. We had Tito go on our roof to lay some roofing paper around the skylights as when they were put in that was never done. Then Tito painted a mixture of white cement, lime and salt water to seal the roof so now we shouldn’t leak any more. We still need to use JB weld on the cracks of a couple of the skylights where daylight can be seen on the corners of the frame, but we can do that anytime. We have more work for Tito, but no extra money so we have to wait to have Tito do the other jobs we need. Maybe we’ll get to have these jobs done this fall.

We still haven’t had any luck with selling the boat. We really don’t want to take it back to Seattle, but by May 10th a decision has to be made of what to do if it hasn’t sold. Our marina contract is up on May 10th.

I’ve been walking the beach and picking up treasures when the wind isn’t blowing so hard. Hard to walk when sand is blowing at you. Ha!

One of my goals for this year was to walk on the road from our house to almost the other side of the bay where there are 2 signs telling about the birds and sea and plant life by the estuary. Well I fulfilled that goal the other day. It was about 6 miles round trip and when I got home I was hot and thirsty but energized!!! I did take water with me but because it was only 16 ounces I drank some when I reached my destination and then again when I returned home. I had a wonderful walk in the desert. There were some plants blooming from the last rain we had, and some of the road was slick with mud, but on the whole it was good walking soil. The water had drained from the estuary which left a beautiful green hue from plant life. I’m glad I didn’t walk further because coming back I was dragging a little due to it being warm, but I did prove to myself that I could walk to the other side of the bay, but would need a ride part way back. Ha!!! Now that the weather is heating up (90’s) I don’t go on long walks until it cools down which will be next winter. I always try to set a goal of doing something to see what I can do. I don’t hike much on rocks as it hurts my back, but a little of it I will do. I love walking in the desert and seeing lizards and squirrels scamper. Now since it is getting hot, there is no hiking or walking in the desert or up mountains due to snakes. A few have been sighted close by. I can walk the beach with safety though and I thoroughly enjoy that.

We had our friends Judy and Larry here for dinner as they are leaving Bahia to go to their other home in the states. It was a fun night. Two days later I invited the ladies to come over and play Mexican Train. Nine ladies showed up and that filled my bamboo room! We had a good time and no-----I didn’t win.

Dave and I had a Deviled Egg Cook off contest on the 23rd. As long as we have been living in Bahia, whenever we get together there are always deviled eggs and the guys would say how great it would be to just have a get together where deviled eggs were the only thing served. Soooo---I decided to throw a party and have everyone bring their favorite made deviled eggs. The guys would vote on their favorite deviled egg plate and prizes would be awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and honorable mention. The lady that got 1st place also got a sign I made out of cardboard and yarn that said ‘Deviled Egg QUEEN of Bahia, 2015’. We want to make this contest an annual event. Here are some pictures.


Today, the 25th is my youngest son’s birthday. He is 38! Wow! It doesn’t seem possible! Happy Birthday Son!!!

I have started making the announcements for the 2015 Spring Arts and Craft Show starting April 1. I enjoy doing it and makes me feel as though I am contributing something.

I finished the glass coversand have priced all my items for the art show and today, the last day of March, I drove to town, giving Brienda a ride so she could make a phone call and I can set up my table for the show tomorrow. The show is for 5 days and will end the day after Easter. I wasn’t able to be in the art show last year due to having to move the boat from Santa Rosalia to La Paz. There are only 5 American and about 4 Mexican artists in the show. Hopefully we will get some tourists going through town as this is a very big holiday season for the Mexican culture. We shall see.

Dave just finished the jigsaw puzzle he was putting together and now is working on a wild life 3D one. He isn’t sure about the current one as you need constant direct light to see the colors so if he doesn’t like it we will give it to our friend Mary Ann.

The other morning while Dave and I were having our morning coffee, we watched a boat of fisherman put out their net and then haul it in. We see the fishermen quite frequently pass by in the mornings and afternoons, but this morning was photo opportunities. We had kayaks in the water watching the fishermen. They pulled in about 3 large sharks! However, the pictures I took you couldn't see what they caught. Here are a few.

Wave Sweeper Still In Limbo. There Is Still Hope

We got some interesting news today. Dave got an email from our boat broker saying there is someone that is interested in the boat and wants to see it sometime this month. I’m not holding my breath however, because we know I would turn blue before something happened. But it is encouraging none-the-less! So cross your fingers and toes!!!!

February is looking really nice weather wise. The clouds and rain have gone away and has left us with some really beautiful warm sunny days and calm waters. We have been getting a gentle breeze most days but it does cool off at night when the sun goes behind the mountain. We are being reminded it is still winter. It has warmed up enough now that I had to take the heavier comforter off the bed. One nice thing about this time of year is that the sun shines a little longer as the days are longer. It is nice not having to turn on a light in the kitchen to fix dinner at 5:00 pm.

Four of us gals got together and played Mexican Train. It was fun. It had been a long time since we played. There aren’t a lot of people down here yet but by March and April we should have quite a few of them here.

When I went into town today for groceries, on my way home, I stopped to see the hairdresser, Arial, and asked how much it would cost for a trim. Arial said around 100 pesos. I thought that was kind of high but when I got home and figured it out with the exchange rate at 14.5, it is only about 6-7 dollars. That is cheaper than you can get a haircut in the states. I figure when I go in next Saturday I will ask Arial to trim my hair and bangs.

I did remember to go to the hardware store I forgot to last time I was in town. I drove by right after I got in town and it was closed so I went ahead and got gas, picked up my laundry, stopped and got groceries and then went back and it still wasn’t open. Well I tried. We will have to check out faucets again in La Paz. The one in the kitchen has seen better days.

When I got home and told Dave I went by twice but it wasn’t home, Dave said he had heard Clint was in jail. Hmmm! Don’t know the story on that. Then we heard he closes to go fishing. The rumor mill------you can never believe what you hear.

The weather has been so nice I wanted to take a walk. I have wanted to walk to a beach that is north of us. It is the one on the other side of the beach where I drove to and found starfish and sea glass about 2 months ago.

There isn’t much of a breeze, and matter of fact there isn’t any!!! I was thinking I might just drive to the beach then the more I thought about it the more I wanted to walk it. So I donned my hat, my magnet belt and knee brace, packed water and the VHF radio and off I went. The tide was still going out so I could walk on the beach. I did that until it got too rocky and went up on a dirt road. It was getting kind of warm but I kept trudging on. I have wanted to do this for so long nothing was going to stop me know. I walked by friend’s homes and waved as I did, but didn’t want to stop as I was afraid I would lose my zip! It was an interesting walk or you might say hike as there were gulley’s caused from the run off of the rain we had during the hurricane. I finally made it to the beach and found it to be small and there wasn’t anything on it. No starfish, sea glass----nothing worth picking up. There was a dead long nose dolphin, like the one I found on our beach, and 3 tortoise shells; two small ones and one a little bigger. Looks like the coyotes and birds had quite a meal. I can now say I have been to that small beach and I don’t have to think about going back. I will go back sometime to the beach I drove to in December and see what treasures I can find.

When I got home I fixed some Gatorade and drank it, took my shoes off and sat on the deck as a nice breeze had come up. Dave wasn’t home and I figured he was at the neighbors. I took a cold shower, and believe me it was COLD!!! But it brought down my body temperature and felt good after I was out. Then Dave came home. He had been to our neighbors’ house to help start her motor for her aluminum boat she fishes in. So I am sure she is a happy camper as she was telling us she wants to go with some friends out fishing before she returns to San Diego.

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and our neighbor, George, has arranged a dinner in town and put out an invitation to us and many of our friends to join him and his wife. That should be fun.

We have 4 birthdays this month. On the 15th our eldest grandson is turning 20 and our daughter-in-law, my step sons’ wife, has her birthday that same day. The other 2 are on the 24th . Kristen, my step daughter, is turning 40 and our newest grandson, Brody, is turning 6. Next month is the one we have the most birthdays in.

We got an appointment from our dentist asking for Dave to come in on the 13th to get fitted for a cap, so we did that and stopped at a ATM to get more money.

We haven’t heard from the boat broker so don’t know what is going on with the boat. The guy that was interested was asking a bunch of questions and wanted Mike to go down to the marina and take pictures of it and send them to him. That was done but no word.

We’ve had a couple windy days but for the most part the weather has been great.

We have a new gate guard. The man that helped us put up the rock wall along the arroyo about a year ago? It is his son and wife. They are young and have only been married for 5 months. They seem to like it here away from town. They were hired to make sure that the houses in our community, where no one is living in them right now, are safe and secure. We heard of a break-in that happened last week. It was in a community just south of town, but the good news is the police caught the guys and now they are in jail. Then another house just north of us, mid day, had the alarm go off and the neighbors rushed over to find that whoever was trying to break-in had only gotten as far as to cut a lock. The alarm must have scared them off as they ran leaving their tools behind. It is just the way it is down here and we all have to be vigilant. Most of the break-ins are usually done by young people who are looking to get stuff to sell for their drug habit.

Dave bought some ½ inch birch plywood and took it to our friend Ray, the same man who was helping with the stairs, to have him make a shelving unit for our bedroom closet. For a couple days Dave went over to his house to help put it together and then he brought it home. It looks really nice. Dave needs to do some sanding and then we paint. I haven’t felt good for a couple days. There is something going around which is causing bloating and headaches. Dave and I have been having sinus problems too which doesn’t help matters.

This morning Dave painted the top, back and sides of the shelving unit white and mixed a little bit of the orange paint we had left over from painting the living room and bedroom, in with the white to make a pale yellow. While he was doing that I painted the front of the 4 drawers with the Tequila Azul and the orange, starting with the blue and alternating with the orange. It looks really nice. All that is left is to get drawer handles. We will do that when we go to Ensenada next month. After it dried, we brought the unit upstairs and put it in place and put the drawers in. Because of the tight fit, we scraped the walls on both sides, but we will repair that later. Dave was anxious to get his clothes organized in the unit so he spent the rest of the afternoon doing that. He has his shirts hanging above the 4 drawers. He was able to empty a couple bins in the bathroom closet and a footlocker. Tomorrow I will organize the bathroom closet which is for me!

I had another headache today but that didn’t stop me from organizing the bathroom closet. I moved towels and washcloths down from a top shelf and then organized my clothes in plastic drawers we were given a while back. I don’t have anywhere to hang clothes but it doesn’t matter as I don’t need to. So the bathroom closet is organized and I have most of my stuff together. I did use the footlocker for winter clothes and a few other items. It worked out just fine. We are very happy with the results. After I finished and had lunch I sat down to read and my head was pounding. I was thinking about lying down for a bit when I heard the voice of my neighbor outside. She came over to return the knee brace I let her use. I decided to not take a nap as it was getting late in the afternoon. So I prepared dinner. The headache came and went and then finally was a dull ache. After dinner we watched TV and then went to bed.

I feel much better today. No headache and I don’t feel bloated. Today is grocery shopping day. I gathered the garbage and got the 5 gallon water bottle for refilling and off I went into town. The town was busy this morning. I stopped at the vegetable stand first and got a few things, then filled the 5 gallon water bottle and went on to dump garbage, drop off laundry and shop for groceries. I saw a few of my friends in town and said hello then headed for home. I stopped at the ‘Home Depot’ just outside of town to see how much a piece of 1.4 inch birch plywood cost as we told Ray we would buy him one so he could finish drawers for Jo, his significant other. I bought one and delivered it to Ray so he could get his project completed while Jo and her friends are off Whale watching in Guerrero Negro and San Ignacio. When I returned home Dave was having trouble with my computer. It wouldn’t let him into his game or anything else. He was very frustrated! I unloaded the groceries from the truck and he came down and carried up the cooler which has cold stuff in it and I got the rest except for the 5 gallon bottle of water. Dave will get that later. I put the groceries away and vacuum packed the meat I bought and Dave finally was able to reload his stuff on the computer. He is a happy camper!!!! We ate lunch and I started a new book titled ‘Wild’. The movie is out now so after I read the book I can enjoy seeing the movie when it comes to the movie channel here.

My friend MaryAnn gave Dave another jigsaw puzzle so he has been down in the bamboo room putting it together.

Well time to go for a walk. The wind has died down and the tide is going out so I have more of a beach to walk on. TaTa for now!!!!!

We got another email from our boat broker saying the same guys is still interested and asking a bunch of questions, but Mike told him to get down to La Paz and see the boat for himself and make an offer! So we shall see.

The buzzards and coyotes have been getting fed well as we have had 3 turtles, a seal, a dolphin, birds and a stingray wash up on shore.

Eian’s afghan is finished


and Brody’s is almost done. I’ve been crocheting squares and sewing them together and it is looking pretty good.