Monday, December 22, 2008
OOPS - forgot to post these....
We did actually make it home. In fact, it is almost Christmas and nearing time to leave for Baja. While getting organized I noticed I didn't post my last entries upon our return home. So, better late than never I guess....
September 22 Thermopolis
On the way to Yellowstone, we decide to take highway 16 and noticed a place called Thermopolis in Hot Springs National Park. They claim to have the largest hot springs in the world! So, we decide to check them out and after spending the night in Buffalo Wyoming (where there were wild turkeys and peacocks) we head out for the 99 mile journey. We have to go over a 10,000 foot pass called “The Powder Peak Pass”. Our journey takes us on a 2 lane road called “The Cloud Peak Skyway”. It’s slow going for our little GMC who goes 100 km max on the flat, lots of gearing down and pulling over for those who go faster than us up this high pass, that would be everyone else.
It’s amazing how quickly the landscape changes. We were in the mountains (Precambrian) with lots of Douglas fir, birch, red rock canyons, and now that we have come down off the pass into Tensleep Wyoming it looks like the high desert. Lots of sagebrush and yellow sparse grass with a few trees around the occasional pond. It’s quite desolate, with the occasional interesting red patches of soil. Like much of Wyoming, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to own a few sections of this desolate land and plant a few donkey engines to pump up a bit of oil, or charge the oil companies a paltry fee to lay some pipe across our land. Don’t see any houses at all but there sure are lots of those donkey engines. Truly, the land around here looks dead! Much more like a desert than the Baja desert, only no cactus that I can see!
I found Saskatchewan to be quite beautiful and interesting, so many complain about how it car flat and boring it is – well they should visit this spot. It may be hilly and twisty but ….
We’ve been seeing lots of prong horn antelope along the way, especially in farmers hay fields! They are such beautiful animals. I’m not so sure the farmers think so – we just saw some in a big field of sugar beets, ripping them right out of the ground!
Thermopolis
Wow! We had a wonderful soak in the free public baths in the State Park. Lorne actually went willingly into a public bathing facility and it wasn’t even a shower!! This facility claims that it has a constant water exchange that is complete every 24 hours. It was a very nice facility; the indoor and outdoor pools were pristine and very well maintained. There are also 2 commercial venues that looked a bit run down at the same site but we only went to the free public soaking tubs. The government purchased the land for a state park (with the hot springs) from the Shoshone and Arapaho Indian Tribes for $60,000 112 years ago. As part of a treaty agreement the government had to promise that the healing waters of the hot springs would be available to the public for free. Quite forward thinking!
There were no State Park campgrounds so we lucked out on finding the amazing Fountain of Youth RV Park; for $30 we had all the connections plus free wireless, and best of all – a huge outdoor hot spring pool. They claim to have the third largest pool in the world and the largest in the state. It was absolutely beautiful, much nicer than the public bath which was nice in itself. The water completely exchanges every 24 hours so it was very clean, plus there were hardly any people there. Those that were there had been coming for many years, some for 30 years. Hence Lorne was in the water again! In the evening the owner entertained us singing and playing his guitar and welcomed any one else to join him on stage. There were about 10 people soaking and listening to him. He was very good. I was in the pool so didn’t leap out to get my guitar…
The original owners of this property were drilling for oil and struck hot springs!! Their hopes were dashed I guess.
September 23 the Grand Tetons National Park
On our way to the Tetons we go through the Wind River Canyon along the Big Horn River, absolutely beautiful. It opens out to the Boysen Reservoir and the Boysen State Park. There were dozens of great campsites right along the water and we would like to stay awhile. Looks to us like a great place to come for September, good camping, warm, good fishing and very beautiful, plus close to the hot springs.
We cross the Continental Divide 8,000 feet; being sea level creatures we are both feeling a little sick from the altitude.
We were both relatively unimpressed with the few peaks that make up the Teatons. I guess we are jaded having magnificent mountains and pristine forests in our own neck of the woods. It made me nostalgic for the Banff/Jasper area and how much we enjoyed our brief visit there this trip. I would like to return and spend more time hiking and biking in the Banff/Canmore area that’s for sure.
September 24 – 25 Yellowstone
We were able to visit the sites we missed last time we were here. The weather was spectacular and all the roads and passes remained open. Last time we were here we entered by the only pass open due to the snow and had to leave in a blizzard! We found a beautiful spot to swim in the Firehole River, however, it was almost sunset, past dinner, plus it wasn’t warm enough for Lorne so we passed. Next time though! It was pristine and not another person swimming.
Yellowstone is truly an incredible place to visit. Being able to safely observe these mud pots, hot springs and geysers is truly an amazing opportunity. The huge park is so beautiful and offers such great hiking opportunities as well, over 950 miles of trails.
Reflection
I realize now – Lorne has been trying to get me engaged in the market since before I retired – his latest technique: encapsulate me inside the motor home and play Sirius radio – his choice of stations: Bloomberg, CNBC the whole time he’s driving, and in the evening too. I listened to my MP3 player at first but now I’m listening to Sirius. The presidential race and debates, the analysis of the market particularly in light of the collapse of so many financial institutions, the proposal to resolve the state of the US economy; all very interesting. Our discussions about what’s going on in the US and how it affects Canada and us have also been very stimulating. I guess his plan is working….
September 22 Thermopolis
On the way to Yellowstone, we decide to take highway 16 and noticed a place called Thermopolis in Hot Springs National Park. They claim to have the largest hot springs in the world! So, we decide to check them out and after spending the night in Buffalo Wyoming (where there were wild turkeys and peacocks) we head out for the 99 mile journey. We have to go over a 10,000 foot pass called “The Powder Peak Pass”. Our journey takes us on a 2 lane road called “The Cloud Peak Skyway”. It’s slow going for our little GMC who goes 100 km max on the flat, lots of gearing down and pulling over for those who go faster than us up this high pass, that would be everyone else.
It’s amazing how quickly the landscape changes. We were in the mountains (Precambrian) with lots of Douglas fir, birch, red rock canyons, and now that we have come down off the pass into Tensleep Wyoming it looks like the high desert. Lots of sagebrush and yellow sparse grass with a few trees around the occasional pond. It’s quite desolate, with the occasional interesting red patches of soil. Like much of Wyoming, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to own a few sections of this desolate land and plant a few donkey engines to pump up a bit of oil, or charge the oil companies a paltry fee to lay some pipe across our land. Don’t see any houses at all but there sure are lots of those donkey engines. Truly, the land around here looks dead! Much more like a desert than the Baja desert, only no cactus that I can see!
I found Saskatchewan to be quite beautiful and interesting, so many complain about how it car flat and boring it is – well they should visit this spot. It may be hilly and twisty but ….
We’ve been seeing lots of prong horn antelope along the way, especially in farmers hay fields! They are such beautiful animals. I’m not so sure the farmers think so – we just saw some in a big field of sugar beets, ripping them right out of the ground!
Thermopolis
Wow! We had a wonderful soak in the free public baths in the State Park. Lorne actually went willingly into a public bathing facility and it wasn’t even a shower!! This facility claims that it has a constant water exchange that is complete every 24 hours. It was a very nice facility; the indoor and outdoor pools were pristine and very well maintained. There are also 2 commercial venues that looked a bit run down at the same site but we only went to the free public soaking tubs. The government purchased the land for a state park (with the hot springs) from the Shoshone and Arapaho Indian Tribes for $60,000 112 years ago. As part of a treaty agreement the government had to promise that the healing waters of the hot springs would be available to the public for free. Quite forward thinking!
There were no State Park campgrounds so we lucked out on finding the amazing Fountain of Youth RV Park; for $30 we had all the connections plus free wireless, and best of all – a huge outdoor hot spring pool. They claim to have the third largest pool in the world and the largest in the state. It was absolutely beautiful, much nicer than the public bath which was nice in itself. The water completely exchanges every 24 hours so it was very clean, plus there were hardly any people there. Those that were there had been coming for many years, some for 30 years. Hence Lorne was in the water again! In the evening the owner entertained us singing and playing his guitar and welcomed any one else to join him on stage. There were about 10 people soaking and listening to him. He was very good. I was in the pool so didn’t leap out to get my guitar…
The original owners of this property were drilling for oil and struck hot springs!! Their hopes were dashed I guess.
September 23 the Grand Tetons National Park
On our way to the Tetons we go through the Wind River Canyon along the Big Horn River, absolutely beautiful. It opens out to the Boysen Reservoir and the Boysen State Park. There were dozens of great campsites right along the water and we would like to stay awhile. Looks to us like a great place to come for September, good camping, warm, good fishing and very beautiful, plus close to the hot springs.
We cross the Continental Divide 8,000 feet; being sea level creatures we are both feeling a little sick from the altitude.
We were both relatively unimpressed with the few peaks that make up the Teatons. I guess we are jaded having magnificent mountains and pristine forests in our own neck of the woods. It made me nostalgic for the Banff/Jasper area and how much we enjoyed our brief visit there this trip. I would like to return and spend more time hiking and biking in the Banff/Canmore area that’s for sure.
September 24 – 25 Yellowstone
We were able to visit the sites we missed last time we were here. The weather was spectacular and all the roads and passes remained open. Last time we were here we entered by the only pass open due to the snow and had to leave in a blizzard! We found a beautiful spot to swim in the Firehole River, however, it was almost sunset, past dinner, plus it wasn’t warm enough for Lorne so we passed. Next time though! It was pristine and not another person swimming.
Yellowstone is truly an incredible place to visit. Being able to safely observe these mud pots, hot springs and geysers is truly an amazing opportunity. The huge park is so beautiful and offers such great hiking opportunities as well, over 950 miles of trails.
Reflection
I realize now – Lorne has been trying to get me engaged in the market since before I retired – his latest technique: encapsulate me inside the motor home and play Sirius radio – his choice of stations: Bloomberg, CNBC the whole time he’s driving, and in the evening too. I listened to my MP3 player at first but now I’m listening to Sirius. The presidential race and debates, the analysis of the market particularly in light of the collapse of so many financial institutions, the proposal to resolve the state of the US economy; all very interesting. Our discussions about what’s going on in the US and how it affects Canada and us have also been very stimulating. I guess his plan is working….
Sunday, September 21, 2008
September 14 - Milton - Port Huron
This morning as we headed out it was 78 degrees with 90% humidity - Lorne’s glasses were fogged up! It felt so hot our freshly showered bodies were covered with a sheen of moisture!
Following at least an hour wait at the border we made it into Port Huron and right into Hurricane Ike. Yike! What rain!! We located Margaret and Ken Guske where we picked up our new window coverings. Delightful people! Of course GMC owners as well; we met with a handshake and left with a hug! We decided to stay in Port Huron at their local rv park as the rain was pelting down and looked like it was just going to get worse making for very unpleasant driving.
September 15 - Michigan
Stayed at Warren Dunes, a beautiful state park on Lake Michigan. Michigan has 145 state forest campgrounds providing over 3,000 campsites spread out over nearly 4 million acres of designated park, many of these parks also allow hunting. One must be 12 years old to hunt. I think Michael nabbed his first rabbit with his air gun at 9. We had a nice bike ride down to the lake and ran up and down the huge dunes. It has been so rainy here that there has been much flooding, enough that the road down to the lake was closed to vehicles. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my bathing suit and towel so didn’t get to swim in Lake Michigan (it was also cold, rainy, and rough looking water, plus we are also very near Chicago but I am sure they don’t dump their sewage into Lake Michigan…).
Illinois
As I write this we are inching our way into the center of Chicago along with a multitude of very large transport trucks. There has been so much flooding in the area that we have been rerouted to alternate freeways and then stuck on them right into Chicago!! The worst part is that Lorne is driving and its way past his lunchtime. He is not happy….. Really, the navigator has done the best she can!!
Chicago
Well, we did it, we drove right through downtown Chicago. I made lunch and we ate while we were driving along! We got some teasing comments from those inching along beside us wishing they had their lunch with them! We saw one of the tallest buildings in the US; the Sears Tower. Quite impressive. Other than that we saw a great deal of traffic. So much for Chicago. I would have liked to get off the freeway and explore but in a motor home and with no clue as to where we were going….. not going to happen! Saw a sign saying Frank Lloyd Wright; home and museum, our favourite architect, and the inspiration for our house. Dang! No courage, we kept on driving. We were going to look up his houses on the internet before this trip so we could see as many as we could, forgot…
Wisconsin
We were informed by the Information Office upon entering Wisconsin that close to Madison, Wisconsin is Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and the summer campus of the still operating architectural school founded by Wright in 1932. Our lucky day, just like we knew what we were doing and where we were going!! We decided to stop in and visit. We found a spectacular state park, Governor Dodge State Park, 19,753 acres of managed forest, beautiful forest campsites, a wonderful lake for swimming and fishing, and many very nice trails for hiking, biking and of course cross country skiing and snowmobiling as it snows here big time. The following day was a great one spent touring Wright’s fantastic architectural displays. We got some ideas for things to build. His architecture definitely inspired Arthur Ericson and certainly both of these brilliant men inspired us when we built our home.
We drove a big 60 miles today!! We stayed in Mirror Lake State Park where there is a cabin designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Unfortunately we couldn’t get into see it as it has a locked gate and is not visible from the road. It is rented virtually 365 days of the year and only one day a month is it open to visitors, today wasn’t the day.
Off to Michigan
We finally get on our way about 11:30, after a nice little bike ride, a fill up with gas and a stop at a cheese shop for a taste and purchase of some famous Wisconsin cheeses. It was a family run operation for over 100 years and the young man waiting on us certainly knew a lot about cheese having grown up with the business all his life.
We pass lots of lush green fields with miles and miles of corn and what looks like soybeans. Mexican cows would love to come here for a holiday! A big 213 miles today, we will be staying at Myre-Big Island State Park just outside Albert Lea, Minnesota.
Friday, September 19
Hopefully we will be well into South Dakota today. We are 585 miles from the Badlands, at this rate I don’t think we have a hope of getting there today, we are on the road at 9:30 though so we should cover a lot of miles today. Nothing to see but miles and miles of corn relieved only with some soybeans. On a positive note these were all family run farms that looked very prosperous. As opposed to the big business operations in California.
Myre State Park was nice; it covers 1,596 acres and is basically surrounded by 2,600 acres of water (Albert Lea Lake) and prairie agriculture, predominantly corn. It is a glacial lake formed with the retreat of the glaciers long ago. It is located within the Bemis Moraine, a moraine complex traced all across Minnesota. It has lots of oak trees and prairie grasses. There are lots of birds here, including the white pelican. Apparently lakes like this gradually fill in over time but humans have accelerated this natural process through siltation from the farms and commercial and industrial waste disposal. This increases the mineral and organic content of the lake, favouring plant life and choking out much of the animal life. While they are working at protecting this area, and returning it to its original vegetation pattern the water looks very muddy to me and while I would have loved a swim it just didn’t appeal to me.
The stock market has been going crazy this past while, causing Lorne some angst as we are so disconnected from the internet, hence interfering with his ability to watch what our stocks are doing. We do have Sirius satellite radio though so we are listening constantly to what the analysts have to say about the market and to Bush today as he presents his solution to the economic problems presented. His solution is bad news for us that’s for sure!
The Badlands
We actually made it in one day – all 585 miles! We arrived in time for the sunset show on the spectacular formations! The Badlands are so hauntingly beautiful, and very difficult to really capture on camera. Much like the Grand Canyon the formations change with the light, bringing shadows to accent them. We had a great bike ride the following day in the cool of the morning and then roasted in the afternoon while we installed the new windshield curtain. The evening brought the promised thunder and lightening show with intermittent huge drops of rain. Today is our first overcast day, however it is still warm is we head out towards Yellowstone.
September 22
Driving along, crossed the Cheyenne River and are heading towards Rapid City listening to Old 70’s tunes. Remembering old cowboy movies and musical memories of the 60’s and 70s! Feelings, activities of a time when emotions were raw and often painful, hormones were high, love was everywhere and nowhere, babies, people, places, events. Nothing but grasslands, antelope, buffalo, cows, some horses…
This morning as we headed out it was 78 degrees with 90% humidity - Lorne’s glasses were fogged up! It felt so hot our freshly showered bodies were covered with a sheen of moisture!
Following at least an hour wait at the border we made it into Port Huron and right into Hurricane Ike. Yike! What rain!! We located Margaret and Ken Guske where we picked up our new window coverings. Delightful people! Of course GMC owners as well; we met with a handshake and left with a hug! We decided to stay in Port Huron at their local rv park as the rain was pelting down and looked like it was just going to get worse making for very unpleasant driving.
September 15 - Michigan
Stayed at Warren Dunes, a beautiful state park on Lake Michigan. Michigan has 145 state forest campgrounds providing over 3,000 campsites spread out over nearly 4 million acres of designated park, many of these parks also allow hunting. One must be 12 years old to hunt. I think Michael nabbed his first rabbit with his air gun at 9. We had a nice bike ride down to the lake and ran up and down the huge dunes. It has been so rainy here that there has been much flooding, enough that the road down to the lake was closed to vehicles. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my bathing suit and towel so didn’t get to swim in Lake Michigan (it was also cold, rainy, and rough looking water, plus we are also very near Chicago but I am sure they don’t dump their sewage into Lake Michigan…).
Illinois
As I write this we are inching our way into the center of Chicago along with a multitude of very large transport trucks. There has been so much flooding in the area that we have been rerouted to alternate freeways and then stuck on them right into Chicago!! The worst part is that Lorne is driving and its way past his lunchtime. He is not happy….. Really, the navigator has done the best she can!!
Chicago
Well, we did it, we drove right through downtown Chicago. I made lunch and we ate while we were driving along! We got some teasing comments from those inching along beside us wishing they had their lunch with them! We saw one of the tallest buildings in the US; the Sears Tower. Quite impressive. Other than that we saw a great deal of traffic. So much for Chicago. I would have liked to get off the freeway and explore but in a motor home and with no clue as to where we were going….. not going to happen! Saw a sign saying Frank Lloyd Wright; home and museum, our favourite architect, and the inspiration for our house. Dang! No courage, we kept on driving. We were going to look up his houses on the internet before this trip so we could see as many as we could, forgot…
Wisconsin
We were informed by the Information Office upon entering Wisconsin that close to Madison, Wisconsin is Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and the summer campus of the still operating architectural school founded by Wright in 1932. Our lucky day, just like we knew what we were doing and where we were going!! We decided to stop in and visit. We found a spectacular state park, Governor Dodge State Park, 19,753 acres of managed forest, beautiful forest campsites, a wonderful lake for swimming and fishing, and many very nice trails for hiking, biking and of course cross country skiing and snowmobiling as it snows here big time. The following day was a great one spent touring Wright’s fantastic architectural displays. We got some ideas for things to build. His architecture definitely inspired Arthur Ericson and certainly both of these brilliant men inspired us when we built our home.
We drove a big 60 miles today!! We stayed in Mirror Lake State Park where there is a cabin designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Unfortunately we couldn’t get into see it as it has a locked gate and is not visible from the road. It is rented virtually 365 days of the year and only one day a month is it open to visitors, today wasn’t the day.
Off to Michigan
We finally get on our way about 11:30, after a nice little bike ride, a fill up with gas and a stop at a cheese shop for a taste and purchase of some famous Wisconsin cheeses. It was a family run operation for over 100 years and the young man waiting on us certainly knew a lot about cheese having grown up with the business all his life.
We pass lots of lush green fields with miles and miles of corn and what looks like soybeans. Mexican cows would love to come here for a holiday! A big 213 miles today, we will be staying at Myre-Big Island State Park just outside Albert Lea, Minnesota.
Friday, September 19
Hopefully we will be well into South Dakota today. We are 585 miles from the Badlands, at this rate I don’t think we have a hope of getting there today, we are on the road at 9:30 though so we should cover a lot of miles today. Nothing to see but miles and miles of corn relieved only with some soybeans. On a positive note these were all family run farms that looked very prosperous. As opposed to the big business operations in California.
Myre State Park was nice; it covers 1,596 acres and is basically surrounded by 2,600 acres of water (Albert Lea Lake) and prairie agriculture, predominantly corn. It is a glacial lake formed with the retreat of the glaciers long ago. It is located within the Bemis Moraine, a moraine complex traced all across Minnesota. It has lots of oak trees and prairie grasses. There are lots of birds here, including the white pelican. Apparently lakes like this gradually fill in over time but humans have accelerated this natural process through siltation from the farms and commercial and industrial waste disposal. This increases the mineral and organic content of the lake, favouring plant life and choking out much of the animal life. While they are working at protecting this area, and returning it to its original vegetation pattern the water looks very muddy to me and while I would have loved a swim it just didn’t appeal to me.
The stock market has been going crazy this past while, causing Lorne some angst as we are so disconnected from the internet, hence interfering with his ability to watch what our stocks are doing. We do have Sirius satellite radio though so we are listening constantly to what the analysts have to say about the market and to Bush today as he presents his solution to the economic problems presented. His solution is bad news for us that’s for sure!
The Badlands
We actually made it in one day – all 585 miles! We arrived in time for the sunset show on the spectacular formations! The Badlands are so hauntingly beautiful, and very difficult to really capture on camera. Much like the Grand Canyon the formations change with the light, bringing shadows to accent them. We had a great bike ride the following day in the cool of the morning and then roasted in the afternoon while we installed the new windshield curtain. The evening brought the promised thunder and lightening show with intermittent huge drops of rain. Today is our first overcast day, however it is still warm is we head out towards Yellowstone.
September 22
Driving along, crossed the Cheyenne River and are heading towards Rapid City listening to Old 70’s tunes. Remembering old cowboy movies and musical memories of the 60’s and 70s! Feelings, activities of a time when emotions were raw and often painful, hormones were high, love was everywhere and nowhere, babies, people, places, events. Nothing but grasslands, antelope, buffalo, cows, some horses…
The Eastern Family
Hamilton
Prior to leaving Victoria we arranged with Dick Paterson (a GMC specialist in his field) for a rebuilt engine and for Frank Gorrman to install it in his shop near Hanover, Ontario. We dropped the Motor home off at Frank’s to have its “heart transplant” and drove to Hamilton in his car. Good to have a smaller vehicle to drive around the city!
We arrived at Lorne’s dad’s in plenty of time for dinner and Sandy (Lorne’s sister in law) and husband Steve joined us at the Mandarin, a Chinese buffet restaurant with an amazing amount of choices. Lots of things I didn’t need to eat but had to taste anyway… Art really enjoys this restaurant; it is a welcome change from the institutional food he receives at Shalom Village. Art lives in a small apartment in Shalom Village, which is a remarkably nice facility. A bedroom, living room and small kitchen plus bath constitute his apartment. It is a small apartment but very comfortable and the furnishings are his own. The caregivers are excellent and provide good care for him. Lorne and I stayed at Shalom in a guest room they have downstairs and spent the days with Art in his apartment. Art is doing amazingly well physically and mentally for 96, unfortunately he is not a cheerful man.
The next day I had a great swim in Sandy and Steve’s pool with the great nieces and nephew, Raina (5), Daisy (3) (Geoff and Simona’s girls), and Barry (4) (Jordan and Marnie’s son). Such sweethearts they all are. Little Daisy smiles with her entire body! It was great to make a connection with these children; a difficult thing to do when we live so far away and don’t get to visit often. Dinner was at Sandy and Steve’s and Art had a bad fall off his chair – he bent over to pick up a pill he dropped – as if he could see it! He has macular degeneration, and is quite blind. We had to call 911 as he was bleeding quite profusely from wounds to his head, arm and hand (being on blood thinners certainly contributed to this bleeding). An ambulance brought him into Emergency where he was kept from 8pm – 2am before they finally treated him; by merely changing the bandages applied by the ambulance attendants! In my opinion it was quite cruel to leave a 96 year old man on a gurney for so long. It also seems very inefficient to keep 3 ambulance attendants and their ambulance out of commission for such a long time – the policy is that they can’t leave until their patient is treated.
Toronto
Lorne, Sandy and Steve and I drove to Toronto to have dinner with Karen. Lorne returned to Hamilton with Sandy and Steve to continue his visit with his dad. I stayed in Toronto with Karen for three nights. Karen’s kids Jordan and Marla came by for a visit; it was just so great to see them! Marla is expecting her first baby in March – this is such good news and absolutely thrilling for Karen who has needed some happiness in her life for some time. Karen continues her struggle with ovarian cancer; she has had a multitude of surgeries, two chemo sessions and now is on her second session of tamoxifin. The doctor says if she doesn’t respond to this she will have to have another session of chemo. As if this wasn’t bad enough she is in the midst of divorce proceedings and needless to say a generous settlement is not on the table. All of this is entirely too much stress! Karen continues to present her cheerful capable self in spite of it all; I don’t know how she does it. It is very fortunate she has a supportive family and many friends who love her.
The County
I took the train up to Bellville on Sunday, my niece Lorren picked me up at the train and we went back to her and Jamie’s for dinner with their sons Nile and Jackson. Jody, Caelan and Maya joined us for dinner too. I went back to Jody’s to stay overnight as Lorren was leaving early Monday for Toronto to help Micha move from one apartment to another in Toronto. I returned to Lorren’s Monday in the late afternoon as the plan was for Lorne to pick up the repaired motor home and drive to Lorren’s. Unfortunately the motor home had a few more problems than we anticipated (so what else would we expect?) so Lorne didn’t arrive until Tuesday night. Lorne was held up on the 401 for about 2 hours due to a homicide. Apparently a man was shot in a Lexus and tossed out of the moving vehicle onto the highway while he was still alive! Needless to say emergency crews were out in full force and traffic was backed up for miles!
Lorren and Jamie’s farm is developing nicely. They now have pigs, cows, chickens, huge vegetable garden, plums and apples, and pinot grapes. They have participated in a work program with Mexico and have two male farm workers working for them and staying on the property until the middle of October. They have accomplished a great deal with the help of Louis and Andres. Still in the planning stages are a pub and restaurant and another house. Jamie clearly loves the farming life which also supports his whole animal and sustainable and seasonal food ideology. Needless to say we ate very well.
Jody has done an amazing amount of work renovating her farm and farmhouse. She has such vision! Maya and Caelan are doing very well. Maya is such a bright little character! Caelan is a very pretty teen and is doing very well at school and sports. Mark is working at a top restaurant in Picton for some very nice people and really enjoys that. He is also helping Jody with the farm.
Brockville
We left Thursday morning for Brockville to enjoy a few days with Duane and Marg. We drove over to the US for a visit to the Remington museum and gallery. Such an amazing artist he was. We left Saturday morning with a plan to stop in Toronto for a quick visit over dinner with Karen, her mother Auntie Bunnie, Marla and her partner Shawn, and Karen’s friend Pam. I was also able to pick up the beautiful jewellery I had ordered from Karen through her website: anoccasionalpiece.com We continued on for a few hours after dinner, stopping in the pouring rain at a nice campground near Milton, west of Toronto. We seem to be hitting the tail end of hurricane Ike.
It has been all too short of a visit everywhere we have gone; wish we could stay much longer everywhere along the way. We are so fortunate as to have such a wonderful caring family and many friends, unfortunately they don’t live close to us, dang.
Prior to leaving Victoria we arranged with Dick Paterson (a GMC specialist in his field) for a rebuilt engine and for Frank Gorrman to install it in his shop near Hanover, Ontario. We dropped the Motor home off at Frank’s to have its “heart transplant” and drove to Hamilton in his car. Good to have a smaller vehicle to drive around the city!
We arrived at Lorne’s dad’s in plenty of time for dinner and Sandy (Lorne’s sister in law) and husband Steve joined us at the Mandarin, a Chinese buffet restaurant with an amazing amount of choices. Lots of things I didn’t need to eat but had to taste anyway… Art really enjoys this restaurant; it is a welcome change from the institutional food he receives at Shalom Village. Art lives in a small apartment in Shalom Village, which is a remarkably nice facility. A bedroom, living room and small kitchen plus bath constitute his apartment. It is a small apartment but very comfortable and the furnishings are his own. The caregivers are excellent and provide good care for him. Lorne and I stayed at Shalom in a guest room they have downstairs and spent the days with Art in his apartment. Art is doing amazingly well physically and mentally for 96, unfortunately he is not a cheerful man.
The next day I had a great swim in Sandy and Steve’s pool with the great nieces and nephew, Raina (5), Daisy (3) (Geoff and Simona’s girls), and Barry (4) (Jordan and Marnie’s son). Such sweethearts they all are. Little Daisy smiles with her entire body! It was great to make a connection with these children; a difficult thing to do when we live so far away and don’t get to visit often. Dinner was at Sandy and Steve’s and Art had a bad fall off his chair – he bent over to pick up a pill he dropped – as if he could see it! He has macular degeneration, and is quite blind. We had to call 911 as he was bleeding quite profusely from wounds to his head, arm and hand (being on blood thinners certainly contributed to this bleeding). An ambulance brought him into Emergency where he was kept from 8pm – 2am before they finally treated him; by merely changing the bandages applied by the ambulance attendants! In my opinion it was quite cruel to leave a 96 year old man on a gurney for so long. It also seems very inefficient to keep 3 ambulance attendants and their ambulance out of commission for such a long time – the policy is that they can’t leave until their patient is treated.
Toronto
Lorne, Sandy and Steve and I drove to Toronto to have dinner with Karen. Lorne returned to Hamilton with Sandy and Steve to continue his visit with his dad. I stayed in Toronto with Karen for three nights. Karen’s kids Jordan and Marla came by for a visit; it was just so great to see them! Marla is expecting her first baby in March – this is such good news and absolutely thrilling for Karen who has needed some happiness in her life for some time. Karen continues her struggle with ovarian cancer; she has had a multitude of surgeries, two chemo sessions and now is on her second session of tamoxifin. The doctor says if she doesn’t respond to this she will have to have another session of chemo. As if this wasn’t bad enough she is in the midst of divorce proceedings and needless to say a generous settlement is not on the table. All of this is entirely too much stress! Karen continues to present her cheerful capable self in spite of it all; I don’t know how she does it. It is very fortunate she has a supportive family and many friends who love her.
The County
I took the train up to Bellville on Sunday, my niece Lorren picked me up at the train and we went back to her and Jamie’s for dinner with their sons Nile and Jackson. Jody, Caelan and Maya joined us for dinner too. I went back to Jody’s to stay overnight as Lorren was leaving early Monday for Toronto to help Micha move from one apartment to another in Toronto. I returned to Lorren’s Monday in the late afternoon as the plan was for Lorne to pick up the repaired motor home and drive to Lorren’s. Unfortunately the motor home had a few more problems than we anticipated (so what else would we expect?) so Lorne didn’t arrive until Tuesday night. Lorne was held up on the 401 for about 2 hours due to a homicide. Apparently a man was shot in a Lexus and tossed out of the moving vehicle onto the highway while he was still alive! Needless to say emergency crews were out in full force and traffic was backed up for miles!
Lorren and Jamie’s farm is developing nicely. They now have pigs, cows, chickens, huge vegetable garden, plums and apples, and pinot grapes. They have participated in a work program with Mexico and have two male farm workers working for them and staying on the property until the middle of October. They have accomplished a great deal with the help of Louis and Andres. Still in the planning stages are a pub and restaurant and another house. Jamie clearly loves the farming life which also supports his whole animal and sustainable and seasonal food ideology. Needless to say we ate very well.
Jody has done an amazing amount of work renovating her farm and farmhouse. She has such vision! Maya and Caelan are doing very well. Maya is such a bright little character! Caelan is a very pretty teen and is doing very well at school and sports. Mark is working at a top restaurant in Picton for some very nice people and really enjoys that. He is also helping Jody with the farm.
Brockville
We left Thursday morning for Brockville to enjoy a few days with Duane and Marg. We drove over to the US for a visit to the Remington museum and gallery. Such an amazing artist he was. We left Saturday morning with a plan to stop in Toronto for a quick visit over dinner with Karen, her mother Auntie Bunnie, Marla and her partner Shawn, and Karen’s friend Pam. I was also able to pick up the beautiful jewellery I had ordered from Karen through her website: anoccasionalpiece.com We continued on for a few hours after dinner, stopping in the pouring rain at a nice campground near Milton, west of Toronto. We seem to be hitting the tail end of hurricane Ike.
It has been all too short of a visit everywhere we have gone; wish we could stay much longer everywhere along the way. We are so fortunate as to have such a wonderful caring family and many friends, unfortunately they don’t live close to us, dang.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Water Water everywhere
August 29, Ontario
We crossed into Ontario at Kenora, some 100 km or so north of the 49th parallel. This region is called Northern Ontario. Considering that Ontario goes clear up to the Hudson’s Bay this is confusing to me. It’s not so very far north as far as north in Ontario goes I don’t think, however, that is what this region is called in the parks books. Perhaps anything north of Toronto is considered Northern Ontario? Lorne says when there are no more Birch trees we will be in Southern Ontario.
The area just after the Manitoba border is nothing but water, its like we are island hopping there is so much water! We have been driving by one picturesque lake after another and the trees grow lusher the further south we go. We stopped for lunch on Lake Superior and I had a glorious swim. Lorne played lifeguard. The water is so clear and clean I could see a long way underwater. So far Ontario is not so terrible.
The street names here are very practical, Old School House Road, Railway track Road, Mine Road, Bridge Road and Church Street, different from Old Stone Church Street to name a few. Then of course there is Squirrel Town Road, Slash Road, and Wobanganada Road.
The Provincial Parks are numerous and beautiful, and of course all of them so far have been on a lake. We are now behind schedule so are hustling along as quickly as possible, dang. Long hours of driving with no exploring time. Some of those hours in darkness!! (We have an appointment to get a rebuild engine from a GMC specialist just outside Hanover)
Lorne was having a wee rest while I was driving when suddenly we were spewing blue smoke!! Yikes – stopped by the side of the road, gave it a quart of oil, drove down the road to where we could really stop, and checked the transmission fluid, seems ok. Decided to drive on down the road in search of a gas station to load up on oil…. The blue smoke is spewing on deceleration….. Lorne thinks that means rings…. Guess it’s very good that we are getting a new engine on the 2nd – hopefully we can drive there and don’t have to get a tow!! The transmission seems to be slipping. Perhaps we have two problems??? Yikes.
Yup our mistake, we are loosing transmission fluid. We think from the cracked pan that we had welded last year when we cracked it on a big rock coming back from Torquart bay last year. Hopefully our relatively new transmission installed by Mannie is not broken!!
Stopped in Sault St. Marie for dinner along the St Mary’s River. If there are locks there we didn’t see them. We’re heading for Chutes Provincial Park just outside Massey along Lake Huron. We should get there after dark, about 9:30 or 10. We will have 144 km to get to the ferry in the morning. We need to be in Hanover by tomorrow night for our engine replacement and we are concerned that the ferry may be busy on this long weekend.
We crossed into Ontario at Kenora, some 100 km or so north of the 49th parallel. This region is called Northern Ontario. Considering that Ontario goes clear up to the Hudson’s Bay this is confusing to me. It’s not so very far north as far as north in Ontario goes I don’t think, however, that is what this region is called in the parks books. Perhaps anything north of Toronto is considered Northern Ontario? Lorne says when there are no more Birch trees we will be in Southern Ontario.
The area just after the Manitoba border is nothing but water, its like we are island hopping there is so much water! We have been driving by one picturesque lake after another and the trees grow lusher the further south we go. We stopped for lunch on Lake Superior and I had a glorious swim. Lorne played lifeguard. The water is so clear and clean I could see a long way underwater. So far Ontario is not so terrible.
The street names here are very practical, Old School House Road, Railway track Road, Mine Road, Bridge Road and Church Street, different from Old Stone Church Street to name a few. Then of course there is Squirrel Town Road, Slash Road, and Wobanganada Road.
The Provincial Parks are numerous and beautiful, and of course all of them so far have been on a lake. We are now behind schedule so are hustling along as quickly as possible, dang. Long hours of driving with no exploring time. Some of those hours in darkness!! (We have an appointment to get a rebuild engine from a GMC specialist just outside Hanover)
Lorne was having a wee rest while I was driving when suddenly we were spewing blue smoke!! Yikes – stopped by the side of the road, gave it a quart of oil, drove down the road to where we could really stop, and checked the transmission fluid, seems ok. Decided to drive on down the road in search of a gas station to load up on oil…. The blue smoke is spewing on deceleration….. Lorne thinks that means rings…. Guess it’s very good that we are getting a new engine on the 2nd – hopefully we can drive there and don’t have to get a tow!! The transmission seems to be slipping. Perhaps we have two problems??? Yikes.
Yup our mistake, we are loosing transmission fluid. We think from the cracked pan that we had welded last year when we cracked it on a big rock coming back from Torquart bay last year. Hopefully our relatively new transmission installed by Mannie is not broken!!
Stopped in Sault St. Marie for dinner along the St Mary’s River. If there are locks there we didn’t see them. We’re heading for Chutes Provincial Park just outside Massey along Lake Huron. We should get there after dark, about 9:30 or 10. We will have 144 km to get to the ferry in the morning. We need to be in Hanover by tomorrow night for our engine replacement and we are concerned that the ferry may be busy on this long weekend.
Mountains, Friends, Family, Prairie
August 25, 2008
Tabby, Patti, and Boo joined us at Dan and Freela’s in Calgary. Such a nice visit and a nice meal, thank you Freela! We had a great sleep under the trees in their back yard. We got caught up on what was happening for all present, and a few who were not of course… particularly our old friend Gayle. Thank goodness for Tabby – we should all be so lucky to have such an advocate! Gayle is now safely (and happily) living in a care facility close to her daughters so hopefully that will resolve many of her care issues and give all who love her ease of mind. Gayle has certainly been through a great deal since her stroke(s) several years ago.
Bob, Patti’s husband, was hit by a car in a crosswalk a few weeks ago, on his way to work. He broke his hip so is at home recovering. Big hugs to Bob!
Off to Strathmore in the morning to visit my cousin Kate. We mistakenly took the Trans Canada through Calgary – good grief. A journey that should have taken little more than half an hour turned into hours! We finally had to stop for lunch! (there was a lot of construction so it will be bigger and better I guess – who knew?) Good visit with Kate, she has such a lovely home right on a small lake in Strathmore. I thought she would have moved out to Victoria by now but she seems completely settled in Strathmore. My cousin Dennis (Kate’s brother) dropped by for a visit after dinner, so nice to see him. He and his wife Olga live in High River, so not such a long drive away.
Off to Bassano in the morning to enjoy a nice visit with cousin Brian (Kate and Denis’s brother). We also stopped by to visit mom and Auntie Kay’s grave who are buried in the Bassano cemetery. Unfortunately I lost my silver and pearl bracelet at some point, dang, I really liked that one! Made it to Medicine Hat for dinner and a sleep over with cousin Loreen.
August 27
Well that’s it for family and friends to visit until Ontario. Off to an early start – about 11 am - for our trek across the prairies of Saskatchewan.
We spent the night at an RV park in Moose Jaw, the campers next to us were Celtic musicians called Damanta from Ireland (except for the guitar player who was from Vancouver). They were playing in a pub in town. Unfortunately it was too far to walk and we didn’t bring lights for the bikes, so we didn’t go into town to hear them, however, I did buy their cd. Not bad, nice people. They were on their way west to play in Creston, Vancouver, and Victoria at the folk club and the Irish Pub. They left Cape Breton Island on Sunday, this was now Wednesday – they have been driving Hard!! They drive in shifts I guess.
Next night we camped west of Winnipeg in a beautiful Provincial park called Spruce Woods. There were excellent bike trails and we had a nice ride in the morning before heading out.
Tabby, Patti, and Boo joined us at Dan and Freela’s in Calgary. Such a nice visit and a nice meal, thank you Freela! We had a great sleep under the trees in their back yard. We got caught up on what was happening for all present, and a few who were not of course… particularly our old friend Gayle. Thank goodness for Tabby – we should all be so lucky to have such an advocate! Gayle is now safely (and happily) living in a care facility close to her daughters so hopefully that will resolve many of her care issues and give all who love her ease of mind. Gayle has certainly been through a great deal since her stroke(s) several years ago.
Bob, Patti’s husband, was hit by a car in a crosswalk a few weeks ago, on his way to work. He broke his hip so is at home recovering. Big hugs to Bob!
Off to Strathmore in the morning to visit my cousin Kate. We mistakenly took the Trans Canada through Calgary – good grief. A journey that should have taken little more than half an hour turned into hours! We finally had to stop for lunch! (there was a lot of construction so it will be bigger and better I guess – who knew?) Good visit with Kate, she has such a lovely home right on a small lake in Strathmore. I thought she would have moved out to Victoria by now but she seems completely settled in Strathmore. My cousin Dennis (Kate’s brother) dropped by for a visit after dinner, so nice to see him. He and his wife Olga live in High River, so not such a long drive away.
Off to Bassano in the morning to enjoy a nice visit with cousin Brian (Kate and Denis’s brother). We also stopped by to visit mom and Auntie Kay’s grave who are buried in the Bassano cemetery. Unfortunately I lost my silver and pearl bracelet at some point, dang, I really liked that one! Made it to Medicine Hat for dinner and a sleep over with cousin Loreen.
August 27
Well that’s it for family and friends to visit until Ontario. Off to an early start – about 11 am - for our trek across the prairies of Saskatchewan.
We spent the night at an RV park in Moose Jaw, the campers next to us were Celtic musicians called Damanta from Ireland (except for the guitar player who was from Vancouver). They were playing in a pub in town. Unfortunately it was too far to walk and we didn’t bring lights for the bikes, so we didn’t go into town to hear them, however, I did buy their cd. Not bad, nice people. They were on their way west to play in Creston, Vancouver, and Victoria at the folk club and the Irish Pub. They left Cape Breton Island on Sunday, this was now Wednesday – they have been driving Hard!! They drive in shifts I guess.
Next night we camped west of Winnipeg in a beautiful Provincial park called Spruce Woods. There were excellent bike trails and we had a nice ride in the morning before heading out.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Not Another Baja Trip
Not another Baja Trip
This time we are traveling from Victoria to Ontario via the Trans Canada with a return to Victoria via the US Interstate 90. We will visit friends and family along the way there, hopefully have a few pleasant adventures, meet some nice people and see parts of Canada we have never seen before. Returning we will once again visit the Badlands and Yellowstone.
Will it be the shop across Canada trip? Will we find interesting things to see and do along the way or will we just drive drive drive? Is the Trans Canada really as bad as Mexicali One? Is the highway through Saskatchewan truly boring? Is Ontario really Onterrible? Will we find good swimming in the Great Lakes? Will Summer be over by August 28, our expected entry into Ontario? Did we bring the right clothes? Will we long for our kayaks?
Day One
Tuesday August 19, 2008
Caught the early ferry – for us – 5:00 (pm that is). There are always so many last minute things to do that just have to be done – have the grandkids over for a sleepover and play, celebrate Natasha’s and Lindsay’s birthdays, clean the house, get the mirror on the pocket door in the master bathroom, get the watering system done for the deck plants, figure out the lyrics for some songs, stop at the clinic for antibiotics for my wasp sting(s) on my toe which has predictably blown up. Important stuff.
A little nap on the ferry and we’re good to go! Put the steaks back in the fridge and had dinner at McDonalds in Chilliwack – I really really really have to find some kind of fast food that I can eat on the road. I really can’t do McDonalds, enough said. Open for suggestions – please please please….
Drove through what we know is beautiful country in the dark and ended up exhausted in Kamloops around midnight. After some rumbling up and down side streets looking for a level spot we found a great camping spot in front of some beautifully manicured little houses. Wish I had brought my niece Renee’s address in Kamloops with me and we could have surprised her in the morning when she opened her curtains! Oh well, next time. Off to Salmon Arm in the pouring rain complete with thunder and lightening in the am.
Day 4
Friday August 22, 2008
Off to Canmore after having a great time visiting my long time wonderful friend Miranda in Salmon Arm! Played music till our fingers were sore. Listened to some fabulous tunes she has written, recorded some and learned some. Ate the freshest, most delicious organic vegetables from the local market. Enjoyed a great evening walk with Bella (the dog) visiting beautiful horses along the way – Percherons, Warm Bloods, and some perfectly lovely, friendliest of all, no name brand. Our pockets should have been full of apples if we had been planning more carefully. While there had just been some super hot days before we got here it was relatively cool so no swimming this time.
Looking forward to seeing Wanda and Tim this evening and being in the mountains.
Day 7
Sunday August 24, 2008
Feels like I am home, some wonderful memories of living in Banff and hiking every day with Laura, Bill E., Herbie…. OMG these mountains are so very beautiful, they are definitely part of my soul. Great Visit with Wanda and Tim, Suzie and Bob! Had a nice little hike up to Grassie Lakes. Beautiful aqua lakes, we sat and watched some rock climbers for awhile. It was all we could do to keep Lorne from roping up!! Hahaha. Grassie was a very interesting man, he was responsible for the building of many trails in the area, all by hand. Apparently there is a book about him, I would like to read it sometime.
Had a yummy dinner that night with Wanda, Tim, Suzie and Bob and Suzie’s brother from Australia. Shrimp, steak, fabulous salad and excellent company! Suzie is amazing – her recovery after her near death experience has been miraculous indeed. She looks her old self for sure. What a relief.
Had a great little bike ride along the river today with Wanda and Tim. So beautiful, its part of the trans-Canada trail system and part of it was paved so very easy riding and very pleasant indeed. Unfortunately we had to cut it short, head home for a quick lunch and now we are off to Calgary to Freela and Dan’s and hopefully to visit a few other old friends of mine.
This time we are traveling from Victoria to Ontario via the Trans Canada with a return to Victoria via the US Interstate 90. We will visit friends and family along the way there, hopefully have a few pleasant adventures, meet some nice people and see parts of Canada we have never seen before. Returning we will once again visit the Badlands and Yellowstone.
Will it be the shop across Canada trip? Will we find interesting things to see and do along the way or will we just drive drive drive? Is the Trans Canada really as bad as Mexicali One? Is the highway through Saskatchewan truly boring? Is Ontario really Onterrible? Will we find good swimming in the Great Lakes? Will Summer be over by August 28, our expected entry into Ontario? Did we bring the right clothes? Will we long for our kayaks?
Day One
Tuesday August 19, 2008
Caught the early ferry – for us – 5:00 (pm that is). There are always so many last minute things to do that just have to be done – have the grandkids over for a sleepover and play, celebrate Natasha’s and Lindsay’s birthdays, clean the house, get the mirror on the pocket door in the master bathroom, get the watering system done for the deck plants, figure out the lyrics for some songs, stop at the clinic for antibiotics for my wasp sting(s) on my toe which has predictably blown up. Important stuff.
A little nap on the ferry and we’re good to go! Put the steaks back in the fridge and had dinner at McDonalds in Chilliwack – I really really really have to find some kind of fast food that I can eat on the road. I really can’t do McDonalds, enough said. Open for suggestions – please please please….
Drove through what we know is beautiful country in the dark and ended up exhausted in Kamloops around midnight. After some rumbling up and down side streets looking for a level spot we found a great camping spot in front of some beautifully manicured little houses. Wish I had brought my niece Renee’s address in Kamloops with me and we could have surprised her in the morning when she opened her curtains! Oh well, next time. Off to Salmon Arm in the pouring rain complete with thunder and lightening in the am.
Day 4
Friday August 22, 2008
Off to Canmore after having a great time visiting my long time wonderful friend Miranda in Salmon Arm! Played music till our fingers were sore. Listened to some fabulous tunes she has written, recorded some and learned some. Ate the freshest, most delicious organic vegetables from the local market. Enjoyed a great evening walk with Bella (the dog) visiting beautiful horses along the way – Percherons, Warm Bloods, and some perfectly lovely, friendliest of all, no name brand. Our pockets should have been full of apples if we had been planning more carefully. While there had just been some super hot days before we got here it was relatively cool so no swimming this time.
Looking forward to seeing Wanda and Tim this evening and being in the mountains.
Day 7
Sunday August 24, 2008
Feels like I am home, some wonderful memories of living in Banff and hiking every day with Laura, Bill E., Herbie…. OMG these mountains are so very beautiful, they are definitely part of my soul. Great Visit with Wanda and Tim, Suzie and Bob! Had a nice little hike up to Grassie Lakes. Beautiful aqua lakes, we sat and watched some rock climbers for awhile. It was all we could do to keep Lorne from roping up!! Hahaha. Grassie was a very interesting man, he was responsible for the building of many trails in the area, all by hand. Apparently there is a book about him, I would like to read it sometime.
Had a yummy dinner that night with Wanda, Tim, Suzie and Bob and Suzie’s brother from Australia. Shrimp, steak, fabulous salad and excellent company! Suzie is amazing – her recovery after her near death experience has been miraculous indeed. She looks her old self for sure. What a relief.
Had a great little bike ride along the river today with Wanda and Tim. So beautiful, its part of the trans-Canada trail system and part of it was paved so very easy riding and very pleasant indeed. Unfortunately we had to cut it short, head home for a quick lunch and now we are off to Calgary to Freela and Dan’s and hopefully to visit a few other old friends of mine.
GMC Rally in Santa Rosa
I meant to post these pictures from the GMC rally in Santa Rosa on our way home from Mexico in April. Well, better later than never....
These are the GMCs at Miguel's shop in California where we stop on the way to Baja and on the way back. Its always interesting watching him move them around.....
In Santa Rosa at the GMC Rally in April. A view of the campground full of GMCs from the roof of ours
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These are the GMCs at Miguel's shop in California where we stop on the way to Baja and on the way back. Its always interesting watching him move them around.....
In Santa Rosa at the GMC Rally in April. A view of the campground full of GMCs from the roof of ours
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GMC Motor Homes
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Convention/Rally/Cult
We have been in Santa Rosa now for a week. It has been cold, compared to Mexico but not as cold as home is! We are in a gravel parking lot type of RV Park with almost 220 GMC motor homes of various floor plans at the Sonoma Fairgrounds. We love these conventions. Lorne likes them because he gets lots of technical information about maintaining the coach at all the workshops, meets specialists in the field to answer his questions, and there is a general sharing of technical information. I like them because there are so many interesting people to meet and some of them like to play games. We both like the two days of open houses where we can go around and look inside the coaches to see what people have done.
Believe me there are some interesting things and some fantastic things. One person is the original owner of a 1975 coach! It has the entire original interior. Another has renovated their coach with all new upholstery, carpet, window coverings etc. but with the same materials of the original design. Many have “Classic Vehicle” licence plates. There is the “Lone Star Coach” of a man from Texas – its painted like the Texas flag – inside are Texas colors – one blue chair, one red chair, and the table between is half red and half blue. One half of the interior in fact is red and the other is blue – including carpet, counter tops, cupboards….. and on open house day he was wearing…. Hold your breath – blue pants and…… a Texas flag shirt with the lone star over his chest and a cowboy hat!! I didn’t meet his wife…..
Not all these folks have a spouse. Or have brought their spouse with them. The camouflaged coach for example – his wife won’t go in his coach (she doesn’t like the camo look) so didn’t come to the rally – when I asked why he would paint his coach with colors not appealing to his wife I was told the paint job was the result of a bit of a party with his buddies involving a bit of alcohol. They did not a bad job considering……
Last night when a man appeared dressed in camouflaged shirt and pants I asked him if his outfit matched his coach (the camouflaged coach) – he was offended that I didn’t recognize him as the Lone Star guy.
Most coaches have renovated interiors or are in the process of being renovated – mosr by their owners, although some have taken theirs in to places that do renos for lots of money. The thinking is that most RVs do cost a few dollars, if one spends the money on completely renovating a GMC motor home, (which us fans believe is a very well designed coach) including the mechanics, one has a very nice new coach for less money than a new one. To keep them on the road one does have to be mechanical and be willing to spend money on maintenance. And I think one has to enjoy tinkering with them.
Most of the male owners were engineers, pilots, or skilled machinists in their working life. Some of these guys worked as engineers for General Motors. Many of them built boats or renovated boats, or had a boat, hence tinkered with boats, in their spare time while working. Many have had their GMCs for 15 – 20 years so have done a lot to their coaches over that time. Some bought their coaches with nothing inside – these coaches were also used as the Coca Cola sales vans, and as ambulances back in the 70’s so were never set up as a motor home. Some of the woodworking they have done is amazing – these engineers are fastidious carpenters. One coach we were in yesterday had a button to push which locked all the cabinet doors so that when driving nothing will fly open! He also had a button to push to raise or lower the day/night shades. His was a 23 foot, a shell when he bought it, had just a crate for the driver to sit on and no engine. He has worked on it for 2 years and even did the exterior paint job himself. He has a slide show of the process – what he started with and the finished product; absolutely beautiful. He renovated it for his son, having already renovated their own 26 foot. He is delivering this coach to his son after the rally and then will begin his next project – he just bought the hull of a sail boat – a bit of work to get that in the water – at the moment it is in his back yard - and he is very excited to begin!
There are a couple of coaches that have been “stretched” from 26 feet to 30 feet. They look like they actually came that way the work has been so well done.
Believe me there are some interesting things and some fantastic things. One person is the original owner of a 1975 coach! It has the entire original interior. Another has renovated their coach with all new upholstery, carpet, window coverings etc. but with the same materials of the original design. Many have “Classic Vehicle” licence plates. There is the “Lone Star Coach” of a man from Texas – its painted like the Texas flag – inside are Texas colors – one blue chair, one red chair, and the table between is half red and half blue. One half of the interior in fact is red and the other is blue – including carpet, counter tops, cupboards….. and on open house day he was wearing…. Hold your breath – blue pants and…… a Texas flag shirt with the lone star over his chest and a cowboy hat!! I didn’t meet his wife…..
Not all these folks have a spouse. Or have brought their spouse with them. The camouflaged coach for example – his wife won’t go in his coach (she doesn’t like the camo look) so didn’t come to the rally – when I asked why he would paint his coach with colors not appealing to his wife I was told the paint job was the result of a bit of a party with his buddies involving a bit of alcohol. They did not a bad job considering……
Last night when a man appeared dressed in camouflaged shirt and pants I asked him if his outfit matched his coach (the camouflaged coach) – he was offended that I didn’t recognize him as the Lone Star guy.
Most coaches have renovated interiors or are in the process of being renovated – mosr by their owners, although some have taken theirs in to places that do renos for lots of money. The thinking is that most RVs do cost a few dollars, if one spends the money on completely renovating a GMC motor home, (which us fans believe is a very well designed coach) including the mechanics, one has a very nice new coach for less money than a new one. To keep them on the road one does have to be mechanical and be willing to spend money on maintenance. And I think one has to enjoy tinkering with them.
Most of the male owners were engineers, pilots, or skilled machinists in their working life. Some of these guys worked as engineers for General Motors. Many of them built boats or renovated boats, or had a boat, hence tinkered with boats, in their spare time while working. Many have had their GMCs for 15 – 20 years so have done a lot to their coaches over that time. Some bought their coaches with nothing inside – these coaches were also used as the Coca Cola sales vans, and as ambulances back in the 70’s so were never set up as a motor home. Some of the woodworking they have done is amazing – these engineers are fastidious carpenters. One coach we were in yesterday had a button to push which locked all the cabinet doors so that when driving nothing will fly open! He also had a button to push to raise or lower the day/night shades. His was a 23 foot, a shell when he bought it, had just a crate for the driver to sit on and no engine. He has worked on it for 2 years and even did the exterior paint job himself. He has a slide show of the process – what he started with and the finished product; absolutely beautiful. He renovated it for his son, having already renovated their own 26 foot. He is delivering this coach to his son after the rally and then will begin his next project – he just bought the hull of a sail boat – a bit of work to get that in the water – at the moment it is in his back yard - and he is very excited to begin!
There are a couple of coaches that have been “stretched” from 26 feet to 30 feet. They look like they actually came that way the work has been so well done.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Pacific Coast Highway
After spending a few days at Miguel’s again to get our motor home tiddled up we headed for the coast. First night we stayed at Emma Woods camp ground – very nice perched right over the ocean, a few surfers to watch, and good waves, no services. It is really just a stretch of road along the water below the train tracks and the highway. The sound of the crashing waves drowned out any highway noise and the train was not too disruptive. It was worth it for the great view.
Next night we had a reservation at Morro Bay State Park, nice spot on the estuary, great kayaking in sheltered waters and bird watching in the bay. Have to watch the tides or could end up high and dry on the mud flats. There is a golf course right next to it, big group camping spots with superb views and nearby is a museum and a sleepy little town. Definitely want to come back here, a good destination spot. It would be a great place for a family reunion, lots for everyone to do. We stayed two nights.
Stayed at Kirk Creek National forest campground last night – very beautiful. We have been looking at this campground for years and have not been able to stay at it – we have shot on by and missed it or we were in too much of a hurry and it was the wrong time of day to stop. This time we saw it and stopped early, right after lunch! It is on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, most sites have spectacular views! And you can reserve on line or by telephone. There is lots of hiking, a nice trail down to the beach and several other trails around. We had our traditional lunch at Nepenthe in Big Sur, went to the aquarium at Monteray and unable to find a perfect campsite in Carmel we stayed at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Nice large campsites in the trees.
I have now got a full fledged cold that I think may end up being laryngitis. Drag.
The aquarium at Monterey was expensive but amazing and wonderful. The fish looked so peaceful in these massive tanks that I would have preferred to swim with them than to get out my fishing rod.
We have arrived at Santa Rosa in the heart of the Sonoma Valley – Wine country - and are staying at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds for the GMC International Convention. We will be here for a week and then off home. This area is known for its Chardonnay and its Pinot Noir wines – will have to try some.
Next night we had a reservation at Morro Bay State Park, nice spot on the estuary, great kayaking in sheltered waters and bird watching in the bay. Have to watch the tides or could end up high and dry on the mud flats. There is a golf course right next to it, big group camping spots with superb views and nearby is a museum and a sleepy little town. Definitely want to come back here, a good destination spot. It would be a great place for a family reunion, lots for everyone to do. We stayed two nights.
Stayed at Kirk Creek National forest campground last night – very beautiful. We have been looking at this campground for years and have not been able to stay at it – we have shot on by and missed it or we were in too much of a hurry and it was the wrong time of day to stop. This time we saw it and stopped early, right after lunch! It is on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, most sites have spectacular views! And you can reserve on line or by telephone. There is lots of hiking, a nice trail down to the beach and several other trails around. We had our traditional lunch at Nepenthe in Big Sur, went to the aquarium at Monteray and unable to find a perfect campsite in Carmel we stayed at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Nice large campsites in the trees.
I have now got a full fledged cold that I think may end up being laryngitis. Drag.
The aquarium at Monterey was expensive but amazing and wonderful. The fish looked so peaceful in these massive tanks that I would have preferred to swim with them than to get out my fishing rod.
We have arrived at Santa Rosa in the heart of the Sonoma Valley – Wine country - and are staying at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds for the GMC International Convention. We will be here for a week and then off home. This area is known for its Chardonnay and its Pinot Noir wines – will have to try some.
Reflections
As is our custom, we have spent quite a few days imagining what it would be like to have a house here – we spent a day riding around on the ATVs looking at the different neighborhoods and houses with for sale signs outside, checked the internet, and spent a day with a realtor visiting houses of interest. We have pretty well decided against property and building. The contractors are booking two years out, then once they start it takes about a year if you’re lucky, usually longer, to build, plus there are all kinds of headaches with building in Mexico, not to mention not being fluent in the language and the customs. So – an already built home seems much more attractive, and there are lots of them on the market. Lorne is certain that with the recession in the US er – I mean slow down - there will be more houses available next year and at an even cheaper price. The ones we were most interested in were between 475k and 825k, of course one could spend several million and add on a pool.
We liked:
An old one story on the beach for 825k, four bedrooms, 3 bathrooms 2,480 square feet, on a double lot and on a cliff overlooking the water, includes very old furniture that was once quite nice but old fashioned; would be ok but would need some remodelling. The hollow core exterior doors on the bedrooms leading out to the courtyard would have to be changed….. along with a few other things….
One that’s 5 years old, two stories and one lot off the beach with spectacular views for 475, on a double lot, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms with an outdoor cooking area including an outdoor oven and covered *palo d’arco eating/sitting area, plus a garden, it has a garage and a small *palo d’arco storage area, includes fairly cheap and ugly furniture. It also would need some remodelling. *straight branches from a desert shrub – sort of like willow
The third one is a designer house built in 2002 – very very comfortable, beautifully decorated with high end quality furniture, lighting, and building, felt immediately like home to me. Its two stories with two garages, guest suite with its own garage, kitchen, bathroom and living room/bedroom all beautifully furnished as well. The house is one block off a great beach and has spectacular views, it has a very large master bedroom and a loft bedroom. The main house has one and a half bathrooms and a huge propane fireplace in the living room. It is on a corner lot that is large for this area – 1,456 square meters. The only thing needing to be changed is a more comfy chair for Lorne at the dining room table. Now, if it was only right on the beach…..
Looking at these homes makes us realize that purchasing one of them, or another of similar nature would really mean living here for a substantial part of the year just to ensure maintenance; particularly during hurricaine season when if struck, we would need to be there immediately for clean up to ensure minimum damage following a blast of salt water and high velocity winds. So, we would have to sell our Victoria home to be able to afford any one of them.
So – what happened to the idea of having a lot where we could just put a palapa and maybe a bodega to hold some toys that we could just leave down there? I don’t know.
Do we really want to spend at least 6 months or longer here? I don’t know.
We like:
- the warm weather - its not that warm in January/February, doesn’t really get warm till the end of February – cold is we have to wear a sweater and long pants and in the evenings we would like to sit by a warm fire, really not that bad.
- Kayaking – this area is a destination place for wind surfers and kite boarders in the winter, its usually less windy in the mornings and there are occasional flat water days in the winter. Its usually a week or so of wind followed by 2-3 days of flat water. A predictable breeze in the heat of the day is definitely a plus when it does get hot.
- Fishing – haven’t mastered the art of kayak fishing… yet….
- Cycling – not that great here – but manageable, hard to cycle in the sand, no place to ride on pavement unless we lived in town, then there is a great series of hills – the cut road to Rancho Pescadero to take but it requires determination, strength, and stamina. I wouldn’t say there is a great deal of joy in riding here
- Exploring arroyos and canyons – need an ATV – need to buy one and to have storage for it. The rental was quite expensive – 350 for a week. They are about 5,000 to buy.
- Exploring side roads, small pueblos, and out of the way remote areas – need to have a 4 wheel drive – need to buy one and to have storage for it.
- The people – Mexican and gringos that we have met
-The lifestyle
-The idea of being able to have our family and friends visit us and to be able to offer them a comfortable place to stay
We also like:
- Being involved in the lives of our children and grandchildren and my sister and her husband in Victoria
- Cycling with my sister and Linda
- Having the grandkids for sleepovers
- Being involved in the lives of our friends
- Playing music with Natasha and friends in Victoria
- Spring, summer and fall in Victoria
- September camping at Long Beach
- Travelling and camping in different areas
- Exploring the US and Canada with the motor home
The truth for me is I am happy wherever I am. It is not that I am unhappy in Victoria and want to move away. I do get very lonely for my family and friends when we travel, especially when we are gone for any extended period of time. I do find that three months is a long time to be away. While we both enjoy the sun and sand and are reluctant to leave, as soon as we start to head north we both are eager to get home and start planning what we will do when we get there.
Manta Rays
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| 2008 Baja - Manta Rays |
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
March 13 - Zone of Natural Wonder!
So says the road sign just north of Guerrero Negro – the vegetation is low, shrub-like, no taller than a foot high and with very little variety, gradually it begins to change as more and more variety is added so yes it is a zone of natural wonder. The desert is springing into bloom – the side of the road becomes covered with yellow daisy like flowers, along with lower growth pink and purple flowers, then carpets of red interspersed with the grey of what looks like sage but you know has huge spines on it. Green shrubery, green cactus, lots of green spikey yuka, yellow bloom on the elephant trees (tarote) and the occasional tall flower spike of the yuka with its green buds and yellow blush of bloom. The desert sand is a beautiful shade of ocre. This is all very difficult to capture on film, although I have taken many pictures out the window.
We listen to Cramer as we drive through this ever changing beautiful desert. Do you know how obnoxious Cramer is when trying to – study Spanish, read a novel, do a little writing, just admire the scenery? Much more obnoxious than watching him on tv as far as I’m concerned. My mp3 player broke on the trip down, so what can we do… Lorne is the driver and the investor that makes our lives more comfortable and able to take these trips. So – a big bbbbbullion to you!
The curio (bojum) are beginning to show up, the datille and ocotillo abound. Some of the ocotillo are blooming their orange flowers while others sport a blush of green leaf – they don’t usually do both at the same time. Some of the elephant trees are a golden yellow – others wear a rich green coat. I really don’t think I have ever seen so much foliage on the elephant trees. In the midst of this we cross a very green arroyo with lots of water and a few palms have taken up residence! The road is a nightmare, so many potholes we have to drive quite slow. We left from San Lucas Cove this morning and are heading for Catavina before nightfall….. hope the road improves or it will be dark by the time we get there.
Its amazing to watch the transition of this desert as we go north; from the 6 – 12 inches high and of little variety just outside of Guerra Negro gradually changing to taller and taller vegetation and an increase in variety, now 40 km south of the turn off to Bahia de Los Angeles, we see the occasional cardon along with my favourite fusha tipped barrel cactus, the cholo, the old man cactus, and the pataya cactus. We pass a sign that tells us we are now in a zone of lavish nature, and yes we are.
Up and over a very small rise and now we are into cardon big time, as in tall and lots. 20 km later we are in a veritable cardon forest and then just as quickly the cardon are pretty well gone and the ocotillo compete with the boojum. Seconds later the ocotillo are gone and we are in a boojum forest, thinning to allow the datillo. Truly spectacular!
We make it all the way to Catavina and stay at Rancho Santa Ines. This is a ranch in the middle of the desert that has a little restaurant serving dinner and breakfast and has a few rooms to rent. Very lovely people. This is also the place where Lorne almost stepped on a rattlesnake but was saved my his loving wife. We arrived in time for sunset, but not in time for much of a walk. It was a long day of driving.
We listen to Cramer as we drive through this ever changing beautiful desert. Do you know how obnoxious Cramer is when trying to – study Spanish, read a novel, do a little writing, just admire the scenery? Much more obnoxious than watching him on tv as far as I’m concerned. My mp3 player broke on the trip down, so what can we do… Lorne is the driver and the investor that makes our lives more comfortable and able to take these trips. So – a big bbbbbullion to you!
The curio (bojum) are beginning to show up, the datille and ocotillo abound. Some of the ocotillo are blooming their orange flowers while others sport a blush of green leaf – they don’t usually do both at the same time. Some of the elephant trees are a golden yellow – others wear a rich green coat. I really don’t think I have ever seen so much foliage on the elephant trees. In the midst of this we cross a very green arroyo with lots of water and a few palms have taken up residence! The road is a nightmare, so many potholes we have to drive quite slow. We left from San Lucas Cove this morning and are heading for Catavina before nightfall….. hope the road improves or it will be dark by the time we get there.
Its amazing to watch the transition of this desert as we go north; from the 6 – 12 inches high and of little variety just outside of Guerra Negro gradually changing to taller and taller vegetation and an increase in variety, now 40 km south of the turn off to Bahia de Los Angeles, we see the occasional cardon along with my favourite fusha tipped barrel cactus, the cholo, the old man cactus, and the pataya cactus. We pass a sign that tells us we are now in a zone of lavish nature, and yes we are.
Up and over a very small rise and now we are into cardon big time, as in tall and lots. 20 km later we are in a veritable cardon forest and then just as quickly the cardon are pretty well gone and the ocotillo compete with the boojum. Seconds later the ocotillo are gone and we are in a boojum forest, thinning to allow the datillo. Truly spectacular!
We make it all the way to Catavina and stay at Rancho Santa Ines. This is a ranch in the middle of the desert that has a little restaurant serving dinner and breakfast and has a few rooms to rent. Very lovely people. This is also the place where Lorne almost stepped on a rattlesnake but was saved my his loving wife. We arrived in time for sunset, but not in time for much of a walk. It was a long day of driving.
March 9 - And so we leave
March 9 - And so we leave – with a heavy heart – its so nice here, the weather is now just perfect, warm but not too hot, nice breezes, flat water. However, its time to go, what can we do.
So – Friday we picked up T&T at the airport, brought them home, stayed that night in the GMC and left the next morning for Los Barriles for Saturday night at East Cape RV park and dinner and great music at Otra Vez restaurant. Miguel is a wonderful flaminco guitar player that we have heard a few times before, this year he is playing with a great violin player – together they are really great and hope to release a cd in the near future. They play all sorts of music including a little jazz – he is a wanna be Stephan Grapelli.
We left town Sunday arriving in La Paz in short order, stayed at Casa Blanca RV Park as Aquamarine is closed now – I had to see a dentist on Monday as I am having sensitivity in one of my teeth. He was well recommended by some friends in Los Barriles so made an appointment before we left, then we heard some conflicting stories - ie he said to one of the neighbour’s “a crown is a crown – no need to make an impression” - so she had a crown installed without any impression being made. She also said that one of her friends had to have all the work redone in the US that this dentist did…. Hmmm ….. I’m not going to let him do anything major!
Saw the dentist, he took an xray – he held the film in my mouth and stayed in the room while he did it,….. granted I was between him and the machine… I wonder why Canadian dentists use that lead apron, have the assistant do it, and she leaves the room to press the button?.... He said there was no problem with the tooth, that the sensitivity was not the crown leaking but that I may have some root exposure. So thankfully I can just come home and have my own dentist look at it. I have heard very good things about the dental work here in Mexico, like everywhere one has to do the homework to make sure you get the good one. It was certainly cheap enough - $15.
After the dentist we headed off to the community of La Ventana (the window) and the new development of Ensenada de los Muertos (Bay of the Dead – renamed by the developer to Bay of Dreams), two very beautiful bays only about an hour from La Paz on a secondary road.
La Ventana is a Mexican town in a beautiful bay with a white sandy beach where the gringos have definitely moved in. It is a great wind and kite surfing area with a wind that blows most every day. Los Muertos is an incredibly beautiful bay where there is a very nice restaurant called the Giggling Marlin – a destination place for boats hired out of Los Barriles, and maybe even Cabo. There is also a new development behind a fence with a guard so we couldn’t see what was there except with binoculars. This development has the most earth moving equipment we have ever seen down here! They are in the immediate process of building a golf course and then will focus on selling and building homes. They are also building a 4 lane road approach to it for several miles. The whole area is known as Los Planes, it is an agricultural area, with several small Mexican towns. We spent one night in La Ventana and are now on our way north, Ciudad Constitution today, hopefully further.
So – Friday we picked up T&T at the airport, brought them home, stayed that night in the GMC and left the next morning for Los Barriles for Saturday night at East Cape RV park and dinner and great music at Otra Vez restaurant. Miguel is a wonderful flaminco guitar player that we have heard a few times before, this year he is playing with a great violin player – together they are really great and hope to release a cd in the near future. They play all sorts of music including a little jazz – he is a wanna be Stephan Grapelli.
We left town Sunday arriving in La Paz in short order, stayed at Casa Blanca RV Park as Aquamarine is closed now – I had to see a dentist on Monday as I am having sensitivity in one of my teeth. He was well recommended by some friends in Los Barriles so made an appointment before we left, then we heard some conflicting stories - ie he said to one of the neighbour’s “a crown is a crown – no need to make an impression” - so she had a crown installed without any impression being made. She also said that one of her friends had to have all the work redone in the US that this dentist did…. Hmmm ….. I’m not going to let him do anything major!
Saw the dentist, he took an xray – he held the film in my mouth and stayed in the room while he did it,….. granted I was between him and the machine… I wonder why Canadian dentists use that lead apron, have the assistant do it, and she leaves the room to press the button?.... He said there was no problem with the tooth, that the sensitivity was not the crown leaking but that I may have some root exposure. So thankfully I can just come home and have my own dentist look at it. I have heard very good things about the dental work here in Mexico, like everywhere one has to do the homework to make sure you get the good one. It was certainly cheap enough - $15.
After the dentist we headed off to the community of La Ventana (the window) and the new development of Ensenada de los Muertos (Bay of the Dead – renamed by the developer to Bay of Dreams), two very beautiful bays only about an hour from La Paz on a secondary road.
La Ventana is a Mexican town in a beautiful bay with a white sandy beach where the gringos have definitely moved in. It is a great wind and kite surfing area with a wind that blows most every day. Los Muertos is an incredibly beautiful bay where there is a very nice restaurant called the Giggling Marlin – a destination place for boats hired out of Los Barriles, and maybe even Cabo. There is also a new development behind a fence with a guard so we couldn’t see what was there except with binoculars. This development has the most earth moving equipment we have ever seen down here! They are in the immediate process of building a golf course and then will focus on selling and building homes. They are also building a 4 lane road approach to it for several miles. The whole area is known as Los Planes, it is an agricultural area, with several small Mexican towns. We spent one night in La Ventana and are now on our way north, Ciudad Constitution today, hopefully further.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Desert Days
Well I’ve finished my 8 days of Spanish torture – 2 ½ hours of class and then 5-6 hours of homework every day! Whew! I’m totally bilingual now – right…. I did learn lots though and am really feeling excited about learning more Spanish so have been watching a little Mexican television. They speak so darn fast it’s hard to follow so I’ll have to find some children’s program or one of the popular telenovelas (soap opera) I guess.
We have had some nice kayaking days – flat crystal clear water – and have paddled to the spots where thousands of tropical fish hang out. Very cool, we saw several coronet fish – about 3 feet long and very skinny, schools of small needle fish about 6 – 8 inches long, large blue parrot fish, trigger fish, angels, sergeant majors, puffer fish and balloon fish and lots that we have no idea what they are called. To and from these spots we paddled over many huge schools of sierra (a kind of mackerel that is excellent eating) and what looked to us like young yellow tail. Our neighbours think they were lady fish that we saw but who knows. I tried catching some from the kayak but they didn’t bite, the only thing that I saw interested in the lure was a puffer fish – sure didn’t want that. So, I guess we got skunked too.
We have been seeing whales from shore this last week, one that looked like a killer whale spy hopping. There are also lots of dolphins – one day we saw a huge school of them leaping along – the biggest school we’ve ever seen, maybe a hundred or more of them. There is also a sea lion that appears from time to time for lunch. There are very few eagle rays leaping, we saw quite a few when we first arrived but it was very windy and choppy so we didn’t venture out to visit them then and now they have gone somewhere else. Last year there were many of them and Mike and Kate paddled out to see them; they got some great pictures of the rays jumping and swimming right under the boat.
Our days have been so busy – read, check the computer, play guitar – only I do that, read, watch a movie, exercise for a few hours every day – cycle, walk, or paddle, eat, bask in the sun. We’ve had some nice walks up the arroyos and into the “bush”. The big excitement this week was moving house from CM (the house we had last year and where we have been for two weeks) back to T&Ts. We took T&T to the airport in their old truck then drove on to Cabo to shop at Costco and the new Super Wal-Mart. We also stopped at our friends Stan and Sharon (that we met at the border) in San Jose for a short visit – didn’t get home till after dark. The desert looks so different in the dark under the almost full moon. It turns everything silver, very beautiful.
Did you see the lunar eclipse!? We have had night after night of clear skies and bright stars with a spectacular moon rising out of the Sea of Cortes right in front of the house. Of course on the night of the lunar eclipse it was cloudy. We sat out on the patio with the binoculars and were able to catch glimpses that were in themselves quite spectacular, however, disappointing as if it had been clear what a sight we would have seen……!
It has been quite windy most days and cool at night, today it is 90 degrees outside; the hottest yet, but breezy so it not too hot – in the shade anyway.
Incidentally, the word in town is that the skunk (see previous post) succumbed to alcohol poisoning....
We have had some nice kayaking days – flat crystal clear water – and have paddled to the spots where thousands of tropical fish hang out. Very cool, we saw several coronet fish – about 3 feet long and very skinny, schools of small needle fish about 6 – 8 inches long, large blue parrot fish, trigger fish, angels, sergeant majors, puffer fish and balloon fish and lots that we have no idea what they are called. To and from these spots we paddled over many huge schools of sierra (a kind of mackerel that is excellent eating) and what looked to us like young yellow tail. Our neighbours think they were lady fish that we saw but who knows. I tried catching some from the kayak but they didn’t bite, the only thing that I saw interested in the lure was a puffer fish – sure didn’t want that. So, I guess we got skunked too.
We have been seeing whales from shore this last week, one that looked like a killer whale spy hopping. There are also lots of dolphins – one day we saw a huge school of them leaping along – the biggest school we’ve ever seen, maybe a hundred or more of them. There is also a sea lion that appears from time to time for lunch. There are very few eagle rays leaping, we saw quite a few when we first arrived but it was very windy and choppy so we didn’t venture out to visit them then and now they have gone somewhere else. Last year there were many of them and Mike and Kate paddled out to see them; they got some great pictures of the rays jumping and swimming right under the boat.
Our days have been so busy – read, check the computer, play guitar – only I do that, read, watch a movie, exercise for a few hours every day – cycle, walk, or paddle, eat, bask in the sun. We’ve had some nice walks up the arroyos and into the “bush”. The big excitement this week was moving house from CM (the house we had last year and where we have been for two weeks) back to T&Ts. We took T&T to the airport in their old truck then drove on to Cabo to shop at Costco and the new Super Wal-Mart. We also stopped at our friends Stan and Sharon (that we met at the border) in San Jose for a short visit – didn’t get home till after dark. The desert looks so different in the dark under the almost full moon. It turns everything silver, very beautiful.
Did you see the lunar eclipse!? We have had night after night of clear skies and bright stars with a spectacular moon rising out of the Sea of Cortes right in front of the house. Of course on the night of the lunar eclipse it was cloudy. We sat out on the patio with the binoculars and were able to catch glimpses that were in themselves quite spectacular, however, disappointing as if it had been clear what a sight we would have seen……!
It has been quite windy most days and cool at night, today it is 90 degrees outside; the hottest yet, but breezy so it not too hot – in the shade anyway.
Incidentally, the word in town is that the skunk (see previous post) succumbed to alcohol poisoning....
Friday, February 8, 2008
Strangers in the Night
Stranger Number One:
Its 2 am in the small enclave of Rancho Pescadero; 7 houses side by side along the beach, no other houses around – about 6 miles north of a small town on a very narrow, single lane, bumpy, sandy road going to?.... yet another much smaller town many miles away.
Two sleeping people, dreaming in the night…. Our next door neighbours wake to the sound:
Unfortunately due to confidentiality concerns I can not tell you anything more about this stranger.....
Stranger Number Two:
It’s about 4 am two sleeping neighbours, dreaming in the night…. awake with a start to their protective dog barking furiously and what appears to be a skunk attached to the screen door of their bedroom. Said protective dog then leaps right thru the screen door. Next, the dog tears back into the bedroom with the skunk in hot pursuit. A spotted skunk!
http://www.calmzoo.org/stories/storyReader$186
It is very aggressive, it hisses, it stomps its little feet, it sprays the dog, it sprays the bedroom, it sprays our neighbours. It doesn’t smell nice. The dog approaches, Ms Skunk sprays, the dog retreats, Ms Skunk pursues. On his/her way by Ms Skunk takes a bite out of our neighbour’s foot. After much leaping about Ms Skunk is swept out of the door only to leap up on another screen door. He/she is trying to find another entry point. In it comes, out it is swept. In it comes, out it is swept! It really wants in the house! Our neighbour continues to sweep – he sweeps Ms skunk over the 5 foot wall and down onto the beach – he turns to go inside only to see Ms skunk scampering up the stairs from the beach and back into the house – many times she/he is swept over the wall to the beach and like a boomerang she/he returns. Our neighbour calls for a shovel, thinking more serious dispatch will be necessary the next time Ms skunk appears - the wife searches the property (at least ½ an acre) flashlight in hand for said shovel, finds it, but Ms skunk has thought better of her return and all is quiet for what little is left of the night. Whew!
When morning arrives a rabies shot is scheduled for the following day in La Paz. These shots are not easy to come by and there is only one Doctor for all of Baja Sur who administers these shots. Fortunately he only administers the first one and lets you take the rest of the vaccine (4 more) back home to have your own doctor or clinic administer (as long as the appropriate paperwork is completed).
Stranger Number Three?
This is not the end. At about 7 pm that evening these same neighbours are visiting at another neighbour’s home, no doubt retelling the adventure of the morning. There is a great deal of barking (normal for Baja dogs at night) and then the dogs run up the stars; thinking they are safe, they pause on the landing to look down – up comes the hissing skunk! It marches right up the stairs passing right by these two large Baja dogs who are now barking furiously. Needless to say, the ceremonious arrival of said skunk to the second story has rather disrupted the atmosphere and the consumption of after dinner dessert for the 7 adults relaxing on the approximately 15x25 foot deck.
Ms Skunk has scampered through the large walled yard (at least ½ an acre) successfully avoiding two good sized Baja dogs (one of these dogs is experienced with skunks, having had the early morning encounter already). Once again Ms Skunk is very aggressive. It hisses, it stamps its little feet, it sprays its lovely scent around, on both dogs, and on everyone else. One of the adults (a medical doctor) leaps up on a chair and provides much needed direction. The neighbour with the most knowledge of wild animals (PhD level) and his recent early morning sweeping experience, fortified with his beverage of choice, wields the broom. After much to do – about an hour or more of whirling and twirling and much coordinated effort involving brooms and a frog gig (sort of like a spear gun) and a hefty garbage bag placed inside a large garbage can, the dogs and the guys (there are 4 of them) manage to get Ms skunk blockaded in a Mexican style down spout that empties into the outside shower below. Ms skunk is finally manoeuvred through the spout and drops down into the shower where the garbage can has been strategically placed to catch him/her. Good plan, however, he/she misses the can and is scampering around in the shower, still ready for a fight – fortunately one of the other MDs (a visting friend, not the La Paz doctor) has thought of this possibility and has the only skunk sized exit blocked. Somehow they manage to get him/her swept into the bag and all 4 guys plus Ms Skunk take off on the quad into the dark depths of the arroyo. Hmmm. Is he/she rabid? Is this the same skunk of the morning? Quite possibly on both counts. Where were the women? – Inside the house with sliding glass door closed of course – very sensible. With two MDs a PhD and a business man at the task the best position was inside the house watching – unfortunately no pictures were taken!
Lorne and I are very disappointed to have missed out on all this. We have had no unexpected visitors at all! I think the cats are keeping all unwanted guests at bay. Perhaps our turn will come…..
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Ouch
It actually doesn't hurt as bad as it looks........ and you can guess where its located....
WHINE
I have done a few stupid things in my life but really – these spds (clipless pedals) are a real drag in the sand AND my tires – good grief – they are not as narrow as a road bike as my Kona is a mountain bike but they are road tires none the less – definitely not ones that ride over sand with ease! Of course cycling in sand is not easy at the best of times but this is ridiculous! At this point my old Walmart special is looking pretty good and am wishing I’d opted for bringing it – or following my plan to change the tires and the pedals! Lorne is in the Lead! That will never do!
There are really not a preponderance of bike shops around so I guess I will just have to “suck it up”.
Of course the other option is an ATV. I went into town yesterday with the girls in the hood on the ATVs. Of course I don’t have one – yet – so I rode on the back of MaryAnn’s. Very fun. She is the fastest. We waited periodically for the other two on their ATVs. We cruised around the new developments that are happening, went for lunch, groceries, tortillas, and then home. Fun. Very nice ladies…Girlfriends are good.
Of course the other option is an ATV. I went into town yesterday with the girls in the hood on the ATVs. Of course I don’t have one – yet – so I rode on the back of MaryAnn’s. Very fun. She is the fastest. We waited periodically for the other two on their ATVs. We cruised around the new developments that are happening, went for lunch, groceries, tortillas, and then home. Fun. Very nice ladies…Girlfriends are good.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Feels Like Home!
This is pretty cool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrXow86hCEA
Spent one night at Todos Santos where I learned why it was that I really didn’t want to keep my spds (clipless pedals) on my bike in Baja! Had a nice tumble off my bike! Pretty bruises too. Well, I guess I was due for one, haven’t fallen for a very long time. These roads are really not bike friendly at all. Sure do wish I brought regular pedals with me….
Todos Santos is such a lovely Mexican town, it also has a large number of artists, Mexican and American. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay longer than overnight as we have to get to “work”. There is a festival of art at Todos Santos coming up, as well as a historic home tour, hope we can take both of those in while we are in Baja Sur.
Spent two nights at Vagabundos rv park in Cabo San Lucas. Such a bustling city! Fortunately there were no cruise ships in so it wasn’t packed with tourists. It looks like the hotels along the beach are not that busy right now, unless everyone was in taking a nap while we were there. Got stocked up on supplies and motored on to Los Barriles and over the high road to the “cat house”. The beach road has been reduced to a trail since the last hurricane and there has been no road work done on it. AND no road work done on the high road either. The huge chunk out of the road that scared me last year is still there….. I really don’t know how they would repair it anyway – the whole lane is just gone – down the hillside. I really don’t think we will be going into town anytime soon, sure don’t want to do that road again in a hurry.
As we pulled into town it really did feel like we were home somehow. Its all just so familiar and the town has such a nice feeling to it. It also helped that we met our friends and neighbours Bill and Gary on the road – I’m sure we provided some entertainment value as we crept along. They stopped to greet us and then zoomed on by. Of course in a car this road is much different. We are just a bit wider than a car..…
So, here we are at the “cat house”. The first time we came down the Baja we house and cat sat for these same people – T&T for short. We met them over the internet, introduced by Janet and John our Victoria friends who had house and cat sat for them before us. The house is looking very nice, they have done quite a bit of work on it and it is up for sale… let me know if you're interested! All four cats are well and present – Smokey, Venecia, Ginger Megs, and BT. Smokey is even lounging about in the house tonight! He doesn’t seem too stressed by our arrival – perhaps he has forgotten the trauma Lorne put him through in the basement a few years back…. Or perhaps he remembers all the camerone we bribed him with the last time we were here.
The beach has been rearranged yet again by the last hurricane and summer storms. It looks quite different, a real mix of rocks and then sand. Today was very cold – we were in our long pants, sox, and fleece all day and its going down to 45 F (7 or 8 C) tonight! It has apparently been a fairly cold winter here so far.
We hope to get some kayaking in of course – check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8KNtyPbsSI this is not us, yet anyway.
Spent one night at Todos Santos where I learned why it was that I really didn’t want to keep my spds (clipless pedals) on my bike in Baja! Had a nice tumble off my bike! Pretty bruises too. Well, I guess I was due for one, haven’t fallen for a very long time. These roads are really not bike friendly at all. Sure do wish I brought regular pedals with me….
Todos Santos is such a lovely Mexican town, it also has a large number of artists, Mexican and American. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay longer than overnight as we have to get to “work”. There is a festival of art at Todos Santos coming up, as well as a historic home tour, hope we can take both of those in while we are in Baja Sur.
Spent two nights at Vagabundos rv park in Cabo San Lucas. Such a bustling city! Fortunately there were no cruise ships in so it wasn’t packed with tourists. It looks like the hotels along the beach are not that busy right now, unless everyone was in taking a nap while we were there. Got stocked up on supplies and motored on to Los Barriles and over the high road to the “cat house”. The beach road has been reduced to a trail since the last hurricane and there has been no road work done on it. AND no road work done on the high road either. The huge chunk out of the road that scared me last year is still there….. I really don’t know how they would repair it anyway – the whole lane is just gone – down the hillside. I really don’t think we will be going into town anytime soon, sure don’t want to do that road again in a hurry.
As we pulled into town it really did feel like we were home somehow. Its all just so familiar and the town has such a nice feeling to it. It also helped that we met our friends and neighbours Bill and Gary on the road – I’m sure we provided some entertainment value as we crept along. They stopped to greet us and then zoomed on by. Of course in a car this road is much different. We are just a bit wider than a car..…
So, here we are at the “cat house”. The first time we came down the Baja we house and cat sat for these same people – T&T for short. We met them over the internet, introduced by Janet and John our Victoria friends who had house and cat sat for them before us. The house is looking very nice, they have done quite a bit of work on it and it is up for sale… let me know if you're interested! All four cats are well and present – Smokey, Venecia, Ginger Megs, and BT. Smokey is even lounging about in the house tonight! He doesn’t seem too stressed by our arrival – perhaps he has forgotten the trauma Lorne put him through in the basement a few years back…. Or perhaps he remembers all the camerone we bribed him with the last time we were here.
The beach has been rearranged yet again by the last hurricane and summer storms. It looks quite different, a real mix of rocks and then sand. Today was very cold – we were in our long pants, sox, and fleece all day and its going down to 45 F (7 or 8 C) tonight! It has apparently been a fairly cold winter here so far.
We hope to get some kayaking in of course – check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8KNtyPbsSI this is not us, yet anyway.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
San Lucas Cove, El Coyote, Constitucion
As I opened the curtains our first morning at San Lucas Cove (South of Santa Rosalia; there was Janet walking towards our motor home! What a surprise! We had been emailing Janet and John (friends from Victoria who had headed south before Christmas) as we were hoping to find them on a beach in Baja; however, didn’t know where they had chosen to settle. For some obscure reason we were not connecting, Janet had not received our emails and though she emailed us too I had only received one email from her which didn’t tell me where they were! It was a complete coincidence that they should be at this beach the same time as us. They had arrived the same day only much earlier, and since it was dark when we arrived they didn’t see us and we didn’t see them. We had a great time with them and it was very nice to see another friend (also named John) too who has made this beach his winter home for many years. We enjoyed meals together and long chats over morning cappuccinos for the three sleeps we were there.
We had a wonderful campfire and sing along with a couple who live just down the beach permanently (he plays twelve string and she 6 string guitar) and Garland from Squim (just across the straight from Victoria in the US) who plays electric keyboard, fiddle, guitar, and who knows what else. He was there with his family; wife, young adult son, sister and her husband. They drove two Rialtas, a small pricey motor home with a “toy box” full of things like motor cycles, wind surfing boards and sails, bicycles, this electric keyboard with amp and speakers, a boat, and who know what else! He played beautifully and his wife had an amazing voice – such fun!
We spent two nights there and then headed south to kayak at El Coyote Beach, south of Mullege in Bahia Concepcion. Janet and John headed north towards home. We had one glorious day with no wind kayaking on crystal clear water watching all the fishes swimming below, some looked big enough for dinner, unfortunately I didn’t bring my rod out with us. While I have a fishing licence for Baja I didn’t get a license for the kayak and all boats regardless of size have to have a license if one is planning on fishing from them. We have never met anyone who has been checked for licenses or heard of anyone being checked but that is the law and I sure don’t want to break any laws down here if possible.
We met some nice people next to us on the beach, a couple from Nanaimo – Pearl and Stan. We also met a couple from New York (Betty and ?) this the 2nd year they have been down here, we met them last year. They travel in a 4 wheel drive van with a tent, kayak, fold-a- boat and two dogs. We also met another couple in a bus conversion, Chuck and Elsie from near 100 mile house. They did a wonderful job on this conversion and at one time they lived in it for 9 years. Everyone is very friendly here this year, last year it seemed clicky. One day here was all the time we had and it wasn’t hard to leave as the next day dawned with cloudy skies and a very cold and constant wind.
We have to be at our cat sitting job on the 21st so we best be on our way. We don’t want to drive on Saturday or Sunday especially in the Cabo area. Our next stop, 279 km south and over the Sierra de la Giganta Mountains is Ciudad Constitucion, an agricultural community. We stay in a very nice RV park there with full hook-ups, a pool, bar, and restaurant and lots of beautiful vegetation including varieties of fruit trees, palms and cactus.
We arrived there with just enough time to pick up a few vegetables and to have a shower before dark. As I was on my way out the door to do so Lorne asks “are you buzzing?” “Huh? No I’m not buzzing – why would I be buzzing?” “Something’s buzzing” he replies. I listen carefully and hear nothing – sometimes he hears things I don’t and vice versa. I carry on to my shower, leaving him to his buzzing puzzle. While in the shower he calls over the wall to tell me the buzzing was his razor in the shower bag he was carrying… it seemed to be coming from down low and whenever he bent over it got louder….so, in his search around the motor home he thought it was a leak in a tire. A bit of entertainment for us; got me giggling for quite awhile, visualizing him stalking the illusive buzz. Small things…..
One night here and then on our way to Cabo San Lucas, a 275 km drive. Hopefully we will find a good spot to camp. Real estate having increased incredibly in this area may well result in the closure of many rv parks. We will visit Costco, and Home Depot in Cabo San Lucas and the Mega store in San Jose del Cabo (a Mexican supermarket) and head to Los Barriles and the cats on Monday.
Driving down the road this morning we are passed by many vehicles from the Baja 2000 – a huge annual race the length of the Baja. We were passed by (one of many) open pickups with a horse tethered in the back. The horses look quite happy, ears pricked forward and looking around. Not many horses I know would like to travel like that! Then we passed an oncoming car towing a pickup with a single rope – yes, only a rope. Oh yes, a gringo couple we met in San Lucas pushed their motor home with their tow car as it had stopped running. Up and then down the highway coming into Santa Rosalia – this highway is called, not for nothing Cuesta del Infierno (Hill of Hell). The level of risk taking here is amazing, mostly by Mexicans and often modeled by Gringos.
Pemex gas stations, are popping up all over. The government owns the gas and the distribution of the gas; while the stations themselves are independent but can only sell Pemex gas. When we first came down here there were few Pemex stations and we needed to fill up at pretty well every station we saw. Now gas is not a problem. We see even more under construction. We see much development in the villages along the way as well as more kids with cell phones, on bikes, skateboards and even some on ATVs. Even in very small villages. For example, for many years the town of San Lucas relied on our friend John to bring down soccer balls for the school children. It now has a skateboard park and kids with skateboards! 4 years ago there were no children here with bikes, now there are many, some with very nice bikes.
Back home Natasha sits at the bedside of her good friend Joan Yates – the 94 year old cougar lady from Metchosin. She is fading away, not without a fight that’s for sure; it’s a very difficult time for Natasha and she is spending hours by her bedside comforting her. Joan has always called Natasha the daughter she never had and over the years the love between them has been really lovely to see. Natasha and Chris have been caretakers on a 300 acre piece of her property for over 14 years. She is a legend, a character, and a crusty independent woman who will be greatly missed by many. Just got a text message, Joan has passed away. She is now out of pain and her suffering is over. She will be greatly missed by many and certainly by Natasha.
If you have read this far - I want to tell you that both Lorne and I have not been able to send email, we can receive but not send. We will figure this out.... well, Lorne will figure it out.
We had a wonderful campfire and sing along with a couple who live just down the beach permanently (he plays twelve string and she 6 string guitar) and Garland from Squim (just across the straight from Victoria in the US) who plays electric keyboard, fiddle, guitar, and who knows what else. He was there with his family; wife, young adult son, sister and her husband. They drove two Rialtas, a small pricey motor home with a “toy box” full of things like motor cycles, wind surfing boards and sails, bicycles, this electric keyboard with amp and speakers, a boat, and who know what else! He played beautifully and his wife had an amazing voice – such fun!
We spent two nights there and then headed south to kayak at El Coyote Beach, south of Mullege in Bahia Concepcion. Janet and John headed north towards home. We had one glorious day with no wind kayaking on crystal clear water watching all the fishes swimming below, some looked big enough for dinner, unfortunately I didn’t bring my rod out with us. While I have a fishing licence for Baja I didn’t get a license for the kayak and all boats regardless of size have to have a license if one is planning on fishing from them. We have never met anyone who has been checked for licenses or heard of anyone being checked but that is the law and I sure don’t want to break any laws down here if possible.
We met some nice people next to us on the beach, a couple from Nanaimo – Pearl and Stan. We also met a couple from New York (Betty and ?) this the 2nd year they have been down here, we met them last year. They travel in a 4 wheel drive van with a tent, kayak, fold-a- boat and two dogs. We also met another couple in a bus conversion, Chuck and Elsie from near 100 mile house. They did a wonderful job on this conversion and at one time they lived in it for 9 years. Everyone is very friendly here this year, last year it seemed clicky. One day here was all the time we had and it wasn’t hard to leave as the next day dawned with cloudy skies and a very cold and constant wind.
We have to be at our cat sitting job on the 21st so we best be on our way. We don’t want to drive on Saturday or Sunday especially in the Cabo area. Our next stop, 279 km south and over the Sierra de la Giganta Mountains is Ciudad Constitucion, an agricultural community. We stay in a very nice RV park there with full hook-ups, a pool, bar, and restaurant and lots of beautiful vegetation including varieties of fruit trees, palms and cactus.
We arrived there with just enough time to pick up a few vegetables and to have a shower before dark. As I was on my way out the door to do so Lorne asks “are you buzzing?” “Huh? No I’m not buzzing – why would I be buzzing?” “Something’s buzzing” he replies. I listen carefully and hear nothing – sometimes he hears things I don’t and vice versa. I carry on to my shower, leaving him to his buzzing puzzle. While in the shower he calls over the wall to tell me the buzzing was his razor in the shower bag he was carrying… it seemed to be coming from down low and whenever he bent over it got louder….so, in his search around the motor home he thought it was a leak in a tire. A bit of entertainment for us; got me giggling for quite awhile, visualizing him stalking the illusive buzz. Small things…..
One night here and then on our way to Cabo San Lucas, a 275 km drive. Hopefully we will find a good spot to camp. Real estate having increased incredibly in this area may well result in the closure of many rv parks. We will visit Costco, and Home Depot in Cabo San Lucas and the Mega store in San Jose del Cabo (a Mexican supermarket) and head to Los Barriles and the cats on Monday.
Driving down the road this morning we are passed by many vehicles from the Baja 2000 – a huge annual race the length of the Baja. We were passed by (one of many) open pickups with a horse tethered in the back. The horses look quite happy, ears pricked forward and looking around. Not many horses I know would like to travel like that! Then we passed an oncoming car towing a pickup with a single rope – yes, only a rope. Oh yes, a gringo couple we met in San Lucas pushed their motor home with their tow car as it had stopped running. Up and then down the highway coming into Santa Rosalia – this highway is called, not for nothing Cuesta del Infierno (Hill of Hell). The level of risk taking here is amazing, mostly by Mexicans and often modeled by Gringos.
Pemex gas stations, are popping up all over. The government owns the gas and the distribution of the gas; while the stations themselves are independent but can only sell Pemex gas. When we first came down here there were few Pemex stations and we needed to fill up at pretty well every station we saw. Now gas is not a problem. We see even more under construction. We see much development in the villages along the way as well as more kids with cell phones, on bikes, skateboards and even some on ATVs. Even in very small villages. For example, for many years the town of San Lucas relied on our friend John to bring down soccer balls for the school children. It now has a skateboard park and kids with skateboards! 4 years ago there were no children here with bikes, now there are many, some with very nice bikes.
Back home Natasha sits at the bedside of her good friend Joan Yates – the 94 year old cougar lady from Metchosin. She is fading away, not without a fight that’s for sure; it’s a very difficult time for Natasha and she is spending hours by her bedside comforting her. Joan has always called Natasha the daughter she never had and over the years the love between them has been really lovely to see. Natasha and Chris have been caretakers on a 300 acre piece of her property for over 14 years. She is a legend, a character, and a crusty independent woman who will be greatly missed by many. Just got a text message, Joan has passed away. She is now out of pain and her suffering is over. She will be greatly missed by many and certainly by Natasha.
If you have read this far - I want to tell you that both Lorne and I have not been able to send email, we can receive but not send. We will figure this out.... well, Lorne will figure it out.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Baja at last, January 8, 2008
Baja California, Mexico
After two nights in the pouring rain at Potrero San Diego County Park we crossed over into Mexico at Tecate. The previous day we had walked across the border to get our visas stamped. This cut off quite a bit of time for our travel day as there is little parking on the Tecate side close to the border, requiring us to park and walk through a questionable neighbourhood.
We met a nice couple who have a house in San Jose del Cabo; Sharon and Stan, they drive down in their 4 wheel drive truck camper from Grande Cache, a town north of Jasper Alberta. We paired up with them and while we didn’t drive with them, we kept a look out for each other on the road and agreed to meet at the Pacific beach campground in El Pabellon just south of San Quintin.
We fortunately did not meet our motorcycle cop who wiped us out of all our American money in Tecate last year. (Having practiced his art for the past year on other unsuspecting gringos he was probably lounging by his pool drinking margaritas) We carried on, having lunch at our usual first gas stop in Valle de Guadelupe. Our next stop was the fish market in Ensenada. We love that fish market! So many different kinds of fresh fish at such excellent prices – tuna, dorado, marlin, swordfish, many sizes of prawns (camaron) shark, pargo, oysters, muscles, goey duck, smoked marlin and tuna but no lobster. There were probably many more fish that I can’t remember right now. We stocked up on jumbo camaron at $10.20 a kilogram, swordfish at $5 a kilo and smoked tuna and marlin $3 a kilo. Yum! We really like to rough it when we camp!
Our destination was the Pacific beach campground at El Pabellon south of San Quintin. We arrived there after dark, about 6:00 at night. It was a bit nerve wracking finding the road in the dark, everything looks so different. Following our splendid dinner of swordfish and camerons we visited with Sharon and Stan, receiving an invitation to visit them in San Jose! Stan says he literally turned the lights on in the new town of Grande Cache when they were transferred there with the Alberta electric company years ago. Sharon was a nurse and delivered the first baby in the new town. They still live there and love it.
We parted ways from our new found friends in the morning; while we headed to Bahia de Los Angeles for a few days of kayaking, they carried on their way to their home in San Jose.
I drove – yes I did! From the junction of Mex. 1 and the road into Bahia de Los Angeles – 63 km. AND I drove back out as well! There are no big trucks on this route, in fact, hardly any traffic at all. No, we didn’t get a picture of it – should have as it will be the only driving I do on this highway. There have been lots of improvements to Mex. 1 but not enough for me.
We had two beautiful mornings of kayaking – we made it almost to the closest island – about 4 km from our campsite before the wind picked up. By the time we got to shore there were some good whitecaps. It is a very windy place, the afternoons we spent inside reading till about 3:30 then went for a bike ride. What could be a more pleasant way to spend the day, kayaking, cycling, playing guitar/Lorne went to the local internet spot down the beach, reading! Wonderful!
The road south of the Bahia de Los Angeles junction is very poor, lots of pot holes and between Rosarito and Guerro Negro it is really terrible, full of even deeper potholes for about 20 km!
Arrived at our destination – San Lucas Cove at about 7:30. Quite dark and late for us. (We received a bit of a scolding from our friend John who spends much of the year at this beach – driving on a Saturday night is not a good idea)
Filled the water tank, and our hot water tank has sprung a leak. I am so glad I brought Lorne with me. Not only does he drive Mex. 1 he knows how to fix things and he is at the moment ripping the bathroom apart to fix this leak so we can have hot water. I cook. Also a useful skill.
After two nights in the pouring rain at Potrero San Diego County Park we crossed over into Mexico at Tecate. The previous day we had walked across the border to get our visas stamped. This cut off quite a bit of time for our travel day as there is little parking on the Tecate side close to the border, requiring us to park and walk through a questionable neighbourhood.
We met a nice couple who have a house in San Jose del Cabo; Sharon and Stan, they drive down in their 4 wheel drive truck camper from Grande Cache, a town north of Jasper Alberta. We paired up with them and while we didn’t drive with them, we kept a look out for each other on the road and agreed to meet at the Pacific beach campground in El Pabellon just south of San Quintin.
We fortunately did not meet our motorcycle cop who wiped us out of all our American money in Tecate last year. (Having practiced his art for the past year on other unsuspecting gringos he was probably lounging by his pool drinking margaritas) We carried on, having lunch at our usual first gas stop in Valle de Guadelupe. Our next stop was the fish market in Ensenada. We love that fish market! So many different kinds of fresh fish at such excellent prices – tuna, dorado, marlin, swordfish, many sizes of prawns (camaron) shark, pargo, oysters, muscles, goey duck, smoked marlin and tuna but no lobster. There were probably many more fish that I can’t remember right now. We stocked up on jumbo camaron at $10.20 a kilogram, swordfish at $5 a kilo and smoked tuna and marlin $3 a kilo. Yum! We really like to rough it when we camp!
Our destination was the Pacific beach campground at El Pabellon south of San Quintin. We arrived there after dark, about 6:00 at night. It was a bit nerve wracking finding the road in the dark, everything looks so different. Following our splendid dinner of swordfish and camerons we visited with Sharon and Stan, receiving an invitation to visit them in San Jose! Stan says he literally turned the lights on in the new town of Grande Cache when they were transferred there with the Alberta electric company years ago. Sharon was a nurse and delivered the first baby in the new town. They still live there and love it.
We parted ways from our new found friends in the morning; while we headed to Bahia de Los Angeles for a few days of kayaking, they carried on their way to their home in San Jose.
I drove – yes I did! From the junction of Mex. 1 and the road into Bahia de Los Angeles – 63 km. AND I drove back out as well! There are no big trucks on this route, in fact, hardly any traffic at all. No, we didn’t get a picture of it – should have as it will be the only driving I do on this highway. There have been lots of improvements to Mex. 1 but not enough for me.
We had two beautiful mornings of kayaking – we made it almost to the closest island – about 4 km from our campsite before the wind picked up. By the time we got to shore there were some good whitecaps. It is a very windy place, the afternoons we spent inside reading till about 3:30 then went for a bike ride. What could be a more pleasant way to spend the day, kayaking, cycling, playing guitar/Lorne went to the local internet spot down the beach, reading! Wonderful!
The road south of the Bahia de Los Angeles junction is very poor, lots of pot holes and between Rosarito and Guerro Negro it is really terrible, full of even deeper potholes for about 20 km!
Arrived at our destination – San Lucas Cove at about 7:30. Quite dark and late for us. (We received a bit of a scolding from our friend John who spends much of the year at this beach – driving on a Saturday night is not a good idea)
Filled the water tank, and our hot water tank has sprung a leak. I am so glad I brought Lorne with me. Not only does he drive Mex. 1 he knows how to fix things and he is at the moment ripping the bathroom apart to fix this leak so we can have hot water. I cook. Also a useful skill.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
January 4, 2008 Onward
We were in Los Angeles for a few days having our coach tinkered with before crossing into Mexico. Our friend Miguel who lives here is a champion GMC mechanic who always works on the coach before we go and when we come back. We met him the first year we had our GMC at the GMC International Rally in Las Vegas. He saved us when we had a breakdown and had to replace a ball joint, part of the front end suspension.
Miguel lives in LA (Rancho Cucamonga) and has a lot full of GMCs. We have been here for 3 sleeps, or should I say nights of little sleep. There is a train near by that toots and whistles - a lot - and there is a freeway nearby that makes continuous dull whrrring noise. Is this white noise? We are used to silence with the occasional hoot owl outside the bedroom window.
There has been/'is a rain warning for the past 2 days.... no rain yet but it finally looks like it will come today. There are warnings of heavy rain, flash flooding and mud slides, particularly in the area where the fires were last summer, which is of course right where we are heading. We will be safe, we are going to hole up at a very nice RV park at a Casino in Temecula until the rain danger passes before heading into Mexico.
On the other hand is this one of those weird panicky warnings like the one on the “s” hooks that I just bought to attach my panniers to my bike? – “Wear safety glasses when using a hammer…. Do not use where personal safety or valuable property could be endangered…. Misuse can result in serious injury or death”…. Seriously. I am quoting right from the package. Are they inciting panic strictly to get you glued to the news to hear what’s going to happen next? To sell papers? Or because they think people are just stupid and will go walking in the arroyos in the rain or will use a tiny “s” hook on their bungee jumping harness unless pumped into a panic state? I don’t know.
We went for a bike ride after arriving at the Pechanga Resort/Casino/Hotel/RV Park. When we stopped at a little store for a paper the merchant warned us to be very careful; when the rain comes down in sheets it can be very dangerous here. He recommended that we should head for shelter right away and not to ride in the rain.
Well, we made it back home safely before the rain hit. It hasn’t been too bad, there is water in the arroyos, but not much. We will not venture into Mexico until this storm passes however, as we road winds along mountain ridges with steep valleys on both sides and now there are severe wind warnings for the mountains (90 mph winds which are 135 km/h for metric people) as well as snow warnings. They have warned against driving the mountain passes in a motor home or trailer as we provide a fairly large sail.
So - tomorrow we move on to Tecate (border town) we will walk across the border, get our visas, walk back and then go camp at Potrero County Park - right in the middle of last summers burn zone and cross over the border Monday morning. This will put as far south of the border as we can drive in a day to where there is a safe campground.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
January, 2008 New Years Day
Had an early start today – on the road by 8:30! Stopped for breakfast a ways down the road at a rest stop. Pretty uneventful drive, it is cold, but lots warmer than in Washington and Oregon! By Sacramento there is a noticeable greenness emerging. Very little traffic on the road, even through Sacramento it was quite peaceful.
Such interesting countryside, we would love to take it slower and spend some time here. Apparently there is a beautiful camping area along the river with great bike paths, we haven’t located it yet! Perhaps on the way back.
This is definitely a huge farming area. Miles and miles of almond trees, oranges, grape vines. AND the most revolting feed lot spewing out the most putrid aroma! It certainly puts me off beef.
The closer to Los Angeles the more traffic on the highway, even 150 miles away there is a ribbon of headlights coming and one of red tail lights going miles ahead of us weaving through the valley and up the other side.
Oh Oh – big sign ahead – gusty winds, trailers and campers not recommended…. We are about 35 miles from the Grapevine. Lorne says the winds do get so high here that they will actually block off the road even for cars! Hopefully we will be able to get through, we plan on spending the night in Santa Clarita at Campers World as we have a bit of shopping to do. They have free camping on their lot (plus a dump station) a very nice courtesy for their customers.
December 31, 2007 New Years Eve
We slept at Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville, south of Roseburg, Oregon last night, rolled in very late, about 11:30. We fell into bed and were up and on the road by 11. It is a nice place to stay. They have nice showers, pool, sauna, and of course all the rest of the casino stuff. The buffet is pretty good, but we didn’t have it this time since we got in so late. Its secure and free unless we use the facilities.
A beautiful sunny day, blues skies with a few fluffy white clouds. It is quite cold tho. Stopped in Medford to pick up groceries and have lunch. We had our usual fun grocery shopping and marvelling at the good prices. I saved us $40 on wine alone! Have to stock up before Mexico as its difficult to get good wine there.
As we reached the top of the Siskiyou Mountains the Momas and Poppas sang us “California Dreamin” (on such a winter’s day) – and yes there is snow in the Siskiyous. The pass is at 4,000+ feet . Very pretty, especially since the road is bare and dry (ice on the shoulders). So we hope to be down and out of them before nightfall.
Made it to Rolling Hills Casino in Corning, California for New Years Eve. We had a delicious meal of king crab legs steamed in white wine, rice and mushroom fried rice, and green beans; with a lovely bottle of Willamette Valley Chardonnay. Beautiful meal cooked right in the motor home.
We walked through the casino – uneventful, packed with people wearing New Years hats plugged into the many slot machines. We left before they started the kissing. We brought the New Years in by enjoying a wonderful shower in their spotless bath-house. They also have washers and dryers. Camping free, showers $7 for one or $10 to shower together. We took the bargain rate.
A beautiful sunny day, blues skies with a few fluffy white clouds. It is quite cold tho. Stopped in Medford to pick up groceries and have lunch. We had our usual fun grocery shopping and marvelling at the good prices. I saved us $40 on wine alone! Have to stock up before Mexico as its difficult to get good wine there.
As we reached the top of the Siskiyou Mountains the Momas and Poppas sang us “California Dreamin” (on such a winter’s day) – and yes there is snow in the Siskiyous. The pass is at 4,000+ feet . Very pretty, especially since the road is bare and dry (ice on the shoulders). So we hope to be down and out of them before nightfall.
Made it to Rolling Hills Casino in Corning, California for New Years Eve. We had a delicious meal of king crab legs steamed in white wine, rice and mushroom fried rice, and green beans; with a lovely bottle of Willamette Valley Chardonnay. Beautiful meal cooked right in the motor home.
We walked through the casino – uneventful, packed with people wearing New Years hats plugged into the many slot machines. We left before they started the kissing. We brought the New Years in by enjoying a wonderful shower in their spotless bath-house. They also have washers and dryers. Camping free, showers $7 for one or $10 to shower together. We took the bargain rate.
December 29, 2007 On the Road at Last
It never fails to amaze me how long it takes to get ready to leave – there always seems to be one more thing to do which generates 5 more things, which generates even more. There are “pink” things to do and “blue” things to do (as one of our friends says). Lorne’s list always seems to dribble into mine so I try to get myself organized well in advance….. This year we had to add antifreeze to the water that heats the floor in the house so it wouldn’t freeze. Who would have thought of that? It was my idea of course – ha ha! Lorne’s idea of course. It was quite an involved process, bleeding out the right amount of water and getting 38 litres of antifreeze into the system. A good idea, but time consuming.
We stopped to see the grandkids on our way to the ferry. We will sure miss them, they are just so enthusiastic about everything – absolutely delightful.
We actually made the 5:00 ferry and drove to our friends Sharon and John Kenner’s in Bothell (near Seattle). These are the couple we met in Torquart Bay many years ago. They are such lovely people and so interesting. Sharon has been compiling her family genealogy and is part of the Geneographic Project which traces your same sex parent back through history to Africa, where humans began. Quite amazing!
John no longer has his huge tank but still has his rapid attack vehicle and a new Segway – a very cool machine that you stand on with a wheel on each side of your feet and you hold on to a handle in the middle which you also use to steer with. You make it go by just ever so slightly leaning forward, in fact you really merely think about going forward and you will, same for reverse, you think about going faster and it takes off! You can put it in turtle mode for beginners. Very cool and looks very futuristic.
John’s current project is restoring an old Morris Cooper, in a very unusual fashion – he bought a fairly new GEO Metro and is putting the whole Morris Cooper body on the frame of the GEO (utilizing the engine and all the inside stuff that makes the GEO work). He has the body of the Morris held above the GEO on a pulley system which he raises and lowers so he can make incremental changes to the body enabling it to all fit together with the least amount of body filler. We’re looking forward to seeing the end result! Why is he doing this you might ask? Well, he wants to be sure he has a reliable vehicle when he takes it along camping. He currently carries his Boston Whaler (boat) inside his converted Bluebird bus. Alternatively, he would like to carry the Morris inside the bus instead of the boat depending on where he is planning on going camping. He had visions of the original old Morris breaking down and then he wouldn’t be able to get it out of the bus easily. Which would mean they would have no place to sleep as their bed folds up when the boat or car is on board. Slightly inconvenient on a road trip when they’re counting on sleeping in the bus! So, they will have a much more reliable car when this project is completed.
We stopped to see the grandkids on our way to the ferry. We will sure miss them, they are just so enthusiastic about everything – absolutely delightful.
We actually made the 5:00 ferry and drove to our friends Sharon and John Kenner’s in Bothell (near Seattle). These are the couple we met in Torquart Bay many years ago. They are such lovely people and so interesting. Sharon has been compiling her family genealogy and is part of the Geneographic Project which traces your same sex parent back through history to Africa, where humans began. Quite amazing!
John no longer has his huge tank but still has his rapid attack vehicle and a new Segway – a very cool machine that you stand on with a wheel on each side of your feet and you hold on to a handle in the middle which you also use to steer with. You make it go by just ever so slightly leaning forward, in fact you really merely think about going forward and you will, same for reverse, you think about going faster and it takes off! You can put it in turtle mode for beginners. Very cool and looks very futuristic.
John’s current project is restoring an old Morris Cooper, in a very unusual fashion – he bought a fairly new GEO Metro and is putting the whole Morris Cooper body on the frame of the GEO (utilizing the engine and all the inside stuff that makes the GEO work). He has the body of the Morris held above the GEO on a pulley system which he raises and lowers so he can make incremental changes to the body enabling it to all fit together with the least amount of body filler. We’re looking forward to seeing the end result! Why is he doing this you might ask? Well, he wants to be sure he has a reliable vehicle when he takes it along camping. He currently carries his Boston Whaler (boat) inside his converted Bluebird bus. Alternatively, he would like to carry the Morris inside the bus instead of the boat depending on where he is planning on going camping. He had visions of the original old Morris breaking down and then he wouldn’t be able to get it out of the bus easily. Which would mean they would have no place to sleep as their bed folds up when the boat or car is on board. Slightly inconvenient on a road trip when they’re counting on sleeping in the bus! So, they will have a much more reliable car when this project is completed.
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