A Little Hurricane Watch

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico

Another nice 35C day today so we will probably not be out and about that much.  I did have a few jobs to get done today and one was to check all the surveillance cameras, because Jen was having some problems with a couple of them.  The 2 she mentioned were not working because I had knocked the plug in out of the wall by accident earlier, and the other one, the plug had just worked its way out.  They are both showing green lights so I hope that fixed them.  While I was up on the second floor I got a picture of RRV in its place for the winter.  

The other job I had was to get our sewer pipe hooked up.  I used to have a sewer pipe here but it has gone missing so I headed down to the plumbing shop to buy a new one.  Good thing it is just at the end of our street cause I had to haul it back in the jeep and it was 20 feet long so about half of it hung out the back window.  I got a few chuckles and pointing as I bounced down the cobblestone street with it.

Got it all laid out ready for my expert plumbing skills to take over.

I was quite happy with the finished product and it will work so much better than having the RV sewer hose which normal springs a leak before winter is over or someone steps on it.  This ridged pipe will stay in place quite nicely.

One of the things that we have been doing is watching the development of Hurricane Vance.  Our indications right now are that it may fizzle out as it moves northward as well as a high pressure over the Pacific coast may keep it out to sea.  Bottom line is, we are watching it and are prepared to pack up quickly and move inland if need be.  We should know by Sunday if there is any imminent danger on the horizon.  

Susan noticed tonight that we have a little visitor in RRV.  He was crawling up the wall and scurried away and hid but not before she got a picture.

We have not witnessed an actual sunset since arriving here, but the colours it leaves in the clouds is great.  We will be fine!!!  Good Nite!!!

Thursday is Market Day

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico

Well we are starting to fall back into a bit of a routine and Archie is enjoying it.  We went for our normal morning walk on the beach and Archie just ran free and splashed and sniffed and was in doggy heaven.  It is so much fun to watch him.  I'm waiting for him to get rolled by a big wave.  This one almost got him.

Today is market day in town and we wanted to pick up some bread but alas, the bread man was not at the market.  We had a quick look and that was it.

Next stop was some breakfast at Irma's.  They do an awesome breakfast and have great orange juice.

I have a lot of things to do around here but the heat has beat us up.  We go out for a little while and then have to go back in the cool.  The pool is getting to the point where it is no longer refreshing, but at least you get wet and then the breeze feels cool.

One interesting thing is that there a couple Iguana's on the property and Sue got a quick picture of one of them.  They are cute to watch but they poop around the pool area quite a bit.

After supper, I headed downtown to catch Kenia and Oscar and spend some time with them.  I checked at Cafecito #2 but they were not there.  This spot is not very busy in the evenings but she hopes business will pick up with the arrival of the snowbirds.  It is a classy little spot to grab a frappe or smoothie and enjoy it in air conditioned comfort.  Its just down the street from us on Acapulco Street.

So I headed downtown to Cafecito #1 which is near the plaza.  This is a busy little spot even at this time of year.  Suzanna does a great job of running this one for Kenia.  Kenia got some Halloween decorations and as usual was willing to pose for the camera.  "One for the Blog" I call it.

 

 

Well another great day here in Paradise.  The heat and humidity is really tough to work in. I can hear you all now, wah, wah, wah, wah!!!  We will make it and when the Santa Anna winds come over the mountain, the weather will turn as awesome as you can ever imagine.  Good Nite!!!

A Shave and a Haircut

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico

Another hot day today.  We are just doing a little at a time right now and trying to climatize.  Because of all the time changes we went through, I was up at 7:30 this morning.  That is not really normal for me however I am going to try to keep my rising time about then all winter.  First on the list was a haircut!! Rosita always makes me smile and now she insists on a picture for the blog!!!  Love her. She also uses a straight razor to trim up the edges. That makes me nervous.  Anyone remember the old barbers who used to hone the razors edge on a big leather strap that was attached to the barber chair.  That made it even more ominous!!!  Rosita just has one with a replaceable blade so none of that performance.  She has a wee cough so is wearing a mask!!

When I got home we went and found our outside fridge and brought it over.  We had to get our outside mats placed to be able to have the fridge on it.  The way we parked this year, we have a little more room for a front yard where the fridge goes.  The fridge will be under that little bush which will provide some much needed shade from the hot sun.

Of course when I went to plug it in I noticed that someone had been playing with the wires and that the breaker box was almost completely rusted out.  Because of the rust there was no neutral connection so I just took the breaker out completely and hot wired the wires until tomorrow when I will get a new box and breaker.  Oh yes the wiring is simple.  The hot AND the neutral wires are both green so you have to guess which way to hook them up!!! And then the ground is white but only where it comes from the feed cable and after that it is hooked to a black wire which is now a hot wire and the black becomes neutral!!!  LOL  Figure that out!!!!

I didn't even have any marettes so it is just out there.  I did put some tape on it to keep the dog from electrocuting himself.

Next on the list was to find some of the umbrellas to put around the pool cause we need some shade when we are in the pool, which is a half dozen times a day.

Around 4 pm Sue and I headed down to the Baja Market to pick up some supplies so we don't starve.  It is one of our favourite shopping spots for general supplies.  When we left we locked the gate because we are the only ones there so no one would have been around.  When we got back I reached in my pocket for the key and suddenly realized that they were in my other shorts.  Now what?  All gates are locked.  We could call Sergio, but I told Sue that I should have a little climbing expertise in me.  Its only about 10 feet high.  I climbed a tree once when I was a child.  So I put the Jeep up to the gate to get something to boost me up and over I went.  Well it wasn't that graceful or quick but I finally made it over.  I felt a bit like a common criminal but got the job done.

This was our sunset tonight.  They tell us there is another hurricane brewing out there in the Pacific, so we are watching it close.  We don't plan to ride out a hurricane but would rather pull up our feet and head inland for a few days.  Another reason to drag our feet a bit on putting out umbrellas and loungers.  Most of what we read says there is only a small chance Vance, will hit us.  Come to think of it, I have never experienced a hurricane!!!!   Joking.  That's it for today.  Good Nite!!!

Day 13 We Arrived!!!

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico

We only had a short trip today to get to La Penita.  We arrived about noon to 35C high humidity and immediately remembered why we shouldn't come this early.  It is like being in a sauna!!  Sergio met us at the gate an welcomed us back to our winter home.  Jen and Ed were watching for us to arrive and sent us a picture from their surveillance camera!!!

Here was our travels today.

We will have to take a day or so to get acclimatized to the extreme heat and humidity before we start getting all the stuff out of summer storage.  The high tides and waves which were a reminant of hurricane Simon have washed more sand into our sitting area which is nice.  The winds also tore the top off of our big palapa, but it was time for it to be replaced anyway.  Joel and I will get rid of the stuff that is no good.  The place is in great shape otherwise and the grass is soooo green.

First plan for me was to get something to eat, so I headed down town for some liver and onions at my favourite spot "El Pollito".  The waiters all welcomed us back and remembered what we wanted.

When I got back to the park I got busy setting up RRV.  It is a bit of a struggle in the heat but we managed to get in place and the basics done.  

Part of staying cool is using the pool lots.  The next few days we will be in the pool lots to cool off in between getting the place up and running.  It is a necessity in this weather.

We took a little time in the evening to just sit and watch the ocean, and Archie dug a hole in the sand to keep cool.  

Kenia and Oscar came to visit after supper and we had a great time with them.  Kenia is a month away from having her first baby and is super excited.  I think she is glad we are here to share this event with her.  We look forward to meeting little Kiera.

I was hungry so we headed downtown for taco's.  They were everything I remembered them to be.

We are so happy to be back and how could you not believe that you are in paradise when this is your post sunset view!!!!  Good Nite!!!

Day 12 We Made Some Miles Today

WHERE ARE WE? Roca Azul RV park, Chapala, Mexico

We were up and on the road in good time this morning and it was a beautiful day, so we decided to make a run for Roca Azul RV park which is almost 600 kms away.  Some of the roads were rough, but for the most part it was a relaxing drive.  Here was our route today.

The countryside is typical Mexico today, with some beautiful mountains and lots of waste land.  It has its own sort of beauty.

Lots of these funny looking trees in the median.  Sorry for the dirty windows.

                                         

This one looked like Big Bird!!

The new highway sections have some neat work done in the cuts.

Archie has had enough of travelling.  Her really wants to get to his Mexican home with the big yard where he can roam free.  I don't know if he enjoys the scenery or not, but we do.  

We seemed to think that there was more construction along the way this year.  That is good because the road are starting to deteriorate we noticed.  Nothing big, but those kind of bumps that rattle RRV.  All and all the roads are good though.

We have a couple towns to go through where the streets are narrow and the traffic is heavy.  The lanes are barely 9 feet wide so you have to pay attention.  Lots of truck traffic.

We had a little incident today on a narrow 4 lane in a town where a big 2 trailer semi pulled up on the passenger side of us to pass and he was going a bit fast and had to make a maneuver to avoid a car in front of him so he weaved pretty hard and whipped his back trailer towards me, so I hit the brakes but the back end of his trailer clipped our passenger mirror and broke part of it.  That was a bit scary. Only a scratch on the outside frame of the mirror but the small lens is gone.  We watched him as he went up the road ahead of us and he definitely should not have been driving a big rig like that.  He was weaving all over the place and jeopardizing the traffic as he did so.  We are thankful it was only a small clip cause he could have taken us out!!!

We arrived at Roca Azul after a long day and drove down the narrow overgrown bumpy rough 3 km lane way into the park.  The area where we would normally park was a water logged muddy mess so we just parked on the edge of the soccer field.  I wasn't impressed with our accomodations there at all.  We paid for a serviced parking spot but could not get near any of the open ones for the mud and water.  Oh well, we had a good sleep and will travel on tomorrow.  Good Nite!!

The very narrow road into the park

They always like to build big wall that restrict the Motorhomes from moving easily.

Parked up in the soccer field for the night.