I'm Back on the Road

I won't bore you with what I've been doing the last two months, just getting things done. I did spend time in northern California and saw many friends but sadly there just wasn't enough time to see everyone.  I'm sorry about that.

My friend, Diane, who has a truck and camper, is following me up to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.  We're seeing friends along the way.  Spent a few days visiting s friend.  He and I spent the day hiking along the shore and on the beach. 

His beautiful red maple tree.

When it was time to leave he gave me a 

bouquet of flowers from his wonderful garden.

From his house in northern California we went up to Crescent City CA for 4 nights. 

Parking spot outside of Crescent City, Calif.  It's a horse ranch and rv park.  Kitties could run free.  Diane and I were in one spot.  Super big sites and you couldn't see anyone else around even though there were about 10 other campers.  The owner didn't want me to advertise his park saying he's as busy as he wants to be.

Bubba in the grass. 

 Diane's truck didn't make it into this pictures but she's to the right,

of that little tree, just behind the blooming wild rose.

Still many wildflowers blooming.

Rhododendron 

Wild iris

Crescent City beach at low tide.

Moving north along the coast we spent two nights in the Florence Oregon ELKS Lodge RV Park.

There's Diane's truck and camper.

Having lunch on the Siuslaw River in Florence Oregon.

From there we were able to track down Diane's brother, John, at the casino in Lincoln City, Oregon.  John lives in an rv and travels around just like me.  He has made it an art, staying in casino parking lots for free and playing the slots.  The night before we found him he won BIG.   He knows how all the machines work, and he's explained it to me several times but to say that I don't understand how it all works is an understatement.  He knows though.

I'm now in Tillamook Oregon where mom and I stayed in 2017 while having work done on the rv.  

Near the air museum.

It's beautiful here today and the kitties are running free.

I'm Back in the States, Arizona to be Exact

Last monday, March 4th, I lead two other RVers from the beach in San Carlos, Mexico back to Arizona.  

Arizona state flag.

If you'd like to learn about the flag click here.

It was a fairly uneventful trip except for the fact that when my engine was at operating temperature and we'd stop for something my engine wouldn't start again for several minutes.  One of the men in our little group said he thought it might be my fuel pump.  TheSo for the rest of the way to Arizona I was worried that the pump might quite working at any minute.  But luck was with me and I made it all the way to Tucson, where I called a friend of mine and he referred me to a repair shop, and they could get me in the very next day.  So early Wednesday, with fingers crossed, I drove the 10 miles to the shop.  Within a few hours I had a new fuel pump and filter.  They said that my filter was very dirty, dribbling black yucky gas on their work table.

New pump.

The reason I came back to the states when I did was because there are several of my friends here in Tucson.  So I have been busy socializing.  

Saharah, Kyra and me after breakfast in the 

Casino Del Sol.

Kyra, Kris and Lynn, with me in the back, at Kris and Lynn's home

 for BBQ ribs, yummy.

I'll stay in the Tucson area for another week then head over to Yuma.  

The miles are adding up, and I'm having so much fun.

We're Back Back Back on the Beach Again

The kittens and I are back on the beach in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico.  I won't bore you with the trip details between Mazatlan and San Carlos but I will say it was an adventure, as is everything one does in Mexico.

So I have a few random pictures to show you.

First up, let me tell you a little about driving in Mexico.  Yes, there are some 4 lane toll roads that look and act like freeways in the US but then there are roads like this one.  Even though this road is a toll road it is only 1.5 lanes wide in each direction with a dashed white line on the right side.  This can easily change to a three lane road with the slower moving vehicles moving to the right, over the broken white line, (note, no rumble strip), making room for faster cars and trucks to pass you by.  So what looks like a 1 lane with shoulder becomes a 3 lane roadway.  It works.  When someone is passing, no matter which direction they are going, everyone moves over to make room.

Moving on.  This is a Cara Cara hawk.  One day while driving around we came across a bunch of them all perched atop cactus.  I was able to let the car slowly roll towards this one.

I'm parked in a different spot now at the beach and I can even see the water from here.

View from rv window looking toward my friend Kathy in the red Lazy Daze, 

with rainbow in the clouds.

We arrived back during a wind storm, with a possibility of some rain.  We did get some rain but not enough to completely wash off the rv and car.  They are both very dirty and I guess the rv will stay that way until I get back to the Yuma area, but I can have the car washed next time I go to Walmart in Guaymas where there are car washing guys in that parking lot.  

The wild surf our first morning back.

This is what the beach looked like the next morning, lots of seaweed and shells.

Some of the shells I've picked up in the last few days.

One of my neighbors.

Bubba's very happy to be back.

One last picture, of chiles.  Fresh on the left and dried on the right.

There's Always Something Going On

The Ships Come In and The Ships Go Out and Some Just Wait

Here comes the Carnival Splender at 8am Tuesday.

And there she goes at 6pm Tuesday.

Here we have the Magellan due in at 8am Wednesday 

but didn't get here until 9:30am.

And there she goes at 6pm Wednesday.

Here are 2 of the 4 ships out at anchor waiting their turn

 to come in and unload their cargo.

Then We Have Fish

Walking to dinner Wednesday evening I saw a commotion down the beach. 

 Guys were yelling and calling for their friends to come and help 

pull in this fishing net. One end of the net is here by this motorcycle

 and the other end is down the beach

 at the other motorcycle.

As they pulled the net in they were also getting closer to each other.

These three guys, one in white shorts, one guy kneeling 

and the guy in the orange shirt, are on this end.

And on the other end we have a guy in the water 

holding down the bottom of the net

 while the guys on the other side of that ATV are pulling.

Here comes the birds.  You can see the little floats on the top of the net,

 some are still out in the water.

The two guys out in the water are holding the net up so the fish

don't jump out.

We can see the fish churning in the water.  

To the left is an eel caught in the net, by green t-shirt guy.

I don't know what kind of fish these are but they're not very big.

Then We Have Frigate Birds

These birds are BIG.

Sorry this was such a long post but didn't want to break it down into two.

Tomorrow, Thursday is our last day here at Tres Amigos in Mazatlan.  Friday morning we will head up the coast a bit.  

Mazatlan, Mexico

We've left the Lake Chapala area.  We were there two weeks out of the two months that we had paid for.  Neither Glen nor I liked it there.  Yes, the weather is great there, very mild, but that's only one part of what goes into a decision to stay in a place.  The biggest reason we left was that the lake is very polluted and it stinks.  The second reason is, the rv park in about 45 minutes away from anything, there are lots of people and traffic and the streets are cobblestone which doesn't sound bad until you have to walk on them and you fall because you are looking at the things around you and not at your footing, no I didn't fall.  Time to move on down the road.

So now we're in Mazatlan, at Tres Amigos RV park, back to the coast with fresh air.  Yes, the weather here is a bit warm for me and the humidity is rather high but there are several restaurants within walking distance down the beach and I can run my new air conditioner. Almost heaven.

city, Mazatlan, state, Sinaloa, country, Mexico

Front row of RVs have little yards and patios.

I'm in the second row

Coconut shrimp with Lemonada Mineral, lemonade with mineral water.

We're on the south side of the harbor entrance.  

Cruise ship, the Carnival Splendor, coming into port.

You can see the roof of the restaurant next door and

 down the beach you can see other restaurants.

We'll be here four more days then move up the coast a few hours.  I'll leave you with last nights sunset.