About Me

Lee Creek, North Shuswap near Chase, B.C, Canada
We went full-time Rving in October of 2005! We retired from full time to part-time as of the end of 2015. Our present "small but comfortable" Wagon is a 2008 Camper trailer(TravelAir Rustler), pulled by a 2008 Dodge Dakota, 4X4.l. Our home is now a Gated Community Park, in Oliver, British-Columbia, Canada. I retired in 2005 and my Life Companion, Valerie, retired October 1, 2006 from nursing. We invite you to follow and share our new adventures and mishaps. Life is but an adventure full of dreams yet to be fulfilled!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

February 23 to 28, San Carlos

FEB. 23, Monday, routine in San Carlos

We had a lazy morning. I got drinking water for 24 pesos for two 5 gallon jugs, Val did some laundry then we went to town to buy some potatoes and vegetables and milk. We met Lynden at FROGGY’s for a beer while he was having lunch; Charlie is still not feeling good and is sleeping. We came home and Val made scallop potatoes for tonight. I had a little snooze then we went to “the LOT” for dinner and celebrated Cathy’s birthday. Lynden was there but Charlie stayed home as she still having the flue, poor girl! The lot looks really good now. There are a lot of flowers, new little trees and they’ve built canopies over their rigs and made stone walkway. I will have to take some pictures.
We came home around 9 p.m. and went to bed almost right away.


FEB. 24, Tuesday, San Carlos

We got up late this morning, another lazy day! We took a drive into town and stopped at JJ for a couple tacos and beer.
In the afternoon, Lynden, Craig, Larry and I went golfing. The cost has gone up. $29 US so won’t be doing this often. The guys did 18 holes but I only did 9 as my knee was acting up.
I was sitting under the shade at our rig when this lady walked up and asked me if I was Claude from CLAUVAL. I said yes and she said that she had seen our BLOG and wanted to ask some questions about our trip south so we had a nice chat about it all. What a pleasant surprise it was! It’s so neat when total strangers come up and say they’ve read our BLOG; makes me feel good and makes it worthwhile to know it’s being useful to some.
It was hot today and into the evening too.

FEB. 25, Wednesday, San Carlos

Val did more laundry then we went to the LOT to pick up our dishes we had left there the other night but first, we stopped at RICO for a hot dog. He is finally open after being close for a week…he was on holidays
I picked up beer and milk, the essential of life then we had happy hour with Joyce and Bill and the Kirkby’s.
It was another hot day; nearly 30*C (90*F) and the evening was very pleasant so we sat out until late


FEB 26, Thursday,

Another quiet day in San Carlos! It wasn’t as hot as yesterday as we had a bit of a breeze today. I tried the internet and it is working very sporadically so I gave up. Even at the office, it wouldn’t work properly. Val decided to do a major clean up so I took the fan screen covers off and washed those and the fan blades. They were filthy from the dust and fine sand.
In the afternoon, we all went to meet the “LOT” gang at Miramar and watched the sunset while having Happy Hour. Came home, had dinner, tried to make some phone calls but the internet wouldn’t work so we gave up and went to bed after watching Survivor.


FEB 27, Friday library day

We went to the library at 9 a.m. and I picked up a couple books and Val 3 more. We came home and were going to leave when Dennis walked by and told me about this RV seminar happening at the Palapa so I went over to listen. The guy was really good; his name was Garry from the “Whisperer RV”, a company from Oregon. Anyway, I did learn a few new things which are always good then it was lunch time so we went to RICO for a hot dog. Craig was supposed to meet us there at 12:30 but he never showed up…probably forgot!? From here we went to Guaymas to shop for groceries at SORIANA and the LEY, came home and put everything away. Dennis, Joyce and Bill came over for Happy Hour and the Kirkby’s joined us later.
We had dinner and since the internet was working, we called the kids but being Friday evening, everyone was away except Joanne whom we spoke to for a while but then got cut off. We tried a couple time to no avail so gave up. MEXICO!! We watched a bit of TV then it was bedtime


FEB. 28, Saturday, San Carlos

Last day of the month and it is cloudy this morning but will clear up later. We paid for a month’s rent (33 days) which takes us to April 2 @ 6500 pesos. Pretty expensive especially since it’s calculated on the US dollar! Anyway, we went into town to get some beer and money then drove to the local community clubhouse to check out on TAI-CHI for Val. They have classes twice a week. When we left, we noticed that people we met a few years back were home which we could see from the club so we went over to say hello. We had a short visit as they had just arrived and were in the process of unpacking. We drove up the road and met another couple whom we knew and they invited us over their house for a beer. Theirs was small but open and very nicely decorated. She had made bread that morning so insisted on making us a sandwich which was delicious.
We came home and read for a while then drove to the LOT to have happy hour with the gang. Came home around 7 p.m. and had dinner. Another good day in Paradise!

Monday, February 23, 2009

February 16 to 22, 2009; return to San Carlos

FEB. 16, Monday, Sightseeing in Mazatlan

We went to visit “STONE ISLAND”, a small community just outside Mazatlan. We took a taxi to Mazatlan Port, took a small ferry boat across the Bay and walked the Beach. STONE ISLAND is actually a Peninsula near Mazatlan yet isolated from the big city. There is an RV Park which we visited and got some prices then walked the beach some more and went for a bite to eat at a local beach restaurant. While there, we saw people we had met in San Blas, Patrick and Bonny, so invited them over.
This is a very nice little place and very quaint. We walked the village and found the people very friendly. The RV Park has 50 amps power and is very clean and don’t seem to miss anything. We walked back to the ferry and went back to Mazatlan where we walked the “Malecon”, a boardwalk jetty along the ocean. It was a very pretty and impressive walkway with beautiful statues which I capture in my photos. We took another “pulmonia” back to our RV site. When we arrived, we found a note from friends we met back Lo de Marcos, inviting us over to the park for happy hour so we drove over and joined them. We had a good time, came back home and after a quick dinner and a relaxing evening, it was bedtime!


FEB. 17, Tuesday, Mazatlan

Another quiet day! Rick came over and he and I went for a bike ride along the “Malecon” In the afternoon, I read and Val went for a walk with Charlene on the beach. I got propane at 175 pesos (approx 15$ cdn)
In the evening we went for a walk along the “”Strip”, listened to some music then came home.


FEB. 18, Wednesday, return of my laptop

Val went with Rick, Judy and the Kirkby’s on a mountain climbing adventure. It is actually a light house built on a knoll and is the highest lighthouse in North America, if not the world. I sat around and waiting for my laptop to return which finally arrived at 6:30 that evening, so I wasted a whole day but at least Val had a good time. It cost me 2400 pesos (approx. 230$cdn) for a new hard-drive and the labor of reloading everything.


FEB. 19, Thursday, packing day

Our last day here! We loaded all our stuff, filled the water tank, fuelled up @460 pesos. Val went for a walk on the beach then we all had happy hour and a couple of neighbours came over to say their goodbyes.


FEB. 20, Friday, to Los Mochis

We left at 8:10 a.m. after saying our adios to our neighbours and new friends. We headed north on Hwy 15 libre which was excellent and little traffic. We crossed Cuiliacan city without any incident then we came onto Hwy 15 cuota (toll) We arrived in Los Mochis around 4 p.m. and parked at a Pemex to spend the night. We had happy hour, supper then got together again and proceeded to drink too much wine

We travelled a distance of 408 KM (267 miles) at an average speed of 40 MPH
N 25* 49’ 53”
W 108* 58’ 12”
Alt: 108 feet



FEB. 21, Saturday, in San Carlos

We left at 8:30 and with a bit of a hang-over for all of us. We topped up on fuel and headed north on Hwy 15 Cuota (toll). In Navajoa, we stopped for lunch and top-up then went on. Our total cost for toll was 351 pesos or approx 33$ cdn which we resented considering the state of some of the road…it was pretty rough in some spots.
We soon arrived in Guaymas then San Carlos and Totonaka RV Park and set up at site 88 and paid 1925 pesos for one week.
After setting up, we went to Froggy’s for a pizza dinner but the Kirkby’s stayed home as Lynden is not feeling well. Steve from the “Lot” met us at the pub and we had a nice visit. The rest of the gang went to Guaymas for the Carnival.

We travelled 370 km in 7.5 hours at an average speed of 42 mph
N 27* 57’ 52”
W 111* 01”27

Alt 20 feet


FEB. 22, Sunday, San Carlos

I finished setting up, met some of our neighbours, visited with Joyce and Bill whom we met last year and saw Dennis who we also met last year. Peter and Marg came over for a visit and also Cathy and Craig.
I spent the day setting up our satellite and catching up to my blog.
We went to the “Lot” at 4 p,m. for happy hour then came home for dinner. It’s great being here! We are here until the 10 of April when my obligatory 3 months stay for insurance purpose back home is complete. That’s Easter week-end.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

February 7 to 15, 2009 Teacapan to Mazatlan

FEB. 7, Saturday, Teacapan

The Kirkby’s went to Escuinapa to the Ley, a big grocery store like Safeway and Wal-Mart while we went to the village of Teacapan to take a look around. We visited the other campgrounds and the waterfront which was really nice compared to the rest of the village. Teacapan is a fishing and farm community and quite poor. The water front was quite a contrast in that it had a 4 lane street about 1.5 miles long which has no end/start that makes sense, a big hotel and a few restaurants. We had a bite to eat while there. Houses along the way were very nice and chique and looked like they were owned by gringos.
We came home afterwards and later in the day we all went for a walk along the beach which sandy of course and went on for miles.


FEB. 8, Sunday, A computer crash!!!

Today was a relaxing day and we did almost nothing. Val did the laundry and I found my laptop NOT WORKING!!?? It crashed and would not restart no matter what I did. There’s been a couple of power outage here and I suspect that was the trouble.


FEB 9, Monday, Teacapan

A cloudy morning but sunny in the afternoon! The four of us went cycling to the village, looked around, visited a local cemetery which was very colorful. We did some bird watching and had lunch at the local hotel next to the RV park near town the cycled back to our Onac RV Park


FEB 10, Tuesday, Kayaking day

We went kayaking at the local Estuary. Once we got there, a local Mexican cycled over and insisted on giving us a hand to unload and pack to the water. We gave him a small tip then went on our way. We found a small water way that kind of went back towards the village and was full of birds so of course we slowly paddled and took a few pictures. We then paddled across the way and went to the outer peninsula and had lunch on the beach. We paddled back and it became quite choppy and we quickly made our way across back to our launching site. Once we got there, the Mexican was there and gave us a hand re-loading then gave the girls shells that he had picked up.
On the way back, I stopped a local store and picked up a decal for Teacapan that I later put on the back window of the truck.
We had a siesta in the afternoon then happy hour at the end of the day. We all went to bed early tonight


FEB. 11, Wednesday, lazy day in Teacapan

The Kirkby’s went to Escuinapa and we stayed home. I went to the village to get some beer then upon my return, washed the truck. Fish and Mexican rice for dinner


FEB. 12, Thursday, packing

Our last day in Teacapan and we just lazed around until later in the afternoon when we packed the rest of our toys and equipment, loaded the kayaks and bikes. Once this was done, one of our neighbors looked at my laptop and came to the conclusion that it may be the hard-drive rather than the CPU or fan so I hope that I can deal with it in Mazatlan.
It was a sunny warm but comfortable day with a light wind. We had the Kikby’s over for dinner and a nice evening together


FEB. 13, Friday, Onward to Mazatlan

We left at 9 a.m., drove Hwy 1 to hwy 15 Libre, through Escuinapa and onward to Mazatlan. It was a short drive and once in San Bartolo RV park, I got the phone number of someone who could fix the laptop. He was over in the next two hours and did a bunch of test and came to the conclusion that it was in fact the hard-drive. He took away to be return next Wednesday.
We went out to “FAT FISH” for dinner and had the best and biggest helping of ribs I ever tasted. We met another couple from Minnesota and invited to join our table. We came home by 21:30 p.m.

We travelled 135 KM in 3 hours at an average speed of 35 MPH
N 23* 15’ 40”
W 106* 27’48”
Alt: 30 feet


FEB. 14, Saturday, Mazatlan

We went to Wal-Mart and Office depot to pick up groceries and price a hard-drive here but they didn’t have any. Lynden had his pictures put on a CD which took over an hour. We had taken a small “Pulmonia”, a small open vehicle like a Volkswagen, which was better than taking our vehicle and fight the traffic. On our return, we walked the Golden Zone and looked at the shops there.
We came back home by 4 p.m., had a few relaxing moment then went to the “Purple Onion” for Valentine dinner. It was quite good. We had a dish served which consisted of three different little round steaks cooked differently and served with Rice, and vegetable and live music. It was quite noisy and we had a hard time hearing each other but we still had a good time.


FEB. 15, Sunday, quiet day

Stayed home, did laundry, washed the front and back of the rig and all the windows. We spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing. We had happy hour at the Kirkby’s

Saturday, February 07, 2009

February 1 to 6, 2009 San Blas to Teacapan

FEB 1, Sunday, SuperBowl day in Playa Amor!

Val did a load of wash and I washed all the equipment from our last two days. At 4 p.m. we met at Collen and Mac motor home and watched the SuperBowl game. Didn’t win any money unfortunately and Val came close but Arizona screwed it up.


FEB. 2, Monday

I took my flat to a local shop and they took it apart and found a 4 inch pipe that had been flatten at one end and caused my flat tire. The tire is ruined so I have to get a new one. Now I will have to go to Tepic tomorrow to get that remedied.
Not much else to report. I did my internet and downloaded my mail and updated my blog


FEB. 3, Tuesday, to Tepic

We left at 7:45 a.m. and followed Colleen and Mac to Tepic. What a road! Full of curves and switchbacks but beautiful scenery. I am sure glad we don’t have to come here on a daily basis, I’d lose all my nerves. We left Mac and Colleen at the Honda dealer and found a tire shop where I purchased two tires for the rear. Same make and size as to what I have on now but cheaper than home. We had to wait until 2 p.m. as they had to bring them in so we went shopping at Wal-Mart and the Ley. The Ley had a beautiful mall and Val was able to get her watch and bracelet fix for 10 pesos ($1.)
At 2 p.m. we went to the tire shop and they changed both tires and put the spare back, balanced them and we were on the road within 20 minutes. Can’t beat that, I tell you!
Tepic is at 3200 feet but we had to climb to 3700 feet than deal with the curves and switchbacks all over again going downhill to 100 feet but were home within two hours safe and sound, I think!?
We went to check our mail and found out that Rochelle will not be coming down so it’s time to leave. It’s disappointing but we understand


FEB. 4, Wednesday, Playa Amor

Val was up early again and went bird watching with Charlene and Lynden. I met them at Miramar for breakfast at 9 a.m. in Santa Cruz.
It’s been a really hot day and there is little to no wind. Everyone is trying to find shade and no move unnecessarily.
We found a way to get a week back of our pesos. Mac will buy back a week and give us the money so we are leaving with the Kirkby’s Friday morning.
In the evening, we went over to Rudiger and Charlotte and played a game of charade with 3 other couples. It was fun and lots of laughs. It is still pretty warm outside but comfortable.


FEB. 5, Thursday, Packing

We got up early and I washed the truck and all the equipment then put everything away. Amazing how much junk one carries on these trips. I was finished by 1 p.m. and went for a dip in the ocean then a shower. It felt marvelous. We sat at the point and read for a while then it was time for Happy Hour! There are 6 rigs leaving tomorrow including us.
We went to Colleen and Mac for dinner. She prepared a marvelous meal then we had wine and aperitif. There were eight of us including Lynden and Char, Leo and Lynn.
We got to bed at 10 p.m.


FEB. 6, Friday, to Teacapan, Sinaloa, Mex.


We were on the road by 8:45 after saying goodbye to everyone. We drove on hwy 12 to San Blas then turned right and headed for Hidalgo where we stopped to get some propane at 150 pesos. We continued north to Hwy 15 where we turned north west towards our destination. I stopped in Rosamada for fuel as I like to top up when the tank is half empty. We went through 3 check points for fruit and one military one. No problemo as we say and no fruita!
In Escuinapa we turned south on Hwy 02 and stopped for lunch then headed for our campsite. We arrived at Villa Onac in time to grab the last two pads by the ocean, paid 1155 pesos for a week and set up. Rudiger and Phil arrived about an hour later. It is hot again but there is a good breeze
We had happy hour with a group of people we had met in San Blas then it was time for dinner and relaxing.

We travelled 249 KM in 6 hours at an average speed of 36 MPH

N 22* 36’ 49”
W 105* 47’ 34”
Alt: 18 feet