That Hard To Reach Sock!

Well, I may have cracked a rib. I don't know for sure. All I know it was about a week ago and it hurts to take a deep breath, sit up in bed, or sit up straight while driving. It hasn't gotten any better.

Now, get your laughing and snickering and giggles over with before you read on...

So, I had dirty clothes that needed to be washed. We were at a very nice Loreto campground with washers and dryers. BIG washers. Taller-Than-Mine-At-Home washers. Dang little sock stuck to the VERY back side of the drum. I, being the person of short stature that I am, had to kinda climb on to the edge of the washer to reach the sock. I no longer have an ample bosom to protect those ribs that have been thusly protected their entire lives. POP. OUCH. BIG OUCH.

Okay, so it is kinda funny. But not so much when I have to stretch to reach something. Then it's not funny at all. End of story.

On to last night's beach stay...Playa Tecolote, north of La Paz.

Liz cooked up some fish and we had fish tacos, cucumber/onion salad, and garlic bread for dinner. And brownies for dessert...Beth even came out for a brownie!! :)

The Energizer Bunny (Liz) FINALLY relaxed in a chair...

Here we are, having a "party" (including cocktails and appetizers and front-row seats) to watch a young man stuck with his truck and travel trailer in the sand. We eventually brought him most of our orange blocks for "leverage"...seven remain buried in the sand, unable to be found. An older gentlemen, with a big diesel truck thing, pulled him out. We are easily entertained since leaving the Land of Television...

 

Beach is beautiful. The water is gorgeous. Then "they" started to arrive in the late afternoon - hordes of people, loud people, people driving inches from our rigs (some fast, and we all have dogs). We changed our minds about staying another night, especially at 2:00AM when a jeep drove by, playing VERY LOUD Mexican music...

For tonight, we are camped in a sandlot just outside of Ciudad Constitucion. My fridge is not working. My friend George is helping me troubleshoot via emails...

Whale Skeletons and Pedro

My filthy little beast REALLY needed a haircut, so Mommy did it. Her "evil eye" curse toward her Mommy will probably go away when the haircut grows out. Sorry, Abby. Mommy loves you, but she's no groomer!!

A lovely view during our Bahia Loreto Parque Nacional (Loreto Bay National Park) snorkeling tour, taken from...

their lovely toilet facilities...

I FOUND PEDRO! I FOUND PEDRO! On our way for ice cream in San Carlos (this town was a plan "B", which photograph of its planning stages, for some reason, did not record - the road to Plan "A" was impassable for my rig - thank you, Tina, for checking that out for me). Plan "B" had us drive from the Gulf of California side to the Pacific side today - they did have ice cream AND PEDRO! :)

 And a whale skeleton in San Carlos, where we landed for the night.

Everyone elses' blogs will have much more and detailed information on the day, I'm sure. I need to go spend some quality time with The Punk Beast...

xoxoxoxo

A Little More Mexico

Here are a few photos of where we spent the last 7 nights - on Playa Sanispac (I'll need to go check that spelling, but I'm too lazy right now...), just south of Mulege. My kayak FINALLY got wet. I believe Liz may have posted a picture of it's maiden launch on her blog. And these are my two pictures of Liz in her Kayoo (a 12' hard-sided kayak that weighs in at just 12 pounds).

The beach was an amazing place to buying all sorts of "necessities" - fruits, vegetables, drinking water, bric-a-brac, carpets, blankets, bowls, pastries, eggs - you get the picture - just about anything you could want is hand delivered to your door. And the prices are reasonable. Alas, however, no Pedros presented themselves. 

 The beach out my door in the mornings...

And in the afternoon...

 The longer view from my little area of beach.

Beth launching her little kayak...

We took a trip to town (Mulege) early in the week. Of course, eating was involved. I ended my eating day by ordering a cup of Pina Colada ice cream...there was so much rum in this ice cream that it would have most likely been illegal to serve it to a minor!

Please note that the others are taking pictures of the food that was just delivered...

After 7 nights, we moved on today (Tuesday, January 7) to Loreto - the Rivera Del Mar RV Park. A delightfully non-sandy RV park right in the middle of town. Laundry, clean showers/toilets, wi-fi, a lovely "communal sitting area, AND full hook-ups - all for the nice price of USD18/night. 

All of our rigs, right in a row...

Looking toward the office...

The background, to the right, is the little communal area, and the yellow building in background left is the shower/toilet house. Abby was keeping her eye on me. Speaking of Abby, Tina was kind enough to bring over her grooming table and help me (actually, she did most of it) groom the filthy beast. She was really starting to look pretty rough. Now, she's ugly, to boot!! 

We all got settled in, did some laundry, and Tina and I marched to town for some food. Beth and Liz had already eaten. I did not have breakfast this morning. Tina graciously agreed to go for pizza!! (believe it or not, I'm kinda sick of seafood...)

The pizza was DELICIOUS - wood fired AND they had anchovies!!! I was in heaven. And we both had a little extra touch of heaven in their use of FRESH GARLIC. I can't even imagine how my breath smells about now. Thank goodness I haven't found my Pedro!

And that about wraps it up for this evening...please go see the other ladies' blogs - they are much better at it, and there might be some pictures of me, for anyone who cares to see. I need to go see if Liz published my kayak's maiden launch...

'Night, all! 

Love you.

Oh, I need to get up and close my door - I think the temp has dropped to around 68 or so. Brrrrrr. 

And another Oh...our dinner last night - shrimp fresh off the boat - Liz cooked them in garlic and butter - salad, and rice and beans. It was so delicious!

First Couple of Days in Baja

Our walking-over entry to get our tourist papers...the official hit on "divorced" Beth, making sure she knew he was single.

How many women does it take to get pesos out of an ATM?

How many women does it take to relax at Rancho Sordo Mudo, also known as The Deaf Camp, a school for deaf children. The camping fees are voluntary and go to support the school.

Our Christmas dinner table - the only Christmas-ee person in my little family is Abby, so she made sure all the puppers had gifts from her. We humans had chicken and dumplings - YUMMO.

Next we moved on to Campo Cinco just a bit south of Ensenada. This view was $8/night, and came complete with many whales spouting throughout the afternoon. We stayed two nights, using the down day as a day in town to get our Telcel USB internet sticks, have lunch and make a WallyWorld stop (yes, there is a Walmart in Ensenada).

Please note use of my solar panel...it's working great!

Lunch at Pancho's at La Bufadora (the blowhole - a large tourist trap).

Baja Route Map

My little Abby is sick and I'm scared to death it's a recurrence of last year's bout of pancreatitis! I am praying real hard that it is not - just changes and lots of "other dog stress"...

If not, we'll (I'll) have to stay in California until I can get her to a doc. I'm starting to syringe feed her water so she doesn't get dehydrated and also giving her tiny doses of either Immodium or Pepto. Her first Pepto dose was this morning and so far, it hasn't worked.

So, I'm snarfing this picture off of Liz's blog, showing our route. The text is also hers...sorry, Liz!

Below is a map of our planned Baja route and stops, although it may change as we go along....adding more stops or not stopping some places. But, it gives you an idea. There is pretty much one road south and back, with a few side trips.

Sharon Ain't No Pimp

So, the RZR ride was great fun. After several minutes, I realized Sharon was not going to kill us, even though she has been known to roll her machine...

Then her hot water heater broke, with a houseful of women set to arrive the next day. Bam, that girl was off to Lowe's, back in 45 minutes with a new heater and had her son and his helper install it immediately. Now that's what I call service. I want those boys to live next door to me!!

Because of the efficiency of Sharon's "network", we still had time to make it to the Valley View Casino. New "players" get a free ($32.95 value) lobster buffet. The last time I partook of a casino buffet (Paula Dean's somewhere in Tunica), the food was awful. This buffet was delicious!

We had lobster and prime rib (cooked perfectly, which is unusual on a buffet), coconut shrimp, shrimp on a stick, salads galore, vegetables of every sort, delicious mac & cheese (I treated myself to a tablespoon of the stuff) and desserts that you can't imagine - an entire side of the dessert area was sugar-free stuff. I had TWO (count 'em - TWO) waffle ice cream cones with sugar-free butter pecan ice cream. The second one only had ONE scoop, but I added caramel. YUM. It was so worth it, even as my stomach protested at 2:00 in the morning with a vicious bout of heart-burn.

As a side note, while standing in line for the buffet, there was a semi-good-looking Hispanic guy in front of us, with what appeared to be his elderly parents. I leaned over to Sharon and asked if she would ask if his name was Pedro. Her reply - "I'm not pimpin' for you." Thanks a lot, friend!

I lost forty bucks, and had a great time doing it.

Liz, Tina, and Lyn arrive today. Oh, the pups (all 7 of 'em) are going to have a ball in this large, fenced yard!

Sorry, but no cameras were hurt in the making of this post...they weren't hurt OR used!

Cal-i-FOR-nigh-aye - Day 1

I am totally in love with the weather of Southern California...

So, on to Day 1...for those of you heading this way for a get-together, OHBOYOHBOY - I am staying through so I get to meet you, Lyn and Laura!! OHBOYOHBOY! Sharon is graciously allowing me to stay - THANK YOU, Sharon.

Waiting for Sharon to pull her big rig out so we can both go dump.

She will later this day take me on a hell-bent-for-leather ride around that mound in the background!

It was great fun.

Sharon's place in Sun City CA

Me, settled in to my little nesting place for several days, awaiting the arrival of more friends.

Sharon is getting ready to take me "off roading" in her Razr.

 Two of Sharon's other toys - a Harley and a Yamaha.

 And her really BIG toy...

Tomorrow, we're going for a free lobster lunch and some gambling...woo-hoo. Maybe I'll win enough so I can buy me a Pedro?

Made It To Sun City, Cal-i-FOR-nigh-aye

Long drive today, but oh so worth it...mid 70s here where I am sitting, at 4:13 in the afternoon! OMGosh, it feels so good to be warm warm warm. Next I'll be bitching about the heat, right? (if I do, please forgive me - this new cancer drug has brought on hot flashes/night sweats with a vengeance.)

Here is my trip progress so far...haven't been in Sun City long enough for any pictures yet. I am stopped for a couple of nights at a my friend Sharon's place. What a great place - huge fenced yard for the Little Pest to roam about freely. I asked Sharon about deadly snakes, and alas, there are none. I'm stuck with the Beast for a while longer. 

Okay, that's all for now...I'm off to sip a cool glass of wine out on the veranda in this lovely Cal-i-FOR-nigh-aye weather. Be safe. Be warm. 

Look, Ma - I'm A Junior Ranger!

Carlsbad Caverns was awesome, although you'd have to ask the lower half of my body to get the full story. Tina and I opted to take "the natural opening" down, leaving the elevators to the sissies. Was it worth the resulting pain in my hips, thighs, knees, and calves? Hell, yes - we ain't no stinkin' sissies! Those elevator sissies missed an incredible amount of beauty and narrative from the electronic Park Ranger.

The photo below is known as The Whale's Mouth.

  

Abby and I are FINALLY warm. It was 78 in Tuscon today. I couldn't get my jeans off fast enough (I know I've said THAT before, but it's been decades) We are very happy today. I decided to check in here (Catalina State Park, Tucson) for 4 nights to just enjoy the warmth and some relaxation. 

Texas & Cowboys

Well, we went on a Cowboy Hunt this afternoon. But first, our bodies needed nutritional fortification for the rigors of the hunt, so we had a late lunch at OST (Old Spanish Trail) in Bandera, Texas...

Before our delicious lunch of REAL Tex-Mex food, we had to try out the bar stools (saddles). Being a city girl, I was not quite sure how to mount it...

I got it figured out, however (being a city girl...) if I had mounted properly, I would have been facing the bar - a bar which does NOT serve drinks (alcohol or non-alcohol...)

Our RV Women friend, Nikki, drove her rig over to join us. REAL Tex-Mex food - YUMMO!

After lunch, Karen and Sharon walked us over to the famous (or infamous) 11th Street Bar...well, what a place!

Yes, those are bras hanging all over the ceiling and walls...

Now, let me tell you a little bit about Ms. West - BEFORE this cowboy even had a chance to walk through the door, Karen was outside telling him that she had a friend who wanted a cowboy. The poor man was a good enough sport to pose for a picture with me (horribly unphotogenic I am, hence, my face burned out via Photoshop).

It was a great, albeit very cold, day.