Chores, chores and more chores

I've been so busy trying to get caught up on things the lazy days of heaven delayed, that I better bring this up to date before I forget what actually took place - certainly wouldn't want to have to make anything up!

I'm back in Tucson now - for a short time - while trying to get a couple things fixed on the coach. What, you're surprised there are more repairs?

Actually, it's not all that bad this time. I'm getting new windows in the bedroom - windows that open. There's almost no air circulation back there (poor design), so when in the shop last time, I asked Larry (at Ed Hannon's Freedom RV in Tucson) if I could get replacements for the two windows in the slide-out that would open. Gulf Stream said no, of course, there were none for my model. While wandering around the parking lot at the service center with Penny one night, I saw, in a 2007 model Gulf Stream coach, windows in the bedroom slide-out that measure exactly what mine do. I pointed them out to Larry. He measured them and agreed they'd work. Gulf Stream said no, there were none for my model. Larry commented that the new coaches have the same size windows. Gulf Stream said no, there are none for my model. So Larry, bless his heart, (don't tell anyone please) ordered two windows for the coach in his yard (they have to be ordered by VIN number) for me. And they are only costing about a third what I anticipated, so I don't feel badly about doing it at all.

Also, he's installing an on-demand hot water heater I ordered. I'll be able to take real showers!! No water pressure, of course, but at least I can stand in the weak stream for longer!

Then, and he doesn't know about this one yet, we need to figure out why, since I had it serviced last month, when I turn on the generator (like on the road when it's so hot I need a little extra air conditioning) it blows some circuit breakers . . . on the way down to Kino, it blew the a/c and the auxiliary fans in cab area, and the outside mirror controls) - on the way back from Kino, it blew the a/c and the water pump (no flushing!) - and on the way up from Amado to here, it just (just!) blew the a/c. Weird.

Anyway, I gotta tell you - it was really, really hard to leave Kino Bay! I've made some great new friends, some I only knew for a few days, some for a few weeks - but special! I almost wish (almost, mind you) I didn't have firm plans for this summer that made me leave! But I'll be back down there soon! I told Penny to say bye-bye to her pals, because she wouldn't be seeing them for about 4 years! Everyone who heard me say it were so taken aback, until I said that was in dog years!

Annette and I made the rounds of my favorite spots before I left - a giant margarita on the patio at Jorge's, where we were treated to a photo shoot of a hula halau

(that's a training center for hula dancing) - hula is everywhere! They had multiple costume changes, including Tahitian! Most entertaining!

We made it to the gravel pit, and we actually learned the correct name for the place, but I can't remember it, for one last plate of the best chili rellenos around! And saw one of the best vehicle conversions yet!

There was one last cocktail party on the beach - where we were treated to the

highest tides I've seen since being here.

I'd been hoping for some more photo ops with my favorite pelicans, but the surf was so gorgeous that I was content.

Closed up and headed out Wednesday morning, into some really strong cross winds - great day for driving, but at least it kept the trip relatively cool, since the extra a/c wasn't working!

Made good time, until the border crossing. For some reason, the bloody customs guys decided it was a good day to start enforcing a rule that had been on the books for years, and they took my two remaining live plants. Mexican soil can't be trusted, you know. I told them they were 8 year old Arizona plants that had just been on vacation, but noooooo, we have to follow the rules! I'm sure they just took them home!

Stopped for a couple nights at the home for the bewildered in Amado, to get my months worth of laundry done, then headed to Tucson for repairs and such.

Had a great lunch with my pal, Hugh, at one of my favorite places in town, McGraw's Cantina, where I was delighted to see another of my old friends!

She was obviously taking pleasure in the relative coolness of the concrete patio over the heat of the desert. There's a huge colony of these adorable critters right there at the diner's feet, always begging for whatever morsels might come their way!

Had a fun conversation yesterday with my cousin Norm - north end of Vancouver Island in Canada - he had just completed a day of helping the Canadian fisheries department (whatever they are called) in tagging 10,000 fingerling salmon for release into the ocean. He was doing the grunt labor of lifting out buckets of two to three hundred of the babies at a time for processing. They are placed in vats of water that is mildly drugged to make them super lazy. They are then passed into the conveyor where their little tiny apparently unnecessary fins under their tail is snipped off. This shows the potential sport fisherman that the fish he catches has been tagged, which he is then supposed to report for tracking studies. Fishie then goes to someone who puts tiny, 1mm, chips under their skin near the head. Fishie then passes thru a 'reader' to make sure the chip is functioning, then Norm puts him into a tank of fresh undrugged sea water to recuperate before being put back with the other fishies. They are later released, hopefully to grow to big fishies for the dinner plate. Pretty fancy process. More manual work at this location than some others that are more computerized. How fun to be a part of that operation!!

A day today of R&R, getting together the final list of must-do chores and shopping (TJ's!!), and maybe I'll even take a look at the maps to at least start to plan my route outta here!

Gawd, I miss the beach and my new friends!