January started out rather interesting with some violence in and around Mazatlan after the arrest of El Chapo’s son Ovidio Guzman Lopez. On the highways trucks were set on fire to block the roads and the Mazatlan and Culiacan airports were shut down after gunfire at an airplane. Following that businesses closed and residents were urged to stay inside. Pictures of the deserted beach and city streets were very ominous. The violence lasted for a couple days and then things returned to normal. That activity was a fair distance from us here in Lo de Marcos. At 400 km we were far enough away to not notice any difference in normal day to day life. A couple bloggers I follow stay in Mazatlan at different parks and both reported no concerns for their own safety even though they were technically in the heart of the action. That said, I am glad it wasn’t happening close to us.
Early January also brought a beautiful full moon coupled with a high tide that took away most of the beach and flooded some streets. It also brought with it huge waves that local surfers flocked to. It was a fun few days watching all the different surfers enjoying themselves. This year we’ve noticed the water to be much rougher than we remembered last year with many days of high waves and red flags warning swimmers of strong undertows and rip tides.
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| The clearest picture of a full moon I’ve ever taken without a tripod! |
This year we brought with us a small washer/spinner we got on Amazon. It had been wonderful! Especially since we had our unfortunate incident at the laundromat where our sheets were “lost”. The only downside of the machine we got is that it was not quite big enough to do king size sheets. So, even though our machine was brand new I started looking to see if there were slightly larger ones available. They seem to be prevalent down here in Mexico, not really something I’ve seen available in Canada. We purchased a 10 kg capacity machine, double the capacity of the one we brought with us. Wow, what a difference! Not only can I do a complete set of king size sheets including pillow cases in one load, the size saves so much time as I can do fewer (but larger) loads. I never thought I’d enjoy doing laundry so much lol! And the extra bonus of getting it back the SAME DAY! After spinning it almost dry, it takes next to no time at all to fully dry on the line in the wonderful sunshine down here. I’m grateful we have the ability to do our own laundry in this park, as well as hang our clothes to dry. Many parks in the US don’t allow any kind of clothes rack to be outside your RV.
By mid January we started to experience more and more issues with our power. The breaker on the box began flipping rather regularly. We reviewed our load, all that we have hooked to power and made some slight changes like turning on the electric water heater only when we were going to use it, or using the gas water heater and unplugged our outside fridge/cooler. We discovered that even with the Sola electrical voltage regulator box which boosts low voltage by up to 10% we were only getting 103-105 volts at times. That was the source of our issue, not so much what we were using but our surge protector flipping the power off because the voltage was too low and could damage electronics and appliances at that level. We discovered many were having the same issue throughout the town, not just the park. Not much we can do about it, but continue to allow the surge protector to do it’s job.
Also mid January the water issues resumed. Not just poor pressure but the volume of water. Often overnight I’d notice that there was no water at all. The park owner Juan Jose cautioned everyone to conserve water and asked that no more washing vehicles took place as the well was running dry and was taking longer to replenish. We continue to keep our tank full of water and alternate between using the onboard water and using the water straight from the outside outlet.
And, more exciting animal news this month too! Dan saw a post about a stray kitten who needed a home. Who am I kidding, he was LOOKING for posts for kittens needing a home 😊. We brought him home January 15 after a kind hearted Mexican family rescued him from a busy gas station on the highway in La Peñita. They had five cats of their own and couldn’t take him in, but wanted desperately to find him a good home. We were happy to answer that call 💕. At first we thought we’d name him Marco after Lo de Marcos, but soon realized it didn’t suit him. We then settled on ‘Gizmo’ as his name.
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| Gizmo when he was stranded at a gas station in La Peñita, looking for someone to love him. |
He’s absolutely the sweetest little guy, full of cuddles and purrs. He sleeps with me everynight, running up and flopping down on my chest before crashing to sleep. Our biggest challenge would be integrating him into our “wild” home, particularly with HoseHey as he’s the “moody” one. Initially I also thought it might be challenging for him to trust the dog. The poor guy literally pee’d himself as I carried him past Heffay on day one 😢. In a short amount of time though, after observing Heffay with HoseHey and HeyZeus he’s become completely comfortable around Heffay, thankfully! As I write this blog post now in mid February, the integration with HoseHey and HeyZeus is still a work in progress. Not so much HeyZeus, but definitely with HoseHey. All I can hope for is that he’ll be settled in enough to feel safe once we hit the road at the end of March. I’m sure that’ll be a bit scary for him, once we start the engine of our beautiful beast and his whole house starts to move and make loud noises.
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| Day 1 - “Ah, home sweet home. Yes…this’ll do” 💕 |
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| Poor guy had oil and grime from the gas station all over his chin. |
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| The day we picked him up. He was a little dirty and very scared but quickly settled into Dan’s cat whisperer arms ❤️ |
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| Hilltop Jaltemba Equine Education Project (JEEP) refuge in La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nayarit |
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| How gorgeous a setting is this? Raised food bowls on platforms looking out to the ocean. Million dollar views! |
Also a first, this year I took some time to actually walk around Sayulita. Last year we only drove through a couple times and that can be very overwhelming. It is such a busy little town. My neighbour and I went in and walked around one afternoon to check out the shops. A few hours was just the right amount of time! Many wonderful shops, murals and restaurants. It’d be far too overwhelming for me personally to spend too much time at once there. Let’s just say Dan was happy not to join us, lol!
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| Pretty shops, but not near as cheap as you may think when you think of Mexico |
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| Huichol art store |
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| Colourful streets |
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| Beautiful murals |
On the way back from a Costco run in Puerto Vallarta we also stopped to check out one of the various copper vendors along the highway. Simply spectacular pieces!
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This year we also started feeding the local birds. We have a pair of orioles that now visit us daily along with a small woodpecker and other birds. We feed them with sliced oranges placed in the palm tree at the corner of our pad. It’s very peaceful to watch them.
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| A pair of Oriole’s enjoying the sliced oranges This is a zoomed in shot through our sun shade. The male is in front and his mate just behind him. You can just see her face and beak |
A bit of a shocking discovery down here has been the price of medications. Everyone knows Mexico is famous for their plethora of various drugs available over the counter. But don’t be fooled, they are crazy expensive! I’m not talking about those drugs though, I’m talking about simple allergy meds. I take Reactine daily for allergies (both seasonal and animal allergies). I buy them in Canada at Costco. Getting the Kirkland generic brand I pay approx $23 Canadian for 200. Realizing I would run out while down here I went to the pharmacy to find some. They don’t have the “Reactine” brand but there are Mexican manufacturers who sell the same ingredients under another name. I was shocked to find they cost $159 pesos (just under $12 Cdn with the current exchange rate) for TEN! That’s more than $1 per tablet! Ouch! And no other brands, no larger bulk quantities available. Sold in packages of 10 only! I don’t want to assume it’s this way throughout Mexico, perhaps there are more options in larger cities. We ran into the same issue in getting bulk Benadryl for Heffay. With his constant scratching I give him Benadryl to sometimes help. The dosage for animals is based on weight and is WAY more than a human would take. Heffay’s dose is 4 tablets at a time. Those too are expensive with no real generic brands. Let’s just say I’ll be sure to bring enough stock for next year from Canada.
And in Kayak news, the crack is considered officially repaired. Dan had it out in the water a few times and it was dry as a bone inside. YES!
Throughout January Heffay’s eye continued to heal and seemed to be going well for the first few weeks with the running and itchiness basically gone. Then, near to the end of the three week treatment the watering returned and I noticed a nasty looking blood blister like dot on his eye 😢. I was so disheartened and thought for sure this was a bad sign. Particularly because he had started to rub at it again and with such force that I had to wrap his front dew claw to prevent him from making it worse! Off to the vet we went, at least a one hour drive each way for the three week check up.
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| Ouch!! 😢 |
The day we got back from the vet in Valle Dorado, I noticed Gizmo straining in the litter box. When I went to investigate he had blood in his pee, a significant amount too! So, off to the vet here in town we went for some antibiotics. We were hopeful it was just a bladder infection and not crystals. I’m happy to report his fever cleared within a day and the blood disappeared from his urine. Phew! And, just in time for us to get him fixed 😊 His surgery went well and a mere $600 pesos later ($42 Cdn) he was fixed. Next steps were to complete his vaccinations.
In other medical news lol, I booked myself in for a dentist appt. I’d been experiencing some pain occasionally when I bit down on my lower right side. Now that I’m retired (or unemployed as Dan likes to jest), I don’t have any dental coverage at home. No better place than down here to have things looked at where it will be much less of an impact financially. My check up appointment including x-rays only cost $300 pesos ($21 Cdn). From the x-ray they determined that I may need a root canal of one tooth where a filling I have was within a millimetre of the root. Next appointment would be to remove the current filling, apply “medicine” then refill it temporarily and see if I experience the pain again. If yes, then I’ll need a root canal. If not then the medicine and a new filling should do the trick. So far, no charge for that service yet…they’ll charge me once they determine what the final treatment will be.
The month rounded off with a nice surprise. The breeder of HoseHey and HeyZeus Jewelspride Bengals wrote an ebook about travelling with cats. She asked if she could use some of my pictures in her book and of course I was happy to assist. HeyZeus is now on the cover of her book
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| HeyZeus is a star! This picture was taken down here in Lo de Marcos last winter. |
So, all in all January was a pretty busy month although felt primarily filled with veterinary visits. I’m not complaining though. I can’t imagine how much it would have cost us to have all those vet visits in Canada.
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