Hello everyone, I guess it's way past time for me to do some blogging. I have been just to lazy to get around to it. Sorry. It has been a wonderful winter here in Mexico. The weather has been the best in the 4 years we have been here.

Jan injured her right ankle just before Christmas. (that's the one whe has surgery on last summer.) We took a week trip to St. David, AZ the first week in January & she went to the ER to have it checked out. Nothing was broken, but she called the Podiatrist who did the surgery (back in WI) & he said she probably sprained the tendon that he had repaired & it would probably take 2-3 months to reheal. She is able to walk on it now, but she was laid up for the past 3 months most of the time.

Nell & Dave arrived just before New Years. They were going to stay until April, but Nell was having a lot of pain in her back and her leg. Then, she got an absessed tooth & had to have it pulled in Hermosillo. She was miserable, so they decided to go back to Mobile so she could see her Dr. about her back. They left at the beginning of February.

Earl & Debbie arrived January 15, so the 6 of us hung out quite a bit. With Nell & Jan not feeling very good, we were not able to do a lot of stuff, but we had a great time anyway.

Earl & Debbie had booked a condo in San Carlos in February & invited Nell & Dave and us to go with them. Nell did not feel up to the trip, but Jan & I went along. It was nice to have a "vacation" as we haven't had one since we started RV'ing. LOL The condo was beautiful and according to some local friends, has the only heated pool in San Carlos. We took advantage of that and we did a lot of sightseeing and of course sampled a great variety of cuisine while we were there.

We went on a sunset cruise one evening. Lots of margaritas and spectacular views.

Kari had given us an inflatable kayak for Christmas, so we took it along. Earl & Deb have one too, so we went out several times. One evening, we took the kayaks out and the water was absolutely calm. It was beautiful and there was a flock of penguins flying around just at sunset. Debbie got a terrific pic of them.

I think that this is big enough to upload at one time since the internet here is a little slow. I'll do another one in the next few days.

I have a new woman in my life. She made me a picture of us in the sun and she also made me a Christmas Card. Her name is Yvonne & Jan is very understanding about my new friend.

We had a lot of fun,swimming in the pool. I would meet her there every afternoon.

Yvonne's mom & dad left with Yvonne yesterday. But they'll be coming back next year.

Here is Yvonne & "Princess."

Just another typical sunset.

Another Day in Paradise

It's been getting a bit cool at night & very humid some evenings.

We often have a pretty layer of fog over the Sea of Cortez. The Island of Tiburon ( Shark Island) is behind the fog. It's about 3 miles offshore.

Jan took a day trip to San Carlos, about 70 miles south of Kino yesterday. She went with 6 others from the park. I didn't feel like spending 5 hours (2.5 hrs each way) as they were coming back the same day. They took a nature cruise in the morning and saw lots of birds and a pod of dolphins swam along with their boat for a while.

After lunch, they went to a pearl farm in Guaymas, just across the bay from San Carlos. They grow black pearls at the farm, which if course is in the bay with oysters.

Then they had dinner at Jorge's Restaurant in New Kino.

Just another sunset.

Kino Bay

We are in Kino. We got here Nov 15 with Jill & Kim and Joan & Maurice. The weather has been fabulous. 80's & 90's and sunny every day. It even hit 100+ one day. That was a little too much, but NO COMPLAINTS. It cloudedup this morning & we are getting some light rain right now. We were invited to a Quinceinera (not sure if that's spelled right) Saturday. Poncho owns a small restaurant in Old Kino where we go for dinner frequently and his twin daughters turned 15. The Quinceinera is a huge celebration when a girl turns 15. The party is comparable with a wedding in the U.S. Anyway, he invited Jim & Karen Benson, Jill & Kim Edwqrds & us to the party. We had a great time, but he had seating for about 80 people in his yard and there were over 200 people there, so we left after about an hour so others could have our table and be able to eat. Besides that we could not understand the words of the songs. They had a live band.

We;e been pretty busy getting the park organized for the season. There are only 9 rigs in the park right now & 6 of us are volunteers. We've had time to do a lot of swimming. And of course, we've gone into town 4 times so far for dinner. The sunsets have been amazing, but we missed getting pics of most of them as we didn't hae the camera with us when we went for dinner. Here is a pic of the least spectacular one.

There was this really cool fog bank over the water the other morning.

A couple of the local fishermen.

Back in the Southwest

We left Wisconsin on Oct 12 and decided to take I80 across Iowa and Nebraska and then I76 to Denver. We hadn't been that way with the RV & wanted to go a different way this year. I don't think we will be doing that again this late in the year. We didn't run into any snow, but it was too cold. The mountains also were tough on the truck. Pulling 16,000 lbs up to 11,000 ft. was hard on it, and then coming back down (without an exhaust brake) really heated up the brakes, even in 2nd gear, I had to do a lot of braking. Next time, I think we'll go further south and avoid the higher mountains and the cold.

We've been in Pahrump for a week now. I haven't taken the time to post anything, so I figured that I should do it this morning. We've run into quite a few friends here. Kim & Jill, Jim & Karen, Jerry & Laura, Rick & Pam, Paul & Carol and Pat & Dee. The weather here has been wonderful. It's in the 80's and cool at night. I have played Texas Holdum a couple of times at the casino and I am 30 dollars ahead. I also played in a tournament at the casino and split the pot with 2 other guys. We were the only ones left and rather than play it out & winner take all, we agreed to split it. I got $60 from that. So add that to our losses at the slots & we are only down a little. Mostly we have been taking advantage of the 2 for 1 buffets at the casinos. We haven't cooked one meal since we've been here. It's a good thing that we are leaving Monday. If we stayed a month, we'd gain 50 lbs each.

I'll post again when we get to Pilot Knob in Yuma.

Time to head South

Well, it's been a while, so I figured it was time to post an update.
We've spent the summer parked in my Dad's back yard outside of Hustisford, WI. Jan's ankle is finally healing nicely. It took almost 2 months for the incision to completely heal, but she is beginning to show faster improvement in her walking. She has been in physical therapy for about 2 weeks now & that is helping a lot. It will still take 3-4 months longer for her to be walking without pain.

We will be leaving WI on Oct 12 and meeting up with friends in Pahrump, NV. It is really getting to be time to leave WI. We have to wear sweatshirts and have the furnace turned on in the RV. Too cold for us. We're meeting Ron & Sandy Hunter there and will also be visiting with Jerry & Laura Milano. They're staying at their son's house in Las Vegas. I also found out yesterday that Jill & Kim Edwards and Jim & Karen Benson (friends from Kino) will also be in Pahrump, so it looks like we'll be busy.

We'll be going to pilot Knob in Yuma for 2 weeks after we leave NV. Gotta see a dentist, get our visas and get some Pesos. Then we head to Kino Bay, MX for the winter. I should have more pics to post from Kino.

Surgery

Jan had surgery on her right ankle on Tuesday. The Dr. said that the tendon was torn much worse than the MRI showed. He had to do a lot more sewing than he thought. He also tightened up a ligament to make the ankle much more stable. He also scraped off a large bone spur that was causing most of her pain.

Jan is doing quite well. She has had a bit of pain, but the painkillers she was given have done a great job of keeping it bearable. The Dr. had told me that she would be in a lot of pain, but she has been pleased that the pain isn't as bad as he said it would be. She is supposed to keep her foot elevated and only get up to use the bathroom. So, she has spent the last two days in bed, reading and doing puzzles and watching TV. She has an appointment next Tuesday and weshould know how she is coming with her recovery.