Spring Has Sprung In Bahia

Here it is March and we are still getting clouds and cool weather. We have never been this cold for this long. Well maybe as the month goes on it will get warmer. I am just fine being here where we are instead of the States with all that awful weather happening. Ugh!!

People who have homes here, that have been in their homes in the states for the winter, are starting to come back to Bahia. It is nice to have the town filling up with people again as it has been really quiet around here. Not many tourists. Once in a while there will be a caravan of motor homes and trailers parked along the waterfront, in town. Hopefully that is a sign there will be more coming for the summer.

The Arts and Craft show is being held this year at Easter time. The show opens on the 19^th and closes the 24^th. Since Dave and I are heading north early this year, I will only be in the show 3 days. Easter we will be closed as Rincon, across the bay from us, is having an Easter party. I have made many mobiles this time and Dave made a rack to hang them on for the show. I can also use the rack for hanging necklaces too. What I don't sell in the show, will go north with me, except those marked Bahia de los Angeles. It has been fun to just play around with different ideas and to use up some of my supplies. I'm glad I have the crafts to keep me busy as I would get tired of reading all the time. I do take walks but I love creating!!

A friend of ours went back to the states for doctor appointments and returned with parts for our washing machine. Dave replaced those parts and low and behold--------it works!!!!! It is so nice to have my machine back and working. Simple pleasures are wonderful!! So as long as it is working we won't need a new one!! Saves us some money.

We are getting excited to head to Washington to get our new travel trailer. It will be our home in Washington and while there we will travel around and enjoy family. We don't have a permanent spot for it yet, but our great friends in Bremerton have offered to keep it in their yard until we figure it out. They also have a trailer and we are going to help them put in a trailer area in their backyard this summer. We aren't going too far this year in the trailer because we are needing to get use to it, but it opens the door for great adventures and new sights to see!!!

We went to Guerrero Negro to get money and spent the night. We almost didn't as it is whale watching season and most of the hotels were full. The third one we visited had some vacancies so we stayed. We ate at the hotel for lunch and the only inexpensive thing on the menu was salad so we had that. Then we went to the bank and ended up not getting any money from the ATMs as they hadn't reloaded them. So we knew of a grocery store that has an ATM and were able to take out what we needed!! We went back to the hotel and relaxed and walked around and talked to some of the people. There was a huge group of tourists there for the whales. That evening we decided to find somewhere else to eat dinner, as we didn't want to spend a lot on a meal. The main street was torn up as they are repaving so it was not fun nor easy to get to where we wanted to go without having to backtrack. We stopped at one place but they didn't have what we were looking for. As we were getting ready to leave 2 women and a man came in looking for a place to eat as well. We got to talking and found out they were there to see the whales. After talking we said goodbye. We passed them going to a seafood restaurant, which I don't think they realized was all they served. The guy said he wanted meat!! We found a nice restaurant with the name we are familiar with in Ensenada so we stopped. There wasn't anyone in there yet for dinner, as we were early, so we found a place to sit and was deciding what to order when the 2 women and 1 guy that we had talked to earlier, came into the restaurant. They saw we came here, so they followed us. We had a great time and he bought us a shot of Tequila!!! Our dinner was good and inexpensive and we had good company to boot!! We said goodbye and safe travels to our new friends and went back to the hotel. There was only one English speaking channel on TV so we ended up watching NCIS reruns. Hey----if that is all you have—it is OK.

Next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and it was very reasonably priced. Then we went back to the ATM in the store and got the money we needed and left to come home. We won't need to come back to get money now before heading north. We were back home by early afternoon.

Thursday during the night I developed the runs. It wasn't too bad but the next morning I was running to the bathroom often. I didn't feel good and had a headache and wasn't hungry and was nauseous. I figured I just picked up a bug and it would go away. Well the diarrhea went away but the not feeling good didn't. I was eating crackers, top ramen, drinking mineral water and tonic and still no improvement. I put up with it for about a week and decided I needed to get something in town that would help. It was all intestinal so I told Dave I would see if I could get Vermox-plus at the pharmacy or in one of the stores. We used to take that every 6 months but stopped. It helps get rid of the bad bacterial and replaces it with good to help your intestines work well. Well no one had it so I went to the clinic to see if they might. I had to wait to talk to an English speaking doctor, but it was well worth the wait. I told him my symptoms and he asked if I had water in Guererro Negro and I said no but had salad. Bingo!! Say no more. He said they don't rinse their lettuce in purified water so that was my problem. They didn't have Vermox-plus but had something similar. He gave me 2 boxes, one for me and one for Dave, with 2 pills in each and I was to take one pill soon and the other one the next day. Even though he wasn't feeling bad, he still had some rumblings in his intestinal track. So within a few days I was back to normal. Whew!!! So now I will make sure we follow the every 6 month plan with Vermox-plus! It is a Mexican product and very inexpensive so well worth it to get.

Today, the 15th my eldest son turned 44. Yikes!!! The 25^th Jonathan, my youngest turned 42. How did they get that old????? Yikes-----how did I get that old!!!!! Well that is alright as it beats the alternative!!! I'd rather live!!

I have been trying to get a hold of my grandson Eian, who is in the Army and stationed in New York, to no avail. He doesn't like writing or talking on the phone much so it has been hard. But just for grins and giggles I tried calling him on a Sunday and low and behold he answered. He was just getting off work so we were able to talk for a little bit. It was so good to hear his voice and I finally got his address so I can send him letters and cards now. He is an MP and is training to be a police officer when he gets out. He will be coming home in April for a week and staying with his Dad. A big move forward on both their parts so I pray all goes well and they reconcile!!!

I am making preparations for our trip north. I have gone through all my kitchen ware and have packed a lot of items to take to the trailer. That will save some money as I hardly use those items here. I have also packed some blankets and we are ordering a Trav-a-Sak bed set. It is what we had on the boat. They are wonderful. It has velcro sheets inside the casing and one side is thinner for summer and the other thicker for winter. It is like a sleeping bag. No making up a bed and we will have an extra set of sheets so all I have to do is pull off the dirty ones and stick the clean ones on. Whaalaa!! They are well worth the money. We want to get another queen set for the pull out couch in the trailer but that will have to wait until next year. The grandboys have their own sleeping bags so they are set. I will eventually buy a comforter set to dress up the bed, but for the time being it will just be the sak on top of the mattress. Going to be shopping at Ross for pots and pans and other things along with Goodwill. I am going to have fun!!! We will have to stretch the budget for plates, cookware and such, as some of the things we HAVE to buy for the trailer will cost. It will be fun and an adventure!!!

Since I live in the desert, there isn't a lot of color around except different shades of brown and green. When things bloom it is pretty but it is only a couple times a year when that happens. So I have what you call a dead garden. A WHAT???? Yep----I call it my dead garden because it is made up of dead branches and cactus I have found on my desert walks. The soil at the house is terrible and holds a lot of minerals and salt from the bay. I have tried growing some plants and they end up dying. I have had success with planting, from seed, a Mexican Bird of Paradise plant that seems to thrive in this soil. If I want to grow anything else I need to plant them in pots. There is a problem with that though. They would die in the summer as I am not here to water. So to make my dead garden come alive with color, I bought some spray paint of bright colors and created a bright and cheerful garden patch!! Now I have some color!!! Hey----works for me!!

There are a lot of things to do between now and when we leave and my mind is already spinning. But with the lists I have made, I should do alright. I am in the process of cleaning up my art room and the items I am selling at the Arts and Craft show are packed and ready to go. 

While walking on the beach a while ago I was lucky enough to have this catch my eye.  It is a paper Nautilus and they only show up about every 10 years.  About 2 years ago there were a lot of them on the beach but this is the first one I have seen that is perfect.  They are something to behold and very, very delicate.  I love the treasures I find when I walk the beach.  

  

In Bahia we see these guys a lot.  But this was a first to have one land on our cactus!!!  Just part of the Baja beauty.

 

I am washing the winter heavy clothes now so they will be clean for next winter and just getting things cleaned up that I have been putting off-----like windows. Oh yeah!!! When it is difficult to see through the water stains at the kitchen sink window---you know you have to do something. Ha!!

The temperatures are in the low 80's and it feels wonderful!!! Still chilly with the north wind when it blows and the nights are comfortable so no complaining here. Just glad Spring has arrived and we are warming up. I sure hope summer in the states is warm!! Well on with my prepping. It will be a busy April.