There was no meeting of Old Geezers today because we had to launch 3 boats starting at 6:30 AM so by the time we get the 3 boats launched some of the "Geezers " have to have breakfast at exactly 7:30 AM. You would think the world might end if they did not eat on schedule. No wonder they are called Old Geezers. Myself and Stan shoot the breeze until 8 AM.
Bob #1 was first to launch and he is an American but from Lake of the Woods and his wife is a Cdn with duel citizenship. The second boat was Geo from Pigeon Lake but has or had a business in Edm. His boat is a beauty, about 24 ft with twins 70's and he has a tandem trailer constructed of all Aluminum with a 8 ft extendable tongue. This was the maiden voyage for Ed's boat so his wife Myrna went with him. The third boat belongs to Ed from Okotoks. It is a 18 ft with a 65 motor and he launches it with a Quad so it is fairly easy to launch. However all the boat need 3 people to launch and the chances are that 2 people will get wet including "yours Truly ". Unfortunately ED got skunked on his maiden voyage.
My car is still in the Body Shop until Saturday but I decided to visit it just to see how it was coming and maybe to make sure it was still in MX. The Body Shop ( actually a yard ) was locked but I could see that my car was being worked on so no need to worry.
In the afternoon I helped to retrieve 2 of the 3 boats and of course when you land boats in the ocean you get wet. It seems that the waves are highest when we land the boats.
Sometimes in the afternoon a group of us , just sit on the patio along the beach and watch the people on the beach. It's not above our capacity to make comments, ( within the group only), about those walking, running or just sunning themselves. Yesterday , a 6 piece band came along on the beach and someone paid them to play and it happen to be close to us. They had a Drum and a Tuba among other instruments and they were loud, so much so that we thought of paying them to get lost.
Anyhow we suffered thru the music until Happy Hour which pretty much ends the day for everyone. cheers
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Winter of 2015 in MX (Jan 15 )
OK, I'm back on track after my mix up with the 13 and 14. Also I will try to add some picture but no promises.
Our car is still at the Body shop and will be there until 1 PM on Sat so we don't have any wheels but we "had " to got to the Thursday market in La Penita . Why because Carroll had an appointment to pick out a stone for a ring she wanted.
Since we had no wheels we planned to grab a cab which will cost 30 P ( less than 3.00. However, another couple where just leaving the park and gave us a ride to the market. It was crowded and I should have taken a picture but the camera is in the car. " My Bad ".
Anyway, we fought our way thru the crowd hunting for the Jeweler which also means we were slightly hassled to buy a table cloth salesman which we agreed to check his wares later. We found the Jeweler and Carroll picked out a Garnet Stone. I being more interested in the price said "how much" and she said 900 P, of course I said not a chance. then the girls said, oh remember I sold you friend a ring for 800 P so I will give you the same deal. We agreed, but I probably could have got her down to 700 P.
Now back to the table cloth salesman. After looking thru about 20 table cloths Carroll found one she liked so; as the money guy, I said how much and he said 250 P, I your nuts so he countered with 220 P and I said 200 P and so he said I can't do that so I took 200 P out of my wallet and said do want to sell the table cloth or not and he said OK.
On the way out of the Market Carroll spotted a "Dress Boutique" , the word Boutique might be a strength, so she picked out one that looks good in MX but will never see the light of day in Medicine Hat. We also got it for 200 P. Now to find a taxi to get home. They have a stand near the market so we got a ride home for 300P ( less than 3 bucks ).
The rest of the day was either at the beach or just doing nothing until Happy Hour. cheers
Christmas morning in our MH in MX. Quite a different change for the G/kids but Santa did find them
Our car is still at the Body shop and will be there until 1 PM on Sat so we don't have any wheels but we "had " to got to the Thursday market in La Penita . Why because Carroll had an appointment to pick out a stone for a ring she wanted.
Since we had no wheels we planned to grab a cab which will cost 30 P ( less than 3.00. However, another couple where just leaving the park and gave us a ride to the market. It was crowded and I should have taken a picture but the camera is in the car. " My Bad ".
Anyway, we fought our way thru the crowd hunting for the Jeweler which also means we were slightly hassled to buy a table cloth salesman which we agreed to check his wares later. We found the Jeweler and Carroll picked out a Garnet Stone. I being more interested in the price said "how much" and she said 900 P, of course I said not a chance. then the girls said, oh remember I sold you friend a ring for 800 P so I will give you the same deal. We agreed, but I probably could have got her down to 700 P.
Now back to the table cloth salesman. After looking thru about 20 table cloths Carroll found one she liked so; as the money guy, I said how much and he said 250 P, I your nuts so he countered with 220 P and I said 200 P and so he said I can't do that so I took 200 P out of my wallet and said do want to sell the table cloth or not and he said OK.
On the way out of the Market Carroll spotted a "Dress Boutique" , the word Boutique might be a strength, so she picked out one that looks good in MX but will never see the light of day in Medicine Hat. We also got it for 200 P. Now to find a taxi to get home. They have a stand near the market so we got a ride home for 300P ( less than 3 bucks ).
The rest of the day was either at the beach or just doing nothing until Happy Hour. cheers
New Years Day dinner at Tom and Maureen's with Garry and Val. Gary was in the army and posted to Shilo so we had lots of stories to swap
 |
| Carroll on the beach Pineapple drink and fruit mix |
Typical beach day during the Christmas and New Year holidays
Friday, 16 January 2015
Winter of2015 in MX (Jan 14 )
In my haste to catch up with my Blog I mixed the 13 and the 14 together. Beer and Sun will do the that to you. Life's a Bitch but if you spend 4 months on the beach it is a lot easier to handle. You might get the 15 th today and you might not. cheers
Winter of 2015 in MX ( Jan 13)
The Old Geezers club this morning was mostly talking about " will I or won't I" go fishing. Bob #1 is just itching to get out on the ocean but weather report is for rough seas. However, the two Frenchmen from the next park already went out so it can't be that rough. It was decided that it was too rough so nobody from our park went out today.
We invited two couples for supper tonight so we put a roast in crock pot complete with vegetable which make for a easy meal. The crock pot is outside so as not to heat up the MH. Also we will eat in our patio.
Shortly after getting the supper in the crock pot ; in walks the Body mechanic and he motions ( we don't speak each other language ) to bring the car to his shop. I get in the car to drive to his shop and he jumps in the co-pilots seat. I quickly deduce that he was dropped off and he is directing me to his shop. ( It is funny how they operate, but it is MX ) Once at his shop I "tried " to make him understand that I want my car back no later than Saturday and I think he agreed. Then he needed the year of the car so he could obtain the paint code. I could not understand the question so he took out his license and pointed to the year so I finally understood. Then he ask for money up front which I wasn't too fond of until I realize this is policy in MX as he needs to buy the paint. It was only 200 P ( 18.00 ) .
My friend Tom arrived to pick me up and he speak passive Spanish so he verified that I would have my car by Sat , but I know that does really mean " Diddle Squat" to Mexicans.
We are still trying to find a Pharmacy "Farmaica " to fill a prescription for Carroll but neither Costco in PV or the 3 Pharmacies in La Penita had the medicine . But one pharmacy in La Penita suggested we try the one in Lo de Marco which is a little town 14 KM away. I kind of laugh because I though if Costco doesn't have it why would some "Hole in the wall" have it. Besides, we have been to Lo de Marco many times and we never seen a Farmacia .
As it turns out, our friends , Tom and Maureen suggested that we go to another small town, called San Fransico to have lunch at a beach restaurant. This is very beautiful town about 24 KM away with an exceptional surfing beach so it attracts many of the younger crowd but it does not have any RV Park hence it doesn't attract many seniors.
Since Lo de Marco is on our way, our friends said they would gladly drive into town and to see if we could find this Farmacia. We seen a Farmacia sign so Tom pulled close to the sidewalk and I seen that it was just a "hole in the wall" meaning you had to stand on the sidewalk and do business thru a small window. I thought never in million years that this place would have the medicine but I walked up, handed the lady the prescription and she said, tablet or liquid. The cost was 60 P. Unbelievable!!!!.
To top it off, as I step out car I happen to look down at something on the street which I initially thought it was a dirty piece of paper but I seen a 50 thru the dirt so I picked up and dusted it off and it was 500 P ( 45.00 ) so I agreed to buy lunch. Nothing cheap about me.
Today, is Ed's 70 th Birthday and his wife Pat is throwing a big party on the patio at the park. Pat and Ed are from Okotoks and we met them the year we went to Australia. Pat and Ed had been to Australia a few months before we were going so a mutual friend introduced us and Pat and Ed gave us their itinerary and a map which was a big help to us.
Now for the party.
The party was great. There must have been a 100 people and they had a Music man and his music was the best I have seen here. Pat also hired a Taco Stand and they served pork Tacos which turn out to great way to feed a party group. It was much less work to organize than a Pot Luck and Pat wanted the party to be less hassle for everyone.
As a side note we met a couple ( Ernie and Linda )from Camrose at the party who just arrived 3 days ago. The owned the A and W in Camrose for many years. Great Party and another great day in Paradise. cheers
We invited two couples for supper tonight so we put a roast in crock pot complete with vegetable which make for a easy meal. The crock pot is outside so as not to heat up the MH. Also we will eat in our patio.
Shortly after getting the supper in the crock pot ; in walks the Body mechanic and he motions ( we don't speak each other language ) to bring the car to his shop. I get in the car to drive to his shop and he jumps in the co-pilots seat. I quickly deduce that he was dropped off and he is directing me to his shop. ( It is funny how they operate, but it is MX ) Once at his shop I "tried " to make him understand that I want my car back no later than Saturday and I think he agreed. Then he needed the year of the car so he could obtain the paint code. I could not understand the question so he took out his license and pointed to the year so I finally understood. Then he ask for money up front which I wasn't too fond of until I realize this is policy in MX as he needs to buy the paint. It was only 200 P ( 18.00 ) .
My friend Tom arrived to pick me up and he speak passive Spanish so he verified that I would have my car by Sat , but I know that does really mean " Diddle Squat" to Mexicans.
We are still trying to find a Pharmacy "Farmaica " to fill a prescription for Carroll but neither Costco in PV or the 3 Pharmacies in La Penita had the medicine . But one pharmacy in La Penita suggested we try the one in Lo de Marco which is a little town 14 KM away. I kind of laugh because I though if Costco doesn't have it why would some "Hole in the wall" have it. Besides, we have been to Lo de Marco many times and we never seen a Farmacia .
As it turns out, our friends , Tom and Maureen suggested that we go to another small town, called San Fransico to have lunch at a beach restaurant. This is very beautiful town about 24 KM away with an exceptional surfing beach so it attracts many of the younger crowd but it does not have any RV Park hence it doesn't attract many seniors.
Since Lo de Marco is on our way, our friends said they would gladly drive into town and to see if we could find this Farmacia. We seen a Farmacia sign so Tom pulled close to the sidewalk and I seen that it was just a "hole in the wall" meaning you had to stand on the sidewalk and do business thru a small window. I thought never in million years that this place would have the medicine but I walked up, handed the lady the prescription and she said, tablet or liquid. The cost was 60 P. Unbelievable!!!!.
To top it off, as I step out car I happen to look down at something on the street which I initially thought it was a dirty piece of paper but I seen a 50 thru the dirt so I picked up and dusted it off and it was 500 P ( 45.00 ) so I agreed to buy lunch. Nothing cheap about me.
Today, is Ed's 70 th Birthday and his wife Pat is throwing a big party on the patio at the park. Pat and Ed are from Okotoks and we met them the year we went to Australia. Pat and Ed had been to Australia a few months before we were going so a mutual friend introduced us and Pat and Ed gave us their itinerary and a map which was a big help to us.
Now for the party.
The party was great. There must have been a 100 people and they had a Music man and his music was the best I have seen here. Pat also hired a Taco Stand and they served pork Tacos which turn out to great way to feed a party group. It was much less work to organize than a Pot Luck and Pat wanted the party to be less hassle for everyone.
As a side note we met a couple ( Ernie and Linda )from Camrose at the party who just arrived 3 days ago. The owned the A and W in Camrose for many years. Great Party and another great day in Paradise. cheers
Thursday, 15 January 2015
Winter of 2015 in MX ( Jan 12)
Well, the Old Geezers met this AM but Elia, ( the resident book of Knowledge ) was missing, apparent he attended 3 B'Day in consecutive evenings and that was a little to much to make the meeting so the conversation was general in natural. In lieu of that topic, I'll give you a short background on Stan, the senior member. Stan is from Campbell River, BC where he was a business man. He has been coming to MX for 31 years and he has been coming to this park Parisio de Pascador for 18 years. He has a banana tree in his patio area and brings each of us a banana every morning when they are ripe. He is usually the second or third person to arrive but he does have a certain spot at the table which nobody would bother to take it. He is not above being the "shit disturber" but he is certainly the " Go To " if you need to know where to get a repair part for your MH. Needless to say " Stan is the Man ".
I mentioned earlier that I had 3 large dents on the driver side of our car and the Bodyman gave me an estimate on 5500 P ( 500.00 ) . I thought we agreed that he would pick up the car on Monday, apparently we did not agree on which Monday. I even drove down his shop thinking I was suppose to deliver it even when other friends said that he would pick it up. So I waited all day Monday with a No Show. I then decide that first thing Tuesday I would have the Park manager call to verify the date.
Anyhow I had a couple of job pending so I decided to attack then. First I noticed that the fridge was having a hard time freezing thing, like ice cubes once the afternoon soon hits the fridge vent (dam Sun ) . Therefore, I took a sheet of cardboard and taped it to the vent to look like an awning allowing air to circulate normally but to deflect the heat of the Sun. It is helping but it is not an Engineering marvel.
Next I went back to the Day/Night blind which I had abandoned a couple of days earlier. After spending an hour trying to sort out the string and looking at a "Google " video and having Carroll supervise and providing some useless knowledge I did the only thing to keep my sanity; I cut the strings to the "Day " part of the blind and turned it into my version of a manually operated day-nighter . It was obvious that not much was going to work for me today so why not hit the beach with a couple of beer and a good book.
Another excellent decision. cheers
I mentioned earlier that I had 3 large dents on the driver side of our car and the Bodyman gave me an estimate on 5500 P ( 500.00 ) . I thought we agreed that he would pick up the car on Monday, apparently we did not agree on which Monday. I even drove down his shop thinking I was suppose to deliver it even when other friends said that he would pick it up. So I waited all day Monday with a No Show. I then decide that first thing Tuesday I would have the Park manager call to verify the date.
Anyhow I had a couple of job pending so I decided to attack then. First I noticed that the fridge was having a hard time freezing thing, like ice cubes once the afternoon soon hits the fridge vent (dam Sun ) . Therefore, I took a sheet of cardboard and taped it to the vent to look like an awning allowing air to circulate normally but to deflect the heat of the Sun. It is helping but it is not an Engineering marvel.
Next I went back to the Day/Night blind which I had abandoned a couple of days earlier. After spending an hour trying to sort out the string and looking at a "Google " video and having Carroll supervise and providing some useless knowledge I did the only thing to keep my sanity; I cut the strings to the "Day " part of the blind and turned it into my version of a manually operated day-nighter . It was obvious that not much was going to work for me today so why not hit the beach with a couple of beer and a good book.
Another excellent decision. cheers
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Winter of 2015 in MX ( Jan 11)
The Old Geezers meeting this morning was quite Funny, I guess you could say, it was pick on Swain day. Yesterday Swain and another couple decided to go to a Rodeo at a small town about 10 KM away and being westerners they had some idea how a Rodeo was operated. Swain relayed the story to us.
The brochures said the Rodeo start time was 1 PM and the cost at the gate was 250 P ( 22.00 ) which they thought was a bit high for a small town but probably worth it. By the way they went by Taxi as they knew they would have a few beers.
After getting to the Rodeo grounds in good time they soon realized that the Rodeo was run on MX time and there was no hurray to get start. In fact the rodeo did not start until 4 PM but there was lots of beers for a price of 250 P
(2.00 ) when we only pay 100 P at most pubs.
Additionally, the toilets were basic; it was a roll of black plastic wrapped around a circle of posts and you did your job in this area with the rest of the community. As Swain says , if you drink beer you have to dump it somewhere.
The Rodeo finally got started but when darkness fell the lights came on and they were less than adequate so you could not see all the activity. One of the things they found different was the Bull Ride. The Rider grabs the rope to hold on but he does not mount the Bull until the gate opens and at that point the Rider jumps on the Bull's back. Needless to say, very few Riders complete the ride. Also there are no pick up horses for the Bareback riders.
Finally around 7:30 Swain and friends had enough of a small town rodeo, agreed that they over-paid for the fun they received and grabbed a taxi and came home. I don't think small town Rodeos are going to be hit with us RVers, however the one in PV is comparable to the Calgary Stampede.
That was enough laughing for the day because we have a "Day/Nighter " blind that broke 2 strings, which happens all to frequent in RVs. However, Carroll and I have "restrung" several blinds in the pass and we carry the repair kits. So we removed the blind and laid it out on our outside table and began to "operate " on it. You really need a needle to thread the new string but it can be done without the needle with a limited amount of swearing . After playing with for about an hour in the hot sun while others were in the pool or on the beach , we said " P**s on it and went to the beach. The dam blind can wait. More on this blind another day.
So we grabbed a beer or two , along with our Sun umbrella, two chairs and a book and we spent a few hours at the beach. It's funny how 3 hours of beach time can wash away any small problems. Nothing else to worry about except Happy Hour and supper. cheers
The brochures said the Rodeo start time was 1 PM and the cost at the gate was 250 P ( 22.00 ) which they thought was a bit high for a small town but probably worth it. By the way they went by Taxi as they knew they would have a few beers.
After getting to the Rodeo grounds in good time they soon realized that the Rodeo was run on MX time and there was no hurray to get start. In fact the rodeo did not start until 4 PM but there was lots of beers for a price of 250 P
(2.00 ) when we only pay 100 P at most pubs.
Additionally, the toilets were basic; it was a roll of black plastic wrapped around a circle of posts and you did your job in this area with the rest of the community. As Swain says , if you drink beer you have to dump it somewhere.
The Rodeo finally got started but when darkness fell the lights came on and they were less than adequate so you could not see all the activity. One of the things they found different was the Bull Ride. The Rider grabs the rope to hold on but he does not mount the Bull until the gate opens and at that point the Rider jumps on the Bull's back. Needless to say, very few Riders complete the ride. Also there are no pick up horses for the Bareback riders.
Finally around 7:30 Swain and friends had enough of a small town rodeo, agreed that they over-paid for the fun they received and grabbed a taxi and came home. I don't think small town Rodeos are going to be hit with us RVers, however the one in PV is comparable to the Calgary Stampede.
That was enough laughing for the day because we have a "Day/Nighter " blind that broke 2 strings, which happens all to frequent in RVs. However, Carroll and I have "restrung" several blinds in the pass and we carry the repair kits. So we removed the blind and laid it out on our outside table and began to "operate " on it. You really need a needle to thread the new string but it can be done without the needle with a limited amount of swearing . After playing with for about an hour in the hot sun while others were in the pool or on the beach , we said " P**s on it and went to the beach. The dam blind can wait. More on this blind another day.
So we grabbed a beer or two , along with our Sun umbrella, two chairs and a book and we spent a few hours at the beach. It's funny how 3 hours of beach time can wash away any small problems. Nothing else to worry about except Happy Hour and supper. cheers
Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Winter of 2015 in MX ( Jan 10 )
Same old start to the day... nothing like a meeting of the "Minds " to get the day started. Today it was Elia with the most to add to the subject at hand. Now, Elai is from FT. Steele and is/was a Rancher and was also involved with Logging mainly as an heavy Equipment operator from what I can gather. He is well versed in the operation and maintenance of all internal combustion engine. He drive a Dodge.
Today for some reason we got on to the subject of different segments of the population and little did we know the Elia is well versed on Police , Teachers, Politian's and CEOs of any large company. It hard to imagine just how much knowledge one person can obtain from working as a Rancher and a Logger. This just proves that going to University is a waste of time and money. ha ha .
Today at 9 AM we volunteered to take our friends to the Airport (Aeropuorto ) in PV ( 65 km ) as they were flying to Vancouver for a few days. One would think that going 65 KM would be, maybe a 2 hour round trip. Not in MX. If you are going to PV you may as well go to Costco, if you can find it. I do no were it is located; it's the dam street I can't find easily. The marker is the Krystal Hotel and you have to immediately enter the right lateral at the hotel to make a left turn to enter the street to Costco (only in MX ) but if you miss the off ramp, too bad you have to try again at the next off ramp. Yes.. I miss the Dam off ramp.
Finally we got to Costco and amazingly its' layout is exactly like the ones in N.A. So we meandered around looking at the different thinks they have here and also picking up some goods. It is Americanized , in that you can buy wine and Booze right in the store but not until noon on Sunday.
We shop at Costco about once every two weeks and seldom see anyone we know. While shopping in PV we met the couple we drove down here with, amazing.
While heading home Carroll decided that we should stop for lunch at a place we have never been to before so here we go trying to find " Marios" or maybe it is "Marcos" or is it " Marasinos" , well it sound like that. I drove by the place 3 times until we realized the dam sign was partially hidden by a tree branch. Finally I parked in a neighboring restaurant walk back to Marcisio. The food was good and the beer was cold.
Now we were heading home but had to stop at the Mega store ( MX Wal-Mart) to pick up some meat as it is cheaper than Costco.
We arrive home about 4:30 , just in time for Happy Hour. Also we are invited for Turkey Soup supper at 6 PM with friends. The Turkey was left-over from a previous dinner.
Now that is how you Kill a day in MX. cheers
Today for some reason we got on to the subject of different segments of the population and little did we know the Elia is well versed on Police , Teachers, Politian's and CEOs of any large company. It hard to imagine just how much knowledge one person can obtain from working as a Rancher and a Logger. This just proves that going to University is a waste of time and money. ha ha .
Today at 9 AM we volunteered to take our friends to the Airport (Aeropuorto ) in PV ( 65 km ) as they were flying to Vancouver for a few days. One would think that going 65 KM would be, maybe a 2 hour round trip. Not in MX. If you are going to PV you may as well go to Costco, if you can find it. I do no were it is located; it's the dam street I can't find easily. The marker is the Krystal Hotel and you have to immediately enter the right lateral at the hotel to make a left turn to enter the street to Costco (only in MX ) but if you miss the off ramp, too bad you have to try again at the next off ramp. Yes.. I miss the Dam off ramp.
Finally we got to Costco and amazingly its' layout is exactly like the ones in N.A. So we meandered around looking at the different thinks they have here and also picking up some goods. It is Americanized , in that you can buy wine and Booze right in the store but not until noon on Sunday.
We shop at Costco about once every two weeks and seldom see anyone we know. While shopping in PV we met the couple we drove down here with, amazing.
While heading home Carroll decided that we should stop for lunch at a place we have never been to before so here we go trying to find " Marios" or maybe it is "Marcos" or is it " Marasinos" , well it sound like that. I drove by the place 3 times until we realized the dam sign was partially hidden by a tree branch. Finally I parked in a neighboring restaurant walk back to Marcisio. The food was good and the beer was cold.
Now we were heading home but had to stop at the Mega store ( MX Wal-Mart) to pick up some meat as it is cheaper than Costco.
We arrive home about 4:30 , just in time for Happy Hour. Also we are invited for Turkey Soup supper at 6 PM with friends. The Turkey was left-over from a previous dinner.
Now that is how you Kill a day in MX. cheers
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