On the Road again!!

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The winter in Mexico is in the final stages before departure. Right now we are in Tucson, Arizona. The weather is perfect. Hot during the day and cools right off at night.

We arrived home from Mexico last Spring April 9th. I almost immediately went back to work and Larry proceeded to get himself healthy. He arrived home from Mexico very short of breath. Left it for a while, but finally went to the Dr. If you know Larry well, you know he only goes to the Dr if he thinks he is dying. He hardly has ever taken an aspirin. I knew when the Dr phoned and said he needed to see Larry that it was serious. No news is good news as far as our Dr is concerned. Larry had worn a Holter Monitor for 24 hours and this monitor detected that Larry's heart beat between 80 and 185 beats per minute. He basically had no symptons at that time. He was referred to a Cardiologist. The difficulty of having a heart beat too quickly is the risk for stoke. The blood flows down into the lower chamber and has difficulty pumping up again when the heart is beating too fast, so then when the heart beats had a normal beat and does push the blood up where it should go, it possibly has developed a blood clot and can push it along and cause a stroke. So lots of drugs (5 different kinds). He had a Cardio version on July 30th which took 30 seconds and seemed to get his heart back into regular rythm. He continued on the drugs and was feeling great. We were concerned about Health insurance for our upcoming trip to Mexico. We went back to the Cardiologist the end of September basically for a re-check and a confirmation that he was well. Unfortunately, his heart was out of wack again. Larry had no symptons and felt well. The meds keep his heart rate down but still very irregular. The heart guy just said go to Mexico and have a good time. Not exactly sure what we do if Larry once again develops the shortness of breath like he had before because flying is not an option supposedly. Anyway, got pre-existing condition health insurance from BCAA and we left home on Oct 10th.

It was a busy summer on Colby Street. We rented our 5th wheel for most of the summer which worked out very well. I advertised on Craigslist and we towed, setup and they enjoyed and then we picked it up again. On the whole, it was a positive experience. Our carpet took a beating but it has cleaned up not badly. Mark got our overflow and he did very well as well.

Evan moved to Surrey with Michael and Bryan. He loves Michael and Bryan and it just seemed like a perfect choice. They bought a condo in Surrey and asked Evan to move with them. We took the opportunity to sell Evan's house. It sold in 12 days. It was nice to unload it. Michael and Bryan were wonderful tenants. Kept the place spotless and the yard perfect. It was so nice to unload the house before we had to start mowing and weeding.

Larry's health issues has made us re-evaluate life. Our life is winter in Mexico and enjoy the family and grandkids in the summer. So thinking about the future and making life simpler we have bought an apartment in New Westminster. It is in a 35 year old building in uptown New Westminster close to everything, restaurants, grocery stores, drug stores, senior center, library etc. It has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and about 1150 sq feet. It was lived in by the same little lady since the day it opened 35 years ago. She passed away 2 years ago and it sat empty while the will was being probated. It was an awful mess. The curtains were in shreds, the walls dirty, etc. Mostly dated and dirt, not wrecked but awful. As soon as we took posession, we ripped out the carpet and curtains, had the place painted, got a new washer and dryer and now are in the process of doing some renovations. The renos started before we left and will continue while we are away. Clay is living in the apartment amid the squallor. We lived in the apartment for 10 days before we left for Mexico and we both have decided that this urban apartment living will be just fine. We are not sure at this stage when we will be ready to move into it but I know when we are ready we will know it. This is the first time we have been away for any length of time and had no one living in our house. Clay now lives in the apartment. We have great tenants downstairs and decided to try and rent the upstairs portion of our house. Larry was not real keen but was willing to give it a try. I advertised on Craigslist and the very first people that looked at the house loved it. We were only wanting to rent it from Oct to April and really wondered if it was possible. We rented our house to Ken and Janet. A couple just about our age that reno houses. They buy older homes and reno or teardown and start over. They were between houses and wanted to wait until after the Olympics to buy again. They moved into our house on October 1st. We had a few neighbours in one night so Ken and Janet could meet them and become part of Colby Street. The best part is that we fly to Edmonton from Puerto Vallarta on Dec 9th and then fly to Vancouver for Christmas returning to Mexico on Jan 9th. I asked Ken and Janet if they were interested in spending Christmas in Mexico so we could spend Christmas in our house. They were game so they arrive in LaPenita on Dec 6th spend a few days with us, we fly out and they stay until January 12th. Can you believe the luck of the whole thing!!

We drove the Oregon coast this year on our way South. It is beautiful and really reminded us of the coast of New Zealand. We sat out a horrendous rain and wind storm in Stockton/Lodi, Ca. It was shades of the NorEasterly we sat out in Nags Head, South Carolina in 2005. In 05, during the 60 MPH winds and sideways rain our trailer leaked like a sieve in the bedroom area. When we arrived home, we took it in for repair and they could not make it leak. They sprayed, sprinkled etc and nothing. It has never leaked again until that day in Stockton/Lodi. It only leaked minorly but let us know that it really was important that we sit until the rain and wind subsided. The next day we carried on to Tehachapi, Ca to meet up with Karen and James Franklin, our friends that we made in mexico in 2006. With them we drove to San Diego and enjoyed the city, the weather and the company. Karen and James have 2 grandchild attending University in San Diego so we spent time with them. Their grandson coaches Football for University of San Diego so we went to a football game and then had dinner with them and a whole bunch of their friends. We laughed about the free meals for the whole week. Hard to get together with the kids but if there was food involved and grandpa was paying they were game. Lots of fun and typical wonderful kids.

We left San Diego on Thursday and arrived in Tucson, Az to meet up with the Caravan. Everyone arrived today. There is only 11 rigs going this year. Many cancellations due to Swine flu scare or waiting for Swine ful vaccine. The weather in Tucson is perfect. Hot during the day and cool at night. Actually need to furnace on at night. We have been shopping alot, getting all the stuff that is not available in Mexico. Yellow cheddar cheese, beef steak etc. Mexican chicken and pork can't be beat but beef . . . . !! We stuff our freezer with steak and then covet it for the whole 6 months.

Sorry - way to long and detailed and its now Nov 28th and I am just publishing now. No more long ones. Promise.

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