The place is starting to empty out...

We have 80 seasonal campsites here at the park, and around 35 daily campsites. The daily campsites have been empty since September 7th.

I went around on Thursday night and there were still 43 seasonal trailers here. Yesterday evening Ruth and I took a walk around and there are now only 25 trailers here. It was a beautiful day on Saturday and many people came to pack up their things.

Good news and bad news...

Both of them to do with traveling! Actually, the good news is great news. And the bad news isn't really so bad...just an annoyance. So, since the bad news isn't really that bad, lets get that out of the way first!

Our return flight from Medellin, Colombia to Mexico City on December 15th was supposed to depart at 8:00am, and arrive Mexico City at 11:41am.

But I had an email waiting for me this morning...

Sherman's rear shocks

Well that was a little more difficult that I expected.

Changing shocks is typically a pretty easy job, provided you've got the tools to loosen the bolts. Normally, you don't even need air tools, although an impact gun is certainly handy to have. Not totally necessary though because sometimes there isn't room to fit the impact gun to where the bolt or nut is located. Otherwise, a half inch socket set and ratchet with a two foot long "cheater" pipe should do the job.

Three weeks to go!

Actually, three weeks less a day. Until we get to see our grandkids. And our kids, and my mom and Ruth's dad, and some of our friends. Really looking forward to seeing everybody, despite the fact that it's going to be a very short visit.

Our daughter Lindsey posted a picture on facebook this morning, and it sure made us realize how fast time goes by.

Yay! He passed!

I was up at 6:00am this morning because I had to have Sherman at his insurance inspection for 8:00am.

I was a little worried about a couple of things, but it turned out they were pretty minor. I had a burnt out licence plate light bulb, and piece of hose for the windshield washer was split. Other than that, Sherman is ready to get a Saskatchewan licence plate!

End of season camping special?

Gorgeous weather is forecast for this upcoming weekend. Pretty much perfect. Sunshine and blue skies, with a high on Friday of 24C (75F) and on Saturday 28C (82F). Beautiful camping weather.

And lows around 10C (50F)...a little chilly, but that's what campfires are for, right??

Getting our hiking legs in shape

We finally made it out for a hike yesterday afternoon. For the first time since we've been here this season! Only an hour and a half, but we still managed almost 6.4 kms (4 miles) and weren't at all tired.

I love having the iPhone with me and using the MotionX GPS app.

Photo editing, and how we do it

Most of you know that we change our header photo every day. When we're not traveling, we choose a photo from past travels. But when we are traveling (soon!) we strive to take a fabulous photo to display for you every single day.

But not every photo we take turns out "fabulous". In fact, more often than not, every photo we take requires some kind of editing. Here's how we try and change a not so great photo to one that is suitable for display.

If you would have told me this five years ago...

It poured with rain all Friday night, and most of Saturday. High temperature was 11C (52F).

We had 13 reservations for Friday night. Six of them called to cancel, three didn't bother to call and simply didn't show up. Four die hard campers did show up, and one more came in for the night who was passing through.

A Taste of Spanish Wine

Spanish wines have always been a favourite with people travelling around Europe, and with good reason; they produce beautiful wines that are not only tasty and easily accessible, but are also much more affordable than similar wines from more-established wine destinations, such as France.

If you want to discover and fall in love with Spanish wine, the most enjoyable way is to explore the different flavours of the country is to go on a trip to Spain. You can travel with a tour operators that specialise in taking tourists to the wine-making regions of the country. These tours can take you to the biggest and most popular vineyards, as well as smaller, more traditional vineyards. However, if you're not planning a winery tour any time soon, then you can find a lot of good quality Spanish wines for reasonable prices at retailers like Tesco.

It couldn't be worse...

Labor Day weekend is supposed to be the last hurrah for the camping season. Where the park is full of people enjoying one last session around the campfire before everyone heads back to work and school.

But this year is messed up.

August Expenses

Better get this posted before I forget. A pretty good month, really. Especially considering that this is the year both Sherman (our motorhome) and the little blue car have both needed a fair  bit of maintenance work. Once again, I'm glad that I can do the majority of this work myself and save on the labor costs.

Oh, and there's more motorhome expense coming up this month.

Motorhome swap update

We had visitors for a couple of days. Blog readers Barrie and Lorrie stopped by with their Class B campervan. They were on their way from Winnipeg to British Colombia and wanted to say hello! They picked a good time to stop by because we're not busy at the park so we could spend some time with them.

RV Rubber Roof Coating

Here is our review of the procedure necessary to successfully increase the lifespan of your RV rubber roof.

When the rubber roof starts to deteriorate, you have two choices. You can either replace the rubber membrane material that protects the substructure of the roof, or you can re-coat the rubber roof with a special material designed to penetrate the pores of the original tired dirty rubber material.

Today is RV roof coating day!

Perfect weather forecast for today. Clear and sunny, with a high of 25C (77F). And no rain in the forecast until Thursday which gives the roof coating plenty of time to cure before it gets wet.

Really looking forward to getting this done! One of the things that has bothered me since the day we bought Sherman eight years ago is that I could never get his roof to look clean. Not that anyone ever sees it but me, but it still bothered me. So this procedure today should make his roof look like brand new according to the many reviews of this coating product's capabilities that I have read.

Possible motorhome swap!

We weren't going to buy a new inverter this year, but one has come on sale that will do us nicely for the winter so I think we're going to buy it.

For those of you who don't know, an inverter is what changes the 12 volt DC battery power into 115v AC household electricity.

A dangerous journey

With the recent strength in the U.S. dollar, there is even more reason for Mexican people to want to work in the United States. We personally know two young Mexican men in their twenties who have made the dangerous, expensive, and illegal journey north across the border.

One of them tried on his own a few months ago and was caught by the U. S. Border Patrol and sent back. So what do you do?

You pay and you try again. Why? Because it's worth it...

When you need to use the facilities...

We've been in some interesting bathrooms over the years. And when you need to go, you will use whatever facilities are available! Some of the bathrooms we have had to use haven't been very nice. Such as the one when we were hiking in Guatemala where you had to crouch into this little hut that was only about three and a half feet tall. Not easy for a guy who is six feet tall! But, you do what you have to do.

Interesting stuff found on the internet

We don't watch TV, but we do stare at the computer screen quite a bit during our spare time.

Sometimes, we come across some interesting items. But there sure is a lot of stuff that's a complete waste of time. Most of it is on facebook! We like keeping up with the activities that our family and friends are doing, but we increasingly find that political stuff (from all sides) is totally annoying. And with election crap coming from both sides of the border, it's getting to be a bit much.

Obviously we spent a lot of time on the internet researching our travels and finding deals related to that. And we like keeping up with other RV'ers too. I also check the news and the weather at least once a day to keep up on things.

Spain is on sale!

Man, you Americans have it made right now with the (somewhat odd) strength of the U.S. dollar versus other world currencies. And the low oil price is making for a lot of cheap flight deals.

This morning, you can buy tickets on Delta Airlines from Dallas, Texas to Barcelona, Spain for just $600 return.

Poor little Whip-poor-will

I may be in charge of cutting the grass here at the park, but Ruth is definitely the official gardener! She's put a lot of work this year into her flowers and making the park look beautiful for the campers and the day use people.

Since things have slowed down a little bit, she's been able to spend more time building another garden...

The Ancient Ruins of Mexico

A lot of people are familiar with the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza because they are located only a two hour drive from the popular tourist city of Cancun. And so a lot of people will do day trip tours to visit. The other ruins sites close to Cancun are Tulum, and Coba.

But those ruins sites have become very touristy, and in fact there are much better sites to see if you explore the country a little further. There is much more to Mexico than the beaches of Cancun!

Thinking of Puerto Escondido

Those of you who are regular readers will remember when we asked for your help when our friends in Puerto Escondido were having some medical problems. The operation that little Gael had in 2013 was a complete success and he seems to have grown into a normal, active little boy!

We sometimes get photos sent to us, and thought we would share a couple of recent ones here.

Well that was a bit of a job!

And it's not quite done yet.

Yesterday, I changed the timing belt in the little blue car. It's supposed to be done as a regular maintenance item...every 100,000 kms (60,000 miles).

The little blue car is at 203,000 kms, so I figured I had better get at it.

Another package arrives

Actually, two more packages! But that's it...our shopping for this year is done. We spent very little money over the past eight years, but this year it seemed like everything needed to be replaced all at the same time!

We did a fair bit of repair work and improvements to the motorhome this year. New awning, replacement fridge parts, new inverter, new Mr. Buddy propane heater. And of course I'm in the process of re-coating the rubber roof.

Sculptures from our travels (part 2)

When I did the original post last month, we received a few emails from people saying "yeah, but what about this one", and "you forgot this one". That post was never meant to be inclusive, however we realized there were many more interesting sculptures and statues that should have been on the list.

So, here is the rest of them...part two!

National Forest Boondocking gets easier!

As it is, there's no reason you shouldn't have an easy time finding free and cheap camping spots in the U.S. or Canada, especially if you use a great resource like http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/ .

But now, the USFS is using a new map symbol to display areas where National Forest "dispersed" camping is available.

The Beautiful City of Venice

Venice is a wonderful city that lures visitors in with its Italian charm, elegance and beauty. From the indulgent but fresh food to the renowned art scene to the romantic gondolas that float through the water streets, a vacation to this magical city in the heart of Europe is a must.

Here is a list of things to do in Venice that only gives a taster of what it has to offer guests...

Busy season is over

We knew from last year that this park is really only busy from the end of June until the middle of August, and sure enough that's what happened again this year. Of course we still have some trailers in the daily rental sites, but not very many. And most of the seasonal campers still have their trailers here, but there are sure not many people around. The place is nice and quiet for a change.

And not many reservations on the books either.

Now I have the materials...

Had a heavy box arrive at the post office the other day. I knew what was in it. The materials to do Sherman's roof refurbishment.

Kevin's doctor's appointment

So I went for my full "poked and prodded" physical examination yesterday. All bought and paid for by the Canadian government (the taxpayer). I suppose it's about time that I took advantage of the system, since I am one of the taxpayers!

All said and done, I guess I am going to live for a few more years. Not without some issues though...

If It Were My Home...

We're quickly realizing that six weeks in Colombia will not be long enough. Just the same as when we spent four weeks in South Korea, and South Korea is a lot smaller than Colombia.

I came across an interesting website the other day that compares various statistics from all the different countries in the world. Interesting stuff!