Saturday, March 27, 2010

Ants and peeling skin, both are brought on with the help of the sun, and both are affecting our lives! But lets not dwell on that, where did we last leave off, oh yes....Miss Rry's bday. Now that was a day that will go down in the history. It had it's high points, as well as some very scary ones. The day started off with a visit from Marie and Stuart, they were heading in to town and would be back for the lift off, Rryla's ascent from the beach that is. Mark started the day off right with a french toast breakfast for us all, than we threw our bathing suits on and headed for the beach. Now i must add this in, because quite frankly it has been ageing me far faster than i ever wanted, but you know when you are thirty something and your slipping into your bikini, looking at yourself in the mirror and noticing the flaws, but feeling not so bad about the overall pkg considering your pregnancy's and all. You walk down to the beach with your kids feeling pretty good, than you notice those looks, you know from the gentlemen, and than it's like you got slapped in the face, or kicked by a donkey, and you realized those boys aren't looking at you, they are looking at your teenaged daughters!!!! Agast!. firstly, im not ready for them to stop looking in my direction, and more importantly, absolutely i am not ready for them to be looking at my girls!, oh, but enough about me and my almost mid life crisis, lets get back to Rryla's birthday. We set ourselves up on the beach and played in the waves for awhile. They were noticeably larger than the day before, too big really for the little ones. Marie and Stu showed up from their trip to town, it was show time. Rry was ready. We headed over to the parasailing crew, camera, and video camera in hand, along with a belly full of nerves, (mine of course). I switched on the video camera and tried to stay calm as i interviewed Rrylas emotions before take off. She was excited, yet calm....inside i was scared. I watched as they gave her the instructions, than,,,,,,,,zooom, she was off, i wasn't ready, but again, it wasn't about me. She was soaring in the air so high, so fast, they had said they'd give her an extra long ride since it was her birthday, was that really necessary?!! It seemed like an eternity before she came down. My heart was in my throat the whole time. She came down gentley, like a kiss on the wind, smiling all the while.....ahhhh i breathed a sigh of relief, thought it was all over really, until Teaghen piped up and said, "i want to try it too", honestly!! Why must they do that.! and if you think it was easier with her up high obove the ocean floating miles above, well your wrong, it was just as hard. Man, this whole mother thing, i just don't know if im cracked up for the nerve of it all. She loved it as well, and floated down to earth like a dream. So their they were too giggling school girls laughing about it all, while i pulled myself together, just in the midst to realize that one of my children was missing.....Aidan, where was he???? frantically we ran around looking and calling for him. I remembered him telling me he had to pee just before Teag hit the ground. "one minute" i replied as i videotaped her descent. Staring out to sea and feeling a sick pit in my throat......i called his name. Marie took off towards the El Manglar (the rv park in which we were staying) with Teag in tow, within seconds Teaghen came back across the aligator bridge to announce that they had found him peeing in the bathroom of the El Manglar. I ran to him, shaking and desperate,.... "don't ever do that again" i said as he sat their on the toilet. " im sorry mommy, i won't ". I glanced at Marie and said something like "im not cut out for this" and as quickly as it started it was over. My ner ves calmed and my heart beat went back to normal. We joined everybody back on the beach and continued the day. The girls were out in the waves enjoying themselves, i was on shore watching as the sea became angrier and angrier with each wave. One big one came and hit Rryla pretty hard, she started to come in, just then another came, one that outdid the last it was about 10 ft high, Rry was almost ashore, but Teag was right below it, she dived under it, the best thing she could of done, but the ferocity of it rocked her and shook her world. At least 4 or 5 men from the shore ran in to help her out, Rryla right there to help her sister as well. She was pale and shacken, and so was i, ENOUGH!! are you kidding me, they call this a vacation!!! We all huddled and relived the moment, than decided to head home. Regroup, and regain strength for the rest of the day. We showered, and got all the sand from places we had no idea that sand could go, and got ready for dinner. We went to the El Manglar for dinner, we had heard the dinner was fabulous, and it was. We ate, we danced, and we sang happy birthday, we ate cake and kissed the day goodbye, and that ended the 15th birthday of my oldest child....... I can only hope the next one isn't as eventful!!
The next day was a tearful and sad goodbye as we hugged and kissed our mamo and papa. What a great time we had with them. Memories made to last a lifetime. We are greatful for the time we spent with them, and for all they did for us, and with us. It certainly makes us all appreciate family, and the importants of it.
We fired up the diesel pusher and headed for Puerto Escondido, our next destination spot. The first night was spent in Alcopolco, the outskirts really. We stayed at a french speaking rv park, which quite frankly was our least favorite spot so far. We did have a refreshing swim in the pool however before retireing for the night. We got off quite early the next morning, around 7 am i think destined to arrive in Puerto Escondido at a reasonable hour. It took us another 8 hours to reach the city, hot and tired we found our rv park and settled in. What a gem of a place this is. WOW, it's perfect. The shopping, the people, the town, the ocean is a bit rough, but i think im a bit tainted now. We have been to 3 different beaches, the girls and i have done some shopping and Mark has put in some hours surfing. We have access to a swimming pool at our rv site, which is a blessing because the heat is unbelieveable. You are drenched within 20 minutes of waking. We have had a lovely dinner out and have enjoyed checking out the town via colectivo's (these are small trucks with bench seats in the back that drive up and down the hwy picking up passengers and taking them to their destinations) the funniest thing about this country is you constantly see signs saying "buckle up" but ever mode of transportation is maxed out with people, no seatbelts to be found. For example if you see a moped going by it's with one adult driving and at least 2 other children holding on for dear life. We've just embraced this, we now fit all 6 of us and our 2 dogs in one taxi and nobody bats an eye, this could be an issue if we carry this on into Canada.
Well thats about it. Easter is fast approaching and everybody in this country is getting ready to celebrate, us along with them. We will stay here for a bit and than carry on south. We have uped our sun screen and gotten some raid so hopefully things are looking up.
Showering has been abit of a concern here though because the facilities are way less than desireable, but hey, we have the pool.
This trip is making us stronger, and more tolerable with ourselves and with each other, at least i like to think so. We do of course realize that their are peices of us that have been left behind and that are missed so extremely. This of course will make us appreciate them so much more when we return. I have learned that one person cannot make up the whole of your being. It is a multitude of special people that make up the depths of one's soul. I feel so blessed to know the people in my life and i thank them for filling up the tiny spaces in my being that make me a whole ptoson. I hope my children will learn as much as i have through our journey together, this one, and others in our lives.
Sleep well all you special people. We love you all, and will close our eyes together under this yellow moon.
All our love.
Mark, Brandy, Rryla, Teaghen, Brooklyn and Aidan.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Good morning to you all on another beautiful day here in Zihaut! Lets fill you in on our week. First off, we hooked up with the relatives from the Yukon on thursday. They were just in town for a few hours from their cruise ship. It was great to see them all. Even great grandma Vera made it from Atlin, as well as Grandma Healey,Auntie Liz, Uncle Ron and Conrad from Whitehorse. You can tell they were used to the cold climate of the Yukon, when asked to dress appropriately for the weather they threw on short sleeve shirts with their pants. Actually, i think Aunite Liz wore her shorts. We were very proud of our grandma Healey thou gh because she had conquered many fears to get here, including flying to San Diego to get on the cruise ship, and getting into a small commuter boat when the ship arrived in port. Mark and the older girls took Conrad snorkeling. I believe Mark even had the spear gun out in hopes of impressing everyone with his fish catching skills (well he hasn't actually caught anything yet, but we would of all been impressed if he did!) We had a lovely time catching up, eating tacos and wading in the ocean. It was so great to see everyone.
Next we headed out on a fishing expedition, Stuart and Marie's treat, on friday. Moses, our fishing guide picked us up around 10am in his (very small) fishing boat. Their was the 6 of us, our 2 dogs, Stuart and Marie, and Moses and his son. We threw the rods in the ocean and set out at a trolling pace. After about 45 minutes we hooked one and Papa Stuart reeled it in. It was huge!! A yellow fin tuna, weighing in at around 18lbs., well done papa.! We headed further up the coast to an island called Ixtapa island where they cooked up our fish for us for lunch. We did some snorkeling their as well. It was beautiful! The water was crystal blue and the fish were swimming right up to the shore. On our departure from the island the sea grew very rough, we were in swells around 12ft high, Moses made a quick phone call to our beach and had to reroute us because the conditions were too dangerous. He took us to another drop off spot. I don't remember much of the boat ride home, mostly because i kept my eyes shut and i was praying!!!! Man, im sure i was still shaking when my feet finally touched solid ground. I felt suck gratitude for Moses at that moment for keeping my family safe. We took a taxi to our beach and found out that their had been an earthquake. It was 4.8 on the ricter scale. The epicentre was just east of us in Gueraro......CRAZY
The next day we stayed close to home and did some snorkeling about. Poor Rryla got stung by a jellyfish not once, but twice.! She stayed out of the water after that. Apparantly because the waves have been so high it brings in the jellyfish.
On Saturday it was Marks and my 6th year anniversary. We had a lovely dinner down the beach at a beautiful restaurant. It was perfect.
We picked up some boogeyboards in town the other day and have had great fun in the ocean with them. We have met some lovely people, alot of people from Canada. It has been great to stay put for longer than a couple of days. It has been especially great hanging out with Marks parents. They have made this leg of our journey very memorable. The kids will miss them greatly when we carry on tomorrow. We are headed for Puerto Escondido. It will take 2 days to get their.
Today is a very excited day for us, it is our oldest daughters birthday HAPPY BIRTHDAY RRYLA!! We are sending her up in the sky today, attached to a parachute. I believe its called parasailing. For some reason she thinks this will be much fun. We will get it on video for you all to see. We are going to have dinner out at the restaurant tonight, it should be a great day. We will take some pictures and post them as well.
Love to all of you.
PS
Sunshine really does make you happy!!

Monday, March 15, 2010







A few Pics

Boat ride to Los GAtos for some Snorkling
Aidan sizing up the set at Nexpa

Flower girls, oops and boy.



Buenos Dias mi amigos,! We are now in Zhewat, and of course its beautiful and sunny. So lets fill you in on the adventure to get here from Sayulita. Well, i went into a depression for about 2 days after leaving Sayulita, it was paradise, i think Rryla did as well. It took 3 days to get here. We stopped at a Walmart in Puerta Vallarta to stock up and than took a route around the city to get onto the freeway. It took us through the old part of P.V> and, WOW, how beautiful it is. It really felt like we were in the heart of Mexico, not all the touristy places. We went up and down windy roads high above the town and the ocean. The road actually continued to be very windy and hilly all the way to Zhewat, it was very tense in some places because there was the white line on the left hand side and than the steep cliff, absolutely no shoulder to rely on. My mother would of been just in a state if she were there! We could only average about 30mph because of the road but the v iews were spectacular.! Our first night was in Malachie (sp) the rv park we stayed in took us right through town.. The town looked like a bussiling little village, the older girls were excited to check it out. We parked right on the beach and set up for the evening, Teaghen and Rryla hoped on their bikes and headed into town. Mark took the little ones for a swim in the pool, i took some much needed alone time and finished reading my book, "Shantaram" what a great read.! We woke up bright and early and got back on the roller coaster of a hwy. Day 2 brought us to a place called Rio Nexpa. It was really neat to go their because Mark, Kiwi and John went on a road trip about 12 yrs ago and spent 3 weeks their, so for Mark, to be back their was pretty cool. The waves were rippin. You wouldn't find this little spot on a map, well it wasn't on our map anyways, but if your into surfing you got to make it here some day (Aaron, im speaking of you). The people were very friendly, it was a very quiet place, we dry camped here for the night. The next day we set out once more to finally reach Zhewat.
The great thing about being here is that Marks parents, Marie and Stuart are here until the end of this month, and also we are hooking up with some other relatives, Uncle Ron, Auntie Liz, Conrad and Grandma Healey for a day when they come into town from their cruise ship, that is on the 18th. So far we have had a great couple of days here. We have been to two different beaches, one was los Ghetos, we took a boat to it. The water was a crystal blue color and we all did some snorkeling. Brooklyn proved to be a natural for her first time out.! The Rv site we are staying at is just a gravel parking lot really, with hook ups. Their really arent too many sites to choose from here, and they are all the same. The town itself is quite large, bigger than Squamsih, and it's real touristy. Marie and Stuart took us all out for dinner one night. We had a great dinner right on the beach and than went to the town square where we watched a bball game and some fire spinners entertaining. It was fabulous. Thats one of the wonderful things about Mexico, each town has a town square where everyone gets together and mingles. Thier is usually some form of entertainment going on, and everyone is happy. After saying goodnight to the folks we headed home to our parking lot and tried to sleep through the heat of the night. Yesterday is when we were at los Ghatos, Marie and Stuart came as well and treated us to lunch, Thanks so much you guys, Stuart even graciously bought me a 12$ pineapple drink, it was the most amazing drink i'd ever had it was the whole pineapple!! hollowed out with a virgin pina colada in it. It had great big flowers coming out of it and everything. I shared it with the kids and everything, they thought it was great. It feels so wonderful to be taking care of so well!!!
Anyways who knows what the day has in store for us today, i do need to find a laundry mat!!
We hope this sunshine reaches all of you, if not in the sky, at least in your hearts.
Love to you all
PS.
A happy birthday to the beloved Lindsay McIntosh, we will light a candle for her tonight.
for she is with us on our journey
Peace.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Los Glorias, Mazatlan, and Sayulita

Hola!! hope this reaches everybody in great happiness. We are now in Paradise! Sayulita to be exact. We were here 4 years ago, it has changed alot since than. It is a beautiful magical place im so glad we came. We were going to stay in P.V. but Rryla and Teaghen really wanted to come back here so we did, besides Mark and i just weren't keen on being in the big city. Their are a couple of RV parks in P.V. but one is out of the way, and the other one is away from the beach and not entirely in walking distance. We are at an amazing RV site right on the water here. We can walk to everything with ease and everyone is super friendly. Mark has been surfing quite abit, but the ocean here is a little too dangerous for the girls, they have been out playing in the waves, but we havn't wanted them to go out far. There are strong undertows here and rip tides so they can't go out much past their waste, which is fine because they still get pummelled by the waves at that depth. They look like they are in a washing machine when their out their, it's crazy!!
Before Sayulita we were in Mazatlan, or as Aidan was calling it "Magicland", we stayed at an RV park close to the beach and right by the main strip. We were only their for the night so we took full advantag of it. We checked out the stores and had a nice dinner downtown. We caught up on some showers back at the RV site and had a good sleep to prepare for the long drive to Sayulita. Before Mazatlan we were in Los Glorias, where we hooked up with Lana, Tom and Nathan. It was so great to see them, and Aidan and Nathan got along just like best friends. The RV site was right on the beach and it was a beautiful beach, nice sand, it went on forever. Tom and Mark went and bought some jumbo prawns from the small fishing village for dinner, they were fresh and delicious, we ate them under a palapa right on the beach with candles all around, it was lovely. Than we took the kids and some flashlights and went out onto the beach where we looked for crabs running along the sand to the ocean. It was great, we screamed and ran around chasing all the crabs. Lana got a video of it, all you hear is us screaming and laughing though.
After saying goodbye to Lana, Tom and Nathan, we headed out onto the highway and said hello to a FLAT TIRE>! What a drag, we eventually limped our mohome to a tire place that had a big enough rench to take our tire off, and put our spare on. They fixed our old one by lighting it on fire, don't ask!
We did take the free road from Mazatlan to Sayulita, it was beautiful, nice way to see the small villages and the countryside. The roads have been abit narrow for my likeing, but all in all it's been pretty good.
Mark has just gotton the trots, hopefully he is the only one!!
I will try and get somemore pics today and we'll post them after, i don't want to miss anymore of this glorious sunshine.
Love to you all.
US xoxox

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Having fun in the sun, Carefree, AZ
Wrapping up a day of climbing in J Tree

Good times in Apple Valley


Fun at the San Diego Zoooooo



Enjoying a well deserved foot massage




Brooklyn and Aidan enjoying some ice-cream on the back of Dana's truck





Hello everyone, im a little bit frusterated because i had just written our whole blog and pushed send and lost it.! So now your getting a shortened version.
Well, lets see, we left our rv park in Phoenix yesterday morning and headed off to get our fridge fixed at Rogers repair shop. He proved to be a real jem. He did a bang up job on our fridge and only charged us for parts, not the labour, thank you so much Roger. We keep meeting amazing people along our way who fill up these little spaces in our hearts. So nice. After that we went to Ayla insurance and got our Mexican insurance, this took forever as the lady who was our teller had never done a Mexican ins. involving a motorhome, YIKES. Finally we were on the road and headed for Tubac to an RV park . Tubac is a funky little artsy town just before Nogalese. We had a good sleep and headed for the border this morning. Traveling through Nogalese was quite a trip. Half the town is in the States, and the other half is in Mexico. If you've ever been to Trail BC imagine it with all its houses on the hill, but try and imagine that thier are no real trees and that its full of Mexicans, well thats Nogalese. Now we sailed right through the border, it was almost too easy, even Rryla was concerned. The cool thing was once we were through all the border all the town folk were waving at us. Brooklyn asked me why they were waving, i replied "because we're celebreties Brooklyn", her dad said " If you saw a donkey and a cart come through Squamish you'd wave to" I think she was thoroughly confused.!
The drive to San Carlos was not exactly a picturesqe one, the sides of the road were littered with garbage and dead animals that didn't quite make the crossover, but none the less we made it here and it is quite a beautiful little town. We are right accross from the ocean, man it's nice to see the ocean again, and their are tons of Canadians staying here at the Totonaka RV Park. Tomorrow we will do some beach combing and enjoy the day, We will stay here tomorrow night as well and than head to Los Glorias to meet up with Lana and Tom.
We hope everyone is enjoying catching up on our journey. We have had some great times, and some that we'd rather put far behind us, but all the while we are keeping our minds and our hearts open to all the posibilities that unfold before us each day
We hope that you all sleep well under this big yellow moon, and know that our hearts and minds are full of love and thoughts of you.
All our love
Us