A Quiet Day.......so far.

I'm trying to spend a quiet day here in the heat of summer. The noontime temperature is 85 and it doesn't feel too humid. It feels comfortable because I'm not doing anything. The dogs are in the pool and I take them outside about every half hour so they can take care of business. If left too long, Jodie will use one of the planters, and we don't want that to become a habit. We have an odd situation now that Sandy has become quite a swimmer. Now we have rafts of dark hair drifting around the bottom of the pool. We've never had that before with Jodie and Coco. When I take the hair out with a dip net, I find that it's all the long, light hair of Sandy. The labs have a waxy coating on their fur that makes them great water dogs way up north where the water is cold. They shed water very quickly, and their hair floats, ending up in the skimmer. Apparently Sandy's Golden Retriever hair soaks and sinks. It's not a problem as she has so much fun in the pool.

I've been into several camping books and on the internet trying to find out where we want to go in Mexico in the fall. Helen is absolutely against boondocking, even in a small group. I see some places that seem to be nice, only to find out that it's impossible to get to in anything longer than 22 feet. Some do not allow dogs. Some are really run down with reports of them being unhealthy to stay there. Some are very beautiful......read expensive, even by US standards. All I'm looking for is a secure place to camp, right at the ocean, with water, electricity, and sewerage, free wifi, and within 20 minutes of a Walmart. Also, the fishing should be good and the beaches must allow dogs. Did I mention that the people there should accept our feeble attempts at Spanish.

Like so much in life, we'll have to give up something to get what we want more. Having the dogs is not negotiable. Boondocking in a small group is OK with me, but I have to answer to a higher authority. Being NEAR wifi is plenty good enough. As the year progresses and the prospect of another cold Florida winter faces us, we will head out and trust our usual good fortune to find a way through the maze.

OK, now I've got to get back to my books. I have a GREAT DEAL to learn about Mexican insurance on the vehicles, medical insurance for Helen and me, and rules and regulations for entering Mexico proper. We were in Puerto Panesco a few years ago, but Sonora is a "free" zone where it was easy to enter. In fact, we bought our vehicle insurance in Arizona and drove into Mexico without being stopped. We didn't even SEE Mexican authorities as we crossed the border.

At the reunion a while back, many of my classmates asked if I was on Facebook. Well, I was at one time, but got tired of the intrusion, and quit. I rejoined last night to connect with some of my friends and classmates. I'm avoiding the children of friends who chatter about laundry and lawn mowing. Also, a lot of the personal stuff really shouldn't be out there. I was embarrassed by some of the statements that were made. Apparently I'm an old fogey on my way to being a curmudgeon.

We passed a milestone yesterday as it was a year ago that we picked up Sandy and her nine pups at the animal shelter. She is such a beautiful, playful, lovable dog that it scares me to think that she was about to be put down the next day. Little did I know that Sandy would still be with us a year later.

Later