We flew from SeaTac to Dallas on Friday the 30th of Oct. Quinn found us at DFW and we spent a very nice, relaxed weekend with he and Monika. We looked at some townhomes with them-they are thinking of upsizing. We had some nice home cooked meals and also a TexMex dinner out. We celebrated their first anniversary. AND, Marcy bowled her first 200 game. It has been a goal of hers for about 30 years.

Quinn works Mon-Thurs in Princeton NJ so he drove us to the airport on Monday early where we caught our plane to Maz and he caught his to NJ. Ours was a little 50 seater, but it got us here just fine. The airport was semi-busy with a few turistas returning.

Upon arrival at dock 8 we could see Charm sitting there a little tired looking, but in okay shape. Ruben the Buzo (diver) watched and cared for the boat for the summer. The bottom was clean, zincs replaced, the topsides not too dusty and the battery bank topped off with water and working fine. That was a worry of mine. I left one solar panel exposed to feed the batteries and had everything turned off except the bilge pump and the battery monitor. We also had Ruben pump a little soapy water thru the head once a month to keep the newly refurbed toilet in happy condition. We give you all the news.

The real news we were asking about was Tropical Storm Rick who had been Hurricane Rick before coming across the Sea of Cortez and blasting Mazatlan. Turns out that the NOAH site was a little cavalier. The winds were sustained 70 mph for 14 hours according to Larry on Viking Son. He was here for the storm. NOAH said that the storm was of very little consequence by the time it made landfall. But nothing like a report from someone who was actually here.

We have seen a few of our cruiser friends, but it is still early for the masses to return. And the Baha Haha folks won't arrive for a week or more. New meat.

Charm gets her shapely bottom painted next Monday. We might just live aboard for the week. We would have access to the Singlar pool and facilities. And we know the bed is comfortable!! Those Mexican hotel beds are HARD. We are looking forward to the return of familiar faces. One couple we know have suggested a land trip up to Copper Canyon. We are keen for it.

So until something new starts happening--that's todo for now.

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In three weeks we return to Charm in Mazatlan. Shortly after arriving we will have the boat hauled and bottom painted.
It's been an up and down summer. I spent a lot of the time dealing with a crushed nerve in the thorasic area of my back. Finally, Dr Jasper administered some injections that removed the pain and gave me back my life.
We got to visit our daughter Kendra and husband Tom in Portland frequently--new twin boy grandsons. They are Wasswa and Kato, Ugandan for first and second born of boy twins.
Marcy also got in some golf, workouts at the lodge (she's really dedicated to Pilates), pickleball and some socializing in addition to many Portland trips. I managed about 15 rounds of golf since the end of August.
We are looking forward to another season in Mexico with a long stay in Mazatlan; a trip down to Nuevo Vallarta and a planned trip across the Sea of Cortez in Spring.

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Well, a bit has happened since I last made notes here. We moved from Paradise Village, Nuevo Vallarta to the new marina at LaCruz to Mazatlan. During most of that time I was having a pain in my upper back that got increasingly worse. In fact, by the time we left LaCruz for San Blas, then Mazatlan I was pretty much useless as a co-captain. The last leg from SB to Mazatlan was 28 hours nonstop and Marcy stayed up virtually the whole time and, along with the autopilot got us here safely.
I visited a doctor in Nuevo Vallarta who was recommended by some of the local boaters. He immediately diagnosed a broken rib at the juncture of the backbone. He prescribed an antiinflammatory and a muscle relaxant and said I should be pretty well healed in month to six weeks. It didn't do any good at all, except the relaxant worked as a "happy" pill.
So when I got to Mazatlan, I went in to see another doctor. He sent me for xrays and tests and it turned out that I had a growth in the area where the first doc had determined there was a break. Mazatlan doctor Guzman sent me to a surgeon who has a lot of names. The one I remember is Sergio. Sergio set me up for surgery to remove the mass after some additional blood tests. The surgery was performed on Wednesday, March 26 at a small hospital. Very clean, very modern. And the good doctor Sergio spent about 2 hours cutting out a larger than expected piece of tissue that was wrapped up in muscle and cartilege. And off that little offender went to the pathology lab. Result: benign. And I'm recovering nicely, thank you. We even went out to dinner last night after a follow up visit with the surgeon. The grand total of the expenses for doctors, surgical team, hospital, lab fees, path lab and medications came to a little less than $1200.
And I am thankful for having access to such good care in such little time. It only took one day to get into the doctor. Two days to see the surgeon and one day to schedule the surgery. There are lots of differences between here and the states in health care. The US medical providers could learn a lot from the Mexicans.

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