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!

And the winner is...

Our latest contest was to win a one year membership to Boondockers Welcome, and yesterday evening we did the draw to find out who the winner was.

And we're happy to announce that it's our friend Renate Hoven. No offense to those of you who aren't regular readers, but we really do like it when one of our friends wins!

C*ck of the rock

I was doing some more research for our upcoming Colombia trip and I had read that Colombia has the largest bird list of any country in the world. You'll remember that we were impressed with some of the birds we spotted and photographed during our South Africa and Namibia trip and we're now looking forward to seeing some more interesting and colorful birds in Colombia.

There are over 1,850 different species of birds in Colombia!

Visitors!

We haven't had many visitors this summer. In fact, other than when our son came for a surprise visit in June, we haven't had any visitors.

So we were happy to hear that some fellow Mexican RV travelers were coming to say hello!

Ruth's doctor's appointment

It had been quite a few years since our last "annual" physical checkup.  Personally, I think that these annual physical checkups are a total waste of the system's resources, but I understand that is just my opinion. Others think differently, and that is apparent from the different provinces health care plans.

In Canada, even though we have "free" or "universal" health care, the program is administered by the provinces and each province does things quite differently.

The best beer in the world

The other day, I was thinking that it's been a while since I've had a beer. A long while. About three months actually.

And I think that's probably the longest I've gone without a beer or three since I was about 18 years old!

Another update from Volkan and Heather- Reporting from Sweden

Back in May, you had all enjoyed a guest post from our friends Volkan and Heather who were visiting United Arab Emirates.  Here is a link to that post...

http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2015/05/whats-it-like-to-visit-middle-eastern.html

Now, our traveling friends are in Sweden and they've sent another interesting update for you all to read!

Power outage

Up until the last two weeks or so we had been having an exceptionally dry summer, however that has changed! We had a couple of inches of rain at the end of July, and the last day has been cloudy with thunderstorms on and off and we have woken up to rain again this morning.

Won't have to water the grass or the flowers for a few days! But, it is supposed to be a nice weekend.

Another RV'er giveaway!

When we travel, we like staying with people who are local to the area. That's why we're members of the couchsurfing community for when we are traveling without the motorhome. So when we heard that there was a similar website for people out exploring with their RV, we signed up right away!

And now, the good folks over at Boondockers Welcome have offered us the opportunity to give away one free annual membership so that you too can have a free place to overnight and meet some great local RV people in your travels throughout Canada and the United States!

Straight south!

Took a rare blogging day off yesterday.

I was looking at the map again...I must be getting itchy to get on the road! We'll be heading for Moose Jaw when we leave here, and then pretty much straight south from there. At least this way it'll be easy to choose a route that we've never done before.

We survived!

Well, we made it through the busy August long weekend here in Canada. The campground was sold out, and had been booked that way since the end of June. Today is the holiday Monday and so a lot of people will be leaving throughout the day.

Fortunately, we had great weather and it sure looks like everybody enjoyed their time despite things being a little bit crowded.

Sherman's roof

Sherman (our motorhome) is 20 years old this summer.

That means that the rubber membrane roof material that keeps the water out is also 20 years old, and near the end of it's useful life. In fact, even the Dicor company that makes  the roofing material says that their roof membrane is guaranteed for 10 years, but will likely last 20 years.

So that leaves two options if we want to keep Sherman healthy.

July Expenses

We did pretty much all of our necessary shopping in one month! Most of the items that we bought won't even get used until September or October, but it was going to have to be bought anyhow and we got some good deals.

So, grand total of expenses for the month of July... $1,685. (Keep in mind that these are Canadian dollars. For the U.S. equivalent you can subtract almost 25%!).