As I said before, we are playing this thing one day at a time. Many of you have your own opinions of what we should or shouldn't be doing and one of the problems with putting our life out there the way we do is that people want to make their opinion known if they think they know what we should be doing. And while we appreciate the concern, Ruth said it best...
We don't think we have a "cavalier" attitude to this situation at all, I am sorry that you think this is the way we feel! Our group is made up of very intelligent people and each day at happy hour we sit down and discuss how everyone feels and what our next step should be for the following day. We are very logical about the whole process and we fact check everything that we hear or read so that we are making what we think are very informed choices. At the moment we feel staying in Mexico for a little longer is our best option considering all the craziness that is going on in the US. At the moment no one knows which choice is the best choice as to what the near future holds but at least here in Mexico we can still get food and supplies and we are only a day's drive to the border if we need to make a quick crossing.
And maybe our opinion will change today or tomorrow or the next day. At happy hour today, we will discuss it again.
In the meantime, yesterday we went and did some grocery shopping and stocking up on a few things. No, we did not buy toilet paper, and yes there was a lot available.
Ruth goes for a walk on the trails here behind the hotel with Denise and Scarlett (the dog). Here are some photos of their walk...
Hummingbird.
White winged dove.
Monk parakeet.
They have odd nests built up in the sign for the hotel.
Ruth got the vermillion flycatcher and a fly in the photo!
And I've been taking advantage of our down time here to do some minor repair work to Sherman. He had some corroded wires on the firewall and I think it was causing a bit of an ignition problem. It was a bit of a job to get them all cut out and spliced in, but hopefully that fixed that problem.
Bob and me doing some wiring repairs to Sherman.
Got that done and it was almost time for happy hour...
Some of us arrived early for happy hour by the pool.
Quite a few of these
Dusk.
Time for another happy hour meeting... will we stay, or will we go...
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Record low deal on the Garmin RV 770 Advanced Navigation GPS.
And in Canada...
I'd be afraid that they will close the us/Mexico boarder. If you get sick, I'd rather have Canadian medical than Mexican. I'm pretty sure I have it. The tests take a few days for the results. Caught it flying Morocco to London to Montreal. Unpleasant but no worse than the flu. I'm just glad to be in Canada in case I'm one of the 20% that it turns serious for. I know my vote doesn't count but I say come home.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is that possibility but right now we feel we are in a good safe place to "shelter in place" and if the border does get shut then again, we will stay put and use the exact same protocol as we would had we been in the US or in Canada. By staying in place and away from others we feel our chances of catching the virus is negligible.
DeleteI hope you test is negative, but if not then I hope it stays being no worse than the flu. Best of luck to you.
Those nests are REALLY huge!! Aren't they? Pretty pictures and walk...
ReplyDeleteThey are pretty big nests but not certainly not as big as the social weaver nests that we saw in Namibia, those nest are huge!
DeleteI wouldn't worry about it - only you two can make that decision for yourselves. If you do decide to stay it would be good to find some place you could ride out a lockdown, but I am sure you have already thought of that :)
ReplyDeleteBoth the US/Mexican and US/Canadian borders are indeed closed. But this should mean shorter border crossing times for the group as both US and Canadian citizens are allowed to return home. With the gotcha that you have to have a valid Canadian visa to be in the US. This info has a SoCal slant, as I just went thru it last week.
ReplyDeleteFWIW I'd stay in MX until last week of the first visa to expire. Stock up and gas up before the border run, but cross before the border reopens to all traffic.
Supplies in SoCal get better daily, but all SoCal city, county, state and federal campgrounds remain closed until at least April 6.
My vote doesn't count either - but I say stay and enjoy the 'Fun Side of the Wall'! Mexican health is good, and there's no magic pill your travel insurance would cover.
Well it is looking like we will stay a little longer at least for the moment. We had thought of crossing a few days early but now we are back to our original crossing date of Monday unless things change before that. Luckily we are parked up a good safe place with plenty of room to be outdoors but not be near other people apart from our own group.
DeleteWhen we do cross, we plan to be well stocked up. So far our route north goes through a very rural area so hopefully we won't have any problems self isolating.
We are currently headed to the border to cross on either the 27th or 28th by choice of our group.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!!!
Good luck Barbara and I hope all goes well for you, Mark and your group.
DeleteI am in Oklahoma. I just left our Wal-Mart. It was fully stocked with TP and everything else you might need minus hand sanitizer. I am hoping everyone now has their shelves stocked and will go back to normal buying.
ReplyDeleteThanks, that's so glad to hear!
DeleteGood to hear that things are starting to settle down a bit, hopefully it will continue to stay that way.
DeleteI'm glad you finally reassured your readers with Ruth's remarks. Had you put that out there early on, maybe we readers would not be full of opinions LOL Aside from our obsession (readers) with our opinions, we see what beauty you are traveling through. I love the walks and different birds I never see in AZ. Right now I'm watching a nest in my back yard with mother bird sitting on eggs in afternoon. Today it's windy here and a bit cool so I checked on the one of the eggs that's outside the nest but too far up for me to nudged it back into nest. My son came by and took a look and said the egg is broken. So maybe mother bird nudged the egg out since it's broken. We left it as is.
ReplyDeleteYay!! I see Barbara Kessler's post indicating the decision to cross the border on 27 or 28th by choice of group. I wish you safe travels upon leaving.
Thank you Rita, we really do feel that we are being very logical and also very careful with our thinking. We are in a very good place where we can "Shelter in Place" until we leave and if need be even longer.
DeleteIt's tough to figure out what to do when the information is coming from all different directions. I don't know what it's like anywhere else but Canadians (except some young people hanging out on the beaches in Vancouver) seem to be starting to take "physical distancing" seriously. Sadly the # of cases are growing but hopefully we will see a flattening of the curve within the next month. Safe travels wherever you decide to go.
ReplyDeleteYes it is sometimes, but we look at the information and do our fact checks to make sure we are getting the REAL scoop on things and then we are sitting down as a group and discussing our options each and every day because everything changes everyday. We are taking things seriously and staying in place and only going out for necessary food items, just like we would do at home. Luckily the hotel/RV park is on a big property and we have no problem being outside and not being near others, they even have a lovely long walking path on the property with lots of bird life to watch.
DeleteTime will tell, if we are making the right decision but at least for now, we feel that we are.
I know that you will make the best decision for you. I love your adventures.
ReplyDeleteThank you, we hope that we are. :-)
DeleteOMG! We call the park behind the Las Palmas Rv Park the "Secret Garden". It is so cool to walk there. We have seen some wonderful things.
ReplyDeleteExcellent private hospital and medical care in Mexico is cheap. Even though I have universal Mexican healthcare, which would be my first choice, I would then opt for private care. Juan's BIL has been hospitalized and was in an induced coma for two months and now on the road to recovery. The total bill so far, $0.00. I wouldn't worry about it in the least. Canadian and American healthcare isn't all it's cracked up to be. JMHO
It sure is a "secret garden", it is lovely to go and walk through there each morning for our daily exercise and watch all the different birds. it is nice that is on the hotel property so it is very private and no problem to walk along there and not have other people using it.
DeleteWe aren't worried about the Mexican healthcare at all but with any luck we won't have to worry about it anyways. We are definitely doing our best to keep to ourselves which really isn't hard here at all and if need be it is somewhere where we can hunker down and ride out the storm, hopefully it won't come to that though.
Take care Chris and Juan. :-)
Is that a rail trail behind the hotel? Looks nice and straight
ReplyDeleteNo it isn't, although it looks like one. It actually is just a bike/walking path in the forested area of the hotel/RV Park property. It is really nice to go back there and go for a good walk. In total I think the route is about 1 mile long and we do it three times. Lots of bird life back there too and it is all private property so we literally have it to ourselves.
DeleteNot sure about other border states, but here in TX things seem to have calmed down quite a bit. Shelves were back to normal the other day when I went back. The supply lines were never impacted, it was just the more mundane issue of getting stores restocked to accommodate the hoarders' frenzied buying sprees. And everybody's pantries are now too full to fit anything else!
ReplyDeleteJust in case you've not seen it, this page is tracking info on Covid-19's impact on Mexico in one handy place & it seems to be staying up to date too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_Mexico.
Apparently, Coahuila is limiting access & screening entry into groceries, convenience stores & drug stores in case you decide to come up through there.(Frankly, I think seeing patrons screened for fever would make me feel safer shopping there!)
I'm not sure what I'd do if I were in your shoes but I have a feeling whichever way you decide to play this will turn out just fine.
The threat to public health in all three countries is definitely not to be taken lightly, but it's also not something that getting panicked about does any good for either and you can take the same common-sense precautions there as you can here or anywhere else. Seems to me decisions by US & Canadian border authorities will be the primary determinant for your departure date & yall are staying up on that, so no worries.
Thank you Leilani for the update of the Texas stores, we are trying to situate ourselves so that we will have enough food when we cross the border into Texas, that we won't have to stop at the store but of course that will depend on what if anything the border guards choose to take from us. We won't have any fresh produce or meat but we will have frozen stuff that we have all been busy making and storing in our freezers.
DeleteI have been watching that site closely now for the past week or two, it seems very up to date with all the proper information that we need. Thank you though for posting, just in case we hadn't seen it.
They are being very careful and vigilant at the grocery store here in Matehuala as well. We are only making trips to the grocery store, if it is necessary otherwise we are staying on the hotel/RV park grounds. We certainly don't want to be part of the problem.
Your last paragraph is exactly how we feel. We are taking this seriously and we are taking the common-sense precautions. And yes, we will be ready to go at a moment's notice if we need to make a run for the border. Thank you for your well thought out comment.
The decision is yours to make, although you're right -- every one of your blog readers has their own opinions as to what you should do. MHO? If I were a Canadian, I'd hate to be caught having to use the American health care system. Especially now! Hell, I'm an American and I hate the thought of our health care system. Somehow, I feel the two that peeled off early to stay in Mexico made a good decision. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteLove the Monk Parakeet (aka, Quaker Parrots) pics. We have flocks of them and Nanday Conures that frequent our bird feeders here in Clearwater, FL. The Monk's condo nests are unique. Back when I was working, osprey built a big nest on top of a light pole in the parking lot and the Monk's built a huge nest directly under it.
I just came back from Publix's senior hour here in Clearwater. Low stock or no stock. Worse than two days after a hurricane. So your pickings may be slim in the US depending on where you are and luck.
DeleteWe are totally on board with you as to having to use the American healthcare system, in fact any healthcare system would not be the best choice at the moment. The best thing to do is for us to just stay away from the masses and that is what we plan to do! We definitely agree with you about the ones that took off and headed further inland into Mexico and if the borders should totally shut down and we can't get across, we will head straight on down there and join them.
DeleteThe Monk Parakeets are fun to watch, especially when they are in and around there nests, they are very social birds, I guess they aren't following the "social distancing" rules, lol.
Hopefully our freezer will be stocked up enough that we won't have to worry about a grocery store for awhile. We would rather just stay away from civilisation for as long as we can while we are in the US but thanks for the heads up.
We can sympathize with you, in that our visits to Mexico and our attitudes have been called cavalier right from the beginning. We are cautious and informed, and yet not living in fear. We have enjoyed your blog even though we haven't commented lately, and especially appreciate the Carpe Diem attitude.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jerry and yep, we are cautious and well informed as well but unfortunately some people think that they know best, and that's not to say that we do. It is definitely a difficult choice and we are constantly weighing the odds on both sides of the coin. At this point in time nobody has the right answer.
DeletePlease know that I feel badly for you and everyone with you, for it may not be easy to try and drive home, due to border situations... not just for USA... but also Canada. My prayer will continue. Blessings, Lynn (blogger of Life with Lynnie)
ReplyDeleteThank you Lynn!
DeletePeople got the idea that you had a cavalier attitude because you were definitely slow to clue in to the seriousness of the situation.
ReplyDeleteHow could you possibly come to that conclusion?
DeleteBecause the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic on Mar 11 and yet almost a week later you were still hanging out with crowds. After that you commented, "We are not in any way concerned about our health".
DeleteDifferent countries had (and have) different levels of infection. Mexico on March 18 had extremely low levels of infection, and it remains that way. At that time, I was not in any way concerned about my health and it remains the case today. However, just in case anybody misinterprets such a direct statement, we are doing everything we can at this time to not infect anyone else.
DeleteGiven the extremely low levels of infection here in Mexico, we were not about to participate in the hysteria and illogical acts going on in other countries. And, we remain that way today... taking each day at a time in a logical manner.