We've been somewhat delayed dealing with some medical issues but feel they are all addressed/resolved and are now moving to get things staged before loading the boat and van.
We usually get a cold spell right around Christmas with temperatures hovering around 00 F for about a week. This year the cold snap came earlier, hit harder, stayed longer. It also came with 8" of snow; highly unusual here in the VAlley. This has really slowed us down as we can't get anything packed that contains any liquid because it will freeze. Between packing clothes to come out of the frigid North to go into the (it is fervently hoped!) balmy South and getting our food assembled, our Master Bedroom is beginning to look like Wal-Mart/REI. Both Rich and I tend to try to pack to cover every possible contingency, or variation thereof, so it's getting kinda cramped already. Am I also sounding kinda stressed already?
Please don't misunderstand about our weather: Western CO has THE best weather in the world! We have been skiing on Grand Mesa in late October in our shirtsleeves. But this kind of cold weather is like Winter in Chicago: Cuts right to the bone. I have a pot of split pea soup simmering as we speak. We're accustomed to biking/hiking/grilling/anything outdoors year 'round so we're pretty spoiled when it comes to good weather. Yeah, it gets pretty hot in the Summer but the rest of the year is primo.
We got an e-mail & pictures from our good friend, Tony Quilico, who is in the Mazatlan area on his boat, Sea Tub. The weather does indeed look balmy. People are walking around in shorts! In December! Wow!
After reviewing what the CDC website recommends, we went to Mesa County Health Department yesterday for the first round of the Hepatitis A and B vaccines. It's a series of three Hep A and 2 Hep B. We should get the second round in a month but since we won't be here, we'll get that round in April, when we get back here and then the third shot and final in May. Rich also had a tetanus booster a couple years ago. I'm going to call my doctor and arrange for one myself; I can't remember when I had a booster but think it was when we went to La Paz in 1995, or thereabouts, to sea kayak around Espiritu Santo.
Chica has had all her vaccinations already; I have made an appointment with the vet for December 28th so she can get her International Health Certificate. I understand from the CDC website that she needs to show proof of rabies vaccination before she can come back into the States; she, of course, has her county rabies tag on her collar but we decided we'd get the Health Certificate in order to attempt to head off any problems getting her back across the border. If I haven't already mentioned it, Chica is a Border Collie/Black Lab mix, black with four white feet, a white chest blaze and white tail tip. She'll be 2 y/o in February. She's a good traveler; she's sure gonna get a tummy-full of it in the next three months!
Our good friends, Kent and Rose Nordenberg, are introducing us to the intricacies of digital photography and Photo Shop Elements so I'm hoping that I'll be able to include some photos in the near future.
I'll sign off for now. Thanks for your comments, Kent (you know who you are...) and Mary. We love hearing from you!
Sara/Rich/Chica
