Preparing to flee

Hi all,
Joel and Janice, (Mazatlan names Jus Ducky and The Wine Lady), are in the last stages of preparation to return home to Mazatlan. We now have aquired a 2009 Kia Sedona in order to transport loads of household goods to our Mazatlan place. The convertible is fun in Mazatlan, but impractical. Last year we packed 50 pounds of potatoes in a 25 pound sack. This year we will pack 200 pounds of potatoes into a 150 pound sack. We are making progress.

After a cool, rainy start the weather in Spokane turned good and we got to enjoy a lot of summer activities including bike riding, swimming, hiking, and physical therapy. Yes, Janice's biking accident resulted in a trip to emergency and 13 physical therapy sessions. Kenny and grandpa got a lot of bike riding and going to the swimming pool. Highlights of the summer were Janice's trip to Sandpoint with a girlfriend and coming home with a tattoo on her ankle and a trip to Fairmont Hot Springs in Canada to share some friend's timeshare. We enjoyed our new summer quarters after spending three weeks waiting for construction to be completed. Ollie enjoyed getting to play with Max and Bellla. He is an only dog, so learned how to be a pack member this summer. Joel officiated at 25 weddings and one baptism over the summer. We also volunteered at hospice and had two clients that we visited weekly.

Here is our tentative plan on travel. Friday morning the 1st of October we leave Spokane and drive to Stanwood on the West Coast. Joel will direct a wedding rehearsal there on Friday afternoon and then officiate at a wedding on Saturday October 2nd. Sunday October 3rd we start our drive to Mazatlan. We plan on stopping in Palm Springs to see a friend, then on to Green Valley, Arizona. On the morning of October 7th we meet two other people who will caravan with us. We then will cross the border into Mexico, clear customs and drive to Navohoa, Mexico where we will spend the night. On Friday October 8th we will drive the remainder and arrive home in Mazatlan in mid-afternoon.

We are looking forward to this winter. Joel will again work at the expatriate Library and Janice will work with the girls home Flore-Cer. Joel will again rejoin his bridge group two or three times a week, meet the guys for lunch on Mondays to discuss the problems of the world, then on Wednesdays meet with Hermandad de frijoles Y Cerveza. (Brotherhood of beans and beer). Janice will continue to organize "uncorked in Mazatlan" a wine tasting group that has grown in the past two winters. Her first tasting will be Mexican wine and tapas. Last year both of us took steel drum lessons. This year we are going to check out the arts. We will look for art and theatre classes. Janice has been told by her Dr. that a diet low in processed foods will lessen her need for several of her medications, so our diet will have a lot of the wonderful fresh fruit and vegetables, along with the fresh fish that is plentiful.

My brother Steve will arrive on October 27th and will stay for six months. He has an apartment in Centro, but I suspect we will see a lot of him as we get the NFL on our satelite TV. His wife will come down for Thanksgiving and later for another stay to see if she likes Mazatlan.

Stay tuned and we will update you on our progress.  The following pictures are some of the family members we said good-bye to. 

Janice's 94 yr. old mother, brother and nephew

Son, Jason

Daughter, Joanne

Grandson, Jelani

Grandson, Javin

Daughter-in-law Shari, Jaxson and Jayden is hiding

Grandson, Kenny

Jayden does not want to say good-bye (no grandma, don't leave)

Daughter Jackie, grand-daughter Jordyn not pictured!