When Winter Gets Tough, the wimps get going

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Winter!  We finally got a taste of winter!

After over 3 months of unusually warm weather (2nd mildest winter on record) and almost no snow, this week we were hit with a significant snowfall and some cold temperatures.  Susanne can be seen here demonstrating how to handle it all.

Really, we have very little to complain about.  If we had to be stuck in Edmonton for the winter season, this was definitely the year to do it.  As I am writing this, the temperatures have already risen to above freezing again and it probably won't be long until the snow is gone.  With the days getting longer, it is already starting to feel like spring.

Meanwhile down south, one of my fears has come to pass.  After getting no word from the boatyard on the status of the boat for several weeks, they called yesterday to say that it is ready.  No advance warning so we would have had time to find reasonably cheap flights to Mexico.  Here are the pictures of Sine Timore's new, blister-free bottom.  Only time will tell if it is also blister-proof.

We have decided to try a different route back to San Carlos.  If we were to reverse our bus trip from Guaymas to Phoenix and flight to Edmonton, we would have to fly in to the USA and then take a bus into Mexico.  This is the shortest and quickest route but would mean that we would have to check into the U S with their paranoid post-911 security and ridiculously small duty-free allowances, followed by crossing into Mexico at Nogales, where the news reports would have us believe that people are victims of random violence on an hourly basis.

Instead, we will fly from Edmonton to Mazatlan, further south in Mexico.  From there we will take a bus north to Guaymas.  This means a 12 hour bus ride instead of 6 to 8 hours, but overall it should be much less hassle.  Fortunately we were able to find a reasonably priced direct flight from Edmonton to Mazatlan - we will be leaving on March 17th.

Now, if only we can remember how to sail...

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