Four Months of Bliss

October 27th

It was just past noon as I glanced into the rear-view mirror of the truck as we reached the City limits on our way south again to our Nevada home.  Half expecting to see traffic behind me, all of a sudden I had a "grey moment". I had forgotten that I had just hooked up our newly purchased Cargo Trailer and so I was momentarily surprised by the image of a white vehicle bearing down upon us almost inside the truck bed in the rearview mirror, nevertheless, that would be the image for the next 2000 kilometres (around 1500 miles). I would get used to it, as it wasn't going anywhere soon.

We knew the weather was beginning to change. We had been watching the news and weather forecasts which we always do before we set off on a long journey like this.  This time, it was more important because we were towing this 12 ft by 7 foot  covered double-axle trailer and we had to cross the Monida and Malad Passes in Montana - Both of these passes are over 6000 high and if you aren't careful, snow can become your nemesis out in those wild remote places. 

We weren't about to take chances with a brand new trailer and not to be forgotten, was the fact that once we were into Idaho and Utah, much of the journey down the Interstate 15 highway is above 5000 ft so weather becomes a critical factor.

Preparing for the Trip

Two days before we left, we had helped Jason our son out as "Secret Shoppers".  It was a fun thing to do.  It meant that we had to drive around Calgary to various establishments to ask questions posing as buyers.  The objective, to test out their levels of service and product knowledge. It was fun.  We reported back and wrote the obligatory reports and sent them off.

The day before we left, I had to pick up the Trailer from the sales centre. The owner had kindly allowed me to store it there until I was ready to leave Calgary.  The trailer would hold all our worldly belongings we would move from our Nevada home back up into Canada at the end of February, once we had handed over our wonderful home to the new buyers.

At 9:00 am, I drove to the Acreage where the trailers are sold, hitched up the trailer and tested everything out.... Oh Oh, the lights don't work.  

The owner of the trailer sales centre tested everything out and hitched the trailer up to his vehicle.  Bingo, everything worked.  "Unfortunately the fault is in your truck somewhere" he said...... 

This was really not what I wanted to hear. I was leaving the following day so without further ado, I made a decision.  I  unhitched the trailer and drove our Ford F150 to the Ford Dealership in Strathmore Alberta - the nearest town from the acreage around 20 Kilometres away.

As I drove into the service bay up to the service person's desk, the lady who was booking in the vehicle asked what service I required. I explained the situation. She smiled and said "Have you a fuse in a plastic bag in the glove compartment"?  "Fuse, plastic bag, glove compartment"  I retorted. "Yes" she said, "this IS a fairly new vehicle isn't it"? "It is" I replied. 

Meekly, I leaned across the truck and opened up the glove compartment.  I winced as I glanced inside.  There, neatly lying in the compartment was a sealed plastic bag containing a blue fuse with a part number on it but no description as to where it goes or what it does. No instructions! absolutely none.  I took a deep sigh as I collected my thoughts and handed the bag to her with my hand over my brow in frustration while leaning against the steering wheel.  

Before I knew it, there was a tiny mechanic up on a ladder. I popped the hood and he popped the fuse in and smiled...... "There you go sir" he said.... "You will be OK now".  

As I drove out of the bay, the same service lady leaned over and smiled at me and said "Sir, you aren't the first and you won't be the last to have that same issue. We see it all the time".  Annoyed, I said to her "If that's the case, have you as a responsible Ford Dealership mentioned this to Ford, so they could label the fuse so we would all know what it is for"? "Not as far as I know" she replied with a large smiley face on her clock. "Well maybe you could do that in order to save hundreds of people time, worry and money in the future" I said in a sort of displeased tone as I slowly manoeuvred the vehicle out of the bay.  This situation felt like I was in a "Faulty Towers" episode with me starring as John Cleese. With a slightly damaged ego, I drove back to the acreage.

I drove in and gleefully reversed the truck in anticipation everything would work, connected the electrics and.......... NOTHING.  In a huge loud voice I said XXXX.  

The owner of the trailer sales was trying to keep a straight face and be helpful, but it was clear, he was amused with me losing it on the lot.  A couple of other buyers shot a glance at me and continued looking at the trailer they had just purchased.

Time was ticking on and it would be dark in another couple of hours, then what would I be faced with the following morning with a long drive south and no lights on the trailer.  Not an endearing prospect by any means. 

Already miles from anywhere, I reluctantly took a chance and again drove the 20 kms back to Strathmore, with the trailer illegally attached to the truck this time.

Immediately, the mechanic came out with a puzzled look on his face.  "Have you had any work done on this vehicle recently" he asked. "Yes I replied. Three days ago I had it in for service and they changed the steering column because I was getting some warning lights coming on and the turn signals would cut out for no reason - All warranty items" I replied.  

Nodding his head, he disappeared with the truck and trailer and within five minutes, he returned smiling. "You are good to go" he said. "I have tested everything out and it is in perfect working order. You had a blown fuse that was not replaced by the previous service people in Calgary. Everything works.... and Oh, there's no charge". 

I did the walk-around and he tested the break and signal lights.  Ah! Now we are cooking I thought. Smiling and waving as I pulled away he said "Have a great trip". I bade him goodbye and a big thank you and drove home.

I pulled up in front of Carol and Ib's house where we were staying just as it was getting dark........All day to collect one damned trailer. What a waste of a day.

While I was gone, Donna had everything under control.  The bags were in the garage ready to load up and five minutes later we had loaded and locked everything up.  Time for a glass of wine, some TV and supper.  All we had to do the next day was clean up and secure the house, jump into the vehicle and go. We planned to leave Calgary at midday the following day.

The Journey South

I arrived at the South hospital at 7:50am on the date of departure for my weekly donation of blood. Returning to the house, Donna had everything closed up, locked and ready to go. One last check and we would be out of here ahead of the forecast snowfall. 

By 3:00pm we had reached the US border at Coutts Crossing, to the south of Lethbridge where we joined a very short line behind four other vehicles while waiting to be checked out and checked in by the US Border Agents. 

After a cordial conversation with the fellow at the checkpoint, he said "you're good to go sir". Donna slipped the truck into gear and off we went bidding him goodbye.  Great! now we have four months to enjoy in the Mohave Desert....Just what we had been waiting for.  We hit the open road heading south through Montana.

We refuelled at Great Falls then went onto our destination for the first night at Helena, Montana.  We had not stayed there before, but because we had left later in the day we were forced to take this course of action.  We had planned to take two nights, three days to arrive in Mesquite.  Why rush? After all, we are retired.

The journey south the following day was uneventful apart from a traffic accident on the highway at the southern end of Salt Lake City Utah where we crawled along for a half hour but after that there were no problems.  

We pulled into Mesquite on October 30th. It was 85 degrees Fahrenheit (almost 30 Celsius) when we arrived......Ah just what the doctor ordered.  The snow was closing in behind us back up in Montana with 5 - 10 inches of the white stuff forecast to fall in the next two days.  And it did.

We arrived at the house having picked up some food from Smiths Grocery Store in Mesquite and dropped off our clothing etc. Once I had unloaded, my friend and neighbour Jack and I jumped into the truck and drove to the storage lot he leases. He kindly offered me free space to store the trailer for the four months we would be in Mesquite. 

A couple of days later we were off to Las Vegas with a bunch of friends for a couple of nights. We had a fun time but like many visitors to Lost Wages (for the uninitiated among you that's a slang Canadians use for Las Vegas) we left empty handed but had fun nonetheless.  

Ann, Yours truly, Donna Gary, Roy and Karen in Las Vegas.  Others would arrive later on that evening.

Another Indian Cooking Session

We had decided that in Mid November sometime it was time for another Indian food cooking session with Donna and I as the coaches.  

We invited friends and prepared for them a Beef Curry, Saffron Rice, Veggie and Meat Samosas (hand made from scratch) Pappadams, Butter Chicken and Tandoori Chicken which Donna had marinaded for two days in the refrigerator.  

Everything tasted delicious, partly because we had re-visited Las Vegas just prior to the planned event and gone to our favourite East Indian grocery store to purchase the fresh spices such as Green Cardamon, Cumin Seeds, Turmeric, Garam Masala etc.

The real fun part was having some of the party attendees over to make the samosa pockets prior to the party.  When they came over, I made the dough for the samosas then we showed them how to feed it into a pasta machine until the dough was so thin you could see through it.  Each strip of dough was around 4 inches wide and about 5 feet long and made three samosa wrappers. Once I stopped them giggling and laughing as they tried to get a hold of these hugely long pieces of dough as the got thinner and thinner they made excellent students.  

Donna's Sister Carol and Brother-in-Law Ib from Calgary where still in Mesquite at their home just around the corner, so they and Liane, Michelle and Judee our neighbours all assisted in the manufacturing of the samosa covers.  It was fun (all helped on with a few glasses of wine).

We made the samosas one week in advance of the party then froze them. All we had to do on the day was take them out of the freezer and pop them into deep hot oil for a perfect finish.

Table is laid and ready for our guests in a few hours time.

Some of the dishes we prepared and ate

Papadams Crispy and very tasty

Freshly Made Samosas from scratch prior to freezing.

The Finished Product Meat Samosas.  We cheated, we sampled a few for our efforts the day we made them

Very Tasty and Authentic Tandoori Chicken Legs, Scored and Marinaded for two days.....delicious

An Authentic Beef Curry

Delicious Saffron Rice

The day finally arrived for the party.  We had a great time cooking the Indian food (most of which Donna and I had prepared in advance). We fed twenty eight of our friends which is a lot for an average sized American kitchen.  Everyone loved the various tastes and flavours of the different dishes and commented on how different the cuisine is from North American cuisine. You've got that right I thought.

Indian food is not a well known type of food to Americans,  mainly because there aren't that many Indian people in the US as compared say to Canada and Britain. They were never exposed to the ideas and recipes brought back from India by the Brits who formed a part of the British Raj, years before.  

Many Brits having moved to Canada brought the recipes with them. Everyone commented on two things - It was really tasty but they could not see themselves cooking it because it is so labour intensive. Very true, but we like it that much, we will continue to enjoy creating Indian dishes to the end of our days.  

Wine Tour Time For The Ladies in Santa Barbara

Three days after the Indian food, our wives all took off for a three night, four day bus tour of the wineries in Santa Barbara on the California coast.  

Jerry one of our neighbours and husband of one of the ladies on the trip (Liane also a bus driver) drove the bus to Santa Barbara. The girls visited three wineries in all and saw where one of our North American TV personalities - Oprah Winfrey purchased a farm for 100 million Dollars. Yes, that's right $100,000,000.00 (Well, you can't take it with you so why not) That's 2 years wages for her.....Piece of Cake for her I thought to myself when Donna told me about it.

Left to right Judee, Michelle and Donna enjoying some of the Vineyard's Free Samples

Empty glass, time for another! Judee, Deb and Lisa

Lisa, Liane, Michele, Donna, Deb, Judee and Cydni

US Thanksgiving - Nov 27

Venue: Sam and Carol's home for thanksgiving Dinner.  It was a pot luck, Sam and Carol providing the Turkey and other stuff and the rest of us each bringing a dish or two over.  There was so much food it was unbelievable and tasty..... Oh so tasty. There was Ham, Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Roast Parsnips, Sweet Potato, Yams and about 15 other dishes to eat.

Sam Testing out the Turkey for Doneness 

Sam.......Who me?......Looking slightly flustered just before he rests the turkey but with about 20 pairs of  eyes watching him while they are enjoying their drinks.

Relaxing in Mesquite

At the time of writing, it is Dec. 18th. Tomorrow is my eldest son Jason's 41st birthday and our next door neighbours birthday too. We will be going to supper with our neighbours to celebrate her birthday and of course give a call back home to wish Jason a Happy Birthday.

Over the past few weeks, it has been a fun and relaxing time.  Donna and I invested in a Fit Bit each while we were in Calgary. This sits on your body and records the number of steps you walk every day - a kind of incentive to get out and exercise. We have set a goal of 10,000 steps a day or about four miles of walking.  By and large, we have kept to it unless we were too busy.  Sometimes we walk slightly less but often we walk further.  One day, while alone I walked ten miles or 23,000 steps which was a good long walk which left me feeling none the worse for my exercise.  

The weather is still shorts and T shirt time with the occasional sleeveless vest so we can walk daily.  It is still around 58 - 60 degrees F every day so it is pleasant. Many of our friends here all have a Fitbit so we all see how far the other has walked as we are all connected as friends through facebook. What a great incentive to get out and take some exercise.

As Christmas approaches, I see some snow on the hills above.  It won't last for very long. It is confined to the mountains but on Christmas Day, irrespective of the weather, we will seat eleven for Christmas Dinner.  We love to put on Christmas Dinner each year.  It's a lot of work, but our friends will join us and everyone will bring dishes to lessen the load on us. 

We are going to roast the Turkey on our Traeger Smoker BBQ this year. We have had a dry run with a stuffed Chicken and it tasted wonderful.  Something different, It's a new Challenge. 

At the end of February we will return to Canada. We will stay in Calgary for ten days, then it's off to Vancouver Island to Nanaimo, British Columbia to find a place to buy or we will build new again and make our home base for the remaining years.  

It will be somewhere we can return to from our next adventures. Where that will be we aren't sure of yet.  It could be back to Panama to get our Pensionado Visas for permanent residency or it could be:

A Year In Australia

One year to circumnavigate this fascinating country.  What a thought and an adventure that would be. We have tentatively planned to Arrive in Sydney, travel up to Gold Coast then Brisbane, along the Great Barrier Reef to Townsville in north eastern Queensland, then on northwards to Cairns. From there, we would journey west along the Gulf of Carpentaria up to the Tropics and Darwin along the beaches of the Timor Sea then southwest across the Great Sandy Desert to the Indian Ocean then south to Perth, Western Australia.  From there we would travel east along the southern coast and The Great Australian Bight to the southern centre of the Country then due north into the interior to Ayers Rock, Uluru and Alice Springs crossing the McDonald Range of mountains.  

Once there we would turn south and head to Mungo National Park then onto Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra finally finishing the journey back in Sydney.

We are also hoping that funds permitting, we could go to the North and South Islands of New Zealand.  Maybe also visit Fiji, Tahiti and the Cook Islands and even Singapore on our way back. This is a big undertaking, not without considerable expense in terms of flights, travel and health insurance so we will have to fill the coffers before we finally decide that it's a go.  But that's the idea for now.

This journey of a lifetime will take some time to plan and prepare for.  We hope to house-sit our way around Australia.  House-sitting requires that sometimes you watch someone's home and maybe look after their pets while they are travelling in return for free accommodation.  It's a win win for everyone.  

We have registered with a company that facilitates house sitters. We have already been offered a three month stay in Queensland but had to turn it down as it conflicts with the timetable for our immediate intentions which is to seek out a home on Vancouver Island first so we can furnish it and establish a home base. We may then rent it out fully furnished to offset some of the costs of our travels. On the other hand, we may not.  

So, for those that have been pestering me for the answer as to where next since the last blog, now you know :-)  

Well that's all for now.  Donna and I would like to wish all the readers of our blog, especially our family and friends across the miles and across the oceans, a very Merry Christmas and an eventful, safe, prosperous and wonderful 2015.

God bless you all and peace be with everyone.

I Dreamed A Dream

Good morning to everyone around the globe who reads our blog. Today, I am going to depart from the usual message because something occurred to me recently to inspire this slightly different blog. Please bear with me throughout this message. Hopefully you will see at the end why I wrote this in the way I did.

The dictionary describes a dream as "a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal" among other things. In other words it is something in your mind that you yearn for. All I can say is thank goodness we have dreams. 

Dreams or aspirations provide every one of us with the opportunity to strive for a goal we may not normally entertain.  Dreams are a kind of moving target in life that can keep us on track, help us to keep going in down times and generally give us something to aim for.    

It has been a couple of months since I wrote my last blog. Unfortunately during that time I have seen some changes. I have seen friends and acquaintances stricken by Cancer and pass on and one particular very good friend of mine trying hard to deal with the onset of Dementia in the form of Luey Body Disease. All he can do realistically is to be up and wait out his fate born up by his faith.  

Experiencing all this has left some emptiness in our hearts. We know it's a part of life's journey we all embark upon from the moment we are born but it hurts nevertheless when we lose someone or see someone suffer who is dear to us. As we age we begin to realize that time is precious and that it is important to make the most of what time we have left.   

I can only hope that everyone we know can at the end of their time here say to themselves in one form or another, - "I dreamed a dream" (the title of this blog). We all deserve that in life, to fulfill at least one cherished aspiration or ambition during our time here.        

Our dreams and objectives sometimes change direction through life and we, like others are no less susceptible to those changes. 

During the past 16 months (the first 16 months of our retirement journey) Donna and I have had to make changes to our plans in order to keep on track. Our dream, is to live life to the full, be happy and enjoy our families and our time together while we have the health to do it. 

We have had many conversations about what we do once our current adventure comes to an end. Where do we go next? How do we get there? How long will our journey take? What are our objectives on the way? And, when we finally arrive at our destination what will it be like? - lots of questions that cannot really be answered until we arrive.  

Recently, during our due diligence about where we should live next we both thought a change of direction might be on the cards. The result of some good open, honest and fun conversations we have had while we have been alone.     

Originally we had thought we would move to Panama lock stock-and-barrel, but on giving this further consideration we thought this might be the wrong approach i.e., placing all our eggs in one basket and definitely against what I wrote about in my previous blog when I said, "do nothing that cannot be undone in a half hour or less". Maybe we should take our own advice. That ladies and gentlemen is precisely what we did.      

We have to face facts. What happens if we get down to Panama and after a year of so life is not up to our expectations? It can and does happen to many individuals and families who travel to pastures new.  More than you would imagine. We know, we have spoken to lots of people who are doing the same as us. So we thought we would take baby steps for now and be careful not to leave ourselves open to any uncomfortable situations that could potentially end up costing us a lot of money later on.  

We will still go to Panama but when we do go, we have decided that we will rent there instead of buying so we can check everything out without being under any pressure because if we purchased, we will have invested everything we had in something without doing our due diligence first. We feel much more comfortable with this decision.     

We also decided that to be out of the real estate market in Canada would not be helpful or wise so we will take another second look at Vancouver Island in the Coastal regions of Nanaimo in order to get away from the cold Alberta winters, should we be in Canada at that time of year.  

We hope to find something nice on the island that will also permit us to continue following our dreams yet keep a closer connection to the families we have here in Canada.  

Believe it or not.  Our world in not all beaches and palm trees. There's lots more to see around the world which is why we are studying further options....where to next? Hmmm! That's the $50,000 question.

Getting back to the title of our blog and departing somewhat from our retirement update, you may also remember that the title "I dreamed a dream" was also a song sung by a lady named Susan Boyle - a Scot. from Blackburn, in West Lothian, Scotland when she appeared on "Britain's Got Talent".  

All I can say is that what she did on that show that night made a huge impression on me. I have re-visited her performance time and time again and this is partly the reason why I made this the title of our blog which does actually have something to do with our journey.  

Susan Boyle was a nervous lonely lady who was quite clearly uncomfortable with the position she was placing herself in - singing to such a large audience, but she wanted it with a passion.  

The moment she opened her mouth and began to sing, she stunned a pretty sceptical audience and also the judges - all of which were clearly thinking this was going to be another one of those hard-to-sit-through performances. I believe they saw Susan Boyle as as a bit of a joke. Another reminder of the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" and don't prejudge what you know nothing about.  

Boyle epitomizes everything about dreaming a dream.  She sung the song that was named those very words, but more than that, she acted out or participated in her dream that night by doing what she did on stage. All I can say is well done Susan Boyle. 

It was a simple dream. To sing in front of and wow a large audience. Listen carefully to what she says when she speaks to the judges then take the time to listen to her sing - even if you have heard it before. There's method behind this believe me, but before you go, watch the video then return here, because there's more..... 

 Video # 1

Susan Boyle I dreamed a dream

Do we all have dreams? Who knows!, but as sure as the sun sets every day we will hopefully continue to strive for something - to keep going in this busy world we live in.  

I would personally like to ask all of you take the time to view the second Susan Boyle Youtube video - the one below, after you have seen the first one. It will show you a huge change that has overcome this woman who had a dream.  

You will immediately see how this meek lady followed her dreams and the amazing changes that took place during that undertaking. Maybe at the end you will understand why I was so impressed and impacted by her and why I wrote this out of character blog for our readership.  

Video # 2

Susan Boyle reaching for her dream

_________

Susan Boyle - Today 

In the epilogue to this blog, I would just like to say that it is truly amazing that such a drastic transformation of one person has taken place.

Susan is now over 50 years old. Today, she has an estimated net worth of over $33,000,000. I would say at least one of HER dreams has been fulfilled. It wasn't about the money though. That came after she walked awkwardly onto that stage and gave the performance she did in pursuit of her dream. How brave. How wonderful.  

Before we bring this blog to a close, may we say how much we have appreciated your feedback.  Many of you have sent us personal emails of support and words of encouragement for us on our journeys some, even saying how much they enjoy reading our blogs. 

In this shorter than normal version, all I can say is that Vancouver Island and Panama are still there on our bucket list. Then where too? Well, Let's say we have a dream but we aren't making that public until later on because it is more complicated than the other journeys we have undertaken. 

Once the plans for the next adventure are made and finalized we will be sure to let our readers know in a timely fashion what the next part of our journey will be. 

In closing, we would like to say God bless you all.  Most of all, stay safe and...... don't forget to dream those dreams. Just like Susan Boyle, you never know what will happen until  you embark on that journey.

Tomorrow the adventure will continue as we depart for our Nevada home for the next four months and we prepare to hand over our most treasured possession to new owners. It will give us an opportunity to plan out our next adventure to Vancouver Island in March.

Until our next blog. Adios Amigos.  

Ken and Donna Carter. 

Back To North America......For A While!

September 1, 2014.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the crew of this aircraft would like to welcome you today to our COPA Airlines flight to Las Vegas Nevada. We will be pushing back momentarily. We request everyone please fasten their seat belts, ensure their seats are in the upright position and all tables are securely fastened.  Please sit back, relax and enjoy the safety video. Attendants - prepare for takeoff..... That's how the next phase of our retirement adventure kicked in.

As we lifted off from the runway at Tocumen International Airport, Panama and we became airborne gaining height as the aircraft banked heavily turning towards our destination, I cast my mind back to the array of experiences we had enjoyed over the past 16 months. 

I recalled many of the people we had met during our journeys around the various countries we had visited in South and Central America. Most were either from Canada and the United States - all with one common goal - to explore opportunities in other countries. Some of these exploratory journeys taking us occasionally out of our comfort zones. 

Quite a few had come to investigate possibilities such as working or building a business in another country. Others like us were looking critically into the advantages (and disadvantages) of relocating to these countries to retire. We were certainly not on our own in this regard. 

It has surprised us as to how many people are doing this nowadays. Literally tens of thousands do it every year and the numbers are increasing steadily in both Canada and the United States as many (especially in the US) are finding it harder to live on their retirement incomes or on the money they have saved up over their working lives. 

Some don't have retirement pensions and have to get by on their Social Security payments alone - a pretty scary thought from our point of view but with prices rising so fast and the US national debt now over 17 Trillion Dollars, many younger  Americans are wondering if they will ever see their Social Security come to fruition. It's a real worry for them. We can only be thankful we aren't in the same boat.     

  

The Arenal Volcano, Lake Arenal, Costa Rica

On a more positive note, I also thought about all of the gorgeous natural beauty we had both enjoyed in the countries we had visited, and of the diversity of the nature we had seen over the course of the past year and a quarter. 

Our brief trip to Ecuador in South America, and more recently to Costa Rica and Panama in Central America had introduced us to environments we had only experienced by watching The Discovery Channel on television. Now it was real. We were in our own movie so to speak.  

Three of these wonderful birds would come to our yard every day
twice a day in Panama

We have been incredibly lucky to have experienced first hand the sheer beauty and diversity of the gorgeous birds, fish and wildlife we had encountered on the way. We could not have wished for a better show. We were both grateful for the fact that we had the health to undertake this journey. If nothing else - we are richer for the experiences we have had.   

The Malinchi Tree seen in both Costa Rica and Panama

The diverse types of flora were amazing and seemingly unlimited. We could now identify a Teak Tree, a Malinchi Tree (pronounced Malinchee), Banana Palms, Plantain Palms (and know the difference between the two), Coconut Palms, Bamboo, Avacado trees, Pineapple bushes, Rice Paddies, Mango Trees, the treasured Noni Tree and its strange looking fruit. All a wonderful learning adventure. 

We had delighted in the joys of seeing a troop of roughly ten Capuchin Monkeys at close range - just 12 feet away from our breakfast table.  All of them sitting in the trees watching us as we ate breakfast at our hotel in Costa Rica. We watched as they tried to taunt the Golden Retriever sat with his owner below at a table adjacent to us.  

We had seen Cranes, Sea Snakes, Turtles, Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Black Buzzards, Ospreys, Iguanas and Parakeets of varying colours, Toucans, Sloths, Humming Birds, Ring-tailed Racoons and so much more - all living in their natural environment. It could not have been any more perfect.    

The first of our haul of Mahi-Mahi

Donna and Kathy displaying their first catch of the day

Brad with his Red Snapper - Delicious

Ken with his Yellow Finned Tuna

More Mahi-Mahi and another Yellow Fin Tuna taken when Jerry and Liane Visited us in Panama.

We had revelled in the experience of the deep sea fishing trips both in Panama and in Costa Rica and in the number and diversity of the fish we had caught and eaten, like the numerous Mahi-Mahi, Yellow Finned Tuna, the enormous Red Snapper that Brad Ellis caught while visiting us in Costa Rica with his wife Kathy.  

We were amazed at the 150 - 200 lb. Nurse Shark brought in by Brother-in-Law, Ib Moller before we cut the line and let it go (as it was a protected species). And of course there's always the one that got away story. The one that almost crippled me trying to wind it in before the hook became detached from the line - That hurt the ego a bit but boy, it was great fun. 

And then there was the the different lifestyles of the local people we had met. Some wealthy, some not so wealthy and some incredibly poor - living a day to day existence on their meagre pay-cheques but happy non-the-less with their lives. 

Many work as gardeners or handymen and labourers, spending a whole day at residences to be paid $20 per day, some of the ladies who clean homes work for as little as $5 an hour but they are happy to be living in their part of the world doing what they do.

These Fishermen are often in their boats and off out to sea by 4:00am

Many people have roadside tiendas where they sell their veggies

Most have never seen or never will experience real snow or Ice or minus temperatures and are very content with their way of life. 

As we headed back to Las Vegas I could not get the thought out of my head that a reality check must surely be in the works in the not-to-distant future. 

We were levelling out at 37,000 feet while the familiar dinging sound indicated that it was now OK to recline our seats and relax for the six hour flight north to Las Vegas. We were homeward bound and heading back to the future. 

Neither Donna or myself has missed work for one second of our retirement, but during that time we have become aware of a few things we had missed while we were busy earning a living.  

Trimming Expenses - On A Fixed Income

Something we have learned over the past year and a quarter is how to save money more easily now we are travelling and living off a fixed income. 

The reason we can do this is that we now have the time to sit and think about saving money instead of just spend spend spend as we had been doing during our working lives when we had the funds to do so.  

One thing we found useful was to sit down and take a really hard look at our "needs and wants" or put another way "must haves and would likes" - two totally different requirements we all to often mix together.   

    

Travelling means spending money on airline tickets. If we purchase everything on our credit card and then pay it off immediately, you amass lots more "Air Miles" each month. Of course you must discipline yourself to pay off everything right away but the air miles soon mount up and the result can be an occasional free flight back home or to another destination. Something not to be sneered at in this day and age especially when the price of airline tickets and the associated taxes are factored in. 

UNLOCK YOUR PHONE

Another good move was to have our iPhones unlocked so instead of paying our cell phone provider high fees for their monthly plans, we can either purchase or be given a SIM card.  In some cases in other countries SIM cards are given out free by the cell phone providers instead of charging their customers. This makes sense. Why would you charge for a SIM Card when if they give them away, they gain a customer and the companies get paid when you make calls. Obviously cell phone providers in the US and Canada have not seen the advantage of doing this yet, but I am sure it WILL eventually happen in their bid to gain more customers. 

After we put in the new SIM card we go on a pay per use deal which is what we did in Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama. That move alone saved quite a lot in the cost of calls and roaming charges. 

The Dreaded Bundled TV Package

Then we looked at the $150 monthly fee for the bundled TV programming we pay for at our home in Nevada.  We used to pay for all these bundled channels many of which we never ever viewed or wanted. 

The bundled deal also included a land line and telephone number which we did need and did not want to lose. How could we solve this problem?  

In this day and age one does not need a land line especially if you have a computer. The alternate way is to phone through the internet on a soft phone or on your home phone plugged into your laptop. It's easy to do and very inexpensive. 

In order to save even more money we went to Best Buy, purchased a MagicJack for $49, ported our home number to the magicJack for $10 and cancelled the phone through our supplier - a savings of around $35 - $40 per month. Now, all our calls to North America are free and our international calls are 2 Cents a minute. You can't beat those rates.

One other advantage is that our friends and family in Canada can call our Alberta MagicJack number and it reaches us anywhere we are in the world. But for them it is like calling us as if we were still living around the corner in Calgary. We purchased two magicJacks, one with our Canadian number and the other for our US telephone number so we could also stay in touch with our friends in the USA.

While we were in Panama, we met a Canadian who lives there. He sells a neat computer and very compact system which provides us with live English TV, Live News, Sports, thousands of movies, TV series and as much music as you can handle. 

The system cost us $695 but now, all those items above are totally free (and with no Ads) and better still, it rids us of the need to have a $150 monthly charge for a bundled TV Package only part of which we were using. Better still, it works anywhere in the world as long as you have a wifi connection with reasonable broadband. 

We now had no further use for the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) which we had been renting from the cable company - Another $25 a month saved. Another item we could give back to the cable company was their modem. We went to Walmart, purchased our own modem, took the MAC ID number to our cable provider so they could register it in their system, plugged it in back home and have no issues with receiving our internet feed at all. As a result another rental charge we pay for each month has been eliminated. The savings on the cable bundle - approximately $1,800 a year and we get to watch what we want, not what the company wants to bundle together.

There are lots of other items that we have learned how to save with but one thing became crystal clear to us - over the years we have been bombarded with advertising. Every time we read a newspaper, open up a magazine, turn on the radio or TV the advertising has been relentless and we, like millions of others fell for all the promo stuff, hook, line and sinker. 

To be fair, we also participated in the advertising to earn a living so it's not all bad, but as retirees, we have learned to look at life differently and not to impulse buy.   

Preparing to go South

In our last blog, we said we had made a decision to move to Panama. We are working on that right now. We did receive a message from one of our contacts in Panama that the new government is reviewing it's immigration policy for those moving to Panama. 

From our point of view, we hope it does not affect the Pensionado Visa requirements but we cannot change what decisions come out of the Legislative process in Panama so there's no point in worrying about it at this stage. 

If it is meant to be it will happen if not, then there's always plan B (maybe a look at Belize or Mexico might be on the cards) but we doubt we will need to do this. Only time will give us the answer to these questions.      

Now our home in Mesquite is sold, we have time to think about the prospect of another adventure so we are now turning our heads towards a specific property in Panama. Until a suitable one becomes available at the right price and the right model, we will have to rent for a while which is not a bad thing.

Renting will give us the opportunity to ensure this IS the right move.  Not everyone can move to another country and like it.  Some get homesick, others just cannot fit in or have a problem learning another language. They move, buy a home, furnish it and then realize that the lifestyle is not what they had imagined it would be.

These people are usually the ones who end up losing a lot of money, as having to re-sell home and furniture then move back home can be costly and is often referred to as "the $50,000 vacation trip".

So it is a good thing to rent for a while to ensure that it's the right move.  You cannot find out if you don't live in a country.  You can read all the magazine articles you like, but there's only one way to find out and that's to move there.

One really good piece of advice I gained off one American fellow who lives in Costa Rica is that "when you initially move to another country, don't do anything that cannot be undone in under a half hour".  Good advice for those who do have doubts or who are moving on impulse having never been to the country before.  

Once in Panama, we will wait until our Pensionado Visas come through. We must be present in Panama to apply for the Visas and it is important for people who are reading this blog and intending to move to Panama to know that if they want to leave during the pensionado application process, they had better pay for a Multiple Exit Visa for each person, because if you leave Panama having started the process and before the Pensionado has been granted it's an automatic $1000 fine upon your return. A second offence would be $2000, so it is not worth it.  

 

After we are settled in Panama and furnished our new place with top-of-the-line furnishings, we will be looking for a long term renter prepared to pay a reasonable price for what will be a fabulous vacation apartment, short of nothing and offering unmatched comfort levels.   

We intend to wait until we can rent it out for a year as we have eyes on something else which we will blog about later on once we have the planning stages firmly mapped out. It will be fun. The journey will be in a far away place and will last approximately one year.  We are looking forward to that adventure.  .   

That having been said, on Sept 20th, we closed down the Mesquite home and headed back to Canada and Calgary and that's where the reality check came in.....

As we drove in through the neighbourhood we would be staying in, we noticed thousands of tree branches lying on the boulevards, some of them 8 and 10 inches across.  These branches had been snapped off the trees like tinder after the first snow storm of fall in September.

The Mayor of Calgary told the public that the first priority was to get power back to the thousands who had lost power during the storm but he also told the media and the public, that it may take up to a year to clear up the mess left by the heavy snowfall. Yes, the reality check had arrived.

Another wake-up call was the prices we are having to pay.  At breakfast at Denny's in Calgary for example, we paid $23 for one and a half Eggs Benedict and one coffee.  Back in Mesquite, we could go to the Eureka Hotel and Casino and have a nice leisurely breakfast for $5.95 each.  Well, not in Calgary.  See below.

And people wonder why we are moving on.

So, with our reality check firmly registered, we will spend one month here and then return to Mesquite, Nevada around Oct 25th to enjoy the last months in our home before it changes hands in February and we move on to pastures new.

On the way down, we hope we can call into Yellowstone national Park in Wyoming and take in the beauty of the hot pools, animals and geysers there now the crowds have left.

Hopefully we can touch base with a bunch of our friends before we leave and on that point, we will close this blog and bid you goodbye until our next blog which should be out in a couple of months.  In it, we hope to include the plans for our next adventure, a very different one which will not take place in "The America's". We are sure it will be a lot of fun and a whole set of new experiences.

Until next time, be healthy and stay safe wherever you are in the world.

Best wishes
Ken and Donna Carter.