Pic-of-the-Month for February 2026

 Hola Amigos,

Let me start out by saying that those who know the news heard about a major take down of a Cartel leader last week in mainland Mexico. In that area of Mexico, there was a lot of Cartel kick-back, and a lot of cars, buses, trucks and some businesses burned to make a statement.  Nothing took place here in Baja Sur, although there were a few instances in Tijuana, Tecate and Ensenada near the US border.  We were 1000 miles from that action, and were never in any trouble.  Things seem to be pretty much back to normal in mainland Mexico.  Viva Mexico!  We still love it here.

Thank you to all of you who answered my question last month about a short or long monthly letter / post.  Most of you responded with "yes, I read it, and make it as long or short as you want.  I live vicariously through you and your adventures!"  (Our daughter admitted she skims for the pictures!)  

So, this month's letter will be "normal" length, whatever that is!

 Gus and Pancho are showing you the section of road on our morning walk that finally got repaired.  There has been a wide and deep ditch on the left side since last summers' rain storms.  It was just barely wide enough on the right for one car at a time to go through.  We are always cautious walking back up it because the sight distance is bad... we always hope cars or ATVs coming that way stop to look before they roar down the hill!  

Pretty sunrise on my morning walk.

Speaking of morning walks, I'm close to my goal two months into the year, and I should reach my month goal tomorrow.  Once we get down to the beach, I let the dogs off leash (depending if anyone or any dogs are within sight). They really appreciate the ability to run like crazy to the next enticing smell.  I occasionally have to go after them and hook them up if they're getting into camping leftovers, or dead fish, but they're getting slightly better.  Now I know when they stop and sit down, it's time for me to detach the leash!  At least that's what they hope I'll do!  (I'm a slow learner!)

Today, I had enough beans picked that I could can 7 one and 1/2 pint jars.  Yummy eating for next season!  I have 17 jars left from last year... not sure how that happened, but I'm not complaining.  It seems our dogs have become bean eaters/pickers, and when they can't find a bean, they'll pull off a leaf or two.  There are sections of the bean row that are looking pretty sad!  I'm not sure if I'll have another canner full or not.  We'll see!

 

Those lower stalks should be nice and leafy still.  Who knew we'd have dogs who were vegetable lovers?  At least they're not eating our cucumber crop that is outside of the fenced areas.  

We are really enjoying the fruits of Ben's gardening efforts.  Tomatoes of all sizes and shapes every day, cucumbers, squash (2nd crop of both cukes and squash), corn (not much of it, but pretty tasty), and lettuce and radishes.  I can easily put together salad with things completely from our garden.  We have also been giving a lot of it away to friends and neighbors, who also appreciate it!  

We had our first guest this month, our niece Chrys from the Bend area.  She came without her boys this time, and she got in her miles of walking.  She'd go with me and the pups every morning, then after breakfast she'd head out for her serious walk.  She walked MILES!  She enjoyed herself very much, and loves it here, so she'll be back!  

Cousins Tom and Karan also visited us from their place near La Paz.  We gave them the whole tourist deal... meals at our favorite restaurants, a Lack Family concert, visits to local plant nurseries where they found some really nice things, a visit to pick up 3 bags of composted cow kaka at our rancher friend Arturo's place (plus farm cheese, fresh eggs, home made BUTTER and cottage cheese.)  We really scored on that trip.  Then we took them to the little town of Santa Cruz, where a local farmer has a fruit and vegetable stand set up.  That's where Ben bought our new little Avocado tree a few months ago, and Tom and Karan wanted one, too.  While we were there, we found a nice little orange tree, too, so bought that.  And of course, we had to figure out where to plant it, and decided to put it near our old Neem tree stump, and also decided that the stump had to go!  We hired the local backhoe operator, and it took him about 10 minutes to dig it out, and he even hauled it off for us!  And dug a hole for the orange tree!  Tada! 

Next week, my sister Shelley will be coming for 10 days.  It took forever to convince her to visit us, but she's glad she finally did it and is willing to come back whenever!  She's looking forward to good eating, more Lack Family music, a horse back ride and lots of relaxing!  The day she leaves, our friends John & Marilyn arrive (thankfully, the same airport!!)  So, we will be busy for the first several weeks of the month, but are looking forward to sharing some good times with them...and another Lack Family Concert on St. Patrick's Day!  The Lacks are really quite good, by the way.  I have a few videos of them in our February 2026 picture album for your enjoyment.  

Lack Family concert at La Playa.  

 Ben and I both did a 4 week Efudex face treatment recommended by our dermatologists (in Oregon and La Paz).  Ben did 1/2 of his face, and needs to do the other 1/2 after our guests leave.  I did my whole face.  We were pretty ugly for those 4 weeks; red and scaly and scary looking!  Our faces are looking a lot better now...skin like a baby's (almost!)   I took pictures, but you don't get to see them!  (Lucky you!)   With our red-headed complexions and all the sunshine here, this isn't the ideal place for us to live, but we'll deal with it!  

We deal with puppy love all the time!  They love to snuggle.  

 Hope you enjoyed this month's read.  We'd love to hear from you any time, and if you want to visit, that could be done, too!

Pictures for the month are here :  February 2026 

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja Sur,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho

 

 

 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for January 2026

Happy New Year Amigos,

Yes, 2026 is already almost 1 month done.  And I decided my new goal this year is to keep this short.  I'm thinking a lot of you don't bother reading it, and I can't blame you...I do tend to blather on and on!  So OK, lets see how I do...

Weather:  Has continued to be warm, but winter winds are starting, and we get enough to keep the kite boarders happy, and the rest of us grumbling on those days!  We did have some serious rains last weekend, enough so no watering was needed in the garden that day, or the next.  Nice to have as it freshened things up.

 

Special days:  Ben and I celebrated our 58th anniversary on January 27th with dinner at Hotel Pescadores on Music Night.  The Duo sings songs from our era, and they are good.  We are both doing Efudix treatment on our faces.  It's a cream that we rub on nightly for 4 weeks, and it kills per-cancerous cells.  Needless to say, we both look pretty awful!  Ben is doing one side of his face the first 4 weeks, then will do the other side.  I elected to do my whole face in the 4 weeks.  It started slow, but is pretty itchy and scaly now.  Here's a pic from our anniversary dinner that wasn't too close!

We spent a lot of time cheering on the Oregon Ducks this season.  They won the Orange Bowl, and they did great until that final game with Indiana University.  Next year! 
 

Projects:  Ben spends a lot of time tending his garden, and we are being rewarded, as are lots of friends and neighbors.  Lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, squash, tomatoes!  Bring it on!  We should be enjoying fresh produce for several more months.

I am walking the dogs daily, and we should meet the monthly mileage goal in a few days.  (I do it early in the day to stay out of the strong sun, especially since I'm doing the skin treatment). 

Friends and Family, Guests:  We had nice times visiting with Katie and Mel while they were here for 2 months (they were mostly cleaning things up at their camp in Los Frailes, but came to our place weekly).  Mel helped Ben plant a cute little Avocado tree in our yard, that the rancher says should produce in a couple years.  We'll see!  They hope to come back in April & May, so we're looking forward to that.  First guest of 2026, our niece Chrys, is coming this Friday for a short visit.  It will be nice for her to get out of the frigid weather for a bit.

 

 

Picture album for the month is 2026-01-January.  Most pictures are captioned.

Hasta la proxima mes,

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho. 

PS.  Let me know if you made it through this shorter letter, and if you prefer the shorter version.  Or would you like me to just carry on and on.... (hahaha) 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for December 2025

 Hola Amigos!

From your amigos in Baja California Sur, we wish you and yours a Feliz Navidad y prospero año nuevo!  

Photo from my morning walk of the December sunrise.

 

We have been blessed this year with fairly good health, and Ben has enough ambition to get many things done around the house and garden!  We have friends to enjoy good times (like the U of Oregon football game tomorrow!  Go Ducks!), and healthy activities like gardening and daily walking (thanks for keeping me going, Jill!)  We have silly pups to entertain us, and teach us patience!  We have sufficient pesos to keep us supplied with food and necessities, although they are a bit more difficult to get to this year, with some banking changes that happened here in Mexico.  God is good, and supplies all our needs!  

We look forward to 2026, and hope to see some of you down here.  It's still one of your cheapest vacations, especially when you stay at our casa!!  And we pick you up at the airport.

Our December 2025 album is available to see, and that's going to be it for this post this month!  (You lucky people!) 

Hasta el proximo año!

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho

  

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for November 2025

Hola Amigos,

Happy 1st of December.  I didn't manage to get the Pic-of-the-Month out during November, but this is close for a short month! (Only 30 days in November, ya know!) 

We had another busy month.  Ben and two of our vehicles participated in the November 20 Revolution Day Parade in Los Barriles.  Queen Frida rode in neither of them...she decided on a horse!  (And all my pics of her and Ben's cars are on videos!  You'll have to look at the 2025-11-November photos album to check them out.)  This involved getting them both running and cleaned, which can be a big job.  They did fairly well in the parade, but Sandy had some trouble with the Jeep, so it's radiator is on the way to La Paz this week to fix a leak.  

Here's a bunch of high-school girls who were marching and dancing. These parades are very colorful!

 

Ben's 1928 Woody was full of "youthful" royalty.  Our friend Sandy drove the 1956 Willy's Jeep with last year's parade queen.  

Early in the month, I ruined my cell phone, and could not recover it.  We drove down to Cabo San Lucas and found a nice one at Walmart, and I switched in my original Sim card.  Unfortunately,  the new Mexican phone was locked to my AT&T Sim card and wouldn't work without wifi, and AT&T could drop service at any time.  Not good (and the locked Mexican phones was something I had completely forgotten about).  So, since I had friends coming from Oregon, I arranged for my nephew Bryan Purkey to shop for and buy me a similar new one, and my very good friends Katie and Mel Crabb brought it for me when they came on the 19th of this month.  I think I have everything working pretty well on it, and managed to get most of the data and apps copied over.  I am very thankful for technology, so that I can communicate with all of you from a 3rd world country!  

Speaking of Katie and Mel, the first full day they were here we took them to the parade, and while waiting for it to start, our friend Ruben drove by, and then parked and came back to give them hugs and chat!  They were thrilled!  This is the first time they've been here in almost 2 years, so are happy to see so many of their friends!  

They have been very busy cleaning up their wilderness camp, and were overwhelmed with all of the damage done by rats and mice to the 5th wheel parked up the arroyo at Las Frailes.  We have loaned them our little trailer, which is parked closer to the beach so Mel can go fishing (after he repairs the cow, mice and rat damage to his boat....getting close!)  So, they at least have a place to stay with a nice fridge, comfy beds, stove, an indoor toilet, and comfy seating.   

I've been walking with Gus and Pancho, and my friend Jill, and a few days with cousin Tom, who finally made it down here after dealing with some medical issues.  I did meet my adjusted November goal, and am going for a larger number for this month.  We'll see!  I have used an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my daily mileage since 2022, and I have noted when I reached 700 miles last year, and several years before.  Those dates are coming up, and .... well.... I'm not doing that much this year!  Right now I'm just over 576 miles.  I'm hoping for 625 miles this year, and I'll be glad to get it.  I could blame the dogs, who refuse to move when they find a shady spot, and it's been hot longer, and I get tired, too!  I'm just glad I can get out and make it back home! We see some beautiful things on these walks, and it's a blessing to be able to get out and enjoy God's creation.

Ben's garden is growing leaps and bounds, with a few set backs.  The dogs got into one of the fenced garden areas and completely dug up a row of lettuce that was just sprouting.  OUCH!  Bad dogs!  They do love to dig, and have gotten some pretty big holes going, but the garden is NOT the place to do it.  So, Ben has replanted, and started closing the gate!  

The tomatoes have started to bloom, we've had some nice squash, radishes are very close to ready, and cucumbers are blooming.  Some good eating is planned for soon.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving Day dinner at our house.  Ben smoked the Butterball turkey we were able to get here locally, I made 2 pies, rolls, lots of mashed potatoes and gravy, and home canned green beans.  Friends brought side dishes and salads.  There were 10 of us here this year.  It was a great time with good friends.  (And a lot of leftover turkey!)

 That's about it for November.  Again, here's the link to the picture album for the month:   2025-11-November photos album .  Most of the pics have captions.  I must confess, the first picture in the album is from about 1994 or so, I think, and a photo I really love.  It's a pic our daughter Rebecca found in her files recently of Ben and I in front of our Salem home with the 1959 Ford Thunderbird that Ben restored.  We sold it after we moved to Mexico.  These roads are not conducive to driving a car that nice (and low)!  It was a very pretty car, and a job very well done (as usual) by Ben.

We are looking forward to this month with maybe a bit cooler weather (highs are still on the low 80's most days) and some fun activities, including a Feeding the Hungry ATV Fun ride on the 12th.  We talked Tom and Karan into going on that with us.  We are also planning a Christmas dinner with guests.  I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to bother with putting up a Christmas tree, because of the destructive pets in the house.  We'll see!  

We hope your Holiday Season is Merry and Blessed.  Remember that Jesus is the reason for the Season!  

Hasta la proxima vez.

Tus amigos,

Harriet, Ben, Gus & Pancho  

PS.  And Gus just came in with a chunk of cholla cactus stuck to his back, and rubbed my leg as he went by.  Ouch!  Part of the fun of having pups.

 

 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for October 2025

Hola Amigos!

Happy Halloween!  I'm sitting here writing this waiting for some kids to show up for candy.  Sneaky Ben planned a trip to La Paz today, so me and the boys are all on our own tonight!  

We got back home here on October 5, after a nice trip down with no issues.  That's the kind we like best!  We stayed in a different little town in California, a town that had no restaurants to speak of, but we survived!  We ate our lunch at a Thai restaurant in Bishop, so we didn't really need to eat dinner that night in Independence, CA!  

Lunch included Tom Kha soup and other goodies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is our motel in Independence.  Quite nice!

 

We've got lots of pictures of our trip in our September 2025 Album and our October 2025 Album.  And I think I didn't get the link in for our picture albums in the last Pic-of-the-Month post, so will be sure to do it correct here!  Be sure to check out the videos of some of the roads, and the things that we see on those roads!  

It has cooled down somewhat since we got back, but it's still plenty warm, as most days highs are in the 80's, lows in the 70's.  Gus, Pancho and I go walking most days, and they both still like to stop in the shady areas and rest for a while.  Mostly, I let them do that, but I always try to convince them that the water is better and the shade cooler at home!  

He says "here's the shade, I'm not movin'!"

Ben has been very busy getting his garden going.  He has squash, cucumbers, radishes planted in the ground, and some tomato starts just about ready to put out.  He is very dedicated the getting everything right for the plants...compost, good dirt, shade, water.  It is coming along very well.  

  

 

I took the week from October 18 - 25th to fly out of La Paz back to Bend/Sisters area to have a medical test that I couldn't squeeze in before we left town.  I had an Angiography to take CT scan pictures of my heart.  We discovered early this summer that I have "Atrial Flutter", which is different, but similar to A-Fib.  I was certainly surprised, because I hadn't felt anything, other than a little shortness of breath when walking with the pups.  Fortunately, the Angiography shows my heart in OK shape, other than the rapid heart rate for the upper chamber.  I will have an Echocardiogram in June, pretty much as soon as we get back there, and another appointment with the Cardiologist to see where to go from there.  There are various "fixes", so we'll see what they come up with.  In the mean time I'm on blood thinners, and both my GP and Cardiologist said to carry on as normal and continue walking as was comfortable.  I must admit that I kind of wimped out this summer, but I'm trying to get back on track this fall.  I'm sure I won't get in as any miles as the last several years, but I'm getting my exercise! I did enjoy walking around Sisters and seeing the fall colors.  It was gorgeous!  (Thanks to friends Tony and Janet for putting me up for the week!!)  

By the way, it was a real treat flying out of La Paz, other than having to go through Los Angeles!  The La Paz airport is nice and small, and I landed at the Redmond airport, also nice and small.  Alaska Airlines flies out of there 2 or 3 days a week...maybe more!  Check it out.   

We are getting in the groove of things to do here.  Yesterday at breakfast, we were approached by Jimmy Diaz, whose daughter is the Queen for Revolution Day this year, and he was wondering if Ben still had his old cars.  We told him we have the 1928 Woody, and the 1956 Willy's Jeep, and Jimmy said he'd like us to have those cars in the parade so his daughter and the young "royalty" could ride in them.  We didn't participate at all last year, because the year before, everyone had been on floats, so looks like we will be involved again.  We've been hauling queens and princesses in that parade for a lot of years! (Ever since the 1929 pickup was restored about 2008.)  Should be fun!  

 This was from November 2022, which was the last time we had the queen in our pickup.

OK...that's about it for October.  We are looking forward to seeing good friends down here in November.  Book your trip down here soon!!  

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho  

 

 

  

Pic-of-the-Month for August and September 2025

 Hello Friends!

Where did the summer go?  We woke up to freezing weather here in Fort Rock this morning, and Ben and I are very ready to head south to warmer climates.  We are all packed and ready to leave tomorrow morning.  If you follow me on Facebook, I usually post every day's travels, so you can experience what we see and do every day (sometimes it's pretty boring, but those are the good days!!)

We did get in quite a bit of traveling around Oregon this summer, in spite of a few extra doctor appointments.  We did several camping trips with friends.  The first was to Dead Horse Lake with Mel and Katie, Lonnie and Kathy.  Mel brought his nice little drift boat with an electric trolling motor, and we all had a chance to do some fishing, AND, caught some nice trout.  They also released a lot of them, so they'd hopefully grow up more!  That lake is in the mountains west of Paisley, and it's a very pretty drive up there, as wild flowers were still blooming.  In the photo below, you can see that floating devices of any type are popular.

This guy in his little floaty was doing very well.  I even heard some of the music he was entertaining himself with!  Fun!

 The next camping trip was with George and Carolyn and John and Marilyn at the Steens Mountains.  The weather was nice and the scenery beautiful, as usual.  I didn't make it up to the top of the Steens, so no photos from there this time!  

Ben and Carolyn wanted to go to Glass Butte and look for Obsidian, but with the rain we were having, we decided to camp at Chickohominy Campground just west of Riley.  They all drove to Glass Butte from there.  I stayed at the trailer and relaxed, and dog sat!  

 I took this photo of the reservoir when the dogs and I were doing a walk.  

Next trip, we went up to Hood River to visit our friend Jerry Justus, whom we haven't seen for a while.  It was great to catch up and see the Museum there again.  We also took a day, since we were so close, to visit my sister Sharon and her husband Vincenzo in Vancouver, WA.  It was great to see them, and again, catch up with what's going on in their lives.  (Sharon and I also compared heart issues!  Thanks Dad!)  

 Sharon, who's 5 years old then me, also told me that she walks about 4 or 5 miles every day!!  I've been lucky to get 1 mile a day in this summer.  Ugh!  

Going back to Hood River that day, we decided to go on Highway 14 on the Washington side of the Columbia River.  Ben wasn't too crazy about the road (freeway is on the Oregon side!) but it was a beautiful drive to Bridge of the Gods near Stevensen, Washington.  

 So, where did we go after Hood River?  How about visiting our friends Paul and Carolyn, who live in Halfway, Oregon?  Why not! (Think not too far from the Oregon/Idaho border and Snake River!)  That was far enough away that we decided to take our time, and spent 2 nights at a sweet little RV park in Dayville.  We did some shopping in John Day, ate at a very popular breakfast restaurant in Dayville, and enjoyed the grassy and shady RV park there.  

On to Halfway the next day, through Baker City.  This is an area of Oregon where we haven't been in quite a few years.  There is a lot of beautiful country, many beautiful forests and vast plains.  We must say, Halfway is very remote and little, but what a cute  community! Paul and Carolyn are living in a small house that was moved there in the 1930's from a gold mining town further up in the hills.  They have remodeled it beautifully, and it is a sweet little place.  They had electricity and water for us, so we were very comfortable in our trailer in their driveway.  

 They supplied us with some pears and a few peaches from their trees, too!  And we played a bunch of hands of a fun new game.  Ben and I even won a few times!  Paul took us up to Cornucopia, the old gold mining town.  You can see pics of that in our August-2025 Album, as well as lots of other pics.  

From Halfway, it was back to Baker City to get a jack stand on our trailer replaced by another mobile RV service while we were camped in an RV park there.  This one wasn't quite as efficient as the first one this summer...they even needed to borrow a few tools from Ben.  But the job got done and we didn't have to take the trailer to a shop. 

We headed south, down one of our favorite roads, Hwy 395, and ended up a Crane Hot Springs.  And dang it, we didn't get in!  Should have, but maybe next time.  Then it was on further south on the other side of the Steens Mountains to Mann Lake.  Ben had tested our inflatable kayak, and it was good to go so he could fish.  But, the wind was blowing and he didn't think he could maneuver the kayak and fish, too.  Oh well... next time!   Photo below is the east side of the Steens, and Mann Lake.  We camped on the far side of the lake.  Very pretty, and very isolated!  

We also made it to Walla Walla for a few days, and to the Pendleton Roundup.  At the parade on Friday, we had our normal seats...one row back from the edge of the sidewalk!  They always start the parade with maybe 100 riders carrying US flags.  Always impressive! 

 This year, we had seats that were donated to us by cousins Tom & Karan Malpass, who couldn't make it.  We were right above the bucking chutes, so had a very close up view of the bronc and bull riding.  Thanks Tom and Karan!  

Lots of fun pictures of the parade and the Roundup in my September 2025 Album.   

Since the Roundup, we've been packing up, cleaning the trailer out, and getting ready for our 2000 mile trip back to our home in Baja California Sur.  We plan on taking 8 days this time.  We always enjoy spending 2 nights at one of our favorite hotels in Baja, and eating at a nearby restaurant.  And it gives Ben a chance to rest up a bit before the final 750 miles to home.  There have been quite a few rainstorms in Baja in the last month, and they've dropped a lot of water.  Hopefully, the roads will be in decent shape so we won't have trouble getting through.  According to our house sitter Dalia, they've even repaired the road going down from Hwy 1 to our house.  Good news!

Hope you enjoyed my newsy post.  Come visit us in Baja!  

Your friends,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho

PS.  The "boys" have been getting better behaved all the time.  They are good travelers, although I drew the line and said no more resting on the console in the front seat!  They take it over and then some!  We put up a screen so they can't get to the front.  They grumble about it, but they have the whole back seat!  In the photo below, Pancho is resting his chin on Ben's arm!  Not good!!  

 

 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Month for June/July 2025

 Hello Friends!

Ben just realized a few days ago that the last time I sent one of these out was the end of May.  He couldn't believe I hadn't sent one out in June.... Ummmm.... where was he all this time?  Writing a post to all of you friends?  No.  He was strangely silent.  (Remember when he used to write these on rare occasions?  It's been a long time ago!!)

Anyhow, we left our home in Buena Vista BCS on June 20, and made it to Fort Rock and our summer home (our trailer) on June 26.  The trip up was uneventful, which is just how we like them!  The only problem was the extremely long line at the Tecate border.  We'd never been that far back in the line, and it took over an hour to get through.  The pups were good travelers, after they got used to it, and were pretty cooperative all along the way. 

 We never get tired of the views on this journey!  For those of you who know it, the picture below is of Buena Ventura on Bahia Concepcion.  The little bar / restaurant has been torn down, as well as a few houses on the right, due to a change of ownership.  It sure looks different now. 

 

We took our time, and since I'd been sick the week leading up to our exit, I appreciated the several short days at the beginning!  

At Fort Rock, we got our trailer ready for the summer, and discovered a leak coming out of the hot water tank.  Fortunately, Ben found Lucky Duck mobile RV service out of La Pine (which is the nearest "bigger town" out of Fort Rock), and they were able to come out the same day and fix it!  Hallelujah!  The fellow had all the parts and tools and the knowledge to fix it.  Much better for him to come than for us to haul the trailer to an RV repair place since we're living in it!  We were very pleased with their service and quick response!

It was great to get together with Katie and Mel, and to introduce our pups (again) to their Lab Cocoa.  It takes Pancho 3 days to get used to a big dog, but they were all playing by that time and having a great time.   

Ben helped Mel with various projects around their place, and Mel helped Ben build a lid-holder for our trailer.  Removing the lids from the pot cupboard made it much easier to deal with the pots in that space!

 While at Fort Rock, we had several nights with stunning sunsets.  I had to get up out of bed to take the shot below!  It was worth it! 

 

We went to Bend July 4 to do all our medical appointments.  I had a mammogram Saturday, a colonoscopy Monday, and with Ben on Tuesday and Wednesday, a visit to our GP and Dermatologist.  Phew!  Good to get them all done, but I found out on Monday at the colonoscopy, that my heart is not beating like it should;  I have Atrial Flutter.  I wore a heart monitor for 2 weeks, and will have a stress test next Monday, then probably a visit to a cardiologist.  So, that gives us something else to try and get taken care of this summer!  I feel fine, maybe just a bit more tired or easily winded.  

We stayed in Bend until the 13th, when we went to church in Bend to hear and fellowship with the Lack Family, who were doing the Worship Service music at Foundry Church as part of their Summer Tour (they are currently in Alaska).  They were very happy to see familiar faces!  We also saw our friend's daughter Sara and her husband Sean there, with their 2 grown sons!  Sara is the daughter of our very long time friends, Ellis and Marsha.  Ellis has passed, but Marsha still lives just down the street and around the corner from us in Baja.  

 

Sunday afternoon we loaded up the trailer and headed west to Harrisburg for a couple days to visit with cousins Tom and Karan on the farm.  We stayed with them until our daughter Rebecca and her family showed up on Thursday, when we moved on to our friend John H's house in Eugene.  We parked our trailer in his driveway, and the kids got to enjoy his beautiful guest quarters.  (Complete with small kitchen, bathrooms and laundry facilities!) We had a great time with them, although they were meeting with other friends and acquaintances, too.  We even got a dinner at Mazzi's in there (our favorite Italian restaurant ever!)  And we had a nice Purkey Family get-together at Ben's brother Greg's house, and people showed up from all over!  North Carolina, Abu Dhabi, Amman Jordan... and Mexico!  

 We are currently in Salem for a week, catching up with old friends, and enjoying our special Purkey Trailer Parking Spot in our friends George and Carolyn's yard.  (Hopefully, our dogs won't dig up too many more flowers, or chase too many deer, and they'll invite us back)!  We are hoping to be able to get some peaches to can (it was much appreciated having home canned peaches in our pantry last season!)  And, Carolyn gave us some of her excess home canned applesauce, which I love!  

That's about it so far.  We've already been here a month, and should get some camping and fishing in soon (Ben did catch some trout with Mel the one day they went fishing.) 

We have 2 photo albums with a bunch more fun pics, June 2025 and July 2025.  Enjoy!

Your amigos,

Harriet, Ben, Gus and Pancho