Cabo Frailes Part 3

It's been a blissfully lazy week in Cabo Frailles since I last wrote. Each day we get up with the sun to Coco kisses, make some coffee and big plans...will it be a beach day, or kayaking, or hiking? We've met a ton of people, introduced Coco to all their dogs and she's thriving.

One thing we noticed was that Coco never seemed very interested in her puppy kibble that we got from the vet. She would eventually eat it when mixed with some chicken or fish but she clearly was doing it out of necessity rather than enjoyment. Her stools were always runny and gassy despite all the proper shots and deworming.

Then we met Alice from Comox, who we've come to call "Saint Alice". Alice had rescued many dogs, including an "Air Bud" puppy - a Golden Retriever bred in the wake of the movie hype - now in her later years. She suggested Coco might enjoy a grain-free food as the Mexican kibble is notorious for including excess amounts of processed corn and wheat, and gave us a sample of the dehydrated high quality meal she'd imported. Coco wolfed it down in 20 seconds and showed huge energy immediately, and later had the first solid stool we'd seen her do. As luck would have it, Alice had brought in more of this dog food than she thought she'd need, so we were able to buy a box from her.

Today we had a surreal afternoon, going deep into the arroyo with the truck to collect more firewood. We found a spot with plentiful hardwood and after filling the back of the truck, sat and enjoyed a beer in the solitude of nothing but hills, cacti and sand around us with Queen "I Want to Break Free" cranked on the truck speakers. Magic.

We discovered the hard way which is the best kind of firewood to collect - there is plentiful wood in the arroyo of many kinds of dead trees and cacti. But the cactus wood is very light and full of holes, which Andrew learned often harbour little beasts when he went to move a log on the fire and get stung on the little finger by an exiting scorpion about 4 inches long. He quickly ran to Bernie, an old-timer who has spent many winters here, to ask if he was going to live.

"Don't worry - they're just like a bad bee sting", he said, but did give Andrew a raw onion poultice that was supposed to help draw some of the poison out. The finger did feel numb and tingly and painful for about 3 days. Andrew learned to only collect hard, dense wood and ALWAYS use gloves!