Tuesday, January 19
Sunday, January 17
Sick
Well, it finally happened. First Nicholas and then me. The dreaded yet somehow inevitable, "if you go to Mexico you'll get sick" event. It began on Monday night for Nicholas. The most puzzling thing is that I did not succumb until Thursday afternoon, and was in fact entirely strong and healthy for several days while he lay suffering.
The cause of our misery will probably remain undiscovered. We ate the same dinner together on Monday night, neither of us has consumed any local unpurified water, and we have been very careful with our dishes, toothbrushes, etc. Yet I do think it is inevitable. Nearly everyone who has moved here or has spent a significant time here has a story of it: the body's purge.
And it isn't like ordinary food poisoning where you suffer for 24 hours and then its over. I was acutely ill for a solid forty-eight hours, beginning Thursday afternoon and lifting sometime Saturday afternoon. And even now, Sunday, I am not exactly strong and happy. Re-introducing food is hard on the body when it has emptied itself and remained empty for 2 days.
One of the hardest factors was that I was forced to forgo my nornal pot of coffee in the morning for two mornings in a row! So I was grouchy and lethargic in addition to being weak and nauseous. In other words, don't you all just wish you were here to join in the fun!
Nicholas' recovery was even longer, he fell ill on Monday night and was only really eating again Saturday, when I watched him eat two avocados and a seemingly entire loaf of bread (which was awfully challenging in my state of not-quite-recovery!) But it was a very good sign that we was finally getting his strength and appetite back. After he did that, he said "I'm still hungry!!" I said "Groan!"
The great news is that the dogs don't have whatever it was that we humans had. Carrie was very worried and anxious for me as I lay unmoving in the van for 36 hours, and she basically refused to eat for the same period of time (perhaps she just wanted to commiserate!) But Robert and Joe ate like champions and show no signs of illness. Carrie is tired after all that worry so I took her to the beach yesterday afternoon in an effort to show her that all was going to be okay. She seemed skeptical but relieved too.
After I walked the dogs for a little while, I laid my towel down on the sand, with a cool breeze and partial shade, and lay down where I could see the ocean. I felt the warm sand beneath my tired body as I rested and it occurred to me that I have always feared getting sick when away from home. But really, of all the times that I have been sick, this has to be one of the best locations. When the first pangs of stomach pain were hitting me on Thursday night, I pulled my mattress out of the van and lay down staring up at the palm trees. Darkness was falling, Nicholas knew what was happening to me to he took care of the dogs, their dinner and walks, and he also prepared the van for me to sleep in (we had both been sleeping in our tents closer the ocean). I continued to lie there (pretty much groaning and eventually getting sick in the bushes) as darkness fell, and, despite the onset of this illness, I was enjoying my surroundings. I don't have a picture of the palms with the stars in the night sky, but here is one from the daytime:
I lay there and watched the palms swaying gently and heard the birds singing and I was warm and my world was okay in the ways that really mattered. As darkness fell, the stars came out brilliantly and clearly. As my body began to purge itself of everything, I remained conscious of this place and its wild beauty and continued to be grateful that this was a temporary fate, that it would pass, and that I was nearly always healthy and happy. There have been days, many days sadly, when this was not the case. But those days are behind me and I will accept an occasional case of food poisoning, or whatever this was, if only to remember how miserable it is to feel that way.
Here are some more pictures of Sayulita and our magical campground:
We now have piles of laundry, not much food, lots of Gatorade and water, and no pictures yet of the two of us surfing! (I assure you, we really really have both been surfing! Many times in fact!)
We are planning on leaving Tuesday, destination Belize, in order to meet the wonderful friends Jeff and Steve who will meet us there for SCUBA and fun. If we leave on Tuesday the 19th we will have 10 days to reach Belize by the time the guys arrive from Boston. In the meantime, we are continuing to recover, eat, drink, and will be prioritizing surfing pictures before we depart this wonderful surf spot!
Hasta luego amigos!!!
The cause of our misery will probably remain undiscovered. We ate the same dinner together on Monday night, neither of us has consumed any local unpurified water, and we have been very careful with our dishes, toothbrushes, etc. Yet I do think it is inevitable. Nearly everyone who has moved here or has spent a significant time here has a story of it: the body's purge.
And it isn't like ordinary food poisoning where you suffer for 24 hours and then its over. I was acutely ill for a solid forty-eight hours, beginning Thursday afternoon and lifting sometime Saturday afternoon. And even now, Sunday, I am not exactly strong and happy. Re-introducing food is hard on the body when it has emptied itself and remained empty for 2 days.
One of the hardest factors was that I was forced to forgo my nornal pot of coffee in the morning for two mornings in a row! So I was grouchy and lethargic in addition to being weak and nauseous. In other words, don't you all just wish you were here to join in the fun!
Nicholas' recovery was even longer, he fell ill on Monday night and was only really eating again Saturday, when I watched him eat two avocados and a seemingly entire loaf of bread (which was awfully challenging in my state of not-quite-recovery!) But it was a very good sign that we was finally getting his strength and appetite back. After he did that, he said "I'm still hungry!!" I said "Groan!"
The great news is that the dogs don't have whatever it was that we humans had. Carrie was very worried and anxious for me as I lay unmoving in the van for 36 hours, and she basically refused to eat for the same period of time (perhaps she just wanted to commiserate!) But Robert and Joe ate like champions and show no signs of illness. Carrie is tired after all that worry so I took her to the beach yesterday afternoon in an effort to show her that all was going to be okay. She seemed skeptical but relieved too.
After I walked the dogs for a little while, I laid my towel down on the sand, with a cool breeze and partial shade, and lay down where I could see the ocean. I felt the warm sand beneath my tired body as I rested and it occurred to me that I have always feared getting sick when away from home. But really, of all the times that I have been sick, this has to be one of the best locations. When the first pangs of stomach pain were hitting me on Thursday night, I pulled my mattress out of the van and lay down staring up at the palm trees. Darkness was falling, Nicholas knew what was happening to me to he took care of the dogs, their dinner and walks, and he also prepared the van for me to sleep in (we had both been sleeping in our tents closer the ocean). I continued to lie there (pretty much groaning and eventually getting sick in the bushes) as darkness fell, and, despite the onset of this illness, I was enjoying my surroundings. I don't have a picture of the palms with the stars in the night sky, but here is one from the daytime:
Here are some more pictures of Sayulita and our magical campground:
We are planning on leaving Tuesday, destination Belize, in order to meet the wonderful friends Jeff and Steve who will meet us there for SCUBA and fun. If we leave on Tuesday the 19th we will have 10 days to reach Belize by the time the guys arrive from Boston. In the meantime, we are continuing to recover, eat, drink, and will be prioritizing surfing pictures before we depart this wonderful surf spot!
Hasta luego amigos!!!
Wednesday, January 13
New Year, New Adventures
I have been derelict in my posting of late... Sayulita is such a wonderful place and I have been busy enjoying the living here. The people are outgoing, many speak English but I am able to practice my Spanish often. A big swell came in on Saturday night, January 10th or so, and the waves have been BIG ever since. Too big for me in fact, though I have been able to stand up on the whitewash at the end of the beach where the waves are the smallest.
Looking back at some photos of the trip, I remember the tranquil beach where we spent the new year.
North of Mazatlan we discovered a small beach called Marmol, I already wrote about it in a previous post, about our difficulties there in getting to the surf spot. Here are some pictures of the roads we found to get out there:
We spent the new year and several days before and after in this lovely spot, basically until we ran out of drinking water. Here are a few more reasons why!
Hasta luego amigos!!
Looking back at some photos of the trip, I remember the tranquil beach where we spent the new year.
North of Mazatlan we discovered a small beach called Marmol, I already wrote about it in a previous post, about our difficulties there in getting to the surf spot. Here are some pictures of the roads we found to get out there:
The town of Marmol was small and very pretty. Unlike some places in Mexico, it was very clean with little garbage littering the streets.
Here are some images from Marmol towncenter:
The beach where we camped (which is different from the location of our terrible surfing attempt!) was so beautiful. On approach, the land just opens up to the sea, the cliffs rise out of the water on the right, and to the left the beach stretches out as far as you can see, with the shapes of Mazatlan barely visible in the distance.
Joe, Carrie, Robert and I enjoyed many walks on this beautiful beach during low tide (when the tide was high, the beach was totally underwater and the only dry land were small rocks.
In the evening, we had some visitors migrate past our camping spot. Other than these folks, we had the place all to ourselves for several days of peace and quiet (except of course, for the ever speaking sea!)
We spent the new year and several days before and after in this lovely spot, basically until we ran out of drinking water. Here are a few more reasons why!
Wednesday, January 6
Chacala and the first few days in Sayulita
Hola from warm, humid, sunny Mexico!
The last few days have seen lots of great times. We are in Sayulita, a wonderful little town which was my first introduction to Mexico nearly a year ago. I fell in love with it and it is now my third time here within 12 months. I can surf right here and we are staying in an oceanfront campground right in town. The dogs are enjoying walks on the beach in the morning, followed by a graceful and lazy breakfast:
Here is a picture taken from the north end of the beach in the evening light, looking back towards town:
Joe is a bit warm, but he enjoys the walks in the morning before it is too hot. Carrie and Robert love it all day long. Here is a picture of Robert sleeping one morning with the light just entering the van:
I am pleased to report that I have been able to plant my two feet on my Robert August board! The wax is nice and grippy, the board is forgiving and terrific. Now all I need to do is catch the right wave at the right time and I think my chances are good for staying on my feet for more than a few moments!
Before we came to Sayulita we stopped for the night in a very small town just north of here called Chacala. We got there just before dark and parked beneath coconut palms, being careful to place the van where it would not get beamed my a falling coconut in the night!
Here is a picture taken the next morning of our spot:
I enjoyed a calm walk around town and saw some really beautiful homes and the local little church. Here are pictures of the beautiful little church:
From the outside, front:
The creche left over from Christmas:
I continued walking, saw some pretty homes:
The last few days have seen lots of great times. We are in Sayulita, a wonderful little town which was my first introduction to Mexico nearly a year ago. I fell in love with it and it is now my third time here within 12 months. I can surf right here and we are staying in an oceanfront campground right in town. The dogs are enjoying walks on the beach in the morning, followed by a graceful and lazy breakfast:
Before we came to Sayulita we stopped for the night in a very small town just north of here called Chacala. We got there just before dark and parked beneath coconut palms, being careful to place the van where it would not get beamed my a falling coconut in the night!
Here is a picture taken the next morning of our spot:
From the outside, front:
And inside:
A lizard on the outside of the stained glass window!
I continued walking, saw some pretty homes:
This piece of property has a breathtaking view, but I couldn't see past the lovely gate!
Here are some pics from just walking around town:
The people were all really friendly and nice. I saw these baby chicks with their mama near the church:
And here is a colorful path I took...:
...back to the beach:
Check out the bird caught mid flight by my iPhone!! Wow.
Lovely little town if you are ever just looking to hang.
Saturday, January 2
Adventures in Marmol!
So many adventures in the last few days, I’ll start with the most recent. We spent the first day of the New Year on a quest for a good surfing spot. I have a pocket size book on surfing Mainland Mexico (also the same book covering surfing Central America). In the Mazatlan area, a spot called Marmol is listed as an all levels, all year round spot just north of the city. The pocket book just says: Exit the freeway, go through Marmol and you’re there!
Well let’s look at that. First of all, “exit.” The freeway, which by the way, isn’t free, it’s a “cuota” road costing about US$4 per 50 miles, doesn’t have on or off ramps for the minor towns. My iPhone offers a GPS so I could watch our progress on the freeway and I could see easily that we were missing Marmol. We could see overpasses, small, one-lane bridges over the freeway but we could see no clear way of getting on any of them. Finally, as the last possibility to Marmol approached, we hit the brakes and made a hard right turn onto gravel immediately from the freeway. We went up and over some train tracks, and continued west. I could see the road we drove on the map, so I wasn’t without hope of reaching the shore.
As this road narrowed, became more and more holes and dips and rocks and trees, my hope dwindled. Finally, we were driving between two fields and some workers yelled out to us, “Stop, hay un rio!” Ahh, a river, wonderful. “Donde esta la playa?” I asked. Most of the response was too fast for me to understand but we deduced that we needed to turn around, drive back north a ways and then head west. Gracias.
We turned around, bounced our way back to the highway and crossed it, heading to a town we hoped would be Marmol. When we got there, there was no way out to the west, we were not in Marmol, but a nice man came running up to us and asked us, in English!, what we were looking for.
As we chatted with him, a rooster popped up on our hood and pecked around near the wipers. I was like, um, there’s a rooster on the car. OMG. Hahaha!
We told him we were looking for the Marmol beach and he gave us pretty good directions. Get back on the freeway and take the exit about 5 km north. We were off again (the rooster had departed our vehicle!) The exit we were now looking for should be right before the toll booth. We drove, we could see the overpass we wanted, we could see the toll booth. And yet, ahhh, we drove right past the “exit” again! A quick u-turn, yes on the highway, we did it near the toll both so that all vehicles were going slowly and it was safe, and we found the exit.
A decent dirt road, some cobblestones, and even a little pavement found us shortly in Marmol, then finally at the beach! So beautiful! This area is totally undeveloped, no houses, no billboards, no electrical wires.
We camped out here for two nights and then, on January 1, decided to pursue the surfing. The surf area is a little ways up the beach and around a rock outcropping from our camp spot. We had gone out there on the first day during low tide but decided not to surf. By day 3, we were surfing determined. We headed out as the high tide was retreating. Ahh, interesting, the last part of the road that is accessible and firm during low tide was 4 feet deep in water in the morning high tide. So we chatted with three local guys carrying fishing gear and decided we could park on a high part of the road and walk the last part to the beach.
Challenge Number 1: a pack of 6 or 7 lazy-looking but nonetheless potential trouble-causing dogs lay between us and the only walking path to the beach. Nicholas and I worked out a plan where I would carry Robert and Carrie, Nick would walk with us, and I would leave him with them on the far side of the walking bridge. This we accomplished with not so much as a sideways look from the local dogs. I returned for Joe. Unable, or at least unwilling, to carry his 80 pound frame 50 yards, I simply walked him as quickly and quietly toward the bridge. Not quickly nor quietly enough. The dogs began barking and following us. Ahh, heart racing. I yelled at the dogs which some of them respected but a couple continued to follow me and Joe.
These local dogs are feral, mostly unneutered and unspayed, almost certainly unvaccinated, and possibly not nice. I’m of course an animal lover, but I will defend my little family with all the force at my command if necessary. One tool I have on this trip that is new to me was donated to the Cause of Cromwell Safety by my mom: several pocket size containers of mace. I have one of these, along with a pocket knife, attached to my keys and, as I walked with Joe, I began to fumble with my backpack to retrieve the key chain. Undecided as to whether it was best to keep moving or thus arm myself, I finally stopped for a moment to get my hands on the mace and then kept going. Finally, without the use of any weapons, we got the dogs to back off and the Cromwell’s were across the bridge and on our way to the beach. The pack of dogs did not seem interested enough to pursue us. But, nerves were high among all of us, to say the least. Nicholas asked me: Do you still want to surf? Well, there wasn’t any going back to the car at this point, so yes, I did want to surf. We may as well wait until low tide when we can pull the van closer and make our escape more easily. So he went back for the surfboard and we proceeded!
Challenge Number 2: Nicholas was less enthused on the surfing than I was, so he stayed on land with the dogs while I ventured out. The waves were not big but they were messy and unsurfable. After bouncing around for a while on my brand new Robert August Nine Foot “What I Ride” longboard, which I love!, I went back in.
Then began our exit from this locale. Challenge number 3: The tide was decidedly lower, though not all the way down, and we could walk out on the other side away from the pack of dogs. When I say “walk out” I don’t mean without getting our feet wet. We had to ford a stream that was about 3 feet deep! But it was much safer an exit than our entrance had been. The funniest part of all of this had to be when Nicholas took off his pants, donned the backpack, and set off through the stream, with all the seriousness at his command, in his underpants! He was off to bring the van around closer. I did not attempt to stop my laughter, a welcome release after the tension of the morning! When he returned, he carried Robert and a wriggling Carrie while I hoisted the I-can’t-swim-because-I’m-a-greyhound-Joe, and off we went across the stream. I had thought we were through the deepest part of it and set Joe down where he was up to his elbows, only to discover, and witness his panic, that we had deeper yet to go. Poor Joe, he really was afraid and I was unable to help him other than to guide him to the other side by his leash while he flailed.
And so distraught, the little family made it back to the van. We sat for a few minutes had some water and a snack, and then departed for a hopefully easier future.
We went back through the outskirts of Mazatlan, hit a Walmart (Yes, I am shopping at Walmart. Hell has officially frozen over. But they are the only store we have found in Mexico, and we have tried them all, which sells tofu), and loaded up on water and other staples. Nicholas picked out a nice, quiet beachfront campground in the small town of Teacapan, where I am now drafting this blog post from beneath a thatch roof, on a balcony overlooking the beach while the dogs nap peacefully. As a special treat for myself today, I am on my second pot of coffee! Calm has returned!
Well let’s look at that. First of all, “exit.” The freeway, which by the way, isn’t free, it’s a “cuota” road costing about US$4 per 50 miles, doesn’t have on or off ramps for the minor towns. My iPhone offers a GPS so I could watch our progress on the freeway and I could see easily that we were missing Marmol. We could see overpasses, small, one-lane bridges over the freeway but we could see no clear way of getting on any of them. Finally, as the last possibility to Marmol approached, we hit the brakes and made a hard right turn onto gravel immediately from the freeway. We went up and over some train tracks, and continued west. I could see the road we drove on the map, so I wasn’t without hope of reaching the shore.
As this road narrowed, became more and more holes and dips and rocks and trees, my hope dwindled. Finally, we were driving between two fields and some workers yelled out to us, “Stop, hay un rio!” Ahh, a river, wonderful. “Donde esta la playa?” I asked. Most of the response was too fast for me to understand but we deduced that we needed to turn around, drive back north a ways and then head west. Gracias.
We turned around, bounced our way back to the highway and crossed it, heading to a town we hoped would be Marmol. When we got there, there was no way out to the west, we were not in Marmol, but a nice man came running up to us and asked us, in English!, what we were looking for.
As we chatted with him, a rooster popped up on our hood and pecked around near the wipers. I was like, um, there’s a rooster on the car. OMG. Hahaha!
We told him we were looking for the Marmol beach and he gave us pretty good directions. Get back on the freeway and take the exit about 5 km north. We were off again (the rooster had departed our vehicle!) The exit we were now looking for should be right before the toll booth. We drove, we could see the overpass we wanted, we could see the toll booth. And yet, ahhh, we drove right past the “exit” again! A quick u-turn, yes on the highway, we did it near the toll both so that all vehicles were going slowly and it was safe, and we found the exit.
A decent dirt road, some cobblestones, and even a little pavement found us shortly in Marmol, then finally at the beach! So beautiful! This area is totally undeveloped, no houses, no billboards, no electrical wires.
We camped out here for two nights and then, on January 1, decided to pursue the surfing. The surf area is a little ways up the beach and around a rock outcropping from our camp spot. We had gone out there on the first day during low tide but decided not to surf. By day 3, we were surfing determined. We headed out as the high tide was retreating. Ahh, interesting, the last part of the road that is accessible and firm during low tide was 4 feet deep in water in the morning high tide. So we chatted with three local guys carrying fishing gear and decided we could park on a high part of the road and walk the last part to the beach.
Challenge Number 1: a pack of 6 or 7 lazy-looking but nonetheless potential trouble-causing dogs lay between us and the only walking path to the beach. Nicholas and I worked out a plan where I would carry Robert and Carrie, Nick would walk with us, and I would leave him with them on the far side of the walking bridge. This we accomplished with not so much as a sideways look from the local dogs. I returned for Joe. Unable, or at least unwilling, to carry his 80 pound frame 50 yards, I simply walked him as quickly and quietly toward the bridge. Not quickly nor quietly enough. The dogs began barking and following us. Ahh, heart racing. I yelled at the dogs which some of them respected but a couple continued to follow me and Joe.
These local dogs are feral, mostly unneutered and unspayed, almost certainly unvaccinated, and possibly not nice. I’m of course an animal lover, but I will defend my little family with all the force at my command if necessary. One tool I have on this trip that is new to me was donated to the Cause of Cromwell Safety by my mom: several pocket size containers of mace. I have one of these, along with a pocket knife, attached to my keys and, as I walked with Joe, I began to fumble with my backpack to retrieve the key chain. Undecided as to whether it was best to keep moving or thus arm myself, I finally stopped for a moment to get my hands on the mace and then kept going. Finally, without the use of any weapons, we got the dogs to back off and the Cromwell’s were across the bridge and on our way to the beach. The pack of dogs did not seem interested enough to pursue us. But, nerves were high among all of us, to say the least. Nicholas asked me: Do you still want to surf? Well, there wasn’t any going back to the car at this point, so yes, I did want to surf. We may as well wait until low tide when we can pull the van closer and make our escape more easily. So he went back for the surfboard and we proceeded!
Challenge Number 2: Nicholas was less enthused on the surfing than I was, so he stayed on land with the dogs while I ventured out. The waves were not big but they were messy and unsurfable. After bouncing around for a while on my brand new Robert August Nine Foot “What I Ride” longboard, which I love!, I went back in.
Then began our exit from this locale. Challenge number 3: The tide was decidedly lower, though not all the way down, and we could walk out on the other side away from the pack of dogs. When I say “walk out” I don’t mean without getting our feet wet. We had to ford a stream that was about 3 feet deep! But it was much safer an exit than our entrance had been. The funniest part of all of this had to be when Nicholas took off his pants, donned the backpack, and set off through the stream, with all the seriousness at his command, in his underpants! He was off to bring the van around closer. I did not attempt to stop my laughter, a welcome release after the tension of the morning! When he returned, he carried Robert and a wriggling Carrie while I hoisted the I-can’t-swim-because-I’m-a-greyhound-Joe, and off we went across the stream. I had thought we were through the deepest part of it and set Joe down where he was up to his elbows, only to discover, and witness his panic, that we had deeper yet to go. Poor Joe, he really was afraid and I was unable to help him other than to guide him to the other side by his leash while he flailed.
And so distraught, the little family made it back to the van. We sat for a few minutes had some water and a snack, and then departed for a hopefully easier future.
We went back through the outskirts of Mazatlan, hit a Walmart (Yes, I am shopping at Walmart. Hell has officially frozen over. But they are the only store we have found in Mexico, and we have tried them all, which sells tofu), and loaded up on water and other staples. Nicholas picked out a nice, quiet beachfront campground in the small town of Teacapan, where I am now drafting this blog post from beneath a thatch roof, on a balcony overlooking the beach while the dogs nap peacefully. As a special treat for myself today, I am on my second pot of coffee! Calm has returned!
Wednesday, December 30
Working at Mazatlan Starbucks!
I ran across the Mazatlan Starbucks on my way to a meeting last night. Here's a quick picture. We returned today after surfing attempt #1 and did the blogging from here! These are live action photos of me working right now!!
Huatabampito sunset
We spent a Saturday night at a lovely, tiny beach town south of Huatabampo, called Huatabampito. Here are some pictures from this adventure! I caught the sun descending into the water anf just kept clicking!
Photos from Mexico travels!
Many days have passed since my last update...apologies!
Here are some pictures of Joe, Carrie and Robert to start off. They are definitely getting their beach legs!
Here are some pictures of Joe, Carrie and Robert to start off. They are definitely getting their beach legs!
We have traveled through some beautiful countryside between Bahia Kino, then to Huatabambito and now to Mazatlan. Here are some pictures of our travels:
The highway is so well made. It is better than most highways in the US!
I'm having a difficult internet connection so I'll get this post uploaded and then do another separately!
Friday, December 25
Bahia Kino and wonderings
The problem with finding a perfectly magical spot right off the bat is that you expect everything thereafter to be magical and perfect and easy too. Bahia Kino may be like that for us on this trip. We pulled in, backed up to the beach, got out, and were peaceful and happy. Just like that. I walked the dogs and they were so happy. Robert in particular kept turning his head on that first walk to look back with a look that said, "Really? After all that driving, a week in the car, you really brought me here?! This is so awesome!" It was like he couldn't believe I was so creative.
After pulling in on the night we crossed the border, we spent the following entire day in Bahia Kino just resting. Nicholas wandered into the town area while I alternately sat or laid on the beach with the dogs and a book. The weather was great, I could do with even more heat but it is good for Joe to be able to acclimate slowly. Being black, he gets hotter more quickly than the rest of us. Robert loved the sun as much as I did and he stayed with me on the beach all day, even after Joe and Carrie retired to the van for their afternoon nap in the shade.
There wasn't much going on in Bahia Kino though, so we didn't stay for another day of relaxation in the sun. I think I may look at these pictures and wonder why not:
After pulling in on the night we crossed the border, we spent the following entire day in Bahia Kino just resting. Nicholas wandered into the town area while I alternately sat or laid on the beach with the dogs and a book. The weather was great, I could do with even more heat but it is good for Joe to be able to acclimate slowly. Being black, he gets hotter more quickly than the rest of us. Robert loved the sun as much as I did and he stayed with me on the beach all day, even after Joe and Carrie retired to the van for their afternoon nap in the shade.
There wasn't much going on in Bahia Kino though, so we didn't stay for another day of relaxation in the sun. I think I may look at these pictures and wonder why not:
Dec. 22--First day Mexico!
We had a destination in mind for our first campground, a small town called Magdalena. But when we got there, we could not find the campground, and the town was very small, inland, dusty, and generally not offering what we hoped for. We had gotten an early start that morning in Tucson, so we decided to drive further to a coastal town on the Gulf of California called Bahia Kino (Kino Bay). We did, however, stop and walk the dogs in a town called San Miguel de Allende. It was the first time for Joe, Carrie and Robert to set foot on Mexican soil and they were happy and also, apparently, attention-getting! These two girls stopped and asked me something, they were pointing at Joe and smiling. Another small boy with his father were also enthralled with the dogs. I don't know why, there are loads of dogs in Mexico, most in need of a nice home and some food. But maybe because Joe is a racing dog, or because Carrie and Robert have such cute red harnesses, or maybe just because they all just look so well-loved and pretty!
Anyway, here is a picture Nicholas took from the van:
We piled back in the van and continued to drive to the coast. Here is what the dogs look like most of the time when we are driving:
We got to Bahia Kino a little while before dark (one of our hard and fast rules is never to drive in Mexico after dark, on this all the guidebooks agree). We had several campgrounds from which to choose and drove past one, the second looked pretty darn good, and the third, which was the one I expected to be the best was crowded and uninviting. We turned around the choice number 2 and were the only inhabitants and this beachfront wonder:
Here is one I took with my iPhone the next morning. This place was just breathtaking:
Anyway, here is a picture Nicholas took from the van:
Dec. 22--Crossing the border
We spent a final USA night on December 21 in Tucson in Catalina campground, the same one where we had stayed the night before. It is northwest Tucson and quiet and comfortable. From there, we drove through Tucson on Hwy 77 which led us eventually to Interstate 10. Just a few days later, this Interstate between Tucson and Phoenix had such high winds that a dust-storm formed and caused a serious pileup. Luckily, we were headed the other way and encountered no such disaster.
From I-10, we split off and took Hwy 19 to Nogales. I selected this border crossing because it is very high volume, was recommended in my book on Camping Mexico in an RV, and has a major Mexican highway leading from it down the west mainland coast.
As we left I-10, a few interesting things happened. First, the mileposts converted to Kilometers almost immediately. The exit numbers corresponded to these kilometers as well. Second, the road was nearly completely void of all business, advertisements, basically anything familiarly American. It felt like Mexico already. We even saw some border agents hanging around one of the exits we took insearch of gas, a place to walk the dogs one last time, and a driver-passenger switch.
And then we just drove. We saw beautiful countryside and after another hour, we became more calm and relaxed. Here is what the land looked like:
From I-10, we split off and took Hwy 19 to Nogales. I selected this border crossing because it is very high volume, was recommended in my book on Camping Mexico in an RV, and has a major Mexican highway leading from it down the west mainland coast.
As we left I-10, a few interesting things happened. First, the mileposts converted to Kilometers almost immediately. The exit numbers corresponded to these kilometers as well. Second, the road was nearly completely void of all business, advertisements, basically anything familiarly American. It felt like Mexico already. We even saw some border agents hanging around one of the exits we took insearch of gas, a place to walk the dogs one last time, and a driver-passenger switch.
This was the only sign of life at this exit: a rather deserted US Post Office:
We ended up finding a last Chevron a few kilometers later and completing these tasks.
Nerves were high for both me and Nicholas as we approached the border. I had done a ton of work in the past two months to prepare for this: New car insurance, special vaccines and meds for the dogs and for me, all the work on Bussy, lots of maps and planning. I also brought with me lots of necessary documents for the border crossing. I had spoken to the USDA on several occasions to make sure the dogs were properly documented, I spoke to several car insurance companies about driving in Mexico and I had consulted lots of books offering advice, travel tips, warnings, and also encouragements. All in all, I was READY.
When we got to Nogales, a mere 65 miles south of Tucson, this is what we saw:
We followed these very clear signs, following all sorts of american license plates, trucks, RV's, basically the same mush of cars you'd see at any ferry terminal in Washington. When it was our turn at the toll booth crossing, there were 4 or 5 men dressed in dark uniforms, some of them had black neck-warmer type things partially hiding their faces, which was weird and a little scary, It also made it hard to understand the man when he spoke. All he asked was: "Do you have more than $10,000 with you?" We said no and that was it. The dogs did not bark, no one asked for any papers, passports, nothing. We drove on!
Next to encounter was the checkpoint where we had to stop to buy the vehicle permit. Here, Nicholas was able to stay in the car with the dogs and I went in to take care of this. I waited in one line, filled out an immigration card similar to the cards on the airplane, then went to the booth operated by the national bank of some sort and presented my registration, driver's license, and passport. She asked me if I had Mexican insurance and I was prompt with saying yes and providing her the papers. She sort fo laughed at my over-preparedness and said she didn't need to see it. She stamped everything and gave me the permit, which is taped onto the windshield next to the rear view mirror.
December 19 and 20—Yuma, The Physics of the Pop Top, and Home Depot
At the Go Westy van shop, in addition to having the lift and level, I also had them install a roof rack. This is drilled directly into the pop top using tracks which serve to spread out the load along their length rather than bolting into only four spots. That first night after the rack was installed, the pop top felt a lot heavier and was disinclined to stay “popped” initially. With some persuasion, I managed to make it stay up for the night.
Let me explain a bit about Campervan dynamics: the hinge for the poptop is at the rear of the van, so that the greatest headroom when it is popped is close to the cab, which is where the stove is. I always felt that the poptop was relatively light, and just sort of popped up with little effort. Well, it turns out that I felt this because of the assistance of two devices, one on either side inside the van, which serve to push it up and keep it up. These devices are a bit like shocks on the bottom of a car. They are spring-loaded, or more precisely gas-loaded, so that they want to push apart. When the top is lowered, the shocks are fully compressed. When the top is up, they are at full extension. Not only this but the power they generate is greatest when near full extension. So when I am lowering the top down, the shocks offer the most resistance in the first few inches; as the top is close to being latched, the shocks offer little resistance and allow the top to close easily.
Well, the shocks on Bussy most likely date back to its birthday in 1997. They were worn out. With the difficulty of lifting the top with the bare roofrack, I did exercise what can only be described as a stroke of genius forethought. I bought two new shocks, and the new way that these are made now includes a locking mechanism on one of them. “Why not get two locking ones?” The answer is that both are strong, even the non-locking one, and if I installed two locking ones, I run the risk of not being able to lower the top by myself. I took the qualified and dependable advice of Go Westy and bought the set with one locking. Nicholas looked at how they connected to the van and decided he could install them, “easily” was, I believe the adverb used.
On December 19, after we left Go Westy, we went to San Diego and picked up the loaner surfboard from Geoff and then purchased a new one in Ocean Beach. That night, we drove east toward the border of California, Arizona and very near the Mexican border, to Yuma. Yuma has nothing to recommend it other than the fact that we did eventually leave!
We could not find a suitable campground, the choices were either driving 18 miles on a dirt road or camping in a state park comprised of dunes and, you guessed it, dune buggies. Having no desire for either of these off-road adventures nor the persons who would come with such places, we decided our best bet was to find a nice neighborhood in Yuma and camp there. “Nice” does not come easily in Yuma, but we did find a neighborhood that offered Christmas lights at many of the homes and we decided this would be our safest and best bet.
Once satisfactorily parked, Nicholas got out to retrieve something from the back. I unlocked the top and began to push up. “I can’t budge this thing! I need help!” Even with two of us, the pop top with the rack and now loaded with two surfboards was simply not going up easily. What to do? With both of us pushing with all our might, we were able to raise the top. Nicholas retrieved the new shocks and we began to try to install.
I’m going to spare you all the strenuous details of our philandering with these things. Suffice to say that two hours later, we still had not succeeded in even replacing one of the shocks. We could not compress the new shocks with our bare hands, we could not remove the old ones without unbolting the entire device from the top, the top was heavy, the space small, the night late, and our patience at an end.
So we slept. Poor Nicholas had to sleep in the reclined front passenger seat. The highlight of the night was the banging, thumping, tinny, and generally awful music system installed in a car that came to rest, for several hours, right up the street. It was like being at a mind-numbing disco in an awful part of a city in Europe.
But morning eventually came. I walked the dogs around the grass-less area. Some cooped up pit bulls started fighting with each other because they were unable to get out and attack us (thankfully). It was not the most progressive place in America, to say the least.
Not that we were leaving fine Yuma! No, we went to the nearest Home Depot and Nicholas went in search of two-by-fours and other tools to work on the roof. I remained in the van with the dogs and prepared oatmeal and brown sugar for the humans. The dogs had already eaten.
We used a phone charging cord to measure the length of the boards we needed to prop up the top. Nicholas was able to find a board at the steep price of $0.51 and cut it to fit. He also found, just lying on the street in Yuma near where we had slept, a few pieces of rusty baling wire, which completed our needs.
After several tries, and with Abigail saying things like, “This is never going to work!” and “what an terrible idea!” Nicholas was able to compress the shocks, Abigail wired them tight in this compressed state, and we cooperated in some fashion to remove the old shocks and install the new ones. We did each one separately. It was touch and go there for a while, what with the new shocks trying desperately to re-expand, and the bolts being difficult to install cleanly and directly. But we managed one and then the other!
I was not the only one skeptical of this plan, Nicholas was doubtful too but he doubted that the new shocks would be strong enough to hold up the roof with the rack and boards. I felt pretty sure that if we somehow managed the incredible feat of installing the impossible shocks, they would hold the roof. Well, the good news is the shocks are more than strong enough. We could probably put a mobile home up on top and still raise the roof!
After we were done, we went to the nearest Starbucks and I had a much needed (and I dare say, deserved! Soy latte!!
Here are some pictures of this project:
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