Somehow or another, the journal entry from January did not make it into our blog.
In it we had talked about what most of you already are aware of: Dad passed away on Christmas night. It's been a big adjustment for all of us. His funeral was in Chicago & Rich & I decided to drive. It gave us some time to reflect & accept. Kitty Simon, Dad's niece, Rich's cousin, took us & Chica in for the week. It was a gesture of hospitality that was, & still is, very much appreciated.
We had the opportunity to have brunch with Andrea & her family on our way out of Chicago. Gunnar, her & Glenn's son who celebrate his 2nd birthday on January 3rd, used to be nicknamed ThunderPants; I think BuzzBomb would be more apropos. You never know where he's going to land or what devestation he will wreak! Kylie, LuLu & Hailey are all growing much too fast & much too beautiful. But I digress albeit proudly. It is always hard to leave.
We got back home Tuesday, January 9th, & began packing in earnest. One forgets how enormously disruptive packing is for an extended period of time. But we got it done.
Many thanks to our next door neighbors, Laura & Bob, who kindly agreed to watch our house & collect our mail while we are gone & to Kent & Rose Nordenberg who are running interference in getting our trailer registration sticker & FedEx'ing it to us here in the marina so we won't have to be refused entry into the States at the US Border because we have expired registration on the trailer.
February 20, 2007
Some random thoughts as we sit here in Marina San Carlos:
If you’re traveling from Western Colorado to Flagstaff on I40, the only RV site is at Cameron and is only for “self-contained” RV’s. There are no toilets, showers or ambience.
The road from Cameron through Kayenta and Tuba City is probably some of the bleakest territory you’ll ever drive through except for I10 into CA: There are trash and broken glass everywhere.
I never really understood the attraction of Phoenix and Tucson until I saw the first sunset and sunrise. They are incredibly beautiful in that country. People probably don’t go down there entirely for sunrises and sunsets but I’m certain they have to be a large part of residency there.
Progresso soup, good crusty bread and cheese make a fine supper on the road.
There are two RV sites just south of Tucson, about 10 miles north of Nogales AZ. The northern most is also only for self-contained RV’s meaning the big diesel pusher buses or fifth wheels. We were most not welcome there because we have no shower aboard.
The southern RV site however is somewhat less elitist. The banner over the office door reads “Home for the Bewildered”. Now we were not exactly bewildered but were quite taken with this. This RV park was most welcoming and while it did not have splendid facilities such as pools, etc., it did have clean showers and toilets. There was a dually parked in front of us with a Rottweiler chained to a small trailer next to it. The truck had a Confederate flag spread across the windshield. Down the way were three mean who were in the throes of erecting a teepee-like, well, teepee, I guess. The juxtaposition of the elegant RV park and the hippie-dippie RV park cheek by jowl was remarkable. We were quite comfortable there.
When we got to the US-Mexican border, there was a truck route noted but I in my ignorance thought that we shouldn’t take that because we weren’t sure were the Immigration stop was so Rich had to drive our rig smack through downtown Nogales MX. It was an immediate immersion into Mexico: Narrow streets, tight turns, cars and taxis darting in and out, horns blaring, pedestrians stepping into the street with casual disregard for the vehicles hurtling toward them, stray dogs everywhere. Rich was white-knuckled but he navigated van and boat through it all.
Immagracion is about 10 miles south of Nogales MX. We arrived there at about 9:00 AM on Wednesday, February 6th. It must have been a good time/day because we didn’t encounter the crowds we thought we would. We first attended to our visas which went smoothly and cost about $22.00 USD for each of us. With silent thanks to Ron and Terrel Chappell who had advised to make certain we had the ORIGINAL registrations for the boat, trailer and van, we navigated through this paperwork. However, the boat permit we had gotten through Vagabundos Del Mar we were told was improper. The Mexican authorities said that what we had was a fishing permit. We discussed this at length but the language barrier and our rapidly waning patience eventually convinced us that we’d better just fork over the $57.10 USD for a boat import permit that is good for 10 years. That was the only bump we incurred except for Vagabundos not being able to secure our visas for us. Apparently when the US tightened up the borders, Mexico retaliated but not allowing any third parties to process US applications for visas.
We were officially now on our way!
Speaking of bumps: There are speed bumps called “topes” here in Mexico. Some are marked, some not, but all are approximately the size of 55-gal drums laid on their sides. They are huge and some spaced quite close together. Speed deterrents they definitely are.
There is a toll road south of Immagracion. It is two lanes north and south. There are plenty of Pemex stations in both directions and we saw the famed Mexican Green Angels several times. But these toll roads are narrow, rough and have steep drop offs in lieu of shoulders and it is virtually impossible for a rig like ours to pull off the road. The very last item on the list of things we definitely didn’t want to happen was to topple the van and boat by driving off the road. There are pull-offs available but you come upon them quite suddenly and they are full of trash and broken glass. Very unappealing.
We also noticed a miles long backup of traffic, primarily trucks, going north through a Mexican check point. We understand that this is routine and will have to allow extra time, fuel, etc. when we head home. Getting our diesel engine serviced is proving to be very difficult here. We had the oil changed yesterday that involved a saga that I am not ready to share…if adventure is defined as the unexpected happening, this truly qualifies! We are now trying to find a quart of transmission fluid which is proving to be a challenge. We never thought this would be a problem but have gone to an Auto Zone, Midas, Mesos and a few other stores that were closed yesterday due to Carneval…Ash Wednesday being tomorrow, everyone is stockpiling naughtinesses enough to last them through Lent.
Chica and Duke have proven to be great travelers. While a little disconcerted to find that their home was now on wheels, they were quiet and well-behaved while we were under way. De-watering them at the pull-offs as described above was problematic. There was an extremely dead horse in an advanced state of decay at one such pull off that made them absolutely crazy. The smell was enough to make your eyes water and I can only imagine with what delight they would have enjoying rolling in this fetor. It’s just too gruesome to imagine: Two dogs in a van, temps in the 80’s, who have rolled in the noisome stuff they delight in rolling in…
We got into San Carlos about 5 pm on Wednesday, February 7th. We couldn’t get the boat lifted in until Friday, February 9th, so we camped out in the parking lot. The people who work at Marina San Carlos are not only competent but are helpful almost to a fault. The crew that lifted in No Mas really knew what they were about. We stepped her mast and got her rigged Thursday. Rich really did a good job getting everything figured out while I helped and the dogs directed and made snide comments as they lounged under the boat in the shade.
Since we had spent two nights in the parking lot adjacent to the marina office, we discovered that this area was a popular meeting place in the evening which meetings inevitably included mariachi music played at some considerable volume so we elected to berth in a slip that is across the marina just down from the fuel dock. We haven’t regretted being here. There is plenty of parking; our van is parked practically at the entrance to our dock. Entry onto all the docks is by electronic keycards that also admits you into the toilet/shower buildings. Everything here is clean and tidy. We are very comfortable with water and electricity dockside. We can walk up to a Super T tienda for ice or other small purchases. We have discovered Tequila’s, a rather large Mexican restaurant overlooking the marina – their margaritas are to die for! The fish tacos and tortilla soup aren’t too shabby either.
The major shopping we have done is at the Mexican equivalent of Wal-Mart which
is Ley’s. Virtually anything you need can be purchased there. We have bought wonderful romaine lettuce, limes, avocados, tomatoes, jicama, oranges, bananas and, a recent discovery, bolillos! Bolillos are small crusty loaves of bread, pointy at either end. You go to the bakery in the store, pick up a pair of tongs and a round aluminum tray then go around and pick out what you like and put the item on the tray with the tongs. There are bakery carts with these bolillos fresh from the oven that I immediately home onto and make a concerted attack. Then you take your filled tray to a clerk who packages your bakery goods in a bag, and return your tongs.
When we got back to the boat, we designated a bucket as a “clean” bucket, filled it with cool water and bleach then separated the romaine leaves, soaked them for ½ hour, carefully cleaned the leaves, rinsed them and wrapped them in a dish towel and into the cooler they went. We did this with the tomatoes also. We’ve been drinking the purified water and have it in our on-board tank; so far we haven’t experienced any problems but with San Carlos as Americanized as it is, I don’t anticipate that we’ll have gastrointestinal problems if we continue to be somewhat cautious. But I digress: The vegetables and fruit are wonderful. We put lime juice on anything on our plates that isn’t moving away from us.
Chica and Duke are now boarding with a Mexican vet Dr. Salomon Oroczo, who calls them (and his nine other dogs) his “bebbies”. We and they tried hard to acclimate to this new temporary home but alas, it wasn’t to be. There are no convenient places to walk them without running into the hoards of stray dogs and cats that abound here. The broken glass and trash continues to be not only an eyesore but also is unavoidable when walking virtually anywhere. Being on the water was a sore temptation to them both with pelicans plummeting suddenly out of the sky, anhingas popping up out of the water like some sort of avian genies and gulls landing close to the boat. There are many folks here who have dogs, some of them QUITE large. There is a family with two small children and one large lumbering Newfie! They’re on a sailboat too. Another boater, this one on a trimaran, has a good-size Chespeake retriever. There are dogs of all sizes between the Newfie and the typical Chihuahuas. We usually try to walk Chica and Duke in the evening from the vet’s office. Last night we were on the sidewalk that runs along the Bay just east of San Carlos. They would have loved to have gotten into the water but I couldn’t imagine what we would do with two wet, salty dogs. Dr. Orozco definitely would not have approved. Case in point in re strays: As we were trudging back along the dirt road to the clinic, a large black stray started to bark, snarl, and bare her teeth, hackles raised. We managed to pull, drag, and stumble our way beyond her but it was an experience that we’d prefer not to repeat although we’re sure it will be at some point in the future.
It’s blowing like stink this afternoon and cool enough for us to put on long-sleeved shirts and close the forward hatch. It’s usually warm and very pleasant. The harbor here is really quite large but has a very small entrance with high cliffs. People who know tell us there is a Venturi effect with the wind funneling through this narrow inlet and blowing the ears of anyone foolish enough to stand in it. It probably isn’t blowing at all inland. There hasn’t been any rain here since we came. It is indeed a desert landscape with tall saguaro cactus standing as prickly sentinels all over. This harbor is protected from all weathers and has a tidal surge of about 2 ½ to 3 feet. The peaks surrounding the harbor are jagged and abrupt. The evening star rises just above one such peak; last night a thin slice of moon and the star were just above this peak. Sunsets are particularly lovely ranging from dramatic to pearly translucent colors.
This just about brings you up to date with out perambulations and peregrinations. We’re going sailing tomorrow. WOO HOO!
More later.
