30 November ‘09

No sooner had I gotten a make-shift cover on our refrigerator vent when the rain started.  Some in the park said that we had over 4 inches of rain falling last night and this morning.  I’ll say one thing, it did come down pretty hard late this morning.  I put the canopy out this morning so that we could go out onto the patio and it also gave me a dry area to watch through the outside panel to the refrigerator.  I was hoping that it would be dry inside, but after awhile it did start to drip and get the base flooring for the refrigerator wet.  It didn’t pour in, but it did get wet.  I knew we still had a problem up there.  There is a raised portion all around the vent that is set up to stop the rain from crossing the roof and dropping into the flooring, but that small retaining wall was broken off at one of the 4 corners at the time the tree did the damage.  Now in order to stop the water I went back up on the roof with one of my socks filled with sand…a regular sand bag.  Well it did the trick (that is for now anyway).  I’ve got additional work up there ahead for me, but for the next couple of days…let it rain.  We spent most of the day hid out in Sol and Carol’s 5^th wheel playing dominos.  Louise and I had never played dominos before and we all had a good time.  Carol ended up winning by 2 points over Sol.  Louise and I came in far behind…what a bummer. 

29 November ‘09

Driving into Mazatlan we encountered trees lining each side of the two lanes on our side of the medium.  Unfortunately the lanes were narrow and the tree branches were low…  Well guess what?  Yesterday I found one end of our awning needed tightening, but once on the ladder I found that we had lost the roof vent cap for our refrigerator.  That meant we had a large hole on the roof.  Without that vent cap we would have the possibility of birds camping out in the flue and we could have a magnate to draw the rain in and flood us out below.   Well it wasn’t that I didn’t have anything else to do today, but I did have to try and fix it.  First thing this morning I went over to see Sol and beg him to give me a lift to Home Depot.  I was hoping that I could find something there that might work for the lost cover.  Louise and Carol thought that was a good time for them to visit the grocery store, so we were able to kill a couple of birds with one stone.  The vent cover was about 28 inches long, 6 inches high and 8 inches wide.  Now to find something to work…  I walked the aisles of Home Depot at least twice with no luck and then I wondered out into the garden department.  Sitting on one of the shelves was a plastic planter…22X9X7.  Well that wasn’t the dimensions I was looking for but I thought it might have merit.  I did need at least 28 inches in length so that meant that I would have to get two and marry them together.  The rest of the dimensions I could make work (I thought…).  Getting everything back to the coach, I took a hacksaw and cut one of the ends off of each planter and then caulked and screwed them back together.  I also had to drill some additional holes in the sides of the new vent cover to allow the gas fumes to exit from the refrigerator (although there was already some holes in the bottom of the planters to allow water out..) and then I had to drill 4 additional holes for mounting to the roof.  Well it’s up there, not completely done, but it’s up there…  It was hot and humid the whole time I was working, and the rest of the crew were sitting by the POOL and enjoying a cool one as well…  I’ll finish this project later, all I really have to do now is figure a way to screw it down to the roof brackets.  One of the guests here told us of a great rib place for our dinner tonight so we gathered up our pesos and headed up there.  This was a great place to enjoy the bones, and the price was right…$170 pesos ($12 US) a couple and that included a cerveza for each of us too.  Both Carol and Louise had a box to carry home with them. 

28 November ‘09

Yesterday morning I waited around for two fellows to come and see if they could finally fix our “cab air-conditioning system while Louise and Carol headed off for the beach.  The guys were about half an hour late, but understanding Mexican time, they were right on time.  After attaching all the proper gauges and applying air pressure, they found what they thought was the leak…the same one that had been welded before !!!  So with an estimate in my hand and a time frame when it would be fixed, they began.  It just so happened that their estimate was exactly the same price that I had paid before in Santa Ana.  With pipe in hand, they took it to the welder.  About 45 minutes later they were back and installing it.  Now the true test…more air-pressure and listen.  What, a leak ????  “Señor, we’ve got a leak !!!,

we’ll be back in the morning and I promise, IT WILL NOT LEAK !”  Well what can you do, you go with the flow, “we’ll see you in the mañana”.  Mean while the girls are having a good time at the beach.  Now as far a Sol, he was out looking for someone to change the oil on his truck.  Sol arrived back without having the oil changed and me without the air-conditioning working…you would think this was _ _ _ _ _.    Girls back just in time for all of us to head for the beach…Happy Hour !!!    I had heard about this one particular place that some of the others here at the campground were going to be at so we were off to find them.  Now if I knew that we would have that much trouble, we would have found our own Happy Hour.  After walking about a mile down the beach we did find our own place for a margarita but still no sign of the others.  We knew that we had most likely passed them so we started back up the beach.  Just as we were passing the El Cid Hotel, we noticed a large crowd gathered around this one fellow who was talking into a microphone.  I didn’t pay too much attention to what he was saying as I wanted to find the Happy Hour place.  Now for Louise, she started understanding what was being said and what was about to happen.  Grabbing Carol, she said “put your hand out, they’re going to put a baby turtle in it !!!”. 

  Sure as heck, they had no sooner put out their hand and they each had a newly hatched sea turtle.  The plan was to stand in back of the line in the sand and when the young man with the mic gave the word, you were to lay the turtle down in the sand aimed towards the incoming waves.  Sure as heck, the word came and about 150-250 new baby turtles made their way to the surf.  This is Lou's turtle "el Fuente" making the big splunge:

It was pretty magical to say the least.  OK, now what was it we were doing???...OH Ya, Happy Hour. 

 We were lucky, the place we were looking for just happened to be right next door. “Last Call” call was called just as we walked in.  That’s OK, we already had what we were lucky enough to fall into, and anyway, now we were treated to a great sunset.  Horseback riders,

musicians,

sailboats moving into the last rays of the sun, and the best of all…being able to share this with friends. 

Well this morning we were all going out to Deer Island and so some snorkeling, that was until I found myself not feeling so goooooddd.  I have no idea as to way, but it was a slightly unpleasant stomach pain.  Well Sol and Carol did go but found that when the wind picked up, it got too cold to get out of the water, but they stuck it out.  Louise stuck around with me and did go to the pool for a short while but was back in no time.  The crew did come back with the newly welded pipe,

 tested it, filled the system with Freon, and tested it to make sure it got cold as hell coming into the cab.  Well, let’s hope that today was a short lived unpleasantness and no one else catches it. 

You know, I don't know if I should be showing Sol's face so much, he just may be on "the lamb"....who knows?

22 November ‘09

Sorry, I guess I slipped up and forgot to put this in a couple of days ago, so here we go....

Backpacks all re-packed, breakfast enjoyed, and we’re off for another morning of “touring” before climbing aboard the train to head back to El Fuerte.  We’ll be driving the rim of the canyons to Divisadero.  At that point we’ll be looking directly into the Copper Canyon and all the different canyons that lead from it. 

During our drive to Divisadero we found ourselves going through some beautiful hills and valleys while taking hairpin turns all the way.  At a couple of points, we came upon large areas of icy roadways where we had to carefully make our way through.  Finally at Divisadero we stopped at a large view point and received our instructions for our walk back and to the train station.  The walk was just over a half mile and it took us all along the high cliffs of the canyon. 

All along the walk, we had Tarahumara displays of their craft, looking for those of us that hadn’t spent their last peso.  The view changed constantly as we moved from one point to the next over the canyon.  At one point we had a “swing bridge” to cross.  Now most of the time we are thinking that OSHA would die if they saw how lax everything was, but on this swing bridge…you had a wire hatched frame work that completely encased the walkway.  Arriving at the train station we found about 10 different little kitchens waiting for us to stop by and have lunch before catching the train, and of course, more Tarahumara goods for the last minute shopper.  Now Louise found that she was one of those “last minute shoppers”.  Finally just as the train was pulling up, she found her last items….all is good now. Also standing and waiting for the train was this wonderful lady with her baby.  I sure hope she gets a big discount on the price of the train ride.  

 We had originally planned to take the First Class accommodations (a little newer car and seats, and a MUCH more expensive lounge car) but found out that the only option we had for a Sunday travel was first class.  Oh yes, and it’s three times the cost of our trip up…Sunday returns are more expensive.  Now get this…if we would have stayed at the hotel one more night and caught the early Economy train back, we would have more than paid for the train, hotel, AND the cost of our campsite in El Fuerte…and most likely the cost of two or three margaritas as well !!!  Well we ended up pulling up to El Fuerte at 6:30, taking the cab back to the campground, and heading into the fair…  The fair was now in town

and it seemed like the whole county came out for it.  Now I’m not sure, but I think we just happened to “sneak” in without paying.  When we pulled up in Sol’s truck, we just walked across the drive and walked under and through a rope that was holding up a large tarp.  The reason that I think we snuck in was no one else followed us.  In front of the tarp was a large audience that was listening to this pitchman.  He was talking so fast and loud (especially since it was amplified the Mexican way…) trying to sell Mexican blankets.  We didn’t see anyone buying anything, but they sure liked to watch and listen.  Meanwhile, we were hungry and were on the lookout for the largest crowd around the tables and taco stands.  Finally we found just what we were looking for, a large group of hungry eaters and the smell of something truly amazing.  Sol and I each had 4 and the girls 2 each, and then it was onto finding the churros.  Now there we made the wrong choice…the grease was so burnt that the churros tasted like the fat looked…we had to toss and find another churros stand.  Walking around and watching the people we came up to a large group that had their eyes trained to the sky.  Up on top of this large and very tall pole were 5 men.  One was standing up-right with a drum and flute, and the other 4 were tied to the center pole with a long rope.  Soon the 4 leaned over and started circling their way back to the ground as the rope turned away from the pole and lowered them to a safe landing.  On another stage we watched 4 or 5 groups dancing Mexican traditional dances. 

Overall, we had a great time…except the first churros which taught us a very important lession...check the color of the oil !!!

26 November ‘09

Happy Thanksgiving… 

We just got back from enjoying a true Thanksgiving meal.  Turkey with all the trimmings (although we did start out the true Mexican way…cheeps, salsa, and margaritas).  This will make a special meal no matter where you are.  We started the day out with a Mexican breakfast on the beach. 

 Taking our shoes off, we took a walk in the surf splashing the Sea of Cortez all around us.  Making it back to the campground, we prepared for our laundry to be picked up and then jumped into our bathing suits.  The surf was strong this afternoon with waves strong enough to knock you flat on your back if you weren’t prepared.  Water temperature was close to 80 degrees, and the day cloudy and humid.  We still enjoyed the beach, no matter what the weather man would sent our way.  After getting back to the coach we found our neighbors looking up into a lime tree across from us…sitting high on the top branches sat two Iguanas soaking up the rays.  Now that is living high !!!

25 November ‘09

Our Google Earth position is:  23.25996N,  106.45864W   which is the San Fernando RV Park in  the middle of the "Gold Zona", Mazatlan, Mexico. 

We arrived here this afternoon after staying a night in Los Mochis.  Sol was looking for a place to change the oil in his CHEVROLET and I was going to have the air conditioning system looked at again in Los Mochis, but we decided to push on to Mazatlan and get it done there.  We traveled the toll roads all the way down to Mazatlan, primarily to save time and wear on the vehicles.  The unfortunate side of that decision is what the tolls cost…  This is just a guess, but for Louise and me, we had at least 7 toll plazas and the average cost per toll for us was $100+ pesos, or about $60 US.  For Sol and Carol, who have a HUGE 5^th wheel trailer and a HUGE 4x4 CHEVY pickup, it must have cost close to $100US.  I’ve emphasized the fact that Sol drives a CHEVROLET because apparently I wrote “once” that it was a GMC (God forbid…).  Anyway, we arrived in Mazatlan about 2 and fortunately the traffic wasn’t too bad as we were having a heck of a time trying to figure out where and how to get to our campground.  It was supposed to be across the street from the beach and across the street from another campground that is on the beach.  Well we drove by it and I was told (by Louise) that I should make a “U-Turn” and drive back the one block to get into the park…Well, I missed the place (the ONLY PLACE) that we and Sol could make a U-Turn, so we continued for EVER trying to find another spot to turn.  Finally I gave up on the U-Turn and made the decision that we would just go around the block…BAD IDEA !!!  When I made the turn (followed by Sol and that CHEVROLET pulling a 35’  5^th wheel) I started getting a bad feeling in my stomach.  The pavement turned to inlaid stone and we passed under an arch with a name carved across the arch.  We were now entering into a private neighborhood and the streets went from narrow to impossible.  I guess it wasn’t completely impossible because Sol continued to follow me deeper and deeper into trouble.  Finally we arrived at “THE” spot…a small fountain in the center of this stone pathway.  No way was there a chance for Sol to take his rig around this fountain, through it, yes, but we really didn’t come to town to sit in jail.  Well it came down to this, we’ve got to turn around.  Impossible, yes, but we’ve got to get it done.  Fortunately we had another corner sitting beside us but it went to a dead end 50 yards away and it was just as narrow as the one that we’re on.  Talking it over together, we turned up into this new 50 yard long path.  Now all we had to do was back it down and around the corner and head back the same way we came in…(you should have been there).  First the sidewalk was about 10 to 12” high, second, there was a wall beside one of the sidewalks that was about 4’ away from the curb.  Now on the other side we had a telephone pole that sat directly on the corner and wouldn’t give an inch. 

Fortunately we only had 10 to 12 cars and vans coming through constantly (or at least it seemed like it) and the neighbors didn’t come out to take bets on our not making it, and we didn’t see or hear anyone screaming profanities at us.  Now we haven’t known Sol and Carol very long, and I had no idea as to how he would handle such a predicament, but he did it with grace and with a good attitude.  I don’t know if I could have done the same…  One thing’s for sure, once we got parked at the park we got together and hit the bottle (well maybe just one cerveza…).

21 November ‘09

This morning, Sol, Carol, Louise and I loaded into a large 4x4 van and took off with our guide Rodrigo, for a day of visiting the Tarahumara

and the valley and canyons where they live.  We weren’t going into the deep depths of the Copper Canyon, but another very interesting area.  Our first stop was along the banks of the Largo Arareko, a 100 acre reservoir. 

It sits in a woodland of tall Pine and smaller brush.  Scattered throughout the water you can see pinnacles of granite standing high.  There is no doubt, Lou and I wanted to immediately paddle out into this wonderful water area…it is spectacular.  We were immediately met by the Tarahumara children who were holding their wares for us to purchase

 while their mothers were sitting just within sight while knitting or weaving more items to be soon sold. 

This wasn’t a “hard sell” from the little ones, but you could hear it in their voices and see it in their eyes…”Please buy this from me…”.  We knew we had to pace ourselves and carefully make the right decisions as to what we were going to purchase, but to purchase was a given…  Our next stop was at the end of a drive that was made only by 4 wheel drive vehicles.  Once we drove off the pavement and onto the dirt roadway, we were holding on.  While swaying from side to side and bouncing almost high enough to bump your head on the top of the van, we weaved ourselves through the large rocks and small creeks.  Finally coming to a stop, we walk another quarter of a mile to find Cascada de Cusarare.  On the way, we came across a couple of Tarahumara women washing their clothes in a small river while their children watched and played close by. 

These falls weren’t as large as they can be during the rainy season, but they were still beautiful. 

After stopping at a number of locations around the top of the falls, Louise and I descended the 276 stairs to the rocks below the falls. 

Now all we had to do was get back up those 276 stairs…  Actually we did it like did it every day at this altitude (7,600 ft.)…no problema…  Then we went deeper into the canyon to see the “Mushroom Rocks”

and visit a Tarahumara village “Ville de los Hugos (mushrooms).  Again we drove off the pavement and onto a dirt roadway? that took us deep into the Tarahumara.  As we passed those walking, working on their crafts, or washing clothes in a small stream we seemed to be invisible to them.  They are very private and rather we weren’t there.  In the center of their land of rock and hills,

we found a mission that dates back to around 1510.  It’s the mission St. Ignacio. 

The doors were locked but we could look through a small crack in the door to see that it was very sparsely appointed.  It’s a case were the men are dominant and attend the service, standing at the front, and the women stand along the sides or the back with the children staying home.  At one time, the Tarahumara lived in caves (or most often, a large crack in the side of a large rock wall). 

 We only saw one cave home that was still being used in its full capacity, but we did come across another were the kitchen of the cave was still in use.  Sebastion was a leader that had a large plat of land and lived in a cave of a size that lent it to be of more than 5 rooms (divided by boards and branches).  His wife and his extended family of his daughter, husband, and 4 children still use the kitchen in the cave. 

 Small bedroom buildings and a couple of other wooden buildings make up the rest that sit on this property.  We really enjoyed watching the kids run through the tall grass of the fields and off to a cave across the way.  They were like kids with no fear or wants, just having a great time running and chasing around. 

Back at the top and settling down for our last dinner at the hotel/hostel.  In the morning we will have another tour and then back on the train for our return to…

20 November ‘09

Our GPS Google Map Lat/Long  for Creel, Mexico and the Copper Canyon is: 27.7523N, 107.6346W

A taxi arrived for us at 8 this morning to pick the 4 of us up.  We were heading for the train, Barrancas del Cobre that would take us up to Creel and the Copper Canyon.  This will be the first time that we have left our little Minnie Winnie behind and it was kind of hard.  I guess we could have taken a different route into Mexico from the states and driven to Creel from the area of Cuauhtemoc, but that meant that we were going to spend a lot of time traveling a lot of mountain roads and in the state of Chihuahua, which isn’t one of the most safe states to be in right now.  We also opted to take the “Economy” train,

 that way we would be more with the “local people” and it would also cost us half of what the “First Class” train would run, besides, we could then take the first class train back and be there quicker.  The truth of it was, once we got up there and ready to come back, they were only running the first class train and the prices for the Sunday run was just about triple of the costs going up…surprise, surprise, surprise.  All that aside, we had a great time in Creel and the surrounding areas of the Copper Canyon.  The train ride up was very comfortable and had everything we needed.  We started at sea-level and topped off at over 7,600 feet.  Our train route would take us around and over canyons

and twice over the same tracks we had traveled earlier but several hundred feet below us. 

The restrooms were spotless, and the prices in the diner were as expected, but we were ready with all the treats and water we needed…well we thought so anyway.  We did end up purchasing lunch.  We opted for a micro-waved ham and cheese and a dish of “cheeps”.  The sandwich was as expected, but the cheeps…it was a dish of corn chips covered with queso fresco cheese (a soft crumbly cheese), and hidden below the first level, a soup of cheese/brownish stuff.  It must have been good because we finished it all…with a spoon.  The views from the doorways at the end of each rail car were stunning.

  We were able to take a lot of photos from there as we hung out the top half of the door.  We didn’t have to “fight” for position, but we did have to hold it.  It also gave us an opportunity to do a little shopping when we pulled up to one of the smaller stops along the way.

  While I was taking the pictures of these two ladies, Louise was buying a bag of fresh made cookies and empanana's (filled with sweet jam)... they were good!!!   We did have great window seats for the views but for photos it was best not to have to shot through the windows.  One difference from the “First Class” train vs. the economy was all the short stops along the way.  We stopped to let one person off to a dozen, and some of those stops were out in “no-man’s land”.  Then of course, we stopped at 8 or 9 other villages that clung to the tracks along the way to Creel.  Arriving at Creel

 kind of reminded me of arriving at the airport in Cabo San Lucas many years ago.  As soon as the doors of the train opened for us to disembark, we were pounced upon by hawkers.  It just so happened that all of them seemed to have been working for the same hotel and that hotel was the one that we already had decided to stay at.  All worked out fine, the couple of guys that stayed and fought the hardest to get our attention got their commission, the others will have to work harder next time. 

We paid $350 pesos a night for 2 and that included breakfast and dinner.  The room was nice, clean, and had a great heater that we found was really needed. 

We had traveled from sea-level to over 7,600 ft. and a temperature difference of mid 80’s to Creels high of 60.  The low for the night left ice on the windows and I really didn’t care to ask how cold it might have been.  Fortunately the sun was out beautifully the whole time.

19 November ‘09

Tonight’s position of our camp site in El Fuerte, Mexico can be found by going to Google Earth at:  26.41020N,  108.62613W

This is going to be a little short because all we’re really going to do for now is head into El Fuerte central and do a quick look before heading back for a quick nights rest.  We arrived here in El Fuerte fairly early so that we could set up in our campground and prepare for tomorrow.  Unfortunately it wasn’t all that simple…we’re in Mexico…  Our guide book told us of this nice campground that most RV’rs used while taking the train up to Creel and the Copper Canyon.  In following the detailed directions we found the sign indicating “RV Camping” and an arrow pointing down this narrow dirt road.  Trees hung over it quite low and bushes made it even more narrow than it was originally.  This looked a little strange and made us tell Sol and Carol to hang back while we drove deeper into this road of unknown.  Fortunately we didn’t have our Endeavor, it wouldn’t have even come close to getting in.  We finally arrived at the end of the road and found ourselves in someone’s personal driveway (still dirt).  Well we’ve got to make a turnaround and head back out, but now we’ve encountered some low hanging wires and branches of some pretty good sized trees.  I’m sure this wasn’t the first time that an RV’r had come down this lane and found themselves in this yard because it didn’t take long and we had the “man of the house” outside and helping with directing and watching as we negotiated through the maze of leaves, branches, and wires all within a wire fenced yard.  Fortunately we left all the wires behind, but I’m sure that the senior will soon be out at the main road and re-painting that RV Campground sign to a large red circle with RV-Camping in the center.  It turned out that the campground had closed up a couple of years ago but just a quarter of a mile and around the corner was a hotel that allowed camping…we’re saved.  Now we’re all checked in, set up,

 and making our drive in Sol and Carol’s truck to town.  El Fuerte has been accepted as a “Magical Town”, or as we might say…Historical town by UNSCO.  It’s also the home of Zorro…  I must say, it’s kind of fun riding in the back seat of Sol’s truck as he takes this “behemoth” down and through some of these busy narrow streets with cars, trucks, and buses parked on both sides.  Then there are the tight corners that he navigates so well as all the pedestrians stand to watch.  After finding a parking place long enough for this 4 door dually to fit, we all climb out and head for this wonderful machine that spits pesos out at us at demand.  Then it’s off for a walk through town, window shopping and looking for the best restaurant or stand for our nights nourishment.  Prior to finding our choice of taste, we happened upon the town museum.  It sits high on the hill

overlooking the town, the surrounding neighborhoods and hills, and the river that snakes its way outlining El Fuertes central district.  It’s always surprising to all the information that you can get from these museums, with the understanding of the language or not.    Down below us we heard a marching band practicing for the next day’s Revolution Parade…the sounds of the drums (not quite in sync.) and the trumpets (not in sync and off tune…) making their way around and around the town square,

how many times I’m not sure, but let’s just say it lasted most of the time we were in town.  The museum was set into the walls of a garrison that surrounded the town water supply.  As you walked the walls of the garrison it felt like we were walking the walls of one of the many castles of Europe (maybe not quite, but you get the idea…).  Now it was time to find our dinner…  in the central part of town is the location where all the busses arrive with those coming and going from a day of working, shopping or even school.  As always, this is found to be one of the best locations to find a great taco con carne…  It is amazing, you can have one and you can have two or three, but you never tire of them, ever….

17 November ‘09

Look to Google Earth at 26.59364N, 109.58949W to find us today at El Mirador RV Resort on the shores of the Sea of Cortez and the beach community of Huatabampito, Sonora, Mx. 

Out of the mountains and back to the Sea of Cortez.  Huatabampito is a hidden beach area that is just about straight west of Navojoa.  It only took us just over 2 hours to get here from Alamos, but the difference is staggering.  All there is here is a white sandy beach with Aqua Blue water washing up to the door of our motor home.  We are but 2 of the 5 RV’s here and we all have beach front standing.  Unfortunately the economy and the US press running the “drug wars” scare has set back business for those that have opened their doors to the RV community over the past years. 

 Louise and I have been the only RV in some parks and it still continues as we head south.  This afternoon Sol, Carol, Louise and I drove out to a small fishing village about 5 miles down the coast.  We were looking for a good deal on large shrimp.  Well, we found them and we found more…  we purchased totally 3 kilos of jumbo shrimp for $100 pesos a kilo or about $7.50 for over 2 lbs.  We also purchased 10 Pacific Spinney Lobster for the same price of $100 a kilo.  With lobster being on the menu for our evening BBQ, we went to bed a little later feeling like “Extra” Happy Campers…

One pretty big negative that we’ve been experiencing since our camping just north of Los Angles, California and all the way down here is, mosquitoes and “no-see-ums”…it’s about ready to drive us nuts.

16 November ‘09

This morning we head off to Alamos to take a guided tour of the town.  For $150 pesos each, or about $10.50 US, we enjoyed 3 hours of history, architecture, and the life of today in Alamos.  I’ve mentioned the exquisite homes that line the streets

and the beautiful cathedral that sits in the middle of the town, but I didn’t take any time in writing about the children of Alamos…  Today was “Parade Day”,

in celebration of the 1910 Revolution.  It was also the day that all the children dressed in costume to play in marching in bands, walk, dance and climb into pyramids

as they made their way throughout the route.   The tour group was sitting and listening about all the history of Alamos when the first band started up, and that was all it took, all attention was lost. Our host invited us to come back after the parade but go out and enjoy the festivities until then…  there is no doubt, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the parade and that was because of the kids and their dress.  Now it was time to get back to the reason that we were in town…the guided tour.  Our tour took us inside 3 completely different homes of Alamos. 

One was very simply done, but very comfortable.  Another was the home of a wealthy person that apparently only shows up in town once or twice a year.  It did have the family pool,

fountain, plants and trees that made it like a park, and beautiful rooms surrounding it all.  The next was a total remodeling project by a Texan that just went overboard by going completely modern.  By that time we had seen all that we wanted to see so off we went on our own. 

15 November ‘09

Sol and Carol drove in this morning and we joined another couple that is parked here in the campground in a hike.  The hike took us to one of the highest points of the town and gave us a great chance to get a feel as to how the town is laid out. 

With the streets of the town being so narrow, the sidewalks elevated as much as 3 feet, and the walls of the homes and businesses running another 10 to 12 feet above that, you lose all sense of where you are.  Speaking of the homes, or “Haciendas”, this is what Alamos is all about…  Los Alamos was once a huge gold and silver mining area of the world, and those that lived here then and for years after had developed one of the most beautiful towns in the world.  It wasn’t so much the town it’s self but the large and beautiful homes that the wealthy built.  There are so many homes that cover a square block of Alamos that you could hardly count them.  With the tall walls giving support for the many rooms that surround a large courtyard

 that most often is decorated with waterfalls, fountains, pools (swimming and reflection), and fully grown trees and bush.  The colors of the flowers in the courtyard are as magnificent as the colors of the walls and furniture that are in play throughout.  So today we hiked the hill and walked the streets, strolled the street market,

and enjoyed the music, food, and the people of Alamos. 

We were told that there was another hill town that we should visit before we leave…La Aduana.  We drove out of town about a mile to where we found a sign that told us take a left on to a dirt road.  We followed this road? through some pretty tough going while driving in and out of a dry river bed.  Finally after about 4 or 5 miles of steady climbing we came upon a very small old mining town.  It is mostly abandoned, but the church of Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Balvanera

 remains strong…well maybe a little weaker and not quite as polished as it once was, but still there.  Fact is, today was a day that is set aside for a pilgrimage from all the towns and villages of the area to the church and Aduana.  The church was built to celebrate a miracle which resulted in the discovery of silver in the town.  It was amazing to see the loyal walking the highway and then the dry river bed to give thanks and recognize the church and the miracle.  Not only were we there to see the pilgrimage, we found some amazing bread…Carol and Louise could hardly hold their selves back

trying to get their pesos’ out and get a taste.  I must say, it was quite good and will not last long around the Minnie Winnie… 

14 November ‘09

We had a great time in San Carlos, but now it is time to move further south.  Our destination is Los Alamos or just plain Alamos.  Louise and I are going to have company traveling with us for awhile… Sol and Carol have decided that journeying a little further south sounded pretty good so they are joining in.  We’ve got it a little easier traveling because we’re in a 27’ motor home and they are pulling a 36’ 5^th wheel with a 4x4 GMC 4 door dually.  We were under way by 10:30am and heading for Guaymas and soon will leave the Sea of Cortez behind. 

 Hwy 15 will take us inland and directly through this major town, meaning that we’ll have heavier traffic all around us that will be jockeying for position at each and every corner and stoplight.  As it turned out, the traffic wasn’t too bad and we were able to skirt through without any problems or mis-directions.  Hwy 15 then takes us across some flat landscapes and leads us into the second of three large cities that we’ll have on this drive south.  Now as we were about half way across this flat landscape, we came upon a sign that caught us off guard…  There was a large red circle with a slash across it that said “NO FREE ZONE” and just about 100 yards in back of this sign was the station that we should have driven into…  Unfortunately we were past it before we got our senses of ourselves and decided that we should turn around and visit this “official looking building”.  For Louise and me, we were fine and could pass by but for Sol and Carol, we knew that they hadn’t applied for or had their vehicles “imported”.  This is very important to be able to continue further south, so that is the reason that we made that impossible turn-around.  Fortunately we were only about 2 miles past the station so we were able to get right back without backtracking half a day or more and possibly have a huge fine for Sol if caught without that import tag.  Things always seem simpler than they are.  We knew that they didn’t have their vehicles imported but we didn’t realize that they neglected to get their Tourist Visa’s as they came across the border as well.  Now this does make it a little harder…Now they had 2 choices…one to head back north and take their time and enjoy the northern part of Mexico all over again or two, head back to the airport just north of Guaymas and pick-up their tourist visa and then back to the import station (about 80 miles round trip) and get import taxes and stickers taken care of so that they can continue south.  Sol and Carol told Louise and me to continue heading for our destination of Los Alamos and if everything went OK, they would join us that evening, or check our email if they weren’t there and there might be a message that they were turning back.  Well we continued onto Ciudad Obregon.  Now we’re close to 12:30 so we stopped and had lunch at a great “Taco Stand”. 

 From here we traveled south to Navojoa and then due east and up into the mountains to our destination of Los Alamos.  We’d been at sea level for so long that as soon as we got above 300 feet our ears started to plug so I was constantly taking a deep breath or pulling my ear to equalize…strange.  After 30 miles (50 kilometers) we drove through the gates of Los Alamos and headed down into town and our campground.  Getting all settled in, we grabbed the camera and took a short walk into town.  The townspeople had been gathering throughout the day to celebrate “The Revolution of 1910” but seeing as how we were getting into town so late, we missed just about the whole thing but fortunately they will all be out again on Monday for the big parade.  Well, we were going to make a short night of it anyway, so we just opted for another “street” dinner

and headed back to the coach.  Just about 9pm a large truck pulled up next to us and a voice came with it…”We’re back and ready to go…”  Sol and Carol got all the paper work done, signed and copied, and paid for before heading on to meet up with us once again. 

12 November ‘09

Day two in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico…  If you would like, you can find us located at:

27.96431N  111.02526W

We traveled out of Bahia Kino with Sol and Carol and headed east to Hermosillo.  After doing a little shopping at Soriano’s we turned south for San Carlos.  Traffic was heavy going through Hermosillo and when I looked in my rearview mirror I wasn’t too surprised to see a policia pull up beside Sol and Carol (or me for that matter) and flash their red/blue lights at them.  Well, Sol is driving a 4X4 GMC 4 door pick-up and pulling a 37’ 5^th wheel so finding a spot to pull off the road was almost impossible.  For us, it was still impossible until we got another mile or so up the highway until we found a spot long and wide enough for us to get off the road.  We had no idea as to what they wanted, but we did know that there was nothing we could do by sitting beside the road in this hot weather waiting.  After about 10 minutes or so, we pulled back on the road and continued south.  Not long after I noticed a 5^th wheel coming up on us pretty fast and knew Sol was trying to make up time.  The drive from Hermosillo to San Carlos was just over an hour and 30 minutes and that’s when we found out what happened back there…”they ran a red light”…  400 peso’s later and they were on their way.  I’m not sure we should be keeping this kind of “company”…  Totonaka RV Park is across the street from the sea but after the last storm that came through here in October, the access to the beach might as well be in the next state.  It was one of those storms that took all the sand from the beach and shifted it somewhere else.  It left a big mess and tough access to the beach.  Like in Bahia Kino, Sol and Carol asked us to go out with them and explore the area in their truck.  It’s very nice when people take pity on us for not having a car/truck to get around in.   This is another beautiful beach community that deserves the kind words of those of us that were given the opportunity to visit.  With the exception of the damage and the work that is now being done because of the storm, San Carlos is a small Cabo San Lucas, but 30 years behind, and this is all good...  We took a short break from our drive and found a great little lagoon to do some swimming.  The water was great, sand soft, and the surrounding mountains were magnificent.  Refreshed from our drive and the swim, we headed back to the campground.  At the entrance to the campground is this restaurant/ bar that offers a free margarita to those of us that are staying at the campground so we made a stop for refreshments.  I must admit, this “Free” margarita was one of the best I’ve ever had…fact is, we all thought so.  We thought it was so good that we had to be polite and have another with dinner.

9 November ‘09

Bahia Kino is a very small village that sits on the eastern banks of the Sea of Cortez.  With some homes, small single and two floor condos, a couple of restaurants, and 5 small vendor stalls, and a half dozen vacant lots, you get a feeling as to what Bahia Kino is all about…”kicking back”.  Some find it too kicked back, and others find it just a quiet and amazing soft sand beach area with great fishing from boats or beach.  Yesterday we hauled the kayak down to the water’s edge, ate a great breakfast of Huevos Rancheros, a Bloody-Mary,

 and took a paddle for a couple of hours.  The water was amazingly warm and flat.  The fish were abundant below us, and the pelicans were having a feast for breakfast all around us…it was quite a sight.  We paddled down the beach for about 100 yards and then out and around the rock hills that come to the deep water.  All along the rocks, the fishermen were tossing out their lines for the days catch, some already lucky and others still hanging tough.  We paddled from one protrusion of rocks to another and onto another until we had come to a small development of the only large homes we have seen in Kino Bay.  One smaller home that was already finished and right down on the beach was absolutely beautiful, and then there were the 3 others that sat higher on the hillside that were going to be huge when finished…pretty nice, but how the hell do you get to them???  The only paved road is the one that comes into Bahia Kino from Hermosillo and then takes a right for about 6 miles and then comes to an end.  The rest of the roads are heavily rutted dirt and a tough ride it is.  We’ve met up with a couple (Sol and Carol) from Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  They arrived the day before we did and we happened to find a location to park right in front of their 5^th wheel.  For the last couple of evenings, we’ve gotten together at the edge of the beach to watch the sun go down. 

This morning Carol asked us if we would like to explore Old Bahia Kino and try to get out to the land spit that connects the mainland to one of the island.  Well we found the road (dirt and heavily rutted), but it only took us about 1/3^rd of the way to the island.  From there it was walking only if you wanted to continue.  We did find a small area were the fishermen leave and come back from the bay. 

Not only did they have a catch of fish and crab, but the beach was covered with some of the best shells Louise and Carol have ever had a chance to collect from.  They were both very happy to walk through all that soft mud to get their riches.  After lunch at one of the beach-side restaurants in Ole Kino, we headed out the 12 mile “test track of dirt roads” to the Western Horizon Resort that we were going to camp in (Louise and I started out that road and immediately said “Hell will freeze over before I continue…”).  Sal has a large 4 wheel drive pick-up and wanted the challenge…we got there and back and found it to be a very nice resort, but still on the road from hell.  Then we went by the golf course that Sal has been golfing on.  It is a desert sand course and looks to be quite nice and challenging. 

Tonight we enjoyed another sunset and dinner at Jorge’s…just another day in PARADISE !!!

6 November ‘09

If you want to see our location on Google Earth it is located at;

28.85973N  /  112.02493W

I’ve mentioned before that the “cab air-conditioning” hasn’t been working and ever since we’ve worked our way south of Los Angles, California, we’ve suffered “terribly”…  We tried to have Freon put in while in Indio but the cost of $100 a pound (and we need 4.5) plus labor, AND the great possibility that it would just leak out again before too long made us think that if we could suffer long enough to get south of the border maybe we could save a little CASH…  Well yesterday, our host Edgar made a call and found two fellow Mexicans that would fix us up…  It turned out that there was a fairly large hole in one of the high-pressure air-conditioning lines that they could weld while still on the van.  All said and it was done.  For $130 we had a welded line, 4.5 pounds of Freon and COLD AIR coming out of our vents for the first time and making us HAPPY CAMPERS once again.  This morning we were once again on the move.  We said our thanks and good-byes and headed to Hermosillo.  In Hermosillo we found both Wal-Mart and Costco… what a gold mine for us and the locals.  They were busy!!!  And, the city of Hermosillo was busy with cars and trucks everywhere and in a hurry.  Hermosillo has a population of approx. 300,000 people and I think they were all on the roads that we wanted to travel on.  It kind of reminded me of driving in Istanbul, the leading fender wins…  I loved every second of it and it drove Louise crazy.  After having a quick slice of pizza at Costco we drove west to Bahia Kino. 

Bahia Kino is a small, lazy, kick-back, beach town that has one of our Western Horizon campgrounds.  The campground is located at the end of a 12 mile dirt road? that is soooo pot-holed that I gave up after a mile or two and drove back to town and found another campground to stay in.  I thought we would make it out there, even though we had heard some horror stories, but I was wrong…who wants to put themselves or their RV through that kind of torture???  Well what the heck, I really didn’t want to go all that way out of town anyway… 

4 November ‘09

It seemed a little strange waking up to an empty campground…  Lukeville really doesn’t have a lot around it except the border crossing, gas station, small grocery store/restaurant/insurance office, the campground, and a motel that has closed down awhile back.  That’s ok, all we wanted we received, enough electricity to run our air-conditioner and make my coffee in the morning.  We were up and ready early and across the border into Mexico by 9.  15 miles down the road we stopped at the immigration office and took care of our travel papers and importation sticker for the Minnie Winnie.  I really don’t mind all the paper work that it takes to travel here in Mexico, but it’s all the running back and forth from one building to another and then back again to the first.  Then once that’s all done, you’ve got to run to another to have copies made of all that has been done and returned to the first again…anyone make any sense out of that????  We did get “ripped off” at the copy shop, that will qualify for the first “ripped” opportunity here in Mexico and it only took being here a couple of hours.  3 pieces of paper copied (one copy each) and it was $5 US!!!  I probably could have avoided the opportunity if I had smaller peso change available, but all I had were $200 peso’s (about $15+) and they didn’t have any change (but the $5 would work PERFECTLY!!!).  OK, boo-hoo…  We drove the rest of the way to our next stop of Santa Ana on really nice wide roads that were lined with the desert hills and mountains on both sides. 

These were quite a surprise to us, as we had expected much the same as we’ve experienced driving the Baja, narrow, very narrow at times, and no shoulder…the roads to day were reminiscent of roads we drove in Poland.  These are nice 2 lane roads with a “driving” shoulder.  When a car, bus, or truck comes up from behind, you move over onto this shoulder area and let them pass…it could be that there are 4 vehicles that meet side-by-side with the two inner lanes being the passing lanes.  Anyway it works and I’m grateful that we only had 3 abreast while passing or being passed…  Our campground here in Santa Ana is one of the smaller campgrounds we’ve camped in but the couple that own it are wonderful….Ana and Edger. 

We’re using the “Mexico Camping” book by the Church’s and they recommended this one to us and their recommendation was spot on.  There is only room enough for 8 to 10 RV's parked here so when your here your "Like family"...  Most of their customers are "return" RV'ers and we will be as well when we come out in April.  We also used the Church European Camping Guide when we did our journey through Europe…we wouldn’t be without one.  Just before going to dinner, we took a walk into town.  Santa Ana sits down below us so we started our walking journey walking down hill…the town is a wonderful little town with great Spanish architecture that dates back to 1790 or before.  It’s not new, and it’s not all that well taken care of, but it’s great!  In the center of the town is the Catholic Church with a wonderful green grass park to one side.  Further up on the hill we came across this large cemetery that was all decorated up from the “Day of the Dead” celebration. 

Over-all we walked about 2 to 3 miles before getting back in the dark and then we had to find our “taco stand”… 

 Taco’s, a cerveza, all taken care of we head back to the coach (Minnie Winnie) and enjoy a warm and beautiful night under our awning. 

3 November ‘09

A couple of days behind our “schedule”, but we’re still doing great !!!  Tonight we’re parked in a campground within 50’ of the border crossing in Lukeville, and we’re the only guests staying here.  At one time this must have been one heck of a campground.  I would guess that there is more than 250 sites here with water and electricity and plenty of shade trees to handle the harshest of bright and hot sunshine.  We left the great company of Mark and Susan this morning, stopped for propane and some antibiotics, and a small box of Amish pastries before heading east on Hwy 8 for Gila Bend.  The high temperatures of Yuma (in the low to mid 90’s) are still hanging around and we will be carrying them with us to the border town of Lukeville…all this without “cab air-conditioning”.  We must be getting a little tougher because the highs of the day didn’t wipe us out as it did when we first arrived in the south.  The drive was scenic but un-eventful.  Arriving in Gila Bend about noon, we stopped for lunch, topped off the fuel tank, and turned south for the border.  Tomorrow we’ll be crossing early and heading for the tourists offices to get all of our paper work in order for our 6 month journey. 

31 October ‘09

HAPPY HALLOWEEN….  Tonight Louise and I are parked in the driveway of Mark and Susan’s and giving out treats to all the little “tricker treaters” of the neighborhood.  Having Halloween here in Yuma vs. the Seattle area is quite different with tonight’s temperature hovering close to 80 degrees and all the tricker treaters dressed in their costumes without heavy/rain coats covering.  It also gives us a chance to watch a little bit of the World Series (game 3).  Mark and Susan are at a Halloween party tonight so we’re handling the door and giving out the treats.  We have been busy getting the coach ready for our journey into Mexico this last week.  Over the last couple of days I’ve changed out the shower, bathroom sink, and the kitchen faucets.  Tonight I changed out the electrical power converter because we’ve had to put up with a noisy one that can keep you awake throughout the night.  In the morning I’ll go back onto the roof and re-caulk the screw heads on the skylight and around.  They’re flaking off and I’d better get it done before we get some rain.  Louise got news this afternoon that her meds wouldn’t be available until late Monday afternoon, so we’re not going across the border until Tuesday now, buts that’s ok since we’re enjoying Mark and Susan’s company and the great food of the area.  Yesterday we took a short trip into Algadones for a margarita, a taco, and a little shopping of no description.