WHERE HAVE I BEEN???

My word it has been a crazy couple of weeks!!! I can hardly remember the last posting I did but I know it seems to me like we have lived a couple of life times since then. No one will probably even read this entry because you all gave up on me!! Just in case you are still with me, here is a quick synopsis of the last two weeks.

Maurice, Retro and I drove to San Diego. This 1000 mile or 1600 kilometer trip started out with Keith, Sharon and their dog Dusty. We caravanned first to Mulege, which is about 8 hours away. We chose this spot as our first stop so we could partake in the Hotel Serinidad’s famous Saturday night pig roast; a 43 year old tradition. But after three e-mails, confirming that they were in fact having the pig roast in hot hot hot August, when it is easily 100 degrees on the east side of the Baja, they did not have a real pig roast. As we sat in their swimming pool, sipping margaritas in water so hot it was like a large bathtub, we took it all in stride. They still served us pork; we were just not sure where it came from. It certainly was not from a “pig roast”. I sure had a great suggestion in that idea!!!

We took three days to drive to Tijuana, where we waited at the border for a crazy amount of time and learned lesson number 57 of the trip…never cross into the US on a Monday morning from Tijuana. There we went our separate ways as The Sheldon’s headed to their Vegas home, and us to do our shopping in San Diego.

Our goal was to get bedding and linens for the casitas, finalize our solar and order what we needed, and buy a UTV...a utility vehicle so we can bring our guests up to Arriba de la Roca on our beautiful stone cart path. I also had a list of things I wanted to pick up while I was back in “civilization”.

5 days in San Diego resulted in a truck load of linens, all the fabric for our cushions that will be put on our outdoor benches, (thank you Laurie!!) lots of fun stuff from Walgreens and Target, an order for Maurice’s solar system, a trailer - to replace the one stolen from Maurice in our shipment of goods here, and a Kawasaki Mule with only 200 hours on it. We were thrilled! We did great!! The best part though, was that we got to spend most evenings with my dear friend Laurie, (who I first met when I lived in San Diego back in the mid-70’s) and her husband Claus. They were so helpful to us! Claus is a contractor and took Maurice around to all the best places for “man stuff”. (Claus owns CWLonning Construction and in almost every picture of Maurice since he has moved to Mexcio he has one of Claus’ company shirts on!) Our friends advised and helped us with everything we needed to do. They even gave us a care basket for our hotel room! Every time I get to see Laurie I am reminded why we have remained friends for over 35 years. Every time I leave her there is a large hole in my heart.

Since we came back pulling the trailer, with our Mule, and a truck filled with the things we bought, we planned to do the trip back in two days, with only one sleep over. To drive 12 hours in the Baja is a lot. The road is narrow and it weaves back and forth across the Sierra de la Laguna mountains in such a way that you really need to pay close attention at all times. We knew if we switched drivers often enough we could do it. Day one we drove 12 hours and stayed in Guerro Negro at a place we had stayed when we did this drive 5 years ago. We were tired, but this plan was working well for us. Late morning of day two we stopped at a restaurant we had been at 5 years before. It is on the Sea of Cortez, in a cove, and we thought we could get a bite to eat and let Retro run without a leash. This was something he had not been able to do, as he was relegated to the back seat of the truck. We had some shrimp tacos, ran the dog around and as we were leaving I was getting water and ice for him since it was so hot I wanted to keep his water cool. Even though the heat was stifling but we did not use the air conditioning because we were pulling so much weight through the mountains. We pulled out of the place at 11:38 am. I was driving. When we got to Loretto, about an hour and a half later, we knew we needed gas. Loretto is a pretty big town yet they only had one gas station on the highway. When we realized that we had passed the only station we decided not to turn and go back. We calculate we could made it to Insurgentise, which was another hour or so away.

No, this is not what you think. We did not run out of gas. What did happen though was about 30 kilometers from CIUDAD INSURGENTES I thought to myself, “I hope we have enough pesos for gas or we will have to find a bank.” To use a credit card is a huge disadvantage with the exchange rates etc. Also many stations do not take them. So since I carry the money I go to grab my purse to check, but I can not find it. I ask Maurice if he saw my purse. No. He did not see my purse. Where is it?? We stopped, we search...then logic hits me. It has to be back at the restaurant we left at 11:38am. I had been so focused on the dog and his water I forgot it! It is now 2:15 and we are almost out of gas. We can’t turn around to go back for it before we continue to drive to CIUDAD INSURGENTES, fill up and then had back. UN-FRICKIN-BELEIVABLE!!!! Could I be stupider!!!???? I am sure my husband did not think so...but he was kind and did not say this. The place we stopped certainly did not have a phone to check, nor did it even have a name that we could recall.

To make matters worse, we get to the gas station with no pesos. Maurice fills up and tries to pay with a credit card. Card #1 has expired. Card #2 has an electronic code you have to enter to use it and Maurice can not remember it. Card #3 has not been activated so it can not be used and lastly his American Express expired in July. Thank heavens he found a $100 US bill that they gladly took at the worst rate of exchange ever!

So with a full gas tank we drive back to get my purse, which, by the way, Maurice does not think for a minute is there. He thinks that if I really did leave it there someone took it...although he does not believe I left it there. He thinks I set it on the truck and it flew off.

We arrive back at 6:10pm! 6 hours and 20 minutes after we left! The woman is thrilled to see us as she was so worried about how to find us and get me back my purse. Everything was in place and all this stupidly cost us was 6 hours and 20 minutes, about $50 in gas and it forced us to rent a hotel room since you can not drive when it is dark on these roads, unless you have a death wish. We don’t. Our only option for sleeping was back in Loretto so we trekked back to Loretto, left the main road and drove into the town, (saw many gas stations along the way) found a great hotel, probably 50 years old, had a wonderful meal and discovered a memorable place. My grandfather used to come down from California and fish in Loretto 50 years ago...maybe he stayed at this same hotel....who knows. It turned out well. We were happy, although I now know for the rest of my life I will hear, “Where is your purse?” That’s O.K. he earned that right!!

Now we are back. Back to pink terracing, that should have been beige, back to our lovely pathway that is too small for the Kawasaki Mule we bought, and back to Hurricane season. One is working its way to us…Frank is its name. It is hot and windy but it is now predicted that Frank will probably miss us.

My sister Lynda and her husband Scott are here now for 5 days. They have been touring around and it is fun to have them here. Tomorrow they are going on an ATV tour but I will stay here and water the palms since it looks like Frank is skirting around us so we will not get rain. They leave on Saturday and Maurice and I still have to buy more flooring and tiles so we will head to Cabo. We are trying color number 3 for the outside of our house as we just can’t get it right. This time we will not have them paint three sides of a building before we decide we do not like it!! We might as well just put pesos directly in the fire instead!

See how many lifetimes we had lived in the past two weeks…and I am only touching the surface. If this posting had been done properly you would have so many more details and stories. Why haven’t I posted?? My “mother board” crashed on my 11 month new computer. Lynda will take it back to the US for me so Gateway can replace it under warranty. As of now I am using Maurice’s computer. It is after midnight…he is snoring. I am sweating to death so I thought I would sneak on his computer so tomorrow I can post an update.

Why haven’t I mentioned Retro through all these travel stories?? He deserves a posting all his own…that will be coming the next night I sneak out of bed.

Stay tuned for Retro’s Fabulous Adventure.