happy solstice!

We had a very uneventful trip up to Mexicali but unlike our previous border crossing, this one was just a bit more involved. At one point the customs person asked me why I was looking at her weird through her questions and I said we’d never been questioned like this before; that the last time through we were basically waved through. She was very unhappy with that information and told me we should be getting thorough examinations. Oh well. We had the most thorough revision at the military checkpoint where MX5 and MX3 meet, so I should have been expecting it. I don’t think we’ll go through Mexicali again; the traffic is quite bad and again, it took us about an hour to cross. We spent the night across the street from our usual spot at Lowe’s because I thought the kids would enjoy playing on the grass; we spent the evening at Target, however. I got all the kids nighttime clothes as a Solstice present; they all could use some (I just hope I got the right size) badly, except for Ellen, who is drowning in hand-me-downs. They all have blown knees as the kids frequently use the nighttime clothes as daytime clothes. Anyway, Target had a pretty good deal; 2 pairs of all cotton clothes for $12.50. I’ve never had good luck with thriftstore nighttime clothes so I hope they fit. I’ve decided not to wrap stuff and make Solstice low-key this year; they just don’t seem to get into it like I would. I’m greeting the sun this morning; not with 108 sun salutations, but by updating the blog. So, welcome sun, it seems like it has been a long time of darkness leading to the solstice; so much more than past years. I’m looking forward to longer days of light.

We thought we got up early yesterday morning but we didn’t leave the parking lot until 10am. It was to be a day of many delays. Ellen had an especially hard morning and between the many stops to either get her stuff or get out of the car to avoid her kicking feet, we were making 30 miles/hour. We had surprised the kids with a trip to “Golden Corral” (a buffet style restaurant) the night before, and between the variety and quantity of food, I think everyone was suffering from a food hangover. My metabolism being much slower, I started getting hit yesterday afternoon. We got really used to the simple food we ate in Baja and I think we blew our collective digestive system’s minds. So it was a long trip yesterday, even though we only did 150 miles.

At one point we saw some gigantic (but accurate) dinosaurs from the freeway and to the kids amazement, I pulled off and we stopped for quite a while for the kids to play, Jamie to rest and me to figure out where we’d head. I’ve found that it is not working well to simply drive until the adults want to stop. We need to have a place that the kids will enjoy playing in and have room to roam. We were really low on water, so I picked a county park and when the kids were ready, we headed out. This county park is 4.5 miles north of I10 before the first turn so I thought it would be nice and quiet. On the way to finding the park we passed a long series of playing fields topped by a playground. I remarked to Jamie that it looked like a good place to boondock; the kids would have ample play area, there were restrooms (and water) and being this far from the freeway it would probably be quiet. As smoke and steam errupted from his ears (he really is against boondocking) I dropped the subject.

We got lost, of course, with no signs to guide us, we should have realized that was an omen. I drove down a street and found a vacant lot to turn around in and remarked that the vacant lot looked like a good place to boondock (I really should keep such thoughts to myself) and with the directions of “well, the road dead-ends, but if you just drive around, you should be able to find it” we found the park. It is closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. BUT, two streets before the park we did find a sign.

The sun is rising under a cloud cover. Grey and blue and purple are the clouds overhead; as the reach towards the horizon they turn maroon then red-orange and then orange.


So, I backed up the street, found a place to make a three-point backwards turn and headed to the aforementioned sports field. Jamie gave his ok to stop there and contemplate boondocking. The kids LOVED the green grass, though, Ellen, waking, cried and moaned until her tummy was full of good chicken soup. Now the purple clouds are getting maroon highlights. I drove off to the fire station (as it turned out) to find water and someone has a wireless router allowing us Internet access without setting up the tripod. The morning joggers and walkers started Very Early This Morning and traffic is now dying DOWN at 6:38am. This must be an LA bedroom community. We’re just north of Beaumont. The road we’re camped beside is a State Route (I’m thinking a “country road” in Texas) and while we found those to be very quiet and (orange is turning to yellow and the deep colors of the sunrise are mellowing), this road has been full of traffic since before the sun even thought of rising. It looks like it should be such a quiet and peaceful area…

Today we head for Boron and once the family wakes, I’ll get the camera and post the dinosaur pictures from yesterday.

leaving Las Vegas

It has really been an awful week. Jamie and I got a weird back thing (I think mine was started by badly done yoga) that put both of us prone on the bed for a couple days. Luckily, we were able to stagger the days we were down. I have stopped doing Yoga to let my body recover and am really missing the daily practice. It was so weird for both of us to have done nothing in common and right after I started recovering, he was affected. Too weird.

We are completely and utterly hooked on “Six Feet Under”. Unfortunately, we have to wait til all the kids are asleep to watch it and this means that we are regularly up until 2am. We’ve got to find another solution. I’m pretty sure, from doctor visits and Internet research, that Jamie has Prostatitis. I found a really good support website and have a plan. The antibiotics don’t seem to have helped him with the majority of his symptoms but that seems typical for this condition. He’s going to have a urine culture and a DRE (just can’t get enough of those) for a second opinion on enlargment (thus far, he has been found to be inflamed but not enlarged, which is an important distinction). We’re hoping that bioflavanoids ((Prosta-Q) will be the “magic” cure it has been for many other men, but have a laundry list of many other treatments. For many men, this is a chronic condition that they simply “deal with” until they find a treatment (some pharmacutical, others dietic) that works. I am hopeful

one foot under

Jamie and I have started watching a new (to us) show called “Six Feet Under”. Jamie has watched it the last few nights; my Dad gave him DVD’s of the first season and he got hooked. Last night he talked me into watching it and we watched the pilot and the first three shows. We’ve been referring to it this morning; we really like the show (and the cop/boyfriend is SUCH eye-candy!) and Sissy now calls it “one foot under”. I realize that we’re woefully behind the rest of society but we haven’t seen TV for years. Give us a bit to catch up.

I added yet something else to my sidebar in support of my Dad’s fight against prostate (I keep wanting to type prostRate) cancer.

fruit bats

I can’t believe how much fruit these kids go through. I could swear I bought $20 of fruit yesterday but today I made a note. I bought bananas, guayabas, mandarinas, avocado and tomates; 7 kilos worth. We’ll see what is left by tomorrow afternoon. I know Deb will not be the least bit amazed after she saw them power through nectarines, peaches and plums at her house. The kids are dying to see Deb’s kids again.

We made tamales today and while I thought I had a steamer insert for a pan, apparently I do not. We made do with sardine cans (for support) and a pie plate but will definitely HAVE to get an insert. Everyone LOVED the tamales and for Jesse, who exists solely on salad, PB&J and bananas, it was quite a coup. Ellen and I did the shopping today; panaderia for bread, downtown for Ellen to buy Becky and Catie a Christmas present, abarrote for corn husks and fruit, another abarrote for fruit and other groceries, carniceria for meat, another abarrote for yogurt, novedades to look for a steamer insert and by the 2nd abarrote she was DONE. I brought her back to camp after refusing to buy her yet another treat and she collapsed in anger and headed back out again. I really miss the municipal markets of mainland Mexico where you can hit a panaderia, carniceria, cremeria, fruiteria, etc. all in the same building, and get lunch while you’re at it. She and Pike were great helpers making the tamales though, and while they are somewhat labor-intensive, they will be a staple from here out.

Virgin of Guadalupe

Yesterday was the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Each and every Baja town has a shrine to the Virgin. Along the highways in Baja and mainland Mexico you will see very many shrines. Yesterday was her feast day and it was celebrated well here in San Felipe. The wind has been absolutely still for the past few days and the kids love the still water on the beach. The day after they spent the entire day inside, they spent the entire day outside. Seems to even out.

A contingent of pangas left the marina and headed right to our camp beach for one of the many stops to celebrate the virgin’s day. A priest was in the decorated boat and you could hear the boats coming closer and closer by the loudness of his prayer. After visiting the small shrine erected on the beach, the boats left and headed out to the middle of the cove and then back to the marina. Of course, it could not have been a fiesta without constant firecrackers and the dogs barked and howled for hours.
It has been gloomy and overcast for what seems like days; when will the sun return? I can’t imagine living in snow…

Illiterate children

The past couple days, well, it FEELS like a week, but has only been a few days, I’m sure, the kids have been positively trailer-bound. The skies are grey and cloudy, the air is cool and they might be hibernating. For a couple days, I dragged them out to the dunes to the south of town and we spent many many hours playing in the dunes and the beach, watching the sunset and drawing in the sand temporarily vacated by tide. Yesterday the boys played a game of Monopoly that lasted until bedtime. I was going a bit stir-crazy after doing Yoga inside as it was too cold outside and by late afternoon was itching for some time OUT. I spent some time sitting on the beach, talking with others here in the camp getting progressively more drunk. It was quite enjoyable, watching the moon peek through high clouds, pangas come in from shrimp boats and the long horizon changing from blue to pink to black as the sun continued it’s journey to the other side of the world.

The other campers were certain that we’ve been keeping the kids inside, “schooling them”. When I explained that we do no formal schooling, George immediately responded, “so you’re just going to let them grow up illiterate????” at which someone else said, “Hell, they can all read; all except the 3 year old.” George thought for a nanosecond and said, “yeah, those kids have a better vocabulary than I do!” “How do they get their history and social studies?” Personally, I think the kids have a better understanding of Mayan history than many US kids and they have learned a LOT about Mexican history just from being on the road. We had started to dabble in First Nations history while in New Mexico and Colorado and Utah but too soon we left for Mexico once again. Everyone was astounded that the kids learned to read On Their Own, without anyone making them do it. If I were able to pursue the conversation, they would probably be flabbergasted that they LIKE to do fractional math, they frequently figure out different ways to convert dollars to pesos, beg me to give them math worksheets and spelling tests and read books on electricity just for the fun of it. I really worry that we don’t do enough but after typing this out, I feel marginally better.

Maus has been released and the kids were so happy to see him zipping here and there in newfound freedom. I just hope he is a Mexican maus and not a Yuma maus and we haven’t single-handedly introduced a blight on the Baja desert. Jamie is feeling better “down there” and we are hopeful that this is simply an infection. I’m going to have another PSA done before we leave here, but I need to do some research to see if taking abx while the PSA is being done would affect the results. We’ve decided to stay at Kiki’s to take advantage of Jesse’s wonderful electrical knowledge while we try to figure out why the van is not charging the trailer batteries (no current on pin 9). We’ll probably leave here Dec 19th and head for the Bay Area.

SHHHHH! Mousy's asleep!

Jesse just admonished everyone for talking so loudy; little mousy is sleeping. The kids are all whispering. I don’t suppose it would be possible to show humans the same respect?
These kids, as I suspected, have fallen in love with mousy. They were squealing with delight, just like Christmas morning, upon discovering the creature this morning. “He’s so cuuuuute!” “He’s so tiiiiiiiny!” “Look! He’s doing tricks for us!”

After all the children were asleep and I had placed the (if I do say so myself, ingenious) humane mouse trap in place, properly balanced (as that is the hardest part; balancing the top pan on the bent bamboo skewer), Jamie and I observed a moment of silence. Perfect silence. Within moments we both tuned into the noise of a scurrying animal ON THE ROOF. Jesse woke and came out; he was either too hepped up in the anticipation of a Maus Hunt to sleep or the mousy woke him with his roof antics. I was certain it was a cat on the roof - how could the maus get UP there? Jamie headed outside to watch the roof while Jesse and I listened. Sure enough, there was something up there. Eventually we heard him head to the wall with many electrical wires, the fuse box, the TV; all the wire stuff. I was SURE our electrical systems were toast, but apparently he found a way down and appeared soon after in the bathroom. Jamie surprised him and he bolted to the bunkbed room. In a stroke of incredible luck, he popped down into the heating vents. Jamie immediately covered the one in the bunk room, ran to the middle of the trailer and covered those, watching mousy scampering along the duct and yelled at me to cover the one in my room WITH MY FOOT! Um, what? I yelled back that I would NOT be covering the vent with MY FOOT and kept an eagle eye on the vent while I dragged the shoe box over it.

I was sure he had escaped somewhere, but Jamie was sure he was in the duct. We taped up 3 of the 4 vents with clear tape, covered the 4th with a clear plastic box, put a wedge of cheese outside the vent and waited. I was amazed to see him pop up and we quickly moved the box away from the vent and crowned it with a pan. He tried really hard to get out, but it wasn’t happening.

Today we get to figure out how to get something under the box so we can put a lid on it and transport him to the wonderful Baja desert. The kids think they have a pet. We’re now talking about The Plague. I SO hope I don’t need to create a “Maus” category for my posts…

it's the missing La Rue!

Is there some genetic and age defect that makes me the only person in the entire family capable of cooking and doing dishes? Why is that always MY job? I do all the negotiating (Spanish), purchasing, cooking and dishes. Someone tell me how it is physically impossible for anyone else to do this? After some 12 years, Jamie is starting to get on my very last nerve. His little idiosyncrasies, his little ways of doing things, his little habits; I know each and every one of them and they, all 2,847,091 of them, are driving me stark raving mad. Did you know the man is afraid of mice? More on that later. (the title might start to make sense to some…) I wonder if I’m PMS’ing…

We were on a mission today. Late last night, Jamie and I were awakened by a rattling. Like a rock being rolled along the floor, I couldn’t figure out what the noise was, but it started on one side of the trailer and moved to the other. When the noise started directly for my room, I sat up and turned on the light. “Jamie!”, I hissed in a loud whisper, “did you hear that?” He roused himself and said it was coming from the outside. “No way! It is coming right FOR ME”. He dragged himself out of bed and saw a tiny toy on the ground right in front of my bed. We both, groggy with sleep, but probably would not have been quicker with more sleep, confusedly stared at each other like the answer would magically appear on the other’s forehead. No such luck. Before we could stop puzzling, however, a small mouse darted out from its hiding place. Jamie SHRIEKED and jumped up on the sofa bed and I, blind without contacts, asked, “what? What was that? A cockroach?”. We spent the next few hours dozing, listening for the noise and staring wide-eyed at the black ceiling. I did a LOT more dozing than poor Jamie. He wouldn’t come to my bed; he really thought he could catch the creature.

Morning dawned and coffee performed its magic and we discussed the situation with the kids. Each and every one of them adamantly demanded that the mouse be treated humanely. I think they think they have a pet. Ugh. So, off to the brilliance of The Internet we headed and found this guy. We borrowed necessary materials and scrounged the rest. Hopefully, we’ve built a mousetrap. We left the trailer after lunch and hoped to lure mousy out with a quiet trailer while we cavorted in the dunes south of town. I had hoped to score some shrimp as we have been shrimpless since we arrived and unless some shrimpermen go out and BRING SHRIMP BACK TO TOWN, there may be mayhem soon. We’re starting to develop tics from the long shrimp drought. Coming back from the dunes, we hit 3 different pescaderias and not one had the curly god.

Have you figured out the title? It is from “Mouse Hunt”. The kids LOVE this movie and all morning, while researching and creating our trap, we were humming the soundtrack. I uploaded some pictures from today at Flickr.

pining for the heat

Only because we’re FREEZING here in San Felipe. We are loathe to head north to spend Christmas in the Bay Area. I’m trying to do some data entry and Jamie keeps rattling off temperatures. “Guess what today’s high in Loreto was?” I guess 80F. He says it was 90F (32C). He then checks the rest of the country and finds 80’s to 90’s from La Paz (Baja) to Guanajuato (mainland). I can’t believe it is so warm as Guanajuato is in the highlands and it should be cold there. But he is insistant. Guess what we’ll be doing once we find the heat? Did you figure it out? We’ll be pining for the TEMPERATE weather. Just can’t be satisfied. Sure makes me want to hightail it to El Requeson though…

health and projects

We saw a different doctor today for Jamie. We were really in some kind of limbo not knowing what should be done. The one doc said to get parasite test, PSA and maybe colonscopy and did little on the examining side. All those tests (except the colonoscopy) were negative and the doc kinda left us hanging. I have been having trouble sleeping as I felt we really needed to do something but was at a loss as to what. I looked into getting US insurance, to emailing urologists, to harassing “friends” to ask a relative MD what they thought. Finally I decided to go back to the hospital and ask to see the doctor. He was on vacation but the colonoscopy guy would be in the next day (today). He is also about 100 pesos cheaper than the first doctor. When the first doc suggested a PSA we did a lot of Internet research and wondered why the doc never did a DRE. (I’m not going to define that for you; if you don’t know what it is, you don’t want to. Believe me.) Kind of a nagging question in my mind.

So off we tramped to the hospital this morning; kids with their Knex, books and Ellen with a headphone and cassette of Fairytales. Ellen in a sundress and Jesse dressed for the snow. These kids… Colon doc looks to be all of 16. He claims to be 32 but I had my doubts. He is also drop dead gorgeous. He listens to the whole history and asks if doc 1 did a DRE. He insists on doing one; he is homing in on the problem. After Jamie about faints with pain from the DRE doc is almost certain Jamie’s trouble is infected prostrate. He gave us a receta for a VERY EXPENSIVE antibiotic and 2 weeks worth turned out to be some 800 pesos. At least he warned us. He seems very confident that this is a simple infected and inflamed prostrate and Jamie should be feeling much better in a week. So think of him, will you? He was a wonderful doc; English was pretty good and I supplemented with Spanish. He took a lot of time with us; even when a nurse interrupted that a surgery was planned and upcoming he said he’d be ready and never rushed us; listened and waited until we were perfectly comfortable.

We’ve been doing some trailer projects; Jamie installed connectors in the cargo “basement” so we can close the cargo doors and still have Internet connection (tripod is outside). He also replaced the rails on 3 drawers and man oh man, are we SO EXCITED about having drawers that work! I can’t tell you how nice it is after so many months of crappy working drawers.

So, lots of minutia and not much substance. But my brain is pretty empty most of the time anyway. We hope to move to a more deserted area outside town where it will be more quiet or maybe we’ll head over Ensenada way before heading up to the Bay Area for Christmas.

it is slowly getting warmer

It was FREEZING in San Diego (Potrero actually) and last night in El Centro was the coldest yet. Both Jamie and I woke at 6am and piled on more blankets - the weird part of that is that we were in separate rooms. I spent an entire day in Potrero heading to San Diego and picking up all the stuff we had waiting for us there and getting yet more stuff. Thanks to the lovely Julie we got a new car seat for Sissy (Ellen got her Marathon), new contacts for me, a power adapter for Jamie’s “new” Thinkpad (hand me down from Dad) and software for the kids. I then picked up a router and two wireless cards (one for Jamie’s new ThinkPad and one for Jess in San Felipe) at Fry’s. Man oh Man, Fry’s is quite the experience in merchandise overload. I then headed to Trader Joe’s and purchased about 15 months of food. I got only stuff we simply cannot get in Baja as we’ll only be here a couple weeks; organic butter and cheese (now frozen), lots of organic stuff, Good Earth tea; I can’t remember the $200 of stuff I got there. I was also able to ship off my Sony camera to have it fixed; something I’ve needed to do since we were at Aunty Chris’s house. So errands were done! I stopped by a fruit stand on the way home and the kids powered through 2 Very Large Bags of grapes a few hours after I got home. The apples are now long gone. Apples are so expensive all over Mexico.  I put a picture of San Felipe in here just cause I wanted to. Look at all the shrimpers in the cove. It was WAY windy!

The kids were having so much fun at Potrero and I was involved in figuring out why I couldn’t get my Toshiba wireless (but Jamie’s ThinkPad was an easy install) that we spent another day there, hanging out and playing. The next day (yesterday) we headed to El Centro to hit Lowe’s. Last time we were there, boondocking, we were able to get free Wifi and we still needed to hit Target and Lowes anyway. Yesterday there was no free Wifi and I didn’t feel like setting up the tripod so we simply shopped. We got new rails for the drawers in the trailer. For over a year we’ve been struggling with these piece of shit drawer rails to the point that the boys have actually stopped using them and keep their clothes in their luggage bags (thanks to Aunty Michelle for the lovely Lands End luggage bags). Jamie installed one drawer guide on the “pots and pans” drawer and it is simply LOVELY! When we were last in Papa and Tata’s RV I was checking out the drawer guides and directed Jamie to his next project. It has been so worth it; he got one drawer done and we’ll do two of the clothes drawers when we get to San Felipe. The only problem is that there is no stopper for the drawers; in a moving trailer it is important to make sure the drawer doesn’t pop open. Not sure how we’re going to fix that. Maybe someone makes a special RV drawer guide like the ones we bought.

So, leaving Target with only toilet paper and wipes (oh, Jamie snuck in a couple DVD’s) we headed to Costco for dinner (Pizza) and to bed. It was absolutely FREEZING in the trailer and Jamie hooked up the generator so we could run the heater without draining the batteries. That generator was hands down, The Best RV Investment We Ever Made. We use it all the time boon-docking and even in Mexican RV parks without hookups. I am so glad he insisted on purchasing it.

We crossed the border this morning with absolutely no trouble and traffic was simply wonderful. All through Mexicali the traffic was light and easy, very different from our last experience of stop and go traffic. When we left San Felipe a week ago, the boys were DYING to play in the mountains that MX3 follows down the penninsula. We were trying to get across the border before dark so we put them off saying, “next time”. Today was “next time” and I found a wonderful pullout where I could actually turn around. It looks like there was once a community here; there are more than 4 or 5 slab foundations and we’re camped on a nice flat slab. I wonder if hurricane Mitch destroyed this area? You can see that when it is wet season, much of the area becomes a raging river. The kids were having such a wonderful time that we decided to simply spend the night. We don’t have a lot of water, so no dishwashing (Yeah!) but the kids were thrilled to stay here.

I also found it pretty cool to be able to get online. I’d looked up coordinates (lat and long) for both El Centro and San Felipe. I was able to extrapolate from them to get our general bearings and Jamie setup the tripod. I wasn’t sure we’d actually get online; not having accurate measurements, but we did. It is a testament to the training we got that we were able to.

The stars are simply AMAZING here and as you might imagine, it is indescribably quiet. It is much warmer than El Centro (or is it a state of mind?). On the way down we knew we were in Mexico when we saw the pothole crew working on the road. One guy had a shovel and got a shovelful of black stuff (asphalt?). He then looked up and down the road, ran to the pothole, dumped the matter, looked again for traffic, looked absolutely PANICKED and RAN to the other side of the road so traffic would pass. I’m sure this was repeated ad-nauseum to fill the holes.

Tomorrow we’ll be in San Felipe with a sink full of dirty dishes.

tech update

I have updated the maps links in all themes to reflect our true location; no matter where we are, as long as I update the Datastorm map, you’ll get an accurate reading.Second, I found this really neat
create your own visited countries map or vertaling Duits Nederlands
You can get it here.
I have uploaded a gigantic amount of photos to Flickr. I have even organized them in numerous sets. Next to come will be geographic sets. The kids wanted to stay another day in Potrero, so tomorrow we leave for El Centro. Janet, I owe you an email!
I spent almost the entire day getting my Toshiba working on the new wireless router. We went to Yuma to pick up a satellite internet dish and I wanted to be able to connect to the internet wirelessly, so I picked up a router and a couple NICs to do that. Course, my Toshiba already has an integrated NIC and we’ve used it all over Mexico and the US. I got Dad’s old Thinkpad up and working wirelessly without any effort. I spent all freaking day (it is freaking COLD in San Diego) getting mine working. I could get online, but only wired. Finally, just before I had to make dinner (so the kids wouldn’t die of hunger) I got it working. Thanks to the folks at the datastorm users group.

Poisoned hair

I think you had to be there.  I was certainly the only one in the car laughing so hard, but Ellen has Poison hair. At some point in time, when we were staying at Aunty Chris and Uncle Chet’s house, the kids were introduced to the idea that oleander was poisonous if ingested.  The adult probably said, “if you put this in your mouth, you’ll get sick” but what the kids heared was, “if you even LOOK at this plant, you will begin to experience sharp stabbing agonizing pain and will die a very slow and painful death.”  Each and every time we pass within ANY proximity to an oleander, the kids scream at each other to avoid the plant like it could reach out and squeeze the life out of them.  They’re a little dramatic, my kids.  Have NO idea WHERE they get it.  Ocassionally, a child will brush up against an oleander, and Pike or Sissy will scream with alarm and insist on immediate removal of the poison atoms.

Yesterday, we headed to Target to stock up. For some reason Target is always a 2-3 hour adventure. If I were alone, it would take about 20 minutes, but Jamie LOVES to shop and the kids devour the books and wish upon the entire toy section. As we left, Ellen and Sissy needed to play on the big red balls that Target decorates their entrance with. The rest of us sat at the curb and waited. At some point, Ellen found oleander. Ellen loves to push the limits of everyone’s tolerance and seems to take certain joy in tormenting her sister. Though the youngest, she is definitely the alpha dog of the pack. Once the oleander was found, she rubbed her hair and hands in the plant. As far as I’m concerned, she could rub her body in the plant and I wouldn’t be bothered, but the kids went apeshit. Jamie washed Ellen’s hands and told her he’d wash her hair at the trailer. We piled all the kids into the car and headed back to the trailer. It was late and everyone was tired and JEllen must have thought it was time for some fun. She first found a necklace of her sister’s and put it around her neck. Sissy had an absolute coniption and screamed that the neclace was now poinsoned as it had passed over Ellen’s hair. With a maniacal gleam in her eye, Ellen then found numerous toys belonging to Sissy and started rubbing them on her poinsonous, infected head. Sissy erupted in screams and tears and I seriously began to worry about hearing loss. Unfortunately, I was in much more danger of killing the family as I was driving and laughing so hard I could hardly see. Jamie, never one to keep a calm head in chaos, started freaking that I’d crash on the freeway because I was laughing so hard. Ellen was rubbing toys in her hair, Sissy was screaming and crying with despair, the boys and Jamie were yelling that we were all going to die from me crashing the car and I was laughing so hard I had to pull over until I could see again. It was a fun night.

Today we’re on the way to Potrero County Park. We stayed here in January and we really enjoyed it. It was unseasonably green and lush after a very wet winter. It will be interesting to see what it looks like now. We’ll stay there, it is a great place for the kids, while we do errands in San Diego before returning to San Felipe. We’re having a lot of fun setting up the tripod and I promise to post pictures.

Picture is from just south of San Felipe, BCN (added 9/10/12).