Too rainy for our blood

The sun the sun the sun the SUN!!! It FOUND us!!!!  We’re back to turtlenecks and jeans (instead of shorts and short-sleeved shirts) but windows and doors are open.  Kids are bike riding and I’m (what else??) cleaning up.  Jamie will head off for a bike ride and I’ll take the kids to the library and then we’ll head into El Cajon for the LAST of our errands (Trek store and thriftstore).

The thriftstore is closed; I can’t update this site from the library and the propane here is insanely overpriced.  So, we’re sitting at a Union 76 waiting for everyone to pee, and I’M POSTING ON THE INTERNET for FREE!!!  Super fast uploads and free access (WiFi)!  This technology is amazing!  Much faster than Dad’s satelite - I’m so impressed!

We head back to Mexico tomorrow; it is beautiful in the valley we’re camped in, but it is SO cold, overcast and rainy.  Raining right now.  I shouldn’t complain, especially since everyone else is battling snow, but I’m used to the warmth of Mexico now.

Packages should be arriving for Aunty Chris, Drew and Sara, The Link and Bonny.  Think that’s it, but I’m not sure.  Hope to see Shanti, Jo and Phil, Sarah (Alexander) and Adria (and Leo?) here (website) soon.  Love to all!

Ok, now I’m posting from the parking lot of Trek (bike store).  Free and fast.  Still can’t send email though…

Grumpy in cold San Diego

I’m already tired of the cold and can’t wait to get to points south.  Jamie is in his element; surrounded by beautiful, alternately lush and pocketed with bolders, mountains, but it is COLD here!  In San Felipe we’d get some froggy mornings, but within an hour or so, it would have broken up and we’d be in shorts.  It is misty and rainy here and we used the heat last night.  We are terribly spoilt.  I’ll say this for the US; I LOVE the shoulders on the roads and the reflective bumps down the middle of the roads (dividing the lanes) and the white lines on the edges of the roads and the wide lanes, but mostly I really REALLY love the road shoulders!

We let the kids play for quite a while today at the campground and didn’t get out until 1:45pm.  They sure had a blast - it is so difficult to tear them away from play so we can get errands done.  I’m sure I could do it all in one day, but to keep the kids sane (and us, by default), we will take 3 days.  We headed into town to get Mike and Teri Church’s book and figured out why letting your fingers do the talking is always adviseable.  We hit one Barnes & Noble in La Mesa; they didn’t have the book but said that the San Diego one did.  They held it in San Diego and about an hour after getting there (when you take 4 kids into a bookstore, you can’t simply walk out that quickly) headed to the next Barnes & Noble.  Unfortunately there was a communication error and the 2nd B&N had reserved just the Baja book by the Church’s instead of all of Mexico and Baja.  I talked this (horrid, awful, terrible customer service) B&N into calling Borders and we headed out (after spending over $100 (with educators discount of 25%)) to Borders.  Just about on the freeway (which was standstill traffic with CHP’s and a firetruck driving up the shouder - a really bad sign when you’re getting on that freeway) and Sissy figured out she’d left her horse at B&N.  Back to B&N, got the damn horse and to avoid the freeway mess, decided on hotdogs at Costco.  Kids thought they’d died and gone to heaven. 

Crap!  YEAH!!!!  FINALLY, some 6 hours after starting out to get the Church’s book, we had it in our hot little hands.  We know the book is worth it; we used my folks copy when in San Felipe.  We also hit AAA and got books and maps, returned pants to Costco (used the money to get dinner) and got RV stuff.  So, other than not being able to enjoy the gorgeous area we’re in, it was a something day…

It is supposed to be sunny after tomorrow; Jamie is hoping to go for a ride tomorrow and I should be able to wrap up the last of the errands.  One of them is to get to the coffee house with free internet by TJ’s and post all this crap.  :)  Aunty Chris must be in crap withdrawal. 

border crossing

The night brought rain and morning was misty.  Off we headed to Tecate and wouldn’t you know it, our border luck held and I once again, backed out of a lane.  We were following the signs through Tecate for San Diego and 94, but ended up at a truck cargo lane for the border (truck as in semi-truck) and had to back up out of the lane (and ask the truck coming up behind us to stop and back a little), head back down into town and blunder into the line snaking about.  There was absolutely NO notice, but we spoke to people in line, found out that we should go around a block to the end of the line (not with our trailer; we’d never make it), so I just waited til the line had advanced to our position and merged into it.  US Customs took a couple oranges and we were soon at the campground.  We’re nestled in the hills east of San Diego (by 43 miles!!).  We picked this campground because the book said it was 25 miles east of San Diego.  We thought it would be pretty (it IS!) but it is really far; especially when you’re going 35 and 40 on the windy areas.

I never knew San Diego was so mountainous and green.  I’d envisioned a flat area from San  Diego to El Centro, and even expected that Tecate would be a flat crossing.  it has been one lush, boulder strewn green mountains after another.  I can’t wait to get AAA maps so we know  what we’re traveling through.  Jamie wants to stay 4 days, salivating at the thought of the incredible bike rides that await him.  We hit Trader Joes, Costco and Target today and are happy with our progress through our errands.  Tomorrow to the post office and library (to get online).

leaving san felipe

Jesse said "go forward" but I counted the turns and it was 5 turns going forward and 3 turns going back and I was sure backing out of the camp would be easier than going forward, but by the time we were ready to go there were about 20 people milling about watching the fun and I think bets were being taken.  The crowd seemed evenly split as to whether or not we’d get it out.  We were a little rusty not having hitched up for 3 weeks but with Papa and Tata "helping" and taking picture after picture (no pressure there!) we managed to get van connected to trailer.  Under Jesse’s expert guidance, I moved the trailer forward (with inches to spare between the roof of the palapa and trailer) and pivoted that puppy around the first curve.  Jesse and Dad walked out the length and figured I had a foot to spare.  Oh goody.  Maybe they could simply engineer the trailer out of the space.  :)  With turn #1 under my belt, #2 was easy and we were on our way.  Looking at the trailer in our spot, I never would have imagined how easy it was to get it out.  Course, without Jesse’s guidance, I’d probably STILL be there. 

It was bittersweet to leave camp; we’d made so many friends and it was so easy living there.  As we headed down the road we decided to try just ONE last taco stand.  I’d seen a stand at the Pemex station (that sells diesel) on the roundabout (directions for Tata and Papa) occasionally.  Sometimes it was there (always at lunch) and it seemed to disappear after that.  It was the best we’ve found.  It rivals that of Jamie’s find, so Papa and Tata; you can decide which is best. 

I lost count of the number of military checkpoints we passed through; sometimes it is better to profess "no English" because when they find out you speak (albeit limited) Spanish, they are off to the races, chatting and chatting.  I figure the cultural exchange is both ways though, and we must present quite an interesting opportunity for them.  Twice, Ellen has been sleeping and they’ve been somewhat respectful of her.  Mostly they are interested in how we’re financing our trip, where we’re going, where we’ve been and why.

Today we traversed the spine of Baja.  Living in San Felipe, you can see mountains in the distance, but they are grey and rocky, but today we climbed pass after pass and found the green desert.  We traveled some teeny tiney, unspeakably narrow mountain roads, some without a line down the middle (almost as though the road builders acknowledged the narrowness by omitting the dividing line).  We were surrounded alternately by green spiny cactus and prairie weeds.  Yellow daisies and purple sage blanketed the roadway.  I kicked myself repeatedly for leaving the camera in the trailer.  Some of the passes reminded me of Peruvian mountain passes; the mountains were gigantic; the hills were green and the mist ebbed and flowed.

We made it into Ensenada and after some run-arounds getting on the right highway, we headed up MX1 to MX3.  I can’t describe the absolute beauty of MX3 across the Baja; it is simply indescribable.  Heading up MX3 towards Tecate, we found the Rancho Sordo Mudo and the most beautiful dump station we’ll ever find.  The picture doesn’t do it justice (I should have gotten on top of the rig), but the view from the dump (where you dump your sewer (black and grey) tanks) was that of beautiful hills and an immediate vineyard.  Jamie’s ass ain’t too bad either. 

Rancho Sordo Mudo (Deaf Mute Ranch) was inter-planted with orange trees and the kids delighted in picking ripe (and unripe) oranges.  All were put to good use, though, as I expected we’d have to dump our chicken at the US border (even though it was purchased at Trader Joe’s in the US).  I roasted the chicken in orange juice and garlic.  YUMMMM!!!  I’ve read that if the chicken is cooked, it is less likely to be taken (unless the Customs officer has a hankering for chicken, I guess…).  We left Ensenada with the sun low on the horizon and I was pushing the limits of safety trying to make camp before dark. 

Herstory

(Chrissy; you might want to snooze through this one; assuming you don’t do that through all of them.  Oh, and we got the sesame oil.  Thanks SO much (ppphhhhbbbtttt))

Someone asked me "why did you decide to go traveling? Do y’all have a goal in mind? Or are you traveling until you get where you’re going? Do you know that destination or will you know it once you get there? Are you doing odd jobs along the way or did you save for years?"

I wish I could answer, quite loftily, "oh yes!  it has been a dream of ours for YEARS and we scrimped and saved and when we finally decided we’d saved enough and planned enough and knew exactly what we were doing, we left!".  I’ve never been one to plan, however.  We have four children and we planned one of them.  Number three. 

When Sissy (#3) was about a year old, I decided I didn’t want to go back to work at all.  I’d worked (part time) through the boys childhoods and loathed leaving them at home (even though they were home with Dad or Grandma the days I worked).  *I* wanted to be at home with them.  After I’d had my first child (1994) I finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up; a mom.  A single woman, I’d traveled extensively (Europe in the early 80’s, Alaska, BC and the Yukon twice, in the mid 80’s and early 90’s, and southern South America in the late 80’s) and had worked full time since 1979.  I was ready to "retire" and be a mom.  Finances, so we thought, didn’t allow, so I reluctantly returned to work, 6 months after both boys.  After Sissy, our last (so we thought), we decided to move to Eugene, Oregon and live a simpler life where I could stay at home. 

Ellen came along and it was an incredibly difficult pregnancy (though the easiest birth).  We put our plans for Eugene on hold.  The real estate market continued to boom and by 2004 our house had appreciated into twice the original value.  We were concerned that it was going to bottom out and that the upcoming election might hasten that, so after consulting with our real estate agent and each other, we suddenly decided to sell.  I believe that was mid-August.  We painted, painted and painted, put a new roof on the garage, refinished the floors, re-carpeted; we spent each and every day in a flurry of activity.  The children watched TV.  Sometimes they "helped".  They especially LOVED painting.  After the house was put on the market, we decided what we wanted to do.  Our first choice was to purchase a fixer-upper in Eugene, Oregon or Nelson BC (Canada) and spend a year fixing it up; using sweat equity and house profit.

Somehow, I managed to convince Jamie that we could also travel.  We researched and decided on a travel trailer and van, purchased them and decided that we’d travel around looking for the "perfect" (ha!) place to live.  Now that I have him in Mexico, I’m hoping he might decide that this might be perfection.  :)  Our original plan was to travel in Mexico for three months just as vacation.  Right now, he’s agreed that we *need* to see the ruins in the Yucatan, and we’ll probably spend a couple weeks in Bahia de la Concepcion or Bahia de los Angeles, so I don’t see us leaving Mexico proper until May.  We’re leaving San Felipe tomorrow (after three weeks) and heading up to San Diego to do errands, then down to the bottom of Baja; over to the mainland via ferry (where we’ll have to start all over again in frugality; the ferry will put us back a good $1000) and over to the Guatemala border area. 

In our plans for travel I had budgeted $100/day, but traveling in the US put us WAY over that amount.  I’m really happy traveling in Mexico, where we average $30/day.

I honestly don’t know how I converted him to living one day at a time and going where our desires lead us, but he is now loathe to return to the working world and we have a healthy bank account, and the living is incredibly easy down here, so who knows.  The kids are thriving, we’re happy, secure and hopeful for the future.  I don’t think I could have picked a better partner; he is so open to change and challenge.  Aw, I’m getting mushy. 

Pictures are from Jamie’s daily bike ride.

Drunks drunks and more drunks

It has been an odd morning.  Ellen woke, as usual, at 7:00.  Ever since giving up a nap (actually, yesterday she had one…) she goes to bed late (for not having a nap) and gets up UBER early.  She used to sleep til 8:30 or 9 but now gets up at 6:30 to 7.  I don’t understand it.  Anyway…she got up at 7; I nursed her for 30 minutes hoping that she might drop back into slumberland, but alas, she has, seemingly overnight, morphed into an early bird.  I usually do the dishes at night, but last night my intestines were in agony and I actually considered suicide, so a full sink awaited me in the morning.  About 1/2 way through dishes, Jamie folded up his bed and I had room to walk around.  We stayed inside the trailer (except for Jesse’s brief foray out to purchase empanadas from the vendedora) until 10:42 when Ellen escaped and headed for the beach.  We normally have breakfast on the beach (or at the minimum, coffee) and spend the morning out and about; come back for lunch and then out again. 

I wondered why we don’t feel so incredibly cramped in the trailer.  We’ve spent the last 10 years in a 1500sq-ft house and while there are those who would consider it a "small" house, it never felt small to us.  Everyone always had a private space they could call their own should need be.  We moved from that to my sister’s guesthouse (500sq-ft) when we were selling our house and this trailer can’t be more than 400sq-ft.  It is a 30ft long trailer and 11ft wide.  We do have a slide in the kitchen/living/dining room area, so it looks like we can add 60sq-ft (at most).  I would think that most people in the US would consider 400sq-ft to be a small space for a family of 6, but after 2 months of living in it, I’m not cramped.  Either we adapt especially well or do well in small spaces.  We do spend the majority of each day (before dark) outside, and the kids get LOTS of exercise (which limits the expression of pent up energy to a bare minimum) so I’m sure that helps.

We have an incredibly comfortable home.  A brand new (and first) microwave.  Jamie has wanted one for years, but I vetoed it.  It is incredibly handy for heating stuff up - no need to wash a pan (we have two pots; the big one and the little one) and no need to dirty an additional dish/pan.  We have a gigantic and enormous TV that I’d really like to trade  for a smaller and more lightweight one, but I couldn’t justify the expense of buying ANOTHER TV.  It sits there unused a good 90% of the time.  We used the bathtub last night for the first time.  The girls have ALWAYS enjoyed a good bath and we haven’t had once since Aunty Chris’s house (Christmas).  We cleaned out the laundry hamper (bathtub) and filled it up with warm, soapy water.  They had a blast. 

We are really getting sick of this trailer camp and but for Tata and Papa would not be here now.  The children are loathe to leave them and the living is easy here until nightfall.  The snowbirds fill up their mugs, top off their glasses and light a fire (or sit inside one of the gigantic Class A’s surrounding us).  They get progressively louder and drunker and more obnoxious.  They stay up until the wee hours, inciting dogs to bark and fight, screaming, laughing and partying.  It is quiet where Mom and Dad are, even though they are within stone’s throw; they are up against the beach and have dual pane windows.    The oddest thing about these drunk snowbirds is their uncanny ability to party like it’s 1994 and still get up at dawn.  Jamie and I were comparing them to "highschoolers" but stopped, not wanting to give highschoolers a bad name. 

It might not be Mulege calling us so much as the drunkards driving us out.  Last night they were bragging about "flashing" people on the Malecon (main drive).  Ugh.  These folks are in their 50’s and 60’s.  Double ugh.

The adventures of Becky:

Yesterday we were coming back from town after having purchased some recuerdos for our friends.  Naturally this means purchasing crap for the kids too.  Ellen and Sissy decided on tiny little tequila bottles (fridge magnets).  On the way back, Jamie asked Ellen, "what would happen if Becky drank one of those bottles?" to which she replied, quite seriously, "she’d be one drunk little baby!".
And so continue the adventures of Becky and Catie… 

We somehow managed to curtail the drunks last night; no parties anywhere in the camp.  They were pissed about it this morning; like I MADE them stop partying… 

Only Mulegé can save us

In an attempt to satiate my sister, i am dumping the senseless drivel that occupies my mind.  I can only imagine that after a day or two of this nonsense, she will implore, "Sweet Mother of God" (because she, if nothing else, is a truly pious person) "STOP the INSANITY!" 
The full moon is next week; that means very high and very low tides.  That means shrimp.  That means we may not leave.  Doesn’t help that the gawldurned (that’s for you Drew) package STILL hasn’t arrived.  Two weeks ago it was supposed to take 2-3 days.  That’s Mexico for you.  Better not be in a hurry, cause Mexico will teach you that it simply doesn’t pay.  The worst is, we’re not even using Mexican post - it is being sent to a US PO box, but the Aduana gets to examine packages as it is brought (by a private company) over the border.  Eeesh.  I’ll bet they’re really enjoying Jamie’s fleece.  At some point we’re going to have to give it up and consider it a donation to the needy Aduana in Mexicali.  Jamie and I are drooling over the campsites in Mulegé.  We can’t WAIT to get down there….