Thursday September 30, 2010

Happy one day early Birthday to Ione!!

Hola. Wednesday we saw the sun!! It has been cloudy here for the past few days, so it was great to see the sun and that meant…laps in the pool!!


For those that do not know, I am a Pisces who does not like swimming. I am not afraid of the water, but it does not excite me. I love water sports, just not the swimming!! As a youngster, M&D had sailboats and the rule was that you needed to know how to swim before you could go sailing. I failed Beginners swim lessons 8 times. I am told that once, M&D saw me doing the strokes with my arms, but actually walking in the pool!!

But it is all about motivation and the carrot was a snorkel, mask and swim fins if I could pass….and ta-da…I passed. Knowing that the cardio is limited at the gym, it might be all about laps, so today at Super Che, we bought swim goggles and broke them in at the pool. Broke in means 6 laps of this small pool and then sitting on the beach chair and soaking up some rays!!

We had no luck with the quest for a table for Bex’s animation set up (Mac and Wacom), so we have re-arranged the condo’s living room until we can go to a bigger town and find what we need. We saw the wood workers had come to town so we went looking at their goods. The first guy had a nice living room suite but we need a mesa (table).

This is what we saw when we drove further along the road:

And here is the comparison shopper at her best:

No luck and they did not seem interested in taking our order and making one and bringing it to us in a week when they return. Oh well.

Rick was back at 5pm with Sergio the refrigerator tech. He took off the panel in the freezer and found the fan not blowing so we were getting cold (but not freezing) off the condenser in the freezer, but none of that cold air was making it to the lower part of the refrigerator. Fifteen minutes later it is blowing cold air. We took Sergio back to his shop and Rick paid the bill. $50 pesos for the house call….$4 Cdn.

Sergio’s shop is near Ernesto’s show room. Ernesto is an architect who does some funky work. He is married to a Montreal’er and we have previously discussed working on the Casa de Dos Conjeos. My point? I asked Rick if he knew Ernesto and of course he did. Small town this Huatulco!!

As of 630pm, the freezer seems to be fine and we are waiting for some cooling action in the fridge. Nothing we can do and Rick has been great, even assuring us a new fridge if this one does not work, but a bit of argh as we are scrambling to keep things food safe by using both the freezer (at 2 degrees) and the portable cooler we had been using in the car (and thank goodness bought the 120 V adaptor!!).

Time for dinner…more pollo and papas. I did not get a chance to go back to the pollo store and ask my questions…will add that to the to-do list which also includes:

-oil change at Nissan
-Spanish lessons
-Bank of Nova Scotia to enquire about my lost PIN and inactive account (I think there might be $30,000 pesos in the account)

Will update you all more later. You might have noticed the blog sub-title is now about the adventure of living in Huatulco and I hope I am not boring you to death. If you have any specific questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comments section, or drop me an email.

Saludos


Thursday September 30, 2010

Buenos tardes!! Good afternoon. It is 115pm and we are updating the blog before we make the walk to the internet. We will also be stopping in the “plastics” store to see if we can find a few misc items we need.

Great news is that the fridge is working fine!!! And if it breaks again, I know where to find Sergio. We also had our Dutch neighbor say hi and ask if she can stop by tonite for the formal introductions. I think she was caught off guard as I said tot ziens (?) as she walked back to her condo.

Watched another dvd last night and slept like a baby. The heat does that to you. Dinner was great…65 pesos for a whole chicken and it was as good as 65 pesos for ½ at the local rotizarrio…but it is nice to meet the locals.

Hit the gym this morning and 1130am is the time to go!! I was “solo” and I asked Rosa Maria why and she told me that it is busy in the morning and then again around 5pm. I guess some people have to work? Lol In between sets we had some great English/Spanish lessons as I am getting used to weights in kilos vs libra and she wanted to know if we were here on vacation or escaping the frio (cold). We also talked about a certain exercise I was doing and she mentioned “plantos” (??) and asked what that muscle was in English. I said “bum” and “glutes” and then proceeded to explain that donde gymnasio, they were glutes, but if 3 bonita senoritas walked by, you could say “nice bum”...in jest. We had a big laugh over that and then I was on my way.

But before I could go, one more English lesson. I say gracias (for the lesson), she says de nada, she says thank you and did not know what the English response was…she wrote it down!!

On the 10 minute walk home, I passed the Fonatur construction team working on all the pot holes. At this intersection, they were actually removing all the asphalt and pouring new cement. I watched 2 guys working this home made concrete saw and was amazed. I MUST bring my camera every where!!

It looked like an old snow blower engine, with two fan belts attached to a drive shaft that was powering the saw blade. On top of the contraption was ½ of a 45 gallon drum. I waited until they were done and then asked if there was agua in the drum and he said “si, disco caliente”. I had figured it was water, but this gave me a chance to talk some more Spanish and the guys looked proud to explain their machine.

Fonatur is part of the Mexican government that is in charge of tourism. They were in charge of making Cancun what it is today as well as Ixtapa/Zihuat. Twenty years ago they wanted to increase tourism here and they built the roads, airport, hospitals and other infrastructure…and then ran out of pesos. They upkeep the city and do a great job at it….for Mexican standards. Someday a new road will connect Huatulco to the main city of Oaxaca (in the state of Oaxaca…kinda like NY NY) and then the expectation is of major tourism from both locals (wanting to get from the interior to the coast) and out of country peeps (who want to see what the old school Mexico looks like).

As I got 1 block from the condo, I was asked if I needed a taxi (tons of taxis and they look at all gringos and ask) but my response was to point at the condos and say “mi casa” and the guy looking surprised, said ok.

So far…a great day!! Bex has also mentioned that she found some cable channels on the TV. Into our fourth day and we had not even had the desire to look yet!! Now NFL Sunday is coming up….might need to check out the ONE sports bar in town…The Tipsy Blowfish, in Tangolunda (10 minute drive from our condo and about 10 minutes further to our playa…beach).

We are headed to Rick and Heidi’s at 5pm for a cerveza and agua con gas for Bex. I have offered to drive him to the airport on Saturday…an arrangement that occurs between peeps living here. It costs about $15 Cdn to get to the airport via taxi, but at the airport they only have private companies allowed for pick ups, and it is $50 US into town. Many people walk 10 minutes out of the airport to Hwy 200 and catch a local taxi to save the $35.

That is all for today!!

Hasta

Bex and Bubba

Wednesday September 29, 2010

Well, hello again.


It is currently Tuesday night and we are watching The Last Samurai, Mr. Lee’s favorite movie of all time I think. Some of you may remember him dressing up as a samurai…hilarious.

Well, day 2 is under our belt and it was a successful day!!
After our blog update via the internet stop, we started walking around town looking for info on the closed (cerrado) gym as well as where we could buy Bex a table to use as her computer desk.

As we were looking for Bex’s yoga studio, we met Eduardo who also goes by Lalo. Kinda like Eddy for Edward. Anyway, he thinks we are tourists and he works in front of his silver store trying to sell his goods. We tell him in Spanish what our Huatulco cover story is (one year stay, just got in, living in the Pacifico Condos…), and then he speaks to us in perfect English asking us if we are from Saskatoon, Calgary etc. If they know English, they try to use it…that will not help us with our Spanish, but does come in handy. He did not know where the studio was, but one of his workers pointed down the street and we saw the sign.

Eduardo did not know of the Huatulco Fitness closing, but his two workers told him of another gym close by. He explained the directions to me, and then his worker even went as far to help Eduardo draw us a map.

We imposed one more time and Bex asked in Spanish if he knew where we could by a table. He said there aren’t really any stores in Huatulco that sell what we need, but the woodworkers from in the Hills come down regularly (but not regularly scheduled) and we could probably get a hand made one for $300 pesos max. He does not know when they will show up next, but he could either buy it for us, or come to the security gate of the condos, with the wood worker, and get us to look at the product. If it doesn’t work, we can give them the dimensions and they will build it for us. Most of the woodwork in the villas and condos around Mexico are hand made by these wood workers.

We thanked the guys for their help and continued on our walk.

We found the yoga studio sign, but no sign of a studio. Bex will look on line tomorrow and see if there is an email address she can send an email to. We also found many more internet stores (not cafes), including one just up a side street, outside our own security gates.

Moving further into town, we saw a Yamaha dealer where Carla came out and in perfect English asked us how we were and if she could help. In Spanish, I asked her how much the 100cc scooter was, and it turned out to be $33,000 pesos (plus tax of 15%) or about $3300 Cdn. Not bad as I think I saw this scooter for $5000 in Vancouver. A luxury to have, but it would be nice to drive around town or to the playa (beach) and of course cheap on gas. We could also rent it out once we have the villas.

We continued up the street and we were looking for a 3 prong extension cord so Bex can set up her Mac (limited plugs in the condo). We were getting closer to this possible gymnasio, when we saw a market full of stalls selling misc goods. I saw a 6m extension electricidad (extension cord), asked how much and was told. Problem is that it only has two prongs. Most homes in Mexico do not use the ground wire, thus their extension cords have only two holes and prongs. Same thing in another stall.

I did talk to a guy in a clothes stall, gave him the cover story and he really wanted to practice his English. It is a guy like this that I might be able to barter with and get him to teach me some key words and pronunciations and I will repay him in English lessons.

Left the market and we are in a part of town I had never been to before. Now that we live here, time to explore all areas. We could not see the gym, so I asked a fellow and he told us in VERY fast Spanish, but also pointed.

Hooray…we have found another gym!!! It has all the weights, and some cardio equipment, but it does have the feel of a cheesy 70’s Rockford Files kinda place. We met the Italian/Mexican guy in charge (owner?), Ghimbli Ginostna (?), and we went through the whole process again. He wants to try English and in Spanish I am asking how much for a member ship as well as when they are abierto and cerrado. Looks like $600 pesos for 3 months, or $17/month. Relieved is the word!! So much so that I was so thankful to Eduardo and crew for the help, directions and map, that I bought them a 6 pack of Modelo cerveza and brought it to them. Eduardo looked please…we hoped he would be sharing with the two guys who had helped as well.

One of the practices we have started is to ensure we are writing everyone’s names down as well as pronunciation, as our plan is to be able to say Hola or Buenos Dias to all these peeps as we walk around town. Carmen runs a tour store across from Eduardo’s.

Fridge still not working, but we picked up some veggies and papas (potato) for me. The veggie market is so fresh and colorful. Beats a Safeway or Metro any day!!

We had seen some really great looking rotizardo pollo (roti chicken) on the poultry row (one side street is piscado…fish, another is carne…meat, another is bakery…postere is dessert etc) so we were going to grab a bird for $100 pesos and eat papas and veggies. Well, Bex preps the goods and I am headed out to buy the pollo. But…if they sell out, they just close, so they were closed up for the day. Lol

I knew of another place but had never been in. They advertise roti, asado and Kentucky and you can order whole or half. This part I understood from the sign. I did not know for sure what Kentucky was (but it was a KFC knock off) so I asked about the other two. This lady has a name I could not write down or pronounce, but she was happy to try and explain and she spoke NO English!!!

The facts I learned? Rotizardo is most popular and it can sell out (termine??) by 2pm. Asado has a “not too spicy” (according to her…and she was correct) coating on it and we laughed when I said Kentucky Fried Pollo. I asked to see the asado and her helper showed it to me. I even managed to ask her how I cook/heat it up at home and she asked if I had a microondas (microwave) . I said si and she went about explaining how to heat it…this part of her Spanish I did not understand, but how to use a microwave I am ok with!!

She too got the cover story and was looking forward to me coming back before 2pm manana to try the rotizardo pollo.

Got the ½ bird home ($65 pesos) and it came with a little bag of rice, coleslaw and some green liquid…Bex says it might be blended jalapenos? I am going back tomorrow, thank her for the yummy pollo, get her name and ask her what the hey is in that sauce. Might be like Romer’s queso dip…something she should get rid of (ex-MS ‘er joke). Pollo was great and we ate dinner, did dishes and watched the end of the vid.

We have done 3 loads of wash, but the dryer takes 90 minutes per load. You can also only do one wash and/or dry at a time as there is only one empty socket in the room, and when you put a power bar in there and try to use both machines at once, it trips the protection on the bar. Welcome to Mexico!! After we see our electrical bill as well as see how much time we spend doing laundry, we might source it out as it might end up being cheaper anyway.

10pm…pack it in time. Gym in the morning and then we are meeting Rick at 10am for the drive around. In case the internet guy comes while we are out, Bex has made a sign for our front door.

We have a screen door on our front door and as hot as it can get, we leave the main door open. So we did see our neighbor walk towards her condo and we said hola. Then when she left I said we would like to introduce our selves and asked if she had a minute, but she was in a hurry and said no. Bex thinks it might have been because a shirtless guy sitting on the couch has just said he wants to meet her. Lol I think this might be the Dutch neighbor Rick mentioned.

I will update post gym and Rick and then update the blog itself.

Buenos Noches.


Wednesday September 29, 2010

Up at 7am…off to gym and what an experience. The gym has limited cardio equipment (if you do not include the rickety stairs to the second level) but did some LeMond biking. There is a bird’s nest in the rafters…welcome to Mexico. The weight equipment is older and some of it would be called “knock-off” machines. They have tries to replicate the good machines, but not quite there. I also need to figure out everything in kilos. Not the best work out, as the mid-age ladies seemed to hog the machines and have a great time chit chatting. Must over come that frustration as I am privileged to be here. Also found out that the other gym is permanently cerrado...lack of business.

Rick arrived at 10 and we got the tour of where to pay all the utilities. He then took us to Arocito and showed us his casa. Very nice property, view and building. And very nicely furnished with woodwork created by Mexican (from Pueblo) workers and artisans. Also got the tour of the million dollar house up the hill. What a view!! Makes us that much more eager to build our own dream villas.

Heading back to our condo we saw some of those travelling furniture sales men so we are off to check them out and then off to the internet shop.

Until manana.

Saludos

Tuesday September 28, 2010

Buenos Dias!! It is Tuesday September 28!!


Sorry for the lack of blogging yesterday. It was not for lack of events, notes or want. It is very different moving into a town you know, vs vacationing in a town you know.

On vacation, you look for the good restaurants, when moving here, you look for the only papel hygenico (toilet paper) that is not manzana (apple) scented!! I always wondered what that smell was when Bex returned from the Pemex stops. Lol

I am currently updating the blog from the couch in our living room. and we will soon head out and send the update via an internet stop in town.

Our one nights stay was exciting in Puerto. At 4am the phone rings and I say “hello” and the phone hangs up. Hmmmm? Is there a problem with the truck, which is parked by the lobby? Shoes on I make my way and ask in Spanglish if the lobby guys had called me…or perhaps an otra client? Nope. And the truck was fine too. Walking back to the room, I bump into 2 provocatively dressed gals walking down the stairs as I walk up. 4am….hmmm. Then I see the door to the hotel room across from us is open, but the lights are off and no one is in there. Interesting, but the rest of the nigh was uneventful.

We left Puerto Escondido at 8am under cloudy skies, but the roads were dry. Here is a photo that shows some of the damage the torrential rain and run off has caused. This is only a side road, but many of these are unpaved, so the damage is significant.

The first 20 km was single lane, but light traffic. They have a complete other 2 lanes that run parallel, but they are not open yet. We recalled them working on these lanes two years ago. Mexican time!!

We were excited by both these signs. The first one was as we were leaving Puerto E:

And this one is self-explanatory:

We arrived in Huatulco at 10 am…two hours for 120 km. We did a quick drive through town and went to where we thought our condo was located. Just in case you all did not know, we had only seen some interior photos of the condo and were not 100% sure where it was located in town. As we pulled up in front of what we were sure was our set of buildings, we see our friend and building/Mexico expert, Roman. Of course I should have expected that in such a small town. We chatted and will catch up later. He said Huatulco has had a ton of rain, but the big storms had passed east and west of Huatulco. Bex has read that this is the normal pattern for big storms and the rare Pacific hurricanes that can occur.

We had 40 minutes until we were to meet Rick, so off to Los Portales for breakfast. I think the server might have been pulling the wool on us, or at least treating us like gringos. I order pan frances and it came without mantaquilla (butter) or syrup. I asked for both and he did not seem to understand syrup. I went to the car to get the dictionary, and he had brought syrup by the time I returned. We asked how to pronounce syrup in Espanol and he said piel (our spelling…rhymes with miel…French for honey). So we felt good about learning another word until later in the day when we got to the grocery store and saw syrup called Jarabe Sabor Maple. Not sure we were “played”, but since we live here and Los Portales is only a 5 minute walk away…..ha ha ha

We met Rick right on time, 11am at Super Che (the grocery store). We went to the condos, had to sign in (?) and got the tour. The place looks great. We are on the 3rd level and the buildings are only 4 years old.

We have an open kitchen to the left of the front door, our living room is to the right, straight ahead leads to a small bano on the left, a small bedroom (soon to be the animation studio) on the right and our bedroom straight ahead.

Off the kitchen is a small nook that holds the washer and dryer…a nice to have in Mexico, but we will need to see how expensive the electricity really is. Every one warns you about this…air con expensive etc.

We spotted the on site security guard and said hello:

But we have our own in-condo guard:

So we took the next 90 minutes unloading the truck. We were lucky as it was still cool outside and there was no rain. But that didn’t mean we did not break a sweat!! We were almost done moving when Rick returned from the internet (TeleMex?) place. We are lucky in the sense that he is keeping all utilities etc in his name, the bill will come to our mail box and then we will just end up paying the bills. Supposedly you take the bills to a kiosk, scan them in and just insert the pesos to pay?

Rick had a brochure for 3 internet/phone options (you have to get both), and we picked a middle package for $400 pesos/month. I think it gives us 2mps and we will have a phone number. We will also look into a cell phone number. Rick has been quite helpful and I think he appreciates we are low maintenance tenants.
I also mention to Rick that his wife Heidi had conducted some reference checks with my wingman in TO and he proudly stated, with this grin on his face, "yes she did, Bubba"...caught me slightly off guard but that was quickly replaced by a smile as I knew TS was watching my back again!!

There had been some excitement as we saw a brochure tucked in a door for Dish satellite services. All the US channels for $400 pesos/month. We went and introduced our selves to Oscar (the Grouch...he is) the caretaker, but he said we needed to contact TeleMex. Not sure why…maybe they don’t allow dishes on the roof…but we see some already. Will need to figure this out.

We finished moving and it was good to see the weight out of the back of the truck. The suspension was no longer riding so low. The truck did well for having 190,000 km on it.

The sun peaked out and it became hot and muggy. So…off to the pool for a dip!!

Back to finish unpacking and cleaning the cocina (kitchen), so we could put our stuff away. Bex was the trooper and wiped out all the cupboards as I put together the stereo receiver/iPod dock and connected the DVD player. We ended up filling three of our big blue bins with items we did not want to keep from the condo. Rick actually swung by today with the modem (could have internet today, tomorrow or next week according to the peeps at TeleMex) and he picked up the 3 bins. He will take them to their house, empty them and bring them back tomorrow, as that is when we are doing a tour of where to pay the actual utilities bills.

Took a break as we decided we need some plastic storage bins for all the toiletries we had brought down, as well as for socks etc as the shelving is limited. We also wanted to get some groceries from Super Che. Our first stock up cost $900 pesos ($75)….cheap but they also have limited stock. Once we are settled we will make the journey to the bigger towns and do a real stock up on the non-perishables.

The most disappointing news over the past 12 days is that the gym in Huatulco is no longer in the spot it was. We have not had a chance to find out if it went out of business or just moved, but 2 hours of my planned daily routine is up in the air. I might end up running (sad) and doing weights with 2 litre Diet Coke bottles (or the new 3 litre Coke bottles they have here!!). Will try to find out the scoop on the gym…a tad sad.

Back to the condo and put away the groceries and all the clothes, spotted a bee’s nest outside the bedroom window (will need to mention to Rick) and then went out for a bite. Too hot and tired to cook dinner. Dinner was at a restaurant that has changed owners three times since we first went…this was our last time going to this place. Bex’s salad not as described and after me getting the wrong cerveza and having the pequeno burger come out con queso instead of sin queso (without cheese), the decision was made. Should have gone to Los Portales!!

The one issue we have regarding the condo is that the fridge does not seem to be working. We brought a thermometer to track outside temps, but have used it in the fridge. Freezer maintains 2 degrees and the fridge 20. Rick made note and if it is not at temperature tomorrow, we will end up getting a new one.

We were told we have both Canadian and Dutch neighbours, but have not met anyone yet. A lot of people only live here during high season, so it is quiet right

Now we did find a sub-let tenant in our condo…a tiny gecko. They are harmless and eat bugs…good to have a few of those around.

Today started with a latte for Bex…have 6 weeks worth of pod left. The Mexicans use UHT milk (ultra high temp) that can be stored on the shelf for months. We are not quite into that yet, so we paid a bit more for “real” milk, which we used, for the latte and my bowl of cereal.

Ok…12 noon here. Must put this blog away and see if we can USB key it for the internet shop.

So all is well and we are on our way to becoming locals!!

Until next time.


Saludos

UPDATE:

The first internet shop was full, so we walked round and found a hole in the wall shop. It's speed was soooo slow we left after 15 minutes of frustration and worry that our condo internet may be that slow. Went back to shop #1 and found two empty seats and ta-da. The key board is in Spanish (alt gr+q = the @ sign) and of course using Internet Explorer and Word from the USB was fun too!! Escritorio (write), disco extraible (usb key) and ver (view as in list vs iconos) is all exciting. But I am so slow...that good thing it is 6 pesos for an hour!!

Sunday September 26, 2010

Me again!! This time we are in the city of Puerto Escondido, in the state of Oaxaca…only 110 km or so from home!! We arrived at 630pm or so and are currently in town having dinner. We are in the same café/restaurant we came to several years ago. Good food and some nice posteres (desserts).

We found a hotel (in Puerto Escondido) on Expedia for $87 Cdn vs the hotels own web site’s listed price of $90 US plus tax of 15%. Score. Kinda. The hotel is ok…no wow and the internet does not work in the room. Bex did manage a Skype from a deserted bar in the hotel, and I am currently typing this on Word and will cut and paste later. We were worried about what time we would pull into Puerto E, so booking ahead just made sense. After eating dinner amongst the surfers, it would have been cool to stay in a small place right on the beach...next time!!

Seeing these so-so hotels just makes us more determined to design, build and execute the best possible villas and experiences for our guests!! Soon amigos!! Keep your eyes peeled for the Casa de Dos Conejos website!!

Our day today…

It started early and there seemed to be no hot water for Bex’s shower. Brrrrr and her first f-bomb of the day. The other 2 were topes related...more on those later.

We knew we had a long day so we left at 745am. It ended up being 610 km and almost 11 hours today.

It was 234 km to Acapulco and this was easy driving, averaging 75 km/hr. Hit only three caseta de cobra (toll booths), the first 130 km out of Ixtapa. I said Miss Bex was on Dramamine...not that she was a drama queen!! She took Dramamine for the motion sickness and this knocked her out. The first part of the morning was me and the road.

About 2 hours out, we drove through Buenos Aires and saw the first “road side” car dealers yet. Just like a Mom and Pop store in Canada. The topes are giving us bad gas mileage. We had to come to a complete stop for probably over 100 topes. 120 km/hr to 0 to 120 km/hr 100 times just for the topes…not to mention the mountains and the traffic jams!!

About 10 km out of Acapulco, there was a flooded road and that meant 20 km/hr. After 3 hours on the road, we had completed 215 km. Acapulco was big and amazing. Definitely some $$ in that town. They need to tax those peeps and get the roads fixed. From entering Acapulco to exiting, was all of 14 km and it took 50 minutes. All the highways go through the towns, not around?

And we had another one of those life changing decisions, go left or right at the fork in the road? We took the “rapido” option and it led to signs stating “aeropuerto” (right path!!) and ta-do…to a Starbucks.

Here is Bex helping a taxi driver (outside Starbucks) with his directions:

Actually she did great. The taxi drivers appreciated the fact that she was using all the Spanish she knew, and could understand what they were saying in Spanish!!

For my casino buds Melon and the Sarge, what do you think about opening a casino here?

Viva Las Vigas??

Mexico actually now has bingo, race and sports books. I had never seen those before.

During today’s journey, we hit 4 military check points. The soldier at the first one looked at us and our plates and waved us through.

The second checkpoint had us open the back of the truck, asked us where we were from and where we were going, and then let us proceed.

The third check point had an English speaking soldier who asked us the same questions, but also wanted to see our passports which were in the back of the truck. We were caught off guard as we had been told the military didn’t or wasn’t allowed to ask for passports. They are allowed to search vehicles, but no passport requests. Not sure the reasoning. Any way, he was friendly’ish and practiced his English with me by repeating all my English…”your passport is in the back of the truck?” etc.

Fourth checkpoint was all about the questions and then we were told top proceed. By the 4^th time, we had our replies down in all Spanish…NO English!!

Trucking along…we see the initiative people have to make money. The roads get washed out and huge pot holes appear. Men arrive with shovels, fill in the holes and ask for donations. I owe them some $$ as I drove by…bad karma…but I did give some pesos to a lady (at least 110 years old) hanging around the Pemex.

Ok….the craziest  triple incident today. I am not sure if it was because it was Sunday or what…but at 3 different topes, we come to a stop to go over them, and in between cars going in each direction, is a dog doing his business like no one is around. One poor guy started in the other lane and had to do “the penguin” to get to a safe part of the median and finish up. CRAZY!!!

Here is one of my favorite photo sessions of the day:

These booths are at the sides of the roads, all in the little towns. They seem to be manned by all the members of the families at different times of the day. Very colorful.

We have the plantos. While I was taking these photos, Bex wrangled up some fried bananas with some liquid sugar on top. She loved them!!

These two gals struck up a conversation with me and loved the photos of the stands and bananas. It appeared they had not seen something like the results the Canon produces. I asked their permission to take their photos (con permission?) and then they became all serious. I showed their photos to the lady at the next booth and she was all excited to see her friend’s photo.

In Canada, if a car driving the other way flashes it’s headlights, there is probably a cop up a head. In Mexico, there are probably horses, cows, donkeys or dogs on the road up a head!!

Talking about things on the road, we often see people walking on the road, especially near the topes where we come to a complete stop. Sometimes we even have people talk to us, throw us a look or make comments. On this occasion, as we were slowing down, Bex yelled “you are pigs!!!”. I was prepared for someone being crude to Bex…I was so wrong.

Our last photo break was initiated by seeing these cars parked by the side of the road, and then this group of people sitting around and watching the action below.

We then saw this volleyball game occurring:

We also saw this group of men making their bets for the next game:

What was truly exciting was that every person that saw us, gave us a second look, one that was out of curiosity. I said buneos tardes (good afternoon) to the older men and hola (hello) to the younger people. They were some what surprised to hear me speak Spanish, and one guy actually smiled, laughed and tried to start up a conversation with me. So exciting, fresh and exhilarating!! We will learn this language and become a part of the Mexican community!! Bex already has a great grasp of the language and I being shy and all, have no issue saying hi to people and seeing where it leads.

Well…it was another long day, but we are excited to be so close. We are meeting Rick at the Super Che at 11am and then will go to the condo to conduct our walk around. It will then be about unpacking and settling in!! After that and before Rick leaves on the 2^nd, we will work with him on getting the utilities in our names and getting internet and satellite/cable working as well!!

So…not sure where we will be doing our blog update from tomorrow…it might be from a café in town.

As soon as we have internet in the condo, the blog updates will be about the settling in routine followed by any interesting updates regarding exploring etc. We will keep the "sat at the beach, swam in the ocean and pool" updates to a minimum!!

Thanks to all for following the past 11 days!!

Saludos

Saturday September 25, 2010

Buenos Noches from Ixtapa!! What a day...checked into a hotel and moved rooms 3 times, ending up keeping the 4th room. More on that later.

Today's route had some beauty, some monotony, some scary sections, more rain and waaaay too many topes (speed bumps). Not all topes are painted yellow and some don't have any signs alerting the motorists...enough said? Might need to check the suspension and grab some new pimpin rims. lol....but not really.

We left the hotel at 830 and found the one and only Starbucks in Manzanillo. But the ruta 200 seems to end in a cul du sac, so off we went looking for help/directions. Back in the 200 heading south and we actually have two lanes of traffic and it is moving well. I have spoken too soon.

The "highways" here seem to take you right through town, topes and street lights included. And again in Tecoman, the ruta 200 just ended. We were supposed to "know" to take the right fork in the unlabeled road!! Back on the highway into the state of Michoacan and then later into Guerrero. Our clocks have also lost another hour, so it is  hours ahead of Vancouver and 1 hour behind K-W. This will remain the same in Huatulco, but I do know they have a time change coming. Mexico has wacky time zones and dates as to when they change.

As we crossed into Michoacan, we stopped and did this:

To find out what was in these:

And found these:

Who knew?

We drove too fast and passed by a yard with over 100 little houses...all for the roosters running around. Crazy!!

Went through two military checkpoints and were waved through both times. The checkpoints are not so scary except the Mexicans do not seem to smile so much (because it is so hot?) and then throw them in a uniform and give them a machine gun....enough said?

Along this part of today's journey, we hit the mountains again. We went around and around, up and down, all at a speed of about 30 km/hr. In the first 4 hours, we managed to drive 225 km...yikes. And these are not those no work, stress free, put it in cruise control km's. These are gear up, gear down, get passed on blind curves and watch out for topes km's.

As we were driving these passes, Bex scrambled for her yellow pail (Arnold family reference), but all we had was a zip lock bag. Thank goodness as it keeps "freshness in and air out"!! All of a sudden I hear Bex yell "ASS" and I am thinking I am in trouble for all the corners and gearing up and down.

But I was not in trouble, she had seen this on the road:

This beauty was just walking around the mountain pass with her two buddies. She looked lost so Bex got on her and went looking for the owner. We are happy to state, he was VERY happy Bex had found her and brought her home!!

As we exited the pass, about 40 km from Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, the rain started again. But we did manage to pull over and take this photo before that all happened. Kind looks like the Oregon coast...minus the donkey!!

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, I love the new Canon camera. Bex took some of the other shots with the Canon I received as a Christmas gift from my wing man TS. A great Canon as well.

About 10 km from Ixtapa, the dos carilla road (two lane...one each way) was being worked on so we came to a complete stop for 20 minutes. Mexican way of doing things. It would be like completely closing off the 401 or the #1 in Vancouver. Oh well...what can you do? While waiting, we used the tire iron to open a ginger beer for Bex and I reached back into the cooler for another Diet Coke!!

They are celebrating 200 years of Mexico being Mexico and they have relabelled some highways Ruta 2010. At this speed, we have relabelled them Ruta 2011!!

Based on our internet research, we knew Zihuat was after the Ixtapa turn off. We thought we would find more economical hotels in Zihuat, thus the decision. Well...we did not see any and we ended up driving through Zihuat and headed to Acapulco!! We did the u-turn (retorno) and headed into Ixtapa instead. It is 5pm, raining and soooo muggy!! Maybe that is why, but we were not impressed with Ixtapa. We saw one place that looked good and Bex checked out the price. Right on the playa (beach), but they wanted 1100 pesos...almost $100. Great if it is sunny, not if you are not even going to use the beach. Did I mention we own a 100 feet of beach front?

So onto choice #2...Sara Suites. Always ask how much and check the room. It is low season so the room was stuffy, but it looked ok. Unload, move all the stuff and then we find problema #1...hormigas. Small ants on the bed. So off to the front desk and in Spanish, I ask for another room. Off we go up the stairs and into room #2. Here we find that the out lets do not work so we cannot plug in our cooler and the exterior walk way slopes inwards so the rain water has leaked in and there is a small flood.

Back to the desk and we go to room #3. It is fine but I have brought the cooler to test it. It does not work and I am now thinking the cooler in ka-put. We bring it to the office and plug it in and ah-ha...it does work!! Off to room #4, right next to room #1. It is soooo muggy as we move from room to room, and Bex is still in room #2 waiting on the outcome. We take room #4 and just get the bed cover changed and some extra sheets...in case of hormigas!!! It is Mexico and this stuff happens...just don't like dealing with it after such a long day. The pricio? 650 pesos...$55 Cdn. Best part? I don't need to leave the room to use the internet!!

Dinner was at Senor Frogs, a good salad and fajitas for Bex and a Mexican rib-eye (no marbling) for me. One cold Pacifico and we are now back in the hotel,

We will have to decide tomorrow's route/plan as we go, because if it is like today's, we just won't have enough time in the day. From here to Puerto Escondido is 647 km and at today's speed, that is a 10 hour day. Might need to squeeze in 500-550 km and then drive the last 220 on Monday morning. We just don't know what kind of accommodations we will find at the 500-550 mark. Oh well. That is why this blog is called The Bex and Bubba Mexican Adventure!!

We also saw an ad in a paper for 45 channels on tv and 2 mbps internet combo, all for the price of $380 pesos/month. We hope it is this easy once we are in Huatulco.

So...enjoy NFL and Nascar Sunday, and we will try to update you tomorrow, or on Monday (if we can)  from where ever we are. We will be in Huatulco by Tuesday for sure and will send out that update.

Saludos

Bex and Mark

Friday September 24, 2010

Hello all...from Manzanillo!!

I missed providing a blog update yesterday, so here is a quick snapshot of Thursday.

-gym...like hot yoga...but hotter
-breakfast...pan frances...delicious and cheap...service lacking for such a slow time of year
-beach...frigging hot
-noisy Americans from a cruise ship
-our wash was done for 165 pesos...only in Mexico...

-villa ideas galore...this property is 100 feet wide...like ours in Huatulco

-great hole in the wall place for a pre-dinner quesadilla and agua con gas for Bex (sparkling water)

Today, hit the gym and had another order of pan frances for breakfast. At the gas station for 915am and off we went. The gas jockey was fun. We bantered some words back and forth and I gave him a 20 peso propina (tip) and he was thrilled!! About $1.50 to make someone smile...worth every peso.

At an intersection, we picked up a copy of the local newspaper,  The Noroeste, and here is a photo of the big front page story:

After doing some translating, this article is just reporting on what was posted in Canada, and is the Mexican's point of view on the whole situation. They say it is too bad about the warning as there have really been very few incidents in all of Sinaloa and that most of the problems are the drug traffickers along the USA border.

Sinaloa is the state where Mazatlan is located and has been a Canadian tourist destination for years. They are obviously concerned about the effect these types of warnings have on the industry. Again, Bex and I feel safe as can be and just avoid areas we should not be in.

The tolls today were not cheap with several being 160 pesos. There was construction out of Mazatlan, but after that, the 15 was fast all the way to Tepic. The highway from Tepic to Manzanillo is the 200 and it was brutal for the first 200 km. We drove a total of 650 km today, and it took almost 10 hours. Yikes. Bex learned a new phrase "otro vez?" and we tried it out on the toll booth attendant and she smiled. Getting the Mexican's to smile is our new mission. Otro vez means "again?"

The craziest part was the part in Puerto Vallerta. The high way had lots of construction, but it enters the city center, over cobble stones, through the back streets and then seems to end at a cul-du-sac. Asked a cabbie where routa 200 was and we ended up driving up the hills onto a road with enough and big enough pot holes to sink a bus. This 10 km stretch took an hour plus. And then of course the blinding pouring rain came. It is soooo green/lush out, but the roads are flooded and damaged.

Before Tepic, we had to swerve to miss an iguana that was sunning itself in our lane. We swerved and as we drove by, he winked at us...his way of saying thanks. True story...the song we had playing from our iPod was Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help From my Friends"!!

On the road we learned about the 4 way hazard lights. They use them here in the heavy rain, when passing and when coming to a complete stop from 120 km/hr for a guy waving his shirt as a make shift flag, warning us about construction!!

As mentioned...torrential rain storm through the mountain passes. We had also picked Manzanilla as our end point for today, but due to the delays, we were way behind schedule. Darkness, rain, bad drivers and pot holes galore made for my first stressful day of driving.

Also saw an armadillo sleeping on the side of the road... :(

We could not find accommodations in the small towns we drove through prior to darkness and Manzanilla,  so we pressed on and in the dark, drove into Manzanilla, no idea where we were as this was a new town to both of us. Arriving at 830pm, we found a new'ish looking hotel, Hotel Posada, where we have a great room, clean, king bed...all for 500 pesos or $40 Cdn. Internet works great...just outside the door on the walk way!! lol

Drove a few blocks looking for food, but did not know where we were, so we ended up eating in the outdoor restaurant connected to the hotel. They made Bex's salad from scratch and my quesadilla's were quite good. I admire how hard many of the Mexican people work to make a living for themselves. People in Canada and/or USA should see this life and then try to complain about theirs.

Our current plan is to drive 600 or so km for each of the next two days, arriving in Puerto Escondido (a surf town 120 km from Huatulco), by dinnertime Sunday. This allows us a quick drive to Huatulco on Monday, so we can meet up with our landlord Rick, as well as unload the truck while being some what rested.

Tomorrow is all about the drive to either Zihuatanejo (watch the Shawshank Redemption) which is about 441 km, leaving us 647 km on Sunday to Puerto E, or we drive 685 km to Acapulco, and then another 402 km to Puerto E on Sunday. Will see how we feel as we are wiped today!!

We hope all is well in your lives!!!

Until next time,

Saludos

Bex and Bubba

Wednesday September 22, 2010

Hola from Mazatlan Mexico, in the state of Sinaloa!! Mazatlan was the very first place in Mexico that I vacationed in. Must have been 1992 or 1993...and here we are almost 20 years later.

Over all it was another exciting day for the adventure and the dream of Freedom 45.

We left the hotel at 845am headed to Maz and as we left town, we saw some remaining evidence of yesterday's heavy rain.

As we were about to enter Sinaloa, we came upon a Federal Policia checkpoint. We stopped and he looked at us with the look of "you don't speak Spanish and I don't speak English, so just proceed"...so we did!!

After a few more "caseta de cobros" (toll booths) and a few areas of un solo carril (single lane), we were bombing down the highway. Yesterday I forgot to mention the hundreds of road side memorials along the highway. Same thing today. These deaths could be caused by the bad driving, the bad shape of cars, booze, poor highway conditions, no highway lights at night or who knows what else.

Talking about road side memorials, see if these three photos tell a story.

Did a u-turn to take this photo

Helping hand

Back over 4 lanes

We had spotted this guy in the left lane of the north bound side, did a u-turn to take the photo, did another u-turn to park safely, picked him up (he hissed), put him on the hill side and got a wave from some locals and a wink of thanks from the tortuga. To be clear...he was NOT sleeping before or after we were done with him!!

Here's a word (or close to it) we saw..."fitazoosanitaria"...it was a checkpoint at the border to check on livestock transportation.

Had another day of crazy weather. Just past Los Mochis it came down hard again. But the whole country side is green and lush, something I have not experienced before as tourists normally come down during dry season. It was quite beautiful.

We continued on the "cuota" (toll) roads vs the "libre" (free) and made good time. We did have a day of poor gas mileage even though I checked tire pressure in the morning. It could have been the head winds or maybe the quality of gas in Mexico.

Around 90 km from Mazatlan we finally got to see the ocean to our right. So far the route down has been mainly in-land and was getting a bit (hee x3) repeated. Also saw a convoy of some 31 army vehicles, mainly pick ups, but a few troop transport vehicles and a medic Hummer. The President of Mexico really wants a safe country, free of drugs and guns, but he fights corruption, drugs headed north to the USA and Canada, and the flow of the guns from the US to Mexico. Guns are illegal in Mexico...if someone has one, it came from the USA...home of over 200 million  privately owed firearms.

Guns in America Check out this wikipedia article.

We had packed a spare gas can in case we thought we would not find a Pemex when we needed one. We have seen many of these stations except for the area 90-30km away from Mexico. We didn't need the gas, we needed the bano and with no Pemex in sight, it almost became Pee-Bex time in the truck!! 

We lost an hour due to the time change, but pulled off the highway and into Mazatlan at 330pm after another 550 km day. At a stop light, about 10 minutes drive from our hotel, Playa Mazatlan, a friendly older Mexican on a motorcycle made mention that we had a flat tire. Argh. We pulled over and in my quickest time (Nascar speed) and in the hottest heat I have ever had to do that task (35 degrees or so), changed the tire and hit the road for the hotel. The tire had the right pressure at 9am, but don't know when the puncture occurred and if this was affecting the mileage. We did buy some octane booster to see if that will help the Mexican gas.

Dirty and hot from the tire change, we checked in and hit the playa (beach), for an hour. It is soooo low season here. The two areas on the beach that the guests relax in, were empty. No one!! The streets around the hotel are quiet and we saw one other person in the whole building...a guy who was amazed at how long it must have taken to drive "UP" to Mexico from Canada. lol 

Around 5pm we decided to drive to the Nissan dealer we had seen as we drove into Maz. They were helpful in broken English and our Spanglish. The friendly lady sent us down the street to a small place next to an "ugly" hotel (as she put it), where the quality of work would be bueno and the price cheap. These tire repair/sales places are called llanateras. 

What is a coincidence, is that as we drive, we see words and look them up in the the 6 dictionaries we have in the truck. We had seen the word "llanatera" several times, but hadn't found the meaning of the word...until we pulled into the shop (if you can call it that).

We found the place and communicated with the gentleman in flip flops that we had a "desponchar llanta"...a flat tire. I got the tire from under the truck and off he went to work with his set of tools. This was no mechanic's garage...more like the back door of his house. He showed us the leak, pulled the tire off by standing on it, patched it, filled it, put it back on the truck and reinstalled the spare. 

We forgot the golden rule...ask "cuanta questo?" (how much?) BEFORE the work is started. The gal at Nissan said it would probably cost 20-25 pesos and when Bex asked the guy "cuanta questo", he stated cincuentas...or 50 pesos. We were not going to argue as all that work cost us $4.25 Cdn.

Next was a car wash. The two boys pre-washed the truck, we went through a manually operated wash line, and then two more people hand dried the truck, windows and sills...all for another 50 pesos.

We found out that my favorite BBQ joint (No Name Cafe) is no longer around, but had a good dinner down the other end of the Zona Dorado (Golden Zone...tourist area). Ribs, salad, fajitas, a Negro Modelo beer for me and agua con gas for Bex.

The town has really changed and the lavanderia is now gone as well. We found one by the Nissan dealer, but tomorrow we will look for one closer to the hotel.

Tomorrow, it is gym time first, followed by breakfast at the hotel (cheap and good eats) as we have a $15 (170 peso) food credit per night, lavanderia time and then sit in the sun!! We have the hotel to our selves!!

Next update will be Friday from Manzanillo. After that, it will be only 2 or 3 more days until Huatulco.

Thank you to all that are following the adventure, leaving us comments or dropping us an email. Your encouragement and support is appreciated.

Tuesday September 21, 2010

Well...you will not see our names in the news tomorrow!! We are safe and sound in Mexico, in a town called Navojoa and in a very nice hotel, all for the sumly price of 580 pesos...or $51 Cdn.

We found this hotel by accident. We had not booked one on line and when we got here, we had to take a major detour due to construction down main street (or centro)..took a left and then a right and here it was.

Navojoa (website for the hotel)

No lingering effects from the drunk driver rear ending us last night!! (other then a slightly damaged bumper)

So the day started at 645am and we were in the car and getting gas by 750am. I was in charge of the last "sweep" of the room and did a great job!! Until 50 km into Mexico and nap time could not happen for you know who....as I had forgotten her pillow in the room. Argh. Oh well...we picked up a new one at Walmart in Cidudad Obregon....$100 pesos or $8.50!!

The border was a 5 minute drive from the hotel and what an experience. No website I read EVER gave me all the information we needed for this experience.

We drove past some US Customs guards (looking for $$ heading South...they found 1/2 million last week) and the next thing we know we are at a gate and there is a "self declaration" building to our right, but a guy standing at the gate in a pair of jeans and old golf shirt, just waves us through and points us down the road. The self declaration is just that, if you are going to declare purchases or over the limit personal belongings.

At the 10 km mark, we drive up to an almost identical building as we saw at the border. You enter a lane similar to going through US Customs at Blaine and if a red light comes on (alto), you get searched. If it is green like ours (passe), you proceed.

At several points on highway 15, that takes us all the way to Puerto Vallerta, you hit toll booths. I think they are called "cobras" or something like that. Anyway, we passed through 6 of them ranging in tolls of 20 to 61 pesos. That equates in Cdn dollars to between $1.70 and $5.70. We drove some 575 km today for $22 in tolls!!

At the 21 km mark you pull over and here is where you park you car, walk into immigration, walk another 50 feet down the way to line up at some bank windows to pay for immigration as well as your vehicle permit, and then go through the red light/green light process again.

It took us an hour but could probably have been done in 30 minutes, but again no website can get you ready for this experience.

Our treasured Mexican visas that we picked up in Vancouver, have done nothing for us yet. Today we were given 60 day visas ($22 each) and I think once we are in Huatulco, we go to immigration there, turn in the 60 day visas and get the one year FM3. Any how...we filled out the visa paper work then had to pay for them. This took 15 minutes of waiting and 10 minutes of the "bank" filling out forms and accepting payment. While still in Vancouver, I had been told by fellow Canadians that if you have an FM3, you do not need a vehicle permit. But...we did not have our FM3 yet so we had to get the permit (a $38 sticker that goes on your front window and MUST be returned at the end of the period it was issued for). I had read on line that you needed several photocopied documents (license, registration etc) but they also needed the immigration forms photocopied so we went an did that on site (very convenient) and back in line. 


At the window the gal states she now needs the original registration, so Bex the sprinter ran back to the car and retrieved the originals, while the gal started her work...which took 20 minutes to finish.


We drove through and got another passe, and we were on our way!!


By 930am we were 90 km away from Hermosillo and 340 away from today's stop in Navojoa.


We were stopped on the highway by the first of many topes. These are speed bumps which force you to come to a complete stop as they are 12 inches high. Locals stand by the topes as they know you will stop, and they try to sell you fruit, drinks, chairs and today we saw a guy with bird cages and parrots. We picked one up hoping it can teach us Spanish.

Saw a car with BC license plates on it, being driven by some people we had seen at the 21 km checkpoint. It's still a small world out there!!

New country, new animals sleeping on the side of the road. A cow (yes a cow), several skunks and some REALLY thin snakes. A lot of butterflies are attracted to our wind shield, and this does make me feel bad.

Pulled into a Pemex for our first tank of gas. "Lleno con premium, por favor" got me the full tank of the good stuff for $45...$25 cheaper then in Vancouver. With all the water and diet cokes being drank, a bano stop at the Pemex is in order. All for the sum of 5 pesos at some locations or 3 pesos at other (50 cents and 33 cents)...bring your own t-p just in case and definitely soap for washing your hands.

We saw one driver who was a genius. They had figured out a way to avoid these outrageous washroom charges and conditions. Bex took this photo of them:

Peso saver

Along the way, we saw this sign:

and not knowing what it meant, we gave it our own meaning. Bex did not hassle me about forgetting the pillow and I did not hassle her about the several naps a day she takes while I am driving!!

Got hungry around 2pm and pulled into the OXOX (like a 7-11), bought an apple for Bex and some sliced jamon (ham) for me. We pulled out the bread, margarine and cheese (from the handy 12 volt cooler), and made some lunch right there in the parking lot.

The rain started again near Obregon and it came down HARD. It is still rainy season here and we benefit from the green environment, but they do not pave the roads here to help rain drain. Many pools of water on the roads. In Navojoa we drove around looking for dinner and we entered a flood!! The streets have no drains so the water, over a foot deep in certain areas, is running down the streets headed for the concrete waterway that runs in the middle of town. Welcome to Mexico, but they seem to take it in stride. We saw peeps on motorcycles and bicycles riding through this deep water...all the norm for them.

We love Mexican food and Portales is a favorite haunt of ours in Huatulco. Great food there...ask Dad who learned about quesadillas there and TS who had the grilled cactus.

But until I have "ironed" up the stomach a bit (hee x3), and know enough Spanish to ask for the right things, we play it safe. Dominos pizza tonite...somehow I ordered a large pepperoni with tocino (bacon) and salchicha (sausage), paid the 230 pesos ($21 Cdn) and ended up with two pizzas!! We gave some to the counter guy at the hotel as he was quite accommodating to my Spanglish when we had first checked in. Quanto cuesta una noche? How much for one night?

I would like to thank my wing-woman for all her help with the blog. Yes I do the typing and these are my words, but we do talk about these things in the car, and the while fighting off car sickness brought on by writing while I drive, she bravely makes the notes I will use when putting the blog together. The Arnold's would be proud!! I am told a little yellow bowl (with lid) used to travel with Rebecca in the car on family road trips!!

850pm and we are settled in for the night. We are up early again tomorrow and have a 560 km drive to Mazatlan where we will spend two night recharging our batteries, hit the gym, lay on the beach and also get some wash done at the lavanderia. We know our way around Maz, so it makes it a nice break...easy on the brain.

Forecast in Maz is 32 degrees and cloudy for tomorrow (we arrive at 2pm'ish and will hit the ocean for a swim) and then 33 and sunny for Thursday. Can you say sun tan on the beach and pan frances (French toast) for breakfast? Yummy!!

We had a great day and felt VERY safe crossing where we did, even though the whole border/immigration process was confusing. Essentially we bypassed both Nogales AZ and Nogales Mexico, avoiding the possibilities of any "problems". I feel right at home in Mexcio, with the smiling elderly Mexican who pumped the gas for us at Pemex, just making my day. But....must remember not to brush teeth with tap water!! lol And after 30 some trips to Mexico...I better learn the language this time.

Ok...you will all get an update tomorrow from Mazatlan, but I am taking Thursday off!!

Until manana,

Saludos

PS Your spanish lessons are through out today's blog.

Monday September 20, 2010 (POST #2)

Hello from Nogales Arizona...only a few miles from the border!!! It is 936pm....do we tell you about getting hit by the drunk driver now or after we talk about the afternoon activities?

Ok...first the afternoon update. I wrote this next part while waiting at Nissan in Phoenix. Enjoy....

So it is now 315pm and we are in Phoenix. Did I mention it was going to be 40 degrees out? Feels hotter.

At Flagstaff Nissan, we were told it was not the thermostat, but a sensor with loose connections. Need the sensor replaced and they did not have one in town. The service tech (nice guy but using the word “service” loosely) told me 3 days from Denver. I asked if there was a part in Phoenix and he gave me a printout with a list of dealers that had the parts. It was going to be up to me to call the individual dealers but no…I asked the other service tech to call for me.

I had googled Nissan dealers in Phoenix, just in case and the one that was right off the highway, Midway Nissan, had the part. So off we went. Left at 1235pm and arrived at 3pm.

On the way to Phoenix, the temp gauge did not act up at all. Of course it didn’t!! Now I am thinking… “is the sensor really broken?” so we stopped at Starbucks, I set up Magic Jack and we called my Nissan guy in Burnaby. He was busy and needed the car to make an educated guess, so no help from him.

The service tech at Midway took me to talk to a mechanic and he explained how the connection works and yes, it could be working for now, but will most likely shake loose again. Our call on whether or not to replace, and we are going to play safe vs sorry.

Hopefully this is just a one hour speed bump as we have Nogales 3 hours away still…and rush hour through Phoenix to deal with.

The trip from Flagstaff to Phoenix was nice.  It started off slow due to all the road work (economic stimulus I read somewhere) but it picked up and we saw very green pine forests as we drove along. We spotted a few animals sleeping on the side of the road, including many coons and a full on dear with big antlers. They were just napping!!

About 100 km out of Phoenix we started to see more agriculture that we felt reflects Arizona…cactus.

Will finish today’s update of the blog tonite, from Nogales.

So the truck was fixed and we left Phoenix at 415pm. It could have been another "esto es gratis" day from Nissan, as the gal at the counter sent Bex out with the key and invoice, but I had not paid yet. Must always side with Karma and I paid the bill. $95 in Flagstaff and $210 in Phoenix...must find casino tonite....lol

Bombed down the HOV lane through Phoenix and as we hit Tuscon, saw the big storm clouds. Also saw Pinal Air Park....a big slab of concrete with about 100 jumbo jets just being stored there. Then we saw someone headed North who had been pulled over and had the drug dog going around her car. welcome to Arizona!! As we came within 100 km of Nogales, the big storm let loose. VERY heavy rain and lightning made for a nice drive. It was also getting dark, but it is easy to get around so we were not worried about getting lost.

85 km or so from Nogales, the mileage markers turned to metric (for the Mexicans), but the speed signs stayed at m/ph. Hilarious.

At 730pm or so we found our "6" and checked in. Huge puddles as this must have been their month's rain in one shower. We unpacked and headed out for gas and dinner.

The town is small and we did not see much at one end, so we decided to turn around and head  back the way we had entered off the highway, as we saw a mall and the usual fast food joints. We had driven past our hotel and were at a red light when...we got hit from behind. We did not know what happened at first. I thought I had stalled the truck and it had just lurched forward. But no, we had a drunk driver behind us that had decided not to stop.

I get out and see he is drunk and flag down a car to call the police. The dispatcher was all confused ("you hit what officer?") but she sent the law. Meanwhile the driver is trying to drive away. I am reaching in the car grabbing for keys, yelling in both English and Spanish that he needed to stay. Bex hears the commotion and comes out to see if I am ok and give the drunk a piece of her mind. 

An armed guard stops by and grabs the keys and we both wait in the pouring rain for 10 minutes (only the drunk driver stayed dry...of course) for the police. We are sent to our cars as a second unit arrives to conduct the field tests and ultimately arrests the driver. Our officer takes 25 minutes getting our info, taking photos and telling us what border crossing to take!!

The damage? I have a bit (hee x 3) of a sore neck and currently Bex feels fine...we will see tomorrow. The truck has some bumper damage, but nothing drastic and nothing we can get fixed before we leave tomorrow. Argh...all we were trying to do was eat dinner. And they warn you about driving in Mexico at night? How about Nogales AZ?

So dinner was late, but KFC tastes yummy anytime. So far, our only "bad" meal of the trip...feel good about that. Also picked up some more Diet Coke to replenish the stock!!

We are booked into Playa Mazatlan (my Mazatlan haunt) for 2 nights (Weds and Thurs)...now we just need to get there.

Two words of the day. I am told by my Padre, that Nogales comes from the word "walnut"...these trees used to grow in abundance between Nogales AZ and Nogales Mexico. Thanks Dad. The other word of the day is simple..."policia"...just dial 911 in Arizona or 066 in the Mexican state of Sonora.

It is 10pm and we are about to conduct our research for tomorrow's leg of the adventure...so good night to all.