getting from there to here

It's been several days now since we pulled into the garage at the end of a long drive. Seven days on the road, shut up in a car traveling 70 MPH through mostly boring landscapes is about 6 days too many. But we got home safely. That was the big concern. And not only as we headed to El Norte through the serious Mexican Government vs. Drugs war zone, but after we crossed, we made it through the dangerous alley from the border to Tucson. I was just hoping that if anything untoward happened it would be on "our" side of the border so I could plead for my life in my own language. Nothing out of the ordinary. During the entire trip, 3 stops for agricultural inspection in Sinaloa, one army stop in Sonora where they took out only two small suitcases are put them through an airport-style X-ray, a perfunctory stop at the border ~ no inspection this year; we were in line and onto the other side in one hour ~ and one brief Border Patrol stop between Nogales and Tucson. For all the hype about the close monitoring of traffic, this was a piece of cake.

My computer desktop is littered with photos that I have not put up, detailing more of the trip home. So I will go back to the morning of Thursday, May 6 as we head out of Tepic. This was the sight. Diverted traffic around the city center. Up and down side streets. Two Mexican army convoys, both with heavily armed soldiers in big trucks and a HumVee thing with a machine gun mounted on the top. It sprouted some sort of big lethal weapon on top of the cab with a man hanging on to it who, I presume, knew what to do with it if the occasion arose. I was of two minds about this sight. On the one hand, given what we've been hearing it was reassuring to know these fellows were around. On the other, why would I want to be in a country where this is necessary?

We made it to Topolobampo at 3 o'clock, checked in to our usual room at the only hotel in town, opened a beer and relaxed.

We went to Chicho's for dinner ~ the only restaurant in town ~ watched the sunset over the bay, and tried to figure out why this little burg hasn't been discovered by gringos yet. It is a gorgeous location, but in truth it's even seedier than Cuyutlán. The idea of trying to upgrade one of the falling-down houses that ring the bay is too daunting, even for me, el primo renovator.

Next morning we had breakfast in the garden by this lovely fountain and watched in amazement as the town's fishermen ~ Topo is famous as a fishing spot ~ filed into the hotel dining room for some sort of celebration. I never could figure out what was going on. The only thing the server said in answer to my inquiry was "pescaderos" so I let it go. By the way, this hotel has truly remarkable towels. They have been treated with Scotchgard® that thoroughly and efficiently repels water. Makes drying off a challenge.

We were on the road to San Carlos by 9 am and arrived at La Fiesta Real at 3, got our room with the fridge, had another beer and prepared for a nice rest. However, as I have previously written there was to be a big party on Friday night to celebrate the milestones of some children. It was actually a party arranged by three families for their three children; two for first communion (Sophia and Manso) and one birthday (Maria). The front lawn was all set up with tables, chairs, a dance stage, lanterns and a piñata.

We went out to lunch down at the marina and when we got back the disco speakers and light standards had been set up. That's when I groaned and thought, "Oh great! Right outside our room!" The guests started arriving at 4 PM. The adults roamed around the grass drinking exotic concoctions; the kids changed into bathing suits and hit the pool and the beach. At 6 o'clock everyone was corralled for a huge buffet dinner. Then the mariachis arrived. This was a really great band, a more modern take on mariachi music but with some oldies thrown in, such as El niño perdido, my favorite. The female singer had a spectacular voice with lots of passion and vibrato and color. That pink ball on the right is the piñata.

(Sorry you can't see them very well, but what you can see is the disco set-up!)

Meanwhile, the guests were enjoying their dinner as the sky began to turn a lovely pink.


Several of the guests got up and sang with the band. It was a wonderful celebratio n enjoyed by a mix of Mexican and gringo guests who sang along, got up and danced and mingled around. Lots of kids having a fine time. It was fun to watch all the guests, obviously a well-to-do group of beautifully dressed and coiffed women and men in the traditional bright white guayabera shirts. The teen aged boys and girls sat at separate tables and were all very well behaved!

This was the sight at dusk.

Soon the lights came on and it was quite magical.

We were about to go downstairs to the hotel restaurant for dinner when I noticed people standing around holding big white disks of some sort. I couldn't figure out what they were until I saw one person pull the disk apart and open it up into what looked like a big balloon with openings at the top and bottom with some sort of crosspiece at the bottom. Then he lit something on the crosspiece, waited a minute or so, and then let go. It was like a little hot air balloon and it took off into the night. Then everyone started on the same routine. It was the most beautiful sight imaginable, about 50 of these glowing globes floating up into the pitch black night, drifting out over the bay. These are called Globos de Luz.

They are very popular for celebrations of any kind. I had never seen them before and asked one of the guests about them. She gave me the wrapper from one and I looked it up. They are not available in the US but you can have them sent here. Of course if you lit one anywhere around here you'd go to San Quentin. They would be spectacular floating over the sea after a good shrimp dinner at Dago's.

The disco started up about 10 PM, rocked and rolled until 1 AM, but I was so tired I slept through it all. We were up by 5:30 because it gets light so early. I stepped out on the balcony to survey the wreckage.

Here's what the piñata looked like.

We finally got underway at 6 AM, tore through Hermosillo up to the border. We got there at 10:30 and were through and on our way to Gila Bend, AZ by 11:30, a fast clearance for us. The further NW we went, the hotter it got. It reached 100º in Gila Bend that day, but our old standard motel comes well equipped with AC, a fridge, a big TV and, best of all, water pressure. Dinner thanks to Burger King (chicken salad and a bottle of Mexican wine) and so to bed. Sunday we went on to spend Mother's Day in Palm Springs where it was not only hot but incredibly windy. First thing we did was hit Trader Joe's for staples for the rest of the trip; cheese, wine, fruit, avocados. Driving I-10 is not the pilot's favorite route; too much traffic, not a very good road, but that's the only way to get where we wanted to go. I don't think we'll do that route again. Monday we drove on to Bakersfield. Bakersfield? Yes, so we could go to a Basque restaurant we'd been told about. Turns our it's closed on Monday, so we went to another one, Benji's. Food was delicious and very abundant. I had roast lamb, the pilot had lamb kabobs (which we turned into moussaka when we got home), all of which comes with soup, salad, several side dishes (including boiled tongue which we turned into sandwiches on the way home), hot and cold. You'd think we had been herding sheep all day. And nothing goes to waste around here, either.

Tuesday was the last leg of the return. We left early and arrived home around 2 PM. Our tenant was still scurrying around trying to get ready to move out. It was so good to be back. There are things I miss about the US; really clean water, reliable electricity, water pressure, newspapers and radio in my native tongue, friends and family. Of course, there are things I miss about Mexico, too; weekly delivery of Indio beer (it is not exported), inexpensive food, wonderful mangoes and papayas any time, fresh-out-of-the-vat tortilla chips, sunsets over the sea, the laid back, relaxed living, the kindness and generosity of our neighbors and friends. I think I have the best of all possible worlds.

We've now spent the past five days cleaning the house and garden area, rearranging the cupboards and shelves, going through a mountain of mail, getting things back in some sort of order so we can function for the next 7 months. Then we'll take it all apart, pack up and take this journey again. Dorothy was thrilled to see me as I was to see her. She flashed her lights, beeped her horn. All is well.