in Long Beach

We left Gila Bend at 7 AM this morning, stopped in Yuma for the usual last-chance-for-cheap-gas fill up for the hard-working car, ate our usual high carb breakfast at Denny's, and headed for CA and a safe haven with Alex in Long Beach. The beauty of this drive in the long stretch on I-8, a quiet, well-maintained highway with the blessing of no traffic. 75 MPH speed limit gets you from A to B in the shortest possible time. We made it easily to San Diego after passing through two Border Patrol check points, then headed north on 805 to 405 to Long Beach. We got here about 2 o'clock, unloaded, made a trip to Trader Joe's ~ haven't been in one for 5 months and was pleased to see it looked just as it had when we last were there in December ~ then back home. Alex's house is full of packing boxes as she prepares for her move to Walla Walla. We'll have dinner at an actual sit-down dining table like civilized folk instead of standing around amid suitcases and take-out boxes. It's good to be here. Tomorrow we will help her do more wrapping and packing. We'll head home on Thursday and, God willing, sleep in our own bed Thursday night.

in Gila Bend, AZ, USA

We left San Carlos at 6 AM and arrived here at 4 PM, 10 long hours of 4-lane pavement, Sequaro cactus, and other sundry visual clues that we were in northern Mexico and Arizona. A bit of a hold-up in Hermosillo only because there is extensive road work going on and to get to our usual turn off at the Hotel San Sebastian we had to drive through the construction site but nobody seemed to notice. Once back on serve we drove through another detour (desvacion), got back where we belonged and were once again headed to Nogales. A brief pile-up as we waited to be checked through ~ "Pork? Plants? Fruit? Guns?" ~ and then it was back on the red-white-and blue soil of the USA. We stopped for a bit of lunch at our usual Burger King, then on to the Satellite Lodge at Gila Bend. Driving I-8 toward San Diego is like being on the norther end of Mex 15; straight road, pretty good surface, no traffic, no billboards, wide open spaces. In our room, internet works fine and fast. TV works ~ saw the News Hour for the first time in 5 months. You can drink water from the tap and toss TP down the toilet.

Total cost of coming home: 7769 pesos, not including food, tips to hotel maids, or marketing. This includes gas, tolls, hotels, plus this year's 950 peso Assessment for Social Re-adaptation (paying off a cop, which I have yet to reveal to you). All tolled, I would say almost 10,000 or $780.

Tomorrow it's off to Long Beach to visit Alex for two nights. We'll help her pack up, perhaps go out to lunch, stroll through Trader Joe's to reacquaint ourselves on how much it costs to live in the US. Thursday it's home to the valley and the joys of our other life.

In San Carlos

Gorgeous sunny day here in San Carlos.  Battery running low.  Short post.  All well.  Will tell more about leaving Topo tomorrow when I can plug in the machine!  To Nogales tomorrow.

from Topolobampo

A long and utterly uneventful drive until somewhere past Mazatlan when the heavens opened and we had a brief downpour. Otherwise, thankfully, nothing. Arrived at our usual little dumpy hotel, got our usual little dumpy room, and are getting ready for evening cocktails and other refreshments followed by dinner of cold chicken, crudities, and for dessert, the last of some chocolate biscotti we brought down in December. Nothing ever goes to waste when Mr. C is in charge of the kitchen.

Tomorrow it’s on to San Carlos and our last night in Mexico for this season. Tonight is the big full moon, and the Topo bay is the best place to see it, but it’s not until 9:30 PM and I’ll have been asleep for at least an hour by then. We’d have to get in the car and drive into town for the post-card view. Another biggie tomorrow night. All I’ll have to do is step out on my balcony as the orange moon rises over San Carlos Bay. Much better idea.
I messed the Derby again this year; it's my most favorite sporting event ~ aside from baseball, of course ~ and I hope that we're in someplace with a TV when it's run. But not today.

Congratulations to I'll Have Another, a California 3-yr. old ridden by Mario Gutierrez from Veracruz, Mexico.  Pure California gold.

in Tepic

Five hours to Tepic.  Easy drive.  Gained an hour.  Laden with talismans; how could we fail?  Got up at 5 to finish getting ready.  Almost out the door when Mr. C decided he needed to wash the car.  Are you surprised?  I need a nap.

24 hours and counting

The great pack-up is almost done.  Our house is stowed, boxed, shrouded and bagged for the next seven months.  The last load of laundry was done yesterday, Mr. C is busy cleaning out the fridge, I've packed away all the linens and "beach only" duds.  I think we're ready.   Today I'll peel and slice the carrots, boil the eggs, get the salami and cheese bagged up, all to sustain us on the trip. We'll get on the road early tomorrow and head for Tepic.  There's a very upscale market close to the hotel where we'll pick up a roast chicken for dinner and for the next part of the drive, to Topolobampo.  With only one restaurant in that pathetic little town, I'd just as soon dine on cold chicken, al fresco by the pool.  Sunday we'll drive to San Carlos, our last glimpse of the beautiful ocean before crossing into AZ at Nogales.  Rumors of trouble along Mex 15, the main N-S route in western Mexico, are swirling around but I'm counting on the force being with us all the way home.

good news, bad news, really bad news

I hardly know where to start, so I'll do the good news first.  G'daughter Emily had five colleges/universities to choose from for her next scholarly endeavor.  She visited campuses in the Northwest and on the east coast.  And the winner is:  Univeristy of Southern California. 

She went to the Open House for prospective students and was blown away by the campus, the research opportunities, the chance to row, and the overall "feel" of the place.  She's now part of the Trojan Family and we are delighted that she will be (a) in California, and (b) so close to LAX that she can come up to the valley or down to Mexico without much trouble.  Congratulations Em!

The bad news has to do with this blog.  The host, Blogger.com has completely changed its preparation format, and NOT for the better.  In addition, in order to post a comment on another's blog you have to navigate through an unintelligible word ID puzzle.  The capper came a few days ago when I tried ~ SEVENTEEN TIMES ~ unsuccessfully to type in the correct mystery words so I could post a comment over at No More Commas Period, located on the list to the left.  I finally corralled Mr. C for help.  He couldn't do it, either.  I am ready to dump the whole thing and find a different blog server.  I've been on this site for over 6 years and I hate to leave it but it's just too damned inconvenient.  With all these unannounced changes I get the feeling Blogger, too, is tired of the whole thing and wants to sell kites and beach balls instead.  I'm looking around for somewhere else to park this blog.  If you hear of anyplace, let me know.

Now for the really bad news.  As I write this my best beach pal, Marie, is recovering from surgery to remove a malignant tumor from her brain.  She had not been  100% during her stay this year, having headaches and nausea, dizzy spells, and blurred vision.  So she went to the doc when she returned to Arkansas on April 1.  Tests, exams, etc.  But the surgery is over, she is awake and talking and that's a good sign.  Chemo and radiation will follow after recovery.

My other long-time friend and former colleague at the Big U, Fran, is going through treatment for esophageal cancer in Arizona.  She was, at one time, a heavy smoker but quit many years ago.  She is having radiation and chemo (I think) but no surgery.

This whole thing stinks.  But the older we get ~ and we are getting older ~ the more of this kind of news we are likely to hear.  My best energies and thoughts and prayers are with them both for a return to health and their own individual vivacity and spunk!

The other bad news is that we're leaving in 3 days but that really pales, doesn't it!