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.