We’re winding down this phase of our trip. This morning after breakfast, David & Ariadna hitched up and left. They’ve got a longer drive home, back to California. We’re expecting an email tonight from David, reporting on border crossing conditions and the proper detour through Hermosillo’s construction zone.

Their departure was the beginning of the dismantling our little temporary community. The wind came up in the afternoon and forced us to stow the awnings and chairs, and then Adam turned around the C so that he could dump the tanks, and suddenly the social hub of our Bahia Kino universe was gone. That is the way it always goes, and I’m used to it by now, but sometimes I feel the pang of loss when we tear down the set and move on.

We filled the day with little things of no account, just because we could. Adam made egg breakfast for all, and we picked up two 5-gallon bottles of water to replenish our tank. We took a drive around some of the dirt back roads of Kino, and looked up a house that belongs to a friend of ours. The ladies collected some more shells, and Adam and I took a bike ride around town. It was the laziest time we have had in months.

We’ve had our share of local visitors today. This morning some young mothers and their children showed up with carved wood figurines made of ironwood. The Seri Indians of this area were well known for their ironwood carvings. I bought a simple owl carving for 20 pesos as a souvenir — a rare moment for me since I don’t usually collect souvenirs. In the mid-day we had our usual visit from the lady who collects aluminum cans, and in the afternoon a fisherman showed up with a kilo of fresh fish which Eleanor bought for 40 pesos.

Because we want to get an early start tomorrow, we paid for our campsite this afternoon. When we arrived the campground manager was happy to let us set up and stay without even a hint of interest in collecting our money up front, a huge departure from US practices. It was also refreshing not to be handed a four-page brochure full of rules and regulations. I gladly paid 720 pesos for our four-night stay and the privilege of being completely left alone by the management. I can recommend the Islandia RV Park in Bahia Kino (but be sure not to arrive during Spring Break).

By late afternoon it was feeling very much like siesta time, so I got a nap. (I’ve scored three in a row this week, a record.) Then a walk on the beach to see for one last time the pelicans and seagulls diving into the sea to catch fish, the jellyfish washed up on the sand, the local fishermen pulling in with their boats, and the sunset coloring it all.

We may remember this trip to Mexico as the time we did absolutely nothing, but I for one will remember the laziness fondly. Soon we will be back to a frenetic pace of work and travel, much less indolent but perhaps more invigorating. We’ll also begin the eastward trek that will take about a month. Our goal is to dip our feet in the Atlantic ocean by mid-May.