Archive for April, 2008
April 3, 2008 at 7:50 pm · Filed under Travel / lifestyle musings
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.
April 2, 2008 at 9:13 pm · Filed under Places to go
I woke up this morning knowing that yesterday’s long walk on the beach without sunscreen was a terrible mistake. The tops of my feet are burned, as is my neck, and for half the day I couldn’t turn my head to the right without risking a spasm. It was a real temptation to spend the day in bed reading a book (currently Tom Miller’s “Trading With The Enemy,” a book about Cuba) but I couldn’t find a comfortable position so I ended up standing, and if I was going to stand up I might as well get dressed and face the world. Plus, Adam and Susan were making pancakes on the griddle of their Weber Baby Q.
To conserve the water in our fresh water tanks for doing dishes and washing vegetables, we are showering in the campground showers nearby. This campground has two sets of showers, one modern and spotless, and another set in a concrete row that seem as original to this 50-year-old business. We use the old ones, because they are close and we like the creaky rusticity of them. Water dribbles out the showerhead without much pressure, and the showers themselves are simply concrete rooms with openings at face height for ventilation. Anyone passing by could easily look in, but there’s no one here to be a voyeur. The floors are clean and the water is hot, and that’s more than I can say for many US-based campgrounds.
Communications have been much better than I expected. I hadn’t considered the wide availability of wi-fi at Mexican campgrounds. With wi-fi, I was able to use Instant Messaging to talk to friends and family. Adam pointed out that I could also use Skype on the laptop to make phone calls, and after setting up my Skype account appropriately I made five calls back to the US for about 50 cents. With email, IM, and Skype, I’m beginning to see that the cellular phone I set up is probably not going to get used at all on this trip. I’ll keep it for emergencies.
Our day consisted of so little that I am hesitant to even mention it. We walked old Kino and revisited the bakery. We collected seashells on the beach (great shelling here — I started a collection of pink conch shells). We had communal dinner under the awning again. We read books, and talked a lot. I slathered aloe on my feet and took Tylenol. Except for those last two items, it was a great day. We are only a short step away from becoming complete beach bums.
Tomorrow David and Ari and little William will head back home to California. The rest of us are going to leave on Friday. We’ve completely abandoned the idea of heading further south to San Carlos or Alamos, since those destinations would require 100-200 miles more driving. Those towns will have to wait for our next trip.
We will come to Mexico again. The people have been universally friendly, kind, and helpful. The camping has been superb. The fresh food has been exciting and inexpensive. We’ve learned things and gained confidence. I can see a longer trip in our future, because there is much more that I want to explore.
But there is no need to dwell on our departure at this point. We have an agenda of nothing much to do, and one more day to do it in. We will spend one more day savoring the freedom of that, and then think about what’s coming up next.
April 1, 2008 at 8:34 pm · Filed under Places to go
We have begun to enter vacation mode. Although we are still loosely connected to the rest of the world via cell phones and Internet, we are all trying to ignore that and succumb to the illusion that we are far far away from all concerns of our working worlds. It’s pretty easy to do, with the palmettos around us swaying in the sea breeze and nothing on the horizon but green sea water and craggy purple mountains. There is “nothing to do here” and for me that’s fine.
This morning I woke up with no plans other than to take a long walk on the beach, which I did with Adam. We walked barefoot on the sand for about three miles, north from old Kino to Kino Nuevo, and back again. About halfway up the beach, we met with the rest of the crew, who had driven up and were playing by the water with a public cabana as their base of operations.
This beach is very good for shelling. Whelks, scallops, clams, cockles and many others are easily found in excellent condition (unbroken). I have a feeling we will be going back to Arizona with a jar full of the best specimens.
I forgot to put on sunscreen before the long walk and got a good burn on my neck, feet, and lower arms. When I get a sunburn I always feel completely drained, which was a good excuse for a nap in the Airstream while the others hung out in the central patio we’ve set up.
The patio has become the center of our little encampment. We eat all our meals there, talk, read, and wear funny hats. It’s like a social club, but with more sand. Each night the grills come out and we make a communal meal (usually several different things). Tonight Eleanor made a variety of little thin-crust pizzas, Ari cooked snap peas and rice, and Susan & Adam grilled up some marinated tofu with peanut sauce.
For hours each day the kids circle the Airstreams as they play complex made-up games, and occasionally drop in for a quick bite before disappearing again. A few friendly dogs keep visiting, looking mournfully and patiently for food scraps that they never get. Then as the sun comes down the temperature drops into the upper 60s, and at dusk it’s time for a sweatshirt. (With the Sea of Cortez here, it’s much milder weather than a few miles inland.)
This sort of relaxation leads to appreciation of very simple pleasures. The ambitions discussed this evening were along the lines of, “Let’s go back to the bakery tomorrow,” and “I want to play in the water again.” I am thinking of a bike ride around town at some point, and perhaps some writing if I feel inspired, but otherwise this is a chance to take it easy for a few days. Our adventures may be limited in excitement but exactly what we need to re-energize for work that lies ahead.
Our location: 28 °49’22.67″N, 111 °56’42.96″W (plug these coordinates into Google Earth if you want to see where we are).
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