Sorry for the short update yesterday! I have a few minutes to spend telling the whole story (for you unlucky enough to be following our journey!) of the last five days.

As I mentioned, we reached Mazatlan early Thursday so felt we had enough time to carry on further. Our intention was to stay in one of the NO TELL MOTELS’S which are on the outskirts of the major Mexican cities. I had heard that these were great, SAFE, and cheap places to stay while researching this trip. They are part of the Mexican culture….hotels that have the bare basics: a bed and bathroom-nothing else. The appeal to the gringos who know about them is that each room has it’s own garage which locks as you enter and you then proceed into your room. The reality is that they are meant to be places of…..how can I say it politely…hooker joints!!! The reason for the individual garages? Privacy!

In any event, they are well known to frequent travelers to Mexico and the huge appeal to the tourists is the security and cheap rates (and maybe more, but I have no personal knowledge!!)

We then found out from others we met that they are fabulous places if you are ready to settle in for the night. You are directed to your room by a security guard, given no key, and once you leave the “room” “garage” you have “checked out”. We were not interested in being locked inside, unable even to go out on foot for dinner, so we eliminated that choice. If we were stopping rather late and had plenty of picnic food to eat in the room, it may have been different!!

We did find a rather nice hotel on the outskirts of Tepic. Always, the main concern for us travelling in both the USA and Mexico was security of the car at night. The better places have guards patrolling the parking lots after dark as we had had the previous night. This place was even better! Three police vehicles with at least five policemen were parked in the lot constantly (as far as we know, all night long) because we were situated right at the point that the highway entered the city. They must have been there to chase and ticket speeders, but for us, it was like having the best security possible! So, other than the power quitting twice that night, it was a perfect place to stop.

The next morning, I was the most stressed that I had been on the entire trip, as I had been told that the route into Bucerias on Highway 200 was treacherous and very scary. I was completely expecting roads like I drove on the Canary Islands (very high, no guard rails and steep, shear drops hundreds of meters). It was a piece of cake if you have ever driven a logging road on a switchback in British Columbia!!

Other than the long line of traffic into Bucerias on a one-lane road delaying us more than we thought it would, we arrived home at noon. I do not know what is wrong with the lovely Mexican people; I guess they did not receive my email, as there were NO MARGARITAS WAITING AT OUR DOOR. No problema, we had our blender in the car and cold cervezas in the car cooler, so were able to celebrate the end of our long, long road trip with Corona road rockets! The odometer when we pulled into our driveway was exactly 4,550 km door to door!

Since then we have done a lot of cleaning and unpacking. The only shopping we’ve managed so far is for groceries and essentials that we forgot. We’ve met some of our neighbours as every day more and more people from NOTB (north of the border) are arriving.

Sunday we went for dinner with Linda, our property manager, at Claudio’s Meson Bay. It’s a fantastic, laid back restaurant right on the beach, sand floors, plastic tables and chairs, wonderful service and great food.

It’s still pretty much a construction zone around here but the changes and improvements are so much better than we expected! The mountain of dirt behind the pool and the high-tension electric lines are gone. We now have a view of the ocean from both floors, not just upstairs like we had in the spring. We also face west so have a perfect view of the sunset every night from our house. I took this picture last night.

The temperature is great. It’s currently 9am and it is 30C. Yesterday afternoon we were in the pool for at least two hours chatting with neighbours and cooling down!

We've been promised out internet connection the first week of November. I am desperate to have it connected! Going to the internet cafe is just not the same as being at home!

I'm Here and Hot but Happy!

Hola! Sorry for the long delay in updating the blog. We were on the road early Thursday morning and had Mazatlan as our evening goal. It was fabulous to finally see the road sign. It was still a long way but I have to admit that I have become quite good at ignoring the speed limit :)
As a result, we reached the city at around 2pm and I thought it was too early to stop so we decided to drive to the next town. Only problem, none of them had any motels that we could see! I was forced to keep going all the way to Tepic, the capital of the state of Nayarit. I knew there would be lots of places there and sure enough as soon as we were on the outskirts we stopped at the first place we found. It had started to rain and was getting a bit dark. The rain is common at this time of year in the late afternoon. The great thing about getting to Tepic was that we only had a three hour drive in the morning! Yippee! I almost dropped and kissed the floor when we opened the door, but this being Mexico, and having been away for more than six months, it was a wee bit dusty!! I have to run, but I will try my best to get back here to the internet cafe tomorrow and I will have more time to give a proper update. The main thing is that we are here and safe. And oh yes, the temperature is on average 30C........

We're in Mexico!!

Hola from Mexico!! We left Arizona early this morning and drove through the border. It took about 30 minutes to get to the immigration and customs crossing as first we passed through the town of Nogales, Mexico. I guess they don't bother to go through the trouble for everyone as lots of people cross just to shop and buy gas (much cheaper here). Anyway, it then took about an hour to line up, get our tourist visas and the permit to import the car into Mexico. Next, we drove to the customs lane and as the car crossed the line the light flashed "GREEN". So, thank you everyone for your good thoughts last night and today. I was finally able to relax and get on with the last stretch to Bucerias! Even though I thought we would have a hard time finding an internet connection, we found a motel on the outskirts of Navojoa which has it included! I am thrilled that I am able to stay in the real world and connect with everyone!

We've had an interesting journey so far. First the truck tire exploding in Nevada; today another truck, also carrying cement bags, lost at least 50 or so bags as he was navigating a turn. Thankfully, we were about 5 vehicles behind him so had time to slow down. All of a sudden, we saw this HUGE cloud of dust but it was actually exploded cement bags on the highway! It was like a powder bath on the freeway and for about two minutes, we really could not see where we were or where the highway was. Very scary.

Then, an hour or so later, there was a brush fire burning in the centre of the median on the highway. Huge flames, and I have no idea if anyone called the Bomberos (firemen). It was 41C outside the car at that time so someone probably threw a lit cigarette out and ignited the entire median.

On the plus side of the high temperatures, we were able to sit by the lovely pool outside our room tonight, while it was dark, and the air was as warm as could be and there was a perfect breeze blowing to keep us comfortable.

On the Border

We made it to Nogales Arizona at about 2:45 pm so will be heading over to Mexico early tomorrow morning. Not much to say other than this will probably be the last post until we arrive home in Bucerias. I doubt I will find internet access in the no tell motels! We'll have an early night and get all our papers together for the immigration folks. Wish us luck! We don't want to get the "red light" at customs or they will tear the car apart!!! So everyone, tonight, think "GREEN"!!

On the Road Again

Wow, have we traveled over the past two days. Yesterday morning we were on the road by 8 am and drove for 10 1/2 hours. We went into California and crossed the mountain pass to Mount Shasta, then headed east across the entire state. It was pretty with lots of pine trees and plenty of forests. We finally hit Reno on the Nevada border and decided to keep going east to Ely on the Utah border because that's about as far east as we needed to go. It went on forever.

The roads were fabulous even though they were only two lanes- one in each direction- but there was so little traffic. Now I know why Nevada was used as a testing place for the U.S. military. It is so completely desolate and barren. The mountains in the background were beautiful and the scenery magnificent but oh so desolate. We hardly saw any other vehicles at all EXCEPT - one of the few trucks to pass us was carrying a load of cement bags on an open flatbed. He was about 200 meters ahead of us when there was a huge bang!!!! as one of his tires exploded and fell apart on the highway. I guess this is one of the reasons why you are advised to keep so many meters away from the vehicle in front of you. We were just able to swerve enough to avoid the debris hitting us. Whew, a real close call, as we were traveling at 140 km at the time. These roads are amazing and so much faster than the interstates!!

The drive to Ely was further than we anticipated as we had to keep going even though it was dark. There was literally no where else to stop! We finally made it to a motel and I completely crashed after having a bite to eat.

This morning we left around 9 am and continued on more remote roads south. It was a relief to see Las Vegas at first, then a stress as we negotiated through the two interstates to get on to the road southeast to Phoenix. Thank you GPS I love you! Gail and I would have killed each other trying to figure out how to make the turns!!

Once we left Las Vegas (yes I told Gail we should have been playing Sheryl Crowe's "Leaving Las Vegas") we were treated to the most amazing views of Lake Mead. It was spectacular! Beautiful blue water with the gorgeous red mountains of Arizona in the background.

We had no idea that the route towards Phoenix took us directly past the Hoover Dam. It was like driving past Niagara Falls in summer. There were hundreds and hundreds of tourists and parked cars taking tours of the dam. We didn't want to take the time to stop but I want to on the way home next spring! From what I saw from the road it looks like a fascinating tour.

Once again, we were on a great secondary road through Arizona this time, although even better as it was four lanes and so easy to pass. Traveling again at 120- 130 km we reached the town of Kingman at about 3pm. I really wanted to carry on to the interstate to Phoenix but my leg started to cramp and Gail is not comfortable driving on the freeways. So here we are....in the middle of the desert....temperature on average today 30C and having an early night. Oh, as we stopped to find a place to stay a wasp flew into the passenger window and onto Gail's back and as she swatted at it, she was stung on the arm. The first one in her entire life, she says. Oh well, at least I was able to pick the stinger out of her arm. She is fine now, just nursing it with a cold beer!

We hope to reach the border town of Nogales tomorrow, but if we have to stop an extra night we will in Tuscon.

Just watching the sun set as I type over the mountains outside the motel window. The sky is completely red and pretty as can be.

No pictures as we did not take time to stop anywhere along the route (other than gas stations- and you all know what they look like!)

Hi from Medford Oregon!

We were on the 10:30 am sailing of the Coho yesterday to Port Angeles. It was a lovely morning in Victoria and we had a great last view of Victoria. The colours of the trees and the Virginia Creeper ivy on the Empress were perfect. It was a great send off! The drive to Tacoma was easy and the weather perfect.

We had a fabulous time with Robin and Sergio last night. Serge is an old car aficionado and brought our his baby blue Mercury Marauder to take us to Spuds (their local pub/bar) to meet all their buddies. Great beer, pizza, friends and fun. Every afternoon between 4-6 is happy hour where drinks are 3 for the price of 2 and free thin crust pizza! We finally made it home and Robin made great roast beef sandwiches for dinner. Their home is old and filled with antiques, we loved it. This morning we were up early, had breakfast and were on the road by 9:15. Last night Serge convinced us to go south on I-5 rather than east as we had planned. He told us it would be a much faster drive so here we are in Medford Oregon, just at the California border, instead of east in Tri Cities Oregon. I think tomorrow we will head east once we reach Mount Shasta, California towards Reno and then continue south from there. The drive today was not as hard as we had anticipated and I just LOVE my GPS. How I ever got anywhere in the past without one is beyond me.

Packed and Ready To Go!

I never thought it would happen. I managed to get ALMOST everything I wanted in the car. Boy oh boy is it tight. Remember the beer closet on the Carol Burnett show? Well, I am afraid to open the trunk or the back door because everything just might pop out exactly like that! I just need to pray that the custom officials in Washington and again in Mexico do not want to go through everything. It's like a jig saw puzzle. I will never get it all packed in again. So, everyone, keep your fingers crossed for us!

We are booked on the Port Angeles ferry at 10:30am tomorrow. We'll be staying with our friends Robin and Sergio in Tacoma Washington tomorrow night. They are our next door neighbors in Bucerias and will be flying down in November. In the meantime, Robin thinks that she can send a stained glass painting with us!! I'll let you know if that happens. We have our GPS all programed and our Trip Tik from BCAA ready to take us on our long journey south.

Some of you have mentioned that you have been unable to leave comments. I've changed the settings so hopefully it will work now. Try again! Also, remember that you can see larger images by clicking on the photos I have posted.

Hasta la próxima vez, Adios!!!

Less than two weeks till we hit the road!

I promised everyone that I would do another blog detailing our trip to Mexico. This year is the most exciting of our trips south because we are going to Bucerias (just about 20 minutes north of the Puerto Vallarta airport) to move into our new townhouse for the winter. This will be a real working vacation while we deal with the Mexican developer, the workers, buying furniture, having basic things like mirrors and light fixtures installed and generally learning that in Mexico everything is MANANA (meaning tomorrow)! This will be a real test for me- the quintessential A type personality. I know, I know, I need to leave my expectations of excellence and promptness behind me. Who knows, maybe I can actually learn how to relax and enjoy the good life I am so fortunate to have! The photo is of the beach we access by walking less than 10 minutes. The Sierra Madre mountains are in the background.

In the meantime, it is typical Karen time. I need to clean the house from top to bottom; do an entire fall's worth of Victoria gardening in just 11 more (sure to be rainy) days (while working full time for 6 of them); pack the car with as much stuff as I can possibly fit in there; visit and say goodbye for the winter to friends (for four of the remaining nights); loose 20 lbs; stress about the 7-8 day drive to Mexico (very important to stress otherwise we will not get there safe and sound); limit the amount of clothes Gail thinks she needs for 6 months and I have to fit in the car (after all, there is the beach and the pool, come on!); try to figure out which Christmas things I absolutely have to have Carol and Shannon pack when they visit next month (all of them? they are like my children, how can I choose?); eat everything remaining in the fridge and freezer before we leave for six months; did I mention, "loose 20 lbs"?; have the car tuned up, tires properly inflated, kill switch installed, GPS programed, travel/medical insurance purchased; ohmygod, I need to have a shot of tequila to stop my brain from overloading.

It was much simpler when we drove across Canada in the late 70's. The only important things then were taking our monster stereo speakers with us and getting through Saskatchewan during the beer strike. The mouse in the car was a bonus that we do not want to revisit.

OK then, this is the first post. I will update the blog before we leave and as often as I can find internet access along the route. I would really love to hear from you either through the comment section on the blog or via email, which as you all should know is kgalway@shaw.ca

By the way, if you want to leave a comment, just click on the "comment"link at the bottom of the post. You do not need to join, you can leave a comment as a guest.