Pic-of-the-Month for May 2019

May 14, 2019

Hola Amigos!

Hey!  I'm early this month, but so much has happened so far this month, I may even get around to doing another one later on (maybe not!)  Anyhow, this one has lots of "car" stuff.  Oh...and Happy Birthday today to my sister Shelley!  

We had friends visit!  Our Cessna flying friend, John Hirons and his friend Sue Crosby, showed up in early May at our casa.  Actually, we met them in La Paz first.  They landed at the airport there, and we met them for brunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Maria California. We happened to be in town to pick up our 1930 Model A Roadster from Majalca Body Shop where they were doing final paint touch up and polish before the car show.  Then, Ben and I drove it over to the La Paz Ford dealership so they could display it for the week before the car show (and we didn't have to haul it home until the show was over).  Here we are entering the show room floor! 

And here we are inside.  All work stopped as we brought it in and set it up!  It was lots of fun seeing Ford employees check it out.  



Later that week, Ben hauled in the '28 Ford/Martin-Parry Woody and parked it next to the Roadster.  Pretty cool!

Amidst all that excitement, I had another birthday while John and Sue were here to help me celebrate, and we did a tour out to Cabo Pulmo and Los Frailes so John could check out some of the runways down that way where he has landed in the past.  We also posed for a picture by one of the huge cactus in the area.

This last weekend was the car show in La Paz, and we hauled the '29 pickup up there on Saturday morning.  With help from our friends Debi and Sandy, the guys got the Woody and Roadster out of the Ford showroom and drove them to the park where the show is held in downtown.  Ben had given Sandy some driving lessons with the Woody earlier in the week.  He was a bit nervous about driving in La Paz traffic, but did a great job!  So, we got our pickup over there a bit later, and had all three of our Model A's lined up for the evening parade!  What fun!  Ben led the parade in the '30 Roadster (after the police car and the pickup pulling a trailer with the Quaker State Girls and the music system playing LOUD music), followed by Sandy and Debi in the '28 Woody, and I followed in the '29 pickup with our friend Rosy (she and her husband Hector Manuel put on the show).  We were followed by about 20 other classic cars and trucks.  Lots of people in town and everyone was thrilled to be waved and/or tooted at!  And we never got out of first gear.  In fact, my foot was rarely off of the clutch!  Ben says these slow parade speeds are really hard on the clutch, but when the lead police car goes 5mph, there's not much you can do about it!  At least I didn't have to worry about double clutching...we never got out of 1st gear!  Barely got INTO 1st gear!

We managed to get all three cars back to our hotel parking "space" (behind automatic opening doors...very secure since we had the controller and the only access was through those doors). 

The next day, Sandy and Debi showed up right on time, and we each drove our assigned vehicles back down to the car show area.  We found out at that time there was a conflict of interests; Manuel had gotten a permit to use the park that day for the show, but it is a skate board park, and someone had made arrangements for a big skate board show and a bunch of live bands to play their music until who knows when!!?!  So, Manuel "punted" and placed the oldest cars (including all three of ours) across the street in a primo spot right by the bay.  The rest he squeezed in on the one block area, and a bit of Applebee's parking lot.  Someone set up a shade tent for us on the other side, and a nice breeze blew over there most of the day.  It was lovely!  This was first thing in the morning;  Ben got the red carpet treatment for his car.  Several people pointed out that I managed to get the statue in the rumble seat!  Pretty clever on my part (I just clicked the shutter...didn't realize it was in the rumble seat until someone else pointed it out!)   

Edgar Majalca, who owns the shop where we had it painted and body work done, set up a tent over it, and proceeded to wax and polish it....again!  He and several of his crew also dusted and polished the other cars over there.  He was very proud of that car, and I think he'll get a lot of business because of it.   (He had several cute girls passing out business cards and decals!)  

That evening, when the music at the Skate Board park was extra loud, Manuel started his presentations.  We won several prizes; one for the Woody because it's so rare, and one for the Roadster it being 89 years old and restored.  Then, surprise, surprise, we won top prize for the best vehicle for the '30 Roadster!  We were amazed, because there were some really cool cars and trucks there that have been lovingly restored  (see pictures in my 2019 May album)  but we weren't going to argue!  We were happy, and it was nice frosting on the cake of a two year intensive restoration project.  Now, I'm going to start driving it!  

We brought the Roadster home on Monday, and Ben is in La Paz today and tomorrow getting the other two.  Poco a poco they'll all be back in our garage, the Purkey Model A Museum! And now, maybe Ben will have time to do other projects, although he did mention to me yesterday that he'd like to upgrade the steering and transmission on the Roadster.  Sigh....
  
I have finally started on a new baby quilt project.  I have had some pretty flannels that I couldn't figure out how to use.  In this quilt, I'm combining them with regular 100% cottons to make this colorful pattern.  I'm also going to back it with the flannel.  I think it will turn out quite nice.  Here's what it looks like so far, and I believe I'm only going to add one more row.  Blue and green should be good for a little boy!  FYI, this is what they call a "Charm" quilt, one made with scraps, and all pieces exactly the same.  This particular pattern is named "Tumbler".  These strips are not sewn together yet at the bottom of the picture.  I promise it will be lined up nicely when it's done if you're noticing that it's not!

Our Jeep is working well now, and we've been taking it down the beach to the Round Bar at Rancho Buena Vista several evenings a week, and using it around town.  We also plan to do longer trips in it, as soon as Ben is done hauling Model A's hither and yon.  We saw the "Fuller Brush" Man's truck on the beach yesterday evening.  They were enjoying doing a little late afternoon fishing after a hard day's work.  I didn't see any fishing poles for sale on display, but they might be hidden in there somewhere!

Again, don't forget to look at our 2019 May photo album to see even more car pictures, and maybe a few grandkid pics.  😏😉

We're looking forward to Ben's brother John arriving next week for a nice long stay.  He made his reservations to help us drive cars in the parade, then the date of the show was changed, so we'll have to have a parade in downtown Los Barriles for him!  He says Sandy STOLE his right to drive in the parade in La Paz.  

We are here until late June, so if you want to come visit during some of the nicest, quietest time here, come on down!  

Hasta la proxima vez,
Tus amigos in Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Month for April, 2019

Hola Amigos,

Almost another month has passed since my last letter, so I felt it was time to catch up!  Hope you all had a wonderful Easter to celebrate the fact that Jesus is Risen!  

The flower is from our Psuedobombax Elipticum tree (or, easier to remember "Shaving Brush Tree".)  Blooms are hand size!  They last one day and fall off.  

During the Easter Holiday long weekend, the neighborhood was jumping with about a zillion extra campers on the beach, who regularly drove by our house on their way to or from the beach.  It is amazing how many tents and cars and campfires and extra canopies and picnic stuff can be put on the beach, and campers were stretched for miles each way from us.  It was so full, Zoey and I avoided the beach most of the week (I can't trust her to not eat chicken bones and/or other "treats" from the beach!)  There were organized games like volleyball, loud music that goes all night, and gallons of beer drunk!  It is the favorite time of year for Mexicans to vacation on the beach.  Everyone gets Easter time off (it seems) and the weather is not too hot and not too cold or windy.  It didn't even rain this year!  Here's the scene on the beach just over 1/2 mile from our casa.    

Zoey and I are continuing to walk 6 days a week.  Since I started keeping track with an App on my phone in January, we've walked over 200 miles!  The new tennis shoes I bought for hiking are already starting to wear in places... I guess I'm a bit rougher on them and should really have some hiking shoes...something else to look for this summer in Oregon.  

For the first time in YEARS, I took an art class offered here locally.  This one was Watercolors, and I had a grand time.  The instructor, a Mexican named Jose Herrera Gallegos from Oaxaca, is a renown artist, and recently won prizes for his work in Argentina.  I've never really done watercolors, so was pleased with the results (after good instruction and some hands-on help from Jose!)  My favorite piece of the week that I did was on day 4, when we were to do an animal.  I chose Zoey, and this is what I came up with...

I had so much fun doing this, that I've ordered art supplies (I had nothing) and I'm hoping they'll arrive, along with our friends John H and Sue, next week.  He's flying his own plane, so is on his own schedule!  We'll know they're here when he flies by or gives us a call, and we'll go pick them up wherever they land (usually Punta Pescadero, the closest paved runway).  

Ben has made great progress with the Model A and the Jeep.  The Jeep now has roll bars AND a cover.  Ben's project today is painting the roll bars (he tried to price the cost of powder-coating, but didn't get far.)  He's pretty good with a can of spray paint, and it's almost done.  It went a lot faster than he thought.  The sun was getting hot enough that he moved the trailer into the carport to finish the job!  It does make a nice painting platform up off the dirt!  Anyhow, the bars should quit rusting now, and look very nice.  

On the Model A soft top, we added the valance that we forgot the first time around!  Ben had to pull a bunch of staples, remove the "hide-em" welt, put on the valance, and then put on a new strip of "hide-em" welt.  It looks very nice.  We're still not sure what the valance is for, other than to look nice.  That job is done now, so the car is "original"!  By the way, the air-driven staple gun Ben bought was a godsend for this project!  We couldn't even imagine trying to hammer in a bunch of little upholstery nails!  This picture is before the Hide-em welt was added....you can see the row of staples at the top of the valance.

This is after the Hide-em welt.  Hopefully, later this week, Ben will take this car into the body shop that did the paint and body work last year.  They promised to go over it with a magnifying glass and repair any dents and scratches caused by putting it together, and also repair some orange peel.  It should be gorgeous!  Then, there is a car show in May where it will have its debut!  Should be fun.  

Our garden is mostly finished.  I harvested all our corn and froze it.  We had some for Easter dinner and it was delicious.  There are still a few beans producing, but they're getting tired!  (Or I'm getting tired...six of one, half a dozen of the other!!)  The remains of the crops go across the fence for the cows and burros...the landscape is quite dry right now so I know they appreciate the extra.  Oh, and just as I finished this, a burro family came by, so we fed them some of our old corn stalks.  Included in this group, the newest baby!  So cute!!  This one even tried eating some of the corn, even though it's only days old.  

We have some company coming next week, and Ben's brother John will be coming in late May.  It's a beautiful time of year here right now, and we don't leave until late June.  Come on down and check it out!

Oh yes...I do have an April 2019 photo album with a few more pics.  Check out those Grandkids (and burros!).  I'll get to see 3 of the grandkids this summer in Oregon.  😉

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos de Baja

Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Month for March, 2019

Hola Amigos,

Well, I did it again!  Procrastinated until the end of the month, so you get another "Pic-of-the-Month".  Why not?  If you really want to find out what's happening with us, give us a call or come visit!  Our US phone works fine down here.

We have had some fun in March.  My good friend Jill (whom I've know just about forever...we met at church camp when we were 12) came down for 10 days.  She was, and probably still is, recovering from Valley Fever.  The infection had gone into her joints, so she was pretty sore in the knees and ankles.  So, first thing I did was take her for a hike!  The warm weather seemed to make a difference, and she said she was feeling somewhat better and had less pain in her joints.  We did do several hikes while she was here, and she even made it to the top of the Flag Monument one day!  (Ben dropped her off at the bottom of the hill; I met them after hiking just over a mile from our house.  And no, Ben didn't go with us!) 

 
Also while Jill was here, we went for a real ride in the Jeep!! If was hot, dusty and bumpy (stiff springs and a lot of bumps in the arroyo), but still fun.  We went up the Buenas Aires arroyo where there is a small water fall at the end.  Very refreshing after all that dust!

It is still running water for quite a ways (a 1/2 mile past the falls, maybe?) We haven't been here in quite a while; probably since we still had our old blue truck.  We are looking forward to many more trips like this even farther afield.  

This week, we had a roll cage built for the Jeep, and we're getting a few more ideas as we talk to Armando, the man who owns one of the hardware stores here in town, and is also a race car driver.  (No, I'm not letting Ben race this thing!)  It's going back to Armando's shop on Wednesday to get a few more modifications.  

The 1930 Model A is coming along nicely.  Our marriage survived the building of the soft convertible top.  We didn't exactly follow directions, but did mostly, and it is looking very nice.  We even got most of the wrinkles out of the top, and were also able to fold the top down.  That's not the easiest process in the repertoire of "the way things work on Model A's".  It took two of us to maneuver everything, and fold bars the right way, but we got it done.  It's probably not something we'll do real often.  Below it is sitting out in the sunshine so the fabric would soften, and we could maybe stretch it tighter.  It worked!  Pardon the dust...it has been sitting in the shop for quite a while with no cover and it does get dirty in there.  Even the Model A's under covers get some dust.  The picture on the right shows it with the top folded down.  It has a cover that goes over that to keep it from flopping around in the wind.

Ben even got the rumble seat cushions in, and that's a practice in maneuverability! Poor Ben was practically standing on his head in there to get the seat back screwed down at the bottom of the seat.  Believe us, that is NOT an easy seat to get in and out of!  Cute, but not real practical, unless you're a teenager!  We will be taking it to the body man in La Paz for some touch up work and to fix it so we can close the driver side door.  The latch doesn't line up correctly.  That's why we have a rope tying it to the other door right now.  

It's too bad we didn't get this Model A done in time for the Spring car show last weekend in La Paz, but there is one more in May, and it will be ready then!  We took the 1928 Martin Parry woody, and it was popular as always.  Ben even won a few prizes.  See our 2019 March album for more pictures of the car show.  

Our garden is doing very well.  The corn crop is tall, and is putting on corn cobs now.  The bees are really working the tassels, so I'm hoping for lots of nice big full ears.  (And we've managed to keep Sam and Zoey out since they like to knock down corn stalks and eat the corn!)  The beans are doing well, too.  I've picked enough to be able to can 15 1.5 pint jars.  Plus we have eaten a lot... I love fresh green beans.  

Zoey still loves to go for our daily walks.  If we go to the Flag Monument and back, it's at least 3 miles, sometimes more depending on the route.  I'm enjoying meeting various people from the neighborhood on my walks; we see the same people (and dogs!) very often.  Zoey is excellent off leash.  She stays right next to me 98% of the time.  Sometimes she has to spend more time smelling some things, but then she catches right up.  She also leans toward going in the direction of the shorter distance, hoping I'll go that way, but is always willing to follow me wherever I go.  Many people comment on her short little legs going so far, and they're really surprised when I tell them she wasn't walking at all after her accident 3 years ago in April.  She doesn't walk in the normal manner, but she does very well and keeps up a nice pace.  Sam, our 12 year old dog, still insists on coming about once a week.  When he does, that is our shorter distance day, and he ALWAYS has to stop and smell the roses, and ALWAYS is lagging behind, and hates going up hills!  (I always encourage him to stay home, and can usually convince him.)  

We are starting to think about summer travel plans, and we are planning on a full three months in Oregon this summer, but there is still plenty of time for you to come visit us.  My favorite months here are May and November; the weather is just about perfect, and town is clearing out so it's not so crowded driving through the narrow streets.  And there is always plenty to do and places to see!  We will probably leave here in late June, unless plans change. 

Hasta la proxima mes! 
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey  

Pic-of-the-Month for February 2019

Hola Amigos!

I have changed the title of this to "Pic-of-the-Month"!  I seem to be getting slower (maybe lazier) in my old age.  This is just one of those things that isn't high on the list of things to do.  

We have been busy with lots of visiting and socializing and also a little work here and there.  Many things are getting done...more or less!  

Of course this month there was Valentine's Day, which we celebrated with our friends Katie and Mel, who came in from the wilderness of their camp at Las Frailes.  




Earlier in the week we had visited them at their camp in the Las Frailes arroyo (about 4 miles up) for an overnighter.  They fed us well, then took us on a neat ride (using their Samurai and ATV) up various smaller arroyos off the main one.  Beautiful countryside!  We saw so many interesting plants and rocks and rock formations.  It really makes us want to get the Jeep running and get out and about more!  (See later story).  Not much water coming down this waterfall right now, but it does run other times of the year.

Here's a cute little cactus growing out of this rock wall.   



Ben, Katie and Mel at another "waterfall" that happened to be dry right now.

Do you see the face in the rock wall?  

The next week, we visited as guests of our good friends Tony and Janet for another overnight at Pueblo Bonito in Cabo San Lucas.  We ate very well (and often)!  They are staying there for some needed R&R and down time.  We always enjoy being with them.  Ben & Janet share the same birthday, so claim they are brother and sister.  I think, with all of the snow happening in central Oregon, they are very happy to be in Baja right now!

Here's the view from our room on the 5th floor.  

 This was during the afternoon, and the photo below was sunrise the next morning.  

On Sunday the 17th, we were invited to "the ranch" at Los Planes.  It is the ranch of the family of our La Paz friend Rossi Amarillas.  Her brother Alfonso still ranches there, raising cattle and renting out some ground for crops like corn or zucchini.  We were celebrating Rossi's birthday and her's and Hector Manuel's wedding anniversary.  They fed us some delicious Birria and shrimp ceviche and other tasty foods.  We took a short walk out the driveway and photographed some of the huge cactus that grow there, and met some new calves.

This is a Cardon cactus, which grows in all of the Baja Peninsula.  This one is possibly 500 years old!  

Progress report on the car restorations:  
The Jeep is getting new seats installed.  Ben and our friend Chuyito went to a junk yard in San Jose del Cabo and bought about 2 year old seats and seat belts out of a Honda.  They look like they'll be much more comfortable than the camp style seats that were in it.  However, to mount them and to get them to fit properly, some welding was involved, so the Jeep is at a shop in town getting that done.  Hopefully, it will be done on Wednesday.   I'll add a photo to the February album when that is accomplished.  The engine is running very nice, as Chuyito took it on himself to study up on the carburetor, and correct a few misplaced wires.  See a video in our February album to see it running!  (Chuyito is driving).  Ben also bought some steps so we can get in and out of it without breaking a leg!  
The '30 Roadster is coming along slowly.  Ben has spent a lot of time underneath it (again!) shimming the body to try to get the doors to fit correctly.  Since the body is not "stiff", with a roof and window frames, it's tough to get it lined up so the doors close and latch.  He's close with the passenger door, but still working on the driver's side door.  Then, this week we are going to take on the soft top roof project.  We've found and watched several "how-to" videos.  I hope our marriage will survive this project!!!  Ben did buy a nice air powered staple gun (shown in the videos) because we thought that would be a lot easier than little upholstery nails and a hammer.  There is a car show in La Paz in mid-March that we would like to take the car to.... time will tell!  

Our garden is growing!  Corn cobs are starting to develop, and if we can keep the varmits (Sam and Zoey) out of the garden, we should have some ready to eat in a week or so.  (Yes, Sam sneaked in the fenced garden when we had left the gate open and knocked down a few stalks that were thinking about developing cobs.  😦)

Here's the link to our February 2019 Album, which has more pictures and videos in it than this post.  

We have guests coming the end of this week, but we've got space for more!  If you can get to an open airport, you might want to consider coming to visit us here in Baja California Sur, where it NEVER snows!  And the weather is starting to warm up with highs in the low 80's, and the wind should start to slow down, too.

Hasta la proxima vez (who knows, maybe sometime in March!)
Tus amigos de Baja
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for January 31, 2019

Hola Amigos,

My calendar reminder said I was supposed to do this on Tuesday, but hey!  I'm retired and really don't have a schedule.  Did you miss us?

Last Sunday was our 51st wedding Anniversary; we didn't have a BIG party like last year, but it seems like we celebrated for three whole days!  On Saturday, we went to San Jose del Cabo and stayed at our favorite hotel there, The Tropicana.  We were joined by our friends Mel & Katie, and Tom and Karan (my cousins from Oregon).  Saturday was also Karan's birthday.  We went out that night to Jasmine Restaurant and had delicious food, and enjoyed their dancers.  Wow!  So many colorful outfits, and talented dancing!  We loved it!  The restaurant also gave us gifts (nice wine glasses) and provided a bottle of tequila with our picture on it.  😍😏  And desert!

 On Sunday, we came home and prepared for 11 of us for dinner; our friends Hector Manuel & Rosy were bringing Chilis en Nogales for dinner!  Another delicious meal (sorry, I didn't get pictures of it.)  Thank you, Rosy, for all your hard work, and Hector Manuel, for delivering them all the way from La Paz!  

On Monday night, we went to Rancho Buena Vista and joined the party put on by Mark Walters and his band, Skeleton Key.  Mark is part owner in Rancho BV, and a good friend of ours.  He has also been very ill this past summer with diverticulitis so it was very good to see him up and about, and playing the music he loves.  That's him on his guitar back there.  And by the way, a very nice dinner was served, too!  

Ben's auto projects are continuing.  We got the Jeep back from the auto electrician yesterday, and the wiring is beautiful.  Only problem is it still won't start (does that sound familiar?)!!   Ben is trying to figure out why it doesn't get any spark.  We did try to start it while still at the electricians, and pointed out that the fuel pump (which is rather noisy) wasn't working, so he got that going.  Poco a poco!!  

The Model A Roadster is coming together.  Ben got the doors put on, and that was a major effort (more time underneath the body adjusting things and shimming so the doors fit.)  He has started to work on putting the folding convertible top together, and he says the instructions are very difficult to understand.  He wants me to read them, too, so both of us don't understand what we're doing!  Sigh....  I think this is the most difficult one we've worked on yet, but it should be a ton of fun to drive around.  

One of the more exciting things that happened here (and we had perfectly clear  weather for it) was the full eclipse of the Super Blood Wolf Moon on January 20.  I got some amazing photos of it, but then, I took over 200 photos, so chances were pretty good that I'd get something decent!  I created a whole photo album of the best photos, but here is one at the full eclipse.  Super Blood Wolf Moon album is here.  Notice the star (or maybe it's a planet) off to the left of the moon.

Zoey and I are continuing to walk 6 days a week, and 2 to 3 of those days include a hike up to the Flag Monument.  Zoey is amazing, and is willing to go as far as needed, panting all the way (she refuses to drink water until we get home).  She is very good at staying right next to me (without a leash) when we're crossing the road, or when traffic is passing us on any of the dirt roads we hike.  She's also friendly with all the dogs we meet hiking with their people.  That was 3.34 miles round trip this morning.  And when we come home, Zoey spends much of her day hunting lizards in our wood piles!  Don't bother stacking up the wood, she just noses it apart in her hunt for critters.  

And Sam, our other dog?  He'll go on hikes maybe twice a month, if I adjust them a bit so we don't gain too much elevation, and while Zoey hunts, he naps!  

Our granddaughter had her 5th birthday, and her Mom made another beautiful birthday cake.  

She was born in Chicago 5 years ago, and I went up there to help out at that time.  I remember extremely cold weather the entire time I was there.  It was not quite as frigid as it is currently, but cold enough for someone who is used to sunshine and temps in the 70's in January and February, and no wardrobe for that kind of weather.  

For an example of "cost of Mexican life", we paid our property taxes last week.  The piece with the house, with Ben's old man 50% discount, was about $210 US.  We also paid the taxes for the first time on our neighboring lot, and got a 20% discount for paying early.  It was $9500  pesos, or just under $500 US.  Yes, believe it or not, a bare lot is more expensive, but it will be cheaper taxes after we build a structure on it with at least a bathroom and bedroom.  Too bad that won't be for a while!  (Anyone want to invest in a Baja vacation home??)  😉 

Well, January is another memory, and we're ready to start February.  If any of you are in the need to get out of the cold weather, drop us a line.  We have only a few guests planning on coming, so make your reservations soon!

January 2019 album has a few more pics.  

Hasta la proxima vez,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

  

Pic-of-the-Week for January 15, 2019

Hola Amigos,

This is the first edition for 2019, so Happy New Year from Casa Purkey, seen  from the Flag Monument a few days ago.  

This photo makes it look like its set right down in the middle of the tropical desert we have here, but it's not, really.  Just close!  And yes, I did finally hike with gimpy Zoey up to the top of the Flag Monument.  We both made it, and according to my iPhone pedometer, it was 2.8 miles round trip from my house to Rancho Buena Vista, and up to the monument and back home.  Since Zoey couldn't walk at all several years ago, she is doing fantastic.  I've found that she doesn't mind walking on the beach as long as she is far away from the water, but she will only take it for so long, then she's ready to turn around and zoom back home!  Hiking up the road to the monument didn't bother her at all!  

Below is the view to the north and Los Barriles from the monument.  

To the left is the track of my walk this morning, from our casa to Rancho Buena Vista and back.  Not fast, not far, but Zoey and I are out there getting our hearts pumping!  I'm going to have to do the Monument hike again to see if the Runkeeper app agrees with the distance my iPhone said.

Ben is making fantastic progress (finally!) on both the Jeep and the '30 Roadster.  

We got the Roadster running the other day, and it is sounding very good.  (Not a simple task...see description of getting a Model A to run below). 

 He had some help from our friend Mel two days getting the rumble seat lid to fit properly, and after much shaving of some rubber bumpers and various adjustments, it fits nicely.  A few days ago, since it's now running very well, we put the engine hood on.  It will need a minor adjustment by the body shop to fit perfectly, but it's close! (You can see where the curve of the hood doesn't fit tight by the radiator). Ben took the windshield frame and a pattern into La Paz last week to have the windshield glass cut and fit into the frame.  He also took the light bar (holds the headlights, and attaches on the front fenders) into the body shop, and they are painting it for him.  (The replacement part he bought didn't hold the headlights correctly...they were pointing up, and there was no way to adjust them.)  He's going into La Paz tomorrow to pick up those parts. 

Today, the Jeep is at the welders getting some sheet metal welded on to close up the holes previous owners cut in it for the tail lights.  Original lights just bolt on the outside.  After the welder is done, Ben is towing it over to the auto-electrician to have the wiring done.  At that point (hope, hope, hope!), it will be drive-able.  Not done, but drive-able!  Ben has made a beautiful wooden dashboard to cover up the ugly, full of holes one that was in there.  He was having an awful time trying to get a smooth finish on it, so he took it to the body shop in La Paz.  They polished it to a beautiful finish!  Now, if we can keep it looking nice and un-scratched.   He ordered new gauges for it, built a new glove box, and has the gauges installed and ready to take to the electrician.  (Good thing you can't see the back...it is really ugly!)  

Most of these tasks don't sound like much, but every one is a time consuming effort!  For example, Ben decided to put the license plate on the Jeep the other day.  Holes were in the bumper at the correct place so the license would fit perfectly.  Ben was going to crawl underneath, and I'd hold the license and put in the bolts, and he'd put on the nuts.  He got under there, and couldn't see the bolts... so he said "I'll have to take off the bumper to put this license plate on it.  Then he looked, and the trailer hitch was welded to the bumper!  Argh! Get out a cutter and cut that weld off, then unbolt the bumper, put on the license plate, then re-attach the bumper.  That 10 minute job took about an hour or more!  

Here's an example of time consuming tasks for the Roadster.  Ben wanted to try starting it, but he wanted to turn it around so the exhaust was pointed outside the garage door.  First, we had to pull the Jeep out of the way by hooking it up to one of our other trucks.  Then, we got in pushing positions, and pushed and steered the Roadster out of the garage.  When we got out and were ready to turn the steering wheel the other way to back it up (three-point turn?), Ben was turning and turning and turning the steering wheel, and the wheels weren't turning!!!  Oh no!  We managed to get it back in the garage, and Ben tried to find out what was wrong in the steering unit.  He was taking it all apart (sorry, I don't know the names of the bits and pieces), and discovered when he took off the steering wheel, it was missing a Woodruff key.  Aha!  He contacted our friend Robin who had access to those keys, and he came over a few days later to install it (of course Ben was gone that day...) and he said "Ben told me the wrong size".  So, after several more days, he was back with the correct size, and they installed it, and Ben re-connected all the steering parts.  Finally, we could then steer the car out the garage and back in so it was headed in the opposite direction.  (Don't forget, we had to move the Jeep again!)  Of course, the car didn't start on the first, or second or third try, or that first day!  The battery seemed to be very weak, and the re-built engine was stiff!  Ben switched batteries, (Model A batteries are 6-volt, by the way).  He called our friend Mike in Bend who rebuilt the engine for advice.   He tried a 12 volt battery, which helped turn the engine over much faster.  When we finally had a strong battery, and the gas line switch in the correct position, it finally started.  That was about a 1+ week task, just to start the engine!!  But it is purring now!  You can see a video of the engine running and Ben making a few minor adjustments to it in our 2019 January album.

We are just hoping when these cars are both put together and running, Ben will have some space in his shop.  This is what it looks like now!

Just a few washers and bolts, various car parts, screw drivers and wrenches and instruction books laying around!  He seems to know where most of this stuff is, though!  

We have been having some good times with cousins Tom and Karan from Oregon.  They usually spend the month of January here, staying at a nearby house they rent for the duration.  They've been coming for several years now, so know their way around, and last year for the first time, drove down from Oregon.  They picked up some hitchhiking young girls (20-ish) yesterday and hauled them all the way to Cabo Pulmo!  We've played lots of Mexican Train, gone to music concerts together, eaten out often, sat around our fire pit and told stories.  Tom went to La Paz with Ben last week when Ben needed to leave his new pickup in the body shop for minor repairs (rust from some Canadian winters before we bought it).  Tom let Ben drive Tom's truck around La Paz for their other errands that day, so that worked great.  

One of our other projects is clearing the new property next door.  We have an abundance of burning materials for our fire pit.  And we have found some desirable trees and cactus underneath all that brush!  Forty years or so ago, they used to make adobe blocks right here.  There are still stacks of them, crumpled and broken, under a layer of dirt and leaves. 

The garden is doing well.  I have planted my next crop of sweet corn and Blue Lake pole beans.  Neither are up yet, but we had a wonderful soaking rain yesterday, so I'm expecting things to pop up soon.  I've got some very healthy looking cucumber plants, tomatoes, lettuce and radishes and cilantro.  We planted some sunflower seeds for the birds' benefit, so we'll see how those do!  

Like our sweet granddaughter, we send you our love, and hope that you are healthy and enjoying this new year.

Don't forget, more photos are in our 2019_January photo album.



Hasta la proxima vez,
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey