Hello from Oregon, Friends!
Looks like Ben isn't going to get around to writing one of these, and I have some time today, so I'll try to catch you up on what we've done so far this summer.
We had a good trip up, other than a cop in Tecate trying to give us a "made up" ticket. He said we left rubber on the road (our car trailer brakes were catching on one side when we stopped), and that was illegal in Mexico (!?!). He told us to pay him the fine, or go with him to the police station to pay it. He made sure we had the pesos, and told us to follow him. He took our registration and Ben's license, and we followed him in slow traffic about 50', when one of the cops came back to our car and said "we have an emergency, you're free to go. Here are your papers!" Basically, they knew that if we got to the station, their trumped up charge wouldn't pass muster, so they gave up on the mordida (bribe money) this time.
Oh! And looking back at our pictures, I remember that we got stuck for a bit in a tight corner in a detour in San Ignacio. No warning, but the main street that goes in front of the Cathedral above was blocked off. They were evidently paving the street around the plaza there. So we were directed by arrows to follow city streets around the back side of the plaza. The nasty corner was a narrow street with stone walls on both sides, and tighter than 90 degrees. Ugh. It took me and 3 or 4 Mexicans directing Ben back and forth until we could get through that corner with our truck and car trailer. Then we needed directions to the hotel after that! We got there, and looked at Google maps. We figured we'd have to go back through that skinny corner to get out of town! Ugh. However, when Ben took our first suitcases out to the truck the next morning, a Mexican man told him "you are too long, senor. You need to go out another way, and I'll show you". Thank goodness! The "other way" was through the back wall of the hotel where we were staying. It went through a palm forest right out to the main road out to the highway! Too bad we didn't know about that when we arrived the day before!
Sorry the pic is dark. The sun wasn't quite up yet, and this area had been burned recently.
The truck and the Roadster got VERY dirty going through construction areas and some rain showers while we were still in Mexico. This picture was at a rest stop on Hwy 395, with the Sierra Nevada Mountains behind.
Anyhow, we made it to Ken and Bea's, got the rigs both washed (had to do the Model A twice to get all the road grime off!)
Ben drove the Roadster into Sisters for the 4th of July Fly-in / Car Show that was being held there, and burned up the generator! After much detective work and trying this and that, he and our Model A savvy friend Mike figured out the problem and fixed it. It is running much better now! We hauled it over to Eugene, and had our friend Jim Carmickle (the expert) pin-stripe it for us. He does beautiful work!
Then Rebecca, Tim and kids came to Oregon! It was so great to see them. We missed them last summer, what with our crazy schedule last year, and the fact that they didn't make it to Oregon then either. It was a shorter trip than they'd originally planned, because Rebecca needed to get back to Chicago for some surgery. But while they were here, they got to ride in the Model A, play with the dogs, play in Tom and Karan's sand pile, and DRIVE farm equipment (cousin Tom ran the gas and brake pedals)! Pretty exciting stuff.
On August 12, our granddaughter Olivia celebrated her 1st birthday! She is a happy little girl, and the hair I see on her pretty head looks red to me!
Looks like Ben isn't going to get around to writing one of these, and I have some time today, so I'll try to catch you up on what we've done so far this summer.
We had a good trip up, other than a cop in Tecate trying to give us a "made up" ticket. He said we left rubber on the road (our car trailer brakes were catching on one side when we stopped), and that was illegal in Mexico (!?!). He told us to pay him the fine, or go with him to the police station to pay it. He made sure we had the pesos, and told us to follow him. He took our registration and Ben's license, and we followed him in slow traffic about 50', when one of the cops came back to our car and said "we have an emergency, you're free to go. Here are your papers!" Basically, they knew that if we got to the station, their trumped up charge wouldn't pass muster, so they gave up on the mordida (bribe money) this time.
Oh! And looking back at our pictures, I remember that we got stuck for a bit in a tight corner in a detour in San Ignacio. No warning, but the main street that goes in front of the Cathedral above was blocked off. They were evidently paving the street around the plaza there. So we were directed by arrows to follow city streets around the back side of the plaza. The nasty corner was a narrow street with stone walls on both sides, and tighter than 90 degrees. Ugh. It took me and 3 or 4 Mexicans directing Ben back and forth until we could get through that corner with our truck and car trailer. Then we needed directions to the hotel after that! We got there, and looked at Google maps. We figured we'd have to go back through that skinny corner to get out of town! Ugh. However, when Ben took our first suitcases out to the truck the next morning, a Mexican man told him "you are too long, senor. You need to go out another way, and I'll show you". Thank goodness! The "other way" was through the back wall of the hotel where we were staying. It went through a palm forest right out to the main road out to the highway! Too bad we didn't know about that when we arrived the day before!
Sorry the pic is dark. The sun wasn't quite up yet, and this area had been burned recently.
The truck and the Roadster got VERY dirty going through construction areas and some rain showers while we were still in Mexico. This picture was at a rest stop on Hwy 395, with the Sierra Nevada Mountains behind.
Anyhow, we made it to Ken and Bea's, got the rigs both washed (had to do the Model A twice to get all the road grime off!)
Ben drove the Roadster into Sisters for the 4th of July Fly-in / Car Show that was being held there, and burned up the generator! After much detective work and trying this and that, he and our Model A savvy friend Mike figured out the problem and fixed it. It is running much better now! We hauled it over to Eugene, and had our friend Jim Carmickle (the expert) pin-stripe it for us. He does beautiful work!Then Rebecca, Tim and kids came to Oregon! It was so great to see them. We missed them last summer, what with our crazy schedule last year, and the fact that they didn't make it to Oregon then either. It was a shorter trip than they'd originally planned, because Rebecca needed to get back to Chicago for some surgery. But while they were here, they got to ride in the Model A, play with the dogs, play in Tom and Karan's sand pile, and DRIVE farm equipment (cousin Tom ran the gas and brake pedals)! Pretty exciting stuff.
When they went back to Chicago, I went with them, and helped take care of the kids and their house while Rebecca had surgery and was recovering. Phew! It pretty much wore this Grandma out! But we had some great times. I took them to the local park, to a nearby thrift store where they spent their allowance money, to the library; we went to piano lessons, kid's club meetings, church, and out for pizza. Of course, Tim drove us as needed, but we did a lot of walking to and from. Then there was laundry and dishes and cooking and cleaning. I flew back to Oregon on the 7th. While I was gone, Ben visited friends in Salem and got the Model A back to Bend. (Can't pull the house trailer and car trailer in one trip!)
On August 12, our granddaughter Olivia celebrated her 1st birthday! She is a happy little girl, and the hair I see on her pretty head looks red to me!
We've got the rest of the summer pretty fully booked; can't hardly believe our summer is almost half over. We haven't even been out camping yet, but plan to this weekend, and most of September we plan to do more camping ....somewhere!
I've created a July/August 2019 picture album with more photos. Help yourself to a peek!
Your friends,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey
