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

Pic-of-the-Week for December 19, 2018

Hola Amigos, y Feliz Navidad!  

We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from beautiful Baja California Sur, Mexico!  

  

Those are a few photos of my meager Christmas decorations!  

Don't forget the reason for the season!  



We have no family close by this year, so we will celebrate with friends down here, and hopefully have some video phone calls with our wide spread family!  We did enjoy chatting with Rebecca and Tim the other day, making plans for our summer, but the kids were already in bed so didn't get to chat with them.  Ryan has a job in Shanghai now, but probably doesn't get the Christmas Holiday off.  Hope to see baby Olivia in video or still photos....hard to believe she is 5 months old already!  

Our "at home" projects are moving along.  The '30 Model A still hasn't been started due to shorting problems with the ignition switch and the distributor.  Ben spent a lot of time trying to figure that one out, and now, he really needs to send that unit back to the manufacturer and get it fixed....in the US!  In the meantime we've been working on upholstery and getting the seats in.  We got the front seat in, as well as some side panels behind the door and panels in the rumble seat area, when Ben decided those back panels needed to come out to put in some wood slats to stiffen the area.  So, back into the rumble seat area to unscrew multiple screws to get the things out.  Here's a 2 for 1 shot of the Model A and the Jeep out front!  



That was discouraging enough to start working on the Jeep again.  First effort to put the Jeep tail lights in and he discovers that the holes where the tail lights go are a lot bigger than the light fixtures.  Grumble, grumble!  (It had some diamond plating metal in that area previously).  Not sure what to do there!  Ahh... work on cleaning up and putting the windshield on.  (He just started that project, so not sure how long that one will last until he runs into a problem that can't be easily resolved!

Another ongoing project is moving our phone line.  When we first built our house in 2002, the phone line was to the east of us about 50 yards.  They then changed the line to follow the road that curves around our house to the west and south.  They hooked our line to a pole way to the southeast of our casa.  That line goes UNDER the road in a PVC pipe that has been exposed for about 6 months on part of the road.  I keep piling rocks up around it, and piling dirt, but it won't be long before some big old truck drives over it and cracks it, thus compromising the lines (ours, Ryan's, and our neighbor Peter's house).  So, we had a trench dug from the closest pole to our monument in front of the house.  We can do that now since we bought the neighboring lot!  It's much shorter distance, no roads go over it (other than our minor use of it to get to our new lot) and is nice and deep!  By the way, it cost $40 to have that trench dug, and a few trees pulled out, by the backhoe.  It would have taken Ben a couple weeks to dig that much, if he'd survived.  That is HARD dirt, and there was a BIG chunk of concrete that the construction workers used to bend rebar when they built our carport, directly in the middle of the trench!!  It took the backhoe a while to get it out.  You can see it sitting there to the left of Ben.

Our favorite plumber / electrician, Carlitos,  came and attached proper conduit piping to the monument, and laid the pipe in the trench for us.  We're waiting for the back hoe to come back and fill it in.  Then the Telmex guy should be here any day (hope hope hope!) to move our phone lines to our new conduit.  Picture below shows Ben working with Carlitos in the trench.  Our monument is the pink thing there on the right.  

   
The garden is doing OK.  We did have an invasion of cutworms and other nasty critters that ate the maturing lettuce, so we pulled what was left, replanted, and will try again.  The garden area on the new lot is fenced in to keep the bunnies out, and so far I've got two rows of 1" to 2" high corn, a couple tomato plants and some cucumbers planted in there as well.  My bush beans did produce, but not a lot... this was an experiment to see if I could get some beans before I plant the pole beans a bit later.  Yeah, I could, but not very many!  More compost / fertilizer / good dirt?  Who knows.  Maybe less wind would help!  

Yes, it has been windy, and the kite-boarders are loving it.  We just hope that it calms down enough in the evenings so we can go out and enjoy a fire in our little fire pit.  The ambiance is nice, and we've also got a lot of trees pruned and areas cleared on the new lot.  Ben has been using the pitchfork inherited from his Dad a lot on this project!  

We had company!  Chrys and Gary were here for a long weekend to celebrate Gary's birthday.  They had a great time and wished it could have been longer.  Sam was thrilled with Chrys, because she picked him up and held him at the table, just like Ryan does.  Chin on the table, and all is well in Sam's world!  (He doesn't get up there during meals, by the way.  Just before or after.)  Chrys also joined me on my morning walks, which was nice.  She was amazed at how fast Zoey can move on the way home!  

The big waves in this picture are due to the strong winds.  

Chrys and I found this Moray Eel on the beach the other day.  He had tried to eat a fish that was caught in a net.  He couldn't swallow it, so they both died.  

Well, on that cheery note... 

More photos have been added to the 2018 December album.  

We hope you have a lovely Christmas and a prosperous New Year.  And maybe you'll think about coming to visit us in beautiful Baja in 2019!  

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

Pic-of-the-Week for December 5, 2018

Hola Amigos,

I apologize for not writing and posting a second Pic-of-the-Week in November.  I guess we were busier than I thought with all our social obligations AND running the "Feeding the Hungry" Fashion Show.  It was a busy month, and we're hoping we can get back on some of our "important" home projects!  

We took a day trip amidst all the activity and went out to Los Frailes to visit our friends Katie and Mel at their Canyon camp.  While there, Katie spotted a Road Runner right next to their pickup and camper.  I grabbed my good camera and started taking pictures.  This guy was so calm and didn't mind having us around him, chatting quietly, clicking pictures right and left!  Pretty amazing!  I got within 5' of him.

I have a really cool video of him  here:  Road Runner video.   There are also new November pictures in our 2018-November album.

We ended our trip to the "wilderness" with dinner in La Ribera at a new restaurant there.  The owners used to run the restaurant "Trinidad" at a trailer park in La Ribera.  That place burned down several years ago, so they've started this new one and the food is delicious!  It is Providencia Restaurant Bar & Grill.  We recommend it highly!

November 20 is Mexico's Revolution Day, a very important holiday here.  Of course, we got out our Model A's and dusted them off and drove into town for the parade.  This is the one time a year I get to drive the '29 pickup, which is fine with me.  I'm not a big fan of double-clutching, and we do have way more topes (speed bumps) than most places, which involves even more shifting!  

I got the princesses in the pickup, and Ben got the "junior" royalty (three cute elementary age kids) in the '28 Woody.  

After the parade, we worked full speed ahead on the Fashion Show.  In spite of a few bumps in the road, this year's Fashion Show, which helps feed poor  families in Los Barriles, did even better this year than last year.  We had changed a lot of things; venue, dinner instead of lunch, open menu, no reserved tables, more jewelers, more clothing vendors....you name it, we changed it!  Everyone seemed to have a great time, and we're already thinking about how to make improvements for next year!  

Here are some photos taken by the professional photographer who donates his time and efforts.  Neil Howe photos.   If you look hard, you might see someone you know! (Me and Ben!)

Our last exciting event in November was a concert by Miguel de Hoyos, our favorite guitarist!  You can check out a video by him in the 2018 December album.  

Right after the Fashion Show, but in December, was this autumn's annual car show in La Paz.  Ben loaded up the 29 Pickup and we headed to La Paz.  We have fun with this, especially the parade on Saturday night.  Most Mexicans haven't seen a car that old still running.  They think they exist only in movies!  We try to beep our oo-gah horn as often as possible, especially when we see little kids!  In fact, we were asked if the horn (claxon in Spanish) worked OK by a waiter at the hotel / restaurant where we stayed!  I assured him it did.  Our hotel is only a few blocks from the venue, so we got a lot of walking done.  

The Model A was parked right in front at the show, and it attracted a lot of attention.  

Here is a popular spot for photo taking!  

In December we're looking forward to a few guests, time to work on the Model A and the Jeep, and more gardening.  My first lettuce crop was doing well, and then got eaten in just a few days by cut worms and other nasty critters.  They didn't touch the spinach.  And I have beans on my bush bean plants, and we've been enjoying some very tasty radishes.  

Hope you are all staying warm, wherever you are.  

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos in Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for November 6, 2018

Hola Amigos,

Happy election day in the US.  Hope you've voted!  And that's all I'm going to say about that.  

I am going to try to keep these short, with plenty of pictures and few words.  I do tend to get rather verbose, given a chance!

Since our last POTW (Pic-of-the-Week), we have gotten into our routine here.  Unfortunately, Ben got sick last week (stomach issues) and spent a good part of the week in bed.  He's trying to make up for it now!

Gardening:  

One of our few Hibiscus is blooming.  This one is obviously a hardy one, and likes where it's planted!  

We have been doing some clean-up work.  When it's in the shade, we work on the west side of the house hoeing out the needle grass.  It comes out easy, but most of the lot is covered with it.  Phew!  

We got a delivery of good farmyard compost yesterday from a rancher in San Bartolo.  I'm going to enlarge last years corn growing spot.  I'd hoped to put in a raised bed, but I guess not this year.  Instead, we'll invest in some good wire to fence out the critters.  I have a nice crop of Blue Lake bush beans started, and some radishes, lettuce, spinach and squash in our existing beds.  I'm hoping the tomato seeds will sprout any day now!  

Fashion Show:

We have also been spending a lot of time working on the "Feeding the Hungry" Fashion show, which Ben and I started heading up last year.  We're doing a LOT of things different this year; change of location and time of day, ticket sales, no reserved tables, no set menu... Hopefully, it will be easier for us.  The proceeds from this fashion show go to supplement the program our church here started, feeding almost 30 families in town who are the poorest of the poor.  Last year we were very successful, and we hope to continue that this year.  The show will be November 29th.

Cars and things that are supposed to run:

When Ben hasn't been sick, he's been working on the Model A Roadster.  There has been a lot of time underneath, with me on top holding the nut, or being the "gofer" to get his tools.  It was coming along nicely, when he realized he needed the doors.  Well, he didn't have them!  He called the body shop in La Paz, and they said, "No, we don't have them.  We're sure you loaded them in your red truck."  Ben looked everywhere, and they were not to be found.  They looked again in La Paz, and found them behind some BIG heavy metal.  So, they had been scratched a bit, and need to be painted again.  He's hoping to get them this weekend.

Here's that classic look of the Model A.  Many of the parts that need to be installed are in those boxes on the shelves to the left.

 Do you know how hard it is for a 70+ year old to get inside this car and drill holes for rivets and/or bolts!  Ugh!  He has it jacked up a bit so that he can more easily get under it.  

This picture shows the blue color pretty well.  The green stripe on the gas tank is a reflection of our kayak hanging above it!

Fun stuff:

Who has time?  We did take some time for some visiting with friends and shopping some sales this last weekend...and eating out.  When we get the Jeep done (who knows when?) we will take it out for rides and exploring.  It has a ways to go, but the engine runs nicely.  And I guess my morning beach walks with Zoey are fun.  I'm always finding garbage to pick up, and once in a while I find treasures, too.  Yesterday, I found a nice Craftsman screwdriver!  And I'm always picking up glass.  I have a pretty good collection.

And of course, the burros are in the barrio, and I just happened to have some carrots for them the other day.  Probably the best thing they've had to eat in a while!

Can't forget the Trick-or-Treaters!  Had quite a few this year.  Good thing Ben went shopping for candy two times when he was in La Paz.

I have started a 2018 November photo album.  I might even put captions on the pictures.  

No pictures of Olivia this time.  😞  Grandma is having withdrawal pains here!  

Hasta la proxima vez,

Tus amigos en Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for October 23, 2018

Hola Amigos!

We are back home in Baja, and enjoying the cooler (than summer temps) weather here.  We've had some cloudy skies due to Hurricane Willa, which is hitting Mazatlan south of us as I write this.  Ryan and Charlotte held down the fort for us here as baby Olivia continued to thrive.  They left this last Saturday for Los Angeles to get the babies Chinese traveling papers (a visa to enter China).  We will miss them and chances to snuggle this beautiful girl!  

Our trip was not the normal one, but was mostly uneventful, which is a good thing when you're traveling 2000 miles, with the 1000 road miles in Mexico always interesting!  

We left Bend on Sunday, October 7, and stopped at Summer Lake Lodge for breakfast.  We were pleased that they had a help yourself breakfast buffet for a decent price, so we were able to eat quickly and get back on the road.  That's a favorite place of ours to stop...seems like we travel Hwy 31 a lot in our summer travels!   I always like to stop a little further south down the road and get a couple pictures of the old schoolhouse.  It's in a gorgeous setting, and the community keeps the building up nicely.  

We made it to Minden, Nevada that afternoon, since we've found a hotel there right next to a block sized grassy park that the dogs love!  We also visited with a Baja friend of ours while there (Carlee), and practiced eating Mexican food at a restaurant within 1/2 block of our hotel.  While traveling on Sunday, I posted a few pictures on Facebook, and some friends from WAY back commented on my post that they had left that morning at 7:30 from La Pine on their way down Hwy 395!  We were just a little bit behind Jim and Gwen (I worked with Jim at Dept of Veterans' Affairs in the 80's and 90's).  We caught up with them at Topaz Lake the next morning, and had breakfast in the Casino with them there.  Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures, but it was great to visit with them.  They were on their way (earlier than usual) to attend Jim's class reunion in California, and we were on our way (later than usual) to go home.  

Highway 395 is our route of choice, and this is a beautiful time of year to travel through there, with the colors changing, and a skiff of snow on the mountains.

We crossed the border around noon on Tuesday, with no issues at all.  Of course, we weren't towing a Model A that didn't run!  (We weren't towing anything...very simple way to travel!)  I called our favorite hotel in San Quintin, and found out that there was no vacancy that night.  Oh no!  We were going to meet our friends Katie and Mel the next day in that town.  So, we punted, and called the Baja Cactus Hotel in El Rosario and had another long day.  We had to stop for road construction at Santo Tomas, but the wait wasn't too long, and there were vendors selling treats!  I bought a frozen Yaka treat.  (Google "Jackfruit")  This road construction will be a major improvement over the narrow, windy road that goes up the mountain here, as they are doing some MAJOR cuts and fills! 

The next day was supposed to be short.  We were only going about 76 miles and stop in Catavina to spend the night, and wait for Katie and Mel there.  Well....we got to Catavina, along with a whole bunch of other people involved in a Road Rally, who were all spending the night at the only hotel there (in the middle of nowhere).  So, since there was no cell service, we waited and waited for Katie and Mel to show up, because we needed to go on another 146 miles to Guerrero Negro and the next viable hotel!  They showed up at 3 in the afternoon, we quickly told them our dilemma, and they decided to go with us instead of staying in their campers at a campground just down the road (they were traveling at a slower pace than us with friends also with a camper and hauling a cargo trailer).  We were also trying to get ahead of Tropical Storm Sergio before it came across the middle of  Baja.  We made it to our hotel in GN, but no news from Katie and Mel on our cell.  That meant they were somewhere north of us, at least 20 miles, maybe further.  We hoped they were OK!  (They spent the night with their friends in the Pemex gas station lot in Jesus Maria...it was getting dark and there were cows out wandering by the road).  We finally heard from them the next morning just before we were leaving at about 7.  Thank goodness they were OK!  

That night we stayed in Loreto at the Oasis Hotel.  It wasn't Saturday night, like we'd planned originally so we could enjoy the Clam Buffet again, but it was a very comfortable place to spend our last night on the road.  We heard from Katie and Mel as they went through town just a little behind us.  They and their friends wanted to get as far as a trailer park in Constitucion, so they didn't have to go through the mountains south of Loreto in the rain (possible rock fall and/or slides are always a possibility when it rains in Baja).  We spent a quiet night in our hotel, and I heard some rain showers and wind, and there were a few palm leaves down the next morning.  

We got on the road early the next morning, and we had wind and showers off and on all the way to Ciudad Insurgentes, on the west side of Baja.  Later that day, Katie told us that where they camped the storm was extremely loud (thunder and lightening) and that they were camped in a lake!  The rain was substantial!!  

The rains this summer has made the desert here beautiful and green, and all the flowers are blooming like crazy.  We saw a lot of this yellow flower carpeting the ground!

We made it home at a decent time, greeted Ryan, Charlotte and Olivia, then went out with Katie and Mel for tacos!  (They spent that night camped at our house...we finally got together!!)  

Now that we're home and unpacked, Ben is diving into his various car projects.  The Jeep is here now, and it actually runs, but it still needs a lot of work, and a paint job.  It is a good possibility we'll be able to use it sometime this year!  The Model A, which Ben brought home on a Friday, and we left for Oregon on Saturday, needs lots of work, too.  The body shop put the body on the frame, but didn't put in the protective welting, or use the correct nuts and bolts where they should have, so he's taking it apart and putting it back together!  Tomorrow he's going to La Paz to pick up the final pieces that didn't quite get painted due to a dust storm right at their deadline in August.

I'm re-organizing the upstairs bedrooms since Ryan's family left, so we'll have two guest rooms available for your use when you come visit, one which has AC!  We'll even let you use Ryan's weight set!  😉  I've started my morning walks with Zoey, and am enjoying the fresh air and cool mornings.  Sam forgot himself and went the first day, just to make sure the beach was still there.  He hasn't gone since!  I saw a Heron sitting on a power pole this morning, and there are often people fishing on the beach.  I hear the Sierra are in!

I didn't create a September photo album, so I'm doing a combined September / October album.  It will have our Oregon vacation and our trip back, plus some granddaughter pics!  2018-Sept-Oct is the link to the album.  

Hope to hear from you all!

Tus amigos de Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey