Pic-of-the-Week for July 21, 2015

Hello, friends!

FYI, Ben wrote the parts using this font.  Harriet wrote the parts using this font, and added the photos, just so you know!  

The last Pic-of-the-Week was one where we relaxed, with little excitement.  As with Western Oregon weather, things change quickly.  This week we are in Salem taking care of some doctor appointments, getting the truck serviced and visiting with friends.  That all sounds good, BUT not all is good.

Last week we made an appointment for the truck to be serviced first thing Monday morning (yesterday).  The timing was really good, because the motor started missing about 10 miles from our destination in Salem.  In addition to the normal lube and oil change service, we were going to ask that the mechanic check to see why the turbos were making more noise that we thought normal.

Well, after the mechanic checked everything over, he said that the exhaust manifolds were leaking, the up pipe for the turbos was cracked, 7 injectors were bad (so he thinks all 8 should be replaced), the head gaskets need replacing AGAIN (3^rd time since we owned the truck), The heads probably need to be planed AGAIN (hopefully, not cracked), and some part should be replaced in the turbos while everything is taken apart!  Almost $7,000 in repairs total!

Then there's the fact that we have reservations at our RV park only through Thursday morning, and the truck repair will take 3, but more likely, 5 days, and then again, maybe another week!  We have nothing with which to move our trailer, so we're hoping the RV park can change some other things around and get a few more cancellations to accommodate us!  Ugh!  One bright spot is that the mechanic shop found us a loaner car to use.  It's a little yellow VW! Tiny, but functional, other than the fact it can't pull our trailer!!  

We did take the Model A to a car show in Sisters last Saturday.  Once again, it was a very popular car, but not a winner as it does not compete well with hot rods.  Several friends showed up, and it was fun to see Mel and Katie there (photo below)!  Ben went to grade and junior high school in Bend with Katie, and they also winter in Baja about an hour and a half from us.  We also spent time with Baja friends Tony and Janet.  She has a clothing business where she sells at weekend shows.  This was her second weekend in Sisters, and she did pretty well.  Tony just had some major surgery a few weeks ago, so Ben has been helping them get her booth set up and down; lots of hauling and lifting, which Tony shouldn't do for a while yet.  

After the car show, we rushed around loading the Model A on its trailer, hauling it back to Ben's brother's house, and then hooking up to our house trailer for our trip to the valley.  We stayed Saturday night at an RV park that is next to Mallard Creek Golf course east of Lebanon.  Very pretty place, and quiet.  Most of the people there are golfers, and do a package deal; staying at the RV park and golfing.   I and the dogs stayed there while Ben got his dirt track racing fix at the Lebanon Speedway.  

Oh, and he forgot to tell you that we had a really nice short camping trip at Crane Prairie Reservoir last week.  We had a bit of rain the first day, but all in all, it was very pretty and quiet.  The dogs were a bit disappointed to be on leashes, because the chipmunk population was abundant, and they (the chipmunks) knew to stay just out of reach of the dogs!  We also drove around part of Century Drive, and visited some other lakes and reservoirs.  Wickiup Reservoir is VERY low this year.  Below is a photo of Crane Prairie.  It looked normal to us, and the fishing, according to some fishermen we talked to, was pretty good, too.  I was wishing we had a little boat!  

I spent a week in the Chicago area visiting our daughter and our three grandchildren the first full week of July. They keep their Mom very busy, and they are smart and happy kids!  We did a lot of walking, ate some delicious Chicago style pizza, made a peach pie, went to the library (several times), read stories, played games, went to the zoo, and took lots of pictures.  And did I say we walked a lot!?  One night we walked to the far side of the little town where they live for Mexican dinner, then enjoyed the car show on the streets of town as we walked back!  So I've been to car shows most weekends this summer, it seems!  "D" is a great walker, and only pooped out once on all those walks.

"A" wasn't feeling well the day we went to the zoo, so he missed being in this photo. 

Going backwards again, we participated in Harrisburg, Oregon's July 4th parade (and it's a BIG deal!)  We managed to win first place with our '28 Woody!  Woohoo!  My Uncle David Malpass had invited us to be in the parade when we saw them in Cabo San Lucas in January.  Why not!?  We gave him and Aunt Evelyn a ride in the parade, and everyone seemed to know them; especially Evelyn, as she and David have opened up their swimming pool for swimming lessons for many, many summers.  My cousin Jane even gave us the Malpass Farms sign for the front of the car, and ribbons, and the local pharmacist gave us some whirligigs that we stuck in the tail gate.  It was lots of fun! My brother Rich also rode with us.  

I am posting photos in our 2015 July Picasa album.  Lots of old classic cars, big farm equipment and fire engines in the Harrisburg parade, cute grand-kids, and some Oregon back country.  

We hope the next "Pic" has some better news about mechanical things.  We want to do some wilderness camping next week, so are praying that the repairs go very well, and quickly. Yes, when you head to Hart Mountain and/or the Steens, you want your rigs running right!  

Until Ben gets inspired again....
Your truck-less friends in Salem,
Ben, Harriet, Sam & Zoey 

Pic of the Week for June 30, 2015, or Model A Overload!

Hello from Bend, Oregon. 

Compared to all the excitement of our last Pic-of-the-week with the trailer axle breaking, this has been a relatively calm couple of weeks.

We did go to Walla Walla, Washington to the NW Regional Model A Ford Club of America Meet.  There were 180 registrations for the meet, and maybe 120 cars.  I doubt that Walla Walla has ever seen so many Model A’s since the 1930's!  We arrived on Tuesday and left on Sunday, so we were there almost a full week.  Everywhere we went in town there were Model A Fords.  We enjoyed touring the parking lot in front of our hotel, which was full of all kinds of Model A's.  (This is just a few of them). 

On Wednesday and Thursday we took a couple shorter tours (20 – 40 miles).  The first one was to Chuck Nelson’s Barn.  Chuck has a nice collection of rare cars and motorcycles.  

The second tour was to Gilbert Merry’s collection of old stationary engines.  These engines are the kind that pumped water, or powered machinery in a factory, or business or used around a farm.  There is an article on the internet about one of these engines.  http://www.farmcollector.com/gas-engines/golden-gate-gas-engine-zmmz13octzbea.aspx  I might be able to buy this engine, or one like it if anyone wants to made a rather large donation to the Purkey Stationary Engine display…………..

Friday was the “Grand Tour” in which maybe 100 Model A’s participated.  It was a tour through the back country from Walla Walla to Pendleton, and back.  The tour was about 120 miles in length.  I can describe the tour, and the time spent in Walla Walla in one word ………………… HOT!  Most days were 95 – 105 degrees (35 Celsius – 41 c).  The 10 day temperature forecast for Walla Walla is for 100+ degrees (38 c +) each day.  We drove by a lot of wheat fields that are just about ready to harvest....

We watched the odometer turn over to 700 while on the tour.... (and that speed is pretty normal).  Anyone notice anything strange about our dashboard while we're traveling at 42 mph?

We  enjoyed a picnic lunch at Ray Raley Park in Pendleton, next to the Round Up Stadium (where we'll be in September!)  

We escaped back to Bend, Oregon on Sunday where it was only 95 degrees.  The 10 day forecast for here is about 95 degrees (35 c) each day.  The nice part is that it cools down to about 60 degrees (16 c) each night.

Oh, I was awarded a silver medal for my car that I entered in the “Restorer’s Class”.  That class is for cars that are driven, and not used just for show.  I also won the “Hard Luck” award for the problems we encountered with our trailer on the way from Mexico.

And the last item is that I was contacted by the photographer for Hemmings Motor News, who wanted to photograph my car for the 2017 Hemmings Motor News Model A Calendar.  (We will need to wait another 1 ½ years to see if it makes the calendar.)

Remember the definitive word of the week …………………….. HOT!!!!!!

Pictures are in our June 2015 Picasa album, and one of these days Harriet promises to put some captions on them.  If you like old cars and old motors and old buildings, this is the album for you! 

Until I get inspired again....

Ben, Harriet, Sam & Zoey

PS.  Sam and Zoey stayed in Bend while we were gone, and enjoyed it very much.  They love hunting and digging for chipmunks and voles (they have caught one, poor guy!) and get along with our niece's dog, Rowdy, who stays here most days at the Purkey ranch.  They haven't dug TOO many holes in this pretty yard.  Zoey is into relaxation with her toys.

Pic-of-the-Week for June 9, 2015

Hi Friends,

Surprised to hear from us this soon?  We had an experience in our travels in Mexico this year that we want to share while it is fresh in our minds.  Some of you who are friends on Facebook have already seen this, so I hope we don't bore you!  

You may know that we left our Baja home Saturday to avoid road and weather concerns with Hurricane Blanca, which was weakening some, but due at our place sometime Saturday night.  The drive that day was fine... a few nasty detours where they're doing road construction, but pretty normal for Baja!

We spent the night at the Serinidad Hotel in Mulege, but alas, didn't get into the pool or use the swim up bar, because I went straight to bed!  I wasn't feeling well; skipped the swim, skipped the cool drinks, skipped dinner.  Ugh.  I slept really well, and was feeling much better the next morning.   We got up pretty early and left about 6:30, just as the cooks and maids showed up to start their day.  I told Ben I was kind of hungry, after no dinner the day before, so we stopped at El Moro Hotel in Santa Rosalia for breakfast at about 7:15.  We were pleasantly surprised that the restaurant had been remodeled, and it had just been re-opened 3 weeks prior.  I ordered toast and a fruit plate, and this is the fruit plate!!! 

Beautiful and delicious (notice the watermelon platform?)  This was way more than I could eat with my tender tummy, but I did my best!  

We hit the road again, and were planning to stop that night in El Rosario.  All went well, although the potholes were getting pretty serious in Baja California (the north state).  Then, about 30 miles from our destination, we crossed a bridge with a settlement at the approach; the trailer banged, a tire exploded, and Ben found a place to pull half way off the road about 150 feet from the bridge.  We were still hanging half-way in the lane of traffic. 

We looked at the damage; one tire completely shredded, and the tire on the other side out of line and "shaved" on the inside edge.  It was apparent that the U-bolts holding the axle had broken, and we were in trouble!  Ben decided to walk up the road 50 feet, and found a spot that was wider, but how to get the trailer there? I was flagging traffic with one of our red dog blankets, and soon, a south bound Mexican car stopped, saw the problem, and said he'd tell his friend, who was just 5 minutes away. Thank goodness!

 In the mean time, we off-loaded the Model A to lighten the trailer, and by the time we'd moved the A up to the wider parking spot, our Mexican super-hero angel showed up! He has a tire shop about 5 minutes away.  They are so clever and "make-do" with what you have. He agreed it would be good to move the trailer, and pointed to the come-along that we use to tie down the Model A when on the trailer. We had a brand new spare one, so used that one to straighten out the axle (pulling it forward to align it), and than driving very slowly to the wider parking spot. He then asked about the u-bolts and plates, and if we had recovered them. Nope. We didn't have them. He told us he would go back to his shop and get the necessary tools, and we noticed him driving very slow near the bridge. 

When he returned, it was in a different truck with a compressor in back so he could use his air tools. Ben had jacked up the trailer with our handy (big) Jack, and our llantera (tire shop) guy had a new very large U-bolt to replace the two broken ones (you can see it on the fender). He'd found the metal plate from the trailer by the bridge, so he knew how big to make the replacement. He took off the shredded tire, put on the make-do U bolt, and put on our spare. Then when he was ready to move his little truck so we could reload the Model A, it wouldn't start....so, we helped him push it down the road! It still didn't start, so he told Ben no problem, he could do it, and got under the hood to tweak it just to right (all in the wrong lane of traffic!) Anyhow, he got it started, reversed back to where we were, and watched us load the A back on on the trailer. He was very impressed with our old car, and was a pleasure to work with! By the way, he spoke no English, so I (Harriet) again got a chance to practice my Spanish.  I chatted a bit with his 12 year old son, too.  He told us to go to San Borja Llantera (tire shop) in El Rosario, and it being Sunday, we would have to wait until Monday morning to do that.  Ben was hoping to find at least one used 14.5 sized trailer tire, a very rare size to find in Baja.  He also told us to go slow the rest of the way, which we did, (30 to 40 mph) and that we'd probably have to have the trailer repairs done in San Quintin, a bigger town than El Rosario.  

We made it to El Rosario, stayed in our favorite hotel there (Baja Cactus), and got up early to go to the tire store San Borja.  We pulled up, and the owner spoke perfect English.  Ben asked for a 14.5 tire, and he said "yes, I have 4 or 5.  Just got them yesterday from the states"  Whoa!!!  Amazing.  Ben decided to have all 4 replaced (he was going to replace at least 2 in the US this summer anyhow, but now the 2 newer ones had been ruined in our little "accident".  He also offered a decent price.  Ben agreed, and he changed out our four tires, (one was the spare).  Here he's posing for a customer who wanted a picture of the car! 

Then Ben asked him where in San Quintin he should have the trailer work done, and he said "Use Oscar here in El Rosario.  He can do it".  He sent his helper next door to Oscar's, and Oscar came back to look at it.  He was an older American man, dressed in tan, greasy coveralls, bearded and rotund (might be Santa in disguise).  He said, yes, he could do it, and sent over his worker to take some measurements.  Luis (also speaking great English) came over, took measurements, and then asked about 50 questions about the Woody!  Finally, he said to haul the car trailer over to our place and park it so we can work on it there.  Well... this is your typical shade tree mechanic spot!  We unhooked the trailer, went back to check out of the hotel and have breakfast while they worked their magic.  Their yard had the dog on a rope, the chickens roaming free, and all the tools you'd need, hanging from the tree trunk!

They finished up in a timely manner, and we were out of El Rosario by 11:30am, and we didn't have to stop in San Quintin.  Hallelujah!  God provided wonderful answers to our prayers, and we met some very special people in the process!  Ben really enjoyed talking with Oscar and hearing his stories about his life in Baja.  (While we were there, our "angel" showed up to pick up a part this shop had machined for him!!  Not sure why he didn't recommend them to us.  Maybe he thought they'd be too "rustic" for us Americans.)

We even managed to cross the border that same day at Tecate at about 5:30PM, and it was the quickest border crossing we've ever done!  Almost no cars in line at all!  Gotta love it!

Tuesday night we're in Bishop California (Hwy 395 on the east side of CA) feeling the tail end of Blanca.  We're having some stiff winds, and they're promising a thunder shower tonight, so we just covered the Woody (hope it doesn't blow off!)  

To be normal, I need to post a flower photo for you, so here is a bloom from a Cholla cactus out there where we were stopped for a couple hours.  The vegetation was gorgeous, and I spotted this and hiked up to get a picture, and came back with a bunch of cactus spines in my shoes!  

This is a reminder to us, that when some thorny situations come into our lives, God will often bless us beyond our expectations, more abundantly than we can ask or think!

I will post some more photos in our June 2015 Picasa Album, but probably not until we're in Bend, probably this Thursday.

Your friends On the Road,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey (who are kind of getting used to their leashes again, but are not happy about it!)

PS.  Next one WILL be written by Ben, I promise!

Pic-of-the-Week for June 2, 2015

Hola Amigos!  

Just a short time now before we head north for the summer, and it may be sooner rather than later, as there is a large storm (hurricane) heading our way. We'd prefer to drive the roads BEFORE they wash out, since we're towing our '28 Woody again.  We were planning on leaving here on Friday the 12th, but it might be wiser to leave on Friday the 5th!  We'll be watching this one closely.

This is the 2nd storm already this season; Andres is a bit northwest of Blanca, and is no threat to us, other than some clouds.  (So far!)  

Anyhow, if we leave this Friday, we'll be on our summer schedule; Ben writes this missive on a less than regular time frame throughout the summer.  You'll get 'em when you see 'em!  

We got a nice order of some local mangoes this week, and Ben made wonderful use of them yesterday.  Several weeks ago, with our first batch, I made some Lime Mango sorbet that turned out wonderful!  Ben decided to make more.  He got the recipe from me, and then proceeded to quadruple it!  (I told him a quadruple batch wouldn't fit in our ice cream freezer).  He said, "OK, I'll triple it!"  And he did.  Twice!  Yes, he made two triple batches of the sorbet, and we're well stocked.  2 1/2 pounds mangoes (weighed before the pit is removed), 1/2 cup lime juice (must use Mexican limes like the ones on the counter), 1 cup sugar water with lime zest, and a splash of tequila makes a wonderful dessert! Lots of slicing and dicing involved, getting the flesh of the mango out, but well worth it! (Let me know if you want a copy of the actual recipe).   I'll be doing more of this today as I've been drying batches of them for snacks when we get on the road.  

 

This is the some of the first batch.... frozen and ready for the deep freeze. There will be some good eating here!

The Dove eggs have hatched in our banana tree!  I think this photo was the first day, and they are rather feather-less!  

In other wildlife sightings around the house, I was sitting on the veranda having lunch and caught sight of this visitor to the bird bath!  Whoa!!!  He checked to see if there was water in there (or maybe a little bird), and since the water level was a bit low, took off back down the hill.  I managed to keep my dogs unaware of this guy until he left.  We're pretty sure this is a Gopher Snake.  Harmless to people, but pretty impressive looking, probably close to 5' long.  He sure moved fast!  (Sure glad I have a good telephoto lens!!!!!) 

The dogs are letting us know that the weather IS getting hotter.  We turned on the air conditioning in our bedroom several nights ago, and it feels really good! During the day, the dogs just try to find the coolest spot on the floor under a fan!  Looks like a dead dog here, with his tongue out and everything, but he's just taking advantage of the cool tiles and air movement!  Highs are now in the 90's, and lows in the mid-70's.  And the humidity is up there...75% when I checked the other day.  

Ben isn't the only one in the kitchen... I've been keeping up my pie-making skills.  Umberto, the strawberry vendor who walks our hot streets carrying his palettes of berries, showed up at our house again this last Friday.  When he was here last about 3 weeks ago, he told us "no more until November".  I was very surprised to see him again, but the berries looked beautiful, and they were delicious.  So of course, I had to make one more pie!  Good thing I had bought a bit more flour the other day!  

We have one more type of cactus blooming in our yard right now.  It has the same brilliant red as those strawberries!  

I have started a June 2015 Picasa album, and will continue to add photos to it through the month, wherever we are located!  

OK....one more treat for you.  Ben sliced and diced a few more Mangoes, and now we have..... 

MANGO MARGARITAS!  

Ahhhhh....life is good!

Your hurricane watching friends in Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for May 26, 2015

Hola Amigos!

I got a late start on our weekly letter today, because as soon as my dogs saw me getting dressed, they started going crazy!  In their little brains they were thinking "pants + shirt on Mom = WALK" and "GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!". Really, I do get dressed every day, and I think they're just trying a new ploy to get me out the door!  At least it wears them out for a while!  Sam even got a tummy shower when we got back home, since he usually wades in for a drink, then drags his belly in the sand the rest of the way home (by default, being a low slung dachshund!)  I was thankful to them for dragging me out there, because this is one of the first things I saw.... a double blooming Pitahaya cactus!  Love it!!  A bee is working on the lower part of the bloom to the right.  

This is what the cactus actually looks like; not very attractive on it's own, but those flowers (and the eventual fruit) sure make up for it!

OK.  We've got a little less than two weeks before we head north to Oregon and other Northwest states.  We have been getting some garden projects done, mostly pruning.  That included our volunteer Fan Palm.  Ben pruned leaves as high as he was comfortable on our ladder, then we hired Ben Hur (yes, that's his name), a young local Mexican whose family prunes palms for a living.  His Dad is nicknamed "Monkey" by the locals since he can climb trees so readily. Anyhow, Ben Hur came over and cleaned up the stem ends quite a ways up, using his climbing tools (no spurs).  

He used an exacto knife type tool to do the trimming, and it looked very nice when he was done.  Ben (Purkey) chatted with him and found out that he is 18, finishing up high school this week, and planning to go to University this fall near Guadalajara to become a dentist!  I was thrilled to hear that.  He is such a pleasant young man, and we've known him for 15 years and watched him grow up.  

After the palm tree prunings and the bougainvillea pruning and with all the other stuff that was already in the back of the old blue pickup truck, Ben and I loaded the truck and made a dump run.  When we got there a Mexican lady (dump caretaker?) came over to help.  Ben asked me to tell her we didn't need help, so I did.  She then came over to my side of the truck and started chatting with me in Spanish.  Her first question was "you speak Spanish and your husband doesn't speak Spanish?"  I agreed with her, she laughed and we continued to chat and watch Ben work.  It was great practice for me.  (Those verb tenses need work!!)  I think she understood most of what I said, and I understood most of what she said.  I should do that more often (speak in Spanish, not go to the dump!)  

The weather has been pleasantly cool in the mornings (high 60's), and in the low 80's during the day.  We've also had quite a few cloudy days, which is good for when Ben wants to work on our front door (although he does take the doors down and puts them in his shop to work on them).   The weather forecast is promising hotter weather later this week, though.  We haven't used the air conditioner in our bedroom yet, but did test it so it's ready to go.  I'm sure Ryan will make good use of it this summer when he moves down to our bedroom.  

Ben got a pleasant surprise last week from Claudia, the Mexican lady for whom he made the kitchen cabinets.  She had Edgar Fuentes make him a wooden car! Edgar is the brother of Arturo, the contractor who built our house in 2002.  Ben was thrilled!  This is a REAL woody!  The wheels turn and everything.  

Some others also had a pleasant surprise last week.  I cleaned out my corn crop and hauled it outside our fence.  The burros found it, and we spotted them chowing down after our walk the other evening.  Yum!  

I started with a flower picture, and I'm going to end with a flower picture!  This is a bloom from the Cholla (choya) cactus.  It reminds me of a wild rose bloom, and I love the sweet pink/lavender color.  Probably not a color you'd associate with a cactus bloom.  

More photos are in our 2015 May Picasa album.  Just scoot on down to the bottom of the album to see the latest photos. 

OK.  I lied.  I've got to end with this sunset photo from the other night.  Taken from our roof, our agave "tree" is on the right, Los Barriles  is in the distance with lots of fishing boats moored in front. 

 
Hasta la proxima semana,
Tus amigos de Baja (until June 12)
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for May 19, 2015

Hola Amigos,

Ben and I had a busy weekend, separately, and together!  Ben left Saturday morning with the '28 Ford Woody for another La Paz car show,

 and I stayed home so I could play the piano for church on Sunday morning. Ben participated in the parade through downtown La Paz Saturday evening, and the car show on the Malecon on Sunday.  After church and breakfast at Tico's on Sunday, I checked on the Aguila bus schedule, and bought my ticket.  There are numerous buses going north and south daily, so I chose the 1:30 PM bus, went home and packed a bag, and had Ryan drop me off.  The ride was very comfortable; the bus was a fairly new Volvo, and it had AC and nice curtains on the windows to keep the sun out.  It started out pretty full, but people got off regularly so that there were only 3 or 4 of us left at the final destination, the Malecon in La Paz.  That stop was most convenient for me, since it was right across the street from the car show where Ben was waiting!  I'd recommend it for anyone wanting to take a day trip or overnight trip to La Paz from our little town.  

There was a very nice Ford Shelby Cobra there (a reproduction) that got almost as much attention as our car!  Rumors are that the owner got it up to 170 mph on the highway to Todos Santos (nice road, smooth and straight.)  It has a nice 427 racing engine in it (Ben was impressed!) In the photo with the car are Hector Manuel and his wife Rossy, who put on the show twice a year.  Lots of work, but the man loves cars!!  

The engine compartment photo doesn't mean much to me, but I though the guys would appreciate it!  Vroom!  Vroom!!

We're getting some other things done around the house.  On a cloudy day last week, Ben took off one of our double doors and re-finished it.  It still needs another coat of Spar Varnish, but he ran out, so that's one of the things he was able to pick up while he was in La Paz.  No excuse now!  Oh...and the other door needs to be refinished, too.  They do tend to fade in our hot sun.  He also sealed above that chino wood beam over the door.  Ryan said it leaked pretty good during the hurricane last September.  

We've got a great view of a little bird nest ... a Ground Dove built a nest in one of our Banana trees right outside our bathroom window.  I counted two little white eggs in the nest, and she is faithfully there every day.  It is a nice cozy little spot; shady most of the day.

We've seen quite a few young birds in our yard when we put out the bird seed. They're the ones following Mom or Dad around fluttering the wings and screeching "feed me!"  Cute!  

We're starting to get in our "summer prep" mode, getting things ready for our departure in mid June.  It seems like our irrigation batteries all start dying about now, or lines are plugged.  And, even though Ryan will be here again this summer, we are trying to get the amount of food in our freezers down to a reasonable amount, especially the seafood.  Ben also has to go to the local water company and show them that he is still alive, and still gets his "Old Man" discount of 1/2 off our water bill!  That means a trip to Santiago (about 15 miles away) and of course, lunch at Palomar restaurant just down the street from the water company!  Ben got us some mangos from El Coro, (they're famous around here) and I've been drying some for snacks for our trip.  Yum!  And today, I'm going to attempt to make a Mango Sorbet (with a touch of Tequila). I've had the recipe a long time, but never tried it.  This is the season, with ripe local mangos available!

Our weather this spring has been interesting.  We're still having some cloudy days, and it rained several times last week as well.  It is starting to get warmer, and the humidity is rising, although the lows are still in the high 60's.  That makes for very comfortable nights with just a fan.  No AC being used yet!  Last year May was REALLY hot, so this is a nice change.  

More photos are in our 2015 May album, and I do get captions on them eventually!   Ben took some nice La Paz shots.  

And for your "flower of the week", here is a lovely red Hibiscus blooming in our garden.  And yes, we grow ferns here (they're almost a weed in this bed).  

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