Travels without Rita and Returning for La Canicula

Wow, time has flown, but I can’t say it’s been all fun. The past 3 months have been quite a whirlwind rollercoaster of nonstop chaos. More or less. The entire month of May I basically worked nonstop (quite literally, one night I actually pulled an all-nighter launching a website that was not behaving. I got it in line shortly after seeing the sun come up. That was a first.)

Along with all the work, (which I was super grateful for, by the way), I also was playing around with the possibility of buying some land. What started out with an interest in a min RV lot, turned into also finding a lot with storage units, which seemed like a very interesting business opportunity. Especially after realizing that I, an introvert, would probably hate running an RV lot after about the first week. Dealing with people all the time is not a sustainable situation for me. The storage lot business was sounding perfect. To have a place where Rita and I can go for water, power or to just BE without feeling like we don’t belong or that someone will kick us out at any time, or who knows who will end up parked next door, AND have an fairly easy to run business that helps pay for the property. I was really warming up to this idea. Until I discovered that the bank will never loan me money for something with a business on it. I was only eligible for a loan for land or a house on land. I was pretty much ready to give up on the whole idea entirely and move on to some other sort of future plans. But before I even had the change, my realtor sent me a very interesting listing. A piece of land that is walled, cleared, flat, has some nice fruit trees, palms, bougainvillea and cactus and already has water and power ready to go. It was about the same size lot as the others, (1000m2) but a fraction of the cost. In this case, I could get a much smaller loan and not have to worry about how the property is going to make money for me (there are still possibilities for that, but I wouldn’t have to rush to figure them out). I looked at a number of other options in the same price range (including a house on a much smaller lot – that was a hard pass right away – no good place for Rita and honestly, I do NOT want the hassle of a house). So, the wheels are grinding slowly along to see if this can happen. I am not stressing out about it; I’m just waiting to see what happens. My realtor is helping find the loan, so I basically just send whatever info she asks for and wait to see what happens next. I did have to get an RFC (the Mexican equivalent of a social security number) – which I was able to do without much fuss. In other news, I have a most excellent credit score! Unfortunately, it is only in the US, so I was rejected for my first loan attempt, due to lack of credit history in Mexico. Waiting to see what the second bank decides, any day now.

I did manage to escape to the beach a few weekends in Rita. It was wonderful and I was very clear I much preferred to be in Rita than in the apartment.

 

 

 

I also planned a trip up to the US to visit with my parents. This involved  a whole lot of prep and reorganizing, as I knew the heat was coming. part of having the apartment during this trip meant that I could put everything heat sensitive into the fridge/freezer.  I left poor Rita to bake in the sun (all the windows covered in shiny foil insulation and some essential oils to ward off scorpions and other critters). I somehow managed to get everything done and was taking an all day bus from Guaymas to Nogales, walking across the border and then taking a shuttle to Tucson, and then flying to Maine. My cousin Doreen, who I had only just met in December, invited me to spend the night at her place in Tucson. I had loved meeting her, so I was very much looking forward to spending a bit more time visiting with her. Having a place to stay in Tucson also meant I did not have to take an overnight bus to arrive in the morning before my flight, so that was nice. I still hadn’t recovered from the work all-nighter…

I had a great visit with Doreen, we just gabbed a lot and it was fun getting to know another family member on my Mom’s side. Her father and mother (Leah and Aaron) visited us in their travel trailer when I was maybe 5 or 6. They traveled all over the country (yes, it’s in my genes)! I loved hanging out in their traveling home that was in our driveway for a spell. Aaron used to tease me and call me Jefferson and I’m sure I followed him around like a puppy. I reconnected with him as an adult after Leah passed away - I would write to him and talk on the phone when he was in his 90s. He was a vibrant and fun guy, always going out dancing and keeping busy. I also met his daughter Elaine, when I was driving through Texas 2 years ago on my trek up from Mexico (she is the mother of Melissa – who I met maybe 15 years ago when she and her husband, Brad, were considering moving to California). Family ties on my Mom’s side are fun to try and sort out, and it’s always great to meet all these people I’m proud to call family!

I arrived in Portland, ME late at night, but my parents insisted on picking me up at the airport. Back in Maine it was like I had never left. It was cold and rainy much of the time. I was already a bit worried about having lost my hot weather acclimatization.  But I did enjoy the ease of the chilly weather. Since it was just a quick visit, and I didn’t have a car, I was not able to get in visits with many other friends in the area – always disappointing – just not enough hours in the day! I did manage to get out for what is now our traditional sushi and ice cream date, with my friend Lisa (who lives in Brunswick). Lisa’s parents and my parents have been friends for so long we just consider ourselves family now.

It was nice to be there over Father’s Day and drag Dad out for a nice lunch by the water. I got a lobster and fried clam fix, also. The visit flew by but I’m glad I was able to get up there. Also coincided with a No King’s protest and Pride Festival – so I got a good dose of USA in there, too.

The trip back was quite an exhausting trek. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but it was faster and less expensive for me to fly from Boston to Toronto and then Mexico City. From there I then flew direct to Hermosillo (2 hours from San Carlos). Both my flights to Mexico City were delayed, meaning I didn’t get in until around 1am, which felt like 3am to me. I was to spend 2 nights at my friend Lili’s house (meaning we’d have one day to hang out!). We stayed up until after 3 am catching up when I arrived (which felt like 5 am…another all nighter?!).

Lili is part of my gang from Zihua and most of us have gone off in other directions – she landed back in Mexico City with a much better job and schools for her kids, Alex and Andrea. It was so great to see them – I consider them my family. I also got to know Lili’s boyfriend, Erick – a musician (that I had been leery of when she first mentioned him) – but he turned out to be an amazing guy and it was so nice to see how happy they all are together.  We went out to a big mercado in the morning to bring back some breakfast goodies. Erick had bought some empanadas and told me to eat one and not ask what it was. I ate it. It was delicious. It turned out to be pig brains. Oh well.

Even though it was a cold and rainy day, we went out running around the city all afternoon (we walked almost 8 miles!), ending up at a fun fondue restaurant for dinner. I was exhausted on so many levels, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second with these guys. And their little dog, too (Baco!).

 

When I got back to the apartment in San Carlos, I was nearly dead from exhaustion. I unpacked and went right to bed. The next morning I had to hit the ground running. Between work, going to my RFC appointment, and moving everything out of the apartment and into Rita, I had quite a week ahead of me.  Also, we were well into the start of la canicula - the dog days - hottest period of the year.

It was a scramble to the last minute to get everything back into Rita. But honestly, I was really looking forward to it just being me and Rita again. The apartment served its purpose, but there was not much I was going to miss about it. Aside from not being all that comfortable or well situated with the sun, it was a ridiculous amount of cleaning, all the time. I don’t need that!

The last 2 nights I spent in Rita, with the AC plugged into the apartment, while organizing all the stuff back where it belonged, or into new configurations. It was the weirdest move ever – bring a few loads of stuff 10 feet door to door. Once in Rita, unpack and put away. Then go for the next load. It seemed to be going great and staying nice and tidy in Rita. But the last load was of course like a giant disaster and I wondered where it had come from…and where it would go. I was quite pleased with how all my clothes got put away and fit so well. Until I realized I had 2 giant bags of dirty laundry to take to the laundromat. Still, I tried not to panic. Unplugging the AC was a moment of truth. I knew it was going to be blisteringly hot, and I knew it was not possible to run the AC all day long. I had only hoped the beach would be cooler and breezy and I could survive on a few hours of AC at the hottest part of the day. The basic math of my battery amps and how much power the AC uses and how much I can recharge in optimal sun – worked out to 6 hours of AC usage = 3 days of charging to get the batteries topped up. That of course doesn’t include other draws on the batteries (fridge, lights, etc.) It was clearly not a sustainable model. My biggest hope was that it would be breezy and cooler being on the beach.

The morning I said goodbye to Hector and drove away from the apartment was a scorcher already by 8:00am. I drove straight to the laundromat and did about 4 loads of laundry. I was dripping sweat the entire time. When I was done there, I stopped over to see Mariana and we ate and caught up for a bit and I enjoyed her air conditioning. I had to get some groceries and head out to the beach to see how things were going to go. I was excited to be on the beach again, but also very nervous about living in a giant metal oven. I was also getting screens installed on half my windows. The magnetic screens I made were a huge pain to use and a strong breeze moved them enough to allow a lot of bugs in. I had met a guy who was going to make steel frames with screens that screw onto the outside of the bus. I was excited to see how that  would work. Antonio said the screens were ready and he was going to come out to the beach to install them in the afternoon.

I ran my errands and was off to Playa Piedras Pintas.  I was sad to see the construction of new homes at the entrance was going great guns, but glad that the rumors of no more beach access were false. I was still dripping sweat at a constant rate. I got to my usual spot and just as I was getting parked, a red truck pulled up. I saw Lorena jump out to greet me. We hugged and chatted briefly – I told them to check in if they come later to see if I’ve been cooked or not! I met Lorena and Tim on this very spot just before I left to go to the apartment. They are a lovely and friendly couple – she is from Colombia and he is from Maine (of all places). We have been in touch a few times, but have not gotten together to hang out. I would like to, but I am also a bit hesitant, because when I first met them, they invited me to an event with their church of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’ve been wanting to ask if they are allowed to have non-JW friends, because if that is the case, I really would like to get to know them. But, I am not going to join up in their faith, if that is a requirement for friendship. Funny, but they are the only strangers who have ever knocked on my door in Mexico. The original knock was when they were at the beach and noticed the Maine license plates. We chatted about a lot of things, but I did notice Tim’s clipboard and they gave me a pamphlet and casually invited me to their upcoming ‘Easter’ event (they don’t celebrate Easter per se). But I got the sense they were far more curious about the bus and the JW part was the excuse that gave them the courage to knock. I’m sure we will cross paths again one day, as San Carlos is quite small, and I am quite conspicuous.

They left me to my chores. A mountain of laundry to put away, and I tried desperately not to sweat on it all. I was a hot mess. It was well over 100 degrees in the bus. I had to turn on the AC just to be able to move around enough to put the laundry away and make my bed. I ran the AC for a couple of hours, but I was not able to get the temperature inside below 90 degrees. I was trying to remember to drink a lot. I had to keep the curtains shut to keep the sun out. There was a breeze, but it really did nothing to cool off inside of Rita once the AC was off. I finally got things tidied up and went out to have a swim to try and cool down. Walking across the sand, even in my flip flops, was torture. The sand was so hot that any of it that got on my feet was like walking through fire. I finally made it to the water and spend some time floating around. It was too hot to sit out on the beach, even after being in the water. I spent most of the afternoon outside of Rita in the shade she created. It was breezy and not horrible. But inside of Rita was an oven. No amount of fans or open windows seemed to help. I ran the batteries down almost 20% running the AC here and there. It still never got below 90 degrees. Antonio messaged me that is other job was running late and it was going to be well after dark before he could come out to do the screens. That sounded like a pretty bad idea, so I arranged to meet him out at the south end of San Carlos the next morning. I was pretty bummed not to have my screens, but I made do with my magnet screens and all the bugs.

Finally, the sun went down and I had all the windows open and fans going. The humidity was off the charts. I was sticky and gross, even though I had rinsed off after my swim. Sleeping was most uncomfortable. I realized that between having to keep the curtains drawn, and when I could run the AC, it was loud and dark inside. I could not see the sea, or hear the waves, and walking across the sand was like some kind of punishment. There was little point to being on the beach, which felt like a tragedy to me. I grasped my reality, that this was in no way sustainable for the next 4 months. I had to regroup, think and figure something else out.

I asked Mariana if I could come and work at her place the next day. I could figure out a new plan from there. I was up super early after not much sleep and a lot of bugs. I got Rita together and we ambled away from the beach. A bit sad, a bit annoyed and a bit nervous about what was going to be next. It was so early, so I stopped to fill up Rita’s diesel tank. When I was standing outside at the gas station, I realized I was feeling a bit nauseous and crampy. I figured maybe I got a bit dehydrated and made a mental note to remember to drink a lot more that day. I went to Playa San Francisco, to wait for a bit before meeting up with Antonio, the screen guy. He was again running late, so I ended up going to Mariana’s and he would show up there whenever that would be.

The screen install was a bit of an ordeal, with the lateness and all. Antonio and his crew seemed rather unprepared and I wasn’t overly impressed with the screens themselves. He did not use the screen material that I had showed him and said I wanted. What he did use seemed to have larger holes that I would have liked. I didn’t have it in me to make a deal about it, maybe I would like these screens better? I can always change the screen material later, unscrewing the frames is not the biggest deal ever. It took quite a while for Antonio and his cousin and brother-in-law to get them installed. I kept running out to check on them and make sure it was going OK and ducking back into the AC to work. They didn’t bring any silicone to bed the screws with, so I dug out my tube and gun. They were installed mostly fine, and Rita was looking a bit like a prison bus, but honestly, it felt like the least of my worries.

I contacted Jack, the owner of the tiny RV park I had considered buying. It is rather expensive to stay there, but I inquired about possibly staying for a week so I could really sort out a long term plan. I needed more time to make better decisions. I was still feeling a bit off, with some weird gut pains. When I used the bathroom, I noticed my pee was about the color of black tea…that couldn’t be good! I also realized that seeing my pee is not a thing that happens in Rita, with the composting toilet/pee separator system. I drank as much water and coconut water as I could that day. I figured I had gotten very dehydrated in the heat.

I found another RV park option for a bit less money, in Guaymas. It is behind an old, quite historic/fancy looking hotel. They had plenty of room. I decided to head out there, it had a pool and was on the beach and slightly less money than the fenced-in desert RV park. I spent the rest of the day at Mariana’s working. We walked to the beach for sunset and then indulged in snacks and watched a silly movie. I had considered going back out to the beach to see how the screens worked, but I knew it was going to be uncomfortably humid and hot. Mariana invited me to spend the night in the extra room and I could not refuse! I could enjoy a blissfully air-conditioned sleep and head to the hotel RV spot in the morning.