Rolling Rita Right Into Winter

I’m back on a quiet beach and winter is forcibly moving in.  The transition away from the house was busy, stressful, painful and exciting.  It was such a mix of feelings – letting go of the free water, outdoor hose showers, (usually good) WiFi, having my bike parked like a normal person (not heaving it up and down from the rack, inevitably getting chain ring grease on my shirt) and being able to have my stuff out and easily work on projects.  The heat noticeably dissipated within a couple of weeks. I was turning the AC off as soon as the sun dipped down and opening the windows.  Loving my screens, as the mosquitos and other bugs out in Ranchitos were beyond brutal.

I saw friends on and off. Mariana and I had some cooking and movie nights, which I loved.  She had been planning to spend time in Hermosillo with her family and to help her sister with her upcoming wedding. Things shifted with her work here and she decided to move back to Hermosillo earlier.  I understood, but it was sad to see her go!

Just after that, it was Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.  I always love both holidays and love to see the costumes and catrinas.  I just did not have it in me to think up a costume and find all the materials to pull it off.  I was also feeling like I didn’t want to be in San Carlos for Dia de los Muertos.  There is no central gazebo or square in San Carlos and at times it feels very un-authentic.  There are not usually good celebrations.  I know I missed out on a party with friends, but I just didn't have that kind of energy.  I decided to go spend the night in Guaymas and see what was going on with the parades and main square activities.  I got a nice spot to park across from the bay, and a short walk to the Malecon festivities.  I picked up some shrimp and fish from my favorite nearby fish shack.  I made a nice shrimp and broccoli pasta and gathered up some energy to go see the crowds.

I rallied in the last few minutes and threw on some bunny ears I had hidden away and gave myself whiskers from mascara and a pink nose from lip stain. It was the best I could do…I wandered into the fray.  It was fun to see a mix of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.  The music conservatory was letting crowds in a little at a time to see the altars that had been set up (and apparently there was a contest to pick the best one).  I wandered through, shoulder to shoulder, as people flowed through like toothpaste and out the far end.  Fun to see and luckily not so big, as it was definitely too many people for me!  When I had my fill of the sites, I wandered back to Rita.  On the walk back, there was a parade of motorcycles flying down the street. How fun! More and more of them.  They were stopping. In the park area near where Rita was parked. It was scary-hysterical all at once.  The crowd had a fun, friendly vibe as I made my way through parked and arriving bikes.  Engines were revving and wheelies were happening.  I wondered if I was ever going to sleep that night.   But after 15 or 20 minutes, they all zipped away, just as fast as they’d arrived!

Every trip to Guaymas has also involved visiting banks. I’ve spent hours and hours and hours dealing with banks. I have zero interest in rehashing all the gory details, as I usually do.  But thanks to the powers that be in the US, many Mexican banks are investigating foreigners’ accounts for potential money laundering.  Apparently, it doesn’t matter how little you have.  The account I moved to when this first started happening (and the bank I had because unusable to foreigners), froze my account while in investigation. I could take money out but I could not put any in.  As you may guess, this is pretty unsustainable. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get another account. I finally got one and immediately had issues with it, due to a clerical error and then some extra checking, due to being from the US. But finally, that got worked out so I have 1 working account and one currently still in limbo, that I hope I can close soon.  One more trip to the bank come December. Ugh.

My final weekend at the house was non-stop go – cleaning things, laundry, repacking, organizing, downloading movies, receiving final deliveries.   I had an appointment in Guaymas to see about getting the air flow system in Rita’s dash put back.  The last mechanic who could do it and gave me a quote, didn’t end up having the time to take it on.  I randomly came across another shop and they seemed very amenable to check it out and quote on the job.  Unfortunately, the on-going digging up of the streets all around Ranchitos neighborhood finally hit Avenida J.  There was a huge trench dug right across the road, just in front of the house, and the back way out also had large holes dug. I was trapped for about a week and by Friday afternoon I was quite nervous about how I was going to escape on Sunday.  I heard they had planned to fill it in on Saturday.  They had filled in most of the street, but only a small part of the trench near me.  I was out there with a tape measure, trying to see if Rita would fit with her 8- foot wheel base.  It was extremely close.  I borrowed a shovel and a machete from Carmelita to cut back a small but tough shrub, and filled in/evened out a bit of the dirt pile.  It seems like I could scoot through, but I was really nervous about one of Rita’s back tires slipping into the trench.   Carmelita said she would help me when I was ready to go.  I scrambled to get all the final things done and Rita ready to roll.   I took it slow and that nasty shrub very nearly stopped me, but we made it through with no issues.

Some final week projects:

I made a quick stop to pick up some organic eggs from a woman who sells them from her home. Then I was out to the beach, just before sunset.  I was exhausted and stressed.  I went out to Bahia Delfin, out where my friends Marji and Rick stayed last year.  It was fairly empty, save for a large RV.  I decided to park just past them.  They waved as I went past, and as I was parking a man ran up to my window.  He said “we are desperate for good neighbors!”.  That’s how I met Bea and Peter.  It is their first time in Mexico, Canadians with a mysterious (German?) accent that I am taking my time to get the story on.  But since I was just there for the night, I wasn’t in the mood to be social.  I grabbed some cheese and crackers and the rare lone beer that had been in the bottom of my fridge for a while, and headed to sit on the beach and watch sunset.

The sunset was lovely and I made a simple dinner and had early night. It felt good to be back on the beach and I was SO ready to stop doing projects all the time and just have client work and beach for a while.  Sleeping with the windows open, and the sound of the waves was heavenly.

I was out early for my 9:00 am appointment in Guaymas.  The mechanic was running late, so I made some tea and hung out in Rita till he arrived.  He was on the older side and very knowledgeable.  He said he would work up a quote and all the parts needed and send it to me later.  I had a good feeling about him and was hoping it would work out.  I made the short drive out to the Malecon in Guaymas to pass a night or 2.  I was going to look for the REPUVE traveling appointment kiosk that was supposed to be in Guaymas that week.  This is the federal car nationalization program that travels city to city.  I was not able to make an appointment online and was not sure why, but I figured I could just go find them.  They were nowhere to be found. I contacted Prof. Chavez, who has been helping me with all of this and had told me this was the week.  When he looked into the situation, he discovered that the municipality of Guaymas had FORGOTTEN to request REPUVE to come.  So, there was not really much point in staying.  But I was too tired to think about picking up and going, and I had work to do, so I decided to at least spend the night there, on the Malecon.  It was a beautiful day and the harbor view was lovely and I had a great spot, angled for a bit less direct sun on the side. I was close to the big market and figured I could walk to pick up a bunch of groceries.  When I finished work and was ready for a walk, the first thing I came upon was carnitas…so I went in for tacos.  I wandered around a bit more but I was simply not in the mood for grocery shopping.  I got a lime popsicle instead and sat in the square. I ended up back at Rita.  No groceries. I didn’t care. I was so tired and sick of being stressed, I let myself just chill.

After the sun went down and I was making a salad (so I could have something healthy before going out to buy churros on the Malecon), a Zumba class started up right outside of Rita.  I was really bummed that I had JUST taken a shower. I would’ve loved to join in.  Instead, I danced while chopping veggies.   Halfway through, I saw my chiropractor and a beautiful young girl approaching. Rita.  Oh yeah, I’m not invisible!  I went out to greet them and chat.  The girl’s mother was in the Zumba class and some other family and friends were with them just hanging out waiting. I went and sat with everyone and enjoyed the surprise company.  Gabriela was from Monterrey, and her mom and dad live in Guaymas. They were friends with my chiropractor, Carlos and his sister and kids were there as well.  After Zumba I also got to meet the instructor. Maybe someday I will get to join in on a class – which is every night at 6pm!  After everyone left, I did walk down for some churros.  The smallest number they sold was 6…which was way too many. I of course brought my own container so I didn’t have to use a Styrofoam tray.  The woman thought my container was cute and I think because of that she gave me what seemed like 20 extra churros… I ate too many, but ultimately had to let a bunch of them go a few days later! It seemed ridiculous to reheat them.

The next day I ran a slew of errands (yes, banks also) and headed back out to the beach just before sunset.  I ended up in a slightly different spot in the same area by the lagoon. It turned out to be just perfect – great sea and Tetakawi views!  I only had 4 days and had to go into town for a birthday party, and to see Mariana who was in town for the weekend.  I enjoyed the spot, knowing it would probably be taken when I returned after the weekend.

 

I spent most of that time back on the beach, trying to remember what it was like to relax.  I kept feeling like “I need to do…” and I had to keep reminding myself to just BE for a change.  It has been a very long stretch of go-go-go, it seems.  It felt good to be back on the beach where I belong.  I met some great folks camped next to me – Laurie and Greg in their van from Canada and their friend Isabelle visiting from Merida (also Canadian and ex sailor) and their friend Ted (and his big shepherd Rico), awaiting his sailboat to get splashed.  We share many nights by their campfire, also with Peter and Bea from across the way.

One day while we were all swimming, I stepped right on a stingray (I never saw it).  It is kind of amazing after all this time living in the sea, this was my first sting.  It hurt SO much.  Laurie had been stung the week before, and knew the pain I was in and also that getting it in hot water was the right thing to do.  Laurie and Isabelle helped me back to Rita. I boiled some water and got my foot in a big bowl for a couple of hours.  I took an anti-inflamatory and it became bearable in under 3 hours.  It was sore and felt bruised for several days afterwards.

 

Mariana came back to town for a long weekend.  There were 2 birthday parties Friday night, I opted to go to Cecy’s  and Mariana went to the other friend’s.  I had a feeling I was going to enjoy Cecy’s and I was not wrong.  I instinctively wore a nice dress, and I was still a bit underdressed (why hadn’t I thought to wear the gorgeous silk dress my Mom had made me?!).  Of the 40 or so guests, all but 3 were women and all wearing gorgeous gowns and sparkling sequined outfits. It was a gala event for sure, and Cecy was the queen of the ball!  There was dancing, selfies, appetizers, selfies, dinner, selfies, cake and selfies!  The cake was surprisingly delicious – not your run of the mill cake shop cake with waxy frosting. This one was a carrot-ish (with zucchini?) spiced cake with a whipped cream type frosting. Not too sweet. Unfortunately, so many people showed up we only got small slivers! I called it an early night and did the rare ‘drive at night’ back to Mariana’s. It was closeby but I really do not like driving in the dark. I definitely need new headlights…

 

We did a hike with Erik and Zonia that weekend. Our long-lived suspicions that those two were romantically involved have now been put to rest. They are and we wish them happiness! So nice to be outside in the sun and not die.  The mosquitoes are brutal though!

Mariana and I had a cooking and movie night.  I thought those nights were over, so it was nice to have one more! I had made fish stock and was curious to see if it was going to make a nice soup.  It actually was surprisingly delicious!  We loaded it up with pieces of veggies and bow tie pasta.  I had some chocolate chip cookie dough in my fridge, so we also baked up cookies to have while we watched a movie.

On Sunday I headed back to the house on Avenida J to see Rae and JC and pick up all the goodies they brought down for me.  Unfortunately, they had car trouble on the way, their new used electric car just pooped out.  They had to get it towed to a mechanic in Hermosillo, and had a very late night returning to San Carlos. Luckily, they were coming down in 2 vehicles, or it could have been an even bigger nightmare.  As luck would have it, a few of my things were stuck in that dead car.  It was good to catch up with them, they are super great people!  It turns out they had to tow their car back to Arizona for the repairs – long and miserable saga for them, and some extra traveling for my flute trapped in the car.  I am hoping we connect soon to get that taken care of!

I was back at the beach by the afternoon and my great spot was still open.  Nice to see all my neighbors still there as well.  I got back into the bus-beach groove. Remembering to use as little water as possible wasn’t that difficult, it’s built into my habits from so much time on the boat and in Rita.

 

Mariana came out and spent one night on the beach with me and we had a fun time around the campfire with everyone.  Ted had already gotten his boat and sailed off across the sea.  The day before Laurie, Greg and Isabelle were leaving camp to go dogsit in the condos at the other end of the beach, we had a pretty big rain storm.  I didn’t think much of it, but the clay and sand roads into this area got pretty gunked up.  I had several days before I had to leave to go to the mechanic in Guaymas (more on that later).  It was still pretty bad and luckily some others out here found an alternative route to escape and showed it to me the day before I headed it.  It was tricky and a bit rough, but I managed to get out without too much hassle.

 

The mechanic I was going to was finally going to install an air conditioning system in Rita – the normal dashboard kind, not anything for the house.  I wish I’d thought to do this at the BEGINNING of summer…but anyway.  The cost is far more reasonable than what they quoted in California, and since I sold the diesel heater, it was all going to work out.

The shop was well located, across the street from a bakery, a water purification shop, a few blocks from a laundry shop and not that far from a carpenter (where I was able to get a load of wood shavings for my composting toilet).   So while Martin the mechanic was working away on Rita, I got a lot of work and personal things taken care of.  I also had a nice little walkabout in Guaymas on the way to the carpenters.   While it is not a touristy city, it definitely has some charm and history.

Well, Martin worked and worked and worked.  He thought he was going to finish by 6pm.  But soon after that, when we gave it a test run, nothing was working.  He ended up pulling the dash board apart and chasing down and fixing some vacuum leaks. He was able to get air blowing out all the dash vents! It was a miracle! But…nothing got cold.  He was going to have to look into that further and it was already very late.  By the time he got the dash put back together, it was 11pm!!  What dedication! I didn’t want to complain but I was exhausted and wanted to get Rita out of chaos and go to sleep. I had already given up on going out to eat or cooking a proper dinner. I just ate some bean and cheese burritos I made quickly.

It turned out the issue was something to do with the computer and the diesel motor not communicating well with the compressor.  Since it was rooted in the diesel motor and Martin was not a diesel mechanic, he wasn’t entirely sure what to do.  Since I have a great diesel mechanic, I thought maybe he could talk to Martin and they could figure it out.  I messaged Fernando and replied right away saying he would contact Martin as soon as he was free and they’d figure out how to fix Rita.  I had to leave, since it was nearly Thanksgiving and I had plans to cook a turkey on the beach!  Martin was also busy with other clients, so we agreed I would return on Monday.  He never even asked me for money after putting in a nearly 12 hour day (and the rate he quoted before was more than reasonable).  I have to say, just driving with the vent blowing was life changing (especially since it’s not really hot here anymore).  I hope we can get it all sorted out next week.

I spent another night at the Malecon, since I had to buy the turkey and run other errands the next day.  I parked in the same spot as before.  When the Zumba class began assembling, I decided to join – I quick changed and ran out the door.  It was a group of women about my age, so I figured I could keep up.  Physically, no problem, but still, being a gringa with tight/problematic hips and zero coordination, I flailed along as best I could. It was fun and I really needed the physical activity to break me out of a funk I was sinking into.   I felt like a new person afterwards.  I cooked up some chicken thighs in a faux-coq-au-vin (fauoq au vin?) with lots of mushrooms and red wine, that ended up being very tasty and enough for 2 nights.

Thawing a turkey properly, with no refrigerator, limited water and space, so that it was actually thawed, but not thawed so quickly that we all get poisoned, was a tricky game of timing, indeed. I borrowed Rick and Marji’s cooler, but I hadn’t counted on how good it was. I had way too much ice. At midnight, I discovered the bird, still in it’s covering, was encased in ice. I was out there throwing ice out as fast as I could and smacking that fowl with a metal spatula, till it was ice free and floating in just a tub if icy water.  At 5:30am, I was out there putting warm water in.  By 7:30am I had the turkey in the sink with warm water until I could extract the ice chunk inside and the giblets sack.  Somehow, I managed to get it stuffed and in the oven, just 7 minutes past my 10am goal.  Once it was in the oven, I made chocolate pudding for the pie shell I overcooked the night before. I have to say, I was impressed with how juicy it was and all the trimmings were very yummy, too! Marji, Rick and I had a mellow meal looking out at Tetakawi and the sea.  We had a nice beach walk with their dogs afterwards at sunset, before setting in on the pumpkin and chocolate pies.  Marji and I both burned our crusts a tad, but it didn’t really slow us down any!

I’ve been enjoying a few days on the beach and working on some new business ideas that have taken hold of me. Funny how a little time to let your mind rest suddenly makes way for some creative ideas.   I have a few more weeks before flying down to Guanajuato, to spend Christmas with my best friend Jen (she’s housesitting in a fancy place there) and the taking a bus out to Zihuatanejo for New Year’s and beyond.  Rita is going to rest in Hermosillo, next to Mariana’s Mom’s house.  I am kind of bummed to be leaving her after all the time I’ve just spent on improvements.  But the license plate nightmare is not going to be resolved until next year (I hope!).

Random food pix, mostly for you, Mary!