Tuesday, Oct 4th
We left this morning to head south. The colors were just as beautiful as ever all the way over Dallas Divide and into the San Miguel Valley by Telluride. Then we headed south over Lizard Head Pass into Delores and then Cortez. We drove south from Cortez…a different route for us. We made great time and drove straight through to Phoenix. We made it just in the nick of time. Just east of us on Wolf Creek Pass they got 2 feet of snow Wednesday. It’s always a crap shoot this time of year timing the drive over the high passes. Not bad in a car or truck but snow and ice are no fun in the motor coach. Link for pictures More fall colors
Wednesday, Oct 5th through Monday Oct, 10th
We had a great time visiting the kids and catching up with friends. Little Jack has grown up so much in just a few months! He will be 1 year old on Nov. 3rd. I can’t believe it. The heat broke just as we got to Phoenix and we enjoyed the weather. But soon the heat was back and we decided we’d rather be hot down in Mexico. So we did some last minute stocking up on supplies and headed south.
Tuesday, Oct. 11th
We got into San Carlos about 8 pm and yes; it was a long drive. When crossing the border into Mexico after being gone awhile you hope the rules have remained unchanged. They seem to change them at will and one never knows what’s up. Plus it seems that the officials all have a different way of interpreting the rules. This time was no exception. At the first check point they wanted to see proof of registration for both vehicles and our passports. Not a problem -- until I could not find the registration on the jeep. In what was a minor stroke of genius I gave them our state insurance card which looks like the registration. Apparently they can’t read English any better than I read Spanish cause it worked and we were allowed to proceed. At the next check point approximately 20 klicks down the road they wanted importation papers on the Jeep. Apparently there’s a problem with people towing vehicles into Mexico, selling them and not paying any taxes or they might be stolen. But the rule is that you don’t need importation documents until you travel south of San Carlos. But I think they are trying to get around this by having you get a permit on your towed vehicle. So the government has decided to charge an importation fee or duty to get their share. This was a new one on us and the scene was kinda comical. The official telling us over and over that we needed permiso which I guess was the extent of his English. Then envision us trying to explain in our best “spanglish” that we had a valid registration which I found (thank goodness) and had been allowed to proceed at the first check point. No, no, no senora permiso, permiso and back and forth we went. After about ten minutes of “argumentative” discussion the guys finally gave up and let us pass. We found out later that they really are requiring a for towed vehicles costing up to $400.00 U.S. Needless to say we’ve no doubt the Lord was looking out for us.
There is a lot of road construction between the border and Hermosillo and onto San Carlos with lots of detours which really slowed us down. But those of you who know San Carlos will appreciate this…. the boulevard is newly paved all the way from the exit off the main highway through town….incredible! Now if they’ll just pave the road out to the Ranchitos.
We moved into the apartment and had 1 day to get settled before we were diving. Wow, it was great to be home! We will send out some underwater pictures later but wanted to get this out to everyone before too much more time passed. We have been very busy getting our visas renewed (Jim is getting his work visa), getting settled and catching up with friends. Almost everyone is back in town as of this posting and it has been fun. The weather is awesome and the diving has been great. Not to mention our Orca and dolphin encounter. Hope you all enjoyed the videos. What an amazing experience! If you missed the email here are the links to You Tube:
Here is the 1st link http://youtu.be/xqc9KOBBs4g
Here is the 2nd video http://youtu.be/8kegA3R81sQ
So this is the end of the road for now. We plan to spend the winter season here diving and working on Abigail (she’s our sailboat) so we’ll be busy! We hope you’ve enjoyed our travels as much as we enjoyed sharing them with you. Thanks to everyone who shared their hospitality and know that our hatch is always open. Until next time in the words of our favorite pirate and songwriter, Jimmy B., “some never find it, some only pretend, I just want to live my life happily ever after, now and then.” Vaya con Dios…. Jim and Becky
