more later

Gosh, I haven't had a minute to devote to the blog, what with Alex here, travel, daily happenings, etc. Check back in a day or so to see what's happening. Just to let you know everyone is just fine and we are having a marvelous time.

Intel powered!!

This is the first message in a long time. And it is coming to you on my new computer, my MacBook Pro, fired by an Intel processor. It's about time, too! No Motorola slow poke on this machine. And I finally got all my Cuyutlan photos loaded onto the machine. I will post them from time to time to show you what it was I had been talking about all those months ago!

Summer is here. Weather it hot but clear and beautiful. Great pool time. We are beginning our annual let's-spend-all-our-Davis-time-remodeling projects. We had the water disaster while we were gone so carpeting/flooring in living room and guest bedroom has to be replaced, dry wall in bathroom has to be replaced on one wall. So as long as we're at it we might as well replace the sinks/counter tops in the bathrooms. I will do photos this time.

95616

Greetings from Davis. We made it home safely after a 10-hour drive. Total mileage traveled, Cuyutlan to Davis, 2300 miles. Even though it was an uneventful trip it is still exhausting. Now we face having to replace carpet, rehydrate a totally dessicated garden, unpack the car and put all that stuff away, several doctor's appointments, bathroom remodels, etc., we're still very glad to be home.

Bienvenidos a San Diego

We arrived safely in San Diego on Sunday afternoon, after a relatively uneventful trip of 5 days. The roads were clear all the way, not too much doble-remolque traffic -- that's a two-trailer 18-wheeler truck. Wednesday night we stayed in Tepic, Thursday night in Topolobampo (where I got some sort of nasty "tricky tummy" upset), then San Carlos (where the tricky tummy got worse but then finally better), across the border at Nogales -- where we had to surrender our delicious Italian-style salami because it has pork in it and pork is a HUGE no-no to bring across the boder -- and on to the smart destination of Gila Bend. What, you may well ask, is in Gila Bend? Absolutely nothing. Then on to San Diego and the arms of my sister, and daughter Alex and granddaughter Emily. What a delightful surprise to have them there as part of a welcoming committee. On Monday, Caitlin and Mike came to Vic's. We had the full family press, and it was wonderful.

Tomorrow morning we head up to Davis, after dropping Cait at the airport for her flight back to Bozeman. We are eager to get home. There is much to be accomplished in the coming months. First and foremost are my eyes. I see the doctor next week for a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Then there is the issue of replacing the carpet in the living room, ruined because of a pipe leak in one of the bathrooms. If I didn't like this carpet, this would be a perfect opportunity to get rid of something ugly. But what's there is so nice that it's going to be hard to replace it. Then there is the issue of the NEW COMPUTER. Yes, I am going to get a new laptop with the ability to put photos up on my BLOG. There may be some additions to this BLOG, after the fact. Stay tuned. And third, we bought some great bathroom basins in Delores Hidalgo for the two bathrooms. Work on that project will start ASAP. Pictures to follow.

Next message will be from beautiful Davis, CA, 95616.

Adios, Cuyutlan

This will be my last posting from here as we leave early tomorrow. I am at the lcal cybercafe -- the one where I fell down the stairs about a week after we arrived last December. Walking through town I noticed that some of the stalls put up for Semana Santa are still there, much to the delight of the local dogs who are still foraging for tidbits dropped along the way. The local police station is quiet, with only some lowly flunky out in the street watering down the dust. The restaurant con furniture shop run by the charming Doña Marie is closed, but Aberrotes Baby run by the eponymous Baby is alive an bustling. I walked own the malecon on my way here to check things out. This week is what is known here as a puente or bridge week. There are three holidays this week alone: Monday was Labor Day, tomorrow is Las Cruces and Friday is Cinco de Mayo. So instead of breaking it up, they take the whole week off. There are lots of day-trippers in town, and some who closed up their houses only a week ago, at the end of Pasqua are back again for this week. Many people on the beach today, and in the puestos and on the hotel verandas, soaking up the beer and sunshine.

But for us, now is the time to hit the road for home. Fernando and Chouy came over today to bid us safe travel. Last night was the final domino game of the season and my opportunity to bid fine friends good-bye. The fate of the library is still in the balance, but there´s nothing that can be one right now so we can only hope that all the books AND the shelves will be there next December.

Until next week . . .

After midnight . . .

I will no longer be connected to the Internet via Prodigy (dial-up!) service. I am terminating what has been an on-again-off-again relationship. By that I mean I dial in, get connected for 10 seconds, get terminated, and get charged for one phone call. This can happen three for four times until I finally get a line that lasts for awhile. And I am only allowed 100 of these per month, free. After that, I pay about 15 cents per call. It adds up, believe me. And TelMex is the ONLY phone company in Mexico. Like Pemex is the ONLY gasoline company in Mexico.

So after midnight it will be either the local cybercafe or wait until San Diego. That means that our five-month idyll is over and it's back to the US and Davis and TV news and regular delivery of a newspaper. Darn.

If I can write more before we leave next Wednesday, or along the way, I will. Otherwise, the next posting will be from San Diego. My sister is back in the hospital, hoping to return home today. Something to do with faulty dialysis. I trust she will be up and perking by a week from today, our intended arrival dates at her house. Caitlin, too, on a quick visit from Bozeman with Mike.

I am ready to leave here. It is getting very hot and muggy, although the breeze picks up in the afternoon and it is always cool for sleeping. We have moved over to Jack's for these last few days as the kitchen and indeed the entire house has been folded up and packed away for the next few months. I hope that you, readers, are ready to move back, too.

Lemondade

If you are given lemons…

The "lemon" we have is the library. This morning, Carolyn (la dueña of the library) took a good look at what has happened, at what we have to deal with, and talked about what we, as the borrowing public, can live with. Frankly, we don't have much of a choice. We decided to quit any grumbling and make the best of it. The foyer space will have to do until we happen upon a generous patron who wants nothing more than to set us up in fine style. A bit of pushing and shoving here and there, some rearranging of the shelves, and I think we will be ready for business in the fall. This is, of course, providing that nobody walks out the front door with our expensive (and rusting) shelves. I hope to have a chance to talk to our new presidente before we leave next Wednesday. I am hoping (foolishly?) to get some assurance that a minimal security will be provided to the biblioteca now that they have (or someday will have) computers in the building.

Today our friend Luly was sworn in as the interim mayor of Armeria. The elected mayor is gearing up to run for higher office so Luly is stepping in for about six months. Maybe she can insure our book shelves' safety??

The house is about 75% closed up. We move over to Jack's tomorrow for three days so we can finish bagging up pillows, packing away clothes and stowing all the stuff in the kitchen. I made all the hotel reservations for the trip home -- Tepic, Topolobampo, San Carlos and Gila Bend. All glamour spots.

Put "The Egyptologist" by Arthur Phillips on your MUST READ list.