Esperando a Cablecom

Domingo 16 – Sabado 22 Sep 2012.  (Sun 16^th) You have heard how everything runs on a slower timetable here in Mexico. Well I would like to say that even the roosters get their day started late. Thankfully, as we do not like to be awakened by their cheerful hellos. Actually there are two near here, but not too near. Desayuno at Cafetería Fortín to post blog entries. This restaurant is the one 15 blocks from home, and west of the central plaza and a half block south. Always good, but smaller amounts than the restaurant four blocks from home, where we would have gone, except they said that their cook had not shown up yet this morning. We were also able to send the final moving list to Teresa, which she will translate and use to get our things across the border.

Since it's Sunday, a day with the least amount of traffic on the streets, we decided to venture out with the car to start to get accustomed to driving around here, with the goal of getting to Walmart, halfway between Fortín and Córdoba. On the way we thought to stop by to say hi to Frank and Ania. We had called all three of their phones to see if they were home, but no one answered, so we just took a chance. We tooted our horn at their gate and the gate opened; someone must be home. Such a beautiful piece of property they have on the hillside, filled with plants that are still seem exotic to us. Ania was out back working in a garden. Stayed maybe an hour to chat, then headed out for shopping.

We had to wait for a train at the grade crossing halfway between here and there. Luckily it was not a long train. On the top of the train cars sat many travelers, mostly men. Folks from south of the Mexican border come into Mexico this way. And no, they are not deported. Mostly they are treated generously by the local citizens. Word has it that folks in Fortín are especially good to them – the teenage girls in the back of the pickup in front of us gaily waved back. At Walmart, we stocked up on some heavy stuff (cat litter, detergent, etc), since we had the car with us. We were also looking for some clothing storage bins (which we plan to seal up with a little container of silica gel inside, to keep our out of season clothes dry) and a pressure cooker. Turns out all the cooker boxes had been opened and the weight gizmo removed by some light-fingered shoppers before us. On the way out of the store, Dan bought a small Mexican flag from a stand. Today is Dia de Independencia, and we thought we'd show the colors. It's now hanging on the porch a few feet from our front door. ¡Viva México!

Mon 17^th. Walked up to visit the Fester store for info and prices. Back home Dan swapped out some electric outlets--whereas the US has duplex outlets, Mexico uses snap-in units into a holder that will fit any combination of up to three switches, ungrounded or grounded outlets. Put away more food items. Frank visited at end of day, and of course we offered him his favorite Gallo beer. Garbage day? Not too sure just when garbage pick up is supposed to be. Seems very erratic. But it does happen. Dan read in a newspaper that the dump site for Fortin was being closed and we assume this has caused a pick up problem today. Folks here tie their garbage bags high on their steel fencing in front of their homes or businesses, out of reach of wandering pooches. Sometimes the ladies down the street from us simply take their bags out to the truck when it pulls up in front of their houses. Surely this must cause a longer day for the sanitary workers.

Tue 18^th. Scoped out the restaurant near bus stop for a possible meal stop on another day. This involved walking inside, checking out the menu, and asking if they had internet available for us to use. Yes they do, and we met the chef, a young lady in white jacket, very neat & spiffy. Took bus (felt good to be on a bus again) to Pretensur to see roofing materials and get prices. This factory, about five minutes down the main drag into Córdoba (halfway to Walmart) manufactures concrete roof files, blocks, pavers, posts and boveda-type precast roof-spans, selling locally at very good prices, shipping all over Mexico and into the US. Lots of variety of tiles, and we walked around the lot to view samples, colors, etc. These would be to replace the clay barrel tiles on our upper roof, a large quantity of which are broken and letting water down onto the concrete slab. Just replacing the clay tiles would be a frustrating task, as the next trip up to the roof for maintenance probably would mean newly broken tiles. They are very fragile and one must walk with extreme care in exactly the right spots, and even then they may crack. We are looking for a style that most closely resembles the old hacienda look, so the new roof does not look out of place on the house. Those cost of these interlocking concrete roofing tiles alone, at the factory, will be MX$155 per square meter, which works out to just about US$1.00 per square foot. Ten tiles cover one square meter of surface, applied with the proper overlap.

(Wed 19^th) Breakfasted at the Restaurant Maria Guadalupe. This rather new business is nine blocks north of home, on the corner of Calle 11 Sur and the main road between Cordoba and Fortin. We catch buses on this corner. They don't have wi-fi there, but passed us the ethernet cable from their counter PC to connect us while we sat there. This restaurant is more upscale with it's menu and atmosphere. Back to food – Carmen had an omelet stuffed with potato and chorizo which are two of her favorite foods. Other fillings are available also. Dan had machaca, sort of a scrambled egg dish with tasty beef strips, onion, tomato, and small black beans. Of course the plate also had black beans pureed on the side. (We recall that in northern and western Mexico one would find pinto beans as their portion of frijoles). Fresh pastries were included. Usually a pastry basket is set on the table and you pay extra for each one you eat. Of course coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice and the most elegant bowl of fruit. Was melons and guava cut up with a huge amount of pomegranate nibs on the top. Five pesos more than the other two restaurants we have been breakfasting at, but the best breakfast yet. Posted a blog entry & checked email, where we got the final billing from Strom-White. So right away, Dan authorized a bill-pay from our bank in Anacortes, and paid them. Returned to the Fester store for more info on sealing our roof, and also stopped by Cablecom, where it was confirmed our package would be installed by Saturday. Tapped the ATM at the Banamex.

Thu 20^th. Stayed home thinking internet might be installed today. Silly us. Dan worked on a timeline for the upcoming home renovations, translating it all into Spanish so he'd have it ready for the crew. Carmen unpacked all our meds. Difficult to decide just how and where items are to go in a new place. We have determined that garbage pick up is on Monday and Thursday. Worked some more on the second blog entry about our travels down here.

Fri 21^st – Hot cereal at home. Washed bedding and jeans, all by hand in our kitchen sink. Really not that big a thing doing hand wash since Carmen thinks the scrubbing is tightening up the flabby skin in her upper arms, from weight loss. Do not want to buy and install the stacked washer and dryer until work inside and on the roof on the laundry room (the cuarto de servicio, which will double as a little shop) is finished. Dan spent some time trying to get some sticky paint off the office shelves. Smij in bed. Gardi enjoying catnip, being combed and the feather on a string toy. Carmen studied Spanish. No Cablecom yet.

Sat 22^nd – Woke up this morn for the second time with a tap tap tap noise going on outside. This time we went out the front door, instead of the back as yesterday, and quietly around corner and discovered two woodpeckers, enjoying themselves. Lighting was such that we could not see their coloring. Bigger than downy woodpeckers though. We both finished books. We discovered that there was a part of the ceiling in bathroom entry which we missed in July when we painted with festermicide. The ceiling there is a goodly 10 feet high. There was grit from termite chompings on the floor below that spot. Dan took our ladder up the stairs and climbed up and painted and syringed the poison into tiny holes. All the spots where we have put this festermicide so far seem to be rid of the varmints. Stayed close to home again waiting for Cablecom; no such luck today. Found a local radio station that plays enjoyable age-appropriate songs (mostly love songs it seems, with some great danceable bouncy cumbia thrown in), a good change from the typical pop, rap, ranchero and norteño stuff we can normally find.  

Finalmente en Casa

Miercoles 12 – Sabado 15 Sep 2012. (Wed 12^th) Our first stop in town was the Super Ahorros grocery, where the faces in the store remind us again how very friendly this little town is. Next, home again, home again, jiggidy jig. As we turn south onto our street, Calle 11 Sur, there is our blue house, just waiting for us! We're about five blocks north of the home and we see a possibly familiar car coming off a side street and would you believe! Ania is driving. She saw us too. She turned her car around and then drove down to pull in behind us as we parked in front of the house to unload. How nice to immediately see another friendly face! Later in the day Frank stopped by to welcome us home.

Unloading went quickly, despite all the stuff stashed in all the nooks and crannies of the car. Oh, we dropped a box of vitamins and where did they roll to? Hither and yon. The rest of the job went smoothly. Gracious, we did wonder how we managed to get so much in our car. Put kitties in their kennels in dining room to watch us bring stuff inside and to get the first sense of the (now pretty empty) space that would be their home. After we moved our car into the backyard parking area inside our gate, we took cats up to our temporary bedroom. Temporary, because our roof leaks a bit in the master bedroom. A major project facing us now is getting all the roof tiles stripped and then coating the concrete slab roof with waterproofing (impermeabilizante), bought from Fester. Going to be quite a job. We probably will not have the crew to help with this til December, but anyway we need to wait until the September rains end.

Dan turned on the electric breakers in the house, attached the handle to the water valve and turned on the city water, and got out the ladder to turn on the propane tank valve on the roof. He read all the meters and found that there has been no usage in our absence, as it should be. The propane hot water heater was also turned on and Carmen checked that the stove pilots work. The refrigerator is plugged in and perishables from the store get put inside, plus a pitcher of water filled from the garafon on the counter. This is a small 11cuft Whirlpool frig, and it chills down quickly. There are now containers all over the place, in the kitchen, bathroom and office, from which we will eventually unpack all those items that were not able to be shipped down by the movers with our furniture.

Back to the kitties. Being used to hotel rooms each of the past nights, they were eager to explore every corner of the bedroom immediately after their kennel doors opened. They did not mind that we went back downstairs to fix a quick pasta meal and devour it. Was one of the items we bought before leaving here past July. Then we all went to sleep for the night. Next morning the kitties followed us downstairs, seeming most surprised that their space was bigger than one of those hotel rooms. What fun watching them dash around, would swear they were smiling as we assured them this was their new home.

(Thu 13^th) Started our day by walking into town for desayuno (breakfast). A lovely 16 or so block walk, and it promises to be a great day. At this time of year, the mornings here are mostly sunny, getting up to the mid-80's F after lunchtime before cooling down with late afternoon or evening showers. The Cafetería Fortín (a restaurant, not a cafeteria in the US sense of the word) is southwest of the central park, next to our favorite bakery. The breakfast here is a bit smaller than the meal we'd get four blocks from home, but it is open today. They both allow us to use their wi-fi internet access for no charge while we dine. We sent off quick emails to say we arrived. Did a bit of grocery shopping for fresh fruit, vegetables & meat on our way home. Lots more cleaning. Seems that the dust in Anacortes was pale tan and here it is dark gray. Unpacked more tubs, trying to determine the best cupboard, cabinet or shelf for each type of thing we had moved down here with us. We worked on reconciling our Strom-White packing list and the one the mover developed the day the vans got loaded up. Dan mapped out the electrical circuits in our house – all the lights are one one 10amp circuit, and all the outlets on another one. The third circuit must be for the water pump that, when necessary, moves water from the emergency underground cisterna to the rooftop tinaco (still to be proven, however). Still very weary from our seven day road trip.

(Fri 14^th) This morning we had cereal for breakfast at home. Walked over to visit Frank's obra (new house, under construction), and Frank had not yet arrived for the day. Next walked on into town to pay the water bills for July and August, both of which were in our mailbox waiting for us. July we had used very little, and August none, so both bills charged us for the minimum amount. Total under $5 US for the two months together. Next on to our favorite hardware store in town to buy a cold chisel. Then we traversed a different route of sidewalks and passed a fruit stand. Probably the best in town, for a permanent stand. Many street corners will have venders of fruit or veggies hoping to sell their items which are stacked on a wheel barrel. Purchased oranges at a price better than we'd seen yesterday at the grocery store. Heading back towards home, we grocery shopped again. Our purchases included chocolate ice cream. Dan was in charge of selecting the ice cream and yogurt, while Carmen selected the bakery. We tend to buy small amounts each time, so that our purchases are not too heavy to carry home. Also we get fresher breads this way. While walking home, we saw some big net bags of oranges, maybe 40 pounds each, stacked up and for sale on a corner, nine blocks from home. The cost was 40 pesos, or about US$0.075 a pound. We walked towards home, and talked about bringing the car back for them, when low and behold, Frank pulls up beside us. He can not understand why we walk when we have a car. Frank, who was heading towards the hardware store, offered to take Dan and pick up a bag and take to our house. Meanwhile Carmen took today's purchases and walked on home, quickly, so she would be there by the time they got to the house.

Arriving at the Ferretería Urbina-Andrade hardware, Dan realizes that Carmen cannot get into the house, since he has the only set of keys in his pocket (Frank has not yet returned the set we had given him while we were in the US). In the hardware store, Frank offers to let Dan take his truck to get back to the house so Carmen does not have to wait. Dan gets in the truck, and for the life of him cannot find reverse, and proceeds to roll the pickup forward with each attempt to move. He goes back into the store and learns that reverse is down and to the right, not to the left. By this time a guy has parked his moto in the little space behind the truck, leaving less than 18” in total (front & back together) to maneuver in. To much amusement of the guys on the street, gringo Dan finally manages to move the truck out of the tight parking spot (many short front and back movements, cranking the wheel each time, trying not to bump the car in front or knock over the moto behind) and heads off, thinking all the time of Carmen waiting at the doorstep. He makes a quick stop to get the bag of naranjas and heads home. This has proven to be a lovely hot day. By now Carmen tried to shade the groceries, since there was ice cream in the bags. She waited and waited and waited, and was beginning to worry that there had been an accident. Finally Dan arrived and explained the un-parking trouble that caused the delay, and the ice cream made it into the freezer.  He then headed back to pick up Frank, who was happily eating a sandwich (torta) from the shop next to hardware store. He watched as Dan parallel parked into a (now sufficient) space in front of the store, then took the opportunity of being in town to tap his ATM up the block, and also recharged his cellphone at a little shop nearby. Finished with the errands, he dropped Dan off at home before returning to the jobsite

Late in the afternoon we walked into town again to recharge our own phone, since Frank had told Dan that there was a special going today, MX$120 for the cost of MX$100. Bought two dishes of hand-scooped helado, and sat on a shaded bench in the park behind city hall to enjoy it. Carmen picked a flavor that proved to be black cherry with nuts, and Dan had cappuccino flavor. Gave us strength to walk on home. We decided to go to the Cablecom office to scope out service plans; we'll need to decide on package details and bring a copy of proof of residence (a water bill) and a copy of the US passport, in order to place an installation order. Carmen at this point is really fighting with a sinus infection, cold or what ever she had picked up in Utah. Thankfully Dan has stayed healthy so far.

(Sat 15^th) Carmen sort of stayed in bed today, trying hard to snap out of her cold. Dan went by himself to the Urbina hardware store to pick up some electrical parts. He also stopped by Cablecom and ordered a package including TV cable (91 channels), telephone (free local 271 lada calls, calls outside this lada and calls to States MX$1.19 per minute or about 8 cents US), and internet (10 megabit speed). This will cost us about US$65 per month. Dan paid the US$15 installation fee, and the young lady said it would be installed within a week. When he got home he swapped out those 10amp breakers in the SquareD box, for some 20amp breakers he had kept from Mountain Song days. As all the wiring in the house is 12 gauge, this seems a safe & quick fix for circuits that would overload should we plug in more electrical stuff, once it arrives. He pulled two ungrounded outlets from the box in the wall over the kitchen counter, and snapped in two of the grounded type. (Understand, these are not actually grounded, but will now accept the 3-prong plugs that all our small kitchen appliances are equipped with.) He also replaced the hanging bulb socket over the front gate which had rusted in the rain, for a surface-mounted lamp holder mounted out of the wet under a beam. At the end of his workday, Frank stopped by to drop off the set of keys for Carmen, and enjoyed a Gallo beer with us.

The cats seem to have adapted and settled in to their new digs well. Gardi assures us that he would be okay being allowed outside to see the rest of his new world. But this is not in the plans for him, so we are careful as we go in and out that he is not in a position to dash outside. He holds back, as he seems to understand our wishes about this. Smij is doing her usual thing of hiding out (presently under the bed covers) and sleeping all day. As soon as our light goes out at night, Gardi, from downstairs, starts calling loudly to Smij to come play, or at least it seems that way. Soon he comes to our bedroom and performs his nightly grooming and then sleeps the rest of the night on a shelf above our heads. Wonder what Smij finds to do all night?

El Viaje...SoB*

Lunes 10 – Miercoles 12 Sep 2012.  Another night with restless sleep. Monday morning we arose at 5:30am, as we want to be at the border about 7am. We asked last night about how to find the border crossing from here. Take bridge #2 we were told. And where might that be? Just go straight down I-35 at the front of our hotel. It will end and continue as a street leading right to the bridge and you cannot miss it. We had gassed up the night before, so we were as ready as could be. Dan is now more nervous about things since Carmen does not speak Spanish yet, so it all now falls to him to interpret all the signs and directions, plus maneuver the car defensively thru Nuevo Laredo traffic. (He actually hasn't driven in Mexico since a one day jaunt down to Ensenada in Baja California, part of a cross country road trip with high school friends the summer after graduation.) We had re-read all our info (printed from web forum posts made by other ex-pats) the night before about where to go and what to do once across. Hoping to follow it exactly so as not to be shot at. Carmen checked with the motel desk clerk when she turned in the keycard, and learned there was a US$3 toll to cross the bridge (which will be our last use of US money for a while). Off we drive to see what mexperiences await. *SoB – south of the border

Sure enough, after handing over our bridge toll, signage begins in Spanish – giant signs across the road to tell us which lane to get into. We immediately had to choose the proper lane to be in. Do we have anything to declare? The car is full after all, but most of it's just “stuff,” with nothing of any significant value. Maybe we have to declare the cats? Decided to get in the “Nothing to Declare” lane. At this point you can get a green light which allows you to just continue on, or you can get the red light which means you pull over into the open garage area and customs officials have the option to ask you to remove everything out of the car for inspection. Booya, we got the green light! Must admit that the officials could have chosen to relieve us of some items, or levy a small duty on us. Guess there were just too many others passing thru with loaded pickups, vans or small trailers to bother with just a sedan.

We followed the big blue signs as told to do in our info from the web. A large sign across the road said to make a U turn (retorno) to the left. We knew that at some point we had to go back under the bridge that we crossed over to get to the buildings where our passport & visa would be inspected, and where we'd get our permit to bring the car into the country. Turned out that after the U turn, we discovered there were two roads paralleling each other, and we had taken the closest, and wrong, one – it was not going under the bridge but into the city. Consider that there are policemen with rifles all over the place...now what? Shortly there was no traffic, no police at the moment, and a possible U turn spot. Dan whipped around, going over the previously traveled road expecting to hear sirens. Again we were lucky. Got on to the correct road and in a minute or so we were in front of the correct building. Pulled left into the parking lot only to discover we were in the bus lot. Got back out and drove a few paces to the correct lot. This was the one time that we had to leave kitties in the car with rolled up windows. Was a bit after 7AM and the sun had not heated things up yet. Oh thank you Lord.

We both walked up the flight of steps into the long building. Papers in hand. Dan asked the first person he saw in the first of close to 100 offices along the one wall, just where to go. Everyone else at this spot was filling out FMM visa forms. The man assured us that we did not need one. We did not really believe him, but could find no forms to fill out, so we went to the window he sent us to. No line here, where the young lady looked at our documents to make sure that we had all the correct items and the perquisite number of copies. Then next to another window where there was a line. Waited quite awhile as no one else seemed to have all their papers together like we thought we did. Meanwhile shift change was happening. Over and over. There would be at any time one to five clerks to wait on us. The clerks would just take off and turn people over to another clerk, in the middle of processing them. Now we noticed, of course, that everyone else had those FMM visas we had seen earlier. We knew of course that on an airplane even citizens of Mexico had to fill out this form for re-entry. What could we do – just stand in line.

Finally our turn came. New surge of nervousness. Dan hands the fellow our paperwork. We indeed had everything we needed. It took about 45 minutes to process us here. The temporary vehicle importation permit, with an official decal which is adhered to the front windshield, is tied to our No Inmigrante visa, which expires next July. The visa gets renewed yearly, in Córdoba, for the next five years, at which point we can apply for Inmigrante status or start another five year No Inmigrante series. All this means is that we have only a one year permit for the car. We assume there must also be a way to renew the car permit each July, hopefully not involving a trip back to a border station. Since then Frank has told us that there is a law where vehicle renewal is not necessary as long as we have the long term visas, provided we have a copy of the appropriate law with the papers in the vehicle to prove this fact to an adamant traffic cop. Dan was handed all the papers, and paid the US$300 fee for a 2006 vehicle, charged to our Mastercard. Discovered his name was spelled wrong, so all the papers had to be done again. Thank heavens we checked everything before leaving the window. Availed ourselves of the free restrooms there, then back to our car. Very happy with our decal to stick on our windshield. Found kitties in good shape. The car interior had not gotten hot. And no, we never needed the FMM document, our plastic visa card showing that we were residents was enough.

Now, two hours have passed since we crossed bridge #2, and its time to leave this parking lot and continue on to the animal/plant inspection point, and then the later interior check point south of the city. Dan told Carmen to look at our printed directions. Oh no, I don't need to she says. You go to the further end of this parking lot and turn left. Positive. Good. So off we go and we are getting more and more puzzled, since we both remembered that there was supposed to be very little traffic on a bypass route, yet here we are on city streets in rush hour Hmm. OK, Carmen read the papers another time. Oops! We should have turned right out of the last buildings instead of left. We certainly did not want to backtrack, and we both felt that we were going the right direction – so on we went. About half an hour out of town we saw a plant-animal inspection station sign. However, we couldn't see a building to go with the sign, so the cats got into the country without anyone seeing their paperwork. On we drove, now about twenty minutes south of the city, where sure enough – here was the interior check point. We of course stopped at the barrier where many security guards stood about, and again choose the nothing to declare line. Remember the red/green light? We got a green light again – so on Dan drove. Now he has only driven maybe 45 minutes of his 2.5 hours since we left the US, so far. He did however have to talk to everyone for us. Carmen told him to pull over at the soonest possible place, which happened as we got onto the toll road (cuota) a bit past the inspection station. She would consider all his talking & dealing with the officials as part of his driving shift time. Now wasn't that nice of Carmen?

We had read that this part of the drive south of the border, between Nuevo Laredo and San Luis Potosí was the most trying of our journey – hills and curves. No sooner did Carmen mention the nice straight road when boom! Talk about high steep climbs and sharp curves. The road was a divided toll road and in excellent shape – but WOW it was difficult. Very glad to have that part of the trip over with. Getting gas was no problem, as Pemex stations (prices just a bit less than currently in the US) are spotted frequently along the route. Thereafter we came into beautiful green covered landscapes. Pleasant drive and we just ate what we had of our car food. Late that afternoon we made our planned stopping point, Matehuala. Dan noted that this town's name is a sort of syllable reversal/change of how Guatemala may be pronounced. (“Matewala”--”Watemala”)

We exited the cuota highway and drove in on the business route, so we could check out the town. Carmen watched for topes, speed bumps that are an effective obstacle keeping local traffic to low speeds. Dan had a list of motels here, and a map of town printed from Google Earth. Saw the inexpensive Capri north of the town center that some have recommended—it looked a little seedy. Then we passed the spacious Midway Inn Las Palmas, the place many ex-pats stay. We ended up staying at a lovely motel, the Parador Don Juan just south of the gateway arch in Matehuala, where the manager, who had worked in the US at one time, said of course we could take our cats inside with us. Big room, lots of hot water, air-conditioner, and very clean, for MX$400 per night (about US$30), one quarter of the price we would have paid at Las Palmas (and, would they have allowed the cats?). There was a fried chicken restaurant a few doors down and the food was scrumptious. Note that we could have made the travel thru Mexico in two days, but the days would have been a bit long and it would have taken us thru the last mountain range, with the dramatic drop into western Veracruz, after dark. Did not want that. We were happy with the shorter days of driving, and no urgency about being off the roads before dark, or wondering if we could find a room in the late evening.

Started this Tuesday morning out fresh as could be. Snacked along the way with car food. Saw lots of goats being herded, and also cattle tied or guarded along the road and in median strip. No land being wasted. Several more signs for plant-animal inspection stations, but no visible stations themselves. We realized by now these were for transporters of farm products going across the state borders—surely they wouldn't be interested in the two felines. After leaving Matehuala we headed south, noting the roads off to Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende, and past Querétaro and San Juan del Rio, and shortly thereafter we picked up the Arco Norte (the new bypass route that skirts to the north of Mexico City). Here we got the second rain of the trip, quick deluges, intermittent for a little more than an hour. We had a bit of sporadic rain in the States, and we had used that time to listen to a recorded book on a set of four CDs. We had discovered that it was not possible to hear the book well enough when we had the windows opened, which was most of the trip. So the book was relegated to rainy stretches and the few times we had the air conditioner on. We finished the book on today's run. Today we planned to be on the bypass for just a short time, as Tula would be our stopping point in the evening. By the time we got near there however, it just seemed too early to stop.

We took another look at the road atlas and decided to complete the Arco and drive on a bit farther to Cholula.. We had spent a night there with Judy, Tammy & Jason, when we visited the pyramid there. One of the largest in Mexico, and only a wee bit has been excavated. Cholula is a smaller town just west of Puebla, a large colonial city where we knew there would be a problem finding reasonably priced lodgings, to say nothing of having the cats with us. We drove into the west side of town and of course did not know the town at all. Dan had not been prepared to visit here, and did not have maps printed or scoped out the hotel scene—we just hope we'd get into the area where we had stayed once before. Wandered about a bit on narrow cobbled streets, and finally saw the pyramid off to our right, towering above town. Drove a bit farther east til we almost passed a possibility, which proved to be the “SuperMotel,” a quick right turn thru the portal and we were in, obviously, a “no tell motel.”

How interesting—the price list on the wall had a MX$150 special for five hours, and a 12 hour rate for MX$200. You pay for your room which includes a garage which you drive into and then the garage door is locked behind you. From there you go into your room. In some of these facilities, they are rented by the hour--the five hour limit told us we were dealing with, perhaps, one small step above the hourly type. Dan spoke to the attendant and asked where the office was. We assume that usually the attendant would be the only one you'd see, paying her cash, no registration, no names, etc. Dan explained to the man in the office that we wouldn't leave until the following morning, and he offered us a rate of MX$280 (US$21) for 24 hours use of the facilities. Drove around again until the attendant waved us towards one of the rooms, collected our pesos, then pressed her remote to slide the door closed behind the car. They didn't notice the cat kennels, and of course once we were shut in, who could tell? It was quite an experience for us. Kitties loved all the different levels in the room, which was equipped with marble accoutrements, a bedside toilet paper dispenser, rubber liners under the clean sheets and pillow cases, huge bath towels, a bidet in the bathroom and free porn on five channels of the TV. We wondered why there was no mirror on the ceiling. Would have been almost elegant if the carpet had been in better shape. Once you leave this place you do not get back in, so we ate cold pork & beans with crackers for supper. I guess we could have ordered take-out off the printed menu in the room (replete with the back illustrating sex toys one could buy),delivered right to the room. There was even a little “air lock” type cabinet on the front wall, so that anything one ordered could be paid for and passed thru without any faces being revealed.

Wednesday morning has arrived, our last day of driving. Now you understand, we have never been in one of these hotels before. Should be easy to get out. However it took us some time to figure out how to operate the garage door opener. It proved to be a button on the wall near the entrance that we had taken for the doorbell. We had been worried that we might not be able to take the cats into lodgings here south of the border, as few Mexicans travel with pets, and few hotels will accommodate them. But we lucked out, and in a pinch in the future will not be reticent to drive into one of those interesting motels surrounded by high walls and equipped with individual garages. As we left, a red pickup entered. The women in the passenger seat was scrunched down, bent over and had her hands covering most of her face. Wonder what she thought of the folks driving out not trying to hide their identities at all?

A note here on the toll roads. The entire trip in Mexico cost about US$85 in tolls, a quarter of which was on the new Arco Norte. The cost was well worth it to us, as these highways are very safe, good roads, equipped with passing lanes, where we could maintain a better than 60mph rate for the most part. (Except for that tropical downpour Tuesday that cut visibility to almost zero and the speed to match, for a short time.) Every several kilometers there are pull-offs for repairs, a supply of radiator water, and occasionally an emergency telephone. On the Arco Norte we were given a plastic card to carry with us and to pay when we got off. All the other cuota routes had periodic toll booths that varied in cost. We could have made most of the trip on libre roads, free to travel on, but they would have been thru all the pueblitos, towns and cities, and the trip would have taken much longer due to local traffic, pedestrians on the road, topes, etc.

Again Dan studied the map and discovered there was a bypass around the south side of Puebla. We have been on buses thru Puebla and the traffic is horrendous. We needed gas right away, since we are still not letting our tank get below half. We were unsure how to get onto the peripheral bypass (periferico), since the signing was strange to us. We inquired at the gas station, and the only periferico the young attendant knew of was the one around the north of the city. We did not believe his directions, taking us back north and west, so on we drove in the direction we had headed, found the entrance ramp to the correct highway and proceeded easily most of the way around the city. Then Molly, the voice of our GPS, told us to make a turn. [Dan just realized that in Spanish, this name would be pronounced as “Moh-ye-yee” so he will hereinafter spell it as “Mali” which is pronounced the same in both languages.] She could be very insistent. When we were obviously in a new construction area, as this was, we were usually right to ignore her and follow the road signs. But, we are suspicious that here on the SE side of Puebla we should of listened to her. We ended up on narrow busy streets for awhile, with lots of unmarked topes. A cautious look to the cars up the road going over the bumps usually gave us enough warning. We were heavily loaded, and only a couple times did we hit on the frame between the sets of wheels. Did finally get back on the toll road which runs between Puebla and the port city Veracruz on the Gulf coast. Dan drove til we got near the mountain pass dropping from La Esperanza into western Veracruz state. Then Carmen took over because Dan wanted to take pictures. We happily cruised along, stopping for special views of the overwhelmingly green, mountainous landscape and the snow-covered Pico de Orizaba (18,000 + ft high) north of the highway. When we were most of the way down on the east side of the pass, traffic came to a standstill in both lanes. The cause was road resurfacing, and we spent an extra hour here inching forward. On the valley floor traffic opened up and we cruised past Rio Blanco and Orizaba without a hitch.

We took the cuota right to the edge of Fortín, and paid the final MX$10 toll on the exit ramp down into our new hometown. Stopped by the Super Ahorros grocery store for some produce and bakery goods. Drove on to our blue house, Casa Azuledos. Was so very good to be at the end of the journey. We could not have asked for a better trip. Guess it was simply meant to be.

El Viaje...NoB*

Jueves 06 – Domingo 09 Sep 2012.  Oh, why did we do this to ourselves...4:30am is soooooo early! Carmen likes to get an early start at the beginning of trips. We had failed to be able to spend more than a few minutes with Dan's daughter Harmony a couple weeks ago, so we wanted to stop by her house as we passed there, only a few minutes off Hwy 90 on Mercer Island in Seattle. The plan therefore was to leave the house by 5:30. However, it was 6:05 when we pulled out of our driveway. It just took longer than expected to recheck all the house and repack all that was in the car around the cat cases. There was not a spare spot in the Focus. We knew that we had little time to see Harmony before she had to take children to school. A traffic jam occurred heading east out of the city, so we now realized that we had missed seeing the children, but we still hoped to visit with her when she returned from dropping them off. No such luck. Chris, her husband was home, not feeling well, and he said we had missed her by two minutes and that she had to go to a meeting so would not be home til much later. What a bummer of a way to start our trip. *NoB – north of the border

Dan drove the first 2.5 hours, then Carmen the next 2.5, then the same shifts in the afternoon, throughout the travel. We had mostly divided highways in US, and we stuck to the toll roads in Mexico. There were some two lane roads, mostly in Texas and some north of there. At one point on a two lane country road, there was a sign that said “pavement ends 20 miles”. Did not say what condition the road would be in – should we back track 20 miles or take a chance? We took a chance and found but a wee bit of road repair., but it was a Sunday and the machinery was all unmoving and parked off to the side. We did have the voice of “Molly” (our GPS) which tried to tell us which roads to take. She was not always correct however. Especially where recent highway changes were made.

The fact we were transporting our two cats was the only reason we drove a car down to Mexico, considering we both hate to drive long distances. Would not leave our little loves behind though. Mexico no longer allows pets on their planes, and busses south of the border are chancey (they would enforce their rules that animals in the luggage area had to be sedated—and a week of repeated sedation would be a recipe for sick animals). So that left the car. We could not possibly all fit in our Smart Car, so the ford Focus was the choice of travel by elimination. Two medium size kennels would just fit across the back seat. Next problem? We knew from past experience, even on short trips in town, that Gardi cat screams at full volume when in a car. We bought some spray that is supposed to be calming, plus spray catnip, plus some tranquilizers for the him if needed. We had kept the kennels open, in the living room, for a couple of weeks before the trip, and both cats were used to going in and out of them at leisure, sometimes even napping there on the folded towels we had for bedding. We had sprayed the inside of their cases the day before we left, when they had to be in the car all day while movers were there. Gardi did a bit of talking – not too loud shortly after we left home, then one big yowl that could have blown us out of the car. That was it. There after he would talk quietly a few times a day. Mostly when he had to use his litter box. Each kennel/carrier was big enough for a small litter pan in back, and had food & water dishes attached to the doors. They were able to stand up and move around a lot more than their people could, considering the excess stuff packed even around the feet on the passenger side of the car.

Okay – back to our dreaded road trip. Carmen took over at Harmony's house. We felt foolish eating our second breakfast in front of her house, so we drove a few blocks and indulged in some salmon patties left from the day before and still cool from being frozen overnight. Got back onto I-90 and headed east across the mountains and on over the high plateau land to I-82 which heads southeast into Oregon, then to I-84 across the NE corner of Oregon and into the SW corner of Idaho. We found a lovely rest stop for lunch that actually had trees, toilets, and picnic tables. For our first picnic lunch, we indulged in sandwiches with Goober (peanut butter & grape jam) which we had not had since who knows when. Also had a can of pork & beans, eaten cold. On we drove. Dan had pretty much planned where we would stay each night. The first was to be beyond Boise, Idaho. But with about four hours sleep the night before and a later start than planned in the morning, we called it quits at bit earlier than that.

Found a Motel 6 in Meridian, Idaho. This chain motel takes pets at no extra charge, and we stuck with them for all four nights in the US. Second floor. The receptionist told us not to leave our dog in the room by itself. We did not correct her, as we were unsure how they might react to two cats.--dogs are the most frequent companions of guests at Motel 6, as we can attest. We carried our luggage in first to check the room to be sure cats could not get out of the room anyplace (plus the two luggage bags were in the car on top of the kennels—leaving just the center space between them for rear window vision). Checking the room out first became the norm, to be sure Smij cat could not get behind or under anything where we could not get her out. Hiding back in some unreachable corner or under a bed is something she really likes to do. Seems to make our little scaredy cat less scared?

Next we carried both cases inside. Smij is one pound lighter than Gardi, so Carmen carried her. Poor cat. Carmen seemed unable not to bounce the case all about. Once in the room, Carmen and cats were closed into the bathroom, hoping the cats would get used to that room before they were let into the bedroom. Here the two small litter boxes were dumped together into a larger bin for the night. Seemed to work well. Dan then went out to find us some supper. There was a China Wok a few doors away. Buying a small enough quantity of food for the two of us is always a problem and we keep forgetting to buy one diner only to share. Dan came back with two meals and you know how big an Oriental meal can be. Both were delicious and we saved the rice for breakfast. Our fortune cookies seemed fortuitous.

Breakfasted after a good night's rest. Now to get the cats back into their travel cases. Carmen put their small litter boxes in and then their towels, and next she turns around wondering which cat to try to capture first. Miracle of miracles, they both walked right over and into the cases!! Talk about shock! Off we went, but first Carmen visited the Winco supermarket bakery here for some fresh donuts to take on the way with us, as she is always hungry about 10:30am.

Friday we drove thru lots of burned off grassland. Only once had fire hopped across the road. Did not actually see anything burning, but did see smoke in the distance. We saw very little wildlife on the whole trip. A few antelope and a roadrunner. Saw some tremendously breath-taking country and some really boring country. Conservative drivers that we are, we rarely accelerate up to 70, except to pass a few times, and stuck to the righthand lane mostly moving along somewhere between 60 and 65 MPH. And, the cruise-control in the Focus definitely made the long days behind the wheel do-able, being able to remove the foot from the pedal often. Utah, New Mexico and Texas are pretty barren this time of year. The rock formations were magnificent (a few arches, lots of mesas, interesting outcroppings), all very visible with their lack of vegetation, something we haven't seen much, as green covers almost everything in the Pacific Northwest we are used to.

As we moved onto I-15 South, we were rather dreading the drive thru Salt Lake City. As it turned out, we went thru so fast, we hardly realized it had happened. Did not go thru the downtown, as we took the I-215 bypass. At Provo, we headed off on US-6/191, and ended our day in Moab, Utah, between Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Most expensive overnight by far. When we arrived at the motel, a lady ahead of us just could not decide if she wanted the room or not. Just cost too much. She went back outdoors to think about it, and we swooped it up, and took the last room in the inn. Noisy, as it was next to the ice machine, but it was a room. Cats seem to have adapted well to the in-room routine, exploring all the corners, windowsills and smells left by previous occupants, before settling in like real travel troupers.

The next day, Saturday, we headed further south, leaving US-191 at Monticello, where we took US-491 into SW Colorado and south to Gallup, NM, then moving onto I-40 East. That day for lunch we were on outskirts of Albuquerque where Dan spied a sign for a Cracker Barrel store/restaurant, and said that he wanted to try it. That we did. Well, we walked into it and discovered the rest of the world was there too and we just did not want to spend a couple hours eating. We drove across the street to a Denny's, which we normally would never eat at, except we just wanted to get food and be on our way. We never left the cats in the car by themselves for more than a minute or two, on the entire trip. Carmen went into the restaurant and ordered a roast beef dinner. She actually went into the kitchen, since no one came out to help her. She then went to the bathroom. Then came out to the car so Dan could use the potty. On the way our of the restaurant Dan saw a meal there at the cash register – it was what we ordered, so of course he picked it up and brought it out to the car, thinking it had been paid for. Carmen did the right thing and went back inside, located someone and paid the bill. Needed gas so decided to eat the meal at a gas station, where there might be a chance of some shade. On we drove. We found no gas stations in Albuquerque, visible from the highway. Our tank was a bit on the low side. On we drove and took the first gas we found, outside of the city but before the turnoff on US-285 south. Across the road was a wee bit of shade in sort of a pull-off where we dined. We spent a pleasant night in Roswell amongst the statues of extra-terrestrials. Worked a bit on the spreadsheet for Strom-White, trying to resolve the discrepancies between our list and what got tallied onto the moving van. Hopefully we can email this to Teresa before we cross the border. No supper this evening Still full from the one shared meal earlier.

Sunday we drove into Texas, joining up with I-10 East at Fort Stockton. Lots of flat, then some trees and into the rolling hill country Now, Dan never cares what he eats. But Carmen does, and today she wanted a large milk shake to pick up some extra calcium. Sure enough the town we stopped in for gas had a Dairy Queen. Sort of got this meal free, since we used our gift card from Discover. Actually we used a Shell gift card earlier that we had had for years, never being able to bring ourselves to use it before this, knowing how Shell gas always seems overpriced in the States. But, seemed senseless to carry these cards into Mexico where they would have no value to us. Doesn't it feel great to get something for “free?” We left 10 west of San Antonio, heading due south on US-83, one of the few two lane roads we traveled. Here was where the “pavement ends” sign appeared, but only 8 miles of recently oiled/graveled surface to get past. This last night in the US we spent in Laredo, a few miles north of the bridge over the Rio Grande. Carmen went next door after all were settled and bought one Tex-Mex meal. Was the closest restaurant, plus it was nothing like the real Mexican food we knew we'd get in Fortín. Now for a nervous night of anticipating the problems of getting across the border. Got all our papers in order. Dug out our pesos, stashed away since the last trip. No luck with the spreadsheet, as this Motel 6 did not have easily accessed internet—it will have to wait until we make a connection further south. Tried to sleep. This is the last night when we knew for sure that our cats could go into the room with us. Travel with pets (mascotas) in Mexico is difficult, and we were expecting a problem with this for the next two nights before arriving at our new home.

When we were planning this part of the trip south, we had some second thoughts about driving down thru “forest-fire alley,” what with the drought conditions so prominent in the news earlier this year. The alternative would have been a longer trip down I-5 and then another decision on where to cross into Mexico. In retrospect, so far, it seems we made the right decision, for this first 2000+ miles of the trip.

Cargando

Miercoles, 05 Sep 2012.  The day before: Oh, worry, worry,worry. Is everything ready for the big day? Here it is September 4th. Kitties had their “traveling” health exam this morning, which included all the papers that will allow cats to enter Mexico, with documentation in English & Spanish. Now we have to get them across the border within 10 days after the date the papers were signed. While Carmen was at the vet, Dan disassembled the rest of the futons and zip-tied the parts together. Now no place to sit off the floor except the white dining chairs we will leave in the house. Will the movers really be here as we were told, on September 5? We will call and ask them if we are still on for tomorrow. With phone in hand, we found we could not place the call to Mitchel Moving in Everett, as a recording reminded us that we had canceled our long distance service. Bummer...worry some more. Then David called and we explained our dilemma. He gave us his charge phone card number. He was also anxious to know when we were going to be moving out, so that his plans to move in could also proceed apace. Carmen called the movers. They assured us that they would be there for loading (cargando) the truck about 9am tomorrow, Wednesday September 5^th.

Hard to sleep. We rose early to feed the cats, eat breakfast, and put our felines (who just know something is up with all the stuff in the house now in piles of boxes) in carrying cases and then in our car for the day to keep them safe, and to get them used to being in car. Oh, so many little things that we finished before the movers arrived, including disassembling the queen-size bed that that Dan had designed and John Janda had built for us so many years ago. .

First to arrive at 9am was a young local fellow named Dakota, a few minutes after the driver had called to say he'd just exited I-5 and would be there shortly. The Mitchel Moving truck bearing the Atlas Van Lines logo pulled up a half hour later and another 30 minutes later the third fellow, Josh, also a local, arrived. The head fellow, Doug, the driver, asked when we were planning to leave. Carmen told him that we planned to leave early the next morning. He told us that they usually took two days at jobs. She told him that we were told that as most items were already pre-boxed that the company had allocated only one day for their labors. Hrumph, he says.

So here is how it went. We had boxed everything that was not fragile, and had all odd shaped items together, on each floor. We found that by far the cheapest place with a selection of inexpensive cartons for household moves was Home Depot, and for the heavy garage/shop stuff Dan had also been buying various sizes of toolboxes as they came on sale at the local hardware store. Some items we had placed into plastic milk crates, in some case double height with one crate turned upside down on the other and zip-tied together. Also, we put all the electric-containing boxes separated from the others, since Mitchel staff had told us over the phone that electrics all had to go in one container (although Teresa at Strom-White said this was no longer the case). Altogether, we had just over 100 such units. Each had been entered on a spreadsheet showing box number, description, whether electric or not, and for electric items, make, model & serial number, plus a location for unnumbered items the movers would pack up. Dan could sort/re-sort the list on any column, so we had a pretty good handle on all that would be shipped. We provided a pre-move copy of the spreadsheet to Teresa so she could get a headstart at formatting things for the aduana people at the border.

All outdoors items were inside in appropriate bunches. We had taken all the furniture apart, and tied pieces together with zip-ties. We had bundled similar size uniform pieces (shelves, etc) with saran film banding. Did everything we could do to make the loading go quickly. Carmen has had professional movers before and thought it probably would all be loaded by 3pm. All the boxes we filled were left open to be inspected, then taped and sealed by movers, so that insurance would be in force. We had printed a short list of the contents of each box on one of the inside top flaps, to aid us when unpacking. Each pre-filled box had our number and last name on the top.

First, no one had told the driver that he had to write our box number (the number that we had put on each box), on his packing list along with the sticker number he put on the item. Next we had been told by Strom-White, to stay with the movers and be sure all was done correctly because Mexican customs is very particular. Our own plan had been to have one of us follow the driver around noting what company number sticker he applied to each of our items, and have the other stand by the moving van noting what items were loaded. Try as we might, the head fellow told us in no uncertain terms that they knew what they were doing and we needed to get out of their way. During the day, we heard him call his main office to complain about the two helpers they had assigned him. The fellow wrapping the fragile items took many, many times longer doing so than either of us would have done. We were able to watch the fellow loading into the truck at end of the driveway from our deck. We thought he was doing a good job, but apparently he also was slow.

For Mexico, we had to be packed into a number of sanitized plywood crates (“lift vans”) that are 7x7x4, and easily moved by forklift at the changeover at the Laredo warehouse and at the border. They brought the four empties the estimator (who had visited us last Spring before anything was packed up) had determined, plus another just in case. Our load actually filled the four vans, plus half of the extra one. The half-load will get repacked tightly into a half van box, 7x4x4, at the Mitchel warehouse. It does indeed take much longer to fit into every corner in big crates of this type, than just placing items onto the truck bed, as would be the case for a domestic move. Finally come 7:30pm the two guys went home, and the truck driver sat down to do his paper work, which took well over an hour. Meanwhile David had stopped by expecting all to have been loaded by 3pm. Sally Davis, our dear neighbor had invited us for dinner, presumably at the end of the day when the movers would have left. Carmen had gone over to Sally's house to borrow her vacuum (since ours was now packed), using it to spin around the house as each room was emptied. When she returned the vacuum, she told Sally we would have to cancel dinner, as we just could not hold her family up any longer. She gave us our meal on paper plates. We finally got to eat at 9pm. Delicious & filling, much appreciated as we had eaten little during this very busy day. What a push this has been! Made our bed of foam pads on the basement floor. Carmen did not want to leave foam pieces or dents on the bedroom rug. Brought kitties inside out of the car. Got to sleep about midnight to get up at 4:30 the next morn. Yeah!!! Our furniture is on it's way to Laredo, where it will go into a Strom-White storage unit until it is processed across the border.              

Preparando

Julio y Agosto 2012.  No we haven't changed our plans for moving to the house we purchased in Fórtin de las Flores, in western Veracruz. Since returning to Anacortes in mid-July, things have been hectic as we have been preparing for the move. During this period we have been working on the following tasks and pre-move chores...

Opened a checking account at BanamexUSA. Our social security income comes in to BanamexUSA savings accounts so we can access it via ATM machines in Mexico, but withdrawals are limited to about US$300 per day. The checking account, funded with transfers from those savings accounts, can be used for bills we have to pay in dollars, and we can move excess social security income, if any, into other accounts in the USA. This took us a while, as the bank (in Los Angeles, all dealings done thru 800-number telephone), originally set us up with a money market account which didn't have the billpay feature we needed. Ultimately the paper checks arrived in time and the account setup was corrected.

Made a bunch of purchases for stuff we anticipate needing and which probably wouldn't be easily found in Mexico, or we needed for the drive down.. Vitamins and other supplements, some vehicle security tools (the “club”), a Guia Roji 2012 road atlas for Mexico, a GPS receiver for the car (Garmin Nuvi 1300, plus the database for Mexico), a small propane Mr Heater (to take the chill off the coldest winter nights, where at 3000 ft December nights without central heating could be briefly uncomfortable), a fitting to refill those throw-away 1# propane tanks the heater uses, an extra battery for the Acer netbook and the like.

Since the movers will not accept, liquids, foods, flammables and certain other proscribed goods, we started another pile of things that had to go down with us in the car: a few small propane cylinders, extra foods we knew were hard to get or pricey in Mexico (peanut butter, certain canned goods Carmen loves, etc), our meds, misc shop solvents & compounds, previously new items that wouldn't pass the six-month test (good paint brushes, door sweeps for the Fortin house, blank CDs & DVDs and more. Question now is will it all fit in the car, plus two large cat kennels, our trip luggage and ourselves? Most of this stuff got packed in empty three gallon rectangular buckets with snap on lids (formerly holding cat litter), reasoning that easily unloadable uniform units were better in a packed trunk (the spare tire being in a well below all this—just picturing us having to unload it all roadside if we had the bad luck to get a flat tire on that long seven day trip, made this packing option the one we went with).

Earlier in the year we had bought some other items, well in advance of the move so the adauna (customs) officials at the border would have no reason to think we were moving new goods down with us: an angle grinder, a reciprocal saw, a queen size latex mattress, and a Win7 desktop computer that replaces the old XP system we're leaving behind.

We (mostly Carmen) started boxing up household goods for the movers to bring down to us in Mexico. This was limited to the non-fragile items like books, clothing, linens and a selected amount of that must-have or might-need “stuff” we all accumulate, including memorabilia. The movers will inspect these boxes and seal them up, boxing up the fragile stuff and preparing the furnishings for transit. It was left for Dan to pack up all the tools, office and financial stuff, a task left until right at the end because sure as a tool, gizmo or file folder got packed, there would be a need to dig it out again, as life goes on as normal despite our worldly possessions disappearing into boxes stacked many layers deep in the spare bedroom.

While Carmen really did retire from her food service management job, Dan continued to work getting extended tax returns filed, and training clients (or persons found to assume these duties) to take over bookkeeping tasks for their businesses. The fact that we found one young lady who eagerly wanted to take over the client list, who proved, for various reasons, to be unsuited to the job, made things a little dicey for a time. Dan also took care of selecting thru all our important papers, getting them into our safe deposit box in Anacortes. Previously we signed papers which will allow Dan's daughters emergency access to this box, and they have a detailed list of the contents.

Since we plan on keeping the house in Anacortes for as long as it takes to let ex-pat life to become the norm (and at least three years until IMSS medical coverage fully covers all our needs, including pre-existing ones), what to do with the house in Washington was an issue. Fortunately, our good friend David, an ex-partner at Mountain Song Restaurant that we three sold in 1995, was ready to move into a suburban environment. After 30+ years of splitting firewood, shoveling lots of snow, and doing without the “conveniences” he was ready to move from his tiny rural cabin, and suggested if we were looking for a renter he would be interested. The monthly rent would be an issue, but, reasoning that if we could cover our expenses (insurance, property taxes—no mortgage payments as the house is paid off), and if he would pick up the utilities, repairs and maintain the house and yard, it was doable for both parties. Plus, he agreed to take over the phone line and post office box, relaying any messages or mail that might still come to us there. David will basically rent the upper level of the house, and have access to the laundry room, leaving the downstairs bedroom, office & garage (where the Smart car will be stored) for our remaining belongings and a space to live when we visit the area. Dan drafted a rental agreement, distilled down and adapted from some online examples, and David will move to the house in the week after we depart in early September.

Each week we also devoted time to getting the yard in shape for David, who seems quite overwhelmed with the new responsibility of keeping a suburban lot presentable. To this end we heavily pruned back a lot of the shrubs so that they might last two years until it was again needed. We cut back the growth outside of the cyclone fence on the alley, so that the neighbors who use this as a driveway had ample passageway. The vines that had borne fruit already were pruned back for the next year, a job we usually save until later in the fall. Cut back the blackberries to the ground, where we usually leave them looping over the shrubbery for the winter birds—they'll be back sooner than one thinks. Each week the yard waste container was sent off full to the brim, stomped down and heavy with green and wood waste. The week before we leave will be the last of this service, as David says he will haul the clippings and trimmings he generates off to the woods in the upper valley with his truck. During our absence in June the sidewalk project was started, so for the first two weeks we were home the front driveway was blocked off and the Ford Focus blocked in. Upon completion of the new driveway entrance we spent a few days setting up the planter box and rockwork along the new entrance to the street. At the end of August, while Dan was doing his backing up of files and packing up the office, Carmen cleaned out the inner flower garden, with the trimmings, since we no longer had the yard waster service, going into our compost bin. A final lawn mowing and the yard is much less overwhelming and so is in good enough shape to turn over to David's care.

We urged Sally, our dear neighbor across the street to avail herself of the many fruits generated on our property, as David seems uninterested in the bounty. Dan will especially miss the two trees loaded with Italian plums, one of his favorite fruits, since it seems we will just miss them coming into full ripeness mid-September. At least we got to eat the cherries, the few blueberries and some tayberries. We paid little care to our fruiting plants this year. Knowing that there would be no freezing of the excess. Heather came just around Labor Day and picked the remaining pie apples and kiwi's, plus some plums to ripen. The 4-variety pear tree, the figs, the Spartan apple and the medlar are still ripening their fruits for later in the Fall.

Changing our various financial accounts to online statements and access took some time too. This meant closing some accounts, setting up for online payments, and being sure we can move our funds around as may be needed. Hopefully the regular paper mailings will eventually cease. Also meant advising all of the account purveyors of our plans to be in Mexico, so accounts wouldn't have a hold put on them when accessed from abroad. Over the course of the previous year, periodical subscriptions were ended, and for a few, change of addresses were given. Eager to see if the issues actually do arrive. Others will finish out their run coming to the house for David's use, or not. We also re-upped our membership at the Anacortes library, to be sure we can access ebooks online there for the next couple of years.

Carmen contacted the county offices, to make sure we were taken off the rolls for jury duty, and would be able to get our absentee ballots for upcoming elections. She also arranged for copies of medical and dental records to take with us should health providers in Córdoba need this info. We have always insured our home and vehicles with Amica, the top-rated firm in the country. Unfortunately, they do not insure rental properties, and of course we'd be driving the Focus across the border, requiring a Mexican company for its coverage. We eventually went to Allstate for the rental house coverage, plus an additional earthquake policy with Geovera. The homeowner's policy stops and the rental policy starts the same day in early September. Carmen also learned that Allstate also would cover the stored/unused Smart car for about $40 a year, comprehensive only. We can call either Amica or Allstate right before we drive back north over the border for coverage on the Ford. We'll advise Amica to terminate the current auto policy once we cross in Mexico. Dan arranged for a Mexican auto policy to take effect the day before we cross the border, purchased online.

We considered several options in regards to our possessions and the move, including just having a massive yard sale and moving down with just what would fit in the car, buying new when we got here. Another option of just getting a van or pickup and making several trips over the next year moving stuff down little by little just didn't suit us, neither of whom enjoys long-distance driving. And we are talking about 3200 miles between homes, crossing northern Mexico with all that implies at this time. No thanks, one trip will be enough. But for having to bring the cats down, we may very well have just flown, paring our carried stuff down drastically to what would fit in a couple of suitcases each.

As it happened, Dan was very reticent to leave his tools, electronics and computers, and Carmen her collection of serving dishes, cookware and decor, and of course memorabilia for both of us. Reasoning that it wasn't much more of a stretch to add in the little furniture (and that mostly flat-packable) we had, (leaving all the bulky appliances for David to use, and so the house would be functional for us when we visited in the future), we costed it all out and determined it would cost just about the same to move the stuff or to buy it all again in Mexico. Plus, we'd have “our”stuff, and wouldn't have to suffer the many, many days of searching out and shopping for replacements that the move-bare-naked option called for. We did leave “yard-saleable” items packed up in the basement for eventual future disposal.

Included in all the sorting and packing that took place in these two months, was the selection of specific items that went immediately to Dan's two daughters, who live in the Seattle area. We also made the effort to distribute to friends and relations lots of bags of home frozen fruit and vegetables that we were unable to consume these past few months, since the chest freezer will be emptied and turned off while David lives here.

We investigated renting a van and driving to the border (or using a mover to get a load there), contracting there with a customs broker, and hiring another vehicle to get the goods to Veracruz. We eventually came to our senses and hired one firm to do the whole job. We settled on Strom-White Movers, based in Ajijic, Jalisco (with US office in Big Fork, MT). They will contract a domestic mover locally, to load up our things in Anacortes and transport them to the Strom-White warehouse in Laredo. From there Strom-White's broker will get the goods thru customs, from which the company's Mexican movers will ship, deliver and unload them into our house in Fortín. Teresa White is eager to help, and answers all our questions promptly & completely by email and phone. The plan is to have the actual move take place right after Labor Day, in the first week of September.