HOLA  HOLA

The first part of the trip went great and got all the 20 bolts of cloth  that  good friends donated for a womens cooperative across the  US  border  with  no hassle.

Then came Medford Oregon. I could almost taste California but the van did not want to go over the mountain pass and kept over heating and this was on a Sunday…Lucky (sort of) I found the only place in town that did  auto repairs.

They were very sweet and thought is was the thermostat sounded good to me and was not all that expensive but that was not the problem and they could not figure it out as it  ran fine in town but did not like elevation….They were stumped and they  were closing..  They  asked  if I could come back manana when the head  mechanic was in…. What choice did I have …

THE WALMART PARKING LOT EXPERIENCE
What an eye opener…. million dollar motor homes and homeless people in anything that moved  sharing the same space and there was Homeless Lucy in a beater vehicle you would not believe directing everyone including moi  ( two times)  to spaces that she deemed was right for  that particular  vehicle.. Sleep was optional so needless to say I was the first one at the garage in the morning…

Everyone had a crack at it but the van was not giving up its illness easy….Thermostat was fine. , water  pump ok,  fluids fine,  radiator seemed ok…

They tried the hill again ( third time )  and once again it over heated they were stumped.. they asked the history of the van  was it jinxed..no but it had sat for years  as it was 1991 with only 45,000 original kms on it…

Finally the light bulb went on …The radiator was partially clogged up and  that is why it could not do the hill thing… They all agreed and  were lucky to find one in town that fit,,, only problem the bill was rising  but they gave me a break as think they were just happy to see my tail lights as they had worked on it again for almost  another half.. day…

Off  I went and HOORAY… not one more problem all the way to Mexico and I easily made it to my friends organic farm in California..

A few days at the farm  visiting, painting, pot lucking with friends, doing farmers markets  I was ready and now had bags of clothes friends had donated and a sewing machine to go with all this material

WOW…What a drive that was. from Santa Cruz. California…3 days driving like I was either possessed  or had gotten into the Zen of driving ( probably a combination) and I was here in Mexico, 30 degrees, palm trees,  all that noise and color that I love.

The first day I drove almost to Tucson some 15 hours through  endless desert country  I really wanted to get this part behind me and knew the next day I would be in Mexico and driving there is never boring. I don’t think I should be allowed to drive in big cities with more than 10 lanes of traffic and everyone going warp speed as I was just about killed again. trying to get to the exit I had to make or I would end up in the next state. After that  I  Finally  crashed at a truck stop in the van, which was not too bad. Glad I am not one inch taller as I fit perfectly on the bench seat.

I crossed the border early in the morning but there had been a big shooting in Nogales that night. Killed the Chief of Police, bunch of cops around, guess it was pretty crazy, grenade, rocket launchers the whole meal deal.  Needless to say security was crazy so I figured it was not a time to fool around so I registered the van  and good thing I did as there were several stops no sense of humor but I had no problema. The second day I went just north of Mazatlan and found out you can crash at the Pemex gas stations with no hassle. Great lightning storm early that evening.

The strangest thing just before that there were millions of white butterflies everywhere on one side of the road and a huge flock of vultures flying around on the other.

I easily made it into PV around 6 the next evening but that last part from Tepic is windy as Hell and boy do you have to be on your toes with all those semis, tour buses, farm carts on a one lane widy road….Somebdy hit a cow on the road early in the morning and then coming thru Tepic someone  hit a donkey and drove it right over the divider into our lane shutting down traffic in both lanes..

Not a good day for the big animals.

Parking in Pt Vallarta is a joke at any time of the day as the streets were made for donkeys and of course now everyone wants a car..and this is a BIG Van..I almost abandoned it right on the street as all I wanted to do was get out of the van and sleep. Parking Gods finally came through and I found a spot a few blocks away.

My luck meter was still on  as the the lady that looks after the condo my friends let me use  was there to give me the new key for the place, I have not seen her since..

All is going great. Rotary people arrive today so getting everything ready for that and going out to the  real remote areas in a couple of days with them.

The people at the coop loved the material and sewing machine . All the donated clothes are going up to the Huitchol >Indians high up in the mountains 23  hours from here on an unreal  journey I will be making in December,hopefully.

Well amigos time for one finger typing Bob to get some sleep.

Dulce Suenos  ( Happy Dreams)

The Painter Guy signing off for now..

Bob