A week of details

This week we changed a couple of our plans, and worked on some mundane things too. On Monday we worked on the jet car, raising the body a couple of inches (for clearance on dirt tracks), adding a pan under the intake (to prevent sucking up dirt on tracks), and adding a removable mirror so that I can see behind me when burning down cars. We also took more pics of the chassis and details to send to the technical director of the IHRA, on the long shot chance we can get the car certified to run on IHRA sanctioned tracks.

Also on Monday I completed the upgrades to our business website. It's looking better, and we have a photo shoot planned for March 26-27 at the local circle track so hopefully we'll have more pics and video to add. Check out our changes at www.armageddonjetcar.com .

On Tuesday our new toilet for Georgie Boy arrived and we spent the rest of the day installing it. The original toilet model is no longer available, so we had to order a different replacement and of course nothing lined up properly and lots of messing around was required to get it in. In the end, after some determined cursing, the job was done. Unfortunately, the new toilet is an inch higher, and Marlene's feet don't quite reach the floor!

On Wednesday we went to meet with a local immigration lawyer. We want to figure a way to come and go from Canada to the US and Mexico without hassles or risks of entry denial. It is also important that we be able to spend more than 6 months in the US. The lawyer immediately grasped our problem: There is no visa category that really fits for us! But, he thinks that he is up to the challenge, and he feels that we are capable of doing a lot of required paperwork ourselves, with direction from him, so we will be able to save some legal fee expenses. We hope to hear more from him next week.

Thursday we didn't do much, just some grocery shopping. We also started polishing out the water stains on Georgie Boy's exterior color stripes. We've ordered some contrasting pinstripe tape which has now arrived and we hope to install next week.

Friday I worked the computer and phone and managed to book a job at DeGraff, Ohio, for April 10, so we can do it on the way to our job in Montreal on the 17th. Still nothing booked for the trip back west, but we are confident we'll book something along the way. You can see our schedule in progress on our improved website. We barbecued some very nice ribeye steaks and Marlene made her patented potato salad, and we also had a ceasar salad. Yummy! After dinner we decided to let down our hair and party a bit. We put on the music (loud)and danced our feet off. This was the first time partying since Mexico, maybe because the old codgers here make us feel old too. But, some new, young (50ish) people moved in next door, with their Harley-Davidson bike, and we feel young again. Unfortunately, they are only here for a few days. We must be vigilant that we don't succumb to the "God's waiting room atmosphere" here at Desert Pueblo!

Saturday we went to the 28th annual Tucson peace festival. It was a bit of a let-down. The music was AWFUL, and mixed among the marijuana reform tents and amnesty international displays there were quite a lot of merchants just taking advantage. I mean, what has State Farm insurance got to do with peace?? Or the Democratic Party, or the Communists?

Today (Sunday) we are stuck inside because of the torrential rains falling outside. The storm is expected to pass by tonight, and then we'll be back to nice Arizona weather. We're going to do an herb roasted chicken for dinner.

On the 8th. we are going to take the car and drive to Lake Havasu for 3 days. We'll visit with Veronica and relax, before returning to Tucson to get ready for job #1. Stay tuned....

Miranda and Dustin visit us

Hi everyone! Its been a little while since we last updated our blog, because we've had visitors. On Feb. 10th Miranda and Dustin arrived at the Phoenix airport from Edmonton, via San Francisco. Their trip is a tale of the horrors of modern air travel. They were flying United all the way, but midway between San Francisco and Phoenix, their flight changed to a US Airways flight. Of course, US Airways flights come in to a different terminal than United, but nobody thought to tell us... so we waited a the wrong terminal, watching the arrivals board announce that they had arrived, but no one in sight! Eventually, we were able to call Miranda and find out what terminal they were actually at. No rush, because the airline had lost their bags!

They reported the missing bags, and were told they were still in San Francisco, but would be flown in to Tucson and delivered to us. Dustin had needed medication in his bag, and we tried to get the airline to expedite the delivery. The bags landed in Tucson around 6:00 pm, but they would not deliver them until sometime between 8 and 11. We were not allowed to pick them up, or to know the name of the delivery firm! After much cajoling, threatening, begging and pleading, we found a receptive ear at US Airways and the delivery was pushed to just after 8.

After picking the kids up at Phoenix, we headed south towards Tucson. They had eaten nothing all day, so we stopped at the Golden Corral Buffet in Casa Grande for a big lunch. Miranda and Dustin were amazed at the huge selection of food you can eat for just $9.95. After eating till we just about burst, we hit the highway again and got to our trusty Georgie Boy at about 4 pm. Drinks were required, and since it was raining we sat inside and imbibed, while we caught up on the latest news. We made a pork roast for a late dinner.

Miranda and Dustin stayed with us for the night, and in the morning we took them shopping at Walmart so they could buy some liquor for their hotel room. We returned home for lunch, and Marlene made fresh salsas, guacamole and chips. After that we went shopping at various workwear stores for Dustin and Victoria's Secret for Miranda. We made a nice dinner of Mexican giant shrimps with clam pasta and a Caesar salad, with a couple of bottles of wine (2.97 a bottle at Walmart). After dinner we took the kids to the Quality Inn, and got them checked in, and they settled in for the night.

Friday morning we picked up Miranda and Dustin and headed to the San Xavier mission. We had been before, and we were impressed with it, and now the kids were too. We sampled some native fry bread, then headed south on I19. Our next stop was the Titan Missile museum near Green Valley. This is the only remaining Titan underground silo, and it has been preserved and serves as a great reminder of the success of the MAD policy of the US during the cold war. The site is truly impressive, and we learned a great deal about how the missiles were launched, who operated them, and all the details. The missile is HUGE.

After we left the missile museum, we went further south, and stopped at Cow Palace, a restaurant and bar with a good reputation. We had some really fantastic burgers, and nice cold beers, and the prices were quite reasonable. My chile burger was immense, as were all the other assorted types we tried.

After a nice relaxing lunch we drove on down the highway to Nogales, where we parked the car on the US side and walked across the border into Mexico. We wandered around looking at all the various junk for sale, and made a few souvenir purchases before lining up to cross the border back to the US.

After Nogales it was back to Tucson where we dropped the kids off at TGI Fridays so they could satisfy their hunger. We did not join them, because I had caught Marlene's cold. After dinner the kids went and checked out some downtown nightspots before returning to their hotel.

Saturday morning we picked up Miranda and Dustin and went to the Tanque Verde swap meet/ flea market, where we did some serious shopping around. After that, we drove to Old Tucson (the movie studio/ theme park where many western movies and TV shows have been filmed, such as Young Guns, Little House on the Prairie, Rio Bravo and many others), but it was already about 2 pm, and the place closes at 4. We would have missed the stunt shows and other attractions so we decided to leave it for another day. We decided to show the kids the Tucson Presidio downtown. There was an event going on, with players dressed in period costumes and baked goods on sale. We learned more than we really ever wanted to know about how a flintlock rifle works!

After the Presidio, we returned to our motorhome for a few drinks and smokies on buns (and Dustin made his first guacamole). After a rest, it was time to go out for dinner. We had chosen the Guadalajara Grill, a highly rated Mexican restaurant. Good thing we had reservations, because the line-up outside was LONG. We waited about 10 minutes for our table, and were escorted into a colorful dining room. The place was hopping, with mariachi players strolling around serenading, and servers in traditional dress were preparing fresh salsa tableside. This was really good salsa! We had a hard time choosing meals from the extensive menu, but eventually figured out what to order. The food here is very good. Tasty, without being over spiced. Each dish has a distinct flavour. Service was good, even with the large, boisterous crowd. The Margaritas were especially tasty! At the end of this wonderful meal, Miranda snatched up the check, and refused our offers to go dutch. She treated us all to this fine dinner. What a daughter! Replete after a the large meal, we took the kids back to their hotel, and retired to our trusty Georgie Boy for a much needed rest.

Sunday morning I went for breakfast with Miranda, while Dustin got some alone time. Miranda and I ate at the Waffle House, a chain of diners we have seen all across the south. After a nice breakfast we picked up Dustin, and then went and picked up Marlene and Ben, and the packed lunch Marlene had prepared, and we drove north to the Catalina State Park for some hiking in the hills. We first went around the trail around the native ruins (about a mile), then we went to follow the trail to the equestrian center, but about 3/4 of the way along the trail we came across a meeting of the Tucson Street Rod Association. There were about 30 lovely street rods on display as the owners set up their big picnic. This was a real surprise to find in the middle of the park on Valentines Day. After ogling the cars, we walked back to ours, and had our own picnic. Then we drove the kids to their hotel for some poolside tanning, while Marlene and I went home to do laundry! Later that evening the kids went out to a steak house for Valentines Day dinner. Marlene and I dined on leftovers!

Monday morning we picked up the kids at their hotel, where they had checked out, and we brought their suitcases to the motorhome. Then we went to Old Tucson. We had a fine time there, and I even was dragged into one of the shows! See the picture of me beating a drum at a Snake Oil salesmans wagon. We drove the antique mini cars, went down on the mine tour (where Marlene got scared) and we saw a couple of gunfights and stunt shows. Miranda and Dustin rode the antique carousel and we saw the can can girls perform in the saloon. We toured the old movie sets, and saw the costumes worn in famous films and TV shows.

After a few hours at Old Tucson, we picked up a couple of Pizza Hut pizzas ( 2 large for $20) and went home to feast. A few beers were also consumed. Then Marlene and the kids went to swim and sun at our pool. I stayed home with Ben and worked a bit. After everyone came back, we had a few drinks and then I barbecued some nice rib-eye steaks for dinner. We had breaded zucchini sticks and mashed potatoes and fresh salad to complete the meal. Oh yes... we also drank 3 bottles of wine! After dinner we watched some TV, then turned in for the night.

Tuesday morning Marlene made sausages and eggs for breakfast, and Miranda, Dustin and I went to Target so Miranda could buy some more clothes. Then we went back home and loaded the suitcases into the car. We decided to take Ben with us for today's road trip. First, we went to the Tucson Harley Davidson showroom, a really nice place. Dustin checked out prices, and bought a shirt. Then we went and looked at a modular home sales lot. They are much cheaper here than in Canada. Next we headed to Phoenix to get to the airport. It was a quiet drive as we were all sad to see the end of the visit.

At Phoenix Sky Harbour the kids tried to avoid the $20 a suitcase charge because of the lost bags last trip. No dice, they won't give and inch! We left the kids at the entrance to security, and with tears in our eyes got back in the car for the trip home.

Miranda and Dustin were to change planes in San Francisco again. Unfortunately, when they got there their flight was canceled because of fog in Edmonton. They were told that the next flight to Edmonton would be in 2 days!! So they got put on a flight to Vancouver, with supposed connection on to Edmonton the following morning. But on arrival in Vancouver, Air Canada said that the flight was already overbooked, and they would have to wait until morning to find another flight. Miranda has learned well, and she made a real fuss. Called United, called Air Canada, and miraculously they were able to take the overbooked flight and arrived very tired and grumpy in Edmonton at about 9:30 am. Only 10 hours late! Miranda and Dustin were the only ones from their doomed San Francisco to Edmonton flight to actually get home today.

I will never fly a commercial airline except in emergency. Driving may take longer, but I like to be in control. I also have no interest in being scanned, patted, de-shoed and humiliated in a show of phony security.

Well, that's a long post today, and I need a cocktail. Stay tuned....

Return to Tucson

We're back in Tucson now. We left our RV park in San Carlos at about 7:45 am on Monday, and headed north, stopping at a truck stop to fill up with gas. The highway to Hermosillo is very good, and we make good time on this 120 Km leg of the drive. After Hermosillo the road turns rough, with huge pot holes to try to avoid.

We are pulled over at a military checkpoint, and the motorhome is searched. Don't know what they're looking for, but we smile and wait, and eventually they send us on our way. Then we start pounding and crashing our way towards Nogales. Wow, the road is rough!

Nearing Nogales we come to the back end of the line of trucks waiting to cross the border. They have at least a 43 hour wait! The line stretches on and on, and we are wondering how long the line for passenger vehicles will be. Turns out, over 2 hours! The line-up crawls forward a few feet at a time, while industrious vendors walk up and down the line selling everything from chips, to saddles, to ukuleles, to maps. Eventually we reach the US border, produce our passports and are taken out of line for a secondary inspection. Another search! We willingly surrender the avocado we forgot to eat, and answer a lot of questions about what we have on board. Finally, we are released and continue to the interstate highway.

About half way between Nogales and Tucson we are stopped again, this time at a border patrol checkpoint. Again we produce our passports, answer a few questions, and we are released. We arrive at Desert Pueblo RV park at 5:15, to find that we cannot move onto our site because we must be assisted by maintenance staff. So we park in the club house parking lot, set up camp, and have a light supper before hitting the hay. Marlene has now come down with a nasty cold!

In the morning we check in at the office, then drop off the Echo and our tow dolly. Time to go and pick up Armageddon at the storage yard. We get hooked up to the trailer, and find we have no right signal light! Apparently the short in the tow dolly has also shorted out something in the motorhome trailer wiring. For an hour I mess around underneath to jury rig the wiring to give us a right signal light. Finally we are rolling again, and head to the truck wash to give the rig a bath. We end up waiting an hour in the line there, before getting served. Old Georgie Boy looks good, and the trailer is sparkling!

We head back to Desert Pueblo, and are sent to move onto our site with a helpful (and chatty) maintenance guy to assist us. One of the nice things about this place is we can have Armageddon with us on the site, so we can work on the car without having to go anywhere. We're also saving on storage charges.

After setting up, and devouring a quick lunch, its off to do a big grocery shop. Must stock up on food and liquor. Now we find prices here high, after our time in Mexico! Of course, they are much cheaper than in Canada. We finally get everything back to the rig, and squared away, and we can relax.

We have no TV, because we don't want to spring for cable hook-up for just one month, and the on air stations are all digital now so we can't receive them. I've ordered a DTV converter box from Amazon, and it should be here today. We were going to get a satellite system, but after reviewing the channels we would get, and how few of them interest us, we decided to forgo the expense and just try the on air channels.

Our plan is to spend this month visiting with Miranda and Dustin here, as well as continuing our marketing efforts. Then we'll probably head to Lake Havasu for a week or so in early March to visit Marlene's sister Veronica, then go to Vegas for a week or two, before returning to Tucson for our first job of the season. Stay tuned....

We say farewell to San Carlos

Today is our last day here in beautiful San Carlos, so last night we decided to go out for a nice dinner. It had been at least 3 months since we last went out to a fine restaurant, so we chose a place that had good reviews on the internet, called Blackies.

This restaurant is housed in an interesting building with a towering cone shaped roof, next door to the Pemex gas station. We even got dressed up, which is rare in casual San Carlos! Glad we did, because when we arrived we found a really nice place inside, with lots of eclectic art art work, stained glass, and interesting light fixtures throughout. Blackies was bustling, with 4 waiters in black running around as well as a chef in whites making flambeed dishes at the tables. Most of the other patrons had also dressed up a bit, and many seemed to be regulars.

The menu was simple, but interesting. We started with a couple of giant Margaritas; very nice, and served with the ever-present taco chips and salsas. After a bit of humming and ha-hing, we ordered seafood soup to start. This was fantastic soup, filled with chunks of fish, octopus, shrimps and lobster claws all in nice fishy broth. Soup was followed by nice green salads with blue cheese dressing. Marlene then ordered the fish special, fillets of flounder in a creamy white vermouth sauce, which she really enjoyed. I chose Shrimps Guiellmo, giant shrimps topped with devilled crab and a raspberry glaze with shredded coconut on top. It was delicious.

While we were eating, people were coming and going, and the pianist was tinkling away on a slightly out of tune piano. Our Margaritas were gone, so we ordered a couple of dark draft beers, which were also tasty. When we finished our entrees, the hostess came over to us with a couple of after dinner drinks (vodka, kahlua and cream with cinnamon on top) on the house, and asked if we would like desert. We decided to go for it, and ordered the bananas flambe', which were truly decadent. All in all it was a memorable meal, and fine ending to our time here, and the total bill was just $66.50!

We think we are about ready to leave. We picked up a couple of kilos of fresh shrimp to freeze and take back to Tucson. And today we will go to the beach for one last time. We have to hit the road early in the morning, because there will surely be long delays at the border. We expect our next blog post will be from Tucson. Stay tuned.....

Time is running out

Well, as our time here in San Carlo runs out, we are feeling more and more sad about leaving. It really is nice place. We're getting in as much beach time as we can, and we plan to pick up a couple of kilos of fresh shrimp to freeze and bring back to Tucson.

Even Ben seems to really like it here, and loves to go and lie on the beach. We always set up the umbrella to give him shade, and of course we bring him snacks too.

Yesterday we looked at a couple of small houses to rent for next winter. One of these casitas had a great view, but the place was pretty dumpy. They want $600 a month for it. The other was across the road from the beach, in a small development where a lot of Mexicans have weekend places. It was smaller, but much nicer, and only $312 a month. We have a lot of thinking to do. To spend 4 months here without something to do will drive us crazy, so we really need to figure out how to keep ourselves busy.

Today we had our propane tank filled. The price here is 1/2 the price that we paid in Tucson, and the truck comes to us.

We've been pounding away at getting bookings for Armageddon, with some success. We are about half way to where we want to be for the season.

That's about all the news for now. Sunday we'll be packing up for an early start on our road trip back to Tucson on Monday. Stay tuned...

We get blown about

On Thursday night we were hit by a windstorm. A HUGE windstorm, with winds up to 70 MPH. Things were flying around, and Georgie Boy was rocking! After the wind subsided Friday morning, the rains came. Now it is Saturday morning and the skies are clearing. Could have been worse, could have been in Tucson where they are expecting snow!

We also have been without water pressure for a couple of days after a construction crew hit the water main with a backhoe. The crews are working hard to restore water. Luckily we had filled our tank, and so we're just fine.

The windstorm also knocked out the wi-fi network here, but at least the office internet is working, which is where I am updating this today.

The fish man was around bright and early today, so we bought a kilo of fresh sea bass fillets for 70 pesos (about $5.80). Should make a nice dinner with wild rice.

We're hoping for sunshine tomorrow, so we can hit the beach. Next week we will go out for one nice supper before we leave San Carlos. We're already feeling kind of sad about leaving here on the 1st of February, but we are looking forward to seeing Miranda and Dustin on the 10th.

Well that's all the news for now. Stay tuned....

We look at real estate... again

Hi everyone! Time for an update of our life in paradise. On Sunday we drove to Miramar, an upscale seaside town about 20 minutes from San Carlos. There are two roads to Miramar, so of course we chose the scenic coastal road. The scenery along the way is spectacular, with towering hills on one side and the blue water on the other. Several islands loom out of the water as the road winds along.

Miramar is a nice town, really a suburb of Guaymas. Most of the residents here are Mexicans, with a few gringos here and there. There is a large beach here, often crowded on weekends by local folks. There are some really spectacular homes here, all built with glass walls and high terraces to take advantage of the views.

We drove around town, all the way to the pearl farm (which was closed). Then we saw signs for some model homes, and decided to take a look. These are casas intended mostly for Mexicans. Built in a gated complex up the side of a hill with views of the water, these are 1800 sq. ft. 2 story houses. Very nice layouts, with high ceilings, large master suites, etc. The salesman was happy to translate the sales brochures for us. These homes sell for about $100,000. After looking the model over, the salesman told us they have another development a few minutes away behind the police headquarters in Guaymas, so we tootled over there, and found these smaller casitas. These are about 800 sq. ft., single story homes, with the same high ceilings and nice tile floors. Also marketed to Mexican people, these are much less expensive at about $35,000, but no view of the water. The salesman here had limited English, but we were able to speak using our rudimentary Spanish and his English. He pointed out that an American couple had purchased one of the homes already. An interesting experience.

Since we were in "open house" mode, on our return to San Carlos we followed some open house signs to Loma del Mar, a long-term RV community. This is a weird setup. You buy a "membership" which entitles you to use the land and facilities. People build these large, strange homes around old RV's. Some homes have no RV at all, and rules mean you must bring an RV when in residence. The membership (leases) run to either 2014 or 2023. There are no empty lots here. We are shocked to see that there are 40 of these places for sale, and the residents have a concerted sales effort going on the move them. Some of these weird places are nicely done, but they want ridiculous prices for them. We saw a couple that were priced from $159,000 to $199,000, and for that you don't own the land! Why would anyone pay that kind of money for a place where the lease ends in 4 years? We asked why so many are for sale, and received a convoluted story that smelled bad. The residents association was hosting this giant open house day, and the ladies of the association were gushing about how wonderful it is to live at Loma del Mar. They asked what brought us to look at their community, and we made the mistake of telling them we had just come from some model homes in Miramar. We were given a strange look, and one woman said "well, if you want to live with Mexicans..." then she must have seen our reaction because she compounded her error by telling us "of course the Mexicans are nice people, and we know some very nice ones, but do you want to live beside them..." . We never like bigots, and really can't understand people coming to live in Mexico but wanting to stay away from Mexicans! Who wants to live in a ghetto? We drove around a bit looking at these places, and couldn't come to grips with the whole concept.

We must say a few words here about the people of Mexico. Everyone we meet is friendly and helpful. In Canada, if you drive around neighbourhoods looking at houses, the residents will often give you a stare. In Mexico they wave and yell "hola" or "buenos dias". Walking down the street strangers smile and and greet you. In the supermarket we were trying to decipher milk jug labels to find the 2%, and a woman customer overheard and pointed out what we were looking for. The service you receive from everyone whether waiters in the bar to the water delivery guy, to the maintenance guys is amazing. They are happy to look after us, always with a smile. All in all, the Mexicans as a people seem to be nice folks. I'm sure there are bad people here too, just like everywhere, but the average guy or gal on the street is just nice! North Americans could take some lessons on manners from these lovely people.

Monday we went to the beach and worked on our tans some more, then went for happy hour at the place next door to the RV park. Had a lot of fun, some great food, and plenty of beer and margaritas. Then we went for a walk to work some of it off.

Yesterday we went for our Spanish lesson, but the teacher didn't show up, so we did laundry and took it easy. We went for our walk and picked up some nice fresh peppers. Marlene made a great curried chicken for dinner, and we vegged out watching TV.

Today we will go shopping for some fresh fish for dinner, and some beer, then its off to the beach. Stay tuned...