Hi everyone,
Since Kat mentioned our blog on her news page today, I expect that we will be seeing readers now who do not know us. A little background for you.
We bought a lot in Buena Vista on the Ranch in September of 2005. We started building our Casa in January of 2007. The house was completed in December 2007 and our house in Benicia, CA sold in early September 2007. We packed up everything and moved down here on November 9, 2007. We stayed in a 5th wheel under a ramada in solar till our house was finished. So we are also almost qualified to talk about solar living.
This is our story of the trials and tribulations of building in Mexico along with the pure excitement of living here. This blog started out as email update letters to our friends. I transferred all of the emails to the blog and added the pictures to Picasa so that anyone can read and see our experience. The early posts are locked to comments but the last 4-5 are not. Please feel free to comment on our or your experiences.
Sincerely,
Larry and Regina Williams
El Dorado Ranch
Buena Vista Block 35 Lot 3
San Felipe, BC, Mexico
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Casa Update 32
Friends,
Well, yet another month has gone by. They are really flying now. It is getting harder to keep up.
We took a daytrip to the South Campos supposedly looking for a great shell beach somewhere south of town near KM 26. Not much luck in finding the beach but did have a great time checking out the 4WD in the truck. I will never be an off-roader but I can now at least follow other’s tracks.
Regina and Long Hair Larry signed up for Bocce Ball at the last full moon mixer. A few shots attached. They had a bonfire as the temperatures were still coolish. This month will not require a bonfire, a big AC unit would be more appropriate. Update: LH Larry arrived late last night so Regina pared up with Sue and they came in second! Wish I had pictures but no camera last night.
We did take an overnighter trip to El Centro for re-stocking. It was a much more leisurely trip spending the night. That allowed us to buy more supplies, a few of which are in these pictures. Take a look at the Rib Eyes we got at the “Yellow Cow” in Mexicali and note the price. We have already eaten one and it was so very excellent!
OK, now for the serious stuff. I promised to comment on life in Mexico and here are some observations regarding Dentists and Body Shops. Why these topics? Because we needed both of them this year.
I had always wanted to correct my smile. I had this front tooth that was slowly moving back. I went to the dentist to see what they could do about it. I was thinking of braces. They took X-Rays and were thinking implant. Seems that the reason the tooth was moving back was due to bone loss. I go to the most popular dentist among the American community. Her name is Melina and she is a knockout! Still a kid in her late twenties but very professional and speaks excellent English. She loves to sing to the music on her iPod while she is working. She suggested the implant and scheduled for that to be done by Dr. Mora who comes down from Mexicali once a month. His wife is a Periodontist and she comes down with him. While he did my implant surgery, Regina got a deep cleaning from his wife. I was the first appointment of the day and was in the waiting room when they arrived in a huge SUV. They both brought two assistants with them and enough equipment to fill a small office. Surgery went well and I was told to wait six months for healing and then come back. Total cost for the surgery, implant and temporary appliance: $1,400 USD. That was last September. I went back in late March for a checkup. He then placed a cap on top of the implant and told me that there was a small infection and I needed a cleaning to correct that. After I got home I tried to put my temporary appliance back in. No luck. It did not fit. So, I got out a file and tried to fix it myself. I proceeded to saw the temporary in half. Turns out that there was nothing I could have done to get the temporary to fit any more. Now comes the fun part. My dentist decides to get married. The wedding is scheduled for the end of April. I’m the last one to get the news and her next open appointment is in late May. So I go “toothless” for six weeks. I come in for the “fitting” and all goes well. One week later I have a brand new crown fitting perfectly and looking great. Total cost for the crown: $450 USD. That is $200 higher than normal but I was told it was because of the implant. I am one happy camper. They have all of the state of the art equipment here. The only things that were lacking were the computerized X-Rays and one of those fancy “make it while you wait crown machines.” I tried to take a picture of the tooth but none came out. If you want to see their work, you will have to come down and see it for yourself.
Now onto the Body Shop we found. First is a story on how we found these guys. We have friends that were returning to Mexico via the San Louis Rio Colorado entry (south of Yuma). There was a point where there was a two to one merge. Well, someone in the other lane decided to merge between their RV and the car they were towing. Not a pretty sight. He scraped the whole side of their little car. They took it to these guys and were very pleased. We could not see where the damage had been. OK, on to us. Seems that someone (and I will not tell who) managed to back the Toyota into a Palos Verde tree and crunched the tailgate. One of the activity guys at the pool was coordinating work for these guys and I signed up. I still don’t know their names. Well, for $80 USD they came to the pool, took the truck away and returned it early the next morning. I have the before and after pictures here.
We have had a lot of friends come down to their Casa’s this month. It is a who’s who of Northern California. Just to mention a few: Allan and Cindy from Vallejo, Tom and Nancy from San Francisco, Rose and Donnell from Oakland, Roy and Sylvia from Oak Grove, Steve and Deanna from Stockton and Gordy from Truckee. Gardenia and Steve from Belmont have finally moved into their huge house just six blocks up the hill from us. We can’t wait till they get their pool up and running.
We had a morning where the mountains looked like they had snow on them. It was just the sun reflecting as it was 85 degrees then. Also Regina is back into growing Basil.
I’m writing this just after we got back from a two day trip to San Diego to visit with Leslie who was there for a wedding. We had a great time and took in “Old Town” and a quick exploration of La Jolla. We even got to see some fireworks on the third. It was a nice cool 72 degrees when we left San Diego. The temperature maxed out at 115 in Mexicali and settled down to an almost comfortable 97 here at home. This is the first time in forever that we have not attended or hosted a BBQ for the 4th. We just had Hot Dogs, Baked Beans and Pasta Salad on the back porch while watching the fireworks from Pete’s Camp and the Jolly Mon Bar.
Well, yet another month has gone by. They are really flying now. It is getting harder to keep up.
We took a daytrip to the South Campos supposedly looking for a great shell beach somewhere south of town near KM 26. Not much luck in finding the beach but did have a great time checking out the 4WD in the truck. I will never be an off-roader but I can now at least follow other’s tracks.
Regina and Long Hair Larry signed up for Bocce Ball at the last full moon mixer. A few shots attached. They had a bonfire as the temperatures were still coolish. This month will not require a bonfire, a big AC unit would be more appropriate. Update: LH Larry arrived late last night so Regina pared up with Sue and they came in second! Wish I had pictures but no camera last night.
We did take an overnighter trip to El Centro for re-stocking. It was a much more leisurely trip spending the night. That allowed us to buy more supplies, a few of which are in these pictures. Take a look at the Rib Eyes we got at the “Yellow Cow” in Mexicali and note the price. We have already eaten one and it was so very excellent!
OK, now for the serious stuff. I promised to comment on life in Mexico and here are some observations regarding Dentists and Body Shops. Why these topics? Because we needed both of them this year.
I had always wanted to correct my smile. I had this front tooth that was slowly moving back. I went to the dentist to see what they could do about it. I was thinking of braces. They took X-Rays and were thinking implant. Seems that the reason the tooth was moving back was due to bone loss. I go to the most popular dentist among the American community. Her name is Melina and she is a knockout! Still a kid in her late twenties but very professional and speaks excellent English. She loves to sing to the music on her iPod while she is working. She suggested the implant and scheduled for that to be done by Dr. Mora who comes down from Mexicali once a month. His wife is a Periodontist and she comes down with him. While he did my implant surgery, Regina got a deep cleaning from his wife. I was the first appointment of the day and was in the waiting room when they arrived in a huge SUV. They both brought two assistants with them and enough equipment to fill a small office. Surgery went well and I was told to wait six months for healing and then come back. Total cost for the surgery, implant and temporary appliance: $1,400 USD. That was last September. I went back in late March for a checkup. He then placed a cap on top of the implant and told me that there was a small infection and I needed a cleaning to correct that. After I got home I tried to put my temporary appliance back in. No luck. It did not fit. So, I got out a file and tried to fix it myself. I proceeded to saw the temporary in half. Turns out that there was nothing I could have done to get the temporary to fit any more. Now comes the fun part. My dentist decides to get married. The wedding is scheduled for the end of April. I’m the last one to get the news and her next open appointment is in late May. So I go “toothless” for six weeks. I come in for the “fitting” and all goes well. One week later I have a brand new crown fitting perfectly and looking great. Total cost for the crown: $450 USD. That is $200 higher than normal but I was told it was because of the implant. I am one happy camper. They have all of the state of the art equipment here. The only things that were lacking were the computerized X-Rays and one of those fancy “make it while you wait crown machines.” I tried to take a picture of the tooth but none came out. If you want to see their work, you will have to come down and see it for yourself.
Now onto the Body Shop we found. First is a story on how we found these guys. We have friends that were returning to Mexico via the San Louis Rio Colorado entry (south of Yuma). There was a point where there was a two to one merge. Well, someone in the other lane decided to merge between their RV and the car they were towing. Not a pretty sight. He scraped the whole side of their little car. They took it to these guys and were very pleased. We could not see where the damage had been. OK, on to us. Seems that someone (and I will not tell who) managed to back the Toyota into a Palos Verde tree and crunched the tailgate. One of the activity guys at the pool was coordinating work for these guys and I signed up. I still don’t know their names. Well, for $80 USD they came to the pool, took the truck away and returned it early the next morning. I have the before and after pictures here.
We have had a lot of friends come down to their Casa’s this month. It is a who’s who of Northern California. Just to mention a few: Allan and Cindy from Vallejo, Tom and Nancy from San Francisco, Rose and Donnell from Oakland, Roy and Sylvia from Oak Grove, Steve and Deanna from Stockton and Gordy from Truckee. Gardenia and Steve from Belmont have finally moved into their huge house just six blocks up the hill from us. We can’t wait till they get their pool up and running.
We had a morning where the mountains looked like they had snow on them. It was just the sun reflecting as it was 85 degrees then. Also Regina is back into growing Basil.
I’m writing this just after we got back from a two day trip to San Diego to visit with Leslie who was there for a wedding. We had a great time and took in “Old Town” and a quick exploration of La Jolla. We even got to see some fireworks on the third. It was a nice cool 72 degrees when we left San Diego. The temperature maxed out at 115 in Mexicali and settled down to an almost comfortable 97 here at home. This is the first time in forever that we have not attended or hosted a BBQ for the 4th. We just had Hot Dogs, Baked Beans and Pasta Salad on the back porch while watching the fireworks from Pete’s Camp and the Jolly Mon Bar.
You all know how the press is bashing Mexico right now. Kat of "Kat's Korner" found this Article and I was impressed by it. They mention the CNN Anderson Cooper show that brought me to sign up for facebook to complain on his wall how out of date his story was.
Well that is it for now, Feel free to add comments to the blog. It is not like Facebook but we can use it that way.
Larry and Regina
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Casa Update 31
Friends,
It has been almost a month since my last update. It has been a busy month. When you think everything will settle down, it doesn’t. Here is a picture of where I started the update.
George and Beverley arrived on the 4th and spent a week. We all had a great time!! Lots of pictures attached this time as I can’t seem to delete any of them. We went to Puertocitos to have a dip in the hot spring tidal pools. Well, it was high tide when we got there. No tidal pools, only the Sea. Everyone hopped around what we thought were tidal pools and did feel the hot water seeping out of the sea floor. We stayed there for about three hours waiting for the tide to go out. It would have taken another three hours so we bagged it and headed for a real neat restaurant near KM35 on the Puertocitos road. Sign on the front said summer hours, only open on the weekend. Bummer. We went into San Felipe and ate at Chuey’s instead. Not a bad backup plan as we all left filled to the gills. We also took them to The “Valley of the Giants” which is at KM14 also on the Puertocitos road. Lots of pictures here! These are Cordon Cactus. Please Google it. These cacti are really huge! We stopped at the “4X4 Only After Here” sign and rested. I shifted the explorer onto 4WD and we headed off. I promised myself that I would stop and turn around before the sand hill. We had a nasty time with the hill last year when we scaled it in the 4X4 Tacoma when Leslie was here. I missed the turnaround spot and was forced to do this 400+ feet long sand hill again. With wheels churning, momentum failing, everyone bouncing close to the ceiling, on we went. For me the driver, it seemed like a five minute climb. Maybe it took twenty seconds. Next year we will be doing this hill in the pickup only, no more in the explorer. We also got George hooked on water volleyball. We have pictures of that also. You can pick George out from everyone else as he looks like the only albino in the pool. Beverly decided that drinking Cerveza’s in the pool was much more fun. We also got some great sunset pictures. They are included. Well the week went by all too fast and we were by ourselves again.
I said that things were winding down here for the summer. Well almost, farewell parties have been going on all month as the snow birds leave. We have been to quite a few. We have had three birthday parties also. It might now be safe to say that it is going to slow down sometime, I just don’t know when.
We had the Mexican National Olympic rowing trials here in town this week. It had been delayed a few weeks due to the Swine flue fiasco. We did not get a chance to go see but everyone said that the town was filled with Olympic hopefuls.
Regina continues to play water volleyball and pickle ball. I’m still sidelined waiting for the Doctor to approve more exorcise for me. Regina entered a volleyball tournament over Memorial Day and placed second out of six teams.
We moved into the summer house last week. We now have full time internet, AC and TV. Nice. They are having an outdoor kitchen built. So, it is just like a few years ago awaking to the workers arriving at 7:00am. Nice guys though. They let us know when they are going to shut down anything. It is coming along nicely and I expect them to be done in about four weeks (already adjusted for Mexican time). Oh, their dishwasher took a dump the week before we moved in. There are No Sears stores in Baja. I do have a line on a GE repair group and the Ranch is helping me get them in to take a look next week. We will see.
Temperatures have been slowly creeping up but we have been able to open up most nights. Humidity is still low making for a great time at the pool and beach.
We had our 3rd annual International Beach Volleyball tournament this weekend. The only reason it is called International is that they con a few Americans into playing. Otherwise it is totally a bunch of professional Mexicans playing and they are really good! I got a lot of pictures of Saturday’s matches. You will easily be able to pick out the Americans. They are the ones that are not sure of what they are doing.
We had burgers from Nacho at the tournament. We got two burgers and two orders of fries for only $80 Pesos. I have to describe how the burgers were made. First he got a frozen home made burger patty out. He spread mayonnaise on one side and slapped that side onto the griddle. He then continued to stir a huge mound of onions. Oh the aroma. I could have stood there all day. When he flipped the burger, he put a slab on cheese on it. He then spread mayonnaise on both bun halves and slapped them on the griddle to toast. When the burger and buns were done he put the meat and cheese onto the bottom bun while spreading cheese whiz on the top bun. He topped it off with heaping sautéed onions, lettuce, pickles, more mayonnaise and finally mustard. He folded it up in commercial aluminum foil (just like In-n-Out) It was terrific!!!! I plan on trying this myself but leaving out the cheese whiz.
Well, that has been our month down here. Hope you enjoy the pictures as there were many more but I cannot let my Picasa account fill up just yet. If you want to see them all, you will just have to come and visit.
Larry and Regina
It has been almost a month since my last update. It has been a busy month. When you think everything will settle down, it doesn’t. Here is a picture of where I started the update.
George and Beverley arrived on the 4th and spent a week. We all had a great time!! Lots of pictures attached this time as I can’t seem to delete any of them. We went to Puertocitos to have a dip in the hot spring tidal pools. Well, it was high tide when we got there. No tidal pools, only the Sea. Everyone hopped around what we thought were tidal pools and did feel the hot water seeping out of the sea floor. We stayed there for about three hours waiting for the tide to go out. It would have taken another three hours so we bagged it and headed for a real neat restaurant near KM35 on the Puertocitos road. Sign on the front said summer hours, only open on the weekend. Bummer. We went into San Felipe and ate at Chuey’s instead. Not a bad backup plan as we all left filled to the gills. We also took them to The “Valley of the Giants” which is at KM14 also on the Puertocitos road. Lots of pictures here! These are Cordon Cactus. Please Google it. These cacti are really huge! We stopped at the “4X4 Only After Here” sign and rested. I shifted the explorer onto 4WD and we headed off. I promised myself that I would stop and turn around before the sand hill. We had a nasty time with the hill last year when we scaled it in the 4X4 Tacoma when Leslie was here. I missed the turnaround spot and was forced to do this 400+ feet long sand hill again. With wheels churning, momentum failing, everyone bouncing close to the ceiling, on we went. For me the driver, it seemed like a five minute climb. Maybe it took twenty seconds. Next year we will be doing this hill in the pickup only, no more in the explorer. We also got George hooked on water volleyball. We have pictures of that also. You can pick George out from everyone else as he looks like the only albino in the pool. Beverly decided that drinking Cerveza’s in the pool was much more fun. We also got some great sunset pictures. They are included. Well the week went by all too fast and we were by ourselves again.
I said that things were winding down here for the summer. Well almost, farewell parties have been going on all month as the snow birds leave. We have been to quite a few. We have had three birthday parties also. It might now be safe to say that it is going to slow down sometime, I just don’t know when.
We had the Mexican National Olympic rowing trials here in town this week. It had been delayed a few weeks due to the Swine flue fiasco. We did not get a chance to go see but everyone said that the town was filled with Olympic hopefuls.
Regina continues to play water volleyball and pickle ball. I’m still sidelined waiting for the Doctor to approve more exorcise for me. Regina entered a volleyball tournament over Memorial Day and placed second out of six teams.
We moved into the summer house last week. We now have full time internet, AC and TV. Nice. They are having an outdoor kitchen built. So, it is just like a few years ago awaking to the workers arriving at 7:00am. Nice guys though. They let us know when they are going to shut down anything. It is coming along nicely and I expect them to be done in about four weeks (already adjusted for Mexican time). Oh, their dishwasher took a dump the week before we moved in. There are No Sears stores in Baja. I do have a line on a GE repair group and the Ranch is helping me get them in to take a look next week. We will see.
Temperatures have been slowly creeping up but we have been able to open up most nights. Humidity is still low making for a great time at the pool and beach.
We had our 3rd annual International Beach Volleyball tournament this weekend. The only reason it is called International is that they con a few Americans into playing. Otherwise it is totally a bunch of professional Mexicans playing and they are really good! I got a lot of pictures of Saturday’s matches. You will easily be able to pick out the Americans. They are the ones that are not sure of what they are doing.
We had burgers from Nacho at the tournament. We got two burgers and two orders of fries for only $80 Pesos. I have to describe how the burgers were made. First he got a frozen home made burger patty out. He spread mayonnaise on one side and slapped that side onto the griddle. He then continued to stir a huge mound of onions. Oh the aroma. I could have stood there all day. When he flipped the burger, he put a slab on cheese on it. He then spread mayonnaise on both bun halves and slapped them on the griddle to toast. When the burger and buns were done he put the meat and cheese onto the bottom bun while spreading cheese whiz on the top bun. He topped it off with heaping sautéed onions, lettuce, pickles, more mayonnaise and finally mustard. He folded it up in commercial aluminum foil (just like In-n-Out) It was terrific!!!! I plan on trying this myself but leaving out the cheese whiz.
Well, that has been our month down here. Hope you enjoy the pictures as there were many more but I cannot let my Picasa account fill up just yet. If you want to see them all, you will just have to come and visit.
Larry and Regina
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Casa Update 30
Friends,
George and Beverly’s trip was delayed a week and they are arriving tomorrow so I thought that I would update everyone tonight. There has been a lot going on in the past few weeks.
First, as you all know, we had the outbreak of the Swine Flu here in Mexico. It has spread all over the world in lightning fashion. The only thing that seems to have moved faster than the virus was the media attention. I could say a lot about what is happening down here with regards to the outbreak but if you will click Here you can get a very good summary. Also, Kat has a lot of information (though you will have to read thru all of the social stuff) Here. I think when all is said and done, this outbreak will be seen as an overreaction by the media and the WHO. Mexico again suffers under the relentless attack by the US media. I really don’t know what is behind all of this unethical reporting but I sure would like to find out. Please comment if you have ideas.
Well the snowbirds are leaving in mass now. Not that there were that many down this year. The state of the economy has left our little town really hurting. Home construction for the most part is down somewhere between 60-80%. Our contractor has reduced his staff now to about 60. That is down from a peak of 200+ just two years ago. The good news is that there is a lot of new commercial construction going on. A few new motels have been finished and little shops are either spiffing up or just opening for the first time. We now have a Thrifty Ice Cream shop again. And, even better, it is located half way to town. We will be checking it out real soon as the weather is changing. Gone are the cool nights. Gone is the low humidity. Summer is going to come early this year.
We continue with our regular activities of water volleyball and pickle ball and still seeking out more activities.
Friends from Arnold CA invited about 20+ of us to a beach barbeque. We went and had a great time. Pictures are Here.
Yesterday we had the last major social event of the season: The 7th Annual Chili cook-off at Club de Pesca. Kat said it was the largest that she had attended. We went last year and can only tell you that this years was way larger. We went with Kaaren and George, same as last year but this time we went early. There were not as many “regulars” as last year with many new faces. The band (Agave Blues) was fantastic as always. There were so many people that the chili ran out before everyone had a chance to taste them all. There must have been over twenty entries and we got to only try 10-11. I have included pictures of the event. You will see Kaaren and Regina sitting at our excellent table. We have a shot of Victor Rodriguez, who is our local fantastic photographer. It should be easy to recognize him as he is the one with the very expensive camera in his hand. We also bought a piece of art (also pictured at the end) from Arturo Gomez. He is a local artist and is the artist who painted our house name on the courtyard wall. All of these pictures are Here.
Well, enough for now. I will post more after the Phillips visit is over and we have recovered from all of the fun.
Larry and Regina
George and Beverly’s trip was delayed a week and they are arriving tomorrow so I thought that I would update everyone tonight. There has been a lot going on in the past few weeks.
First, as you all know, we had the outbreak of the Swine Flu here in Mexico. It has spread all over the world in lightning fashion. The only thing that seems to have moved faster than the virus was the media attention. I could say a lot about what is happening down here with regards to the outbreak but if you will click Here you can get a very good summary. Also, Kat has a lot of information (though you will have to read thru all of the social stuff) Here. I think when all is said and done, this outbreak will be seen as an overreaction by the media and the WHO. Mexico again suffers under the relentless attack by the US media. I really don’t know what is behind all of this unethical reporting but I sure would like to find out. Please comment if you have ideas.
Well the snowbirds are leaving in mass now. Not that there were that many down this year. The state of the economy has left our little town really hurting. Home construction for the most part is down somewhere between 60-80%. Our contractor has reduced his staff now to about 60. That is down from a peak of 200+ just two years ago. The good news is that there is a lot of new commercial construction going on. A few new motels have been finished and little shops are either spiffing up or just opening for the first time. We now have a Thrifty Ice Cream shop again. And, even better, it is located half way to town. We will be checking it out real soon as the weather is changing. Gone are the cool nights. Gone is the low humidity. Summer is going to come early this year.
We continue with our regular activities of water volleyball and pickle ball and still seeking out more activities.
Friends from Arnold CA invited about 20+ of us to a beach barbeque. We went and had a great time. Pictures are Here.
Yesterday we had the last major social event of the season: The 7th Annual Chili cook-off at Club de Pesca. Kat said it was the largest that she had attended. We went last year and can only tell you that this years was way larger. We went with Kaaren and George, same as last year but this time we went early. There were not as many “regulars” as last year with many new faces. The band (Agave Blues) was fantastic as always. There were so many people that the chili ran out before everyone had a chance to taste them all. There must have been over twenty entries and we got to only try 10-11. I have included pictures of the event. You will see Kaaren and Regina sitting at our excellent table. We have a shot of Victor Rodriguez, who is our local fantastic photographer. It should be easy to recognize him as he is the one with the very expensive camera in his hand. We also bought a piece of art (also pictured at the end) from Arturo Gomez. He is a local artist and is the artist who painted our house name on the courtyard wall. All of these pictures are Here.
Well, enough for now. I will post more after the Phillips visit is over and we have recovered from all of the fun.
Larry and Regina
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Casa Update 29
Friends,
The Swine Flu looks like it originated in southern Mexico and is spreading rapidly. So far we here in Baja have not been affected. We saw a report that there were four cases reported in Mexicali but have not heard anything further. The purported single case down here turned out to be a rumor and false. Everything is fine here but we will be taking more precautions as everyone worldwide is doing.
George and Beverly’s trip has been delayed by a week. They are scheduled to arrive next Monday.
We will have more information about it as the week progresses.
I also sent out a reference to the Fence that one of our Baja folks put together. Here is the link.
Larry and Regina
The Swine Flu looks like it originated in southern Mexico and is spreading rapidly. So far we here in Baja have not been affected. We saw a report that there were four cases reported in Mexicali but have not heard anything further. The purported single case down here turned out to be a rumor and false. Everything is fine here but we will be taking more precautions as everyone worldwide is doing.
George and Beverly’s trip has been delayed by a week. They are scheduled to arrive next Monday.
We will have more information about it as the week progresses.
I also sent out a reference to the Fence that one of our Baja folks put together. Here is the link.
Larry and Regina
Friday, April 10, 2009
Casa Update 28
Friends,
It is raining!!! First rain since last August!
The town is filling up with people from Mexicali. We went to a birthday party tonight at Paco and Miguel’s restaurant in the Ejido. Funny thing is that everyone here calls it "Paco and Miguel's" but the menu cover says "Miguel and Paco's". It was hard to find but what a real treat. It was again a BYOB and wine glasses were provided. I had the “Osso Bucco” and Regina had the steak special. Both were $15 and what a real treat. It sprinkled while we were in the restaurant but after we got home it started to REALLY rain. Kaaren took pictures of the birthday bash and when she sends them to me I will post them. Here are the pictures.
There are supposed to be up to 60,000+ Mexicali’s down here for Easter weekend. From the stream of cars we have seen so far, I almost believe that number. We are going to brave it tomorrow and go into town for a picture trip. We will not be parking anywhere as we have heard that there is no parking anywhere already. Going to try to go up to the lighthouse and take a picture of the beach and Malicon.
Have a nice Easter weekend and we will be posting pictures next week.
It is raining!!! First rain since last August!
The town is filling up with people from Mexicali. We went to a birthday party tonight at Paco and Miguel’s restaurant in the Ejido. Funny thing is that everyone here calls it "Paco and Miguel's" but the menu cover says "Miguel and Paco's". It was hard to find but what a real treat. It was again a BYOB and wine glasses were provided. I had the “Osso Bucco” and Regina had the steak special. Both were $15 and what a real treat. It sprinkled while we were in the restaurant but after we got home it started to REALLY rain. Kaaren took pictures of the birthday bash and when she sends them to me I will post them. Here are the pictures.
There are supposed to be up to 60,000+ Mexicali’s down here for Easter weekend. From the stream of cars we have seen so far, I almost believe that number. We are going to brave it tomorrow and go into town for a picture trip. We will not be parking anywhere as we have heard that there is no parking anywhere already. Going to try to go up to the lighthouse and take a picture of the beach and Malicon.
Have a nice Easter weekend and we will be posting pictures next week.
Well we did go into town on Sunday morning. There was indeed no parking. Actually there was massive traffic everywhere. Streets that normally would have taken a minute to drive were taking 15. Could not get to the malicon, tried three differnet ways. Everyone that had an open patch of land was either renting it out for tents or as a car park. So we just snapped a few pictures when we could. There were tents everywhere! Maybe next year we will go in and park near the arches and do a long walk. Probably faster that driving. Here are the pictures we took. Please don't ask about Flat Stanley :-)
Larry and Regina
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Casa Update 27
Hello all,
March is over and we are getting into some serious springtime weather. It has been getting into the low 80’s in the daytime and high 50’s at night. Wonderful sleeping weather!
We went to Mexicali for the truck tires. And of course, Costco did not have my size or anything even close. So we ended up at the Goodyear store and had to pay essentially retail for the four tires. We got the top of the line Wrangler All Terrain with lots of tread.
Now that the truck is off-road ready, someone had to put the new tires to the test. The San Felipe 250 Off-Road race was held here on March 14th. We met up with some friends that knew of a great place to watch. So, off we went. We drove to the northern most road on the Ranch and from there took a track that can best be described as “looks like at least two other trucks have been this way.” We headed southwest for what seemed to be 30 miles but actually was closer to 5 miles to the power lines. The race heads north along these power lines. We undershot where we were supposed to be. An official suggested that we book it up the race course to the 12.2 mile marker. We were one mile too far south. So with the Trophy Trucks about to start, we indeed booked it up the course. After that mile, I’m glad to say that my truck will not be entering this race any time soon.
When we got to the 12.2 mile checkpoint, we set up on the west side of the course. After the second truck came thru and coated us with dust and dirt, it was decided that we should relocate ourselves to the east side and upwind. You will see in the pictures when that took place. Each racer is let off the starting line in 30 second intervals. This gave us plenty of time to sneak across the course. Once we were upwind, we plopped the chairs into the truck bed and settled in for a great morning. We were situated next to a dip in the course that probably was about three feet deep. It was amazing to watch the racers try to navigate this “dip.” Most of our pictures are of someone trying to navigate thru the dip. Some of the most expensive Trophy Trucks went thru the dip in amazing form. Their rear tires just disappeared into the dip while the rest of the truck stayed level. Not so for most of the racers though. They disappeared into the dip and a few almost flipped over like taking a forward summersault. There were at least 30 classes of vehicles in the race. Some classes only had a few vehicles but there were many classes had a dozen or more. The last few classes were stock trucks and VW Beetles. I couldn’t imagine driving a stock Beetle for 250 miles flat out on paved roads let alone on this race course!
After the Beetles went by we decided to head into town to watch the Trophy Trucks at the finish line. One of the checkpoint officials suggested that we take a road back into town instead of driving back across the desert. This turned out to be a bad move as this “road” was in much worse shape than the ruts we followed out to the course. This so called “road” didn’t actually go into town but led us southwest for about five miles to a road that actually did go back into town. The road that did take us back to town is named Zoo Road. There is a very valid reason for the name. On race day the road is a real zoo (search www.youtube.com for “San Felipe 250 Zoo Road”)! It is also the road that was used to define the term washboard. It was so bumpy and “washboardy” that both of our seatbelts locked up and we were stuck to our seats for the whole trip. Did I mention the dust? We were some of the few that were heading into town. Most others were heading west to get to the other side of the race course to see the trucks head back south. I have included a map of the course so you can visualize where we were.
We got back to town and found excellent parking places at the “Arches.” Someone had just pulled out and we both shared the parking spot as they were deep enough for two vehicles. We had a short three to four block walk to the finish line. We were there only about an hour before the Trophy Trucks arrived. During that time all of the remaining Motorcycles and ATVs were finishing. Unfortunately, the only place to watch was down wind. These racers kept on the throttle until the last moment and locked up the breaks and slid thru the finish line. In our pictures you can see the mess that they made. We were whipped so we watched some of the trucks and then headed back home for a welcome long shower.
Leslie joined us for an all too short week. We did the usual things like town and the beach. She even played pickleball one morning with Regina! We did skip the usual ATV trip this time. The best activity of her trip was attending the 3rd Annual San Felipe Blues and Arts Festival. It was great! World class Blues bands and more world class art! The festival was held in San Felipe’s baseball park so there was room for all. Food was good and all festival proceeds went to “Sonshine Hacienda” a new orphanage being built in town.
We arrived at about 10:30 in the morning and stayed until about 5:30. Would have stayed longer but we had a dinner reservation at a place that we didn’t want Leslie to miss. This little place (Playa Azul) just opened a few months ago and we have been there almost a dozen times now. Breakfast is 35 Pesos, lunches go from 30-60 Pesos and the most expensive dinner entre on the menu is Blue Coast Shrimp (Camarón Costa Azul) for 110 Pesos. You get four to five huge bacon wrapped (stuffed with cheese and ham) shrimp in a white sauce with mushrooms, and mixed vegetables cooked perfectly. He does not have a liquor license yet so it is BYOB. He now provides the wine glasses though.
All of you have been inundated by the media constantly harping on the violence in Mexico. We have seen CNN repeating old news articles as if they were new news. Fox actually shot footage of Juarez and claimed it was shot in San Felipe. The drug wars are true. However, they are not affecting all of Mexico. The drug lords are killing each other and if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you might be in danger. The rule we have here is to treat Mexicali as an American would treat Oakland. The things that you would not do in Oakland after dark, hold true for Mexicali and even more so for Tijuana. Remember, the US is the most violent nation in the world. Mexico is a meager 12th. Our friends at “The Net” in town have posted a lot of interviews on www.youtube.com. Please to a search for TheNetSanFelipe and watch them. Besides hearing how safe it is down here you can see our diverse community.
Well, that is enough for this month. We have George and Beverly from Benicia coming down for the last week in April. Update again after their visit.
Larry
March is over and we are getting into some serious springtime weather. It has been getting into the low 80’s in the daytime and high 50’s at night. Wonderful sleeping weather!
We went to Mexicali for the truck tires. And of course, Costco did not have my size or anything even close. So we ended up at the Goodyear store and had to pay essentially retail for the four tires. We got the top of the line Wrangler All Terrain with lots of tread.
Now that the truck is off-road ready, someone had to put the new tires to the test. The San Felipe 250 Off-Road race was held here on March 14th. We met up with some friends that knew of a great place to watch. So, off we went. We drove to the northern most road on the Ranch and from there took a track that can best be described as “looks like at least two other trucks have been this way.” We headed southwest for what seemed to be 30 miles but actually was closer to 5 miles to the power lines. The race heads north along these power lines. We undershot where we were supposed to be. An official suggested that we book it up the race course to the 12.2 mile marker. We were one mile too far south. So with the Trophy Trucks about to start, we indeed booked it up the course. After that mile, I’m glad to say that my truck will not be entering this race any time soon.
When we got to the 12.2 mile checkpoint, we set up on the west side of the course. After the second truck came thru and coated us with dust and dirt, it was decided that we should relocate ourselves to the east side and upwind. You will see in the pictures when that took place. Each racer is let off the starting line in 30 second intervals. This gave us plenty of time to sneak across the course. Once we were upwind, we plopped the chairs into the truck bed and settled in for a great morning. We were situated next to a dip in the course that probably was about three feet deep. It was amazing to watch the racers try to navigate this “dip.” Most of our pictures are of someone trying to navigate thru the dip. Some of the most expensive Trophy Trucks went thru the dip in amazing form. Their rear tires just disappeared into the dip while the rest of the truck stayed level. Not so for most of the racers though. They disappeared into the dip and a few almost flipped over like taking a forward summersault. There were at least 30 classes of vehicles in the race. Some classes only had a few vehicles but there were many classes had a dozen or more. The last few classes were stock trucks and VW Beetles. I couldn’t imagine driving a stock Beetle for 250 miles flat out on paved roads let alone on this race course!
After the Beetles went by we decided to head into town to watch the Trophy Trucks at the finish line. One of the checkpoint officials suggested that we take a road back into town instead of driving back across the desert. This turned out to be a bad move as this “road” was in much worse shape than the ruts we followed out to the course. This so called “road” didn’t actually go into town but led us southwest for about five miles to a road that actually did go back into town. The road that did take us back to town is named Zoo Road. There is a very valid reason for the name. On race day the road is a real zoo (search www.youtube.com for “San Felipe 250 Zoo Road”)! It is also the road that was used to define the term washboard. It was so bumpy and “washboardy” that both of our seatbelts locked up and we were stuck to our seats for the whole trip. Did I mention the dust? We were some of the few that were heading into town. Most others were heading west to get to the other side of the race course to see the trucks head back south. I have included a map of the course so you can visualize where we were.
We got back to town and found excellent parking places at the “Arches.” Someone had just pulled out and we both shared the parking spot as they were deep enough for two vehicles. We had a short three to four block walk to the finish line. We were there only about an hour before the Trophy Trucks arrived. During that time all of the remaining Motorcycles and ATVs were finishing. Unfortunately, the only place to watch was down wind. These racers kept on the throttle until the last moment and locked up the breaks and slid thru the finish line. In our pictures you can see the mess that they made. We were whipped so we watched some of the trucks and then headed back home for a welcome long shower.
Leslie joined us for an all too short week. We did the usual things like town and the beach. She even played pickleball one morning with Regina! We did skip the usual ATV trip this time. The best activity of her trip was attending the 3rd Annual San Felipe Blues and Arts Festival. It was great! World class Blues bands and more world class art! The festival was held in San Felipe’s baseball park so there was room for all. Food was good and all festival proceeds went to “Sonshine Hacienda” a new orphanage being built in town.
We arrived at about 10:30 in the morning and stayed until about 5:30. Would have stayed longer but we had a dinner reservation at a place that we didn’t want Leslie to miss. This little place (Playa Azul) just opened a few months ago and we have been there almost a dozen times now. Breakfast is 35 Pesos, lunches go from 30-60 Pesos and the most expensive dinner entre on the menu is Blue Coast Shrimp (Camarón Costa Azul) for 110 Pesos. You get four to five huge bacon wrapped (stuffed with cheese and ham) shrimp in a white sauce with mushrooms, and mixed vegetables cooked perfectly. He does not have a liquor license yet so it is BYOB. He now provides the wine glasses though.
All of you have been inundated by the media constantly harping on the violence in Mexico. We have seen CNN repeating old news articles as if they were new news. Fox actually shot footage of Juarez and claimed it was shot in San Felipe. The drug wars are true. However, they are not affecting all of Mexico. The drug lords are killing each other and if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you might be in danger. The rule we have here is to treat Mexicali as an American would treat Oakland. The things that you would not do in Oakland after dark, hold true for Mexicali and even more so for Tijuana. Remember, the US is the most violent nation in the world. Mexico is a meager 12th. Our friends at “The Net” in town have posted a lot of interviews on www.youtube.com. Please to a search for TheNetSanFelipe and watch them. Besides hearing how safe it is down here you can see our diverse community.
Well, that is enough for this month. We have George and Beverly from Benicia coming down for the last week in April. Update again after their visit.
Larry
San Felipe 250 pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/SF2502009?authkey=Gv1sRgCIbJ2f_Wt7rmywE&feat=directlink
Other pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LarEWill50/Casa20?authkey=Gv1sRgCLnZtoj4rt_3zQE&feat=directlink
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