29.3.-10.4.2008: Álamos We left Teacapan and drove into Esquinapa. It was already lunch time and as we pulled up to the traffic lights we decided to go and get some "Diesel chicken", so called because the barbecue grill was outside and right on the corner of a busy junction and would therefore get all the diesel fumes!! All the time we had been in Teacapan we had never had it. So on the way out we decided now would be a good time. Kirsten jumped out and went to fetch it whilst Helen drove across the lights and parked on the other side. The chicken was surprisingly good! No wonder everyone kept talking about it! Afterwards, Kirsten decided to take the chicken bones etc to a bin and found one near the chicken stand. She was wearing a pair of very old shorts that were so old that the elastic from the waistband had gone and she had to roll them up under her T shirt to keep them from falling round her ankles!! They were also extremely see-through!! There was a police officer on the corner helping people across the road at the junction and he obviously noticed Kirsten's shorts. He said something to her in very quick Spanish which she didn't understand so she just said "Yes". He had actually asked her out for a beer at the end of his shift at 4pm!! She had to explain that we were on our way north so it wouldn't be possible!! We drove all afternoon and got to Culiacan where we were attacked at every traffic light by window washers. We always say no because they jump on the bonnet, put dents in it and smear greasy water all over the window. They then expect to be paid!! Kirsten shouted at them in English using some very choice swear words. (Helen doesn't know where she gets such language from as Helen has certainly not taught her those words!!) Unfortunately, Kirsten could not remember the English word for bonnet! So she was shouting... "Get off the f...ing, f...ing," --- well, bonnet would have been the next word had she remembered it!! We ended up with a dirty windscreen! We stayed at a Walmart car park for the night and did our shopping. The next day we went into Sam's and Helen went into fits of ecstacy when she saw huge boxes of Cadbury's chocolate fingers that looked like skis! She has never seen such boxes in England and yet here she is in Mexico! On the way north to Álamos, we got stuck in a huge traffic jam. The traffic backs up because there is a check point for all traffic travelling north. It is a dual carriageway and the right hand lane is used for all the trucks to park in and wait their turn to get thoroughly searched at the checkpoint which takes hours. The left hand lane is left open for all other traffic which only gets a cursory check. We were about 1,5 miles south of the checkpoint when we got stuck because the left lane had been blocked. No one seemed to know what was going on so Kirsten got out to investigate - Helen was driving. The problem was that a truck was using the left hand lane to jump the queue - this was a big no-no. So a truck from the right hand lane had pulled in front of him to block him and stop him. Then they just simply stayed there being extremely stubborn and blocking everyone. The left lane in front of the queue jumper was completely free, but no one could get around him because there was a huge dip down into the central reservation dividing the two sides of the road. Winnie certainly could not get passed and we were already blocked from behind. Further back there was a place where the central divide could be crossed so a lot of traffic could get across. Then they simply drove the wrong way along the dual carriageway until they got to another crossing place and cut back across to the correct side of the road. Kamikaze drivers or what? We would not be able to reverse back to that point though, because there were other trucks trying to queue jump further back!! Kirsten tried to speak to the drivers in her broken Spanish but didn't get anywhere. So she went to a car that was behind the queue jumping truck that was driven by a Mexican and asked him if he would speak to the drivers because he could speak Spanish. He said "No"! He didn't seem to care that we could be there overnight waiting for a solution!! So Kirsten went back in her sexy shorts and pleaded, and begged and prodded and poked. She was continually running between the truck drivers trying to sort out a solution. Helen was too far back to see what was going on otherwise she would have taken a video of this spectacle!! The truck drivers were all highly amused at the foreign female in her sexy shorts, trying to get the stubborn mules to move!! The only solution was to find a truck driver in the right hand lane who would allow the queue jumper to get back into the correct lane. The first truck driver wasn't going to let that happen because he was the one blocking him in the first place. But the second truck driver wouldn't either. So Kirsten went to the third and literally begged him - hands held together as if in prayer, saying "please"! He smiled and said "Yes". Great!! Finally after sweating buckets, Kirsten jumped back in and said "Honestly. MEN!!!!!!!" Very profound and also very true!! We got through the checkpoint without a problem and shortly afterwards a truck beeped his horn at us as he overtook - one of the other truck drivers must have radioed ahead and talked about the sexy shorts!! We finally made it to Álamos just before it got dark and chatted to Debbie and Dewey, Annette and Bob around the campfire. On Monday Helen spent all day making Shepherds pies because Deb and Dewey wanted it as their farewell meal that night and they also wanted one to put in the freezer! They loved the meal and we sat and chatted with them at the campfire. The next morning we said our fond farewells and they headed off back to the States. Then we walked up to see Andrew and Rosemary. Rosemary has the same birthday as Helen so we wanted to find out if they had any plans and whether we could celebrate together. It was very hot in Álamos and 10 degrees C warmer than we were used to so we felt quite exhausted. We managed to watch quite a few films on the internet and got a phone call from a friend in New Zealand who had a video cam attached! On Friday, Rosemary and her neighbour Joey came around. Joey had made birthday cake and brought two pieces for us - yummy. The birthday celebrations had begun! The following Monday we went out to lunch with Rosemary and Joey. It was a really good lunch and we told each other lots of funny stories. There was a very rich banker at the restaurant and he came over. We entertained him, especially Joey. She asked for the bill at the end and we found out that the rich banker had already settled our account!!!! The next night we went to Regina and Paul's house. They live near the campground and we had a great Biryani which was followed by Kirsten's carrot cake. Later we said goodbye to Bob and Annette who were leaving very early the next morning. After all the celebrating so far, Helen's birthday finally arrived. We both phoned home and Annabelle came around with a 6 pack of beer. So we sat by the pool and enjoyed a cold beer in the afternoon. Rosemary came over and said that the restaurant we had planned to celebrate in that night wasn't open so we needed to choose somewhere else. Then she gave us only 25 minutes to have showers and get changed so we could go up to her house! We had a glass of champagne and Rosemary had made some wonderful cheese-stuffed chilli's wrapped in bacon as an appetizer. Then we drove into town and went to our second choice restaurant - but it was closed for the season! So we went to the Todos Santos, which was our third choice but should have been our first! We had a fabulous meal and listened to live music. As Rosemary and Helen were celebrating 114 years, they were also serenaded at the table!! There was a chicken wrap as a starter, salad, melon sorbet, Helen had spare ribs and Kirsten had salmon. Then Helen topped it all off with a huge slice of chocolate fudge cake that we all had to share! Andrew and Kirsten sang Happy Birthday. Kirsten always changes key when she sings but this time she changed key but managed to harmonise!! Amazing! It was the first time that either Helen or Rosemary had ever celebrated with someone who has the same birthday. It really was a super meal with a great atmosphere.