Click on a photo to enlarge it.
We didn't leave the campground in Teacapan until nearly 3pm which was mainly due to saying goodbye to everyone and also because Kirsten knocked a scab off her ear in the shower
and came back with the side of her face covered in blood!!! It looked like she had a serious injury so once we'd got her cleaned up it was difficult to believe the
culprit was only a small scab!
Then we got stuck in a huge traffic jam and it took us 3 hours to do the last few miles into Mazatlán. The truck drivers had blocked the road to protest about a new
rule that stated they would have to use the toll roads in the future.
Our free spot in Mazatlán was no longer available as the owners had changed and so we ended up having to park at Wal-Mart where we did our shopping.
On our way north we stopped to get our oil leak fixed but they couldn't find it because the oil additive we had used had done a good job of closing up the leak! Then
we parked up at the next Wal-Mart where we met up again with Rudi and Maria by coincidence!
We stopped off at Huatabampito for two nights to see Esther, Sharron and Herby. We learned a different way to play dominoes from Sharron and we took the dogs for a
walk on the beach. Anja is quite a handful for Kirsten on the lead and at one point she took off and Kirsten went sprawling in the sand!! Quite a sight - but Kirsten
didn't let go of the lead!
In Navojoa, a circus drove through the town and we watched as the tigers, giraffes and other animals went by in their open cages! We spent two nights in San Carlos
and then continued on to the border.
Our motor home was allowed through without any checking and we thought we would get through really quickly at immigration as we had an officer who was obviously new
at the job. But then his supervisor decided it shouldn't be so easy. The problem was solved however when Helen produced her Warrant Card showing that she is a retired
police officer and from then on she became the "visiting foreign deputy" and there wasn't a problem any more.
Kirsten was totally ignored through all of this and after one hour we left with our visas. We stopped just north of the border near Why on BLM land for four nights to recoup
after the long driving days. It was very peaceful but cold at night.
We headed west along I-8 and encountered very strong winds. We stopped at a rest area and were filling up some water bottles when a worker came up to us and told
us not to use the water because there was arsenic in it!!!
We stayed at a campground in Wellton and asked if we could get some post forwarded to us. We swapped a lot of books, did work on the internet, baked cinnamon rolls and Kirsten
cut Helen's hair.
We drove into Yuma and had our external drive checked out. It started smoking a few months ago and we didn't know whether we could get it fixed and/or retrieve all the
data on it. A trip to Best Buy confirmed that it was Kaput! It would cost between $400 and $1500 to retrieve the data!! No way were we going to pay that kind of money
particularly as it had only cost Can$180 in the first place and the new versions were far better and cost less than a third of that.
After driving around to various places and doing shopping etc we drove in the dark out to Mittry Lake which is BLM land just north of Yuma and parked up for the night.
The next morning we were totally confused when the sun came up in the wrong place! We'd driven here at night along a windy road and lost our orientation. So the sun
did not come up where we expected and therefore we had not found a spot with any shade!
We went for a three mile walk along the lake which has several palm trees on its various banks and peninsulars. A great place for birding, fishing and generally seeing
a lot of wildlife including, of course, snakes. We scouted out various spots and found one where there was a tree that would give us at least some shade in the
afternoon.
Rattle snake.
We hung out our solar shower and Kirsten even went for a jog!!! That must have put her in a "feel good" mood because the next day Helen got a pedicure and a foot
massage! It was for her birthday which was coming up in 2 days time. The following day Helen got a back massage, again for her birthday even though it wasn't her
birthday yet - but she wasn't complaining!
It had been hot and sunny for a very long time but, of course, when Helen's birthday arrived ... It rained! And, for most of the day!! We had planned to drive into Yuma
and go to Famous Dave's for barbecue spare ribs. But Edi and Jochen arrived and they had bought spare ribs with them. Absolutely yummy! The weather didn't make any
difference!
The next day it was back to being hot and sunny!! We had coffee and cake at Edi and Jochen's and then we took the two dogs, Max and Moritz, for a walk along a canyon.
We tried to do a loop but were stopped by a canal and had to back track. It was quite a difficult walk, up and down hill, over slippery stones, and poor Max had to be
carried in a rucksack!! We did about 8 miles in total.
That evening we cooked sausages, mashed potatoes and something called "Collard Greens" and "Mustard Greens", both "southern style" which looked like green cabbage on
the label so we'd bought it to try out. It turned out to be a typical German meal and we all enjoyed it.
We cooked at Edi and Jochen's because there was more room for all of us and the dogs to sit. When we arrived over there, the one outer door was locked. The dogs
started barking at the door. So we went to the back door and walked in. The dogs, however, continued to bark at the other door and didn't even realize that we were
already inside and standing right behind them!!! Talk about Dumb and Dumber!!
Edi and Jochen left the next day to head over to San Diego and then continue north. We will no doubt meet up with them at some point later. We stayed at Mittry Lake
enjoying the peace and quiet. We also went back to Yuma for another round of shopping and checking out various things.
We have a long list of things that we need to sort out e.g. Solar panels, 12 volt fans to be fitted inside Winnie, a roof rack to hold extra tyres and petrol cans,
and a solution for filling up our in-built propane tank from a propane bottle, the latter because we already know that we can't get our tank filled up in South
America on a regular basis and we'll have to use a bottle.
There is also a great deal of other things on the list. So, whilst we are down here in the sunny south we want to check out as much as possible before heading north
later when, hopefully, the weather has improved so we can do some of the hikes we have planned.
In the mean time, we stayed at Mittry Lake and went into Yuma every so often. Unfortunately there was a heat wave and the temperature zoomed up to 40 degrees and
above (105 F and above). Phew!!!
It meant we had to keep the windows open and we got swamped in flies which died either in the candles or in our light covers. Our mornings were spent getting rid of
all the dead ones everywhere. Yuck! By the way, we do have screens on the door and windows but these little b*?&%'s get through!!
We returned to Wellton and the campground to pick up our post that we had had forwarded from Germany and for Kirsten to order a camera and various equipment from the
internet and get delivered to the campground.
