WEEKEND FEB 22-24

Our grandson Phil drove down for the weekend. He is a captain in the Air Force stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. He flies cargo planes-- That’s his regular job. A few years ago, Phil embarked on a musical career part-time. He is self-taught, having no formal musical training with the exception of a friend who showed him a few things on the guitar. Then he took off on his own. He writes his own songs--about feelings, relationships, experiences, people and places. I guess I would say they are ballad type songs. He has played in clubs in Dallas, the west coast and several western states. This spring he will be performing in Rocky Point, Mexico and states in the Midwest. A pretty talented guy. We asked Phil if he would bring his guitar and provide us with a little entertainment.

Saturday, after a morning stroll on the beach and up a desert trail, we went in to Old Kino to take Phil on a tour of the old fishing village. We stopped to see our friend Pancho, an artist who does awesome ironwood carving and beautiful painting. He showed Phil how he makes his carvings, which is amazing in itself in that his tools are rather crude. (We’ll tell you more about Pancho later.)

Then we went out to the pier, a popular Old Kino weekend gathering spot, where Pancho’s wife was tending a table of Pancho’s ironwood carvings and painted shells. Grandpa purchased a carved Mexican woodpecker for Phil. I purchased a shell painted with a beautiful sunset for myself. After perusing the vendors’ tables, we checked out some places to buy fresh shrimp. Finally, stopping for lunch at Eco-Bay, a new Old Kino restaurant operated in conjunction with a new hotel. Larry and Phil both ordered shrimp dishes, prepared two different ways, and said both were delicious as was the tortilla soup I ordered.

Returning to the campground we were invited over to our Alberta friends Carol and Clarence. Carol had made a large pot of clam chowder with freshly harvested clams. Evan though we had just eaten, we had to sample. It, too, was delicious.

Just before dusk friends began gathering around, Larry lit our "campfire" and our concert under the stars began. Phil played and sang a number of songs for us, which everyone seemed to enjoy. In fact, the next day several friends dropped by to tell us how much they enjoyed meeting Phil and his performance. Thanks Phil. We love you.

Club Deportivo in Kino Bay is a non-profit organization that provides many community services. Last night we attended their an annual benefit event for Kino Bay’s secondary school. We were served a tasty dinner cooked by the mothers and teachers consisting of seasoned shredded beef, frijoles, salad and fresh flour tortillas, plus a dessert pastry.









Entertainment was provided by school children of various ages from both Kino Bay and Hermosillo. Their lively native dances and colorful costumes were a big hit with the audience and their smiles showed they were enjoying performing for us. We were told the children are responsible for providing and/or making their own costumes which were quite creative.

The native "deer dance" was the finale, for which the students provided their own live music. The students did a great job on this, although we aren’t quite sure of the interpretation. It seemed to us that the deer was successful in fighting off the wolves or coyote only to be killed by the hunter’s arrow. What a sad ending.

An auction and raffle were held during the evening with all proceeds going to the school. Club Deportivo also provides search and rescue services for boaters and travelers, emergency medical assistance, social and sporting activities for its members such as fishing tournaments, and an array of services for travelers and non-residents.

Mazatlan to Kino

We left Las Jaibas RV park in Mazatlan at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 4 and headed north on Mexico Cuota (tollroad) Hwy 15. We were making pretty good time until our navigator (yours truly) wasn’t paying attention and we accidentally got on Hwy 15 Libre (free road) in Culiacan. About 80 miles later we were able to hook back up with the toll road. The free road isn’t a bad road as it has just been repaved, but it’s two-lane and we had to slow down to a crawl through every tiny little village of which there were many.

About 5:30 p.m. we pulled into a large Pemex truck stop north of Navajoa, filled up with diesel (at $2.25 per gal. USD) and found a spot to park for the night amongst the 18-wheelers. It was quiet and we had a good night’s sleep. There was a night guard who rode around the lot on his bicycle, so we also felt quite safe.

We left the Pemex at 7:30 Tuesday morning and drove the remaining 225 miles to Kino Bay, after a brief stop in Miguel Aleman to pick up a few groceries and replenish our pesos at the ATM. Miguel Aleman, (called Calle Doce, meaning 12th Street, by the locals) is a small town about 30 miles east of Kino. It has two small supermarkets reminiscent of those from the 50s, a couple Pemex stations, a bank, and a few other little shops.

When we reached the small Mexican fishing village of Old Kino, we pulled off the road onto a gravel area and unhitched our towed vehicle. I was to make a quick run to the tortilla factory and Larry in our motor home would proceed to New Kino and the turnoff to the campground. I purchased tortillas and then made a quick stop at the bakery that has pastries to die for, then proceeded to meet Larry. As I drove into New Kino and came over a small rise, the sparkling waters of the Sea of Cortez and one and two-story white condos and homes of the town came into view. New Kino is inhabited primarily by Americans some of who have been coming here since the early 50s.

About three-quarters of the way through town, I joined Larry where he was waiting at Punta Chueca Road, gave him his pastry and we proceeded to make the 12-mile drive over a mountain pass on a very rocky road that has been dubbed the road from hell. Now, 12 miles isn’t a long distance, but in an RV, at 10-15 mph it takes more than an hour. Reactions to the road from first-timers have been anywhere from shock to hostility. We arrived about 3:15 and found a space to park our motor home for the next six weeks.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Well, the time has flown by and we have come to the end of our stay in Mazatlan. We were scheduled to leave Monday, Jan 28. We began packing up on Saturday, and Larry went to start up the motor on our motor home and guess what? – It didn’t start. Now, Larry is a very mechanical guy, but never having owned a diesel he didn’t quite know where to begin looking for the problem. Since I’m not mechanical, I will defer to him to explain..…

I crawled under the motor home and looking up said to myself, “What in the world is all this stuff?” My first thought was that it was a solenoid problem, because, when I turned the ignition on, there wasn’t even a click. But where in the world is the solenoid located on this motor? After some looking and testing I found something I thought might be a solenoid, but there weren’t the heavy battery cables running to it like you would find in an automobile. There were two smaller cables running to it and a conglomerate of wiring I couldn’t begin to trace, but I did find a wire connected to it that was hot when the ignition was turned to the starting position. I then felt confident that this was the solenoid and that was where the problem lay. My good friend Manny crawled under there with me and pretty much confirmed my diagnosis.

I removed the part and wondered where I might find a Freightliner solenoid in Mazatlan. But Manny knew where there was a truck parts house, so off we went on a hunt for the part, I, knowing it would probably cost an arm and leg for a Freightliner part. We knew there was an Auto Zone next to Wal-Mart, so we thought we would take a chance and go there first. The young female clerk, knowing no English, kept asking what kind of “auto” it was for. We kept telling her “no auto—RV Freightliner.” After pulling 4 or 5 traditional solenoids from the shelf, she said, “no got.” But then she decided to ask the manager. He climbed up a ladder to the top shelf behind the counter and, lo and behold! pulled out a box with my solenoid. Man, was it ever expensive…. A whole 220 pesos ($22 USD). Wow.

Went back to the RV park, installed the part and the diesel turned over, started and has been fine ever since. In the meantime, we had extended our stay another week, not knowing how or when we could get our mechanical problem resolved.



We all gathered for a goodbye spaghetti supper Sunday evening, hosted by Connie and Manny. It was hard to leave our old friends as well as the new ones we met this year, but it was time to head north for our reservations in Kino Bay.

THE IGUANA

A few days ago, we noticed a small crowd gathering in the row behind our space. We walked over and saw this critter sitting on the fence. I ran back to get our camera so we could get some pictures, hoping he wouldn't run off before I returned. Well, not only was he still there, he looked like he was asleep. As you can see from the photo, it didn’t bother him a bit to be photographed with us standing close to him.