The sea at last...passing the refugees....and the lovely town of Bucerias.

To all five of our readers….sorry for the long delay in posting. Between a really long and difficult drive to the coast from Ajijic…and finding a suitable place to stay, let’s just say it has been a tough couple of days. But fear not…we made it.

The drive here was tough, no two ways about it. To start, the road wound down from 5,500’ to sea level. We had great stretches of recently built toll roads, mixed with narrow, pot hole-filled two lane roads full of cars, taxis, tour buses and a lot of construction vehicles….all moving along at maybe 15 MPH. All in all, it took us about 8 hours to drive maybe 200 miles. Who was the most tired….me, C;laudia, Katie or Tuck? Probably a toss up.

We finally pulled in to the seaside town of Bucerias around 6;00 PM and found our lovely VRBO home. Our host, Julia, was super sweet and showed us to our suite. Julia has lived here for over 40 years and is originally from New Mexico. She built the hacienda and has run it herself all these years. No small task in any country. We unloaded, walked down the street to a local restaurant for grilled mahi-mahi with fresh veggies and went immediately to bed. The fish here BTW, is amazing. The chefs grill everything over a local wood similar to mesquite. Delicious.

Bucerias sits on the sea, protected by a beautiful bay. It’s located on the same bay as Puerta Vallarta, perhaps one of the best known vacation towns in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta (just PV or Vallarta locally) is lovely, but it can be very crowded with tourists from around the world. Bucerias is smaller and avoids a lot of the hype. The beach is miles long and reminded us of Siesta Key. I posted a few pictures, which of course, don’t even begin to do it justice. I’ll post a few more tomorrow, but really, cameras….even those with a wide angle lens, just can’t convey the beauty.

We were planning on heading back to Ajijic on Sunday, but Julia cautioned us that Sunday was the worst day to head back, due to the locals returning to Guadalahara. So, we decided to stay another day and head back on Monday. I know this sounds totally lame (since we are here on vacation after all), but trust me, we need an additional day to rest.

I’m off for now….the bed calls.

Cheers,

Wayne, Claudia, Katie and Tuck

We're headed to the sea....a sore back....and finally finding great tortillas

I’ll start with the bad news. One of the unknowns of the trip was my back…specifically had it healed enough to travel long distances after my major surgery. The healing/recovery process takes a minimum of one year, which for me will be next July. A long way off.

When we arrived in Ajijic, one of the first things I realized was how rough and uneven the cobblestone streets are….after all, they’re over 350 years old. The first few days went really well and I trucked around town like a local. No problem. However, after nearly two weeks of the constant jarring from the stones (and restraining Tuck so he doesn’t zoom down the street after one of the many local dogs running loose), my back has gotten progressively worse. Walking, which is all I’m supposed to do for the first year, is good for the healing process…..but obviously walking on uneven surfaces, is not. Oh well, these are the things you learn when you travel…just some of the unknowns that can’t be answered until you’re actually “out there” doing it. And so…we’re heading to the coast to explore some popular towns on the sea and (hopefully) find some smoother streets, roads and side walks. If not, I hear they make killer marguerita’s at the local beach-side stands. I’m in.

Today, we’re loading up some of our gear and heading to the seaside towns of Chacala for three nights. Then down the coast to Bucerias for a couple nights before we return to Ajijic to pack up our stuff and head back to Arizona. The weather on the Mexican coast is much like Florida. While we’re there, the temps will be in the high 80’s during the day and around 70 at night. The humidity will also be back to Florida levels. It will be interesting to see how we handle it, after being away from humidity for nearly two years.

Finally, a quick story about finding some great hand-made tortillas and other authentic street food. While heading to a local bakery yesterday, we passed a small house not far from where we are living. Katie spied a hand-written menu (all in Spanish of course) facing the street and behind it, a woman cooking tortillas on a grill alongside maybe a half-dozen pots filled with wonderful smelling ingredients. We passed on by, still headed to the bakery….which was so crowded we couldn’t even get in the parking lot. That’s a common theme around here….once the tourists find a good spot, word gets out quickly on Facebook or Twitter and soon the place becomes standing room only. And so, we headed back down the street and stopped at the little house. Good call.

There were no tourists here, only local residents enjoying real Mexican food. Fortunately for us, the older couple who lived there and did all the cooking, made us plates with the specialty of the day (referred to here as the plata dia). A grilled and baked chile stuffed with local cheese, refried beans, eggs, potatoes, fresh off-the-grill tortillas, salsa and agua fresca to drink. Great food and only $5 apiece. We left with a half-dozen tortillas to eat later.

That’s it for today. The next post will be from Chacala.

Adios,

Wayne, Claudia & Katie

The hunt is on....for the best local tacos and tequila

Well…there’s tequila and then there’s Mexican tequila. What you probably didn’t know is that almost all Mexican tequila is produced in the state of Jalisco…where we are currently living. It’s an incredibly labor-intensive process…way more so than bourbons. And….the agave plant it’s made from isn’t a cactus, it’s a desert succulent. Most of the tequilas you see on the shelves are very young, some as young as 2 months! Yikes…that’s the stuff I think I had in college. The good stuff, however, ages for 3-10 years. Like bourbon, the longer it ages, the better it tastes.

If you go into a liquor store in the states looking for tequila, you might find a half dozen varieties…most dominated by the Don Julio company. When we were in Chicen Itza back in 2011, we went into a local bar and the bartender recommended a Don Julio Reserva. It was amazing. However, when I bought the exact same bottle of it in Florida, it tasted nothing like the one we had in Mexico. I did some research and found out that even though the bottles look the same…it isn’t. Even the expensive $50-$60 stuff wasn’t smooth. Smooth, as in drinking shots, not margueritas. Really good tequila isn’t mixed…you sip it like fine bourbon. And, no…it doesn’t burn at all.

So, today we went looking for local tequilas. We wandered into a local liquor store and….stood in amazement staring at probably 150 different tequilas and mescals, ranging in price from cheapo ones for $10 to a 10-year old Don Julio selling for $3000 pesos (about $150). To put that in perspective, a similar bottle in the states would be $300…if you could even find it. I asked the nice sales clerk to recommend a local brand and she pointed us to a $50 bottle and when we sort of balked at the price, she immediately pointed to another priced at $35 and said “this is the one…only shots please”. Home we went to try it. Absolutely delicious….with a smoky taste very similar to bourbon. And indeed many of the high end tequilas are stored in aged American and French oak barrels. So….I’m guessing it would take us many years to sample them all…and we’d probably die from the process….but no doubt with a smile on our face. The bottom line is….the tequila we get in the states is, by and large, nothing like the tequilas here in Mexico. No big deal, all you have to do is get in your car and drive for three days to Jalisco. BTW…the helpful clerk at the liquor store said most of the tequila sold at the airport shops is not authentic. Interesting….I heard the same thing about the cigars.

That’s it for now. Go out and find a good bottle of tequila. You’ll be glad you did. And don’t use lime or salt with it. Want more than one? Have someone drive…this stuff packs a punch.

Salud!

Wayne, Claudia and Tuck

Which brings me to the next hunt….finding the best local tacos. There are literally dozens and dozens of small Mom & Pop taco stands lining the streets around here. In every neighborhood, there is a least one taco stand on every block. We found out that anyone can open a stand in front of their home, or a small grocery, or a mechanics shop, or….whatever. The government doesn’t monitor this and it gives the local people a chance to make some extra money.

The taco's here come in many varieities…just like the tequilas. Some are filled with chicken, some with fish, some with beef, some with beans and lettuce and cheese, some with lamb, some with middle Eastern spiced meats, some with vegetarian mixes….the list goes on. The taco shells can be soft or fried, corn or flour-based and many different diameters, although most are around 6”. Today, we visited Lake Taco, which sits beside a car wash and overlooking Lake Chapala. The fish tacos were made with mahi-mahi and were delicious. The home-made salsas and local crema make a huge difference. Tomorrow we’re hitting the current Yelp favorite in Jocopetec, a small town about 20 minutes away. Stay tuned.

Living with the locals in Ajijic...a great experience!

As in most cities around the globe, you can choose to live either in town or out of town. Both have advantages and disadvantages. In our case, the home we are renting is located directly in the quaint village of Ajijic, so the decision was made for us.

I’ll do my best to describe the village. As you walk around town, you’ll pass very high-end, walled estates priced over a million dollars and next door or maybe across the street, a very modest home belonging to a working-class Mexican family. Everyone coexists side by side and guess what…it works great. It reminds us many of the small villages we visited in France.

As we journey down the cobble stone streets, with Tuck in tow, we greet and are in turn greeted by these lovely people. Everyone smiles as we exchange Buenos Dias, Buenas Tardes, or Buenas Noches, depending on the time of day. The broader we smile, the broader they smile. We have even had the occasional older men greet us with “Buenos dias amigos”….which is a real honor and not given lightly. It’s very humbling to be greeted as friends, when all they hear of America and Americans is how much they are hated North of the border. Therefore, we are doing all we can to change that mind set and let them know that all Americans don’t follow in lock-step with Trump and Fox news. We hope that our mere presence here will help dispel that notion.

I’ll paint another picture. As we walk around town in the morning, we see cute school kids walking to school, merchants setting us their shops, restaurant owners meeting their suppliers out in the street (delivering amazing breads, butter, meats, etc.), local residents drinking coffee and chatting in the town square, the local cathedral opening for the day, the occasional cowboy riding down the street on his horse, a Zumba class in process with great Latin music down on the malecon, gardeners pruning all the plants (things grow really fast here), city buses maneuvering down ancient streets (don’t ask me how they do it, but they do), construction crews renovating ancient buildings (it’s fascinating to look down 10’-20’ into huge old stone foundations laid hundreds of years ago), tile setters designing decorative tile facades around doors and windows….and then right next door, a very new and contemporary bank or cell phone store. In short, there’s nothing like it in the states. That’s one of the great things about traveling to another country…it forces you to learn, and accept, other cultures. Put another way….Americans aren’t “all that”.

We’re off to view a possible rental home this afternoon. It’s owned by a local resident and his cousin, who is a jockey in Seattle. What a small world.

Adios for now,

Wayne, Claudia and Tuck

We go real estate shopping.

We decided to take a guided tour of the area with a local real estate company. Kevin was our guide and he was great. He’s from Canada and has lived here for 17 years. He gave us a four-hour tour and needless to say, we learned a lot….and there’s a lot to learn.

There are small towns all along the edge of Lake Chapala, which is 50 miles long. Some are great, some aren’t….and the trick is to know which is which….and only a local guide would know. As in the states, real estate is governed by the old adage “location, location, location”. Some towns are too crowded, some are too far away from everything, some have a mix of Mexicans and ex-pats, some are only Mexican and no English is spoken, some have lots of amenities, some have none, some have great restaurants, others have none, etc.

We were able to tour a couple homes for rent and drive through several of the most popular “subdivisions”. To say the homes are lovely is an understatement. The furniture is mostly custom-built., because it’s so inexpensive here. Amazing wood tables and chairs, crafted from local hardwoods (coco bolo is an example), beautiful hand-blown glass art and chandeliers, oil paintings from local artists, brick “boveda” ceilings (super cool and the technique is centuries old), lovely gardens, etc. The rental market here is red hot, as people are moving here from all over the world. If we decide to return for a long-term rental, we’ll have to be ready to put down a deposit at a moments notice. Kevin, our guide, showed us a home he rented just last week for a client who was moving from San Francisco. He rented it sight unseen! And that is the norm here, not the exception.

The good news is that prices are still very reasonable, by US standards…both to rent or buy. Many of the homes come complete with a gardener, a housekeeper, sometimes a chef (sign me up for that) and these wonderful people have usually been with the owners for many, many years. For example, Kevin’s housekeeper has been with him for 15 years. That would be amazing in the states, yet it’s the norm here.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading!

Que tenga un bien dia!

Wayne, Claudia & Tuck

The hardest thing about living in Ajijic...so far.

Before our journey began, we figured that the language barrier would be the biggest hurdle. However, in this particular area there are a lot of ex-pats and a lot of the local people speak enough English to make everyday life much easier. Now, having said that, this isn’t true in many of the surrounding towns.

So, back to the point of this post. Without a doubt, the hardest thing so far has been walking Tuck. I’ll bet no one saw that coming. First, the 350 year old cobblestone streets are very rough and when walking, you have to constantly look down to make sure you don’t trip. This is especially true for me, as a bad fall after my recent back surgery would be a really, really bad thing. Second, the streets are very narrow (built for horses and carts, not cars) and the sidewalks are even narrower. If we walk on the street, we’re always having to get back on the sidewalk (I use that term very loosely) to avoid oncoming cars, buses and scooters. If we walk on the sidewalks, we’re constantly having to move back on to the street to let people pass by (Tuck is a big dog and he takes up most of the sidewalk). Third, there are a lot of dogs that run loose in Mexico…it’s just a custom here. When they see a large dog like Tuck coming, they all run up to see him, smell him, bark at him, etc….which makes him (and us) very nervous. Bless his heart, it’s not his fault. No dog likes to be surrounded by other dogs, none of which are on a leash. A lot of our walks last an hour or longer and holding a strong dog like Tuck back for that amount of time is really tough. We arrive back home whipped. I’m not sure who’s the most tired, us or Tuck! This won’t be a problem in the surrounding neighborhoods, but the home we’re staying in now is in the heart of the downtown area and there are few areas to walk him. But, we cope. That’s what you do when you travel. The good news is that we don’t need a gym membership….we get all the aerobic activity we need just walking around.

Cheers,

Wayne, Claudia & Tuck

The organic market...Parisian chefs in Mexico...Walmart...and life in Ajijic

Where do I start? Imagine yourself in a 350 year old Mexican village. On one corner, you might see a cute little burro standing and waiting for his owner (by the way, he had a hand-carved wood saddle) and on the other corner, an organic coffee shop selling some of the best coffee you’ve ever tasted (and yes, they get it from local farmers and roast it themselves) and maybe on the opposite corner, a shop with local women weaving beautiful shawls, rugs, place mats, blouses, etc. using local hand-dyed wool. You walk by and see a cafe called La Vie en Rose (a great movie) and walk in. The owner, Gabby, introduces herself and shows us her menu of the day….fresh baked goods, wood-fired pizza, fresh smoked salmon with poached eggs, salad nicoise with tuna from the coast, crepes, waffles and an amazing list of red and white wines from around the globe. Gabby tells us that her husband is from Paris and he was a chef there. His mother is also there at the restaurant and she also was a chef. Really? In a small rural village in Mexico? Can this be for real? Yep…it is. And the amazing thing is that there are literally dozens and dozens of restaurants and cafes like this all through the town, tucked into little (and some not so little) buildings. The other night we had without a doubt the best Thai food we’ve ever had…Claudia had yellow curry and I had Pad See Ew. It would take a month of Sunday’s to find all these places, much less try them all. But…we’ll try.

This morning we headed to the local organic market, which was recommended to us by our new friend Robin. We got in line at 10:00 with perhaps a hundred other hungry-looking people all carrying shopping bags. We had one bag and we needed about three. It would take too long to list all the amazing food there, but here’s a start: a sweet little Mexican girl, maybe 10, walking around with a platter of fresh custard (flan), two bakeries selling artisan bread, a booth selling salmon from the coast (smoked or raw), a couple selling five different types of lasagna (home-made noodles of course), two booths selling hand-made butter, another selling a coconut milk drink served in a fresh coconut with the top just chopped off, local honey, blackberries and raspberries from local farmers, hand-woven dresses and scarves, beautiful fresh eggs from local farmers, imported cheeses (parmesan, gouda, manchego for example), pizzas to go that were baked in wood-fired ovens….and more. It was, quite simply, a market I would have expected to see in San Francisco…and I doubt the food there would have been as fresh. To say Ajijic is a foodie town is a huge understatement.

We left the market and headed to the local WalMart for some basic essentials. The first thing you notice when you pull in is that there is a crew of Walmart workers who will wash your car while you shop. Cool…why don’t all WalMarts do that? A lot of the stuff in the store was very typical of a WalMart in the states, but then you get to the aisles of the Mexican foods. Whoa. One entire aisle of yogurts. Another aisle of moles, sauces & spices. The bakery…..fresh breads, corn and flour tortillas. Ice cream anyone….flavors never seen in the states. Yikes…..we could get really fat here!

And so, after three hours of shopping, we headed home to rest. And here is one of the downsides to Ajijic…there is only one main road running through town and there is a lot of traffic. As in bumper to bumper at times. It seems when you find paradise, everyone else has found it as well. With social media being what it is these days, it’s impossible to keep anything quiet for long. We’ve run into people from the states who have lived here for 15 years and others who just moved. And they’re from every state, Canada and Europe. And the white house would have you believe only rapists and murderers live here. Uh….guess what Donald, you couldn’t be more wrong. And everyone here hopes none of your supporters venture South of the border.

That’s it for now. Time to go watch the election returns and hope something positive happens for a change.

Hasta luego amigos,

Wayne, Claudia & Tucka

Dia de los Muertos parade....Tuck goes to the vet....and cobblestone streets!

Our first stop in Ajijic was at the Victoria Inn, where we stayed for two nights until the home we are renting was ready (the owners were headed back to Florida for a month). We once again used our semi-trusty GPS systems to find the inn, nestled on a quaint side street in old town Ajijic. I’ll post some pictures later today (we just got our internet connection to work here at the house, so these posts are off by a couple days).

As we pulled up in front of the old inn, our hosts Rob and Colin greeted us on the sidewalk dressed in Day of the Dead costumes. Both had beautifully painted faces and were wearing bright pink tutu’s….quite the sight! Turns out that they were marching in a parade later that night that started at the graveyard outside of town and ended at the town square. Rob and Colin are both from Canada and bought the inn last year. Super nice guys who made us feel instantly at home. We were just in time for their Friday night Happy Hour and within 15 minutes of checking in, we were handed the best marguerita’s we’ve ever had, made of course with only fresh-squeezed lime juice and local tequila. Yummm…..a well deserved strong drink after three hard days of driving. Tuck met Colin’s sweet dog Marguerita and fell instantly in love (pics to follow).

We unloaded some basic clothes from the car, fed Tuck and headed into town to try and watch the parade. For those of you not familiar with Dia de los Muertos, you probably should watch some videos (or the amazing Pixar movie Coco) to understand this beautiful and ancient custom. I’ll summarize it by saying that families honor their deceased loved ones by making small shrines that are beautifully decorated and have pictures of the deceased displayed in the little shrines. Unfortunately for us, the town square was a complete zoo with thousands of people milling around, music playing, fireworks going off….and we could get no closer than a couple blocks from the parade. No worries, we heard some singing on the nearby plaza and found a local choral group singing traditional songs. Beautiful voices! We tried to record it, but Iphone’s have really lousy microphones. No matter, it was a memorable night.

We spent the next day wandering around Ajijic and learning to walk on really rough cobblestone streets. Guess what, the cobblestone streets are 350 years old! Are they rough"? Are they hard to walk on? You bet! With my still healing back, I have to watch each and every step, as falling down during the first year after surgery is a really, really bad thing. On top of that, in Mexico dogs are allowed to run free and there are two or three sweet little dogs on every block (and the occasionally husky or pit bull mix that isn’t so sweet). Tuck had to pull me or Claudia to meet each and every one….which combined with the cobblestone streets makes for an interesting walk. We wandered into the little shops and did our best to interact with the local people, who by the way are super sweet, very welcoming and will go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. It’s not an act put on for tourists….it’s just the way they are. Note to our evil president….we haven’t met or seen any rapists or murderers since entering the country. But President Trump, here’s who we have met: local merchants selling beautiful hand-woven goods from little stalls on the street, small boys riding horses down the street (yep), old men selling roasted nuts by the road, young restaurant owners making some of the most delicious food we’ve ever had, bakers crafting baguettes as good as any we had in France, old women sweeping the street in front of their ancient homes with hand-made brooms to make sure it looks nice, farmers selling coconuts from their old battered trucks (they chop off the top, drill a hole, make a sweet mixture of coconut milk, sugar cane juice and different flavors) and on and on.

Now, on to the vet. Tuck has been battling an ear infection for the past couple weeks, that our local vet has been unable to cure (we’re changing vets when we get home). So, we stopped Colin at the inn and asked him where we could find a good local vet. He immediately told us to go see Dr. Luis and gave us the directions. We walked about 3 blocks and easily found his quaint, small office. In we walked and we were greeted in perfect English by Dr. Luis. What a gem! We explained the problem, he kneeled down and inspected his ear, smelled it and came back with a small vial of medicine. He explained that this medicine was a combination of anti-biotic, anti-fungal and best of all, some pain-numbing ingredients. Tuck somehow sensed that Dr. Luis was a gentle soul and a dog-whisperer and let him put the drops in without even pulling away or whining, which is no small feat. And within 10 minutes of going in, we were done. The charge for the visit and the medicine was about $15 US! Back in the states, the bill would have been around $250, as every bill we get at a vet runs at least that much. Amazing. Within a hour or so, Tuck quit shaking his head and digging at his ear. So a small village vet in Mexico knew more than our la-di-da vet in Scottsdale……and was light years sweeter to boot.

That’s it for now. I’ll finally be able to post some pictures later today, as we have our internet connection solved at the home we’re renting,

Thanks for joining us in this cool journey!

Hasta luego,

Wayne, Claudia & Tuck

We 've arrived in Ajijic...safe and sound!

Wow, what a journey it has been. For those of you who know us, you already know that Claudia and I are serious travelers. Really serious. Last year alone, we drove over 30,000 miles exploring the Western US. But, let’s face it, driving in the states you pretty much know what to expect wherever you go. There’s no language barrier, no metric system to deal with, credit cards are accepted, you know the currency…and on and on. In short, not much drama.

So, when we headed out for Mexico last Tuesday, we were pretty much on our own. We had maps, two GPS systems to coordinate, some very basic Spanish, $500 in pesos and a lot of faith in each other to, as we say, get the job done. And get it done we did.

We crossed into Mexico at the Nogales border crossing at 7:30AM, as we had read many posts that said later in the day the crossings got majorly crowded. When we got there, it was super confusing. The signs were all in Spanish, so we blindly followed a RAM truck….hoping that he knew where he was going. And then suddenly, he was gone and we were on our own. Oh well, what the hell….we entered a lane and drove ahead. We entered a parking lot and thankfully, there were other Americans and Canadians walking toward a building holding a lot of papers under their arms. AHA….this must be the place! Claudia stayed with Tuck and I grabbed our passports, car title, Mexican auto insurance papers, vet papers for Tuck and got in a line. Here goes….we either have the right papers, or back to Scottsdale we go. Yikes….talk about an adventure.

After an hour and a half of moving from one official to another and back to the car for more papers, I was finally handed our very valuable temporary Visa. VICTORY…..we’re in!

From that point on, there was no English spoken. Nada, none, zero. But, we were OK with that. When you visit another country, you have to learn and adapt and do the best you can. We quicky realized that two things required quick responses: pulling into toll booths and gas stations. Both required a 30 second calculation as to the amount needed and what to say to the attendants. We DID NOT want to be the typical American tourists who just stood there, looking ignorant and pointing. Between the two of us, we got pretty good at both after just one day. Hey, we might be able to pull this off.

We pulled into Navajoa the second night at the Best Western….exhausted, but happy that we had passed the first tests of getting through the border, securing our visa and learning to cope with the gas stations and the toll booths. Claudia figured out from online reviews that a local food truck parked nearby had excellent food, so that’s where we headed for dinner. HA! We couldn’t read the menu and the sweet guys in the truck spoke no English. We recognized enough to order some basic things and pointed a lot. All went well until I ordered a torta, which I thought was sort of a small flour tortilla with beans. It wasn’t. The guy in the truck asked what I wanted on it and I said just frijoles (beans). and cheese. He looked puzzled and said in Spanish…”no meat, no lettuce, no tomatoes”? Thinking I didn’t want to have any stomach problems, I replied just the beans. Good lord, what an idiot I was. It turns out, a torta is a large sandwich on yummy bread. So I got a huge refried bean sandwich. No wonder he looked at me like I was an idiot. I totally was. But, all of the food was delicious. Actually, really delicious. We took Tuck on a quick walk and went to sleep at 9:00.

Since upload speeds are slow here, I’m going to break down the posts into three or four parts and add some pictures later today, if I can find all of my cables buried somewhere in the rooftop carrier. Until then, hasta luego.

Wayne, Claudia & Tuckt

The Devil is in the details!

One day to go and we’re still making lists, checking lists, revising lists, discarding lists, packing clothes, taking clothes out, putting clothes back in, packing Tuck’s food (no small job…he’s a Lab), packing cameras, test-packing the luggage carrier (we filled it up immediately, which required us to take out even more clothes), picking up last minute drugs for us and Tuck, getting the house ready to close up for the month, making sure we have enough Peso’s to make it to Ajijic, filing all the forms in separate binders for easy access, packing car-related stuff (small tire pump, etc.) and…well…there’s more, but you know the drill. It seems to never end, but eventually it does.

This will be the last post until tomorrow night. We’ll be heading first to Nogales, AZ for the first part of the journey. An easy day tomorrow, followed by three hard days in the saddle. The trip down is approximately 1275 miles.

Cheers and thanks for following the journey.

Wayne, Claudia & Tuck