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2005
2005
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November is more than half gone and I guess it is time to update the travelogue.
From April 26th or so I was in Denver while Colleen was in the hospital there. On June 6th I moved Colleen to my
son’s house to care for her. At first we were hopeful that she might recover but soon realized that the brain
damage was too severe. Someday I might be able to write about what it was like to watch someone I loved with all
my heart slowly lose her battle for life. If anyone could have made a comeback from the near drowning it would
have been Colleen. Colleen died on August 9th, 2006. Talking about what happened still makes me break down
in tears. She will be missed by many, many people.
In late July I purchased a 24’, 10 year old, Class C motorhome from our friend, Marilyn. I moved into it over
several weeks and have lived in it since the day Colleen died. It is very much smaller than our Class A, has
virtually no compartment storage and is not really a very good fulltimer’s rig. Tommy, a friend of my son’s,
installed solar panels which will make it at least possible to live in it. Class Cs, the type with a bed over the cab for
the uninitiated, have small fresh water and holding tanks too. I also purchased an enclosed cargo trailer to hold all
the stuff I just couldn’t live without and a Yamaha Rhino as a runabout vehicle…we will see how this works out.
When I left Justin’s house, I went to Jean and Chris’ house in Taos and spent almost a month camped next door.
Chris cooked wonderful meals and I got to help with a building project – they were adding on a studio to their
house. I so appreciated having Jean nearby during those weeks.
September 10th was Colleen’s memorial service…I had been so worried about it…I was afraid that I would not be
able to speak coherently without crying, but, with the help of Colleen’s nieces and nephew who made funny faces
at me when it looked like I couldn’t continue, I made it through the day. Many friends, some of more than 30 year’s
standing, and Colleen’s family came to the service and I so appreciated their love and caring that day. I am sorry,
but I am not up to the details of all of this.
During the rest of September I was in Taos with Jean, visiting with Lee in Pojoaque, visiting with Jade and Sonia in
Ojo Caliente – check out the website for their B&B in Ojo at http://www.casafeminista.com - or with Marilyn in
Albuquerque. I had a lot of reorganizing of the trailer to do as well as getting the motorhome up to snuff for the
trip. I ended up camped in front of Marilyn’s for a month until I left for Oklahoma City on October 21st. In OKC I got
to see Joelene and Vicki one more time as they were there to see Vicki’s nephew compete in the US Team Roping
Championships. It was fun to hang out at the arena and watch the roping…it ran like clockwork and most of the
teams made both catches – unlike watching my friends from my days in Northern California.
In OKC I also met up with Sam who had visited Maricasa last March and was now living in her RV fulltime and on
the road since her son graduated from high school. From OKC, Sam and I went to Hondo, Texas to the Escapee’s
Co-op for 2 nights and then on to Mission, Texas to meet up with Jim and Woody who were also going to travel
with us. Woody is originally from Panama and spent 30 years in the US Marine Corps as an accountant and is
driving a newer, large Class A. Jim is a retired computer geek/technician and is driving an older, large Class A.
Woody is headed for Panama and was tagging along to get his travel legs under him in Mexico before he headed
off on his own. Jim is going all the way to the Yucatan and then will head on alone to the Pacific Coast of Mexico.
Sam is driving a 29’ Class C towing a Jeep Wrangler and is headed back to Maricasa to see if living in that area is
what she is looking for. All of my travel companions are very pleasant and I am grateful for their company as I
head back to Mexico. One notable bonus about them is that both Woody and Sam speak fluent Spanish so I won’t
have to translate all the time….wahoooo!!!!
We spent one week in Mission at the Twin Lakes RV Park for $80/week plus electricity (I used 4 kilowatts thanks
to the solar panels). Sam and I both had our suspension systems worked on with new ball joints and an extra leaf
spring added. These silly Class Cs just are not made to hold much but a few dishes and a change of clothing for a
weekend’s camping.
We crossed the border on Tuesday, November 7th. I didn’t have any problems getting a permit for the motorhome
towing the trailer with the Rhino inside. And at the inspection point further south, they didn’t even want to look
inside the trailer.
We traveled the first day to La Pesca on the Gulf of Mexico. Colleen and I had been there in October of 2005.
You might remember the story of us being stuck in the mud for a week. We camped at the beach at the end of the
road where the Soto la Marina River meets the ocean. It was fun toodling around in the Rhino and I think it is
going to work perfectly for running errands in Chetumal. We bought fish for a shared BBQ dinner and Sam and I
bought lots of shrimp which we have stored in our freezers.
After three nights at La Pesca our destination was El Tajin which Co and I had first visited with Bill and Laurie in
January of 2005. We again camped in the parking lot right at the ruins for two nights. Woody only stayed one
night and then he was off on his own headed directly to Panama with no sightseeing on the way…he was a man
on a mission. I will miss him as he was very funny, outgoing and cheerful.
From El Tajin we traveled to Xalapa where we camped for two nights in the parking lot at the Sam’s Club. For
years I had heard so much about the area around Xalapa and I really wanted to see it. In addition, a friend of Jean’
s was building cabins for rentals in Coatepec a few miles outside of Xalapa.
I must say that the countryside in that area is lovely but the traffic in Xalapa is an abomination and I cannot
imagine wanting to live anywhere near there if I had to use Xalapa for my shopping. It is a huge city at about 4000
feet elevation so it is up out of the tropical coastal lowlands and it is the capital city for the State of Veracruz.
When we arrived in Xalapa it was our intention to camp at the Costco. Sam and I got separated in the traffic from
Jim and we ended up at the Liverpool shopping mall. As we entered the mall, Sam was ahead of me and the arm
on the gate went up and then came down between her bicycle and the back of the Jeep. I radioed for her to stop
but not soon enough to keep her from bending the arm about 45 degrees off its normal position. Sam handled the
situation very well…in fact, extremely well…she didn’t get rattled, she convinced them that she should only pay
$30 toward its repair (they wanted $120), she bent the arm back where it belonged, and then, after all was said
and done her comment was “I sure know how to shop don’t I? Who else would buy the arm of a gate into a mall?”
Coatepec is much smaller, about 8 miles outside of Xalapa, and is much more to my liking. Debbie’s place is just
outside of Coatepec and is a lovely wild jungle setting. She has built 2 two story cabins, a single cabin and a large
apartment over the lodge building. They are almost completed – in fact they were rushing around getting ready
for the grand opening – and are a great place for a retreat or for bird watchers. The website for her place is www.
elretonolodge.com
While there we had a short visit from Roy Dudley who is a longtime gringo resident of Xalapa with whom I had
corresponded ahead of time asking about a place to camp.
From Xalapa we took off back down the mountain to the coast again to Lago Catemaco. This is another place that
Co and I visited (in 1999 with the Green Tortoise) and I was anxious to see it again. We have been here for 5
days – 4 of them it rained – and I have a new appreciation for this town. Sam and I took the Rhino on a jaunt
around the lake and wandered on some back dirt roads exploring…this is a great little runabout. If you don’t know
what a Rhino is, it has a single cylinder 450cc motorcycle engine, two seats side by side and a small dump bed
behind. It is either 2 or 4 wheel drive and can go up to 40 mph….that is fast enough for almost any road in
Mexico. It has a roll cage affair on it that I will install a tarp roof on and I also plan to add a plexiglass windshield to
keep the bugs out of my teeth.
In addition to running about in the Rhino, we wandered around the town of Catemaco and took a boat ride around
the lake with the rest of the tourists. In case anyone has taken the boat ride before, I would like to report that the
monkeys look a lot healthier though they are still ludicrously overweight from all the feeding they get from the boat
tourists. Here is a link to a website about these stump tailed macacques from Thailand that have been exiled to a
small island on a Mexican lake http://catemaconews.blogspot.com/2006/06/monkey-meet.html
Tomorrow morning we trundle off down the road toward Villahermosa and the rest of the trip will be mostly travel
and no more long stays in interesting places.
I will be changing the name of this Yahoo Group to something else....I am currently thinking of calling it La Gallina
Suelta....I will let you know...I don't think you will have to do anything to still receive the travelogue.
November 2006 Part 2
When we left Lake Catemaco on the Gulf Coast we traveled 206 miles to a Pemex station just east of
Villahermosa. Our leisurely travel was over and we were now headed like a barn sour horse back to Maricasa.
The next day we drove 276 miles to the Pemex station just east of Xpu Jil because we didn’t want to arrive at
Maricasa in the dark. On the 23rd we drove the remaining 82 miles with a stop in Chetumal for groceries and
propane. Whew!!!! We were finally there.
The trip was basically uneventful with one flat tire for me….the valve stem got a leak and I replaced it for a total
cost of about $6USD and we were back on our way. The roads along the Gulf Coast were better this year than
they have been in years past but I skipped some of the normal route to go to Catemaco so don’t know how those
roads were. Having traveling companions made the trip a hundred times better for me than it would have been
traveling back alone. Sam, Jim and Woody are all good travelers and know how to keep their rig between the lines.
Sam, Jim and I arrived at Maricasa and Pablo and I spent some tearful time together talking about Colleen and
how he has been since I left here in April. He is such a responsible man and has cleared acres of the property.
Maricasa is so lucky to have him. His kidney problems seem to have abated somewhat since he started taking the
meds Colleen bought for him months ago. For now he is able to avoid the surgery…I hope it continues that way
for him.
Sam is having trouble with her converter and so cannot use her generator to charge her batteries. She had to
use the alternator on the engine instead and now has transmission troubles that originally cropped up for her last
summer. She did all the right things back then when the transmission started leaking fluid and was assured by a
competent mechanic that the leak was a fluke. Now the leak turned into a torrent and she has to figure out what to
do next.
Since being here we have been mowing and clearing the front to get it back in shape and it is almost complete…it
looks so beautiful!!! Another project that Sam is working on is clearing the area around the spring and pond in
front and she is doing a wonderful job. We can now walk almost all the way around it and have access to the bay
for swimming from the shore near the pond. She also is building a rock path from the shower back to where we
have the rigs so we don’t get our feet dirty after a shower….she is a woman who just loves Maricasa and has
enormous energy for projects. Having her company here enhances the environment with her laughter and
obvious love of this place. She has a similar attitude about getting dirty and enjoyment for the work that Colleen
had. As for me, I don’t enjoy getting that dirty. And so I find myself doing things like pushing the mower and
paperwork. I would say that we have probably one acre of lawn with a kazillion trees to mow around. It is time
consuming and satisfying.
We had two visitors for two nights…Horst and Anna from Germany whom we had met at Lake Catemaco. They
were delightful and we had fun times trying to communicate with my terrible and mostly forgotten German, Anna’s
minimal English and Horst’s passable English. By the time they left I could actually say a few things to them in
German…it comes back I guess.
Jim left to continue his trip to the west coast of Mexico after almost a week at Maricasa. I don’t think he much liked
it here as it was humid and rainy and he doesn’t like the heat. He spent most of his time in his rig watching ball
games with the AC running. He also had torqued his back so he was not able to move around much. By the time
he left his back was better. While he was here he tried to troubleshoot Sam’s converter problem but was
unsuccessful. It will be interesting to find an electrician here who has experience in systems like the ones we have
on the RV…I think it will probably have to be someone who works on yachts where power is derived from a
generator and converted to 12 volts to charge the batteries. If we do find one, it will also be a good resource for
the RVs that come through here.
One of our immediate needs was a method for getting rid of our black water from the RVs. The closest place to
dump is over 30 minutes away at Cenote Azul. We used to be able to dump at Yax Ha here in Calderitas but the
owner got mad at us thinking we were stealing his RV customers when friends would drive past his place in their
RVs to get to ours. Since I have been gone, the RV park sold to the sister of the ex-governor of Mexico, Mario
Villanueva Madrid, who is in prison for money laundering and narco trafficking…he was from Chetumal and was
well-respected by those who live here for being a good governor, and they feel he was framed by opposing
political forces…who knows? Certainly not I. At any rate, he is due to get out of prison soon. For those of you who
RV down here in Mexico, they have raised the rates at the Yax Ha from 220 pesos a night to 350 pesos a night
and have not done anything noticeable about the electrical, water and dump issues. I wonder if the caravans will
come here anymore.
Back to the job of the black water dump…Pablo is digging a hole where the architect, Shiva, and his crew will
construct a mostly underground concrete block bunker where a ready-built, multi-chambered, plastic septic
system will reside. The black water goes in one end and water good for irrigation comes out the other end. The
new Rhino with the dump bed is earning its keep hauling the material out of the hole to put other places that need
filling. It also has a new windshield and side mirrors and does great in Chetumal…I just need to get some kind of a
roof so we don’t get so rained on and the sun is not so hot on our heads. Hurray…we will be able to deal with long
stays here without having to leave. I installed solar panels on the rig, but it has been very rainy and cloudy so I
have not had much excess electricity for hanging out on the computer as I am wont to do. Water we can haul as
we need it and pour it into the tank.
The evenings have been lovely and, after a late afternoon shower, Sam and I swing in the hammocks under the
Palapa and listen to the night sounds…birds, crickets, frogs and the murmur of the air when a large fruit bat flies
over.
I celebrated my 58th birthday a few days ago by going to eat at the restaurant next door…after dinner, as I was
walking up to pay, they put Las Mañanitas, the Mexican birthday song, on the stereo and had a cake for me….it
was very touching and made me cry….
Before I close this November issue, I have a story to tell you. Have you read the book The Wedding by Nicholas
Sparks? It is a wonderful story of love and I highly recommend it. In it, an old man who has lost his wife and now
lives in a nursing home has befriended a swan that lives in the pond at the nursing home. He knows it is his wife
come back to visit him but his family dismisses him as getting senile. I read the book in the evenings on the trip
down here.
Since arriving here at Maricasa there has been a juvenile snowy egret that shows up here each day and hangs
out. When I am mowing she follows along to get the bugs I stir up and then flies off to the side to wait for me to
pass by again with the mower. When I talk to her she comes closer and is very attentive to what we are doing
here. In the evening she flies off over the water of the bay to return at dawn the next morning. You may draw
whatever conclusion you want to, but I have named her Colleen and it brings me some measure of comfort.
From April 26th or so I was in Denver while Colleen was in the hospital there. On June 6th I moved Colleen to my
son’s house to care for her. At first we were hopeful that she might recover but soon realized that the brain
damage was too severe. Someday I might be able to write about what it was like to watch someone I loved with all
my heart slowly lose her battle for life. If anyone could have made a comeback from the near drowning it would
have been Colleen. Colleen died on August 9th, 2006. Talking about what happened still makes me break down
in tears. She will be missed by many, many people.
In late July I purchased a 24’, 10 year old, Class C motorhome from our friend, Marilyn. I moved into it over
several weeks and have lived in it since the day Colleen died. It is very much smaller than our Class A, has
virtually no compartment storage and is not really a very good fulltimer’s rig. Tommy, a friend of my son’s,
installed solar panels which will make it at least possible to live in it. Class Cs, the type with a bed over the cab for
the uninitiated, have small fresh water and holding tanks too. I also purchased an enclosed cargo trailer to hold all
the stuff I just couldn’t live without and a Yamaha Rhino as a runabout vehicle…we will see how this works out.
When I left Justin’s house, I went to Jean and Chris’ house in Taos and spent almost a month camped next door.
Chris cooked wonderful meals and I got to help with a building project – they were adding on a studio to their
house. I so appreciated having Jean nearby during those weeks.
September 10th was Colleen’s memorial service…I had been so worried about it…I was afraid that I would not be
able to speak coherently without crying, but, with the help of Colleen’s nieces and nephew who made funny faces
at me when it looked like I couldn’t continue, I made it through the day. Many friends, some of more than 30 year’s
standing, and Colleen’s family came to the service and I so appreciated their love and caring that day. I am sorry,
but I am not up to the details of all of this.
During the rest of September I was in Taos with Jean, visiting with Lee in Pojoaque, visiting with Jade and Sonia in
Ojo Caliente – check out the website for their B&B in Ojo at http://www.casafeminista.com - or with Marilyn in
Albuquerque. I had a lot of reorganizing of the trailer to do as well as getting the motorhome up to snuff for the
trip. I ended up camped in front of Marilyn’s for a month until I left for Oklahoma City on October 21st. In OKC I got
to see Joelene and Vicki one more time as they were there to see Vicki’s nephew compete in the US Team Roping
Championships. It was fun to hang out at the arena and watch the roping…it ran like clockwork and most of the
teams made both catches – unlike watching my friends from my days in Northern California.
In OKC I also met up with Sam who had visited Maricasa last March and was now living in her RV fulltime and on
the road since her son graduated from high school. From OKC, Sam and I went to Hondo, Texas to the Escapee’s
Co-op for 2 nights and then on to Mission, Texas to meet up with Jim and Woody who were also going to travel
with us. Woody is originally from Panama and spent 30 years in the US Marine Corps as an accountant and is
driving a newer, large Class A. Jim is a retired computer geek/technician and is driving an older, large Class A.
Woody is headed for Panama and was tagging along to get his travel legs under him in Mexico before he headed
off on his own. Jim is going all the way to the Yucatan and then will head on alone to the Pacific Coast of Mexico.
Sam is driving a 29’ Class C towing a Jeep Wrangler and is headed back to Maricasa to see if living in that area is
what she is looking for. All of my travel companions are very pleasant and I am grateful for their company as I
head back to Mexico. One notable bonus about them is that both Woody and Sam speak fluent Spanish so I won’t
have to translate all the time….wahoooo!!!!
We spent one week in Mission at the Twin Lakes RV Park for $80/week plus electricity (I used 4 kilowatts thanks
to the solar panels). Sam and I both had our suspension systems worked on with new ball joints and an extra leaf
spring added. These silly Class Cs just are not made to hold much but a few dishes and a change of clothing for a
weekend’s camping.
We crossed the border on Tuesday, November 7th. I didn’t have any problems getting a permit for the motorhome
towing the trailer with the Rhino inside. And at the inspection point further south, they didn’t even want to look
inside the trailer.
We traveled the first day to La Pesca on the Gulf of Mexico. Colleen and I had been there in October of 2005.
You might remember the story of us being stuck in the mud for a week. We camped at the beach at the end of the
road where the Soto la Marina River meets the ocean. It was fun toodling around in the Rhino and I think it is
going to work perfectly for running errands in Chetumal. We bought fish for a shared BBQ dinner and Sam and I
bought lots of shrimp which we have stored in our freezers.
After three nights at La Pesca our destination was El Tajin which Co and I had first visited with Bill and Laurie in
January of 2005. We again camped in the parking lot right at the ruins for two nights. Woody only stayed one
night and then he was off on his own headed directly to Panama with no sightseeing on the way…he was a man
on a mission. I will miss him as he was very funny, outgoing and cheerful.
From El Tajin we traveled to Xalapa where we camped for two nights in the parking lot at the Sam’s Club. For
years I had heard so much about the area around Xalapa and I really wanted to see it. In addition, a friend of Jean’
s was building cabins for rentals in Coatepec a few miles outside of Xalapa.
I must say that the countryside in that area is lovely but the traffic in Xalapa is an abomination and I cannot
imagine wanting to live anywhere near there if I had to use Xalapa for my shopping. It is a huge city at about 4000
feet elevation so it is up out of the tropical coastal lowlands and it is the capital city for the State of Veracruz.
When we arrived in Xalapa it was our intention to camp at the Costco. Sam and I got separated in the traffic from
Jim and we ended up at the Liverpool shopping mall. As we entered the mall, Sam was ahead of me and the arm
on the gate went up and then came down between her bicycle and the back of the Jeep. I radioed for her to stop
but not soon enough to keep her from bending the arm about 45 degrees off its normal position. Sam handled the
situation very well…in fact, extremely well…she didn’t get rattled, she convinced them that she should only pay
$30 toward its repair (they wanted $120), she bent the arm back where it belonged, and then, after all was said
and done her comment was “I sure know how to shop don’t I? Who else would buy the arm of a gate into a mall?”
Coatepec is much smaller, about 8 miles outside of Xalapa, and is much more to my liking. Debbie’s place is just
outside of Coatepec and is a lovely wild jungle setting. She has built 2 two story cabins, a single cabin and a large
apartment over the lodge building. They are almost completed – in fact they were rushing around getting ready
for the grand opening – and are a great place for a retreat or for bird watchers. The website for her place is www.
elretonolodge.com
While there we had a short visit from Roy Dudley who is a longtime gringo resident of Xalapa with whom I had
corresponded ahead of time asking about a place to camp.
From Xalapa we took off back down the mountain to the coast again to Lago Catemaco. This is another place that
Co and I visited (in 1999 with the Green Tortoise) and I was anxious to see it again. We have been here for 5
days – 4 of them it rained – and I have a new appreciation for this town. Sam and I took the Rhino on a jaunt
around the lake and wandered on some back dirt roads exploring…this is a great little runabout. If you don’t know
what a Rhino is, it has a single cylinder 450cc motorcycle engine, two seats side by side and a small dump bed
behind. It is either 2 or 4 wheel drive and can go up to 40 mph….that is fast enough for almost any road in
Mexico. It has a roll cage affair on it that I will install a tarp roof on and I also plan to add a plexiglass windshield to
keep the bugs out of my teeth.
In addition to running about in the Rhino, we wandered around the town of Catemaco and took a boat ride around
the lake with the rest of the tourists. In case anyone has taken the boat ride before, I would like to report that the
monkeys look a lot healthier though they are still ludicrously overweight from all the feeding they get from the boat
tourists. Here is a link to a website about these stump tailed macacques from Thailand that have been exiled to a
small island on a Mexican lake http://catemaconews.blogspot.com/2006/06/monkey-meet.html
Tomorrow morning we trundle off down the road toward Villahermosa and the rest of the trip will be mostly travel
and no more long stays in interesting places.
I will be changing the name of this Yahoo Group to something else....I am currently thinking of calling it La Gallina
Suelta....I will let you know...I don't think you will have to do anything to still receive the travelogue.
November 2006 Part 2
When we left Lake Catemaco on the Gulf Coast we traveled 206 miles to a Pemex station just east of
Villahermosa. Our leisurely travel was over and we were now headed like a barn sour horse back to Maricasa.
The next day we drove 276 miles to the Pemex station just east of Xpu Jil because we didn’t want to arrive at
Maricasa in the dark. On the 23rd we drove the remaining 82 miles with a stop in Chetumal for groceries and
propane. Whew!!!! We were finally there.
The trip was basically uneventful with one flat tire for me….the valve stem got a leak and I replaced it for a total
cost of about $6USD and we were back on our way. The roads along the Gulf Coast were better this year than
they have been in years past but I skipped some of the normal route to go to Catemaco so don’t know how those
roads were. Having traveling companions made the trip a hundred times better for me than it would have been
traveling back alone. Sam, Jim and Woody are all good travelers and know how to keep their rig between the lines.
Sam, Jim and I arrived at Maricasa and Pablo and I spent some tearful time together talking about Colleen and
how he has been since I left here in April. He is such a responsible man and has cleared acres of the property.
Maricasa is so lucky to have him. His kidney problems seem to have abated somewhat since he started taking the
meds Colleen bought for him months ago. For now he is able to avoid the surgery…I hope it continues that way
for him.
Sam is having trouble with her converter and so cannot use her generator to charge her batteries. She had to
use the alternator on the engine instead and now has transmission troubles that originally cropped up for her last
summer. She did all the right things back then when the transmission started leaking fluid and was assured by a
competent mechanic that the leak was a fluke. Now the leak turned into a torrent and she has to figure out what to
do next.
Since being here we have been mowing and clearing the front to get it back in shape and it is almost complete…it
looks so beautiful!!! Another project that Sam is working on is clearing the area around the spring and pond in
front and she is doing a wonderful job. We can now walk almost all the way around it and have access to the bay
for swimming from the shore near the pond. She also is building a rock path from the shower back to where we
have the rigs so we don’t get our feet dirty after a shower….she is a woman who just loves Maricasa and has
enormous energy for projects. Having her company here enhances the environment with her laughter and
obvious love of this place. She has a similar attitude about getting dirty and enjoyment for the work that Colleen
had. As for me, I don’t enjoy getting that dirty. And so I find myself doing things like pushing the mower and
paperwork. I would say that we have probably one acre of lawn with a kazillion trees to mow around. It is time
consuming and satisfying.
We had two visitors for two nights…Horst and Anna from Germany whom we had met at Lake Catemaco. They
were delightful and we had fun times trying to communicate with my terrible and mostly forgotten German, Anna’s
minimal English and Horst’s passable English. By the time they left I could actually say a few things to them in
German…it comes back I guess.
Jim left to continue his trip to the west coast of Mexico after almost a week at Maricasa. I don’t think he much liked
it here as it was humid and rainy and he doesn’t like the heat. He spent most of his time in his rig watching ball
games with the AC running. He also had torqued his back so he was not able to move around much. By the time
he left his back was better. While he was here he tried to troubleshoot Sam’s converter problem but was
unsuccessful. It will be interesting to find an electrician here who has experience in systems like the ones we have
on the RV…I think it will probably have to be someone who works on yachts where power is derived from a
generator and converted to 12 volts to charge the batteries. If we do find one, it will also be a good resource for
the RVs that come through here.
One of our immediate needs was a method for getting rid of our black water from the RVs. The closest place to
dump is over 30 minutes away at Cenote Azul. We used to be able to dump at Yax Ha here in Calderitas but the
owner got mad at us thinking we were stealing his RV customers when friends would drive past his place in their
RVs to get to ours. Since I have been gone, the RV park sold to the sister of the ex-governor of Mexico, Mario
Villanueva Madrid, who is in prison for money laundering and narco trafficking…he was from Chetumal and was
well-respected by those who live here for being a good governor, and they feel he was framed by opposing
political forces…who knows? Certainly not I. At any rate, he is due to get out of prison soon. For those of you who
RV down here in Mexico, they have raised the rates at the Yax Ha from 220 pesos a night to 350 pesos a night
and have not done anything noticeable about the electrical, water and dump issues. I wonder if the caravans will
come here anymore.
Back to the job of the black water dump…Pablo is digging a hole where the architect, Shiva, and his crew will
construct a mostly underground concrete block bunker where a ready-built, multi-chambered, plastic septic
system will reside. The black water goes in one end and water good for irrigation comes out the other end. The
new Rhino with the dump bed is earning its keep hauling the material out of the hole to put other places that need
filling. It also has a new windshield and side mirrors and does great in Chetumal…I just need to get some kind of a
roof so we don’t get so rained on and the sun is not so hot on our heads. Hurray…we will be able to deal with long
stays here without having to leave. I installed solar panels on the rig, but it has been very rainy and cloudy so I
have not had much excess electricity for hanging out on the computer as I am wont to do. Water we can haul as
we need it and pour it into the tank.
The evenings have been lovely and, after a late afternoon shower, Sam and I swing in the hammocks under the
Palapa and listen to the night sounds…birds, crickets, frogs and the murmur of the air when a large fruit bat flies
over.
I celebrated my 58th birthday a few days ago by going to eat at the restaurant next door…after dinner, as I was
walking up to pay, they put Las Mañanitas, the Mexican birthday song, on the stereo and had a cake for me….it
was very touching and made me cry….
Before I close this November issue, I have a story to tell you. Have you read the book The Wedding by Nicholas
Sparks? It is a wonderful story of love and I highly recommend it. In it, an old man who has lost his wife and now
lives in a nursing home has befriended a swan that lives in the pond at the nursing home. He knows it is his wife
come back to visit him but his family dismisses him as getting senile. I read the book in the evenings on the trip
down here.
Since arriving here at Maricasa there has been a juvenile snowy egret that shows up here each day and hangs
out. When I am mowing she follows along to get the bugs I stir up and then flies off to the side to wait for me to
pass by again with the mower. When I talk to her she comes closer and is very attentive to what we are doing
here. In the evening she flies off over the water of the bay to return at dawn the next morning. You may draw
whatever conclusion you want to, but I have named her Colleen and it brings me some measure of comfort.
November 2006
Life's Adventures