We've spent the last week at the Spring Escapade in Stockton California. We belong to this great RV club, Escapees, and this is the west coast rally we attend every year. It's the last time the club will be having separate east and west coast rallies and next year it will be in July in Gillette Wyoming. I'm glad, it's going to be more convenient for us to attend in the middle of the summer. There are lots of classes and crafts and meetings of all types but for me, after 6 years, the socializing and the fun times are the best part. This is our Lazy Daze group at happy hour behind our RVs.

Mimi had some meetings to attend afterwards and she'd won free passes to the Asparagus Festival held this weekend in Stockton. So, Marlene and I went off to that on Friday. It was fun, basically a street fair with the usual booths and foods although heavy on the asparagus. This is a pic of the Stockton waterfront, it's a canal that connects to the Sacramento River Delta and then to San Francisco Bay.

The weather has been perfect since last Sunday, warm days and cool but not cold nights. We're packing up now to drive over to Petaluma for a couple of weeks of appointments and business stuff.

Oh, I think the closing on our house in Mérida was on Wednesday, or maybe Friday. I've sent the final payments and the paperwork is all done so I believe we are now full owners of a big old stone house that needs a lot of work. Exciting!

Here's Roy, our first butterfly koi. He's blowing bubbles at me, maybe he thinks that will convince me to give him treats.

I have a bit of culture shock. We spend a lot of time here in the Palm Springs area and I know where all the stores are and have my routes to everything, it's just getting it all to come back to me when I first get here. It all seems a bit weird too, I was in Lowe's for an hour today looking for garden stuff and I found myself greeting all the employees when I passed them, they probably think I'm nuts.

When will we learn? For years, our first stop after crossing the border was a fast food place for a burger. Finally we noticed that we always got sick afterwards so last year we skipped it and didn't get sick. Memory fades, this year we were hungry after sitting in line for an hour to cross the border and stopped at a Burger King in Yuma. About 12 hours later, I was nauseated and threw up. Mimi had indigestion and a headache. I have to remember this next year.

Plus, my allergies are killing me. This has been true since we left the Yucatan, I sneezed the whole time we were in Patzcuaro and Ajijic and I sneezed all the way across the Sonora desert. I'm still sneezing. I also opened a new bottle of hand lotion on Sunday, put it on my face and by the next day I had a rash like a raccoon mask around my eyes and mouth. Hopefully, life in the USA will get a little better soon, right now I'm not feeling too great.

I got a little energy this afternoon as it finally warmed up. I played around outside the pond and replanted a few pots that died in the freeze. I need to get in the pond and pull out some dead plant stuff and repot the water lilies but it is just too cold for me now. Hopefully when we come back in a few weeks it will be warmer.

This is Angel, the butterfly koi we got last fall just before we left. She's still the same beautiful golden color and she's grown quite a bit.

This is Pumpkin surrounded by Wakin goldfish, we got him on Halloween last year.

The spearmint I planted in the waterfall has gone crazy so I made myself some Mojitos tonight. Fresh spearmint, fresh lime juice, good dark rum, splenda and soda water. I think it even made my allergies better.

Running for the border...

This is a hive of some sort that was in a tree at a rest stop. I thought it would be a termite hive but I didn't see it, only the picture. Mimi says they were wasps crawling around on it. Creepy.


We left Ajijic Thursday afternoon, spent the first night in Mazatlan, the second night outside Hermosillo and arrived here in Cathedral City, CA last night. That's a long, fast drive.

We turned west before we crossed the border in Nogales and came across on the Mexico side. Cheaper gas and less miles and it was fine, two lane road with no shoulder but we're used to that. As we approached Sonoyita, parts of the new fence we're paying for with our tax dollars appeared. What a joke! An expensive one and built with money that could have been used so much better. Here's a pic of the USA through the new fence posts from este lado (in spanish they often refer to the US as the 'other side' or otro lado)

We got up this morning to a cold wind here in the desert. My pond looks wonderful, the fish are healthy and most of the plants survived the unusual cold winter. There were a lot of plants lost in gardens throughout southern California this winter as temps dipped below freezing on several occasions. Country says many of the plants died to the ground but came back.

I can't believe how much the fish have grown. They are their usual piggy selves, following me around the pond hoping for a handout. The Wakin have gotten a lot redder, less orange, and their markings are really beautiful. The 3 butterfly koi have really grown and are beautiful. We're really thrilled that Angel, the golden butterfly koi has stayed the same pure gold color. I'll get a picture of her when it isn't 65* outside and windy, I'm freezing out there.

We're here for only a few days and then we're heading north for the Spring Escapade in Stockton, Calif.

Oddly enough, Ajijic reminds me of my old home town of Santa Barbara, CA. Maybe it is the weather, warm days and cool nights, or the flowers or the spanish houses. It really is beautiful and there are a lot of pluses to living here including the proximity of Guadalajara, which is definitely one of my favorite cities.

We were going to leave today but it is Ken's birthday and he and Anita decided a trip to Tonala was in order. Tonala is now a suburb of Guadalajara although it used to be a separate town. It is the ultimate shopping destination. They wanted some more large pots for their garden and Mimi and I decided to stay another day and go along with them. It was a great day.

We walked and laughed and looked at so many things our eyes started crossing. Anita found some great basket lights to hang in a huge tree in their yard.


I was looking for light fixtures mainly, I had to have some kind of focus as there is just too much to look at and too much temptation.

I did end up getting a couple of blown glass and iron lights and a couple of painted and worked metal wall sconces. This is one of the wall sconces, a bit hard to see but it is very nice.

We had a great lunch, shopped some more and then came back through the town of Chapala and had ice cream and walked along the lake.

I really wanted this odd looking chicken lamp. It's way too early for me to be buying lamps, I don't even have any furniture to put them on. Still, the chicken was really cool. I may have to come back.

It's been a wonderful few days with good friends on both sides of the road and lots of fun. We have to leave though, so tomorrow we run for the border.

Ajijic, Jalisco

We are parked on a small cobblestone street that leads to Lake Chapala, between the houses of 2 friends. The houses here are huge with enormous gardens and high walls, what we'd call an estate in the US. This is one of the big ex-pat centers in Mexico, the weather is close to perfect. Flowers spill over the high walls a riot of bougainvillea and other flowering vines. Cows like this one nibbling on our friend{s gate, wander up the street from the lake and keep the flowers trimmed. The enormous Jacaranda trees are covered in blue blooms and the streets are blanketed with purple and blue from the fallen petals.

It has only one big drawback, but for me it would be a deal killer, the cobblestone streets here are really poorly made and just a disaster. The ex-pats love to say that they add charm and character, they're full of it. There are cobblestone streets all over Mexico and none of them are the pitiful mess that they are here. I don't know why but these Jaliscans just don't know how to build a cobblestone street that is usable. I could not live where I had to drive on these POS roads. The stones aren't even vaguely the same size, they are not even vaguely level, they will kill your kidneys and the suspension on your car really quickly and they don't even look good. They just look dumb in my mind, like a small child was trying to build a street out of a bunch of big and little rocks. They need to either send their road builders to Querétaro or Leon or Zacatecas to learn how to build a proper cobblestone street or they should give up and pave the suckers.

Outside of the crappy streets, they also have some serious traffic problems - actually those 2 are probably related. They have one paved road and everyone wants to drive on it to get off the cobblestones so it is always bumper to bumper.

I like it here though, to visit.

Our main reason for coming to Patzcuaro was to look at copper sinks for the house in Mérida. If you are interested in pictures of this area - it's gorgeous - or of the artesenia fair held annually in the nearby city of Uruapan, they are on our web page from 3 years ago.

We did stroll the booths set up in the square in Patzcuaro, we didn't buy much besides some small things for friends. It was when I saw this spoon cabinet that my bargaining instinct went into gear. I think it is beautiful and the size is perfect for the high ceiling of the kitchen in the new house. It can be finished with any stain or just varnished. I got the owner's name and the name of his village, I think we will have to come back through here in the fall.

This trip, we were mainly interested in copper and the small town of Santa Clara del Cobre is the center for fine, hand made copper in México. So, up the hill another thousand feet we go. Let me tell you, walking up and down the slight incline of the streets there was not easy. But, I found the sink I want for the kitchen. They will ship if needed to Mérida. I also found a lot of other stuff I'd love to have, I could spend a lot of money there. This picture is a 2 sink bathroom table, beautiful. I actually saw another one that I liked better because the base was wood and had cabinets. Most of the shops won't allow you to take pictures. I was able to take a few in the shop we will buy the sink from as I told them I needed to send pics to the architect.

We're leaving today, heading for Ajijic to pick up our visas and see some friends. After that we'll be heading for the west coast and north to Arizona. California here we come...

...one way not to bribe a cop.

I'm so over these long detours to avoid driving across Mexico City. I think that next trip I will insist we just drive across it. I would have done that a long time ago if we traveled in a car but we are in a dual rear axle motorhome and towing a car. We did drive across it once using an eastern route on surface streets but we did it at 6am on a Sunday. Yes, it is possibly the largest city in the world and the transitos or traffic police have the reputation as the most corrupt in Mexico but all roads lead through it and going around it is a long detour that takes all day.

This was our 3rd time using the western route around and what a PITA. First, you have to get off the highway in Puebla and navigate across this huge city to catch the highway towards Atlixco and Cuernavaca. Puebla is very easy to get lost in and has horrible traffic. Second you have to get around or across Cuernavaca and I have yet to do that flawlessly. Third you have to find the small road that heads over the huge mountains, wind along it up to over 10k feet on a narrow 2 lane road with stupendous hairpin curves hanging over long drops - and do it with everything from lumber trucks to groups of 20 or more motorcycles trying to pass you. Fourth you have to navigate across Toluca, another huge city with less than adequate signage and an altitude -over 8500ft - that makes thinking difficult. The only positive to this all day extension to a normal drive time, is that you don't have to deal with the probability of some huckster transito in Mexico City trying to make a buck off you.

This trip I lost even that small advantage. At the top of the narrow 2 lane mountain road, in the only wide spot, a gang of Estado de Mexico police, not transitos, had a roadblock. Even though it was on the opposite side of the road they saw us and flagged us over. I was driving the jeep separate from the RV because we got stuck on a tiny street coming out of Cuernavaca and had to unhook the jeep to turn around. I didn't have my seatbelt on, but of course that was not why they stopped us as they couldn't see that until I turned in.

So, after telling me it was an infraction not to wear my seatbelt and my agreeing with him, the cop asks for my drivers license and then tells me that my CA license is not valid in Mexico. I told him he was wrong, it was valid. He said, this is not the US, this is Mexico. I told him again with more emphasis that he was wrong and my valid US license was valid in Mexico.

He then said that I was missing my smoking sticker. The whole conversation was in spanish and I really didn't have a clue what he was talking about with this. He pointed to the windshield and since I had a pack of Marlboro's sitting on the dash I really thought he was going to try and tell me I couldn't smoke in the national forest we were in. But no, he said the sticker was for good air and I realized he was talking about a smog sticker. He said I had to have one in Estado de Mexico. I asked him just where and when I should get it since I was a traveler and only in the state for one day. He said his favorite line again this is not the US this is Mexico. He then said I should have gotten it in Quintana Roo, I had told him earlier that I was coming from Akumal in the state of Quintana Roo. I said it's not required in Quintana Roo so how would I get one and where would I get one.

I was getting a little peeved at him and I was not hiding it but I was keeping it polite and semi-friendly. He told me to wait he was getting his book, back he came with the Vehicle Code of Estado de Mexico. I thought we were still going to discuss the smog sticker but the section he pointed out to me was the seatbelt law.

I told him again that he had me on that, that I had been in a hurry because we were blocking traffic and that I forgot. He repeated that it was an infraction and got out his ticket book. Then he asked what was I going to do for him, did I want to just pay the fine right now. That's the standard line they use to ask for a bribe. I told him emphatically NO and that it was illegal. Next he asked if I wanted a ticket. I told him to do whatever he wanted. Then, I asked him if he was going to give me his name and badge number if I paid him the fine. Things are changing in Mexico and it is now possible to report any officer that tries to get a bribe, there are significant penalties and they count on tourists not knowing this. He pointed to the badge on his hat and I looked and said that there wasn't a number on it. Of course, he had no name tag on. So, then he points to his gun. I said "Oh, this is not the US, this is Mexico so it is all right to kill someone for not wearing a seat belt?" At that point the guys around him started laughing. He looked fairly irritated but he said forget it, just go on.

Instead I went back to the RV and got one of my old uniform patches and found him in the crowd and gave it to him.

By the time this BS was over, it was dusk and we barely got off that mountain before it got dark. Yes, I still can say that I've not paid a mortida (bribe) since we started coming south in the RV - with qualifications, I've paid many of them in the long ago past to transitos and I have paid a couple in the last few years to expedite stuff like Telmex installation, CFE fixes, etc. So, I'm no saint about it but I really would hate paying one to a cop and so far I haven't.

I can't say my approach would work for anyone except a retired cop the age of their grandmothers and I did refrain from using my new favorite word in spanish, orgullo (pride) because although I really wanted to say something about the lack of pride in their job I didn't think I could pull it off and stay within the argumentative but polite zone.

I told Mimi afterwards that the worst thing that could happen if we just drove the whole rig across the middle of Mexico City is that I'd finally have to bribe a cop and that spending a whole day extra plus almost having to bribe a cop was not a reasonable alternative. Since she is the one driving the RV, she still looked dubious but I'm over this detour stuff.


postscript: This happened on our way to Patzcuaro. After we got here I got a call from our attorney in Mérida who is working on the house purchase. He was worried and said that while working on our file he discovered that he had not returned our visas to us when he copied them. We didn't realize it as we had our passports back and the visas are usually folded up in there. My first thought was that I had gotten so pushy with these cops in the middle of nowhere and all the time I was basically an illegal in Mexico, without any papers. That thought made me a little weak in the knees. I doubt I would have been so cocky with them if I had known. It will all work out, we have copies of our visas and the attorney is overnighting them to a friend's house in Ajijic where we will pick them up tomorrow.