Seven Topes Road

"There are stars in the southern sky, southward as you roam.  There is moonlight and birds in the trees down the seven topes road".  (Paraphrased from the Eagles' Seven Bridges Road.)  A tope is a speed bump.  The road below the house that runs along the beach was formerly without topes.  During Semana Santa (Easter week) there were no topes and the bumper-to-bumper traffic sped along creating mini dust storms.

You can see 3 topes in this picture; there are 2 past where the guy is watering and 2 more in the very bottom of the picture.

As you can see, it is a very short portion of road for 7 topes.

Now, two weeks after Semana Santa, when there is maybe 10% of the previous traffic, someone has installed 7 topes.  These topes are larger and steeper than the normal ones you encounter on the highways sued to slow traffic down as it passes through villages.  Even motorcycles and scooters are forced to come almost to a stop to cross these topes.  We will have to wait and see how long they last!

A bad day in paradise!

Tuesday afternoon, we had to play "musical RVs".  Francisco was preparing to leave on Wednesday so we had to get the dune buggy  back into the RV that serves as a garage; relocate the "garage" next to "Big Fish" and park the RV which will be converted into a farm truck in front of the other two RVs.

The buggy

The garage: Francisco installed a lift up door in the back so the buggy can drive right in.

"Big Fish" under the palapa and the rear of the "garage".

The RV that is soon to be a farm truck.

I volunteered to use Dod as a tow vehicle to maneuver the "garage" (no motor") into the space between "Big Fish" and the sheer cliff on the opposite side.  While Francisco was taking care of business in Aticama I decided to get Dod into position for the move.  I went a few yards down the hill and then put it into reverse to climb back up the hill to a flat spot past the gate.  I miscalculated and Dod slipped!  He almost went over the side of the hill but luckily a tree stump caught under the wheel well and the disaster was avoided.  We had to use the future farm truck to pull Dod off the stump.  Way less trouble than I expected.

It is hard to explain how I can be so happy and yet troubled at the same time.  I went into San Blas today to visit the dentist and received good news.  My bridge will be ready on Monday and if it is all that the dentist promises it will be my last visit!

While I drove to San Blas I had a battery charger for a power tool plugged into the cigarette lighter.  Of course I forgot to unplug it and when I left the dentist my battery was dead. No problem, I removed the battery and carried it two blocks to an auto parts store where it was charged for about $2.50 US.  I re-installed the battery and Dod started right up.  I was going to drive into Tepic from San Blas but with the battery delay I had to postpone the trip.

I had a bad feeling on the way back to Aticama.  I was dreading going up the road to my house.  When I got to the roughest spot on the road, Dod/s tires began spinning and he stalled.  As I drifted down the hill, the brakes would not completely stop Dod's downhill progress.  He skidded backwards and sideways until he wound up leaning against two concrete posts.  Luckily Jesus (the caretaker) is a real "Handy" man.  He had Dod back on the road within an hour.  Only minor damage to Dod.

Photos would be nice but I hesitate to document my screw ups!

Alone on the Hill

After three weeks which can only be described as a whirlwind of activity, Francisco and Bill loaded up Bill'sVW and left for Portland at 1 pm on Thursday.  I say whirlwind because from the moment Francisco arrived he was busy everyday in business meetings, visits to the notario for property and citizenship paperwork, meetings with his partners in a couple of orchards, visits with the administrators of the ejido (political body responsible for Aticama, trips to the orchards with employees, hours and hours working on his dune buggy, a vast amount of time helping me get solar power and pressurized water to the house and, occasionally, taking an hour off to have lunch at our favorite restaurant in town.

Francisco earned my respect through the demonstration of his work ethic.  He earned my friendship almost instantly as we both realized we are like "brothers from different mothers".  We seem to appreciate the same simple things in life and are satisfied with where we are in our lives which seems to validate all of the necessary steps taken to arrive here.

Before you start feeling sorry for Francisco please remember that all of the things he accomplished were accomplished in paradise.  We also took time out for a little recreation and several evenings we had cocktails at sunset on the patio.  Sometimes the cocktail parties extended late into the evening with great conversations and much laughter!

I look forward to his return!