Heading North Sunday April 28, 2013

After working hard all day Saturday till the wee hours of Sunday morning we grabbed a few hours of sleep and Lorne had to kick me out of bed at 6 am so we could be on the road by 7:30.  Here I thought it would be him that would have a tough time getting out of bed.  We had a few last minute things to do before leaving…  such a lot of work getting things organized to leave.  Well, its all worth it, I think the house is secure till we get back.  We have given keys to three neighbors and Gloria has a set as well.  Gloria will check the house every week and clean a bit every other week just to keep the dust down. 

The highway was quiet and we made good time; stopped in Constitution for lunch and spent the night at El Burro.  Bonus!  6:15!  It was still daylight when we stopped!  There were not many at El Burro, just a few people napping or having happy hour in their elaborate palapas.  It was quite a warm drive, with the air conditioner making little difference. It wasn't totally uncomfortable though.  I like the heat. We split the driving and napping.  I guess I'm officially a Baja driver now.  

Day two we were up and on the road by 6:50.  Once again Lorne had to kick me out of bed.  The bed in the motor home is just so cozy and comfortable, and the curtains I made work very well keeping the light out.  We made it all the way to Santa Innis (Catavina) by 6:00 pm.  Lots of time for a walk before dinner.  I took the camera and had to take pics of all the blooming cacus!  Lorne says I take so many pictures of the same plants that I am documenting their growth from year to year.  This area is just so beautiful and unique that I really enjoy taking pictures trying to capture the essence of it all. Its really quite impossible to do that yet I try anyway.  We walked by a very large bee hive in a tall palm.  The bees were large and black, the buzzing was quite furious.  Needless to say we walked quickly by, hoping they weren't those bad ones.

Day three - the morning is foggy and cold!  We are easily going to get to Ensenada in the afternoon and tomorrow we will head to Tecate and the US.  We arrived about 3:00 and checked into the Estero Beach Resort.  We then walked back up the road to a medical/dental clinic to see if Lorne could see a dentist.  He had dental surgery two weeks ago - one of the roots on a molar had cracked and was giving him pain.  It was a tooth that he had had a root canal on in the past.  The dentist in town referred him to an oral surgeon who operated and removed the broken root, leaving the rest of the tooth.  All was well till yesterday when it started to hurt.  Worried that perhaps he now had an infection, he took some antibiotics that we happened to have with us.  It wasn't feeling any better so he thought he should get in to see a dentist if he could.  So - we walked up the street, the office was closed but it had a bell to ring if it was after hours.  We rang and the doctor came to the door, he called the dentist, Lorne spoke to him and he made an appointment for 7:00, that night.  We returned at 7, he saw Lorne for over half an hour, took an x-ray and some digital pictures of Lorne's receding gums and told him that all was well, no infection.  However, he recommended that Lorne see a periodontist for some surgery.  All this and he reluctantly asked for 200 pesos (less than 20 Canadian dollars).  Lorne insisted he take 500 pesos.  It would have been substantially more in Canada for this service!  

On our way in bright and early in the morning in our more typical fashion, 11:00....  we get to Tecate and spend 2 hours at the border.  Boring!  And they took away our packaged sliced chicken, bought in Costco in Cabo, packaged in California, USA.  the border guy says he has to take it because it probably isn't cooked appropriately..... really?  However, the chicken that I cooked is ok..... how does he know I cooked it appropriately?   Its all a mystery to me.  

Its a beautiful day!  We experience the usual shock at the speed of life on the California freeways after the two lane simple, relatively quiet highway of Baja.  We are now in Temecula, at the casino on the Pechanga reservation.  A nice spot.  Tomorrow we go park in the mechanic's lot.  Then we visit some friends and then are off up the coast and home.  We should be home by May 13.  

Last shots of house before departure

Big Iguana that lives across the street


He loves fruit, here he is posing with his banana.

This iguana lives in one of the wild plum trees in our yard.  I gave him a banana too.  He watched me put it in the tree with him but he didn't touch it.  Maybe he's a different kind and is only a meat eater.... don't know.

A passing road runner stopped by when I was next door at the neighbors










Front  view of the house, showing some of the plants.



Front on view.  Note the railings now on the upper deck and on the staircase on the right.  Note also we have a front staircase!

On the right is a medajool date palm grown by our friend Gloria for us.  Next are three Neem trees, one grown by our friend Annette from seed, the other two purchased at a nursery.  To the left of them are 8 Blue Agave given to us by our neighbor Gail.  Note the path down to the front gate.  All along the fence line at the front are oleander in various shades of pink.  In the right hand corner is a bougainvillea, pinkish of course.  Up close on the left is an unknown to me plant given to us from Annette.  I think it is in the philodendron  family, it is supposed to get fairly large leaves.  I planted some smaller philodendron cuttings with it since it has irrigation.  


















View of oleander along fence line.  Note the front stairs and the railings.




Below left is a Mexican limon and a pomegranite.  The planter on the right holds three Kerpi palms, also known as Christmas palms.

Another view of the Kerpis palms in the planter with cherry tomatoes and our road runner.

Another picture of the neem trees and the path to the front gate.  Along the wall next to the house are four mauve bougainvillea.  Yes, that is barbed wire, hopefully the cows and the goats will stay out!



I don't know what this plant is but it has flowers and red edible fruit.

We are no longer in the driveway, the motor home is on the street!  It's early and we are really leaving!  

The house is all buttoned up for the summer!  These are special hurricane shutters; Florida approved to withstand big storms.  Here's hoping!  

I am so looking forward to seeing what the yard will look like when we get back.  Of course it will be full of weeds but hopefully all the intended plantings will have taken and be well established.