SOUTHERN SOJOURN (PART 3)

After our final night in the United States, we awakened early for our morning border crossing in Nogales, Arizona. The previous night found us enjoying a recommended Mexican meal in this small border town, and doing last minute shopping for groceries that are hard to find in Mazatlan. The motel manager suggested we use the truck crossing which opened at 6am, so we followed his direction. We were first in line and waited in the early morning darkness as border guards, both U.S. and Mexican, arrived for their shift change. They waved us by at the first gate which put us on the road to the immigration office that all visitors must stop at in 21 kilometers.  Still dark upon arrival at this checkpoint, we were happy to be the only ones there. It was as if the officials were more than helpful to us, just to stave off their boredom. We presented our passports, filled out papers, registered our car, and paid the necessary money for all of the above. Oh, and don’t forget the copies. I had to wake the man in the copy booth to make duplicates of all of our documents. I thought the tiny room was empty until I saw the glow of the electric heater; with a little tap on the window he got up off of his mat on the floor and graciously attended to me.

By this time the sun was up and we were able to take in the surroundings. There is nothing particularly visually outstanding about this northern part of the state of Sonora, but this bright blue welcoming sign was enough to make us feel right at home.

Feliz viaje! Happy travels!

 

We were so happy to be in Mexico, heading towards our destination of Mazatlan.  As with anything, it’s only natural to focus on the positives of something, someone, or someplace you haven’t seen for a while…and then reality hits. In this case, it was the huge amounts of trash along the side of highway 15. It’s such a distinct difference from the roadsides which for the most part are quite clean in the U.S. Our years of litter consciousness has instilled in all Americans (and Canadians) to take care of their garbage. And don’t forget the hefty fines for offenders. We have been well trained. But to me it seems that this concept is still in progress in Mexico. Not only are there copious amounts of trash on the roadsides, but it’s dirty and dusty trash! There are signs like this to encourage travelers, but sadly I think much of the problem is due not just from the vehicles, but from the local residents. And let’s not forget that the presence or absence of garbage cans does a lot to change this issue.  As with anything, education makes a big difference, and we see many young Mexicans who are keenly aware of environmental issues, but some of the older generation still fall into their default mode of throwing their trash on the street.

In Mazatlan we have street sweepers, which are both a help and a hindrance. These low paid workers make their daily rounds keeping our streets clean, but sometimes I wonder if the locals feel they can toss their candy wrappers, etc. because someone will be by to sweep it up.

As they say here in Mexico “poco a poco” – little by little. That’s how change happens… at least that’s how it seems in the case of garbage awareness.

 

We pass through two Mexican states on our drive down Highway 15: Sonora and Sinaloa. This highway passes through some large towns (Hermosillo, Los Mochis, Culiacan, and others) and the link between these towns is either via a free road (libre) or the toll road (cuota). The cuotas are clean, fast, and relatively free of distractions like speed bumps, civilization, etc. (except for gas stations), and fast. The prices range from 30 to 100 pesos for each section ($2-$8 US) and collectively we pay somewhere around $80 US for the entire trip to Mazatlan. When you pay at the toll booth, you receive a little receipt that reportedly insures you for any damage you may encounter on that stretch of the road. Needless to say, we always use the cuotas.

All the along the cuotas, there are telephone booths for emergency calls. I didn’t really pay much attention to these until we were about two hours north of Mazatlan, in the state of Sinaloa. Every kilometer there not only was a telephone station but also this trio of cans, which was such a pleasant surprise after the reality of Mexico’s garbage issue confronted me yesterday. In my view, this is fantastic progress.

You also occasionally see the green government trucks that travel along the route to help stranded vehicles (known as "green angels”). We used them once about five years ago. We were driving north on a hot April day and got a flat tire. We changed it, continued driving another 30 minutes when another went flat. It wasn’t long before the green angel came to our rescue, drove me to the closest town where I bought two new tires (at an inflated price, of course) and returned me to Tom and our vehicle. Soon we were on the road again.

 

MY FILTRATION SYSTEMS

In Mexico we filter our water four times from the time it comes into the house to the moment we drink it. There are two major filters at the door, bringing in water from the city, that sometimes look like a filthy, dirty coffee pot…the locals call the liquid that comes in “café”. Then it goes to our tap, from where we put it into our PUR water pitcher/filter. It looks great at the point of leaving the tap, and tastes okay too.

The two large filters at the door have a large paper filter inside. Tom changes them every few months. Inside is a long cylinder of holes, similar to curlers we would wear in our hair as teenagers, except longer. I wrap fabric around them and secure it all with rubber bands/elastics/ligas. I also bought some of the shorter hair rollers at the dollar store. I use the clamp that comes with them and rubber bands too.

On this day I wrapped 10”x14” pieces of white cotton in the manner described and the result was some amazing pieces. I used them in the piece above of the hummingbird. I think this fabric, put together into a hummer, is very effective against the dark blue background.

Here at Refuge Cove, we get our water from a creek,which is high in the winter and low in the summer. Some years have been very dry and we have had to monitor our use. Wanting more control over the water, we put in our own 3000 gallon tank. There is nothing worse then not being able to water the garden, or wash clothes. Here too, we have four filters.There is a filtering box at the creek, a filter from the creek line to the tank, another filter from tank line to the house, and another Pur pitcher/filter that fills our glasses. This water is delicious.

HUMMERS

We are experiencing a respite from the hummingbirds. May was a heavy traffic month, but as is typical with other years, this first batch leaves around June 1st, and we expect to see the next crew during the month of July. For now, I only have to fill my feeders once a week, and I'm watching for the increase of our high-speed, flying visitors.
The numbers around the feeder was a frequent topic of conversation in June. We figure there were up to 50 at a time, within a 15 ft. range from the feeder. One night, after filling the feeder, I decided to just sit and hold it to see if the birds would come to me, and they did. Out of 6 holes, I had all but one filled. The beating of their wings was cooler than a high speed fan. It was an intense experience!

Speaking of migratory creatures, I am hoping to see me migratory husband soon. With reference to the previous post of his inadmissability into Canada, his situation is looking promising but certainly has been an extreme amount of hoop-jumping, information gathering, and craziness. He is working with a Vancouver immigration lawyer, living in Anacortes with computer access 30 minutes away in Mount Vernon (both good friends!) and is totally immersed in the incredible task of gaining access to his life in Refuge Cove. After an FBI check, police checks, fingerprinting, a complete residential and employment history since the age of 18, letters of reference from 8 individuals, and time for the lawyer to compile it all and summarize the situation, he hopefully will then be able to present it to the border officers (along with a payment for a temporary permit) to enter Canada. This has been such an incredible story and experience! Not a good experience, but incredible in the sense that it has been life-changing and so shockingly sudden.

Let's see who gets here first, Tom or the hummingbirds?