Feb. 11 Day 21
Today as we leave it is about 65 degrees already. We have about 240 miles to go to San Carlos. Both yesterday and today we are backtracking over highways we were on on the way down. We have to go through a couple of cities that caused some navigation problems on the way down. We will hope, and the Wagon Master too I imagine, that we do not have problems today. We are seeing several one man operations of brick making like we had seen on some of our side trips. It appears to be the same procedure and it is very crude and very hard work. But it is their way of life. The houses in this area are of very poor construction, small and with tar paper siding and roofs. Obviously this is a very poor area. Some are no bigger than a bedroom. When we were in the Mazatlan area we found the roadsides much cleaner. There is a law against littering (basra) but it is not always enforced. But as we travel north, especially in the poorer areas, we see more and more trash alongside the road. We just passed another shrine along side the highway built in memory of a loved one who died. It reminded me of some information we got from our tour guide. Many of the small shrines we see are placed there to remember to pray for the safety of truck drivers. The cemeteries here in Mexico are with mostly large white monuments. But some build a small house where they visit their loved ones on Nov. 2, the Day of the Dead. On this day if you normally work you are given the day off with 3 days pay. On this day they believe their most recently deceased relative come back to visit. They have a big celebration with a feast. They set a place at the table for the deceased relative and serve their favorite foods. The dessert they serve cannot be serve again for a year. When another family member dies they celebrate the most recently deceased and no longer celebrate the other. We just crossed the state line into Sonora and had to go through 2 check points, one on each side of the state line. At the first one they waved us on through. At the second one they actually came inside, looked in the frig to check if we had any fruit. We didn’t have anything left. Strange thing was the other lane of RV’s were waved on through with no checking or even asking if they had fruit. We stopped for a break and some were complaining to the Wagon Master about going to slow…yesterday there were complaints about going too fast. We are back on the road and going faster but the road now is pretty rough. Just goes to show you can’t please all the people all the time. As we started back yesterday, Gene and I talked about people getting frustrated and cranky. Seems like it is happening. Most everyone is a little edgy today. There is a virus here in Mexico called Grippy. The members of the caravan have been passing it around. It only lasts for 2 to 3 days but that can be a long time if you have to “keep going”. We are thankful that so far we have avoided it. We are now at a Military check point where they check big semi’s for drugs and illegal immigrants. The line of trucks waiting to be inspected was 1.7 miles long. We pulled over alongside the road for a quick bathroom break and Gene got out to give some toys and balls to a girl nearby. We arrived at the El Mirador RV Park in San Carlos mid afternoon. This may be the very nicest park we have been to. It should be a very nice stay for our last 3 nights of the caravan tour. We had a meeting at 4 pm with the owner of the company who will take us on a boat cruise tomorrow. Gene and I walked down to the beach. It is not a white sand beach at this location. But enjoyable views anyway.