I just logged into this site for the first time in weeks and suddenly the website insisted I prove my humanity. I mean, Okay. Make me do math to prove I have a brain and not a bunch of circuits. It’s not that there’s any harm in doing a simple arithmetic problem, it’s the whole ‘prove you are a human’ thing that gets me. I guess that’s what I get for not logging in for weeks. But hey, I’ve been mildly busy lately. We humans. We’re known for ‘doing things’ and for not reporting them on the internet.
Back in Mexico. For the uninitiated, this is what the streets look like outside of town. That gate hides our car.
But we’re back in Mexico as of today. After a stint in Mike’s home town in Tennessee, then a visit to my family up in Washington, we finally decided we were simply putting off the inevitable and bought a ticket home. And by ‘home’ I mean back to Galapagos and the sweltering heat of Mexico. Do I look forward to being back aboard? Sure I do. We have missed having our own place where we can spread out and have our privacy. And we have missed the water.
Do I look forward to being hot and sweaty again? Not so much. So I’m enjoying our last few days of air conditioning sitting here in our cheap AirBnb in the barrio outside of Puerto Peñasco. Drive a little, save a lot and get a really sweet little place for about half what a room down on the malecon would be. I tell you land living makes you soft.
Behind the gate: this!
And then open the door to this! Two bedrooms, one with a nice king sized bed. Be still my heart! I wish we could stay longer. Alas, this place is booked. 37$/night. WHATT?
Is our boat here? It is not. Galapagos sits sweetly in her slip down in San Carlos at Marina Real, awaiting the day we arrive with our van full of supplies, load her up, and sail her into the sea again. But first, we wanted to be on the ground in Puerto Peñasco to check out the boatyard here and the marinas. I mean, we’ve paid for moorage through the end of August. What else do we need to do with our time? Nothing being straight forward in the world of cruising, we are getting the lay of the land so we can return with the car after we unload in San Carlos. We hope to leave the car somewhere safe here and bring the boat up, and find a place to park it for a few days. Why? Kids coming to visit! Hurrah!
The next adventure on our agenda is having our Andrew and his wife, Jill, aboard Galapagos for a three week tour of the northern Sea of Cortez. They arrive in September and we have been waiting PATIENTLY. FOR. OUR. TURN. to see them. We are the last stop on their year long travel adventure, which has been such an epic trip! Currently at a lovely Workaway in Spain, they have completely rocked this whole travel thing. If you know young people who want to travel and do Workaway stays, they should check out Andrew and Jill’s blog. Lots of great travel, Airbnb, and Workaway stories (the good and the ugly), excellent photos, and some advice from seasoned travelers. I’m sure the Sea of Cortez, while not exactly Europe, will not disappoint.
We stayed in a casita at this property in Tucson. What a beautiful place. We loved it.
Wherever we go we take notes about what we love in the places we stay. We love this architecture, the use of line, the curved walls and spaces. And the pool. I loved this pool so much. Damn, I already miss that pool.
This season will be the deciding one in terms of what’s next for the Little Cunning Plan crew. We are hoping to do a Pacific Crossing next year, hoping Andrew and Jill will be able to crew with us for that, but there are issues playing in the background of our lives that may make us have to put that off for a year or so. And if we put it off, will we ever get to go? We are the generation that gets squeezed in the middle between our own aging process and that of our parents. Both oldest kids in our families, we are keenly aware of the vulnerabilities of our surviving parents as well as our own mortality that has crept upon us with the greatest of stealth. If we cannot do the crossing, will we continue to travel by boat? Will we be finished and ready to sell beloved Galapagos? How does anyone ever know how to make that kind of decision? We feel stuck right now, unable to move forward until things out of our control get resolved. That won’t be until at least October. So for now, we are focusing on the here, the now, the enjoyment of getting back to the boat and getting back on the water for as long as it lasts.
This is just to say we have a lot of balls up in the air right now, many of which will not appear on this blog or on our Facebook page. Like all people, our lives are very human, very complex, very much in-motion at all times. Blogs make things look so straightforward, even when they are not. I wonder if all this will cause me to have to do another math problem to prove my own humanity the next time I log into this site. Ah well. I can just about manage that.
I leave you with some photos from Tucson, a city worth visiting even in the heat of summer.
At the Tucson Botanical Garden on a day we played ‘tourist in the heat’.
In Marshall Gulch, on a hiking day. The mountains are a cool respite from the heat of the valley.
Is it a fly? A bee? We don’t know.
On the way to Marshall Gulch. Up where the air is cool. The next day was thunderstorms all day.
That to-die-for pool at the Airbnb. Did I mention I had a close encounter of the respectful kind with a beautiful wild Bobcat Lynx? Such a fantastic cat! I saw him up close and personal. I probably should have been afraid, but I was not.
A tile at the Tucson Botanical Garden. True words.
Until next time, S/V Galapagos, standing by on channel 22a. Damn, it feels good to say that.
So… If a Pacific crossing isn’t possible immediately, have you considered going t’other way ’round, into the Caribbean? Keeps you much closer to travel options, medical facilities, good communications, etc, but still a grand adventure region!
We so get what you’re saying. Never thought we’d leave s/v Sionna alone so long, never expected to be rebuilding a house (!)… Not to mention loosing the use of an eye! Life happens, in spite of our careful planning.
As planned, we return to the boat (in Florida) in January, get her back in the water, and start back to Maine. Stay tuned! And have fun, you two. That’s why you’re out there.
Yes, we have considered it. It’s hard when there are a lot of places you want to go and time feels short! Life does happen. I guess that’s why it’s important to enjoy whatever you are doing at the time.
If you do sail to the South Pacific next year, there is a good chance we might bump into each other.
Are you going to join the Pacific Puddle Jump. We are not much into groups but this one has a lot of good info and no schedules.
Have you looked at the nuances of the long-stay French Polynesian visa? Talk about red tape. If you decided to cross, have a plan for the FP paperwork – don’t wait until you get there. Unlike most places, you can not extend the visa unless you apply before arriving.
We hung around with the Puddle Jump folks last season in La Cruz and learned a lot, including about the long stay FP visa. My understanding is you can go to Mexico City to apply, but those kinds of rules are always on the move. We would definitely join the Puddle Jump. In La Cruz there are lots of fantastic seminars and the esprit de corp is just worth it. Not to mention that people who join have a number of benefits extended to them in FP, such as a certificate for 40% off fuel. Totally worth it.
As always, your posts delight me. It’s like traveling with you when I see your amazing photos and read of your adventures!
Good to have you reading, Joanne!
Funny, just over the weekend I was wondering how you two are.
By the way, it is a fly. I just can’t see enough of to tell what type it is.
Hello from Tacoma.
We thought it was a fly, but we also saw signs of it being a bee. It’s about 1.5 inches, dark blue, and is a pollinator, landing on flowers one after another like a bee would. I see a carpenter bee that’s native to that area that looks similar but is reported to be black, and these were definitely dark blue. So I can’t tell for sure. If you are educated about flies and bees we have some other photos. Maybe you could ID it?
Sorry for the long delay, Melissa.
No, I do not have a working knowledge of entomology. But I do feel confident enough to say that with all of the insects that I have been brave enough to get close-to over my life-time, which hasn’t been that many. Seeing that I am a pretty skittish person when it comes to getting close to bugs, aka insects.
I have no doubt though, that bees, wasp, and such have shiny eyes, if that is an appropriate word here, and flies tend to have a flat, dull, course, textured, not smooth surface of their eyes.
If I may suggest, what if you were to put-it-to-us, loyal readers / followers a post with some of, if not all of the pictures of the insects that you have questions of, to see if we can name them? It might keep us busy until the next excellent blog post?
Cheers,
Keith
Oh, and flies too help as pollinators, they are just less sexy ones.
I have grown fly-pollinated plants in the garden. Usually the stinky ones. But that’s been a long while and I have straight up never seen a fly this big! He’s as big as a large bumble bee.
Yes, 3.8cm is a rather large fly.
I’ll take you up on posting photos of insects I can’t identify, with apologies to my readers who are squeamish! And I think you must be right about the eyes of bees/vs flies. I did think the eyes looked fly-like but couldn’t say exactly why. Now I have to dig up those photos that might show this fly guy more clearly, not just his face.
I look forward to the entomology test.
Mike has a photo file called Bugs of San Carlos. More pics coming!