Ok now for the last day, day 3 and then I will be back in the present. Day 3 we left Sinaloa and hit Sonora within an hour. When we first left the hotel it was so foggy Everardo couldn't even see anything. We tried to follow a car in front of us and then decided to pull over at the gas station we knew was coming up and wait it out......and then it lifted!! Then it was a smooth ride, But man it took all day! We came into Puerto Penasco after dark.

In Sonara the checkpoints started. Funny I thought it would have been Sinaloa, but no- it's Sonora. We were waved thru 6 and then I had to show my green card once and Everardo didn't have to show anything. Then we started hitting the military checkpoints, and we had to drive the truck thru an xray machine. I sat outside with Sam and watched. Another family drove up and had to exit their car and it was searched and the occupants had to walk thru an xray like at the airport. Funny, they forgot about me, and I was holding my purse and a bag....and I just walked up to the truck after and we drove away. All the soldiers were looking at Sam who was only interested in what Poppi was doing ha ha. The reason we had to drive thru the xray was because of the trailer. It was piled high with a tarp wrapped around it. Thank goodness we didn't have to unpack it! It's fine with us if they search; we have nothing to hide and it seems like if you are polite and cheerful with these guys, who are only doing their jobs, they are nice right back at ya.

Sonara is one huge desert. No veges growing, but they have grapes! Miles and miles and miles of grapes! We also saw olives, oranges, and asparagus growing. But it was a pretty uneventful day with the exception of the checkpoint. Like I said we just kept getting waved thru, except for a couple of the military stops. It was a really long day, I was getting anxious, excited and nervous about what I'd think of Puerto Penasco. Ha ha as it turned out I didn't think anything cause we came after dark, about 7:30 I think, so it was almost 12 hours. We had stopped to eat and let Sam get a little exercise cause he was such a good boy for 3 days, but he was getting stiff and a little limpy so we took it a little easier.

We went into the first motel we saw, and they again were fine with Sam sleeping in the room; they just didn't want hom to sleep on the bed. Ha ha he's as big as a person so we didn't want him on the bed either. Anyway we brought his bed in from the truck and he was fine. So this is a short post, but now I think I've gone full cycle cause I know I started posting with "first day in Puerto Penasco"...

Ok so tomorrow I'll tell about the shindig we're going to tonite....

Trip from Playa Ventura Guerrero to Puerto Penasco, Sonora, day 2 of 3. We went thru Jalisco, Nayarit, and Sinaloa, I need to look at the map to see how many states I've been thru now, with the trip down, and other visits. Well Jalisco and Nayarit, like Michocan have lots of jobs and so nicer cars, nicer roads, pretty towns. I just noticed I can never spell Michocan the same way twice and even when I correct it I'm not sure I'm write. Sorry Michocan...

Guadalajara is huge. It was very early in the morning so most of it was even before commute traffic altho' we did get stuck at the end. We were driving thru on the highway and we still were in the downtown area for more than half an hour. I got to google it and see how many people. It's another place I'd like to visit. The lady who is our neighbor, we're sharing a yard, well she's also our landlord for a couple of more weeks, but se moved here from Guadalajara and she was saying how she took her kids and moved to this small town. Ha ha after Playa Ventura, for me, this town is big! But really, I think I'm starting to understand how some of the streets work- ha ha and I mean SOME cause I'm still totally unclear about all of it. I did however navigate alone to the store yesterday that was back down by our motel. Ok I had a striaght line for the most part. Out to the corner of this street, left and up 10 blocks, then right onto the main drag....ooops this is supposed to be about the trip- gotta finish so I can write about whatever is tumbling around in my peabrain at the second I think it...

One cool thing that happened was we were running low on gas, and at a toll booth Everardo asked how far to the next station. Well it was pretty far, so the toll booth people, they sold us 100 pesos of gas! So again, and area in better financial shape. This is highway 15 (I think) and it goes from lower than where we caught it in Michocan all the way up to Mexicali/Tiajuana. Nice highway, usually more than one lane in each direction, mostly divided road. In these 3 states (Jalisco, Nayarit, & Sinaloa), they have emergency phones all along the highway, for things like breakdowns or running out of gas. And if you call them, the people from the toll booths come out to help you, and can sell you some gas to get you to the next gas station. I found this very cool.

They also have cool road signs that I think I also saw in Sonora, that say things like Drive with care, your family is waiting, or don't drive when you're tired, or secure your belt, save your life...all in Spanish of course. There was one other really good like the one about your family is waiting but I can't remember it right now...So I love the toll roads but hate the tolls! We spent almost as much in tolls as gas...ouch!

So, Sinaloa is an agriculture state (no I'm not talking about drugs). Corn, peppers, potatoes, sugar cane, cucumbers, tomatoes, mangos to name a few...When Everardo was living in Micocan as a teen he came up to Sinaloa to work in the fields. He said if anyone was unemployed, it was because they did ot want to work. There were jobs for everyone in Sinaloa, and for anyone who came from another state. But the drug trade took all the local workers and so now all the people who work in the fields are from other states.

He pointed out the mountains in the distance. I think he said they were connected to the range in Durango, and somewhere in there is an area called "Espinaso de Diablo" Spine of the Devil. It 800 curves in the moutains and where drug trafficking happens. Lots of people trying to migrate north (from any southern beginning) go undetected there cause the federales don't go there; it's just too dangerous. Anyway it was interesting to learn that Sinaloa has so much more to offer than what we hear about it being famous for the drug cartels. It's a very beautiful state and everyone we talked to was very nice. And there were hundreds of miles of crops growing along the roads.

So we made it within an hour of Sonora and stopped for the nite. Found another hotel along the highway and ended up chatting with a guy who travels back and forth across the border bringing things both ways, used items mostly. He said he started with just bringing things to/from family and friends and it's grown into a small business. He asked to buy us dinner, we think cause he just wanted the complany, somone to talk to; he'd been on the road for a week or maybe two, and he'd also had a couple of drinks already ha ha...so we said sure and there was a resturant in the hotel so we met him there an hour later. Our room had a shower from heaven, I tried to soak in all the hot water, and Poppi tried to, too. It was a really pretty room and very comfortable, and no biting creatures ha ha.
Anyway we ate and chatted and traded emails, but later when we were alone we discovered we both thought something didn't ring true about the guy. I don't know what, but something was a little off. As it turns out he did try to talk to Everardo about getting into his business, so hmmm wonder what he's really importing/exporting, since we actually talked about who gets stopped at the border and on the road by federales and state police and how we looked so normal with our little trailer and our doggy in the back of the truck, tongue hangin' out and tail waggin'....hmmmm is all I can say. But Everardo dodn't bite so...yes the conversation was in both English and Spanish, he was bilingual and currently living in San Jose, California, and I could follow some of the conversation when it was in Spanish. But we left him and went to bed so we could get up early and make our final destination the next day.

Ok so now I'll go back and tell about the trip up here, and then we'll be all caught up.So day 1 of the trip up started at 0:dark:thirty! We slept on the couch cause we had taken all the sheets off the beds and just had a blanket in the couch. We left in the dark. I had been worried about pulling that heavy trailer up our short, dirt driveway that never got finished before we left. In fact I suspect that it isn't fixed yet...It was Friday Nov 30, so 5 days short of being in Mexico 6 months. Of course it was not cold even though it was 4:30 in the morning, and when I came outside Sam was already in the truck. Poppi said as soon as he pulled it up to the street, and that it was easy cause of course he used the 4 wheel drive I had made a bunch of sandwhiches and had some bananas and apples for the ride. I think it was one tuna fish to use it up, one ham & cheese, one peanut butter and ham, and 4 peanut butter and jellies. Well only some got eaten. By day 2 we were eating tacos for every meal.

My feet were so swollen from bug bites from the nite before I couldn't put on my tennis shoes. We had gone to say good bye to Chela, and I forgot to put the bug oil on. It was the worst time of day for the bugs; right when it was starting to get dark. They were biting her and me. Then Everardo came and they were biting him too, but I was hesitant to leave because this was goodbye. She had become my dear friend. She speaks no English and of course my Spanish is well, getting there, but she and I became close amigas. We could always figure out what we were talking about . So I stayed and got bites all around my ankles and the tops of my feet. And the top of the feet have very think skin, so puffy they looked yucky to say the least! Anywa I slathered on the Caladryl for almost the last time, had to do it a couple times on the way up...but I haven;t used it or the Autan oil since day 2 of the drive up...and I am SOOOO happy. We have our side door open right now so I can get internet off the neighbor (with her permission of course), Everardo's laptop is connecting fine, from the bed, the couch, everywhere, and I have to sit on a chair next to the open door to stay connected. Ah well, and Telmex closed early today (of course) and are closed over the weekend, so I will have to sit by the door all weekend if I wanna be online. Hey could be so much worse! I could be covered in bites and covered with bug spray right now, and I ain't!

So we headed towards Acapulco and then took the cuota (toll road) around the city and headed for Zijuantenejo and Micoacan. We started playing traffic tag with a yellow VW and the little truck that was following it. We see them at tool booths and stop lights in small towns. Everardo actually chatted with them at one of the toll booths when we all got out to pee; they were headed to Guadalajara just like us, but going thru Morelia. We knew from experience this was the long long way so he told them and they changed to our route. Much later in the day we came up on an accident, and the little VW was in a ditch, winshield broken and lots of dents. But the people were ok- miracle eh? However they were stuck in the ditch and their buddies with the truck had no rope....but we did so Everardo helped them out. We never saw them again but at least we helped when it was needed. We used Garmin for directions the whole way and she never let us down. Garmin is a wonderful GPS and I would recommend it to anybody traveling, cause without it we would have been pretty lost finding our way thru some of the towns we went thru.

So in Michocan I saw that cows are not skinny!! They don't eat much in Guerrero; a couple of years ago when I first went there, I had made up a little song for this little girl about vaca flacca (skiny cow) cause all the cows there are so skinny. And when you buy beef in Guerrero; it's sliced so think you can almost see thru it. And it's tough. People don't eat too much beef there. WE had to go to Acapulco to get any bigger or thicker cuts, but even those were tough. Everardo says it's cause they keep the cows around as long as possible to get the milk to sell. Guerrero is one of the poorest states in Mexico. The roads are a mess, potholes and dirt; there are no jobs and there is no money. It's a very difficult life. And that would be me, moving to the extreme...jumping in with both feet and eyes closed. Most of the people I saw there were happy, they did what htey could to take care of their families and they whooped it up at fiesta time. But this is not the life I came from or wanted to live. That's the truth of it, I don't want to work hard to simply exist, I thought it was so romantic to say that in Playa Ventura people fish today to eat today. Well it's not so romantic- it's the hard truth. The people are beautiful and work hard to live. I respect that greatly. But I do not wish to live that life.

Anyway in Michocan there are jobs. People have money, and the cows eat good. There's alot of wood in Michocan. We went thru one town that is famous for the wood furniture they make. And another that is famous for making guitars. That one had a huge statue of a guitar in the middle of town. Both towns were in the mountians, so they had windy little streets and were both very cool. Would have been fun to do some exploring in both of them.

Oh we saw a big tarantula crossing the road when we first hit Michocan, and it was a little while after I saw a dead chicken in the road that had probly been hit by a car. Of course that had me laughing, thinking about the chicken and tarantula I saw fighting a couple of years ago in Marquelia (near Playa Ventura). That time the chicken won. So whenever I saw an animal crossing the street I thought of why did the chicken cross the road...to kick some tarantula ass. Then when I saw the pig crossing the road I wrote on facebook why did the pig cross the road? Cause he thought he could take the tarantula, (after seeing one of those crossing too). Well nobody but me got my joke, but hey I'm even laughing right now....ha ha and that's what my blog was for in the first place, for me.

So we went thru Micoacan and into Jalisco. 3 states for day 1. We stopped on the road to eat bbq'd corn on the cobb and had tacos for dinner (yeah bye bye sandwiches). Sam did great thru the whole trip. He had his bed in the back and it was not hot since we left so early we didn't get caught in the Guerrero heat. Talking about the silly sandwiches, somehow we said picnic basket and Everardo started doing his best Yogi Bear imitation, ha ha it was terrible so I couldn't stop laughing and it became our theme for the trip.We drove 14 or 15 hours on day 1, but did not make it Guadalajara, we stopped about an hour shy of it and stayed in a motel right next to the freeway for about $30USD. Well it had a kickass tub, really big and deep, so while we ate....tacos of course...I filled it up with hot water and had to get in soooo slow. I soaked and imagined 6 months of bug oil that had saturated my skin being lifted out of me. It was glorious.....However-I did say $30 right? Well there were mosquitos and probly fleas and altho I feel asleep right after my lovely soapy hot bath...I woke up in agony!!! Bites and bites!!! Crap!!!! But I happy to report that was the last time. So it was a long day, but a beautiful trip, both Michocan and Jalisco were very green with pine trees and lots of vegetation and prospering towns, and it gave me hope. Ok that's it for day 1. (at least what I can remember)

Day 3 in PP....We get a call from Leticia and she wants to meet us at 2 pm to show us some places. Now when I talked to Bill the agent she works with, we told him we just signed a contract for a month in an apartment so we need something for Jan 1, and so can take our time looking, especially since we were not too happy with what we had seen so far...except for the little orange house of course...the one that needs a fridge, a stove and a water heater.

We got up, went over to the apartment, signed with him (Gabriel), and since it was only a few minutes after 10am, we hit the AA meeting that was in English that started at 10. That was good and I met a woman there who was happy to have another women since I guess they're scarece around here...I asked where they all were and she said at the bar I guess ha ha! Cause this town is at least the size of Petaluma our home town, and we got lots there...lots everywhere....anyway....After that we went and got the trailer and all our stuff out of the hotel and checked out- yipee! and moved into our apartment. But decided to only bring the stuff from the back of the truck in, meet with Leticia then come back and just pull what we really needed  for the month. Lucky plan as it turned out.

So then we took a drive around Puerto Penasco; Poppi took me up by all the resrt hotels and we went out to this neighborhood called Cholla Bay that's outside town and right on the beach. Alot for sale out there. When the economy tanked in the US, it really tanked here apparently. By then it was time to go meet her so we met her at Sam's club. So we meet Leticia and her amiga, and she asks if we might be interested in a "double house"...what? Do you mean a duplex, well no, butif you are interested we can take a look, it's nearby. So we ok. She is very nice and I already like her better than Maria bitchface. We drive down the main drag, Benito Juarez and take a left down another main street...(meaning paved ha ha), but it has a lot of businesses and resturants and houses. We go quite a few blocks and turn left into a small unpaved but smooth street. It's a street between two major streets, and the second house is a small red house with a fence and a 2 gates, one for walking one for your car. The gates were solid but the fence wrought iron. There are actually 2 places, one a small studio, then a small open area and next to it a bigger house. The bigger house turns out to have 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Now, it's not huge, but SO much bigger than anything we've seen....and...it's $250US per month! Leticia actually lives in the studio but is moving to Phoenix in about 3 weeks. We walk around and then talk privately...we both like it very much. We like the location, the small yard for Sam, the size- we won't be falling over each other, and there's room for our families to visit! Ha ha we JUST signed a contract for a month on the apartment.....so...we call the guy and we are able to get out of it for only $200. He gives us back our securtity deposit and no hard feelings. He actually felt bad that he already spent the $200 rent so he didn't have it. He was very happy that we understood. But hey- we signed a contract- that's what they're for. So we could have lived there all onth and Leticia would have held the house, but why? What about internet, and tv? Would we go without for a month while we thought about the place we planned to call home for the next couple of years? Seemed silly, so we let the $200 go, and grabbed out stuff, and now we are in our new home!! I am sitting next to the open door to get internet from Leticia ha ha, it's 7am and she's already gone to work...she said she'd keep her internet until the last minute so we could use it until we get our own hook up. It works fine for Everardo all thru the house, he was in bed online...pobre Terry has to sit by an open door. Not sure why my laptop doesn't pick it up and his does, maybe first come first serve. Anyway I'm not doing it from a motel lobby ha ha. So now we have housekeeping to do. Grocery shopping, stuff shopping. There's a vegetable stand Poppi remembers down the road and we're headed there..ok I think I'm caught up to today so I'll start writing about the trip next....off to shopping...

So for day 2 in Puerto Penasco, we get up early and start driving around. We actually saw some places for rent and when we would call the numbers, people would come. 3 that way I think. Well during this time Everardo is looking for the house of a woman he knew in the program when he was here 6-7 years ago; he thought she might have some leads for us. So we were looking at the fronts of houses and driving around this one huge area, and he found the house! Actually yesterday he found a couple of places where he lived, and he'd remember different things about PP as the day wore on. So Anna had us come in and gave us a cup of coffee and we chatted (only Spanish), but I was hanging in there so I think I'm learning more than I thought. Well her son or her son in law had a house for rent, 2500 pesos so we went to take a look even tho' she didn't have a key. Ha ha you couldn't see one thing inside, but we could see it was very small and altho' different than before, in a row of houses that all look exactly the same and who's outside walls are touching, and no yard for Sam...

On the way back to the motel we saw a "se renta" sign on a fence outside a house, so we pulled over and called. (That's how we saw a couple of places). The woman said she'd be right over, so we get out and walk toward the house on the corner- which is the one that had the sign and about 8 very ferocious dogs start barking and straining on these ropes they were tied up on scattered around the yard, Some guy puts his head out the window, the window coverings were sheets it looked like; and we said we're looking for the house for rent and he swings his head to the side and says it's on the other side. So we walk past his house and his killer dogs...., take a quick look at the house from the outside, nothing special, and say "let's go!" WE don;t wait for the woman cause who wants to live next door to that! We go back and call the guy with the apartment and agree to meet at 7pm to sign the contract for a month. He doesn't show, and calls to say he is coaching little league and can we do it in the morning, so ok sure. Then Everardo goes to call his friend and accidently calls the woman from the killer dog house. She says no no it's not that one, it's on the other side of town, not the other side of the that house. Oh ok- So- we go look at it at 7:30 at nite...and WE LOVE IT! It's orange on the outside with a black wrought iron fence that has some designs on it. It's a tiny house, but not like the really tiny houses we had seen the day before. They were a kitchen with 2 bedrooms hanging off, that a double bed wouldn't fit in. Like the size of my daughter's condo- just the downstairs, and her downstairs is kitchen and tiny living room and bathroom, the bedroom are upstairs. So we're talking TINY! (side note- I believe my daughter is moving into her new house as I write this. They are so excited; well it's not their house- it's a rental but after years in a condo to get a house is a really big deal- I'm so so so proud of my Drewy. She has a wonderful man in her life and they seem so happy together.) Ok back to me ha ha! This little house has a kitchen and is barely long enough that you could put a couch and a chair at the other end and call it a living room. Then 2 bedrooms, with closets (a big deal in Mexico), and a laundry room at the back of the house. A small yard in the back, but shared with another smaller house back there, who's entrance was walking along the side of our house and we would share the back yard. That was all ok, but then.....we would have to buy a fridge, a STOVE and a WATER HEATER!! And the funny thing is, we were considering it....Seems most places here you have to buy a fridge, and I bought one in Petaluma for a rental house...so we were still thinking about it today...

So today...day 3, this woman Leticia called who works with a rental agent I called yesterday after hating HATING the woman we saw yesterday from another place. That one, maria something bitch, shows us 2 "houses" in a gated community, no room for Sam and really expensive. Afterwards she said well these are the only listings I have. I asked her- then why does your website have so many listings in the 3500 pesos and under? She says oh those arent my listings, why don't you write down the links for all the ones you're interested in and send them to me, then I'll contact the listing agent. What? What do I need her for? I can do all that myself! The guy I talked to that put me in touch with her told me, oh Maria knows everthing about all rentals in PP, she will take care of you. She couldn't be bothered. That's why I called the other guy who turned us onto Leticia.

Ok Catching up. Well maybe I'll finish on the last couple of days while they're fresh in my peabrain and then go back to the trip. I left last nite about 7:15 in the middle of my post to look at another house....we liked it, but...

So- let me back up a tiny bit. On day 1 we saw Everardo's friend Nico, who has a sliver and copper (or maybe bronze) gift-y type shop on the malecon (boardwalk). This was after watching the boats and walking along the water and seeing all the dolphins...Nico knew about a house for rent from a guy, an American guy who is not going to be coming down here anymore and basically wants someone living there to protect the house. People steal the copper, all the wiring, stuff like that. He really liked the guy, but I believe he said something about the guy going thru chemo, which I totally understand having gone thru it myself 3 or 4 years ago...so I'm gussing that's why he's not making the trip- he's probly just too tired. Nico said oh the house is so nice and beautiful, and the rent was 2500 pesos (about $200US). We were SO excited, our first day and a score! So- he calls this other guy, Hector and we meet Hector by the house. Well Nico wasn't sure which house it was, as it turns out he hadn't been there, but based on how well he knew the guy, he "knew" what the house would be like. (oh and Nico speaks English pretty good- yes day 1 was so weird cause I understood so many people ha ha...and I saw people who looked like me all over the place- again ha ha, and the last ha ha too bad for Terry- I was no longer special..being the "only one"--in Playa Ventura I was the only blue eyed person...)Anyway-so we are standing on this side street, still paved, and across the street are 3 houses and he thinks it's one of them. There's a school on one corner and an OXXO at the other end (Mexico's 7-11), I think empty lots and maybe a mechanics shop on the side we were standing on. I was very excited, all three houses were completely different but nice. All had a fenced yard, the wrought iron that's everywhere here. Then we saw people in one house, then a second house, ok must be this one on the left.

Then the guy drives up and motions follow me and drives around the corner before the end of the block. So we follow and I am suddenlt sick to my stomach. It looked like crap! Nothing like the other 3; I hated it before I got out of the truck. The gated fence was about 2 inches from the front door. There was a long driveway, tiled actually to the back, where we went in. BUt the yard was overgrown and looked terible, an overhang had a broken area with plaster or something hanging down. We walk into the kitchen from outside and the fridge is standing open- all moldy- YUCK! The house seemed dark to me and the floor was messed up in a spot where I walked into the bedroom. Well the truth is I walked in hating it and don't remember much more. My eyes told Poppi- NO WAY and we left. Nico was embarrarsed cause he was surprised at the condition of the place. So we thank him, and then meet with this woman Sylvia whom I thought was a real estate agent. Ha ha not. But we didn't figure that out until house #2.

She and this guy Denny, who I had found on a Puerto Penasco chat forum while still in Playa Ventura. He was really helpful answering questions about the area, and then said "yes" when I asked if he knew about any rentals- he said oh I know someone who rents houses.....see he never said she was an agent, and it probly wouldn't have mattered to me at the time. What she was, is, is a Jehova Witness. That's fine, I don't care, but the 2 places she took us to where other congregation members she was trying to help. The first house, for 2000 or 2500 pesos was so small, built on some kind of gov't program or something to do with businesses who buy them and let employees after some kind of criteria (maybe length of service) purchase by taking money out of the checks each week. Anyway this was a tiny kitchen and 2 bedrooms, the whole thing with 4 people filled up the whole place. It was just sad. I had to fight for control to not start crying after the first house. Oh and this was one in a row, I thinks "rows" of them all exactly the same, surrounded by dirt basically, or dirt and sand, desert earth. But no business or parks or stores...just sort of out of town...maybe I was just shocked by not seeing anything like it, maybe scared I made ANOTHER huge mistake....Ok we left there and went to another place, bascially a box, which we did not even see inside cause the guy wasn't there, but about 5 feet away was another box with a woman and a bunch of kids and they all knew Sylvia and Denny.

OK time to re-evalutae what we want to spend! We can afford more, even without jobs...So we drove around and looked for places that had for rent signs on them. There are lots! But it was a long day, Sylvia didn't pick us up until 4pm, so it was getting late. So we went to the English speaking AA meeting at 6pm, and wow! What a huge relief!!! WE left there and I felt so much better. Hope returned. It was funny, the whole trip up and that day, Everardo told me to give my worry to my higher power. I asked the Spirit of the Universe to take it. I felt better every time I remembered worry doesn't accomplish anything. The meeting was great, very small, only 4 people besides us, but everybody shared and it was good. So- tried to call this guy who's real estate website I had looked at and copied his number. Ha ha we didn't figure out for hours it was an Arizona number and that's why we couldn't get thru. Oh and this was before the meeting and after Sylvia- we saw a rent sign and Everardo called him while I was trying to get this other guy, who called himself "Rocky Point Dan", because Puerto Penasco is also called Rocky Point. So both us connect at the same time. A guy drives out to where we are sitting under his sign, and Dan asks me to send him an email cause he is in Las Vegas and his associate will help us the next day. So we look at an apartment with the first guy; it's furnished and has a huge fenced yard and a couple of big dogs running around it. So we think well we can do this for a month and take the pressure off while we look for something else. So we tell him we'll get back to him the next day...then off to the meeting, tacos and bed (and by then I've had tacos breakfast lunch and dinner for a few days ha ha)

The next day.there's no email from Rocky Point Dan who had assured me there would be one. So I call and leave him a message, and we go driving around to look at neighborhoods and for houses with for rent signs. ok I'm gonna start a new post cause this one is very long....

We are in Puerto Penasco! I am right now sitting in a motel office to use their internet since it doesn't work in the rooms, and this will be our third nite here. Tomorrow I'll try to start telling the story of getting here; but I forgot to bring the notes I wrote on the road, and it was only things I wanted to remember so I'll wait and post as Day 1, day 2, day 3. Yep 3 days of driving straight thru- 15 hours day one and then 12 hours each for the days 2 & 3. We started in Guerrero, went thru Micoacan, Jalisco, Sinaloa, and finally Sonora. Sonora is a huge state...or at least very tall cause we came in at the south end and drove up to the north end and it was almost the whole 12 hours.....

We hit Puerto Penasco after dark, just about an hour after dark, maybe 7pm, and stopped in the first motel we saw. It's pretty cheap but we're finally leaving tomorrow! We rented an apaprtment for one month, and actually while I'm over here, Everardo is waiting in the room for the guy to come so we can sign and move in tomorrow. It's furnished, kinda shabby stuff, but hey- the only furniture we brought was the kitchen table and it's benches so it's a good thang.

Day 1 was interesting...started out wonderful cause we drove down to the docks where the huge boats come in after being out all nite. They were unloading manta rays (some kind of sting ray) from one boat and shrimp from another. Big fish in yet another. All these guys were standing around, some working some commenting ha ha, coffee in hand. We bought coffee and a muffin from the sidewalk guy there where people were getting breakfast and watching all the action. Then we went down to the malecon (the boardwalk), where things were just opening up, the restaurants getting their fish from the fisherman for today's menus, and storefronts opening. Next to that is a long patio type area, benches along the edge to watch the water, palm tress planted and other scattered benches. So I'm looking at the water...and 3 dolphins start jumping!! Then a set of 5 dolphins!! I think I saw 4 different groups (are they called schools- I think it's something different), anyway I was overwhelmed! Talk about a sign ha ha!! My last day in Playa Ventura and my first day in Puerto Penasco I see dolphins!

WE also saw a small AA building and it was Faro for Vida...Lighthouse for life. I also took this as a sign; in Playa Ventura we lived next to El Faro! Next to a lighthouse! Then Everardo found a friend of his, Nico and we chatted with him for awhile. Turned out he knew of a house for rent so we went to take a look, but it was really dirty, and needed reapirs and I instantly said no. I mean, Poppi just finished working on the project house from hell so I didn't want it. BUT, ha ha we have seen some terrible houses since, and now that place doesn't seem so bad ha ha.

ooops gonna finish this later, we're going to see another house right now! (yes we are renting an apartment but haven't signed yet ha ha- that is now put off until tomorrow morning) It's been a crazy 2 days and I'll finish this as soon as I can.