18.07.30 Red Bluff to Sutherlin

Getting to sleep last night was tough due to the heat ( I ran MT’s generator  so I could also run the air conditioning until 10:30 but turned it all off and opened the windows when I was ready to sleep and it got pretty warm pretty fast).  

Staying asleep last night was pretty tough due to the noise ( it is a rest area, after all, and there was a steady stream of trucks parking next to me for a break, and then driving off with their noisy engines to continue their journey on I-5 north. 

I woke at day-break after a particularly noisy truck went by, but was able to get another hour of sleep before I decided to get up and move on myself. 

Here is what the sun looked like at 8AM shining through the smoke from the huge Carr fire burning Northwest of Redding nearby. 

I drove north to Sutherlin, OR, about 275 miles, which is further than I like to drive in one day, but I stopped a couple times along the way.  One stop for gas when I crossed the Oregon border - but was surprised to see the gas was not significantly lower than in California  - one stop for lunch from my refrigerator ( thanks to Kathy and one unknown pot-lucker at church yesterday, I went home with a couple salad leftovers - perfect for me - and one stop in Roseburg for more groceries ( I forgot a couple things yesterday when I went shopping in Sacramento before Connie and I had ice cream together for dessert before dinner.)

Sutherlin is about 10 miles north of Roseburg. It is the home of Timber Valley SKP Park of Oregon. 

It is a 55 and older membership co-op community that provides a permanent RV parking space and a small ( but bigger than the one I’m paying for monthly in Auburn) storage shed on the site. 

I decided to get on the waiting list for a spot. They say I am number 130 on the list and it could be three to five years, but that, too, is perfect for me since I am not ready to settle down right now. My deposit is fully refundable so there is no risk getting on the waiting list except letting go of $1,000 interest free.  The people are friendly, it is a quiet and pretty property and the recreational opportunities are plentiful within a couple hour drive from here.

Who knows how I’ll feel about accepting a spot when my name gets to the top of the list, but I know it is good to have options.  

So I dropped off my “Active Waiting List” paperwork and deposit at the park office on my way out of town.

18.07.24-29 Re-entry to US and MT

My ride to the airport on my get-away day out of Mexico City was definitely the best part of my day. I had a nice conversation with Sergio - he asked me what I liked best ( the local food) and least ( the bathroom smells) and what was my favorite place (Mexico City was cool, but I really like the beach) I really felt connected to him and his family and almost shed a tear saying goodbye, but I reasoned that would be unreasonable - although if I do come back, I would stay at their house again.

Fast forward through the airport experience - suffice it to say, I was happy to be home in San José and arrived safely at Tom and Pat’s house at 10:30 PST which was 12:30 AM in Mexico City clock time so we said a quick hello and retired for the night.  

It was hot in San José, so the one full day I stayed there was an indoor day - good eating and conversation with Kelly and her parents.  I brought out all my loot from my Mexico shopping and had fun watching Kelly and Pat pick what they wanted. 

After two nights in San José, it was time to move on to Roseville. Tom did a great job of starting my car and moving it to keep the tires from getting wonky but it was filthy from normal dust accumulation while sitting during my six weeks absence.   Recently I’ve been going to the drive through variety of car wash at gas stations, but end up disappointed because it is not a great wash job, and I have to hand dry anyway, so when I noticed a do-it-yourself car wash driving north through Turlock on I-5, I decided to get off and give it a go - the cold water would feel good on me, too!

After 36 hours back in the US with little opportunity to speak Spanish, I took advantage of the situation with the man who was working as the attendant at this four bay car wash. I asked him “habla español?” and he replied, “si, mucho” so I asked him for help with changing my dollar bills into tokens. I’m sure this exchange in Spanish was interesting to him because he walked me over to my bay, opened up the coin box with his key and gave me an equal number of additional tokens so I would have twice the amount of time on the wash clock. Plus, he came by during my wash time give me much needed counsel on the best way to work the soap brush.  Knowing Spanish continues to be a door opener for me. Very stimulating!  I offered him some candy from my Mexico City stash in thanks, and drove off in a clean Jeep:)

I stayed overnight at Steve and a Terri’s house the first night in town but only Terri was there - Steve was at a Giant’s game in SF with their daughter Aliesha who lives and works there. Terri and I had good conversation over dinner and watched the game on TV while knitting - seems I’m not the only one in the family who likes to knit!

Next day was Friday and I needed to get MT out of the RV repair shop before the weekend. Rodney at B&B RV has been very supportive to me since Mike left -  he did a lot of work on my HoneyDo list while I was gone, but he did not charge me anything to store it on his lot. AND he let me make two trips back and forth from my storage unit nearby while we had the electric plugged in and the air conditioning on this 100 degree afternoon. Thanks, Rodney, and B&B RV on Locksley Lane:)

I spent Friday night with Richard and Dollie - always good conversation there, and Saturday night at a new place for me, with Connie, from PEO. Sorry I don’t have any photos of these good connections. 

On Saturday during the day in addition to more storage and moving related work, I managed a coffee shop visit with my friend Anita and a house visit with Wendy to pick up my Kombucha starter which she nurtured while I was gone.  Wendy is happy to now have her own Kombucha production going. 

I parked MT in the Sierra Pines UMC parking lot for those two nights - thank you very much - and went to church on Sunday morning.  It was great to see some friends from church and to share in an after church barBQ and salad pot-luck lunch. 

My last move before leaving town was a stop in Sacramento to have a short visit and a very tall ice cream with Connie.

Adios, Sacramento, I’m now heading north to Oregon until who knows when.....,

18.07.23: Final día en México

Last night I started to feel like it is time to go home. I spent a couple hours organizing my bags between checked luggage and carry-on. My recent shopping spree added quite a few pounds and takes up space, but I figured I got everything in, so maybe there is room for more…..mañana....

But first, I took my last Ecobici ride to Salon JYN,

 the “salon de belleza” Tía Tizy recommended ( google maps said six minutes by bike ) to get a haircut, manicure and pedicure in one easy stop. I figured I’d pay about 1000 pesos but she charged me 620. Diana and I discussed the low price and reasoned it was because the shop did not have the fancy massage chairs that are so enjoyable during a pedicure. Regular chair, but pampering none-the-less, with conversación en Español. Muy bien!

I had breakfast after at the local organic market and restaurant in my neighborhood. 

I’d done take out from there on el día de pirámides, but had not yet eaten in for a meal. It was pleasant and delicious 

Now I was fed, packed and pampered with a whole afternoon to spare, so I hopped on the subway to el centro-

a different stop this time so I could come up near a large market. It was crazy and sort of scary because I was definitely not in my own neighborhood, so I did not get a good picture of the inside. I took this one incognito because I was aware of the warning to not flash iPhones in public.  

The big orange bags are filled almost as tall as the woman in the white shirt are filled with Cheetos or something like that. There were huge bags of several different types and flavors of snack food in dozens of different stalls. This is a source of the products the street vendors sell in individual serving sized everywhere in the city ( actually in ALL the cities I’ve been ).  

 I was looking for local candy and hot sauce and found both as well as a couple other things. I walked outside to find more stalls, 

then had a difficult time finding my way back inside to the subway, but eventually I succeeded. 

My theory of shopping is to buy things I could not get elsewhere, and if I like it I buy one for me and another for someone else. I’m even thinking I might try some resale online. 

I got back on the subway, went one stop to the tourist area and made one last stop at a stall in the sidewalk where a woman was sitting in the sun with items I’d been seeing everywhere, 

but these looked freshly displayed, not sunburned like the goods in an outdoor stall sometimes look.

I bought a couple new items and some duplicates. Now my bags are definitely full!  

At dinner time I walked around my block and found a new (to me) sidewalk café where I sat with an iced chai tea and chatted with the masero while I waited for Tia Tizy to drop by for a quick farewell visit. 

She lives and works nearby, and is busy at work, but took a break to have a coffee with me. We had a nice visit and agreed to stay in touch. 

When I returned home I had a good conversation with Diana. She helped me understand the taxi Seguro reservation I had for tomorrow morning at 6AM was not my best option. I had forgotten that Sergio drives for Uber on occasion. Diana talked and talked with explanation that the taxi was too expensive, etc.  I listened intently, and after walking to the taxi on the corner to cancel my existing reservation, returned home to discuss the replacement option. Diana talked and talked some more. I listened intently, and as is often the case, I smile, nod and pretend I understood it all. But this particular case, I needed to be sure I knew how I was getting to the airport at 6 AM.  So at a break in her talking, I admitted “entiendo solo mitad  que dice”.  She laughed, and started again, but I interrupted and said “me permites dijo que entiendo” and repeated in Spanish:

   “Tomorrow morning, I will look on my Uber app to get the morning price for a trip to the airport from home. I will not confirm with Uber because Sergio will take me and I’ll pay him directly instead of through Uber?”  Exactamente!

We gave each other smiles and high fives and I went up to sleep for my last night in Mexico for this trip, confident in my airport transportation in the morning. 

18.07.22: Day 6 - Ecobici tour of the city

On Sundays some of the main thoroughfares in the city are closed to traffic from 8-2 so cyclists and all other forms of non-motorized traffic can enjoy the streets. 

I’d been planning to participate with my Ecobici access, and got an earlier-than-usual start by 9:00. I was so excited and confident that I promptly headed off in the opposite direction I had intended. 

Once I realized I was going against the predominant traffic flow, I turned around and 30 minutes later, after a stop at a corner vendor stand for a banana for breakfast, I was headed toward El Centro with the pack. 

This iconic statue in the center of a huge traffic circle 

was the spot for aerobic street exercise with a stage for the leaders to demonstrate the dance moves to very loud music. I wanted to stop, but kept on going since I had my own means of exercise at the moment. 

When I got close to the central square, I made the mistake of docking my bike and becoming a tourist for about 45 minutes. 

I went inside the Palacio de Bellas Artes today, ( I missed it on Day 4 because I fell and hurt my toe - which is now much better, thanks:)) and bought some more fruit for more breakfast - this time it was fresh and cold  pineapple and watermelon served in a 16 oz cup. 

I enjoyed the break, but by the time I got back on the bike, the central walking streets were packed with people 

And the El Zocolo streets were busy with cars

making the biking a bit less enjoyable.

So I retraced my ride back to my general neighborhood where the streets were still only used by bikes and rollerblades and the park-like surrounding was quite pleasant.

At 2:00 when the streets opened up again, I went back to my immediate neighborhood and stopped at a street food cart (which  I noted was busy so the odds are it would be good) because “la fruta estaba no bastante y tenía hambre” The vendors were a young couple.  I ordered what they were serving and still don’t know what I ate, exactly, but it was good.

I was able to answer a couple questions while ordering to select calabasa filling with cheese. La mujer was making the tortillas on the griddle by adding two ingredients together and smashing them into tortilla form. El hombre added the selected ingredients to the tortilla and cooked it until ready.  There were a few stools around the griddle, and a woman finished her meal and motioned me to sit, so I did. I asked the cook “ Puedo andar salsa” pointing to the tubs of red and green on the table.  He said yes and described to degree of caliente in each. When I was done adding the less hot variety, the hombre in a suit next to me did the same. That little exchange in Spanish made me feel very local:)

For dessert, because I enjoyed my pastry so much yesterday, I did it again.  I bought a different goodie at a different panadería and took it to a different sidewalk café to rest and people watch for a while. 

My “it’s the week before Christmas” shopping mentality has been in full swing for a couple days,  so I strolled by the vendor in the park across the street from my cafe and bought some leather goods to scratch that itch (actually, much of this entire trip I did not do much shopping because I didn’t want to carry it around with me, and I knew there would be lots of opportunity in Mexico City at the end, so now it is time).

The bike is such a good way to get around, I kept changing bikes and riding for exercise and to find  more food until after dark.

Here is the neighborhood dog park in full swing.  

When I finally parked my last bike of the day at the bike rack less than a five minute walk from my house, 

I went home to pack. Tomorrow is my last full day in Mexico. 

18.07.21: Day 5 - San Ángel

This morning I returned to the Ecobici experience, but stayed in familiar surroundings - my La Condesa neighborhood. I found a Pastelería, got a good sweet pastry and took it to a corner café where I bought a cup of tea to go with the sweets. 

Then I went home to wait for my lunch date to pick me up at my house....

Claudia had introduced me to her aunt Tizy in the spring and we’ve been communicating via What’sApp.  I let her know when I arrived in Mexico City, and she invited me to spend the afternoon together today.

She picked me up in her car with her mother and the three of us drove south in the city about 20 minutes in traffic to SanAngel - another neighborhood place on the list to visit that I had not seen yet. There we had a nice lunch including a traditional local and seasonal dish 

at Saks, a very nice restaurant facing the plaza.  We shared pictures of family as we got to know each other.  Mom spoke English well because she grew up in Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, and went to US to learn English when she was 10 years old.  Tizy had some English, too, but I tried to communicate in Spanish. 

After lunch we did a little bit of shopping in the Saturday arts and crafts  market.  

It is difficult on the cobblestones in a wheelchair, and there were lots of people, too, so after a short while together, we parted ways so Tizy could take mom home, and I could walk the outdoor market for a while. 

I wandered for quite a while until the vendors were starting to wrap it up for the day.  I ventured home by myself using yet another mode of transportation - the above ground Metro bus system. I had Diana’s card for access, and the line was straightforward down a main city boulevard toward La Condesa, so I could figure out when to exit following along with Google maps, and then it was an easy walk home. 

I’m always happy when I get back to my neighborhood!

18.07.20: Day 4 - Coyoacan

My toe felt much better today, but by the looks of it, ( in addition to my need for a new pedicure) I felt it was a good idea to give it a break from so much walking and take a bicicleta instead. 

I’ve been noticing these bike racks all over where I’ve been walking.  There is a pay station post and instructions on how to get started.

I went online to ecobici and registered. Then it took me quite a while to actually unlock a bike because I was learning the system on the fly. Finally I found a rack on a corner whose pay station reader was in the shade so I could easily see the LED keypad and read the instructions.  I unlocked a bike and was off to discover the neighborhood on bike instead of foot. 

My first stop was at a Friday-only street market that was on my list of things to see. 

Today I was not hungry ( the search for a bicycle took so long I stopped for breakfast at an unremarkable café in the process ) so instead of tacos, I ordered an agua fruta (sandía) and took it to the nearest park to relax. 

The Ecobici system allows for 45 minutes of use.  Any registered user can unlock a bike at any bike rike and drop it off at any other bike rack after 45 minutes. I traded bikes once after the 45 minute period and rode the streets of a neighborhood on the edge of my comfort zone looking for a subway station to my ultimate destination and found myself in an unfamiliar neighborhood pretty quickly.  Lesson learned: scratch the bike idea too far from home. 

I docked my bike at a rack near a subway station ( the Ecobici app on my phone was VERY helpful) and rode two lines to a recommended neighborhood - Coyoacan -where after a few scary moments upon coming up to street level and following the Walking Tour instructions to the letter, I arrived on a lovely cobblestoned neighborhood that reminded me a lot of all the places I’ve been so far in Mexico. 

I stopped into one museum of “sound” on the walking tour. Just like in SMA, all you see from the street is a painted wall and iron  door, but behind the door was large property with a huge garden.  

A part of the lovely old house had a cafe, and another functions as the museum.  The rotating exhibit at this time was about Mambo music and the King of Mambo, Dámaso Perez Prado. 

More Spanish lesson time while reading the exhibit displays and watching a 1950’s era movie with Mambo music

I passed a small plaza with an Iglesia painted bright yellow.

I sat long enough to be approached by a child selling earrings on a cardboard display.  I bought a pair for 50 pesos because my trip is almost over and I’m getting that same feeling I used to get three days before Christmas “Did I buy enough?”  These were hand made with crochet decor on cloth so they will be light on my ears and not too big. 

By the time I reached the central plaza which reminded me a lot of the one on Valkadolid, it started to rain. I sat on a bench under a huge tree which kept most of the rain away and engaged in conversation with a local man who was very interested in talking English while I talked Spanish. By the time the rain stopped, it was 5:00. I declined his offer for coffee, although I would have accepted had it been sunny and noonish rather than late on a Friday afternoon and in a neighborhood far from home. 

I took my first Taxi Seguro to the metro station and headed home with no incident. The women and children car was packed, but calm. 

Back at home I sat and talked with Diana and Sergio - I had not seen them for a two days and one night. Diane offered dinner from her kitchen and while we talked, I mentioned I wanted to go somewhere to hear/see music and dancing at a place I knew in the neighborhood. But I had to rest and wait for a while first since music doesn’t start until at least 9:00.  

When I came downstairs at 9:30 Diana told me (and I finally understood after repeating what I thought I heard a couple times - Diana does not speak English very well, and like most people I speak Spanish with, she thinks I understand what she says when she is speaking normally) she and her daughter Ekaterina would go with me to a different place they thought would be good for all three of us. Awesome!  I would not have to walk alone at night, or take a taxi, or sit alone in a restaurant. 

They put a lot more effort in to getting ready to go out than I did. Once they came back downstairs ready to go, they kept primping in the mirror, and Diana suggested I let my hair down, which I was happy to do now that I was not going alone. 

Sergio drove us to La Flor del Son which was a restaurant with a big dance floor and a stage for Cuban music bands. 

We barely got seated before 17 year old Elaterina was asked to dance. Mom was proud, I was amazed and interested in the music and dancing. We stayed until 1:30 and heard three different Cuban bands - each one playing about 30 minutes or so.  When one band finished, there was recorded music playing while the bands changed on the stage, but the people kept dancing. I was asked three times to dance during the night and I accepted, but none of the times did I feel confident about my ability to follow. I was happy and not surprised when I did not receive a 2nd invitation to dance from each of the men.  It was fun, anyway.  I’ll just have to put a bit of effort into salsa dancing in a way similar to my effort to learn Spanish. I’m sure I can do it. Ekaterina, on the other hand was a very good dancer and had numerous partners, some were repeats. Diana said she was guarding the table, and did not care to dance since - she gets no practice either since Sergio is not a dancer at all.

Sergio is a good taxi driver, though. He showed up at 1:30 to drive us all home.  Good night!

18.07.19: Day 3 - El Centro

Today started with a seismic activity alert. Sergio had described the possibility of this occurring during our initial conversation - part of the introduction to the house - “here are the keys, the hot water is on the right and if you hear this siren, you have about 60-90 seconds to exit the building”. 

There was a strong earthquake in Mexico City last year, and while I have not seen any evidence, Sergio has mentioned buildings that sustained damage. 

This alert happened before I was actually up, but after I was awake. Sergio was up on the terrazzo doing chores and called to me that we were having an alert siren. I was in my sleeping clothes, so grabbed a jacket and one of my clothes bags and my phone and exited with the family to the street. 

The warning system is a bit like a tornado warning, I guess - sensors in the earth detect movement which suggests the possibility of a quake in the immediate future. There was no quake, and we all filed back in after a couple minutes, but it was a bit creepy, for sure. 

Morning excitement over, I went back to my room to get my usual slow start to the day. A trip to El Centro.

In this city, going to El Centro was a different experience than in all the other El Centros I’ve described. 

I took the subway, for one thing. A different route today but the experience was now familiar.  Study the tour book and metro map to decide which lines and exits to use, buy two tickets upon entry and enjoy the ride. 

There was a party atmosphere when I came up out of the subway after a ten minute ride.  Dancers dressed in indigenous attire performed on the street for tips,

vendors shouted out their wares in loud conflict with their neighbor vendors and a long street of vendors. The goods were a mixture of food and things, but many of the things were modern in nature rather than the tourist and hand crafted items available in the markets I’m used to in the smaller towns. 

I followed my tour book into the National Palace

to see a long wall of Diego Rivera paintings 

and a huge mural on the alcove of a staircase.  

Each of these paintings had a letrero written in Spanish and English so I could test my Spanish comprehension and review my work. 

I walked around an archeological site right at the edge of the huge plaza called Zocolo, but did not go in to the museum area due to my satisfying visit to Teotihuacán yesterday.  

I walked along the tour route toward the huge Palacio de Bellas Artes building and surrounding park because it was a must see, stopping for a bite to eat and some after lunch sweets in a recommended restaurant and beautiful old building along the way.  The tour book was careful to point out the interesting architecture.  

I ran in to a bit of trouble on my way to the Palacio - I entered a small garden area to rest and look at my book, but I was looking at it as I entered, and I fell when I did not see the two inch step at the entry. Embarrassing, of course, a little bit of scraped skin on my right knee and left elbow, but the big problem was my right big toe.  Not broken, but not happy. I was invited to sit on a bench nearby by some women who had witnessed the fall. I talked with them for about 10 minutes while I recovered, but I knew my toe was going to be an issue.

I continued on my way, and walked the rest of my day as planned, but at a much reduced pace and therefore with altered plans and no photos to document the rest of the day.

My goal in the downtown area was to visit a museum where Andre, the son of Sergio and Diana works. I was very close when I fell, so I did not change that plan. It was “El Museo de Memoria y Tolerencia”.  

Totally in Spanish, but my reading comprehension is solid - and the subject on the top three floors was familiar - the rise of Hitler through the end of his war crimes. The museum was set up very well with a direction of travel from room to room from top to bottom that could not be avoided ( you could not get lost or miss anything).  I spent a lot of tome at the top reading many signs about Hitler’s early years and then dictatorship and hurried through the horrible stuff although I did read some along the way to the 2nd flood where we were invited to accept the human race with love and tolerance in hopes that somehow mankind can change their ways. There was a really good bottom floor exhibit about sexuality issues. I left the building at closing time with a bit of a belly ache from the heavy subject, but happy to have had the opportunity to test my Spanish and come out a winner. 

Not much else to report this day. I got home pretty early and was happy to relax and give my toe a break - no pun intended!

18.07.18: Day 2 - Pyramids

After two nights and one day of walking orientation in my immediate neighborhood, I felt ready to approach the subway system / the city is big and I knew I could not walk everywhere like I have done everywhere until now. Also, after the anthropology experience in the museum yesterday I was ready to see the real life version. I researched how to get to Teotihuacán - the archeological site about 25 miles out of the city I had heard about. 

I had two choices - buy a seat on a tour bus or take public transportation on my own schedule. Guess which one I chose?

The subway system was pretty straightforward.  I walked about 1/2 mile to the Seville station, bought two tickets for 10 pesos each and used one to get through the turnstile. I asked a security person at the turnstile for directions and he let me take a camera photo of his route map which was very useful. 

My waited for my first ride was in the area at the front of the train reserved for women and children. 

Sergio had told me about this option and recommended I take it. 

I needed to make two subway line changes to get to my destination.  One of the changes involved walking at least 1/4 mile underground.  There were airport like museum displays along the way, but who stops to read them when trying to get to the next ride?

My guide book gave me specific instructions about getting off the subway and onto the bus to the archeological site Teotihuacán.  The fact I’d already been to this bus station on the day I arrived help lessen any anxiety and the whole bus station experience was much less intimidating this time. Having only a day pack with me helped, too. 

The bus ride took about an hour. I had a window seat and knitted the whole way sitting next to a young woman who was with her family in the seat ahead of us. We had no conversation whatsoever. 

The Teotihuacán site was absolutely huge and amazing. 

This is my first view of the pyramids way off in the distance beyond a long stretch of open field lined with remains on each side. 

I spent 4 hours there and took more pictures than I have anywhere else on the trip. Pictures do not do justice to the pirámides 

and archeological remains of the ancient city. 

I spent at least an hour getting to the first pyramid because it was a long walk and because I stopped to have lunch in a private spot along the way.

The first climb- up the “pirámide del Sol” was an orderly affair with hundreds of people following the well designed one-way traffic flow.

I counted 212 steps to the top , but many of them were extra steep steps. I don’t recall the dimensions, but it was big!

This is a view from the top looking at the 2nd “pirámides de la Luna”.  Here I look lonely, but I was not...

The second pyramid was a bit smaller but equally as impressive. 

This is a view from the top looking back at the entire complex and the long walk back to the bus stop.

The return trip was a piece of cake.   I knew the last bus was at 6PM, but reasoned I should not wait that long because there were a LOT of people here and maybe the bus would be too full at 6. Then what would I do? So by 3:30 I was waiting in line about 15 minutes until the bus arrived at the same spot it dropped off earlier that day.  I made it onto this first bus, but just barely. A man offered me his seat on the full bus - at the very front - so I had a good view and decided not to knit. I offered his son a piece of wrapped candy I had with me in thanks. 

Back at the bus station I retraced my steps to the subway and through the two transfers to home station Seville.  The hardest part was finding my way home from the subway station because I came up to street level on a different side of the road from where I entered and was disoriented for a while. 

I made it home, exhausted but satisfied with another day full of sunshine, exercise and plenty of Spanish experience reading the  exhibit snd transportation signs.