day 30 - may 10, 2014

7:30 pm

yeah that's right, there's no day 29. "why?" you ask? because i was too tired and frustrated and demoralized to even want to blog.

however, today i feel much better.

we spent the day yesterday trying to find a scrapyard in selina cruz, with zero luck. we couldn't even find a dump to ditch the camper at. we were trying to find a topper for the pickup, and a tailgate, so that we can make a little indoor bed and storage area.

however, last night, after much wine and commiseration, we decided to head for oaxaca, to the overlander oasis. if you recall, this is the place we stayed in oaxaca previously, run by a spectacular canadian couple, calvin and leanne. calvin used to build baja racers, and does lots of fix-jobs on people's rigs that pass through. so we ended up bringing the camper here - he's going to help us find a tailgate and a box for the truck, and he's also going to cannibalize the camper before we dump it. there are lots of usable parts to it, and the fridge, stove, etc. he will pull out what he wants, and what he thinks will help other people, then we'll take what's left to the dump. i feel really good about our little tragedy having the capacity to help other people who need it. when you live in a truck, finding somebody like calvin who has not only the knowledge and resources, but also the spare parts just laying around to fix your problem, it's a HUGE load off your mind! 

even last night, when we made the decision to come to oaxaca, we felt much better right away. it feels like home here (and when we arrived, leanne hugged us and said "welcome home"! what could be better than feeling safe and cozy when half of your home has just flown off on the highway?), and with calvin and leanne's help, i'm sure we'll have a brand new defiant in no time.

that being said, our plans have changed a little... we are going to head back north. we're not giving up on this trip, but we were planning to park the truck in belize and fly home for the summer, and we've just decided to drive it home instead, since there is obviously some regrouping that needs to be done. in fact, we're excited about the prospect of driving back to canada. when we left in january the weather was so bad that we didn't spend much time in northern mexico, so we can take a bit of time to explore it on our way back! we've also learned SO much from this experience, that we have some great ideas for the future.

day 28 - may 8 - today is in tehuantepec in a ditch

11 pm

well, you guys, we don't even know what to say about today.

today... today was a day that i will tell my grandpuppies about. today is a day neither of us will ever forget. today was not for the faint of heart.

we had a pleasant morning, eating fresh mangoes and oranges for breakfast at our lovely campsite just outside puerto escondito. we drove the familiar, curvy roads along the coast, and, in fact, stopped just outside tehuantapec at an old sugar hacienda where there is camping. the ground was littered in fallen mangoes, there were banana trees. however, it was only 1:30 pm, there were no bathrooms (the security guy's familly lives in one, the other wasn't functioning), and so we decided to push on, to head further down the coast to other, more promising campsites.

we stopped at a walmart on the edge of tehuantapec, it was like being in vernon in the summer - hot, windy, full of big box stores and fancy malls.

just outside tehuantapec there is a stretch of road described in our camping guide. it says that it has the potential to be dangerous, that you should secure the awnings on your camper, as they may flap around, or even fly off. well, we are assuming the wind might be worse because of the tropical storm, because nothing could have prepared us for what was coming.

we were driving down the highway, we hadn't even hit 90 km/h. we didn't feel a thing, no movement, no sounds. we checked the sideview mirrors and, holy crap, there was the top of our pop up camper, on the side of the road. it blew right off. i don't know what made us look back at that time, but we literally could have driven for an hour and not noticed. we pulled over, me yelling "NO NO NO THAT DID NOT JUST HAPPEN". we backed up. we jumped out of the truck to survey the damage. thankfully, almost everything survived - our passports, our money, my precious teddy bear (honey bear).

looking back on it, we're still not sure how this happened. the camper was properly secured. the little latches were in place, everything was as it should have been. we know that campers are not always built to the highest standards, but seriously?

after gathering the stuff that we wanted (and drinking lukewarm hinekens and waving at the federales, who drove by laughing at us by the pickup load), we turned around and headed back into town. we found a hotel. we pulled everything out of the truck. then we went for a swim and drank like 15 beers.

more to come...

day 27 - may 7, 2014

6:30 pm

somehow i got a sunburn just on my wrist today.

we drove from acapulco to puerto escondito today. the hurricane is supposed to hit acapulco in the next 24 hours, and they are expecting to feel some fallout here in about 24 hours as well, but we should be long gone by then!

we're at a beautiful little campground on the outskirts of escondito, and just had a fabulous mexican dinner and 3 beers apiece for $180 pesos ($15 CAD). i am drinking to forget my sorrow...

i found out my hero died today. if you're not canadian, you may not know who farley mowat was, but he was a testament to everything it means to me to be canadian. he was 92, would have been 93 on monday, but i honestly thought he'd live forever. he was born in 1921, and spent his youth in the canadian prairies,raising owls and snakes and dogs, and being a wild canadian child. he was a soldier. he was an explorer - he was one of the first white people to explore the north of canada, to befriend the native populations there, and to promote their cause with the canadian government. he was a writer of epic proportions - at home i have an entire book shelf dedicated to his work. he wrote children's stories, such as 'owls in the family', 'lost in the barrens' and 'the dog who wouldn't be' about his youth, and about the experiences of young people in the north. he wrote poignantly about his time overseas in the war. and, most important to me, he wrote such amazing works as 'people of the deer', 'never cry wolf', and (my favourite) 'no man's river', about his experiences living in the far north of canada with the natives there in the 1940s and 50s. i lived in northern ontario for a spell, and found that his works are no less brilliant and valid 60 years on then they were when he wrote them. i read his books as a child (i even remember him coming to my school to read to us in the library), and i feel that his strong, adventurous characters contributed significantly to my own desire for adventure. i am a reader, and as such, i feel that what you read contributes so much to the person you are. i remember reading 'the dharma bums' by jack kerouac as a 15 year old, which was a huge part of what made me want to hitchhike around british columbia as a teenager, and experience life with all it's rough edges and ragged beauty. farley mowat was like that for me - his writing made me want to get out and really see the world - meet people that nobody from my world would ever meet, see places that nobody had ever seen before. learn about cultures, and appreciate the strength they have in their differences from the culture in which i grew up.

he was also an activist - the sea shepherd conservation society has a boat named 'the farley mowat', and when the crew was arrested for interfering with whaling operations, he paid their bail in sacks full of loonies and toonies (canadian $1 and $2 coins), calling it 'pirate booty'. he wrote many books about his activist views and experiences, bringing those experiences to the armchair activists among us.

he was a truly remarkable man, and the world is a worse place for having lost him.

i lost my dog in november, he was hit by a car while chasing a rabbit - one of his favourite pasttimes - he was only 3 1/2, and it was one of the most devastating days of my life. he was my best friend, and his name was farley. if you know me, you know that i don't want children, dogs are my children. the first time i was given the solo honour of naming a dog, his name was farley, because what else would it be?

today, i am honouring and missing both of the farlies in my life. they were both such remarkable people (you do know that dogs are people, right?), and contributed so much to both my life personally, and the lives of many others.

r.i.p. farley mowat. may the world learn from your truly shining example.   

day 26 - may 6, 2014

7 pm

today was an interesting day. it started off kind of terrible, but just got better and better!

we got up early, all gung-ho to get the truck stuff figured out. we had our smoothies, coffee, and popped the camper down without incident - heck yes, what a start to the day!

but then... the defiant wouldn't start.

mike's 99% sure we have dead batteries (it uses 2), so we replaced one with our backup battery, and it is starting okay now. however it took about 3 hours of dicking around and charging batteries with the auxiliary charger this morning to figure this out. so while we'd planned to be at the SAT aduana (customs) office at 9 am, we didn't even leave here until noon.

well, we slogged through acapulco traffic, and made it to the SAT office at about quarter after 1. i expected there to be a lineup, etc, but it was just an empty, cool office. i google translated our situation to the guy at the desk, and he brought over another guy. new guy spoke very good english, and asked us some questions, before declaring that there was nothing to be worried about. he said that it didn't matter that the truck permit and the tourist visa don't have the same information on them, they are both valid anyway, and nobody will give us any trouble at the border. well, we were a bit skeptical, and pressed him a bit, but he insisted that the seguro retourno permit we thought we needed is only if your vehicle permit has EXPIRED (which ours has not). he swore up and down that it was not a problem, and we were free to travel in mexico until the truck permit expires (end of july). so that's that.

next, we had a quick celebratory sushi lunch. it was acceptable but unremarkable.

then, off to the dentist. i told her that i could feel sensation (heat, cold, etc) in my tooth, but that none of it was PAIN, just... like an awareness? like you'd have with any other tooth? so she said i didn't need a root canal right now (sweet baby jesus), and that the likely reason i was in pain before is that my filling was cracked. she refilled that sucker, charged me $500 pesos (about $40 CAD) and sent me on my way.

all of this leads me to: WE'RE LEAVING TOMORROW! WE'RE HEADING BACK ON THE ROAD! i feel like our trip is really REALLY starting now. huzzah.

in celebration i'm making home made trailer park pizza, complete with from-scratch pizza dough!

10 pm

there is thunder rumbling. lightning flashing. no rain yet.

we had a lovely visit for an hour or two with a guy who is staying next door. his name is hamish, and he's from london. he's backpacking around mexico right now, but has been on a whirlwind world tour! we swapped travel stories and had a grand time.

now, we have packed up almost everything and are heading to bed, we're getting up at 6:30 tomorrow to head to zipolite for a night, then onward to chiapas!

day 25 - cinco de mayo, 2014

7 pm

after the craziness of the last couple of days, and today being the actual holiday, we expected cinco de mayo to be nuts. nuts, i tell you!

well, we got up, surprised to see that the garbage and bottles and etc left by all the revelers yesterday was still scattered about. it was ten am. when would it be cleaned up?

we decided yesterday that we'd go into town today and check things out. we were hoping that there would be some cinco de mayo fun happening... however it would seem that it's not much of an actual holiday here (just an excuse for government workers to not work). the market was open, and big stores, but not much in the way of places to sit and have a beer. (i know right, our life is so hard)

anyway, we took the $6 peso (50 cent) bus into town (about a 50 minute ride), and wandered around for a few hours. i bought some nice earrings in the zocalo (town square), and also some sweet purple jersey knit fabric for $39.99 pesos/m (about $3.50 CAD/meter, 1/10 of the price in canada!) we also had a smoothie, and checked out the central mercado (market), where we bought some veggies and fruit.

when we were ready to leave, we tried to find the busses that come out this way, but all of the traffic was being diverted because of an accident. we walked up the road trying to find a bus, which we didn't, but we did see the accident. there was a woman's body in the road, covered by a blanket. she must have been hit by a car or something. there really seems to be no rhyme or reason to driving in mexico (and accordingly, it suits mike just perfectly), but for the most part we've found that people are very patient. there have been moments where we were certain people would be honking and yelling (at each other, if not at us - and driving a beast like the defiant, there are times when we deserve it), but everyone just waits it out, understanding that this is just how it is. that being said, horns seem to be used more as a greeting/form of encouragement than a warning, and a left hand signal in mexico means "pass me" (i bet you love that, dad)... what i'm going on about, really, is that there seem to be very few rules, and while most of the time it seems to work, in a crazy way, there are moments like today that remind me of how dangerous even crossing the street can be. that being said, everything can change in a heartbeat, so there's no point in not following your dreams, every moment of every day!

we ended up taking a cab back here ($160 pesos including tip, about $12 CAD for a 30 minute ride) instead of the bus. this place was open today, though there was barely anyone here and it's mercifully quiet. we were so happy to come home to a clear blue pool.

it's supposed to rain a little tonight - this will be the first actual rain on our trip so far, and we're a bit nervous. mike replaced the little roof vent on the defiant today in preparation. hopefully she's waterproof!

day 24 - may the 4th be with you, 2014

10:30 pm

well, last night was insane. the mexican wedding was basically a super loud, obnoxious version of a canadian wedding. there were slow, romantic songs punctuated by fireworks (which were set off about 20 feet from the defiant). there were spanish singers singing english songs, clearly not understanding the words and just sort of making appropriate sounds. there was the YMCA. there was drunken yelling, singing, tripping, dancing.

and yet (and if you know me, you know i sleep very lightly), i slept through almost all of it. i went to bed at 9:30 last night!! i'm not going to say i slept WELL, but i did sleep! until 9 this morning! at which point i felt like shit, but still!

we went into town today. however, as we were popping the camper down, BANG! same problem - stupid cable system. broken again. however mike seems to have fixed the alternator issue with WD40... the salt air is really kicking the defiant's ass! anyway, after a mostly uneventful trip to town, mike again fixed the camper, hopefully it'll be good to go for a while now...

when we got back to the campsite, some mexican family had poached our spot. this was fine, they moved when asked, except that after a hot sticky morning, all we wanted was a swim. well, our pool was BROWN with dirt. we emptied it and refilled it, and had our swims... we just wish we'd had them 3 hours earlier. also, there was some fairly unspeakable garbage in there that i won't even get into.

the kampground was packed with daytime partiers today, most of whom have just now left, and it was loud all afternoon. i'm all for a party, but after last night's craziness, and also given that they were line-dancing to a spanish rendition of achey breaky heart, i feel like i could have done without.

tomorrow, we're planning to take the bus into the city and explore a bit. it's cinco de mayo, and when we drove through town today, things were certainly in long-weekend swing, so i'm sure there will be fun to be had. we'd like to go explore some little markets, maybe check out the old town square, etc.

day 23 - may 3, 2014

5 pm

this has been a very chill day so far - i failed at having a siesta, mike discovered a possible issue with the alternator of the defiant (however there is a good mechanic right across the street, and juan grande has the same truck, so we feel pretty confident about getting it fixed asap), we fed mama perro and visited the puppies, and refilled our pool (they tried to do it for us, but i feel awkward about watching some guy who gets paid $2/hour do a job that i am totally fine with doing myself).

there have been wedding preparations going on all afternoon - apparently the fiesta starts at 6. there have got to be 30 workers here who have been putting up chairs, tables, a bar, flowers, some weird looking canoe-type thing (that looks totally run down and out of place, wonder what that's about), and a gigantic cross. the most recent development has been the delivery of a generator the size of my car. eep. it's going to be THAT kind of night... not that we're surprised... but i'm starting to be seriously jealous of mike's 3 hour siesta this afternoon!