The Paved Road to El Fuerte

hola!

I am pleased to announce that during our Sunday drive we saw no smoke and no fire. The land was very peaceful, dry and hot, but it is surprising how green the terrain is beginning to turn. We still do not really know what the helicopter has been doing.


We weren't able to get up too close to Mt. Cacharamba as we had planned, but here is the backside of Mt. Alamos. You are looking at the huge landslide from the hurricane. This slide has been estimated at more than two football fields wide. There are no communites, no pueblos, no ejidos here, thankfully nothing but land at the base of the slide.
The town of Alamos, is right on the other side.Happy to not see any smoke, we decided to keep driving and go to the sea.

We took the new paved road to Masiaca. This road provides great conversation around town. Many people think it is paved ALL the way to Masiaca. Well, we have been on this road many times. It is Not paved all the way to Masiaca.

It is nicely paved from Alamos to KM7 and then, it is back to the normal..... dirt , dirt, and more dirt, huge gullies, oops, washed out on that side, yikes, deeply rutted on this side, time to put it in four wheel drive over there and this hill, do you want me to get out and push?

It isn't always that bad, and sometimes, the road has been graded, smoothing out some of the rough areas, but the road also changes all the time, depending upon how much travel it has received, how much livestock passes on it and how much wind and rain there is. Just wait till June 24, and the monsoons. What road?


At KM 20 the paved road begins again and then, it is approximately 37 KM's to the little town of Masiaca.

Shortly beyond Masiaca, is Highway 15. Going north we would end up in Navajoa, south would lead to Los Mochis, but west will take us to Las Bocas and the beach, or northwest would take us to the beach at Huatabampito. Both are very different and very beautiful.

On Sunday, we chose Las Bocas. The water was gorgeous and we soaked up some good humidity. It was 10 degrees cooler there than on our drive.

Little lots, their boundaries all fenced off, are for sale here and there. A few rustic adobe structures are also 'se vende', as well as some larger casas and haciendas. I told Senor I thought it might be nice to live at the beach, get one of the little fenced lots........wrong thing to say to a guy who works like he does, in the sun, 7 days a week to get a roof over the casa we have.........

So I walked on down the beach by myself because I knew he was a little irritated, scored big on shells and by the time I got back, life was good again...........

cute little 'se vende' lots. Senor, if you are reading this, I do not want to live at the beach.....I REPEAT, I do not want to live at the beach...I am just showing people how pretty the little lots are, that's all.........

So, I told Senor a funny story.

I told him about the 2 fellows I met, in town, on Saturday morning. They had dropped by to check out Alamos, on their way from Las Vegas to Mazatlan, where they were going to be renting a casa for the year.

They had just been on a tour of town and had heard there was only one other tourist in town..............was it me, they asked...............no, i said, i live here, how do you like Alamos?.........Oh, we love it! We think we might want to live here! one of them said.

They were very excited. Not only had they fallen in love with Alamos after being in town for 2 hours, they were eager to try out the new paved road to El Fuerte because it would cut down on the driving time to and from Mazatlan................huh? i said, boy, i don't think so, there is no paved road to El Fuerte.................we were told we could get to El Fuerte, in an hour and a half, on the new paved road, one of them said.

Well, i explained, there must have been some confusion................there is a partially paved road to Masiaca, but every road that leads to El Fuerte, is dirt, and........an hour and a half?.....the last time i went, it took almost 8 hours.

They looked at me like they did not believe me. Their final destination was Mazatlan by nightfall............. won't happen, i said.

What kind of vehicle do you have, i asked......a chevy van, one man said.

Won't happen, i wanted to scream at them..........you will be on the back road to El Fuerte and it will be getting dark and you will not know where you are and you will have to sleep in your van and you will not, I repeat, will not get to Mazatlan until tomorrow!

The two men just looked at each other, one said............ well the road is just right out there, we heard.

They thanked me and got in their van to go on the new paved road to El Fuerte.

Below is part of the paved road to Masiaca.

Below is one of the dirt roads that leads to El Fuerte. There is NO paved road to El Fuerte.

gotta take a siesta! linda lou

Ok...about this Raton pass issue.......

It can't rest. It's been a few weeks, but I can't let it go without comment.

Way back when, almost to the beginning of time (for us, this refers to "before packing the U-HAUL trailer; ie: just trying to get out!), the topic of "let's look WAYYY into the future; way beyond Taro cards and palm reading". [footnote: readers of my previous/first entry (both of you) will know who raised this issue as I was busy getting the house ready for sale and the woman I love was busy getting us ready to cross the border].

Our route south was preordained: we have a daughter in Colorado whom we wanted to visit on our way to our new home {ok, so its an extra bizzillion miles and days of travel; gas is still $2 less that in europe (maybe, depending on euro/dollar and gallon/liter conversion rates; I haven't done the math because it doesn't matter (we are going anyways) and this way I can delude myself that this is alot cheaper (well, she could be living in Germany...)

I digress. So, the topic raised in ancient history (by you know whom) was: "If we are going through Colorado, which route do you propose we take?" "Why?" I ignorantly reply. "Well, because I've gone the south route before and I WILL NEVER GO OVER RATON PASS EVER AGAIN!!!!"

Geez!! Where did that come from?? I quickly try to process. [footnote: Linda lived in Colorado in the early 70's and I did my undergraduate work in that state at about the same time. I made many trips to New Mexico during those years and I have NO recollection of any big passes to cross to get there]. I replied that I had made countless trips from Colorado to New Mexico and had never encountered a problem pass, although I almost always cut off the freeway before the border and took the state route south to Taos and Santa Fe. [Had I ever been over Raton Pass, I wondered: I have no recollection of a bad pass from one state to the other?]

We haven't been together this long and still love each other without learning the primordial lesson early on: dont fight any battles not worth it (are any even worth it?).

So, I calmly reply: "No problem, we'll go another route: west to Utah and then south."

[You know whats coming; I admit I was blind sided]

"Oh!! How big are the passes that way; thats over the Rockies!! Wolf Creek Pass isn't on that route isn't it???"

[but, I know when to let a stew simmer]

Once we left our daughter and started heading via the west/Utah route (I presumed given the fear of RATON PASS!), Linda surprised me with: "Is it shorter to go south on the Interstate (notice no mention of RATON PASS). I replied that it would save a lot of time and gas. Like fishing, you never know when: with a few miles until the turn off to the westerly route to avoid RATON PASS, I hear: "Lets just go over the pass: I want to get to Mexico as soon as possible!" [read: I haven';t worked on these LISTS for so long just to.......].

We passed the turn west to the "safe" route. The signs for "RATON PASS" loomed closer.
The highway here is two lanes each way with a grass divider. Oh, oh...we are beginning to climb....[I have NO recollection of this "scary" pass?!]. I glance at Linda ...she isn't digging her nails into either cat (who are calmly looking at the scenery [ok: poetic license going too far].

Before I had a chance to check my rearview mirrors to see if someone is trying to pass us up hill, I saw a sign that read " Raton Pass" (I cant recall the elevation, but I think it was less than our house in Washington. Tolt Hill up to our house in Washington is steeper and has more curves than Raton Pass. It's almost as long. That's ok; we all have some scary memories from th 70's.

On the way down, I seem to recall comments about how long ago that was...they must have revised the road........... We were now im New Mexico and a step closer.

Six Minutes Left on Tucson Library Computer

Hi ya,
In Tucson....hot....Bill is in the truck running the air conditioning for el gatos....
Got the cats' health certificates.
Got Mexican car insurance....$345 for a year from San Xavier and boy, were they nice....
Got the trailer unloaded..in 93 degree temperatures at 8am.
Got lots of paperwork to complete before we cross the border at Nogales tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.
Hoping to cross very early..hoping we get green lights all the way. Then we are off to Empalme near Guaymas to get car permits for the truck.
Have received some great emails from folks who are eagerly awaiting to hear how our border crossing goes.
Well, we will keep in touch and probably let you know once we reach Hermosillo..adios

So Here's the Deal

Hola from Colorado!

If you read the first June blog, you know we are on our way. We left on Memorial Day, late in the afternoon and drove to Snoqualmie Pass, 45 minutes away, got a room facing the snow covered slopes and crashed. We have been in Northern Colorado for almost a week, visiting our daughter, relaxing, doing some last minute paper work and squabbling over the route south to the border.

Have you ever been over Raton Pass at the border of Colorado and New Mexico???? Horrible, a nightmare you won't forget...I don't want to go even though it is an interstate. It is almost 8,000 feet and I remember it being narrow. I also remember going over Raton in the early 70's in a VW bus and during an electrical storm we had to get out and push the bus the rest of the way up the Pass. no, no, no, I will not go...i will not get out and push a uhaul trailer up the rest of the way. no,no, no....

So we are going to stick with 285 and head down through Santa Fe and across into Arizona. We hope to cross at Nogales next Tuesday or Wednesday. Once again, it depends on the cats....we have to have a new health certificate within 72 hours of crossing the border.

Speaking of the cats...it has been interesting. The Seattle area vet would not give us tranquilizers for the cats, and instead suggested we use a product called Feliway. It is a product that we spray in the truck, their travel cages or a motel room, any place they are not used to and the spray relaxes them and helps them adjust to new people and surroundings. I think it has cat pee in it....but it works just fine for the most part, and No, there is no smell to it..

We started out putting the cats in the motel room with us (Motel 6 is about the only place we have found that will accept the cats). They would hide under the bed and be nice and quiet until about 2am. At this time Cookies would begin his deep growling and then Ashes would start and there would not be enough spray in that $29.95 bottle to stop them.
So at first we would scoop them up and toss them back in the truck. Now, days later, we don't even bother to take them out of the truck. They are eating and drinking and doing other business and seem very happy in the truck. At night we can see them running around the cab. So they are getting some excercise.
Needless to say, we are eager to get them to Alamos and out of the truck permanently...

We want to thank a few people and let you know who we used to help us get our home ready to sell. It was important to us that we try and use as many businesses from the Snoqualmie Valley as possible, and we feel like we did just that with a few exceptions.

We urge you to call ACE HOME IMPROVEMENT and DISCOUNT FLOORING for anything you need. The owner, Craig Story, is amazing. We could not have left town when we did if it had not been for him. He started out as our painter, but he became everything so much more, painting, floors, electrical, staining, fixtures...we could go on and on because he can do everything.
Craig's number is 425-442-8343 and he is from Duvall.

We ordered our first windows from Lowes and were not pleased with the installation, so we placed our next order with SNO VALLEY GLASS in Duvall and they were outstanding. Great customer service and great installation. They installed the very narrow, tall windows you see in the previous post. They are in Duvall at 425-788-6794.

Tony King and his crew cut down some of our large firs and cedars. They also cleared off the hillside of the underground home and all of this helped to open our view up again. Tony owns Kings Trees from Duvall. 425-788-5616

TNT, an electrical company from Duvall, helped us as well. I'm bad, can't find their phone number, but Craig has it!
So, if you are in need of any services, we really liked the services of all these companies.

It is time to leave Colorado. There is a noisy thunder and lightning storm bouncing across the rockies and rolling across the plains as I write. The cats are ready to go..... Bill and I are ready.
It has been wonderful to see our daughter and spend so much time with her.

Before I go, thanks Dan and Laurie, for helping us load the trailer and thanks, Kyle and Robin, for letting our homeless son use your guest bedroom.
And to everyone who called and wanted to take us out for meals or come by the house we are sorry we could not say goodbye to all of you. We will miss you all!!!
But, you know where we will be!!!

There's alot to do before we head to Mexico! Just sit back and enjoy the ride!

Hello to all of our old friends and new ones as well.

Bienvienedos!

You are about to enter an adventure that we hope will be as exciting for you as it will be for us.
We plan to share the adventure with you as we leave the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest and make our new home in the Sierra Madres Mountains in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico.
This is a photo of the beautiful central Plaza in Alamos.

But we want to start by showing you a little of the beauty of where we have lived for over 30 years and then, take you with us as we pack our belongings and travel south to Mexico.

We have purchased an old little casa up on a hill where there are nice breezes and beautiful mountain views.
In case you are wondering, yes, that's our casa in the photos above.... and it's all a matter of perspective..

okay, it needs alot of work, but no worries,
we plan to do all the work and you can just sit back
and watch it happen.......


Have you ever wondered what it would be like to do something like this? well, we are wondering, too, so we'll find out........now, use your imagination, is this just a room with a caved in roof, or is it an outdoor room with a sweeping view of the mountains? maybe it will have a palapa roof and saltillo tile foors and a cat lounging on a pillow in the sun?

stay tuned and we'll find out.

this is the view from our house where we live now, about 900 feet in elevation, in the foothills of the Cascades, over the Snoqualmie Valley, and the Tolt and Snoqualmie Rivers. We have lived here for a long time or sometimes, it seems like a really short piece of time. We've been here over the valley, for 22 years........

this cute little casa is my warm glass studio in the

woods behind our house, the little pond is outside its door and unfortunately, it has to stay behind.........................

It's New Years' Eve, 2007.


It's also the first sunny day since Christmas Eve, you may have heard the rumors about rain in the Pacific Northwest, well, they are all true, every one of them, but when the sun is out, it doesn't get any prettier anywhere than here.

Tomorrow I will take you on a quick little tour through the Snoqualmie Valley. We are about an hour east of Seattle, don't worry, I'm not going to take you to Seattle, just keep you in the country where you can relax and enjoy the scenery................