Catching Up

Dear friends,

The weather has been quite pleasant here in Mexico.  

The mornings are mild, the afternoons warm, and in the evenings we are greeted with a cool breeze.

The sun sets around 7:00 pm every night, and the sky is painted with hues of lilac, teal, orange and crimson.

Sunset has always been one of my favourite times of the day. I grew up going to summer camp and at the end of each day we sang a song and thanked each other for the day that we got to share together. I’ve always appreciated this gesture. It reminds me to acknowledge the time that has passed.

The beauty of these twilight hours here in Mexico has filled me with a gratitude that washes away the rigors that each day brings. It serves as a constant reminder that this too shall pass.

Each day feels long; both mentally and physically challenging, but we are rewarded with deep and restorative sleeps and feel ready to tackle each new day as the sun rises.

Our first couple of days in Mexico we spent in Puerto Penasco, a developing beach town on the North West Coast of Mexico. We spent three nights in an RV park located on the beach, giving ourselves time to properly slow down and catch up with our surroundings. It had been a while since we spent a full three nights anywhere and we really needed the time for ourselves.

The first night we got in, we treated ourselves to the first tacos of the trip and we had very happy tummies.

We’re slowly building the habit of doing morning yoga. There isn’t always a good place to do it, and some mornings we just need to get on the road but we’re excited to finally have the time for it. In the morning we walked down to the beach and set our matts up on a firm area of sand facing the water. It was a energizing way to start the day, even though doing yoga in the sand is, at times, more annoying than peaceful.

We followed our yoga session with our first warm swim in the ocean. The water was rejuvenating.

We proceeded to have our first beach day of the trip. Meditating, napping, reading, and swimming any time the heat overtook our bodies and the sun warmed our skin. Even though we were constantly reapplying sunscreen, we still managed to burn our extremely fair complexion. Despite the discomfort it brought, it felt like a right of passage. And in the evening we relished in our first sunset in Mexico.

Along with our early mornings, we’re getting to bed quite early. As the sun sets and the days end we tuck into our cozy little bed and enjoy all that we’ve accomplished.

We’re settling in nicely to our home on wheels. Slowly getting more and more acquainted with all it’s nooks and crannies. We have named our roof cargo box the ‘upstairs’, and the small stow away space below our bed platform our ‘downstairs’. When we have our roof awning set up with our camping kitchen, it really does feel like a little living room. Very…very open concept.

From Puerto Penasco we continued South along the coast, to what appeared to be a promising campsite on the ocean.

We drove along roads lined with cactus, mountains and colourful flowers.

We felt confident in google maps, until it took us down a “highway” that was is in fact a long and treacherous dirt road through the desert of Mexico.

We proceeded to drive a maximum of 20km/hr, very carefully, because our car is not in fact made for off-roading. Despite the bumpy ride, driving through the Mexican desert at sunset will definitely be a moment that I will never forget. And after a much longer than anticipated drive, we made it down a lengthy dirt path to our destination.

As we approached in the dark the ground below us became loose, the car began to sink, and we realized we had found the beach. We were very stuck in the sand, but we were also exhausted and decided it would be better to deal with the situation with more light in the morning.

It was windy on the beach, but mild. Looking up at the stars we realized there are some benefits to off-roading. The sky was speckled in milky constellations and we were completely encircled in the display. We tucked into bed and watched from our windows as we gently drifted to sleep.

When the morning came it was time to deal with poor old Rusty, (our car is aptly named Rusty for those that are wondering).

Our plan was to dig out the wheels and use any objects we had to provide stable footing to then reverse. We spent about an hour digging and getting real creative, as there were no trees to provide logs or branches, only very spikey cacti. We found respite in using beer boxes and rubber car mats to lift rusty off the sinking ground.

We got the tires to catch the mats, but the next step was going to be “flooring it” either getting us on top of the car mats and out of the sand or even deeper into the whole we were stuck in.

I was getting pretty close to giving up but then noticed a truck in the distance heading down the road towards us. “Alex, wait there’s people!” I shouted.

As the vehicle grew closer we began to lose hope, but out of this rusted out, beat up ol’, 2 door pickup, 10 very enthused, wonderful locals started pouring out from all sides. Thank goodness!

Alex looked at them with a shrug saying “We’re stuck” pointing to Rusty in the sand and our DIY attempts to get her to safety.

They chuckled and immediately jumped into action.

We attached our tow strap to the back of their truck while everyone else moved to the front of our car, and together, we pushed. In about 5 seconds she was shot out of the hole she bottomed out in, and we were once again on stable ground.

After our many thankyous and disbelief at the luck that had come upon us, we offered them some beers and they were kindly on their way.

We’ve only been here a week but we’ve been amazed by the kindness and graciousness of the people we’ve met.

After a stressful start to the day we decided to just hop back on the road, and find ourselves a spot for our next location, hopefully with wifi, showers and a place to reset after our off-roading mishap.

We are constantly adjusting and consistently growing, and all the while being forced to adapt as a result of living in a foreign country. Neither I or Alex knew any Spanish going into this, so we’ve been rapidly learning as much as we can. Both Alex and I are communicators-sweet-talkers-schmoozers, if you will (goes along with working in the service industry) so taking away that vital tool has come with it’s difficulties, but slowly we are improving.

The last couple of nights we’ve been at an RV park in Guaymas located behind a hotel on the ocean. Here we have access to showers, Wi-Fi and running water, as well as the hotel amenities such as the pool, restaurant and access to the beach.

The first day was dedicated to running errands, restocking our groceries, getting water and supplies for the car. While the second day was dedicated to cleaning.

After driving through the desert Rusty was filthy so Alex gave her a wash. We tore everything out of the car and cleaned the dust that had accumulated on each and every surface, and I spent the day doing all of our laundry… by hand.

After some long but restorative days we had a beer by the pool and enjoyed the sunset over the mountains once more. And after a good nights sleep we were back on the road.