The Road to San Carlos - A Quick Travelog Part II

Leaving Albuquerque at 6:30 AM on Christmas morning has its advantages.   OK, driving into the rising sun is not one of them -- but let me say, what a joy to travel when there wasn't a bit of traffic heading down I-25.  

We passed through Hatch, NM, the Chili Pepper capital of the world -- wish I had gotten a picture.  And Geronomo's Last Stand near Douglas, AZ -- another picture would have been nice here.  

We were bound for Naco, AZ.  Get out your Google Maps here.  Naco in the SE corner of Arizona, just south of Bisbee, AZ (quite a cool little mining, dining and tourist town) and right across the fence from Naco, Mexico.
If you're crossing the border into Mexico, I doubt there's a short line.  I will mention that if you're coming the other way, a very large boarder patrol station is in Naco and they are watching! 

We arrived in Naco in time for a wonder Christmas Dinner with John & Dorothy Kiesling (we bought Begone from them) and their across the street neighbors Janet & Chuck.  

And the next morning I enjoyed a 3 mile walk followed by a short round of golf with Janet and Dorothy.  One of the best parts of Naco is their 12 hole golf course!   Thursday was a day of Thrift Store shopping, last minute grocery provisions like Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce, laundry and that evening we went to Bisbee for dinner at a Pizza restaurant in a converted gasoline station.  Quite a good time was shared by all.

On that frosty Friday morning, Tom and I departed for San Carlos, Mexico.  Originally, John & Dorothy were going to caravan down with us, but John hadn't beaten his cough yet so we decided to go on down and have them meet us there as soon as he felt better.

Note - Here's a quick travel tip - When driving into Mexico and you're stopped at the military check point, don't be surprised when they appear "concerned" when they notice a black soft bag about 4' x 18" x 4".  Yes, in hindsight, I could see how it could be mistaken for a gun case.  BUT, we were quick to unzip it to reveal our Martin Backpacker Guitar.  Phew.  With that, we were flagged on.

The next Blog entry will be the reunion with Begone.    

The Road to San Carlos - a Quick Travelog Part I

The route to San Carlos, Mexico and our little sailboat Begone included a few really great stops...First we loaded our PT Cruiser to the Max (that's my car's name and you can see he lived up to his name!)

Max, Tom and a bunch of sailing stuff at the Grand Canyon

Now, leaving on a road trip on the Saturday before Christmas may be ill advised.  But that's what we did.  Plans for an easy 8 hour first day trip to Kingman, AZ was met with a real slog down I-5.  But hey, we were on an adventure and had enough gasoline to make it to the cheapest gas stations in the middle of the state -- Lost Hills, CA.  

And there at the Lost Hills exit Tom spotted a sign for Mexican Food.  Sure enough, behind the Pilot Truck Stop and beside the tire store was "El Dollar Taqueria" truck with a covered outside picnic tables and hand-made corn tortillas.  We'll never drive through Lost Hills without stopping for tacos!  

Back on the road and heading out to I-40 we originally thought we'd stay in a historic railroad hotel in Kingman, AZ...alas, researching on my SmartPhone, we found it was closed.  Plan B ... we found a great motel -- The Rio del Sol in Needles, CA and had breakfast at Juicy's.  Both recommended.

Driving with Tom is interesting.  He tends to want to get just somewhere.  I'm the one who wanders.  But driving across I-40 in Arizona, he all the sudden needed to go to the Grand Canyon.  Only a 3 hour detour (plus time for amazement).  So North we went.  

At the gate to the Grand Canyon, Tom was quite impressed to learn that if you're over 62, you can purchase a lifetime pass to any National Park for $10.  He is now a proud owner of one!

The Grand Canyon is one big hole -- so glad we made the detour.  But we had dinner plans with Betty Jo in Albuquerque...so we headed back to i-40 and made BJ's in time for a fabulous dinner at their wonderful home in Corrales, NM just north of Albuquerque.

On Christmas Eve, while Tony slept following his night shift, Betty Jo took us on the 2nd longest Tram in the world for a 13,000 ft. view of that part of the world.  Absolutely amazing.  Here's a few pictures:

Tom and Betty Jo

We're at the Top of the Mountain -- the other side is the ski slopes

It was a memorable ride up and back followed by a trip to Old Town Albuquerque for a photo opportunity by the Christmas Tree before going back to Betty Jo and Tony's for an amazing Duck Christmas Eve Dinner.

Tony had started preparing dinner but we were able to getaway to attend a Christmas Eve gathering filled with fabulous Christmas music / musicians and warm season cheer.   Then home to enjoy an absolutely wonderful Christmas Eve with Betty Jo and Tony.

Tony and Tony preparing to roasting the Christmas duck

And so we shared a great evening  so happy to see what a warm and welcoming home Tony and Betty Jo had made.  

Christmas morning we were on the road by 6:30 AM to head for Naco, AZ for Christmas dinner with our friends John & Dorothy Kiesling.

2013 Begone Adventure - Port Costa to the Sea of Cortez - The next Begone Adventure

Honestly, getting ready to leave home for a 3 month sailing adventure is far from easy. 

Who will watch the dog?  Who will watch the mail?  Who will watch the house?  Well, thank goodness for Tuala and Mike and their kids who happily are doing all this for us while we gone.   They love Port Costa plus the Bull Valley Roadhouse and the Burlington Hotel are all better because of Tuala's business skills and Mike's electrician and artisan skills!  And we have very happy dog given that she gets all the biscuits she wants along with lots of love.

Port Costa, CA - the best place to come home to!

Then there's Tom's business @ List Marine in Sausalito.  In 2010-2011, he left it in the capable hands of Hans and Jessica and Bill and Dominic while we went sailing.  But this time, Tom really left it!  Hans is now officially running the shop and Tom will only be back when they want him to do a project or two!  Huge excitement all around!

Brother Bill List agreed to watch over the rental houses and be the first line of contact for the tenants in case anything went wrong.

Suzanne had just a few things to tie up before leaving -- for example, a notice of vacancy gave her 15 days to find new tenants for one of our rental properties (happily done in 5 days!), facilitating 2+ weeks of Career Transition Workshops for Lee Hecht Harrison, and purchasing favorite provisions for the boat that were impossible to find in Mexico - like Trader Joe's peanut butter and whole grain pasta.

And then there was saying good-bye to the family and grandkids before leaving.  That was probably the hardest.  But holiday cheer and sharing meals and celebrating our great family gives meaning to the saying "go away slow and come back fast".


Just a little about us.
Both of us had thousands of miles of sailing experience before we were married, but it took us 15 years to manage to find the right boat and right time to take a few months to go cruising together in 2010/2011.  Our plan had been to come back to sail again last year when an interesting work opportunity arose for Suzanne.  
So we are in December of 2012 and here we are at the Marina Seca in San Carlos, Mexico to spend a few months getting ready to get away on our sailboat - Begone!