San Felipe – Around Town Dec. 22 and 23, 2009

Jean and Beth left for Ensenada and points south yesterday morning, and I moved into Beth’s site further up the hill. Pulling my rig in facing forward made my water hookup easier to get to since the faucet is so far away. My water hose was just fine although the old faucet leaked like the proverbial sieve. I turned it off until I could get it taken care of.

After getting all set up and seeing the view from my bedroom window – directly down to the beach – I felt right at home. My neighbor David invited me to ride into town with him, and I accepted since it was time to do a little grocery shopping, find a hardware store, check on an inexpensive cell phone at The Movie Star that works here and for international calls, and check email.

First stop was parking the van in a good area. We walked a few blocks over to The Movie Star and checked prices. They had a choice of phones from 495 up to about 1000 pesos with a plan of 15 minutes for $1. Not too bad, but I’m going to wait on it since I really don’t do enough calling to make it pay for itself. In the meantime, David offered to let me give his number to friends and family “just in case.”

While he had an extra key for his van made at the locksmith next door, I walked across the street to the supermarket for a few things like milk, fruit, salsa, and chocolate chips for the cookies I wanted to make for the caretaker’s family since they’ve been so nice and helpful. I found a beautiful cucumber so will make some Japanese salad. However the only chocolate chips were tiny little things, supposedly used for decoration. But, I bought them anyway, along with a package of coconut. After paying for everything, one of the little boys, probably the son of one of the employees, offered to carry my two bags to the car. Since we’d parked quite a ways away, I declined but he was very insistent. Next time I might just let him do it and pay him for it. Cute little kid.

David gave me the key he’d had made so I could get into the van in case I had packages or we got separated. I wasn’t sure about that at first, but now realize it might have been a safety concern since I felt a little uncomfortable on the streets by myself. I’m sure that discomfort will disappear soon enough, but having the key now feels like a good thing.

Since the internet is still not working properly at Rosalie’s, we headed to the Bar Miramar where they also have electrical connections. The same friendly waiter was there and knew right off that I’d order a Sprite. The look on his face was cute when I told him I’d also pay for David’s coke. I need to find out his name. Was able to catch up on email, pay a bill online, and write yesterday’s blog.

We sat out on the ledge overlooking the bay for a while since the sun felt so good. Bought some chili peanuts from a sidewalk vendor and just watched people. So much fun. We decided to head back to the camp, but still needed to find a hardware store so I could hopefully get a couple of little o-rings for my propane camp stove. David began talking to an American man on the sidewalk who told us about his temporary apartment near downtown for $150/month – three rooms with tile bathroom, etc. Sounded okay, but I still prefer the nearness to the beach we have at the campground. The Mexican man with him offered to show us where the hardware store was, so we followed him in the van. The store looked like a much smaller version of Home Depot, but they had exactly what I needed. We thanked the man very much for showing us the way.

Back to the campground and we stopped at the top of the hill so I could pay the month’s rent of 1500 pesos for my site ($120). Found out the caretaker’s name is Ruben, or as he says, Ruben the Cuban, although he’s not really Cuban. It’s easy to remember his name that way, though. I let him know about the water leak and he came right down to fix it. The problem is an old faucet, but it’s fixed for now. I was listening to the Mexican Christmas CD Jenny had given me in Yuma and he loved the music. Think I’ll find out if they have a way to play it, and if so, make them a copy.

I mixed up the cookies and baked several batches of six each in the toaster oven. The little chocolate pieces are very good, not semi-sweet but milk chocolate so the cookies taste a little different than usual. But I like them very much. However, today I think I’ll take the toaster oven down the hill and use the electrical connection there since the generator in my rig is so noisy. I hate to have that much noise pierce the beautiful quiet here for so long at a time. There’s also a clothesline there so perhaps I’ll wash out some items as well.

Today I’d like to hang around here for the very low tide and climb up the hill to see the little chapel at the top. Yesterday I found a beautiful shell – can’t remember what Jean called it – but it’s a long cone shape with no barnacles or other marks.

I hope Jean and Beth are doing okay and having fun on their drive over to the west coast of the peninsula. As for me, I’m so glad I stayed here. It’s going to be fun getting to know the people and places in town a little better. And I’m enjoying getting to know my fellow Birkenstock friend a little more as well.

***********************************

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 – Back to town

It was so beautiful and sunny all day yesterday. However, I woke up around midnight to REALLY strong winds and rain. It rocked the RV back and forth the rest of the night – felt almost like a hurricane. I’d washed some clothes and hung them on the line and by this morning they were totally dry. I guess so, with all the wind.

Took some cookies up Ruben and his family and they were very appreciative. Also brought some in to town this morning for the server at the bar where we access internet. Old guy – very nice – loved them.

I took advantage of the great weather yesterday and walked up at low tide to the little chapel on the hill. Today I’ll take my camera. Also found lots of great shells and saw a large heron near the rocks.

Haven’t heard anything from Beth or Jean yet. They were planning to take Mexico 3 from here up diagonally to Ensenada on the west coast, then down. Probably aren’t anywhere with internet access yet.

And that’s it for today so far. If I don’t get back on internet before Christmas, have a wonderful one.