Baja Road Trip

10/14/2011
We have been in Santa Rosalia for a few days as we work our way south and it has been a busy few days. The boat was dirtier than I think it has ever been but after being away from a hose for 10 weeks it’s par for the course. We can see through the dodger windows again, the stainless actually looks like stainless again and the laundry is all done including the once very salty cockpit cushions and pillows and all the blankets we used to save our upholstery from the salt and sweat of a Baja summer. The marina has no money to fill the propane tanks that power the hot water and the dryers so all the wash had to be line dried which left Island Bound looking a bit like a gypsy caravan but not having to do the wash in Home Depot buckets made it a treat instead of a chore.

Once back in civilization and back with access to the internet there was plenty of catch up to do. I had been stacking up blog posts, we had tons of pictures to go through, things that needed to be ordered and business matters to attend to. As fulltime cruisers we do just about all our banking and paperwork via the internet so if you leave the net things pileup. When we arrived in Santa Rosalia Bill began the process of officially retiring from Boeing. Surprise, surprise they need birth certificates, marriage certificates, papers notarized and no they won’t take a Mexican notary. San Diego here we come! Yep tomorrow morning we head north by car to California and as is par for the course if you’re a Russell once again it is one of those last minute arrangements.

Friends of ours on Sirina have their SUV here in Santa Rosalia and they are leaving for a five month trip with friends through Central America and to the Galapagos. They had hoped to leave their car back home in California but a course of events left them leaving it here in the parking lot at the marina. They generously offered to let us drive it home for them so it works out great for us and them. We get a road trip through country I have never seen by car plus we will be able to complete all the business we need too.

We will drop off their car and rent another then drive three hours and stay a few days with the kids in Santa Barbara. So as I type this Bill is feverously working the net trying to arrange car rental for California, auto insurance (we no longer own a car so we have no auto insurance) boat part shipments, replacement kindle delivery, bus routes back into Mexico, notaries and bank visits. We will spend just a few days but will work in a visit with family, a stop to see friends we met on our way down, a shopping excursion or two and the legal work that needs to be done. The logistics of our return are a little uncertain as we prepare to leave but the plan is to drive a rental to the border, walk across and then bus it back south with maybe an overnight in Ensenada. Always an adventure!

Kat