The Longer Way Home

The months flew by and our time in Melaque came to an end. It was time to leave The 375. Our next adventure included a visit with Loretta and John Sutherland who live in La Ribera, located northeast of San José del Cabo.

Leading up to our departure, Linda made arrangements with our landlord, Rosa, to arrange for a taxi to the airport.  We needed to leave at about 5 am and taxis are hard to locate for early pickup. Rosa made the arrangements. She and Linda kept in contact confirming that taxi No. 5 would be there to pick us up on our departure date.

They didn't show up! At 10 after 5 am, Linda texted Rosa saying no one had arrived.  Rosa texted that she was on the way. 

When she arrived, there was a period of unloading her Suburban making room for our bags. The problem was that the back door was broken and the seats were unable to fold down. I had to stuff our luggage and myself into the back seat where I rode to the airport. That's one big suitcase, two carry-on bags and my backpack plus myself in the seat.

Linda rode up front and spent her time wiping fog off the front window so that Rosa and she could see the road. It was still dark outside. The defrost did not work and the two front windows would not open. You could barely see the road.

Rosa drove and talked while Linda wiped and asked questions so that she didn't show how afraid for our lives we were.

I sat stuffed in the back with both windows wide open. The wind battered my face and I could not hear anything.  I wasn't prepared for the cold morning wind so all I could do was hug my backpack and cross my fingers.

On our road run to catch our flight, we hit three topas (speed bumps) so fast that I was flung to the ceiling of the rig. Each time Rosa would say, "Oh, sorry!" and drive on into the foggy dark. 

We have had some wild rides to and from the airport, but this was the worst.

But what could we do and say? Rosa did the best she could, we didn't crash, and we made it in plenty of time. She refused to take any money we offered. We were lucky she turned her phone on when she did this morning. She sure had been wonderful to us all season. Thanks, Rosa!

Our flight to Jose De Cabo went well and we were picked up by a driver arranged by Loretta Sutherland. Jorge, the driver, was very nice and was well-tuned into his phone and electronics. He drove relatively sanely, as drivers in Mexico go. He maybe tailgated a bit much, but we made it to La Rebira in good shape. 

John and Loretta were waiting for us and were happy to see us.  My head was throbbing from the pressure of up and down so I needed to get some rest. We had dinner and were able to go to bed early.

Our stay with John and Loretta was great. We ate lots of food, relaxed, and enjoyed the views from their patio.

On Thursday the winds looked favorable and John said, "Let's go fishing." We loaded the boat and hit the water early. The day was perfect and we had a great time fishing. I caught a 15 lb. dorado that we released back to fight another day. John said that his freezer was stuffed and he didn't need fish, so from the start, we knew we would be releasing anything we caught.  Great day fishing for me!

We enjoyed every meal and had a great stay. It was a nice break before traveling home. The Sutherlands place is beautiful and they have it just the way they want it. Thank you, John and Loretta, for your kindness and hospitality. We had a wonderful time with fantastic friends.

Captain John releases the Dorado.

The morning view from the Sutherland's patio.

Our journey home was not the best. The Sutherlands drove us to the airport and we said our goodbyes.  The check-in line was clogged with people and the luggage carrier had broken down. It took forever to get the bags checked in and our boarding passes.  Then our flight was delayed, something to do with crew issues.  We sat and, finally, we were able to board. The flight left Mexico about an hour late.

Once we landed in Los Angeles, we had to run through customs, which was easy due to our Global Entry clearance. Then we grabbed our luggage and moved it to recheck. The recheck area was closed and locked up tight. The guy there said we wouldn't make the flight, but we said we wanted to at least try. He said he'd do his best. We left our bags with him, hoping for the best, and started running.

TSA went smoothly for Linda, but I got a real power-hungry guy who had to frisk me. That took a bit.  We sprinted to the gate and they were just calling our names. We ran up, they waved us through and we entered the plane as they pulled the door shut behind us.

We made the flight and knew that we would be arriving in Spokane soon. Our luggage would probably not make it, but that was ok with us.

We arrived in Spokane and met our favorite, most wonderful driver, Barbara Crow. We checked the baggage area and sure enough, our luggage had made it to Spokane. We rode home in a warm car happy to be done with the winter travel. We just wish we could have brought the warm weather with us.

Surprise!

The other day the gang at our compound were all settled in at the palapa. They were ready to play cards and I was still napping in the room. All of a sudden I hear a bunch of noise from above, so I got up and wandered up the metal staircase of death to see what was happening. 

I got to the roof and out of nowhere pops Dan Breeden. I was surprised and still sort of sleepy so I stood there trying to figure out what the heck was happening. Dan had just surprised Linda and the Burches and that was the ruckus that woke me.

We have been inviting Dan to come down and visit us in Mexico for years. Now with the help of Beth, he made the trip, keeping it a complete secret from us.

What a fun surprise!

For the next week we get to spend some time with Dan, show him our little hideaway town, and let him enjoy the warm weather and relaxed lifestyle that is Melaque.

Drinks at the pool bar, Laguna de Tule.

Street tacos on the way.

Bus ride selfie.

On the beach in Barra de Navidad.

Boat ride to Restaurant Mary's.

The 375

This season in Mexico is coming to an end for Linda and I. We have less that a week left in Melaque then we move on for a few days in La Ribera north of Cabo on the Baja peninsula. After that we will head home.

We will look back on our stay this year with fond memories of living in our apartment. This winter residence came to be knowen as The 375 by those who resided within the walls behind the address numbers: 3 7 5. 

Bill and Teri.

The whole of The 375 was made up of six residents. To introduce you to our posse, we will start at the ground floor where Bill and Teri Burch resided in the appartment next to the pool, if we had one. Teri and Bill are from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and this was their first long stay for the winter months in Mexico.  The Burches are retired elementary school teachers, which is how we came to know them. Linda taught at the same school as Teri where they became close friends. They have been visiting us in Melaque for several years. They stayed with us at Big Pink, the pink house on the beach, way back is the day. Bill and Teri will be returning to this area for a month next year, though staying in a different place.

Stephen and Curt.

If you come through the black gate at The 375 and turn immediately right, you will find a set of stairs that lead you up to the second level. There you will find the apartment where the next 1/3 of The 375 stays. Curt Blumer and Stephen Bean have the apartment which would overlook the pool, if we had one. Stephen and Curt are from Vashon Island, Washington. Stephen worked at Amazon and Curt was a carpenter. They are both wonderful musicians who make up the heart of the local band, the Electro Lites. Curt is an amazing harmonica player and Stephen plays electric piano, mandolin, guitar, and spoons. He also does most of the vocals.

The ocean view.

The apartment closest to the beach, with no view of the beach, is where we resided. This apartment would also overlook the pool, if we had one. 

The 375 has another space where we all spent many hours relaxing and talking. The rooftop palapas could be found at the top of a wrought iron spiral staircase. They would also have overlooked the pool, had there been one. They did provide a view of the ocean if you looked past the building behind us and between the many coconut palms.

To access this area, you must climb the hot metal spiral staircase to the sky. This climb and descent is a bit precarious and we always had to make sure we had one hand free to belay us safely up and down. We decided at the very beginning that it might be a good idea to have just one person at a time going up or down.

The 375 had other amenities. The laundry facilities were close to the front entrance and was equipt with the finest machinery for washing and rinsing our clothing.

Drying was accomplished via the clothesline we hung between the palm trees that would have shaded the pool, had there been one.

On belay?

The final shared space is the palapa that we used for our pursuit of the arts. In this area Teri created her crafts, Bill wrote thought-provoking music, Linda read, Curt and Stephen enjoyed the shade, and we all puzzled. It was a wonderful gathering place which would have complemented the pool, had there been one.

That is The 375. The memories of this year will live with the crew that lived there for many years to come. 

Our laundry facilities.

The activity palapa.