We got back to Pilot's Knob on Sunday. Steve had gone into Holtville on Thursday to order the master cylinder that the mechanic was going to need for the Samurai brake problem. It came in on Friday, and our friend John had a complete set of the tools Steve needed to give it a try himself, so he figured "Why not?" If he failed, he could still keep the appointment with the mechanic for Monday. But, no worries, mates! He was able to put the part in and get everything working correctly. What took the longest was bleeding the brakes. I got to help. My part was sitting behind the steering wheel and pushing the brake pedal down and letting it up when Steve commanded. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. About two hundred times. Per wheel. Very boring, but it did the trick. And saved us at least a hundred dollars in labor.
We spent Monday in Algodones, getting all our Mexican chores done. Both of us went to the dentist. We each had an exam, our teeth cleaned, and Steve had a filling. Total cost--$70. Then to the farmacia for Steve's Alboz (omeprazol), which was $6.49 for 240 tablets. Then to the eye doctor for new glasses for Steve, then lunch. Fish tacos and shrimp tacosfor $1 apiece. Yum! Then to the liquor store, where Steve got some rum and I got a bottle of Bailey's for about half of what it is in the states, and a container of Bailey's-filled chocolates. Then we had to go stand in line to get back across the border. Longest line I'd ever seen. It took us 2 1/2 hours for us to snake around and around. It was so long that Steve was able to go pick up his glasses inste
ad of having to go back the next day.
Yesterday I drove into Yuma and did laundry and got my nails done, then got together with Jim and Emily (our Quartzsite friends), who are also staying here while they're getting their dental work done in Algodones. Today we went exploring with them on the dirt roads just north of here. Lots of interesting things to see. Patton's desert training camp is close by, and we stopped at the historical marker commemorating it. That's Jim and Emily and their dog, Heidi, in the picture. Heidi is nine, and a real sweetheart. If she looks like she's squinting in the picture, it's because she lost an eye to cancer last year. Not far from the Patton memorial, we came across the somewhat bizarre display of religious statues. It was out in the middle of nowhere, with no exlanation of what it was or why it was there. The areas was carefully delineated with white rocks, with little paths surrounding a central area with a big mound of rocks and a statue of an angel on a pedestal. Other angels and religious figures, also on pedestals, were arranged in a formal manner all around it. Steve's best guess was that some guy created it for his wife to make the desert look beautiful and civilized so she'd live there. I couldn't come up with a guess at all.
We were headed out to someplace called Pichaco State Recreation Area, way back on a dirt road, when Jim's Samurai started acting up. That's him under the hood, trying to get it going again. He was able to get it running again eventually, but didn't want to risk being even farther out in the boonies, so we turned around. Stopped and had a picnic lunch under some trees in a wash, then made it back to camp with no problems. Tomorrow we are headed to Ajo. John and Hey are there waiting for us, and our son Chris may join us as well. Jim and Emily were going to come too, but they don't want to take their Samurai any farther from hoime until they figure out what's wrong. We've really enjoyed getting to know them, and hope to meet up with them again. We're trying to talk them into going to Mexico with us next winter.
2 comments:
Maybe someone died at the spot with all the statues? Like the ones that are on the roadside when people die in an accident there.
Several years ago we had an idea to display field crop signs in our agricultural area to let the public know what crop was growing on some fields. This would require the cooperation of many people and/or organizations as all of the signs would have to be changed at least 2 times each year for crop rotation. We talked to many farmers and landowners to get permission to erect a sign near their field. And then of course we had to determine how to pay for the signs and posts for installation.
utah dentist
Post a Comment