There is no signal up here in the pine woods of Kaibab
National Forest. No signal on the
phone. No signal for internet. But there is a small chipmunk playing in the
cold fire pit and it is 70 degrees in the cabin of the LRV. I’m sitting at the dinette table in our
little Dolphin RV. This is the “land” RV
as opposed to the “water” RV which is Traveler.
She’s 800 miles away south of here and 8000 feet in elevation below us,
all covered with tarps, her thru hull valves shut, her water tanks clean and
empty. We have abandoned our Traveler,
fleeing to higher elevations and the coolness that comes with it.
 | |||||
| Connie and Omar, celebrating the removal of the Perkins engine. |
We were on the hard for two weeks prepping the boat,
removing the broken Perkins 4-108, and arranging for a new Beta engine to be
shipped from England. We found Omar Garza to help us with the engine. He'll be there when it arrives from England and can install it for us while we are visiting the northwest.
By the time we
arrived in Guaymas we’d been in the oven that is late spring Baja for about 10
days. We’ve learned our limits as to how
much heat we can take. My comfort level
for sleeping is set at about 85 degrees.
We’d not seen 85 degrees for more than two weeks and we were not only
dehydrated but cranky from lack of sleep.
I’d wander around the boat in the middle of the night with the
temperature gun in my hand shooting the laser pointer at things and remarking,
“95 degrees on the cabin floor” or “90 degrees on deck”. Connie and I stopped sleeping together
because our combined body heat only made the bed hotter.
We drank water by the gallons, amazed at how fast the 5
gallon carboy emptied itself. And we
became more stupid every day. Connie stopped playing music because it was too
hard. We’d wander around in a daze,
resting often, taking twice as long to complete tasks as normal. Finally, after getting somewhat finished with
the necessary paperwork on the new engine we decided we could leave. Our to-do list was short. We’d leave on Wednesday. The last few items
were tough. In cooler temps they’d be a
breeze but in the heat every task seemed insurmountable. I sat on the floor removing the inspection
ports on the two stainless steel water tanks.
Each port has 16 bolts. Four ports
means 64 bolts to remove. It took
forever. Exhausted, I went up top to
tell Connie that I’d finished, hoping that she’d take over and start cleaning
out the tanks. She did and emerged an
hour later soaked in sweat, her joints creaking, her muscles bruised from the
contortions necessary to reach every surface of the two 75 gallon tanks. I went below and installed the covers,
tightening the 64 bolts one at a time, emerging covered in sweat, stiff and
sore from crouching on the floor.
 |
| Free camping on Kaibab National Forest road 246E |
The final item was to tarp the boat. We covered the teak
decks with various tarps and tied them low down on the stanchions. Connie wrapped the lower part of the mast
with another tarp to keep the ultraviolet rays off the coiled lines. We stumbled around, argued, cut small pieces
of line, and finished with the tarps by sundown before climbing down the ladder
to hide from the mosquitos in the hot LRV.
Cooking was out of the question, it created too much heat. The next morning we grabbed a few more items
off the WRV, jumped into the LRV and headed north. It was already 95 degrees in the cabin of the
pickup truck.
The land gradually rises on the road from Guaymas to Nogales. We paused just south of the border to take
stock of our supplies, looking for fruits, vegetables, and meats that could not
cross into the U.S. Connie boiled the
potatoes and beets and we cooked the little bit of raw meat we had in the
freezer. We were searched, as always, at
the U.S. customs and came away without a problem. By late afternoon we were in Nogales, Arizona
pigging out at an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant. By nightfall we were in the Walmart parking
lot luxuriating in the 75 degree evening. Ahhhhhhh..75 degrees, Isn’t it just
wonderful?
Thursday, early, we drove into Phoenix and the air
conditioned apartment of Connie’s sister Diane.
I sat on the couch with the computer on my lap and Connie made shell
wind chimes and jewelry with 6 year old Ava, her grandniece. Friday we drove
out of the 100 degree city and made our way up to the high elevation town of
Flagstaff. Friday we braved the desert
again heading north as always and found a forest service road up in the Kaibab,
north of the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
We camped in the pines, experiencing a cool night under blankets, stars
overhead, and complete silence. After
visiting the north rim we found another isolated spot in the Kaibab and here I
sit, full of pancakes, watching a chipmunk digging in the dirt.
Lesson learned: When
it gets too hot, go someplace else.
 |
| Coming down out of the national forest. Grand Staircase Escalante in the distance. |
On entering the states Connie reminded me to stop before
turning right on red. We don’t do that in Mexico, we just look and go. In the states you don’t have to bring your
own toilet paper into the bano. In Mexico
they pump the gas for you. Mostly, not so in the states, and there are no kids
waiting to wash your windows for a couple of pesos. In Mexico you greet everyone you meet. In the states people look aside or down at
their feet, or they get that tight-lipped, almost smile on their face as a
slight acknowledgement of your presence but a warning to not presume
conversation.
We’ll come down out of the Kaibab this morning and try to
find internet so I can check to see if we need to be in Seattle by the
first. I’ve got job prospects
there. Maybe we can do some work and
make enough cash to reimburse the cruising kitty for the 9k we just sent off to
the U.K. In the meantime, it feels great
to be wandering the back roads, taking our time, living cheap, and experiencing
that delicious feeling of slipping on a fleece sweater when the sun goes down.
Best of all, Connie has started playing music again.
