We spent August and two weeks of September, going through all of our possessions to decide what to keep and what to leave for the estate sale. Sorting through much memorabilia was a really difficult task, especially for Diane, who still had a lot of belongings from her parents to sort through and decide what she couldn't part with. It didn't help that we couldn't venture outside very often because of the dense smoke making for unhealthy air to breathe.
We had a storage unit where we accumulated all of the items we wanted to keep. The remaining contents were left at the house for the estate agent and her team to organize and price, ready for a three day sale. Since the agent and her team needed a week for all this to be arranged, we left and drove to Seattle to visit family. It was a very strange feeling to realize that many of the possessions that had been with us for a large part of our lives, would soon be GONE.
After a few days with family, we decided to wend our way back to Ashland along the Oregon Coast. We made a first stop in Astoria, and took a few photos, before continuing on the short drive to Seaside where we had booked one night.
We had to stop and visit the column since it is quite a landmark, and the spiral frieze around the column is quite amazing. It depicts many of the historic events of early days in Oregon, including the Lewis and Clark expedition, which concluded at a nearby location.
We made several stops along the coast and were reminded just how beautiful this part of the world is.
We stopped at the Tillamook Creamery and Cheese Factory as we drove south. We did not realize what a large operation this is and enjoyed walking around the visitor center and taking part in the cheese tasting.
The packaging conveyor line.
Another view of the factory floor.
We then returned to Ashland and the challenge of packing the car. We spent two days making sure the house was clean, and all the nail holes from hanging art were patched and painted. We felt fortunate that all the remnant debris from the estate sale had been cleared away and everything was left tidy. The photo above is all that we had decided to keep and, hopefully, take to Mexico. The next challenge, how much will fit in the Prius and on the roof rack!
The car, empty and trying to make sure that every nook and cranny was utilized. It is quite amazing just what can be tucked under the front seats!
Just a few more things to be squeezed into the roof-top carrier, while at the same time worrying that maybe we had overloaded the car!
We did decide to keep a small 5 X 5 storage unit for items that would not fit in the car and that we would "deal with" on our next visit to Ashland.
Packed and ready to roll.........
Our plan was to drive to Ajijic, Mexico by way of Carlsbad, CA and Scottsdale, AZ to visit friends and break the journey a little. The drive from Ashland to Ajijic is about 2,500 miles, and so we set off with some concerns over how potentially overloaded the car might be.
We were to see many more scenes like this as we made our way south.
We hit a major downpour as we approached Scottsdale, which made me a little concerned that the roof rack "bag" was waterproof, as advertised, it was. After spending two nights with friends in Scottsdale, we stayed at a Best Western on the Nogales side of the border, ready to make an early start through the inspections. etc. at the border.
We made it in good time and after some cursory looks at what was in the car, a customs officer peered into tightly packed boxes, and was finally convinced that all we had in the car was for our "casa", we were waved on.
We had a lot of concern as to just where the immigration station was located, it is NOT at the border where you might think it should be! It is at km 21. Fortunately for us we had a lot of help in locating this stop from our friend Norman McKeithan, who walked me through the approach using Google Earth. It was just as well, as the signage to this important stop is all but non-existent, and the "off-ramp" is into a gravel parking lot. We received the important immigration forms, as well as the temporary import permit for the car, quite easily with minimal wait times.
Mexico is making major upgrades to Hwy 15, which did make for a great drive most of the time. We would come upon "diversions" quite quickly where we were directed to the other carriageway which was now a two lane highway, so we needed to stay alert.
We had planned and booked hotels in Guaymas, Culiacan and Tepic, giving us approximately seven hours driving between each stop. We had good experiences and most times were able to find the hotel location, with a lot of help from our trusty Garmin GPS.
There were a lot of trucks to be aware of, but we only had one long back-up that you can see here. The cause we believe was a bus that had crashed up ahead.
On this approach to the toll booth, there were trucks everywhere and we were getting directed into booths that were on the opposite side of the highway. There were many toll booth stops, occasionally ones not operating officially. Barriers were up and there were workers standing at the booth with a coffee can where you were expected to deposit the normal toll amount. We never quite understood what this was all about?
Some parts we passed through, notably between Tepic and Guadalajara, reminded us a lot of France or Britain, with rolling green hills all around.
A typical wayside stall selling food and fruit, this on what is described as a toll road, not a "freeway", though it looks pretty much like one, only with additions such as these!
A toll booth entry, you just have to be prepared with money to hand the attendant, or the random bucket, if the toll barrier is raised.
On our arrival back at our condo, we were greeted by "welcome home" gifts from our dear friends Janie and Norman. They had kept an eye on our place while we were back in Oregon preparing for this move.
Even more thoughtful were some food supplies so that we did not have to go grocery shopping the moment we arrived.
Even the fridge was stocked with the essentials, milk, orange juice and beer!
Lake Chapala is at it's highest level in years, it had risen six feet while we were away. For a lake 50 miles long and 10 miles wide, that is a lot of water. It has continued to rise since we have been back.
The egrets love it, there are a lot of fish in the lake and occasionally you see the egrets catch mouthfuls. The pelicans are now arriving, so we will be entertained when we walk the lakeside boardwalk.
More later, stay tuned.
