Tina's Mexico
On the Road Again
On the road again
With Xuxa who is my best friend
South to Mexico we'll gently wend
Oh, I'm so glad to be back on the road again!
On the road again
Seeing friends along the way we go
Feeling love with everyone I know
Oh, I'm so glad to be back on the road again!
The night before I left home I dreamed I was marching in a parade. And then I noticed Steve walking up ahead, blowing kisses to the crowd. In the dream I started crying. But when I woke up, I was happy. I felt that Steve was blowing kisses to me, giving me a good send-off for the road, blowing kisses to all of us, like bubbles floating out on the breeze to his crowd of friends. Too bad, I thought, that I can't photograph my dreams; that would make a great icon!
The sound of not-raining woke me at dawn, instead the creek's roaring. Set off in sunlight, calling out blessings to each household I passed on Deadwood Creek Road. ES is running smooth (Endangered Species, Steve's pride and joy- our $300 motor home- a '75 Toyota Chinook), and really proved its stuff climbing a steep mountain to Bill & Candace's in Brookings. (Where I managed to get stuck in a ditch, but that's another story.) Next day a short run to Mendocino and Tiger & Diane, and then a day off at Tia's on Bluejay Ridge in Cazadero.
Steve's ashes are riding shotgun, along with the bear Tia bought him while he was in Texas, and I wear his fishing cap at times when I want to listen to my walkman and have to cover the headphones up. His favorite t-shirt, with a giant tie-dyed red heart backs me up, covering the driver's seat. I feel bolstered by his big love.
Tues. getting gas in Guerneville I nudged an invisible post with the mirror, which jammed into the tin-can door like a javelin, and the window on the passenger side shattered into a bizillion crystaline snowflakes, hanging together for an instant, before crumbling into tiny nugget-like shards. Uh-oh. So I was sort of in a state when I met Bruce in Sebastopol to have tea, instead spending all my time sweeping up glass and making phone calls.
Tia located an operation that would put in a new window for a mere $178, if they had one in their warehouse. Luckily, they didn't, and two hours later I'd found a $35 replacement at a wrecker's which Juan, a Oaxacan working at a body shop around the corner, installed for $30 while ranchero music blared! The dueno and his wife, Anna, Guatemaltecos, waved me on my way. Which only reminded me of why I'm going to all the trouble to get to Mexico! Even made my date with Phoebe in Santa Rosa on time and on to cousin Pete's.
December 1st, five month anniversary of Steve's death, was my first "real" day on the road, in the sense that for the first time my destination isn't a friend's house. Late afternoon found ES heading east into the tawny velvet deep shaded foothills of the Sierra's, past the thousand whirling white-winged windmills of Tehachapi, to Mojave, home to one of Steve's and my favorite DOAL (Deal of a Lifetime) $5 trailer parks, Kayo's, which has the added attraction of being within walking distance of an excellent Chinese pancake house and diner, where it had been our custom to enjoy the rare restaurant meal. (Steve, of course, could drive for 12 hours, set up his stove and concoct a gourmet dinner for six from the detritus in the cooler. Myself, I start whimping out after about seven hours of driving. By eight, I want to hand carry myself in a basket to the nearest restaurant.)
Unfortunately, the Chinese family is off visiting relatives, and I have to make do with a cup of Ramen soup in the camper. (To the horror of Steve's shade!)
At Quartzite in the morning, Xuxa and I walked into the desert. I talked to Steve on the way, and then flung a pinch of his ashes, a little of his wild man side, into the wild winds blowing to freedom.
Now I'm at Delattre's in Patagonia, having a rest before I cross the border. Carol thinks I should drive to Laredo and then down into Mexico for a smoother, quicker trip to San Miguel. Steve is telling me to cross at Douglas and get on in to Mexico
And a Good Road to all!
....Continued with Dia de Guadalupe
© by Tina Rosa, 1999-2002
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