Cruising Indigo
  • Home
  • The Crew
    • Our Dream
    • Our Search
    • Our Why
  • The Boat
    • Why PS34?
    • Bill Crealock
    • PS34 Specs
    • Pacific Seacraft
  • Upgrades
    • Misc >
      • Computer Table
      • Cockpit Step
      • Mast Pulpits
      • Instrument Panel
      • Spice Rack
      • Shelving
      • Dinghy
      • Interior Lighting
      • Exterior Lighting
      • Yacht Transport
      • Ladder
    • Sails >
      • Roller Furling
      • Standing Rigging
    • Wind Vane
    • Batteries
    • Radar & Wind
    • Engine Mods >
      • Engine Panel
      • Fuel System
      • Fluid Capacity Gauge
    • Head
    • Solar Panels
    • Watermaker
    • To Do List
  • Pics
  • Links
  • Blog

Freight, Family, Friends, Fun

8/10/2015

Comments

 
Picture
At the Senoia Raceway
Bus, Uber, Planes and Automobiles
On Thursday, July 9th our 2-day trek to Atlanta commenced. We were lucky enough to get a ride to the Tufesa bus station in Guaymas from neighbor boat “Opportunity”. Arriving super early (as usual) at 9pm, we waited patiently for 3 hours in uncomfortable plastic chairs with about 15 other bus-goers headed for parts unknown. A sugar-highed, pudgy, little 6-yr-old demon incessantly zoomed, spun and rolled his Coke bottle/make-believe sports car over, on and under all the chairs for our viewing pleasure...the entire time. It was cute. For the first 2 minutes.

A 2-yr-old, pigtailed-girl kept the nearby gumball machine stocked. She’d clumsily run full bore at it, stop abruptly, carefully squish a piece of paper up inside the return, shut it safely inside like it was a mailbox, and charge back to Mom. Then she’d run back again, tentatively open the “mailbox” and whaaa…?  Low and behold it was STILL in there. You could see the shock on her face, then super excitement. After the 50th time it still didn’t get old for her, or us. She was our TV while we ignored Zoom-boy.

Ejecutivo Bus
We had picked up our tickets 2 days prior to make sure we got seats on the special overnight bus. Good thing - it was already packed with sleepy riders covered in blankets and pillows, traveling north from further on down the line. No, we were not required to bring a live chicken; these are nice buses. The “Ejecutivo” or “Executive” bus only goes overnight and has wider, plush seats that lean back. Special leg/foot rests fold down from the seat ahead; it’s as close to lying down as you can get. What a difference.

Upon boarding, an employee even handed us a bagged lunch! Bologna sandwich (Wonder bread, bologna and American cheese) and a can of Coke. Didn’t eat the sandwich (meh + a bit dubious), but that’s more then we get on a plane nowadays for free, so no complaints.

We tried to sleep, but while the seats were comfy and the curtains drawn with lights off, the ride was quite bumpy. We were allowed out for a bathroom break in Nogales, Mexico, then proceeded to the border checkpoint. Being the only bus so early in the morning, the procedure was fast and painless: everybody exits the bus with luggage, line up inside the checkpoint building, show passport, shove luggage through screener, stand outside and wait ‘til everyone is done, back on the bus, away we go. Faster than the airport.

Our bus continued on to Tucson and then Phoenix where we got off. Total bus time: @ 10 hours. Plus 3 hours in the waiting room. Cost? About $140 total for both of us. One way. Not bad but it did take a lot longer than I thought. We were supposed to arrive at 8am and got in after 10am. I had booked our flight to Atlanta for the following day, just in case of catastrophe.

Uber is The Bomb, Just Sayin’
One would think there’d be taxis outside a busy bus station in such a large city. Nope. But… ‘no problema’. While we overheard a guy on the phone trying unsuccessfully to call a taxi, we used our Uber app and were out of there within 4 minutes. The other guy was still on the phone.

The Uber taxi concept is the bomb, and it’s no wonder the taxi unions and greedy politicians are trying to shut them down (such as in NYC). Politicians know what’s best for their pocketbook. Competition? We can’t have that.

“Ahhh… but we must thwart this thing called Uber. Hmm… a convenient, hassle-free, taxi experience? It can’t be THAT good. What? No money exchanged? All online? Wait, you know ahead of time how much it’s going to cost you AND you get an emailed receipt? You mean you can see exactly where your driver is on the map, the driver you actually get to choose? No creepy, nasty cabs? No way… you can rate your driver AND he gets to rate you back if you are a decent human being or an angry drunken idiot? Preposterous. We cannot allow this convenience to continue! We must BAN them. Why? Well, it’s for the good of the people. We know what’s best for you…”

Uber truly is capitalism at its finest. Build a better product/concept and be rewarded with loyal customers. The US isn’t the only one with grumpy taxi unions. We heard that in Puerto Escondido, taxi drivers have been known to angrily hassle liveaboards for giving other cruisers a lift to town. In Cabo, the taxistas have prohibited personal car pickups directly in front of the airport terminal. A friend is coming to pick you up? Keep walkin’ buddy.

Phoenix vs. Tucson

Our flight from Phoenix to Atlanta was thankfully uneventful, other than we had to get up at 3:30am for our 6am flight. Why did you go all the way to Phoenix, you might ask?? The reason for continuing on to Phoenix, rather than getting off the bus in Tucson, was so we could get the coveted direct flight. The inconvenience of traveling an extra 2 hours on the bus, outweighed the inconvenience of a required layover (thus a longer day) and higher cost tickets by flying out of Tucson. The bus to Phoenix + plane to ATL was much cheaper than flying out of the nearest minor airport to our boat in San Carlos… Hermosillo, about an hour away. What, you thought we did this 2-day trek because we thought it’d be FUN?

Christmas-In-July
Our refrigerator had already arrived at Brian’s dad’s house, along with some other stuff. Opening our packages was like Christmas again…except this time, it was a meager one, as we had only bought a couple extra items. It was nothing like our Christmas-in-April-oh-my-God-I-need-that-thingy-on-the-boat-extravaganza. We were very careful with what we purchased to bring back this time to keep the clutter down. In fact, I went in Kohl’s and bought NOTHING. So there. Jesse and Sandy, you’d be proud.

Lazing around in ATL
We had nothing planned other than to laze around, watch TV and chat with our family for 2 weeks. We watched an entire season of a new show called The 100. We saw Antman. Brian and his dad had good father-son bonding time woodworking and target-practicing. And I got to cook in a real kitchen with this newfangled item called an “electric griddle”. Oh the joys of a huge sink… giant stove…an even “gianter” fridge (and it WORKS)… sooo much counter space. Ahhhhh, I miss you microwave…Keurig… dishwasher. And I got to do ‘normal grocery shopping’ and buy uber-perishables (bananas) and items that take up an entire shelf in the fridge (a whole Boston crème pie). “Can’t stop this…na, nana, na, umph…dooo do do.”

Friends for Life
One day we visited our friends the Parkers in Northern Atlanta. There are few people on this earth we can chat with for 12 hours straight without running out of things to say after 2 hours or feeling like we are intruding on their schedule. We sadly didn’t even take any pictures we were yapping so much. It had been 2 years since our last very short visit. This time I warned them…”I want to be able to spend the entire day with you guys.” And so we did. Seated at their kitchen table…shooting the shit. Just like the old days. Awesome.

We met upon graduation from flight school in Pensacola… 1997. Jimmy and Brian were stationed together in their first squadron “The Gunfighters” at Camp Pendleton, CA. Susan and I were newly inducted “Marine Corps wives”. We’ve been friends ever since… despite multiple moves far away and job changes …and kids. Marines typically have the best behaved children, something about that instilled discipline I’d say. But these kids are the exception to the rule…they are exceptionally better than even the typical Marine kids. We truly enjoy being around them, and that’s saying A LOT coming from one who is generally repulsed by the smell of baby powder.  Our dinner conversation centered around which superhero/villain is our favorite and why. How can you not love that? I was floored when at one point Stephen said to me “you guys should come back more often”. Awwww. Yes. We should. And will.

Off to the Races
Once again we trekked to Senoia, GA to the infamous dirt track at the Senoia Raceway (featured in the newest version of Footloose) for some rootin-tootin’, good-ole’ southern car racin’. Sitting atop concrete bleachers built into a hillside, we had a great time watching these souped up race cars zoom precariously fast around the track like a swarm of bees.

Here the smell of wet dirt, pungent car exhaust and Deep Woods Off permeate the air. Bright fluorescent orange and yellow t-shirts abound (for some, it’s just a bad fashion statement… but for those who go down onto the track, it’s a safety thing). But ‘Camo’ is king: hats, t-shirts, shorts, sometimes all three at once (seriously?).  The sound of revving engines and the sharp ratcheting of air wrenches fill the ear. John Denver is playing over the loudspeaker: “Thank God I’m a country boy” and “Take me home, country road”. We indulged in freshly fried corn dogs, Ore-Ida French fries, and sugary-sweet Country Time lemonade.   

This is a no alcohol, no firearms, no nonsense raceway. People are friendly and courteous and surprisingly subdued. No drunken idiots or loud crazies. A prayer is invoked and we sing the National Anthem before racing begins. The flag is at half-mast due to the Chattanooga shooting of our Marine recruiters. No apologies. No political correctness. Just a simple respect for God and country. Amen.

We watch everything from beat-up hobby cars on homemade trailers to souped-up racing machines ready to blow your eardrums, complete with color matching motor-homes and car haulers. One race featured little 1-seater cars called “Legends“. They look like miniature PT Cruisers…probably only twice as big as a bumper car. I’m no auto enthusiast, but these are ‘suuuuper-cuuute.’

By the end of a long evening of multiple crashes and near-blow outs, lots of “oooohs” and “ohs” and sharp breath intakes, we were covered in a fine layer of notorious Georgia red dirt. The faster the cars sped through the mud, the more dust rolled off the track in thick clouds and embedded into our skin and hair and eyeballs. Our bathroom tub looked like a murder scene when we got home. No white shirts at that racetrack… camo is king for a reason.

Trekkin' in the Toyota
After relaxing for 2 weeks with the fam, we took off back to San Carlos. A 2,600-mile cross-country trek in our Toyota Tacoma. Gotta get that fridge installed!

To Be Continued…
Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All
    Agua Verde
    Air Conditioning
    All-inclusive Resort
    Anchoring
    Bahia Amortajada
    Bahia Cardonal
    Bahia Cobre
    Bahia Concepcion
    Bahia Salinas
    Baja Ha Ha
    Baja Ha-Ha
    Balandra Beach
    Ballandra Bay
    Balloonfish
    Baluarte Bridge
    Bashing
    Boat Refrigeration
    Boatwork
    Boatyard Fatigue Syndrome
    Bottom Paint
    Bullfight
    Campervan
    Cancun
    Candeleros Bay
    Canvas
    Carlsbad Caverns
    Carnaval
    Chainplates
    Charleston
    Chichen Itza
    Cliff-Divers
    Cockpit Table
    Containers
    Cortez Angelfish
    Crossing
    Cruising Friendships
    Culture
    Cutlass Bearing
    Destination Wedding
    Dinghy
    Dodger
    Dolphins
    Driving In Mexico
    Dry Storage
    Durango
    EcoBaja Tours
    El Burro Cove
    Ensenada Grande
    Fireworks
    Fish
    Flat Tire
    Food
    Fun Baja
    Georgia
    Grandpa
    Gray Whales
    Guaymas
    Gulf Of California
    Haulout
    Hermosillo
    Hoffmaster State Park
    Holiday-inn-express
    Honeymoon-cove
    House
    Hurricane Blanca
    Hurricanes
    Interlochen
    Isla Carmen
    Isla Coronado
    Isla Danzante
    Isla El Coyote
    Isla Ispiritu Santos
    Isla San Francisco
    Isla San Jose
    Jumping Mobular Rays
    Kilometer 21
    La Paz
    Leelanau
    Life Raft
    List
    Llantera
    Loreto
    Los Gatos
    Los Islotes
    Los Osuna
    Marina Costa Baja
    Marina El Cid
    Marina Palmira
    Marina Seca
    Mayan
    Mazatlan
    Mexican Food
    Mexican Health Care
    Mexico
    Michigan
    Mobular Rays
    Mountains
    Mouse Aboard
    Moving Onto A Boat
    Mystical River
    New Orleans
    Nogales Border Crossing
    Nopolo
    Octopus
    Okefenokee Swamp
    Onilikan
    Pancho Villa Museum
    Pensacola
    Pima Air & Space Museum
    Playa Algodones
    Playa Bonanza
    Playa Coyote
    Playa Santa Barbara
    Playa Santispac
    Playa Santo Domingo
    Posada Concepcion
    Puerto Escondido
    Puerto Lopez Mateo
    Punta Chivato
    Punta Mangles
    Punta Perico
    Punta Pulpito
    Punta Salinas
    Radar
    Renaissance Festival
    Retinal Tear
    Retirement
    Rigging
    RV
    Safety
    Sailing
    Sailing Mexico
    San Carlos
    San Evaristo
    San Jose Channel
    San Juanico
    San Marte
    Sapphire NOW
    Savannah
    Sea Fireflies
    Sea Frost
    Sea Lions
    Sea Of Cortez
    Sea Turtles
    Serenbe Playhouse
    Shells
    Sleeping Bear Dunes
    Sleepy Hollow
    Snorkeling
    Stainless Steel
    St. Augustine
    Stingrays
    Storage
    Tacking
    Teak
    Tennessee
    Tequila Factory
    Texas
    Timbabiche
    TransUnion
    Tucson
    Tufesa Bus
    Tulum
    Underground River Swim
    Varnish
    Waterfalls
    Watermaker
    Whale Shark
    Wilderness State Park
    Wind Generator
    Windows
    Windvane
    Wing-on-Wing
    Winnebago Travato
    Woodworking

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.