OK, we’re here in La Paz, and it is really beautiful. We arrived yesterday afternoon around 1pm, an hour or more earlier than expected. We found a bunch of Raul’s guys doing last minute touch ups and his brother Rene was vigorously dusting the inside of the casita. We left them to it and went shopping because they obviously had everything timed for our expected arrival.

Raul our friend/builder/tennis partner came to meet us and sat on the patio for a couple of beers. It was great to see him again. He said “ I have a new girlfriend… and we are getting married!” He said he had never been happier in his whole life. He met Georgina in August (I know…!) and was waiting for our arrival to fix the date in November. So we have a Mexican wedding to look forward to! 

Anyway, back tracking to our drive down the Carreterra Transpeninsular… What an incredible experience. So many different types of terrain - through mountains, high sierra, low lands swathed in Pacific fog… Flintstone/Bedrock scenery near Catavina - huge boulders piled high both sides of the road. And the cactus selection changed as we drove further south. Initially, a mix of Yukkas and tall spindly/hairy cactus with a tufts at the top - Dr Suess style. Eventually to the predominant Cardons and Pithaya we have here. Leanne drove the WHOLE way, she is thinking of a new career as a “Baja Trucker”. Ive attached some photos, which don’t really do it justice.

Our daily readers may have noticed that there was no post yesterday. Our hotel had a 'temporary' wi-fi problem that was supposed to last 1 hr then 4 hrs then right until we left this morning...
Back to the start of yesterday... what a day. I woke up really early and persuaded Leanne to leave the hotel at 6am so we could beat the rush to the border. We had decided to go to the Otay Mesa crossing rather than the much busier Tijuana one. We arrived at the border in darkness, went straight through, no line up. The customs guy briefly inspected our car and was more interested in why I had 2 bass guitars and an amp with me than the dog and all the computer gear. The whole thing took about 2 minutes and then he said - "on your way" - so we went. It only after we had gone down the road (past the massive line-up to come in to the US) that we realized we had no tourist visa and no record of our entry.
We stopped at a local hotel where they spoke English and the guy said "you don't need one, you're in Mexico, so you're free!" We call our friends Terry & Valerie in La Paz and asked their opinion and decided to go back to the border (via the hour long line up).
In the line, I rolled my window  down and asked a guy next to us about the whole visa thing... he said turn left at the next junction... after more searching we (totally by chance) found the Immigration Office in an unpaved back street. The people were really friendly and helpful, and we payed our $50 to get the 6 month visa. BTW we were the ONLY people there!
How ridiculous a system - you have to actually find the office to get a  stamp in your passport!
Leanne is going to research this more, and find out what the real story is! Our first time here, we weren't going to risk travelling without the right documentation. Our first taste of Mexicaness.!
We have had an awesome drive down and are enjoying dinner a nice hotel near Loreto - tomorrow we drive the last short leg to La Paz. Molly will be very glad!
We will post more photos tomorrow and write about some funny things that happened on the way.
Adios amigos!

We're about 7 miles from the Mexican border at the La Quinta hotel in Chula Vista after another day of trouble free driving through central California. We had no idea California was that boring! Mile after mile of literally nothing. It all changed once we crossed over to the LA area. We stuck to the I5 and got past the city centre with no hold ups. We were doing so well that we decided to visit Newport Beach and Laguna Beach... pretty posh. Leanne would have definitely enjoyed hanging around for a while. But we had the dog (La Diabla) with us and she would have 'enjoyed' all the chihuahuas and shitzus. So we carried on and found a great spot to take in the ocean view and have lunch.
The hotel is fine, clean and close to where we need to be. The pool was really nice this afternoon, but Molly was really perplexed by it, we realized she had never seen one before!
Tomorrow Mexico.

What a great drive today. We started at 7am from Eugene and headed up the I5 in heavy rain. The scenery was spectacular even in the gloom. We eventually arrived at the California border and the sun came out, and from then on its was dry. Mount Chaster was really something to see, with fresh snow on the summit.
We decided that today would be la ong days drive because it was Sunday and the roads would be quieter. They were for the most part, but it seemed everyone in Sacramento was going to Uncle Bob's Halloween Pumpkin Fair just south of the city... literally thousands of people were cramming the roads to get there and do the corn maze!
We are presently sitting in a Motel 6 south of Stockton, right next to the I5 (I mean literally 20 yds away) It is clean and perfect for the 12 hrs we will spend here. Tonight we had In & Out burgers that really hit the spot, but I felt I needed more. So I nipped next door to Taco Bell and ordered a couple of things. I would say that the staff at In & Out are much better motivated... and the place was absolutely heaving!
Here are some pics - we found perfectly matched dog food for Molly at Trader Joes!
I took a pic of the local paper in Eugene - advertising 'Free Weed" at an event this weekend.
And I added some pics from our days drive - through the rain climbing Grant's Pass and into Northern California and the burnt fields south of Sacramento.

Tomorrow we head off through LA to Chula Vista/ San Diego.

the U-Pac storage locker was delivered to the driveway on Wednesday and Thursday Phil came over and helped us pack it.... Actually he did most of it! And, it all fitted with room to spare.

All our worldly possessions in a 9'x7'x9' box. Yesterday, we packed the car and remarkably that all fitted too! Every single square inch of car was used, including the roof.

Managed to squeeze one last Friday afternoon visit to Four Winds - thanks for the beers Rich.

Then to Kathy & Iain's for dinner and overnight accommodation. Thank you so much for putting us up last night. Great food and company.

We got up at 6am (slightly dissappointed the neighbours didn't line the street to wave us off) and hit the road soon after. The border was a breeze. I thought the guy was going to be a real you know what, but after a brief conversation, he said on your way. So we went!

Smooth drive down through Washington state and we arrived in downtown Eugene, Oregon around 3pm. Going to have pizza tonight and early bed ready for another early start in the morning. Molly was so well behaved, she just sat and waited quietly the whole journey. She doesn't understand what's going on, but is pretty happy!

Thank you to Sharon & Mike for hosting a lovely party for our neighbours last Friday evening. We will miss you all, and hope you follow through and come and visit us down in Mexico once we get settled in.
We especially loved the unique rendition of the Mr Rogers' Neighbour Song. I've scanned the lyrics for posterity... it was a memorable moment and someone no doubt has it on video somewhere - please share if you do. We're already looking forward to the Christmas Party at Patterson's.

OK, this is the first time we've blogged. It's Canadian Thanksgiving Monday and the turkey is in the oven. We're having 11 for dinner tonight as a (potentially) last supper in the kitchen at 4847 12A
We're feeling good about our preparations to leave and start driving down to La Paz a week on Saturday. The feelings change day by day. Sometimes, like today, we feel like we're really on top of things. Tomorrow it could be different - depends how I sleep. There are many mid-night thoughts going on!
Leanne is busy flogging all our stuff on Varagesale. The house is starting to echo. This afternoon the bar stools have sold - so we've had to tell the person they can't pick them up until tomorrow - we need them tonight!