“There are still things I would like to do, but I want to be on the road by 6 AM to get back to Melaque.”
I was telling a friend my well-laid plans about leaving the highlands in the early morning to get back to Manzanillo to pick up mail and buy parts for the Escape.
”Steve, you know none of that is going to happen. This is Mexico,” said she.
Smugness and hubris are always paid in cold coin. In this case, through the instrument of the laundress. When I stopped by the laundry on Wednesday evening at 8 to pick up clean sheets and towels for the condominium, I was told, with great sorrow and ceremony, that the laundry would not be ready until Thursday morning.
And that is why I was on the road to Melaque at 11, instead of 6. I could have fit in a trip to Costco by driving to Morelia and catching the toll roads all the way to the beach.
But I decided to see a bit more of the village country around Lake Pátzcuaro by driving around the east end of the lake and up through Zacapu. I now have a long list of places to revisit when I return.
I made rather good time – as drivers can on the toll roads. The posted limit is the equivalent to 66 to 70 miles per hour. I was doing 80. And I was passed by about three-quarters of the cars. It is almost like Germany in Mexico.
Of course, I did not get to Manzanillo in time to do any of my chores. And it was just as well. When I got back to the duplex I discovered my modem had taken French leave. Or, more accurately, it had crossed over to the other side. Probably, another storm victim.
With the assistance of my land lady, I arranged to pick up a new one in Manzanillo this morning. And a fruitful day it was. A new modem. A stack of mail (even though my magazines have now gone missing for four months). $150 worth of good food (including a package of cherries). And a new antenna for the Escape.
The only thing I could not get today was a bracket for the Escape’s battery. But it is supposed to arrive on Tuesday. All things in time.
Not bad for my first day back at the coast.
My modem is up and running. But I think I will take a break from writing for the weekend. I want to sort through my notes and photographs for the past two months to see if there are some tidbits I have left unserved.
And we can then resume our sojourn on Mexico’s coast. It has been a busy two months.
