Return to Altair

I am back in San Blas, where resides my wonderful (and lonely) boat, Altair. She has missed me, I can tell. There are some signs of tears dripping into the bilge (since its full) and her nose is all clogged up from the joy of seeing me. Actually it is the head. But I will get to that.
I begin this epic saga at the end of the last. Coming back from the Enchantments, I was feeling great, though tired. I got to Seattle, posted the last post, and then had a nice evening with Danny before going to bed to wake up ass early the next morning. Danny was kind enough to drive me to the airport.
Things didn't all go as wrong as they could have, but they tried. First, my bag was too heavy, so I had to move things around to make it lighter. The plane took off and it was a beautiful sunrise, with Rainier blooming through the fog. I got a few shots of the west side (since I was not on the rainier side) and they might be coming later. Los Angeles was just waking up when we arrived, so I was happy to see that we were early. But then the plane that was in our gate was late, so we had to wait on the tarmac for a gate. I don't know how long we waited, but I was worried about my connection, but that worked out all right too. So I got to the gate and there was this long-haired guy with a goatee who looked nice, and I asked him if he was going to Mexico. He was! I found out that he lives to the north of PV, so I asked him if I could get a ride with him, and he said yes.
So after landing in Puerto Vallarta, I ran through customs and made it through unscathed, to catch up with Juan Diego (as he is called), and his uncle, who had brought his car to the airport. I put my bags in the back and got in with them, while Juan Diego and his uncle got into the front seats.
I was surprised when Juan put on his seatbelt, but he'd been living in the USA for a while, so maybe it was habit. Or maybe it was a signal that he was going to be driving extra fun today. We got started and they pulled out a joint and passed it between them, burrowing into the thick white smoke. I was a bit startled, but I just tried to breathe the fresh air out the window. Then we got to a store, where they got two bottles of beer, for the road. I've never actually seen someone drink while driving, but I guess its not that special. Anyways, they had the beer pretty visible, and the marijuana wasn't terribly hidden, so I was wondering what the penalties are down here, or if things like this weren't illegal. Then the two lanes became one, and there was a big truck ahead of us, so we hit the gas to try and make it.
All I can say is that we are lucky that the truck almost stopped, because the merge section was well over and the oncoming bus wasn't slowing down, and there wasn't room for the three of us. So I lived.
Then Juan was eager to run the corners as fast as he could, on a twisty road dotted with little crosses all over.
I was actually not very frightened of much of the driving, even the head on near miss. I guess I've gotten used to that kind of driving in China.
So they took me to Tepic, where I spent the night, and then took a bus to San Blas. The bus station attendant sold me a ticket to the wrong city, so I asked about it and then got the right one. You have to be careful with those people. I got the impression that she didn't like me, because of my skin and nationality, and that she led me astray on purpose. But I foiled her plan.
Anyways, I got to the boat, and discovered that the guy I worked with on making the contract for storage no longer works here. So that means that all the side deal, which was that I could get an extra month free, is not valid anymore. Which means that I have to pay for this month. And the rates are higher than before. 30 % higher, I think. The case of RedBull that I got in Los Angeles, and drank about 3 of them, well, it took a turn for the worse. I think water seeped into the package, eroded the aluminum cans, and they leaked energy all over the head. This energy soon turned into biology, and coated the toilet and floor. I knew I wasn't going to use them up. I should have given them away.
Its nearly clean, but it is a tricky area to work, since there are a lot of angles to clean off. And tonight the sun set nicely and the heat is still on, with a mist of humidity drifting down from heaven too. I am also being eaten by mosquitoes. If it were a bit cooler, I would be very happy. I haven't been in the water yet, so I am eager to get the boat in the water. Also I am paying, so I think I might even try to paint tomorrow. I just got bottom paint tonight, I hope it is good stuff.
Once I get the bottom painted, I think I'll hoof it pretty quick up to Baja, to try and find cooler air. And less mosquitoes.
Things are good, though. I had forgotten how good it feels to be on board.