We hung out at Los Frailes for a couple of days.
Lowe wanted to be Princessa Rainbow. If you’ve got a problem with that he has no problem with throwing a handful of sand in your face.
This well brought on one of those “teachable” moments that we seem to find more and more of these days. I forget sometimes how much knowledge we adults are filled with, and how every time a child sees something new (like a well) there is a moment to share that knowledge with them. And while a well might not seem that interesting to me, it is incredibly so to two young minds. Ali reminded me of this today when at first I was answering their pleading questions with, “No, we don’t need any water!”
We got lucky this morning and got to watch about fifty turtles make their way out of their shells and down to the water for the first time. Cute little buggers. Good thing they don’t head into that water knowing the odds that they are up against.
The only question both of our kids had was, “Where’s their mama?”
Oh, Ouest and Lowe, mama just lays the eggs and then abandons them, leaving them to fend for themselves once they hatch. Oh, and all these turtles you see today will most likely be dead in a week. Now go have fun!
The drive south from Frailes to San Jose was sort of insane. The first fifteen miles or so were tame enough, just terribly washboarded. It took about two hours to cover that distance. After that, as we started to figure we were getting closer to civilization, the road just got worse, and worse, and worse. It’s sort of strange because pretty much every house out along here is a million plus. This stretch of road is going to explode when the government finally decides to pave it and run some water lines out. Total drive time to cover 30 miles today? Over four hours.
This is probably the second hairiest moment of the drive. The first was moments earlier on the uphill side of the mountain. The road was washed out on both sides, leaving just a couple of inches on each side of the bus. I squeezed through there, but then had to climb an incline the likes of which we’ve never attempted in this bus. For a minute I was certain the bus wasn’t going to make it up. At the top of the pass we were crawling at maybe two miles as the road finally flattened out. The strong possibility that we wouldn’t make it, and would instead have to roll a quarter mile backwards in reverse through the washouts, had even me a little nervous. I don’t say that glibly—I really don’t get nervous.
The bus got put through the paces today. Amazing ,really, that we came out of this drive unscathed. We were literally rock climbing for miles. Not to mention the unrelenting rattling of the washboards. The idea that this thing is almost fifty years old and still tough enough to handle this sort of abuse makes me smile.
18 Comments on “Los Frailes”
Great photos as always.
More importantly, I dig that you let your son wear a dress. Nice work. Let kids have fun, and become who they’re suppose to become. No issues here. Merry Mexican Christmas!
Josh & Jocelyn
That may be the best bovine picture I’ve ever seen! The ears look like they were painted on.
Good thing you made it through those washouts, it would have taken more than a tow truck to get your bus out of that mess!
You must have some sort of 60s filter for your camera. Some of the shots, like the one where you are standing in the water with Lowe on your back, look just like the shots my folks used to get out of their Instamatic back when your Travco was new.
I use a vintage filter on occasion. Some shots just harken back to an earlier time don’t they? Especially with a 1966 Dodge around.
Feliz navidad from La Cruz!!!
I would have absolutely freaked out driving any sort of of vehicle through those tight washouts…much less a bus. More power to you!
I had to look up the meaning of “washboarding”. The first example in wiki is from Baja California, Mexico! Happy Midwinterings, folks.
Lowe wanting to wear a dress tell me he is being raised right. He is a free thinker at his age, and that is great!!!
Viva Mexico!
Feliz Navidad.
“2 MPH”? If you did that more than a minute or so, you could have really heated the transmission up. Suggest:
1. Wipe the trans dipstick on a clean paper towel
2. If it is the least bit dark and/or has a burned, acrid or
sharp smell, have the fluid changes ASAP
3. If you don’t already have one, have an aftermarket Trans oil cooler installed, something like this:
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Transmission+Coolers+%26+Accessories/N0940/C0377.oap
Transmissions live or die on the quality of the fluid in them.
Paul T
It looks and smells fine. A tranny oil change has been on my list, as has a coolant flush, and since we’re going to be in our next stop for a while it should be a good time to do that.
Ah, as Martha Stewart says, “That is a good thing”. Life is good, motor on, we enjoy your site, we get to see Mexico without having to go there. It looks “different” than what we are used to.
Paul T
In case you haven’t encountered them, many Mexico washboard or otherwise rough roads have a parallel track that is usually smooth packed sand…
And, I guess your rig isn’t right to take the washboards at 35 mph or more as some vehicles do?
I remember that road so well – you have some balls going down that in one swoop (- we needed a break after only an hour or so – my post on it all is here – http://www.meriahnichols.com/beach-name/ ) – NUTS.
And you got some perfect photos of it.
Jealous you guys got to see the turtles at Los Frailes – we wanted to so much! Were the manta rays jumping too when you were there?
Beautiful country, but don’t think we’ll be taking our 40 ft. rig down there any time soon.
You need a smaller rig. 🙂
Those washed out roads are something else! I recall driving through mountains in Guatemala with washed out roads, driving over wooden planks no more than a few inches wider than the tires. I can’t imagine driving backwards through washed out roads…glad you didn’t have to. 🙂