New bed and curtains

We finally got the bed and some curtains for the new master bedroom. It's almost ready!!!

Moved to the new bedroom

We moved in to the new bedroom even without the furniture just to test it out.

Bedroom ready for the hardwood refinishing

The bedroom was all ready and empty for the hardwood floors to be refinished.

Window trims

I finished and painted the last pieces of trim for the bedroom.

Trim and hardwood floors

I installed the trim and baseboards and did some more hardwood floor repairs.

No te rindas

No te rindas, aún estás a tiempo

De alcanzar y comenzar de nuevo,

Aceptar tus sombras,

Enterrar tus miedos,

Liberar el lastre,

Retomar el vuelo.

No te rindas que la vida es eso,

Continuar el viaje,

Perseguir tus sueños,

Destrabar el tiempo,

Correr los escombros,

Y destapar el cielo.

No te rindas, por favor no cedas,

Aunque el frío queme,

Aunque el miedo muerda,

Aunque el sol se esconda,

Y se calle el viento,

Aún hay fuego en tu alma

Aún hay vida en tus sueños.

Porque la vida es tuya y tuyo también el deseo

Porque lo has querido y porque te quiero

Porque existe el vino y el amor, es cierto.

Porque no hay heridas que no cure el tiempo.

Abrir las puertas,

Quitar los cerrojos,

Abandonar las murallas que te protegieron,

Vivir la vida y aceptar el reto,

Recuperar la risa,

Ensayar un canto,

Bajar la guardia y extender las manos

Desplegar las alas

E intentar de nuevo,

Celebrar la vida y retomar los cielos.

No te rindas, por favor no cedas,

Aunque el frío queme,

Aunque el miedo muerda,

Aunque el sol se ponga y se calle el viento,

Aún hay fuego en tu alma,

Aún hay vida en tus sueños

Porque cada día es un comienzo nuevo,

Porque esta es la hora y el mejor momento.

Porque no estás solo, porque yo te quiero.

Mario Benedetti

Hardwood work

I started doing the hardwood patching on the bedroom.

Textured applied

Today we applied texture to the sheetrock repairs we did in the master bedroom.

Crown molding on the den

Today I installed new crown molding with Bo on the Den. It really helped to make the room look finally finished with the new bookshelves and paint.

Sheetrock work on the master bedroom

Doing some sheetrock work on the master bedroom.

Office reorg

I decided to change my office a little bit and hang my guitar and some pictures on the wall. I am slowly arranging things to fit the need of Sammy now that he's alone, which is also helping me to grieve my dog Negrita.

One more week in San Diego

Since I couldn't get ready to return home on the weekend after my trip to Baja, I decided to stay one more week with Juanpa and Monique and travel back the following weekend. During the week, Juanpa helped me fix the truck to be able to safely carry the motorcycle in it.

On Friday the 6th, I got very sick and I even had to stop working because I couldn't concentrate and I just needed to sleep. That night, Julie called me because Negrita had collapse with convulsions. She found her on the floor convulsing when she came back from work, so we don't know how long she was there. I helped Julie on the phone as much as I could, but Julie had to get Negrita in the car and take it to the vet in Gabriel Park. The veterinarian there tried to make the convulsions stop, but she couldn't, so Julie and I decided to take Negrita to the Northwest Veterinarian Specialists clinic in Clackamas. I was on the phone as much as I could, but I was still feeling terrible.

Negrita spent the night in the clinic and it wasn't looking good, so I woke up very early on the 7th and started driving back home. I was still not feeling good and my back was killing me. I had to get hot pads to allow me to drive. I was on the phone with Julie as much as I could on my way back, but the news she was sharing with me were no good. Negrita was deteriorating very quickly and now there was practically no hope of getting her back. We initially thought that it could be a relapse, but after confirming with Dr. Cyman that it was not a relapse, we knew she was dying.

I drove straight through and made it home very late on the 7th. I couldn't wait any longer, so we got Sammy in the car and drove to the clinic. When we got there, we already knew there was nothing to do and they were just keeping her alive for me to be able to say goodbye to her. She was completely asleep, because it was the only way to keep the convulsions under control. We spent some time with her, but as soon as they reduced the medication to see if she would wake up for a little bit, her legs started twitching, so I asked them to put her to sleep right there in front of us. We were all there with her and I got to hug her and talk to her telling her that it'd be alright. I hope she heard me and went peacefully.

We came back home from the clinic, but it was still difficult to believe that we were leaving Negrita behind for good. I had to go back to the clinic the next day to see her one more time and say goodbye. I got to have her with me for a little while and took some hair and a paw print they did for us. She was cold because they had her in a freezer all night. She looked beautiful as always. She look very peaceful. It was good to see her, but it broke my heart. Julie stayed in the car with Sammy. A few days after, they called me to go pick up her ashes.

Cleaning the bikes

We cleaned the bikes very thoroughly after our trip.

Wrapping up the trip

After a good night of sleep in the hotel San Nicolas in Ensenada, we drove straight home and made it there by 4 PM.

From San Quintin to Ensenada

After a good night of sleep in the best beds of the week, we drove by the coast at San Quintin and took off towards Ensenada.

We stopped in a cute restaurant to have lunch and talking to the people there, they not only recommended us the good hotels to spend the night in Ensenada, but also they advised us to take route 3 and cross in Tecate instead of crossing on Tijuana.

Driving all the way to San Quintin

After Bahia Los Angeles, we drove into the night to get all the way to San Quintin. The plan was stopping before, but the places that looked good in the map didn't when we got there. Luckily, we found a local with a delivery truck that was going to San Quintin, so we asked him and followed him. The guy was our hero, he even stopped after a military check to make sure we were following him.

From Mulegé to Bahía Los Angeles

We left the hotel in Mulege early in the morning and made a quick stop in Bahia Los Angeles.

We had lunch at Reina's in Bahia Los Angeles and hit the road again.

Hanging out

We decided to spend a quiet day and do some fishing and swimming in that beautiful beach.

 

That night, the wind started picking up and we decided to leave and spend the night in the city before starting our trip back home.

Arrived to Bahia Concepcion

We drove south until we reached a beach recommended to us, Playa el Burro in Bahia Concepcion.

Left San Ignacio towards the coast again

San Ignacio is in the middle of the Baja peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez. We hanged out a little bit in camp after breakfast and have fun with some kayaks before taking off.

 
We checked out town and found some pay phones to call to the US, and then continued driving south on Highway 1 until we reached the Sea of Cortez.

Arrived at San Ignacio

We continued south on Highway 1 and saw how the dessert got a little greener when we were approaching San Ignacio.

 

San Ignacio is a pretty cool colonial style town. We drove around a little bit and decided to spend the night in a yurt rented from a couple of Canadians. We heard about the Canadians and their cool camp from a couple of motorcycle rides we met in San Felipe.

Stop at Santa Rosalillita

We stopped at Santa Rosalillita because there was supposed to be very good seafood there. Not only there was no seafood or restaurant there, but we also learned that the government has restricted the amount of fishing the locals can do.

Coco's corner

In our way to Highway 1, we stopped at Coco's corner, which is a traditional place for the Baja races.

 

Coco's corner is a very unique place, and Coco a cool guy. We unfortunately did not meet him personally. We saw a truck that slowed down to a stop when we drove by them. Later we learned that it was Coco and he was actually stopping to give us any advice or help we might need, and to check the pressure in our tires. Apparently, many people travel the gravel roads with too much air in their tires, which leads to damaging the tires and not having good stability.

During the Baja races, people that camp at Coco's corner leave a present behind which gets displayed there as you can see on this picture.

Soon after leaving Coco's corner, we got to the Highway and started moving faster.