It is never easy to tear myself away from my home, however temporary it is. After two weeks in Los Frailes I was settled in. I had four friends, the weather was perfect, I was pleasantly diverted by the flora and fauna, snorkelling and bird-watching, and I was actually getting some work done. But, I was getting antsy. I was also getting a little tired of living out of a five-gallon water jug. The last trip to town had damaged my water tank and 30 precious gallons of agua purificada drained out of the tank and saturated my carpet.

As frustrating as that was, I had a plan. As luck would have it, there is one RV repair shop in all of Baja, and it was situated in my next destination – San José del Cabo/Cabo San Lucas. What good luck. Also in the Cabo corridor was every major supermarket chain you could desire, both Mexican and American: Soriana, Super Ley, Chedraui, Mega, Walmart, Costco, even Office Depot. I was so excited, I had been working on my shopping list for the past three days.

Of course, a quick escape is never possible. I had to take Luna for one last walk and swim in the bath-like waters of the Sea of Cortez and I had to say goodbye to my four friends. Pleasantries completed, I crawled into the drivers seat, put the key in the ignition, turned it, nothing. The starter had finally called it quits. Even though I was miles from nowhere, I had faith that I could get help. Just two days before, on a Sunday, I had campsite assistance to repair a flat tire. My know-it-all neighbor, John, came to my aid. We tried everything, to no avail. On a lark he began rocking my rig forward and aft. Miraculously, that jiggled something just right and the ignition roared into action.  Maybe he did know it all. I was on my way, back over 11 miles of washboards, another 11 miles of potholes, then 65 miles of gloriously paved highway into the Cabo Corridor.

I arrived, but all my plans had been dashed. I had a rational fear that if I turned off my car it would never start again. I drove directly to the only RV park in Cabo San Lucas, I did not pass go and I did not stop at Costco. I figured they would know how the find the RV repair shop and a good mechanic. I struck out on the mechanic, but they did have a flyer with a map for the Wahoo RV Repair Shop in San José del Cabo, 20 miles back the direction from which I had come. I found the place after a few wrong turns and yet another trip down a one-way street, only to be told that there was no mechanic on duty and could I return the following morning at 8:00 a.m. What bad luck.

I have a strong aversion to large cities and tourist-trap destinations. I have no desire hang out in Cabo. I believed that I had hit my southernmost stop on my odyssey and would be zooming back north with few detours. I decided I could live out of a five-gallon jug for the rest of my trip and I would not be returning to the Wahoo RV Repair Shop in the morning. When I awoke I would drive directly to Todos Santos and not look back. By the good grace of my guardian Goddess, my rig started on the first try the next morning. What good luck!

I rolled into Todos Santos without realizing I had actually arrived, the highway dumps onto a dusty two-lane road with no “Bienvenidos a Todos Santos” sign. I drove down the hill, turned a corner, and once I started up the hill I realized I had arrived. I pulled over to the side of the road, parked my rig, and had an amazing breakfast of chilaquiles rojas, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and weak black coffee. Next, I meandered over to the Cafe Todos Santos for an amazing double cappuccino in a beautiful setting.  On the way back to my rig I stopped in a little tourist shop on the main street and made my first friend, Jose.  I think I could like this!

It was my first stroll down the main street of Todos Santos.  I decided that the time was nigh to start the next chapter of my life.