February 3 to 9 ; Celestino Gasca to Las Glorias, Sinaloa, Mexico

Sunday ; Another beautiful day ! Joanne baked an orange & carrot cake in the Sun Oven today. And she made me a batch of orange marmalade. She’s searching for ways to use up the huge sack of oranges I bought recently.

We’ve just returned from watching the sun set. WOW ! Big orange ball sinking into the Sea of Cortez !

My plan for today was to go into the nearby tiny village of Celestino Gasca and get a haircut. BUT … rather than going into the village and trying to find an estetica who likely doesn’t speak a word of English and who probably has never cut gringo hair … Joanne offered to cut my hair. I accepted her offer and after she finished cutting my hair, I trimmed hers. We’re both satisfied.

I spent much of today doing repairs and scheduled preventive maintenance. Right ! So what else is new ? ! ? The biggest challenge, and of course the job that went the least well, was fixing a problem with the fridge door. It was difficult to close. Because everything flexes and twists while travelling down here in Mexico ! ! !

Nancy the feral cat visited today. I think she was looking for “breakfast”. Which I gave her !

A serving of dry cat food, and a saucer of milk. She spent a long time afterward lounging in our site, sunning and grooming herself. No need to go hunting today, is there Nancy ?

Late this morning a young man on a motorcycle came into the RV park. He had two large coolers strapped onto his motorcycle behind his seat. One was filled with freshly butchered chickens.  One was filled with rounds of queso fresco / fresh cheese.  We bought a large round of queso fresco for ochenta pesos.  It's wonderful soft cheese.

We went for a long beach walk this afternoon. We walked north, instead of south, the direction we usually walk here. A quarter mile or so north was a rocky point extending out into the sea. I think it’s the beginning of an underwater reef where oysters exist. And to our surprise, beyond the rocky point the beach changes from pebbles to sand. There was a dead seal washed up on the rocks. Stinky ! Where are the buzzards when you need them ? We saw a bird that we’ve never seen before today on the rocky point. Back at home I asked Joanne to try to find it in our Sibley bird book. Of course ! ! ! An Oystercatcher ! ! !

For supper tonight I poached Corvina fillets in fresh coconut milk, then sprinkled almond slivers and freshly grated coconut on them, then squeezed lime juice on them. Joanne made an orange risotto using fresh orange juice and queso fresco, as well as an orange and date salad with orange vinaigrette.

Monday ; day trip to Cosala

This morning while doing regular preventive maintenance I discovered that one of the truck’s rear tires had lost half its air pressure < sigh >.

Our plan for today was to make a day trip to Cosala, a small colonial city about 100 km. away up in the Sierra Madres. We drove to La Cruz. At a Pemex station I refilled the truck with diesel and put air in the leaking tire. I’ll check the air pressure tomorrow morning and determine how fast it’s losing air. While still in La Cruz we found an LP gas place and had an empty propane tank refilled. Okay … diesel, air, propane … ready to head to Cosala.

On the way to Cosala, passing through one of the many little villages, there were children standing at each tope ( Mexican speed bump ) selling bolsas de gorditas, y bolsas de empanadas, y bolsas de bollos. We didn’t buy anything, but we certainly gave away a lot of CANADA scribblers and pencils. It seems that in the little villages of this area the Mexican children earn their “weekly allowance” by selling home made baking that they have helped make.

We arrived in Cosala and drove around for awhile, then parked and walked around all afternoon exploring. We had an excellent lunch at a lovely restaurant. Joanne discovered that the dulceria

( candy store ) in town had stock of Nugs Crujiente, her favourite Mexican chocolate bar. Everybody carries Nugs, Coconugs, and Nugs Recreo, but nobody carries Nugs Crujiente ! She wanted me to buy her the store’s entire stock of Nugs Crujiente as a belated birthday gift. HA HA HA … okay … Happy Birthday !

Around 4 PM, after a day of exploring Cosala, having a wonderful lunch, buying chocolate bars at a dulceria, and some medications at a farmacia in town, we were tired and decided it was time to head home. We arrived back at Celestino RV Park about 5:45 PM, just in time to head to the beach with Bo and watch the sun set.

After supper I stepped outside and “kitty called” for Nancy, my feral cat friend. And … HA HA HA … Pedro showed up ! Pedro is one of the other four feral cats living in the RV park. I guess Nancy and Pedro can’t really be considered feral any more since they are willing to come when called by gringos, and mooch food. And be petted ! Pedro loooooves smoked marlin. HA HA HA HA HA ! So does Sully. We still have some smoked marlin left. Joanne doesn’t like it. I’m ambivalent, so I’ve decided to share it with the cats.

 Tuesday ; This morning I checked the air pressure on the truck tire that’s leaking air. It lost half its air pressure in twenty-four hours so I decided it needed to be taken for repair today. Yesterday when we were refilling a propane tank Joanne noticed that there was a vulcanizadora across the street. A vulcanizadora is like a llantera but with tire vulcanizing capability. I removed the valve extenders, wheel liner, and hub cap in anticipation of removing the leaking tire and installing the spare. Joanne persuaded me to not bother. Just drive the truck into La Cruz and let the vulcanizadora jack up the truck and remove the tires, even if that costs a tiny bit more than repairing a tire that’s already been removed from the vehicle. She’s right, Mexican labour is so cheap, and they can jack up the truck and remove the rear tires so much faster and easier than
I can.

I drove to the vulcanizadora in La Cruz. He discovered that the tire had a huge gash in the sidewall. I’m of the opinion that sidewall damage renders a tire ready for the garbage bin, but the vulcanizadora said he could fix the tire. Okay … at that price, what have I got to lose. Jack up a one ton dually truck, remove both rear tires on one side, fix the damaged tire, reinstall the two rear tires … sesenta pesos, a bit less than six bucks !

Back home at Celestino RV Park I adjusted the lug nuts with my torque wrench, reinstalled the valve extenders, and the wheel liner. I won’t reinstall the hub cap until I check the lug nuts after driving tomorrow. After I was finished with the tire work I did the 210,000 km. inspection on Lanoire. Everything’s fine ! What a great truck ! I’m pleased that a few months ago I decided to replace the truck and trailer tires after Mexico rather than before. I’ve already damaged one trailer tire and one truck tire on this trip. Not to mention the windshield chip we got yesterday on the way to Cosala when an oncoming large truck tossed up a rock that hit our windshield ! I’m hopeful, but not optimistic, that we can make it back to the United States and have the chip repaired before cracks run from it.

We walked down to the beachfront patio to watch the sun set tonight. We chatted with some neighbours who were doing the same and got some travel recommendations from them. Nancy and Pedro both came by for some smoked marlin today. HA HA HA … feral cats, indeed !

Wednesday ; Celestino Gasca to Guasave

I’m typing this in the middle of the night. I have insomnia. Perhaps due to the antibiotic I took this morning. Perhaps due to the relentless traffic noise from the highway. We’re parked overnight in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart in Guasave. Perhaps due to the incessant barking of the dog locked into the business across the street behind us.

Like all of our travel days in Mexico, today was filled with difficult challenges, some overwhelming as they happened, then demoralizing afterwards. Oddly, Joanne was more affected than me today.
I guess it was her turn to feel defeated.

When I woke up this morning Pedro and Nancy were both waiting at the door of the trailer for breakfast. HA HA HA ! Yes, yes, feral cats, indeed ! I fed them both a large serving of Science Diet and smoked marlin. After eating breakfast Pedro left, heading in the direction of the gringo a few sites over who also feeds them. Nancy curled up on the bed I made for her a few days ago, an old towel on my folding chair.

We slowly prepared for departure. Nancy snoozed in the folding chair. When it became apparent to her that we were leaving, she threw a bit of a hissy fit, running up and down the two coconut trees in our site. It must be frustrating to her to repeatedly befriend gringos who then abandon her. My heart was breaking as we drove away and I saw her sitting forlornly outside the bathroom building, her permanent “home”. I wish somebody would adopt her and take her back to Norteamerica !

We drove the two mile donkey trail back to the village of Celestino Gasca. And as we reached the edge of the village … < sputter > … there was a wide, deep trench dug completely across the road from side to side. Some men were installing sewer pipe. I had to twist around the trench, driving through somebody’s “front yard” to get around it. The wheels of the trailer were just a couple of inches from the edge of the vertical wall of the trench dug in the soft sandy road. I was certain that the weight of the trailer would collapse the edge of the trench and the trailer would fall in !

We drove to La Cruz. We stopped at Pemex to refill with diesel, adjust the air in the repaired truck tire, check the lug nuts and reinstall the hub cap. There was a truck load of police at the Pemex station. It’s common for Mexico’s police to hang around Pemex stations and toll booths and “show the colours”, walking around with machine guns swinging off their shoulders, pretending to “inspect” people and vehicles. This bunch of cops had one who wanted to practice his terrible English on me while I was trying to get my work done. If he hadn’t been wielding a machine gun I would have been inclined to tell him to **** off !

We left the Pemex at La Cruz and headed for MEX 15 Libre. It was our plan to get onto MEX 15 Cuota ( toll ) before reaching Culiacan. As we neared Culiacan there was one .. and only one … road sign indicating the direction to the toll road. We never got there !

It is not possible to get on or off the toll road near Culiacan. It is not possible to drive through Culiacan unless if you know exactly the route you need to take in advance. There is no road signage to guide you through this large city ! ! ! We were hopelessly lost southbound at the end of December. We were hopelessly lost northbound today ! ! ! About ¾ of the way through the city, hopelessly lost and tangled in heavy downtown traffic on narrow streets, I rolled down my window and asked a passing motorcycle cop for directions. He motioned for me to follow him.

With lights flashing he guided me through downtown and out to the highway. I would never have found my way without his help. When we reached the edge of the city he pulled over to the side of the road and motioned for me to pull around him and stop. He swaggered over to my window and asked in Spanish if I spoke Spanish. I said “NO” ! “A little bit ?” he asked ( in Spanish ). “Okay … a little bit”, I conceded ( in Spanish ).

He asked for my driver’s license ? My driver’s license ? ! ? Are you kidding me ? You’re going to try for mordida ? ? ? I don’t ****ing think so, pal ! I handed him my license, he looked at it, handed it back to me, then proceeded to sternly lecture me. About what, you might ask ? I have no idea ! BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH ! If there was a suggestion / request for payment of a “fine” in there I missed it ! I think he was lecturing me for being downtown with my big truck and trailer on “no truck route” streets.

Well … **** you, pal ! If your country invested just a teensy bit of intellect and effort into road signage we gringos wouldn’t be driving big rigs through your downtown. And as for the muchos dineros I pump into your third world economy ? You’re welcome ! ! !

As soon as we were completely through Culiacan I pulled over at a large Pemex station to have lunch. It was then that I became aware of how incredibly frazzled Joanne was by the ordeal of once again struggling through Culiacan. Poor baby, come here and I’ll give you a big hug !

As we passed though a little village I saw a small frutas y verduras truck parked outside a little abarrote. They were restocking the abarrote with fruits and vegetables. I slammed on the brakes. The two farmers with the truck were happy to sell produce to us. We stocked up on fresh fruit and vegetables. Cuanto ? Viente-cinco pesos ? ? ? Two bucks ? That works for me !

Somewhere between Culiacan and Guasave we passed through an agricultural inspection station. My large sack of oranges was confiscated ! Fortunately, we had already used about ¾ of the contents. And last night I had squeezed myself another litre of fresh orange juice. But it still rankled me to lose my remaining ¼ sack of oranges.

My destination for today was a Pemex station on the north side of Guasave. I thought that as soon as we drove through Guasave we would stop for the night. BUT … as we drove through Guasave, about half an hour before darkness, so my timing was good for reaching the Pemex before nightfall, I spotted a Wal-Mart just off the opposite side of the highway. I got onto the “lateral” alongside the highway, flipped around on a retorno to the lateral on the opposite side, and drove back to the
Wal-Mart.

First thing I did was ask for permission at Security to spend the night in the parking lot. No problemo ! We shopped and shopped and shopped. First Wal-Mart since just after Christmas ! As we were eating supper in the trailer afterwards I noticed … HEY … Burger King across the street.
I wonder if Burger Kings in Mexico have free Wi-Fi like in the United States and Canada. After supper I grabbed my computer and headed over to Burger King. They do ! I spent two hours online.
I got my weekly journal posted to my blog. I retrieved January bank statements and investment statements. I reviewed … < sigh > … ninety-eight e-mails ! AOL’s spam filter isn’t working well !

Thursday ; Guasave to Las Glorias

Well … I really outdid myself today. I hit the underside of an overpass and ripped pretty much everything off the roof of the trailer ! ! ! ! ! < huge sigh >

This morning as I prepared for departure from the Wal-Mart parking lot in Guasave Joanne ran into the Wal-Mart and picked up a few more items. We pulled out of the Wal-Mart parking lot onto the southbound lateral and then immediately turned left into the retorno that passed underneath the highway, so that we could get onto the northbound lateral and then back onto the highway.

OH, GAWD … WHAT’S THAT SCRAPING SOUND ? ? ? ? ?

There was no clearance height marked. No clearance height marking implies “high enough” where
I come from ! Well … it wasn’t quite high enough ! While I ( fortunately, I guess ) did not peel back the roof of the trailer like opening a can of sardines, I scraped off everything up there. Except the air conditioner, although I did smash the air conditioner shroud. So I guess it could have been worse !

I destroyed the bedroom roof vent and its MaxxAir cover. I destroyed the bathroom roof vent and its MaxxAir cover. I destroyed the bathroom’s skylight. I destroyed the TV antenna and caused severe damage to the wood of the roof underneath the TV antenna. I sheared off two holding tank vent pipe caps, including damaging the pipes they were attached to and the wood of the roof where the pipes pass through the roof. I shattered the fridge’s roof top vent cover. And finally, I shattered the air conditioner’s shroud. I ripped a tear about a foot long in the rubber roof.

You know, the Wal-Mart is like a magnet to every gringo RV’er that passes through Guasave. And every single one of them is driving a rig that’s probably six inches to a foot too tall to make it through that underpass on the retorno. Wouldn’t you think that after seeing every rig that makes a
u-turn / retorno there hit the underside of the overpass that they would eventually put up some ****ing signage ? ! ? < FUME > I’m developing some really severe bigotry here, folks !

I don’t think there’s any point to making an insurance claim. Travel in Mexico requires Mexican insurance. Canadian and American vehicle insurance doesn’t cover travel in Mexico. My Mexican travel insurance has $1000 deductible. And if I file a claim, they’ll probably want me to take the trailer to Mazatlan and then wait indefinitely for parts to be shipped from the U.S. It would likely take weeks ! I don’t think the Mexican insurer will pay for repairs to be done back in the U.S. or Canada. And the damage would likely exceed the deductible only if all repairs were to be done by a repair shop. I’d rather buy all the parts myself and slowly do the labour by myself. I’m hopeful that all the necessary parts won’t exceed more than a few hundred dollars, and my labour is free, so to speak.

A few minutes after the underpass accident, I refilled with diesel at the Pemex station that was our original destination for yesterday, and we left Guasave. We drove north on MEX 15 Libre for awhile, then dipsy doodled around on a bunch of farming back roads until we reached Las Glorias, and the Mr. Moro Hotel & RV Park. We’ve been here before. It’s a lovely beachfront location, very wide, soft sand beach at the end of the little town of Las Glorias. There’s only one other rig here at the moment, although a caravan of nineteen rigs will be arriving on Saturday.

We got set up in our site, then I climbed up on the roof to assess priorities, and do emergency repairs. Using all the duct tape that I had I temporarily patched the bathroom’s shattered skylight.
I had a roll of Eternabond and used that to quickly and excellently and permanently repair the tear in the rubber roof. Looks like a huge shopping trip to Camping World in Tucson will be necessary on our way back to Yuma.

We went for a long walk on the beach. We were joined by Brenda and Luna, two of the three dogs that live here. Oh boy, Bo has a new pack and they want to pack walk on the beach. Rather oddly, we thought, the two Mexican dogs don’t like to get their feet wet on the beach. Bo splashes around like … a gringo on vacation in Mexico. HA HA HA !

Later in the afternoon we went for a beach doughnut play session. Joanne and me and Bo, and the two girls in the small motorhome next door, five year old Sedona and eight year old Georgia. The girls threw the doughnut, Bo fetched. It wasn’t very long before Bo and Sedona were both drenched. Maybe next time we should suggest that Sedona change out of regular street clothes to come play beach doughnut fetch with us. HA HA HA ! It seems as if Sedona and Georgia will be having a birthday party for Bo in two days. HA HA HA !

The RV park’s “second in command”, Horatio, speaks English quite well, as does his boss, Tavo. At dusk Horatio came over with his machete and taught me the correct method for whacking open coconuts. In the dark ! I saved the coconut milk, and gave the meat that I harvested out of the coconut to the next door neighbours. I’m eager to sharpen my machete tomorrow on Horatio’s workshop’s grinding wheel, then open a coconut myself using my new knowledge. Let’s hope
I come out of it with all my fingers and toes. My dull machete is deadly enough. I can hardly wait for it to be really sharp. Should old gringos be allowed to play with sharp machetes ? HA HA HA !

Friday ; Overnight I decided that there’s no good reason not to file an insurance claim for the damage to the trailer. This morning I asked Horatio if I could use a phone, and he let me use the phone in the restaurant’s kitchen. I phoned our Mexico insurance company and filed a claim. I got an agent who spoke English very well and was efficient and friendly. When we finished he advised me that an adjuster would visit me in about an hour. Really ? ! ? We’re in the middle of nowhere. He must mean a Mexican hour, which could mean any time between now and Monday. HA HA HA !

I borrowed Horatio’s small electric grinding wheel and sharpened my machete. I whacked open a coconut for the neighbours. About an hour and a half after my phone call to the insurance company … < blink blink > … an insurance adjuster showed up. WOW … I was impressed !

The insurance adjuster spoke no English, but was friendly and efficient. He filled out forms, inspected the damage on the trailer roof, and took a lot of pictures. He asked me questions about the accident. When I told him that I hit a retorno underpass in Guasave, he immediately said … “retorno a Burger King ?” Yes, yes ! ! ! DAMN ! Obviously I’m not the first claimant to file a claim after hitting the “Burger King retorno” ! When we were all finished I was surprised when he advised me that the next step in the process is to contact an American agent of the Mexican insurer when we’re back in the States. He provided me with the agent’s name and U.S. phone number.

The little girls next door, Sedona and Georgia, were eager to play beach doughnut fetch with Bo. He was tired out before they were.

I spent the afternoon up on the trailer roof. I removed the smashed MaxxAir covers off the bedroom and bathroom roof vents, then did the best I could to temporarily repair the vents. I managed to get the bent and battered vent mechanisms straightened out enough to allow the vents to be opened and closed a bit.

Late in the afternoon the restaurant chef came over to tell me that there was a phone call for me in the restaurant. HUH ? It was the insurance company calling back to verify that the adjuster had showed up and that everything so far had gone well. UHHHH … YEAH ! Very impressive so far ! ! !

Joanne baked a birthday cake in the Sun Oven for Bo’s birthday party tomorrow. Just before sunset I went next door to make balloon animals for the girls for the birthday party tomorrow. We all walked out onto the beach to watch the sun set then I performed a couple of magic tricks for the girls. They were an eager and interested audience. It’s fun to perform magic for young children that find magic fascinating.

Saturday ; Happy 9^th Birthday to Bo

Well ! Today was a big day ! For everybody !

Late last night Horatio, the park’s second in command / resident assistant manager came over to ask for a favour. Because of the pending arrival today of a very large RV caravan, this hotel & RV park needed a lot of extra staff today and for the next few days while the caravan is here. He wanted to know if I could drive to a nearby village early in the morning before the local busses are running and pick up three temporary employees and bring them back here ? Sure, Horatio ! He’s been very friendly and helpful to me, so I was happy to do the favour.

I got up very early ( for me ) and with Horatio as my passenger and guide we drove to the village of Palo Verde about 15 km. away. We picked up his three temporary employees and drove back to Las Glorias. Horatio and I chatted in English and Spanish. He learned a few new words. So did I. My Sun Oven is an horno solar en español.

When we got back to Mr. Moro there was a panga ( small fishing boat ) with a few pescadoras
( fishermen ) on our beach. They were emptying and carefully rolling up their fishing nets that had been in the water overnight. There were a lot of birds flying around them. When they were finished rolling up their nets, and left, the birds swooped in to eat whatever was left behind. Shortly afterwards, the little girls next door, Sedona and Georgia came over to ask if Bo could come out to play beach doughnut fetch. Okay … off to the beach we went. And found … that while the birds ate all the unwanted little fish left behind on the beach by the fishermen, they did not touch all the little crabs and … all the little Manta Rays. < blink blink > I had never seen little Manta Rays before. By the time we found them on the beach, they were dead … or close to it. As were the little crabs. Maybe they die overnight while trapped in the nets ? If not, they certainly die fast when left on the beach in the hot morning sun.

After playing on the beach for awhile, and going for a long beach walk, I went up on the roof of the trailer to do minor repair work with rubber roof cement. And when I was finished, and since I had the can of rubber roof cement already open, and a brush in use, I offered to climb up on the neighbour’s motorhome and do any necessary little repairs. Robin and I climbed up on his class C motorhome’s roof and did some small touch-ups.

Right after lunch it was time for Bo’s birthday party. HA HA HA HA HA ! A great time was had by all ! The neighbour Nicole had baked dog cookies. Her daughters Sedona and Georgia had made many birthday cards for Bo. Two of the park’s three resident dogs, Brenda and Luna came to Bo’s birthday party. Eventually even the third one, the shy Sebastian joined in. All the dogs ate some of Nicole’s home made dog cookies. All the dogs ate some of the birthday cake Joanne had baked yesterday in the Sun Oven, an applesauce cake. All the humans ate birthday cake. Sully came to the party briefly. Yesterday’s balloon animals attended, as did all of the girls’ stuffed animals.

 

 

 

Before the birthday party a new neighbour had arrived, a couple from Colorado in a small truck camper. And then after the party … the much anticipated arrival of the caravan of nineteen rigs. HA HA HA … our group of six adults, including the new arrival Colorado couple, amused ourselves all afternoon watching nineteen rigs come into the park one by one and get parked. Most of the rigs are huge ! Many class A motorhomes, some large trucks with large fifth wheel trailers, a few Class C motorhomes, and a few smaller Class B van conversion type motorhomes. Squeezing that group into this park was quite a challenge ! It reinforced for us why we are not caravan type people ! It must have taken three hours to get all the rigs in and parked. To stay out of the way of the arriving and manoeuvering rigs, the six of us moved our folding chairs to the beach and watched from there, enjoying the lovely sunshine and warm weather. < whispering > I may have got a bit sunburned.

To my surprise, late this afternoon the insurance adjuster from yesterday returned. He wanted to take pictures of the damage to the roof top of the trailer, as well as my license, registration, and insurance documents. Initially I misunderstood. I thought he wanted to take more pictures of the damage. No, no, no … he had lost all of the pictures he took yesterday. He needed to start over.

I thought he meant … he pushed a wrong button on his camera and deleted them, or some problem like that. HA HA HA … no, no, no … he lost the entire camera yesterday after leaving here. He was back today with a new camera !

When I picked up the employees in Palo Verde this morning, one of them pointed out a casa rosa

( pink house ) in the village that becomes a nice little restaurant in the evenings. So … tonight we returned there to have supper. What a great experience. As in many of the small restaurants we’ve been to in Mexico, the front of the family’s home becomes the restaurant. There were three generations of the family involved. We were the only guests. The mother was cooking in the kitchen. Her mother … the grandmother / Abuela was assisting. One of the three sons ( about ten years old ) was the “waiter” tonight, taking our “order” and writing in down in a scribbler, then relaying it to his mother … in the kitchen about ten feet away ! Of course, she had already heard what we wanted. Which mostly boiled down to what she had available. HA HA HA ! Tonight’s offerings were tacos de puerco ( barbecued pork ) y tacos carne asada ( seasoned, grilled, diced beef ). Sitting at one of the other two tables were the rest of the family ; two more boys, brothers and / or cousins, a dad, and another mom / aunt ( pregnant ). Another dad / uncle was outside manning a grill with a pork roast on it. When I ordered a Coca-Cola Light ( Mexican version of Diet Coke ), the “waiter” ran across the street to the abarrote to buy one for me. That’s not the first time we’ve experienced that in a little comida economica.

While waiting for our meal to be prepared, I went to our truck and got three CANADA scribblers and pencils for the three boys. The entire family was eating supper ( same food as us ), watching TV, and / or doing homework, at the same time as they were looking after us. I did some Spanish to English teaching with the three boys. Grandpa came out from another room of the house behind the kitchen. He was quite old, mostly toothless, and seemed senile. When he learned of the scribblers and pencils we had given the three boys … he graciously asked for a scribbler and pencil. I thought he wanted them for another child. The pregnant aunt explained, with some embarrassment, that Grandpa wanted a scribbler and pencil for himself. Okay, no problem. While I asked for and paid la cuenta, Joanne went out to the truck and got a scribbler and pencil for Abuelo. By the way, la cuenta por cinco tacos y dos refrescos was setenta-ocho ( 78 ) pesos, a bit more than six dollars.

DSK