Mohita Undergoes Bypass Surgery

Yesterday Mohita was in a dusty Wal-Mart parking lot; this morning she was in a cobblestone courtyard surrounded by flowers and tropical birds. But in between she underwent another tow and bypass surgery. We left Nogales early and made it through the border very smoothly, then drove through the desert to the city of Hermosillo and headed for San Carlos. About forty miles out, Mohita started choking and sputtering again and died. After trying to start her (and a few frustrated tears) we managed to get a tow truck to pull us into Guymas and to a mechanic. This was a different experience from the Ford service place. It was a cement block building with a barbed wire fence around it, crowded with cars and guys, some of them teenagers. The mechanic looked to be about fifteen--but he was a genius. He was able to diagnose the problem that all the other mechanics missed within about fifteen minutes. It turns out that all the stalling was from air locks that would occur when we switched from our main gas tank to the auxilliary. He bypassed the switching mechanism so we are now operating just from the main tank. We have our fingers and toes crossed that this will resolve the problem.

We spent last night in a lovely hotel in Guymas and are now heading off to San Carlos. It's been a long and grueling week trying to get Mohita fixed, but we finally made it to Mexico. I'd forgotten just how beautiful and different it is here. It's such a change from the US. Smiling children in school uniforms waving to us, beautiful flowers growing out of heaps of garbage, the kindness and politeness of the people, and the lovely sunny weather.

Today is el dia de Santo Valentino and all of Guymas is in fiesta mode. The hotel restaurant was full of people having a special breakfast. All the ladies were wearing their best red dresses and carrying red wrapped packages. Flower sellers did a great business selling red roses and balloons. The waiters in the restaurant gave all the ladies a red rose. What a wonderful welcome this has been!