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Date:         Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:04:55 -0700
Reply-To:     Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Isis and I!!!!
Comments: To: Jeffrey Olson <jjolson@gwtc.net>
In-Reply-To:  <4A98AA75.2070608@gwtc.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Nice story Jeff!

Now I'll have to dig out Part One and read them together...

Seeya, Jake

On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 9:11 PM, Jeffrey Olson <jjolson@gwtc.net> wrote:

> Our last report was from the Monument Valley in the southwest. We spent > a couple weeks camping and day hiking and working out the bugs we knew > would come from moving from the suburbs to our 85 GL/camper. All the > emotional stuff we felt about leaving home - selling the house, storing > the furniture we wanted to keep, selling the rest in garage sales and > finally giving away what we couldn't sell - it was all over... > > > It only took two weeks of hanging out in the desert in the bus (I know a > vanagon isn't a bus - so what!) to get into a routine so everything had > a place, and each of us had our functions. Isis continued to have a > major thread in her fabric that wouldn't let her be comfortable. I > guess I had one too, but I could more easily hide it dealing with bus > issues and making camping spots perfect. > > > In 1974 three friends and I had outfitted my 1966 SO42 for a two month > trip to Mexico. In the winter of 1971 Rob and I, and three others, had > spent a month searching for the "perfect beach" on the west coast of > Mexico. The 1974 trip was envisioned based on our 1971 experience. > We'd found a three bedroom apartment on the top floor of a three story > apartment building in Tecoman, MX and spent two weeks writing winter > theses for college courses. In 1974 we just wanted to find good surfing > and the perfect beach and the idyllic life. WE found it. > > > We landed in Boca de Apiza, a little fishing village on the border of > Colima and Michoacan, two of Mexico's states. A year earlier the town > had experienced a hurricane that flattened all the beachside buildings > in town. We hooked up with a family that fed us breakfast and dinner > each day for about a dollar and a half, and we spent the days surfing > and taking the little two man inflatable up the river into alligator > country and ten foot reeds and true jungle weirdness. They build us a > two room palapa on the beach next to their restaurant/home. > > > This was pretty much the archetypal Mexico experience. WE were 25 miles > from the nearest paved road and town/hospital. While surfing I was > stung by a stingray, a big one, and not knowing about the poison, > crawled up on the beach, lay back, and felt the pain move up from the > sting point in my ankle up my inner thigh to my crotch. I figured it > would reach my heart and that would be it. My friend came in from > surfing and asked what I was doing, and insisted I go to talk with > Maria, the "Mom" of everyone. > > > She laughed, and said, "Uno rayo egh!" She pushed me into a chair, went > to the five gallon jug of "alchol" - the bottom of the cactus used to > make mesqual - and poured out 12 ounces into a water glass. She said - > "Tome eso" and I did... > > > I didn't die. > > > Isis and I agreed that we would travel the west coast of Mexico "at > leisure." This became an ironic rallying cry as we got deeper into > rural areas and social realities we weren't prepared to deal with. > Mexico in 2009 is much different from what it was in 1974. We didn't > find an "unspoiled" spot. Wherever we ended up, we weren't persons, we > were rich marks. Kids, moms, luscious 15 year olds, drug dealers - all > wanted our money. > > > There was now a highway travelling the west coast where before it had > been dirt roads, plantations, the 18th century... Lots of development. > We couldn't find any beaches we would consider unspoiled. There was > always a lurking presence on the edges of our camping that had us keep > our guards up. It wasn't as bad as when in 1974 we drove south of urban > Mazatlan to find a beach to camp on. We were hit up by fake cops who > tried to plant pot on us. Luckily we'd read in Rolling STone about this > very pheonomon and were prepared. The fake cops left really frustrated... > > > One of the things that opened doors for us was the bus. There were lots > of rattletrap vanagons held together with hope and baling wire. Isis > loved to talk about the bus. Over the months she got to know it better > than I did. I mean in intimate ways - I still had a better grasp of the > internal combustion engine and peripherals. She, on the other hand, had > a total grasp of cultural experience of living in a bus and people's > interest in what that was like. Whether in Grand Escalante, Sedona, or > the tiniest pullout on the new highway in Mexico, Isis loved to answer > questions about living on the road. > > > Isis is beautiful. At 56 she has white blond hair that has aged into a > straw blond streaked with really thick gray hairs. My hair is graying > at the temples. Her's grays in individual strands. She's almost 6' > tall, with broad shoulders and ribcage, a relatively thick waist (my > beautiful sister calls it a "wine" tummy) and surprisingly narrow hips, > and really, really beautifully muscular legs. She has stretched and > yogaed and danced so that she hasn't gotten fat. I think it's genetic > because she really doesn't do any more than I do, and I struggle with > weight. She is bemused whenever I talk about weight and fitness. > > > In 1974 the woman travelling with us - Sharon - was 22 and wore a skimpy > pink bikini. Because she didn't wear a wedding ring, slept with her > boyfriend, and talked to other men, she was considered a whore. The > Mexican man's approach to a beautiful American woman hadn't changed. > Because Isis didn't wear a wedding ring, she was fair game... And she > loved it... > > > Isis took men into the bus to show them the cabinets I'd built, the way > the bed folded out, the storage capacity. I loved how the men would > look at me guiltily, as if they were transgressing, but somehow up on > me. I love the self-confidence of Mexican men when they are wooing a > woman... > > > I had never liked the Westfalia setup of the 80s and early 90s, and had > bought an 85 GL I stripped to the bare bones. I found two rust spots - > a seam on the drivers side just forward of the engine compartment, and > one next to the passenger's seat. I ground them down and sealed them > and put together the busses interior. I followed the general layout of > the SO42. Mostly, I wanted the facing seats, one behind the driver's > seat, the other the westy seat. A table rises up inbetween. There is > storage underneath the seat behind the driver's and an icebox behind the > passenger seat, with shelves that fold out. I did put in a wardrobe on > the passenger side behind the sliding door, but made it so it was > shelves to store stuff. It works... > > > I installed a 2003 Subaru 2.5 liter engine that had 7K miles. I'm so > good to go until I die!!!! > > > Isis and I have been on the road in Mexico now for four months. The bus > and its Subaru engine are our platform. I have over 100 pounds of tools > and instruments stashed in nooks and crannies Isis doesn't feel the need > to visit. I'm waiting for a response to my query to a listserv whose > members are heading to Tierra del Fuego in the fall. We hope to meet up > with them and join their excursion. We want to drive to the tip of > South America and as far north as we can get in Alaska. We have enough > money. We have the vison. We have the will. Now, we need the > camraderie and help. > > > Go well > > > Isis and Jeff > From Integora, MX >

-- Beverley Anne de Villiers April 20, 1930 - July 4, 2009

Jake

1984 Vanagon GL 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"

Crescent Beach, BC

www.thebassspa.com www.crescentbeachguitar.com http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27


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