What To Do?

We are comfortable here in Mesa and there is lots to do, BUT we have never been content to sit in one place too long and the temptation to just sit around and do nothing is great.

We basically have three choices for the rest of the winter: 1) stay put, 2) head down the Baja like we sort of had planned and 3) drive over to the Rio Grande Valley and the Gulf Coast.

The cheapest choice is 1) stay put. This holds some attraction with the falling value of the Canadian dollar. We could arrive back home with more in the bank than we left with.

Reverting back to our original plan for Baja would be fun. The downsides are twofold: 1) El Nino! It will be a wet winter on Baja. Wandering off the main highway could result in bad roads and overall miserable conditions. 2) Price of gas. Mexico has become out of step with the rest of North America in it's gas prices. Combined with the fact this is the longest route (1.900 miles each way) makes this a consideration when driving a rig that gets 7 MPG. With gas costs of about fifty cents a mile, gas costs alone will be an extra $2,000.

We have always enjoyed 3), the RGV, the Gulf Coast and Texas in general. I love the food and the people, at least the ones not packing. It is much closer (1,200 miles) and gas is much cheaper in the US, well under $2 per gallon adding only a little over $1,000 to our current winter budget. The weather in the RGV should be good as it is about the same latitude as the south Baja. Going there, we might be able to coordinate with Chris and Juan and arrange a short road trip with the car down to Monterrey, Mexico to visit them for a few days. This will give us our "Mexico Fix".

Lots to think about in the next few weeks. Whatever we decide, Life Is Good!