2003 - Alamos, Mexico

Stolen Private Plane buzzes the old colonial town of Alamos in Sonora, Mexico

November 22, 2003

A loud roar of increasing force wakes us from sleep at 5 am. A plane taking off from the runway 50 meters from our friends, Joanie and Doug’s. We are presently staying in a shady spot behind their home. What a time to take off when it is still dark outside!

Apparently 23 private planes of all sizes and shapes are parked by the runway about 1 ½ km down. The pilots and passengers are here on the invite of the owners of the luxury hotel “Los Santos” for a special event.

In the evening while sitting on Plaza Alamada having beer and tacos at Fortino’s Beef Taco stand our friend, Jim Toews, tells us: “Have you heard the latest? A plane was stolen this morning after the airport manager was tied up at gunpoint. The thieves will use this perfectly suited plane for a drug run to the US about 500 km away and then wreck the plane somewhere. Before taking off towards the East over the mountains the thieves buzzed the town and the hotel 3 times for a final Adios.” There is always something going in this historical colonial town of about 10,000.

Horses in the street, weddings, 15th birthday parties (coming-out parties) at the church and other sites, bands and speakers going well into the night. Today is Sunday and we will go and eat a fish taco at the Sunday Market in the arroyo. We will be staying at Rancho Acosta Trailer Park for about 2 weeks.

We arrived in Alamos 3 days ago from “Old” Kino Bay on the Sea of Cortez. Our campsite was 15 m from the beach with a clear view of the bay, which is framed by Rocky Mountains. Right in the middle of the Bay is a peaked island about 200 meters high looking somewhat like the upper tip of an alpine peak. We had 7 days of watching sunrises and sunsets. At least 4 fishermen’s trucks stopped everyday to sell fresh fish, shrimp, scallops and clams.we had our share.We filled our freezer . Kino is the shrimpcapital of Mexico ,they say.Our bicycles were very useful here. The Estuary is about 4 km to the east. Oyster beds, mangroves and shallow water create perfect conditions for bird life.

We actually left Winnipeg on the 18th of October taking our old established route with one night stops in Arlington, South Dakota; Stromsburg, Nebraska (“Sweden Capital”); Concordia, Kansas; Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Refuge (no water in the ponds); Hoisington, Kansas, Perryton, Texas; Buffalo Lakes Wildlife Refuge (lakes completely dry), Texas; Alamogordo, New Mexico. After a stop in Deming, New Mexico, the first campground where we actually paid a fee, we primitive camped in the Cochise Stronghold National Forest. This is a mountain climbers heaven and we did our share of climbing and hiking. We stayed for 4 night until our water ran out. Our solar panels were sufficient for all electricity and computer. A week in Benson, Arizona at the Valley View Campground with full hook-ups (electric, water and sewer), hot showers and a good laundromat. (We did 5 loads of clothes). Wide open Arizona desert behind the campground - cactus, mesquite and rocks. Several dry washes (Arroyos) make perfect trails in the hills.

After a 3 hour drive, first on Interstate 10 and then going south on Hwy 83 turning onto the 30 km gravel road over Box Canyon we arrived at Madera Canyon. We stopped at our favorite primitive camp spot on Proctor Road, 2 km below the Canyon. My sister, Maria, and her husband, George, had reservations at the Santa Rita Lodge 2 days after our arrival. After meeting them at the Lodge we took them back to our camper for drinks and dinner and to watch the Tucson and Green Valley lights after dark . The next day George and Maria came back to us for pancake breakfast and then left for Phoenix in their rental car to catch a flight back to Vancouver,Canada .

The next day we continued to Nogales on the border, bought our Mexican Insurance and over nighted at the Insurance Company parking lot. We crossed the border and were through the Mexican Customs and Immigration by 9:30 and arrived in Kino Bay at 3 pm. We are still travelling in our Kodiak truck camper and have clocked almost 2000 nights in it. It is our moveable cottage.