Around Mazatlan…

This is during the Covid-19 Pandemic…while I was in Mazatlan it really exploded around the world. I was already here the first I heard of it. It really started to spread in early March and it’s now March 20th. It spread really fast. There’s already over 20,000 in the US that tested positive. Here in Maz there’s only 2 confirmed cases, or so the government says. It appears that Maz is not a hot spot for the virus like many other places in Mexico are. I’ve planned on heading back to the US on April 2nd. It will take me 2-3 days as I slowly work my way up north. It’s starting to look very dangerous for everyone because the death rate can be up to 10% of those that get it, and those that get it may approach 80% of the population. The US was/is not prepared and as everyone knows, nearly the entire population, the 99%, will be wiped out financially if they are among the unlucky 20% that get it who go to the hospital. So many US workers will avoid going as long as possible, and will likely die at home without much comfort. Already many hospital systems are overloaded and have to turn people away. In one of my FB groups,  there’s a guy who was asking for help coming up with a plan or design to merge his CPAP machine and an oxygen supply because he’s 70 years old, expects to get the virus, and has already  been turned down by his hospital for the use of a respirator he’s saying he needs to survive. And he’s a bonafide doctor. Hospitals turning away their own, that’s unusual.

So what all this means, is that I’ve been keeping a low profile while I’m here. No big crowds, sort of stay home and chill. Haven’t been hanging out downtown or going on cruises or taking in live shows. Go out shopping once a week and that’s about it now. I am able to stream TV during the day and into the evening most days so I’ve not gone stir crazy yet so that’s good. I’ve been struggling with the decision of whether or not to just stay here until the crisis is over, or head back. There’s so much to consider…RV insurance, border closings, etc. Thing is right now, Mexico may be under reporting the number of Covid cases so staying here might not be an advantage. And they don’t have any more services, supplies, or equipment than any other country, probably less adequate then most.  The US is woefully unprepared since the ignorant crew running this administration actually closed 27 of the 35 pandemic readiness offices around the country more than 2 years ago. Idiots. All to save a small bit of money to give as a tax break to the rich.

Anyway, I’ll probably head back to the border in exactly 2 weeks, and eventually will work my way up to Pahrump, Nevada where there’s few cases and where I’ll be able to use the VA hospital over in Las Vegas if necessary. But they might be full up or locked down due to the Covid virus. I really won’t know how bad it’s going to be until I’m up there in two weeks. I’ll decide than whether to just hang loose in southern Arizona or high tail it up the Pahrump and try to get an appointment at the hospital for my knee. Needs surgery probably.

Well, that’s the background but I did go out a few times driving my car from here, all the way through the Golden Zone, than to the Soriana store. I did hang out on the beach for a while and made a friend there so we’ve hung out at a bar a couple times but Covid put the brakes on that budding relationship. It’s always nice having a local as a friend.

Just to backtrack a bit, I didn’t go to the carnival parade myself, or to the fireworks, but I did score some pictures. I asked the guy via PM if I could use them and he’s never gotten back to me and it’s been 3 weeks now. If he makes me, I’ll remove them…

Back when the French were trying to gain a foothold in the Americas, they sort of took over Mexico. But there were several places that wouldn’t yield to the French. Mazatlan was one of those places. So since they couldn’t make much headway with ground troops, they sent a few naval ships to harass Mazatlan hoping for an easy way to get them to fold and accept the French government. But what happened was that the Mazatlan garrison called for the locals to help repel them and boy did they ever. They forced the French out. A couple of small naval vessels and a handful of fishermen. And so every year they celebrate that victory with a fireworks display. I expected there to be TV coverage of the fireworks like there were in past years, but nope, not this year. Damnit. So I searched the internet and found a couple pictures taken by someone there. And here’s how it looks, credit to Michael Saunders:

And a few of the 2nd parade that evening:

There’s a day time parade, that’s the big one, then a couple days later is this night time parade. Maybe there’s 3 of them. Yeah, probably. Anyway, I missed them all this year.

A few days later I head downtown to get to the Soriana for shopping and find they’re starting to tear up two lanes of the 4 lane street. Groan. Great, now will have to fight traffic for the weeks I’m here. Usually it moves pretty well, but when it’s necked down to two lane all through the Golden Zone? Not so much.

And after driving through that several times, I needed to get the car washed. And there’s an Autowash on the way to Walmart with a $70 peso sign, that’s $3.70 US. Not too bad…so I headed over there one day:

They did a damn good job. Gave a $20 peso tip…which is about $1 US, so it cost under $5. Car was all shiny afterwards. That was just the outside and the inside was a mess so a week later, I cleaned most of the junk out of the car and took it back for the ‘Deluxe’ treatment where they do the outside and the inside. That cost all of $249 pesos. Gave a $50 peso tip that time. So a total of $16 US.

While this was going on, I had the painters painting my RV. That took 6 days all together. Two days for the first job, a couple days deciding to do more, and a couple more days for that extra painting. Pretty sure I’m done with needed painting for years now. Here’s a link to that article: Painting the Winnebago

I’m really enjoying my nice clean car and plan on getting it done again just before I leave town in April.

One of the exciting things I’ve done here in Maz is to stop in at a salon down the street. Had them do a pedicure and manicure. Nice pampering for an hour and a half. Cost was $700 pesos including tip, so under $35 US. Very much worth it.

And here’s some of the devastation going on in the Golden Zone. I was heading over to Hotel Row…there’s a street that parallels this torn up one where all the hotels and other businesses border the beach. I was heading for the beach really.

But first I needed to get some pesos at the Soriana store. It’s a safe place to do that because there’s guards very near the machines so they aren’t messed with by bad guys. The locals use them so you know they’re probably safe…anyway, to get there I get to drive on this recently completed section of roadway. On the left as I turned onto this road just off of the Golden Zone you see this skeleton of a building under construction. And that is where the California Trailer Park used to be. Spent months there over the years during my visits to Maz.

And then on the right where you see that big red Soriana sign is where the La Posta RV park used to be. Also parked my RV for months at a time there over the years. I miss both of those RV parks. They were just so handy to everything Maz has to offer. Now I’m stuck way out in the boondocks.

After getting my cash, tried to drive up that street further because there’s a Dr I would like to visit up there but couldn’t find a way to get to her office. I’ll try again later. Of course her office is on the right side of the street. Dammit.

So after that, I headed back to the GZ with the goal of visiting the beach. And here’s a bunch of pictures of that area to give you a sense of what the GZ of Maz has to offer. I was able to find a parking spot right on the street within walking distance of a mini-mall that has a pathway back to the beach…

And you can see I made it through that gauntlet of vendors at the mini-mall safely with my cash intact and made it to the beach.

And here’s some shots of fun on the beach. The pictures look like it’s all cloudy and grey but it wasn’t really. I’m going to have to check out my settings for it.

So then I walked along the beach and stopped at the ‘Information’ umbrella where a local was sitting. Plopped my ass down in the chair there and we started talking. I’ve been coming to Maz since ’06 and he was born here so we had lots of notes to compare. Soon it was quitting time for Martin and he invited me to join him for a cervesa. Sure, why not. Here he is with his bartender friend…no idea why he’s looking off into the distance.

And then it was time to head home and on the way to the car, took some pics of the construction going on at one of the hotels there on hotel row.

Soon was back on the road heading home out in Cerritos. And a look at more construction. As it turns out, now that traffic is way down, it’s not so bad driving through this area.

So that was a typical day in Maz before the shelter in place and keep your distance order from the mayor of Maz went out yesterday. And it looks like I’m limited to shopping or drug stores now until I leave. And then it’ll get even weirder. Gah!

Well, thanks for reading. Hope you are all healthy and comfortable at home reading this. I’m well and don’t have any symptoms and haven’t heard of anyone nearby with them either so that’s good. It’s a bit scary for us old folks. I am in my 70’s after all.

Good luck all!