Glacier Wild In Mexico — LIVE RAD AND TRAVEL

The passing of time is most present in our world once we are looking at our last couple weeks in Amity’s contracts. Our bucket list of local activities starts to loom large with every passing day. On top of that, we have to find our next contract, lock down our home in the next location, and make sure we are prepared to move. We usually add some kind of curveball or element into the last week. In Massachusetts, we had Briley come out for an extended weekend on Cape Cod. In Wisconsin, we headed down to Chicago for a long weekend of urban life, and this contract was no different. We planned to host Amy & Craig Moore for a couple nights in Tucson. A bonus factor was that they had a connection to a boat in Mexico for us to go live on for a couple nights! We should be able to pack, clean the house, host friends, drive 5hrs south to San Carlos, Mexico, and then get back in time to move over 1,200 miles over two days for Amity to make it to work on time. Here’s to our Grande Finale in the Desert!

Mile: 84,979

Quote of the Blog: “An adventure is best measured in the friends you travel with rather than in miles.” - Tim Cahill

Song of the Blog: Tu Boda - Oscar Maydon & Fuera Regida

It is sad to see our time in Tucson come to an end. We have spent the last 5 months diving deep into the Sonoran Desert. This area is much different than other areas of Arizona. Tucson is very green and lush; the mountains are more dramatic, and there is more hiking here than anywhere we have lived (seriously Montana!). The Sonoran Desert is the wettest desert in the world, which is why it is so green here. This also played into the number of flowers we were able to observe on our adventures. Recently, we have been treated to a Saguaro Cacti Flower bloom, which is something we had only seen on National Geographic TV shows. They are very beautiful and really amazing when you start to think about them being in the desert. During this time in the desert, we have found peace and love for it. We came to the understanding that this time may be coming to an end, but we will be back in the Tucson area at some point! The next location is Brookings, Oregon. This couldn’t be more different than Tucson. We will be within walking distance to the Pacific Ocean, with gigantic Redwood forests all around us. Brookings will be a much slower pace of life, with only 6,000 people there. Before we get there, we have a couple of things to get done. The first of them was to head to the airport to pick up Amy and Craig.

The Moore’s arrived late on the night before Amity’s last day of work. We spent the night catching up on stories and enjoying having the “GlacierWild” crew together. We call it GlacierWild while poking fun at Craig’s photography company, GlacierWorld. We had an early night that night, as we planned to go hiking while Amity finished her final day in Tucson. The Moore’s have a friend named Mike who lives an hour outside of Tucson and came up to meet us for a hike. We all met at the trailhead for the Tanque Verde Falls and Canyon hike. It was a beautiful trail that took us up a river wash that was running relatively dry. There was some water in places, but the falls were more of a trickle than a waterfall. Still a beautiful zone. Mike is a badass! We talked about his world travels and the tours he sets up for people. Amy and Craig had been on a couple with him to Nepal and Africa. It was amazing to hear about how simple he makes overseas travel sound. It was a really inspiring hike! Following the hike, Amy wanted to check out the Tanque Verde Ranch close to the trailhead. Her extended family has ownership connections to this dude ranch. It was a very pretty and large facility. We walked around and took some pictures for a little bit before heading back into town to pick up Amity from work.

At 4:35pm, Amity finished her 9th Travel Physical Therapy contract. Pretty crazy to close the book on this many job locations over the past three and a half years! Amity is a rockstar, and being able to do this with grace and proficiency is all the more amazing! We celebrated her with a drink at the house before heading out for dinner. We planned to go meet up with Amy & Craig’s friend, Tony, for dinner. Tony owns a boat in San Carlos, Mexico. We would be living on this boat for the majority of their time down in the desert. We decided to take an Uber to dinner. This would turn out to be one of the wildest Uber experiences we have had! All we knew from the app was that “Mama Bear” was going to be our driver. When she arrived, we were greeted with a large SUV that had been custom wrapped with a “Bear Down” decal on the hood in respect to the University of Arizona. We piled into the car, not knowing what we were getting into…. MAMA BEAR WAS A HOOT! SHE WAS HIGH-OCTANE ENERGY FROM THE GO! SHE HAD A “FUCK ICE” STICKER ON HER CAR, WHICH WAS AN INSTANT TALKING POINT. WE ALL HAD SOME GOOD LAUGHS AND COLLECTIVELY SAID FUCK ICE! THE NEXT THING WE NOTICED WAS THAT THE ENTIRE ROOF OF THE CAR WAS COVERED IN $1 BILLS LIKE A BAR. MAMA BEAR WAS QUICK TO GIVE US A HUGE WELCOME, AND AMY WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET TO SIT IN THE FRONT WITH MAMA BEAR’S LITTLE DOGGY. IT WAS AN IMMEDIATE VIBE CHECK! MAMA BEAR WAS RIGHT ON POINT WITH THE ENERGY HER CAR GAVE OFF. SHE WAS LOUD, PROUD, AND A HUGE SUPPORTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA STUDENT BODY. SHE HAD STORIES ABOUT THE FRATS, STUDENTS, AND ALL KINDS OF THINGS. OUR RIDE WAS 25 MINUTES LONG, AND IT FELT LIKE HOURS WITH MAMA BEAR (THOUGH I THINK WE COULD HAVE ALL BEEN OKAY IF IT WAS CUT TO 5 MINUTES). WHETHER WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE FRATS “THROWING,” OR HER ATTEMPTS TO KEEP KIDS FROM DUIs & CAR WRECKS, OR ABOUT THE NARCAN SHE KEEPS IN HER CAR, MAMA BEAR WAS 100% GO! WHEN WE ALL GOT OUT OF THE CAR, WE ALL LOOKED LIKE WE HAD JUST WALKED INTO A HURRICANE AND GOT SMACKED IN THE FACE WITH A 2”X4”! WOW!!! MAMA BEAR WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE BEST/CRAZIEST/LOUDEST UBER RIDE EVER!

Dinner with Tony was so much more enjoyable than the Uber ride. He is so kind to be letting us live on his boat, especially since he won’t be with us. During dinner, we met his girlfriend, Judy, and learned about their personal experiences on the boat. He gave us some amazing insights and tips for living on the boat. Tony has a ton of boating experience, from sailing on Flathead Lake, to racing boats recreationally, to navigating ocean waters on his larger boat. He has been down to his boat in San Carlos a couple times and even lined up a boat captain for us. We were grateful to get all this information from him, and to have the opportunity to live on his boat. Following dinner, we contemplated getting Mama Bear to come back and give us a ride, but the restaurant did not have enough alcohol for us to be able to handle another 25 minutes of that. We wrapped the night up by walking down to 4th Street District for a nightcap drink, to check out the college kids, and go over any last-minute questions we had for Tony. We made it a pretty early evening, as we had a hike planned for the morning. With the temps jumping up into the 90’s pretty early the next morning, we wanted to make sure we got an early start on our hike. We had planned on heading up to Mount Lemmon and exploring at the higher elevation. We all hiked out to Marble Peak before exploring around Summerhaven and the ski area up at Mount Lemmon. One of the highlights of the hike was watching a Black Hawk helicopter circling right above us while we were out on our hike. We were treated to some rare clouds, so the sun was less overbearing for our hike. It’s always crazy to go from the desert floor with cacti, to the summit of Mount Lemmon covered in pine trees and sub-alpine plants! We kept things relatively mellow that evening. We did dinner at Corbett’s downtown and headed back to our rental to make sure we were all packed up for the trip south.

Our adventure to Mexico started pretty early in the morning. We had a 5-hour drive ahead of us, along with a border crossing and whatever kinds of security stops Mexican authorities planned on throwing at us along the way. We have done some driving in Mexico in the past, but we have never driven 4hrs one direction to get to our location. Once the border was in sight, our senses rose and we became aware of everything and anything along the roads. Just like our border crossing going to Puerto Penasco, we were asked a couple questions and waved through the border by Mexican Border Patrolmen. Just like that, the Glacier Wild crew was in another country! We had another four hours to go. Along the way, we were stopped three times. The first time, we don’t think we needed to stop, but we did anyways. They quickly waved us along. The second stop was a lot more invasive. They had all four of us get out of the car as they searched it. They didn’t speak good English, and our Spanish is terrible. After struggling through some sentences, they just looked at us and told us to get back in the car and head on. I think they got annoyed trying to talk to us. At the last stop for the day, the man said some things to me in Spanish. I thought he asked where we were going, so I said, “San Carlos.” This was the right answer, as he waved us along. I looked at everyone in the car and said, “I have no idea what he just said to me.” We all laughed and celebrated the fact that we were making our way across Mexico without any issues. We eventually pulled into San Carlos, Mexico, pretty early in the afternoon. We got everything loaded into the marina and onto the boat before decompressing for a moment. We did a quick store run and found a dinner spot in town called Tequila’s. It was a standard dinner out with Amity and I; no one else was in the restaurant. Amy & Craig like to make fun of this, so it was even better that they were with us for it. During dinner, we came to the agreement with our boat captain that we would not be taking the boat out of the marina the next day, as it was too windy for us to do this. So, we took the night to enjoy the boat, soak in the fact that we were living on the Sea of Cortez for the next few days, and the fact that we were all together again.

The boat we were living on was 41 feet long, with two bedroom cabins, two bathrooms, and a shower/bathtub. Technically, it fits into the definition of a yacht. Along with the living quarters, there was also a kitchen with a full range, air conditioning, and couches. The yacht was docked in Marina Real. This was the quieter of the two marinas in San Carlos. There was not a lot going on around us, and it was especially nice later at night, as it was very quiet. This was not roughing it at all. It was more along the lines of the finer things in life! We spent our first morning taking it all in and relaxing. After exploring around the marina and the adjacent beach, we eventually headed down to another larger beach nearby for a little exploring and an early dinner. The restaurant we ate at is called Sunset Bar & Grill. It was slightly more populated than Tequila’s was, and the food was amazing! It was right on the beach with our toes in the sand. We watched people walk the beach, as well as people windsurfing and a couple of people who were riding horses. They rode them right up to the restaurant, tied them up on a post next to their table, and sat for drinks. This was spot on for a Mexican beach experience! Following dinner, we did some beach walking and seashell hunting. Amity and I found a cool point to hike up onto where we watched the waves for a little bit before reconnecting with Amy & Craig. We walked the beach a little more before heading back to the marina for the night. That night, we made plans with our boat captain to head out the next morning for some exploring on the water.

The next morning, we were all getting our things together and waking up when our captain, Efren, showed up. We were not ready to leave the marina, but he was. We quickly pulled ourselves together and got the boat ready. It was slightly windy that day, and we were planning on heading into some choppy water. We ended up driving through 4’-5’ swells before finding a protected area in the bay we had spent the night before walking along. Once we had the anchor down, Craig and I started doing some fishing. We quickly started catching Barracuda. It was super fun! We hung out in this spot for a couple hours before heading back into the marina for the evening. Efren was great! He answered all of our questions, even if they were left-field questions. We discussed the weather, and he let us know it was going to get better over the next couple days. Once we were back in the harbor, we made a plan to get back out on the water the next day. That night, we had dinner at the local brewery, La Zurda Beer Co. The beer was nothing special, but the food was amazing! We loved the music there, as it was a mix of late 90’s rap with a lot of Tupac and Biggie. We capped the night off with a couple drinks in the marina before calling it an early night. The sleeping quarters on the boat were a little tight, but we ended up having a good amount of space in each cabin. Also, the boat was surprisingly stable on the water overnight, so we weren’t rocking around too much. The only real catch was that we didn’t want to use the bathrooms on the boat for #2’s, so we had to walk 10 minutes to the closest marina bathroom for that. It wasn’t a bad thing, just something we had to plan around before it became a problem.

The next morning, Efren was there bright and early. We were much more ready for him this morning. The plan today was to get out on the water and head south if the wind was in our favor. Weather played ball with us, and Efren took us along a tour of the shoreline south of San Carlos. We saw some beautiful island and rock features along the way, including a land arch out in one of the bays. He eventually took the boat into a protected cove, where we anchored for a while. There were several other boats in the area, and they were all doing the same thing; SWIMMING! We got our snorkeling gear together and jumped in! This was amazing! It may not have been the honey hole of the snorkeling world, but it was still an amazing spot! We saw several varieties of fish and a stingray while swimming around. The water was very warm, clear, and so nice! Amity and Amy had some kind of reaction to something in the water. Efren informed us there are very small creatures in the kelp that will bite/sting you. Amy could feel them, and Amity all but broke out into a short-lived rash. Craig and I somehow dodged it all! One of the funnier points was when Craig swam right into the back of another boat in the cove. He was looking down while snorkeling and boom, right into the boat. We eventually congregated back onto the boat before taking off back to the marina. This was the kind of boat adventure we were all waiting for! Beautiful views, great swimming, and a great day of interacting with the Sea of Cortez! That night was our last night in Mexico, and we did dinner at La Calaca Tacos y Cerveza. During dinner, we made the decision not to leave right away in the morning, but to have Efren take us out one last time for some fishing. We made the game plan to head out around 6:30am to get out on some calm water for the morning.

The next day, I woke up extra early to make sure we were all buttoned up and ready for our captain for the fishing trip. I headed down to a close gas station for some coffee drinks, and by the time I got back, Efren was pulling some fishing gear out of his car to head down to the marina and the boat. I helped him get everything onto the boat, and we quickly pulled the ropes and left the marina. It was immediately noticeable how calm it was. We dropped some lines in the water to troll as we headed out to the spot Efren wanted us to fish. Amity, Amy, and Craig were holding down the fort in the back with the trolling lines, while I sat up front looking for signs of fish on the water. The moment Efren and I saw birds and action on the water, I ran and grabbed my pole to cast into it. First cast, FISH ON! I brought in a good-sized Barracuda right away. Efren had us keep it so that we could cut it up and use the fish as bait for some jigging. After we cut it up and got everyone’s line reset for some jigging, we dropped lines and instantly started catching fish. One of the coolest moments came when Craig pulled up two fish on one line. He had two hooks set to his line and got one on both hooks. Along with the Barracuda, we caught several kinds of fish. We mostly caught Rock Fish, but we would also pull up Trigger Fish, Chilean Fish, and Scorpion Fish. The first time I pulled up a Scorpion Fish, we didn’t know they were so poisonous. He looked spiky, so I unhooked it carefully and tossed it back in. We soon learned that the sting from their barbs is like getting bitten by a rattlesnake and requires immediate medical attention. Good thing that never happened! Efren was a champion for us all day fishing. He cut slabs of meat to use for bait, set the bait on our hooks, and helped us unhook fish. True champion! Everyone caught a ton of fish! So much that we all lost count of how many hit the boat! All in all, I would guess we caught around 30-40 fish over a couple hours! We did have to give Amy a hard time for her light hook setting, but Efren was able to guide her into really jerking her pole to rip some lips! Unfortunately, time did run out, and we had to head back into the marina and put an end to our Mexican adventure. All in all, we drank all the margaritas, piña coladas, and cervezas we could! We ate all the tacos, fajitas, and tostadas we could! We even did our best struggling through a language none of us are able to speak with confidence. After Efren got us docked up, we shared our gratitude with him and got the boat buttoned up one last time. After getting the car packed up, we stopped for some gas and last-minute snacks before making our 5-hour drive back up to Tucson. The drive up was as smooth as it possibly could get! Tony had told us to expect a couple-hour wait at the border, but we were able to cruise right through the border in about 20 minutes. We were able to get back to Tucson before the sun had set.

Back in Tucson, we needed some dinner. We ended up ordering some takeout from a Thai and Chinese spot close to our rental. We made the unfortunate mistake of ordering extra rice, lots of it! So much rice that we had to make a plan to eat nothing but rice for the next couple meals. The next day was all of our last day in Tucson. The Moore’s were flying back to Whitefish, and we were set to move to Brookings. We did some pre-packing and cleaning before heading out for an adventure up to the Biosphere 2 complex. We had to get the boat key cards up to Tony, and the Biosphere 2 is right next to his house, so this worked out perfectly! With the weather hitting the mid 90’s, we figured some indoor time would be best. Amity and I have done the Biosphere 2 before, but we did not do the audio tour associated with it. This time, we took our time and listened to all of it. It was very insightful, and I learned some stuff we didn’t get the first time. We were all surprised to walk into the Ocean and Jungle areas of the Biosphere. When we thought it would be cooler inside, we were WRONG! It was so hot in there we were instantly sweating. The humidity in the Jungle area had to be around 100%, as it was raining when we walked in there. By the time we got out of the Biosphere 2, we were happy to be outside. Craig joked and said, “Alright, who’s ready to golf?” It was still super cool and an inspiring place to visit!

The last activity in Tucson was to spend the night going to a University of Arizona baseball game. I swear this ballpark has one of the best sunset views in all of baseball. The sunset that night lived up to all expectations. The glow of the red and orange set behind the palm trees and stadium was amazing! Almost as good as the game! The game was so tight that it went to extra innings. We ended up leaving after 9 innings, as we still had to finish packing the car. Good thing we did. The game ended up going to 14 innings!! That would have been a long game! We were super grateful to have Amy and Craig at the house to help us pack up. Craig would periodically stop me to take a shot of the tequila we had brought back from Mexico. Much appreciated! Once we got the car packed up, we spent the rest of the evening sharing stories, laughing, and enjoying having friends with us. We are so grateful to have such great people like Amy & Craig in our lives! They are part of the reason we are able to Live Rad! The next morning, they were out in an Uber to the airport for their flight home before we got up and hit the road ourselves. Next up, 1,200 miles of driving from Tucson, AZ, to our new home in Brookings, OR. We are going to miss the desert in so many ways, but the Pacific Coast will allow us to Live Rad, with shade!