Sputter...Sputter...Boom!

Our first breakdown...
En route towards the city of Hermosillo, the force of our rockin' rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" was too much for the yellow buggy, who spat a piston on the sun-baked sands of the hot Sonoran Desert just before Caborca. As we were deep in song and shaking the buggy with our dance, we missed La Pulgita's death cry. At the side of the road, we met an oralce who showed us the way...

Make a left at the first 'semaforo', at the first street that's not really a street, take another left and look for the only house around. Ask for Lupita, she'll take care of you.

After taking us in and feeding our bellies sopes and birria, La Pulita received her quadruple bypass surgery. 3 days later we were on the road again.

Sonora.
Ejido Hermosillo, Sonora...





Getting ready to party with family in Ejido Hermosillo...








Before Caborca, Sonora...


Broke down in Caborca, Sonora...


Guaymas, Sonora...





Next stop: Mazatlan.

Vroom! Vroom! Sputter...Sputter...

And we´re off! Four peeps, one pup, and a fat furry cat, all jam packed in a yellow 1972 bug. (Which we had to try push starting this morning!) As of now, we´re in the beautiful Sonoran village of Ejido Hermosillo, which lies just south of the Arizona border. Our ultimate destination, Oaxaca, via the Pacific coast, Mexico City, and any mountain and valley in between.

Who are we, you might be asking yourself? At the wheel of the mighty yellow pulgita (a nickname the children of the ejido gave to our round road machine that means "little flea") is Brian Frank, his co-pilot next to him, Jasmin Lopez, and the two bouncing heads in the back are Darcy Holdorf and Brandon Thibodeaux. Oh, yeah, and I can´t forget our backseat K9 companion Oscar, and Zinj the zen master cat, whom rides in a box beneath Jasmin´s legs in the front.

What are we doing, you wonder? We´re chasing the road, and fattening our souls with every delicious moment we devour along the way. For Brian and Jasmin, this journey is the beginning of a new life in Oaxaca after having waved goodbye to their former home in San Fran. For Darcy, it´s one last tour through Mexico before she departs for China. And for El Brandino, it´s another journey in search of photographs in a land dear to his heart.

So buckle up and take a spin with us. We´ll make sure you can see the view from out the window...