First dome begins to take shape
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 7:59 PM
We are nearing the completion of our first dome - the bathroom (bano). This sits next to its cousin, the shower, and are both in need as we have 6 people camping on site and they’ve been holding a really long time :-)
We built one door frame from and old wreck that the lovely folks from Tu Hugar ( a collective of locals and Ukiah folks) allowed us to pilfer. As much as I wanted to use old wood for frames, it seems only 1 will come recycled, and others will have to be purchased. Lumber is VERY expensive on Baja, as none grows.
We accomplished the excavation of the dome’s foundation, cementing a ‘discussion’ between Ricardo (builder) and me. He wanted to build the dome up, and place a retaining wall. I wanted to go down, using the natural slope to buttress, the land to take the place on many bags, and the cooling effect of burying a part of the dome. With Jenille’s help, I won the argument and we had a back hoe dig hundreds of tons of earth in a tasty pile we’ll use for baggin’!
At day’s end, we visited the small village of Boca de Alamo, a fishing village about 4 km north, where we were given for free a lovely, freshly caught bonita. Skipjack or maguro to you, perhaps? I gave the guy 100 pesos cause it was such a beautiful fish, and Eli, Kate, Peggy and I ate sushi and sashimi. Life of a king!
We heard from Amy and Dave (sis and bro) that they’re somewhere betwen here and La Paz trying to recall how to come to El Cardonal in the dark, trailing a 38 ft trailer with 3 kids and 2 kids. That was 6 hours ago and it’s a 2 hr ride Who knows where they ended up. But hiopefully tomorrow will tell.