Four months ago today we sailed back to our Port San Luis, CA mooring and closed chapter one of our Mexican Cruise, I say chapter one because we will see the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez again, but that’s another story. Sitting here with the diesel heater running to keep us from freezing to death while wearing my newly bought Ugg boots, the last four months seems like four hours and our four years in Mexico seems like a distant childhood memory. Other than the cold, there are honestly few things about our return to California that we predicted correctly.

While at anchor in La Paz planning our re-entry, we were worried about the kids fitting-in after four years of home school and doing well in Public school, but their grades are great and they are enjoying school. We worried about our ability to pull off living aboard in Port San Luis, but it has been just as easy as living aboard in Mexico. We worried about the increased cost of living in California, but once you learn how to comfortably live cheaply, heck it can be done comfortably as well even in California.

“Ah…come on Rich, surely something sucks about living aboard in Port San Luis rather than in Mexico?”

Ok, there is something. A huge negative about being back in California is having our lives being dictated by the daily and weekly schedule revolving around the kids school schedule. With all the hardships of home schooling, we didn’t appreciate just how liberating it was to our daily schedules to get out of the 6AM to 4PM school schedule. Since I work aboard from the lower salon desk, living aboard here in California is pretty much the same (except for the heater, Ugg Boots and Tacos) as it was in Mexico. The kids schedule of not just school but after school events adds a chaos to the daily mix that at times seems laughable and is enough to push us back to home schooling in Mexico!

We thought we would miss Mexico more, but we are so focused on the day to day activity, again revolving around the kids schedules, that we haven’t really had time to miss Mexico. The real issue isn’t what we miss about Mexico, more than what we dislike about daily life and the culture of the United States. It may not be “polite” to say negative things about your Country, but if you don’t have serious problems about the direction of the USA, then you’re not paying attention. Perhaps it’s easier to see it after being away for four years and at times there is nothing Lori and I can say, but to scratch our heads and ask where have the adults and sane people gone in Government and civic life? Perhaps they all headed South to Mexico and are enjoying all the Taco carts? If that’s the case, save one for us!