A parade, but not what you think …

We survive the night in cabin 23 without incident, apparently the “local” inhabitants seemed to accept us and decided to make no fuss … we brought a coffee maker, and to get some warmth back in us … did I mention it is freezing … and the cabins have no heat. We look in all the cupboards (maybe not that wise) and all we can find was 1 dirty glass … really, that’s it. With a little improvisation, we make some “cups” by cutting the tops of the water bottles (we did bring 6 cases), make our coffee and wake up for the day.

To ensure we do not overstay our welcome in cabin 23, we quickly move all our stuff across the road to cabin 51 (which still has no hot water). We  load into the pickup and head into town … get some breakfast, buy some cups, something warmer to wear and wait for Tim and the crew that is to arrive around 2P.

As we drive into downtown Ensenada, which is about 2km (1.2 miles) we see a road block on the main road and a detour … great, what’s this about. We make it around the detour and see hundreds of kids, marching bands, sports teams, cheerleaders waiting to be part of a parade … awesome … we find a parking spot and get out for look.

We spent the next 3 hours watching the parade, which is to celebrate the “Day of the Revolution” … everyone is marching, schools, sports clubs, teams, gangs, martial art schools, dance schools, ambulances, police, low riders, cowboys and even gangs.

It was great to see this, it wasn’t a Macy grade parade, just the local town having a celebration … no big money, no fancy floats, no corporate sponsors … they’d move about 200 meters (180 yards) and do some sort of demonstration … the cheerleaders would cheer (always a car in front of them with a big radio) … the dance teams would dance … the football team would run a play … the volleyball team would show some skills (they had 2 people walking with a net).

I had some personal favorites, as did Abuelo and Rob … there was a “Youth Militia” (roughly translated), which I think was a club run by the military for kids … they had over 500 kids there … showing skills from martial arts to (my favorite), rescue skills … this involved having a truck with a crane, the crane would be down, but for the demonstration, they would attach 2 ropes to it, put the crane up and on the ropes would be attached 2 people (student and teacher). They’d be about 15 meters (45 feet) in the air and then lower themselves like mountain climbers on the rope … the instructor, would flip face down and do a “mission impossible” move, heading face first to the ground, then flipping right side up at the last moment.

I also liked the low riders and the cowboys … they even had the token fat guy with the big hat on a donkey… Oh yeah, and the kids from the gymnastics club did some great stunts on the streets, jumping through burning hoops of fire … try to get that approved in the US. For our teacher friends … the teachers marched as well, not alongside the students (some did), but they themselves had a section, would march in unison, with a one of them blowing a whistle to keep everything proper :) …

We had a great brunch at a street side cafe with a full view of the events … finished up and headed to Walmart for shopping. We got back around 130P, to find 2 guys still working on the water heater of our cabin … they suggested we move back to 23, but we insisted, that we would wait. Well, it didn’t take long for Abuelo to make friends with them, and not much longer before he was doing the repairs himself … no we have hot water. Oh yeah, and they offered Abuelo a job. Seriously, he could have any of the cabins to live in, in return he’d maintain the cabins … they’d even through in about 10 pesos an hour… about 80 cents. He said, he consider it … but probably not, as Mexico is too cold :).

Tim an crew arrive around 230P, they settle into units 12 and 14 … they have no water either, so it gets on Abuelo’s list for when he finishes with 51 … and we decide to split up … Abuelo, Rob and Brooke head to buy groceries, Tim, Dennis, Mark and myself head down Highway 1 to recon another pit location. It’s about a 3.5 hr round trip … we get back at dark, but have dinner waiting for us.

Another day ends … the race starts in 4 days … tomorrow, more recon, and unloading the race Jeep.