Stephanie says

She invited Neil to Sunday dinner,  a bold move considering she couldn’t be absolutely sure  we’d behave ourselves,  Michael, Bruce, me and Jim.   She’d prepared her usual company meal:   exceedingly dry roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy,  green salad, various veg,  and some scrumptious home baked dessert for later.   We sat at the dining room table and served ourselves family style.     Conversation flowed smoothly,  nobody asked,  “Ah Neil, exactly what are your intentions with our mother?)     We were behaving!   One of us broke out a favored refrain,  “Mom, Neil doesn’t like your roast.”  Neil bit to our delight.  He, stammering, “that no, he really liked the roast.”     The gravy boat was dry  Mom refilled it in the kitchen  and offered  “more gravy?” to Neil.     Walking around the table she stumbled,  lost co...

  Travelling in Mexico US Hwy 18 Mex 15 - Copper Canyon Bound Tucson to Los Mochis via bus is a long ride.  Gone are the rickety busses so stuffed with passengers they’re hanging out the windows as live chickens squawk in the aisles portrayed in old western movies. This bus has air conditioning, comfortable seats, and drivers professional in crisply ironed white shirts and dark blue slacks.  A video screen plays American movies voiced-over in Spanish, the audio lingering a few beats after the lips stop.  Crossing the border proved easy.  Everybody got off the bus, lined up with their bags and punched a metal button on a pole hooked to a stop light.   We foreigners were directed to a Customs counter where we filled out a form, bought a tourist visa ($200p), then back on the bus.   Mexico Hwy 15 stretches narrowly across flat desert, oncoming traffic rushes by with a suction of wind shear.  My travelling companion ...