The drive down takes about 5 days total. Seattle shrinks in my rearview, my foot is as heavy as concrete on the gas. The only real stop I will make before hitting Mexico is Tucson, Az. There I will sit down for a good meal at Epic Cafe, stock up on supplies at the cozy co-op and maybe do a little visiting dependent on who may happen to be in town (Tucson is a very transient city- folks are in and out). Then, Ill cross the border and begin the trek down to Bucerias. This is going back in time- I watch as modern cities recede giving way to cinder block homes and dirt roads. Ciudad Obregon is the next pit stop, a big city where I will begin to reacquaint myself with the Mexico that I love. I buy baggies of chicharrones (pork rinds) from children approaching my truck window at traffic lights and plastic cups filled with hot sauce doused jicama from gentle old women at gas stations. Here, I also seek the only thing that will make my dry mouth, my scratchy tongue feel less like Ive been chewing sand for the last 2 days- aguas frescas.

These big jugs of cold drink can be found sweating at many and just about any street food stall. Long handled ladles scoop the liquid into plastic cups readied with ice…all I have to do is point. The range of flavors is broad but the staples are horchata (creamy rice milk w/cinnamon & vanilla) and jamaica (hibiscus tea). Both are delicious but after 2 days in a blistering hot car, jamaica is my savior. Drinking a tall glass is equivalent to having my face dipped in ice water…it is truly that refreshing. Preparing it is simple so I tend to make batches upon batches by harvesting hibiscus flowers on my rancho. Icy pitchers glowing deep red crowd my tiny ice box and hibiscus buds line my windowsills drying for future use. I alternate between beer, water and jamaica while down South but out of the three jamaica may win out- I must drink a gallon a day. Back in the states as the temperature climbs during the summer months, I rely on it just the same. Here, I may not be able to harvest my own, but dried hibiscus flowers can be found at specialty markets around town. My source is a Latin American grocery in the heart of Pike Place Market. The recipe for this drink is hardly a recipe. Boil a pot of water (5 or 6 cups-ish), drop in a handful of the dried flowers and turn off the heat. Put a lid on it and let it steep for 5- 10 minutes then add sugar (as much or as little as you like- I usually add 1/4 cup per batch), mix well to make sure the sugar dissolves. Now, strain the mixture into a pitcher to extract the flowers from the tea. Allow to cool. I like to rim my drink glass in sugar and add a little lime juice…maybe a shot of rum or vodka on occasion. The flavor of the tea is cranberry-ish…its tart and full, the color a scarlet red so rich it borders on burgundy (note- it stains just about everything on contact). Jamaica will forever bring to mind time spent South of the border and especially of my numerous trips down (Ive driven it at least 4 or 5 times now). I like to think that enjoying a glass here in Seattle keeps those memories especially vivid…its a nice reminder that Mexico is as close as the vehicle that will take me there.