BajaNomad
Not logged in [Login - Register]

Go To Bottom
Printable Version  
 Pages:  1  2
Author: Subject: Mulege Diversion
bajabuddha
Banned





Posts: 4024
Registered: 4-12-2013
Location: Baja New Mexico
Member Is Offline

Mood: Always cranky unless medicated

[*] posted on 8-1-2014 at 08:24 AM


I've had bad ice cubes before too....... NASTY. :barf:



I don't have a BUCKET LIST, but I do have a F***- IT LIST a mile long!

86 - 45*

View user's profile
toneart
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 4901
Registered: 7-23-2006
Member Is Offline

Mood: Skeptical

thumbup.gif posted on 8-1-2014 at 10:24 AM


Quote:
Originally posted by bajabuddha
Phil, i'm totally agreeing with you. I've seen wave after wave of younger tourists buying up the newly cleaned-up homes of those who went through the slime and sorrows 3,4, and 5 times, finally to give up, because all their time is spent on vacation cleaning up the mess.

As Sly and the Family Stone sang, some (ahem)years ago. "when is mud thicker than the blood?"


This is the best description of what we have gone through. Those who chide us for "rebuilding" are doing that just to try and make us look stupid. "Rebuilding" is NOT what we do!!! Those who lost their homes entirely did NOT rebuild. THAT would be stupid.

So, you have a home that has been ravaged by a flood but is still standing and for the most part, still intact. What they require is a thorough clean up. There are many locals who want the work, need the work and are happy to do it...at local wages. It is a win/win for everyone.

Since Hurricane John, in 2006, we either move all furniture and appliances upstairs or we have someone move them to higher ground. Boats and vehicles get moved too. Mulege has many trusted families that will do this for you. My "family" had a set of keys. They did this for me. They also did not need me to contact them (communications are down for a few days anyway). They just go in and start to work, knowing that I am good for it as soon as I can get there.

They start by emptying the mud out, one wheelbarrow at a time. Then they thoroughly wash it out and disinfect everything with bleach. This is done quickly so that mold does not set in. Most walls are brick and plaster and/or stucco. Wood has to be refinished. Depending on the force of the surge, sometimes windows and doors need to be repaired and occasionally replaced.

What you have is an investment that is well worth repairing. Again...NOT "rebuilding"!

And it is true, after four or five of these, we get damn tired of it. It consumes our "vacation" time when we could be out fishing. We also get older. Most have moved on and been replaced by new people. There are certainly some good deals to be had.

I sold mine a couple of years ago for less than half of what I had ultimately invested in it. I gave full disclosure and the new owner gives me happy feedback regularly. Since he bought it there has been no flooding. Hopefully, he can enjoy several flood free years.

The Hurricanes usually strike around the end of August or the beginning of September. This year looks like a hot and active storm year. We should know soon how well the "Diversion" works.

Good luck to all! I really enjoyed my time there in spite of the floods, and I miss my friends. Of course, no floods would have been better.

Tony
View user's profile
Cypress
Elite Nomad
******




Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
Member Is Offline

Mood: undecided

[*] posted on 8-1-2014 at 10:59 AM


Living on the water is a special thing. I've relocated down south on a bayou, house located about 150' from the water, has survived every hurricane, including Katrina, and its 40+ yrs. old. Storm surge has reached the front door steps, but never the house itself. The Mexican govt. once had a sign down along the Mulege river advising people not to build there.:D
View user's profile
dorado50
Nomad
**




Posts: 118
Registered: 12-8-2011
Location: La Jolla, Ca.
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 8-1-2014 at 10:07 PM


So most here are saying that mother nature peees only on Mulege?. If that's the case I will live anywhere in the world but Mulege than..........:wow:
View user's profile
bajabuddha
Banned





Posts: 4024
Registered: 4-12-2013
Location: Baja New Mexico
Member Is Offline

Mood: Always cranky unless medicated

[*] posted on 8-1-2014 at 10:24 PM


I can testify along with Toneart, that living on the Estrero is exceptionally magical... until the fecal material strikes the rotary oscillator. Had friends buy the most inland waterfront house in the Oasis in the latter '90s, they stayed there for 3-4 years full-time. I was still beach camping on the Bay, but spent many an evening there in their guest room.

In 2002 their health grounded them in Washington. They had to sell, but sales were very slow at that time. Spring of 2003 they asked me and my (future 2nd x-) wife to check on their property. They were told it would be sold by management. Nothing was done, so we moved in for 2 weeks and cleaned up the place, packed their belongings, and made it look to be a turn-key place instead of 'somebody still lives here'. Even posted FOR SALE signs that nobody had bothered to do yet.

That fall I visited them at home up north, and they were in BAD shape. I offered to get all their personal belongings back home; they had 5 kids between them, but of course, their lives were more important than mom n' dad's, and I was just 'on the road again' ... again.... anyway, dead-headed down (11 years ago next week!), 2nd week in August, and spent 3 days by myself packing their stuff. Hottest, most miserable I'd ever been in my life, including southeast Asia (not to mention a battle with a wasp's nest).

I took all their personal belongings home to them, and less than a month later, Hurricane Marty hit, and filled their house with a foot of mud. Marty was the first of 5 or 6 in the next 8 years. Their home was blasted, landscaping (immaculate) destroyed, and they were forced to sell at a HUGE loss, and at a time when their health was bad, and finances as well.

Guess my point is, Caca Occurs. NEVER invest in Mexico what you cannot walk away from, especially in a floodplain. I still see that house every time I drive out either side of the Estrero. I remember the magic, the evenings on the porch with hummingbirds, the old Blue Heron that owned the upper end of the li'l island. Seen new owners buy, build, and have their front yard washed away again, and again. Beautiful now, high priced. Fixer-upper, what a deal.




I don't have a BUCKET LIST, but I do have a F***- IT LIST a mile long!

86 - 45*

View user's profile
alacran
Nomad
**




Posts: 316
Registered: 9-22-2011
Location: Mulege
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 8-1-2014 at 10:52 PM


I have been coming to Mulege, every year since 1972, 3-4 weeks every year, the fishing was great.
I moved there upon retiring in 1994, and build my house on Loma Azul, overlooking the river, but pretty high up.
The problem with most people that "lost" or "rebuild" has to do that, that area was never intendet for permanent homes, they were trailer parks, that people came with they trailers, spent time, had a good time and left.
Jorges park was the early ones, right about under the bridge, the Orchard, Oasis, Villa Maria were others that people started to build solid homes.
After more than 40 years without floods nobody knew or cared.
The river got siltier and shallower.
Then we had the first of several tropical storms, and homes on the river banks got damaged and some washed away.
Jimena was the worst, and many people did not come back, and or did not re build.
In other words, we all know that location, location is the key word.
View user's profile
micah202
Super Nomad
****




Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 8-2-2014 at 06:27 AM


.
....wow,,,good to get the historical perspective.
....I know and love that oasis called Mulege,,,have certainly thought of,,dreamed of claiming a spot there myself. To realize how long things went without a major waterflow event makes one wonder what,why things have changed.
....I have always loved the people of Baja...it has always struck me that once past the bordertowns,,one rarely sees 'shifty-eyes' anywhere. To stay near and connect with a smaller waterfront community is a treat,,,but I always wondered why the folks didn't make more of their homes,,,but guessed the simplicity of their lives didn't allow for such luxuries.....then I saw one of those clapboard villiages get blown-away,,,,and how the villiagers simply,literally gathered up the pieces and rebuilt their lives........
.... A very clear lesson in the value of living close to the earth. :rolleyes:

.....'Buddha's' got it...much like going to a casino---'' NEVER invest in Mexico what you cannot walk away from '' ...or perhaps a home on wheels,,,maybe a shack,,some tarps,, a palapa.

[Edited on 8-2-2014 by micah202]
View user's profile
bajabuddha
Banned





Posts: 4024
Registered: 4-12-2013
Location: Baja New Mexico
Member Is Offline

Mood: Always cranky unless medicated

[*] posted on 8-2-2014 at 06:52 AM


Micah, since Jimena, the river 're-building' areas, especially the Orchard, has been leaning from the Tropical Dream Home to a palapa-roofed pad for trailers. Friends bought in there a few years back, and that's their set-up. They were pooh-poohed by their rich-biatch neighbors, kind of like putting a mobile home in a site-built neighborhood... but now, folks are wising up to it. Toneart had said his 'family' down there would come and move the downstairs stuff up a level if a storm threatened; one could have the same thing with a trailer, or just put it in storage on high ground for the summer. I also understand the riverfront lots of the Orchard that were totally scoured by Jimena are all 'pad-only' permits to build (just rumor mill, may be mistaken).

You can still have your cake and eat it too, but just use the 6 - 'P's... Prior Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance. The pictures in the Laundromat are 50 years old of Mulege under water. A lot of people have washed their clothes there.




I don't have a BUCKET LIST, but I do have a F***- IT LIST a mile long!

86 - 45*

View user's profile
mulegemichael
Super Nomad
****




Posts: 2310
Registered: 12-24-2007
Location: sequim,wa. and mulege
Member Is Offline

Mood: up on step

[*] posted on 8-2-2014 at 07:02 AM


we still live in the oasis park in mulege, right on the river, and love it!...we have experienced 4 floodings in 8 years, i think....just cleaned up the mess and went on enjoying....we now have a couple of families that have keys to our house, shop, vehicles etc and they move everything to high ground when threatened with a flood....that's just the way it is.....it's a small price to pay for living in paradise.....and my bride says it weeds out the weak.



dyslexia is never having to say you\'re yrros.
View user's profile
micah202
Super Nomad
****




Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 8-2-2014 at 07:17 AM


Quote:
Originally posted by mulegemichael
we still live in the oasis park in mulege, right on the river, and love it!...we have experienced 4 floodings in 8 years, i think....just cleaned up the mess and went on enjoying....we now have a couple of families that have keys to our house, shop, vehicles etc and they move everything to high ground when threatened with a flood....that's just the way it is.....it's a small price to pay for living in paradise.....and my bride says it weeds out the weak.


.....yep---many ways to peel an onion! ;)

...haven't seen the laundro-pics,,,but that would certainly be smart warning,,,,,,,and missed appropriately by those who don't visit-before-buying!
View user's profile
mulegemichael
Super Nomad
****




Posts: 2310
Registered: 12-24-2007
Location: sequim,wa. and mulege
Member Is Offline

Mood: up on step

[*] posted on 8-2-2014 at 09:42 PM


YUP!....take heed!....not for the weak of knee, to say the least...ummmmmm.



dyslexia is never having to say you\'re yrros.
View user's profile
micah202
Super Nomad
****




Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 8-2-2014 at 10:00 PM


Quote:
Originally posted by mulegemichael
YUP!....take heed!....not for the weak of knee, to say the least...ummmmmm.


....definitely the -last- place to buy or build your dream





.......shouldn't take much more and I should be able to grab something CHEAP!;);D
View user's profile
chuckie
Elite Nomad
******




Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
Member Is Offline

Mood: Weary

[*] posted on 8-3-2014 at 04:49 AM


Lots of CHEAP houses in Detroit, if cheap is whats most important to you. Mulege people, the ones that have chosen to clean up after the floods and stay, do it because they love their town. It gets tougher as we get older, and some of us have moved to higher ground. The ones on the river, as has been pointed out here have got it figured out....



View user's profile
willyAirstream
Super Nomad
****


Avatar


Posts: 1786
Registered: 1-1-2010
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 8-3-2014 at 07:29 AM


It is called a ``wash and wear`` casa.



View user's profile
chuckie
Elite Nomad
******




Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
Member Is Offline

Mood: Weary

[*] posted on 8-3-2014 at 07:52 AM


:biggrin::biggrin:



View user's profile
norte
Super Nomad
****




Posts: 1163
Registered: 10-8-2008
Member Is Offline


[*] posted on 8-3-2014 at 08:01 AM


Win-Win? more like lose - win.

Quote:
Originally posted by toneart
Quote:
Originally posted by bajabuddha
Phil, i'm totally agreeing with you. I've seen wave after wave of younger tourists buying up the newly cleaned-up homes of those who went through the slime and sorrows 3,4, and 5 times, finally to give up, because all their time is spent on vacation cleaning up the mess.

As Sly and the Family Stone sang, some (ahem)years ago. "when is mud thicker than the blood?"


This is the best description of what we have gone through. Those who chide us for "rebuilding" are doing that just to try and make us look stupid. "Rebuilding" is NOT what we do!!! Those who lost their homes entirely did NOT rebuild. THAT would be stupid.

So, you have a home that has been ravaged by a flood but is still standing and for the most part, still intact. What they require is a thorough clean up. There are many locals who want the work, need the work and are happy to do it...at local wages. It is a win/win for everyone.

Since Hurricane John, in 2006, we either move all furniture and appliances upstairs or we have someone move them to higher ground. Boats and vehicles get moved too. Mulege has many trusted families that will do this for you. My "family" had a set of keys. They did this for me. They also did not need me to contact them (communications are down for a few days anyway). They just go in and start to work, knowing that I am good for it as soon as I can get there.

They start by emptying the mud out, one wheelbarrow at a time. Then they thoroughly wash it out and disinfect everything with bleach. This is done quickly so that mold does not set in. Most walls are brick and plaster and/or stucco. Wood has to be refinished. Depending on the force of the surge, sometimes windows and doors need to be repaired and occasionally replaced.

What you have is an investment that is well worth repairing. Again...NOT "rebuilding"!

And it is true, after four or five of these, we get damn tired of it. It consumes our "vacation" time when we could be out fishing. We also get older. Most have moved on and been replaced by new people. There are certainly some good deals to be had.

I sold mine a couple of years ago for less than half of what I had ultimately invested in it. I gave full disclosure and the new owner gives me happy feedback regularly. Since he bought it there has been no flooding. Hopefully, he can enjoy several flood free years.

The Hurricanes usually strike around the end of August or the beginning of September. This year looks like a hot and active storm year. We should know soon how well the "Diversion" works.

Good luck to all! I really enjoyed my time there in spite of the floods, and I miss my friends. Of course, no floods would have been better.

Tony
View user's profile
mulegemichael
Super Nomad
****




Posts: 2310
Registered: 12-24-2007
Location: sequim,wa. and mulege
Member Is Offline

Mood: up on step

[*] posted on 8-3-2014 at 08:22 PM


Tony; we love ya man!....we'll try to "weather on" without you but it would be much sweeter with that jazzy horn of yours...consider sitting in at purple haze someday; we have world class bands...m.



dyslexia is never having to say you\'re yrros.
View user's profile
toneart
Ultra Nomad
*****




Posts: 4901
Registered: 7-23-2006
Member Is Offline

Mood: Skeptical

[*] posted on 8-4-2014 at 12:59 PM


Quote:
Originally posted by mulegemichael
Tony; we love ya man!....we'll try to "weather on" without you but it would be much sweeter with that jazzy horn of yours...consider sitting in at purple haze someday; we have world class bands...m.


Good to hear from you, Michael! I will come there someday to blow a few tunes. Say "hello" to everyone including Purple Haze Roz. By the way, I have been growing a patch of Lavender here in Grass Vally, CA.

See?... I can toot my own purple horn. :cool: :yes:

Tony
View user's profile
 Pages:  1  2

  Go To Top

 






All Content Copyright 1997- Q87 International; All Rights Reserved.
Powered by XMB; XMB Forum Software © 2001-2014 The XMB Group






"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez

 

"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt

 

"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes

 

"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn

 

"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law







Thank you to Baja Bound Mexico Insurance Services for your long-term support of the BajaNomad.com Forums site.







Emergency Baja Contacts Include:

Desert Hawks; El Rosario-based ambulance transport; Emergency #: (616) 103-0262