The Great Stern Pulpit Refit of 2015-2016 came to completion. We waited for a good weather window to 
cross the Sea of Cortez and start a very long-delayed (and now-very-short) cruising season. In the meantime Mr. Truck was just parked there at the marina, all empty and everything. Except for the fine metal chest we'd just brought back from a second-hand store in Durango.
GB and I decided it was time to blow large coin on actual furniture for the actual house we* were actually building in New Mexico.
*GB does the skilled construction, like actual house-building and installing systems like electrical, plumbing, and whatnot. Meanwhile I do the unskilled labor, like all the dirt-work outdoors to control erosion, build paths and gardens, and whatnot. What a team we are.
Anyway, we had not owned furniture since we had sold everything and moved aboard The Fox in March 2003. Now, our clever plan was to (1) buy furniture at our favorite spot in all Mazatlan: Michael Gallery on Camarón Sábalo in the Zona Dorada, right next door to our beloved Restaurant los Panchos; (2) load up Mr. Truck with all we could; (3) drive from Mazatlan to San Carlos where we would rent a storage unit for a few months; (4) stow our haul in said storage unit; (5) stow Mr. Truck in an outdoor parking spot at said storage place; (6) bus back to Mazatlan; and (7) cruise The Fox in the Sea to end the season in San Carlos; then (8) put The Fox in dry storage with Marina Seca San Carlos; and finally (9) drive the fully-loaded Mr. Truck from Old Mexico to New Mexico. Piece o' cake.
Having studied all options, it quickly became clear to us that it would be cheaper to buy 
the furniture we liked in Mazatlan, than it would have been to drive Mr. Truck directly to Tonalá (a suburb of Guadalajara) where the furniture was actually made. The furniture itself was sold for less in Tonalá, but the added expenses of fuel, tolls, meals and lodging would have made that option more expensive overall. So,we bought from Michael Gallery 2 nightstands, a small sideboard with a hammered copper top, 2 leather cafe chairs with matching table, 4 giant metal bowls with stands for outdoor embellishment, 2 cast iron chandeliers, one leather-and-cast-iron bench, and one carved mesquite bench. GB fell in love with a life-size Huichol-beaded iguana so we got that too.
For the cherry on top we (= I) bought 3 small metal chickens and one miniature mariachi-style sombrero because hilarious. We filled in all the gaps in Mr. Truck with boat parts and luggage. Michael Gallery's sales lady and I were skeptical, but GB and Michael Gallery's warehouse guy made it all fit. They tarped and tied everything down but good.
Later I will share how we made it with all this stuff back across the border....
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