Dec 18th to 25th – Christmas at Savage RV Park

We’ve had a tranquil week.  Meandering on our bikes around the town, swimming in the warm ocean.  One day the 6 of us hopped in the truck to visit an isolated beach on the other side of the hill south of us. 

 Little beach over the hill.

 

 Crashing waves.

 

Grouchy rock found on beach.

Another day Vic & Bev drove south along the coast visiting San Francisco, San Pancho, Sayulita, Punta Mita then along the top of Banderas Bay passing La Cruz and on into Bucerias.  There is so much new construction of condos and resorts since we visited here in 1998.  Near Punta Mita there was a huge resort that had been started and is currently abandoned due to the economic down turn – 4 large skeletons of condos/hotels with paved roads and street lights already installed.  It seems that projects get started and then sit for years until they get going again. Same thing with some of the houses in the village.

In Bucerias we stopped to shop at Mega store and picked up a few items including a boogie board for Vic. 

Trees create a tunnel on Hwy 200

On December 22nd, the 6 of us were joined by 2 other Canadian couples at Happy Hour under our palapa in honour of Jan and Dale’s 25th wedding anniversary, then the 10 of us headed out for dinner.  The dinner was coconut shrimp with orange sauce – absolutely superb.  The dinner for the two of us cost $350 pesos plus tip which included a pina colada “grande” for each of us.

 Jan & Dale 25th Anniversary

 

 Dale pours the bubbly.

 

Bob & Judy Lambe from Penetang

Doug and Linda Colburne of Minden

What a small world this is! One of the couples, Doug and Linda, have been friends of Jan & Dale for years, after meeting up in Mexico. It turns out they are from the Minden area. I ask if they know 12 Mile Lake. “Oh sure. We live there.” I ask do you know Bill Leo, as Bill has a cottage on 12 Mile Lake, where the Tuesday night hockey guys go every year, the weekend after Labour Day. “Yes, we know Bill & Karen. We sold them their Mariah ski boat. We used to own the marina.”

On December 23rd, we had heavy rain during the night but the sun is back out during the daytime.  This is the first rain we’ve had since we got here and we don’t mind when it occurs only during the middle of the night.

On December 24th, the 6 of us went into Market Day in La Penita.  While there we jointly purchased a Santa Claus pinata and filled it with candies.  Later in the day, we took it to a young family with 4 children as they live in very poor circumstances.  Jan & Dale have been very kind to them over the last 10 years as the couple struggle to eke out a living. Their eyes lit up at the site of our gift to them – they had no other decorations, etc for Christmas. The mother, Carmen, is missing four teeth which were lost during child bearing due to the poor diet during pregnancy. It reminds us of how much we take things for granted in our life. They live in a small cement block house down a dirt and pot-holed road surrounded by their small herd of goats. They can’t afford hydro so the business behind them lets them plug in an extension cord to run their minimal needs. There are two little white & black goats that are so cute you want to take them home. They follow the kids around like puppies.

We do appreciate that this part of Mexico has improved so much over the last 10 years or so. And yet there is still a lot of improvement needed. The husband was doing odd jobs, where ever he could find the work. Now he has a steady job and income, working on garbage collection. Years ago there was no garbage collection! Garbage was burned, including plastic. Now some gringos (Americans and Canadians) have started a program to collect glass, plastic, and cans. They have built special wire mesh containers and placed them all over the local villages and towns. I don’t know where it all goes but it doesn’t get burned. That is a huge improvement.

Christmas Day our internet service is down – the son of the owner has taken the router away to Bucerias so we are unable to use Skype to communicate with our families.  Everyone in the park is hugely disappointed. We had an excellent pot luck dinner, consisting of turkey, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, yams, mixed veggies and brownies.  Plus a super large bottle of sparkling cider.  Weather a comfortable 28C and sunny.  It sure doesn’t feel like Christmas but we enjoy the company, but miss our kids very much.

Dec 17 Thursday – Shopping Trip to PV

Walter has announced that they are heading into Puerto Vallarta to shop at Costco and have invited all of us to join in. The six of us pile into his truck and head for the big city at 8 AM.

The road into PV, Hwy 200, runs through some big hills and twists and turns, as it parallels the coast. As usual, we get stuck behind heavy trucks grinding their way up the hills. You just need a lot of patience to wait for an opening to pass. Unless of course your are a Mexican driver, then you can pass in No Passing zones, on curves and hills. We haven't been on this stretch of highway for several years and the landmarks bring back memories of past trips. Sayulita, San Francisco, then Bucerias. Wow...Bucerias has really changed. Lots of new condos and stores..even a Home Depot and WalMart.

And then on into PV. Really lots of changes here. New condos and hotels and shopping plazas to go with them.

At Costco we stock up on wine, which is not easy to find at a reasonable price in Mexico. We get six bottles of red Chilean wine and 6 white from Germany no less. All were less than $5 per bottle. We found the Jose Cuervo Margarita mix at the best price we have seen anywhere…36 pesos each. Four of these will last a couple of weeks. Maybe. The Jose Cuervo Especial Tequila is also very cheap at 109 pesos for a liter. In the food department, we are able to find turkey breasts, that we will cook on Christmas day. We also get some fish and chicken.

Bev and Jan look over the veggies in WalMart.

All finished at Costco, our next stop a new WalMart and pickup pineapple and mango juices (jugos) on sale, as well as cheese slices, bacon (tocino), and swimming noodles (flotadores). Then we head on to the Soriana supermarket for more “stuff” and walk out with a bottle of tequila liqueur, even cheaper than what we paid five years ago…176 vrs 225.

All done? Nope…we stop in at the Mega supermarket for even more “stuff”. We don’t need anything else but Jan & Dale and Walter & Carol top up with more. Finally, we head back home, leaving several thousand pesos behind in PV.

Dec 11th to Dec 16th - Home for a While

There are only 2 other rigs in the campgrounds besides us and we know both couples in the other rigs – our friends Jan & Dale from Penetanguishene, ON and their friends Carol and Walter from BC, who we first met 3 years ago while vacationing in Melaque.

We finally get to put out our awning plus the additional side screen we had purchased in Alamo TX – our first chance to use it since we purchased it!  Despite the damage we sustained in San Lujis Potosi, the repairs have allowed us to use it. We also put up our solar lighting along the awning.  Our friends have their rigs and the shared palapa decorated for Christmas, inspiring Vic to put out Christmas lighting on our awning and our little Christmas tree on our outdoor patio.  We also put out the fresh poinsettia we had purchased in Villa Corona.

Our little Christmas Tree...WalMart special.

The RV at Night

We are enjoying this RV park.  We can access the Internet from our rig and have free use of the washing machine to do our laundry.  The lady who owns the local bakery brings her truck loaded with fresh bread and pastries every couple of days.  We also have a gentleman who has wonderful fresh veggies and fruits drop buy every few days.  Bev purchases a 20kg bag of oranges for 95 pesos and proceeds to make fresh orange juice.  Unlike the oranges we got in Texas, these oranges are juicy and we are nearly overflowing in juice. We freeze most of the juice but it will be consumed quickly as we love a large glass of fresh orange juice every day. There are still oranges left to be juiced that will make at least a liter. The red grapefruit here is so sweet and juicy – it makes the grapefruit at home seem terrible in comparison.

Bev at the juicer.

The oranges have very thin shins...but lots of juice.

Part of the 20 kilo bag.

Several days later, we will end up tossing out the last dozen we didn't get juiced.

Surprisingly, the garbage truck comes on a daily basis and there is a large recycle bin out on the street for plastics, glass and tin cans – quite a change from when we first came to this area Mexico in 1998. Back then one of the worst aspects of staying here was the smell of burning garbage every night…along with all the plastic mixed in the garbage.

The iguana scurried across the campground. 2' long.

It takes us a couple of days to play around with the dish set up, but we finally get satellite reception so we can watch CBC news to keep in touch with what’s happening back home. For the first couple of days, we get only SD stations but to our surprise we can get a few HD channels too. Hockey in HD. Hurray!

On Sunday, Dec 13th we feel the trailer rocking. At first we thought it was the wind gusting but here was hardly a breeze. We look out to see if someone is rocking the rig but nobody is around. The rocking lasts about 25 seconds. It’s gotta be a quake. Later determine there was an earthquake of 4.7 magnitude farther north on the Pacific Coast.

One unusual Mexican tradition we haven’t talked about is the Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. In the days leading up to the big day they shoot of giant fire crackers sporadically throughout the day. They are sort of little rockets that soar up a couple of hundred feet, and then go “BOOM”. No fireworks, no display…just a big “BOOM”. And not just the daytime, this goes on during the night too. This has been going gone since we arrived in Villa Corona and continues here in Lo de Marcos. Finally, today the booms are gone and the festival is over as of yesterday, Dec. 12th.

This little 3' Cayman lives in the swamp next door.

Manana is finally today and Vic finds where the propane is leaking from a ruptured copper line, in behind the water heater.  Alfredo, the manager of the RV park, calls up the local propane repairman, despite today being Sunday.  He arrives on site within 15 minutes, determines what repairs are required and leaves for parts. Within a couple of hours, he has replaced the ruptured line with a section of flexible tubing.  At last the problem of the leak has been resolved – we had lost 1/8 of a tank in 3 days!  That evening we head out to La Pina Loca restaurant in Rincon de Guayabitos to celebrate Carol’s birthday.  We enjoy “grande” Pina Coladas with chicken fajitas.

Dale, Jan, Carol (birthday girl), Walter, Vic

After dinner on our way back to the campground, we enter the town square in Lo de Marcos and find some kind  of festival underway. We watch a troupe perform traditional dances on stage. The music blares out of giant speakers, powered by an amplifier with a very large fan blowing on it, just to keep it cool.

The pretty chicas with the pretty dresses.

The weather is lovely here with an average 30C during the day and about 17C to 20C at night.  Days are lazy sitting in the shade of a tree to read our books, walking on the beach, socializing with friends, biking around town.  Vic has repaired the large chip in our windshield.  Another rig has set up in our park – Maurice from Montreal so we are exclusively Canadians at the park so far.  2 other sites were reserved starting Dec 15th but as of yet, no one has shown up.  Happy Hour is 4 pm to 6 pm every day when we all socialize.  We have set up a book exchange as we each brought down a box of books to read over the winter.

Thurs Dec 10th – VC to Lo De Marcos

We left the park in Villa Corona at 9 am, temperature was 15C.  Since the ramp to the highway is steep, we had to remove the hitch and connections for the car from the RV.  Bev drives the car while Vic drives the RV.  We meet further along the highway to hook the car to the RV.  We followed a route to bypass Guadalajara by taking the road to Buenavista and then north on hwy 90/70 to toll road 15D.  As we travel the road to Buenavista we pass fields and fields of sugar cane.  We travel behind a truck loaded beyond capacity with sugar cane. Luckily, he turns left when we turn right so we are delayed only a few minutes.

Fields of sugar cane and truck loaded with it.

We join the toll road which is nicely paved and in good condition.  While passing through the Tequila area, the hillsides are covered in Blue Agave plants. Mmm, tequila. Mmm, margaritas. We hope to stop and tour the place when we pass by on our return home.

Fields of Blue Agave Cactus

By 11:30 am, we have paid 2 tolls for a total of 440 pesos and the temperature outside is now 21.8C.  We are descending and appear to have moved into another climate zone as we are now seeing tall cactus on the mountain sides.  The altitude is < 1000 metres.  Within 15 minutes we are climbing again, reaching the 1277m altitude.  We stopped at the 86km mark on the toll road at a lookout point to take photos.  We are now just inside the border of Nayarit, previously we were in the state of Jalisco. 

Cactus

By 12:15 we are doing a steep climb to the 1456m altitude.  We are seeing thousands of little yellow butterflies as we drive. At 12:23 we exit the toll road to take the road to Las Varas rather than continuing on to Tepic. An hour later the scenery changes once again and we now start to see banana trees among the foliage.


Over the next 2 hours, we descend steep hills as we make our way to the Pacific coast.  Vic runs in second gear and even down to first gear trying not use the brakes.  In the end, we have to pull off for a half an hour as the brakes have overheated, brake fluid has boiled, leaving the pedal going right to the floor.  Even though we have heard stories of others with brakes fading and using the brakes as little as possible, we still run into this problem. Next time we will use first gear even though it seems too extreme...but necessary.

We are just 15 km from Las Varas and know there is a Pemex station that we can stop at to get more brake fluid.  We reach the Pemex station, fuel up, purchase brake fluid (which we have as spare) and bleed some air out of the brake lines.  The brake fluid really isn’t down, it just the overheating has caused the air in the lines.  Not long afterwards, we pull off at the LP gas station to top up our propane.  We purchase 3/8 of a tank for 161 pesos. The propane is still leaking. Manana.

Passing through Las Varas brings back pleasant memories of our first visit to this area with friends in 1998. We used to go to market day there and purchase delicious tortas from one of the local vendors.  We pass the sign to Chacala, Alta Vista, La Penita, Rincon de Guayabitos and Los Ayalos – all places we had visited over the past 11 years when we flew down to join friends for a week or two of winter vacation.

We finally reach Lo De Marcos at 4 PM Central which is 3 PM local (mountain) time.  We park the RV outside the Pretty Sunset RV resort and drive in the car to visit 5 different parks to check our rates and site availability.  On our way back to the RV, we spy our friend Dale who is staying at Savage RV park which we had not checked out.  We decide to take a site there as it has the cheapest rate for a 2 month stay and includes free Internet wireless access. We are booked for 2 months at 4900 pesos per month, which is much better than US600 month at a couple of other parks.

At last we have reached our destination and start to settle in for a long stay!  We do minimal set up as we are exhausted by our long day of driving.  Our friends give us an hour and then ask us to join them for Happy Hour at the shared palapa – perfect end to a long day! Margarita time!

We have traveled 3,213 miles and spent about $160.78  in tolls, $1311.46 in fuel, and $41 in propane. Our camping costs, including up to Feb. 10th, is $1355.56. All prices converted to Cdn$.

Dec 9 Wednesday - Another day in V. C.

Not much doing today. We relax in the hot pool. Laura would just love it! Hot hot hot. They say the water is about 101 F in the morning after they have re-filled it.

Later on we head into the village to find the bank and do some small shopping. We join up with a couple, Paul and Penny, from Alberta that arrived yesterday afternoon. We find the bakery down an alley and come out with 2 cream filled buns and 2 pineapple turnovers.

Paul and Penny relate their tale of travelling from Puerto Vallarta to Villa Corona via Hwy 70, a two-lane twisty road through the mountains. They blew a tire along the way and had to get it repaired, and they have even less Spanish knowledge than us. One night, they opted to stay over at a Pemex station in one of the small towns along the way. At 2 AM, they get a knock at the door. A cop is outside urging them to get on to some other Pemex in the next town. The cop tells them this Pemex has been robbed twice in the last week and if they robbers come back again, they would rob them and take their motorcycle too.

Paul doesn’t recommend this road for a large RV like ours so we settle on our pre-planned route to Lo de Marcos.

The propane odor lingers…manana.

Dec 8 Tuesday Fix It Day

With the parts from Zertuche’s, I can proceed to fix the leveler jack, but first I need to arrange something for the leaking tire. You need to understand some basics of Mexico first. The roads are not always the best. Read the Dec 4th post about the ring rod at San Luis Potosi. Between the rough roads and the speed bumps (topes), tires and suspensions take a beating. In answer to this problem, Mexicans resort to little roadside businesses called “llanteras”. “Llanta” means tires and “llantera” means tire repair shop. I prepare a note explaining in my best Spanish what I need and off we go into the village. The shop comprises nothing more than a little shack with a big tire out front as the business sign. There is no door, just and open shed, with tires and rims inside, an air compressor, and some basic tools. A big friendly guy comes to greet us and I show him the note. Surprise!…the note is understood and he replies “una hora”, one hour.

We return to the campground and I start the repair to the left rear leveling jack. Sure enough in “una hora”, the guy appears, riding a bicycle with a big steel front carriage, holding his tools and a bottle jack. I raise the wheel off the ground, using the leveling jack, so he doesn’t need to use the bottle jack. Without any power tools, he removes the wheels using a long socket tool and a long piece of pipe to apply leverage. He hefts the tire into the basket on the bike and says “una hora” and rides off back to his “llantera”. I go back to finish off the repair to the jack.

In about an hour, he returns, and indicates that there was a slow leak around the wheel rim. He had unmounted the tires and cleaned, and resealed the bead. Seems fine. Now you might expect to pay a premium price for someone to come to you, and fix your tire on demand in less than 3 hours, start to finish.
Nope…the charge is 250 pesos…only about Cdn$23. I love it.

Not so fast…I proceed to check and top up all the tires to correct pressure and then the front air suspension  bags, which supplements the springs. The left one is holding at 70 pounds but the right one is 0. Adding air only results in a lot of hissing. The air bag is blown and will need to be replaced. Another victim of the Mexican topes. We will leave this until we get to Lo de Marcos and can find a source for the air bag.



At 2 PM we join in a big Texas-style BBQ, hosted by Wayne and Pat from Texas. Wayne has bought this gigantic Alberta Angus beef roast at Costco in Guad and has been cooking this roast since yesterday on his 45 gallon BBQ, with charcoal briquettes, and pieces of applewood for extra flavor. The whole campground is invited to join in and some bring their own side dishes while we have joined with our close neighbours to go pot-luck. The roast to black all round on the outside, but just nicely cooked inside, and mmmm good.

Wayne carves the 23 pound roast into slabs, not slices. Cheryl Williamson of BC loads her slab with gravy.

Bev tosses the bean bag during social hour(s). The woman beside her is from Quebec.

After this big meal, we head out to the office area to get onto the Internet, only to find the service has been out since 2 PM and who knows when it might come back. We will have to wait another day to resolve our email issue with Rogers. Neither of us can access our Rogers email, nor log onto the Rogers service site.

We have booked for 2 more days so we have some time to relax before heading off to the coast.

The propane smell still lingers and we think it is coming from somewhere near the rear. Manana!

Dec 7, Monday - Day 2 in Villa Corona

The hydro goes out to the entire facility just as Bev is about to start the coffee maker.  We put our old camping kettle with the whistle on the gas stove to heat the water to make our coffee in our manual coffee press unit and proceed to cook our pancakes on the gas stove instead of using the electric fry pan. While we much on our breakfast, we muse over the fact that this little old whistling tea kettle has seen a lot of mileage. We estimate that we have had it for nearly forty years and it is easily ten years older than that.

Vic writes…
I take a look at the leveler and find that this time there are 2 broken hydraulic lines. Instead of just replacing the lines, I need to find the root cause of why the line(s) are breaking. It seems that the pump part of the leveler assembly is able to flex about ½ inch. With all the bumps and rough roads, it doesn’t take long with all the flexing for the steel line to break. The first step of the repair is to add a bolt to the assembly to eliminate the flex as much as possible.

While under the rig, I hear a hissing sound, which leads me to the inside tire of the right rear dual tires. Maybe we’ll stay longer at this place….

The people in the park are very nice and helpful. One guy, George, has spent a lot of time in MX and offers to help. We go into the auto parts shops in the village but are unable to find the ferrules I need for the hydraulic lines. George recommends a trip to Guadalajara to a brake specialist call Frenos Unicos. During our little trip, we talk about his times in MX and he tells me about breaking his arm while surfing in Lo de Marcos in 1995 and him and his wife Carol running a campground. I ask him if he knows Jan & Dale and he says "Oh yes, I've know Zorro Plata (Silver Fox) for nearly 15 years." Small world.

In the afternoon, Bev and I head off to the big city to search out this Frenos Unicos. We spot the shop on the other side of the road but you can’t get there due to the median and no left turns. You need to find a “retorno” to do a U-turn to get back. It turns out that they don’t have the part. In my limited Spanish, I understand that I should go south past the “periferico” (ring road) to Zertuche’s. We find Zertuche’s and I see immediately that this is the spot as they specialize in hydraulics. They have the parts and we head back. We try to spot a place to have the tire fixed but don’t see a shop the fixes truck tires.

Bev read in the brochure that there are laundry facilities in the park.  Instead of doing the laundry herself, she pays the local laundry gal $50 pesos (less than $5 Canadian) to do the 3 loads of laundry for her. Bev drops the laundry off at 11 am and it is returned at 4 pm after we returned from shopping in Guadalajara for new hydraulic lines and associated parts.  This is wonderful as it cost $5.50US to do 2 loads of laundry at the facility in the Alamo campground.

We decide to relax in one of the pools.  We have been told that they are hottest first thing in the morning but the pool was still about 95F at 4 PM.  Oh, so relaxing – there is even a massage pool but we skip that, just floated in the regular pool.

When we come back we join 4 other couples for drinks and socialize.  One of the Ontario couples left this afternoon.  They are moving into the new house they purchased in Ajijic on the north side of Lake Chapala. It would have been interesting to talk to them and learn all the tribulations they went through to purchase the place.



We sense that there is a propane leak as we can smell the gas but we can't determine if it is coming from our rig or the one nearby.  We give it high priority and say manana (tomorrow).

Dec 6th (Sunday) Onward to Villa Corona

We get up at 6 AM and after packing up, we depart at 7:38 AM.


It takes us 1 ½ hours from Mexquitic to the end of the ring road around San Luis Potosi – speed bumps terrible, road rough so have to go slow. The roads are rough but the scenery is beautiful. Rugged mountains. We go from about altitude of 6,000 ft to 7,200 ft before descending into Guadalajaura.



If we didn’t resort to taking the toll road, the trip would have been much longer. Total tolls for the day were $852 pesos (about $75 Cad). Toll roads are smoother, no topes, by-pass the small towns .. true expressway, but not always smooth. We checked our fuel consumption when we filled up at the Pemex station – despite the climbs up the mountain, we are still getting 7.1 mpg which is good considering we are towing a car.

When we finally arrived at 3:30 PM, at the Villa Corona campground is great. Rate is $230 pesos/day including hydro. We are exhausted from the long day of driving – we didn’t stop for lunch. We pay for 2 nights as we need a day to relax. Mtce staff immediately sweep our patio to remove the pine needles fallen from the trees on our site. Many people here are from Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. Neighbours very friendly. When our next door neighbour saw us about to set up our Star Choice satellite dish next to his, he runs out to say just plug into his dish – we hadn’t been there 30 minutes, he hadn’t even met us before this!!!

The resort has pools filled with water from hot springs in the area. We learn the next day that the RV community social gathering is around 8:30 am in the pool.

While setting up on our site and try to level to RV, we discover that one of our levellers isn’t working, but luckily we don’t need it to level our rig so we’ll need to fix it next day. Yes, it is the same one as Vic repaired in Tupulo Louisiana. To hell with fixing it today. We are too exhausted to do anything but drink a marguarita and have some dinner.

The park has WiFi access in a patio area just outside the office where most RV residents use Skype to call home to family. We use the area to catch up on our email, only to find out that we still cannot access our Rogers email accounts. We were fine in Texas but as soon as we reached Mexico, the server disconnects us as soon as we enter our passwords – funny it always worked when we flew to Mexico for our 2 week vacation in February. We’ll have to investigate.

Dec 5th Saturday – Day 2 in San Luis Potosi

In the morning, I finish off the chimney repairs and install the “new” vent cover. Good as new.

The roof is another story. There are numerous rips and tears all along the edge. There is no way we can proceed without getting the roof sealed. Luckily I have a roll of white duct tape and set about to seal up the rips. The tape won’t stick to the roofing material so we try soap and water, without success. I resort to using a can of aerosol brake cleaner to get the roof clean enough for the tape to stick. Then I use roofing sealant to seal all the edges of the tape to hopefully keep everything in place. Time will tell if this cobbled together solution will last long enough to get us through the winter.

During all this repair process, Bev has been talking to the owner’s wife who can speak a little English and to her daughter, about 10 years old. The daughter has been taking English in school and is very eager to put her lessons to use. She asks to look inside the RV and Bev obliges. She is in awe and gushes to her mother about the RV. Later on she returns with her cousins and asks if they can all look inside. This time the daughter gives the tour, pointing out “bedroom”, “bathroom”, etc in English. Then she suddenly sees my radio controlled airplane hanging from the bedroom ceiling and exclaims “avion” to her cousins. They are all excited to be able to look around.

I tell Pedro that we are leaving early in the morning and ask him what we owe for the two days. Wisely he offers US$15 and I give him 180 pesos. I could have suggested zero but considering the damage was done while off of his property, I can understand his point. From my perspective, his is partially responsible for not having his gate open and for having a misleading sign. If he had asked for full rate, I would have flatly refused.

It turns out that Pedro and his wife Susan also own a restaurant down the road towards the city. We opt to eat out and try out their restaurant. As we enter, we are greeted than none other than the daughter, who is gushing over us. She is so excited to see us and use her English. We both enjoy our meals in the lovely restaurant and we are the only customers. The food was excellent and inexpensive. I am sure this is their low season, as there would be no way they could keep a nice place going for long.

Dec 4 Ups & Downs and a Real Downer

Ciudad Victoria sits at an elevation of about 900’ but just to the west the hills blend into mountains. Our day starts out 9C at about 9 AM. The planned route will take us on Hwy 126, by-passing a section of Hwy 110, which looks on the map as a really squiggly line, with a few switch-backs thrown in. We climb up the mountains in the morning mist and rain, trying to get a view of what should be spectacular…if only we could see it.


Up we climb to about 3600’ and the mountains open up into a wide, mostly flat valley. As we descend into the valley, we enter whole new weather system, sunny and warmer at about 18C.

Entering a tunnel

Down into the valley. Sunshine ahead!

There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of industry or farming here. In some spots, there are roadside vendors selling dried snake skins and some sort of animal skins. Who would ever buy this stuff is beyond me.

Nice view of some flat-topped mesas.

We are surrounded by mountains.

By 10:45 AM we are climbing back up towards 3600’ again and the temp drops down to 12C. We stop at a Pemex  to fill up at 7.7 pesos per liter, equivalent to about 68 cents Canadian. Fuel mileage is holding at 7.1 US mpg, which we consider very good considering the mountain climbs we have done.

We turn onto Hwy 57 about 120 km from San Luis Potosi, our first 4 lane divided highway since being in Mexico. In San Luis Potosi,, we take the north east ring road, by-passing the city centre, to get to our campground in Mexquitic. This road is terrible…tope after tope of various shapes and sizes. At times we would hit topes that were spaced exactly the length of our wheelbase. You have to come to a near stop and crawl over the topes. It makes for very slow progress. Combined with the ups of the topes, there are potholes too. By the time we are able to turn off the ring road and onto Hwy 49, we have just about had it.

As we approach the campground, we see that the gates are closed but there is a sign that say “abierto” or open that seems to point down the road. We spy a lane that looks to lead to the rear of the property and start down. There is big tree right in the middle of the lane and I choose the left side. Bev is concerned that it isn’t wide enough but I know we can make. We didn’t. It was wide enough but not high enough. We hear scraping and crunching sounds from above, as a low hanging limb takes its toll.

When we get into the campground, we find that there is extensive damage. Our new awning material is scratch and scraped, the rear awning arm has been ripped right out of the roller. The rear spring assembly is hanging out. The roller has a big dent in it. The vent cover for the refrigerator is bashed in. The rubber roof covering is ripped just about from the front to the rear, all along the right edge. What a disaster! I am livid and let the campground owner know it too. Now it is simply a matter of damage control to get things back operational so we can continue our trip. There is no such thing as a RV repair shop in Mexico.

To start the repairs, we need the bracket that holds to rear awning arm to the RV. I go one way, following our path of destruction, while Pedro, the park owner, goes the other. I return empty-handed but Pedro, luckily returns with the missing and crucial piece. Pedro removes the spring assembly and walks off somewhere while I start to repair the awning arm. He returns 15 minutes later with the spring assembly all straightened out. I am able to get the spring re-installed and riveted in place. At least the awning is now useable.

Now I address the vent cover. It is in pretty bad shape and I think the only solution is to duct tape the pieces together but Pedro has different ideas. With my limited Spanish and his non-existent English, he directs me to a forlorn-looking house trailer, with flat tires. I somewhat understand that the trailer owner has not paid for the rental and owes Pedro, so I guess he is claiming ownership based on some lien. There is a very good condition vent cover on the roof that is exactly the same as mine and he says take it. I don’t argue.

The chimney part of my fridge vent is broken in several places and the mounting points to attach to cover are broken. Pedro comes up on the roof to take a look and says something like “Awh-ha PVC” and walks off to his little workshop. He returns with plumbing PVC cement and primer, along with thin aluminum wire. I am able to “sew” and glue the pieces all back together into a function chimney. By this time, it is getting dark so all work stops for the day.



I should have taken pictures of all this but it wasn't even on my mind. I was just too upset and exhausted from the efforts to get things fixed. No doubt some of the exhaustion was due to the altitude. I am not acclimated to working at 6000'.

Dec 3 Thursday Eagle Has Landed

We awoke to another cold morning at 9C. Brrr. The people around here say this is really cold and never happens in Texas. How is that? Just because we are here?

We got packed up and pulled out of the park before 9 AM, and on into Mexico just after 9:30 AM. The toll across the Pharr Bridge was US$20…much more than I expected.

In Mexico is where the fun stuff begins. The first attendant can’t speak English and we are not good at Espanol, so he gets on his cell phone and calls for another guy who can. Nice guy…talks about his visit to Niagara Falls… guides us into the office and says you need to visit the Migracion office and get a FMT, or Tourist Card. It doesn’t quite work the simple way though. The guy at the counter gives you a form you have to fill out. Then you take the form to the Banjercito (sort of like an officious cashier, behind a glass enclosure). We were prepared with copies of our passports, driver licenses, vehicle ownership certs but we needed to have copies of the FMT form with our Passports. You walk across to the other side of the office to another booth that where a guy sells Mexican car insurance and does copies on the side. The back to the Banjercito to complete the paper work. We pay for the FMT cards (262 pesos each). The vehicle import permits are 641 pesos for the RV and 385 pesos for the car. If you want to work out the cost in Cdn $, divide by 12. We have paid for everything but its not over yet. You need to go over to the Migracion booth, where the guy will now stamp your FMT after you show him proof that you paid the fee. We are now done at the border and can proceed. All in, this procedure has taken just under an hour…and this was a very quiet time with no lineups. There is no search of the vehicle, just a check that the vehicle stickers match the VIN of the vehicles.

But the border crossing isn’t finished yet. About 30 km down Highway 97 we hit the "aduana"…customs office. The officer checks our FMT and vehicle import permit, then comes inside and looks around the RV, and says good-bye. Pretty simple and we are back underway.

A few kms down the road is where we get our first unfriendly Mexican welcome…a stone chip in the windshield about the size of a dime, on the driver’s side, just below my sightline. I can’t understand where the stone came from other than from a pickup truck that passed us and was 300 meters in front when the bang came. Bummer!

The highway is something new to us. Yes, it is paved, and mostly smooth, so it looks somewhat like a wide two lane highway (not the 401 here folks). There is a centre line that is solid where you can’t pass and dashed where you can. Then there is this wide shoulder with a dashed line. Not really wide enough to drive on but you straddle it so people can pass you on the left. When there isn’t anyone behind, you can move over towards the centre. It takes a bit getting use to it.

Then you have to learn a new language for turn signals. When the vehicle in front of you puts on its left turn signal, that means it is safe for you to pass! I bet you want to know what the right signal is for. It is not safe to pass. When the vehicle in front approaches a hazard, or a road work crew, he will turn on his flashers to alert you that he will be slowing down for some reason. In Mexico, drivers are trying to help out those behind them. What a concept!

The driving is very similar to what we experience in southern Texas. Miles and miles of flat farmland and you can see forever. Later on, the flatness gradually disappears and we get into rolling hills, then a big hill that taxes the big old 454 Chevy engine. Followed by a roller coaster ride down the other side, with the tranny downshifted. This is just kids stuff…bigger hills and mountains will come.

We roll into Ciudad Victoria (ciudad means city) and into the Victoria RV Campground to meet the owner Rosie. She is quite a nice character that speaks English very well and fills us in on the local info of where to shop, where to get Internet access. After getting parked and set up, we head off to the Soriana superstore…sort of like a Walmart SuperCenter but with a great liquor and wine section, and much better food. We stock up on things we couldn’t cross the border with, like meats and veggies and check out with a bill of 807 pesos. Now you are already dividing by 12 and come to the conclusion that 70 was a little much. But consider we walked out with a 700 ml bottle of Jose Cuervo Tequilla that also comes with a bottle Sangrita mixer, a 750 ml bottle of Appleton’s Rum, and a 750 ml bottle of Malibu Coconut Rum. Now you can consider the food was free and we paid for the booze! The Jose Cuervo was 129 pesos, the rum as 100 and the coco rum was 135. Four bananas were 7.4 pesos…about 74 cents. A little steep when you consider they come from Mexico. But 6 limes cost only 2.2 pesos…about 20 cents. 6 tomatoes (.5 kg) cost 8.5 pesos.

On our way to the food store, Bev spied an AutoZone up the road. Very surprising to see one in Mexico so after dropping off the food at the RV we make a visit and pickup a windshield repair kit. All the packaging is in both English and Spanish so we don’t even have to speak to someone and show our language ineptitude.

As a treat, we go out to dinner at Martin’s restaurant where there is free Wi-Fi.

Dec 2 Wed. Not a rainy day!

It turned mostly sunny and a slightly warmer...around 20C. That allowed us to get ready for crossing over tomorrow.

This afternoon, we went to the DQ for our last treat...at least for the next few months.

Dec 1 Another Rainy Day

Yesterday it rained all day. It also rained all night. Guess what today is like! Rain all day. In fact, we are having a thunderstorm right now. What shitty weather.

The weather is delaying our departure to Mexico as we need some dry weather to dry out the outdoor stuff and do the vehicle check (oil levels, air pressure, etc.)

Today wasn't wasted as Bev got the laundry done while I installed a replacement AC voltmeter so we can now see what the house AC voltage is. It is important to know if it goes too low as it could harm some appliances. I also removed the windshield cover, broke down the outdoor BBQ table, and put the BBQ in storage.

We also got the propane tank filled. There is a couple of different vendors that come around with a propane trunk to service the RVs in the park. Very handy for us and a captive market for them. Under half a tank cost $26.25. I didn't make a note of the unit cost or how many gallons/pounds he put in.

Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be better, so we should get our preparations done and get underway on Thursday.

We plan to go out for dinner to Peter Piper Pizza...our first dining out. Really splurging this time.

November 30 Monday Rainy Day in Texas

Yesterday was warm and partly sunny with a high about 30C. In the evening, it cooled down to about 21C, which was great for our evening stroll through the park. During the night a cold front moved in, dropping the temp to 13C, and lots of rain.

As I write this, it is still raining slightly while we are in McAllen Barnes & Noble store. We have looked to buy a Guia Roji at Sanborn Insurance but have struck out as they are out of stock, and waiting for the 2010 shipment to arrive. We will look for this Mexican road atlas on our travels in Mexico at a Pemex station.

Tomorrow, we have to get everything packed away, ready for our Wed morning departure for Mexico.

November 27 Friday Black Friday

Today is NOT SHOPPING day for us as we want to avoid the madness that prevails in the US on the day after Thanksgiving. People we lining up very early in the morning (3 or 4 AM) to get the door-crasher specials. Not my game.
We do something far more relaxing and entertaining and enjoy the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, a world renown birdwatching park, a few miles south of Alamo, on the Rio Grande River. The have a 50’ observation tower you can climb to watch the birds. Since birds like to sit in the tree tops, being above them is a great idea. There are birds here we don’t see in Ontario, like the Green Jay, and the Great Kiskadee. If you think the Baltimore Oriole is pretty, you should see the Altamira Oriole. Very very pretty and bright orange. We also see a Ladder-back Woodpecker, which is similar to our Downy Woodpecker in Ontario, but lacks the red head color.

After viewing from the tower, we walk down one path and find a photography blind and sit down to watch the birds close up.

 There were several butterflies too.

The Refuge has set up a little water hole, sprinkled with seeds to attract the birds. The Green Jays come in little groups, gobble up some seeds and then take off into the woods. A few minutes later the scenario is repeated. These Jays are similar to our Blue Jays (not the ones with bats and gloves) but a completely different coloring. A Golden Fronted Woodpecker joins in with the Jays. This woodpecker is similar in size and color to the Red-headed Woodpecker but has patches of orange and white on its head. We spot a Black-crested Titmouse that comes in for a few seeds and flies off into the woods.
A Great Kiskadee approaches near but sits in a branch above and off to the side of the water and seems to settle in for a little nap. Then a Altamira Oriole flies in and lands at the water, and is joined by another Great Kiskadee. The Oriole proceeds to have a nice bath and the Kiskadee joins in.

Golden Fronted Woodpecker

 

Green Jay

 Green Jays squabble, showing coloration on tails.

 

 Great Kiskadee in tree.

The Great Kiskadee joins with the Altamira  Oriole at the watering hole.

The Great Kiskadee and the Altamira Oriole enjoy a bath together.

I hope the pictures do these pretty birds justice.

Bev on a trail in the Wildlife Refuge.

The Spanish Moss creates a tunnel through the trees.

November 26 Thursday – Thanksgiving Day II

We have already stuffed ourselves once this year for our Canadian Thanksgiving Day. Now we get to go round two. The RV park has supplied a turkey for every group of about 20 people. One of the ladies living in a semi-permanent mobile home has been designated the turkey cooker, primarily because she has a regular size oven. That is one thing that most motorhomes lack. Our oven might be able to accommodate a chicken, but not a turkey. The rest of our group supplies all the trimmings, like mashed potatoes, salads, gravy, stuffing, vegetables, and desserts.
The reception hall is quite large and there were over 220 people attending. After grace, we all dig in to the food for our noon time meal. With people from all over the US and many from Canada, there is a wide variety to choose from. I tried the scalloped corn even though I had never heard of it before. It was good but I missed out on the corn stuffing. Surprise…some people actually enjoyed the turnip.
We sat across the table from a couple from Minnesota, Sue and Dan Nelson, who are on their first trip after retiring. Since we are all in the same boat, we enjoy the friendly banter and discussions of the trip so far.
Ah…then come desserts. I pick small pieces of lemon and pecan (that is pee cawn, not pee can) pie. I really enjoy the pecan pie which is better than any store-bought pecan pie I have had.

The View Looking Up Our "Street"

A Nice Cactus Across the Street

Stuffed to the gills, we waddle back to the motorhome, taking left-overs with us. We join up with our neighbours from North Bay, Norm and Claudette Fortier, for an afternoon of euchre, guys against girls. So sad for the girls as they go down in defeat 4 games to 1, we all enjoyed the time socializing and hope to get in another round before we leave for Mexico.

Then comes round two of Thanksgiving Day II. Yup, we all head back to the hall for a 5:30 PM with all the left-overs to choose from. Most people are still stuffed from noon so the plates are as heaping as before. Never the less, after the main course, I head for the pecan pie, by-passing the lemon ‘cause I’m trying to cut down.

November 25 Wash & Hair Cut Day

Today was a close to home day…no sightseeing or shopping. In the afternoon, Bev went of to the laundry centre in the RV park while I went on adventure to get a hair cut. I asked at the front desk about a local barbershop but they said “Oh, just go to any salon and get it cut like everyone else. Drive down the street and drop in.”

Huh? Beauty salon…for girls and women? Women cutting guys hair? What is the world coming to? I stop in a Julie’s Beauty Salon where we had previously spotted a sign listing haircuts for...wait for this…$5.  That’s right…five US bucks. As I enter, I see men, women, and children sitting in the waiting area. As I approach the desk, I see a sign saying men have to pre-pay for hair cuts. I guess women don’t pre-pay as their costs would vary depending on what they wanted done. I am instructed to have a seat after anteing up the $5. Just a few minutes later and I am led into the cutting area where 8 or 10 women were cutting, dying, and perming hair. My turn in the chair and I ask for just a regular hair cut with a taper at the back. My usual. She asks “Do want scissors or clippers?” I’ve never had this option before so I go for the usual clippers. The end result looks just fine, short and neat. I am ready for Mexico.

It suddenly dawns on me that this is the first time since early childhood that a women has cut my hair, and that was my Mom. What a chauvinistic lifestyle I have led!

I arrive back at the park to help out with the rest of the laundry. Chauvinistic and domesticated concurrently.

We spend the rest of the day preparing for the big day tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day II. Bev prepares stuffing and I prepare the turnip.

Nov 24 Tuesday South Padre Island

We traveled east to the coast and South Padre Island and met up with Marg & Ev Thompson from Midland Ontario. They are staying at the Isla Blanca Park on the very south tip of the island. We wanted to scout around and get a good sense of what South Padre is about. Our bowling friends, Ken & Louise Pigott have been coming here for a few weeks each year and now will be coming for three months starting in January. While I had seen a map view of the island, I was a bit surprised to see the number of high-rise buildings…condos and hotels along the gulf side beach. This is area is fairly well built up but everything peters out in a few miles as you move north, and then it is just miles of beach and sand dunes.

 South Padre Island

 

This area has had a Red Tide, killing off thousands of fish.

 

 You can imagine the smell.

 

Marg doesn't like the smell so she wears a mask, mainly to ward off the respiratory irritation.

One of the highlights of this little jaunt was a visit to the local turtle sanctuary. It was a rather simple “zoo” of large tanks, maybe 10-12’ across, with one or two turtles each that had been rescued from the nearby beaches. Most of these turtles were missing one or more appendages, usually due to shark attacks. There was one turtle that was rescued very young, no bigger than 3” across, that was missing three appendages. The center was experimenting with a prosthesis that would allow this turtle to swim in a somewhat of a straight line. Amazingly enough, this turtle was now about 15” across and about 15 years old. The center does take loving care of these wonderful creatures, releasing many back to the wild after a period of tender care.

This big guy would surface and squirt water. Why? Who knows!

We stopped for lunch at a seaside restaurant with a nice view of the lagoon side and the causeway bridge linking the island to the mainland. We were just about finished lunch when a cold front moved, changing the sunny warm day into a cool, very windy, and wet.

After lunch we continued the tour into Port Isabella on the mainland side of the bridge. There were lots of shrimp boats at the commercial docks and lots of them were pretty well beyond repair and probably due for the scrap yard soon.

There were a couple of RV campgrounds but none that would be suitable for us as the RVs were packed in pretty tight. Not what we would consider fun. I had been a little antsy when the storm moved through as I was worried about out awning being out, and possibly gone with the wind.

We returned to Ev & Marg's rig to find that their awning had been damaged, with a 1 foot tear of the material right at the top where it joins the side wall. Someone had rolled in the awning while he was away, saving considerably more damage. We left for home expecting the worst.

When we arrived b ack at our campground we found the awning secure and undamaged...what a relief. If you recall, we had just installed this two weeks ago. The bicycles were knocked over but no damage done. The Satellite dish was another story though. It had fallen over and broken the arm off that holds the LNB. Another job for JB Weld epoxy.