Time to move north

The last 2 weeks we were in Lo de Marcos we started packing up.  It entails washing the patio carpet and removable tiles, packing away all the patio furniture, taking down the laundry lines, putting our bicycles in the rack on the back of the motorhome, packing cardboard and towels in among our drinking glasses and cookware to prevent breakage as we travel rough roads, etc.

Luckily a fellow came to the park to trim 2 palm branches and remove the ripe coconuts on the palm tree beside our motorhome.  The branches would have scratched our rig when we went to pull out.  

The beach was quiet as many snowbirds left the beginning of March. But we spent our usual 2 hours at the beach every afternoon and got in for a daily swim as the waters were calm those last couple of weeks.  No boogie boarding sad to say!

We left Monday March 19th to start our journey north to the US.  We had been warned highway 200 would be busy as it was a holiday.  Not true.  I think it was the first time in 9 years that we were by ourselves driving the twisting road up the mountain from Las Varas to Compostela.  It was great not to be stuck in a long line of traffic due to an overloaded truck that had problems negotiating the steep climb! We stopped in Magdalena in the afternoon and stayed overnight at the PEMEX on the south side of town by the toll road 15D.

The following day we started along 15D towards the new bypass around Guadalajara (10D). We spotted a cloud of smoke that we thought might be from the local volcano. But as we approached the area we found it was just a small forest fire in a valley.

We continued on the 110 km bypass of Guadalajara to 80D. Along the bypass and up part of 80D we saw many beautiful jacaranda trees with their beautiful purple blooms.  Unfortunately trying to photograph them through the window does not capture their true beauty.

From 80D we turn west on 45D to head to Aguacalientes. Following this route used to be tense going through Guadalajara and Aguacalientes as both are busy cities with lots of traffic and speed bumps and stop lights to negotiate with a motorhome.  Happily there is the new wonderful toll bypass to avoid Guadalajara and we found a truck route that totally bypasses Aguacalientes. Sweet!  Faster and less stressful! From there we traveled to Zacatacas to Hwy 54 which is in excellent condition even though it is a "libre" (no tolls).

 Along Hwy 54 the Yucca palms (often called Joshua trees) were in bloom. Of course, some people react to the pollen so we have a good supply of tissues.

We stopped for the night at Hotel La Palma at the PEMEX station 6712 (about 30 miles south of Concepcion Del Oro). We paid the usual $100 pesos to stay in the locked courtyard of the motel.

Our last day driving was uneventful.  From Hwy 54 we took 40D to Monterrey where we used Hwy 100 Nuevo Laredo Pereferico to bypass Monterrey and then back on 40D to the Anzalduas Bridge to cross into Mission TX.

We were processed at the border in a relatively short amount of time -- just had to wait for a dog to be available to search our car and motorhome.  But we were shortly in our site at Lemon Tree RV Inn by 4:15 (US time) in the afternoon (having lost an hour due to time change when we crossed the border).

The total cost of our approximately 820 mile trip was $12,522.5 pesos of which $8,270.5 was for gas for the motorhome and $4,152 was the cost of the tolls.  In C$ that comes in just under $900.

We had ordered RC airplanes and parts, new headlights for the MH, an 1000w Pure Sine Wave inverter for the MH. All have been received except for a replacement convection toaster oven which should arrive Wednesday.

Now for the job at hand. The motorhome in dire need of a replacement floor. The carpet is worn and lifeless. The laminate in the kitchen and hall is not too bad but does show some swelling due to water. We had been checking online and found something that would look good at Lowes. But Home Depot is nearby and we found some nice vinyl planking that was lower cost so we bought it. It took two and a half days to strip out the old flooring, between frequent rests and driving to Harbor Freight for tools. Now we need to figure out how to get 6 sheets of sub-flooring. They won't fit on the car so we will have to beg for help in the park. Lots of work to follow and the end result should  be great. Stay tuned for the full story.