Mexico Again! 2009/2010

Once again we are southbound! Though not without "issues" Yes, "issues" again!

One of the luxuries Art HAD to have for the trip this year was a fully automatic seeking satellite dish for our Starchoice satellite TV system. This will allow us to keep up with news and (giggle) weather reports from home. The manual dish was sometimes difficult to aim, some times we would give up, and not get it working for a few days. This one would only take minutes and therefore should allow us to check in almost daily. The only drawback is that to move the dish we'll have to move the motorhome! We will have to be a bit more careful when parking that there is a clear shot to the south. Parking under trees could prove a problem!

Due to a series of things out of our control, the dish wasn't installed in August as hoped, it didn't get done until a few weeks before departure. We tested it while parked in the drive way in front of the house and the system worked extremely well. On the plus side of the delay was we got the very latest system--we only hope it was well tested! It's quite neat watching the dish turn this way and that, twisting left and right, moving up and down, then finally locking on to the signal.

Those of you who followed our last year's blog will remember the ongoing adventures. This year's adventures began with our discovery, just a few weeks before our planned departure, that the fridge in the motorhome is on the recall list--risk of fire!

We contacted Norcold ( the fridge manufacturer) who confirmed the recall and promised to ship the modification parts to the dealer as soon as the dealer contacted Norcold. An immediate phone call to Triangle RV in Sidney solicited a promise to get on it at once, as they knew we were leaving shortly. We made a tentative appointment for 10 days later, a Monday. A week or so later, the Friday afternoon, Triangle phoned to say that the parts were not in yet so they canceled the Monday appointment, saying they would reschedule the moment the parts arrived. The following Wednesday evening Triangle called--the parts were in, the first available appointment time was Thursday, October 15th! Our departure day!

So much for the 10:30 ferry to Port Angeles. By taking this ferry we miss all the heavy traffic through Vancouver and the Seattle corridor and pick up the I-5 freeway just south of Olympia Washington. This gives us a leisurely picturesque trip along the inland waterway of Puget Sound and we make our first night's stop near Portland Oregon.

We had not realised that the fridge would have to be removed so we had loaded up before we left home, so on arrival at Triangle RV Art had to unload the fridge and freezer. They kindly loaned a large cooler which held all the frozen food, (prawns-smokies-cheese) and the rest he just placed on the dogs bed (dinette) and covered with a blanket.

They worked quickly getting the job done with time to spare to install a light fixture that had failed some weeks ago--the replacement had just arrived the day before! As it was, we were in plenty of time for the 4:00 PM sailing (there are only 2 per day) . . . and so we had time to watch and record episode 46 of "Destinos" (a tele-course in Spanish that we want to review) right there in the ferry lineup, thanks to our newly installed automatic Starchoice satellite dish! It's a tough life!

We had mostly light rain for the first evening's drive and as we were both tired, having been up since 6:30 AM, we spent the night in the first Rest Area south of Olympia Washington. We woke up in the morning to find that the fridge "Flame Out" alarm going "ding-ding-ding". The fridge restarted ok, but the problem resurface a couple of times more that day, and next day we gave up and turned on the inverter and ran the fridge on A.C. as long as the engine was running to keep the batteries up. We finally got it fixed Monday morning in Draper, Utah (just south of Salt Lake City)

Friday night we overnighted again in a Rest Area, now in eastern Oregon up on Highway 84 just about clear of the Blue Mountains. From mid Oregon on the weather improved markedly and became quite pleasant.

Idaho along the I-84 was as we remembered, a bit boring. Not a lot to see. We passed and were passed by several very large loads of potatoes, so we knew we were in Idaho. We did stop for fuel near Twin Falls,

Gillian remembering this Flying J as the one where a couple of years ago we found the mobile mechanic service which fixed for the final time the alternator problem in our previous rig which had been plaguing us since northern Mexico.

Saturday we stopped in Brigham City Utah , staying at the Golden Spike RV Park which we knew, and also remembered a very nice bakery on the corner. As it was very close to closing time, Gillian got dropped off and Art carried on the last block to the park to register and get set up.

Sunday had a slow start, after visiting with 3 young men from England who last year had traveled extensively in Mexico by RV. We didn't get away until 1:30 to stop a couple of hours south in Provo Utah, to be nearer the RV service shop where we hoped to get the fridge fixed.

As we fired up the rig and prepared to depart everything was fine except the front air pressure gauge was reading zero! However, as the air suspension had come up and the low air alarm had was not sounding, we r

ealised that once again there was probably a poor electrical connection at the gauge. This had happened once before, on our way home last year so we carried on.

A couple of hours later we stopped at a park we have visited a couple of times in the past, the Lakeside RV Park where there is a nice riverside walking trail and is adjacent to a State Park. Here we hoped to e-mail and do the laundry but couldn't get the internet to work and since is was Sunday there was no one in the office to sort it out. Gillian did get the laundry done however, while Art filled and drained the appropriate water tanks. He then dis

covered that the car battery was dead. When being towed, the auxiliary brake system takes power from the car battery--3 days of towing and braking had taken its toll. He pulled out our battery charger and got that set up, fortunately the battery recovered by the end of the day. The next job was to remove the console cover to check the air pressure gauge. Re-seating the plug firmly into the back of the gauge cured the problem once again. For how long? We'll have to wait and see.

Monday morning we arrived at the RV shop at about 8:30. They got us in quickly, diagnosed and worked on the problem while we stayed in the rig and had breakfast!

After breakfast Art took the car to supply store still trying to find some replacement cubing for the motorhome windshield washers. -- That's another story. We had noticed that the Tracker wasn't idling this morning, and in fact would stall if not given a bit of throttle. On the way back from the partially successful parts hunt he noticed an auto service centre a few blocks from the RV shop so he pulled in. They were able to get him in right away and had a look while Art went across the mall for a coffee.

Here he noticed that the coffee had a funny taste that he recognised immediately: For some strange reason the first sign of illness is that coffee tastes "funny", almost a metallic taste. That would explain why Art had been a bit tired and out of sorts for that last day or two. A bug was attacking! Oh well, not much to do about it.

He returned to the auto shop and had a chat with the mechanic. Art had told him about the dead battery yesterday and had asked him to check it. The mechanic said that the battery tested "good" and asked if had been completely dead. When Art assured him that it had been, he told Art that the car's electronic memory had forgotten all the parameters and would have to re-learn such things as how much fuel it needed at idle etc., which it would do after 30 or so starts and stops and a few miles of driving. It was already improving. There was no charge for this!! Art gave him some dollars anyway and told him to buy box of donuts or something for the shop.

Back at the RV shop everything was done so we paid the bill and were soon on our way again .

Weather was still very pleasant, the drive comfortable--Art and Gillian sharing the driving while Trekker checked out the RV Park possibilities in the Woodall's book.

Which brings us tonight to the Hitch-N-Post Campground in Panguitch, Utah. We will spend tomorrow exploring and touring Bryce Canyon.

Gillian is very pleased that she did the laundry yesterday !

Fuel this leg, 131.6 liters., though not filled to the top. We started this trip from home with 300 kilometres on a full tank.