Mazatlan

We had a couple of reasons to stop in Mazatlan for a few days, not the least being to visit with our good friends from Victoria who spend the winter here, Paul, and Jacqui and Derek. We had been in touch with Paul a couple of days ago by phone during our troubles on the road. Paul is a retired mechanic and a former diesel motorhome owner and it was good to be reassured that it was likely a wiring or communication problem in the electronics rather than a transmission melt down!

The second reason was to have some fiberglass damage repaired. There is a very good body man and painter here who we have used several times over the ten years we have been RVing in Mexico. Art had called him some weeks ago to let him know what we needed done and when to expect us. Juan told Art to call when we arrived in the park. When Art called Juan he said he was too busy to come out today but he would come tomorrow morning about 9:00 or 9:30.

Late afternoon Paul arrived and soon after Derek and Jacqui. Trekker was so excited to see these old friends he was at risk of wagging his tail off! We sat on the patio for a while catching up on our respective activities and happenings. Then the sun went down, the cold wind came up so Art and Gillian went inside to change--jeans, knitted shirt and a long sleeved jacket for Art, we also loaned a couple of sweatshirts to Derek and Jacqui and set off for dinner.

We decided to visit La Bruja restaurant (The Witch) on the North Beaches near the campground we used to stay in. This is a popular restaurant known for their seafood and a few other specialties. We ordered drinks, realising when they arrived that it was 2 for 1 time!





Gillian loved her coconut shrimp and Art his molcajete-- a traditional stew cooked and served in a smoking hot volcanic rock bowl. The molcajete was tasty but with a lot of meat and prawns, more than others we have had, possibly because the restaurant caters largely to a gringo clientele. Some was saved and taken home in a doggy bag.




We were entertained by a 4 piece Mariachi band as well as a duo with guitar, pan pipes and drums. The five of us enjoyed the music and visiting and catching up. We all used to travel to Mazatlan in our motorhomes but the others now are condo dwellers here for the winter.






It was a good evening. Hard to believe that we hadn't seen them since October last year. In an other month we'll all be back in Victoria when Art and Paul will celebrate their birthdays. Another good reason for a bash!




Thursday morning after breakfast we waited and waited for Juan to show. At 10:15 Art called Juan who then told us he couldn't do the work as he was too busy! We were very annoyed as we had had an opportunity to have it repaired in Puerto Vallarta.

We had also received an e-mail and a phone call from Nestor, the transmission shop. He need to bill us for the gallon (US) of transmission fluid the mechanics had put in. He again e-mailed an invoice and banking details. 560 pesos for a gallon of transmission fluid seemed a bit steep to us! We also needed to do some grocery shopping and a couple of loads of laundry.

We had by this time run out of Trekker's grain free dog food and were out of Tia's as well. It is difficult to find really good quality pet food in Mexico so for the last few meals the dogs were getting home cooked meals.

We got everything done except for the dog food. There was nothing decent in the grocery stores, just the usual stuff with corn being one of the first ingredients. Gillian did buy a couple of tins of dog food as a backup. Meanwhile we cook up veggies, add some meat and doggy food supplement to ensure that they get the essential stuff. Art took a photo but Gillian said it looks disgusting so it won't get posted. Art agreed that it looked a bit like a dog's breakfast!



Friday Art had to tackle the mirror. He got the old one off and checked online about the availability of parts. We hope to be able to get them shipped to somewhere in the USA on the way home.



Then we set off to find a Home Depot and an Auto Zone. Found them both! At Auto Zone we were able to find a mirror that Art felt he could modify or adapt to fit in the arm of the original mirror. Then to Home Depot for a few screws for a little home maintenance and also a short length of PVC pipe and a 3/4 inch copper pipe nipple for the mirror mods.



After a bit of trimming, cutting and a little judicial squeezing with a large pair of pliers and a little pounding it all went together. A lot of PVC tape will hopefully keep water out. Visibility down the side isn't too bad, not as good as with the Velvac mirror, but certainly a lot better than nothing!




We had it done in time to take a short rest before starting to pack up, putting the hoses away etc and spending a bit of time on the blog before going out for dinner tonight, our last night here. We're moving on bright and early tomorrow for San Carlos where we will rest up for a day after the long drive up and for the long drive to the US Border.