Zihuatanejo, The Last 2 Weeks!

Thursday, 21 February

Two weeks from today we'll head north.

Today we took advantage of yet another beautiful day to take the ferry (a Panga--an open skiff) from centro to Playa Las Gatas beach which is just to the south of Playa La  Ropa where we are, but the last bit of the footpath become a scramble over the rocks which is outside the bounds of Art's idea of a fun time.

We were soon skimming across the bay and then strolling across the sand to Otillio's Restaurant. They had donated a 300 peso gift certificate to Sailfest which Art had won in a raffle.

We sat and relaxed over a couple of cold beer and had a lunch. Art's grilled filet of fish stuffed with seafood was beyond what one might expect at one of these many beach front places, and Gillian's seafood brochetta was also very good.


We stayed in the shade but there were many others enjoying the sunshine and the water.

Though we had taken the bus to centro then walked to the pier, on the return we took a taxi home to be greeted by a couple of happy dogs!

Friday we joined friends--about 20 of us--at a local small unprepossessing cafe where the cook had decided to make Chile Rellenos. Stuffed Poblano peppers. Served with rice and black beans and iced watermelon juice they were wonderful! Cost per person: 40 pesos, $3.00!

Though Gillian had bought a couple of nice steaks to cook for tonight's dinner, we weren't hungry enough to do them justice so they stayed in the fridge while Art made a small 2 egg frittata with onion, tomato, zuchinni and green beans, which we shared along with a bottle of wine and some drivel on the idiot box.

February 25th—second last laundry day—next week will be a big one! Just the usual week's wear, only one washer and one dryer; 35 pesos each, roughly $6.00 total. He followed his usual routine; clothes into the washer, to a local restaurtant for breakfast, read the local paper,back to move the clothes from the washer to a dryer, then to Zen Wishes, a coffee and sandwich restaurant, for his regular espresso doble then back to the laundry, fold (more or less) stuff them back into the bag and home.

The 26^th was Gillian's second last prepaid Yoga class. When she returned Art decided that it would be a good day to see if his electric bike was up to Playa Linda and back.

What had been a slightly cloudy morning had turned into a sunny afternoon. Helmet, water bottle and camera in place, he set off shortly after noon. The first hill out of Playa La Ropa he was familiar and took it easy, Medium Assist level (80%) and was able to climb it in second and third gear.

Through town to the highway was mostly at the Medium setting, some of the very flat or slightly downhill areas he used the Low (50%) setting. Traffic was not too bad and he was able to angle across the three lanes of traffic to make a needed left turn in the middle of town. A taxi even yielded for him!

The traffic light at the highway made it easy to make the left turn north, and being relatively cautious elected to take the lateral rather than the through traffic centre lanes! Just a very short distance on the lateral he was at the start of the Cyclopista which let into Ixtapa.

This first section was all up hill, not as steep as the La Ropa hill but was a bit longer. He was surprised to find that at low assist he was able to climb it in first gear. Half way up he stopped for for a photo and was passed by another cyclist on the way up. Art slowly overtook him and they chatted in Spanish until they reached the top. Here the Mexican took the downgrades a little faster than Art was prepated to do and was soon lost to sight. 

 The bicycle route led through a part of Ixtapa known as the Vivero, which means a Plant Nursery in Spanish.

This section passing under the highway into Ixtapa is where Art had the difficulty on the way home.

And into the Vivero Area

Self Portrait!

Then the marked bike path faded out and became a sidewalk which soon deteriorated to the point where Art rode on the street until joining the Cyclopista that starts at the Ixtapa Marina.

  Interestingly, on this stretch, the cyclopista changes sides of the road and south of Playa Linda it is sometimes between the two sides of the divided road. And cyclists have the right of way at the crossings!

A little further on the tracks devides, one following the road and the other through a biosphere preserve, which is the route Art took. Several kilometers later this path rejoins the other at Playa Linda, a popular beach area.

From Playa Linda Art continued on a few more kilometers to Playa Palma where Fonatur (The Mexican government resort development authority) cleared a coconut palm grove and built an RV Park. Not too successfully—they made quite a few errors, including a no pet rule. Of the 74 spaces, 8 were occupied. 

 

On the way back to Playa Linda he saw Gillian approaching in the Jeep. We were meeting for lunch and had spoken on the phone shortly before. She was going to the end to check the mileage. Art arrived at Playa Linda one hour and fifteen minutes after leaving El Manglar.

Settled into La Langosta Loca (The Crazy Lobster) we enjoyed a refreshing lemonada, a beer and a very nice lunch, starting with some very fresh and a little piquante guacamole.

At three PM Art was homeward bound again, watching the battery capacity meter closely. Would he make it or would he have to call Gillian? The meter was reading 3/4 but would drop to 1/2 on any sort of hill, and if he used the throttle to speed up it would drop to 1/4

Through the Vivero he was into the steepest part of the cyclopista and went into it using High Assist (100%) where all he had to do was keep the pedals moving. In second gear at the very steepest part he realised that he needed to shift into first but his thumb hit the up shift button shifted into 3^rd and the pedals stopped turning! And of course so did the motor, and the bike, already moving very slowly stopped dead. He should have just used the twist throttle instead of trying to shift but it was too late.

Art pushed the bike up hill perhaps 20 or 30 feet when the grade seemed to be perhaps a little less steep and tried again. He used the throttle to start off then it took the hill pedaling quite well.

At the top of the hill was the last part of the cyclopista, downgrade all the way to the entrance to Zihuatanejo. 40 minutes from Playa Linda. At the bottom he had to wait for the traffic light to cross the highway as we was now on the wrong side, facing oncoming traffic.

Across the highway and southbound on the lateral, shared with buses, taxis, delivery trucks and private cars once again, in a few blocks he turned off towards the town centre. Recalling the relative weight of discretion and valour, Art decided not to take any photos while riding through the traffic!

Again he had to cross three lanes of traffic to make a left, them get back to the right for his next turn. Soon he crossed the roundabout known as Kyota Circle and the road to Playa La Ropa. Going up the slight grade at the Bomberos (Fire Department) he notice the battery indicator now down to 1/4. Around the curve and up the steep hill, the single lite stayed on as he went up using Medium Assist but kept it slow, using 1^st and 2^nd gear. When just returning from Centro or the Commercial Mexicana he would usually be in 2^nd and 3^rd gear, but this was a long steep hill and he didn't want to push! This hill is not as long or as steep as the one he has to climb coming out of Willis Point but that is done will a fully charged battery!

He flew down the other side and along the last kilometer or so put it in High Assist and even moving at about 20 Km/H on the flat the battery capacity was showing 3/4 again!

Home at 4:00 PM, 15 minutes faster than out bound, though shorter of course, he plugged in the bike and went inside to lie on the couch. Those bicycle seats get quite hard after a couple of hours! His legs too were quite sore, but inspite of the pain, he had quite enjoyed the ride. We'll have to see how he feels tomorrow!

Next day: a bit sore, but surprisingly good!

We filled out the week starting to pack a few things away, cleaning the worst of the dust off the motorhomes roof, and of course, dining out in a few more restaurants.

Friday, March 1st Art decided that he had better tackle the batteries. A couple of month ago when he checked them he found that the chassis batteries (the ones that start the engine, the hydraulic pump for the jacks and slideouts,  and run a few other things such as the alarms and detectors, the steps, etc.), had been left too long! The electrolyte had been seriously depleted! There was between 1/8 and 1/4 inch of exposed plates in every cell, in both batteries. This is permanent damage: the parts of the plates exposed to the air will no longer work; their capacity will be somewhat diminished.

He again noticed that one terminal was covered in corrosion. This particular connection has had this problem for some time. This battery has a problem, possibly a small crack around the post.

The batteries are2 group 31 "RV/Marine?Deep Cycle" in parallel and Art had considered replacing them before we left last fall, since the date of manufacture was June, 2007, already more than 5 years old.

They took all the distilled water that he had, covering the plates by barely 1/4 inch, and there was room for more.

He also checked the front two 6 Volt Golf Cart Deep Cycle house batteries looked to be down a bit but the plates were still well covered. Fortunately, since these were new before we left! The rear two can't be checked without removing the front two as the tray won't pull out far enough! (The house battery bank consists of 2 paralleled rows of 2 6 volt batteries in series to give 12 volts.)

Saturday he bought more water--5 litres should do it!

And Sunday he continued with the batteries.

The two bottom batteries are the chassis batteries and the two seen above them are two of the 4 house batteries. The piece of equipment attached to the door is Xantrex Echo Charger. Normally the chassis batteries are only charged by the vehicles alternator and are not recharged when we are parked. The echo charger keeps them topped up from the house batteries when the house batteries are at 13.2 volts or higher; ie when they are being charged by the charger, solar panels or whatever.

The chassis batteries took a little more water to bring them up to the correct level.

Then the house batteries. The tray pulls out far enough to get to the front two batteries and the terminals of the inner two, but not far enough to access the caps of the cells. So the front two have to be disconnected then lifted out and the inner two pulled forward.

Since each battery weighs in at 66 pounds, and there wasn't much to lift by, Art went looking for the battery strap. He knew he had one. Somewhere. It was finally located at the bottom of the spare parts and miscellaneous  tools bin--the large one, that is stored in the tool compartment--under everything else of course.

The cells were in pretty good shape, water-wise, each one taking a hundred or so mls of distilled water. Including today's addition to the chassis batteries, he has a little more than three liters leftover.

Then of course he had to reconnect and pack everything away, have lunch and a nap before we went out to the Opening Concert of the Zihuatanejo Guitar Festival. held on the beach on Playa Madera.

The first table we sat at was quite near the water's edge and a fast moving wave convinced us to move ourselves! We visited with several friends while waiting for the7:00 PM start of the music which got under way promptly at 7:30 or so.

 



 Besides guitarists from around the world there was a fine assembly of food! Local restaurants had booths set up around the beach where tasty samples ranging from sushi to pizza could be purchased. I think we each visited three locations! The beer and alcohol tent was run by volunteers, all proceeds going the the Guitar Fest.

 We left as the second piece by the last group was playing (Los Pistoleros) since there at least still 200 people and we thought finding a taxi could be a problem. We walked up to the street and took the last remaining taxi home!

When we opened the door Trekker greeted us excitedly and we notice a couple of things right away: Many of the things that stay on the dash were now on the floor, the smoke alarm was beeping it's low battery signal, and Tia was missing! A quick investigation showed that the driver's window screen, which was behind the curtain, was on the floor so the window was open. Tia had obviously made the 6 foot jump from the window to the ground.

While Gillian took Trekker on a "search", Art set off in the Jeep. He found no sign of her in Centro (which used to be her favourite run away place) and was almost back to the RV Park when Gillian phoned to say that she had Tia. She had not been far away, and appeared from behind a local beach restaurant when called. Trekker was too excited to really concentrate on a search and kept headding to the beach, his favourite place for a walk,k though he may well have been following her didn't indicate to Gillian that he was concentrating on a "track".

We assume that she was trying to escape the sound of the smoke detector, which was not loud, although it did bother her when the low battery signal sounded. (That's another problem: this thing eats batteries every month!)

Next day Art examined the screen; it was a bit bent and creased but with at little judicial tapping with the back of a hatchet (the small hammer was in the bottom of the tools bit previously mentioned!) it went back into place and still slides!

Monday morning: The BIG laundry day.  One very large machine, one medium and one large dryer.
Again washers, breakfast, newspaper, dryer, coffee, "fold" and back home to hang those items that don't go in the dryer.

In today's newspaper there was a very interesting article quoting Enrico Nieto, Mexico's president that corruption will not be tolerated. Point of fact: the President of the very corrupt Mexico's teacher's union is now in jail. Here is a link to a CBC story.


Art passed an interesting 20 minutes or so chatting about this and related issues with Fernando, the owner of Zen Wishes cafe over his double espresso.

Tuesday, the day before our departure, Art decided that it was long past time for a haircut, and since he had to go to centro to send a fax to Mastercard (we had had some fraudulent use issues--since resolved) he jumped on the electric bike and set off.

Fax sent he carried on towards the mercado, the peluiqueria (hairdresser). Crossing a street wide drain the rear tire fell hard between the steel ribs of the drain cover, but carried on seemingly OK. But by the time he had turned onto the main road the tire was flat!

He called Gillian but she hadn't turned her phone on yet. He pushed the bike the few remaining block, got his hair cut, tried Gillian's phone again, left the bike in the shop and took a taxi home.

Fortunately she hadn't left for the grocery store yet and yesterday we had put the bike rack back on the jeep!  Jeep firmly attached to the rack we carried on to the Comercial Mexicana for our shopping. No milk! They rarely stocked skim milk (Gillian's choice) and were often out of "low fat" so sometimes we had do make do with whole milk. But today they had none at all. At least no regular pasteurised milk. They had the UHT or super pasteurised milk which neither of us liked so it looked like yogurt on Gillian's granola and Art, not a yogurt fan, would have to settle for toast and cheese. Looks like a stop back there in the morning on the way out of town.

Tonight was the "Last Supper", a habit we have gotten into over the years, dinner with friends at El Manglar Restaurant.

The RV Park has a Facebook page if anyone is interested in seeing other photos.


Leaving Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 6th 2013

(A little more to come)