Cholula to Oaxaca

Cholula To Oaxaca (pronounced wah há ka)


We knew that this was going to be a long day. We had driven most of this route in the Tracker about 7 years ago when we drove from Oaxaca to Cuernavaca on our way to our Argentina flight. That was up hill, this would of course be primarily down hill but in a somewhat bigger and heavier vehicle! With that in mind we left the campground at 9:03. (Having planned on 8:30--about normal. Art needs to reassess his planning!)

As mentioned in the precious post, the on ramp from the Periferico to the 150D through Puebla isn't terribly well signed. Last year we almost missed it and had to back up a few feet to make the turn. This year we were on the alert and had no problem.

Traffic through town was heavy and slow but not the start and stop or dead slow crawl that we see happening on the Global TV Morning News from Vancouver BC!

An hour and 20 minutes later we turned off onto Mx 135D to Oaxaca and half an hour later stopped for fuel at Tehuacan.  The weather was fair, somewhat overcast, but it made for pleasant driving, The terrain was so far quite flat, there were lots of small fields under cultivation rather than the mega farms of Mosanto etc that we see on the north west of Mexico.




Before long though the terrain changed as we entered the mountainous Oaxaca region. It made for spectacular scenery, the drive not too stressful , the highway being in good condition.

Soon we were out of the mountains, the land flattened out as we approached the city of Oaxaca.

Queretaro to Cholula, near Puebla

 Tuesday, 20 November

The drive south and to and around the Arco del Norte (a large toll bypass around Mexico City) was uneventful except for some terrible road surfaces in places. At one point the freezer door opened and dumped most of it's contents on the floor. Trekker was most upset by the noise and after Gillian finished cleaning up she sat with the dogs as we carried on.

For the most part though the road was fairly good, weather was excellent and traffic was light. The volcanoes were clear in the distance, "Popo" (Popocatéptl) even venting a little steam or smoke to welcome us back.



 

Where the Arco Norte ends there is a mercifully short piece of absolutely terrible road surface. This potholed goat track at Texmalucan connects the Arco Norte with the 150D, the east-west toll road between Mexico City and the east coast. It would appear that this small section is not part of the federally funded toll road system and the local authorities see no benefit to the local tax payer. We sincerely hope that something will be done soon.

A few miles along the 150D we took the exit to the Periferico Ecologico (which in not well signed) around Puebla to the Las Americas Trailer Park in Cholula. RVers: closely watch your map, Church's directions, your GPS and the signs.  Same going back to the 150D eastbound. It kind of sneaks up on you!

In the park there was no power at the most of the outlets, where there was power, as usual there was no ground connection. Once again we were dependent on our new batteries, solar panels and when necessary the generator. We have yet to have useable 120V AC power in Mexico this trip.

A couple of dogs in the park were a little aggressive towards our dogs. One of them, a Rotti cross, particularly so. The lady that took our money had a little dog that, she warned, bites. When Gillian asked if it was aggressive towards other dogs, the lady replied that it was fine with dogs, it only bit people! She neglected to warn us of the other dogs. We only stayed one night then moved on to Oaxaca.

Queretaro, stuck in muddy sod

We left Matehuala at 9:30, not too long a drive today as best as we could estimate from last year's log. We took a 40 minute lunch stop shortly after noon and arrived at the Juriquilla Inn Trailer Park north of Queretaro at 2:40. So far so good.

Art parked alongside the office while Gillian went into the office to book in for two days. Last year when we were here the wheels left ruts a few inches deep in the sod so this time Art approached slowly and carefully. He realised that the grass was much firmer than last year so proceeded carefully another vehicle length, then another, then anoth.....and the rig slowed as the front wheels sank into the sod to be followed immediately by the rears. Reverse gear only sank the rear duals deeper and in seconds we were. . .

. . . . stuck in the sod up to the hubs! Especially on the left side.


A few plywood blocks were no help at all, but a couple of young men from the hotel showed up to watch the proceedings.

They were off shift soon, we tried a bit more with no more luck. At the end of their working day they offered to stay to help us dig out. They couldn't do it tomorrow, they had to work for the hotel.

They took off for a while and soon returned in working clothes. Making a long story short, with much digging and several trips to the junk pile for pieceds of timber, plywood and scraps, we were finally free.


Above is the Left Rear, here are pics of the Right Rear and Right Front.

 

We dug out eventually, but not before managing to knock one of the springs off the left rear stabilizer jack base which caused the piston to bury itself in six inches of mud. This required opening a hydraulic valve and using an 8 foot length of 3X3 timber as a lever to retract the piston. 



Here are a few more:

 The extraction was a three hour effort. Then we all needed a glass of wine to recover from all the stress.

Once we were finally parked on solid ground  at 6:30! We quickly realised that the rig was not sitting level on the wheels. The left rear was at least 4 inches lower than the other corners! Seems like a suspension problem. A call for help on RV.NET soon received some helpful replies; part of the air suspension may be bent! Now we needed to find a mechanic to take a look. The good news was that somehow the satellite dish found the StarChoice satellite through the branches and leaves of the trees overhead so we watched the news from home as we all relaxed after our ordeal.

In the morning Art moved the rig forward a bit in order to get a little closer to level for the fridge. Of course this caused us to loose the satellite signal.

Since it was now Sunday and we would be unlikely to find a mechanic we set off in the car to San Miguel de Allende. We had been in e-mail contact with a friend of a friend finding information on the Saltillo RV Parks, they were now in the area somewhere. There aren't a lot of RV Parks in San Miguel so we went looking.

We found them at the first place we tried. We had simply put the coordinates into the Garmin GPS and followed the directions to the front gate of the park in the middle of town. It's a very nice small park but we would not be able to maneuver our rig through the narrow streets nor through their gate.

There were no North Americans in the park though one van sported BC plates--it was owned by a couple from Germany. The rest of the residents were Swiss and I think one other German rig. We had a great though short visit, exchanged blog info and returned to Queretaro via a stop at the supermarket.



Monday  After breakfast Art headed to the office to get further directions to the mechanic. As he approached he noticed a semi tractor unit parked near the Pemex so went to speak to the driver about a local mechanic. He didn't know but told Art to ask the gentleman in the white car parked in front of him.

As Art explained the problem he pulled out his cell phone and made a call. In short, a mechanic would arrived in 30 to 40 minutes, have a look, and if work was needed would return on Tuesday with a helper and his tools.

Soon a small sedan arrived--the mechanic along with his wife and son. Art explained about being stuck in the sod and showed him the low corner where the top wheel well arch was down to the level of the top of the tire. The other three corners were several inches higher.

The mechanic crawled under the rig and had a good look, checking both sides. He said that everything looked fine and he thought that the difference in height was just the system trying the keep the coach level on uneven ground. He said that when we were on the level highway it would be OK. Art wasn't sure, since the low corner was on the lower part of the ground!

Art then showed him the disconnected spring with the base plate of the stabilizer jack hanging from it. The mechanic struggled for a few minutes and with out tools was able to stretch the spring and base back into place with hand and arm power alone!  Art was very pleased and grateful to have the jacks working again, and to be told that the suspension was fine and safe to drive.


Next morning we pulled into the next door Pemex for fuel and to hookup the tow. Here on a flat and level surface we inspected the rear end and as Art had suspected, the left rear was still several inches lower than the rest. However we set off hoping for the best.

Today was Tuesday Nov 20th. By now our plans would have had us finished with a visit to the Tehotihuacan ruins (which we have seen twice before--impressive--a must see) and on our way to Oaxaca.


Well, we were on our way to Oaxaca, about 2 weeks behind our planned schedule so we decided to give the ruins a miss this time.This meant of course that we still haven't stayed overnight in the State of Mexico so are still missing that part of the map we have posted on the right rear of the rig.

Laredo, Columbia Bridge, Saltillo and Matehuala

Thursday, 15^th November

One month since leaving Victoria.

We left the Flying J on the dot of 8:00AM. The road was longer than expected with a reasonable amount of truck traffic, which didn't surprise us at first. After a while we realised that 99% of the trucks had turned off somewhere along the way! We were driving northeast, parallel to the Rio Grande. Nor were there any signs indicating that we were still on the right track.

Just when we were beginning to have doubt,s we arrived at the bridge and crossed into Mexico. On the other side a long line of stopped semis signaled the approach to the border control. We pulled in behind, not sure if we needed to or not but almost immediately an official in a small cart waved us around, led us to the entry and waved us on. All the lanes ahead were closed, but a sign for vehicle import etc pointed to the right.

It looked tight, two 90degree turns, but doable. As soon as we were committed to the turn several officers began waving their arms while one of them opened one of the lanes. We tried to reverse out but had gone too far into the curve so the Jeeps front wheels turned against the direction of travel. (Because of the front wheel camber all tow vehicle manuals warn NOT to back up when being towed.)

So here we go again: Art begins disconnecting the towbar and cables while Gillian puts the brake on in the Jeep, takes the transfer case out of neutral and removes the auxiliary braking system. We are getting pretty good at this. It must be a regular occurrence as all the officials watching the procedure knew exactly what was going on!

Gillian went through in the Jeep, Art following in the motorhome. We were shown where to park (blocking a couple of vehicles) and went in for out tourist permits and the temporary import permit for the Jeep. We were on our way again at 9:35, having arrived at about 8:45.

We were now driving southeast on the Mx 2 across the river from our northeast bound drive earlier. We soon joined the 85 which runs directly from Laredo and a few kilometers later stopped at the checkpoint. The customs officer said that he wanted to enter the rig to inspect it. Trekker of course met him at the door. He asked if he bites and Art said “Only on Tuesdays”. He flashed a slightly nervous smile and after a cursory inspection we were on our way, finally.

At the first Pemex we had stopped to buy time for our Mexican phones but the store there didn't do them. Better luck at the next, so now we have a couple of working phones, same numbers from previous years.I'm still amazed that Mexico is so far ahead of us in making it easy to top up your cell phone; at almost every Oxxo (a large chain of corner stores similar to 7-11) and every supermarket you tell the clerk what carrier you are with, how much you want to put on, give her the  money and tell her the phone number which she enters into the computer and BEEP! you have minutes again!

The day had started somewhat overcast and continued for most of the day. The roads were in good condition and except for a couple of sections straight and level. Nearing Monterrey and around the Perifico the weather began to show signs of deteriorating but improved nicely as we approached Saltillo.

Later note: we found out that 2 days later, 17 November,there was a multi car accident and 4 hour road closure due to fog and rain around Monterrey!

We have been to and through Saltillo several times, the last only last year so were quite confident in finding the “RV Park” we planned to stay in even though it would be new to us. We have not approached the city from this direction though and the GPS was a little confused with some new construction be before long we were on the highway into town that we recognised.

Since we weren't staying at the Imperial this year, (We had read a couple of reports on the internet that the price was almost 500 pesos and there was no longer much room in the park due to new buildings going up) we took the bypass and connected with the ring road, missing a bit of heavy city traffic. We knew that La Fuente Hotel, where we planned to stay, would be on the highway out of Saltillo that we would be taking when we left. We also knew that it was not far along after we left the ring road.

We had the coordinates in the GPS so we knew we were getting close. We spotted the sign as we approached exit #3 which we took, only to find that this exit joined the lateral about 50 meters past the hotel! And we had three lanes of lateral to cross! This wasn't going to work, so we carried on a short distance and were able to make a retorno, follow the opposite lateral two exits back to the highway where we saw that we should have taken exit 2 the first time along.

Here is a photo of the hotel sign from the lateral for anyone looking for La Fuente Hotel.The exit sign seen on the left is the one AFTER  the one you need! You need Exit 2.

Art parked on the street in front of the hotel while Gillian went in to make arrangements to pay for the nights parking and to get someone to open the gate to the parking lot. Churchs' book suggests entering though the hotel main entrance but for a big rig this would be pretty tight.

Soon the gate was opened and we drove in, the right front wheel of the jeep bumping over the fairly high curb. If we had been able to park a little further back from the gate we would have had room to move into the middle lane of the lateral and make a wider swing in.

The hotel employee showed us where we could plug in, at the base of a lamp pole, but since there was no ground it wouldn't work for us. Instead we chose the most level spot.

We were parked and set up by 3:00PM., the weather had improved substantially--it was a beautiful day.




The route from Larado to Saltillo was a good couple of hours shorter than our usual route down from Eagle Pass / Piedras Negras and the roads were better. The only drawback were a couple of stiff tolls totaling 805 pesos, roughly 60 to 65 dollars.

The hotel itself was very nice; there is a pool, tennis court, kids playground and a restaurant which another RVer told us later, served typical Mexican food at very good prices-all cooked on a mobile kitchen cart by one cook!

Later that afternoon our friend Jesus called, returning our call. We had met him and his wife in a restaurant parking lot 4 or 5 years ago and have kept in touch. We always try to get together for a visit when we come through. Jesus called again later after Marta had returned, inviting us out for breakfast in the morning, which of course we accepted.

Later that evening we planned our next day's leg of the journey. We decided that if we were clear of breakfast and bit of shopping by early afternoon we would set off for the city of Matehuala, a three hour or so drive. Otherwise we would be looking at an eight hour drive to Queretaro the next day.

 

Friday

Weather had changed over night. Compare this photo to the similar one above, taken yesterday afternoon.

Jesus y Marta arrived as promised at about 9:15 and took us to a lovely small restaurant recently opened by friends of theirs. They served typical Mexican food as well as an assortment of “American”. We all stayed with the Mexican selections, chiliquilles, machata, frijoles, rice, fresh squeezed orange juice and good coffee.

The atmosphere too was very pleasant, nothing garish, the Christmas decorations seriously understated by Mexican standards!

 

We passed a very pleasant hour or two then they dropped us off at the supermarket and they were off to Monterrey.

The supermarket was packed with Christmas shoppers, carts every piled high with toys and decorations. Fortunately the grocery section was relatively calm as we made our selections of fruit and veg, bread and milk and a couple of cuts of beef and chicken. Shopping done we caught an inexpensive taxi (40 pesos) back to the hotel parking lot, packed things away and were southbound to Matehuala by 12:30

We spotted the Las Palmas Midway Inn on our left but the left turn seemed to be offset from the hotel entrance by a vehicle length or two. Rather risk being ticketed for going the wrong way on the divided street we decided that we would to take the next retourno and approach from the south. So we missed the turn and true to our luck there were no more returnos, so we took a lateral off the highway and were several kilometers into town before we found a left turn that would take us north again.

We pulled into the large open approach to the hotel and parked, Art staying with the dogs and the rig while Gillian went in to register and to have someone open the gate on the north side. The main entrance is a little too low for our rig. As we wound around the rough dirt road to the gate Art realised that we could have made the left turn from the highway, there being quite a bit of maneuvering room in at the hotel entrance.


Las Palmas Midway Inn is a beautiful hotel; from the gate we crossed to the far corner of the property, the RV parking area being along part of the back wall. As we got settled another motorhome pulled in, the first we have seen in Mexico this trip.  Not surprisingly, another Canadian rig, a couple from Quebec, on their way to Acapulco.

We had an excellent dinner in the restaurant, where we met another Canadian couple, these from Kingston Ontario, traveling by car to Ajiic to their winter home on Lake Chapala (just south of Guadalajara).

Somehow we neglected to take any photos of the very pretty place. There was even a walking/cycle path where Gillian and the dogs had a good walk. I have put in a hot link to their web site which shows the grounds quite nicely. They even advertise the trailer park.

San Antonio to Laredo; Last day in the US

Rib eye steak tonight! Mmmmmmmm. One thing about Texas, they raise tasty cows! One of the best steaks ever, sweet potato, asparagus cebollitas (small onions sort of like overgrown spring onions), mushrooms cooked on our Grill It, a stove top grill.

New neighbours tonight, a couple from Australia who had purchased a large 5^th wheel trailer in California and then traveled around Canada and northern US to the east, then south and now west again. They will then ship the 5^th wheel home. I forgot to ask about the pickup!

Wednesday morning we finished packing up, checked with the vet—Tia's urinalysis came back normal across the board. We had the clinic fax a copy of the report to us at the RV Park office for her records.

We pulled out of the park at 10:30 but stopped to fuel up next door ad were on the highway by 11:00

An uneventful drive south on the I-35 had us at the Flying J just north of Laredo by 1:30 where we topped up again, another 14 gallons, averaging a little over 10 mpg. (US gallons).

We decided to overnight here and get (maybe) an early start to Mexico in the morning.

This morning as Art (why does it always happen to him) opened the cupboard above the driver's seat the support strut broke! A closer look showed that the strut was OK, it was just the rivet connecting the strut to the bracket. Hoping that the stuff in the cabinet wouldn't fall on his head we just carried on.

We parked and leveled alongside a semi bob tail (just the tractor, no trailer). The driver was startled to see our rig start to tilt! He was impressed with the leveling jacks and said he wanted a set for his truck! Then he saw the satellite Dish setting its self up!

Once the dogs were walked and the dust settled Art decided to fix the strut—he had a pop rivet tool so it was a quick fix. We then realised that we had no spare struts in the rig! In our previous one we carried several. Now we are hoping that no more fail. There are fifteen overhead cabinets in the rig with top hinged doors. We really don't want them coming open at the wrong time!

San Antonio Part Two

Monday, November 5th

Today we needed to head back into the city on a shopping run. One the way out we stopped at the RV Park office to mention once again the green slime under the neighbours trailer. The trailer had stopped dripping but the wet, green slime was still there. Not a great view during breakfast or dinner.

On the list are groceries, whisky, wine and vermouth, and to go back to Home Depot to exchange a 50 Amp RV outlet that he had picked up with the 30 Amp outlets he had purchased a few days ago. The outlets in some parks in Mexico are often is pretty poor shape, nice to have a spare. He also always brings a couple down for El Manglar RV Park in Zihuatanejo as they corrode quickly in the salty and humid environment. As is common with RV parts in Mexico, they are made there but not available except perhaps in one or two specialty places.

Art also managed to contact our friend Lulu to find that she has a new Grandson. Mom and baby should be home from the hospital later in the week.

Back in the park we noticed that the the wet area next door was now dry after being hosed down by staff but there is still green stain on the concrete pad. A second notice is taped to his door.

Rain again last evening but it started earlier and very gently. We just got the windows in the Jeep when the rain stopped. But not for long! Soon there was a real downpour, so much water in the skies that the satellite lost the signal once in a while.

Tuesday

Maybe we're back on track; we were both awake before 8:00 AM for once.

Art used the ohmmeter to test the switch that he had sprayed with contact cleaner—no difference. He then noticed that it might be possible to take it a part. A little careful prying with a knife blade soon had it in pieces. It was obvious what the problem was. One of the copper contacts was black! A little work with a knife blade and sand paper soon had them both gleaming.

During this operation of course Art managed to fumble some of the tiny pieces and one of them fell off the table. Tia was a bit interested in what had fallen and looked around a bit but didn't appear bothered. Art looked though the grass without success when Gillian came to help and found the switch button stuck between Tia's toes!

When the switch was reassembled it was quickly apparent that something was wrong. The switch button did not move properly. It's a push on push off type but it would not stay in place. Art suspected that there was a part missing as it seemed that there was nothing to make the mechanism work the way it was. Another good look through the grass turned up nothing.

Next Art removed and disassembled the switch from Gillian's lamp. Hmmmmm. It contained one more piece in the push button assembly. Again Gillian helped in the search but this time without any luck. Art cleaned and reassembled the switch and reinstalled it in the lamp. Gillian now has a bedside reading light. Art will have to adapt one of the other switches to his. It's just a matter of soldering a couple of wires onto the switch terminals.

Before we left home we had downloaded updates to our North America and Mexcio GPS maps. (We know that Mexico is part of North America but Garmin, among many others, don't seem to realise that.)

As we were using the GPS on the way down we realised that the maps had not been updated. Today Art decided to try to download them again. (Garmin permits customers to download maps again if they had been paid for once.) The internet here is relatively slow, it comes from a satellite feed some distance away as there is as yet no fibreoptic cable to the area. This just outside of San Antonio!

I'll try to post a link to our location in the park using our SPOT. I have no idea how long it will remain active.

SPOT LINK HERE.

The first update took a several hours but finally was done. Art then started the Mexican map download.

It was getting late into the afternoon and as time went on the download ran slower and slower. It seems that when people came home from school, work, voting, they hit the internet. When the download started the estimated download time was 29 minutes. Now more than 2 hours later, the download is only 48% complete and the estimated time remaining varies from 28 to 55 minutes!

Two hours later it was showing the same thing! Seems something had locked up! We stopped thedownload, logged off the internet, enjoyed our dinner, watched a Saint movie (relatively new, a bit chronic) started the download again, watched an old episode of Mission Impossible and went to bed, the download still churning. We'll see in the morning if it finished. At the moment it says 40% and 51 minutes estimated to finished!

In the morning the map download was complete! Finally!

Friday November 9^th, Gillian's birthday.

We spent the day in San Antonio, first trying to find a quad band unlocked phone for her birthday present. This would be similar to Art's which allows him to insert a sim card for what ever country we are in. Art's has worked in Canada, US, Mexico, Britain, Europe and even Marrekech! Gillian has three phones: One for Canada, one for Mexico and one for Britain and Europe which won't work in North America! In the US we only the one phone. One each would be useful.

The only unlocked quad band phone we could find was a smart phone, which we weren't interested in. We eventually settled on one of AT&T's phones which we hope can be unlocked. The salesman at the store thought it would be unlockable. At least now we each have a cell phone to use while in the USA!

From here we drove into the middle of the city and found a place to park in the Rivercenter Mall. We left the dogs in charge of the Jeep while we went looking for a place for lunch. We found ourselves at Tony Roma's at the end of a canal from the river, right on the River Walk.

As soon as we finished a very nice lunch (Asian Salad with a Filet of Salmon) we returned for the dogs and set of along the River Walk. It was pretty commercial, right in the middle of the city, but still very pleasant. The dogs were most interested in the ducks!

Art and Tia walked to loop and partway around then returned to the car. They both had had enough walking by this time and Tia needed her antibiotics. Back on the Jeep Art managed to insert the large capsule down Tia's throat, aided by a few pieces of cheese, then settled in the front seat where he passed the hour waiting for Gillian and Trekker reading and napping.

Gillian returned and at 5:00 we set off to pick up our friend Lulu who was visiting her daughter on the north side of the city. We had judged 30 minutes would be needed by comparing the distances that we had traveled in San Antonio during the last week. We had missed a couple of important pieced of data in our calculation. One, it was rush hour, and two, much more of the population lives to the north of the than to the south, where we stayed! The GPS told us we would arrive at 5:50. We were due there at 5:30, and back to the north side of the city for dinner at 7:00. OOPS

Through highway construction along most of the way we finally arrived and spent a pleasant better part of an hour with Lulu and her daughter and the tiny week old son. We phoned Piatti Restaurant to change our reservation to 7:30 for which we were ten minutes late. 

  

An excellent evening with good food, (including a Birthday Cupcake!) good wine, good friends, eventually came to an end. We drove Lulu home where we went in to finally meet her son in law Stephen and Alan, the four year old big brother. The run home was uneventful, traffic much lighter; we were even in bed before midnight!

Saturday

When Art turned his cell phone on in the morning it beeped—text message. Before he even had time to read the first, a second text arrived. The first was a threat, the second lewd, as were the four more that quickly followed. Six messages in four minutes. The number was from Portland Oregon (as is Art's phone number). Art reported to the the local authorities who sent an officer around. They will contact Portland police who will follow up. Probably not hear much more, but it is likely that they will at least speak to the idiot and at least get it on record in case this is some nut who keep this up or worse.

Art spent some more time on the internet and finally phoned a local company who advised him that the phone was not on the list of unlockable phones! They did have a quad band phone that was already unlocked, they could give us $15.00 for the new $50.00 phone we had just purchased! $105.00 in total! We went out to have a look, (the other side of the city, a 35 minute drive each way) to find that the phone was 6 years old and they wouldn't include a new battery! So much for that.

Much of the rest of the day Art spent searching the internet for on line unlock companies and a couple of local companies. The end result; It was an at&t Go Phone, none of which could be unlocked! We were a touch annoyed—the salesman should have known this!

Sunday Gillian decided to sort out the “electronics etc” drawer (batteries, lamp bulbs, chargers and computer cords etc etc)r under the dinette seat and when she went to close it, it would neither close or open. Art went to help and discovered that the bottom was falling out of the drawer! Not too surprising, the contents likely exceeds its GVW!

Gillian emptied the contents onto the couch and we removed the drawer. As it came out it fell into three  pieces; right side, back, and the rest of it more or less still together! Another trip to Home Depot was called for. Target, where we had purchased Gillan's phone on Friday was nearby so we called in and received assurance that we could return the phone as long as we had the packaging and all the bits. We'll do that tomorrow.

At Home Depot we bought a handful of corner brackets and a some nuts, bolts and screws and returned to the campsite.

On the picnic table Art all cleaned all the joints and with the remains of the silicone caulking from the shower repair reassembled the drawer reinforcing all the corners with the angle brackets and bolts, adding a good bead around the drawer bottom, inside and out as well as a few screws from the bottom into the sides. It should hold together until spring. Art plans to make new drawers with real wood when were get back.



Later in the day the leaky 5th wheel pulled out leaving the green stain and an empty plastic container.




This evening a large 5th wheel pulled into the empty space beside us. Trekker was most interested the the cat, the cat not so sure the screen door between them was enough!

Monday

First chore today was to return Gillian's cell phone. This was done without difficulty. Although we weren't impressed with the knowledge of the sales staff in the cell phone department we were less than ideal, the staff in customer service were excellent. Just wish we hadn't need to find that out!

Today Tia was due for her second urinalysis. We needed her to pee into a small tray the vet had provided and with the provided pipette transfer the result into a test tube.  It sounds easy! We finally managed ti get it done, took it to the vet and were waiting around for the bill. Then we were told that the fee was included in the first round!

Her total bill was $149.65 including an injection of two meds combined and 42 capsules of antibiotics. The initial exam was "on the house" (Clinic policy for new clients.) Still, we think, far cheaper than at home. Gillian commented " 'Our Vet' could take a lesson from this! Or maybe this clinic could take a lesson from 'Our Vet' "!

Now we wait until tomorrow, the clinic will fax results to the RV park. If all seems well we will leave for Larado Wednesday morning and cross into Mexico bright and early Thursday.

Larado is a new crossing for us, we have never crossed this far east. Our favourite crossing had some problems a month ago which gave us pause for thought, and of course then we heard from Lulu that she was in San Antonio, so. . . we'll try the Columbia crossing near Larado. It should have us in Saltillo almost an hour earlier than crossing at Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras. We'll see how it goes.

After the vet we went grocery shopping then home to put it all away.

Last chore for the day: Put the repaired drawer back and repack it. A significant number items were removed to be placed in either the parts bin or the tool bin. That's for tomorrow. Now, it's after 6 O'Clock in Zihuatanejo. Time for a drink. Art's bedside reading lamp will have to wait until mañana.



Tuesday

Cold overnight, at least to what we have been used to, 8C. I don't think it even reached 13C. The heat pump has been coming on regularly all day to maintain 21C inside.

In the expectation that we will leaving in the morning we began putting things away--like the folding chairs an lounges--too cold to sit out today anyway, and the few bits and pieced that had been removed from the drawer.

Of course Art also had to get to work on his bedside lamp! He soldered leads onto the switch and installed it in the lamp. Eventually! The  thread part of the switch was just barely too big to fit through the mounting hole in the lamp! Fortunately the threads were plastic and with a bit of effort and a pair of slip-joint pliers he was able to force the switch into place. Surprisingly, he was able to get the nut to go on over those abused threads afterwards as well! The final appearance isn't too bad and the switch works, so all is well.


The vet says they won't have Tia's lab results back until the morning. She is looking and acting well so even if they don't have them by the time we are ready to go, we'll just go.

This will be the end of this post, and may be the last for a while until we find and internet connection again.

San Antonio--Part One

(Somehow I first titled this post Albuquerque! Hope I didn't mess anyone up!)

So now we had some time to catch up on  a few things: laundry for one, and a few minor maintenance items.

Both of the bedside lights had developed intermittent switches and were very fussy to turn on and off so we went looking for replacements. We couldn't find the right ones but later we found a couple at Radio Shack that will do for now. They'll just need a little work with the soldering iron.

Also the shower is coming loose at one edge. Hopefully a good sealant will be enough. A proper repair would entail dismantling the whole thing and that is not going to happen--at least not this trip!

And the towbar is being difficult. One of the sliding arms isn't sliding which makes hooking up awkward. We have had trouble like this before and it should be a simple fix; just a matter of flushing out dust and dirt and adjusting a tensioning bolt.


Art got the galley fan working Thursday. We came in and found it running! We had left it open but it hadn't been running when we left a few hours before! Closing and opening the vent a few times caused the problem to return. Removing the screen and fan and giving the interior of the switch several shots of cleaner and flicking the switch leaver up several times in between each shot seemed to do the trick. The spray residue was quite dirty at first but eventually ran clean. Its been working fine since. One down!


Friday

The morning didn't start well. Art took his milk from the fridge and poured it onto his porridge and it came out in lumps! UGHHHH! A check on the expiration date showed October 20th! Fortunately there was a fresh carton in the fridge and five minutes later he continued his breakfast.

He later he tackled the towbar only to find that even with the tensioning bold completely backed off the inner arm was very tight. We have a diagram of the towbar workings on the computer but looking at it didn't provide any inspiration. Next was a phone call to Roadmaster's Tech Support in Vancouver Washington. Vinnie suggested that Art would have to take the arm apart and clean a bushing with fine sandpaper.

While Art was starting to dismantle the arm Gillian came out to say that the vet had called and that Tia had a urinary tract infection and that we could come and pick up the lab report and also a special diet.

So back to the same part of town again--on the way stopping at Home Depot (again) to pick up the fine sandpaper (Art thinks there might be a sheet of 1000 grit near the bottom if the tool bin but that would entail trying to get everything back in again!) and once again at a Radio Shack we spotted on the way, to see if they had a switch for the bedside lights. As noted at the beginning he found a couple that will do.

Then to the vet.  The lab report showed no stones or crystals, but there was occult blood and high white and red cell counts which seem to indicate an infection. The vet stated that we should have another urinalysis done in ten days to ensure that the antibotics are doing or have done their job. We decided that we would stay here rather than risk running into problems halfway through Mexico. We'll take a sample in the afternoon of Monday the 12th and should have the results back on the 13th.

So we have booked into the RV Park here until the 14th.

Tonight the RV Park served diner! Lasagne, veggies, salad and ice cream with a large assortment of toppings for desert. A pretty good deal for $7.00





Saturday

We seem to still be on PDT or at least MDT, waking up at 9:00 AM or later. Texas is on Central Daylight time. This morning it was 9:20 before Art crawled out of bed. Perhaps when we change to Central Standard Time tonight we'll get more in step with the locals. Art is looking forward for the $5.00 Sunday breakfast tomorrow: all you can eat pancakes or waffles with sides of bacon, eggs, toast hash brown, and coffee and wouldn't want to miss it!

After breakfast we tackled the shower. It seemed to go OK. A table knife wedged under the door seems to be holding the side in place until the caulking cures over 24 hours.  Only time will tell.

Next job on the To Do List was the towbar. It did not come apart as easily as the tech had described. Not too surprising as in order to take it apart the parts that wouldn't slide had to! A little gentle persuasion with a 2 pound hammer did the trick.

Now to clean it. The tech had suggested very fine sandpaper but cautioned not to take too much off. So Art set to work using 600 grit "wet or dry" paper. Eventually he rigged a power rotary sander using an electric drill for power and a 9/19 deep socket padded with layers of masking tape to increase the diameter.

He also buffed the inner arm with a piece of the same 600 grit to smooth of some rough spots probably caused by rock chips in Alaska back on our Round Continent trip a few years ago.

It took quite a while (600 is pretty fine!) but eventually the inner arm would move though the bushing without a lot of force. Reassembled, a bit tricky getting the nylon spacers in, Art tried it out. It worked, but was still tight. However it was now lunchtime, followed by nap time for Art as Gillian took the dogs to a near by park.

When Gillian and the dogs returned Art tackled the towbar again but this time things went a much faster as he had already figured out the procedure. And of course all the tools were at hand. Reassembled, it seems to be working fine. Now, to put all the tools and stuff away!

Three down. Perhaps the bedside lamps tomorrow. Or perhaps not.

As we were getting ready to go the bed an alarm went off in the 5th wheel next door. And again. And again etc etc etc. Art and another neighbour went over to see what was going on. It was the propane detector. Since there was no propane in the rig at all, the owner finally cut the ground wire to silence it. It turned out to have been caused by a low battery in the trailer. The owner seems to have no idea how to look after an RV. The grey water tank has been leaking onto the pad for a full day now with no interest in fixing it. He said he is leaving soon any way.

Sunday 

3:00 AM is not what we had in mind by waking up a little earlier this morning.

We were roused by the sounds of rolling thunder and the pitter patter of rain on the roof. Gillian awoke with a start--The Jeep! We had taken the vinyl windows out and replaced them with netting to make it cooler for the dogs in the hot sunny days. They're not watertight though! We donned a minimal of clothing and dashed out into the dark and wind. So far the rain was light. It was quicker to tarp than find and install the vinyl windows in the dark. Just as we finished the clouds opened up and we were both soaked through by the time we got back to the motorhome door.
 
We woke again to sunshine at a more reasonable time and were even in to breakfast shortly after the 8:30 start time. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, English muffins, a huge selection of topping and sauces, and of course coffee. We enjoyed a very nice breakfast and the company of some of the other campers.

The day passed quietly, the most energetic thing undertaken was Art's 10 K ride on his electric bike. The battery charge indicator barely  dropped to 75% on the flat straight road and that only on the slight inclines. One house that he rode by had a dog warning sign posted and as he approached Art could see a large alert German Shepherd watching, tail wagging. As he rode past the house a large Basset Hound ran along the fence keeping pace and barking furiously. The Shepherd gave a few half-hearted woofs. Art had never seen a Basset Hound so excited or move so quickly. It was quite funny. 

The rest of the day just drifted along. We both got some reading in and not much else.

The owner of the trailer next door did leave late this morning with a friend but left the still leaking trailer behind. A complaint to the park office resulted in a note being attached to the door but since he isn't home it won't have much effect. Not a nice thing to look at from the dinette window. (End of rant!)


A nice pasta dinner using up some already cooked chicken breast, a glass (or two) of wine, and the TV finished our evening. We watched a new to us episode of New Tricks (one of our favourites) which ended on a surprising note; it could even be a sign of the end of the series.  :-(   We checked with Mr Google and we are partially correct: It was the last episode for one character and it seems the show will run only two more seasons, 2012 and 2013.


And no, the bedside lights didn't get done, other than a trial spray with contact cleaner.