Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Desert Hot Springs to Home, and the Summer
At 8:30 AM on the 23rd we said goodbye to Peter and Celine and headed west on the I-10. We set the GPS to take us to Santa Clarita, the first city on the I-5 north of Los Angeles. We thought it would direct us along the 210 but it sent us along the 60 for quite a distance. We skirted LA via Riverside, Ontario, Pomona, Pasadena, and Glendale to the I-5.
From there we just followed the I-5 north to the Santa Nella RV Park (off I-5 near San Jose California) for the night, arriving there at 6:30 more than ready for a relaxing drink and a nice dinner which we enjoyed in the motorhome.
24 March Not exactly at the crack of dawn, we left the RV Park and 10:15 and then almost immediately stopped for fuel, rolling again at 10:45.
When we reached I-580 we turned west towards San Francisco and followed the 580 through San Rafael where it essentially became the 101. Weather wasn't too bad though it was cool and cloudy there wasn't much in the way of rain. And not like last year, the dash heater kept working!
6:30 again we stopped for the night, at Riverwalk RV Park in Fortuna CA, on the Redwood Highway.
25 March We left at about 9:45 continuing on up the 101 through not particularly great weather--overcast and rainy periods. Getting us in the mood for home I guess. We took a short lunch stop at Port Orford Oregon then on to Florence where we turned inlane to pick up the I-5 at Eugene.
By 6:40 we had arrived at McKay Truck in Albany where we had an appointment for vehicle service. This would take a couple of days at least as the battery trays we had ordered had not yet arrived. They were supposed to have been shipped three weeks ago but Kwikee (the maker) had decide not to ship that week. Apparently they only ship on Fridays!
For years we had planned on upgrading the house batteries to the true Deep Cycle 6 volt "golf cart" type of battery but weren't sure of they would fit. After a lot of searching on the internet and a lot of careful measuring Art decided that they would, just. The service manager at McKay had, in e-mails including photos, and the odd Skype call, assured us that given the dimensions he had to work with he could make it work one way or another. So we told him to order the trays (the old ones were pretty much worn out anyway) which we charged to our credit card.
We also had a problem with the soft top on the Jeep; it was making a whistling wind noise where it met the windshield so we dropped in off at the local Jeep dealer. They changed the front seal and said all was now fine.
We still had lots of time to spare so we set off for the coast once again to Depot Bay to visit our friend Steve, who's wife was away for a while. We had a good visit, Trekker and Tia enjoyed Mo's (Chocolate Lab) company, but we missed Nancy. Look forward to seeing her on our way south perhaps, or at least in Mexico where we first met some years ago.
While returning to Albany we heard from our friends from Desert Hot Spring: They were on the I-5 already passed Eugene and reported that they had indeed run into snow on the way up. Glad we had taken the coast road.
By noon on the 29th the battery trays had not yet arrived. On checking with Kwikee, the parts manager discovered that they had only been shipped the previous Friday!!!!! Even if they arrived tomorrow, they would not have time to do the installation before we had to leave for home, so at 12:20 we left for Knox Butte RV Park for the rest of the day and night, leaving for home in the morning.
9:00 AM on the 30th we were northbound once again. The last long run for this trip. We made one quick pit stop at a rest area at noon then at 1:20 stopped for lunch at our favourite cafe on the 101, The Tides Restaurant just north of Hoodsport, and just under 2 hours from Port Angeles.
On the road again (somebody should write a song!) at 2:10 we enjoyed a pleasant drive, the last leg to Port Angeles. We ducked into Safeway for fuel and by 4:30 we were parked on the street infront of the Tourist Office, waiting for the morning ferry.
The weather was quite reasonable, at least no rain. Early in the evening we checked out a restaurant bar by the tourist office and had a before dinner drink. The menu here looked tempting but we can never pass up Bella Italia, our favourite PA restaurant. Excellent Italian food with a magic wine list, just two blocks away. Again we didn't regret the decision.
31 March
Up, walk and feed the dogs and ourselves, into the ferry terminal with lots of time to spare. The Coho left on time (8:20) and after an uneventful crossing we were home by noon.
Nice to be back. Wish someone would do something about the weather though!
15,764 kilometers since 16 Oct 2011
This summer on the Island we made 5 shorter trips in the rig attending 4 FMCA Vancouver Islander Chapter Rallies plus a visit up Island for a Family get together near Cassidy.
We also actually took a trip without either motorhome or dogs: 5 weeks in Europe; 4 days in Madrid, Spain, and a month in England with a side trip up to Scotland.
Before I actually got around to writing even this little bit,I made sure that the rig is basically ready to head south again in less than 4 weeks. Fuel, propane and fresh water tanks are full, black and gray waste tanks are empty and the house sitter has been confirmed.
20 March Ajo to Desert Hot Springs
20 March Ajo to Yuma and Desert Hot
Springs.
No rush setting off this morning;
destination? Where ever we get to. Yuma? Desert Hot Springs? We have some FMCA Vancouver
Islander Chapter friends who may be still in Yuma. If not we'll press
on to Desert Hot Springs.
After breakfast and walking the dogs
Art began to tidy up a little—make the bed, dishes etc, and getting ready to
pullout while Gillian walked across the road to the grocery store.
She soon returned struggling with a shopping cart on the gravel drive so
Art fired up the rig and went to meet her near the entrance to the
park.
By 10:00 AM (pretty good since we weren't in a rush!) we were rolling north on 85 again
towards Gila Bend where we would turn west on I-8 for Yuma. The
road climbed through a few hills but we made good time over all.
We needed an AT&T store in Yuma where we could buy a phone card to reactivate our US cell phone. We found the address somewhere and when we approached in Yuma we set off following the GPS directions.
We needed an AT&T store in Yuma where we could buy a phone card to reactivate our US cell phone. We found the address somewhere and when we approached in Yuma we set off following the GPS directions.
Things started off well enough but soon we seemed to be
driving through a residential area, turning left or right every other
block. We finally came to a large stone wall built across the now
dead end street! A resident told us that the road had been closed for ages—the wall had been there at least 15 years! Thanks Garmin!
So back to a familiar routine:
Disconnect the jeep, turn the rig (not easy in this residential cul-de-sac but we have doen it in worse places. We
made free use of someone's driveway and now facing the right way set off for the nearest
Shopping Centre (sorry, Shopping Center in the US!) We managed to
finally get the phone sorted out. Also on the urgent list was dog
food as we had run out of Trekker's grain free food and had been
mixing food for him using chicken, potato etc. Poor Trekker! Back to
the kibble!
Needless to say by now it was now time
for lunch. A nearby restaurant did fine. We had arrived in Yuma at
12:30 and three hours later were back on the road for Desert Hot
Springs to spend a few days with yet more friends that we had first
met in Zihuatanejo! Peter and Celine now winter here in the Sands RV
Park and had arranged a space next to theirs.
Scenery along the way was different than we had encountered previously, particularly the spectacular sand dunes followed by dead straight flat roads.
Next day we were taken on a great tour of the area, the best being to San Jacinto State Park and San Bernadino National Forest, wonderful scenery, excellent lunch in the village of Idylwild, even to seeing snow on the ground--Tia was not impressed!
Here, after a few days of watching weather reports for the various
routes home we finally decided to take the coast route home to avoid the
forecasts of snow and ice on every other route! Once more it seemed that we would be cruising Los Angeles freeways in the motorhome. Having done that last year we were much more confident this time round.
Friday, 27 July 2012
Mazatlan to San Carlos to Ajo, AZ
17 March
A long day ahead today, roughly 12
hours including breaks.
We left San Fernando RV Park at 6:55
A.M. with not so much as a cup of coffee to get us going. A few
kilometers later we paused for a few minutes to connect the Jeep, it
being easier to do here than in the park which has a very tight
entrance/exit. More by fluke than intention we stopped directly
opposite the condo rented by our friends Jacqui and Derek who
surprised us with an early morning farewell visit!
We were soon on our way again, back
onto the cuota and arrived at the first of many toll booths at 7:40.
We stopped here for breakfast both for us and the dogs and also gave
them a bit of a stretch and were northbound again at 8:30.
The terrain along most of this trip is flat farm land, most of which seem to be owned by the huge farming companies such as Monsanto. At least we made good time without burning more than average fuel!
The terrain along most of this trip is flat farm land, most of which seem to be owned by the huge farming companies such as Monsanto. At least we made good time without burning more than average fuel!
We arrived at La Pilarica (the fuel
stop) at 1:00 PM, just over 400 kilometers from the park in Mazatlan,
after 5 more stops: One agricultural inspection and four more toll
booths. The tolls for this portion of the trip totals 972 pesos,
roughly $80.00.
Los Mochis is about half way along
towards San Carlos. The options for an overnight stay between
Mazatlan and San Carlos aren't too numerous or appealing. There are a
couple of campgrounds, one in Los Mochis, but we have never heard
anything good about it. There are a few more along the way but they
are well off the highway, more than an hour each way. We have done
that before but usually don't feel that it is worth the the extra few
hours driving. La Pilarica, a large fuel/truck stop at Los Mochis,
has overnight parking which we have used a couple of times but over
all we would rather press on.
We spent an hour here for fuel, lunch
and dog walking. While fueling up Art noticed the state of the tires
on a semi trailer fueling beside us and manged a surreptitious
photo. Hope he was going the other way!
The last half of the day was much the
same; 382 kilometers, 5 tolls totaling 688 pesos ($60.00 or so) and
lots more flat country. There was also quite a lot of road
construction, and not before time. Not just new asphalt, looked a
complete rebuild.
We arrived at Totonaka RV Park in San
Carlos at 7:15 P.M. and checked in for two nights. A chance to get on
the internet and also hopefully to catch our friends Joe and
Christine. Yet another couple we met some years ago in Zihuatanejo
and have continued a friendship.
Next day they showed up at the rig. We
had a quick visit and were invited to there home that evening for
drinks and dinner. We had hoped for another early start come
morning. One thing is for sure, it wouldn't happen before 7:00 AM as
they are great company and we always have a wonderful time discussing
the world's problems and other fun stuff.
19 March San Carlos to Ajo, Arizona
Somehow we were up and running at 8:30.
This wouldn't be quite as long a day but we did have paper work to
deal with at the border such as turn in our tourist cards (like
Visas) and cancel the car permit so we would be able to get our
deposit back—and most importantly, be able to bring it in again!
At Hermosillo, the first major city, we
were surprised to see a new sign directing all heavy traffic to the
right onto what appeared to be a new bypass route. It was some 30
kilometers long, some new construction but a lot of older roads.
Think it will be a good thing when it is completed.
After Hermosillo we turned left onto
highway 2 at Santa Ana towards our preferred crossing. At this point
we were only a little over 100 kilometers from Nogales but that is
not a crossing we like. It also brings us into the heave freeway
traffic sooner than we would prefer.
Somewhere around here at 12:30 we found a place to pull off for a quick lunch and were back on the road at 1:05.
Highway 2 runs east-west across
northern Mexico, our crossing is at the Mexican town of Sonoyta. On
the US side the place is called Lukeville but there is almost nothing
there. The road is again for the most part straight and flat across
the Sonora Desert.
Having fuelled in Los Mochis we felt confident that Sonoyta would be the best place to get fuel as we would then cross into the USA with some 340 litres (90 US gallons) of Mexican 80 cent/litre diesel. Then the fuel light came on. However we managed to make the Pemex and topped up. It only took 268 litres. It had taken 250 in Los Mochis. Do the math if you wish: 948 kilometers, 268 litres. OK OK, I'll do it: ROUGHLY 8.4 miles per US gallon.
The US Border was just a few kilometers away and as usual, the crossing here was uneventful. It took all of 10 minutes and we were in the USA, 50 minutes away from Ajo Height RV Park, our home for the night.
No delays along the way, we were waved right through a couple of Border Patrol Check Points.
We were still in the Sonora Desert, but now more into Cactus country.
Friday, 16 March 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, 15 March 2012
PV to Mazatlan, or The Blog Fodder Run.
More and Pics to come
Since we had a Time Zone change to our advantage 15 minutes out of Puerto Vallarta we weren't too worried about our 9:40 departure from the campground. We thought we might take an old favourite route north, turning off the 200 at Las Varas, through San Blas and Via Hidalgo then north on the 15 libre until able to get back on the cuota (toll road) a further up. This is a nice drive, though a bit slower and it avoids a lot of mountain driving and a couple of tolls between Tepic and Estacion Ruiz.
Driving through Puerto Vallarta in a heavy vehicle (trafico pesado--any vehicle with duals or towing--we are covered on both points) requires that we be on the lateral, which is comprised of two narrow lanes. Buses also use the lateral and almost all of their stops are in the right hand traffic lane. For this reason we travel in the left lane.
A few blocks along (for those in the know, even before Pluvial,) we were alongside a parked bus, about 15 feet from it's front when Gillian shouted "That but is pulling out!" BANG! Right side mirror disappeared. The bus kept going, we couldn't see if it was safe to move into the right lane to pull over. Art finally went past another parked bus, there was no traffic in front of it of course, so when it appeared in the rear vision camera he was able to get into the right lane and a block or so later was able to pull off.
The mirror was hanging by the control wires, the shaft cleanly snapped. This shaft is part of the main interior mounting plate and is made of some cast metal. possibly aluminum. No way it can be repaired. The flat main mirror glass was long gone, likely shattered on the road behind us.
(Meant to take photos but had removed the damaged part before I remembered. Senior's moment.)
Art grabbed a roll of PVC tape and taped the mirror head to the arm so it wouldn't swing around and break the wires. He'll try to disassemble it in Mazatlan.
This meant of course that we were not going to take the narrow road route as the right hand mirror is critical to negotiating some of the narrow streets in the villages we would be passing through. So Plan B; onto the mountain roads to Compostela then north to through more mountains to pick up the toll booth for the cuota just south of Tepic and then the cuota all the way to Mazatlan, tolls and all.
We had taken this route last year and found it quite enjoyable, the rig had handled it easily. We weren't concerned at all, just a little disappointed that we were going to miss out on the delicious banana bread available in the tiny village of Matachén near San Blas route. (The plain wood toothpick pointer in the top photo.)
We again enjoyed the drive until just a few kilometers out of Compostela, on the down hill side of this range of mountains, the red CHECK TRANS warning light came on! Having spoken to Freightliner and Cummins service in the past Art knew that while an amber warning light can be ignored for a while a red one usually requires immediate attention.
He then realised that the transmission was stuck in 5th gear. (The motormome version of the Allison transmission is essentially a 4 speed transmission with 2 overdrives, called 5th and 6th.) A short distance further on there was a space at the side of the road that just allowed us to get out of the way of traffic. Here Art realised that it was really stuck--it wouldn't even shift into neutral! Art got out to look for obvious signs of anything wrong--ie spilt transmission fluid, smoke, smell, but found nothing.
The internal checks on the shift pad showed the transmission oil to be down 7 quarts! Testing with the dip stick however showed it to be full! We sat and commiserated for a while then Art started the engine. The waring light was out! He put it gear and carried on.
For another four or five kilometers. CHECK TRANS. This time it was stuck in third. Art decided to keep going as Compostela (red toothpick) was only a few kilometers away and there was really no safe place to pull off the road, the shoulders looked very soft.
Entering the edge of town we found a wide spot in the highway at the junction of the highway to Tepic and the road into the main part of the town. As we pulled off we both noticed a very welcome sign on a building across the highway: Taller Mecanico Diesel! (Taller means workshop or garage.) The time was about 11:30.
Art walked across to seek help and chatted with one of the mechanics who was helpful and concerned but not completely helpful and he had no wish to investigate a transmission! Art asked where the nearest truck transmission, preferably an Allison dealer (parts) and was told Guadalajara, several hundred kilometers away in the wrong direction. He did however know who to call in Guadalajara.
Art handed him his cell phone and he made the call. He greeted him with Hey Vaquero! (Hey, Cowboy!) obviously an old friend and chatted for a moment before explaining our problem. He then said that they would call back when they had located someone who spoke English! Art would have tried Spanish but it is a lot easier face to face than on the phone!
Some time we received a call from Nestor who's English wasn't perfect but it was a lot better than our Spanish. Between the two languages we made out just fine. After quite a bit of back and forth, and several phone calls, the decision was made that they could send out a service truck shortly. But:
They couldn't send the "Rescate" (rescue) until they had received or guaranteed payment. The mechanics were unable to accept cash or credit card, nor could they accept a credit card number over the phone. They would e-mail an invoice for 2 mechanics and the 560 kilometer round trip service call and also email the banking instructions where Art would deposit the amount into their account, they would check that it had been received and would then send the crew. It was by this time about 1:00 PM. We had no internet where we were so Art had to find an internet cafe, find a Banamex, withdraw some cash from the ATM and make the deposit. All before 3:00 PM when the banks would close for the day!
Art got it done and called Nestor to advise him that the deposit had been made. They were having problems confirming it, Art's best guess to his explanation was that the system was down. Whether it was their system or the bank's didn't seem to matter. Nestor said he would call back in 20 minutes. An hour later Art called back. Nestor was no longer there. Art was not happy and it seemed the person on the other end of the phone realised that and phoned Nestor who said that he would call in the morning at 8:00 AM. Did I say how much we had paid? 12,490 pesos; 1,000.00 dollars in round figures! Art wanted some assurance that someone was going to show up!
Morning came, 8:00 AM, no phone call. 8:30 no phone call. 8:45 Art called Nestor. He was talking to the mechanics, the money was in hand and the mechanics should be on the way soon. 9:00 AM the mechanice were leaving immediately, ETA two to two and an half hours, say 11:30. They arrived at 12:30.
Somewhere during this time the mechanic from across the street who had been so helpful came over to chat with the Gualalajara mechanics. Art over heard one of them say (in Spanish of course) " So you know Vaquero!"
After much poking around and a test drive that recreated the problem we still had no resolution. The mechanics asked several times if Art knew where a particular device was located. He had no idea what they were talking about. The mechanics spoke no English. They were concerned that the oil level as reported by the automatic readout on the shift pad showed 7 quarts low yet the dipstick showed full and the fact that there was a notch on the dipstick well above the full mark. They next added a gallon of transmission to see if the shift pad showed any difference. It didn't. It would seem that I now have an over filled transmission which is also not good.
The mechanics were now convinced that the problem was electrical but they could not trace the fault since they could not find the component they were looking for in order to trace the wiring . They suggested that we proceed to Guadalajara while they followed close behind. There they could put the motorhome on a hoist and be able better to see and access the engine and transmission.
Later Art realised that he had made a large error here and had not pointed out that the top of the engine compartment could be accessed from under the bed.
So at 4:00 PM we filled the fuel tank at the nearby Pemex and set off for Guadalajara, the mechanics following close behind. The transmission performed flawlessly (thankfully) along the way, faulting as we approached the first toll booth just out of Compostela. No problem, Art just shut it down and restarted at the tool booth and all was fine again through the worst of the very serious hills and mountain passes. It faulted again about 8 kilometers later just short of the toll both at the entry to the Tepic-Guadalajara toll road. Again no problem. We were now facing a long down hill so at the toll booth Art shut the rig down once again and restarted and set off. Suddenly the LOW AIR alarm went off for the rear air tank, showing zero air pressure! This was half our brake air! He pulled over to the far left of the on ramp and stopped.
Art walked back to the mechanics who had pulled in behind us to give them the good news! They came out but they too could not hear any air leaks, so they asked Art to switch the engine off. They then announced that they could hear an air leak "up high". Now Art said that we could access the top of the engine compartment from under the bed.
So the slide was extended, the bedding heaped on one end to the collapsed dinette where the dogs travel, the mattress removed and stood on it's side against the closet, the wood platform mattress support was also removed and leaned up against the mattress. All the stuff stored under the bed was stacked on the couch. Then the mechanics went to work to remove the steel plates that separated the bed from the engine.
Once they were off, one of them called Art over and pointed out the component that they had been looking for! And within seconds they had located the air leak! A plastic air line had melted and the air pressure had blown a hole in it. The air line was bundled with several electrical cables one of which showed signs of serious heat--one side was badly melted. This might be the source of the transmission problem! Sorry for the blurred pictures.
One or possibly more cable ties had failed and the entire bundle had drooped and was touching the top of the engine! At least we had escaped the major catastrophe of an engine fire! The airline was cut and rerouted, the electrical bundle was opened and checked to show burnt insulation on many of the small wires inside.
The mechanics were quite sure that this was the source of our problems. They made some repairs, packed every thing up, Art started the engine and air pressure built as normal.
Bedsides all this good news there was a nice view from this location!
The mechanics suggested that one of them would ride with us the other following in the truck. If the warning light did not show in the next 20 or 30 kilometers we would turn around at the next opportunity and head north and they would carry on to their base in Guadalajara. So off we went, all the stuff from under the bed still piled on the couch. Some 20 kilometers later at the town of Ahuacatlán we pulled over. They wrote up a further work order, got into the service vehicle and headed for home. At 7:10 PM we turned around at the exit and set off northbound. Getting dark!
As we headed north we discussed the options of where to stay the night. There were really no options for a campground so it looked like a rest area at one of the toll booths. Art hoped for the one after Tepic, but a lot would depend on what we found at the one before Tepic and how Art felt.
The first one arrived 35 minutes later, not a lot of room so we carried on. Through Tepic in light traffic we arrived at the next rest area 5o minutes later at 8:35. Gillian remembered from a previous south bound trip that the rest area was to the south of the toll booth (before it northbound) so we kept our eyes open and sure enough there it was and fortunately there was room. We pulled in and parked. No room to put the slides out but that was no big deal. We walked the dogs, cooked some delicious pork chops for dinner, fed and walked the dogs and went to bed.
Art asked Gillian that if he should wake at say 6:00 AM if she would mind if he just started driving. She said no.
4:00 AM Art woke up. Too damn early, went back to sleep. 5:50 woke up again. Took the dogs out for their morning constitutional, got a bottle of water, fired up the rig and set off at around 6:20.
7:15 AM Gillian was awake so Art made a semi illegal stop on an on ramp and we carried on. We were glad that we had stopped of the night when we did. Every toll booth and rest stop was full to busting with semis parked for the night. Not until 9:00 at Rosario did we find room to pull off for breakfast.
We made that a leisurely one hour stop then proceeded on to Mazatlan. Last year the highway through Maz was under major construction. Now it was almost complete. We knew that the turn we used to make was closed, but every left turn was signed for Centro. That covered a lot of territory, most of which we didn't want to attempt with the motorhome. At the last minute we realised that we had missed the new turnoff. To be perfectly honest Gillian pointed out the turn but Art wasn't sure so he kept on. This resulted in an 8 kilometer detour to the north, then a westward run to the Cerritos area and back south bound run to the RV Park. Here too Art wasn't sure of Gillians assurance that we should turn left here until it was too late to do so. A U turn through a Pemex we soon made the right turn and arrived at San Fernando RV Park at 10:30. Except we were still on Mountain Time from Puerto Vallarta and points south and it was really 9:30 and we had started driving at 5:20!
Since we had a Time Zone change to our advantage 15 minutes out of Puerto Vallarta we weren't too worried about our 9:40 departure from the campground. We thought we might take an old favourite route north, turning off the 200 at Las Varas, through San Blas and Via Hidalgo then north on the 15 libre until able to get back on the cuota (toll road) a further up. This is a nice drive, though a bit slower and it avoids a lot of mountain driving and a couple of tolls between Tepic and Estacion Ruiz.
Driving through Puerto Vallarta in a heavy vehicle (trafico pesado--any vehicle with duals or towing--we are covered on both points) requires that we be on the lateral, which is comprised of two narrow lanes. Buses also use the lateral and almost all of their stops are in the right hand traffic lane. For this reason we travel in the left lane.
A few blocks along (for those in the know, even before Pluvial,) we were alongside a parked bus, about 15 feet from it's front when Gillian shouted "That but is pulling out!" BANG! Right side mirror disappeared. The bus kept going, we couldn't see if it was safe to move into the right lane to pull over. Art finally went past another parked bus, there was no traffic in front of it of course, so when it appeared in the rear vision camera he was able to get into the right lane and a block or so later was able to pull off.
The mirror was hanging by the control wires, the shaft cleanly snapped. This shaft is part of the main interior mounting plate and is made of some cast metal. possibly aluminum. No way it can be repaired. The flat main mirror glass was long gone, likely shattered on the road behind us.
(Meant to take photos but had removed the damaged part before I remembered. Senior's moment.)
Art grabbed a roll of PVC tape and taped the mirror head to the arm so it wouldn't swing around and break the wires. He'll try to disassemble it in Mazatlan.
This meant of course that we were not going to take the narrow road route as the right hand mirror is critical to negotiating some of the narrow streets in the villages we would be passing through. So Plan B; onto the mountain roads to Compostela then north to through more mountains to pick up the toll booth for the cuota just south of Tepic and then the cuota all the way to Mazatlan, tolls and all.We had taken this route last year and found it quite enjoyable, the rig had handled it easily. We weren't concerned at all, just a little disappointed that we were going to miss out on the delicious banana bread available in the tiny village of Matachén near San Blas route. (The plain wood toothpick pointer in the top photo.)
We again enjoyed the drive until just a few kilometers out of Compostela, on the down hill side of this range of mountains, the red CHECK TRANS warning light came on! Having spoken to Freightliner and Cummins service in the past Art knew that while an amber warning light can be ignored for a while a red one usually requires immediate attention.
He then realised that the transmission was stuck in 5th gear. (The motormome version of the Allison transmission is essentially a 4 speed transmission with 2 overdrives, called 5th and 6th.) A short distance further on there was a space at the side of the road that just allowed us to get out of the way of traffic. Here Art realised that it was really stuck--it wouldn't even shift into neutral! Art got out to look for obvious signs of anything wrong--ie spilt transmission fluid, smoke, smell, but found nothing.
The internal checks on the shift pad showed the transmission oil to be down 7 quarts! Testing with the dip stick however showed it to be full! We sat and commiserated for a while then Art started the engine. The waring light was out! He put it gear and carried on.
For another four or five kilometers. CHECK TRANS. This time it was stuck in third. Art decided to keep going as Compostela (red toothpick) was only a few kilometers away and there was really no safe place to pull off the road, the shoulders looked very soft.
Entering the edge of town we found a wide spot in the highway at the junction of the highway to Tepic and the road into the main part of the town. As we pulled off we both noticed a very welcome sign on a building across the highway: Taller Mecanico Diesel! (Taller means workshop or garage.) The time was about 11:30.Art walked across to seek help and chatted with one of the mechanics who was helpful and concerned but not completely helpful and he had no wish to investigate a transmission! Art asked where the nearest truck transmission, preferably an Allison dealer (parts) and was told Guadalajara, several hundred kilometers away in the wrong direction. He did however know who to call in Guadalajara.
Art handed him his cell phone and he made the call. He greeted him with Hey Vaquero! (Hey, Cowboy!) obviously an old friend and chatted for a moment before explaining our problem. He then said that they would call back when they had located someone who spoke English! Art would have tried Spanish but it is a lot easier face to face than on the phone!
Some time we received a call from Nestor who's English wasn't perfect but it was a lot better than our Spanish. Between the two languages we made out just fine. After quite a bit of back and forth, and several phone calls, the decision was made that they could send out a service truck shortly. But:
They couldn't send the "Rescate" (rescue) until they had received or guaranteed payment. The mechanics were unable to accept cash or credit card, nor could they accept a credit card number over the phone. They would e-mail an invoice for 2 mechanics and the 560 kilometer round trip service call and also email the banking instructions where Art would deposit the amount into their account, they would check that it had been received and would then send the crew. It was by this time about 1:00 PM. We had no internet where we were so Art had to find an internet cafe, find a Banamex, withdraw some cash from the ATM and make the deposit. All before 3:00 PM when the banks would close for the day!
Art got it done and called Nestor to advise him that the deposit had been made. They were having problems confirming it, Art's best guess to his explanation was that the system was down. Whether it was their system or the bank's didn't seem to matter. Nestor said he would call back in 20 minutes. An hour later Art called back. Nestor was no longer there. Art was not happy and it seemed the person on the other end of the phone realised that and phoned Nestor who said that he would call in the morning at 8:00 AM. Did I say how much we had paid? 12,490 pesos; 1,000.00 dollars in round figures! Art wanted some assurance that someone was going to show up!
Morning came, 8:00 AM, no phone call. 8:30 no phone call. 8:45 Art called Nestor. He was talking to the mechanics, the money was in hand and the mechanics should be on the way soon. 9:00 AM the mechanice were leaving immediately, ETA two to two and an half hours, say 11:30. They arrived at 12:30.
Somewhere during this time the mechanic from across the street who had been so helpful came over to chat with the Gualalajara mechanics. Art over heard one of them say (in Spanish of course) " So you know Vaquero!"
After much poking around and a test drive that recreated the problem we still had no resolution. The mechanics asked several times if Art knew where a particular device was located. He had no idea what they were talking about. The mechanics spoke no English. They were concerned that the oil level as reported by the automatic readout on the shift pad showed 7 quarts low yet the dipstick showed full and the fact that there was a notch on the dipstick well above the full mark. They next added a gallon of transmission to see if the shift pad showed any difference. It didn't. It would seem that I now have an over filled transmission which is also not good.
The mechanics were now convinced that the problem was electrical but they could not trace the fault since they could not find the component they were looking for in order to trace the wiring . They suggested that we proceed to Guadalajara while they followed close behind. There they could put the motorhome on a hoist and be able better to see and access the engine and transmission.
Later Art realised that he had made a large error here and had not pointed out that the top of the engine compartment could be accessed from under the bed.
So at 4:00 PM we filled the fuel tank at the nearby Pemex and set off for Guadalajara, the mechanics following close behind. The transmission performed flawlessly (thankfully) along the way, faulting as we approached the first toll booth just out of Compostela. No problem, Art just shut it down and restarted at the tool booth and all was fine again through the worst of the very serious hills and mountain passes. It faulted again about 8 kilometers later just short of the toll both at the entry to the Tepic-Guadalajara toll road. Again no problem. We were now facing a long down hill so at the toll booth Art shut the rig down once again and restarted and set off. Suddenly the LOW AIR alarm went off for the rear air tank, showing zero air pressure! This was half our brake air! He pulled over to the far left of the on ramp and stopped.
Art walked back to the mechanics who had pulled in behind us to give them the good news! They came out but they too could not hear any air leaks, so they asked Art to switch the engine off. They then announced that they could hear an air leak "up high". Now Art said that we could access the top of the engine compartment from under the bed.
So the slide was extended, the bedding heaped on one end to the collapsed dinette where the dogs travel, the mattress removed and stood on it's side against the closet, the wood platform mattress support was also removed and leaned up against the mattress. All the stuff stored under the bed was stacked on the couch. Then the mechanics went to work to remove the steel plates that separated the bed from the engine.
Once they were off, one of them called Art over and pointed out the component that they had been looking for! And within seconds they had located the air leak! A plastic air line had melted and the air pressure had blown a hole in it. The air line was bundled with several electrical cables one of which showed signs of serious heat--one side was badly melted. This might be the source of the transmission problem! Sorry for the blurred pictures.One or possibly more cable ties had failed and the entire bundle had drooped and was touching the top of the engine! At least we had escaped the major catastrophe of an engine fire! The airline was cut and rerouted, the electrical bundle was opened and checked to show burnt insulation on many of the small wires inside.
The mechanics were quite sure that this was the source of our problems. They made some repairs, packed every thing up, Art started the engine and air pressure built as normal.Bedsides all this good news there was a nice view from this location!
The mechanics suggested that one of them would ride with us the other following in the truck. If the warning light did not show in the next 20 or 30 kilometers we would turn around at the next opportunity and head north and they would carry on to their base in Guadalajara. So off we went, all the stuff from under the bed still piled on the couch. Some 20 kilometers later at the town of Ahuacatlán we pulled over. They wrote up a further work order, got into the service vehicle and headed for home. At 7:10 PM we turned around at the exit and set off northbound. Getting dark!
As we headed north we discussed the options of where to stay the night. There were really no options for a campground so it looked like a rest area at one of the toll booths. Art hoped for the one after Tepic, but a lot would depend on what we found at the one before Tepic and how Art felt.
The first one arrived 35 minutes later, not a lot of room so we carried on. Through Tepic in light traffic we arrived at the next rest area 5o minutes later at 8:35. Gillian remembered from a previous south bound trip that the rest area was to the south of the toll booth (before it northbound) so we kept our eyes open and sure enough there it was and fortunately there was room. We pulled in and parked. No room to put the slides out but that was no big deal. We walked the dogs, cooked some delicious pork chops for dinner, fed and walked the dogs and went to bed.
Art asked Gillian that if he should wake at say 6:00 AM if she would mind if he just started driving. She said no.
4:00 AM Art woke up. Too damn early, went back to sleep. 5:50 woke up again. Took the dogs out for their morning constitutional, got a bottle of water, fired up the rig and set off at around 6:20.
7:15 AM Gillian was awake so Art made a semi illegal stop on an on ramp and we carried on. We were glad that we had stopped of the night when we did. Every toll booth and rest stop was full to busting with semis parked for the night. Not until 9:00 at Rosario did we find room to pull off for breakfast.
We made that a leisurely one hour stop then proceeded on to Mazatlan. Last year the highway through Maz was under major construction. Now it was almost complete. We knew that the turn we used to make was closed, but every left turn was signed for Centro. That covered a lot of territory, most of which we didn't want to attempt with the motorhome. At the last minute we realised that we had missed the new turnoff. To be perfectly honest Gillian pointed out the turn but Art wasn't sure so he kept on. This resulted in an 8 kilometer detour to the north, then a westward run to the Cerritos area and back south bound run to the RV Park. Here too Art wasn't sure of Gillians assurance that we should turn left here until it was too late to do so. A U turn through a Pemex we soon made the right turn and arrived at San Fernando RV Park at 10:30. Except we were still on Mountain Time from Puerto Vallarta and points south and it was really 9:30 and we had started driving at 5:20!
Puerto Vallarta
Arriving just before 1:00 PM we disconnected the Jeep and checked out the space we hoped to use as we knew that site 3 was clear of trees in the line of sight for the Starchoice satellites. Problem. The coconut tree that that overhangs the patio and parking areas was loaded with ripe and over-ripe coconuts and the ground was littered with those that had already fallen. Too much risk of damage to the rig or ourselves, so we parked in site 3.
A nice enough space but there were a couple of trees that could be a problem for the satellite. We got the slides out, water and power connected and Art activated the dish. It went round and round and up and down then finally gave up and stored itself in the down position.
Later on the neighbour offered us the use of the one remaining output from their dish. We accepted with thanks, and ran a cable through the driver's window. The receiver we are using has two inputs which allows reception of two channels at a time, one to watch and one to record, or record two different channels at the same time. Art disconnected one of the input cables from our dish and replaced it with the one from the neighbours. We had a signal.
Or did we? 299, the default channel was fine but when we changed to 358 to watch the news from home there was no signal. We were a bit surprised but tried a few other channels to find that half of them worked and half didn't. Very confusing.
After playing around for a while Art noticed that the channels that the had a signal and those that did not alternated! For example if there was a signal on 299 and we switched to 358, then 358 would report no signal. Moving on to say 336 (Global BC) it would be fine. Going then to 299, which first worked, would now show no signal! Going from there to 358 would result in a signal! Weird! Still don't know why, but all we have to do is go to random channel before selection the one we really want to watch. Art will mess around with it another day to try to figure out what is going on.
We didn't have a lot planned for PV other than a visit with our friends. We called Melchor and Marta to see what was on their schedule and the same with Bill and Anita.
Bill and Anita were a Punta Mita for the weekend, we thought we could visit them on Sunday. Saturday morning Art strolled up the block to Melchor's Language School and caught him just before class started. They had a quick chat and arranged to meet after class.
A few minutes to one we arrived at the school and waited out side for class to finish but Marta saw us through the glass and brought us inside. Class was running late so we sat and took in ten minutes or so. As always we were impressed by how effective this lesson arrangement is.
They advised that tonight (Saturday) would be the best time as Marta had plans with her mother on Sunday. We asked if they had a favourite restaurant and they both quickly said with a grin “Oh Yes!”, El Cafe de las Artistas. They told us that it is very expensive and that they had been there before but only as guests. We decided to splurge and invited them to join us.
We settled on a plan: Melchor and Marta phone to make reservations and would come to the RV Park at 7:30 and we would take a taxi to the restaurant as parking was difficult. We arrived at 8:00 to find that they had written the reservation down for two people instead of four. A few minutes wait and we led to our table.
The menu looked promising and was not as expensive as expected. Not cheap but not outrageous.
After we had all received our drinks and had made our dinner choices we were presented with a “l'amuse bouche”, (amuse mouth), a very tiny appetiser; a salmon sushi which we all pronounced delicious, except that Gillian's contained bones!
Starter courses were up to expectations, though Melchor at first was a little surprised when his soup plate arrived. The next moment he looked a lot happier.
Art's chicken and quail pairing was perfect, the others too much enjoyed their meals. The bottle of Pinot Noir we ordered was not available but surprise surprise they had another from another company that was listed at 160 pesos more but they could give us a better price! The wine was very good, well worth the price as was the entire experience.
We had a marvelous evening chatting, catching up; Yesi is now 20 and still at university in Morelia, Alex is now 18 and attending university in Puerto Vallarta. He was unable to join us as he is also working. We remember the first time we had met their children, Alex not yet walking or talking, sitting and mostly sleeping on Art's lap throughout dinner! We think that we first met Melchor and his then girl friend Marta in 1987 or 1988.
We took a taxi back to the RV Park and continued our visit in the mororhome until the small hours. We only get together for a few hours each year but our friendship somehow endures.
Sunday Art remembered to look into the problem with the electrical connection to the Jeep. A volt meter to the outlet on the back of the motorhome showed no electrical power at all. Getting down on to look below he made a discovery. It appeared that an electrical harness had passed under a frame member. Something had obviously some solidly against it, severing the cablle.
The good news was that Art felt that this repair was well within his ability, the only question being "Did he have enough of the required connectors or would he have to wait until Monday to get more?".
The answer was "Just!".
Happy that the job had gone so smoothly Art wondered what would go wrong next? We leave for Mazatlan in the morning.
He should have suppressed that thought. There were more "RV Moments" or as Gillian likes to say, "Blog Fodder", yet to come.
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Leaving Zihuatanejo
Wednesday, March 7th, Departure Day.
We woke up around 7:30 which is just as well; we still had some things to take care of, not the least was to feed ourselves and the dogs. We also watched bit of the Global BC News out of Vancouver which tends to slow us down a bit. The dogs too needed a good walk before we set off.
Eventually we got everything stowed inside and the slides in and were ready to start moving. The engine fired up instantly, no long cranking or outpourings of black smoke. A good omen! Once the air pressure had built up enough to release the spring brakes and fill the air bag suspension Art rolled the rig out and backed it up the the Jeep which had previously been moved.
While Art attached safety cables, the air line and cylinder and piston which allows the motorhome air brakes to actuate the jeep brakes, the wiring harness for tail, signal and brake lights on the Jeep and of course the towbar itself Gillian packed the last box of stuff into one of the bins and picked up and stowed the leveling blocks that we need while the hydraulic levers are in operative.
Then it was hugs all round, a photo op (I'll post them when Julia e-mails them to me. Hint Hint Julia!) and we rolled out the gate at 10:30. Julia was not overly impressed with a certain gentleman who had told her we would be leaving at about 9:00 AM as she had been out late doing a photo shoot and up until 4:00 AM editing and posting them to the website. She had set her alarm so that she could wake up in time to say good-bye. Good thing we are friends.
We were surprised to see some major road construction and a few detours to the north of Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa. Years ago they had begun construction of a new section of highway including a large bridge over the river. The bridge had ended at a cliff face and construction stopped for many years. We referred to it as "The Bridge to Nowhere". We were particularly taken by this detour sign which pointed directly at a deep ditch with 50' high rock wall beyond it!
They have almost completed the section through Zihuatanejo itself and now it looks like they plan to complete the entire section to the north. Not before time. This is a section of the Mex 200, the only north-south road along the coast that runs from Tepic, which is north of Puerto Vallarta, all the way to the Guatemala border.
Along the way we made notes and took photos of the route to and through Lazaro Cardenas for a friend and fellow camper who will departing in another week. Apparently last time he drove this route he missed a turn and ended up down in the docks in Lazaro! Much easier this time, the roads have been changed a little and there is great signage--a rarity in Mexico. (See above detour sign!)
T
he run north was uneventful, in spite of the road construction which continued on for quite a distance. Someone must be serious this time. They are cutting off a lot of tight corners. There were a few bits that took a little attention and caution but as I say, more or less uneventful. As you can see in the photo, even the straight bits could use some improvement.
It was getting warm in the RV as the day progressed. The dash air isn't too effective with such a large volume to try to cool. We had our water bottles and a bit of breeze so we were quite comfortable.
At kilometer marker 103 we knew we were seconds away from the RV Park, located at KM 103.5 BUT as we rounded the corner there was a military check point just a few meters before the park entrance. This was our second military check today. They asked our names, where we lived, where we came from today and where we were going today. In answer to the last question Art was able to point down towards the RV Park just below us. The entrance was just a few meters away!
A very short time later, about 2:15, we were parked on the grass. We hadn't bothered to unhook and back into a space since we were not staying long and the 15 amp power wouldn't be enough for the air conditioner anyway so we just dry camped and ran the generator for a few hours to cool the rig down a bit.
We put the satellite dish up and watched a bit of TV during the evening, mostly the news, using the inverter and our well charged batteries.
This is a very pretty place, owned we think by the local community. It's full name is Zapote Tizupan Centro Ecoturistico. It is better known as Kilometer one o three and a half from its address. (Km 103.5 Carretera Playa Azul--Manzanillo, Michoacán)
Water for the pool and we assume everything else comes from a dug brick lined well.
March 8 to Cadillac Ranch, Barra de Navidad
Thursday morning we were on the road again at 8:45, another fairly easy drive. It would be possible to make Puerto Vallarta but it would be a very long, hot day with the worst of the road at the end. No point in pushing it. The driving days after PV would be long ones.
We stopped for lunch at the toll booth on the Manzanillo cuota (toll highway) at 12:15 and again at 1:30 for fuel in Manzanillo. Somewhere along this stretch the official photographer and navigator took this picture of one of the many waterways.
We turned off the highway towards Barra de Navidad, the campground entrance just a kilometer up the road. We thought. We had been here before a few years ago and remembered that the entrance was down a very narrow rough track. We recognised it immediately and turned down it proceeding very slowly as it was worse than we remembered.
When we got to the point where we would turn right into the park we noticed a wire fence closing off what was now an obviously disused lane. The track we were on stopped a hundred meters further on, ending in a thankfully mowed and flat area big enough to turn around in. We stopped and got out to disconnect the jeep.
Art opened the jeep's drivers door to set the parking brake and the alarm went off! This shouldn't have been possible as the jeeps battery has an automatic disconnect switch that opens when there is power down the electrical connection from the motorhome! A mad scramble for the jeep key with the alarm attached and we were able to quiet it.
We got unhooked and turned around and made it back up the track to the road. We carried on a few hundred meters further along the road we came across a new sign to the Cadillac Ranch RV Park. We met Don, the owner, on his way out on his bike to come and get us!
The new entrance wasn't a lot better but at least it was open. Don said that he had rented the original road from the neighbouring property owner who kept increasing the rent to the point that it became impossible. The new entrance is directly opposite the large blue Corona sign.
We were in our space by 2:45.
Art decided to dump the holding tanks and refill the freshwater tank first then moved the rig over a few feet to a more level part of our site. This way he was able to use the short sewer hose and not have to fight with the longer ones. This led to another RV Moment: Art hadn't been careful enough when connecting the hose. As he opened the black tank valve Gillian shouted that it was spilling. He thought she meant at the connection and looked at that but what she meant was that the drain was backing up behind him where he was kneeling on the ground.
He closed the valve then slowly opened it again then suddenly the hose came off the drain! Shades of Robin Williams in "RV"! He still had one hand on the gate valve and was able to close it quickly and with the other hand pushed the hose back onto the drain and secure it tightly. Nothing on his clothes. Some copious use of water and a little bleach and we were good!
The rest of the tank dumping went fine, keeping the valves partially closed to keep the flow rate down.
There was a shy young German Shepherd puppy who was quite interested in Trekker and vice versa and they eventually got along just fine. Gillian tried out the pool while Art, after a change of clothes, lay down on the couch for a nap!
With all the excitement of our arrival we completely forgot to check what allowed the Jeep alarm to function.
Friday morning we proceeded to hook up the Jeep only to find there were no tail lights, brake lights or signal lights. Oh Right!--there was a problem yesterday. Art really didn't feel like tackling it at the moment and the motorhome lights are clearly visible over and around the Jeep so he decided to set off anyway. So at 8:45 we hit the road for PV.
Most of the road was fairly easy driving bit as we get closer to the city the highway becomes very hilly and twisty and narrow and full of pot holes. On the outskirts of Puerto Vallarta we ran into some much needed road reconstruction; they were pouring a very thick layer of concrete over the asphalt., Much of the road was single lane with alternating one way traffic with sharp drop offs on each side. Not hard driving but needed to pay attention.
What with the construction delays and the heavy traffic in town north of the tunnels it took about an hour from Mismaloya to the Puerto Vallarta RV Park on Calle Francia. We arrived at 12:55.
March 9 10 11 Puerto Vallarta coming in the next post.
We woke up around 7:30 which is just as well; we still had some things to take care of, not the least was to feed ourselves and the dogs. We also watched bit of the Global BC News out of Vancouver which tends to slow us down a bit. The dogs too needed a good walk before we set off.
Eventually we got everything stowed inside and the slides in and were ready to start moving. The engine fired up instantly, no long cranking or outpourings of black smoke. A good omen! Once the air pressure had built up enough to release the spring brakes and fill the air bag suspension Art rolled the rig out and backed it up the the Jeep which had previously been moved.
While Art attached safety cables, the air line and cylinder and piston which allows the motorhome air brakes to actuate the jeep brakes, the wiring harness for tail, signal and brake lights on the Jeep and of course the towbar itself Gillian packed the last box of stuff into one of the bins and picked up and stowed the leveling blocks that we need while the hydraulic levers are in operative.
Then it was hugs all round, a photo op (I'll post them when Julia e-mails them to me. Hint Hint Julia!) and we rolled out the gate at 10:30. Julia was not overly impressed with a certain gentleman who had told her we would be leaving at about 9:00 AM as she had been out late doing a photo shoot and up until 4:00 AM editing and posting them to the website. She had set her alarm so that she could wake up in time to say good-bye. Good thing we are friends.
We were surprised to see some major road construction and a few detours to the north of Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa. Years ago they had begun construction of a new section of highway including a large bridge over the river. The bridge had ended at a cliff face and construction stopped for many years. We referred to it as "The Bridge to Nowhere". We were particularly taken by this detour sign which pointed directly at a deep ditch with 50' high rock wall beyond it!They have almost completed the section through Zihuatanejo itself and now it looks like they plan to complete the entire section to the north. Not before time. This is a section of the Mex 200, the only north-south road along the coast that runs from Tepic, which is north of Puerto Vallarta, all the way to the Guatemala border.
Along the way we made notes and took photos of the route to and through Lazaro Cardenas for a friend and fellow camper who will departing in another week. Apparently last time he drove this route he missed a turn and ended up down in the docks in Lazaro! Much easier this time, the roads have been changed a little and there is great signage--a rarity in Mexico. (See above detour sign!)
T
he run north was uneventful, in spite of the road construction which continued on for quite a distance. Someone must be serious this time. They are cutting off a lot of tight corners. There were a few bits that took a little attention and caution but as I say, more or less uneventful. As you can see in the photo, even the straight bits could use some improvement.It was getting warm in the RV as the day progressed. The dash air isn't too effective with such a large volume to try to cool. We had our water bottles and a bit of breeze so we were quite comfortable.
At kilometer marker 103 we knew we were seconds away from the RV Park, located at KM 103.5 BUT as we rounded the corner there was a military check point just a few meters before the park entrance. This was our second military check today. They asked our names, where we lived, where we came from today and where we were going today. In answer to the last question Art was able to point down towards the RV Park just below us. The entrance was just a few meters away!
A very short time later, about 2:15, we were parked on the grass. We hadn't bothered to unhook and back into a space since we were not staying long and the 15 amp power wouldn't be enough for the air conditioner anyway so we just dry camped and ran the generator for a few hours to cool the rig down a bit.
We put the satellite dish up and watched a bit of TV during the evening, mostly the news, using the inverter and our well charged batteries.
This is a very pretty place, owned we think by the local community. It's full name is Zapote Tizupan Centro Ecoturistico. It is better known as Kilometer one o three and a half from its address. (Km 103.5 Carretera Playa Azul--Manzanillo, Michoacán)Water for the pool and we assume everything else comes from a dug brick lined well.
March 8 to Cadillac Ranch, Barra de Navidad
Thursday morning we were on the road again at 8:45, another fairly easy drive. It would be possible to make Puerto Vallarta but it would be a very long, hot day with the worst of the road at the end. No point in pushing it. The driving days after PV would be long ones.
We stopped for lunch at the toll booth on the Manzanillo cuota (toll highway) at 12:15 and again at 1:30 for fuel in Manzanillo. Somewhere along this stretch the official photographer and navigator took this picture of one of the many waterways.
We turned off the highway towards Barra de Navidad, the campground entrance just a kilometer up the road. We thought. We had been here before a few years ago and remembered that the entrance was down a very narrow rough track. We recognised it immediately and turned down it proceeding very slowly as it was worse than we remembered.
When we got to the point where we would turn right into the park we noticed a wire fence closing off what was now an obviously disused lane. The track we were on stopped a hundred meters further on, ending in a thankfully mowed and flat area big enough to turn around in. We stopped and got out to disconnect the jeep.
Art opened the jeep's drivers door to set the parking brake and the alarm went off! This shouldn't have been possible as the jeeps battery has an automatic disconnect switch that opens when there is power down the electrical connection from the motorhome! A mad scramble for the jeep key with the alarm attached and we were able to quiet it.
We got unhooked and turned around and made it back up the track to the road. We carried on a few hundred meters further along the road we came across a new sign to the Cadillac Ranch RV Park. We met Don, the owner, on his way out on his bike to come and get us!
The new entrance wasn't a lot better but at least it was open. Don said that he had rented the original road from the neighbouring property owner who kept increasing the rent to the point that it became impossible. The new entrance is directly opposite the large blue Corona sign.
We were in our space by 2:45.
Art decided to dump the holding tanks and refill the freshwater tank first then moved the rig over a few feet to a more level part of our site. This way he was able to use the short sewer hose and not have to fight with the longer ones. This led to another RV Moment: Art hadn't been careful enough when connecting the hose. As he opened the black tank valve Gillian shouted that it was spilling. He thought she meant at the connection and looked at that but what she meant was that the drain was backing up behind him where he was kneeling on the ground.
He closed the valve then slowly opened it again then suddenly the hose came off the drain! Shades of Robin Williams in "RV"! He still had one hand on the gate valve and was able to close it quickly and with the other hand pushed the hose back onto the drain and secure it tightly. Nothing on his clothes. Some copious use of water and a little bleach and we were good!
The rest of the tank dumping went fine, keeping the valves partially closed to keep the flow rate down.
There was a shy young German Shepherd puppy who was quite interested in Trekker and vice versa and they eventually got along just fine. Gillian tried out the pool while Art, after a change of clothes, lay down on the couch for a nap!
With all the excitement of our arrival we completely forgot to check what allowed the Jeep alarm to function.
Friday morning we proceeded to hook up the Jeep only to find there were no tail lights, brake lights or signal lights. Oh Right!--there was a problem yesterday. Art really didn't feel like tackling it at the moment and the motorhome lights are clearly visible over and around the Jeep so he decided to set off anyway. So at 8:45 we hit the road for PV.
Most of the road was fairly easy driving bit as we get closer to the city the highway becomes very hilly and twisty and narrow and full of pot holes. On the outskirts of Puerto Vallarta we ran into some much needed road reconstruction; they were pouring a very thick layer of concrete over the asphalt., Much of the road was single lane with alternating one way traffic with sharp drop offs on each side. Not hard driving but needed to pay attention.
What with the construction delays and the heavy traffic in town north of the tunnels it took about an hour from Mismaloya to the Puerto Vallarta RV Park on Calle Francia. We arrived at 12:55.
March 9 10 11 Puerto Vallarta coming in the next post.
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