MX/TX Trip #78 Happenings ( Sun, Mon, Tues )

After breakfast on Sunday with our friends we went to Harlingen as they have an excellent tourist information booth and we ( mostly Carroll ) are planning to go thru OK on the way home so we wanted to pick up a map  of TX and OK. I told Carroll that she would not get an OK map in a TX info booth but she had to find out for herself, and of course I was right. We have a GPS and an iPhone but we still like to have a map of our travel areas. 

All was not lost as Carroll decided that we may as well shop, since we were already in Harlingen which has all the proverbial stores. After an hour or so I reminded Carroll that the curling was on TV and it was much more interesting than shopping. 

Every once in a while I get a slight but dull ache  in my upper left chest and  shoulder area and I felt it for the passed 3 mornings. So I  decided that I should fly back to Calgary to have it checked to make sure it is not heart related.  I have travel insurance but I also have 2 pre-condition and if I have it checked here and the doctor suggest that it could be one of these pre-conditions my insurance would cease immediately. Also , by returning to AB my AB health Insurance is reset and I would have coverage for 40 days. Hence I get a refund from the Travel Insurance. 

On Tuesday I  found a last minute seat for Wednesday so I took it. Unfortunately I had to be at the check in by 5 AM so our friend from Brandon took me to the airport. Cheers  

MX/TX Trip # 77 Happenings ( Thursday,Friday, Saturday )

Since not much is happening when you are settled in the same  RV Park , like we are doing now , I will bunch several days of "activities", if you can call it that into each report. 

The main topic here is how different the weather is from what it has been in years passed. It is fair to said the weather is not conducive to the phase " Sunny Texas" because most days start with overcast, fog, mist and sometimes the Sun. Some our friends are golfers and many days they start their game with jackets/coats  and as an avid golfers they normally "sugar coat "   the weather by saying that the Sun peaked thru etc etc. 

We did not do much on Valentines Day but on Friday we went to MX , which is only 7 miles away , with our friends the Nahas. Neither of us had a need to visit MX but we just want to kill a day and we planned to have lunch while we were there, which we did. Larry and I had our shoes shine as Larry has been going to the same guy for 20 years. Apparently the "shine Guy " is from Monterey, and  comes to " Progresso " this border town every winter because business is better  because of us  "Winter Texans. " Then we met the ladies and had lunch at one of the restaurants that is a favourite for the Gringos. We would normally pick up a bottle of booze but TX has slapped a 2.75 tax on all booze coming into TX so the it just as cheap to buy in TX. 

On Saturday we went to the local Flea market as Carroll was looking for Bamboo sheets. We squeezed the Flea market trip in between the Scotties and hockey and this will continue for the next week. Cheers 

MX /TX Trip # 76 ATM Card arrived ( Wednesday)

Of course we had to hang around waiting on UPS to deliver the card and they usually deliver in the early afternoon but you can't count on the timing so we stayed home even thought it was a nice sunny day for a change. 

Since UPS had not arrived by 2 PM Carroll decided that she needed something from the Dollar store which is about a KM away and she would sign for the card if he arrived while I was away. Just as I passed the office I seen the UPS truck, which means that the driver was getting some Address numbers from the office so I waited until he came back to his truck. I said do you have a parcel for Esler and he said you bet I do just sign here. I now feel better that I have my ATM card in my wallet. 

Tonight is Card night and I play Euchre . There  was also entertainment in the rec hall so Carroll went with another lady and for 7.00 it was apparently OK, which means I would not have enjoyed it.

I have played Euchre with the same 12 people for two years and not one person knew my name when I walked into the room.  I said you can't all have Alzheimer, somebody must know my name. I even rented one guys Park model 2 years ago. I guess when they leave in the Spring they "dump" all the names and then get re-introduced when the return in the Fall. So now you know what kind of people hang out in these RV Parks. Cheers  


   

MX/TX Trip # 75 ATM Card ( Tuesday )

TD advised me that my ATM card would arrive between 5 and 7 business days and that I would have to sign for it. That would mean it would arrive on the 14 or 15 th so I planned to be home on those days which is not a real hardship since the weather is not conducive to doing much besides reading, watching TV or play cards with friends.  Actually it rained during the night and continued off and on until 5 PM when the sun broke thru for an hour. 

We stepped out for and hour to get milk and bread bread and when we got home we had a note from UPS that said they were here and they would try again tomorrow. I love the service; 3 business days, but I really didn't expect it that quick so now we get to stay home tomorrow.  Not a problem with our shitty weather. Cheers 

MX/TX Trip # 74 Weather Blues ( Monday )

Who the heck is in charge of this weather. Yesterday was acceptable but today it is rainy and cold again. Our weatherman thinks he knows the 7 day weather pattern but he doesn't have a clue. But as we say; we don't have to shovel it. 

Monday is a 5.00 supper night at the Rec Centre and tonight is a chicken burger, baked  potato and a spoonful of beans. It wasn't great so I think we will skip the Monday night suppers from now on. 

Monday night is also Euchre night so I went to the Card room and it was dark. Well, maybe they cancelled Euchre but it was on the activity list so I will check tomorrow. 

Luckily there was hockey on the TV and the Oilers lost again. Cheers    

MX/ TX trip # 73 Watch Curling ( Sunday )

The Weather is still up and down and at 7 AM the temp was 7 C but by noon it was 22C. The only up side is that AZ weather is more "shitty " than TX. 

It's Sunday so our ritual is to go for breakfast with our friends the Nahachewski's from Brandon. The subject of curling came up as they were avid curling in their "hayday " and they like to follow the MB teams. They don't have Cdn TV so we invited them over to watch the finals for the MB Provincial for the Men's and Ladies. 

We also watched the finals for AB Men's and Ladies. Was it wasted day. Not if you are a Curling fan. Cheers 

MX/TX Trip #72 Costco Day ( Saturday )

Another overcast day with an opening temp of 8C. If someone says the weather is good or great in Southern TX , don't trust them. It is always windy and sunny; cold and rainy or cool and windy. However, you don't have to shovel it and most likely you don't need to wear gloves. Always an upside.

This overcast day had Costco written all over it so went there to look for a few items, some of which we probably didn't need as usual. I mentioned earlier that our GPS let us down so we checked on a price of a new one at Costco. Too our surprise, they do not sell then in this store anymore. The supervisor said that there is not a sufficient demand mainly because most new vehicles have a built in GPS and the iPhone is being used in lieu of the GPS. I never thought about that  until now but I can understand Costco's point. They are a demand driven business. 

We had a late lunch at Costco and it was terrible. I had Chili and most of it went in the garbage. If you want Chili go to Wendy's. 

We spent the rest of the day watching Curling and Hockey as it was Hockey day in Canada. Cheers

MX/TX Trip #71 Got Internet today ( Friday )

Weather for today was rain overnight, overcast and the temp at 8 AM was 4 C. Dam it we are freezing!!!!

Spectrum , the internet provider said they would connect us up today at 8 AM and the tech, whose name is Armand ( there are no caucasians workers living in TX) would call me one hour before arriving. Really, a Tech is going to call a customer at 7 AM to say he will arrive at 8 AM. This is all done by text and you can follow the truck as he leaves his shop and arrives at your door. " Ain't the internet great. " 

At 9 AM there is no Armand so I text him with " Armand, where are you; you said 8 AM ". A few minute later a Tech shows up so I greet with , Hi Armand and he says I'm not Armand but I'm here to hook up your Internet. He said where is you connection and I said you can run it thru a window. He said no way, we do not our cable run thru a window,  we need a connection so I said you can use my TV connection, knowing  full well I would change it as soon as he left the park.

During our conversations he told me he was seconded from there office in Austin, TX  for 3 months due to the overload of work by all the Winter Texans in this area. He thought it was a joke because he did not know what a " Winter Texans" was. He had never been to  this part of TX before and he was shocked at all the RV Parks.

 He said why would we leave Canada in the winter. I said -35 C will convince you to leave and he said that he considers 60 F to be too cold to work outside. He was told by other Techs that Canadians say " EH" all the time but he did not believe it until he came here. He was a nice young Tech and made sure we were connected  and that all 3 computers/iPhone worked before he left. So now we are happy, we got satellite TV , Internet and beer in the fridge; what more can  a guy ask for????

The weather was overcast and Carroll seen the trailer on a movie called " The Upside" with a 3:30 PM start. It is from a True Story. So we called our friends in another park ( the Naha's from Brandon ) and said that we would pick them up, go to the movie and then for supper. They never turn down and offer like that. The movie was great and we strongly recommend that you see it when it comes to a theatre near you. Cheers  

MX/TX # 70 Called TD for a new Access Card ( Thursday )

Our weather has been shitty as the north wind brought rain the last 2 days along with cool temp. 

You may recall that the ATM machine in La Penita, MX  ate my card in February and I called TD for a new card. However, they said I had to stay in one place for 2 weeks as it would take that long for it to arrive. Since we  could not stay in Guayabitos that long, I had to wait until I got to the US to order a new card. 

Well today I called TD again because we will be in this park for at least a month . I must have got a new Kid on the block because I told him I was calling from TX and needed a new card. He said the only way to get a new card was to go to my bank. I think I said " you have got to be shitting me because I'm 3000 KM from my bank and I need a card ASP " ; Carroll said I was a little more forceful. He said I'm sorry and I said no you are not sorry , you better talk to a supervisor. He put me on hold and then returned with; OK Mr, Esler , we can get you a card but I need some particulars. After that he said it would take 5 to 7 days and he would mail it. I corrected him again and said you will send it by courier and he agreed. I believe he learn something about dealing with grouchy old customer today!!!

Since the north wind blew my satellite over ( without breaking it ) I got it anchored behind my MH and out of the wind. It did take some adjusting because I have 2 park models in the way and a large tree. But the satellite height angle is over 55 degrees which allows me too shoot over the park models. We had to have the TV as the Provincial Curling finals is on this weekend.

We finished the day off by attending  the music of the "Legions of Buddy Holly" at another Park and it was a good show. Our last minute ticket were in the 2 nd last row in a 400 seat Rec Hall but it was better than a front row were they blast you out of your seat. Cheers 

MX/TX Trip 69 Wifi Charades ( Wednesday )

Yesterday, I called Spectrum, the Internet provider for this Park and after 20 minutes or so they advised me that my address was taken on their data base so I can not get internet. I think I used the word ridiculous along with some stronger adjectives and finally the agent agreed to phone the Park office to try to straighten out , what I considered a small error. The problem, considered by the agent is that we have several addresses at # 208 but they all have a street name and ours is Spruce. Carol, the office manager, has been thru this "dance " before so she tried to inform  the agent that we have several 208's but all with a street name. He would not accept  Carol's analysis and then he called me back and said no internet because 208 is taken. Final answer. 

Most residents share their Internet with a neighbour and Neil on one side already shares with someone. Since I need internet I ask the neighbour on the other side if he would share his and I would pay half but he says he can't make that decision until his wife comes home so I gave up on that idea and went to the office to press the issue. Guess who wears the pants in that family.

Carol, the office manager agreed to call Spectrum and try to help me get internet. She explained the problem we had yesterday and he said he would check with his supervisor and lo and behold there was no problem. So Carol handed me the phone and now I get to talk to Spectrum and final get internet. But not before that  this Dork tried to up sell me on every frigging options they had so I had to raise my voice and emphasised that I wanted  internet and nothing else. When all was said and done they said they could connect me on Friday between 8 and 9 AM. The agent must have been new on the job because he put me on hold after every question and it took over 1/2 an hour to complete the contract. I told him my ear was sore!!!

In the afternoon we went searching for tickets to the Music of Legends. The majority of the ticket were sold out because they are on sale a year in advance but a few tickets were returned so we managed to tickets for Buddy Holly; Jim Buffet and The Piano Man. Cheers

MX/ TX Trip # 68 Setup day ( Tuesday )

First item on the list for today was to get the TV setup. We have been without TV for 3 days and for all we know Trump could have built a Northern wall by now and of course Trudeau would have agreed to pay for it. 

In TX the direction and the wind speed determines where and how you setup the satellite and we have a south wind ( which is warm ) with an estimated speed of 30/40 mph so I had to anchor the satellite substantially even though we are protected by 3 other park model.  Rumor has it that a cold front is coming on the weekend so the temperature will like drop and the wind will pick up and shift to the north and then I will have to move the satellite to a protected area. Anyway we  found the satellite and we now have TV. 

We were advised by Spectrum, the internet provider,  that they could not connect us until Friday so I headed to T-mobile to find  out the cost to get cell service on my iPhone. I got a very knowledgeable young lady who understands "cell illiterate people", to look after my request and she answered all my questions, which are many. Telus needs to take a lesson from T-Mobile.  I got unlimited Talk and Text ( USA and Canada ) and 10 GB of data for 45.00 per month. 

Then we dropped over to see our long time friends from Brandon. They were teachers at Shilo when we were there in the late 70's. We did not advised them that we were in Weslaco , TX so they were shocked to see us walk in. We will be seeing them often now that we are here. cheers 

Mx Trip # 67 P2P RV Park ( Monday )

We are going to the Pine to Palm RV ( P2P ) Park and Resort. The "Resort" is added so they can charge more but it is no more a resort than home is a Mansion. However it is a reasonable priced park and the people are friendly and genuine so we like it and we have been here on several occasions. 

We know that the office doesn't open until 9 AM and we gave away all our food in MX before we crossed so we venture to an old haunt for breakfast. Then we took a tour of the Park to see what sites were available before we moved the MH and to our surprise there wasn't much to chose from. We chose two nice spots but we later found out that they were reserved.

We needed propane for the MH so I took the MH to get propane and Carroll took the car to the park and waited for me. Then when we got to the park office we where advised that then only had a few sites available and we were told to go find one that you can get into because they were old park model sites that had not been upgraded yet. 

We found one but we could see that it would be tight. However, I used Carroll as my "backup monitor " and she directed me right over the water spigot. She said I better take a look because I may have broke a pipe. The early clue was the water was shooting out of the ground so I went to the office and declared an emergency. The maintenance men arrived within minutes and luckily  they only had to shut off the water to this one street. Sometimes in these old parks they have to shut off the water to the entire park. There are only 8 sites on this street and the maintenance men did not have time to advise anyone so naturally they residence started to ask around about no water  and they found out that some "dork " had caused the water curtailment. Then , of course everyone had to see for themselves but they were friendly and even introduced themselves. One wag said; it a great way to meet your neighbours.

Our site is all grass so we now have a water soaked lawn under our MH. However they are predicting rain for Saturday so it won't matter much by then.  

We spent the next few hours getting set up and then off to Walmart for groceries. I tried to set up the satellite but I was fighting a very strong south wind so I had to tie it down and it became a pain so I filed that job away until tomorrow. Cheers    

MX Trip # 66 La Poste to TX ( Sunday )

We left our overnight camp site at the Toll booth and headed for the industrial city of La Poste, where the Toll booth attendant said there was fuel some 23 KM ahead. We entered the city looking for the Pemex station but to no avail and since I had at least 1/2 a tank I wasn't overly concerned. However, we were about to enter another toll road and there are not many Pemex on toll roads. However we seen a fuel sign that said fuel in 11 KM so we just hoped that it had fuel. It did have fuel but only one pump per island so I'm not sure it they were rationing it or running low but they did give me a fill up.

Since Pharr TX was a little over 500 KM away we decided that we could make it that far before night fall so that was our aim. We reached the Pharr , TX border area on the MX side  at 6 PM but could not located the the crossing because our GD GPS quit. Finally we seen a sign for the border crossing but it said it was for Truck. We assumed that the vehicle crossing must be close by so we took it. 

As we entered the truck crossing we noticed that it was closed and now we were in a jam. Luckily there was enough room to do a U-turn. But where the hell do we cross was the question. Then we seen a truck ( tractor only) and 2 cars enter at an odd place but what the hell; that must be the entrance.  Remember , we are still in MX so there was no signage. Then we entered the booth to pay for the border crossing and I ask to be directed to  MX immigration to turn in our vehicle passes. The attendants at the toll booth spoke no English but out of the blue,  a man who I thought was a beggar directed us , in English to the parking area. After 20 mins or so we cleared MX immigration and headed across the bridge to the US customs at Pharr, TX.

 It took us 1 hour and 15 mins in line before we could even see the US customs. When we were about 10 vehicles for the booth I notice a customs office walking towards us and I said to Carroll, " I don't think he is coming to welcome us to the USA; we must have done something wrong". He actually said the RVs are not allowed at this crossing  because we are not equipped to handle them. However, since you are now here, we will open a truck booth and he directed us to it. Once we entered the booth we were advised that we would require a full vehicle search, including an agricultural search , which was OK with us.  We were ask to step outside and 3 inspector went into our MH. After a few mins the only question was about a frozen bag with spaghetti sauce and it was cleared. One inspector was holding our Passports and he hollered to someone in the booth if we were cleared and I heard a voice say" they are Cdns; they are cleared to go. During the conversation I did just happen to mention that I spent 30 years in the Air Force because many customs officer are ex-military and it never hurts to let then know.   After clearing  the customs we went to a local Wal-Mart for the evening and we will go to the RV Park in the morning. Cheers   

Mx Trip # 65 Mis Play of the Day ( Saturday )

We left Villa Corona right on schedule at at 9 AM. The trip to Guadalajara, where we will catch the Periferico ( ring road around the city ) would be 1/2 an hour. What a wakeup call for us. The line up to get on the 4 lane hwy to Guadalajara took over 1/2 hour alone because we have a stop sign and the traffic on the hwy was so heavy, that the trucks ahead of us could not get a sufficient window to safely enter the hwy.  Some small cars and trucks actually left our lane amd entered the hwy  going down the exit lane. We thought there was going to be an accident but there wasn't one. Who in there right mine would do that: The answer Mexicans. 

We made it to Guadalajara and now we depended on our trusty GPS to advises us of the turn to the Periferico and to point us toward Zacatecas.  The periferico was in sight but the GPS said turn right which we did but as it turns out that was a mistake because it took us right thru the 2 or 3rd largest  city in MX. To be honest we were lost and gave up on the GPS. After 1 hour we stopped at a Pemex and got help from a customer who spoke English and as it turns out we were 2 km from the Periferico, however we are now at the extreme east of the city and we want the west side. 

OK, Zacatecas is now our of the question so we change our plans and headed for San Luis La Posti which is a huge Industrial city and we assumed that they would have fuel as we would need a top up by tonight or tomorrow morning. 

We arrived at a Toll booth around 5 PM and we were 25 km from La posti and I ask the attendant about fuel and I was advised that they had fuel 23 KM ahead at La Posti. We now had a choice to make ; do we stop at the toll booth overnight where there is lots of parking or go to the Pemex 23 km down the road and "hope " there is room to park. We choose to stay at the toll booth. We will hope to get fuel tomorrow. I only need to top ups to reach TX. Cheers 

MX Trip # 64 Waiting On Propane/ Supper with friends ( Friday )

As mentioned yesterday, I ask the camp owners to order the Propane truck to for me and a neighbour today but it never happen. I didn't really expect they would be here for 2 customers. However we stayed at the MH until noon waiting on the truck as he was suppose to be here between 8 and 10.

We are leaving here tomorrow and will be heading for TX which will take us 3 nights. We needed a few more Pesos so we went to the bank only to find a long line up. There are 2 banks in town , one with 2 ATMs and the other with one. Only one ATM was working so I was not in the mood to line up in the hot Sun so we left  and will return later. 

One of the neighbours had arranged a supper for 3 couples , one of whom we just met.  We had a happy hour before supper just to swap some travel stories. The supper was called Barbacola and it is a MX special dinner cooked and served in the owners home. It was Bar-b-Q beef done in a sauce with rice and a vegetable bean sauce which was a touch hot especially for Carroll. Dessert was Flan with caramel sauce. Flan is a type of custard which is another MX dish. It was an excellent meal and the cost was 100P ( 7.50 cdn) each.

Since we will be on the road for the next 3 days I will not have internet so my next blog will be from TX on 5 or 6 th of Feb. cheers 

MX Trip #63 We did Nothing today ( Thursday )

We Tell it like it is!  We went to the hot pool at 9 AM and stood around swapping stories with others. Someone suggested that a gang of us go out for supper on Friday so we all agreed and we nominated ( Railroaded ) the person who suggested it to make the reservation. 

Then we sat in our patio reading and mulling over the route we will take to TX  starting on Saturday. Oh yes; I ask the camp owner to order the Propane truck for Friday as I'm running low. I would not bet the farm on the chance they will show up. cheers

MX Trip # 62 Cocula ( Wednesday )

We did have anything to do today so we took a drive 21 KM to the city of Cocula. You may recall that we went there on Sunday for supper and to listen to the Mariachi band. We were told that it was a bustling , industrial city and that is what we found during our drive about. First we stopped at the Bodega ( grocery store ) to do some shopping as we were told that it was like a small Wal-Mart. It was true because some of the item were in fact Wal-Mart products with " Great Value" on the package. We picked up a few items and then decided to tour around the city/town. 

We noticed many industrial stores like paint, drywall lumber yard etc. and then as we got closer to the Zocola ( Town Square )  there was the obvious business such as doctors, dentist, eye specialist and everything else would expect to find in a city of 12,000. The streets are paved and they have parking meters so that is an indication that it is more than bedroom town. Once we reach the Zocola we circled it looking for a parking spot without success but we spotted a vendor selling Blueberries and Raspberries. So on the third lap I stopped and let Carroll out as we want berries and our vendor in Villa Corona was out of them. Then I found a parking spot but there was an evil eye policeman watching me so I ask If I could park and he said yes. 

You are never sure if it is legal to park because  yellow  paint on the curb means no parking. Actually it means I can't park there; the Mexicans seem to ignore it. Green means you can park only if you are doing business in the immediate shops. Blue means something else but I'm not sure so I don't park. No marking means you can park. If people don't want you to park in front of their home/business they just put a couple of chairs in the space and that seems to be acceptable.

After I parked , I then went to rescue Carroll as she was expecting a driveby pickup. We tour some more of the town and returned to our MH. Cheers 

Mx Trip # 61 2 Caravans arrived ( Tuesday )

Today is Market Day and even though we did not need much we take in the market experience. It is amazing what the have for sale, of which most does not interest us. They have a ton of clothes but most stuff is what you would see at a flea market. However, if you need it they got it. One resident needed an Ether Cord for his tv and he found it at the market. 

However, they do sell lots of veggie and it is a bit of a " shit-show " because you just barge into the table and inch your way along picking up your veggies until one of the clerks ( mostly men ) recognizes that you are ready to pay. We but 4 tomatoes, one cucumber etc but the MX ladies will buy a shopping bag full of tomatoes.  I think they bring the whole family to shop because no one person could carry everything they buy and there is shopping carts at the market.  

Neither Carroll or I have had a haircut since mid Nov so we decided that today was hair cut day. We got the address of a Salon from friends but the street was closed completely as the power company was working on it. We would have walked to the Salon but we could not find a parking spot within the vicinity. When we return to the park another friend said that there was  Salon about 2 blocks away so we went there. So we both got a hair cut, total cost 6.00 Cdn. 

In  the early afternoon a small caravan of 6 rig came in and parked in the overflow area which has power and water only. I doubt that they had reservations. This seemed odd as there was at least 25 open sites. Our neighbor wasn't  busy so he went over to talk to the group but apparently they went not too friendly and weren't interested in swapping travel stories.

Then about 3 PM another caravan  ( from Quebec ) of 15 rigs came in and they did have reservations and that is why the 6 earlier rigs went to the overflow because the French caravan all want to park together as much as possible. So we had French on both sides of us. They only stayed for 2 days. Cheers