MX Trip #20 The last site is now filled ( Wednesday )

The last site in our park is now occupied and it happens to be the one next to us. The couple are well travel  retired farmers  ( Don and Denise ) from Brandon MB so it goes without saying they are very nice folks.

They are also friends of Dave and Joanne whom we have mentioned earlier as our friends. D and J are leaving Friday to go home for Christmas so we invited them to go our for supper. Since D and D had just arrived around 4 PM they gladly accepted an invitation to join the 4 of us. It was also a great way to get to meet them and swap travel stories. They prefer to travel with Caravans, in MX or other countries around the world. I had 30 years of someone making my travel decisions so I prefer to make my own decisions, therefore Caravans are too expensive and not my cup of tea. 

There are lots of fresh fruit in MX and  we tasted some a few days ago so we went back to the Fruiteria to get fresh raspberries and strawberries. These strawberries are local and  smaller but 
sweeter  than the tasteless, partly ripe and overpriced ones your get at Costco. Also when they say it is ripe they mean it, not like the 
" dork "in Super Store who thinks that if it is in the store it must be ripe.

My friend Bob ( who speaks some Spanish ) and I went to the machine shop to see if my Tow Bars where ready. They were not ready as the owner did not want to try to straighten the bent bars, but wanted my permission to replace the bars which I whole hardly agreed. However,  Bob wasn't sure what he was trying to explain so the owner called his son ( somewhere in MX ) and the son translated to Bob and Bob to me and we both agreed to replace the bars. The owner said they would be ready Manana and we said OK. As we walked away I looked at Bob and I said "he means eventually not tomorrow" and Bob smiled and nodded yes.  Cheers 

MX Trip # 19 The Wall Came down ( Tuesday )

Our RV Park borders another RV Park that has been abandon for many years, however there is a 12 foot brick wall the entire length of our Park. Our park owner built 1/2 of the wall but the other 1/2 was built by the other park owner. This wall was constructed before we ever came here in 2003 so it has been here long time. 

Recently, some investors purchased the abandon  property , probably to built condos or a hotel because it is prime property and of course beach front. Over the years it has been a dumping ground for everybody's junk so now they are removing the garbage and tearing down the other 1/2 of the wall. Unfortunately our owner was not given any warning. About 8 years ago our owner removed several camp sites and built a 3 story, 30 unit holiday suites  ( more money in suites ) and he had to revamp the utilities and in doing so he install the power on and along the entire wall. Also several of theses 200,000.00 MH are back up within a foot of the wall. And without notice a backhoe started to remove the wall with pieces falling precariously close to the MH so needless to say panic set in.

 The MH owners had to quickly disconnect their utilities and move their MH forward about 10 ft and some even had to protect there rig with a tarp. Because the power was install on the wall the power had to be shut off to most of the camp ( including yours truly ) for most of the day. The power was back on by 5 PM so I assume they run some temporary power to those who lost it. This did cause some panic for most of the day. 

Several campers are going home for Christmas; some to be with family and other to restart their insurance. One lady flew out today but her husband was still here so I ask why so, and he says the dog could not endure a flight so he is staying to mind it. And they would probably say that the dog does not run their life. Cheers     

MX Trio # 18 Repair Tow Bar ( Monday )

As mentioned earlier , I bent the tow bar when I hit a bump which I did not see and it was not marked. My neighbor, Bob said he would take it to a machine shop, which he has used before and besides Bob speaks some Spanish as he was a resident in 2012. This is great for me as I don't want to tow the car with 2 bent rods. I'm convinced the MX tradesmen can make the repairs.

The city/town of Guayobitos has a large park  in the town centre with an area where they host a  "Artsy"  market every Monday. They venders mainly sell jewelry, tee shirts, table clothes, and pottery etc but they do not sell vegetables.The veggie  market is in another town on Thursday. 

Carroll had a ring made in this area 4 years ago and now wants ear rings to match so she thought she might find the the Jeweler at this market even thought his shop and store is in another town about 10 miles away. She explain to one Jeweler that she was looking for the one who made her ring and by looking at the ring he knew the Jeweler and  pointed to his booth. The Jeweler's wife was there so she suggested that we come to their shop in Lo de Marco to get an estimate for the Jeweler, which we will do next week.

We had a 1 PM appointment to have the MH washed and waxed in the park. So we headed back to the park but did a quick stop at the Fruitateria where we picked up some fresh raspberries, a cantelope, a few oranges and a cumber for 5.50. Since the meat market was across the street I picked up 2 pork chops. We intend to do a bigger grocery list on Thursday at the market. 

The Martinez crew arrived to wash and wax the MH right on schedule ; at 3 PM; 2 hours late in MX is actually on time. I don't believe  the Mexicans have a watch nor do they care about a schedule. I'm convinced " Manana " means eventual. The Martinez crew did a great job as the MH looks better than new. The cost was 55.00 Cdn so I gave them a 6.00 tip.

As a point of interest, I read in the Globe that our 3 Phone companies in Canada are going to sell their users and one  additional  GB for 30.00 on top of your cell bill. Telcel sold me a package of unlimited phone and text for North America and 10 GB for 26.00  USD. Don't you just love the generosity of  our Canadian Cell companies. cheers 

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MX Trip # 17 Getting Introduced to other campers ( Sunday )

Today we finished setting up our MH and got out all the " stuff " I packed: chairs, table,swimming noddles and Bar-B-Q etc out of the MH.  It take a long time to set up because other campers walk by and stop to talk and introduce themselves. There are 5 couples who live in Med Hat or use to live in Med Hat so when they stop by it the old question; do you know so and so. 

One couple, Dave and Joanne, who circled the country with us in 2004 dropped by  so we had plenty of stories to re-hash. They spend every winter at this park  so they know the "ropes " so to speak. I ask Dave if he knew someone to wash and wax our MH and he grabbed his phone and spoke in broken Spanish to someone and then  said Martinez and crew will be here to wash and wax your Rig at 1 PM tomorrow. Now that is service. 

Then we had a ton of laundry so we inquired about launderette that did laundry and it was a block away so we deliver our two bags of dirty clothes  to the Launderette at  11.00 and it was done by 2 PM. It was wash, dried, folded and placed into bags of like items all for 14.00   

We are about 200 feet from the ocean and the beaches are some of the best in MX. However we decided to hit the pool in lieu of the beach because on Sunday the beaches in this area are wall to wall with people. The people come by the bus loads on Friday and leave on Monday so we elected to hit the pool with a couple of friends and let the Mexicans have their beach.

Dave is a Bar-B-Q  " Aficionado " so he Bar-B-Q 6 chickens; 3 for the camp staff for their staff party, one for another couple and 2 for himself. Then Dave and Joanne invited us for supper which was a great way to complete our day. cheers

MX Trip # 16 Saturday 2/3 Highway

We arrived in Guayobitos around 4 PM but it was the drive that was interesting. A few years ago the MX government build a new toll road from Mazatlan to Guadalajara as this is a highly traveled road especially with trucks and Buses. One would think that this road would call for a 4 lane highway. I'm not sure if this highway had a funding problem or if it was designed on purpose but since it is not the only road  build this way. 

So what is the difference from most highways, This a 2 lane highway but it has 6 ft shoulders on each side therefore it becomes a 3 lane highway. The shoulders are marked on both sides with  broken lines in area where you are expected to merge over a few feet allowing  the guy behind you to pass much like a Suicide lane. At first it seems scary but once you see it working everyone seem quite comfortable. I even tried it myself several times once I seen it in action. 

I may have mention in an earlier blog that I bent a tow bar shaft when I hit 2 bumps in Hermosillo. When we arrived at the Park in Guayobitios I expected to find it difficult to disconnect the tow bar because of the bent shaft. What I did not realize was the both shafts were bent and therefore I could not disconnect the car. So now I had to disconnect the tow bar from the MH and back up the car to pull the tow bar free from the MH. Now I will have to find a machine shop who can straighten the two bar. One of the guys in the park says he will take me to a machine shop next week and he is sure they can do the job. 

We are now at our destination and we will settle in for a month.We did the basic setup and will do the rest tomorrow, cheers 

MX Trip # 15 To Mazatlan ( Friday )

We left our Truck Stop camping spot ( near Los Mochas ) around 8 AM which our usual launch time and headed to Mazatlan to met our long time traveling companions, Otto and Edna. This leg of the trip , according to the GPS should take about 4 hours. However, Mr GPS never actually traveled on these "god for saking road" in MX or they never would had suggested a travel time. I , liking this stretch of road to mimmic a plowed field. There is so much broken and patched asphalt that you can not avoid the bumps and pot holes. The Mexicans seem to think if you drive real fast you will skim the tops of the bumps because they were flying past us.

We arrived at our camp site in the early afternoon and the owner was waiting for us just inside the gate so Otto must have told him about our arrival time. Otto and Edna had gone to check out a town about 50 KM away that was disseminated  by  the  hurricane in Nov. The camp site is situated on a boulevarded 4 lane street therefore I had to pass the camp site and go to a "Returno" which is a legal U-Turn to be able to enter the gate. The owner said you missed the Returno and said no I didn't;  I needed a different Returno with more room but the owner has never had a MH so doesn't understand how much room we need. 

Then after I signed in I got a real shocker when he hit me with the price, 48.00 CDN  for 1 night and the wifi is the shits, the grounds are poorly maintain and the property is  either construction or destruction on all 3 sides. They start at 6 AM and work to dark. One lady said it was so loud that they had to wear ear plugs. Furthermore, you have to walk at least a block to the beach. 

I can assure you that I will never return to this shit box of a place.

We did get to visit with Otto and Edna for a few hour so we got caught on their happening for the past 3 years. We don't think Mazatlan is the place for as we prefer to have a waterfront park and there a many better places in MX. cheers

We are all mature, until someone pulls out some bubble wrap

 

MX Trip #14 Heading for Mazatlan ( Thursday )

We left San Carlos and headed for Mazatlan, since  it is a good 12 hour drive to Maz and 12 hours on the MX roads are not in our driving budget so we knew we would have to stop at a truck stop along the way. Our friends, Otto and Edna where already in Mazatlan so they advised us to stop at a "Smart Gas" truck stop just a few KM out of Los Mochas. However we were looking for a Number ( all gas station/truck stops have a 4 digit number )  but we missed it so now we had to find another further down the road. Since these are toll roads you can,t exit for miles so onward we went. 
Note: MX now allows other Oil companies to built gas station to compete with Pemex. We seen Gulf , Conoco and Shell.

About an hour down the road, near Guasave we found a brand new Pemex truck stop and it was so new tthat only the gas pumps were operating, as the Diesel pumps were not ready yet. No diesel, no trucks,  so after we filled up I ask about parking overnight and he pointed to the entire lot as if to say help yourself. We were the only ones there all night but all Pemex that  close during the evening have a guard on duty during the quiet hours so we always feel safe.

The MX government is really spending money to upgrade their toll roads and most roads are concrete as apposed to asphalt. As a result we end up driving on some really bad roads and occasionally we get shifted to the new roads which is great. Cheers  

I think there is something missing in my life: like 2 or 3 million dollars