Some Things you can't Unsee!!

WHERE ARE WE?          Baraka RV Park, Mazatlán, Mexico

NEXT DESTINATION?    La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico

We have enjoyed our time in Mazatlán not because of authentic Mexico culture but rather to see one of the places where people our parents age and older first started to enjoy the Mexico experience.  We have a friend back home by the name of Dave Oakey who has spent a few years in the music industry down here and he told us to make sure we check out the Malicon and the Centro area of Mazatlan.  It is not hard to see that this is where the gringo's have hung out for years.   But first of all we spent some time on the beach just hanging out in the morning.  Even at 10 am it was nearing 30C and we had to seek shade where we could find it.

A do nothing day.

WHERE ARE WE?          Baraka RV Park, Mazatlán, Mexico for 2 more nights

NEXT DESTINATION?    La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico

I have to admit that I didn't take a lot of pictures today.  We relaxed all day and did a couple chores.   We went and got some cash from the bank and did a quick stop at Walmart.  We were home early and spent more time sitting around. There were a couple of frigets flying overhead.  They can circle for hours and never flap their wings.  Pretty birds.

Almost There!!

WHERE ARE WE?          Baraka RV Park, Mazatlán, Mexico for 3 nights

NEXT DESTINATION?    La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico

We are at the point of seeing the perverbial light at the end of the tunnel.  We are only about 400 kms from our final destination and will have no problem driving there on Friday.  Why Friday you say?  Well to allow for any screw ups it is always nice to have a couple days grace so that is what we now have.  We have not had any troubles so because the La Penita RV Park does not open until Nov 1, we have to wait out our time here in Mazatlán.  Don't get feeling sorry for us because Mazatlán is a beautiful resort city with lots to do.  Hey it has a Walmart and a Home Depot!!!  What else could you ask for???   The only thing that is lacking is internet.  The park has no wifi right now and our ATT is really hit and miss so for the next couple days we will just enjoy the beach and you can rest assured we are having fun.  See you in a couple days.

NEWS FLASH!!!   WE HAVE WIFI!!!!

And then they hooked up the wifi in the park and now I can do a catch up.  Todays drive was a little more stressful because of the condition of the roads.  Lots of bumps and broken pavement, and a bunch of toll booths besides.

Another Good Day with only a small Glitch

WHERE ARE WE?          Los Mochis, Mexico 

NEXT DESTINATION?    Mazatlán, Mexico

Another good day of travel today.  We made it to our next stop in Los Mochis.  Before we got very far this morning we stopped at a Pemex for Diesel Fuel.  A little different than at home because about 4 guys and a kid and 5 dogs immediately descended on the Ponderosa.  Because our fuel tank is locked, they had to wait to start fuelling so I had a chance to get my bearings and confirm that the pump was at zero.  The guy even pointed to the pump to make sure I was happy it was at zero.  Two guys rolled out a barrel and got up to do the windows while another pumped the fuel.  It is still a little hard to get ones head around paying over $4500.00 for fuel.  Peso's that is.  And they didn't take credit cards so good thing we had cash available.  Diesel is about $1.42 a liter Canadian.  Ouch!!!

A Day of Relaxing

WHERE ARE WE?           Totonaka RV Park, San Carlos, Mexico

NEXT DESTINATION?    Los Mochis, Mexico

Today was a down day for us.  Because the RV Park in La Penita doesn't open until November 1, we have to drag our heels a bit, so today was one of those days.  Because darkness overtakes us at supper time, it is really hard to stay up past 9 pm.  So when 7 am rolls around I am wide awake which is really really strange for me.  Same with today, even though we had nowhere to go.  Coffee on the deck with P & H and then a little walk on the beach.  Kind of a rock or pebbly beach here but it is the ocean all the same.  The water temp was gorgeous.

Another Great Travel Day

WHERE ARE WE?           Totonaka RV Park, San Carlos, Mexico for 2 nights

NEXT DESTINATION?    Los Mochos, Mexico

We were packed up an leaving the park by 8 this morning.  Dora who is our gracious host was there to make sure we had enjoyed ourselves.  She owns the little park and says that she needs more customers or she may lose it.   Anyone who is travelling south should consider stopping there for the night.   It is 300 peso's and includes 15 amp and water and lots of smiles.  Just call ahead and she will have the gate open for you.  It is just the right distance from the border and Aduana if you are entering at either Nogales or Lukeville to allow for some delays doing paper work and still arriving in daylight.

Hola Mexico!!!

WHERE ARE WE?           Punta RV Park, Santa Ana, Sonora, Mexico 

NEXT DESTINATION?    San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

We were up and at it and rolling our wheels by 8 am this morning.  There are 6 rigs in the caravan and we are number 3 in the line.  We headed down 85 highway to Lukeville, AZ where we crossed the border into Mexico.  We passed by Organ Pipe National Monument on our way.  We have visited this monument 4 years ago when we were at Ajo for the fiddlers contest in February that year.  Very pretty country.

Hail Hail the Gangs all Here!

WHERE ARE WE?           Ajo Arizona  

NEXT DESTINATION?    Mexico!

Glad we made it to Ajo yesterday because there was quite a bit of stuff to do to get ready to head into Mexico tomorrow morning.  Pat and Harold showed up for morning coffee and we discussed all the troubles of the world so I think everyone will be in good shape while we are away in Mexico.  Then a bunch of remedial wash the Jeep, drain the tanks, fill with water, go to the bank for peso's.  Now do you believe that a town that is less than 40 miles from Mexico has no peso's?   I could not believe it.  There are hundreds of people every day go through here on their way to Mexico and they have no Peso's.  Oh well!!  The most important task I did today was to clean all the front windows in the Ponderosa.  We will not be looking back so no need to do the back ones.

First Part of Adventure Complete, on to Part Two

WHERE ARE WE?           Ajo Arizona  

NEXT DESTINATION?    Mexico!

Because of the slow downs we have been having, today was make up day.   We got up this morning bright and early and were on the road by 7 am.  That is unheard of for Sue and I because we like to sleep till 9 or so normally.  We always comment how beautiful mornings are and that we should enjoy more of them, but then very quickly we fall back into the 9 am risings.  Charlie was even nodding off looking out the window.

On the Move Again

WHERE ARE WE?           Soccorro, New Mexico   

NEXT DESTINATION?    Tucson, Arizona

West Truck Service got P & H in the shop first thing this morning.  They are a great group of guys and they seem to want to help out anyone in trouble.  Quite often this is not the case when it comes to RV's because they are so miserable to work on.

Well that Didn't Work!!!

WHERE ARE WE?           Moriarty, New Mexico   

NEXT DESTINATION?    Tucson, Arizona

So P & H are still having some difficulties with a computer glitch plaguing them.  Of course there are not a lot of places outside of the major centers that want to even look at Motorhomes.  They got towed in last night to a freightliner place in Santa Rosa who won't even look at it because it is an RV.  We know that the temp gauge goes right to the top and the bells and whistles go off but we have physically checked the temperature of the engine block and it is not even close to overheat in fact it is under normal when we check.  So it has to be a sensor or computer glitch.  Harold talked to a few mechanics who said if we are confident that it is not overheating, to just ignore the buzzers and drive it to somewhere where it can be fixed.  So we tried that this morning and got down the road a couple miles and guess what.  The computer thinks the thing is gonna blow up so it puts the engine in safe mode.  That only allows you to travel about 30 miles and hour so now we are on the side of the road again.  Coach net is coming to tow it to a mechanic about 70 miles up the road however we now have to wait on the tow truck which seems to take forever!!!!  Now we don't want to make a story out of our friends misfortune but rather to let others know that if you are prepared, some things are not as difficult to deal with.  It is a lonely feeling when you are broke down on the side of the road in some strange area and you feel like you will never get out of the situation.  I'm here to tell you that things like roadside assistance can help get rid of that sinking feeling.

A 4 State day!

WHERE ARE WE?           Santa Rosa New Mexico   

NEXT DESTINATION?    Las Cruces New Mexico

Because we are on a bit of a schedule to meet up with some other people in Ajo on Oct 24th we are putting on the miles each day.  We are well within our time schedule but want to leave a couple days leeway in case of difficulties.  One such difficulty raised its head today with a water temp sensor on P & H's rig.  It is not serious but needs a simple fix so we may be a bit late heading down the road tomorrow.  It sure takes the pressure off if there is extra time available.  Today we were in a total of 4 states.  Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and now New Mexico.  Here was our route today.  We are in Santa Rosa New Mexico tonight.

Moving farther down the road

Well we got off to a late start today.  Some technical difficulties but nothing that a reboot of the MH electrical system wouldn't fix.  And it didn't cost a dime.  I love free.  But I did find out that my hot water tank is leaking but its nothing I am gonna worry about right now.  Sounds like a good project for while we are sitting in Mexico.

A Boring travel day.

First of all I have to apologize for the different fonts and colors today.  I had to do a lot of copy and paste and it really messes up the format.  I don't have the patience to deal with it so just grin and bear it if you could.

We had a good travel day today.  We travelled over 750 kilometers (470 miles) and are in North Platte Nebraska.   We have about 1800 kms to go and 4.5 days to get there.  Thats only 200 kms a day so easy peasy!!!  Here is the route we followed today.

First Day on the Road

WHERE ARE WE?           Bismark North Dakota   

NEXT DESTINATION?    North Platte, Nebraska

We spent the night in our daughters driveway and were up bright and early because I had to go back to the shack to get some stuff that we forgot.  Can you imagine that we would forget somethin?  Well maybe it was me that forgot something.  We had a 9:00 appointment at the bank and when we got there it was Credit Union day so of course we had to have coffee with the manager and the girls.  We were the only ones in there at that time of day.  We will miss their smiles!!!

The Last Supper

WHERE ARE WE?           Our Daughters house in Rivers Manitoba Canada   

NEXT DESTINATION?    Somewhere in southern North Dakota or northern South Dakota

Today was a clean up day.  A day to do all those jobs that a procrastinator like myself is forced to do at the last minute.  Store everything away and board up the windows and doors to keep old man winter out.

Our Travel Plans Revealed

WHERE ARE WE?           Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba Canada   

NEXT DESTINATION?    Bismark North Dakota,  Thursday Oct 17

Well folks, I guess it is about time that I give everyone a little heads up on our travel plans for this winter.  As you can see by the countdown on the side bar we should be on the road by now.  Well that didn't happen because we had some things to finish up and Pat and Harold had some things to do too, so we are planning to head out on Thursday morning.  But first we have to catch up on what happened in the past week or two.  We got to celebrate a birthday for our youngest grandchild, Max.   Kaitlyn rented a room at the rink and we had a gathering.  Nicole brought Abby, Silas and Emma to join us.  We all had a fun day.

Soon time to head South.

Here is another quick story of what we have been up to since the last blog.  August was a little slower at the Ice Cream Shack and the September long weekend was a little dreary so we did our best to go out with a bang.  The weekend after the long weekend is officially our shut down date.  Thanks to all of our loyal customers and friends for a great season.