After Sleeping on it, I Found the Key to the Problem.

WHERE ARE WE? Magnolia Beach, Texas

We woke up at a decent time this morning after an awesome sleep here at Magnolia Beach.  The water is calm out front and the sun is beaming down.  It will get busy here today because it is a weekend.  Oh well we can handle it.  A couple barges and a big ole ship went by while we were all having coffee.  

It was kicking up a nice wake behind it so Sue, Fany and Max headed down to experience it.

Ooooh thats a big one!!

Get ready!!

Splash!!

So I took Archie for a nice walk down the beach so he could check out all the smells along the way.  As I was walking along I got to thinking about the Ebike again.  Then it hit me!!  The bike has a key hidden on the bottom and for the life of me I couldn't remember if I had turned it on yesterday when I tried it.  So back home we went with a lilt in my step.  Sure enough the key was in the off position so I turned it on and crossed my fingers.  And voila!!  The screen lit up like it should!!! Woo Hoo.  So I jumped on it and hit the throttle and ......NOTHING!  Darn.

At the bottom of the screen was an error code....E010.  So I checked the code and it says "Display Communication Reception Failure" and suggests to check the display cord connection.  So I did that and nothing. Because I have changed the display, I hooked up the old display and it came up with the same code.  Now what??  I will check all the wires later this afternoon.  Anyway I went from elation to depression in just a few minutes!!!  But I will live, I promise.   Now on to a new project.

The other day when I stowed the Starlink, I forgot to turn off the power to it.  When we go down the road we leave the inverter on so at some point the Stinky as we call it, tried to find a satellite but because it is stowed in a solid position I guess it stripped the gears in the motor.  Since then we have been using it in the flat position with great results except that every once in a while the motor will start whirring as it tries to move the dish, but to no avail.  I did some research and found a way to disable the motor while maintaining the integrity of the dish so I got busy and made the alteration.  It worked well and we are getting good speeds still.  Now I will just mount it to the back of the motorhome behind the air conditioner and it will stay there even when we go down the road.  That way it will be useable even when we travel.  Win Win!!

A little bit of research just to make sure

It says 5 inches from bottom and 5 inches from right side.

The hole could have been better but it works

And with the stealth of a surgeon out came the motor plug.

And some sutures, well maybe duct tape!!

Bacck up on the roof

Working fine.

After all that work, Jeff and I went on a little road trip.  I gave him the two bit tour of the area including Edgar Magnolia whose attire changes with the occasion.  He is in jammies after a long winter nap I guess!! We checked out the Marina, the La Salle monument, Indianola and back home.

Saw a neat little Jeep roaring around.  I talked to the guy and he said it has a Briggs motor with a 4 speed transmission and goes about 30 mph.  It is like a kids car on steroids.  He said $2500 will buy one!!  I need one for the grandkids!!!

Spent the rest of the evening chatting outside.  It was a great evening but the breeze got chilly after a while so we all went in.

Sunset was beautiful tonight but the pink moon took center stage.  Another awesome day!! Good Nite!!

Strike out on the Bike Fix

WHERE ARE WE? Magnolia Beach, Texas

Although I was against any mention of being up to see the sunrise, it happened there right in front of me.  7 am wasn't really that difficult of time to arise, however we have driven across 2 time zones in the last 2 days so my body felt it was only 5 am.  Jeff, Fany, Sue and Max all set up chairs on the beach to observe.  I on the other hand stayed indoors and observed through the glass.  Yes I know, I was a wimp.  

All bundled up in a blanket

A ship in the morning light

So we got an early start this morning.  Our first thing was to drive about a mile or so to the Aransas Pass Ferry Terminal.  We didn't have to wait long and we were loaded on board and making our way on the short ferry trip.

And down the road we went.   About 130 kms to go today.

This is our route today.  

We had to make a little stop in Port Lavaca to pick up some supplies.  I had a couple things to get for some projects I am going to do in Magnolia, and Sue picked up some supplies so we don't starve on the beach.  I was in heaven when I learned that Harbor Freight has a store in Port Lavaca now and it is 2 doors down from ACE hardware!!!  I will be coming back here for sure and may spend a whole afternoon here.

We headed off to Magnolia beach.  We will be spending a week or so here.  The forecast is great for that time frame.  27 to 30C.  Sue got busy and put all the groceries away.  Of course I had to invade the fridge after a while and opened the door and as I was rustling around and woops!!!  Now I get to pick up blueberries.  

We have a nice spot on the beach and look who is here with us??  Yup its Ed and Lessie in the "Bird"!!  More about them later.

Our friends Randy and Susan stopped by for a quick visit this afternoon.  They are heading out on some sort of a Mediterranean cruise so this is the only time we will see them.  They also delivered some parts for me to try on my Ebike.  Fingers crossed that this will bring it back to life.  

Like a couple farmers, with hands in pockets.

The scooter and John Deere Jeep

A little later I got the new parts out and changed them all out.  It took about an hour to get all the wires changed around.

And guess what?  NOTHING!!!  I had high hopes.  I have changed everything on this bike except the motor.  Oh well lets sleep on it and maybe something will come up.  

Max sure enjoyed swimming in the ocean here.  Because we are in a protected bay, there are very few waves so he was not scared to go in the water.

Ok that's it for another day.  I missed the sunset, so the moon was the next best thing along with an episode of Survivor.  Good Nite!!

Goodbye to Mexico for a Few Months

WHERE ARE WE? Aransas Pass, Texas

We were up and on the road by 7:30 am because although we have a normal driving day, all the hiccups that can be had at the border can drag out the time.  We stopped to fuel just down the road and as I said things can slow down.  We got in line behind a local bus that was fueling, and the attendant had the nozzle set on the lowest position while he munched on a taco.  It took about 15 minutes to fill that thing with about 100 liters of fuel.  He had no cares in the world and actually after a while the van guys got out and went inside and got themselves a taco.  Did it bother me?  Not at all cause I am now a Canexican and am becoming accustom to these kinds of things.  Only thing I did wrong was I didn't go inside to get a taco myself!!!

We were about 200 kms from the border and everything moved along quite well.  We arrived at the Banjecito about 10:30 to turn in our TIPs.  I must admit that this was the quickest and most efficient TIP return I have ever been part of.  Normally they are quite thorough with their examination of the VIN numbers and that they match the paperwork, and when he only looked at 1 place for the VIN on RRV and I went to show him the second spot, he said not necessary.  A couple pictures and processed my return and we were off.  Jeff and Fany had the same luck with theirs.

But the US border was the opposite.  It was jammed packed and we had about 20 cars in front of us.  When we did get to the booth it was quite quick.  Guns? Alcohol, Fruit or Veggies, Tobacco??  That was it.  But both Jeff and I got sent to secondary for a quick dog check.  The girl came out with some frozen meat that was disallowed and a pound of frozen bacon from the butcher.  All were disallowed and they had to take them away.  I told the girl to fry the bacon because it was the best she would ever taste!!  She assured me that it is all incinerated on site!!  That was it.  Jeff had to pay $10 bucks for a bunch of tequila he brought with him.  Great experience all around but we wasted the best part of an hour there.  Sorry to all the people who thought Trump would meet us there and detain us for weeks and take our phones and then deport us after a sound flogging!!!  Didn't happen!!  LOL.

After we got done at the border, we needed some lunch.  So you can guess where we went.  No idea why we went there but I guess after 5 months one has to have a reality check.  Yup that will do for a while.

Then we were off down the road again.  We travelled south on #2 for 50 kms or so and it was a zoo.  I don't know where all the people come from and go to.  I could not live in this hum drum but it is fun to visit.  

Here is where we travelled today.  527 kms in total.

We arrived at Port Aransas about 6:30 local time.  We had lost another hour today.  We will soon have jet lag!!!  We bought a permit for $12 and we can now camp on the beach for a whole year.

Everyone, except me, gathered on the beach for an evening chat.  I had stuff to do, so passed.  I will get lots of sitting on the beach at Magnolia.  Thats where we are off to tomorrow.  It won't be such a hectic travel day as its only about 100 kms up the road.  

It was 33C for a high and 21C for a low today and tonight.  Spring has sprung!! Good Nite!!!