Why, Az to Edgar’s in Santa Ana,Sonora…..and it’s a sad story.

So…how did the day go, well all in all not that bad. 

We were up at 7am and on the road by 9am.  Not a huge distance to go but there was paperwork to be done at the border as well as San Emeterio so no time to dawdle. 

Heading towards Lukeville and the Mexican border.  First small glitch was when Eric realized he’d left the hitch pins for the RV ladder sitting on the pavement  by the Casino.  We’d pulled into the parking lot to load the RV ladder into the garage.  It hangs out to the side and when we travel in Mexico it’s always in danger of getting whacked off.  Eric set the pins that attatch it to the RV down and forgot to pick them up.  No big deal as we weren’t far down the road.  Onward!

There has been a huge amount of rain in the last few months and the desert is electric green.  We’ve seen it green before but…nothing like this.   Just beautiful.

Heading south.

I tried to get a picture of the ocotillo cactus which you can just see a tip of on the right as they are as green as we’ve ever seen them.   Usually they just look like dead brown sticks but not now.

A beautiful drive today. 

There is an ocotillo in the middle and to the left an organ pipe.

Coming up to the border and I wondered if we’d have an agricultural check.  The actual regs for coming into Mexico say no meat, vegetables or fruit of any kind but it is discretionary.   I won’t tell you where my meat was!

When we pulled through there was no ag check but the army decided to do a full shake down.  One guy was in the garage of the RV for at least 20 minutes opening every cupboard and checking every drawer.  Checked the kitchen cabinets too.  Not sure what he was looking for but he found nothing as…we have nothing.  We then parked to the side and walked back to get our tourist visa which was a slow process.  First we were given a slip of paper to take to the banco across the street.  Hard to find as it wasn’t marked.  It is actually a town bank so it was busy and that took about 1/2 hour to pay for the visas.  1066 pesos for two visas.  Back to immigration to finish it off and just as we were leaving about 5 RV’s came in.  The army started a check on them as well and we boogied off for San Emeterio to do our vehicle import papers.   Luckily we were ahead of that large group.

Maybe they were only going to Puerto Penasco as they were all from California. 

Highway is pretty good here and it is again beautiful and green.

Here we are at San Emeterio or the “Gulag” which is what it looks like to me!

When we turned our paperwork in back in April this is where we were led into….the bus entrance.  We pulled in and parked in front of the bus stalls.  The young woman out front wanted us to leave and come around through somewhere else.  She called another woman over who said it was fine that it was fine.  She just made us move a bit farther forward.  We also noted that they have taken out more of the curb where you exit so you won’t bark your tires as you go through. 

We went inside and completed the paperwork for the truck, bike and RV.  They were nice, spoke English and very efficient although the lady helping me wanted to go outside and take a picture of the VIN on the door of the truck.  This is usually only done when returning the stickers.  Always a new twist!  We confirmed that we should come in the bus entrance to get and return our stickers.  They said it wasn’t high enough coming through the car lane and that the bus entrance was correct.  We were also told we could go through the bus exit and park farther down so we wouldn’t have to back up to get out.  They have a door at the south end of the building so they have no problem using it to come outside to remove stickers when we return.   You can see to the left behind us where we will back up and exit this area.  When we were done we pulled farther down before leaving and had lunch.  There is plently of room there for more than one RV to get paperwork.  Now….if they’d only have immigration for tourist visa’s here as well like they used to. 

Here we are coming into Cabora.  The highway from San Emeterio to Caborca was decent for the most part but really bad for a few Km’s around km 127.  We hit a huge pothole in the middle of the road that we couldn’t avoid. 

Pitiquito now abandoned.  Another huge waste of money.  We started getting paperwork at San Emeterio, then Pitiquito and now back to San Emeterio.  It was much easier staying in Yuma and going down to San Luis to get everything done before we crossed the border but not worth the trip there this year. 

Not a soul in sight. 

Coming through Altar.

Coming into Santa Ana and they have repaved the road…very nice. 

So now for Edgar’s RV park.  We pulled in and one of his sisters was outside helping us park.  I asked about Edgar and it is not good.  He fell three months ago and in doing so hit his head.  He is now in a wheelchair and unable to walk.  He is not cognizant all the time and it is taking both of his sisters to look after him as they have to lift him out of bed.  He is unable to control the side of his body damaged in the motorcyle accident over 50 years ago so he can’t walk at all and is incontinent as well.   She said that she brings him outside in the morning to get some air.  That is not even the worst of it.  She hired a man to look after Edgar and in the five days he was there he stole many things from the house, some of his clothes and his money as well.  He took Edgar to the bank every day and emptied out his savings account.   She has gone to the police to report what happened.  The charge to stay the night was 300 pesos and I gave her 500.  A small donation but she was thankful.  Perhaps people could make an effort to stay in the park and add a little to the nightly fee to help them out.  Over the years it has been a safe stop and we have always enjoyed both Edgar and Ana’s company.  Such a sad way to end a story.  I wonder how much of Edgar’s deline is due to his loss of Ana two years ago.  

At this point the sisters and the nephew intend to carry on with the park.  They all live in Hermosillo but they are making it work as best they can.  We did not see Edgar and it is unlikely he would have recognized us and I think I want to remember him the way he was.   We will stop here again on our way home. 

While we were there she had the electrician working to upgrade the power to a safer level.  It was out for a couple of hours but…no matter to us.  The lady next to us was very rude about it because she couldn’t watch TV and her microwave wouldn’t work!  Edgar’s sister offered to microwave “Lila’s” dinner for her.  I assured the sister that all was well and it was not a problem for us as she was very stressed by the whole affair.   Power was on a bit later and all was well. 

Phoenix, Az to Why,Az and our sewer issue turned out to be no issue!

On Saturday morning it was time to move on to Why but first we had to dump our tanks.   As you may remember we had a leak but it was uncertain as to which tank was involved.  Eric’s worry was that it was the black tank and that the liquid would have drained out into the pipe leaving the solids behind over the month that we were at home.

Here we are backed up to Fred’s RV site.  There is an extra sewage hook up at the end of his pad and nice guy that he is he said it was no problem for us to use it.  To start Eric hooked up a clear sewage connection that we’d bought the day before so he could see what was happening.  Then a bucket under the outlet in case the pipe was full.  It turned out there wasn’t more than about a gallon and the liquid was clear.  That was really good news because now he doesn’t have to crawl under the rig and replace the black tank valve.  He does have a new bayonet valve that he can attach to the end of the outside connection so we can’t get a leak when we aren’t hooked up to sewer and….lots of spare parts.  It may be that we have a small leak in one of the grey tank connections but…he has parts for that too!   So….tanks dumped and we were on the road. 

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A short day at 143 miles.  We took the 51 to the 101 to the I10 and then straight south on 85.

It was busy even for a Saturday morning.

Heading south on 85 and it’s a straight shot without much traffic. 

South of Gila Bend we stopped to eat and this was our lunch guest.  Eric spied him/or her hoofing it across the open gravel.

It was at least four inches long and had a spike on it’s back end.  It was very intent on digging and seemed oblivious to our presence.

It was moving rocks and digging holes.   In the end it was freaking me out so I got a piece of flat plastic and coaxed it up on top.  I dropped it into some plants a ways from the rig and it promptly started muching away.  I looked it up on the internet and it is a white-lined Sphinx caterpilllar that turns into a Sphinx moth with a wing span of up to six inches and is one of the largest flying insects in the desert.    Yikes….that’s one big moth.  Turns out the horn on it’s tail is not poisenous and it was just looking for soil so it can pupate and turn into….a moth. 

Beautiful sunset in the desert.

A rosy glow.

Here we are parked in the Hickiwan RV park just out of Why.   This time we parked over by the office so we’d be facing south.  Easy for Eric to hook up the satellite dish on the 5th wheel hitch.  Not much has changed in the park since we were last year despite the big plans of the new manager.  It is quiet and cheap at $19 so no complaints other than the fact the internet is out and has been for some time.  Laundry facilities are good and showers are hot ….some of the time.

It was cloudy last night so we got another nice sunset. 

A trip into Ajo (about 10 miles north) to pick up this and that. 

Tomorrow we head for the border and Edgar’s small RV park in Santa Ana. 

In Phoenix for a couple of days

We arrived back at the RV on Halloween night at about 9:45pm.  It had been a long day and the last flight between Calgary and Phoenix was a noisy one.  There was a gramma transporting her toddler grandson and he hollered, yelled and cried the whole way.  Luckily we were a couple of rows back but I think the teenage girl that was sitting beside them has probably decided that she never wants children!  We had prebooked the Supershuttle for our ride back from the airport and it worked out well as usual.  Cheap ($56. US in cluding a tip) to transport us both to and from the airport.  A bargain.  We had a couple of beers when we got home and then off to bed.  A long day and we were both tired.

Thursday was spent picking up parts for the RV sewage repair and getting groceries.  The weather is warm and sunny so all is well. 

Today is Friday and we were off to WinCo to load up on cheddar cheese, butter and some tasty American pork.  North American butter and cheddar cheese can be bought in Mexico but it is deadly expensive.   I’d already stocked up on toilet paper, paper towels and a few other things before we left home so…we are good to go.  Tomorrow morning we will pack up and move to a dump site on the property before we leave.  Frank and Sandi’s RV park is a great place for us to leave the RV when we fly home and we really like it here.  Nice people in the park, clean and tidy and handy to everything we need.  We aren’t actually in a site but Jim the park manager hooked us up 30amp power and let us use his water hose….nice guy. 

Eric will do the RV repair when we get to Why, AZ where we will have access to the park washrooms if the repair takes more than a day.  We will have  a hardware and RV parts store in Ajo which is about 20 minutes north of Why. 

Heading back to Phoenix

 

It's Halloween afternoon and we are sitting in the Calgary airport waiting for our flight back to Phoenix.  It's been a busy month at home and lots was accomplished due to our beautiful October weather.  October is usually rainy in Terrace but....not this year.  The fall colours were outstanding and lasted almost the whole time we were home.  I managed to put all my perennial gardens to bed and...got almost all the leaves mowed up with my riding mower and put back on the beds as mulch. 

Eric spent his time at home removing the old 1980s pasture cross fences.  He wanted to get it done before the posts completely rotted and had to be dug out.  A big job as there was over a 1000 feet to do.  Remove staples, pull posts, fill holes and roll up the wire.  Initially he had hand split about 750 cedar posts from trees cut on the property so they lasted a long time.

Tractor ready to pull posts with a chain that I wrap around.

This field is damp and Eric didn’t mow the reed canary grass that grows so well there.  Tall!

Heading down the line.

Lots of posts to pick up and lots of holes to fill. After this fence line the ones you can see to the right and left of the barn in the distance were also removed.

Don’t I look snazzy with my typical outdoor gear on!

Looking back at the house from where we are working.

We feel like everything is in good shape for our return in the spring.

Yesterday we did the house shut down...drained and blew out water lines, antifreeze in dishwasher and washing machine pumps as well as all drains.  We don't leave heat on in the house so everything freezes.  We took all leftover food to our daughter's last night and she fed us a nice Mexican taco dinner of Pacific coast halibut and then we spent the night.  This morning she took us to the airport and...here we are.  Into Phoenix tonight where we will stay for a couple of days before heading south to Why, AZ.  I’ll stock up the RV before we go and when we get to Why Eric will fix our leaking sewer valve.  The worry is that the liquid leaked out while we were away and…the solids that were left behind have dried out and blocked the sewer outlet at the base of the black tank. 

Plan for the worst and….hope for the best.

To be continued….

A Day in Phoenix and ….the truck problem wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

It rained over night and continued on this morning.  There was major flooding around the city.  Eric was off in the truck for his 8am appt and I waited to hear the news. 

He returned before 10am and it turns out the problem is the water pump.  It will cost $1500 US to replace it and change all the coolant fluid.  We consider ourselves lucky that it isn’t the head gasket which would have cost almost as much as the truck is worth to repair.  Eric didn’t know how he was going to get home as the dealership had said he could just take an Uber which we know nothing about.  Turns out they call and pay for Uber so that is a good thing.  The truck will be ready by 6pm tonight but Eric will wait till morning to pick it up.  He said it is a huge shop with about 30 mechanics working so they push a lot of vehicles through.

By late morning the rain had eased off leaving great big puddles.  However I don’t think the storm is done with us yet.

Our windows were filthy from all the dust of travelling and now they will be clean but it didn’t clean bugs off the front of the RV that we picked up in Idaho.  

Looking in at the park …that’s us just to the left of Jim’s red car.

The 5th wheel will be safe and sound until we get back on Halloween day. 

Quartzite to Phoenix

 

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Only 149 miles on the final leg of our journey south to Phoenix before we fly home on Thursday.  We went into Phoenix on I10 and took the 101 loop to get our destination.    When we stayed in Mesa for the winter back in 2008/2009 we were new to all of the freeways and didn’t use them.  Now we do as they make travel around the city so much easier.  The country mice are gradually getting used to being city mice!

As we left Quail Run I took a picture of a Palo Verde tree.  Even the trunk is green!

The weather was cloudy in Quartzite and there was a little rain in Phoenix but no wind so it all looked good.

We stopped at a rest stop 30 miles out and the truck coolant level was down a touch.  Then we stopped 30 miles past that and it was the same.  We’ll be glad when we get the problem diagnosed. 

Straight open highway and the traffic wasn’t too bad.  As we only do 60mph we are usually on our own as the cars and trucks blast by us.

Coming into Phoenix and we left I10 and took the 101 loop north around the city to 51 where we got off on East Bell road.

Coming onto the 101. 

The State Farm Football Stadium in Glendale.  It features the first fully retractable natural grass playing field on top of an Airfield drainage system.  The stadium opens on one side and the whole grass floor rolls outside to get sunlight and then the floor of the stadium can be used for concerts etc.  It cost 454 million to build. 

Here highway 17 to Flagstaff was rolling over top of us and the vehicles were whizzing on and off the ramps.  This morning the underpass was flooded from all the rain.

We arrived at our destination (Frank & Sandi’s small RV park) by lunch time.   We went over to say hi to Jim the park manager and he told us where we could park which is the same spot as two years ago.  All good. 

After lunch we were off to find a GMC dealer to have a look at the truck and get RV parts such as fuses, seals for the dump valve and a new friction plate for the 5th wheel hitch.  Eric got an appointment at a dealer for the truck to be looked at tomorrow morning at 8am and then we were off to Al’s RV parts for what we needed. 

All in all a  decent day and hopefully what is wrong with the truck is not huge.  As long as it’s not a head gasket which would cost thousands of dollars to repair all will be fine. 

Hope for the best! 

A Day in Quartzite.

It started out as a cloudy day on Sunday.   I did laundry while Eric crawled under the truck to check the sewer valve and then…

Around 11:30am Eric could see the dust coming and then it started to blow…hard.  Shortly after that…it rained heavily for a short time.

By 5:30 it was hot and steamy and we sat outside to have happy hour.  Eric looks a little glum and will stay that way until we find out what is wrong with the truck.

As the sun started to set we got a glorious sunset.

Beautiful.

The sky is on fire.

All over…time to go in and have dinner.  Tomorrow off to Phoenix.  We’re hoping the remnants of hurrican Rosa will hold off as we travel.  There, the first order of business will be RV parts and booking an appointment for a dealer to look at the truck.