Day 31 - 29 Jan - Puerto Vallarta

The gang is all here and settled in. Gail and Graham arrived about 4:30 and we had a couple of glasses of wine and while supper cooked, we watched the most amazing sunset. I think of all the places we have been and all the fabulous sunsets we seen, Puerta Vallarta is either at the top of the list or a tie for first...the deepest pinks, mauves and oranges.
I'm going to spend some time reducing the size of some of my photos so that I can get back to including with the blog. Up until we arrived here, the large size has meant that it just takes too long to upload but there is a good connection here so shouldn't be any problem.
One of the photos I want to include is Ty in his 'astronaut' suit that I bought him at the Johnson Space Centre. We mailed it from Brownsville, along with his Davey Crockett hat, and it's so cute on him. Tim tried to get him to wear the peaked cap with NASA on it with the suit for the photo but he wasn't having any of that...it's bad enough he has to parade around in all this foolishness his Honey insists on buying him. It is cute though!
What a wonderful age this is! Carol sent us photos of cousin Sue's new grandson...another cutie...and the ability to keep in touch with people regardless of where you are in the world still amazes me. The internet station is right outside our door and when I looked out tonight there was a man on Skype speaking with his grandson but he also had the video link. Throughout the evening there were various people here with their laptops, all e-mailing family and friends. I'm going to try the Skype again, perhaps tomorrow, as those I heard using it seemed to have a good connection.
I expect we will have a lounge day tomorrow. We are in the same building we were last year but on a different side so are facing a smaller pool...but this baby is heated...about 83 degrees the guy said. Graham has quite a cold so we'll give him a day or so to rest up and then we'll boogie.
Until next time, big hugs to everyone, we love and miss you all.

Day 30 - 28 Jan - Puerto Vallarta

We waited around for Miss Maria Piana, manager of the hotel, to see if we could book in to our room. We call her Miss Pina Colada...she's been at this hotel for 27 years and the former hotel for a previous 17 so SHE'S THE BOSS! Strange sense of humour but a nice lady once you get through the ice and sleet. Anyway, she arrived and after some discussion, told us our room was available and we (almost) unpacked the van and moved in.
It was so nice to have that extra day and we can be all settled before Gail and Graham arrive tomorrow. They will be tired after an very early morning and the whole airport thing so I've promised Gail we'll have chilled wine ready for them.
We dropped off 3 weeks worth of wash at the 'launderine'. Mexico isn't big on coin laundramats; there are numerous places where you take it and then pick it up later and pay by the pound. I've never been crazy about someone else doing my laundry but there's not much choice and it had to be done. We also stopped at Walmart...yep, they are everywhere...and a fellow came up to us (American) who says he lives here now and told us not to leave the van at the back of the parking lot unattended. He arranged to have it parked by the garage and got a guy who works there to watch it for us for $5. He said Puerto Vallarta isn't bad by most Mexican standards but the luggage container on the back of the van is just too easy to remove/break in to so better safe than sorry. We agreed.
Our hotel room is excellent. We are in a studio which gives us a kitchen and then living/bedroom area and it backs on to a different pool this time..a bit smaller but heated and much quieter. We like having the kitchen as we spend most days at the pool and we can have our breakfast & lunch there. With the full kitchen, we also have the option of the odd supper in which we all enjoy. I tease Graham about his love for 'snotty' scrambled eggs (he likes them wet) so he'll be able to have the kind of breakfast he most enjoys in the morning. We've found the 'in' place to go for breakfast downtown and try to do that a couple of times during our stay.
The hotel complex looks like it's had a good scrubbing since last year. The ground are meticulous and there is always a lot of activity as far as raking, washing, etc. We all like the fact that there is lots of security as well so leaving the van in the parking area is not a concern at all. I have to admit that although I'm not a huge TV person, it was nice to turn it on and get some news as well as lay in bed and just watch some fluff. I definitely am missing Oprah though...is she okay?
Take care and until next time, we miss and love you all.

Day 29 - Boca Beach to Puerta Vallarta MX

Well, we made it! We left Boca Beach about 10 am and Wayne said, "It will take us approx 4 hrs to drive the 200 kms". I think to myself, "It's taken us longer to go a shorter distance...we'll see!"
We pulled into the RV park here about 5 pm! The only road to Puerto Vallarta...which you would assume would be a good 4-lane highway, blah, blah....was a narrow, 2 lane road which wound up and down and around and around mountains. They were rough and broken, hence the time to drive that distance. We are learning that driving in Mexico is not like driving anywhere else, except maybe Botswana. The key, always, is not to have a specific destination or a time limit to get there and if you do, plan on a day's drive to anywhere.
The nice part of the whole thing was that it was almost like coming home. We felt comfortable driving and I think that issue is that we see recognizable signs and places we know so don't get stressed thinking we are lost. We'd been told by one of our RV mates on where the route around PV was so that we wouldn't have to drive through town and that made the whole process much easier. We even managed to stop and our favourite grocery store, directly across from our resort, and stock up on stuff.
The RV park here was a pleasant surprise. Althought the washrooms still aren't 'awesome', they are very clean and there's lots of hot water for showers. There's a lovely heated pool with a huge gazebo and I could envisions spending an additional week here without any problem. I would say 90% of the people here are from Quebec. The couple next to us, in a huge bus, asked us over for a marguerita, and we talked for awhile about their experiences driving with that huge rig. They had to stay on the larger toll roads and were stopped by the police 3 times because the police felt their bus was too big to travel through some of the smaller towns. They don't speak much English but try very hard and after a drink or two I think we pretend we understand each other better than we do.
We dropped in to our hotel to see if we can get in a day early but the manager isn't here so we'll take the bus us in the morning and see if our room is available. If it isn't then staying in the RV Park one more night isn't a problem...there's a huge washing to do and an inside tidy-up is in order before we let it sit for 2 weeks.
The hotel has installed 3 internet connections this year which is wonderful. Kids, be prepared for the Mother's to have a few glasses of wine and call....that's always pleasant!
Until next time, love to all and we miss you.

Day 27 & 28 - Boca Beach MX

It was a relaxing and beautiful two days in Boca Beach. While Wayne washed the LuvMasheen, I headed down to the beach about 11 am, sat under/around an umbrella until 2 pm and had to come back for something to eat. The whole time I was there I doubt there were a dozen people on the beach, which is 3 miles long.
The waves are high but lots of fun and because there is no under-tow, swimming is enjoyable. I guess because it was the weekend, there were a few Mexican families that have come in to camp and there were a number of surfers….nothing like what we saw in Hawaii though Claire!
The size of the rigs here still amaze me. People have these huge buses that are truly gorgeous but I still have a hard time imagining them negotiating some of the roads unless they are doing all the tolls roads…and then where do they stay? Pulling off onto a road to stay the night isn’t an option here…I’m not sure how safe it is and there just aren’t many places to do that although we’ve been told you can often stay at one of the gov’t owned gas stations which are open all night. I don’t think the gas stations are geared to do that though. The park here, while in a gorgeous location, parks these rigs inches from one another. Some of them that have been coming here for years, have built palapas and by the time they spread themselves out, they are almost touching each other with their canopies. Satellite dishes are on all of them along with patio sets and all other ‘necessities’. A great number of the people here are from Quebec and others from Canada…Cdn rule here!
We’ve had no difficulty shopping and buying all sorts of fresh food. We’d bought some steaks and had them for supper tonight and they were delicious! Fresh fruit and veggies are plentiful and we’ve bought large jugs of water and make sure to wash everything so haven’t had any problems. With my internal system, God knows if there was something going to happen, I’d have felt it by now! I’m looking forward to getting to the hotel in Puerto Vallarta and making ice so that I can start making smoothies with our new blender!
The nights are wonderfully cool for sleeping. I was concerned that the 15 amp service, which is the norm here, wouldn’t allow us to use the air conditioner (which it probably isn’t). However, we haven’t needed it at all. If we could use it, it would be around suppertime when it seems to be warmer but we use the little barbeque outside so it’s never been a problem. Last night Wayne had to pull the comforter up as I had fan going, windows open, etc. but it was pleasant.
We will stay two more days here and then head for Puerto Vallarta on Sunday. There is an RV park there that’s off the beach but has a pool which is all we’ll need for a day or two. Gail & Graham arrive on Tues so we will have a couple of days to get groceries and perhaps settle in to the hotel before they arrive. This year Wayne and I are taking a kitchen unit so that we can have a better breakfast and some suppers in instead of restaurants 3x a day for 2 weeks. The restaurants there are wonderful but sometimes the effort of going out and deciding what to eat gets tedious.
There is good internet service at the hotel so I expect communication will be good. Until next time, love to all.

Day 26 - Melaque, MX

Finally found an internet...in the least likely place. There's a guy here with a huge mother bus, complete with all the bells and whistles, including satellite. Anyway, he charges 10 pesos for 1/2 hour ($1) so I've downloaded all the blogs from the past week. The process is a bit slow so I haven't added photos to speed up the time.
When I DO get to add some photos though, you won't believe this place. It's called Boca Beach and truly, truly...there are no words to describe it. We've met people here who are in their 10th or more year at this site or one of the others on the beach and it's exactly what you see in movies...long beach, very few people, sand and palm trees everywhere, waves and hot sun.
The beach is spectacular. You can walk out on the sandy bottom forever and the funniest part is...everybody has a boogie board because the waves are so big (and no undertow). Remember, most of the people here are 60+ so I guess it's like the 'Boca Beach Boogie Club for Seniors'.
I woke up this morning to the sound of a group of chickens pecking around the van...they belong to the people who own the place. It's a nice park...nothing elaborate...but clean, plentiful washrooms and showers and water/electrical hook-ups so we are in business. Because we are only 200 kms from Puerto Vallarta, I'm seriously considering coming back for a few day after Gail and Graham leave (sorry guys) but there's still lots of places we want to go so we'll see what happens.
Glad to be back on the 'blog'...it's like speaking with all of you only better....nobody interrupts! Until late, love and miss you all.

Day 25 - 23 Jan - Sayuayo to Malaque, MX

Odometer: 126,145 Weather: sunny and hot

After waking up in our luxurious hotel room, Wayne refilled the Jacuzzi and we lounged for a bit and then packed up and hit the road. The signage Gods were good to us and we had no trouble finding the roads to Calima, where we first intended to stay the night.
We drove through the mountains and hit one 8 km stretch that we thought would shake the LuvMasheen to bits—the road was totally torn up and a real mess but once again, if the big 18 wheelers can do it..so can we. It was a beautiful drive and we hit a very large valley that must have decent soil and they were growing….something….I haven’t figured it out yet but I will. There was also some fruit trees but for the most part it was miles and miles of that something. I think when that ‘something’ is dried, it’s chopped up for livestock feed…not sure but I think I’m close.
As we got closer to Colima, we saw the two volcanoes in the distance. One is still active and the other is dead. The active one last erupted in 1999 and as we continued driving we could see that the white fluffy stuff above it wasn’t clouds but smoke coming from the volcano. Very interesting to see and certainly a first for us.
As we drove out of the valley and back up in to the mountains, we would have sworn we were in BC as there were huge stands of pine trees and it was neat to see these massive trees with cactus growing beneath them. The roads were very steep (up and down) and at one point there was an 18-wheeler sitting about 2 feet off our back bumper. They don’t slow down one tiny bit and at the first opportunity, Wayne pulled off the road to let it pass. We needed to cool down the brakes..and ourselves..so we had 2nd breakfast with a cup of tea and then continued. This particular area looks almost like Mexican cottage country. There were some smaller ‘cabanas’ for rent and many beautiful homes up in the hills. As we can down through the mountains, the terrain changed again to the dryer, rocky hillsides that we have been used to seeing. I’m continually amazed by the rock fences that run for miles and miles through the countryside. They are about 3-4 ft high and each rock is fitted into the next so that the result is a very sturdy fence. The amazing part is….they run for miles and sometimes continue up and down hills to mark (I guess) different property lines. There was one area where the bottom 1 ft of the rock wall was made up of small stones, almost like shale. Another mystery on the ‘how did they do it’ that I need to find out.
By the time we got to Calima we realized it was too early to stop for the night so we headed for Manzanillo, which is a large port city on the Pacific. We thought we might stay there but circumstances changed our itinerary. Wayne had commented that the van seemed to be swerving but there was a breeze and I figured that was making the van sway. Fortunately, we stopped to check the map again and when Wayne walked around the back….yep, we had a flat tire! Now, getting a flat tire is no surprise and almost expected as each little town has these 12-14” speed bumps or a 10 ft ‘vibrator’ patch. We had been warned they were killers and had been very, very careful but the roads and the rest had taken their toll I guess.

Wayne’s input. Here is an opportunity to try out my new air compressor. The tire started to inflate but when it reached 30 pounds (need 80) it started to lose air. OK we need to resort to a can of puncture seal that Graham Wells gave me for just such an emergency. The juice from that started spewing out at the base of the valve stem. I had the same experience this spring with a wheel on the front. When I took the flat to the Dodge dealer I asked him to replace the other three valve stems as my logistic training had taught me that rubber has a limited life time. He told me that he didn’t change the other stems because they looked OK. I knew this wasn’t going to help me on the road but didn’t say anything. The life of that rubber had time expired. (Note to self. Have the other two stems replaced in Puerto Vallarta). OK that wheel has to come off.

Lynne is back. So here we are—on a toll road, in the middle of nowhere, haven’t changed a flat tire in years, let alone on this rig….and it’s got to be about 90 degrees outside. Traffic is flying by. We’d made up our minds that we would change it, even if we died of heat stroke and got out the jack, etc.—but here comes the best part of the story. There was a farm across the road (growing watermelon) and a family consisting of Dad, Mom, and about 5 kids had finished working for the day and were walking home. They crossed the road to where we were parked and they stopped. The man was in his 30s I guess and they were all carrying various bags filled with fruit or whatever else they’d been given for working in the field that day. He couldn’t speak English but indicated he would go home and get a ‘mechanic’ who would come and help us. His wife walked over to me and and with the sweetest smile, handed me the watermelon she was carrying—I guess she thought it would help if we didn’t have water. The whole family walked up the highway and then down into the woods where I guess their little village was located. About a half hour later, the man comes back up the road with his friend, who could speak quite a bit of English. Between them, they crawled under the van to set the jack and changed the tire for us. The farmer from across the road had also driven over and said if we needed anything else (he spoke very good English) not to hesitate to come over and see him. We gave the two guys each $20 in pesos, a cold drink, and they wished us a good trip and off they went. See Carl, no bandits, no murders…just kind and helpful people. Honestly, the whole experience could have been real crappy, but it just re-confirmed our faith in the Mexican people and made our day!
We pushed on to Barre de Navidad, near Melaque (where Lee & Mary-Lee go) and we are in an RV site that is right on the ocean. The big rigs that come every year have taken dibs on the front row facing the ocean but we are right behind them and can’t wait for the morning to hit the beach and start working on our tans. We are only 200 kms from Puerto Vallarta so we will probably stay here for 2 or 3 days before going the home stretch. I expect we will go there on the 28th and then to the resort on the 29th and wait for Gail & Graham.
There are still so many things I haven’t blogged about yet…the Mexican cemeteries (finally stopped at one today), the half-built buildings everywhere (some new, some really old), the miles of fence-posts made from tree branches, the millions of palm trees planted around Manzanillo with banana trees under them. It has definitely been a wonderful adventure so far and there’s still so much more to come. I’ve missed not having the internet but we’re told one of the big rigs here has a wireless system and he ‘rents’ time for $1 per half hour. I’ll check that tomorrow.
It will also be an early night tonight…we need all our strength for laying on the beach tomorrow.

Day 24 - 22 Jan - Guanajuato to Sahuayo, MX

Odometer: 125,914 Weather: sunny and hot

We were up early, packed and on the road, planning to spend the night in Colima…about 350 kms from where we started and 150 kms from where we finally stopped. It took us the better part of 8 hours to drive 250 kms and here’s the reason why: every city/town we went through we got lost and it took us sometimes an hour to find our way back to the right road. When you are going long distances, driving in Mexico has less to do with safety than road signs we are discovering. Mind you, we’ve seen the very best and the very, very worst of most of the places we’ve been but it’s extremely frustrating to be constantly lost and just as exhausting.
I guess Mexicans inherently know where they are and where they are going…there are no signs and just when you do find a sign telling you which way to turn, it will be the last sign you ever see for that location. On the toll road, there will be a sign for ‘Colima’….right at the exit, not before….so many times you slow down for the exit but by the time you read all the signs, you’ve driven by and have to turn around. Once you take the exit, you will see signs for places not even on the map that may be on the way to Colima but never again see the sign for that place. Mexico LOVES traffic circles and given the sign problem, they have been the bane of our existence. We have often taken every road off the circle trying to find the right road which means backtracking sometimes 3 or 4 times…and that’s just to get out of the small towns! Multiply that by 100 for the larger cities and….well, you can imagine.
Having said all that, people have got out of their way to help us, and although the language barrier is a problem, they will sometimes ask you to “wait for one minute…they think the person next door speaks a bit of English and can help” and away they go to find them. The main difficulty in all of this is that we know if we don’t get to our planned destination, the chance of finding an RV park is remote to nil. By the time we reached Sahuayo, we knew a hotel was a must…we were tired and starting to look ‘ragged’ and I’m not sure if the Gods figured we needed a break, but we sure found a wonderful spot.
As we were driving in…and dreading the thought of another traffic circle…Wayne spotted the Hotel Casahi on the outskirts of the city. Because we can’t leave the van on the street overnight, security at any location is a must and this place had it. When we drove in we were amazed at how lovely it was and when the girl indicated a suite was available, with a Jacuzzi for $48, we almost screamed Yes, Yes, Yes. We were not disappointed! The rooms are cavernous (see a video on Facebook) with a king-sized bed, Jacuzzi for 2, and more. We filled up the bath and moaned with pleasure at the luxury of so much hot water and space. Wayne found CNN and a couple of other stations in English so was in heaven.
The plan for tomorrow is to be on the coast at Barra de Navidad, (this is just next door to Melaque where Lee Frith from the cottage goes for the winter) and then on up to Puerto Vallarta but we’ve learned that making plans for a specific destination isn’t possible here.
The most important thing however, is that the journey is the adventure and it’s been amazing so far. We are both looking forward to settling for two weeks in PV but I know we’ll be anxious to get back on the road.

Day 23 - Guanajuato

Day 23 – 21 Jan – Guanajuato MX

It’s 7 pm and we are just home from a day in the city. It was fabulous and really must be seen to be truly appreciated and I’m not sure I can do it justice. It was such a mixture of people, colour, smells, and so many other things.
Many of the streets are cobblestone and so narrow and winding that how people drive them is beyond comprehension. There are terraces and stairs leading to houses on upper levels of the streets and the houses themselves are in every colour of the rainbow. It was simply and feast for the eyes.
We did take the bus—50 pesos or 25 cnts each—and an hour or so after we got there, we were approached to take a city tour for $25 each. Wayne got him down to $20 but we knew that if we didn’t get on some type of tour, we’d miss have of what there was to see. Experiencing someone else driving was worth half that—sometimes there was less than a hair between cars—and we were escorted around the city for 3 hours. We went to an old silver mine and Augustine (our guide) said the oldest and the largest silver mines near the city are owned by a Canadian. The mine we went to began in 1549 when the shafts were dug by hand and men pulled bags of rock up the shafts on their backs climbing logs with notches cut out. There is lots of history here and much of it surrounds the various Mexican fights to oust the Spanish…and there are monuments to all of it. The last stop of the tour was to the top of the city and the view really showed how the city has been built in this ‘bowl’ and crawled up the mountain sides…the population is 850,000 but very, very colonial. There is no rhyme or reason to the street grids and because they twist and turn, there is no going back to anywhere. We’d found a wonderful plaza that we thought we’d go back to for dinner but even with a map, there was no way we could get back so found another spot and had a nice steak dinner.
Finding a bus home was just too tough so we taxied it for $9. The owner of the RV park, Enrique, took Wayne out to get some fresh milk. He’s about 70-something but a real nice man. He gave us his phone number and told us if we have any mechanical problems on the road to call him and he’ll relay the info to the ‘Green Angels’ for us, where-ever we happen to be. Turns out he used to work for them so knows everyone and the system.
Wayne is all excited and wants to move here..he came back from the store and got 4 bananas, 2 oranges, 3 tomatoes, and a quart of milk for $1.50. He’s happy! Gas stations here are all owned by the gov’t and gas is 70 cents a litre at every PEMEX station in the country. Good news when filling up the van’s tank although we never let the tank go below half-full. Although there isn’t a shortage of gas stations, there are areas (like the Sierra Madre mountains) where you may have to drive quite a way with no stations.A great day, sun was shining, everything is right in the world today!

Day 22 - Guanajuato Mexico

There is one other RV here…Bob and Monique from Montreal. They have a 40-ft RV and towing a car and came through the same road we did (so we didn’t make a mistake). He said he has a loud, shrill, automatic alarm over the right wheel of his van that goes off whenever he gets close to the (non) shoulder of the road…..his wife! I can’t imagine taking that rig on the road but they’ve done it before and in fact, have driven Mexico a few times and love it. They both took Spanish lessons and being French, already have a leg up on the language. Anyway, they are also heading to Puerto Vallarta with a few stops along the way and while we are tempted to ask if we can ‘caravan’ with them, we’ve decided to stay here one more day. We expect to see them at the next camp site.
Originally, the plan was to leave this morning but the city has an amazing history and is listed as a national monument in Mexico. After doing the ‘do we take the bus or not’ thing, Wayne says that because this is Sunday, it should be quieter, we should take the van. Now, the guide books all say…’Streets are too narrow for RV’s of most size’ but what the hell do they know…right? Halfway through the city, I take a panic attack of never-before-known proportions…the side-walks on both sides are 18” wide, the streets are 10 feet wide and Sunday is a HUGE family day so every Mexican packs up his wee car and heads for the city!! There are markets, tourists, little rides set up for the millions of kids, vendors, cars, buses—all trying to get their bit of space on/off the streets. “GET ME OUTTA HERE”, say I and Wayne tries to find a way out of this maze that shows no end. He decides to follow a bus through the city…”If he can make it, we can”…and while we get an interesting city tour, in the end, we see a sign that points to the way we want to go and we take it!
What I did see (when I open my eyes) is the most amazing place I’ve EVER seen and the photographer in me says all plans must be changed so we can come back tomorrow. It was founded in 1559 and was a world renowned silver producing area. Because floods plagued the city, a series of huge subterranean ducts were built and these are now part of the ‘historic highway’ that cars (and Roadtreks) drive through under the city. It’s built in a bowl so houses of every colour and descriptions, are built up the hills and the middle of the city is tiny streets with no direction that become another street with terraces and steps that lead to another street. One guidebook says that if you find a nice shop with something you would like to buy, get it then because you’ll never find it again! That’s our plan for today and yes, we will be taking the bus! If you don’t hear from us within two weeks, tell the authorities to look for two crazy Canadians ‘somewhere’ in the city.

Day 21 - Victoria to Guanajuato, MX

Odometer: 125,195 Weather: cloudy but increasingly sunny and HOT

After breakfast, we packed up and looked again at the map. Gertie (GPS) seems to be a bit confused and won’t let us enter streets, only Lat & Long coordinates. We decide we’ll try and follow highway signs and maps and see where it leads.
By 10 am we are starting through the Sierra Madre Mountains and it’s beautiful..NOTE TO SELF: get the movie Treasure of Sierra Madre with Humphrey Bogart….It’s also a bit like stepping back in time. Like the Rocky Mountains, it’s difficult to imagine the effort that went in to building this highway (which is very good). There are numerous small towns and I wish so badly that I could speak Spanish so that I could converse with some of these people and learn about their lives. Understand…there is no industry—nothing around for miles and miles to employ them. There is no ‘old age pension’. We’re told some of the states in Mexico provide a small allowance—I’m guessing like our welfare.The soil is powdery sand…what can possibly grow here? How do they manage to maintain even the lowest standard of living…I don’t know, but I wish I did. There are lots of ‘cantinas’ where many of the huge transport trucks stop for lunch or a break but the majority of the ‘town’ is small, one room cinder-block houses with no doors or glass in the windows and nothing in the yard to indicate they own much else. NOTE TO SELF: sign up for Spanish lessons.
I mention in the last blog that we are a bit tired. Most of that (I think) is the stress of driving through the interior of Mexico. We have not (as yet) been at all concerned about our safety, either in the RV park or on the road. However, because there is a language issue and there are virtually few/no signs to indicate what highway you are on, we are trying to coordinate where we are with any one of 5 different books, maps, internet printouts, etc. plus find RV parks at towns we will be passing close to. As previously mentioned, the interior of Mexico is not as widely traveled by RV so while there are gazillions of very big, modern, nice parks along the coasts, they are few and far between where we are and want to go. We will often pick a spot on the map that we want for a destination only to find no RV parks listed for that city. We realize now that if we want to see something specific in a particular place, we will probably have to stay in a hotel…and that’s okay.
All the books say not to drive at night with very good reason. Even the most modern highway will have herds of goats (untethered), cows and horses (sometimes tethered) a virtual 8” dropoff on the shoulder. Put it all together and it’s potential disaster. Day driving is very pleasant and the toll road we are on today is a la Hwy 401. It’s cost us $4 to go…we don’t know how far. We turn off the roll road to a main secondary road which will take us to our destination and things change rapidly. The road is well paved but as Wayne says below, there is a huge drop-off on each side…no shoulder, and because I sit virtually over that non-shoulder, I was ready to pass out a few times. Unlike a lot of passengers, I don’t scream or yell, I just sit quietly and wait for death! It is getting late and I’m trying to imagine doing this drive in the dark…no way, not possible, can’t be done. I’m also thinking about the hundreds (literally) crosses, markers, and shrines, we’ve passed along the road marking where people have died. By the time we get to our RV park, I’m beyond help and telling Wayne that the next stop is a hotel…any hotel. But the fun hasn’t ended yet….see below:

(Wayne’s blog: Bless her heart; Lynne is able to sleep through my early morning risings allowing me to do whatever turns my crank. This is a quiet morning to enjoy after a long drive yesterday finding the one available campground. We ended our 500 KM drive with 100 Km of driving over well paved narrow roads with a significant flaw of no shoulders and a foot and a half to a two foot drop if you veered off the crooked narrow road. I had to slow to 60 Km to drive carefully towards our destination. We met lots of local buses wanting more than their share of the road. I could not see Lynne’s knuckles but I am guessing they were white as she sat very quietly beside me.

Looking outside as the dawn broke, I could see the mountains, the reddish looking sky above where the sun was going to rise and a cluster of clouds on the horizon in front of and below the peaks of the mountains. It looks like we will have a great day to explore the city.

As I was sitting there looking at the myriad books we have on traveling in Mexico I heard a disturbing sound. -In a perfect world with a perfect RV you sort of expect 24 hour 7 day a week performance of the mobile worthiness as well as the mobile home worthiness. As we all know and learn each passing day real life does not work that way-. I could hear water dripping somewhere. It was not the sink. It was not the shower. Yep. The toilet was quietly overflowing. I pushed on the foot pedal for the trap door and nothing happened. The holding tank had quietly filled up during the night. Water was starting to run out onto the cabin floor. I rushed outside to shut off the camp site water valve and because this camp ground had no sewer hookup, I had to open the drain valve and let the torrential flood of water from the tank flow over the water starved grass. I came back inside expecting to find Lynne fully awake. But no she was still sleeping soundly. Luckily because we vowed to only use the toilet for number 1 there were only a couple of pees fully diluted with a black water holding tank full of fresh water. I suspect that because there was such a low pressure from the external tap, there was not enough pressure to close the foot valve. We will find out if that is true at some future point. end of Wayne’s addition.

Day 20- Brownsville to CD Victoria, Mexico

Odometer: 124875 Weather: Cold and Foggy

We were up bright and early and ready to cross into Mexico. We’ve read so many articles, books, and blogs about the process that we figured we must know it well…and for the most part we did. However, before getting to the buildings where all the paperwork must be done, we drove right by building and nearly crossed back into the US. Finally got it all done, got flagged through customs with no stops and crossed into Metamoros…and got hopelessly lost! We backtracked, got on the right road and WE’RE OFF! The insurance agent in Brownsville had recommended an RV park, which we found in Victoria and reached shortly after 4 pm.
We are well aware of the lower standard for camp/RV parks in Mexico. Many of them, especially in the interior, are very small and generally aren’t concerned with the same level of hygene that Cdns are. The park itself had such great potential but had been let go as had the washrooms but as Wayne said, “It’s still much better than an outhouse”. We use the van’s biffy for #1 so it’s only a ‘gotta go bad’ that takes us to any public toilet.
We are exhausted and I’ll explain why in next blog/rant. The roads are great, traffic is good and not much to see on this day’s journey.
Let’s talk about garbage. It’s always a shock for Canadians when we visit other third-world countries that don’t seem to be as ‘civilized’ as we are about garbage. Certainly Mexico has some major problems and I think they ‘just aren’t there yet’. There is no recycling, no ‘adopt a highway’ and most of the small towns along the roads are so small, so isolated, and so poor, that garbage just isn’t on their radar. We’ve tried to stay away from larger cities as the traffic is bizarre but I haven’t seen anything resembling a garbage truck yet. In the end, the people are so poor I don’t expect they create much garbage anyway and most of what we see on the highways (and there is a lot) is created by motorists passing through. I do know this for sure: plastic bags have created a blight on the landscape. There were places in Texas (approaching Brownsville) where there were thousands of acres of prepared farmland, ready for seeding, and you’d swear they were growing plastic bags. My friend Joyce is making 2008 her year to go GREEN. I need to take a lesson from her.

Day 18 & 19 - 16-17 Jan - Brownsville, TX

It's a good thing I'm keeping this blog. At first I thought it would be a good travel log (which it is) but it's turned out to be of bigger importance than I anticipated...it let's me know what day it is! Honestly, when you don't have to BE anywhere or go to any appointments, knowing what day it is really doesn't matter much.
We are still in Brownsville and decided to stay one more day to get ourselves organized. Having the van in for repairs for a day and a half put us behind and going tomorrow won't put any strain on our plan. We've amended the route through Mexico a bit and need to ensure that the places we will be stopping will have RV parks...or at the least, decent hotels to stay in. Wayne has been pouring over the map, internet, and the 20 Mexico related books we have to get it all syncronized. When this is over, I'm thinking about setting him up as a travel planner.
The guys at the Dodge dealer in Brownsville were wonderful and I'm going to write a letter to somebody when I get home to make sure their bosses know their high customer service awards are a direct result of these guys who go above and beyond. I didn't go in to the front office and speak to the owner's son before we left and told him but it's always nice to have a letter that can go on a personal file. At the last minute last night some addition part (we weren't charged for) was required and they spent lots of time on the phone locating the part and then one of the mechanics worked overtime to install it. Had they not located it, the service manager was going to give us the rental car back at no cost and work to have it done asap in the morning. Anyway, all worked out.
We are staying at the Breeze Lake RV Park about 9 miles outside of Brownsville. The girl at the front desk said 3/4 of the people here are from Canada. There's an actual small lake, not sure if it's natural or man made as it's very foggy this morning and I haven't gotten over to check it out.
While the van was in being repaired, Wayne and I toodled off to the Sunset Mall to for a few hours. If there's a JC Penney in the premises, I can wander for quite awhile. I'm still holding back on buying anything...there's just no room for stuff we can't use right now but I figure the trip home might be a different story. However, the crazy sales that are on right now (65-75% off) won't be happening so.....
The campgrounds here are very organized and most of the larger ones have an 'entertainment coordinator'. Like the last place, this one has a quilting group, and there are activities every day, including side trips. There are a few older people wandering the grounds that I wonder how the hell they ever manage the huge rigs they are pulling and then I remember they are also driving these things thousands of miles to get here....scary!
I've said this so many days but....today will be the LAST day to get stuff organized and ready for crossing in to Mexico tomorrow. I doubt that I will have much internet access...certainly no free wireless like we've had in the US but will send e-mails and blog when I can. Take care everyone and love and hugs to all.

Day 17 - 15 Jan - Brownsville, TX

I'm not sure if it's because we are military people and used to accepting the ups and downs of what life is going to surprise you with, or because we're adventurous and just don't give a s..t--but I do know that if you don't learn to take the good with the bad, keep a sense of humour, and try to find the positive side of things, this kind of life could drive you looney.

We packed up and left the senior complex quite early and found a site in Brownsville. Before hooking everything up, we thought that because it was early, we would drive into the city/town and make arrangements or at least get some quotes on Mexican car insurance. The whole process at the border is intimidating enough (getting tourists cards, permission to take the vehicle into the country, photocopies of everything, yadda yadda) so we thought whatever we could do today would be less hassle for tomorrow. Good thought.

Along this trip I've been picking up a few goodies for Ty and after packaging it all up, have been driving Wayne crazy to 'find a post office'...then on to the insurance company. On the way to the aforementioned hidden location (the US doesn't have satellite POs like we do), we went over a speed bump...not too fast...but just fast enough to give the LuvMasheen a good jar and the 'RED LIGHT' came on...the red light that indicates your ABS brakes are now gone, kaput, finito, done! What the hell do we do now?

First thing you do is sit for a minute and absorb what's just happened. Good idea but doesn't help much. Wayne goes out in the rain....did I mention it was pouring rain and walks up a side street to find....something to help. In the end he got the phone number of the local Dodge dealer and he gave us directions to the shop. We drive it in, they survey the damage and while I'm not going to reveal the cost of repairs, let's just say you can probably get a good idea knowing the van will be worked on this afternoon and the better part of tomorrow. I think when the service manager presented Wayne with the estimate, the two of us looked so pathetic (not to mention wet and bedragled) that he gave us a bit of a deal plus a rental car for $25. We quickly got some clean clothes and sundries out of the LuvMasheen and gave instructions on how to keep the van plugged in for electricity or all the meat in the freezer will make it smell like there's a dead body in it by morning.

On the way to the insurance place to spend more money, we quantified the whole mess like this: we were both secretly ready for a night in a hotel with a bed to ourselves; the brake lines were severely rusted and if this had happened in Mexico, we'd have been up the creek without a paddle; and we've already made up our minds to spend the kids' inheritence so what's the problem? NONE.

It was kind of nice having the car to tool around in for the afternoon and we did get to the insurance company. We got the maximum coverage for everything...we are past the point of taking chances on anything...plus extras that we pray we'll never need so that's all done.

After picking up the van tomorrow, we'll spend the evening going through it and trashing all the brochures and booklets we've picked up along the way, stocking up on some of the stuff we need other than fresh veggies, get a good night sleep and head for the border first thing Thursday morning. I'm not sure what the internet service will be like once we get into Mexico but I don't expect it will be anything like we have had so daily reports may not be possible and when it is, I suspect it will from an internet cafe. All in unknown!

Until tomorrow, love and hugs to all.

Day 16 - 14 Jan - Mission, TX

One nice thing about being retired is that you can change your mind on a whim and that's what we did today. It was very cloudy and overcast when we woke up, definitely not a day to spend at the beach. The wind had blown a living gale overnight and I have this vague memory of Wayne getting out of bed in the middle of the night, in his underwear, going outside to take down the awning. All I know is, the awning was rolled in when I got up so.....
Anyway, after sitting around for a bit wondering what we'd do that day, the decision was made. "Let's blow this popsicle stand" says I and away we went. We set Gertie to guide us to the Mission Canyon Lake RV Park...sounded really nice. I believe the advertisement said something like--"Lake with paddle boats, fishing, recreation park and so on and so on..." The one part that intrigued me was the line in the ad that said, "Age restriction may apply". What the hell does that mean?
Because there was no complete street address for the park, Gertie took us to where the street began, about 5 miles away from where we needed to go but we found it and the 45 minutes drive we were anticipating took about 2 hours. We've learned that like any computer, the GPS operates on 'garbage in, garbage out'. We can't wait to hear how she pronounces some of the Mexican towns and streets!
We pulled into the park and noticed that there was a sign at the entrance which said, "Drive slowly. Seniors playing'....Hm-m-m-m-m....'Sign up today for shuffleboard tournament'.....double Hm-m-m-m. Yep, it's a Senior Citizens winter hangout but they have a few overnight spots so we decided to stay for the night. Residents have to be 55+ (hence the age restriction) to be here and there sure are lots of ameneties (I've been listening to Bingo in the other room for the last hr...very quiet group in there!) and put on trips and stuff. Don't see any health clinic though. What they don't have here are signs saying 'Quiet time begins at 10 pm'...no need! The 'lake' turns out to be a quarry that you can paddle around in. The power of advertising! We've had a number of people come up to us and ask "Where in Ontario are you from?" as they are also Canadians and as much as they love being away from the winter weather, they still like that tie to home.
The weather looks like it's going to be rainy for the next few days so our plan is to go back to Brownsville tomorrow, finish the Mexico trip plan and get the paperwork (insurance) arranged, do any last minute shopping and cross the border Thurs or Fri at the latest.
I really can't believe we've been on the road nearly 3 weeks and I guess that's a good sign. We've seen some places that we've enjoyed, ie, New Orleans and Galveston, and considering our main worry was to get to the border without having been snowed in somewhere, I think we've done well. I know that some part of me will be relieved when we get to Puerto Vallarta and I expect the remainder of the trip...however long that is...will be much less worrisome as we won't have the same timetable as we've had and be more free to decide what we want to see. Months ago when we were talking and planning this trip, I think our concern was always that the weather would create a problem driving and there would be difficulty in meeting Gail & Graham by Jan 29. It hasn't turned out to be a problem at all and our rush to get here has left us with some extra time. I'm thinking the sun is shining in Mexico and that's where we are going to go! I expect we'll be lounging in an RV park near Puerto Vallarta for a few days before they arrive.
Until tomorrow, love and hugs to all.

Day 15 - 13 Jan - South Padre Island, TX

This was the most glorious of days! We slept in, sat in the sun with our coffee and watched the world go by and then unplugged the LuvMasheen and headed for the ‘end of the road’.
The island is quite small and there’s not much here but restaurants, hotels (and not too many of those), and a couple of amusement parks but about one half of this part of the island is still undeveloped and that’s what we wanted to see. The road only goes about one third the length of the island before you can’t drive any further…the majority is still undeveloped and one hopes it can stay that way. However, I suspect if Ty comes here in 20 years, the road will have been extended many miles further.
After the main street ended, there was a short distance of few buildings and then a housing development. We’re not talking just a regular development however. These ‘houses’ probably start at $2 million and go up from there. It looks as though they aren’t occupied yet and tomorrow I’m going to get a few photos of them…they are beautiful!
I would think building here, and paying that price for a house, would be quite precarious as the island is less than a mile wide at that point and they appear to be built almost at sea level. A real good storm producing high waves could see most of them coming up on the mainland shores!
The road was bordered on one side by the bay separating the island from the mainland and the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf side was all sand dunes and the strong winds mean what we saw today will probably be completely different from what we’ll see tomorrow. The sand is white and soft and once you are out of the wind, the sun was hot. The local govt has brought in those big rolled bundles of hay to lay throughout the dunes to help keep the sand from blowing away. It works and in many places plants and grasses have taken root in the dunes although there are no signs to keep people from walking over the dunes and displacing the plants. I suspect that’s because a lot of this land is privately owned but who knows. We walked up and down the beach, collecting shells and watching all the different birds picking food out of the surf. It’s still a few weeks early for the holiday crowd to arrive and we love that most places, including the beach, is almost empty. Kite flying is a big deal here, for all ages. We stopped at a long, hard, flat beach area on the Bay side and it’s almost exclusively used for flying kits. Everywhere you go here, there are kit shops selling the most amazing kites…some are beautiful.
We’ve decided that tomorrow we will take our chairs with us and find a secluded spot out of the wind and get a bit of sun. The LuvMasheen is so great to take anywhere as it’s small enough to park like a van but if we need a ‘potty’ or a hot cup of tea, it’s easily available.
A quick stop for fresh food on the way home and because it’s Sunday (I think), tonight’s dinner is pot roast, potatoes, and vegetables. Life is tough on the road! We are staying here two more nights which should be enough time for Wayne to plan the route for
the Mexican part of the trip.
Until tomorrow, love and hugs to all.

Day 14 - 12 Jan - South Padre Island, TX

We were ‘lumps’ today. It might have had something to do with the fact that we were both awake at 4 am (I’m getting back on the hormones) and after a couple of attempts to go back to sleep, we gave up and got up. Not much movement in the RV park at that hour…this I know for sure.
I had a couple of good books and was happy to sit in the sun and read. We wandered down to the local restaurant and looked around and then decided it was nap time (this was about 10 am).
Wayne had walked across the street to scope out the beach and he wanted to do what he loves best…sleep on the beach. I need a television, blanket, and some comfort so I opted to stay in the van and nap. Mission accomplished for both of us.
We decideded to watch the sunset off the pier attached to the local restaurant so headed off about 4:30, had a couple of Bloody Caesars, and then a couple more. Two Mexican boys were cleaning fish and tossing the inards to the pelicans who had gathered by the pier. This is a daily occurrence and the birds know where the best spot is to catch to goodies that come their way. There must have been 30 of them, all clacking their long beaks at one another. The boys do this nightly and have favourite birds...like the one missing one foot...and they try to feed the 'regulars'. Between the pelicans, seagulls and terns, it was quite a sight. There were cranes flying by, the sun was setting and we tried to figure out where we’d rather be…nowhere but here. There was a pure white pelican..we’re so used to seeing the brown ones that this guy really stood out.
We went inside the restaurant and listened to the oldie/cowboy singer and his wife (who operated the karaoke machine), and ate seafood. They were probably in their late 60's and while the repetoire was mostly Perry Como, Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, etc. I'm betting he had a very nice voice 20 or 30 years ago. After a couple of drinks, the pull of the microphone began to hit me and I resisted...we decided to head back to the LuvMasheen. The restaurant is next to the KOA and frequented by most of the RV’rs from what we could see. A limited menu but great Caesars!
Tomorrow we will head downtown and have a look at the fabulous beach. Wayne had gone in to a couple of hotels while he was down there to find some shorts. He said the beach is lovely and I’m anxious to see it. We expect to stay here for a couple more days and then we will head back to Brownsville to arrange for Mexican car insurance and cross the border there.

We bypassed Corpus Christi to see some beach and I'm not sure we'll get back which is a disappointment as there were things we wanted to see (thanks Claire) but who knows...we figure we have a week to 'play' before we head in to Mexico.

Until tomorrow, love and hugs to all.

Day 13 - 11 Jan - South Padre Island, TX

Odometer: 123,021 Weather: Sunny, about 65 degrees

Photo for Claire: He went, he saw, he ate!

We packed up and got back on the road. We've reserved a site at the KOA on South Padre Island, just south of Corpus Christi. I have to admit, I enjoyed being 'on the road' again. Part of this adventure is to see lots of different things and places, as well as enjoying them and we start to get antsy after 3 days. We certainly enjoyed San Antonio but saw what we wanted and it was time to move on. That whole experience tells me we made the right decision in buying this small van, although I can see a newer one, perhaps a couple (but not much more) feet longer.
The drive here was interesting. From San Antonio we swung onto I410 South, which is in the 'Texas Plains' area. I've never found the landscape in Texas to be 'beautiful'...it's not very diverse but seems to be mostly grass, scrub brush, and some gnarly trees. The plains area we went through today was flat, and mostly agriculture but none of it green. When we stopped at Kingsville, I asked the guy at the tourist centre what they grew in all those gazillion acres, and acres of flat land. Apparently they grow corn, soy grains, and cotton and all of it is done with no irrigation. Whatever moisture nature provides, that's what the crops get and nothing more. Those crops are really the only thing that can be grow here with the low rain and extreme heat. Kingsville was founded by 'Somebody' King who pioneered agriculture in this area and his home (which we didn't go to) is now a museum and still stands on the 825,000...that's right....acres of land (like, how big is PEI?). We are starting to see cactus and 'Watch For Snakes' signs so we know we are definitely in the west. Wayne laughs because every time I step out of the van I'm looking around, obeying that sign! I saw a big billboard advertising 'snake-proof boots' so I'm crossing the cowboy boots off my list and going straight to the snake-proof ones! I know one thing...there are more RVs here than cows....at least in this part of Texas!
One of the picnic areas we stopped at...in the middle of nowhere, advertised 'internet wireless' so we tried it and sure enough, it worked! We were so damn frustrated in San Antonio and complained at the KOA...if you don't have a working system, don't advertise that you have one.
We pulled in to the KOA at South Padre and it was love at first sight. We are right on the bay, surrounded by palm trees and there are lots, and lots of amenities here. It's not cheap ($36), the KOAs generally aren't but we don't mind paying for something as lovely as this. Wayne is happy, there is a fitness centre here plus a swimming pool, fishing pier and lovely washrooms/showers. We had reserved for 2 nights and have already put an extra 2 nights on hold. There's a free shuttle service that runs up and down the island so we'll try that out tomorrow for some sightseeing and find the beach and then make the decision whether or not to stay.
From here, it is right to Mexico I think. The list of things we want to see and do is growing and while I don't expect we'll be rushed, we have to remember we have to be in Puerto Vallarta on the 29th.
I am disappointed in the Skype telephone service....we tried to call Colin tonight and it was less than great. When I've used it previously, it wasn't bad for the most part but we'll check it out and keep trying.

Day 12 - 10 Jan - San Antonio, TX

Another gorgeous day…much like yesterday…about 68-70 degrees, lots of sun and a nice breeze. The RV Repair Man has a big panel truck and spends his days going around to all the RV parks fixing stuff. We’d asked him to check our ‘kitchen’ sink as something seemed to be leaking. Good thing he’s a wee small guy and can manoeuvre into tiny places! We figured we’d get everything on this list checked out so that we can stop fretting about the small stuff.
Once he was done, we hopped back on the bus and headed downtown, specifically to do one more stroll through the RiverWalk and have a nice dinner on a patio somewhere. We settled on Landry’s Seafood House, ordered a glass of wine and appetizers and realized that we had eaten at the same spot the last time we were here. Are we adventurous or what? We shared the best seafood gumbo I’ve had ever…dark broth with rice, oysters, shimp and something else in the fish family, and it was delicious. We also had crab fingers and salad and then realized we still had dinner coming. Needless to say we waddled back to the bus stop and tonight we are flopping in the LuvMasheen. We came close to attending the Mud Festival which coincides with the draining of the canal. In the end, we will do ‘movie night’, fall asleep in the middle of it, and be up at the crack of dawn to head to Corpus.
A young fellow pulled into the park about dusk last night—he seems to be alone as I haven’t seen anyone with him (and I’ve been nosing around)—driving a bus at least the size of a Grayhound Bus and if anything bigger! There’s also a new mustang convertible with it and I’ll wager he’s someone I should know…or GET to know! No joking, this bus is immense and almost looks like it has an upstairs and downstairs. I’ll tell you, this ‘camping’ attracts more of the rich than the poor from what I’ve seen parked here. The whole scenario reminds me of when Wayne had his 16 ft day sailer (boat) and we parked it at a marina in Barrie. We would pile ourselves, kids, lunch and whatever else we thought we needed for an afternoon sail and putt, putt, through the marina towards the Kempenfelt Bay. Along the way, we had to strain our necks to see the people sitting up on their yacht decks, some bbq’ing no less. They were at least 2 stories above us. We thought we were pretty hot shit until we had to make our way through the canal and then kind of felt like the Honkers from Hooter Hollow, ha ha. Anyway, I wish I could get a photo of the LuvMasheen beside that bus…he could put us in his luggage compartment!
All in all, a great day. Until tomorrow, love and hugs to all.

Day 11 - 9 Jan - San Antonio, TX

Photo: The Alamo This was a quiet day, travel-wise. We’d made an appointment to have the LuvMasheen’s fan belt looked at and of course, it needed to be replaced plus the bearings and hardware that holds everything together…nothing is easy, or rather cheap. However, we try to remember that if we were at home the furnace could crap out, or the car could need a new muffler. In reality, we are driving our home around the country so the cost of living (in the LM) is all relative.
While the van was in being fixed, we hiked to the local mall and wandered through all the stores. I guess after telling myself for the last year that “I don’t work any more so don’t buy dress shoes, dress clothes, etc” so I didn’t buy anything. It scares me that I can walk right past shoe stores now and not even look in the window. If this keeps up…I’m getting a part-time job!
We are going to stay one more day here and then head out Friday. We have to remind ourselves that we have to be somewhere in another two weeks and if it goes as quickly as the past two weeks, then we have to start moving. We both want to do one more trip through the RiverWalk and have lunch. We’re told that the water was drained last week…they do it once a year…to clear out all the stuff, tables, chairs, etc…that accumulates. I wondered why the water looked a bit crappy and I guess it was because the water had just been put back in and everything was stirred up.
Also did a quick trip for fresh veggies and meat. It was a little disconcerting to see a security guy going around the parking lot in a golf cart. We forget we are in areas where the employment/crime rate is high but always see things that bring it back to us. So many people ask us about whether or not we’re nervous about going to Mexico and my first reaction is always, “No, why would we be?” Having said that, we don’t wander around certain areas at home or in the US and won’t do that in Mexico either…day or night. I do know that when we are in Puerto Vallarta, strolling down the Malicon in the evening is the best part of the trip but there are so many people, we don’t think about something happening.
Until tomorrow, love and hugs to all.

Day 10 - 8 Jan - San Antonio, TX

It was cloudy and rainy when we got up but within half an hour, the sun had come out, it went to about 75 degrees and a mild breeze was blowing…my kind of day. We decided that we’d hop the bus and head ‘for the Alamo’.
The bus picked up right at the gate of the RV park and for $1 each, dropped us off right downtown and near an entrance to the RiverWalk. There are certainly pros and cons to traveling this early in the year. One of the cons is that weather is an issue before you get this far south but one of the BIG pros is that there are no crowds and no deadly heat.
We headed right down to the RiverWalk and I don’t think we saw a dozen people along the whole route. It was beautiful. The restaurants were just starting to open and we fully intended to have a cappuccino on one of the patios but ended up at the Marketplace—Mexican stuff we’ll see enough of soon—and woofed down a hamburger instead. We’ll fix that mistake tomorrow or day after.
We’d been to the Alamo previously but it was no less impressive this time. I just find that after being in the States for more than a few days, all the history lessons come back to me…or maybe it’s those hours sitting in front of the TV watching Davey Crockett instead of doing homework.! Anyway, I don’t care who you are or what you’re views on US kitschiness might be, to stand in the same rooms as Davey Crockett, Jim Bowie, et at stood in, is just liable to give you a few shivers. I guess because Canadian history is so much younger…and what did Louis Riel do again?...we tend to look at some of those US heros in the same way they do and there’s nothing wrong with that.
We had finally run out of clean clothes and while I always joke that I’m not opposed to just going out and buying more clean ones, there’s just no room to hide dirty clothes in the LuvMasheen. Those of you who know me best know that I would sooner have another hysterectomy than hang out at a Laundromat, but an RVer has to do what an RVer has to do. After an hour there, we have full cupboards again and an empty laundry bag.
The LuvMasheen’s fan belt is making a racket so we are taking it to the local Dodge dealer in the morning to have it replaced. We cannot go in to Mexico with anything that might be troublesome and better to be safe than sorry. Anyway, we need to stock up on a few fresh veggies and stuff so had to go out anyway.
Wayne was feeling quite proud of himself this morning. He met a group of 10 RVers from Quebec who are meeting up with another caravan of 10 RVers and they are all going to Mexico for 2 months. He spoke to them all in French and while they invited us to join them, we aren’t ready yet. I want to see Corpus Cristi and spend some time with Sam & ?? (who sold us the van) in Brownsville (did you know that Brownsville is the most southern place in the US—even Key West), where we will probably cross over to Mexico.
We’ve decided to amend the Mexico route a tad so that we can visit the areas where the Monarch butterflies spend the winter. If it’s half as amazing as what I read, see on National Geographic or TV, it’s worth the detour.
The internet service at this KOA sucks…it lets you connect for very brief periods of time and then cuts out so I can’t call the kids and have to do my blog on Word, and do a fast cut and paste so that I don’t loose it. The service is usually very good at KOA but not here. However, it’s free and we do what we can. Until tomorrow, love and hugs to all.

Day 9, 7 Jan - Galveston to San Antonio

Odometer: 123,545 Weather: Cloud/Sun/Fog + 68 degrees

We decided that it was time to head for points west and warmer weather so packed up the LuvMasheen and were on the highway for San Antonio. We had visited there a few years ago, for too short a time, and really want to hang out there and get a better feel for a place that we really loved. Photo: didn't get to ride a mechanical bull...yet...but took an interesting ride.
Houston was only a half hour away and Wayne wanted to see the Johnson Space Center so we set Gertie (GPS) to get us there and before long, we pulling up to the front entrance. Note to all: if you don’t have a GPS…get one…it’s a marriage saver! We took a 90-min tram ride to 3 buildings: mission control, the astronaut training center; and the rocket display. It was interesting to be in the room where the message, “Houston, we have a problem” was received by Apollo 13. Even more interesting is the fact that they sent the first Apollo mission the moon on a system that was run by two 220 KB! Yep…440 KB did it. The training center is still is in full use by the astronauts and while there was no training activity going on at the time of our visit, the CANADARM was set up and clearly part of the training program. The center is very much like the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and I most enjoyed the live feed from the space station and watching the astronauts up there going about their daily routine.
We are currently at the Alamo KOA in San Antonio and plan to stay here for 3 days. The guy at the front desk said the heated pool (85 degrees) opens at 0930 so there’s already something on the ‘list of things to do’ for tomorrow. The city bus stop for downtown is directly across the street and for $1 you can go downtown without having to unhook the rig or do any driving…that’s our plan. The Riverwalk is full of wonderful restaurants and shopping and with all the other things to see and do, I don’t think we’ll run out of things to do.
Keep the comments coming…it makes us feel as though we are connected to all of you. So many times we will comment on how ‘so-and-so would love this’ or ‘wouldn’t so-and-so enjoy seeing this’ so as much as we are enjoying our trip we are thinking of all of you. Until tomorrow…love and hugs to all.

Day 8 - 6 Jan - Still in Galveston (Jamaica Beach)

The sun was shining today, it was 78 degrees, and we decided it was a perfect day to wander through the historic section of Galveston. The city has quite a history, and there are quite a number of houses and business from the mid-1800's that have been restored and look so beautiful. Photo is the bay on the north side of the island which has oil rig repair docks.

Galveston's history goes back further than the 1800s but has gone through a couple of calamaties, including the Sep 1900 hurricane which killed an estimated 6,000 people. We went to see an hour long movie recommended by the visitor centre and it was quite amazing. Apparently right after the hurricane, Thomas Edison sent one of his apprentices here to take photos which is why there is any photographic record of the event.

When the storm hit, most of the eastern end of what was then Galveston, was flooded and the storm washed houses inland, creating a wall of debris that in turn, brought other houses down. The clean-up started the next morning and as more and more dead bodies were collected, it soon became apparent that there was nowhere to bury them. Someone decided it would be a good idea to load them on a barge and take them out for burial at sea, except that come high tide, they all washed up again on the beaches! The bodies were then piled up and burned. Many of the millionaires who survived the hurricane put up a significant amount of money for the rebuilding of the city. The 18 ft seawall was built after this hurricane and proved itself when another hurricane hit a few years later and only 8 people died. It looks like it was built yesterday. When we walked through the historic section of town, many of the downtown buildings had a plaque on them as having survived the 1900 hurricane.

We found the nicest ice cream parlour...little tables with iron chairs, servers behind the long counter wearing white jackets and hats, and they had everything from sodas to cones. Oh yea, they also had the biggest, best, most amazing banana splits you can imagine. Guess what we had? Actually, we shared one and it was fabulous. I sure hope any of the stuff I brought for Puerto Vallarta fits by the time we get there!

After three days here, we are back on the road tomorrow. Jamaica Beach is definitely worth considering for a long term though. I could easily imagine staying here for a month next year. There are lots of great restaurants, shopping and 32 miles of beach to explore. Wonder where we'll end up tomorrow?

Day 7 - 5 Jan - Jamaica Beach, TX to nowhere

We decided that since we'd arrived after dark last night, we needed (and deserved) a day where the LuvMasheen caught it's breath and we had a look around. The sun came out, then it clouded over and rained and repeated that all day. The owners do a breakfast on the weekend so we started the day with waffles and donuts...breakfast of champions...and lots of hot coffee.

We walked across the road and spent some time wandering the beach looking at all the houses, sea shells, and other flotsam that has come up on the beach. Some of the houses are gorgeous and there seems to be a big rental business here so that you can rent by the day/week/month. After an hour or so the clouds came in and we figured that it was nap time anyway, so headed back before the showers started.

Ron, (owner) told us that there was a pond and large bay about a half mile behind the park and he had built a half-hearted blind to watch the cranes, if we were interested. As we walked up to the fence, he came out and told us to look in the back yard, there were two Sand Hill Cranes right behind our van....shades of Long Lake deer....I managed to get a couple of photos of them before they saw me and flew off. We did walk back to the pond but clouds and rain drove us home....not before we saw 4 more cranes fly by us. We made one more trip back just before supper and other than some nice sunset photos, didn't get any crane pictures.

However, the trip back was not without it's drama....is that my life or what? As we were walking along the path I looked up and saw a herd of longhorn cows in the bush ahead (and a big bull), blocking our path. Now, I'm not totally uncomfortable with domestic animals but these Mother's were B-I-G and they had B-I-G horns. What I didn't (and still don't) know is...do these guys behave like our cows at home, or, have these monsters been left out on the range for months now and are so pissed off that they want to charge and kill anything on 2 feet? Wayne the Brave took charge and just walked up and told them to "go home" and they trotted off. Me, I was behind some bushes by the pond, ready to jump in if they had charged. All I could think of was, "What would Carl do if she was here?" Peeing my pants came to mind. ha ha

We are enjoying your comments and nice to know you are sharing our trip. Love to everyone following us, we miss you already....but not enough to come back home. It's going to be 80 degrees here tomorrow! It will probably be a day to wander around Galveston as there is a district with some beautiful Victorian homes I'm told as well as a park w/gardens, etc.

Day 6 - 4 Jan 08 - Lafayette to Galveston, TX

Odometer: 123,129 Weather: Cloudy and cool

Well...Slap Yer Mama...we're in Galveston, Texas and we think we've found Utopia! This is pretty close to heaven on earth but more about that in a bit. Photo is Crystal Beach, Texas, just past Gilchrist (honest Carl...look on the map).

We pulled out of Lafayette, Louisiana and had already decided that a shorter day on the raod was a better day so set our sights on Galveston, which neither of us had ever visited previously. At the Texas border, we stopped at the wonderful tourist info center (there is one at the border of each State) to pick up a State map and other info. The center is in the middle of the Blue Elbow Swamp and there was a wonderful interpretive boardwalk through the swamp. Love it already.

Gertie (our GPS) took us off the Interstate, thank God, and we swung down to the Bolivar Penninsula which runs along the Gulf of Mexico. There was miles and miles, and more miles, of beautiful beach and later beautiful beach homes, all built on 15 ft stilts. A free ferry took us across Galveston Bay to the small city of Galveston, which is also built on a small island. I always thought of Galveston as a huge city but it's not and so very pleasant to navigate.

While on the ferry, Wayne struck up a conversation with a couple from Quebec who were driving a Leisure Van (much like ours) and they are back on the road for their 6th winter. They have done this area each year so invited us to stop at the first McDonald's to have coffee and get some advice on local sights. Gaston and Nicole spent nearly two hours telling us all the places we shouldn't miss. Such a nice couple and as they are also on a 3-month holiday to some of the places we will go, I wouldn't be surprised if we run across them again.

It was dark by the time we found our RV park and when we arrived the owners had gone out so left a note on the door to say, "Find yourself a site and hook up...see you tomorrow". We are directly across the road from the beach and will go to bed tonight listening to the surf.

I'm not sure when the weather changed but I know that when we stopped for groceries just before the Texas border, the sun was shining and the temperature had risen significantly. We will strip off all the extra clothes tomorrow and I expect to be in shorts the day after.

This RVing is tough...picture this. I cooked chicken, potatoes and fresh veggies for supper, washed the dishes and made tea while Wayne hooked up the laptop and connected to the wireless internet provided. I've downloaded today's photos and doing my blog while he is reclining in bed watching television. Yep, life is tough!

We're going to do some sightseeing in Galveston tomorrow and will probably stay here at least one more night. I'm anxious to see some of the beach...because it is off-season, it's almost deserted and just perfect for a stroll and shell picking. This place still has lots of vacant land on the beach and I don't think it's been completely discovered yet....so don't tell anybody!

Day5-3 Jan 08-New Orleans to Lafayette

Odometer: 122,892 Weather: Sunny and very cool

It's been a great day! We woke up in our nice, warm bed, ate waffles and fruit and walked over to the parking lot to see if Luc & Nels were still there and had not become human popsicles! They were still there and certainly cold but I guess those guys are hardy. We walked down Canal St and then back down Bourbon St and for the first couple of hours pretty much had the place to ourselves. God, I love this place! The history of some of the buildings is amazing and the iron work on the balconies is unbelievable! There is a constant hum of renovating going on and I imagine it's necessary because of the age of some of the buildings. Last night when we were there eating there were so many police...turns out the winners of the Snow Bowl (?) football were partying in the French Quarter and had State bodyguards.

We went in to a small shop to look at souvenirs and I fell in love with the hundreds of variations of Harlequin dolls. Harlequins seem to be the official symbol of the Marti Gras and they are everywhere...dolls, statues, posters, etc., each one more eloraborate and colourful than the next. Had we been on the final part of the trip, I'd have bought a dozen (not knowing where the hell I'd put them when I got home), but did hold back and got one small one. It's a beauty.

It was so cold but we were lucky to have our Ottawa winter clothes and the chill didn't damper our enthusiasm. We tried to stay in the sun as it felt nice and warm and just made us feel better.

We needed a pit stop so went in to Harrah's big Casino for coffee and warm-up. Again, Harlequins and Jazz memorabilia everywhere and so beautiful. Nels and I found two $1 chips and rather than feed it in to a machine, pocketed them to keep for a souvenir.

We wanted to leave the city by 2 pm to miss the heavy traffic and after saying goodbye and exchanging e-mail addresses with Luc and Nels, we headed west towards Baton Rouge and points beyond. Where we stopped for the night would depend on how tired we became and it turned out to be in Lafayette, which is very close to the Texas border.

Two things absolutely amazed me on the drive here.....(1) the Bayou is everything I thought it would be; moss hanging from the trees, small canals, and lots of gooey, ucky-looking water and (2) miles and miles of causeway that is Interstate 10 that has been built through the Bayou. What a building feat that must have been as I believe the last leg of the trip in to Lafayette was a minimum of 30 miles of causeway.

We passed over the Mississippi and while I'm sure it wasn't the busiest or attractive part of the river, it was the 'Mighty Mississippi' none-the-less and I've seen it!

No camping yet...it's just too cool for us yet and besides, with coupons we are getting hotels for not much more than a decent campsite. According to the weather reports, this cold front should end within another 24 hours (supposed to be 78 in New Orleans on the weekend) so I expect we will do some grocery shopping tomorrow and depending on the temperature in Texas, will start living in the LuvMasheen. If not living in it, at least doing some healthy eating vice subs and french fries...we've both pretty well had it with grease after 5 days.

Day 4-2 Jan 08-Chattanooga, Tenn to New Orleans, Louisiana

Odometer: 122,084 Weather: Sunny and cool



We were on the road at 7:45 am...partially because E-Wayne was up roaming at the crack of dawn...and partially because we were determined to reach New Orleans today. It was a long drive but it was pleasant and not a hard drive. For most of it, the trip was like driving through a forest as there were trees close to the road on the median and shoulder sides of the road.

OMG what an awful photo....tomorrow I'm going to treat my face to a bit of makeup!!

It was quite a sight as we drove in to Chattanooga. It's built in the middle of a huge bowl...the city is in the bottom of the bowl and houses all around the rim, and literally on the edge of the rim. Can you spell 'EROSION'?


It was another day of passing from state to state. We started in Tennessee, to Georgia, down the middle of Alabama, in to the tip of Mississippi and then in to Louisiana.


Along the way we passed another camper from Ontario and after passing each other a couple of times, ended up meeting at the welcome center at the Louisiana border. Turns out they are from Georgetown and we decided to drive in to New Orleans together. After trying to get a hotel and some discussion about the lack of parking, they ended up paying $10 to park overnight in a lot and are staying in their camper. Too damn cold for us to rough it so we parked, walked down the street and got a beautiful hotel 2 blocks from the french quarter for $69 (yep, plus breakfast)...and don't have to worry about freezing OR being kicked out of the parking lot. They are a very nice couple, originally from Holland. If they are still there in the morning, we'll do some walking together(and photographing finally) before heading for the local KOA as the temperature is supposed to start rising.


I'm so anxious to see New Orleans in the daytime. On the way over the enormous causeway and in to the city, there was mile after mile of hurricane destruction-still-and huge housing developments in various stages of rebuilding, falling down, boarded up or other obvious damage. There were complete industrial areas that are boarded up and deserted. It was very sobering to see and as we drove across the last bridge into the city I could picture all those thousands of people on the bridge after the hurricane on their way to the stadium. On the way in to the city, we passed acres of those famous trailers...unused because of the formaldehyde used in the manufacture...and it was a sorry sight.


Wayne and I went into the french quarter for dinner and walked down Bourbon St for a short way. We had a fabulous shrimp/jambalaya pasta dinner with wine and then came home as we are exhausted and I'm anxious to get back tomorrow with my camera.

Day 3-01 Jan 08-Salem Virg to Chattanooga, Tennesee

Odometer reading this morning: 121,521 Weather: Sunny and cool
Happy New Year!!
Well, we are two, wild and crazy party people...we were in bed by 9 pm and asleep by 9:30. I like to think the stress of planning this trip is catching up to us which is why we sleep in the van and fall into bed exhausted after supper. It HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR AGE!!
A non-descript day except for the wind which made for a day-long experience of white knuckle driving. Because the van is higher than a car or SUV, when the wind really blows, the van travels around the road and it can be very disconcerting for the first 15 minutes until you realize you are the boss of this rig and can handle it. When those big 18 wheelers speed by, it creates an additional draft and Wayne got woken out of a sound sleep more than once when I was blown to the right and drove along those 'thingers' that are supposed to alert you that you are driving onto the shoulder. They work! It sounds worse than it is...it's just a matter of staying alert and two hands on the wheel.
Because this is our first trip, we don't want to stop to sightsee but I'll tell you, when I saw the sign for Davey Crockett's Birthplace State Park...I wanted to go in.....BAD. My brother Scott and I each had a Davey Crockett jacket when we were 3 and 8 yrs old but he had the coon skin cap and muskett...it was the only time I remember having gender-envy. Anyway, a few more miles down the road was another sign for the 'historic' Davey Crockett Tavern. It must be a little known fact that at some point in his life, he owned/ran a tavern.
We are in the Smokey Mountains and much more heavily wooded than yesterday's rolling hills of Virginia. Not much to see and because you can't stop on the Interstate, not much chance to get out and take photos of anything. One thing that has been evident is the State Police. We've seen more of them, lights flashing and stopping speeders during the last 3 days than we've seen at home in 3 years. One little BMW went by me doing about 120 MPH and 10 miles up the road, he had been stopped and was being handcuffed and loaded into a State Troopers car.
There are lots, and lots, of hotels, restaurants and other conveniences right off the road so it's nice not to have to travel too far for that. Once again, a coupon got us into the Ramada for $44...with breakfast.
Now, if we could just find an abandoned fuel truck every day to siphon off some gas, this trip would be very reasonable.

Day 2 - 31 Dec - Wilkes-Barre Penn to Salem, Virginia

Odometer reading this morning: 120,884 Weather: Sunny and white!

We woke up this morning to snow…lots and lots of snow….but so beautiful! It was coming down lightly when we went to bed and there could not have been a breeze all night because all the tree branches and every other surface was piled high with snow. As we pulled onto the I-85 and started to drive up into the Blue Ridge Mountains, the valley on either side of the highway looked like a black and white photograph. As we came down from the mountains, the snow started to disappear and by noon, when we crossed the border in to Maryland, it had all disappeared and the temperature had become quite mild.

We went through 4 States today: Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. We’ve already put Virginia on our list of places to come back to even though we didn’t get off the interstate except to get gas. The highway (I-85) meanders through a valley bordered on one side by the Blue Ridge Mountains (very close and visible) and the Appalachian Mountains on the other. Even at this time of year, the countryside is beautiful…rolling hills, horse and cattle ranches with beautiful big ranch houses…and we are surprised at how green everything is. The temperature is mild, but certainly not warm, and although we did see the odd advertisement for a ski resort, there can’t be any skiing very close because there is no evidence of snow…now or recently past.

Clearly, there is lots of history here. There are ‘historic’ battlefields everywhere, including Shanandoah, as well as the homestead of ‘Stonewall’ Jackson. The drive along the Interstate was pleasant and I can imagine how lovely the countryside would be on some of the secondary roads. Yep…gotta come back. We want to get 3 days of putting decent miles behind us before doing any sightseeing and certainly get away from the snow-belt. (I’d say we were very close).

Wayne found another coupon so we pulled in to the Howard Johnsons near Roanoake, Virginia and got a nice double room for $39. That includes breakfast….after all, we do have our standards.

New Years Eve…we are thinking of the gang at the Portugese Club and will miss them but we’re happy to be where we are and eager for what’s still ahead. It’s been another wonderful year…a new daughter; a growing and healthy grandson; a fabulous family (immediate and extended); sons & daughters we love beyond comprehension; and each other.