5C's Que Pasa

..kinda of busy right now!  Just found out the HHR has to go back to the shop, something showed up when Colin drove to Seattle and back Tuesday.  Seriously running out of funds.  But I did get my US cash today.

This is a quote from Dorothy Bell for those heading towards Puerto Vallarta……I want to mention that many of my friends have arrived without problem. Saw nothing out of the ordinary.

While many of you may want to avoid Tepic and the violence in Xalisco, DO NOT TRY THE SAN BLAS ROUTE. I had a close friend try that route and said cars and RVs would never make it because bridges are still out from the floods and only very high clearance vehicles can make it……

Also I just wanted to be sure you caught the tag end of my post a few days ago….the toll booths are only taking pesos this year.  So be sure you have some.

Only a few more sleeps.  We might leave early.  Stay tuned!

…what you can and can’t take into the USA food wise.  I called them directly and here is the scoop.  As mentioned a few posts ago, no goat or sheep meat, as well as no tomatoes, peppers or any citrus fruit.  Any fruit with a US sticker on it is okay and even eggs are good to take.  Yeah eggs and toast for breakfast the next morning!!

We rented a garage for 6 months for the BMW but it is so huge we can put the golf cart in also.  All for 50.00 per month!

Hey, be careful!

see you mid April mi Princesa!

And then I got the package in the mail from my mother.  Honestly Ma, the thing with the wrinkles was mostly a joke, sure a bit real but mostly not true.  So Ma sends me the latest in wrinkle renewal for ladies my age or so she says.  I will give it a try but heh, what if I come back looking like I had plastic surgery!!

If you really want to know, it's Avon!

Just a quick note here to let you know that my Dad is doing really really well after his mid August hip replacement.  Because he received cortisone injections in the other hip he has been fairly pain free.  Good possibility he will have the 2nd hip replaced in February.  You go Dad, I am proud of you.  Now I have to watch out as I’m sure you’ll be on the beach in Mazatlan next winter.  Way to go!

It’s true.  I went to the bank yesterday to pick up my US cash and they had no US funds left!!!  Apparently the parity between the CAD and USD currencies last week wiped them out.  I wasn’t changing funds from Canadian to US but just taking good old US cash out of my US account. Did not happen.  The bank hopes to have US cash back in the vault by the end of Wednesday.  Good thing I don’t leave things to the last minute.

This is  a comment from another posting yesterday re the Nogales crossing…this refers to the far West crossing, also referred to as the ‘truck crossing’.

…..We crossed into Sonora and here is a brief report of some changes. On the American side there is a maze that only cars can navigate. When you get to the ” Casita” stay to the right. A homeland security official should warn you about going through the car lane. The officer was polite and asked only a few questions. In one minute we were on our way. At the first checkpoint after the toll booth the lanes are slightly different. The signs state that motorhomes and cars stay to the left. However when you see a line of those yellow domes on the pavement you must go to the right . There is a sign above that lane that says Motorhomes but it is partially blocked by a camera and some lights. Go slowly through this lane if you have a vehicle with a high COG as your unit will rock and there are poles on ether side. Nothing has changed at KM21. It was 10 a.m. and there were only a few Mexican cars . We did not see one RV on the Mexican side. The road condition to Hermosillo has not changed. The last 30 km. is still rough but the rest of the highway was excellent. Travelers should be aware that the Transitos are out with radar in many locations: mine road, East bypass and the airport area. There have been reports all summer of cops asking for mordida Even when the drivers were not exceeding the speed limit. We did see one just before the airport but we were almost crawling. All in all a good trip…….

Here is a sign you can print out and tape to your windows re mordida.  Basically it says that you do not participate/contribute to police wanting bribes.

Save or drag this to your desk top and print

Also be aware that most toll booths no longer take US currency, you need to have pesos!!!

Just called to order take out from one of the RV park restaurants and they are swamped for another hour.  Sigh!!  Colin took the golf cart over to see if a presence might make it happen sooner. Pasta from a real Italian restaurant certainly beats Kraft dinner!!!!!!!!

Where are the geese?  I realized today that I have not heard or seen them for two days now.  Yesterday the tops of the hills around us were tipped in delicate snow flakes and last night it went down to -5C.  I think the geese left a week ahead of us.  Yet it was a lovely day today to work in the RV putting everything away and getting the yard(s) ready for the winter.  I just hated pruning my lovely roses.  It was great to see the hazelnuts forming on our Harry’s Walking Stick bush.  We had lunch out on the beach patio overlooking the lake in the heat of the sun and observed an eagle scouting for a late lunch.

Compared to my pile of stuff this was poquito....wait till tomorrow when we start to transfer the kitchen. This is when I really do wish we were fulltimers!

Have not yet had a formal update from our Mazatlan friends but here are a few words from them……..

~Just got here today – 2 overnights from nogales – san carlos and los mochis – one weird stop by narcos ( friend here says ) said no intiendo and drove on will advise more when we get a better signal –  It was OK – but stressful.

Another comment from friends who have arrived in Puerto Vallarta, glad you arrived safely Lorraine….

~We just arrived in Puerto Vallarta from Nogales yesterday Oct. 15th after 3 days on the road.

We travelled with Jim and Shirl Thoman who we met and hooked up with on this website, and it went really well, they were absolutely great to travel with, so really appreciate this website!

The trip was absolutely without incident.

We did notice an increase though in police and army presence along the way, so that is a good thing.

The road conditions were pretty much the same as usual, you see signs of the heavy rains on the sides of the road here and there, but the roads themselves have all been repaired now, just one little spot just north of Rincon the Gayabitos that they were working on and was still pretty rough.

The RV parks were deserted, we were all by ourselves.

The RV park in Hermosillo called the Sonora RV park, the power was all screwed up, but we did have water and dump. No security guard, but a Mexican family with their two little kids live on site.

The RV park in Mazatlan called the Mar Rosa did accomodate us, but again the park was deserted, we did have a security guard all night and he was very good. Spoke to the manager there who said the whole front row of seasonal RVers have cancelled out and so they are really concerned of the impact of the publicity and their job security, and will the RV park have to close, etc.

Anyway it sure is good to be here in PV and the weather is steamy hot, and we love it!

Good luck to all you travellers, we feel a lot of it is just hype, but that’s just our opinion, so still do be very careful!

And a final comment on the Canadian to US food restrictions….

~Border crossing to US – dont bring any goat or sheep meat.

And an update re “the road” from Mazatlan Airport turn off to the Tres Amigos, thanks so much for checking for me…..

~The cattle guard on the gravel road into Stone Island is OK and passable as per last year – 1 lane only….1 side broke!

Final update from Colin…toss up between Kraft dinner or a TV dinner….I am not cooking….no way…

Hmmmm....maybe at 7:30PM I will try and create a homemade pasta sauce from all these tomatoes I harvested yesterday form ONE TOMATO PLANT! Not a bad investment for $1.49, plus we have been eating tomatoes off of it for several weeks!

Safe travels to our two sets of Ontario friends heading south  Sunday AM.  See you soon!