Folks, we’re packing up our beach camp today and will be back on the road tomorrow. Heading first to Melaque for a car wash and oil spray to combat the salt. Then heading slowly north. More as it transpires !
Adios,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
Folks, we are still camped on the beach here in La Manz. Not much to report as it’s been a quiet and peaceful time here on the beach. We have been having a spell of bad weather though that has made beach camping a little uncomfortable. Since last Friday we have had rain, sometimes steady and sometimes intermittent with mostly cloudy gray skies now for going on seven days. This is very unusual for Mexico’s West coast and we are looking for a refund, as are all the other beach campers. We’ve had to turn our WAECO electric fridge into a ice chest as making electricity with the solar panel has been impossible. We are just managing to keep the batteries at float level with the use of the LED lights at night. Today looks like a repeat of the last seven days and tomorrow is not looking all that much better. We are planning on packing up and moving on to see some other sights on our way North to Cali but packing up all our stuff that’s damp is not an option at the moment. Monday we were off to Melaque for a beard and hair trim for me, Rita’s Valentine present to herself. We met up with Juan Benito and went to a spare rib barbecue and show put on by the local school in Obregne as a fundraiser. The show was awesome, Aztec dancers, school children singing and a Transvestite show. Just as the ribs were being served the skies opened up again and rain, pretty good too, luckily one of Juan’s friends had a pile of umbrellas and a beach parasole to pass around. Ever try eating ribs while holding on to an umbrella ? Luckily we all had partners, except for Juan, to help one another ! Eventually the rain subsided and all was good ! We had gotten a ride into Melaque with Denis & Renee, campers in our camp who were going into Melaque for the day and Juan gave us ride back to camp in his car, thanks Juan ! Tuesday, Valentines Day, we went to Raymond’s Majuhaul Restaurant for Paella and a show, a well know Mexican female singer. It was pretty good and we were inside out of the rain. Tonight there’s dancing at Yolanda’s with the Banditos, a local rock and roll band. Better than sitting around complaining about the lousy weather. Perhaps the Sun will come back soon. Meanwhile the van seems to be good. Each and every time I run a test it results in good to go ! Now, 4:03 pm, a cool wind is blowing and it’s cloudy as ever. Just plain ugly !
Adios,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
Folks, again a long time with no news. So no news is good news as they say. Well, I guess but in this instance it’s been a hard days night on the beach. The new cooling tank arrived by DHL no problemo. Installed and almost immediately destroyed itself. The cooling system once again overheated and tried to blow up the new tank. It did manage to expand quite a bit before I got the engine shut down and with a little persuasion was able to remold the tank back to it original configuration and there seems to be no other damage. So what’s the problem ? Well, at that time I sure did not know and it took several days of testing before the whole story got figured out. The engine was overheating because the rad fan would not come on reliably; basically that’s the jest of it. However, it was not so evident at the outset. So the fan would come on once in a while was the problem and when I was not paying attention it would not come on and the cooling system would overheat and the pressure relief valve in the cap could not handle the abrupt surge of pressure so the tank began to expand and eventually explode if it was not caught in time. At first I though the rad fan switch was at fault and it was to some extent. After finding the proper 28mm deep well socket to change it I discovered that the fan still did not come on reliably ! After more digging around to find out why, it seems that the fan being old and sitting in the moist salt air somehow made it improbable to start up reliably each and every time electric current was applied. Spinning the fan by hand got it to start though and it ran correctly. Seeing that there were two holes in the fan motor casing, I sprayed WURTH lubricating film in there and ran the fan for 15 minutes and ever since the fan has come on reliably. As long as the rad fan comes on at the temperature required then the cooling system does not overheat. The rad fan switch burned out the low setting probably because the fan was stalled and the circuit overloaded the switch and burned the contacts, Anyways, now after days of testing and running for 15 to 20 minutes the cooling system does not overheat and operates as it was designed. I will have to be diligent in watching the temp gauge and listening for the fan to come on, as long as it comes on then all should be OK until we get back home and can remove the rad fan and do an overhaul on it. Meanwhile, the whole reason for running the engine in the first place was to try to charge up the aux batteries due to the lack of sufficient charge by the solar panel due to cloud cover, haze, palm trees and not staying in the camp all day to move the solar panel 15 ~ 20 times a day ! The constant draw of our electric WAECO fridge soon managed to kill the 85 ah Kirkland deep cycle battery under the rear bench seat. The four 22 ah AGM batteries under the drivers seat were then required to take up the slack, couldn’t be done. Last week the Kirkland battery just would not hold any charge any longer. Thursday we got a ride into Manzanillo and found a new 625 amp deep cycle battery at AutoZone, now installed all seems to back on track. However, the sun has been shinning perfectly ever since and the solar panel has been keeping pace with the movement of the sun so a real test had not been done. A few days of clouds, haze and no one to move the panel around will tell the real tale. So…….life on the beach is a bitch ! Solar power is not all it’s drummed up to be and I am just about ready to go buy ICE for the WAECO ! Then there’s the problem of the pop top molding ! All the fuzzy stuff up there is molding rapidly due to the high humidity here. Every morning we wake up to everything soaking wet ! Yes, by 10 ~ 11 am it’s all dried out but the molding has begun and I will have to lie on my back with a jug of bleach soon to clean it up ! Not looking forward to that, I’d rather take the canoe out for some paddling and fishing ! And, one good bit of news, the problem with no Internet on the cell phone got resolved. Also required a trip into Manzanillo to get a “real” Telcel agent to figure it out. After 15 minutes of fooling around with the phone he got it working. When asked what the problem was he responded “configuratione” ! Hands up, I give up ! All I know it’s working now so we do have Internet service with SKYPE through our cell phone ON THE BEACH ! We cannot use the phone as a Hotspot for our laptop however as Telcel does not allow re-transmission of their phone Internet to other devices, CRAP ! So we still need to go to Yolanda’s and pay 50 Pesos a week for Internet there to use the laptop ! Sure glad the camping is cheap ! And, a couple more interesting stories from the beach. Last week we had an 6.5 earthquake and on the same day a robber tried to rob the paymaster of the construction crew in broad daylight. The workers jumped the robber, someone got shot, the workers captured the robber until the police arrived. Then a few days ago a Croc got out in the ocean and had everyone on guard. The Croc ropers came and got him or her back to the lagoon ! Whew, what next ? I’m gonna go take a nap !
Adious,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
Manzanillo yesterday to pick up the new tank from DHL, AND, to see Telcel about getting the Internet working on our cell phone that I paid for back on December 28. After 15 minutes with the Telcel agent he got it working, what all the other agent in La Manz and Melaque were unable to do, something about correct configuration I was told. Anyways, we now have Internet service on our Smart phone, so we have email and SKYPE right here on at our beach camp or anywhere else we go ! 3GB of data for $500 Pesos $37. CAD today ! Now I see that MacBook will not pick up the Internet connection on the cell phone when I make it a HotSpot. MacBook says it’s connected to the HotSpot but there is no Internet service. The Internet IS working on the phone though so another mystery to solve !
Adios,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
Well folks it’s been awhile I know but just have not had the time or sprite to write until now. New Years stared off with a bang and I do mean a BANG ! It had been cloudy & overcast for a few days so the solar panel was not keeping up with the demand of the WAECO fridge especially since the fridges cooling fan had died and the compressor was overheating and stalling causing a big drain on the house batteries. In an attempt tp charge the batteries with the engine and overheating problem yet to be diagnosed cause the expansion tank, yes the new one from the Bus Depot we installed in Hallendale, EXPLODED, and yes I do mean EXPLODED, see the photos below. Luckily I was nearby and got the to the key to shut the engine down so hopefully no damage was done. A new tank is on its way by DHL from home. A call to Greg and he got one on the DHL transport to Manzanillo so we should have it later this week then we can sort of try to figure out what caused the problem in the first place. Seems at first glance the relief valve in the cap failed to open but then the overflow tank was full ? Perhaps the vent in the overflow tank was blocked ? As of now I do not know ! Anyways, life goes on, the clouds subsided and the batteries eventually got charged, the dead fridge fan got replaced with one from an old computer, which we found at the computer repair shop in town. The WAECO fridge is now cold again and as long as I move the solar panel 50 times a day the batteries stay charged. It’s a full time operation ! The sun is blocked here by the hills behind us and the numerous palm tress surround us so it’s a juggling act to keep the solar panel in the direct rays of the sun !
Friends from the Montreal area Eric & Annie traveling in a T3 Westfalia Diesel Joker HiTop stopped by for a few days. They had been in Florida sort of behind us, and eventually caught up. They have now left heading North to visit other friends in Tecopan then up the California coast then back to home. Juan Benito has been up here a few times from Melaque on his motorbike, we may take some days traveling & exploring together later on. Been out fishing with the canoe with Eric and he caught a couple nice ones, one a large Pargo we kept and made fish tacos with for lunch. Rita & Marianne went up to PV yesterday morning to bring the Hunters to their plane ride back to TO and then do some COSTCO and WAL MART shopping. They should be back later this afternoon. Meanwhile, I’m here relaxing and moving the solar panel !
Adios,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
YES ! we are now camped on the beach in La Manzanilla, same spot as two years ago, Camping Don Gaby a short walk up the beach from town. We arrived here last Thursday evening, after having drivin’ down the Mex 54 from north of Guadalajara, through Guadalajara, picking up the Mex 80 to Villa Carona, Autlan, La Huerta then into Melaque for some last minute shopping before heading up the Mex 200 to La Manz. We found Leon and Jolanda at their Palapa restaurant as always. found Mike & Marianne at Camping Don Gaby waiting for us so here we are now, past Christmas and relaxing and decompressing from all the twisty roads from Zacetecas to here ! What a trip as always. Last night we were invited to a Christmas feast at the Hunters, folks from Toronto who are good friends with Mike & Marianne. Now at Yolandas on the Internet and watching the sunset. The beach has changed a lot due to the hurricane back in October but not enough to deter us. Maria’s camping where we stayed awhile during the first days of Buses in Zamora is now Fiesta Mexicana, a Palapa restaurant that was evicted from Tenicatia, they are renting the property from Maria. The lot next door where we stayed when Maria asked all the buses to leave when her family form Guadalajara came in for Christmas is now an official camp ground. Someone rented the property from the owner and set up a camp. The Hydro lines now go on up the beach past our property but Don Gaby did no see fit to connect. However Carmen did connect her two properties to the left and right of us. There are really not a lot of foreign campers here as of now, seems to be the story all over Mexico. The news reports have gotten to most travellers I presume. However the Mexicans are here by the bus loads for their Christmas Holidays so there is non-stop action and folks camped everywhere. So far it’s been quiet at our place, we shall see ! Juan Benito came up from Melaque yesterday on his moto for a visit before we had to go for Christmas diner. We will meet up later this week in Melaque to go for a bike ride. The Crocs are still here and sort of fenced in. A walkway has been constructed through the Mangroves where they reside and there’s a charge to take the walk to see the Crocs up close and personal, no, we did not go – YET. Well, now into the humdrum life of Life on the Beach !
No problems encountered in the drive down unless you want to count the local police of some small village south of Guadalajara who stopped for n “Inspection” Nothing found, nothing asked for and we were sent on our way.
The Police are quite in evidence here in La Manz BTW. They were giving tickets today for seat belts, no helmets, illegal parking, etc.
Adios, belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers !
Frank, Rita & Hunter
We, are now in Harlingen, TX. We will cross into Mexico at Nuevo Progresso this morning. Heading towards Monterray, Zacatecas, Guadalajara, and La Manzanilla. All seems well !
Adios & Felize Navidad,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
We are now at the Flying J just off the I-10 east of Houston. Spent last night at the French Quarter RV Park in New Orleans. Not a wink of sleep due to the traffic on the I-10 above us as this campground although within walking distance of the French Quarter is pretty close to the being under the I-10 especially the SPOT they gave us. It was pretty well booked up due to the BIG football game on Sunday. DO NOT CAMP AT THIS CAMPGROUND !! $75 for all that noise and we were locked out of the bathrooms until 8 am !! Anyways, after a nice warm shower we managed to walk over to the French Quarter, get up and down Bourbon Street, have Happy Hour beers at the House of Blues, a walk about in the rain, Oysters, Beignets and coffee, good music from Steamboat Willie, and lots crazy people to gauk at ! We left this morning as we were gonna go broke if we stayed here any longer ! Not a happy camper after all day on the I-10 with not much sleep last night and it’s cold here to boot, we have the insulation on the pop-top on and the Propex running ! Tomorrow we have an appointment at the Apple Store in Houston at 10:45 am to try to get the camera on the Mac Book fixed ! Looks like it’s still under warranty, some good news ! Then we have to see about a vibration in the Van, shaking badly between 100 and 120 km/hr. Maybe a wheel weight has come off as it seems to be a front wheel out of balance to me. We shall see, as it will probably have to wait until Monday morning now. Hopefully we sleep better tonight although we still hear the I-10 off in the distance.
Adios,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
After a slow start this morning trying to sort out a non working brake light on the motorcycle carrier, never did get it fixed, we said our good-byes to our generous hosts, Kai & Val and friends Darrell, Mike, Reiner & Brigitte, then got under way north. After a stop for lunch on the banks of the Suwannee River we are now heading west along the Florida panhandle and spending the night for FREE again in San Marcos State Park on the river leading into the Gulf !
Adios,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
Yes, we are still alive and in Florida. Too much action to find time to write. A few spare moment this morning though. After leaving our new found friends in Bonita Springs we made our way to meet up with Paul & Linda at a restaurant near Bradenton where they are helping Paul’s parents repair their mobile home that got damaged by mould. A nice meal with them, then stayed with them in Bradenton until Monday morning when we head out for Fort DeSoto to meet up the Jerry & Sofie. On the way through Tampa we stopped at the Port to look into a boat ride to Mexico for us and the van. At first it looked like we hit the jack pot as the fellow we initially found seemed positive of it being possible. We were to hear back from him later on by email. Well, a few days later we finally get the info. The van fully loaded as it is can be transported to Progresso but we cannot accompany it, we must find alternate means of transportation to Progresso. A quick check finds an air fare for two to Cancun for $168, not too bad. However, the van’s boat ride is going to cost $2500 plus another $500 ~ $800 on the Mexican side to unload and get it through customs. The boat ride is 7 ~ 8 days. So we are on our own, hoteling, moteling, and meals for 8 days plus transportation charges from the dock to the airport, at both ends. A quick calculation sees that it could easily end up being a $5000 adventure. NO WAY JOSE as they say ! So, a decision is made to drive around. Anyways……..we made it to Fort DeSoto, met up with Jerry & Sofie, our friend, George, came down form Atlanta and we all had good times together, beaching, swiming, fishing, canoeing, eating & drinking ! George left early to head back to Atlanta to check up on Joanne. Paul & Linda left for home on Friday. Saturday we find that the Full Moon Bus Club is having an meet at Fort DeSoto called “Sausage at Fort DeSoto” We get an invite and meet up with 10 or so other VW buses and enjoy a whole pile of Sausage at the Sausage Pot Luck ! Played Bocci with LED blinking lighted Bocci balls into the wee hours of the nite. We meet Darrell Boehler, the inventor of the Digitool whom we last saw at Campers on Cape Cod some 10 years ago, and Kai & Valerie from Floral City who have invited us over and that’s where we are now along with Darrell. Today a canoe/kayak trip out to some springs to see the Manatee that are hanging there. Tomorrow back on the road to Mexico. Next big stop, New Orleans ! A small glitch has us without a camera on our MacBook, the camera just stopped working the other day. We stopped at a Mac repair place in Tampa on the way through yesterday only to find it needs a new camera, time and money do not permit this now. We do have Rita’s MacBook so we will use it to Skype with Video when we need so all’s OK.
PS. still no photos as we still have not found time or an good Internet connection to up load them. Soon we hope !
Adios,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
