We are at the Wal-Mart in Douglas, Arizona (map), just a stone's throw from the Mexican border and Agua Prieta.
Friday afternoon our friends came back for another visit on their motorcycles, and we headed out on their two bikes to Tombstone for lunch. It was a great ride, and it felt really good to be out on the open road on a real motorcycle again. Tombstone itself is quaint, if a bit over-the-top on the whole tourist thing, what with half the town wandering around in "period" regalia and all (although everyone seemed to have a slightly different idea of just what period was being modeled).
After they dropped us back at the Elks lodge we bid them a fond farewell, and supposed that we would be leaving town Saturday morning.
As it happens, though, we've been waffling a bit about the "schedule" and the "plan," which words I have put in quotes because, really, we don't have either. We'd been casually aiming towards heading back into Mexico, down through Sonora and along the west coast of the mainland, with the intent, among other things, to possibly catch up with some friends who are staying down near Puerto Vallarta.
All of that supposed, though, that we'd be heading that way more or less at the very beginning of March, and here it is, instead, the very end. Many things conspired to get us to this point, including Opal's medical issues, the mail showing up over a week late, and the fact that, even after it arrived, we still don't have all the paperwork we need to file our taxes.
In any event, Saturday morning we took stock of our situation anew, and decided that we've really missed the window for Mexico's Pacific coast this season. For one thing, we are coming up on the hotter months, and so any time we spend that far south will likely be fairly short, For another, our friends are scheduled to leave in a few days anyway, headed back north after spending the whole season there. And, lastly, there are those pesky tax forms -- we can't really venture that far from the border this close to filing date without having everything in the bag.
That decision left us somewhat at loose ends, and, with no real target in mind, we decided to just spend another night at the Sierra Vista Elks while we thought things over some more. That did give me a chance to get some projects done that have been languishing, including fixing one of the air conditioning vents in the cockpit that had self-destructed, important now that temps are rising and we're using the AC on the road, and repairing one of our two awning remote controls, which had been out of commission for the better part of a year (the second one working fine meant little motivation).
By the end of the day, we had more or less decided to head east into Texas and revisit Big Bend, a place that we fell in love with on our first visit three years ago, in the early months of our adventure, and which we did not have time to properly explore.
To get to Big Bend from here, there are three main routes of nearly equal distance. The most direct is to drop down across the border and take Mexico 2 all the way to Juarez, cross back into the states at El Paso, then take I-10 to US90 and down through Marfa. The most direct route entirely within the US involves continuing east from here on Arizona 80, across southern New Mexico on state route 9, and again into El Paso and I-10. And the third route involves taking Mexico 2 to Janos, turning south for Chihuahua on Mexico 10, and then into Presidio, Texas by way of Mexico 16.
We decided on this third option, because we've already done the I-10/US90 route in both directions, and everything from here to El Paso on our first pass through Big Bend. Plus, diesel is still just over $2 per gallon in Mexico, and it's twice that here in Arizona.
Having thus made the decision to head across the border and pick up Mexico 2, we set our sights on Naco, a sleepy town about 40 miles west of here, where we presumed the lines would be shorter and our paperwork quicker to process. A quick check on the internet revealed this to be true -- right up until January of '07, when the Mexicans closed the Banjercito branch in Naco, moving it to Cananea, quite a ways west on 2 -- not the direction we're heading. We could still get our tourist visas in Naco, but we could not get the necessary temporary importation permit for Odyssey there -- only the Banjercito can issue these.
We briefly contemplated crossing in Naco anyway, then driving up to the Banjercito in Aqua Prieta, just a couple miles north of our route, to get the permit. That seemed silly -- if the point of crossing in Naco was to avoid the traffic at the busier Aqua Prieta crossing, we'd lose that advantage and then some by having to drive right up to that same crossing anyway from the Mexico side to get our permit. Plus, overnight opportunities on the US side in Naco were slim pickings, and we knew this Wal-Mart was here in Douglas.
Tonight we hoofed it over to the historic turn-of-the-century Gadsden Hotel for dinner. The food was perfectly acceptable and reasonably priced, and the hotel lobby is a real gem. A bit run down and definitely showing its age, but a model of opulence in its day, especially considering the mining-frontier location. We were somewhat surprised at how vibrant the downtown of this old city really is. Just as with the brand new Wal-Mart, the downtown is thriving on thousands of Mexicans who cross the border daily to shop here. When we parked this afternoon, Sonora plates outnumbered Arizona ones in the parking lot.
On our way back from dinner, we stocked up at the Safeway across the street. Tomorrow we will finish our shopping right here at Wal-Mart, where Monday morning is always a better bet than Sunday afternoon. I expect to cross the border around mid day.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Too much excitement
We are at the Sierra Vista Elks lodge (map), visiting friends.
We finally left Beaudry yesterday at nearly 3pm. We had been waiting for the representative from the laundry vendor, who was going to look at the damage and was supposed to show up at 1:30. Apparently, when he rolled by at 1:45, some random stranger told him we were not home, and he left. I think he really just did not want to deal with me. In any case, talking to him on the phone later he basically told us they were not responsible for the damage -- so why, then, did we need to wait around for him to come look?
Beaudry did the right thing, though, and knocked half off our stay when we checked out. Not full compensation, but good enough, especially considering the damage was probably due to some crud left in there by a previous user. But we got a late start toward Sierra Vista due to the no-show laundry guy.
That put us on the I-10 freeway just in time to be 1,000' behind this big rig when it flipped over onto it's side:
The speed limit here is 75, and he was doing close to that when he either fell asleep or blacked out, left the roadway into the median, and over-corrected when he woke up. As is our custom, we were doing 60 in the slow lane when we first saw the enormous cloud of dust as the trailer wheels skidded sideways down the median.
I immediately put the four-ways on, and started pumping the brakes to make the brake lights flash. We moved Odyssey into the #1 lane to block traffic from the scene -- the photo above is taken from the upstairs window well after the response was wrapped up. Smoke was billowing from the rig, so I jumped out with the 2-gallon Cold-Fire unit while Louise phoned it in to 911. Even though we saw at least three other people on cell phones when we stopped, hers was the first call.
By the time I got to the tractor, a bunch of guys in military camo fatigues were already ripping out the windshield to get to the drivers. In hindsight, I should have jumped in to help direct them, because they ended up pulling one of the victims out who had suffered a C-spine injury. My call would have been to leave the victim, who was breathing, in place until the pros arrived with the backboards and cervical collars. I'm guessing, though, that the smoke convinced them that fire was imminent.
In fact, the smoke was coming from the trailer's refrigeration unit, which was still running. On its side, it was alternately getting too much, then too little fuel, and it oscillated between revving to the point of self-destruction, and nearly dying from starvation. When it over-revved, a huge cloud of white smoke would billow out. I was able to get between the cab and trailer and underneath the unit to its control panel, and shut it down.
Meanwhile, Louise had grabbed our extensive first aid kit and headed over to where they had dragged the victims -- oddly, on the opposite side of the westbound lanes (the accident was on the eastbound side). An ex-EMT had already stopped to help, so we just provided the supplies. I donned my neon-yellow vest and started directing traffic, trying to clear the huge backup (the eastbound side had stopped completely) so the emergency vehicles could make it to the scene.
Between assisting at the scene, collecting our emergency items afterwards (the fire extinguisher and first aid kit), and filling out the witness statements, we were there for about an hour. When we finally did leave, threading our way through the emergency crews (we wanted to get out before the wrecker came in and blocked the roadway completely), we had the freeway all to ourselves for several miles, as the highway patrol had, of course, shut it down one exit ahead of the scene.
All's well that ends well -- no other vehicles were involved, and both drivers were alive and mostly OK when they were transported to the hospital. No word on whether the load of refrigerated produce survived...
We made it here just in time for a nice dinner with our friends in town. The sore throat I developed from inhaling the acrid diesel exhaust as I shut down the reefer unit is gone this morning, and we're looking forward to a much less exciting day today.
We finally left Beaudry yesterday at nearly 3pm. We had been waiting for the representative from the laundry vendor, who was going to look at the damage and was supposed to show up at 1:30. Apparently, when he rolled by at 1:45, some random stranger told him we were not home, and he left. I think he really just did not want to deal with me. In any case, talking to him on the phone later he basically told us they were not responsible for the damage -- so why, then, did we need to wait around for him to come look?
Beaudry did the right thing, though, and knocked half off our stay when we checked out. Not full compensation, but good enough, especially considering the damage was probably due to some crud left in there by a previous user. But we got a late start toward Sierra Vista due to the no-show laundry guy.
That put us on the I-10 freeway just in time to be 1,000' behind this big rig when it flipped over onto it's side:
The speed limit here is 75, and he was doing close to that when he either fell asleep or blacked out, left the roadway into the median, and over-corrected when he woke up. As is our custom, we were doing 60 in the slow lane when we first saw the enormous cloud of dust as the trailer wheels skidded sideways down the median.
I immediately put the four-ways on, and started pumping the brakes to make the brake lights flash. We moved Odyssey into the #1 lane to block traffic from the scene -- the photo above is taken from the upstairs window well after the response was wrapped up. Smoke was billowing from the rig, so I jumped out with the 2-gallon Cold-Fire unit while Louise phoned it in to 911. Even though we saw at least three other people on cell phones when we stopped, hers was the first call.
By the time I got to the tractor, a bunch of guys in military camo fatigues were already ripping out the windshield to get to the drivers. In hindsight, I should have jumped in to help direct them, because they ended up pulling one of the victims out who had suffered a C-spine injury. My call would have been to leave the victim, who was breathing, in place until the pros arrived with the backboards and cervical collars. I'm guessing, though, that the smoke convinced them that fire was imminent.
In fact, the smoke was coming from the trailer's refrigeration unit, which was still running. On its side, it was alternately getting too much, then too little fuel, and it oscillated between revving to the point of self-destruction, and nearly dying from starvation. When it over-revved, a huge cloud of white smoke would billow out. I was able to get between the cab and trailer and underneath the unit to its control panel, and shut it down.
Meanwhile, Louise had grabbed our extensive first aid kit and headed over to where they had dragged the victims -- oddly, on the opposite side of the westbound lanes (the accident was on the eastbound side). An ex-EMT had already stopped to help, so we just provided the supplies. I donned my neon-yellow vest and started directing traffic, trying to clear the huge backup (the eastbound side had stopped completely) so the emergency vehicles could make it to the scene.
Between assisting at the scene, collecting our emergency items afterwards (the fire extinguisher and first aid kit), and filling out the witness statements, we were there for about an hour. When we finally did leave, threading our way through the emergency crews (we wanted to get out before the wrecker came in and blocked the roadway completely), we had the freeway all to ourselves for several miles, as the highway patrol had, of course, shut it down one exit ahead of the scene.
All's well that ends well -- no other vehicles were involved, and both drivers were alive and mostly OK when they were transported to the hospital. No word on whether the load of refrigerated produce survived...
We made it here just in time for a nice dinner with our friends in town. The sore throat I developed from inhaling the acrid diesel exhaust as I shut down the reefer unit is gone this morning, and we're looking forward to a much less exciting day today.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Rubbery in Tucson
We are at the Beaudry RV Resort in Tucson (map).
In addition to having friends in town, making this a convenient place to stop. we needed to do laundry, and the temperatures have been moving into the 90's in the afternoon, so this high-zoot resort with 50-amp hookups and a pair of laundry facilities made sense, even though it is high season here, and we're paying much more than we normally like for the privilege. We also knew we'd need to dump and fill tanks.
Just as with the last time we needed laundry and hookups, back at Desert Trails before heading into Mexico, the laundry became something of a snafu. Last time it was because the park threatened to turn all the water off on the very day we needed to do the laundry. This time, it was more sinister: some problem with the washer, or maybe some substance left there by the previous user, ruined an entire load. One of my shirts, one of our bedsheets, and lots of our underwear now have a permanent brown pattern imprinted upon them, matching the pattern of holes in the washer drum.
We've been to the desk several times now to complain and get some kind of reimbursement. So far, all that has yielded is a refund of the $1.50 we spent in the washer (the first time -- we ran the same load back through another washer three times to try to remove the stains, without results). The park is trying to shunt the issue over to the laundry machine service company, and, as always, there is a "not responsible for damage" sign in the room. Considering the value of the items is probably in the neighborhood of a couple hundred bucks, not to mention the hassle of having to traipse all over creation replacing the variety of items, I feel the least Beaudry can do is comp us our ~$140 stay.
Monday evening we ate in the little restaurant that is part of the complex, which has changed hands since last we were here. The former "Beer Bottoms Bistro" had a more extensive and robust menu than the current occupant, "Montgomery's Grill." Still, the food was OK and it was certainly convenient.
Yesterday we rode the scooter up to the hills and had a nice lunch-time visit with our friends. On our way back in to the massive Beaudry complex we stopped at the Camping World store to update some of our directories, replace a broken tray table for our outside chairs, and look at mattresses to replace our now sagging three-year old model, also from Camping World.
By the time we got back and fixed dinner, I was feeling like we really did not get much enjoyment out of our "resort" stay here, and we decided to extend an extra day, for a departure tomorrow. That left today open to call local "Mobile Massage" therapist Cathy Meacham, who has a sign and some business cards in the campground lobby, to come over and give us massages. My shoulder and the surrounding muscles are still a wreck from having pulled something back at the Cocopah casino, and I have been looking for a massage joint ever since.
I've just gotten finished, and Louise is on the table now. I can heartily recommend Cathy, who did an excellent job working on my problem areas. Since we don't have enough room in Odyssey for the massage table (apparently, rigs with slides don't have this problem), she had to work outside under the awning. A bit tricky dealing with the modesty issues, but actually quite relaxing in the gentle, arid breeze with temperatures in the 80's. I'm quite rubbery now, if a bit greasy as well.
Tomorrow morning we will head out, but, at this writing, I'm not certain in which direction. We have friends in Sierra Vista, and we might drop by if they are in town. Alternatively, we may head due south to Nogales, and back into Mexico.
In addition to having friends in town, making this a convenient place to stop. we needed to do laundry, and the temperatures have been moving into the 90's in the afternoon, so this high-zoot resort with 50-amp hookups and a pair of laundry facilities made sense, even though it is high season here, and we're paying much more than we normally like for the privilege. We also knew we'd need to dump and fill tanks.
Just as with the last time we needed laundry and hookups, back at Desert Trails before heading into Mexico, the laundry became something of a snafu. Last time it was because the park threatened to turn all the water off on the very day we needed to do the laundry. This time, it was more sinister: some problem with the washer, or maybe some substance left there by the previous user, ruined an entire load. One of my shirts, one of our bedsheets, and lots of our underwear now have a permanent brown pattern imprinted upon them, matching the pattern of holes in the washer drum.
We've been to the desk several times now to complain and get some kind of reimbursement. So far, all that has yielded is a refund of the $1.50 we spent in the washer (the first time -- we ran the same load back through another washer three times to try to remove the stains, without results). The park is trying to shunt the issue over to the laundry machine service company, and, as always, there is a "not responsible for damage" sign in the room. Considering the value of the items is probably in the neighborhood of a couple hundred bucks, not to mention the hassle of having to traipse all over creation replacing the variety of items, I feel the least Beaudry can do is comp us our ~$140 stay.
Monday evening we ate in the little restaurant that is part of the complex, which has changed hands since last we were here. The former "Beer Bottoms Bistro" had a more extensive and robust menu than the current occupant, "Montgomery's Grill." Still, the food was OK and it was certainly convenient.
Yesterday we rode the scooter up to the hills and had a nice lunch-time visit with our friends. On our way back in to the massive Beaudry complex we stopped at the Camping World store to update some of our directories, replace a broken tray table for our outside chairs, and look at mattresses to replace our now sagging three-year old model, also from Camping World.
By the time we got back and fixed dinner, I was feeling like we really did not get much enjoyment out of our "resort" stay here, and we decided to extend an extra day, for a departure tomorrow. That left today open to call local "Mobile Massage" therapist Cathy Meacham, who has a sign and some business cards in the campground lobby, to come over and give us massages. My shoulder and the surrounding muscles are still a wreck from having pulled something back at the Cocopah casino, and I have been looking for a massage joint ever since.
I've just gotten finished, and Louise is on the table now. I can heartily recommend Cathy, who did an excellent job working on my problem areas. Since we don't have enough room in Odyssey for the massage table (apparently, rigs with slides don't have this problem), she had to work outside under the awning. A bit tricky dealing with the modesty issues, but actually quite relaxing in the gentle, arid breeze with temperatures in the 80's. I'm quite rubbery now, if a bit greasy as well.
Tomorrow morning we will head out, but, at this writing, I'm not certain in which direction. We have friends in Sierra Vista, and we might drop by if they are in town. Alternatively, we may head due south to Nogales, and back into Mexico.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday night's alright ... to get a little Ak-Chin in
We are at Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino, in Maricopa (map).
It was only a short half-hour drive here from Wild Horse Pass, but the extra distance from Phoenix made a big difference. We are parked by ourselves in a corner of an immense dirt lot. There are three other rigs in this lot, and another several in the paved truck-and-RV section of the main parking lot, but none is closer than several dozen yards. We chose the dirt to be away from the harsh sodium lighting in the paved areas, and to have a bit more separation.
Maricopa turns out to be a bustling town, growing by leaps and bounds. We are presuming that it is becoming a bedroom community for the Phoenix metroplex. Things are a bit further developed here than in Buckeye -- we stopped at an enormous Fry's grocery store on our way through town, and it is one of the largest and most well-stocked stores we have been in. Of course, on a Saturday afternoon, it seemed like all of Maricopa was in there with us, and we appeared to be the only ones who did not know people all over the store.
The casino resort here is fairly nice, as these things go. Clearly there is enough of a market here for the tribe to have persuaded (or maybe it was the other way around) casino leviathan Harrah's, with whom we have stayed many times, to operate the place. We had dinner last night and brunch this morning in the Agave cafe, with pleasant pool-side tables. Tonight we tried the "Range" steakhouse, which was perfectly acceptable if a bit pricey.
The pool here looks wonderful, complete with swim-up bar. It looked so inviting, with today's temperatures here in the high 80's, that I asked at the desk if they sold a day pass for the pool. Alas, they did not, nor were they receptive to my Jedi mind trick, wherein I attempted to implant the idea that, if they let us use the pool, they would sell drinks to us all day long at the swim-up bar. Oh well.
Nevertheless, we decided to remain hunkered down here for the remainder of the holiday weekend. Tomorrow morning we will head south through Casa Grande and on to Tucson, where we will be visiting friends.
It was only a short half-hour drive here from Wild Horse Pass, but the extra distance from Phoenix made a big difference. We are parked by ourselves in a corner of an immense dirt lot. There are three other rigs in this lot, and another several in the paved truck-and-RV section of the main parking lot, but none is closer than several dozen yards. We chose the dirt to be away from the harsh sodium lighting in the paved areas, and to have a bit more separation.
Maricopa turns out to be a bustling town, growing by leaps and bounds. We are presuming that it is becoming a bedroom community for the Phoenix metroplex. Things are a bit further developed here than in Buckeye -- we stopped at an enormous Fry's grocery store on our way through town, and it is one of the largest and most well-stocked stores we have been in. Of course, on a Saturday afternoon, it seemed like all of Maricopa was in there with us, and we appeared to be the only ones who did not know people all over the store.
The casino resort here is fairly nice, as these things go. Clearly there is enough of a market here for the tribe to have persuaded (or maybe it was the other way around) casino leviathan Harrah's, with whom we have stayed many times, to operate the place. We had dinner last night and brunch this morning in the Agave cafe, with pleasant pool-side tables. Tonight we tried the "Range" steakhouse, which was perfectly acceptable if a bit pricey.
The pool here looks wonderful, complete with swim-up bar. It looked so inviting, with today's temperatures here in the high 80's, that I asked at the desk if they sold a day pass for the pool. Alas, they did not, nor were they receptive to my Jedi mind trick, wherein I attempted to implant the idea that, if they let us use the pool, they would sell drinks to us all day long at the swim-up bar. Oh well.
Nevertheless, we decided to remain hunkered down here for the remainder of the holiday weekend. Tomorrow morning we will head south through Casa Grande and on to Tucson, where we will be visiting friends.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Wild Horses
We are at the Wild Horse Pass casino, south of Phoenix (map), a place we've stayed previously, with great success.
This visit was somewhat less so. Since we had dinner last night at our restaurant in Phoenix, we did not take advantage of the dinner opportunity here, and breakfast was over by the time we stumbled in this morning. Also, since we already had players' cards from the last visit, the cash compensation would not be forthcoming.
The other problem, on this visit, is that it is a holiday weekend in high RV season. The "Truck and RV" parking area was completely full, and we came over here to the "RV ghetto" on the other side of the lot.
And, in this case, ghetto is a less tongue-in-cheek term: the casino apparently enforces no stay limit of any kind, nor is there any attention paid to the "usual etiquette" of overnight parking lot stays. Many rigs appear to have "set up camp," with BBQ's, chimineas, patio furniture, etc., using as many as a dozen parking spaces.
What has made this stay particularly miserable for us (and shame on me for not just moving the coach when this became an issue), was this generator outside a rig just a dozen yards from us:
This is a "contractor" style generator, made to run at construction job sites and other places where it will not disturb anyone. And yes, I understand that some RVers are on very tight budgets, and these generators can be a good value -- if you and your neighbors are willing to put up with the noise.
Between our arrival around 9pm and this writing at 2:30, this unit has been running for, conservatively, ten hours. It ran until around 11 or so last night, and was already running by 8:30 or so this morning when I first noticed it. It's still running now, although it was off for less than an hour earlier.
So here we now have the worst of both worlds: we are in what has become, de facto, a campground, with close-in neighbors, yet, unlike a real campground, there is no host or ranger to enforce any kind of rules about when you can run your generator or how loud it (or your stereo) can be.
Normally on a high-season holiday weekend, we would just hunker down right where we are until Monday. But this is a bit beyond the pale, between the generator and the parking lot lighting. So in a few minutes, we will move another 20 miles or so down the road to, umm, a different casino. Perhaps that one, being somewhat further from the greater Phoenix area, will be a bit more subdued.
This visit was somewhat less so. Since we had dinner last night at our restaurant in Phoenix, we did not take advantage of the dinner opportunity here, and breakfast was over by the time we stumbled in this morning. Also, since we already had players' cards from the last visit, the cash compensation would not be forthcoming.
The other problem, on this visit, is that it is a holiday weekend in high RV season. The "Truck and RV" parking area was completely full, and we came over here to the "RV ghetto" on the other side of the lot.
And, in this case, ghetto is a less tongue-in-cheek term: the casino apparently enforces no stay limit of any kind, nor is there any attention paid to the "usual etiquette" of overnight parking lot stays. Many rigs appear to have "set up camp," with BBQ's, chimineas, patio furniture, etc., using as many as a dozen parking spaces.
What has made this stay particularly miserable for us (and shame on me for not just moving the coach when this became an issue), was this generator outside a rig just a dozen yards from us:
This is a "contractor" style generator, made to run at construction job sites and other places where it will not disturb anyone. And yes, I understand that some RVers are on very tight budgets, and these generators can be a good value -- if you and your neighbors are willing to put up with the noise.
Between our arrival around 9pm and this writing at 2:30, this unit has been running for, conservatively, ten hours. It ran until around 11 or so last night, and was already running by 8:30 or so this morning when I first noticed it. It's still running now, although it was off for less than an hour earlier.
So here we now have the worst of both worlds: we are in what has become, de facto, a campground, with close-in neighbors, yet, unlike a real campground, there is no host or ranger to enforce any kind of rules about when you can run your generator or how loud it (or your stereo) can be.
Normally on a high-season holiday weekend, we would just hunker down right where we are until Monday. But this is a bit beyond the pale, between the generator and the parking lot lighting. So in a few minutes, we will move another 20 miles or so down the road to, umm, a different casino. Perhaps that one, being somewhat further from the greater Phoenix area, will be a bit more subdued.
Small Space Saturday: Maximum Use Imperative
On Saturdays I write about strategies for living in 300 square feet
Over at Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project I learned today about a concept called the Maximum Use Imperative: people will often buy something to accommodate a use that they need only rarely. An often cited example is buying an SUV to be ready to haul a boat, drive off-road in the snow, and haul the entire soccer team to practice. There's only one problem with that decision process: the car is then not optimal for the way it is used 99% of the time.
Gretchen writes, "I’ve noticed that when making decisions, I tend to give too much thought to what I do ONCE IN A WHILE and not enough weight to what I do EVERY DAY. Shoes, for example. I wear running shoes 29 days out of 30 days a month, yet I have three pairs of black flats and only one pair of running shoes."
When living in the small space of an RV, it helps to be aware of this tendency and to consciously fight it. Storage is limited, and the added weight of unnecessary items affects mileage, wear-and-tear and safety of the vehicle.
Instead of buying or keeping something "just in case" or for the worst case scenario, ask yourself these questions instead:
Do I use it often? If you're only pulling it out once a year, or you can't remember when you last used it, maybe this item has no place in your RV. Be cautious if your answer is, "But if x (where x is pretty unlikely) happens, then I'll be glad I kept it!" Exceptions might be holiday items like Christmas decorations that truly are used every year. But do you really need enough garlands for a 12ft. Douglas fir?
Is it a matter of life and death? Health and safety items are among the few things that justify storing something "just in case." First aid kits, fire extinguishers, and emergency medicines fall into this category. Tools are vital when problems arise, but sort through them and keep only those that you really need. Screwdrivers? You bet. A dozen screwdrivers with every possible size tip? Probably not.
Is it rare/hard to find? Spare parts for orphaned RVs, where the manufacturer has gone out of business, might be worth storing. (Ahem, not that Neoplan owners know anything about that.) Anything you can find at Napa Auto parts or Camping World probably doesn't need to be hauled around. Let those retail establishments store parts for you.
Do I love it? Is it irreplaceable? There are some items that we just want to hold onto, even if they aren't being used. Family heirlooms, photos, even a special childhood toy may hold a place in your heart that justify keeping them forever. But perhaps in those cases, you should consider renting a storage space for those items. Grandma's lace tablecloth is more likely to be ruined after 5 years in your RV (water leaks and dust seem inevitable!) and is probably too fancy to use on a picnic table. What if you loaned it to your daughter-in-law and visited it on New Year's eve?
Can I rent or borrow it? Everything can be rented these days, from furniture to tuxedos, boat trailers to formal china. We need a car so rarely that we rent one when we do. Bake a cake once every three years? Your campground neighbor who bakes daily can loan you his pans. Another option is to buy rarely needed items at thrift stores, then donate them back when you are finished. Or buy, use, then sell on eBay.
Have I outgrown it? Gaining weight is the obvious way to "outgrow" something. Does it really make sense to keep your "skinny pants" for several years on the off chance you'll slim down? If you're like me, by the time you lose those 20 lbs, the pants are out of style! Sometimes, though, it is harder to admit when you've emotionally outgrown something. In our mind's eye, we see ourselves as golfers, or kayakers, or quilters, or CEOs, so we keep our clubs, paddles, fabric and briefcase. But if you truly aren't hitting the rapids much anymore, perhaps it is time to let those items go.
Keeping things "just in case" is a natural human tendency. For those of us who travel and live in vehicles, though, the Maximum Use Imperative can lead to clutter, frustration and overweight axles. Think carefully about your choices and lighten your load.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Camped among the Saguaros
We are at the Buckeye Hills Recreation Area along Arizona 85, west of Phoenix (map).
We were out of fresh dinner fixings when we left our roadside BLM digs yesterday (which, I later learned, is what is left of the town of Mohawk), and we thought we might spend the night in Gila Bend and perhaps eat out.
No dice -- the place is dying. There were two restaurants in town (not counting fast food), neither of which appealed to us, and the urban boondocking opportunities were equally unappealing. Instead, we stopped in to the lone operating grocery store, its shelves perhaps a third bare, and picked up some veggies and an acceptable-looking steak, then pressed on.
AZ 85 is a major route, heavily trafficked, as it bypasses the entire Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe/Mesa metroplex for drivers heading between points west on I-10 and Tucson and points east. There are even signs on I-10 at either end of the bypass suggesting that through traffic take the alternate route.
Our guide listed this park, as well as an abadoned roadside business south of here, as two possible overnight options. The abandoned business was a bit too close to the road for our taste, as well as less scenic, and so we moved on to this spot, which has been just lovely. We are parked on a turnout on the dirt park road, and we have not see a single other vehicle come by here since we parked around 4pm yesterday. It was mostly dark and quiet last night, although we are close enough to 85 to hear the traffic a bit (and how dark can it be when the moon is full?).
We're glad the directory pointed this place out, because there is no mention of camping or overnight policy posted at the "entrance" consisting of a single brown sign on the dirt road. But there we no signs prohibiting it, either, and clearly many have stayed before us. It is a lovely spot, surrounded by low hills and sprinkled with saguaros. The very south end of the park has a public target shooting range, as well as some kind of training facility for the Maricopa County Sherrif's Department. We've been hearing occasional muffled gunshots since we woke this morning.
Today we will head east into downtown Phoenix, where we own part of a restaurant, to see how business is coming along. If we can't find an urban stealth location, we'll probably end up at one of the several Native American casinos that surround the city.
Fuzzy Friday: Nesting Carriers
On Fridays I write about our pets
If you have more than one pet, and live in a small space, you might consider portable carriers that nest.
Each of our three pets has their own kennel/carrier. Because we believe strongly in crate training for dogs, Opal's carrier is out and available for her at all times. It lives under the bed.
The two cat carriers are rarely used but important to have. We pull them out to take George and Angel to the vet or to be kenneled when we are away from Odyssey. For example, when we took our long cruise to South America, the two cats stayed with a woman up in the Santa Cruz hills. Her road was not accessible by bus and we transported the cats in a borrowed car, securely tucked in their carriers.
We chose the Kennel Cab brand of carrier because they disassemble easily and the parts nest together. Here are the two cat carriers ready for cats:
Here they are nested and ready for storage:
Because the two kennels break down and stack into a space smaller than one assembled carrier, we can store them in the short bay with the litterbox:
As you can see, even one complete carrier would be too tall for this space. For clarity, I removed some items from this bay. Usually there are several more things stored inside the stacked carriers.
Our Kennel Cabs are an older model. We owned one when we moved into Odyssey. In order for them to nest properly, we needed two of the same model, so we purchased a second one, used, on eBay.
The newest model is slightly different, using clips instead of screws to hold the two halves together. I'm not sure if they nest as well, so if you're in the market for pet carriers you'd need to test them at a store.
If you have more than one pet, and live in a small space, you might consider portable carriers that nest.
Each of our three pets has their own kennel/carrier. Because we believe strongly in crate training for dogs, Opal's carrier is out and available for her at all times. It lives under the bed.
The two cat carriers are rarely used but important to have. We pull them out to take George and Angel to the vet or to be kenneled when we are away from Odyssey. For example, when we took our long cruise to South America, the two cats stayed with a woman up in the Santa Cruz hills. Her road was not accessible by bus and we transported the cats in a borrowed car, securely tucked in their carriers.
We chose the Kennel Cab brand of carrier because they disassemble easily and the parts nest together. Here are the two cat carriers ready for cats:
Here they are nested and ready for storage:
Because the two kennels break down and stack into a space smaller than one assembled carrier, we can store them in the short bay with the litterbox:
As you can see, even one complete carrier would be too tall for this space. For clarity, I removed some items from this bay. Usually there are several more things stored inside the stacked carriers.
Our Kennel Cabs are an older model. We owned one when we moved into Odyssey. In order for them to nest properly, we needed two of the same model, so we purchased a second one, used, on eBay.
The newest model is slightly different, using clips instead of screws to hold the two halves together. I'm not sure if they nest as well, so if you're in the market for pet carriers you'd need to test them at a store.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Escape from Yuma
Well, we finally made it out of the greater Yuma area yesterday. We left the Cocopah Casino early in the afternoon. This morning finds us at the scant remains of an abandoned 1950's-era filling station along the abandoned grade of Old Highway 80 (map), now BLM land. There is a modern grade for the old highway as well, a couple dozen yards further north.
We are only 50 miles from Yuma, but it might as well be 500 -- we are in the middle of the desert with nothing for miles in any direction.
After leaving the casino, we stopped at the Kubota dealer in Yuma, Bingham Equipment Company. I had noticed some oil dripping from the generator enclosure, and had tracked it down to diesel fuel dripping from a small manual bypass valve on the fuel system. (The valve allows some fuel to bypass the injectors and return to the tank -- it is used mostly for priming the fuel system if it runs dry. It has a very small orifice, to ensure enough pressure is still available to the injectors when running.) This valve has been weeping slowly for some time now -- in Somerton it finally turned into an actual drip, sending perhaps a cup or two of fuel to the bottom of the enclosure in the six hours or so that we ran the genny there.
The generator is 20 years old, and I did not know how hard it would be to find the valve, so I wanted to get started on it before we left Yuma. Bingham has facilities throughout Arizona, and I reasoned that, if the valve had to be ordered, I could have them send it to Phoenix or Tucson, where we will be within a few days.
It took them a bit of looking, but they had the valve in stock for $20. I asked about installation (although it would have been a simple matter for me to just put it in, but we wanted to be sure it was the right one before we left the dealer), and the service manager decided to just come out and take the two minutes to install it, rather than charging us for an hour's labor and opening up a whole work order -- kudos to Bingham for this great customer service attitude.
It turned out ultimately that he should have opened that work order: While he was replacing the valve, he noticed that the alternator (the little 12-volt one that charges the generator start battery, not the huge one bolted to the crankshaft that generates Odyssey's electricity) was sitting at a funky angle and causing excessive belt wear, which he surmise was due to loose mounting bolts.
I asked him if they could take care of that, and he just kind of dived right in to it. The alternator is mounted in the very back of the generator enclosure, though, making it very difficult to work on. It turned out that nothing was really loose, but the design of the mount left a lot to be desired. He ended up replacing the finger guard, with its integral captive nuts, with a pair of regular nuts and washers to provide a bit more rigidity to the alternator mount.
By the time it was all over, he had spent more than an hour on it, at one point even calling one of his guys over to help. When I wanted to pay him, however, he had never opened up a work order, and, it seemed, did not want to try to recreate it from scratch. So, basically, the work was free. I did have to run "next door" to the CarQuest auto parts that is also owned and operated by Bingham to buy a new fan belt for $15, and I ended up tipping the mechanic who helped out for a bit, but that was all. Great guys, and they did an excellent job.
The side trip to Bingham meant that we weren't on the road until around four o'clock, which is how we only ended up going 50 miles. This spot (actually, many spots along the old road here) was listed as a good one in our Day's End directory. We picked this specific spot along the road because a hill separates us from I-8 here, which shielded us from headlights and noise last night.
Today we will continue east on I-8 (there are no blue-road alternatives in this part of the state) toward Gila Bend.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Website Wednesday: Making a Spectacle of Myself
On Wednesdays I write about websites that I visit often.
Three weeks ago, I ordered new glasses from Hong Kong over the internet. One of the reasons I was so eager to get our mail this week was to receive my new specs.
Our mail was forwarded to us March 6th, and I ordered the glasses on February 27th. Since two shiny pairs of glasses were in the mail box, that means they took no more than 8 days to ship from Hong Kong. And you may recall that I paid less than $70 for the two.
I am sooooo happy with them! Just like my last pairs from Optical4Less, the prescription is perfectly ground.
So how do the frames look? If you recall, I ordered this pair as sunglasses:
Here they are on me:
I think they turned out very nice. The style has an opening between the corners of the frames and the edge of the lens. I thought that might be odd for sunglasses, but it turns out to be no problem at all.
I also ordered these funky blue glasses:
On my face:
You can see that I'm grinning like an idiot because I am just tickled pink (or blue!) with this style. They are not quite as bright a blue as the website showed, which is fine. And the first photo looks like the blue is a solid piece, but it is actually layers of different shades that look like they are laminated together. So the glasses are quite detailed up close. The frame is a "rimless" style: the lens is attached only along the top "eyebrow" part of the frame, and a thin piece of filament (like fishing line) wraps around the edge of the lens to hold it in place. The workmanship is impeccable.
Can you tell I'm thrilled with my new glasses? Buying them online really works for me. I know a couple of commenters said they might try it, too. I hope they'll come back and let us know if they were happy with their experience.
Three weeks ago, I ordered new glasses from Hong Kong over the internet. One of the reasons I was so eager to get our mail this week was to receive my new specs.
Our mail was forwarded to us March 6th, and I ordered the glasses on February 27th. Since two shiny pairs of glasses were in the mail box, that means they took no more than 8 days to ship from Hong Kong. And you may recall that I paid less than $70 for the two.
I am sooooo happy with them! Just like my last pairs from Optical4Less, the prescription is perfectly ground.
So how do the frames look? If you recall, I ordered this pair as sunglasses:
Here they are on me:
I think they turned out very nice. The style has an opening between the corners of the frames and the edge of the lens. I thought that might be odd for sunglasses, but it turns out to be no problem at all.
I also ordered these funky blue glasses:
On my face:
You can see that I'm grinning like an idiot because I am just tickled pink (or blue!) with this style. They are not quite as bright a blue as the website showed, which is fine. And the first photo looks like the blue is a solid piece, but it is actually layers of different shades that look like they are laminated together. So the glasses are quite detailed up close. The frame is a "rimless" style: the lens is attached only along the top "eyebrow" part of the frame, and a thin piece of filament (like fishing line) wraps around the edge of the lens to hold it in place. The workmanship is impeccable.
Can you tell I'm thrilled with my new glasses? Buying them online really works for me. I know a couple of commenters said they might try it, too. I hope they'll come back and let us know if they were happy with their experience.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
You've got Mail
As Louise mentioned yesterday, our mail finally arrived. The postmistress of this small-town station had gotten to know us by the time the package arrived, and so she called first thing yesterday morning to say it came in.
There was no obvious damage to the box -- the address and the Priority Mail label were both intact, so we are all at a loss to know how it took 11 days for this to get here from Washington. My best guess is that it got stuffed onto a truck meant for parcel post, which can take days to get from one sectional center to another.
We had talked about leaving the casino as soon as the mail arrived. However, yesterday I was recovering from a pulled muscle in my shoulder, which would have made driving difficult, and I was also hip-deep in a project that I started because it looked like we might be settled in here for the long haul. So we decided to stay at least until today. My shoulder and back are still sore, and my project is still not done, so we've now decided to stay until tomorrow morning, since we are paid up through then anyway (it is the same price to stay here for one, two, or three nights).
Sticking around gave us the opportunity to go out to dinner last night at what is likely the nicest restaurant in Yuma -- Julianna's Patio Cafe. The casual name belies the fact that this is really a steak house. My rack of lamb was juicy and tender; Louise had fish prepared Wellington-style, which was also good. They made our traditional Caesar salad tableside, a nice touch. The place is tucked in an out-of-the-way corner -- you have to go looking for it, but we're glad we did.
Speaking of projects, the one I am working on now is to move to a new computer. It's a little embarrassing, since I've had the computer since August, but my old one has been working fine up to now and I've been waiting for a few solid days of downtime to make the switch, as experience tells me that changing computers is a tedious, time consuming, and often frustrating affair.
There is a good reason why I bought a new computer back in August even though I didn't really need one, having to do with Louise's computer, and Windows Vista. Some of our readers are probably in this same boat, and so I will share the tale here.
Louise's computer, a Fujitsu LifeBook, was actually in better cosmetic and physical condition than mine (a Sony Vaio), despite being a few months older. However, one day while we were out at dinner or wherever, a rain storm blew through and the computer, which was sitting below a partially opened window, got wet. We got most of it running again, but the touch-sensitive surface of the trackpad was history (and, yes, I took the whole trackpad out to clean and dry it, to no avail).
Trooper that she is, Louise continued to use the computer for another half year with the addition of an external trackball. But as we came up to about the three-year mark, the fans were getting noisier and noisier, and the computer was getting slower and slower. This is a result of a process that I have come to call, after two decades in the industry, "software rot." Over time, internal tables get corrupted, and system record-keeping becomes more and more bloated. Only a complete nut-job with no life other than fixing the internals of Windows can fix this sort of overall decay in place (the name for this kind of nut-job is a Microsoft Certified Professional).
What most of us do instead is to save all our data, and reinstall Windows from scratch -- a so-called "clean install." This cures the rot and starts the clock running all over again. Of course, a clean install means re-installing and the re-configuring absolutely everything on you computer, from Windows settings to email to how you like Solitaire set up. (Using any of the various tools that are out there to "back up" and then "restore" all your system settings, to avoid this tedious work, is very likely to copy over some of the very rot you are trying to get rid of).
Having already decided that starting with a clean Windows installation was the proper cure for Louise's laptop, it was a no-brainer to go the next step and just start over with a whole new computer. That would fix the pesky mouse failure, as well as offer nicer displays, more horsepower, more USB ports, and DVD writing capabilities, all things that had become standard on even low-end machines since the last time we bought.
That's when the trouble began. We had waited just a tad too long, and all the laptops in retail stores (our preferred buying option on the road, since getting shipments is difficult), and even most on-line outlets, were only available with Windows Vista, and we wanted Windows XP. I will migrate to Vista kicking and screaming, and even then, not until at least the first major Service Pack. (Read one of the many reasons why here.)
[Special note to the geeks who are reading -- you know who you are, and I know you're out there -- everyone else can skip to the end of the square brackets. If I don't write this, I know I'll get about 30 "Why don't you just..." emails or comments: Yes, I would dearly love to move away from Microsoft altogether. It is a fantasy that I always harbor, that all of the apps I need will be ported to Linux by the next time I need to change computers. So far, it hasn't happened. And, for the record, the big apps that I use daily which are not ported are the DeLorme mapping products, the management and tracking software for our VSAT system, the management software for the Garmin and Mio GPS units, the synchronization software for my cell phone, and our VOIP software. Pretty much everything else I use is open source and cross platform, except for the MSOffice stuff I use for the Red Cross, although in a pinch I can open those files with OpenOffice.]
It turns out that Dell (and other manufacturers with on-line retail ordering) will be happy to sell you a laptop with XP instead of Vista. You just need to pick from their Business line-up, rather than the Home offerings. When you configure your system, most have the option of at least XP Professional or perhaps the Tablet Edition on some models. Prices are decent, and you will get the latest technology.
We went a different route, because we did not want to deal with figuring out where to have them send it. We had just wrapped up a Red Cross job in Aurora, Illinois, and it turned out that on-line mega-retailer Tiger Direct has a retail store (one of only half a dozen around the country, all attached to their distribution warehouses) in Naperville, one town over. While they only stock a handful of items in the outlets, they can pretty much will-call anything in the attached warehouse on about a half-hour or so wait.
At today's writing, their catalog shows 120 Vista laptops, but also 28 XP laptops. At the retail store, the trick is to go on-line and find not just one model you like, but two or three that will work, as long as each shows on the web site as "In Stock". Then go into the retail store and ask them about each of your choices. If they show as In Stock on the web site, then chances are good that at least one of them will be in stock in that specific warehouse ("In Stock" for any given item could mean in stock, but in some other warehouse).
Back in August, we found three models in stock that met our needs, and they had plenty of our second choice in that warehouse. Knowing that my laptop was also nearing end-of-life (it, too, has been getting noisier and noisier, and slower and slower, not to mention I've worn the labels off many of the keys), and having already done all the work to research and identify appropriate models with XP pre-installed and finding a retail store with stock on hand, we just bought two identical machines and called it done.
We ended up, by the way, with factory refurbished Gateway machines with XP Media Center Edition. They're quite nice, actually, and I am looking forward to finally getting moved over, after which I will sell the Vaio which will still have plenty of life left in it once Windows has been reloaded.
Tomorrow we will bid a fond farewell to the Cocopah casino, which has served us well, and head east toward Gila Bend.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Monday Miscellany: Free For Escapees Only
Monday is the day for miscellaneous topics
I just received the latest edition of the Day's End Directory. (Yes, that means our mail arrived today. Yay!) You may recall that I wrote about our camping reference books last year. This is one of my favorites, listing member-tested boondocking spots all over the country.
Since I now have the latest and greatest edition, I am giving away our well-worn September 2005 version. It is little dirty, the front windshield water leaks have stained it a bit, and a number of pages have my notes scribbled in the margins, but it is chock full of good information.
I will ship this 250-page spiral bound book to you FREE, but you must be an Escapee. I'll even pay the shipping. First commenter gets it. (I'll get your address and SKP number via private email.) If you're not a member, you might check them out; the club has many benefits for RVers beyond the Day's End Directory.
The latest edition is also available for purchase here. Again, you must be a member. It is $20 for a printed copy, $8 for a CD, and $5 to download. While I usually prefer to go paperless as much as possible, I like my camping guides to be on dead trees. Go figure.
I just received the latest edition of the Day's End Directory. (Yes, that means our mail arrived today. Yay!) You may recall that I wrote about our camping reference books last year. This is one of my favorites, listing member-tested boondocking spots all over the country.
Since I now have the latest and greatest edition, I am giving away our well-worn September 2005 version. It is little dirty, the front windshield water leaks have stained it a bit, and a number of pages have my notes scribbled in the margins, but it is chock full of good information.
I will ship this 250-page spiral bound book to you FREE, but you must be an Escapee. I'll even pay the shipping. First commenter gets it. (I'll get your address and SKP number via private email.) If you're not a member, you might check them out; the club has many benefits for RVers beyond the Day's End Directory.
The latest edition is also available for purchase here. Again, you must be a member. It is $20 for a printed copy, $8 for a CD, and $5 to download. While I usually prefer to go paperless as much as possible, I like my camping guides to be on dead trees. Go figure.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Cuckoo for Cocopah
We are still at the Cocopah casino in Somerton, Arizona.
It appears that we could have (should have) spent another full week on the beach in Mexico, as we will certainly be here until at least Monday. The postal service has misplaced our mail.
The mail was sent from Washington on the 6th, so, by all rights, it should have been here on Monday, when we (deliberately) arrived to pick it up. It was sent Priority Mail, but even if it had only been sent first class, it certainly should have been here within a week, which would have been Thursday.
So Thursday we had PostNet on the phone, and they called the post offices in both Richland and here in Somerton, and there has been a mad scramble to find it, but so far without result. PostNet did admit that a fairly new clerk made two key mistakes in failing to request tracking (which is free) if not delivery confirmation, and also by failing to write "General Delivery" on the package. This latter item is not really an issue here at the tiny Somerton post office -- they'd have seen it by now even without the proper marking.
At this point, there are four possibilities. The first, which would be the best outcome, is that the Priority Mail label was either never applied or came off in transit, and so it is coming Parcel Post, which would allow the post office a good couple of weeks to get it here. The second is that someone along the way determined that the package was undeliverable as addressed, and has returned it to sender, which could take another week. The third would be that the package was completely misrouted somewhere along the line, and it is wallowing in the bowels of the postal service until someone realizes where it needs to go and sends it here. The fourth is that it has been stolen, which has been known to happen in the postal service on occasion.
In any case, we can not file a missing package claim with the post office until is has been 15 days, and we need to give them at least another week in case it is just delayed or misrouted. So it has turned out to be fortuitous that the Cocopah will allow us to stay here as long as we keep paying our $5 per three nights. We on our second trio now, and we'll have to pony up again tomorrow, since the post office here is closed today, so Monday will be the earliest anything else will happen.
On Wednesday I wrote here that we were out of water, and had to do some tankage rearrangement to extend our stay. Well, of course, the natural follow-on to being out of fresh water was that our waste tanks were also full, and so I had to do some rearranging there as well on Thursday night, so we could, umm, flush the toilet a few more times. When the mail failed to show up Friday morning, we headed off to the Yuma Elks Lodge, six miles north, to dump and fill.
The Yuma Lodge also has overnight RV spaces, and we thought about just moving up there. However, that would put us six miles further from the post office when the mail finally does arrive, plus we were already paid up for another two nights here. So we left the scooter and our chairs in this space while we went. We also made stops at Wal-Mart and Albertsons, which were both on the way, to reprovision. As it turned out, the spaces at the Yuma lodge are on a rather dusty dirt lot, and, at $7 per night, not as good a value as the fully paved spaces here at the casino. About the only advantage would have been more dinner choices within easy scooter distance (though still nothing walkable).
Ashamed to be an Elk
We are surrounded by a trio of fifth-wheels with Idaho and North Dakota plates. I have seen a couple of Elks stickers as well, so I know that at least some of these folks are "brothers." They've been sitting around in their lawn chairs chewing the fat, and these guys are loud -- we have, literally, started the generator to drown out their conversations inside our rig. And, I have to say, it has been a long time since I have heard the "N" word (derogatory term for African-American) used that many times in casual conversation. Such as: "...we'd better not have one of those for President, either."
They don't get out much, I figure. I'm guessing they don't have anything good to say about Hispanic Americans either. I'd have said something to these bigoted goons by now if we were planning on moving on. But they outnumber me, and I have to live with them for the next few days, and I'd really rather not have my coach or my scooter vandalized (and I don't put anything past people who think like this).
I find it ironic that these jerks are actually living, at the moment, on Native American soil and taking advantage of Native American hospitality. (And here, so close to the Mexican border.) I am sure Sitting Bull is rolling in his grave.
It appears that we could have (should have) spent another full week on the beach in Mexico, as we will certainly be here until at least Monday. The postal service has misplaced our mail.
The mail was sent from Washington on the 6th, so, by all rights, it should have been here on Monday, when we (deliberately) arrived to pick it up. It was sent Priority Mail, but even if it had only been sent first class, it certainly should have been here within a week, which would have been Thursday.
So Thursday we had PostNet on the phone, and they called the post offices in both Richland and here in Somerton, and there has been a mad scramble to find it, but so far without result. PostNet did admit that a fairly new clerk made two key mistakes in failing to request tracking (which is free) if not delivery confirmation, and also by failing to write "General Delivery" on the package. This latter item is not really an issue here at the tiny Somerton post office -- they'd have seen it by now even without the proper marking.
At this point, there are four possibilities. The first, which would be the best outcome, is that the Priority Mail label was either never applied or came off in transit, and so it is coming Parcel Post, which would allow the post office a good couple of weeks to get it here. The second is that someone along the way determined that the package was undeliverable as addressed, and has returned it to sender, which could take another week. The third would be that the package was completely misrouted somewhere along the line, and it is wallowing in the bowels of the postal service until someone realizes where it needs to go and sends it here. The fourth is that it has been stolen, which has been known to happen in the postal service on occasion.
In any case, we can not file a missing package claim with the post office until is has been 15 days, and we need to give them at least another week in case it is just delayed or misrouted. So it has turned out to be fortuitous that the Cocopah will allow us to stay here as long as we keep paying our $5 per three nights. We on our second trio now, and we'll have to pony up again tomorrow, since the post office here is closed today, so Monday will be the earliest anything else will happen.
On Wednesday I wrote here that we were out of water, and had to do some tankage rearrangement to extend our stay. Well, of course, the natural follow-on to being out of fresh water was that our waste tanks were also full, and so I had to do some rearranging there as well on Thursday night, so we could, umm, flush the toilet a few more times. When the mail failed to show up Friday morning, we headed off to the Yuma Elks Lodge, six miles north, to dump and fill.
The Yuma Lodge also has overnight RV spaces, and we thought about just moving up there. However, that would put us six miles further from the post office when the mail finally does arrive, plus we were already paid up for another two nights here. So we left the scooter and our chairs in this space while we went. We also made stops at Wal-Mart and Albertsons, which were both on the way, to reprovision. As it turned out, the spaces at the Yuma lodge are on a rather dusty dirt lot, and, at $7 per night, not as good a value as the fully paved spaces here at the casino. About the only advantage would have been more dinner choices within easy scooter distance (though still nothing walkable).
Ashamed to be an Elk
We are surrounded by a trio of fifth-wheels with Idaho and North Dakota plates. I have seen a couple of Elks stickers as well, so I know that at least some of these folks are "brothers." They've been sitting around in their lawn chairs chewing the fat, and these guys are loud -- we have, literally, started the generator to drown out their conversations inside our rig. And, I have to say, it has been a long time since I have heard the "N" word (derogatory term for African-American) used that many times in casual conversation. Such as: "...we'd better not have one of those for President, either."
They don't get out much, I figure. I'm guessing they don't have anything good to say about Hispanic Americans either. I'd have said something to these bigoted goons by now if we were planning on moving on. But they outnumber me, and I have to live with them for the next few days, and I'd really rather not have my coach or my scooter vandalized (and I don't put anything past people who think like this).
I find it ironic that these jerks are actually living, at the moment, on Native American soil and taking advantage of Native American hospitality. (And here, so close to the Mexican border.) I am sure Sitting Bull is rolling in his grave.
Small Space Saturday: Roof Deck
On Saturdays I write about strategies for living in 300 square feet
One of the most obvious ways to create more space within the confines of an RV is to get outside the darn thing. RVing, after all, is about travel. In theory, that rig is traveling someplace with pleasant weather, interesting sights, proximity to nature, or all three.
Most RVers carry folding chairs to set up outside. They create outdoor living space, usually on the passenger side of the RV, with this portable furniture. We've seen setups as simple as one ratty sand chair to elaborate complete "rooms" with elegant teak chairs, dining tables, outdoor rugs, water fountains, BBQs, and even TVs.
A more typical rig-side area includes four folding chairs and a few small side tables, which allows friends old and new to stop by for a drink. We carry that combination in the bay above the tag axle for quick access. In addition, we carry a patio mat in the scooter bay to put down when the ground is dusty or sandy.
We decided to go one step further and put a deck on the roof of Odyssey. It never ceases to amaze me that more people don't use their roof as living space. Most RVs have a built in ladder on the back to access the roof. Many have substantial flat areas to put a chair or two. The view is usually better from 10 to 12 feet up, you can catch a nice breeze, and often there are fewer insects.
I know some of the concerns folks have about using their roof. After all, it is a long way to the ground! One is a lack of something to hold onto; no railings or other safety restraints. Some RV roofs are slightly angled or curved, and the surface may be slippery when wet. The access ladders can be flimsy if you are a big buffet fan. And a big unknown is whether the roof structure can support the weight of people walking around or chair legs poking into it.
Because our deck was built while the bus was being converted, we were able to address these issues up front. Dan and Jim at Infinity Coach designed and built a deck strong and safe enough for reasonable adults. As you'll see in the video, it has fold-up railings. The "floor" of the deck is actually built slightly above the roof surface of a strong, non-skid, flat material. Water drains right through it. The frame of the deck structure is bolted directly to the large steel box frame beams of the bus. And our ladder is inside the bus where the climb is only 6 feet instead of 10 to 12 feet.
One of the most obvious ways to create more space within the confines of an RV is to get outside the darn thing. RVing, after all, is about travel. In theory, that rig is traveling someplace with pleasant weather, interesting sights, proximity to nature, or all three.
Most RVers carry folding chairs to set up outside. They create outdoor living space, usually on the passenger side of the RV, with this portable furniture. We've seen setups as simple as one ratty sand chair to elaborate complete "rooms" with elegant teak chairs, dining tables, outdoor rugs, water fountains, BBQs, and even TVs.
A more typical rig-side area includes four folding chairs and a few small side tables, which allows friends old and new to stop by for a drink. We carry that combination in the bay above the tag axle for quick access. In addition, we carry a patio mat in the scooter bay to put down when the ground is dusty or sandy.
We decided to go one step further and put a deck on the roof of Odyssey. It never ceases to amaze me that more people don't use their roof as living space. Most RVs have a built in ladder on the back to access the roof. Many have substantial flat areas to put a chair or two. The view is usually better from 10 to 12 feet up, you can catch a nice breeze, and often there are fewer insects.
I know some of the concerns folks have about using their roof. After all, it is a long way to the ground! One is a lack of something to hold onto; no railings or other safety restraints. Some RV roofs are slightly angled or curved, and the surface may be slippery when wet. The access ladders can be flimsy if you are a big buffet fan. And a big unknown is whether the roof structure can support the weight of people walking around or chair legs poking into it.
Because our deck was built while the bus was being converted, we were able to address these issues up front. Dan and Jim at Infinity Coach designed and built a deck strong and safe enough for reasonable adults. As you'll see in the video, it has fold-up railings. The "floor" of the deck is actually built slightly above the roof surface of a strong, non-skid, flat material. Water drains right through it. The frame of the deck structure is bolted directly to the large steel box frame beams of the bus. And our ladder is inside the bus where the climb is only 6 feet instead of 10 to 12 feet.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Sun rise, set three times with Cocopah
We are still at the Cocopah Casino in Somerton, AZ.
We called the post office this morning, and they still do not have our mail. I'm getting a bit nervous, since it has been a full six days since it was sent, and Priority Mail is supposed to take around three. And, in this case, it does not even need to cross the Rockies.
They get another delivery around four, so we will call back then. Otherwise, we'll have to check after 10 tomorrow morning. In either case, we will use up our third night here with the Cocopah tribe. I'm really hoping we'll see it by then, since I don't really want to have to pony up for another three nights here.
The news about the mail left us with a quandary about water. We can't go another full day on what was left, even if we didn't shower. The toilet needs half a gallon per flush, and I need to do the dishes at least once a day. Besides, we really, really want showers.
We thought about trundling out in Odyssey to find water, but in this part of the state, we could end up driving ten miles each way. I briefly thought about stealthily sidling up to the old defunct casino building, as I'm sure there is a hose bib or two on it, but there is really no such thing as stealth when casinos are involved -- there are cameras and/or security personnel everywhere. So we went to the emergency backup plan.
Odyssey has two fresh water tanks. The large one, 135 gallons, is what we normally fill every week or two, and supplies all of our "wash" water: both sink faucets, the showers, and the toilet. A completely separate 43 gallon tank supplies all our drinking water, through a separate pump and little drinking water spigots at the kitchen and bathroom sinks. This is what we use to make coffee, brush our teeth, drink, make ice cubes, etc. Having separate systems like this allows us to fill the wash-water tank from sources that might be questionable to drink, for example municipal sources in Mexico.
The huge size of the drinking tank means we can go for well over a month without needing to find a clean drinking water source. A good two-stage filter on the output will filter out any algae or other growth in the tank, or any chlorine from the bleach we put in periodically to keep the tank critter-free. The 43 gallon size was not really a design goal, but was what fit well in the otherwise completely unusable space in the center of the thrust tower in the wet bay.
We had filled both tanks to the brim in El Centro before heading in to Mexico. I could have taken on wash water at Playa Bonita when we were there, but did not think we'd need it based on our projected arrival back here in Arizona. This morning our main tank was almost empty, but we still had over half our drinking water supply.
Connecting a short hose from the hose bib on the drinking water manifold allowed me to transfer that 20+ gallons into the main tank, which will give us at least another day's leeway on water. We first drew off what we'd need for coffee, drinking, and other needs through tomorrow morning.
Incidentally, not that you asked, we also have a mechanism to transfer water the other way in an emergency. This does not involve hoses, as the plumbing is permanently installed. Opening a valve allows water to flow from the wash tank through a ceramic filter and into the drinking tank. The ceramic filter, a Doulton Sterasyl, is extremely fine, and will filter out almost all microorganisms (99.999% cysts/cryptosporidia, 99.99% bacteria, and absolute filtration to 0.9 micron). This filter is only used when needed to make drinking water from unknown sources, rather than just being in-line all the time, because it only flows about a gallon a minute, and it has a lifetime capacity of just 1500 gallons. It is bacteriostatic, though, so we'll probably never need to replace it (we run perhaps 50-100 gallons through it per year).
So we're here for another night (at least), but we'll be showered, so you won't have to hold your nose while reading the blog.
We called the post office this morning, and they still do not have our mail. I'm getting a bit nervous, since it has been a full six days since it was sent, and Priority Mail is supposed to take around three. And, in this case, it does not even need to cross the Rockies.
They get another delivery around four, so we will call back then. Otherwise, we'll have to check after 10 tomorrow morning. In either case, we will use up our third night here with the Cocopah tribe. I'm really hoping we'll see it by then, since I don't really want to have to pony up for another three nights here.
The news about the mail left us with a quandary about water. We can't go another full day on what was left, even if we didn't shower. The toilet needs half a gallon per flush, and I need to do the dishes at least once a day. Besides, we really, really want showers.
We thought about trundling out in Odyssey to find water, but in this part of the state, we could end up driving ten miles each way. I briefly thought about stealthily sidling up to the old defunct casino building, as I'm sure there is a hose bib or two on it, but there is really no such thing as stealth when casinos are involved -- there are cameras and/or security personnel everywhere. So we went to the emergency backup plan.
Odyssey has two fresh water tanks. The large one, 135 gallons, is what we normally fill every week or two, and supplies all of our "wash" water: both sink faucets, the showers, and the toilet. A completely separate 43 gallon tank supplies all our drinking water, through a separate pump and little drinking water spigots at the kitchen and bathroom sinks. This is what we use to make coffee, brush our teeth, drink, make ice cubes, etc. Having separate systems like this allows us to fill the wash-water tank from sources that might be questionable to drink, for example municipal sources in Mexico.
The huge size of the drinking tank means we can go for well over a month without needing to find a clean drinking water source. A good two-stage filter on the output will filter out any algae or other growth in the tank, or any chlorine from the bleach we put in periodically to keep the tank critter-free. The 43 gallon size was not really a design goal, but was what fit well in the otherwise completely unusable space in the center of the thrust tower in the wet bay.
We had filled both tanks to the brim in El Centro before heading in to Mexico. I could have taken on wash water at Playa Bonita when we were there, but did not think we'd need it based on our projected arrival back here in Arizona. This morning our main tank was almost empty, but we still had over half our drinking water supply.
Connecting a short hose from the hose bib on the drinking water manifold allowed me to transfer that 20+ gallons into the main tank, which will give us at least another day's leeway on water. We first drew off what we'd need for coffee, drinking, and other needs through tomorrow morning.
Incidentally, not that you asked, we also have a mechanism to transfer water the other way in an emergency. This does not involve hoses, as the plumbing is permanently installed. Opening a valve allows water to flow from the wash tank through a ceramic filter and into the drinking tank. The ceramic filter, a Doulton Sterasyl, is extremely fine, and will filter out almost all microorganisms (99.999% cysts/cryptosporidia, 99.99% bacteria, and absolute filtration to 0.9 micron). This filter is only used when needed to make drinking water from unknown sources, rather than just being in-line all the time, because it only flows about a gallon a minute, and it has a lifetime capacity of just 1500 gallons. It is bacteriostatic, though, so we'll probably never need to replace it (we run perhaps 50-100 gallons through it per year).
So we're here for another night (at least), but we'll be showered, so you won't have to hold your nose while reading the blog.
Website Wednesday: Geek Edition
On Wednesdays I write about websites that I visit often.
I'm a geek and proud of it. It is possible that only one of our readers (you know who you are, Bob S.) will think these websites are as cool as I do. But hey, you never know.
Earth Science Picture of the Day Just what it sounds like. Each day a different image or photograph is featured, with an accompanying caption, which deals with various topics in Earth Science. Covering everything from geology to astronomy to weather, some of these photos are breathtakingly beautiful. My favorites are eclipses and ice crystals.
Earthquake animations Provides an accelerated view of the quakes which occurred during the past 7 days in California and Nevada. If you know of something similar for other states, let me know in the comments. Oddly enough, the main website is focused on classical music.
Math, Physics and Engineering animations Cool little movies that demonstrate difficult to visualize physics phenomena. I wish I'd known about this site when I was a microwave tube engineer. The "waveguide modes" applet is awesome!
A Gallery of Crocheted Hyperbolic Models Hyperbolic planes, pseudospheres, spirals, all made of brightly colored yarn. Instructions included so you can make your own. Makes me want to learn to crochet.
Mail-less in Somerton
We are at the Cocopah Casino in Somerton, Arizona (map).
Yesterday we had a fantastic drive through the real Mexico on our way to San Luis del Rio Colorado. By "real" I mean a part of Mexico where absolutely everyone waved at us enthusiastically, not a single sign was in English, nor a single price posted in US dollars. We saw plenty of US license plates, but not a single other gringo. (I don't know why Mexicans are driving around with California plates, and I'm not going to ask.) I have to admit to some small trepidation before taking this route, but we are really glad we did it.
The trepidation, incidentally, came not from any safety concerns (although everyone seems to ask us about that), but rather that Odyssey can be difficult to maneuver in tight quarters, or through stands of low-hanging trees, or on roads with significant vertical inflections. Maps of most of Mexico are spotty at best, and the coverage in our GPS is almost non-existent.
What made this segment possible and mostly worry-free for us was Google Earth. It turns out that most of the route had high-res satellite imagery in the database, and I was able to scope the whole route out fairly well from the air. I also used Google Earth to push-pin all the turns along the way, and then I translated those into waypoints to be loaded into the Garmin 7200, which then gave us a great deal of navigational confidence.
And so it was that we passed through Colonia La Mariana, Ejido Durango, Ejido Dr. Alberto Oviedo Mota, Colonia Aguascaliente, Estacion Coahuila, and La Grullita, on our way to Sonora and San Luis del Rio Colorado. Mostly small towns, and 100% Mexican, although I suspect the gringo dirt-toy crowd comes through periodically (we saw signs for "Sand Drags" occasionally, the only English words we saw other than "car wash", now a bona-fide Mexican noun).
We stopped at a large Pemex outside San Luis, and, after checking that they took credit cards (rare for Pemex, but more and more operators are taking them), I proceeded to top off the fuel tank, another 550 liters (145 gallons) at the same 5.73 pesos per liter that we paid in Mexicali (and also saw in San Felipe), or, again, about $2.07 per gallon. Interestingly, this station was self-service, also rare in Mexico, so after talking to the guy in the little booth, I pumped the fuel myself. The trouble then started when I went to pay, wherein the attendant told me my Visa was declined.
They did not accept any of my other cards, so Louise tried her Visa with the same results. OK, no problem, I figure that perhaps Visa just did not know we'd be in Mexico and were being cautious, so I'll have to call. Off to the Oxxo across the street, where I am told there are cassetas de telefonos.
40 pesos later, I've found out that not only is my card good, but no attempt has been made to process it, according to the bank, so it could not have been declined. Back to the Pemex.
After a little more back and forth in my very broken Spanish, the attendant finally figures out that the transaction amount, over 3,000 pesos, is probably too big for his terminal. Aha! Why didn't I think of that earlier, before traipsing off to the Oxxo? This has happened to us even in the US -- the card terminals at many gas stations have a strict limit of X dollars that they will run, and if you try to go over that amount, the error message is often cryptic and can appear to be a "card declined." After re-running it as two transactions of 2,000 and 1,150 pesos, all was well. But is cost us about an hour at the Pemex (and 40 pesos at the Oxxo).
We proceeded from there through the bustling city of San Luis and lined up for the border. We lost track of time, but it was well over an hour in line before we made it to the inspection station, where the well-scarred steel and concrete bollards were only an inch or maybe two further apart than the span of our mirrors. I had to line up precisely straight, and ease through carefully, with one-inch jogs to the left or right as needed to clear.
We were immediately busted for carrying eggs, which earned us a full-tour inspection further ahead. Again I had to ease through, because if I just made the left the guy wanted me to, I would have obliterated one of the guard shacks with my tail swing (right until I hit another bollard -- these guys are ready for tanks and APCs to come at the border).
As Odyssey often does, we attracted enough attention that every Customs and Border Protection (CBP) guy who was not otherwise busy (and please explain to me, with an hour-plus line, how any of them could not be busy?) showed up for the tour, including some head honcho with rank insignia that would have said "Major" if he was in the Army (I have no idea how to read CBP rank insignia).
They confiscated the eggs, but believed us when we told them the dozen-plus bottles of wine and liquor came with us from the states, especially after Louise asked, "Have you had the wine in Mexico? It's terrible." Meanwhile the Major and I had a long chat outside about the bus, and he was particularly interested in what we paid for diesel in Mexico, on account of having a diesel pickup truck himself, and thinking about putting an extra tank in the bed so he can fill up south of the border.
Other than the eggs, we cleared the border without hassle, but between the Pemex Visa debacle, the line to get in to los Estados Unidos, and the CBP dog and pony show, it was well past dark. San Luis, Arizona, has a brand-new Wal-Mart Supercenter, and we stopped to check it out. Uncharacteristically, Louise was really hankering for dining out, and this new store was far enough from town that there were no dining options at all, other than the Subway inside the store. So we just picked up some fresh produce and other essentials -- for some reason, we needed eggs -- and then moved on, knowing that this casino was here just another 15 miles down the road.
We did have to drive right through Somerton and the post office where our mail should be, but only overshot by three miles or so. The casino has a designated RV parking area -- almost an RV park, really, with wide and well-marked spaces but no hookups. They charge $5 to park overnight, but that amount is good for up to three nights. The 50-space lot was nearly full, and we were lucky to find a space. We soon found out why: there is really no limit on how long you can stay, as long as you keep paying the $5 every three days. $1.67 per night is pretty cheap, and the whole lot is full of (mostly) Canadian snowbirds, some of whom look like they've been here all season.
The casino and adjoining hotel (and, adjacent to that, the old casino no longer in use) have enormous parking lots, and I imagine if the RV lot had been full, the same $5 would have allowed us to park in one of those. After we got squared away and paid our $5 in the gift shop, we had dinner at the lone restaurant on-property, a buffet affair that was, uh, acceptable, and priced right at $10. Most of the choices were -- can you guess -- Mexican, as were all of the half dozen restaurants in town three miles away.
Today I pulled the scooter out to go get the mail, which, it turns out, has not yet arrived. Priority Mail from the US Post Office has "priority": We just don't tell you what Priority you'll get. Good thing our $5 covers us for tonight, too.
Tomorrow I will make another mail run. With any luck, we'll be ready to go, mail in hand, by mid-day. Not that we are in a hurry to get anywhere, but as of tonight we are now completely out of water, having last filled up on February 29th, and we'd like to shower.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Final night in Mexico, for now
We are still on the beach at Playas Del Sol. We've had a relaxing five days here, and tomorrow we will pull up stakes and head for San Luis del Rio Colorado and the US border.
The weather has been quite pleasant, if a bit windy at times, and we have been grilling every night and eating in. We had to make two market runs -- one for milk and eggs, as we had run out of breakfast fixin's, and this morning for some fresh veggies, which we had also exhausted, to go with tonight's steak. We never made it back to Juanito's to use our remaining Margarita coupons.
We did get out for breakfast yesterday, running up to Jimmy's Beach Bar and Grill at Playa de Oro. I have to say that I found Jimmy's and the adjoining pool facilities there to be a nicer environment than the facilities up at El Dorado -- if we ever do end up looking at property here, Playa de Oro would be ahead of El Dorado on my list.
We had a mostly quiet and relaxing stay here. Friday night, a couple of guys in a pickup truck parked right in the middle of the vado next to us, and blasted music at high volume until 6am. They then proceeded to sleep the whole day on the beach in the shade of their truck. We very nearly started the engine at 3am to drive down right next to them and smoke them out with our exhaust while frying their retinas with the HID flood lights. But it's Mexico, and there are "no bad days."
We were quite relieved, though, to see them pack up late yesterday afternoon and clear out. In fact, we had thought about leaving today, but we decided to stay an extra night just because we have the whole beach to ourselves again (there was another rig here over the weekend, along with a group of guys in a tent, in addition to the noisy Mexicanos) and we wanted our memories of the place to be more on the peaceful side.
For the last few days, we've been mostly just taking it easy around the house, with the gulf as a backdrop. I did get a few projects done, including installing some shelves in the under-sink cabinet, and putting extra lights on my scooter. Louise, on the other hand, has done an incredible amount of work putting together the "tour of Odyssey" videos, which came out very nicely, I think. You'll have to let us know what you think once she has them all posted (we have to spread out the uploads due to thresholds imposed by our satellite service).
Tomorrow morning we will load up the scooters and head out, stopping at the Pemex just north of here to top up with $2.07 diesel before heading to the border. We have a choice of two routes from here to San Luis -- corresponding to the number of bridges that cross the Colorado. I'm leaning toward the more obscure southern route, through Durango, but if we get short on time we will blast up 5 to the new cuota cut-off for 2, which will take us due east to San Luis. With any luck, we will cross the border in time to get our mail before the end of the day, which should be waiting for us at the Somerton post office.
Video Tour of Odyssey
Five short films, each between 3 and 5 minutes long, showing you the ins and outs of Odyssey.
Part One: Overview
Part Two: Cooking, Eating & Storage
Part Three: Environmental Controls
Part Four: Water System & Pets
Part Five: Transportation, Communication & Power
Please let us know in the comments if you have any technical problems with the videos.
Part One: Overview
Part Two: Cooking, Eating & Storage
Part Three: Environmental Controls
Part Four: Water System & Pets
Part Five: Transportation, Communication & Power
Please let us know in the comments if you have any technical problems with the videos.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Chillin' on the beach
We are camped on the beach at Playas Del Sol, about ten clicks north of town (map).
Monday evening we went out for dinner again, this time at Baja Mar on the malecón. My shrimp was delicious, but they overcooked Louise's fish. Cheaper than the Red Lobster, but still a far cry from the "authentic" Mexico, whatever that means. Tuesday morning we decided to extend our stay at Playa Bonita another night, as the weather was just starting to improve. In the afternoon we piled on Chip two-up and rode up to El Dorado to scope the place out, and also find ourselves some camping on the beach without having to take Odyssey down every dirt road for five miles.
This place was actually the first one we investigated. The road was sandy but mostly hard-packed, and the beachfront "camping" was (and still is) absolutely deserted. We inquired about the rate and gestured about the size of our rig, and were quoted $15 per night, or $90 for a full week.
We bypassed most of the other beach roads north of here, because they looked from the main road to be softer than this one, and the campos to which they led had a more run-down appearance, at least as far as we could see from the highway. We did swing into the infamous Pete's Camp, however.
Getting in and out there would have been a bit of a challenge, due to a fairly steep cobblestone driveway leading the last few hundred feet down to the beach. Once on the beach, things looked identical to El Sol, except for the fact that there were half a dozen rigs at Pete's. And, of course, we already knew they'd charge us double -- $30 per night -- for a 39' rig. They did have both a restaurant and a store that were operating, though, in contrast to the El Sol restaurant here which appears closed (though well-maintained). Pete's was, though, right next door to El Dorado, in the event we wanted to take advantage of our pool privileges. We later learned that El Dorado has purchased about half of Pete's property (not including any of the beach frontage) and folded in to the Ventana Del Mar beachfront development.
After scoping out Pete's, our next stop was the office at El Dorado, where we learned that we'd need to come back the next day to meet with one of the agents if we wanted any answers. We did find the parcel on Louise's deed on the map -- it's on a rocky hillside half a mile from the nearest dirt road. We made an appointment for Wednesday afternoon, and set out on the scooter to explore the development on our own.
All of the roads save one are dirt, but well-packed from decades of use. We cruised around for half an hour taking in the enormity of the place, then headed out toward the mystery parcel. We only got about half a mile past the back gate of the developed area before we had to quit -- the road was so washboarded that Chip threatened to rattle apart with each passing meter. We could see, though, from where we stood that the parcel was unreachable except via long hike in good boots, or maybe horseback. We turned around and headed back to town.
Wednesday morning we decided to take advantage of our last day in town by going out to breakfast, and we tried Rosita's, also on the malecón. This, finally, was more the sort of place we have come to expect in Mexico. Traditional fare at reasonable prices. Also the first of the three restaurants where we actually saw Mexicans dining -- the other two joints had been exclusively patronized by gringos.
After breakfast we packed up and headed up to El Sol, with the sort of confidence that only comes from having paid a visit there already. We drove straight to the beach and staked out a perfect end spot overlooking a wash on one side and the gulf out the front. So far, we have had the beach and all the camp sites to ourselves, although there are rows of "houses" just a couple dozen feet behind us. There seem to be about two dozen "residents" here at this writing, and about the same number of dwellings of various descriptions, ranging from a simple pad with an RV on it, to fairly elaborate multi-room houses. This campo has electricity, and possibly a source of brackish water.
This place appears to be pretty typical of the campos. We are told that most of the gringos living here, mostly seasonally, lease the land on a ten or 20 year basis from the owner of the campo, and then develop whatever they need to be comfortable. Most of the campos are developed along the beachfront, with a quarter mile of nothingness between the beach and the highway.
After getting ourselves settled in, we pulled both scooters out and headed up to El Dorado, perhaps two miles or so north, on the shoulder of the highway (the limit here is 80kph, and Louise's scoot won't go that fast). We met our agent, Belinda, a 15-year resident of the area, and she was quite informative. We spent pretty much the entire afternoon driving around the development and getting a feel for what is possible on the lots. Outside of the tidy condos near the beach at Ventana Del Mar, it is an eclectic mix of structures. Some of the houses are actually exquisitely executed, and some are quite elaborate.
We learned that the development is subdivided into areas that I will call, for lack of a better term, "neighborhoods." The neighborhoods fall into one of four categories, based on two parameters. One of those is whether or not commercial electricity is available. Each neighborhood is either wired for power or it isn't -- the ones that are not wired are called "solar" lots, and they will never be on the grid. Interestingly, it does not seem to be strictly a function of distance from the mains -- the neighborhoods are pretty well intermixed, wherein you can drive past an electric area, into a solar area, and then right back to an electric area all in a straight line.
The other dimension is "houses only" versus "mixed use." Houses only means just that -- you need to build a house to live on your lot. If you have an RV and wish to park it on your lot, it needs to be in a fully enclosed garage. Mixed use areas permit RV's out in the open, and many lot owners live in their rigs. Some of the lots are nothing more than a dirt pad to park the rig, with maybe a septic system, whereas some lots in these neighborhoods have purpose-built houses every bit as elaborate as those in the "houses only" section. Most lots are somewhere in between, with a parking pad for a rig that serves as living quarters, and any number of accoutrements such as outdoor "kitchens", garages for the toys (everyone here seems to own a sand rail, dune buggy, or ATV), and even mother-in-law apartments.
While there is electricity throughout the area, there is no city water anywhere except for lots on the beachfront side of the highway. So absolutely everyone else has to have water trucked in and stored in a cistern (wells are not permitted, if they were even possible).
I have to say we were somewhat tempted by the relatively inexpensive "solar" lots. After all, we are already quite adept at living off the grid. The premium for lots with electricity is about $30K (solar lots start around $12k, and electric lots just above 40), and I could put together one heck of an alternative energy system for that amount -- I'd guess around five kilowatts. And our deed-of-license (DOL) would buy us a $1,000 discount off any lot we chose.
Then we did the math -- out the door, the cheapest solar lot would cost around 13k after taxes and fees, plus about $600 a year in dues and taxes. That would buy us about 150 weeks solid of camping right here where we are at $90 a week -- and this spot is right on the beach. We'll just hang on to our DOL for something like 50 bucks a year, which gets us into all the nice facilities, and save buying any kind of property here for some day when we're ready to stay put for a while. I'm betting that, when that day comes, San Felipe will not be on the top of our list -- although you never can tell.
We did get several free margarita coupons and $20 off dinner at the restaurant for our troubles. Dinner at Juanito's Cafe, near the beach, was actually quite nice, although I could have done without the Karaoke, targeted, as it was, at the over-70 crowd. "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," quite literally as there is no distinction between a smoking and non-smoking section of the restaurant.
Today the wind was back, so we just had a relaxing day being complete slugs, surfing the internet while enjoying the gulf view from Odyssey's big picture windows. I am hoping tomorrow will be calm enough to enjoy the beach a little.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Blustery at the beach
We are at the Playa Bonita RV Park and Suites (map). We are just a couple hundred feet from the beach, with a nice view of the Sea of Cortez out our windows. The rate here is US$25 per night, plus $3 tax, full hookups. Most of the power outlets are 15 amps, but we managed to snag a 30.
There are only four rigs here, with eight empty spaces. The "suites" also appear completely empty. This appears to be the norm all over town, with only a handful of exceptions, including the two places right next door (Kiki's and Reuben's) and Campo San Felipe downtown. That in spite of an impressive list of places that are no longer here, including El Dorado, Baja Mar, and the Marina that I mentioned last post, plus Posada Del Mar just down the street, and La Jolla in town, along with myriad campos up and down the coast.
Incidentally, I corrected the last post, wherein I had reported that we looked at Playa Laura on Saturday -- in fact, we glanced at Playa Laura and concluded it was way too cramped to even try. The place we actually stopped in to look at, and which became our "backup plan" was Campo San Felipe just a few doors down.
We awoke yesterday morning in a windstorm. I would estimate winds at a constant 20mph with gusts to 30-35mph. Even stepping outside to walk the dog was a challenge, as we both got sandblasted. The wind kept us more or less trapped indoors, and we stayed on our perch at the defunct port until mid-day, as we still had a great view. In the afternoon, we headed back into town, the wind still blowing, to look for closer digs.
We swung by Victor's, south of town, which was completely empty (maybe closed?). It certainly looked like it would accommodate us without trouble, but was completely unappealing, so we continued north, along the malecón and past the lighthouse to this cluster of parks. Several web sites as well as a couple of our readers recommended Ruben's and/or Kiki's, and we did stop at both to look. Reuben's had no spaces left for us; Kiki's had exactly one, which would have been a tight squeeze. Worse, though was the fact that the covered deck structures adjacent to each space would have completely precluded us from getting on-line there. We chose this spot instead -- just two doors down, and much quieter, two-thirds empty as it is. Certainly easier to jockey the bus around as well.
The wind never let up, so even though we were well parked on a lovely stretch of beach, we pretty much stayed inside the rest of the day. Things calmed down a bit (by which I mean, perhaps half) in the evening, and we decided to brave the elements to go out to dinner. We headed straight for what appeared to be the nicest joint in town, an Italian-fare restaurant attached to a hotel known as La Hacienda de la Langosta Roja (The Inn of the Red Lobster -- no relation). The food was tasty and the wine drinkable (something of an achievement in Mexico), but at stateside prices -- eighty bucks for two entrees, a salad, appetizer, and three glasses of wine. Unsurprising, considering the place is owned by the same mega-developer who owns El Dorado Ranch.
We've paid for two nights here, so tonight we will try something a bit more traditional. And the wind has decreased considerably from yesterday (although still not calm, by any means), so we hope to ride down to the malecón this afternoon just to stroll around. We'll decide whether to add a night or two depending on what we find in town -- otherwise, we will either head down to Puertecitos or up to El Dorado tomorrow.
Frankly, I am not expecting to find much. The town is dying, in what is rather a sad shattered-dreams story. Once upon a time, San Felipe was a sleepy fishing village. We never saw that condition, but wish it were still so, which would give the place much more charm and appeal to us. A concerted effort by FONATUR, investors, and American interests started to transform the place into something of a resort-cum-retirement destination, which after a slow start began to show some promise. The problem, I think, was that a modicum of success by what amounted to the one and only developer in town caught the attention of a plethora of Johnny-come-latelys who saw dollar signs on every parcel.
Within a few years, every parcel with beach access, to include a good number of the old campos, was snapped up by speculators. Tons of glitzy promotional marketing materials were produced, and perhaps a handful of actual buyers materialized to purchase vacation or retirement homes here. The shear number of lots for sale, however, has completely overwhelmed the actual demand. Moreover, without critical mass of residents and vacationers, the services that many people expect or need in order to actually move here have also not materialized. There are few doctors, dentists, ambulances, stores, repair shops, etc. etc., necessitating a 2+ hour trip to Mexicali for anything beyond the most basic needs.
The dozens of billboards one passes on the road here, or web sites one might view when contemplating the journey, would have you believe that the hotel district looks like downtown Cabo San Lucas, and the housing developments look like Sanibel Island. Reality is quite different. The end result is that San Felipe is neither fish nor fowl -- it's not the sleepy fishing village that would constitute "quaint" and "peaceful" and where you might get dinner with a couple of cervezas for a few bucks, but neither is it a destination resort brimming with bars, restaurants, shops, and luxury hotels with enough to satisfy the typical Norteamericano tourist and justify the lofty prices.
We will definitely go to El Dorado to have a look around. But we're wondering whether Puertecitos, more than an hour to the south, might be a bit more of the "real" Mexico.
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