It Just Keeps Getting Better From Now On

The Hot Springs LTVA might not be the most scenic place on earth, a cousin keeps calling it a "Gravel Pit" and when we turned in here back in the fall of 2005 Bea wondered about the same. 

So why on earth are we, and a lot of other folks, returning here year after year? It is not entirely free camping as we pay a fee for being here. $180 is not a whole lot, but keeps some riffraff out. And we know that our garbage is taken care off, that there is a host and that we can get packages sent here. And not only our kitchen garbage is taken away, but also our wastewater can be deposited in a nearby sanitary station.

The same town (Holtville) offers shopping, a bank, a post office and gas stations. And only 13 miles farther down the I-8, there are all the big-box stores. So you see there are a lot of conveniences attached to it.

But would that be enough to return here year after year?

It wouldn't.

What about the Hot Spring? Great, but we also have a working shower stall in the rig.

The essence of the attraction is we have always found nice fellow campers here plus the fact that the LTVA (Long-term visitor-area) offers so many nice spots to tug away your RV, either between local desert vegetation or in the open areas. And if one likes hiking, there are literally miles of desert just waiting for you to explore. 

And last but not least, we feel safe here. There has never been any real serious problem out here.

So with this knowledge we consider this our winter home.

For us personally, we enjoyed another great benefit today.

 In the city of El Centro there is an ALDI Store. And Aldi is German, which means they also have European products, at this time before Christmas, all the known products we looked forward to as kids growing up in Germany. 

Needless to say this morning we had to check out ALDI's goodies, and we did not return empty-handed!!

The Day After

 After settling in at the rest area we had a good sleep without any nightmares. The place remained quiet as no truckers stayed overnight there.

We had a great breakfast and started the last leg of our trip.

Everything was going to be OK today, the coach ran just fine, no overheating issues of any kind. A short lunch break and onwards to California we went. While running down the highway a lot of memories were coming up. So many years ago it was that we had our first visit at the Hot Springs. Back then in 2005 we came from the west coast. That first changed in the fall of 2009 after we had moved to the Canadian Maritimes. It lengthened our journey with a full week. Some years we got hit by snow or also strong crosswinds. There has always been a host of challenges and problems. They all got solved by our determination to make it work, to be warm and in a safe spot for the winter. 

Friends came and went, we all met in camp, sharing values you can only find in an RV Community. And it wasn't "only" the warm weather but also the desire to have a break in your usual life style in a bricks and sticks home. In an RV you are much closer to nature, closer to weather, and many times closer to humanity.

Today there is a new group of RVers out there. They are younger, they occupy themselves differently. Many still work - remotely making money on the go. Finding income while traveling remained a dream for many during those days 20 years ago. Technology has stood for those changes. Our phones today do not cause high roaming fees. People can have international plans, some have unlimited data and phone. In 2005 and 2006 we dragged bulky satellite dishes mounted on heavy tripods with us, and a phone line had to be connected to a router inside your RV. It was terribly expensive and cumbersome.

Back then solar panels were super expensive, we paid $500 for a 100W panel. and we had just 2 of them.

Those are just a few changes we gone through over the years.

What still is the same is the desire for a place that always felt like a second home. 

Tonight we spent time at a campfire exchanging stories, enjoying the company.

Thanksgiving is over for now, and we sure have a lot to be thankful for.

Leaving Mexico

So the day of departure from this beautiful, jet for us not acceptable location, had finally arrived. After saying Good Bye to our neighbours, we rolled up to the paved highway turning north onto Carretera 15 after a few minutes.

The coach was running great with the temperature staying where it should be.

Had a short rest stop beside the highway then took on the last 1.5hrs until the border.

Our plan was crossing into the US at the Mariposa Truck border, but when getting into Nogales we both overlooked a sign to Mariposa, or maybe there wasn't a sign? There sure was a lot of construction going on. So we got sucked into one of the worst city traffics I have ever seen, and that includes driving a motor coach in Manhattan.

Honestly Nogales is worse, by a lot. Just imagine our 65ft rig moving along narrow city streets with tons of Mexican drivers while following the FRONTERA USA sign. But that is the crossing within the city - so not for us. We were looking for Mariposa border crossing. Bea was frantically trying to locate a way out of this hellscape and eventually directed the driver to hang a sharp left. Don't know how I bent the coach around that corner. The area we went through I have no words for. Chaos erupted all around us, but somehow we suddenly entered a broader highway and followed traffic.

A sign for the border crossing popped up. It showed a scary height restriction: 3m. Oooops!!! So we chose to break the line, which led us to a dead end. Yess, and a turn around operation looked pretty difficult. With Bea at the rear directing and holding back traffic, I backed up into the road we came from, then, after 3 attempts, I bent the hole thing a 180 around so we got out of this mouse trap. 

The area to the right showed closed gates. The truck border - now closed

 

"The Line to the border"

An inquiry with some police officers hanging around the area brought out the whole drama: The truck border crossing was closed until further notice or after a current trucker protest was over. So we had to get back in line, the very same line we had broken out of 15 minutes earlier. But for that I had to perform a full U-turn across a busy highway.

Again we were facing the height restriction of 3m which is ridiculously low for our rig. But at the same time there was also a sign for BUSES which lit a flame of hope in us.

2 CBP officers where just hanging around there so Bea shouted a question out the window. The 2.officer started walking up a lane beginning at our right and was now removing a cone and asking us to follow. 

The entry into that lane was so narrow that when I watched the trailer going by the concrete divider on the driver side there wouldn't have been space for a sheet of paper in between. So now we were in the right lane and moving towards a closed steel gate where an officer eventually appeared to open the barrier.

What followed after that was probably a routine inspection, involving 3 officers.

Next on the agenda was the slow drive through a scanner. Not more than 3miles/hr. please. What we missed was the green light above the scanner. So when the officer came running behind us we (I) were asked to please back the whole rig through the scanner to repeat the exercise. 

That scanner pass-through is only inches wider than our coach. Bea, who tried to be the spotter, was quickly ordered back into the coach. So the last act of this drama was finished when we made it successfully through the scanner a second time, and got the "Get the hell out of here" from the officer.

I might be partly, willfully or not, blind, (when I can't find the butter in the fridge) but yet I am pretty damn glad that I can back up a trailer and do wild U-turns on a busy street.

The first stop after the border was to fill up our Diesel tank. 298 Dollars later we went down the I-19 and eventually turned into a nice rest area for the night.

Those truckers are all victims of the Mexican trucker protest

Afterall there will be another day tomorrow.

Is There A Ghost In The COMET HOUSE?

 Got a busy day today. After our signature breakfast, which is crispy rolls with jam, some cheese, scrambled eggs and coffee, we did a morning walk with Dixie. And that way I found out that the main road was now fully drivable. A fellow camper had paid the operator of a grader to come in and fix all the roads in the area. That was yesterday, and the sun had now dried out most of the mud. That meant we could leave for our next adventure.

Destination for Friday is set to Holtville Hot Springs, California. 

The Hot Springs have always been the place we had turned to when other destinations hadn't worked out.

One year we were on the Florida Panhandle, when it got extremely cold and icicles grew from our trailer. We left and went...to the Hot Springs. Another time we tried southern Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. It started drizzling and stayed on for a full week turning everything into mud. We left and went back to the Hot Springs. So now you understand....Mexico, and then the Hot Springs.

But back to our agenda today.

In order to cross into the US, we were in need for a "Screw worm certificate" for Dixie. So our appointment with an approved vet was at 10am. The vet checked out Dixie and we left with the desired paper. 

While returning to camp we visited the "Comet House", an abandoned structure high on a hill. It is a building constructed around an atrium and it certainly gave us eerie feelings. What kind of people had lived here, how old was the building? The center is marked by a beautiful star built with blue tiles, and we believe that there once was a fountain in the middle.

The location offers stunning 360 degree views, and we could make out our RV in the far distance. 

The Senora

There are plenty bougainvillea growing all around the building, as if they want to hide the decay, by making it all more beautiful.

The following afternoon was dedicated to prepare for departure in the morning.

After a month of staying in this spot, there seemed to be half a million things to do. The last thing was loading the car onto the trailer, which is quite the precision work. Tying it down takes quite a while as well.

Finally, it looked like there was nothing more to do than sitting down for supper, which had been prepared by Bea.

While we had been busy in the afternoon, our very smart dog Dixie had found out what was going on. She tried to stay as close as possible, reminding us not to forget her  and before I got back in the bus I found Dixie whining in front of the screen door, waiting to be let inside.

So, hopefully, tomorrow we will have great day of travel up north. 

Stunning views from the Comet House

YAHOO! Motorhome Got Fixed Up Today

Beautiful blue sky was inviting me to take Dixie on another explorative walk through the area. Still scouting for a dry route out of here, I found a short parallel road stub that would avoid getting into the muddy part.

And it didn't take long after our return that the mechanic, Omar Garcia Rodrigues showed up with his helper. They were ready to start working. Because of this being a Cummins engine, access from behind would make it necessary to remove the radiator which would be a tremendous amount of work. Instead we worked through the opening hidden in the rear closet. There, a large portion of the floor can be taken out giving access to the engine.

A shiny new water pump (Mex.: Bomba agua) got taken out of its box, and was mounted in. Next the thermostat followed. They had brought 10 gal. of coolant and managed to fill 7.5gal to the upper level. The rest must be filled after the engine reaching temperature so the thermostat opens up letting coolant flood the entire system.

I have to say that this fellow, who runs his own retail business in town is a treasure. Omar is not only a great mechanic but is also super friendly and very nice to deal with. Another asset is that Omar speaks perfectly English. Pls. find his contact information down below if you ever need him to help you here in San Carlos, Sonora.

                      Above: Omar working through our closet

With that done, we still had to put our closet back together. And then it was time for coffee.

Omar's helper working from underneath

Meanwhile, we got new neighbours. A couple from Oregon came in with their 5-wheel and parked behind us. They have two dogs. We won't be neighbours for long as we are now just waiting for the road to dry out a little more, Friends at Hot Springs are already eagerly waiting for our arrival.

The reason for planning our quick departure,is the weather forecast predicting more rain towards the weekend. With muddy road conditions every time it rains, we would be at the mercy of the area drying out every time before we need to go dumping. 

So I guess that's all for today, folks.

Omar's Auto Parts Store

Contact with Omar:

Cell: 52 622 112 95 44

This number also for WHATSAPP

We Almost Got Trapped!

Two shorter rainbursts was all it took to convert this boondocking area into a terrible mess. The ground, mostly  mix of sand and red clay has turned roadways into mud puddles where any attempt of crossing ends in getting stuck.

So a lot of people here got worried about not being able to leave the area for the coming days. 

This morning we decided to take a walk around to assess our chances to get our car out for a grocery run.

Walking down the main road we saw a guy coming towards us. It was Brian from Saskatchewan, camping here with his toy-hauler. His mission this morning was the same as ours. So we teamed up in our efforts to find an escape route. It became clear that there wouldn't be any break-through on the main access road. 

This used to be the main access road

So we tried a road running along the power line. There were more problems that way as well. Every little dip in the road was filled with treacherous mud. Another road to the west seemed better. Underway we saw what really no visitor would like to see - piles of garbage. But finally we found our escape route to the paved road. 

 

Both Brian and I had planned to go shopping for groceries, so when he came with his truck, I followed with our car. I went to the Guaymas Walmart and filled my cart with groceries for the better part of a week. If we should get more rain our escape route might turn impassable as well.

Muddy area next to our bus

After lunch we decided to move our rig about 15m ahead to a dryer part of the ground, thus making it possible that the area, now behind the bus, could dry out in the sun. Our trusty green outdoor mat was moved and turned upside down as the area under it was muddy as well.

We have moved and turned our outdoor mat

And I am glad to say that it helped to dry the mat and the ground where it had been. 

Our mechanic did not show up today, though he had made an attempt yesterday but got stopped by the mud. But that doesn't matter as we are in no hurry.

We are hoping for sunshine for several days to end our predicament with the mud.

Beach Condos at the far end of our beach for Americans and Canadians with plenty cash. This is also a gated complex.

Very Beautiful But We Are Sad

What a relief for us when the long weekend was finally over. I had 2 nights where sleep was not possible until after 3pm. That's when the terror noise from town finally stopped. I was exhausted and had to find some sleep during day time. But this last weekend cemented our decision to leave town and head back to the US.

Tuesday it was time to go dumping. The closest opportunity for that is Totonaka RV Park just a few kms towards town. 

This tree is in the way to make use of the full length of the site

After seeing the park which has been in operation from 1983, we are glad we never stayed there. The park is not only dated but downright neglected. The RV sites are so close to each other that you would hear every word spoken from your next door neighbour. And a bar located next door is producing Dunk-Dunk noise until 3am while the park "strictly enforces quiet hours". LOL.

Sites not long enough

The dump holes are located in the middle of the width of the graveled site. They are located in a concrete square sticking out at least 4 inches, and if you hit that block with a wheel (It's really narrow) you can kiss your tire goodbye. 

On the left site of the campground we saw a number of big class A bunched so close together that I wonder how they will ever be able to get in or out, and of course, there are no modern pull-thrus.

Well, this was the first and the last visit to Totonaka here in San Carlos.

So yes, we are very sad that this whole idea of spending the winter in Mexico has not worked out, despite the undisputed fact of the local beauty around here.

Cerro Tetakawi

Our camp site is still the most beautiful we have ever been in, and we had just begun to get to know our neighbours while we were invited to their camp fire with great conversations. 

While we are still on-site we are enjoying the time between the weekends. 

Moonrise 

Did We Make A huge Mistake?

This will come as a big surprise to all of you.

This morning we spelled out what has been smoldering in our minds for the entire previous week. 

Last night was a night from hell, there was no chance for sleep until way after midnight. The reason was the Dunk-dunk noise generated 3kms away in town. It was felt like an earthquake right under our rig. And I wouldn't even talk about if this was a one-time incident. Not just every weekend - but just imagining about what is going to happen during Christmas and NewYears makes me shudder.

And if this crazy noise wouldn't be enough there are these countless 4x4 monster machines turning this beautiful beach into a Highway of Terror. There seems to be no respect for nature and people's desire for peace

Everything else is actually fine, though Bea complains about the sand getting into the coach.

Our return to the States will have to wait until we get our water pump installed though.

We regret this very much, cause San Carlos has beautiful sides as well, but we hate booming loud music, especially Techno with its monotonous beat.

So What To Do Next?

I have to say that this is a very quiet place to camp - during the weekdays. The Saturdays are obviously not all that quiet. Last Saturday we have been "entertained" by some horrible DUNK-Dunk-Music. A group of kids (youngsters!) got the great idea to have their boom boxes on full speed, they even got it connected to some fancy what-ever lightshow about 200 yards away from us on the beach. I still heard them after 1pm before exhaustion got me.

And then there are these 8-cylindred horrible beach monsters driven by kids who load them up with young girls for the purpose of showing off how tough these imbeciles behind the wheel can be. They get these machines from a local rental place and the beach with surroundings are their playground. I get it. We have to endure this. It is their beach. Once Sunday is over, peace is returning to the area. I can live with it. And I believe that Saturday night beach parties will soon be over as the nights are getting cooler now.

Mighty nice new mural along the wall of "Pilar Condos"

This morning I was debating myself what to do today.

There was the issue of my little problem with the solar installation. One of the wires had gotten too hot, because of too much power, so I had disconnected a couple of panels to ease on the power, but then I had run extra temporary lines for those disconnected panels down the side of the bus. Now this needed to get fixed by getting the wires through the roof and inside the rig and all the way into the battery compartment.

Bea in position to "shoot" a bird

So I faced drilling another hole through the roof. The decision to get it done was made because we might decide to go dumping waste water next week and loose wires hanging down the side was not an option.

Grabbing my battery drill and drill bits I started in the bright morning sun. Naturally, it turned out that my biggest drill bit wasn't big enough to allow both the plus and the minus wire going through. I needed a 16mm drill bit to get that done. Best place to find a drill bit would be HOME DEPOT in Guaymas. That trip would also allow me to drop into Walmart for more food. Better to go today than Saturday.

So off I went. Traffic was light until I got close to Guaymas. I did spend too much time at Home Depot, as I usually do, just to run along the aisles like a kid in the candy store - sooo much to see. At least I got the sought-after drill bit. Once out on the BLVD I got lucky and sped over to the far left lane as getting to Walmart means a left turn. Not too bad for a newcomer in Mexico, eh?

The Mexican Walmart is organized a bit different from US Walmarts, But once one gets the hang of it - it works.

One thing is the same as in the US though, they try to save on paid labour and hope people would use the self check-outs. I had learned my lesson and rather waited in line at a cashiers till.

Driving down a small street from Walmart I noticed people in yellow vests with brooms. They were sweeping the street and sent the dust flying. When did I last see people doing street sweeping?  I think it was in Germany during the fifties. Don't they use those street-sweeping machines in Mexico?  

So much to learn here!

Getting back to camp, it was an hour past lunch time.

Bea hadn't eaten either so we had a quick plate with oats and fruits.

And finally, I clambered back up on the roof, where my new drill bit was put to the test. I am happy to say that the success was mine! Once inside the rig I fed the wire through another hole, ran it behind the washing machine, through a third and fourth hole until I had reached the battery compartment where the wires joined the other ones and fed into the charge controller. A reading of amps going into my batteries now made me smile. Finally I had solved that problem. We would be ready to roll to the dump station any time now.