The trip that just keeps giving and giving.

 So any way, to catch up. We were going to leave Amado on Sunday, a day early, to miss the coming weather of wind and rain. Well we are still in Amado paid until next Monday. The wind today is fierce and it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Glad we are not going anywhere.

The picture today is the new header. The picnic table at our site in Mountain View RV Ranch. I would love to have it and put a protective coat on it and leave it just the way it is holes and pealing paint and all. It just calls to me. 

The Jeep has its tow bracket fixed. Took a couple of days as whole skid plate under Jeep had to be replaced. The spot lights are gone...to be replaced? Who knows. It looks funny now. And needs some cleaning up. 

So we have managed a couple of trips to Denny's and WalMart and one to Safeway. Why is that important? Well 'cause...Bill now has Covid. Just got back from urgent care. He got what we thought was an uptick in his allergies Saturday evening. But planned on leaving Sunday. Sunday morning he decided he didn't want to drive and that he had a cold. Coughing and sneezing and nose running. No problem. Monday not any better, so I went to office and extended our stay for a week. Figuring when he felt better we'd just leave. Yesterday he started running a fever and was trying to cough his toenails up. Got in car to drive a couple of miles to the  Green Valley hospital to emergency. Neighbor told us hospital was now closed! What? it is only about six years old. Sure enough closed. Closest hospital is in Tucson. He was really feeling horrid so called 911. Took them a while to figured out who could service the RV park in Amado. Finally did. Told us to stay where we were. We were already in car so parked in front of the office and waited. Ambulance came from Tubac not too long of a wait. They checked him out. (Oh yeah - we'd already done a Covid home test - said negative.) Medics checked heart, breathing, sugar, blood pressure etc. He wasn't having problems breathing. Everything was fine, he was just feeling sh***y. They asked if he really wanted to go to hospital. Consensus was no need to. So they told us there was an urgent care in Green Valley if he felt he was worse. Back to the RV and he went back to bed. Fever went up and down, coughing and nose running remained the same and he slept most of day. And up half of the night. This morning still feeling rotten. Took another COVID test...oh, oh, positive!  So thinking about the pill we went to urgent care in Green Valley. It is no longer an urgent care. Had to go to next exit north to a little hospital with an emergency room. Got right in. Yep Covid. Go home rest, eat, drink. Get some Zinc and stay hydrated. Doctor looked at me and said, "You'll probably test positive too."  Gee thanks. Bill drove to both those places. But by then he wasn't feeling too good. Lucky me I got to drive. Less than a mile he was car sick. And the wind was almost moving the car to the next lane. Hate that. 

So now we are in RV. Both of us ate and drank and took Zinc. He is napping I am writing this. So far I have no symptoms. Unless the fact that I've been sneezing and had running nose for 5 or 6 days means I already have it and not bad. Wouldn't that be nice.  Oh, he nor I can take the Paxlovid because of medical history.

So that is our story of trip from Mazatlan to Amado, AZ. I just want to go home and stay there. Him too. 

Friday back to KM21 (now KM256)

Friday was a beautiful day weather wise. So nice to see blue sky and sunshine after a couple of days of gray clouds and rain. So we grabbed our paperwork (toll money, passports and banjercito copy) and headed to KM21. About 45 miles from RV park to KM21. Uneventful crossing into Mexico. Just the rough road from border to after airport turnoff. Even in the Jeep Bill couldn't miss all the potholes. Got to 21 and turned in the Banjercito copy and got our receipt. Then we stopped at a gas station (17.99 a liter for gasoline) to use up Pesos. We got back to about a mile before the US border - took 1 1/2 hours  from RV park to there - we weren't in a hurry. And 111pesos in tolls. 

I guess a Friday morning is not a good time to cross from Mexico into the US at the Mariposa border station.  Just poked along here. Car length by car length. Also I was very surprised to see a number vendors walking along the stopped cars selling all kinds of stuff. Got rid of the rest of our pesos. No didn't buy any thing, just gave them away.  While in line we saw a very interesting thing. A new looking black Jeep Cherokee came flying down the wrong side of the road. Slammed on his brakes, made a U turn and stopped. Two young guys got out of the back seat. They headed towards the border, then turned back to the car. Driver got out and yelled something at them and pointed to a gully on that side of the road. He got back in his car and took off back up the road the right way. They climbed over the fence into the gully. What do you suppose that was? lol. It took one hour to finally get back on the road in Arizona. Had a neat border guard, he really liked the paint job on the Jeep. 

Then we stopped at IHop to have lunch. Bill said it was the best hamburger he's ever had! Lots of wild flowers blooming along the highway. 

Boy that mountain must have had a rough time some where way in the past. 

Just so pretty out I had to take a picture. 

Lots of puffy white clouds. 

Tried calling Dish TV again - wait time of 173 minutes. Nope, just hung up. And I guess the supervisor who was supposed to call us back for our job ticket number in 2 to 4 hours must have quit. Its been 4 days now. By the time they get to us the RV will be parked in storage and I won't care. Wonder if I can get a discount on my bill? Hummm...

Later we went to Green Valley to the Safeway. I like that store. Had to laugh though, some of the single older ladies were eyeing Bill's new head of white curly hair. (He is letting it grow out for awhile.) Went to breakfast this morning and got a new water hose for the RV. Blue sky but kind of cool out. 
 

Our last visit to La Martina and La Noria.

I forgot that I had not posted any thing from our last visit to La Noria a few days before we left Mazatlan. So today is a colorful post from our great winter in Mazatlan. So for a change of pace here it is. 

We of course stopped at the beautiful La Martina restaurant. Just one of the many flowering plants there.

It is such a beautiful place. So many things to see there and great food. We will miss going there. 

In the ladies' restroom is this oil painting of Maria Sabina A very interesting lady. Click here to read about her. The mushroom lady. 

More colors at the front of the restaurant. 

Beautiful red plant. I've never been able to keep one of these alive.

On up the road to La Noria. They have finished painting the arch. Notice the saddle The town is known for its leather goods and beautiful hand  made saddles. 

Last time we were here a lot of the buildings were being repainted. Government supplied the paint, the town the labor. This one looks amazing. 

So do these.

Every building on the entire main street has been repainted. 

The registry office. It used to be turquoise. All marriages and births are registered here. 

These town signs are really neat. 

The whole plaza area has been refurbished. The gazebo looks really nice. 

All the benches have been repainted and lots of new plants around. 

The restaurant and hotel behind the water feature. 

Went upstairs of the restaurant looking down.

Back downstairs. The restrooms. 

Just like all the different textures

A mama hen and her tiny chicks. They were really, really tiny. 

Even the church got spruced up. 

Bill buying some of his favorite tortillas. He says they are the best tasting ones he has ever had. 

And then on back to the RV. Nice memories. 

We got the Jeep back yesterday afternoon so as soon as it warms up some we will be on our way back into Mexico to KM21 to turn in the TIP papers for the Jeep so we can get the deposit back. If you take a vehicle into Mexico you have to get a Temporary Import Permit good for 180 days. Also have to put down a deposit - $300 to $400. When you leave with that vehicle you turn in the paper work and the deposit is refunded. It is to discourage people from taking cars there and selling them. Looks like today will be sunny. It was ugly and cold yesterday with rain off and on all day. 

I have calmed down and all will be fine.

And that was/is our journey home. We still have to return to Mexico to turn in the paperwork on the Jeep so we can get our deposit back. But we have plenty of time to do that. We still have our Mexican car insurance and only have to go to KM 21 and give them all the correct paperwork. Still can’t believe I was that rattled that I removed the one thing we really needed from the three things that were stapled together. Oh, well. The Mexican part of leaving the country was fine. And I had a very nice US border guard. Very polite and quick. He suggested we should take a trip to Alaska some time. Told him we already had.

On Tuesday morning we were up bright and early, way too early – think 4:30 a.m. Both of us went to bed too early Monday night – I think I was asleep by 9:30.  So after the sun came out and it warmed up some we headed up the road to Denny’s for breakfast. Did you know that Denny’s charges $3.69 for a cup of coffee? My whole meal was only $5.99 – two eggs, 2 bacon and 2 pancakes. Bill had eggs, ham, hash browns and toast. We enjoyed every single bite of them. Then we went to Walmart in the same shopping area. Had to get a sewer hose as the connection was broken off by the bucket that made the mess. Thank goodness that got fixed in San Carlos. Also I was running out of some OTC pills - vitamins etc. Just picked up a few groceries that we needed. Enjoyed every minute of shopping. Then back to the RV.

Parked here at Mountain View RV Ranch. We are in the back row which is pull through.

Then we came home and relaxed. Well kind of. When we got to the RV park on Monday we arrived 5 minutes after the office closed. So had to call for someone to check us in.  Their hours are from 9 to 3!  (Just as an aside our trip Monday took 7 hours for 285 miles. It went fine until the last 25 mile stretch. First the mess with the tow, then forgetting paperwork at KM21 then we stopped and filled gas on both vehicles to get rid of pesos and then the US border. It usually takes us about five hours. Even with all our mishaps it wasn’t too bad. ) So stopped at office for the WiFi password. Got it. Then discovered the signal doesn’t reach back to the back row where we are parked. So will use my Verizon Mifi – but need to be careful not to use too much. Then turned on our Dish satellite TV. Of course it didn’t want to come up. So went online to try to activate it. Got notice that page wasn’t available…??? So called them. Well the tech support people can’t help me anymore either. Seems they had a cyber-attack in February and their system is all messed up. So a supervisor would have to call me to activate my receiver. He would call in 2 to 4 hours – well it has already been two days. Yesterday I was on hold for an hour, finally hung up. Then next time I called message was to call back another time.  So no TV and limited Internet. Did I mention I can’t wait to be HOME

Yesterday Bill will took the Jeep and the part that broke/fell off over to a mechanic right up the street and they will put it up on a lift to see what damage might have happened to underside of Jeep and what needs to be done to weld the thing back on. I do NOT want to drive all the way to Vegas. We plan on staying here until next Monday – or longer if needed. Doesn’t the Jeep look strange without its spot lights? 

Just got a call from where the Jeep is getting fixed. Thank goodness they could do the repair and welding work. Called Luna Tire in Amado, AZ.

Both of us have recovered from our falls. I still have a little bruise below my knee, but no ouchies anywhere. Bill’s ankle did not bruise and swelling has gone down and he isn’t even limping. We were both lucky. Lesson learned, don’t try to walk in the dark without a flashlight and look down when walking.

Well it is Thursday morning. Rained last night off and on and still pretty cloudy this morning. 

The Jeep is still at the mechanic, probably will be ready late afternoon. I have been trying and trying to get some attentions from Dish TV. What a mess. Now they just say hang up and call back later. Bill is cold so he just went back to bed. But on the bright side our refrigerator continued to work while we were driving. And the waste tanks are not leaking and I don't get a low voltage signal when putting the levelers up or down. 

And so the day continued.

After getting all the tow stuff thrown in the back of the Jeep we continued on to KM21 to turn in the paper work for the Jeep. The pictures are actually from the dash cam in the RV. I was a little too busy to take any pictures. I haven't driven the Jeep since way before we left Las Vegas. See the big Microwave towers on the left  good indications you are close to the small white building shacks where you turn in the paperwork. It is just across from the OXXO, Lots of orange cones. Bill just drove by as he had nothing to turn in and parked in dirt. I followed the orange cones. (I know I need to fix the date/time on the dash cam.)

You get off the highway a little before this picture starts 

Well I was so rattled that when I got the paper work out I screwed up and left the important part - the copy of the Banjercito paper in the RV.  To begin with that copy, the receipt and the paper showing deposit were all stapled together. I tore the Banjercito off. Didn't remember doing that. So - of course we didn't get checked out. One day this week we will drive the Jeep back into Mexico go to KM21 and give them the correct paper work and get our money back. One of those real "I can't believe I did that." moments. After we left KM21 we stopped at a gas station just past it to fill the RV to use up what pesos we had left. They were charging 17.99 a liter for gasoline. Had some pesos left so filled Jeep too. 

So onward, me following the RV. Make sure you stay in left lane here. 

Coming up to the Mexican Aduana  There are three lanes here stay in the one to the left between pole and striped cones. We went up the middle one. Me just following behind thinking " oh, oh, I think we should be to the left." 

If you do like we did - I was just following RV~ you will be able to get to the left one through a break in the barriers . See video. 

 

After getting out of there - you just drive through.  Continuing on up the highway. Always stay in lane saying AUTOS even if you are an RV. 

See the striped cone. Make sure you follow the arrow, even if it feels wrong. You will end up on the left of the barrier - that's where you should be.  I know it just says AUTOS  that means you too even if in an RV. 

I hate this part of the road. Seems like you are going the wrong way. You're not. 

Follow the signs 

See the white van and the border patrol agents. Follow their instructions if you are in an RV. They will stop traffic in far right lane and wave you across to in front of the van.

He is removing cone to let Bill through. I begged and pleaded and almost resorted to tears to try to get them to let me follow the RV. NO WAY. They didn't care I was with the RV. Not their problem. To go in that lane I HAD TO BE ATTACHED TO THE RV. I told them I had been attached to the RV until a few miles back. Too bad. No way. So off he went and I went in the auto lane. 

I stayed in the auto line closest to the bus lane where the RV was.  I got through almost as fast as he did. He had a couple of new trainees I guess. One told him to get out of the RV. The other yelled at him for getting out. So he had to get back in only to be told to get out and open the door.  When they came inside to check and opened the refrigerator door one of the door shelves fell off spreading bottles every where. I had forgot and there were a few tangerines in it. Of course they were confiscated, but not until they told him he should be fined because they were there. They kept asking him where his wife was and he kept pointing to the Jeep in the auto lane saying she is there. Well why is she there? Duh! He finally got going and had to drive through the X-ray machine - which says 3 miles per hour and they told him to hurry up. He stuck to 3mph. Finally out of there. He waited for me up the road a ways. 

So after seven hours on the road here we are parked in Mountain View RV Ranch in Amado, AZ Paid for a week, a little over $35 a day with Good Sam discount. We are in the back row a pull through. But can't pick up their Internet back here. 

Doesn't Jeep look weird without light bar? 

Tuesday morning we went to Dennys for breakfast. YUM.

And that was that day. 

What a day Part 1 San Carlos to Amado, AZ

 ARRGG - I went to bed last night at 9:00 forgot to set bedroom clock so got up when I woke up ONLY four thirty! Bill was already up! I see naps in our future. 

We were up early our last day in San Carlos, all ready for a nice trip home. We left the campground about 8:00. No wind, the sun was far enough up it wasn't in our eyes. A perfect day for driving. 

Oh! I almost forgot. On Sunday afternoon late we decided to walk across the street to have an early dinner at Charley's Rock. With the topes in the street in front of the RV park now crossing is so much easier. Walking towards the restaurant I noticed a hole in the sidewalk, Just as I said to Bill "Watch out for the hole" He fell down next to me. Yep, hit it just right to turn his ankle and go kerplop. First thing he said was I'm okay! Luckily there was a couple just walking by us and the guy was a BIG man. He grabbed Bill under the arms and had him on his feet before I could react. So - this year both Graces took a trip!  IEEE we are getting to old to be doing this. Any way - he actually is fine. His ankle is a little bruised and swollen but not hurting. I hope our sons aren't reading this, they might think we shouldn't be let out of the house alone any more. 

But back to yesterday. Leaving. 

Got out to the road north and stopped at the Gastop station. They had fixed most of the potholes going into the station  which was very nice. Filled the RV. When I say filled I mean REALLY filled. We have a 40 gallon (I thought) tank and we took 42 gallons of gasoline? Hum...They also washed our windows. Thank you. So actually got on road at 8:30

Most of the construction is done at the junction where the road from San Carlos meets back up with the road to Hermosillo. Signs easy to read. 

As we got to the road that goes to Kino there was a Federal check point - the guys in beige pants and black shirts. Just waved us through. 

First indication we were nearing the Hermosillo bypass. On the lower right of the picture you can see the off ramp bridge. 

Slow way down it is a sharp turn on to the bypass. 

Uneventful trip on it. Toll for RV and Jeep was 298pesos, up about 9 pesos. A bridge to no where. No dirt road or sign of buildings any where.

Getting off the bypass. Good road all the way from San Carlos to here. 

A couple of miles and another toll booth - 160 pesos less than when we came down??? Saw quite a few people walking along this stretch of road. Where are they from and where are they going. It is a darn long walk without any places to stop. 

The road from Hermosillo to Santa Ana could use some help, in a few places a lot of help. And it seems to be getting it. A lot of new pavement and a lot of paving going on. 

Just before Santa Ana there was another Federal check point, same guys and again we were just waved through. It was only 11:30 when we got to Santa Ana so of course we didn't stop there. Nice new arches on both ends of town. 

On to Magdalena and through the toll there - one of the cheapest ones 85 pesos, went up a couple of pesos since we went through in the fall. Roads now were good.  

We continued blithely on. Around the curves and up and down the little hills. Through the little towns with the topes. Until the last tope in Cibuta. Loud sound, felt like something was pulling us backward and sideways. Cars passing us were yelling at us and pointing to the back. And this is what we found when we got out. The Jeeps nose was kissing the back bumper of the RV!! OH OH NOT GOOD.

We contemplated the mess UNDER the Jeep. To me at first it looked like the underside of the Jeep was torn off. Would the Jeep run? Got the keys and Bill got in and Jeep started and he managed to back it up some. Then we could see what was the problem. The light bar that was welded to the under side of the jeep and held the tow bar had broken off. One tope too many. As we were standing there thinking S##T and wondering what to do a Volkswagen with a young man in it stopped across the street. He motioned to us that he was going to help. He made a Uturn and pulled up behind us. He was a mechanic with tools with him. Bless him! Had Bill back up until the whole mess was out from under the Jeep. Then we went to work  separating the light bar from the tow arms. 

We could never had managed this. The whole mess was very heavy and awkward to manhandle.

He got everything separated. The Blue Ox tow bar is fine. Got it folded up and out of the way. Then he disconnected all the wiring from the light bar and bracket and put the whole mess in the Jeep. We were good to go. He wanted 300 pesos we ended up giving him 750 we were so thankful for his help. 

Now we were ready to go. About 10 miles from the KM21. So...I had to drive the Jeep. No problem. Got my purse and passport and remembered to get some pesos for the final toll booth and off we went. 

Going to end there as the rest from KM21 to getting into the US was a keystone cop episode. Will leave it for tomorrow. 

We will be in Amado at least a week. Need to find someone to weld thing back together cause I don't want to drive the rest of the way home. Will do some Walmart and Denny's today and try to find a welder.