Day 2 in Mexico

Wednesday... 

Sunrise on Wednesday morning

We had talked with a fellow who does paint work on RVs at the park and arranged that he would touch up a place where paint was popping off one of the silicone joining strips on Thursday. We wanted to provide him with the paint codes to be able to match the original paint -- Carl asked me to post the picture in the blog so we could find it the next time we need the paint codes!

The place where the paint is popping off. The body shop guy said he would paint the whole piece (about 1.5"x3').

Other residents of our RV park enjoying sitting out in the sand

Some of the vendors who travel up and down the beach selling their wares

Breakwater at the edge of The Reef's property

We had some issues with the electricity coming from the park into our RV (our EMS - Electrical Management System indicated that the voltage was sometimes over 130V and therefore the EMS cut the power off). Carl temporarily took the EMS out of the system, but thought that there might be a problem  caused by our cord reel. He was looking at it some more when the transfer switch (that manages the switching from generator to shore power) made a loud buzzing noise. After that, the coach would no longer take in power from shore power... we could still get power from the generator, but nothing from the RV park.

Carl checking out things in the electric bay

Cord reel out

Label on the cord reel in case we want to check into getting it rebuilt or replaced

Meanwhile, dark clouds moving in over the Gulf of California

Carl opened up the transfer switch...

He found that the side of the switch that would transfer shore power into the coach seemed to be a bit fried -- when he tried putting it back into place, it stuck. We re-tried using the generator, and now it seemed that the generator would not transfer power into the coach... uh oh... now we would only be able to get power from solar panels until we got the transfer switch replaced or bypassed.

Label on transfer switch so we would know what to look for

So, Wednesday night, Carl and Steve discussed and we planned that on Thursday they would try to bypass the transfer switch. We were concerned that if they could not get it bypassed, we could totally run out of power and not be able to bring slides in or do anything in the coach (we'd need to head back to Mesa early to be able to order and replace the transfer switch). But, overnight Wednesday, Carl got to thinking that what he had adjusted in the transfer switch might mean that power from the cord would work again. Sure enough, he tried it on Thursday morning and we found that we could now get power into the coach from the RV park's pedestal. So, the "transfer" switch does not transfer from generator to shore power anymore, but it works enough at this point to allow electricity to come into the coach.

Day 1 in Mexico

Nancy planned grocery shopping for our first day in Mexico since we had avoided bringing meat across the border just in case there were issues with bringing it.

First though... we were outside our rigs chatting, and when Nancy and Steve went to go back into their rig, their door had locked. This is an infrequent problem with their rig, and usually one of them has a key, but... neither did. Steve said that he just needed a ladder and he could get in a window, so we checked with Victor, the maintenance / security / gate keeper at the RV Park. Victor had a ladder, so Steve used it to slide open the window and then ... 

... get in through the window -- I didn't get my phone up quickly enough to get him going in, just his feet still showing in the window! It is good to know that other people's rigs cause challenges too!!!

Then we headed off to the grocery store...

We went to the Super Ley grocery -- I don't have my phone set up to be able to use the internet when we're away from the rig, so I take pictures of things I want to try to translate later... this was indicating a 60% discount on selected products, but I'm not sure which products were included. The red containers are "cream to beat" (whipping cream), and the pink containers are egg whites.

We went from the Super Ley to Sam's Club...

Where Carl found a 96" (!!!) big screen TV. The price of 27,870 pesos is equivalent to a little over USD1500. 

We got a few items at Sam's Club,  and then headed over to the next door bodega -- it has some Great Value (Walmart) brand items, and a large selection of different things.

I thought that the grocery cart looked like something in a Fisher Price play set, except full size!

I saw this wooden item and took a picture to look up later what it is -- the translation indicates it is a Grinder (another translation tool indicated Coffee Grinder). We aren't sure how it would be used!

We were looking for sliced bread -- we recognized Oroweat brand, but "integral" and "con masa madre"? (translation tells me "whole grain" and "with sourdough").

After shopping, we headed to Jesses Carrera, a Mexican restaurant that Nancy said was "an experience"...

"An experience" it was!

Over the top decorations!

There was a video of a lady singing -- Jesse told us that it is a set of recordings called "MÉXICO INMORTAL" that can be found on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mexico+inmortal).

A picture of us at the restaurant

Nancy had told us that we *had* to visit the restroom...

"Oh my!!!"

So, you might think that it is a bit overdone, and... it probably is... but it was fun! The interesting thing was that there was one other couple in the restaurant when we got there, and they finished their meal soon after we ordered, so we had the whole place to ourselves!

Steve and Nancy dancing over to the station where we paid for our meals.

What a fun day!

Enjoying the offerings at The Reef

Nancy had planned that, after driving across the border on Monday, we would stay at the Reef for dinner... nice to not have to get back into a vehicle!

We walked over to "Wrecked at the Reef" to get drinks and chips and salsa and guacamole. They have tables out in the sand, and we had a pretty view of the Gulf of California.

We noticed a water spout extending down from one of the clouds over the gulf.

After appetizers at Wrecked at the Reef, we headed back to the rigs for a little while until time for our dinner reservation at the onsite restaurant, Mare Blu. Nancy had gotten a reservation so we could be there at sunset... 

And sure enough, we were there as the sun was going down!

We had a corner table and could see the sunset!

So pretty!

Wow!

I was trying to get a picture of Carl with the southeastern sky's colors behind him - unfortunately, he looks a little out of focus! Regardless, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at Mare Blu!

What a great plan to not have to make dinner or drive anywhere on our first evening in Mexico! 

Across the border into Mexico

When we first went to Puerto Penasco with Steve and Nancy in January 2022, it was our first time taking our rig into Mexico, and we were intent on not getting left behind and/or lost! This time, we tried to do a better job of noticing where we were going and how we got there!

When we got to the border, the biggest challenge was that there were *very* narrow lanes and barriers that made us do sharp turns within the narrow lanes. (I didn't take any pictures because sometimes border control is really sticky about not having pictures taken.) Steve later told us that these narrow curving lanes were on the US side of the border, and intended to prevent vehicles heading north out of Mexico from attempting to crash through illegally on the southbound roadway. All we knew was that it was challenging to get Gracie through the barricades without scraping. 

Eventually, we got to the Mexico side and were stopped by the Mexican border guards. We had the registration papers for both the motorhome and Jeep, US insurance papers, and Mexican insurance papers, as well as our passports available if needed. We had the harness on Miss Kitty just to make her easier to keep hold of -- we don't usually worry about her running out, but it isn't worth the risk that she might get scared and do something unexpected. One of the guards walked all the way around Gracie and the Jeep and then came to the door. He asked for our registration papers and then to be let into the Jeep, so I handed Miss Kitty off to Carl and walked to the back with the keys to the Jeep. I unlocked it, and he checked the VIN on the Jeep against the registration, opened the driver's door and used his flashlight to look around, and then opened the back hatch and again used his flashlight to look around. I re-locked the Jeep and as we were walking back to Gracie's door, he asked if we had, what I thought he said, "bill". I was wondering if he was asking if we had a loan on the rig, or purchase papers, and asked again, and he said "cerveza" -- and I knew that was beer. "No, no beer." He tried saying "beer" again and did better after hearing me say it. He came onboard Gracie and shown his flashlight down the aisle, and then returned our registration papers, welcomed us to Mexico, and left.

We radioed Steve and Nancy that we were done (they had pulled over to wait for us), and they headed out to lead us through Sonoyta (the town on the Mexican side of the border).

It isn't a difficult route -- highway 8 from the Lukeville crossing through Sonoyta to Puerto Penasco, and then, to get to The Reef RV Park, take highway 3... (google maps link)

... but there's this one spot in Sonoyta where highway 8 and highway 2 intersect, and... well... it is challenging in a big rig... (link to intersection in google maps)

Signage approaching the highway 8 and highway 2 intersection

You can see that there are two roads that intersect (with the arrows on them) -- and neither has a stop or yield sign where they cross, so it isn't clear who has right-of-way....

I didn't think to take pictures there as I was helping Carl watch traffic... but I found this picture on Google street view:

We were traveling on this road where these four vehicles are. The main traffic on highway 2 heading southeast to northwest travels along where that Lala truck is. We were on the road trying to stay on highway 8 (to head southwest) which shares roadway with 2 for a short distance; other traffic can be coming from the right wanting to go from highway 2 onto 8 northeast toward the border. The traffic where the Lala truck is can be heavy in both directions, so it takes patience to make the left turn. And... the space between the "Alto" where we would be making the left turn onto highway 2/ highway 8 is just barely long enough for the motorhome and Jeep to fit without hanging over the intersection. We were glad to have that intersection behind us!

After making it through that intersection, we just needed to stay to the right on the combined highway 2/highway 8 section so we could take the right-lane exit to stay on highway 8. You might notice a pickup truck just in front to the left of us -- no license plate, no working lights (so no idea what he is planning to do or if he might be braking in front of us). He got between Steve and Nancy and us for a few miles before turning off.

I took this because the red sign is for "Waldo's", so if anyone ever asks, "Where's Waldo?", you can say, "In Mexico!"

Most of the roads that we were on were in good shape, but they have these speed bumps (topes -- literally "stops") -- some are marked, some have paint (or have had paint) on them -- this one had a sign to indicate "Reductor de velocidad" (speed reducer). Nancy and Steve know where the speed bumps are located and carefully slow down to avoid sending their rig airborne (thereby letting us know to slow down too!).

This is at the end of Sonoyta -- I think this person who is out on the street stopping traffic is collecting for a children's charity. The sign over the highway wishes us, "Have a good trip!"

Once we are past that stop, 

...we continue heading across this part of the Sonoran Desert (the same desert that is in the southwestern part of Arizona).

According to the warning sign, there may be bovines with horns along this road (we didn't see any).

It is a lot more sandy and less green than what we were seeing in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Amazingly, as we were driving, it started raining -- Nancy said that they have never encountered rain on their many trips to Puerto Penasco (they have had rain while in Puerto Penasco as it is at the coast, but not on the road across the desert).

Eventually we were welcomed to Puerto Penasco (I barely got my phone up in time to take a picture!).

We found our way onto highway 3 and then skirted the town of Puerto Penasco to get to our RV park, The Reef... there were a number of very rough roadways and topes and a railroad crossing that was about as rough as you could ever imagine!

Turning in to property where the RV park is located...

Looking out toward the Gulf of California

There are a couple of businesses here -- a bar / snack restaurant, a nice sit-down dining restaurant (Mare Blu), and the RV park.

We were glad to arrive safely!