Les Schwab

We are now in Les Schwab Tire store in Wilsonville, Oregon buying six new tires. The old ones had only 18,000 miles on them but were suffering from five years of UV damage. Rather than take a chance on a flat in Mexico we bit the bullet and invested $1300 USA in new Toyos. I am using their WIFI and see they are finished so I will pay the bill and drive to Eugene tonight. See Ya!

Chehalis WalMart

We got off the ferry at through US Customs by two and headed down the Hood Canal towards Olympia and Interstate 5. We stopped at a folksy restaurant for lunch along the way where I found a huge salmon burger for $7. As we were leaving some women asked where we were going in the motorhome. When we told them “Mexico”, one said, “Be careful, there are bandits there!” “ “Bandits?”, I asked. “I don't think I have ever seen a bandit except for the one-armed kind in the USA”. Norma, trying to get me to shut up, said. “Oh, we stay away from the border”. “It doesn't matter” she answered, “They are all over Mexico now”. Well, I will have to watch for one. If I find one, I will report.

Tonight we are in the Walmart parking lot in Chehalis, Washington. It is much warmer than last night on the ferry dock and I may be able to make it with only one quilt. Life is good!

On The Road!

We finally started the adventure! We got away from Campbell River at ten o'clock Tuesday morning and headed South. We arrived at the ferry lineup in Victoria at 3:00 and selected our spor for the night. If you get there after the afternoon sailing and before they lock the gate at five, you can park in their lot overnight. We always do this because it gives us a chance to visit with Brooks and Linda. We met Linda's parents and went for dinner at The Keg.

It was a nice dinner. Brooks and I had the Ahi Tuna, served almost raw, just as I like it and it was very tasty. Norma and Linda had the Sirloin with mushrooms. I washed mine down with a VERY spicy Bloody Caesar interspersed with sips of water. To cool my mouth down. The meal was not cheap but then again, it is downtown Victoria. Brooks and Linda headed home after dinner and Norma and I walked along the waterfront with Linda's parents who live near the ferry dock. It was a beautiful, cool night.

We got back to the motorhome, covered up with two quilts and settled down for the night. In the morning we woke up as they were measuring the RV (50 feet with the car). I took the piece of paper he handed me and went to pay the $230  (Canadian) fare. A little pricey but we only cross two times a year and by taking the Port Angeles route we miss the Seattle traffic.

The adventure has started!

Loading Day

Today we transform the motorhome from a bright, freshly washed underweight rig to a bright, freshly washed overweight rig! It will be a tough job but Norma has all her clothes neatly piled in 5 huge plastic bins that fit under the bed and enough canned food to keep a small nation from starvation for a couple of days laid out and ready to go into the pantry and overhead cupboards. I have to sort out the liquor cabinet as there is no use taking liquor into the USA where it is half the price of Canadian.

My other job is to climb up on the roof with the hose and clean out the gutters for the last time this year. I will be complaining of a sore back later today, but this all means we are getting close! The adventure awaits!

As Rae pointed out I also had to park the Mazda where it would be out of the way. This involved driving it between Rae's motorhome and Norma's garden shed. It was not as big a deal as the two women made it out to be. I had more than five centimeters clearance on each side. Piece of cake!

A Day Late

It looks like we will be leaving on Tuesday now. Norma is waiting for something in the mail..... If we arive at the Black Ball Ferry terminal before 4:00 pm then we can park overnight and catch the 10:00 am sailing. It is getting close!

Wash Day

I washed the rig today and Norma is starting to get things ready to load. We will be leaving Campbell River on Monday the 26th. It is getting closer!

The Great Wall

This is the retaining wall that Norma and Rae built yesterday. It won't keep the Mongols (or the deer) out but it might remind the neighbours in the condo to keep their hedge on their own side of the property line.

Clear Cutting Rose Bushes

When Rae asked if it would be OK to show up early for her winter parking spot, little did she know that Norma would be putting her to work right away! Today we finished a low concrete block wall between us and the condo next door. This involved much carrying, lifting, placing and leveling. After a couple of hours the job was finished.

Then they tackled the job of cutting Norma's rose bushes back for the winter. The rose bushes had been allowed to grow about eight or ten feet feet high so it was quite a job taming them! Our unsuspecting guest finished with many scratches and scars to show for her efforts!

Here are the two of them playing tug of war with a vine.


I had the job of cheering on the BC Lions who are now tied with Winipeg at half time.

Bloggers I Have Met

About a year ago I started noticing something about us Bloggers. As you follow Bloggers and their Blogs you seem to get a deeper understanding of the people than would normally be the case with a few brief face to face meetings.

The first Bloggers we met in person were Brenda and Roy in Guaymas, MX. They were exactly as I imagined them to be and I liked them right away. Although from diverse backgrounds, we had much in common and hit it off right away.

Next was Filipe in Patzcuaro. As soon as we walked up to the sidewalk cafe where we were to meet, I recognized him and it almost felt like we were old friends. He is exactly the same rogue in person as he is on his Blog! We enjoyed his company immensely!

Kathe, whose Life's Adventures Blog I had been following for several years and who was actually responsible for giving me the inspiration and confidence for our first motorhome venture into Mexico was also exactly as I imagined her to be. Only a few minutes after meeting her she invited us to boondock on her beautiful property on the Caribbean Sea outside of Chetumal. She was exactly the person I had imagined her to be.

Jonna and Mimi of the Blah...Blah...Blah...Ginger! Blog were next. We met them in the RV park in Merida where we found ourselves parked side by side. Again although from very diverse backgrounds (a retired Canadian telephone guy and two cops from San Francisco!), we hit it off right away and we will be visiting them again this winter.

Chris of the Living And Boondocking In Mexico Blog exceeded my image of him! We called him after having our incident with the low overpass in Monterrey and within minuted he was there, offering his help and fluent Spanish to deal with the bureaucracy of Mexican Insurance. He then made us very welcome in his adopted city and spent two days showing us around. It was as if we had known him for years!

Now we have finally met Rae of the Travels With Miranda Blog. Rae is a full time RVer embarking on a great adventure. Someone pointed her Blog out to me and I started following her with interest as she made her way across Canada. We corresponded a few times when she was having battery problems and when she mentioned that she would like to spend the winter on Vancouver Island, I felt I knew her well enough to offer our RV pad to her. She pulled in yesterday and once more it was like old friends meeting. She is exactly as I pictured her and I know our house will be in good hands this winter.

So my record is perfect. I have never met a Blogger I didn't like! We are going to try to get together with John Calypso in Veracruz and Paul in Merida this year and I am sure I can keep this trend going! I will report.

ON EDIT

As my friend Les and his Journey Of A Lifetime Begins Blog points out, I forgot him! Les has been a great help to us, offering help and encouragement for all our ventures into Mexico. He has been heading down there for many years, knows the country well and is always eager to share. His help made our trips down there much easier. We will be visiting him and Sara in San Miguel de Allende this year. Thanks Les!

I was also reminded that I forgot Tioga George! Now I am really showing my age! How could I forget George and the team, the most famous Blogger of all time? We ran into George twice in Mexico and had a great visit each time, we even got to meet Boid once. I always look forward to seeing George and I am sure our paths will cross again...

Still Here....

It seems expansion tanks for Mazdas are all in Toronto. They sent for one and it will be here around noon today. They will replace it along with the thermostat and see if that fixes the problem. If it does then we will get Brooks and Linda to drive us to pick up the car when they get home from work and we will be home by 9 or so. If they have to dig deeper then we will drive Linda's car home and they will drive our car home on Saturday. We are in the hands of fate.

Home Again!

The garage called to tell us the car was ready at about 3:00. We borrowed Linda's car to drive to the station to pick it up. The tab for a new expansion tank, thermostat, 2 radiator caps and antifreeze was $620. Ouch!