Chaos Leaves Town

After a month in Amado, daily afternoon temps were over 100 F and even with the shade I had in the 50 amp spot they assigned me at Mt. View RV Ranch, I’d still be seeing 105-110 F temps in the afternoon, lasting several hours. The heat pump was handling it fine but it still wears on ya not being able to hang out outside or mess around outside much. So decided to head north. Three days before travel, I’d driven north at 6:30 am to take advantage of the morning cool and filled up the RV’s diesel tank at a Shell station 5 miles away. Price was within a couple cents of the best price in the area. I did this specifically so that I could get a very early start in the morning when I did leave so I could avoid the heat of the day. I was heading for Quartzsite, only 4 hours away. There are several routes I could take to get to Pahrump, and this is one of my regular travel routes. Pahrump would probably be a 30 day stop over based on their average temps this time of year.

I wanted to avoid the heat of the day because my dash AC isn’t working yet. I can use my heat pump and do so all the time, but the generator uses 0.8 gallons of diesel per hour to run the heat pump and I have to be careful because it uses the main diesel tanks fuel and I don’t want to run the generator when the RVs tank is down below 1/4 tank because if it runs out, it’s a bitch getting it running again after getting a diesel fill up. Takes multiple start attempts over 2-3 hours and I don’t like stressing the starting motor or the fuel pump too much doing that. Anyway, I just planned my trip in 4-5 hour chunks and tried to get up really early to avoid the heat while traveling here in the desert. And of course, if I’m heading west, that avoids the morning sun and heading north avoids the sun from around 10 am to 3 pm.

Anyway, I stayed 3 days past my due date so I could be traveling during the middle of the week. Right now I don’t think it matters that much which day of the week I travel, seems to me the RV traffic is very light. I think even RV’ers are hunkering down and trying not to move much during the Covid-19 virus shutdown. A known is better than an unknown and it looked as though the Amado/Nogales area was going to be a great place to stay to avoid infection. BUT, the daily temps were just too much. I still have to consider my equipment and although I did maintenance on my heat pump in early May of ’19, it’s still 18 years old. And having it fail here in the southern desert no where near RV service is not something I wanted to experience.

Here’s some of the freeway artwork you find in Arizona. I kind of like it. Then after passing though Tucson, there’s this big peak that’s kind of interesting.

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This is during the Covid-19 Pandemic…while I was in Mazatlan it really exploded around the world. I was already here the first I heard of it. It really started to spread in early March and it’s now March 20th. It spread really fast. There’s already over 20,000 in the US that tested positive. Here in Maz there’s only 2 confirmed cases, or so the government says. It appears that Maz is not a hot spot for the virus like many other places in Mexico are. I’ve planned on heading back to the US on April 2nd. It will take me 2-3 days as I slowly work my way up north. It’s starting to look very dangerous for everyone because the death rate can be up to 10% of those that get it, and those that get it may approach 80% of the population. The US was/is not prepared and as everyone knows, nearly the entire population, the 99%, will be wiped out financially if they are among the unlucky 20% that get it who go to the hospital. So many US workers will avoid going as long as possible, and will likely die at home without much comfort. Already many hospital systems are overloaded and have to turn people away. In one of my FB groups,  there’s a guy who was asking for help coming up with a plan or design to merge his CPAP machine and an oxygen supply because he’s 70 years old, expects to get the virus, and has already  been turned down by his hospital for the use of a respirator he’s saying he needs to survive. And he’s a bonafide doctor. Hospitals turning away their own, that’s unusual.

So what all this means, is that I’ve been keeping a low profile while I’m here. No big crowds, sort of stay home and chill. Haven’t been hanging out downtown or going on cruises or taking in live shows. Go out shopping once a week and that’s about it now. I am able to stream TV during the day and into the evening most days so I’ve not gone stir crazy yet so that’s good. I’ve been struggling with the decision of whether or not to just stay here until the crisis is over, or head back. There’s so much to consider…RV insurance, border closings, etc. Thing is right now, Mexico may be under reporting the number of Covid cases so staying here might not be an advantage. And they don’t have any more services, supplies, or equipment than any other country, probably less adequate then most.  The US is woefully unprepared since the ignorant crew running this administration actually closed 27 of the 35 pandemic readiness offices around the country more than 2 years ago. Idiots. All to save a small bit of money to give as a tax break to the rich.

Anyway, I’ll probably head back to the border in exactly 2 weeks, and eventually will work my way up to Pahrump, Nevada where there’s few cases and where I’ll be able to use the VA hospital over in Las Vegas if necessary. But they might be full up or locked down due to the Covid virus. I really won’t know how bad it’s going to be until I’m up there in two weeks. I’ll decide than whether to just hang loose in southern Arizona or high tail it up the Pahrump and try to get an appointment at the hospital for my knee. Needs surgery probably.

Well, that’s the background but I did go out a few times driving my car from here, all the way through the Golden Zone, than to the Soriana store. I did hang out on the beach for a while and made a friend there so we’ve hung out at a bar a couple times but Covid put the brakes on that budding relationship. It’s always nice having a local as a friend.

Just to backtrack a bit, I didn’t go to the carnival parade myself, or to the fireworks, but I did score some pictures. I asked the guy via PM if I could use them and he’s never gotten back to me and it’s been 3 weeks now. If he makes me, I’ll remove them…

Back when the French were trying to gain a foothold in the Americas, they sort of took over Mexico. But there were several places that wouldn’t yield to the French. Mazatlan was one of those places. So since they couldn’t make much headway with ground troops, they sent a few naval ships to harass Mazatlan hoping for an easy way to get them to fold and accept the French government. But what happened was that the Mazatlan garrison called for the locals to help repel them and boy did they ever. They forced the French out. A couple of small naval vessels and a handful of fishermen. And so every year they celebrate that victory with a fireworks display. I expected there to be TV coverage of the fireworks like there were in past years, but nope, not this year. Damnit. So I searched the internet and found a couple pictures taken by someone there. And here’s how it looks, credit to Michael Saunders:

And a few of the 2nd parade that evening:

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Where I am at the Las Jaibas RV park, it’s a couple mile bike ride to the northern tip of the coast line that is considered part of Mazatlan, than it curves east and makes something of a large harbor. Miles east and north are many large condos that I suppose the owners use Maz to shop at, it’s remote though. That’s the Punta Cerritos area as this map shows.

I ride up there all the time just to hang out. Here’s some pictures first of the back 40 of the Jaibas RV park. It’s a pretty nice park, but there aren’t enough 50 amp spaces, the 30 amp overvolts far to often (every night), and the wifi sucks everywhere but the first few RV spots near the building. Those of us with high gain antennas don’t have too much trouble because there’s often a line of sight with the building and since it’s uncrowded here, I can stream most every day. Then the owner charges $40 peso ($2.20 US) for the use of the washer and the same for the dryer. Twice what other parks charge. And then he won’t roll over your payments. Let’s say you are undecided how long you’ll stay when you first arrive, so you pay for a week. That rate is higher then the monthly, but he won’t allow rolling it over when you switch to monthly  like most parks will do without complaint. Maybe that’s why his park is never full? I can’t think of any other reason…his daily/weekly/monthly rates are pretty good even with being this far from the Golden Zone. Might just be the lack of 50 amp spaces and the poor wifi?

Well, anyway, I like it here, but only because there’s hardly any RV parks left in downtown, where I’d rather be. The only one left is packed for the entire winter, all the others are closed now.

One time as I was starting out on my bike ride I went way back to the back area of the RV park. These apartments were not there the first time I stayed here at the Jaibas.

Here’s the rear washroom/banos building. This is where the owner could run another wifi setup if he wanted. I suggested it years ago.

Lot’s of RV spaces available here. Large spaces too. If he hangs on a bit longer, this park might start filling up just from the fact there’s so few RV parks left in the downtown area and campers will be forced to stay here by default.

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For the 1st time, I have a car with me in Mazatlan, so this means I’m able to go shopping or sight seeing without having to depend on public transport. Not that there’s anything wrong with using public transportation, I’ve done it hundreds of times in Maz myself. And Maz has some of the best vehicles and lowest transportation prices in the country. They are one of the few cities that allow pulmonias, which are little golf cart rigs, open air, can seat 4 adults. Cost less then taxis. Also quicker, and since they’re open, better to look around type vehicle too. And not nearly as slow as taking a bus would be. Which I did a lot of in past years as well. I have stayed at the Las Jaibas in years past and on this visit I soon found out that the wifi here is now video streaming fast. Some of that has to do with my more modern equipment of course, but it’s nice that the infrastructure has gotten better as well over the years because I don’t recall there speeds being this high back then. Just an FYI, Uber is here too. Some towns in Mexico have outlawed them, Maz isn’t one of them.

I’m all parked and set up, have a very nice shade tree right next to my spot and a line of sight to the building housing the laundry and wifi modem…unless a RV pulls into a space between me and there. Then the signal gets blocked and is crappy. But I’m working on a scheme to fix that. One thing I found right off is that the 30 amp line I’m on often overvolts, climbing to 133. So my Progressive shuts off. That is a bit annoying, and the park refuses to do anything about it other than have me move back where you can’t get any wifi, so I’m staying here and adjusting. It really only happens at night because during the day there’s plenty of devices operating that draw the voltage down to 130. Some other RV’s on the same AC line help with reducing the line voltage during the day too, just by being connected.

This is the view of the building where the modem is. My high gain antenna can pick up a strong enough signal that I can usually stream video. The owner is, how you say, an idiot since he’s got the same exact setup that was here a decade ago. He’s never tried to hire an expert to get better wifi transmission as I’d encouraged he do years ago. Even a small, inexpensive antenna on the roof of the building would do better for his customers but he refuses to do even that. I’m parked where I have this view of the office and if a RV parks between me and that building, wifi goes to hell. But like I said, I have a plan for that…

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Had some fun there in Amado Arizona, and also got some chores done the week I was there. Bought 90 days of insurance for both vehicles (nearly $500) from Lewis & Lewis online, went to Nogales, AZ and bought $2,000 pesos cash to have on hand during the trip and nearby, had an appointment to have Kwan the Kat’s rabies shot updated and got a certificate for it to show at the border if asked for (it wasn’t). Also did some last minute shopping at the local Walmart there in Nogales. And the biggie, contacting my Credit Union and getting it in writing via secure email that they understood I’d be traveling into Mexico all the way down to Mazatlan. If I go further the that, I’ll let them know. It has sometimes been a bit of a problem in the past.

In the Nogales area there are two border crossings. I’ve crossed at both in the past, the one downtown Nogales, and the Mariposa truck crossing. Both with a 36′ RV but this recent one with a car attached. The downtown one was easy, but you do have to drive in downtown type tight quarters for 2-3 miles after negotiating the difficult crossing area. But I made it without damage. Back then, (5 years ago), they had a dog sniff my RV and someone came aboard to look around. Easy.

But most RV’s cross at the Mariposa truck crossing and that’s what I did the day I headed into Mexico. It’s confusing now in year 2020 as you enter the crossing area as the US side has a big STOP sign that says, “Wait for Officer” and no officer ever shows up. You wait and wait and then all the cars behind you start beeping because they’re trying to get to work. And there was a different big sign that pointed to a ‘TRUCKS’ entrance but didn’t say a word about RVs or Buses, or any keyword I’d become use to seeing for big vehicles like mine. So I turned left without waiting for an officer. Very tight, nasty tight, crunch your RV tight first left, than a short distance from there, sharp right followed by another left. I slowly made my way through the route without damage tho. I should have turned right to the truck road, maybe it would have been wider. To late for that tho.

Eventually I made it. Negotiated around the sharp corners and tight lanes to get to a 2 lane road. Still no American official in sight. Off I went on the road and started picking up speed. And got flagged down by a Mexican who got me to stop a half mile down the road, walked up to my window, and pointed to the sign that indicated the route I should take to get to San Carlos. He was worried that I might take the wrong road into the Mexican city Nogales. He could tell from the earlier thing I did that I might need help and he wanted to make sure I kept left at the upcoming Y in the road. Very nice of him.

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Welcome to 2020!

I ended the year 2019 and started the new year at the B10 RV Park in Quartzsite. My friend John came to the B10 so we could hang out a few days before I headed on to Yuma. He’d planned on coming to QZ anyway. Nice to have someone to talk to.

When I left QZ, I had been monitoring the weather and it still wasn’t that great in the lower SW but I did want to stop in at Yuma for some shopping and whatever so that’s where I headed. Again, as I approached the town I stopped at what turned out to be more BLM land right next to a VFW. I’d driven past it several times over the years and always wanted to stop in and check out the campgrounds but I never had. What I couldn’t tell from the road is that it is a dry camp. I didn’t know that. It was getting hot enough in the day, and there’s no wifi, so after I drove around the place, I decided against staying because I didn’t want to be running my genset for hours per day. John had done the same thing, driven through the place, but he didn’t remember if it was a dry camp or not so I took the time to find out for myself, and pass it on to you readers just in case you might want to stay there. Looks popular based on the number of RVs there so I imagine the VFW has pretty good food and a nice bar, as otherwise there’s not much reason to stay there, except to save money. It’s a few miles north of Yuma on the 95. If you’re into dry camping, it’s right behind the VFW but you pass the entrance to the property quickly so be on the lookout. You do see a bunch of RVs first as you round the sweeping corner on the road coming down from QZ. I did drive the RV and toad around the area carefully just to explore and it was a bit crowded but there were still many places to park as there are no assigned places on the packed dirt. Rather informal. Eventually, decided against staying and headed into Yuma.

What I ended up doing when I reached Yuma was head for the hills. The Fortuna Hills to the east of Yuma. Still part of Yuma really. Like a suburb. Came here because John was talking it up and I’d already stayed in 3 other RV parks IN Yuma so this was a new adventure. Eventually settled on and in the Gila Mountain RV park. And like all RV parks in Yuma, this one’s wifi also sucked. When I stopped in I was specific about having halfway decent wifi, that was my only requirement…have banking to do and preparations to go into Mexico so need it. Well, one thing lead to another, I was there being golf carted around looking at RV sites, that took too long trying to find a decent space with wifi for my RV, it started getting late, and they gave me a free place to stay for the night with all services EXCEPT wifi. Well, I like free stuff so I stayed.

I unhooked the car and the next morning zipped around the area checking other nearby RV parks and testing their wifi with an app on my phone. If I found half way decent signal strength, I’d stop at the office and sometimes ask for the password to test speed while checking on rates. I stopped at at least 5 other nearby parks and they were all something else. Didn’t want to stay at any of them. So I came back to the Gila park. And pondered. I walked here and there around the park and found that if I could see the main office building, I could pick  up a decent signal. So I then biked around the park until I found a spot where I was pretty sure I’d fit and still have the possibility of having decent wifi. It had a clear view of the office building which had the wifi modem inside…they apparently have no outside antennas…so with my high gain gear, I felt I would have a good chance at a good signal. Asked the staff and sure enough the space I’d found was open, so I drove over. Took a good 45 minutes with expert help provided by the office to get the RV backed up into the space. This after two cars in the street were moved. Really tight squeeze. Park looks like it was designed for Class C or small trailers. But actually it seemed, once parked, to be a bigger site then the 5 others they had offered me. And none of those would have gotten wifi very well if at all. After I was all snuggled in, had paid for a week, dropped my jacks and extended my slides, I find the wifi still sucks, but not as bad as those other spots. (I have signal strength apps on my phone and I drove around with the host in a golf cart checking the open sites). But happened later to go out to connect the water and there’s a neighbor right there. So I ask him about wifi and he’s paying $30/month for a cable modem that has wifi. Ask him if I can piggyback for $5 and he says sure! So then I had blazing fast wifi! Yea! Since I only stayed a week he just let me have the connection for free.

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