tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71508375412415213082024-03-13T10:14:37.236-05:00Rolling Dog HouseThis is the adventures and mis-adventures of Graydon and Diane and their two Portuguese Water Dogs as they travel the U.S.A. Mexico and Canada in their Dutch Star motor home (the rolling dog house). Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-53650957967283435222019-08-03T12:25:00.000-05:002019-08-03T12:34:58.463-05:00It's been a few years since my last posts... mainly due to less travels in the motorhome and my lazy self.<br />
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Previous posts described my frustration with the motorhome's refrigerator. Well, solved that problem by taking the propane/electric refrigerator out and replacing it with a residential one. It can run either shore power or by running the motorhome generator. Much better at less than half the cost of the original propane refrigerator.<br />
The other big change is the loss of our two Portuguese Water Dogs... Leo with cancer and Hayley with a stroke. We miss both and our only pup now is Bonnie who keeps us busy.<br />
Our present plans are to leave the motorhome at home and drive to British Columbia to visit my sister. The cost of driving the motorhome is about the same as driving by car when you compare mpg and the cost of the ferry. Plus Diane can drive the car but is not comfortable driving the motorhome.<br />
We plan on leaving Livingston on Friday, August 9th and be gone approximately three weeks. We will be taking our laptops and I will try to update our travels each night.<br />
We still plan on heading to Mexico sometime in October and will be driving our car for that trip which is much cheaper than with the motorhome plus the park we go to has a small casita we rent.<br />
Don't forget to click on the "see where we are" button on the blog.Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-4743534998192678712015-07-10T18:55:00.000-05:002015-07-10T18:55:03.173-05:00After three days on the road we arrived at Fords RV Refrigeration in Benton, Kentucky to have our refrigerator serviced. Our appointment is on Monday and hopefully the diagnosis won't be too serious. Fortunately Diane bought a small (1.3 cu ft) refrigerator at a garage sale and we were able to use it to keep our milk and a few other items cold.<br />
<br />Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-62142945817066648082015-07-07T19:30:00.000-05:002015-07-07T19:30:33.829-05:00<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">July 7th 2015</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been awhile since returning from Mexico in March and now that the Dutch Star has had her awning repaired, we're ready to hit the road again. The one other major problem we have is with the refrigerator. Regardless if you put in electric mode or propane mode, the freezer works fine however the refrigerator part doesn't get cold.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our trip plan is to go to Ottawa to visit family and friends and an on-line search revealed an RV refrigeration specialist training school in Kentucky. They also provide service if your refrigerator needs it and I've made an appointment with them next week. We'll try to leave here tomorrow and stop in Kentucky on our way to Ottawa. Hopefully the refrigerator's problem isn't a major one and we'll be able to keep our food cold again.</span>Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-52690750438663197552014-12-07T14:01:00.001-06:002014-12-07T14:01:16.320-06:00We did our annual Christmas picture today.... the pups actually sat with reindeer antlers on them so the picture could be taken.<br />
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Hope everyone's Christmas is a great one and their New Years even better.<br />
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<br />Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-32677769884125092882014-11-28T17:06:00.000-06:002014-11-28T17:06:04.245-06:00Well, it looks like we'll have to get a new awning when we get back home. Although Mexicans can sometimes work miracles repairing things, our awning was just too broken to save. I hope Camping World or other RV stores have a sale on when we get back to Texas.Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-91150175622294330452014-11-22T19:22:00.000-06:002014-11-22T19:22:52.308-06:00Not much has been happening the last few days. Other than seeing our friends Fred and Sherry for lunch, we just been enjoying the warm weather.<br />
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The guys who are trying to fix the awning haven't been around for awhile. Maybe I'll call them tomorrow if they don't show up. The painting crew is scheduled to be here Monday morning to repaint the deep scratches on the side of the motorhome where the awning arm was ripped off. They also said they could probably fix the windshield wiper arm where it broke off.<br />
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They had their annual Revolution Day parade in town and the pictures below are not by me. The pictures of the sunset are however.<br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;"><b><i>Sunset at Heaven's Gate park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico</i></b></span><br />
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<br />Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-68460942905552216412014-11-17T17:56:00.000-06:002014-11-17T18:26:36.955-06:00The temperature has been pretty warm the last few days and we'll be glad when the repair guys will return with our broken awning arm. We miss the shade it provides.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b><i>If you look closely you can see where the rear arm of the awning is missing</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b><i>Diane relaxing with a book</i></b></span><br />
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La Penita and area is starting to fill up with bus loads of people coming to the coast to celebrate Mexican Revolution Day, November 20th. It falls on Thursday, the same day as the weekly market here in town and there's always a big parade celebrating the holiday.<br />
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Fresh fruit and veggies are still very reasonable. We bought a bag with six avocados for 25<br />
pesos and a bag of tangerines for 20 pesos.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: blue;"> Still life for 45 pesos </span></i></b> <br />
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The pups are enjoying the beach although we still have to keep Bonnie on a leash as she wants to run up to everyone whether she knows them or not. I'll try to bet some pictures of the pups tomorrow at the beach.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;"> <b><i>Hayley and Bonnie in motorhome looking out window</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b><i> First time at Heaven's Gate for Bonnie</i></b></span></div>
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<br />Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-69545954858970689962014-11-15T16:43:00.000-06:002014-11-17T08:26:20.921-06:00I've been negligent with my posting for the past few days but we did arrive in La Penita although having a few more misadventures than we usually have. After leaving Casa Blanca State Park we crossed the Columbia Bridge about 8:00am on Sunday, the time the Mexican Immigration office opens. Although crossing the bridge on a Sunday avoids a crowd of people, but because it's Sunday, there's only one Mexican official working the permit counter.<br />
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They now have a large x-ray facility at Columbia where we were directed to go. Diane had to leave the motorhome with the dogs while I drove up and parked on a platform. I then had to get out and was directed to wait behind a concrete wall while the x-ray scanned the motorhome. No problems but you don't want to be in a hurry. In all it took us about an hour and a half to get through everything.<br />
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South of Saltillo on highway 57 local farmers will have large bags of potatoes for sale along side of the road. We have seen this before on our travels but never stopped to buy any. This this time curiosity got the better of me and I stopped to check them out. There were two sizes of bags with the smallest costing $100 pesos. Although being small the bag weighed about 40 pounds. Nice white potatoes should taste good when we get a chance to cook some. Although we knew we'd never eat them all but knew some people in La Penita that would be happy to have some.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Potatoes for sale on the side of the road</span></i></b><br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Negotiating Potatoe Price</span></i></b><br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Sack of potatoes for $100 pesos</span></i></b><br />
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We arrived at La Palmas motel/rv park in Mateuala after driving 375 miles at about 4:00pm After dinner at the motel restaurant we headed for bed. There were two other RVs from Canada in the park but each was hauling a small trail bike behind their coach and we didn't get to meet them.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #274e13;"> Dinner at La Palmas Restaurant</span></i></b><br />
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The next day we were off to the Truck Stop south of Lagos de Moreno on Highway 80. We've stopped there each year and found that they raised the price of overnight parking from $70 pesos to $100 pesos. but that included a security guard walking around the parking area all night. One funny thing happened in the morning when I took the dogs out to go potty. When they were finished and I was taking a plastic bag out of my pocket, the security guard ran up and waived saying "no, no necessisita" "the trucks will drive over it and it will be gone"<br />
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The truck stop has a small bbq service and after we had some delicious tacos we headed for bed.<br />
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We always seem to have trouble getting on the correct highway south of San Luis Potosi and we did it again somehow getting on the road to Mexico City. Fortunately they have a lot of "Returnos" and we were able to get back on the right path.<br />
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Day three had us heading for Guadalajara where we normally take the by-pass "Periferico" around the city which starts at Tonala. We approach Guadalajara on highway 80 which is a 8 lane freeway and normally we just watch for the Tonala exit. Well.. they did some construction around the exit and changed the exit sign causing us to miss it. That had us heading to down town Guadalajara which is bad enough in a car let alone a large motorhome. We got off the freeway at the next exit and saw a traffic police talking to someone he pulled over. We parked behind his motorcycle and waited for him to come back to talk to us. We explained what happened and asked how we could get back to the Tonala exit. With our limited Spanish and his limited English plus looking at maps he finally said to follow him. We would have to turn around but because of our size he first had us follow him to a wider spot in the road. There he stopped traffic for us to make the turn. Shortly after following him through back streets and over the freeway he got us back to where we wanted to be. He stopped and after thanking him I gave him $300 pesos. He wasn't asking for any money but we felt $300 pesos was definitely worth what he did for us.<br />
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It started to rain later in the day and after getting past Guadalajara and driving on highway 15 in the mountains near Compostela, the windshield wiper arm on the passenger side completely broke off. We were on a two lane mountain road and had to drive with the wiper dangling several miles until there was a place to turn off. I had to unbolt the broken wiper arm and drove the rest of the way in the rain with only a wiper on the driver's side. Fortunately the one that broke was on the passenger side otherwise we'd really have trouble.<br />
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We made it to the Pemex just north of La Penita where we had planned to stay for the night as we were meeting Jack, the park owner's father at the park at 9:00am the next morning. Jack came by to tell us he had to do something in the morning but would be a few minutes late. We disconnected the car and drove over to the park in the morning<br />
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The road off the highway heading to the park is narrow and there's usually a lot of cars parked on the side of the road. On the corner of the highway and the road there were several cars parked on my left and a flat bed truck on the right. As I turned off the highway I knew that it was pretty narrow between the cars and truck but thought I could make it... NOT... the arm of my awning caught the mirror of the truck tearing it off and as well as tearing off the awning arm. The truck owner came out and after seeing the damage told me he'd try to get his mirror fixed but if it wasn't fixable I would have to pay for a new one. I told him where we would be for several months but still haven't heard from him.<br />
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After that whole thing, I continued on to the park where we found the road mostly flooded. A person who lives on the road near the park decided on his own to hire a backhoe to scrape several inches off the road to lower it so the water would drain. All he did was make it almost impossible to back into the rv park without having to put planks of wood under the tires to raise the motorhome high enough so that the transmission would not drag going in the entrance. to the park.<br />
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While all this was happening another guy showed up saying that after my episode with the truck mirror and awning, I apparently pulled down some electrical cables crossing the street. Another person told him to just call the electric company and they would re-connect the wires.<br />
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The old Dutch Star finished the day with another 264 miles and has now passed 100,000 miles. We obviously need some work done on it but we're sure everything will be fixed.<br />
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Total cost in tolls for the motorhome and car was 3369 pesos ($247.63 U.S. dollars)<br />
<br />Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-12605044773755811242014-11-08T16:05:00.001-06:002014-11-08T16:05:53.333-06:00Left Wharton about 8:00am and got to Casa Blanca State Park about 1:30. covering 254 miles. The temperature for the first few miles was a little cool and we ran into light rain shortly after leaving Wharton.<br />
Nothing much happened on our trip down highway 59 and I filled up with fuel about 50 miles from Laredo. Doing so won't require me to stop at a Pemex early in the day for fuel. With a full tank I can make it to Matehula about 300 miles from the border where we'll spend the night at Las Palmas Motel/RV park.<br />
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The pups must have smelled the lake when we drove into Casa Blanca park and as soon as we had set up the motor home they practically dragged us to the lake shore where they enjoyed themselves getting themselves and both of us wet.<br />
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We're going to try to get out of here somewhere around 7:30 in the morning as the Mexican Immigration Office doesn't open until 8:00am. If we can do this, hopefully we can be past one of the favorite stretches of highway that the Mexican Transit Police patrol. The speed limit is 80 KM per hour but the stretch of highway has numerous trucking companies and the speed limit drops to 60 KM for a short stretch on either side of the trucking companies entrances. The Transit Police just sit in a trucking company entrance and wait for people to fly by.Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-41348522815987240572014-11-07T13:47:00.000-06:002014-11-07T14:12:41.469-06:00We finally got everything packed and were able to get on the road close to our departure time goal of 9:30. We chose this time which would let us get to Houston about 10:30 or 11:00 and avoid the early morning traffic.<br />
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The weather turned a bit cooler and we're glad we packed sweaters and jackets. The forecast is cool for the next few days and hopefully it will be warmer after we cross the border on Sunday.<br />
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Our normal first day stop is at Wharton, Tx where there's a WalMart with an easy off and on from the highway. Other businesses are opening close by including a new Motel being built. In front of the WalMart parking lot there's a strip mall that had several vacancies when we stopped last year but today we found a new and very good Mexican restaurant there.<br />
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The Dutch Star is running good and the pups have settled down and seem to be enjoying the trip so far.<br />
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Although Wharton is only about 130 miles from home, its a good distance for the first day to make sure we have no problems that would affect the rest of the trip. Tomorrow should find us at Casa Blanca Texas State Park in Laredo where we'll spend the last night in Texas before crossing the border.<br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><b> Are we there yet says Hayley</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><b> This house is rolling says Bonnie</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i> Bonnie looking out the windshield</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i> Walmart in Wharton Texas</i></b></span><br />
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<br />Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-72294491587260226022014-08-01T18:48:00.000-05:002014-08-01T18:48:22.221-05:00<b><i>10 weeks old and Bonnie discovered the toilet paper</i></b><br />
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<br />Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-59781367696091486242014-07-24T09:44:00.000-05:002014-07-24T09:52:00.494-05:00We decided that we would look into getting a new puppy and after searching through AKC for Portuguese Water Dog breeders within 500 miles of Livingston we found one north of Dallas with two eight week old puppies available.<br />
We named her Bonnie and we're presently going through the potty training stage although she's getting the idea that if she goes to the door she'll be taken out to do her business. Having to take her out a couple of times during the night is the hard part.<br />
She'll still have her needle sharp puppy teeth for a couple more months and everyone will be glad when her permanent teeth are in. Hayley who is tolerating her more and more each day only gets mad at her when Bonnie chomps her tail.<br />
Before we got Bonnie we had planned on taking a trip to Canada this summer but due to Border regulations regarding required Rabies vaccinations we had to cancel our trip plans. Bonnie is too young for her vaccination as pups don't get it until 20 weeks of age. However she will have all her vaccinations by the time we head for Mexico in November.<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #660000;"> Bonnie our new pup</span></b></i><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><b><i> Hayley and Bonnie</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;"><b><i> Hayley</i></b></span><br />
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<br />Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-62415862615509268822014-03-30T19:58:00.000-05:002014-03-30T19:58:03.990-05:00We recently lost our trip companion Leo, our Portuguese Water Dog to Hemangiosarcoma, a rapid spreading cancer. We'll always miss him.Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-20650456527022509452014-02-11T12:16:00.000-06:002014-02-11T12:16:20.774-06:00We're back at our home base in Livingston, Texas. We had to leave Mexico earlier than planned due to family illness.<br />
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Our trip home was uneventful except for heavy fog the when going through the mountains around Monterey. We did however lose the cover to the hot water heater. It must not have been fastened completely and blew off in the wind. <br />
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The tolls are getting more expensive and for a class A plus tow vehicle we paid 3,216 pesos from La Penita to the border.<br />
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We crossed at Columbia bridge where Diane and the pups were asked to cross the border as a pedestrian while I took the motorhome through the x-ray machine.<br />
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Note.. when driving RV up to the border crossing, stay in one of the far right lanes. I was initially in the left lane (for cars) and had to turn around and get in the truck lane. Fortunately it was a light traffic day (Sunday) and the was through everything in about an hour.<br />
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With the temperature around the freezing mark together with rain and drizzle we're already looking forward to next year's warm weather in Mexico.<br />
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Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-88285311835526228322014-01-01T19:36:00.002-06:002014-01-01T19:36:45.655-06:00Its been raining here for over a week which puts the damper on just about everything. We did however have a very nice Christmas dinner with the owners of the park including the park owner's parents and a Canadian couple who recently arrived at the park.<br />
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Although wet, we went with our friends Fred and Sherry to a New Years Eve dinner at one of the beach restaurants in Guyabitos. Our usual bed time is about 9:00 so 2014 had to arrive without our seeing it as we left the restaurant before midnight.<br />
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Although raining again today and it looks like it might rain more tonight, we're hoping the forcast is correct in that it calls for sunny weather soon.<br />
Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-63964987422320151652013-12-22T10:43:00.000-06:002013-12-22T10:48:36.183-06:00We have a new neighbor in the park. A couple from British Columbia in a 36ft Class A motorhome. Although having been to Mexico before, this is their first time driving an RV down and they say "its a learning experience" We're not sure how long they'll be staying, but at least for a month.<br />
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Here's a few more pictures we took while in Tonala.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;"> Lots of places to eat</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">Hospital with procedure costs listed</span></em></strong></div>
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">Tonala traffic jam</span></em></strong></div>
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Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-27505954484704446052013-12-21T13:00:00.001-06:002013-12-21T13:00:22.609-06:00We just got back from spending several days in Tonala. For those unfamiliar with the city of Tonala, it sits on the southern end of Guadalajara and is one of the biggest market centers in all of Mexico. For about 10 blocks on the main street and on every side street, vendors set up their booths where you are able to find just about anything you want to buy. They are usually set up on Thursdays and Sundays but during the week before Christmas, the vendors are set up everyday. Besides the booths that are set up in the middle of the street laterals, the permanent stores along both sides of the street are also open for business.<br />
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Many individuals who sell items at local town markets (such as La Penita) stock up on what they resell. You can see lots of trucks fully loaded and heading out of Tonala heading back to other towns.<br />
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We went to Tonala with our friends, Fred and Sherry and stayed at the same motel we do each time we go. The Arana hotel's rooms are set up around a gated court yard where you can park your car outside your room. Very secure location and only a block from the main street where the market begins.<br />
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While we were gone, Hayley and Leo spent a few days at a nice Groomer/Boarder in Lo De Marcos. We've had them stay there before and know that they're in good hands while we're gone.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">Diane at the Arana motel</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">A few pictures of the Tonala market</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;"></span></em></strong>Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-13413434459161112092013-12-15T14:14:00.002-06:002013-12-15T14:14:21.109-06:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-35015094090383442812013-12-12T19:02:00.001-06:002013-12-13T08:25:53.972-06:00Diane had to take her new prescription sun glasses back to the local optometrist for adjustment this morning and from there we walked through the Thursday market in La Penita. The uneven pavement and cobble stone streets requires careful attention as you walk and Diane tripped over something and scraped her knees. Nothing too serious and several people helped by offering band aids etc.<br />
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I bought a new fanny pack and another Myan shirt and Diane bought a pair of sandals at a small shoemaker's shop we visit each year. Two years ago I made one of my "pull-top" hat bands for the shoemaker and this year his wife showed me a couple of purses made from pull-tops. I'm not sure if she made them but they're way beyond anything that I do with pull-tops. Before we left the market we bought a bunch of fresh green beans and a kilo of fresh strawberries for 25 pesos.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">La Penita Thursday Market</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">Purses made from Pull-tabs</span></em></strong></div>
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;"> La Penita Street Scenes </span></em></strong></div>
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Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-3126715377555582952013-12-10T19:23:00.000-06:002013-12-10T19:23:18.504-06:00A friend asked how the motorhome turned out after the final buffing.. The answer... It turned out great. We're very satisfied with the work and would recommend them to anyone who is down here for the winter and would like their RV painted.<br />
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Victor is the boss: Cell phone 322-229-5208 and <br />
Ivis is an employee who is completely bi-lingual ..Cell phone 664-640-9548<br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">Newly painted Dutch Star</span></em></strong><br />
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Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-8250659072541251382013-12-09T18:48:00.002-06:002013-12-09T18:48:56.989-06:00There really hasn't been much happening with us the last couple of days and is why I haven't posted anything on the blog. <br />
But today we went to the weekly Monday market in Ricon de Guayabitos. The little town on the southern edge of La Penita.<br />
This market is designed mainly for the tourists as you can see in the pictures. In contrast, the weekly Thursday market in La Penita is a mixture of things for the tourists and the local Mexican population.<br />
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What was very evident was the fact that there were very few tourists at the market as compared to previous years. I hope that the snow birds arrive soon as many of the locals depend on tourist pesos.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">Ricon de Guayabitos Monday Market</span></em></strong><br />
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We met our friends at the market and after walking through and looking at everything we went and had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants.Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-22508118344532260642013-12-04T19:42:00.001-06:002013-12-04T19:46:46.333-06:00The paint crew arrived early this morning and finished taping the motorhome. Diane and I and the pups were not able to get in the motorhome so we had to sit outside all day watching the paint crew work. Thankfully, Janelle the owner of the park let us use the bathroom in her house if needed.<br />
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When the taping was finished the painting began. There was only the top white portion of the motorhome to paint but that area had lots of masking and taping that had to be done.<br />
Originally I thought that after the paint was applied there would be a clear-coat applied on top but the owner of the paint shop told me that they would be using a different process where the clear-coat material was pre-mixed with the paint. The mixture actually gave the job a better result than if the clear-coat was applied on top of the paint. <br />
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We're quite happy with the next-to-final result thinking the old Dutch Star never looked so good. The final process takes place tomorrow when the whole coach is buffed and polished. <br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">Masking and painting the Dutch Star</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">New paint job for the Dutch Star</span></em></strong><br />
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Later in the afternoon one of the girls (Jessica) Diane helped last year with English lessons came to visit together with her aunt. They asked again if Diane could spend some time again this year with Jessica to help with learning English. Diane agreed and will be working with her for a couple of hours each Saturday.</div>
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As we weren't able to access the motorhome all day, we treated ourselves to a restaurant dinner with our friends Fred and Sherry. One of the topics of conversation while eating was our planned trip to Tonala on December 18th. </div>
Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-9090824707392044842013-12-03T17:53:00.001-06:002013-12-03T17:53:30.487-06:00The painters didn't show up yesterday although the boss stopped and apologized saying he wanted to finish off a couple of small jobs in his shop and promised he'd be here Tuesday.<br />
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Diane went to the kindergarten school she volunteered at last year to help out the new teacher assistant that will be volunteering this year. A few of the kids she worked with last year were there again and were happy to see her.<br />
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Shortly after Diane left for the school the paint crew showed up and spent the entire day masking and taping the motorhome. The whole top white section is now taped and ready for the painter.<br />
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Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-31803771950772855182013-12-01T17:42:00.004-06:002013-12-01T17:42:50.641-06:00Not much happening today except going to town for a little bit of groceries.<br />
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We expect tomorrow to be busy with the painters telling us that we'll have to stay out of the motorhome all day when they mask and paint the top white section of the coach.<br />
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We might even see the optometrist that said he'd deliver Diane's prescription sun glasses to here at the park on Monday if they were finished by then.Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7150837541241521308.post-35725572192446246462013-11-30T18:45:00.000-06:002013-11-30T19:01:49.565-06:00Its been a busy day. Yesterday there was a couple of old lounge chairs that were custom made with 1/4 inch re-bar for a frame that had been left by a former tenant at the park. The nylon strapping had deteriorated in the sun and they were scheduled to be thrown out with the trash. A man and his son asked several times at the gate about them and last night I told them they could have the chairs. This morning about 9:00am the man and son was at the gate with the two chairs completely restrung with new webbing. Apparently there was a miscommunication about the chairs and he thought I wanted them repaired with new webbing. His English was negligible and my Spanish is far from being able to explain to him that the chairs were a gift and I didn't want new webbing.<br />
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Fortunately after about 20 minutes, Kathy, mother to our RV park owners came by and was able to explain thing to the man. He was happy as he could now sell them and make a few pesos.... I'm going to have to keep working on my Spanish.<br />
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Shortly after the lounge chair situation was taken care of, the paint crew showed up and started masking in preparation of painting the bottom grey area of the motorhome. They worked until mid afternoon and the job is looking very nice. Everyone yelled at me when I thought the paint was dry and touched front of the motorhome with both hands. Fortunately they'll be able to buff out my handprints. The paint crew plans on finishing everything by Wednesday including buffing out the headlight and taillight lens ...and my hand prints.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">Newly painted stripes and bottom grey area</span></em></strong><br />
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Janelle and Trent the owners of the park arrived in the afternoon after driving their truck and small trailer full of stuff from Sacramento. They had a long and tiring journey in the truck with their two beagles and are glad to be here.<br />
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As we really didn't have free access to the motorhome during the day because of the painting we decided we'd pick up a bbq chicken from a restaurant close by. This place really knows how to bbq chicken and sells over a hundred each day.<br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: #660000;">Delicious BBQ Chicken</span></em></strong><br />
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Graydon and Diane http://www.blogger.com/profile/13623236791617507345noreply@blogger.com0