Cruising ~ The Cat’s
Meow Style ~ Summer, 2009
Our Most Excellent
Summer Adventure – Pt. 1
So, there we were in La
Cruz, near Pto. Vallarta, on the mainland coast of Mexico. Our RV was loaded
with the cats, all of the things we brought from The Cat’s Meow for the road
trip, and a few boat parts to be repaired as well. Jaye and Irwin, of Winsome,
decided to ride along up the highway as far as Mazatlan. That was truly a boon
for us, as Irwin helped Martin with the RV projects – brakes, water system, AC,
etc. – and Jaye helped Robin with the provisioning and cleaning up of the RV.
While doing all of this, we found a few different RV “parks” to locate while we
readied ourselves and the motorhome.
An RV park where
we…er..Martin fixed stuff on the RV We also made a little time for margs
and relaxation
After finally deciding it
was time to move on down the road, we drove to Mazatlan, where Jaye & Irwin
were house-sitting while Winsome was getting some repairs in the near-by boatyard.
Jaye put out a call on the VHF radio, and a party ensued! She also did a
bang-up job of preparing a Thai dinner for all to enjoy. It was really fun to
see some of our boat buddies again, and we all had a great evening.
Boating
friends in Mazatlan came together for a fun evening
Then……..we were off! Heading
north, then east, and eventually west, on our Stateside trip. We planned to
spend two months in the US, visiting some of Robin’s family, exploring some
new-for-us sites, and seeing more family and friends in the western portion of
the continent. Well, we did it all!!! Altogether, we put around 13,000
miles under the tires of the RV, and it took us three months instead of two!!
We cannot include all of our exploits and adventures here, but we hope to
describe many of them, as we really did have a great summer. Read on:
Toes kept us on the right track
Our drive from La Cruz,
through Mazatlan and up to the border, was purrrty easy and uneventful. We
didn’t try to hurry, the roads were all good, and we had no mechanical
problems. John, of Chez Moi, had told us that when he drove his motorhome in
Mexico, he stayed overnight at the Pemex stations. Pemex is the national
gasoline, and Pemex stations are sprinkled all over the country (many more now
than there used to be, as well). Pemex stations are akin to truck stops in the
US – many trucks stop there, the drivers spend the night, and the larger
stations include restaurants and even showers. One night, however, we decided
to stay in a local WalMart parking lot. WalMarts provide overnight parking in
the States, right? So, we bedded down about 11 pm, and finally at midnight when
the store closed, it became quiet. Aaaaaahhhhhh………. For a very short while! All at once, we heard loud ranchero music
and voices VERY CLOSE to us. Hmmm……well, it turned out that some of the young
employees of WalMart decided to party after work (after all it was a Saturday
night), and they picked the spot right next to the only vehicle in the entire
parking lot: us. When Martin started the engine, it startled some of the
kids, but then they came over and invited us to stay and have a beer with them!
Quite clean-cut and amicable, they really didn’t want us to leave….but leave we
did and we found a nice quiet place with a bunch of truckers across the
street J
We entered the USA at
Nogales, after what seemed like a reeeellyyy long wait in a very long line.
Once Stateside, we could not believe all of the traffic, trucks, cars towing
boats, RVs, more trucks, just hordes of cars zooming past. It was AWFUL. Poor
Martin was very tired, the traffic was horrid, so once through Tucson we
decided to pull off and rest, and let some of the traffic die down. The
following day, after arriving in Phoenix, we realized that we had arrived on
Sunday, the end of the July 4th weekend!!! No wonder it had been
so terrible!! Sheeesh. Well, we spent about four days in Phoenix, where we had
a chance to visit with friends Pamela and Mack, and a few others. For the first
time, we had some RV problems – fuel-to-motor problems. And, of course, Martin
was out in the 110 degree heat fixing it….
From Phoenix we drove up to
the Verde Valley, where Robin once lived, and visited with many more good
friends. Marsha let us park behind her cool little house in Clarkdale. She put
out a call, and we had the chance to have a pot-luck dinner with friends Robin
had not seen in a few years.
Martin relaxes at Marsha’s cool, quaint abode (that is her art studio Another opportunity for a pot-luck and catching up with each other
In the
background)
And, while in the Verde
Valley, Marsha & Robin sorta ran into some other great girlfriends in a
local drinking establishment.
Marsha, JoAnna, Phyllis, Robin and
Linda together having some more fun
Once back on the road, we
headed east and north, with Bright Lake in Ontario Canada as our destination.
Lots of miles to go, purrrrty darn hot, and now the RV was giving us fits. More
fuel problems….. we were broken down on the roadside and on the freeways four
more times!!! Finally, while in Amarillo Texas, we ended up at a repair shop
that serviced trucks and other larger machinery. Two days later, we were
finally back on the road!! A bit lighter in the pocketbook, but safer, too.
…and then there was the RV repair part of the trip…..
We found that most RV parks
charge more than we really want to spend for a night, especially when we just
roll in around 5 or 6 p.m. and leave again in the morning. We spent most of our
nights at truck stops, like TA or Pilot – nice big ones, with restaurants
serving very nice soup n’ salad bars – and in rest stops on the highways. It
was noisy, but safe and free! Some nights it was quite warm, some nights we
were bantered about by strong winds and rain. But our self-contained RV was
great, and very comfy.
We both really looked
forward to finding and seeing Carolyn & Dave, friends we had boated with in
the Sea of Cortez. They had been part of the “team” helping save boats after
hurricane Marty – and they were there for us throughout, during our on-the-rock
adventure with TCM. Carolyn & Dave are now land people, living in Illinois.
We found them and their cute little house on a lake, and we thoroughly enjoyed
spending a few days with them!
Carolyn & Dave’s cute little home on the lake in Illinois Dave, puppy dog Paz, and Carolyn enjoy their fire pit of an evening
Robin wants to add here that
one thing she misses very much, living in Mexico, is good sweet corn! Boy, does
she miss eating that!! So, from the Verde Valley in AZ on, during the entire
trip, she was on the hunt for good sweet corn. And Carolyn was able to find
some for her!! Robin continued to eat sweet corn, and sourdough bread, as much
and as often as she could!! YUM.
This story can get even
longer, but it is probably a good idea to stop here. We will continue, with
stories and photos of our visits in Michigan, Canada, Ohio, and more in the
next “episode”. PLEASE, come right back and see what we did and who we saw….
land Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow Style…….