Plans Have Changed

We left Castlegar, on the 19th, had an uneventful trip to Spokane WA, stayed at Wal-Mart, had internet access, so checked the Weather & Road Reports. They were not good I-90 was expecting up to a foot of snow, from a storm front that had moved in overnight from the Pacific. Chains were manditory for vehicles that were towing. Stayed in Spokane till 10AM, decided to head down to Pendelton OR on 395. Got there at 3:00PM, checked the Road Report, some snow but roads were clear. Decided to stay put, next morning the I-84 was also bad, chains manditory. Looked at 395 south, the passes were snow bound.
Looked at US97 it was clear, so that was the route we took to Kalamath Falls, then to Reno.


It was below freezing most of the way, at Redmond it was -17C, so had the furnace in the camper going from Pendleton to Susanville CA
At Fallon just east of Reno we stayed at a motel, as the batteries in the camper were failing, decided to go to Quartzite AZ to replace them.

We have spent 3 days at Quartzite, weather has been fairly good up 72F, the first day it was really windy. Most service places were closed for the Thanksgiving weekend so made an appointment for Monday the have the batteries replaced and rewired, as the wiring that "Backroads RV" in Kamloops had put in place was undersized, if you have an RV never take your unit to them, as the dont know what they are doing!

It is Monday morning and our appointment is at 10:00AM, so I thought I would post this.
Photos to follow

Planning & Getting Ready

We had planned to stay home until after Christmas, so we could spend the time with Herbs grand kids, Mackenzie and Keltie. We had really looked forward to this, because of our travels and their commitments to other Grand Parents, we had not spent a Christmas with them for 3 years. Being 8 & 10, we felt this would be our last chance to spend time with them, before the excitement of Christmas is no longer there!!

Because of unforseen circumstances this changed, so because of this we first planned to leave Dec 1, so we started our preparations & research for our Mexican Tour. Lil has always wanted to do an exploration trip of Mexico, concentrating on area's we have not visited before. So I said we do it this winter, as we are not getting any younger. As the weather got colder, the leaving date was pushed forward, we now leave Nov 15.

Lil (Navigator) has spent many, many hours studying "Church & Church's" Camping in Mexico, and looking at the many maps of Mexico, before we chose the route as shown on the above map.

Herb has been getting the truck, camper & the Suzuki ready. Having the units checked out mechanically, and making some changes in the camper, for more convenient living. Lil gave up one of her cupboards, so he could move the TV out of the sleeping area and into the kitchen area, for more convenient TV & Movie watching.

He had another roof fan put in as we do not do not have AC, so with these 2, and 2 small fans in the sleeping area, we should hopefully be comfortable.

He also put a Roof Pod on the Suzuki, that is large enough to carry the "Star-Choice" dish and tripod, (for Hockey Games of course) along with our folding Mosquito Tent, two tarp, not for rain, shade, and other misc stuff. This gives up a lot more available space in the truck & camper.

So here is the rough Itinerary:

Nov 15 - Chase to Kelowna to visit family & friends

Nov 16 - 18 to Castlegar to visit Lil's son Todd & Family

Nov 19 - Drive to Brownsville TX, on the way there we plan on visiting the Big Bend National Park on the Rio Grande River, we will also visit Padre Island, were we will spend a few days.

There is outstanding birding there!

Dec 1 - 15 Enter Mexico tour along the Gulf of Mexico Coast to the Yucatan

Dec 15 - Jan 15 Tour the Yucatan, visiting the Mayan Ruin's, spending lots of time on the beaches of the Caribbean, were we plan to spend Christmas. As usual, we have our very small travel Christmas tree, and a few other Christmasy bits of decoration. This is also a good snorkelling area.

Jan 15 - Feb 29 Tour the Southern Pacific side of Mexico south of Acapulco, then up through the center of Mexico to Mexico City.

Mar 1-15 Head to the west coast via Guadalajara and to Los Ayala to visit friends.

Mar 15-31 Start on the homeward trip stopping in San Carlos to visit friends.

Apr 1-15 Head home via Yuma AZ & Vista CA to visit family & friends.

Home, approx 10,000 miles later.

More Posts Later

Herb & Lil