Well, 10-4 Good Buddy, We've

[KeyWestPirate]

Got us a caravan.

We're not even to Guaymas and we've already had some serious adventures.

Mexico is limiting size of "tourist vehicles". The permitting people practice see no evil,, but if your registration says 12,000 GVW, you've got a problem. Oh,, and no flatbeds.
What kind of tourists does Mexico get??

The solution is simple,, the text edit tool in Acrobat and a shift change. But, by the time we cried and whined for several hours, we lost a day.

Even accusing the guy of not liking Trump didn't work. I'm getting really snotty in my old age.

But all's well etc.

Prior to leaving US Brad was having problem with e cesdive crankcase pressure and oil loss. He's driving a Ford Flatbed, 1978, probably the one from "Standing on the Corner in Winslow Arizona"

Compression was normal in all cylinders. This isan old on line 6,, not rocket science. A
$340 bendover Midas Muffler helped but he's still using a lot of oil. Blown rear main seal from the crankcase pressure is my guess,, but Brad doesn't want to hear it.

We added some Monroe load leveler shocks to our truck, a Ford F 150,, and the truck no longer looks like a 747 rotating at take off, now it feels like Cessna landing with the nose up. I keep looking out the side window for the shadow of my wheels on the runway.

We're stopping to get a leaf added to the rear springs. Something so cheap in Mexico, and so expensive in the US

I'll update as we go. And get some pictures uploaded.

Lots of new cement pavement,, gas is $3.75 and peso is 20 to $

Our initial goal is Matzatlan,, the fleabag Hotel Belmont,, on the malecon, $25. Because of the cruise ships, the old city is a delight.

And, it's shrimp season

[Little Corn Tom]

Hot damn...keep em comin.

[KeyWestPirate]

The leaf on the ground is cut from spring stock and arced using this hydraulic press.

In the US the labor of doing it this way would kill you.
There is still a bit of fitting and a lot of jacking and hammering in a couple of directions. It's heavy work.

Most of their work is on really heavy vehicles.

We picked up two inches, it rides really nice with the load and the heavy shocks, but it's going to be a bear when it's empty.

[bill_bly_ca]

Compression was normal in all cylinders. This isan old on line 6,, not rocket science. A
$340 bendover Midas Muffler helped but he's still using a lot of oil. Blown rear main seal from the crankcase pressure is my guess,, but Brad doesn't want to hear it.

Oh the 240 - (Wikei'ed it - I remembered 280 for some reason) It was a bulletproof engine.

[bill_bly_ca]

Oh the 240 - (Wikei'ed it - I remembered 280 for some reason) It was a bulletproof engine.

Doh 300....

[KeyWestPirate]

Ok,, oil use solved!
Brad thought that leaving his oil dipstick out a bit would relieve crankcase pressure.

He stopped in Culiacan, for some advice when oil usage rose to a quart every 50 miles. Mechanic wanted to overhaul the engine, pull the motor, line bore the block, re-work the head. If would be ready on Saturday.

Once the dipstick was wired in with baling wire the loss discontinued. Unfortunately, someone forgot to turn the breather cap to the affixed position, and it vibrated loose and fell off.
So, Brad is taking the free road from Mazatlan to Tepic and visiting junk yards along the way. There is still some oil loss from the valve cover, but it's insignificant. It is ouling a different part of the engine compartment.

Overloaded, pulling a trailer that is also heavily loaded, with a motorcycle among other things, with an inline 6, he will have his hands full cresting that 10k foot hill before he drops onto that plateau that Mex city sits on.

We go around Mexico City, entering the Arco Norte east of Morelia. Once in the plateau, there is some up and down, but nothing out of hand.

The Arco Norte drops you north of Puebla and it's all autopista to Oaxaca. We're going to go east towards the coast , drop down to Tutxtla, then east to San Cristobal de Las Casas.

We will cross into Guatemala at La Mesilla, Shela, go north of guate city, and cross into Honduras at Copan. It's all new, so I suspect some serious dancing will be in order.


Stay tuned for my post about my accident in Mazatlan last night. I bought ten days of Mex insurance before I left,, always a good idea. $45

[Jonh]

...I[t] would be ready on Saturday....

They didn't say which Saturday. That much work would take a month in the US, and they'd screw something else up in the process.

Stay tuned for my post about my accident in Mazatlan last night. I bought ten days of Mex insurance before I left,, always a good idea. $45

[cookshow]

Curious to hear about the Mex insurance. Baja 1000 crowd all used the same 1, name escapes me now. Great service, easy to deal with, papers all in order, and cheap.. BUT never knew anyone that had to file a claim.

[KeyWestPirate]

I've never actually filed a claim either. But, it's a tremendous negotiating tool.
Brad and I are 1 for 1. He took out some BMW
's tire with a corner of his trailer.

So, you call the all Mex number and get someone who takes policy info and sends an adjuster. He'll talk to the other party if desired, and will call the police

So, in my case we were in Matzatlan about a mile and half from our meet in a Walmart parking lot. Shelley was looking out the window into the mirror for an opportunity to make a lane change.

She saw the "red car" turn into our bumper. I felt a slight bump. Red Car was a plastic Chinese POS but I was still astonished at the damage. I was also kind of surprised at how high the damage was, and was curious as to how the area above the headlight was crumpled back towards the car.

Three guys jumped out and immediate assured me it was my fault and all three had seen it.

So,,"no problem" , I said, " I have insurance
I'll call the agent and he'll send an adjuster."

While I'm on the phone, one of the kids insists I take a call from the owner of the car. He hands me the phone and I note that the caller is "licensiado",, which is Mexican for thief. All of Mexico's presidents have been licensiados

So, anyway, I finally complete the call with the agent, turn to the muchachos , and tell them the adjuster is on the way, and the agent called the police.

Suddenly, the boys are in a hurry, "we're not from here, we need to get going,, could you just give us 1500 pesos and we'll forget about it?"

I explained that it doesn't work that way, and I wanted a police report (not really, ) so I can't be charged with leaving the scene. They pushed a few minutes for the money, then suddenly went back to their car and tied the panel up with a piece of string , and se fue.

I called the agent back and told him what had transpired and asked him to send the agent on to Walmart parking lot
The agent showed up in about an hour, during which time we polished off a couple six packs of Modelo Negra.

Agent filled out report, gave me a copy, said he'd give copy to police, and we were on our way. It cost me three hours.

Brad had insurance, but didn't want to wait,, settled with BMW for $75 for a new tire

It helps to have ridden in this rodeo before.

[Jonh]

Insurance fraud knows no bounds!

[el duende grande]

Reminds me of the old days on the northern border of British Honduras. They didn't like "hippies", but a change of clothes and a change of guards would usually get you in.

[KeyWestPirate]

So, after hitting a monster pothole after Cordoba, Jayro's engineering was exposed. Those #6 drywall screws that were holding everything together pulled out on one side.

An annoyance, but there will be many more speed bumps and potholes in Guatemala.

I've got everything I need to fix it,, except motivation.
I'll use the car Jack sitting on a couple of 4 x 4's to Jack up that side.

I have bigger screws, wood glue, a couple of (really slick) Harbor Freight clamps,

Hot water in our $32 hotel, plenty of room to work, and Shelley to kibbutz and carp:

"Are you sure this is going to make it? I told you not to load the truck so heavily! You should have fixed this before we left!"

But, the joke's on her:
I have my eye on two of those tall propane tanks you see everywhere in Mexico. I'm going to throw them up on top after i get the rack fixed. They are manufactured in Mexico, and I figure I'll get a killer deal with the peso depreciation.

I keep several chimbos on the farm and suspect that i get one full exchanged for an empty from time to time.

They fill the tall 100# tanks in Estelí, and you can get a valve that switches between the tanks automatically. Actually, I drop them off with my guy in Condega who has the propane monopoly and he puts them on his truck to Estelí.

Then, you have the equivalent of 4 chimbo's time to get the empty refilled and back online.

Pig picture was from my pig business last year. It was kind of fun,, really,, how life has changed in a year!

[KeyWestPirate]

Well, the fix went ok. All the screws on both sides were questionable so i redid them all. My battery finally gave up the ghost. ($9.99 3/8 driver drill from Harbor Freight) so i got the parking lot guard to move his chair into the shade behind my truck so no vagos could make off with Sebastian's tricycle.

We went into the faded glory hotel, Maria Eugenia for lunch and a charge on the battery. Una arrachera and caesar salad with shrimp (fresh shrimp everywhere this time of year),, things were looking more positive.

The Tuxtla Guterreños graciously provided a parade for our lunchtime amusement.

[KeyWestPirate]

So,, we're in San Cristobal de la Casas, the SJdS of Mexico. Yoga lessons, vegan restaurants, massage everywhere.

Still, I love the place. It's cheap, we got this boutiquey hotel with a king bed, a loft and lots of style, for $30

Our room has this huge key that has to date to the conquistadors,,

We're in a little wine bar, seafood restaurant,, around the corner, bottle of $8 Spanish wine. Did I mention cheap?

Great music, some Mex or Spanish soft jazz, acceptable volume, soft lighting but not a dungeon.

What am I doing in Nicaragua????
I should sell the farm and move here.

The truck fix seemed to hold. The road here used to be ugly,, but now there is a toll road. The toll road has nice shoulders, and everyone moves over, so the middle of the road becomes a suicide passing lane. Honduras has a lot of this. Supposedly, you indicate your intention to pass by flashing your lights.

The problem comes when there is an oncoming vehicle in "your" suicide lane, coming around a blind curve. Then you both furiously flash your lights, and the guy will the biggest balls, and maybe coincidentally the smallest brain, prevails and other guy falls back in line.

I really don't think I'd notice if my big, overloaded Ford took one of these Chinese plastic cars head on.

Fortified with a muscle relaxer and some wine,, I may find out some day. But, not today. I prevailed in all the jousts.

But, back to SJdS. San Cristobal has a class that SJdS could only aspire to. Yet, the similarities are striking. The only other customer when we walked in was a guy with a man bun.

[KeyWestPirate]

So,, we're in San Cristobal de la Casas, the SJdS of Mexico. Yoga lessons, vegan restaurants, massage everywhere.

Still, I love the place. It's cheap, we got this boutiquey hotel with a king bed, a loft and lots of style, for $30

Our room has this huge key that has to date to the conquistadors,,

We're in a little wine bar, seafood restaurant,, around the corner, bottle of $8 Spanish wine. Did I mention cheap?

Great music, some Mex or Spanish soft jazz, acceptable volume, soft lighting but not a dungeon.

What am I doing in Nicaragua????
I should sell the farm and move here.

The truck fix seemed to hold. The road here used to be ugly,, but now there is a toll road. The toll road has nice shoulders, and everyone moves over, so the middle of the road becomes a suicide passing lane. Honduras has a lot of this. Supposedly, you indicate your intention to pass by flashing your lights.

The problem comes when there is an oncoming vehicle in "your" suicide lane, coming around a blind curve. Then you both furiously flash your lights, and the guy will the biggest balls, and maybe coincidentally the smallest brain, prevails and other guy falls back in line.

I really don't think I'd notice if my big, overloaded Ford took one of these Chinese plastic cars head on.

Fortified with a muscle relaxer and some wine,, I may find out some day. But, not today. I prevailed in all the jousts.

But, back to SJdS. San Cristobal has a class that SJdS could only aspire to. Yet, the similarities are striking. The only other customer when we walked in was a guy with a man bun.

[KeyWestPirate]

So, the caravan is breaking up,,

Brad as I write this is getting on a plane to the US.
He had one night with Jenni 2 after 2 or three nights camped in Espino, kind of like that Pirates of the Caribbean ending. He had to leave his MC in Honduras, but got the rest of the stuff in.

The truck has a bearing knock, maybe something to do with the leaking oil

He paid a dear price to get his stuff in,, mostly I think they didn't know what to make of his lithium battery from the junked Tesla. They probably googled Tesla and took the first price that popped up.

We decompress in this jungle hotel after Guate City

. . I went through Guate City behind a truck with no brakes,
It was good to get on the periférico, ..

Actually, I was behind a Bobcat going 5 mph in the left lane,, I think that a nun was driving it, her penance for having masturbated one too many times.
At least purgatory ends, eventually. Traffic in Guate City never does.
Brad went through at 1AM, got lost and spent a half hour finding the CA1. This with Google maps. And pulling his trailer.

We're in Copan. We would be at the Luna Juaguar hot springs but can't find our bathing suits. Place is pretty spectacular, hot water water falls, the usual rustic pools of varying temps,, secluded, jungle setting.

Our room here is $10,, simple, but hit water.
Via Via is the hot spot on Saturday night,, draws a hard dancing, shouting to the music, young crowd.

We decided to stay the extra day. We'll get up really early, and push to San Marco's de Colon, just over the border from Espino, and hit it early Tuesday AM. Or, Wednesday AM. We'll see.
I want to be there by the 15th to pay aguinaldo.

Crossing into Honduras was simple at Florido a few miles from Copan. The aduana lady felt really bad about taking my money,, offered to call a tramite who could bond me through. The problem with that is, you only have 24 hours to transit. She had me open a couple of bins so she could say she checked my cargo, then copied the Guatemala aduana sheet
I paid her $79 to legally import what is about $10K of stuff. The car permit is pricey, $40.

One thing that is an issue for drivers is, your 90 day Nicaragua clock starts when you enter Guatemala. It's all C4.

I hate those tow hitch cargo carriers, but the facilitate passing through aduana at the borders. The aduañeros have no more appetite to dig through stuff than you have to unload everything,, so if your claim that it's all tools, clothing, cosas de hogar, libros, comida,, is supported by those bins on back, they look no further.

They seize on the obvious: what is that wood stove worth?
"With the chimney pipe , maybe $200"
Those plastic panels?
" $5 "
How many?
It's a game. They really don't want to ream me, but have to cover their (her) ass as there will be a police checkpoint down the road to check your paper work.

Attitude is everything. They want your respect, and want to reciprocate. I've had the odd bad experience, but it was probably my fault more than theirs.

Crossing borders early in the day helps.
Everyone is fresh.

I'll update one last time after I'm on the farm.
It will be good to be home.
I still have to drive through Tegus, but it's nothing like Guate City.