Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Parts are ordered, and now we wait

Yesterday morning, Ruth went with the group to the tour of downtown Puebla while I stayed with Sherman to deal with the best way to get the parts that he needs. There were several choices, including several choices of how to do the repairs that are necessary.

I wanted Moog parts. In my opinion, they are the best aftermarket suspension and steering parts out there. You can buy the ball joints two different ways... individually, or included with the lower control arm assembly.

Friday, March 9, 2018

Sherman is broken... again!

We were on the road yesterday morning at about 7:15am. Made our way through the already busy town of Juchitan, and headed north on the 185 up towards the main east west toll road, the 145D.

Our planned 622 km (386 mile) drive was ambitious. If we wanted to make it to Trailer Park Las Americas on the far side of Puebla, there would be very little time for rest breaks.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Reunited with Sherman

We were up at 6:00am Wednesday morning to wave goodbye to the group at their planned 7:00am departure from Oaxaca to Puebla. It's only 360 kms (223 miles), but an early start is better.

They had a Green Angel escort today, and it's a good thing. He arrived right at 7:00am, and I went over the route with him.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Walk into town, and a creepy visitor...

A day off for everybody yesterday. Some people went back into the center of Oaxaca City, and some people went into the nearest town of Santa Maria del Tule, where the big tree is that we showed you the other day.

Ruth and I decided we needed some exercise and walked into Santa Maria del Tule.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Change of plans, and another busy tour day

This time, the vans arrived to pick us up at just after 8:30am. But first, while everybody was gathered around, we had to have a quick group meeting to discuss how Sherman was going to get caught up with the group.

As the group leaders, we had decided that everyone would spend two extra nights here at Oaxaca, and have the group carry on to the next destination of Puebla on Thursday morning. Ruth and I will return to Sherman on Wednesday. Then, with any luck at all Sherman would be ready on Thursday and we would catch up to the group in Puebla in time for their departure on Saturday morning to Patzcuaro.

Monday, March 5, 2018

Busy day touring around Oaxaca

The two vans arrived to pick up our group at 9:00am yesterday for a busy day touring. Almost too busy!

First stop was a place that does rug weaving. I thought it wouldn't be up my alley, but the local Zapotec woman who's husband revived this art form was really interesting, and it was almost kind of odd that her English was so good.

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Good news, and bad news...

By 8:30am yesterday morning, there were two guys underneath Sherman working away to remove the right front lower control arm and ball joint. It turned out that the ball joint itself had not broken at the stud... it had broken at the collar that holds it together. And strangely, it doesn't even seem to be that worn.

Anyhow, it needs a new ball joint, and we are going to get the one on the opposite side replaced as well.

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Sherman - Towed to a truck mechanic shop in Juchitan, Mexico!

We sat on the side of the busy road for a total of about 28 hours. Essentially, doing nothing. Good thing we had a decent cell signal so we had communication and internet access.

The tow truck had been arranged the night before, but they had said they couldn't make it there until about 11:00am. We had the impression that the towing company is very busy and that there aren't many towing companies in this area. The roadside assistance people were not able to find one to help us, and they had said that they would reimburse us up to $300 USD if we submitted the invoice to them once we found help.

Friday, March 2, 2018

Houston, we have a problem...

A big problem.

The day started off as planned, with a scheduled 8:00am departure from the orphanage. We got on the toll road going south towards Arriaga, and it was a decent enough road, although fairly busy.

Great scenery too!

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Sumidero Canyon boat trip, and back to the orphanage

The van was there to pick us up at 8:00am Wednesday morning to take us to the boat launch at Chiapa de Corzo. That is where you get the tour boats to take you into the nearby Sumidero Canyon. Ruth and I had done the canyon boat tour back in 2009, but we were looking forward to a return visit.

The dam was built in 1981. At that time, the river was just a series of un-navigable rapids, but with the rising waters from the dam, popular boat tours started in the spectacular canyon.