Nice drive to the big city of Puebla

We were a bit lazy getting going yesterday morning, but we knew it was only a two and a half hour drive so we would still be close to our goal of arriving at our destination by 2:00pm. 

We hit the road at 10:45am to do the 140 km (87 mile) drive.

Well that didn't go according to plan

We figured it would be busy on a Sunday, so we set of before 9:00am to do the climb up to the Tepozteco Pyramid.

A series of rocky steps lead you up a steep path. It gains about 352 meters (1,150') in about one km (0.62 miles)... so it really is steep.

Those are some weird looking trees!

We originally planned a hike that would take us to some waterfalls. But this is dry season... the waterfalls aren't running!

So instead, we hiked up to a viewpoint... about 10 kms (6 miles) round trip.

Finally made it to Tepoztlan!

The caves at Grutas de Estella didn't open until 10:00am, and we were there right at the open. We wanted to see the caves, but we still had a fairly long drive, part of which would take us through the middle of the big city of Cuernavaca. And, we wanted to stop at a Walmart along the way.

So... busy day!

Igor was up for the challenge!

We managed to get on the road by 9:20am... not bad, considering our planned 9:00am departure time. 

We had to go through Valle de Bravo, so we made a stop for a few groceries and an ATM before carrying on southeast.

And, we're off!

Igor hadn't had a bath since we got back from our last trip with him towards the end of January. And he was sitting underneath a tree and covered in bird crap. So my job for yesterday was to give him a bath.

I went outside about 10:00am to get started... but the job was already done!

Igor is a happy camper... and our route east

A month or so ago when Lindsey and the kids were here, we had been out in Igor when I heard some rattling from underneath the motorhome. 

One of the exhaust hanger brackets had broken, and I ended up doing a quick fix with a wire coat hangar to temporarily hold things in place.

Aiming for a Thursday morning departure

Just as I thought I was done with fixing things for a while, Ruth reminded me that Igor's windshield wipers have been acting up the last few times we used them.

Which fortunately at this time of year doesn't really matter because there's not much in the way of rain. But still, I figured I had better have a look.

It's a good thing I'm not paid by the hour

It takes me forever to do a project like this. Don't get me wrong... I like it this way. Putter around for a couple of hours, then come back to it again tomorrow. Of course that's the way it's supposed to be when you're retired!

But if I was paid by the hour, they would have fired me by now. 

Fresh baked bread!

First of all, Ruth thanks you all for your well wishes. Her arm/wrist is feeling better, although that could be because of the medication. 

She even felt well enough to make some fresh baked gluten free bread!

Off to the doctor...

On Thursday, we did the 15 minute walk into nearby El Arco to pick up a few things. 

On the way back, the sidewalk is very uneven and Ruth was wearing shoes with very little traction. There was one sloping area and it was a bit sandy and that's where Ruth slipped and fell.

What does it cost to fly around the world?

Obviously there are a lot of variables, so I can only tell you what it is costing us!

Our first flight takes off May 17th... a direct flight from Mexico City to Madrid, Spain.

More progress

We went into town yesterday and did some grocery shopping. On the way back, we stopped into a "ferreteria"... a hardware store.

It's just a small storefront, but in the back they have everything! We went there looking for a couple of catches and hinges for Igor's cupboard doors. 

Around the world in two months!

I've just finished booking a few more flights for our around the world trip. It turns out we'll be on seven different airplanes over the two month time frame.

It's actually slightly over two months. We leave May 17th and return July 23rd.

Igor's floor is finished!

We don't have a big mosquito problem here even though we're beside the lake. But one of the little buggers got into our bedroom and has harassed us the last two nights!

And as soon as you turn the light on, it goes invisible... it simply disappears. But then it comes back to haunt you five minutes after you turn the light off again.

Flights within Canada are ridiculously expensive!

I bought some more flight tickets yesterday... but only for me!

My annual guys weekend away is taking place in St. John's, Newfoundland this year... September 1-5.

The price of water

Most people know that you don't drink the tap water here in Mexico. Even the locals buy bottled water. Normally, you buy a 20 liter (5.3 gallons) jug full of purified water. The jug is called a garrafon.

Once you have made the initial purchase and have drank all the water, you can exchange your empty garrafon for a full one.

The joys of working on a 33 year old vehicle!

So we're redoing the floor in our motorhome Igor, and of course nothing is as simple as it should be. I had to remove the kitchen cabinet to access the rotten subfloor, and in the process found out that our kitchen countertop was also rotten. 

Ah, the joys of working on a 33 year old vehicle!

We think we're going to China!

On May 17th we fly from Mexico City to Madrid. Then on the 19th from Madrid to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

On May 20th, we pick up a Russian built 4 wheel drive campervan and spend a month exploring the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. When we finish that June 19th, we are planning to go to China!

More progress on our house

We received the rest of the wall art we had ordered, so now it was time to figure out where to place it.

When family was here last month, Ruth had son in law Justin install some shelves in the kitchen. And there had been some other "art" on the walls that needed to go.

It's that time of year

Our lake (Lago Avandaro) here at Valle de Bravo is actually a man made reservoir. The dam was built in the 1940's and a piping system runs all the way to Mexico City. In fact it's one of three reservoirs that supplies Mexico City with some of its water.

Rainy season runs June through September, although there can be some early rain in May, and last year we even had some rain into December, but that is rare.

What made us choose Valle de Bravo?

One of our facebook fans asked the other day why we chose Valle de Bravo as our home base.

We've been to all 32 states of Mexico. And we've been to all of the tourist hotspots... our first year in mainland Mexico back in 2008 we hit all of the popular beach spots like Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Puerto Escondido, Mazatlan... even Acapulco.

I don't know how we can stand it...

I spent another few hours working on Igor's floor yesterday. 

I took our ATV up to a nearby maderaria (lumberyard) and the guy there gave me enough scraps for 100 pesos ($7.60 CAD, $5.60 USD) to be able to do the job.

No, it did not survive!

I was working on the countertop cabinet when I flipped it over to reinforce some of the corner braces to make it a little stronger.

One of the end panels is covered with a sort of a mactac woodgrain and it was already partially peeling, so I peeled off the loose stuff and saw this...

Things are coming along

For anybody who hasn't been following along, I'm in the middle of a big job replacing the floor on our 1993 Airstream B190 motorhome.

The subfloor had become rotten due to an unrepaired water leak many years ago, and in order to repair it, the kitchen countertop cabinet had to be removed.

It's a big job...

I was hoping I would be able to "cheat"... and support the cabinets with new flooring by being able to lift them and slide the new flooring underneath. But it wasn't possible, and really, it wasn't the right way to do it.

So I resigned myself to the fact that this is going to be a big job... and I set out to get it done.

About what I expected

So yesterday I got into tearing out Igor's floor. It's been replaced once before already... well before we have owned him.

There had been a water leak from the line running from the fresh water tank under the kitchen countertop cabinet. I repaired it when we bought Igor, but the underlying water damage was still there.

Unbelievable

Ruth just mentioned to me that it was ten years ago that we completed our first trial RV Caravan tour of Mexico. Ten years! Unbelievable.

We had a lot of fun showing other RV'ers why Mexico is such a great place to RV. It just has so much to offer.

February Expense Report - 2 expensive months in a row

January and February were both expensive... but they were worth it because we had our daughter and her family come and visit. And, it didn't really feel that expensive because we bought and paid for their flights several months ago.

And, of course last month we also took a two week "vacation" to Ecuador.

So, what's next?

That kind of depends on my paragliding training. I'm going to have two instructors working with me for the one week course, and I'm waiting to hear back from them as to the timing, but it is should happen during the month of March. 

And we will spend that one week training course camping with Igor at the paragliding site at El Penon. That's the place we visited at the end of January on the way back from our last RV trip. It's about an hour from here.