Igor is still not fixed...

When we left you yesterday, we were pulled off on a farmers track by the side of the road. We were about 2.5 kms (a mile) or so downhill from the small town of Tuzamapan in the state of Veracruz.

The nearest larger town is Coatepec (pop 55,000), about 14 kms away. And we are about 24 kms from the city of Xalapa (pop 450,000).

Bit by a dog, and then knock, knock, knock... it's the police.

The mechanic shop didn't open until 9:00am, but when I walked over there to talk to them he said his mechanic wouldn't be in for another hour and a half or so.

So we walked up to the big Monday market to have some breakfast and pick up a few things.

Time to move on... but we didn't get very far!

We planned a 10:00am start because we knew we weren't going very far. First planned stop was a town about 50 minutes north towards Xalapa.

We were going to have a look around and then decide if we would stay for the traditional Monday market. It's supposed to be quite the local event. But we didn't have to decide, because Igor decided for us!

Busy day... lots of photos, and a surprise meetup with friends!

We wanted to do one more trip into the beautiful city of Orizaba. Still can't believe that more western tourists don't visit this area. 

We went to all of the "touristy" highlights yesterday, and didn't see any other gringos.

Our planned return to Canada

Well, we've pretty much got our return to Canada figured out and booked. We fly from Mexico City to Toronto on August 20th, which is our daughter's 40th birthday! Yikes!

We wanted to be there for the big day, and she will be at our son's place near Gravenhurst visiting him at the time, so it will be a fun family reunion on her birthday.

More visitors, and a trip back into Orizaba for some fun!

When we arrived back from our adventure on Wednesday, a couple more rigs had arrived. One of them was one of those big German Unimog style offroad RV's... with license plates from Luxembourg!

And the other was a Canadian couple from Quebec.

Exhausted!

Tuesday was a relax day... we just did some chores around Igor and I got the taxes pretty much completed.

We needed a break after our hike on Monday... plus, we were about to have another busy day on Wednesday!

Good thing we're not on a schedule!

We have some more visitors here at the campground. A British guy with two girls from Czechia. All of them currently live in Canada, and driving a car with British Columbia plates.

We were all invited by our hosts to join them on a hike up the mountain where the cable car takes you in Orizaba.

Well this is going to be a fun adventure!

They were calling for rain in the afternoon, so I made a plan to just hang around Igor and get started on our income taxes that are due on April 30th. We have to pay every year, but we don't mind giving it to them because they spend it so wisely!

And I could watch the baseball game while doing the taxes! Ruth took off with our host family here at the campground to a local municipal park.

Igor may never return to Valle de Bravo

We walked over to the nearby Soriana and picked up a few things there before walking back to Igor where he was parked at the Walmart in Orizaba. Then we did the 20 minute drive to Dos Tierras Campground.

We often use the iOverlander app to find suitable overnight spots for Igor. And many European overland rigs arrive at the port in Veracruz, so this is an easy stop for some of them. 

I can't believe we've never been to Orizaba!

Orizaba, Veracruz is a small city of about 125,000 people located in a valley at an altitude of about 1,250 meters (4,100'). But despite the relatively low altitude, it's within sight of the highest point in Mexico... Pico de Orizaba.

Pico de Orizaba is a dormant (but not extinct) volcano, and also the third highest mountain in North America.

Hiking in the mountains near Orizaba

We had a very peaceful night sleeping in the village of Palo Verde. Surprisingly, not even any dogs barking or roosters crowing!

And we woke up to a beautiful clear blue sky, although they were calling for showers in the afternoon. 

We ended up at a beautiful overnight spot.

Our goal is always to arrive at our overnight spot by 2:00pm because that allows lots of daylight hours to fix any problem that might come up. So when we only have a two and a half hour drive ahead of us, we don't need to rush out in the morning!

And so we didn't hit the road until about 11:00am.

Views around Cholula

As I said yesterday, we've been to the Cholula Trailer Park in the outskirts of Puebla many times, but the last time was six years ago... so we still wanted to go wander around Cholula one more time.

Cholula is where the largest pyramid in the world is located. The pyramid is also the largest man made monument in the world.

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.