On the road, 7000+ miles

We departed Santa Fe, NM on November 23, 2015, headed for Nevada for Thanksgiving with family, enjoyed one of the days there on a large houseboat on Lake Mead, very low water level.  Then it was off to Grass Valley, CA where we picked up our "new" to us 2006 Dynamax 32 XL (Freightliner M2 chassis, Cat 300 ACERT and Allison 6 spd) Very low mileage and in excellent condition. Pic above. Registration a little complicated in CA so had to drive to Reno to get the right papers so title could be issued from Montana.  NM has to have a visual inspection of the VIN and that wasn't feasible.

Then to Pleasanton, CA (Fairgrounds) for a week while we both got sick with some kind of ugly sinus infection, treated at Urgent Care, prescribed antibiotics and took all ten days to mend.  Left our dog Dude, somewhat reluctantly, with one of our kids and their three kids while we headed south along the coast, stopping along the way in Paso Robles, Ventura and then east to AZ to cross at Lukeville.  Crossed easily, quickly and spent a couple of days with friends camped at Puerto Penasco.

Forgot to get our visas and stickers so had to detour back to Nogales, then on to Mazatlan and a minor crash with a parked car while I was trying to make a U-turn at the end of a dead end street, near the Cerritos campground at the north end of town if you know the area.  Settled with the poor guy for cash as his older model Nissan suffered some major damage all along the left side.  Then it was Mazatlan to Lo de Marcos, about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta.  Spent two months at La Parota, on the beach in a wonderful small, quiet town yet to be over developed and over priced compared to Sayulita and San Pancho.

Found a good Freightliner service at Jimenez Autocamiones in PV and they made two trips out to the park and we took the rig into town one day for some service and maintenance.  Very accommodating and reasonable.  Also had electric steps repaired in the park from local electrician who did a superb job.

Started back on Feb 23 and although going to CA to retrieve dog, decided to cross at Columbia Bridge near Nuevo Laredo in Texas.  Back to Mazatlan the first day and joined two other couples at La Jaimbas park, also on north end of town.  Then took the toll road from Mazatlan through and over the mountains to Durango and on to Torreon.  From there we made it to Columbia crossing and breezed through with no traffic, no inspections save for a check on the American side in the basements.  Did not turn in our visas.  Cashed in the car sticker but kept the RV sticker as it's good for 10 years.  Spent the night at Casa Blanca state park.

Then it was through and around Texas, to Van Horn, a very long way about 840 miles in one day. On to Pleasanton, CA via overnight in Banning, CA (adjacent to Palm Springs) had a couple of family gatherings including a birthday celebration and then headed back toward Santa Fe.  Great stop at Homolovi Ruins state park in AZ near Winslow and dinner at La Posada in The Turquoise Room, a must if you're traveling easy or west on I-40.  Arrived back on March 6 and began the job of unpacking, sorting, and getting ready for what's next.  All in all, a great trip!  Any questions or for more info, please inquire.

Northern CA to Mexico (with stops along the way)

We launched forth from Grass Valley, stopping in Pleasanton, CA (Fairgrounds) for a week to visit family and recover from a miserable sinus infection.  Then headed south, stopping for a few days in Paso Robles (Wine Country RV Resort, recommended) and Ventura, park next to Emma Woods which had been evacuated due to high surf.  But, we were fine and began to load up with groceries and supplies for heading even farther south.

Crossed the border at Lukeville on 14 December and drove to Puerto Penasco to visit friends who were camped at Playa Bonita, nice park on the beach there by a hotel.  Then as we went on, planning to pick up our permits and visas at Pitiquito, near Carboca, discovered they could not issue car permits without a tourist visa and we had neglected to get those in Lukeville.   Don't need them if you aren't going too far below the border but our destination was about 1000 miles south.  So, at Santa Ana, near Magdalena de Kino, we went north to Nogales, about an hour the wrong direction, got both our visas and vehicle permits, spent the night there at Fiesta Inn and headed out the next morning, back the way we had come

By that next late afternoon we were in Navajoa and took a wonderful (although not such good roads) detour to Huatabampo and Hutabampito.  Camped for two nights on the beach at El Mirador, terrific family run place, same family for 30 years, good restaurant and while there were two German vans there when we arrived, they left the next morning and we were the only ones there.  Here is a picture of the sunrise on 18 December 2015:

From here it was on south via toll roads to Mazatlan where I encountered a bit of a disaster by trying to make a U-Turn at the end of a dead end street and I managed to crush a poor guy's old Nissan on his left side and left some scratches and dings on both RV and Toad.  Nothing that can't be fixed and we settled with him for some USD rather than go through all the insurance forms, deductibles, etc. and will get ours touched up later, after this winter trip.    I had missed the turn for the Punto Cerritos RV park about 50 yards earlier and the park was fine, not too far off the main highway and close to a Pemex station down the road a little farther.

The next leg was Mazatlan to Lo de Marcos and all was fine except going through the middle of Tepic, a BIG mistake having missed another turn.   Dyna Quest (Dinah or Dineh, still looking to name her) performed great with the exception of a Turbo issue which I hope to get fixed this week from a Caterpillar dealer in P.V. and the electric steps that stopped working.  Had those fixed this past Thursday by a terrific, local electrician whom we met in San Pancho while staying at Casa Colima.  Seems someone had wrapped the bottom step with a thick piece of plastic carpet and that wedged the steps shut so they would not open.  Regardless, the electrician had to reset the motor and sensors but had it all done in an hour.  Not typical Mexico.

So, here we are at La Parota, new friends and neighbors, and our lot is away from the beach but only about 50 yards and the village is yet to be explored fully.  We did venture down to the small market yesterday and there is a much larger one on Thursdays in La Penita.  We're between La Penita and Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta is about 35 miles south.   That brings us up to today, 10 January 2016.
Happy New Year!