Yucatan/Mexico 08 with Brewers

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Betty Brewer

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Hello to all Forum Friends,

I just wanted to let you know that our Adventure Caravan officially begins  tomorrow, January 22, 2008.  We have met all of our  fellow travelers, 41  great friendly and  adventurous people.
According to our roster, we have 21 rigs total, 18 motorhomes, 1 trailer and 2 fifth Wheels and 14 tow cars. Almost all  participants have been on at least one caravan and the veterans have been on 5 caravans. 
To let you know the tone of the group, we've  already had several happy hours, lots of laughs  and group meals together and the trip has not yet even begun.  We are in Pharr, Texas (way down on the south tip of Texas)

Our  trip log book says Yucatan & Caribbean Sea and it will be 46 Days ending on March 7, 2008.  It is my goal to post something daily and share a few photos. 
To be continued....

Betty

 
Whoopee!  :D  I love your trip journals and can hardly wait to read the latest.  Since we're not travelling as much as in previous years, your daily efforts are even more appreciated. 

Margi
 
Betty,

I'm looking forward to your reports and photos too.
 
Hi Betty,

Really great to talk with you and Terry yesterday. Sure glad we called before you crossed the border! Be sure to take lots of photos, as you always do. If you need multiple copies of your next epic CD just let me know. ;D
 
I was hoping you'd be posting a travelogue for this trip. I know you'll have a great time and I look forward to seeing the Yucatan through your words and pictures.

But you're missing a great Quartzsite !!

Wendy
 
Looking forward to your travelogue and have a wonderful time.
 
We're looking forward to the journey. Some day we might spend some time helping the Anglicans in Belize and have wondered if driving is an option. . .
 
January 22. 2008

We had our Trip Orientation meeting this afternoon.  We got the "rules of the road? and learned all about those long time stories that are meant to scare us away from our adventure. Only 3 couples have never yet been to Mexico so we mostly know what we are in for.  We leave at 7:30 am and will travel 218 miles on our first travel day. We learned, from Pat and Alice our Wagon Masters, about the Goofy award and the Care bear and will watch other participants for their worthiness of our "praise." 

Terry and I went to Olive Garden for dinner and made our last cell phone calls for 2 months.  We have put our Verizon phone on  "suspend" until we return. We hope you enjoy our travels.

Betty     
 

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Betty:

I see Pat and Alice are approaching this trip with their usual enthusiasm. ;D ;D
 
January 23, 2008

Pharr,  Texas, USA  to CD Victoria, Mexico

We departed promptly at 7:30 am and traveled over the Rio Grand River into Reynosa, Mexico with no problems.  We are getting used to the 21 of us on the CB radio making announcements and learned along the way that someone had a bolt in their tire.  (Hex the tail gunner got him to a tire shop along the road right away)  someone else had to stop to fix an awning thing. Someone else had to stop for a bladder break.  There are no secrets on the road in a caravan.

Instantly as we crossed the border we realized we were in a foreign country.  The blight of the planet and most especially in border towns is the PLASTIC GROCERY BAG.  Mexico has not yet embraced the notion of Adopting Highways and the roadways are littered with those bags hanging in bushes and trees.  Note to self: lets do away with those bags.  One huge advantage to traveling with a caravan is that the military checkpoints ignore us.  They do not want to tie up traffic questioning each rig so we were waved, with smiles, through each of 3-armed military checkpoints today.

As we traveled through rolling hills on this very foggy and cool morning, livestock roam freely as do dogs and sheep. The roads were good and even though they were only 2 lanes in most places the shoulders are wide enough that 3 big rigs can pass in the road as we experienced as all the 18 wheelers passed us trying to get ?out of our caravan.? 

When we fueled up we learned some Spanish.  The model of our Country Coach is a Magna and the name is painted right beside the fuel tank..  This is a Spanish word for a grade of  gasoline, so the filling station attendants were very hesitant to put diesel in our rig when it clearly states Magna. We figured it out and fueled up with our desired diesel.  We put in 173.10 liters and it cost 1030 Pesos.  We?re not sure yet about the conversions but we think this was 45.7 gallons.  We exchanged dollars yesterday for pesos at a rate of 10.80 and have 27,000 Pesos to start the trip. It all looks like monopoly money but I?m told if we just subtract a 0 from the peso amount it will be roughly the equivalent of the American dollar.  I need to be armed with this information for my shopping ventures. 

At 2:30 this afternoon we made it into a lovely camp ground (the only one in town) .  It took a while for Terry to position our rig among and between the trees but we finally got a signal and can send this post to you.  Rosa, the owner of the campground came out and gave our group a few Spanish lessons and some safety hints.  We are to store our credit cards in our safe. No need to carry a wallet full of cards that will not be used here.  We are to carry copies of our driver?s license and NEVER give our official paperwork to anyone.  Rosa is a former teacher and gave us some tips to shop.  Carry a tablet and ask ?Cuanto?  and have a vendor write down the price.  She showed us how to tell the vendor we are cheap and want a better price.  She told us ?donde? would get us all through Mexico as it is the word to ask? where?  I am so impressed with her generous offer of safety and language tips.  Her hospitality set a delightful tone at our first night margarita party.  We retired early as we have another short travel day tomorrow to Tampico.  The photos are of our group on the 30 minute lunch break at a PEMEX station and of Rosa and Pat our Wagon master.

Statistics: Motorhome Miles Driven:  221
Temperatures:    High 83    Low 53
GPS Coordinates: N 23degrees44.617  W 99 degrees 08.146
 

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Betty:

We are enjoying our winter resting but I am not sure I am going to be able to read your posts every day without regretting passing on the trip.

Just seeing your photos today reminds me how much fun we had last year. ::) ::)
 
Betty and Terry,

Between getting ourselves to Quartzsite and the Forum being down for a while we didn't get a chance to wish you a bon voyage to the Yucatan.  Have a WONDERFUL and safe trip!

Already enjoying your reports.

Ardra and Jerry too
 
Tom:

Is there a way that I can print out each daily journal message Betty contributes to the forum?  I tried highlighting just this current posting from Betty and tried to print it for Tom to read, but it printed out the entire contents of the thread -- repeating what I printed for him yesterday.  I'm sure this is possibel; what am I overlooking?

Margi
 
Tom and Margi said:
Tom:

Is there a way that I can print out each daily journal message Betty contributes to the forum?  I tried highlighting just this current posting from Betty and tried to print it for Tom to read, but it printed out the entire contents of the thread -- repeating what I printed for him yesterday.  I'm sure this is possibel; what am I overlooking?

Margi

Margi,

After you highlight the text you want to print. When you clicked on the Print button and the printer window opened, in the print range area did you select "SELECTION"? ALL is the default and will print what you got.
 
Margi,

In addition to Don's suggestion, you can highlight the text of the day's message, right-click, copy, then open a text editor/viewer (or MS Word) and right-click, paste.
 

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