March Expenses

Okay, have to post this mid day to get caught up. If you missed the earlier post, you can read it here...

http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2018/04/not-thrilled-with-south-llano-river.html

We spent a total of $2,763 CAD ($2,200 USD) in the month of March. Yes, quite a lot higher than expected. Most of that was due to Sherman's breakdown, but we were also far higher in gasoline and toll road expenses than we would have preferred.

Not thrilled with South Llano River State Park

First thing in the morning, we drove over to the library in Junction, Texas to use their free unsecured wifi internet. I checked Verizon's coverage map... for some odd reason there is simply a huge gap in this area. Very strange.

But, at least we know it's not our device that's the problem.

Then, we did the short drive over to South Llano River State Park.

Very pleased with Junction, Texas

We weren't in a rush to leave Garner State Park, but we left our site at about 9:00am to drive through the park and down to the store where the laundromat is located. Haven't done any laundry since March 29th in Mazatlan.

That's also the last time we emptied our holding tanks, so it had been 8 days and we can normally go 10 if we're careful, so the grey tank was starting to get full. Probably could have gone another few days on the black tank though. Anyhow, we got the laundry done and emptied the tanks on our way out of the park.

Not that we would really mind if somebody stole them.

We rode our bikes over to the office again to pick up our windshield pass for our third night here. That was our morning exercise.

We then decided that we had better get some cleanup done to Sherman, so Ruth worked on the interior while I cleaned the bugs and grime off the front exterior. They were so plastered on that I had to use Greased Lightning spray cleaner to get them off. That, and some elbow grease.

Exploring Garner State Park

Woke up to a bit of an overcast day yesterday, and we didn't see any sun until late afternoon. But, it never did rain and the temperature was perfect to go out and get some exercise and explore the park.

Like I said yesterday, it's a big park so every time we go anywhere on the bikes, we know we're in for some exercise. That's okay, because we were kind of lacking in that department over the last three months and we need to get ourselves back in hiking condition because we're planning on doing lots of hiking and biking over the next six months!

We are liking Garner State Park!

Yesterday morning, we did the short drive from Uvalde to Garner State Park. Amazing how much the scenery changes when you get into Texas Hill Country. Of course it's called Hill Country for a reason... there are hills!

We wanted to arrive at Garner State Park early so that we could enjoy the day there. Plus, we had read that it's a big busy park, so we wanted to ensure a good site. In fact, Garner State Park is the most popular state park for overnight camping in all of Texas. Turns out we had nothing to worry about!

Knock, knock, knock... "It's the police..."

Got on the road early yesterday morning, and headed to the Carizzo Springs Walmart to do a big grocery shop and use their free wi-fi. But the Walmart in Carrizo Springs is just a basic Walmart store without much of a grocery section.

We did some internet and bought a refill card for our Verizon mi-fi so we can stay connected to you all for the next four weeks in the U.S..  Only bought a 5 GB package for $60 USD ($77 CAD) so we'll try and make that last. Still have some data remaining on our Telcel SIM card, and it's supposed to work in both the U.S. and Canada, so we'll see.

We are now into the United States!

But boy, they don't make it easy. Having been to 34 different countries, we have crossed a lot of borders. The United States makes things the most difficult.

And of course we have to put up with the border circus because it's part of travel. But sometimes it just makes you shake your head. Such as it was yesterday.

A long driving day in Mexico!

If we wanted to cross the border on Monday, then Sunday was going to have to be a long driving day! Still traveling with two other rigs, we were up and on the road at the crack of dawn.

Originally, our destination was the city of Saltillo, and the Imperial Hotel where we had stayed our very first night with the Mexico RV Caravan group. But traffic is busy in the city, and considering we were only staying the night and just needed somewhere to park, we nixed that idea and figured we would wing it.

Fantastic day at a Mexico National Park!

It's Semana Santa (Easter Week) and it's the weekend. A lot of Mexicans head to the beach during Semana Santa, but that doesn't leave the mountain spots untouched, and such is the way it is here at Sierra de Organos National Park.

There aren't a lot of camping spots here, and it's pretty busy. We had music well into the night, but that's the way it is in Mexico so we expected it. But they are friendly people, just having fun with their friends and families and we have no problem with that.

Here's how our day went on Friday...

Three of the group left Isla de la Piedra at 6:00am. A few of us were even up to wave goodbye. They wanted to get an early start and a long days drive in to head towards the Arizona border on Sunday and get back to Canada for various reasons. Next, at 7:00am, seven more rigs pulled out, again heading towards Arizona, but this group won't cross until Monday.

Then at 8:00am, it was our turn. Us, with James and Karen behind us, and Kenny and Gail bringing up the rear. We are down to a three rig caravan!

Just a short note

To let you know we made it to the National Park. No cell signal unless we do a hike to a lookout! That's where we are now. Using my phone to do this blog post. Normal blog post will resume tomorrow!

I've never tried doing a blog post from the phone. Hope this works!

Mazatlan, and saying goodbye

We walked the the ferry dock here at Isla de la Piedra and took the panga boat to Mazatlan. It crosses the shipping port and is about a ten minute journey.

We were meeting up with Steve and Rebecca, a couple who had hosted us at their place in Duluth, Minnesota back in 2013. They've been loyal readers of this blog since 2011!

Mazatlan Countryside Tour

The bus was here to pick us up at 8:30am yesterday morning. First stop was the village of Puerta de Canoas, about 57 kms (35 miles) from where we are camped at Isla de la Piedra.

This is where there is a guy who trains dancing horses. Plus, it's just a nice little typical village. I always find it interesting how you only have to be 16 kms (10 miles) outside the hustle and bustle of the big city of Mazatlan to find yourself out in the country. You'd never know that you're so close to the city.

February Expenses

Better late than never, right?!

If you remember, Sherman broke down on Thursday, March 1st. That week, and the following week were a little hectic for us, and we kind of got out of schedule and the February expenses never got posted. So I'm posting them now.

February was a pretty reasonable month, which is a good thing because March was not! However, we have to keep in mind that February was only 28 days...