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Published: November 17th 2011
We left home on Oct 10th after having the whole family for Thanksgiving dinner. We slept in our 5th on Colby Street and then headed out the next morning. We crossed the border with no problem even though we had tons of stuff we were bringing down to Mexico. Larry said he had been talking to the border guard all night in his sleep. Justifying why we had so many drugs, dog kennels, clothes etc. but no questions at all. We travelled that day to Portland and had dinner with Larry's aunt and uncle and cousins. Mary and Elroy are aging rapidly. Glad we stopped. The next day headed out in good weather and got to Mesa, Az on Thursday afternoon. Headed to Mesa Regal and were greeted by James, Karen and Chuck, our friends from Mexico.
We packed up on Nov 1 getting ready to join the Caravan in Ajo, Az. We were to be one of 18 rigs going to LaPenita. Our friend, James had not been feeling well since we had arrived in Mesa. He had gotten some antibiotics for a sore on his arm that would not go away. He beared with the tummy upset for a week before he went back to the Dr and complained. He had lost 10 pounds in that week. He got new antibiotics and still felt terrible. Online it said that tummy upsets etc were to be expected. We all felt so sorry for James. In that 2 weeks he had lost 20 pounds. On our final day in Mesa, he finally said enough is enough and went to Urgent care, where they did a blood test and he was told to go to emerg immediately or he would call an ambulance for him. His kidneys were shutting down and he was ready to have a heart attack. We had hung around just waiting to see what was going on with James and decided that we needed to stay to offer some support. Karen drove him to Banner Gateway hospital where he stayed for 4 days. He was a very, very sick man. Turned out, unbeknownst to him, he has had kidney disease for many years. It was on his records from home but he was never told. These antibiotics were the worst kind for a fragile kidney and has caused all the problem. He was treated like a King! He got the best care, we would all hope for. It was like a 5* hotel except with lots of poking!! He ordered off a menu for G--'s sake by telephone from his room. Any canadian would be wise to have your attacks, illnessess etc in Mesa, Az if you have good health insurance. He had every test under the sun in a day or so. Anyway he got back to the RV on Friday and we enjoyed their company for a few days. He was terribly weak and on a strict diet but other then that, good.
We headed to Diamond Desert Casino to meet up with another group of friends that were headed to LaPenita. by this time we had missed the caravan. Met up with 5 other rigs and headed out the next morning. Crossed the border into Mexico. It has always taken a long time at the border but this time it was 2 1/2 hours of standing and waiting. They have changed a few things and it is taking much longer then normal. We drove the first day to Hermosillo. It was about 3 hours south of the border. Then the next day we arrived in San Carlos for a 2 days stay. Our 5th brakes were showing a short, no brake signel so Larry had to drive with the truck transmission, gearing down so as not to burn out the truck brakes. Our 5th weighs about 16,000 pounds so its alot of weight pushing the truck with no brakes on the 5th. We had a couple of different Mexican electricians in and all said there was no short, it must be the brake controller. We called James in mesa, had him buy a new one and had it brought now by someone that was leaving Mesa that day for Mexico. They delivered it, Larry installed it and it was still the same problem. Our group had left a couple of days before but there were more friends that had arrived in San Carlos so we planned on hooking up with them. When the new controller did not fix the issue and we realized that it was not going to be fixed in Mexico, we headed back to Tucson for repairs. It took us a couple of days of driving but we had emailed ahead to the repair place and they were ready for us. It turned out that in August when we had the same issue in Vernon they repaired the drivers side brakes but did not do the other side. So the other side, this time was the same. The brake wires had rubbed against the axle and were bare and shorting. the day we arrived back in Tucson, it was our 42nd anniversary so we decided to make lemonade out of lemons and found a very nice hotel in Tucson and enjoyed the luxury and a great dinner out. Our 5th was fixed by the end of the 2nd day so we spent the night in the RV repair parking lot and headed by to Desert Diamond Casino exactly 7 days later, to meet up with yet another group of LaPenita friends. Headed out again, didn't have to do the time at the border because we had our stuff so just left a little later then our friends and waited on the side of the road for them. Perfect brakes. We are now in Mazatlan! Will spend 2 days here and then head out to LaPenita and arrive there tomorrow afternoon. That was all pretty boring and I probably have most of you glazed over. Thats OK.
Home Front - the day we left for the winter, our tenents in the upstairs of our house gave notice. They moved very quickly because they found another place but we were able to find new renters quickly as well. Of course, anytime any one moves after a couple of years, there are things that need doing. Mark, Carli and Clay worked like dogs in the house. It was so kind of them. Mark painted a bedroom, Carli and Clay shampooed carpets, hung shower rods, etc. Clay is used to napping everyday after work so after a couple of days he was getting cranky according to him. Missed his nap!! A life without kids!!
Mark and Clay are both coming to LaPenita. Clay on Nov 22 and Mark on Nov 25th. We are both very excited. Have pix but can't seem to attach. Next time.
We are coming home December 15th for Christmas and will return to LaPenita Jan 1, 2012.
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Doug & Diane Porter
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Hola to Our La Penita Friends
Hi Nancy & Larry - an auspicious start to say the least.... Hope James recovers quickly and is able to enjoy most of the winter in the Mexican sun... Keep us posted... Just became grandparents again (#9) a couple of days ago. We will go with our plan to spend January - April in Mesa (Valle del Oro RV Resort) and meander our way home through California and Oregon in May sometime. Hope we can catch up with a bunch of the group on their way home next April.. Hi to all of the group in La Penita RV Resort - we miss everyone. Maybe we'll make it back in the next few years.