Wow! What A Week

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As I said in the last post, we arrived home safely with no issues.  After that, there was some downtime to recover from a lot of stress.  Since then, my mind has been going in circles figuring out how to add solar to the small travel trailer.  

When we did this the last time, it was installed on the Funfinder.  We had a gathering at Hacienda Contreras in Valle de Juarez, Jalisco.  Those were the best times of our RVing in Mexico.  

Here, Croft, Jerry, Pete, and I were mounting the solar panel.  We ran the cables, attached the charge controller, and the inverter.  It was fun and seemed so much easier.

That was a good group.  We had good times and made some excellent memories.  A lot of RVing in Mexico going on then.  

Now, the new travel trailer has built-in cabling for solar, and that makes it a bit easier and yet more complicated.   There is a sticker on the inside wall with a perforated line around it.  You cut that out, and you find the wiring from the roof that is looped to the battery.  Sounds pretty simple,e but it appears more complicated than what we did years ago.  I need to find a place for the inverter.  A 200amp lithium will fit in the current battery space.   

The issue with the charge controller is that the cutout is meant for a PWM controller, which is flush-mount and easily fits inside the wall.  The MTTP requires wiring that will put the controller on the wall, and it will stick out about an inc,h and the wires will be seen.  I could put a box cover similar to this:

I've also considered portable panels with a built-in charge controller.  You then rely on the SUV to maintain charge of the battery while driving.  Also, the panels would need to be set up at each stop, and the risk of theft.  Hmm.  I'm open to suggestions.  We're also considering an electric generator such as a Jackery or Bluetti.  Throw a couple of portable panels in the sun and hook up the 30 amp.  It comes with everything, including the inverter.  Several boondockers we watch regularly on YouTube swear by them.

I am a lucky guy. Juan got me a new HP laptop for my birthday! This marks the last year of my sixth decade of life—it sure goes fast. This new machine is much faster and more powerful, which will give me the capability to upload more videos to YouTube. I'm still bummed that Microsoft eliminated their video app; it was incredibly easy to use, and I was just getting the hang of it.

I’ve also become completely hooked on AI. I haven’t named her yet, but Norma would probably say she's my imaginary friend. While I always double-check the facts, it makes starting a new project incredibly easy. AI was actually instrumental in gathering all the data for our recent travel trailer purchase!

On a heavier note, Mexican politics has turned into a massive clusterf---. It is hard to keep up with the scandals breaking out right now.  The governor of Sinaloa suddenly returned to his office on Friday after disappearing for two months. He didn't say a word to anyone.  On Saturday, his own party (Morena) asked him to step down. The fallout is so severe that the president canceled her morning mañanera, which has only happened two times before. Word is the U.S. will request his extradition any day now. This follows his two cronies turning themselves in two months ago, walking across the border under Mexican military escort.

The huachicol fiscal (fuel-tax fraud) debacle continues to explode. A Mexican Navy contraalmirante—the nephew of the retired Naval Admiral—was successfully extradited from Argentina. His brother, also a contraalmirante, turned himself in right when the governor's cronies crossed the border.

The international pressure is clear. As of last week, AMLO's son had his U.S. tourist visa canceled without explanation. He joins a list of 50 Morena party members who have had their U.S. visas stripped.

There is definitely fire behind all this smoke. It's not just gossip or lies!

We Have A New Travel Friend

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It took us a while to get things going.  We got it all straightened out, and we are sitting in Casa Blanca State Park.  We did the PDI with the RV dealer on Wednesday but had some decisions to make.  We ended up with the model with the roof air conditioner and worked out a good deal.  We received an additional $1000 off the price.  I know MSRP is a lot of bunk.  Jayco listed it at $24,990, the dealer at $19,999, and we purchased it for $14,500 including tax, title, and license.  We told them under no circumstance would we pay more and didn't want any surprises, and no extended warranties, insurance, or add-ons.  Although they agreed, they turned a bit sour on us.  Our ally was the worker who did the cleaning and PDI, and became a good friend.  

We finally drove off yesterday and headed for Lake Calaveras, about an hour away to give it a good workout of systems.  The CURT Bluetooth brake controller works great and no installation required.  Everything has checked out.   Today we drove 175 miles without a hitch (we actually had the hitch attached to the back of the SUV, hahaha).  I drove 60 mph all the way.  No sway issues (I did purchase a sway bar, but no WDH, and I may return it).  The VW has some sway control built in, but honestly, it was a bit windy, and many semis were passing us, and we felt nothing.  No bouncing, no ball rattling, nothing.  So far, knock on wood, we are very impressed and happy considering it is an entry-level trailer.

The dealer overall was very nice.  The salesperson was all gung-ho over the email exchanges, but when we arrived she was very nonchalant.  After the papers were signed, she moved on to bigger and better things.  A lot of sales talk.  I'm not going to send any emails to corporate or rant and rave, but it's the typical "come on strong," and then when it's over, it's over.

Our stay in San Antonio was uneventful, going to the dealer every day and picking up a few things that we don't have at home for the trailer.  We had to laugh after shopping at various stores for sheets and blankets.  We ended up at Goodwill and found the following with a senior-day discount:

Two very good quality white towels

Two twin bed sheets, both with the double elastic corners

A new Mr. Coffee coffeemaker

Silverware 

Two cocktail glasses

Two coffee mugs

Total was $30, including the laundermat and soap to wash the towels and sheets.  

It's been a long week, so I will end this here.  Mission completed, and tomorrow we will put the trailer in storage until October for our first big trip, destination unknown at this time.  We head home in the afternoon.

This Might Just Happen!

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

I'm not sure how the situation could change; I've done all our homework.  The only thing that could change is if we changed our minds and walked away.  That's still a possibility.  

We're leaving next week to see our new travel trailer.  We found another that is identical to the one we put the deposit on, except that it has a corrugated aluminum skin, a window-unit A/C, and a smaller fridge.  We really only need the freezer section for ice.  😁

The nice thing is that it is the exact same floorplan, weighs 225 lbs less, with a few pounds more on the hitch weight.  We can't wait to take off.  We'll be driving to the Colombia Bridge via the new La Gloria roadway built for the World Cup to create a safe route for road travel.  With La Gloria, it bypasses the state of Tamaulipas and takes you directly to the Colombia Bridge.  We'll see how well that works and if we don't get held up.

I believe we've done our due diligence with only one thing pending.  I put a small deposit on the travel trailer, transferred funds to San Antonio, ordered the Curt Bluetooth brake controller, and the sway control arm for the hitch.  

It has been very, very difficult to find a storage space in Laredo.  I called each one, and only two had a parking spot, both outdoors with no cover but secured inside the storage facility for $160 a month.  What?  I was about ready to say the whole deal was off when I came across a site called Neighbors.com. Individuals who are not a storage facility can list a spot they may have to rent, such as a garage at their home or a large enclosed and fenced area.  I found a company that will rent us a spot with cameras, gates, and fencing for less than half of the others.  We will verify it on Monday.  Whew, that was a hard one.

Much smaller but lighter and uses less electricity naturally.

The window unit style A/C is more adequate for the size of the trailer.  They usually plop a 13.5 BTU on the roof of any A/C.  Too big, too noisy, and too much vibration.  The window unit we had before in an 18ft travel trailer proved to be the best. It would run for 12 hours on 1.1 gallons of gas in our Honda 2000.  

So it will be one step at a time on this trip, getting to the border, picking up our parts, and purchasing a U.S. cellphone.  We'll check out the parking space and then head north to San Antonio, where we'll spend the night.  Tuesday, it will be a visit to the dealer, although we have the appointment until Wednesday.  I haven't told the rep yet that we may change our mind on the model.  We need to see it in person, although I said it is the same in terms of the floor plan.  Also, to let them know that the inspection has to be done with some water in the tanks, a fresh battery I can check, and the refrigerator running to check the temperature.  LP needs to have some in it to check the furnace, water heater, and the stove top.

A little Mexico news and politics: 

The breakdown of the 230+ political assassinations (which include candidates, ex-mayors, and municipal councilors/regidores) during the AMLO sexenio (2018–2024) reveals that political violence heavily targets local opposition parties, though members of the ruling coalition are also severely affected.

Local-Level Focus: Over 80% of all political executions during the six-year term targeted individuals running for or holding municipal-level office (mayors, ex-mayors, and town councilors) rather than federal or state-level positions.

The cell phone registration via biometrics is currently at 91 million not registered.

Still waiting for the extradition of the Sinaloan governor and his nine cronies.  El Mayo was sentenced to life in prison and a $15 billion fine.