Wow! What A Week

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

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!