Threes

There is an old adage that states events often times occurs in threes.  Many will say that bad luck happens in threes. In our case we had some bad luck but it could have been a lot worse!

After packing up the camper and trailer Linda and I moved from our lot to Las Palmas and set up our camper in the drive way.  Larry and Maggie were the sole survivors at the place and since we were following them up to the US we figured we all could help each other pack the final items and end our visit by having final dinners together.

On Saturday everything was packed and ready. We all agreed that it was time to get on the road.  Our volleyball friends had said their good byes and we exchanged emails, hugs and handshakes. We were sad but ready.

We left Melaque Sunday at 7:37 AM.  We retraced our path from our trip to Perula up Hwy 200.  We wound along the ocean and up into the low mountains ending back down in Puerto Vallarta. We had been to the big city twice before, both times over 20 years ago and never by truck.  We followed Larry through the old town section which led through two tunnels and dumped us into the heart of the hotel strip.  Traffic was busy but because it was Sunday, not too bad.

Just past the north end of PV and entering Bucerias I heard Larry come over two-way radio telling me that there were some flashing lights behind me.  I moved over to let them by and it became obvious that the police wanted us to pull over.  Linda told Larry and we all pulled to the side of the Highway.

Larry and I got out and heard a guy from a passing car say “Get your 200 pesos out!”  We didn’t laugh.  The officer talked to Larry in broken English and Spanish and Larry went to get his driver’s license. He then told me that I was driving in the left hand lane and that I was only allowed in the right lane. I said I had just passed a slow moving vehicle which got me nowhere with him. He then asked me about Idaho and what I did there.  All this was in very mixed up Spanish English so he could have been saying that I was going to be deported to a prison in Idaho for that matter.

Larry returned and the police asked him to get in the car and close the door.  They talked and soon Larry said “go get 250 pesos and we done.”  I did so and Larry and I each gave him the money.  Most people who travel in Mexico have had this game played with them; it’s what is called “Mordida” or little bite.  Cops stop you for no reason and take a bribe to not ticket you, we had just been bit.

Back on the road we made our way through Bucerias and up past Guayabitos. We drove down a winding rough road to a beach restaurant in ???? where we ate lunch.  We had just gotten out of the little town and Larry had just made his way onto the good pavement when I hit a bump and then heard a loud dragging noise.  Our trailer hitch ball had come off!  The nut had worked off by all the rough roads and topes; the one final bump dropped the trailer onto the ground.

We made our way to a pullout and I was able to use a spare ball I had brought to fix the problem and get everything back in working order.  Luck was with us on this one because we were in a very rough section of the road and we were moving very slowly.

At this point in our trip I have used almost every spare part I thought to bring.  Linda and I have been amazed at some of the things I tossed in to the trailer. I just smile and keep my fingers crossed.

We drove on heading for our resting point at an RV camp on a small bluff overlooking the ocean near San Blas, Nayarit.

Larry took a wrong turn in Ixtapa de la Concepción that led us to our final problem of the day.  The mistake took us down a very narrow street and I caught a low hanging electrical wire and broke it.  There was quite a loud crunching noise as I came to a stop. People came out on the street, hands waved; Linda and I didn’t know what to do. Finally a fellow spoke in broken English and we negotiated a repair fee of 100 pesos.  We apologized and paid up, jumped into the truck and got the hell out of there.

Later as we sat in camp at Playa Amour RV and Camping I checked for damage and found that I had only broken a running light. We all agreed that we were once again very lucky that the crunch only cost us less than $100 dollars.

The three events of the day took a lot out of us but the view of the sunset helped put this day behind us.  Tomorrow we head to Mazatlán and then the rest of the trip is on familiar freeways.