Bailey

Not as smooth as the first phase 🙁

We have to replace all our batteries, the chassis batteries went well; our 6 expensive house AGM Deep Cycle batteries not so much!

We enquired before heading to Mexico and our battery store said no need to buy the batteries then as they are “always” in stock.  No need to guess what isn’t in stock!  They may have them again in 2 weeks.  He did not sound confident.

Call battery store number 2; yes they have them in stock but they are about $60 more for each,  Hard pill to swallow but…  We need them!We drive there, he comes out to see our batteries.  Nope he doesn’t have these we need both an automotive top post and a threaded stud post.

Original batteries in Bailey were NAPA brand; Allan called them.  They are a bit more than battery store #2, but now we have no more options.

Off to NAPA we go.  The lady Allan spoke to was gone for the day.   The guy we now have can not find the battery in their system. He eventually calls the manufacturer and gets the correct part number and determines they have them in Calgary, of course the first quote was incorrect and the new one is not in our favour.  Bailey is scheduled for the RV part of service including installation of said batteries, on Thursday, NAPA says the batteries will in be Thursday morning.  The guy we were dealing with says to think about it and if we decide to go ahead call in with our credit card for a deposit.

We call back to order them, dude one is gone dude 2 says he wants us to come in again to confirm what they are ordering is the correct part cause batteries are not returnable.  Back we go..  Order placed, batteries paid, fingers crossed!  There is stuff I dislike paying for, garbage bags come to mind and now batteries!  $3400 and I can’t even admire them.

Thursday… we drop Bailey at   

NAPA says they’ll call us when the batteries arrive, no call.  We go there expecting the worst. Yahoo they come through

We are relieved we have the batteries to take to Back Country. Next issue! When following Bailey back from Diesel Tech, the last service place, I noticed smoke bellowing from the exhaust.  It cleared up, I did mention it to Allan.  At the time all gauges were good. Brought Bailey back to storage, now in taking her to Back Country Allan sees a “Check Engine Light”  never a good sign.  On the way back from Back Country the light doesn’t go off.  Allan has a way to read the error message, turns out it is a DEF issue.  One of the things that can happen is “Limp Mode” where the speed gets reduced to 5 miles an hour.  Imagine that on a highway!!

Have a Monday appointment at Diesel Tech, please keep fingers crossed it’s not a major issue.

 

Mar 31th:  We visit Bailey and are so happy she started right away! Tomorrow is her first get ready for the road “checkup” day.

April 1st: Oh boy April 1st!!  Is this a good day to bring Bailey to Diesel Tech.  Are we going to need a tow?  Front driver’s side looks a little, stuck!

Bailey makes it out!  Went better than we thought, we’re off to a good start

Here for Bailey’s annual filter changes, engine & generator serviceApril 02nd:  The lovely weather change, ugh…the today on the temp chart is April 02

April 2nd snow almost gone                             April 4th snow is back

We have no interest in driving Bailey in the snow, fortunately, they are waiting for a filter so no pick up today.

April 04th: OTD 5 years ago, love FB memories!! April 05th:  Bailey is ready!  Snow on the road means not picking up today.

April 06th: Dreary but no snow on the roads.  Pick up Bailey, charges were better than we hoped.

Whoops we can’t make it back into our normal spot.  Mud, Bailey’s wheels spin & spin.  Ruts, some we made.  Centerline assigned us a temporary spot till the regular one dries upBob is covered in mud, zoom in to his front tire.  Know it’s a Jeep, we’d rather he be clean    

                     IS DONE!!

The dreaded have to “get back to reality” day has arrived!

Our final walk around the neighbour.

Our street sign

Our condo was the yellow one top floor

Our corner street taco stand

Sites we’ll miss.  Love all the colours

Notice?  No smile, waiting for our Uber  Super busy; it took us twice as long to get to the airport and actually make it to the drop off point. Still no smile 🙁

Getting through security was good, no need to open our carry-ons.  It’s now lunch time.  Love this restaurant.  Can you spot Allan?                     Leslie I think you will 🙂 The best garlic shrimp!                                           Allan’s tacos were good as well.

     A bus takes us to the plane

The flight left only about an hour late, we’re pleased. Not so pleased that this is a dash 9 plane, the same type as the Alaska Airlines door fell off.

The windows, instead of the normal blinds, have a tinting system, push a few buttons and it turns blue dinning the outdoor light.  This what it looks like through the tint.

The back of the seat entertainment centre is fun.  They had movies as well as showing the navigation, how long till we land screens.  One of the movies I watched was, based on a PI in PEI, I’d never heard of it but was quite fun;  Who’s Yer Father?   Anette, if you haven’t seen it yet I think you’d like it; you’ll recognize many places.

Landed safely, now in the Calgary Lounge waiting for our Lethbridge connection flight while enjoying bevies and snacks

Thankfully another uneventful flight

Another chapter ends….

Sunrise on the 12th   

Our time flew by so quickly, we did and saw so many wonderful things.  Love the day trips we were on, all the walking, the drag show and so much more.  The weather was fabulous, even the single rainstorm was fun.  But we blinked and 2 months were almost over.

Today is packing day 

Our last dinner will be at the Seahorse Cucina Bar & Lounge. We take the 46 minute walk slowly enjoying the sites. 

The twirlers were twirling

The inukshuks were inukshuking   

Me was me-ing in the beautiful sunshine with Puerto Vallarta in the background

      Delicious bevies

The view

Followed by a delicious meal and good wine.  Lasagna for Allan, Spaghetti with shrimp for me.

My foot tan makes my feet look dirty   

Today we headed to a small flea market in the Walmart parking lot.  This walk is in the opposite direction from Centro where we normally head.   It’s about a 45minute walk. Hum, looks like we should have confirmed the flea market is still there cause it’s not.  Oh well a walk is a walk!

Galeria Vallarta Shopping Mall is next door, we check it out, pretty nice complete with a kid’s train

Next stop, a Tequila Caesar (complete with hole-y ice, the only ice that’s safe to use here)  & Victoria Cerveza

We’re sitting facing a very busy road; tons of buses most are overfilled like sardines

Back on the condo’s rooftop we play a game till it’s go to dinner time, our second last night here.

Sauces galore!             Luckily I had a margarita cause Allan’s glass of wine was the worst we’ve had since being here

The meat was so delicious, so tender and tasty served on what they called a baked potato but was really a diced potato.  Simply delicious!!

Second last day here ends

We were going to go out for breakfast but couldn’t get motivated so breakfast turned into lunch @ Mabel’s Cocina.  Taco was so nicely presented; the first I’ve seen using a cucumber as a “bowl” for the mayo & lettuce.

The view from the top

Pelicans galore!     

Click & zoom to the left of the sailboat on the photo, to see LIVA O, the 118 meter (387 ft), $250 million yacht owned by Stephen Orenstein. Annual running cost $15 – 25 million

Walk on…..

This guy is calling us in for bevy time                                                Who are we to say “No thanks”  In we go…

So cool encountering Iguanas.  Although people used to eat them, it is now illegal throughout Mexico to kill them, they are nevertheless still sought after as pets. Aside from humans, iguanas have few natural predators; however hawks and owls will attack the smaller ones.  Their life expectancy is 20ish years.

For the discerning buyer, we offer, have your choice of either.  Act quickly!!

Tour day!  “Rosie” sees us off   

Tours normally have a few stops before the grand event… Today’s first is Panaderia Carmen’s Bakery.  It’s a very nice place and the folks who had treats said they were delicious!

Next stop: one of the hundreds of agaves fields in the area.  Our guide, Marco, explaining how tequila is is made                               &                              me smiling,

Agave plants are succulents with large leaves that end in pointy tips. Agaves have a lot of variety, with over 250 species in the agave genus. Large, stiff specimens can grow to 10 feet or more in height and width, and smaller species can be dish-sized. A few agave species have soft leaves and no spines. Agave grows best in rocky, sandy, well-drained soil in full sun.

Other plants in the area

Next stop; coffee farm, these parrots were very noisy

Off to San Sebastian.   The story of the town is interesting…  San Sebastian del Oeste, Jalisco  “This Magical Town on the edge of the Sierra Madre Occidental, and of mining origin, had its best moments during the Colony, when it had 20,000 inhabitants; But the closure of mines during the 19th century caused the migration of many inhabitants. Visiting it is like going back in time: its churches, farms and old mines that are still there.”

   Cobble stone bridge into town, built in the 1800’s

  Mural depicting the town’s history  Our chuckle today: a lady & I need to use the facilities.  Find the correct one only to discover urinals & 2 stalls, dash out re-read the sign yep still says “Mujeres”  Later learn from Allan there were no urinals in the “Hombres”  Another gent also commented he thought it strange there were no urinals.  Wonder who the joker was that switched the signs?

A walk around town, the coble stone streets can be challenging!

      

           San Sebastian Church has quite the history

What’s with the damage?  The original bell broke, not sure how a bell breaks, when they replaced it, there was a minor incident

Next LUNCH 

    Our greeter!

Food was so delicious only got  this photo  Lunch done we get to walk around town for a bit more before heading back

Final stop;  Hacienda Don Lalin, a boutique type tequila factory .  Our welcoming here…We’ll be sampling, learning how tequila is made, and how to drink tequila that has a higher alcohol content to enjoy it to its fullest.  Click here to learn the 7 steps.  The dude is the owner and our educator.

 

This is the oven, or horno, they bake the agave in, has to maintain 1000 degrees C for I don’t remember how long he said, must be because of the sampling!!  Google says 48 to 72 hours.

We bought one to enjoy when we next see K&MIt was a fun day, we’re both happy we decided to take this tour.

Back at the condo, it’s wine and enjoy the sunset time!

We’re not much of “go to the beach and sit there” people but today is….                                                       “Go for a walk on the beach day”

So cute with his ⛱️ shoes 🙂     

Yes we can make it over!      and we did!

Our reward!  Service sucked but what the heck!  It was fun watching the pelicans dive for their dinner 🙂

Clean the sand off.. 

    Fix the bench Mexico style

Bet you will never guess what our “top of the line security” code numbers may be?

Us just hanging around   

 

We know zilch about good tequila but needed to buy at least one bottle while here.  We lucked out, this one is smooth

 

 

 

Even after being here awhile, it still surprises us that local grocery stores like Soriana do not cover their baked goods.  No, we haven’t purchased any. Love those pink stairs.  Zoom in to really appreciate them.Dinner time with live entertainment

The difference in such a short time is remarkable.  Clouds lifted within 10 minutes!

The sunsets are still unbelievable.  Are these colours real??

Last night…..   street tacos for dinner.  Shrimp & pork for me, beef & pork for Allan.

But first “Fluffy’s” for breakfast   

There is a line up but that usually means good food to follow.                                         Fluffy’s did not disappoint!

Beverages:             Me-Cappuccino               Allan-Oreo Milk Shake

Breakfast:   Me-Order of chilaquiles with eggs; Allan-The Mexican Fluffy c/w Fluffy Souffle Pancakes

Souffle Pancakes, the Fluffiest ever 

A brief stop at the condo before heading to the market; “Rosie” is our welcome back committee

Love this market, so colourful   

Pay telephones are well disguised.  A great mural

  Allan’s new hat 🙂

Another beautiful sunset, we’ll miss these         

My favourite chair!!