Motorhoming from La Peñita de Jaltemba, Mexico to Oregon

 Outrunning the Heat and Wildfires to Reach the U.S. Coast

Minnie Winnie at El Mirador RV Park

At Playa Huatabampito, Sonora, MX

This is our first RV trip back to the United States since we drove our Regency Class C motorhome to Arizona to sell it in early 2020. (You can read about that trip at OUR LAST RV TRIP IN MÉXICO AND WHY! New Travel Plans) Minnie Winnie is making her first road trip from La Peñita de Jaltemba, Mexico to Oregon. As with all adventures, some unexpected events in the U.S. slowed us down.

Driving To Mazatlán, We Loved Seeing

The Green Hills and Fields from Recent Rains  

The New Toll Road from La Peñita to Mazatlan was Great!

We enjoyed most of our usual stops along the Mexico Pacific coast, though it was so hot we decided to cut each stay short. We only spent two nights in Mazatlán, one night on the beach at El Mirador RV Park in Playa Huatabampito, and then bypassed a favorite, San Carlos, Sonora. Instead, we hightailed it to Punta Vista RV Park in Santa Ana, Sonora which left us a short run to the border the next day.

Passing the Lines of Cars at the U.S. Border Crossing!!

I was uneasy about crossing the border as Americans with Mexican Permanent Resident Visas driving an RV with Michoacan, MX plates. To make matters worse, we missed the Mariposa crossing exit and drove through the center of Nogales, MX, where RVs are forbidden. Fortunately, a trinket vendor told us to get in a dirt lane along the railroad tracks because RVs and buses won’t fit through the Nogales centro entries. We received a gentle scolding from the U.S. immigration officer for not crossing at the Mariposa truck crossing, but he was kind as he checked our passports and wished us better luck following Google Maps next time.😅

Our border crossing went smoothly, and we entered Arizona! A whole new kind of heat awaited us--blistering hot and bone dry.

Driving into a Dust Storm in Buckeye, AZ

We outran the Arizona heat and plowed through a dust storm near Buckeye, AZ—we didn’t stop in Arizona except to change drivers and grab a snack from the fridge.

The Arizona and California Heat Finished This Tire OFF!

It was my turn to drive through San Bernadino, California when the heat caused a massive front tire blowout. Jon said I handled the rig well, braking smoothly and pulling safely to the shoulder. We sat there only thirty minutes after calling for help when a roadside assistance guy arrived. Jon enjoyed helping the serviceman remove the wrecked tire and put on our spare, even in that scorching hot weather!

Jon Helped Change the Flat Tire on the Side of the Freeway

It was time to buy a complete set of new tires. We drove slowly to the closest Les Schwab Tire Center in Fontana, CA, and got five new tires (darn, they didn't have all 6). The guys were great, working until 8:00 to get us back on the road. They warned us that our brakes were in dangerously poor condition and needed to be replaced.

So, we drove slowly and carefully for hours after sunset to reach our reserved Santa Barbara campsite. It was good practice to downshift and use the Tow Haul rather than our brakes to slow our speed. We were glad to have missed rush-hour traffic. 

Four Days of Driving from La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nayarit

To the Fresh, Cool Air of Santa Barbara, California

A Santa Barbara Sunset Viewed from the Wharf

I feel a special connection to Santa Barbara because it is Puerto Vallarta’s sister city. The palm trees, the Pacific Ocean, delicious fresh seafood, sunny weather, and beautiful beaches make us feel at home. The Sunrise RV Park was an excellent central jumping-off place for walks and Uber pickups.

How We Choose Our Camping Sites in July and August:

1. We wanted to be near the California and Oregon Coasts to avoid the heat and wildfire smoke typical in late summer. Our RV air conditioner can't keep the rig cool in temperatures over 82 degrees, so we're hugging the coast. (We'll be solving that later.)

2. Within walking distance of restaurants so we can get exercise and tour the area on the way to lunch or dinner. Or, we want access to bus, Uber, or taxi services to get around since we don't have a car.

3. I search for areas with views of blue water, such as the ocean, bay, lake, or river. This gives us a dose of Blue Mind (or Blue Water Effect, as I like to call it), a calming effect that improves mental health.

4. After our dash north through Mexico, I wanted campgrounds or RV parks that allowed us to stay for three to four days so our travel would be relaxing and unhurried.

Four Days in Santa Barbara and a Walk to East Beach

Two Nights at Morro Dunes in Morro Bay

Three Nights at Moss Landing RV Park, CA

Near the Marina and Several Good Restaurants

Four Nights at Casa de Fruta RV Park 

Near Gilroy, CA, Recovering From Covid

Lots of Walks in the Country

Then, it was time to find the next Les Schwab to purchase our sixth tire and new brakes for all four wheels. Minnie Winnie will be ready for many more Mexican miles after replacing all four brakes and six tires at Les Schwab.

Jon "Supervised" the Brake Replacement

He Was Amazed at How Large the Rotor/Hubs Were 

We were so glad to be able to have this work done while in the U.S., where they could obtain these parts. It was a big job, but they did it in one ten-hour day! Jon says we're rebuilding her from the ground up. 😀

Time to Get Back to the Coast of California!

Two Nights at the Porto Bodega Marina

RV Park Bodega Bay, California

Two Nights at Caspar Beach RV Park

We Caught the Local Bus From Caspar Beach To

Historic Mendocino, CA, Where We Shopped and Ate at

A Favorite Pub, Patterson's--Good Memories 💚

One Night, Walks, and Picking Wild Blackberries

The Ancient Redwoods RV Park Near Eureka, CA.

We Finally Arrived in Oregon!

Two Nights at the Brookings, Oregon Beachfront RV Park

Seven Nights In Bandon, Oregon

We Ate Lots of Delicious Dungeness Crab Cocktails

And Tony's Famous Crab Sandwiches on the Boardwalk

We finished Creating the RV Bed's Headboard

 To Match the Bedspread From Puerto Vallarta

Five Nights at the Port of Siuslaw Campground and Marina

In Florence, Oregon, One of Our Favorites

We Discovered New Darling Buildings While

Walking Around the Florence Historic

District. ❤️ The Hanging Flower Baskets

One Night Camping with Electric Only

At Three Rivers Casino, Florence, $30!

No More Free Boondocking Here

Six Nights at the Port of Newport Marina

RV Park With a Beautiful View of

The Yaquina Bay Bridge

On Another Walk, We Discovered Nye Beach

In Newport, Oregon, and Rested at

The Taphouse with a View of the Water

A Rare, Warm Day at the Oregon Coast

Sitting on an Outdoor Patio at Nye Beach

We Recommend This Restuarant on the Newport Bay!

Four Nights Over Labor Day Weekend At

The Logan Road RV Park Owned By This Tribe

Lincoln City Weather was Gray and Rainy

We Spent 42 Days On the U.S. Coast,

Between Santa Barbara, Time in RV Parks On

the Way North, And In Lincoln City, OR

We Like Leisurely Coastal RV Trips In the Summers

Time to Go Inland to Visit Our Family

Hoping For Cooler Weather and No Smoky Skies

Clear Skies Would be Hit-and-Miss as

We Dodged Forest Fires On Our Trip

Down Memory Lane in Oregon.

Burned Forest From Santiam/Detroit Fire 2020

We Found Blue Skies in Rogue River, Oregon😊

I'm Thinking of Changing This Book Cover:

To This Blue Version. What Do You Think?

eBook FREE with KindleUnlimited Membership

Available in Paperback, Too!

I invite you to Sign Up for my Healthy Living and Traveling in Mexico monthly newsletter. Thank you for reading my blog articles and books!

Cheers,

Terry

Terry L Turrell, Author

Amazon Author Page

MOVING TO MEXICO...OUR MOTORHOME WAS OVERLOADED! WHAT TO DO?

The Motorhome Was Packed for Our Move to Mexico

Dinette Area Was Packed Very Efficiently!

     Our move to Mexico required more work than we anticipated. As a result, I'm a bit behind on my writing. Here's my first catch-up article about our exciting move to Mexico.
     By October 21, Jon and I were ready to move to Mexico. The motorhome was packed and ready to roll! We had sold all of our worldly belongings except a few of our treasures, tools, and necessities. We felt free!
     We had done some research on the Expat Blog (now www.Expat.com (for Mexico) ) about whether to tow a trailer behind the motorhome to move our belongings to Mexico. The importation of personal property by land is allowed by Mexico, but only up to $300 per person (garage sale value) duty free. The consensus from the folks chatting on this Expat Blog discussion was that a trailer full of stuff might cause more scrutiny by the border guards. So we opted to cram as much as we could into our motorhome, trying not to overload it.
     Our carefully packed boxes, plastic containers, and black trash bags contained just enough for us to start our new life in Mexico. We planned to buy a casita, a small home with minimal furnishings, so we weren't bringing any furniture and very few dishes. The forty small "containers" of stuff we planned to bring didn't look like that much before we loaded it. But as we prepared to move our stuff into the motorhome, we realized the challenges were going to be:
     1. How to balance the load evenly throughout the motorhome, front to back and left to right. 

2. How to make sure we didn't overload the motorhome beyond the Gross Maximum Weight recommended by the manufacturer.      

3. How to keep the "containers" from shifting in transit.    

 Jon built the dinette area into a temporary cargo hold, using a finished sheet of plywood for the front of the cargo box. We carefully loaded it so the heaviest containers were toward the front of the RV since the rear tends to be heavy naturally with the gasoline, water, and sewer tanks. Then we secured the load with a cargo net.      

We decided that we would not use the slide on the dinette/sofa side of the motorhome while it was loaded this way to avoid the chance of damaging it. Jon shifted his heavy tools and air compressor to the storage units on the other side of the motorhome to balance the load. 
     

Shower Stuffed with Black Trash Bags Full of Linens

     The shower looked like another cargo hold to me. I lined the floor of it with anti-slip rug pad to protect the surface, and then filled the shower with our new trash containers packed with household items. I wrapped each container with a Mexican blanket to keep them from banging around. Then I filled the rest of the space in the shower with black trash bags full of blankets, pillows, and linens. I told Jon we could shower at the RV Park restrooms. No problem! We stuck a dowel in the shower track to keep the door closed during the drive, admired our work for a few moments, and proclaimed this a great packing idea. 

Bikes On the Back, Ladders, Fire Pit, Saw Horses, & More on Top

     Jon did a brilliant job of loading and tying down the large items onto the top and back of the motorhome. Each item that rested against the body or roof of the rig had padding to protect the body paint and the roof equipment. When he was finished, he had snuggled down a load that included a 20-foot extension ladder, an 8-foot ladder, two stepladders, a metal and tile fire pit, 2 shovels and a yard hoe, and 2 saw horses. The extended hitch held the spare tire and our two bikes covered with a tarp. It looked great! We decided that in order to minimize the weight we onboard, we would carry only enough fresh water to fill the tank one-fourth full. We would keep the Gray and Black Water Holding Tanks as empty as possible, and only fill the gas tank to about one-third full all the way to Sayulita. Jon added air to the tires until they were at 115 psi, the maximum recommended, so that they could handle the weight we had loaded in to our rig. It drove like a dream....well, like a boat, actually. Just a little sloppy, but otherwise pretty smooth.      

The next stop was a truck weigh station to check how well we had done on our weight and balance. First, we weighed the front half, with the 2 front tires on the scale: 7200 pounds. Then, we weighed the back half, with the 2 back front tires on the scale: 15,550 pounds! Oh no! The right side was fine at 3450 pounds, but the left side weighed in at 7700 pounds! We were not only 2000 pounds (ONE TON!) overweight, we were still running much heavier on one side than the other. We had to come up with a Plan B for transporting our stuff to Mexico!
     

A Stop in Klamath Falls, OR. to Purchase a Trailer

     After visiting out son and his family in Bend for the weekend, Jon decided we had to purchase a small trailer that would carry 2000 pounds of stuff and light the load in the motorhome. I searched for a trailer sales company that was open on Monday, and, surprisingly, there were none in Bend. I called around and found one that had just the right size trailer, but it was a three-hour drive away in Klamath Falls, Oregon. We headed for it, driving slowly and carefully, holding our breath that our motorhome would handle the trip. Four hours later, we arrived at Eddy's Great Outdoors, where the father and son team who owned the company were ready to help us get set up with a new trailer. Jon paid for the trailer and parts we needed to extend the tow hitch. The hitch needed to be long enough to allow for the spare tire and bike rack. They wasted no time hitting the trailer to our motorhome. 

Jon Attached to Hitch Extension

    We drove to a nearby Wal-Mart parking lot and spent a couple of hours moving all forty of our "containers" of personal items out of the dinette area and showering and arranging them in the trailer. We also moved some of Jon's heavy toolboxes into the trailer to lighten the motorhome as much as possible. We tied everything down with cargo nets and ropes. Now we could fill the gas tank, let some air out of the tires, and hit the road! The motorhome drove so much better; we knew we had done the right thing.
     But, on October 29, when we arrived in the Palm Springs area, we noticed the tow hitch was scraping pavement when we drove into a gas station. We checked it and realized that the hitch extension was sagging, causing the hitch to drag. We decided we had to move the bikes and bike rack into the trailer, which would require repacking the trailer. This was using up precious time, and we had a deadline for arriving in Mexico. We were supposed to do the final walk-through on the casita we were buying on November 7 and close the sale by November 10!

The Hitch Extension Started Sagging and Dragging

    Late that afternoon, we parked at a casino where we could boondock for the night and repack the trailer. A nasty sandstorm had started, so when we stepped out of the motorhome, we felt like we were standing in a giant sandblaster. We worked as quickly as we could to shift the boxes, making room for the bikes and bike rack, and then removing the extension on the tow hitch. By the time we were finished, everything was covered with sand, including us!

Repacking the Trailer in a Sand Storm

     On November 1, we arrived at the Mexican border. We knew the border guard would ask to inspect our trailer, and we had come prepared. We had learned from www.Expat.com (for Mexico)  discussions that having a list of items we were importing, written in Spanish, including the dollar values, ​​would expedite the inspection. I had labeled each container (box, tote, garbage can, etc.) with the "Container" number and contents. Jon had prepared an Excel spreadsheet that listed the Container Number, contents, and dollar value of each container with the total value at the bottom, just under $600 total. He had used SpanishDict online to translate the content names into Spanish. When Jon showed the border guard his list and pointed to the labels on some containers, he was satisfied. He only asked Jon to open two containers for inspection. Then he waved us on our way. Questions and answers we had received on www.Expat.com (for Mexico) , our research, and our preparation had paid off. We purchased our Tourist Visa and our Temporary Vehicle Permit for the motorhome, and then we were on our way to our new home in Mexico!

A Welcome Rest at Mar Rosa RV Park in Mazatlan

     We arrived at Mar Rosa RV Park in Mazatlan on November 3. We were grateful for a three-day stay at one of our favorite RV parks. We relaxed and enjoyed the city's weather, food, and beach. We now knew we would arrive at our Realtor's office in time to inspect the casita, wire our final payment, and sign the documents on the purchase of our new home.  It had been a trying trip, but worth it!

Read more in my book Retirement Before the Age of 59: Healthy Living in Mexico #2. What an adventure our move to Mexico was!

Thank you for reading my blog posts and books. I hope you'll leave a review of my books on Amazon!

Terry L Turrell, Author

Amazon Author Page