Celebrating another day as a beach bum.

 

Not a lot doing today. I made some progress in ordering parts for the motorhome. After checking everything out, here’s what I did.

First, I checked with FedEx to find a GOOD way to get my parts from the USA to Mexico. The parts will be shipped to my son in Clermont, Florida, be repackaged and delivered to the FedEx office in his town. It will be delivered to the closest FedEx depot to me, which is 14 miles away. I will check the tracking and pick up my parts when I know that they’re near.

Then I went on-line to order the parts and have them sent to Clermont. They will be shipped tomorrow, but so close to Christmas I’m not sure what the delivery will be.

I sent an email back to FedEx in Clermont and my son, giving them the exact address of the FedEx depot down here. What could go wrong??? I probably shouldn’t ask.

A couple of nights ago we had a terrible time with the campground electricity. The voltage was going from about 88 volts to 148 volts that I personally measured. One camper has a digital readout that went to 180 volts at one point. I have a surge protector that I bought last year, but used for the first time when this problem started. It worked well and it would shut off power when the voltage went below 102 or above 132 volts. The next morning somebody fixed it. A palm frond fell on the wires and shorted out some ground or something. One camper had their inverter and microwave fried. The smell of something burning woke them up from a sound sleep. I guess the smell of smoke would do that. Sadly, the young couple was heading to Miami in the morning to catch a flight back to Europe. The repairs will hacve to wait until they return.

Unfortunately, my Surge Protector has failed, though it did live long enough to prevent any damage to our motorhome. I called the manufacturer and talked to Tech Support. The technician had several theories about why it wouldn’t work, but I went through the trouble shooting section of their literature and could dismiss them all. He asked how old the unit was and I told him that I bought it before coming to Mexico last year, but actually used it for the first time during this problem. I’m thrilled that all my electricity and electronics have been protected, but sad that the warranty ended last October. I told him that I realized that it was out of warranty and also told him that since I live only an hour away from the plant, I would bring it in for repair. HE told me not to worry, that they would stand behind their unit.

My other job around the campground is one shared with a few other campers. We have three dogs and walk them up the road, well away from the campground. However, there are several (4, 5, 6 or more, I can’t tell) dogs who live at the resort as “junkyard dogs” and they prefer to do their business in the camping area. So…….we dig a hole and bury the ……….excretion. Several of us have shovels and others have used mine, so I cannot complain about the campers, it’s just the way it is in Mexico. It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it!

Then, there is the awesome fishing. What is truly awesome is that  a fisherman of my experience comes back without so much as a bite, time after time. Today I walked down the beach and actually had the chance to hook a big one. What did I do? As I saw it going  after my lure, I quickly yanked it away so it couldn’t hook itself. “It”, was not a fish, but an immature brown pelican. I have seen seagulls and pelicans tangled in line and it’s not pretty. To untangle seagulls on the beach back on Cape Cod, it was a two man operation. One held the seagull’s head down with a shovel while the other tried to avoid being bitten while untangling the line. They are NASTY animals with a VICIOUS temper.

Pelicans look so adorable with their big brown eyes. One of the immature ones was swimming within 8 or 10 feet of me, hoping that I would reel in some morsel that I’d give him. I confess that if I did catch a fish I probably would have tossed it to him, but I’ve seen pelicans close up and they have a nasty tip on the end of their bill which could take out a nice piece of flesh. Today, no one got hurt, or fed, either.

Tonight, the plan is to drive down to Puerto Adventuras, wals around after dark and see the lights, and then have dinner at one of the many fine restaurants that surround the Dolphin/Seal/Manatee encounter pools.

 

More tomorrow.

 

Later!