Trying to Catch up, Part I

You may all know that I have been out of circulation with my blog since I spilled Gatorade on my laptop. It would not boot up at all. I took it to be serviced in Playa Del Carmen and although the computer would boot up, the keyboard was all but unusable. The señorita  at the service shop recommended using another keyboard with a USB connection. I tried that and it was marginally better, but not good enough to do anything. If I chose to look at a blog, the blog would load and immediately go to the oldest blog on the list. If I brought up a page it would immediately go to the bottom and I could not change. There was an interesting phenomenon with Streets and Trips. When I would go to a route on file it would come up fine, but if I went to do anything on the map, the world would spin and spin, finally stopping on the North Pole.
My IT Tech son told me that there was still a problem with the keyboard and to try to remove the ribbon cable from the motherboard. I did so and the computer worked OK with the Mexican/Spanish keyboard. I found a new keyboard on Ebay for $11.32 with free shipping and I’m using it now. Installation was a breeze and I’m using it now.
OK, when we left off, we were still in Xpu-Ha, in the campground with friends who felt more like family. Our last days were spent dining out. Of course, Friday night was pizza night at Leo’s and we had the usual turn out.

From the left is Carol, Me, Ann, and behind Ann is Gerry. From the right is John, Shirley, Rob, Reed, and Glen.
Another night a bunch of us went back to Oscar and Lalo’s.

Around the table from the left is Reed, John, Peggy, Helen’s seat, Me, Shirley, Rob, Gerry (Brenda’s Gerry), Maddy (Gerry’s Daughter) and Brenda.
Not having our fill of dining, We went to an Italian restaurant in Puerto Adventuras With Shirley and Rob.

It was a perfect evening! The temperature was comfortable and the area with the lagoon and shops is really pretty. I couldn’t help but wonder how I managed to live this lifestyle. Rich and Famous? No! But check us out Robin Leach.
All too soon it was time to leave Paradise and head toward home, via San Miguel de Allende. I worried about the topes in Tulum and crossed them slowly and carefully, listening for the sound of the motorhome scraping them. It never happened. However, Somewhere beyond Tulum we came over a rise or around a turn and encountered an unmarked tope of considerable size. I jammed on the brakes before making contact but it was too late to diminish speed enough. We bounced with quite a jolt. When I stopped to assess damage I was astounded to see the way the receiver extension was bent. What worried me more was that the bumper on the Jeep was bent up at an odd angle.

The rear mount of the base plate was torn from the chassis.  This picture was taken after the base plate was pushed back quite a bit by a “solderer”in Escárcega who removed the bolts. There was about a four inch gap between the bracket and the chassis at first. I made it back to Inverness by making many, many wraps of nylon cord around the base plate and the anti-sway bar. I monitored it closely and had no further problem.

The first day we made it to “La Selva” a small restaurant that allows you to overnight when you eat there. Helen and I ordered quesadillas and we saw the waiter/chef dash out in his truck for supplies. The food was good and the cost for dinner for two with sodas and overnight parking was 120 pesos. Our next night was spent in a Pemex station someplace between Villahermosa and Puebla. Then Cholula, and finally San Miguel.
In San Miguel we met up with some old friends (friends from last year) and some new friends (friends we met this year). We certainly were not surprised to see Sue and Brian, since we were there to see them, but we were shocked to see Mollie, Pat and Mike’s lovable dog, in the campground. We met Pat and Mike again later, but they were just passing through.

 Most campers going to Mexico would not venture there with out Church’s Mexican Campground book. Here are, left to right, Mike and Terri Church and our friends Sue and Brian.
This was our first day and Sue and Brian became our personal guides to the wonders of San Miguel, but that will be in the next blog.
Later