Click on a photo to enlarge it.
Back from Germany and into the cold!! It was only 15 degrees C and raining in Mexico City! We had a short stop in a hotel for a few hours and got up
at 4-30 am the next morning to get back to the airport for our flight to Obregon.
Jan came from Álamos and picked us up as it would have been really difficult for us to get transport with our heavy bags. We spent
the next few days trying to get all our stuff sorted out and getting over jet lag - we got up at 2-30 am one morning for a cuppa
and a piece of apple cake!
Colin and Jan asked us if we could stay a bit longer and look after the house and Casita whilst they drove to Chihuahua to fetch
their things that were in storage there. We also needed to feed the dog and cat!
The temperature was back to the usual 36 degrees and humid which slowed us down trying to get everything sorted out. A number of
thunderstorms came over and we had power cuts. We had a visit from a tarantula outside the Casita and one evening the dog, Miel,
kept barking until Helen went outside to find out what she was barking at ... a snake!
Just before Colin and Jan arrived back, a huge storm went over us and we got flooded inside the Casita. We had to bring the dog
inside for a while and spent a frantic 45 minutes trying to stop the flood of water coming in under the front door. Then Kirsten
ran over to the house which had also got water inside.
Helen went over to help and we'd only just finished when Colin and Jan returned!! We had to explain about all the mopping etc and
we were exhausted!
In the meantime, we had plugged the motor home in to the electric and switched the fridge on to get it cold so we could leave. We
were starting to move stuff back into Winnie and noticed an ammonia smell. When Kirsten opened the fridge door she got hit with so
much ammonia that her eyes were smarting!!
We already knew from other motor home users that if the fridge starts smelling of ammonia its the end of the fridge. Ours was 24
years old so it had served us well but then we had to work out what we were going to do.
The new fridges are different sizes, they don't make our model any more, and we didn't know if the new ones would fit. We also looked
into getting a fridge that has a compressor and runs off 12 volts and having solar panels fitted to run it. Then we found a repair
place in Tucson that deals with all motor home models from the 1980s.
So Helen phoned up but we were given a quote of almost $700 for the repairs. So we decided to drive up to Tucson and look into things
in more detail.
We left Álamos on the 2nd September, bought a cool box in Navajoa and headed north to Hermosillo. We need new brakes - both front and
rear. We went to the Goodyear tyre place where we had bought our new tyres from as we knew they did brakes but they couldn't get
some of the screws off and sent us to a garage that specializes in brakes.
It was a Friday evening and they spent 2 hours doing our front brakes for $90 - it would have cost us three times that much in the US.
There was no more time to do the back brakes so we stayed overnight on their car park at the front and arranged to go in at 8am the
following morning. A huge thunderstorm came over during the evening and the road turned into a river with a torrent of water
streaming along it!! Great photos of cars aqua planing.
Storm in Hermosillo
The next morning it took 4 hours to do our back brakes as we needed new seals which had to be ordered. Aaron, our mechanic, cleaned
absolutely everything and spent time explaining to us what was wrong before and what he was doing. He's really nice and he even took
Kirsten to fetch more ice for our cool box. The men even fetched us chairs and a fan so we could sit and relax!!
It cost just over $100 for the back brakes so we gave them a big tip - $25. I know it doesn't sound much but it's a big tip for them
and they were really happy.
We drove north and crossed the border at Nogales and stayed at the Wal-Mart car park. It was a bank holiday (Labour Day) in America
so we wouldn't have been able to do anything about our fridge.
Instead we went to the tyre and lube at Wal-Mart and got an oil change and a new battery fitted in the front. But they connected it
up the wrong way and blew an 80 amp fuse. They tried to tell us that the reason the motor wouldn't start was because our solenoid
probably needed replacing as it was rusty!!
So they had to push us out of the work shop onto the car park!! We went to the manager to complain. The only reason he believed us
was because we had seen the spark when he connected the battery up the wrong way and we'd told the mechanic that there had been a
spark. He said it wouldn't matter! Yeah right!!!
Anyway, they went off to Napa and got a new fuse which only cost $5 and Winnie was up and running again. (Maybe we do need a new
solenoid but that wasn't the problem!)
Next stop, Tucson and hopefully a solution for our fridge. On the way up from Mexico we had already realized that a cool box wouldn't
work in the long run. We had to get ice every day which cost $2 and we couldn't cook for ourselves because we could only put a few
things in it and had to buy containers that were supposedly water proof but weren't!
We ended up getting fast food and eating tinned stuff and sandwiches. The only good thing was that we had cold drinks at our
fingertips as the cool box was right behind the passenger seat. Otherwise we would have to completely alter our eating style and
live out of tins. No thanks. We need a fridge.
We looked into getting the old one repaired but when the man took a look at the general condition of our fridge he just looked at
us and said there would be no guarantee that something else wouldn't go wrong in the near future and he can't get spare parts any
more! At least he told us the truth even if it did mean losing business.
Realistically we already knew that getting the old fridge repaired would only be a temporary solution and for $700 it wasn't worth
it, not for a fridge that was already 24 years old. Then we went to Camping World. The new fridges are all bigger and after looking
into all the possibilities we were down to two options.
Only one of the new fridges would fit but we would have to get remodelling done inside for it to be able to fit. It would cost $500
on top of the $1000 for the new fridge. It would take about a week to order and get fitted.
The only alternative was a compressor fridge and solar panels. That would cost approx $2500 and would take at least 4 weeks for us
to order one and then find someone to order and fit solar panels for us. In the meantime we would spend a small fortune on eating out.
Then Camping World told us that they had the exact model we needed in stock. It had been ordered for someone else but didn't fit. So
we negotiated and got an appointment for the next day.
As always with Camping World you get a quote and then extras start getting added on top. $20 for this and an extra $15 for that and
so on. Whenever we get anything done here we always end up arguing about the cost.
At one point the work was stopped because we couldn't agree on the final cost! Eventually we agreed on a price but we really had to
fight. We also knew that this particular fridge was our only option and if we went anywhere else it would take at least a week.
So, finally, after a full day we had our fridge inside, with a new base panel and outside trim. We had to admit that it looked good
despite the high cost of the remodelling. We drove back to the shop from the repair building and Kirsten switched on the water pump -
nothing!!! Then we tried all the other switches on the same panel - nothing. Oh no! Now what!
Back into the shop and we told them that there was obviously something wrong with the electrics because we'd blown a fuse and even
with a new one, the panel didn't work.
It was already after 5pm and so we had to go back the next day. 20 fuses later we found out that they had grounded the wrong wire for
the fridge and it kept blowing the fuses for the water pump! They took it in and had to take one of the covers off the roof vent for
the fridge to get to the wire. Otherwise they would have had to take the fridge out!
Finally we had our new fridge and hoped that it wouldn't break down on us too soon. They don't make things to last any more!!
We went to a campground to get laundry done and to check that the fridge works off electric aswell as
propane.
Then we drove up to Canyon de Chelly in northern Arizona which took a couple of days and stayed at the free campground there for 4
nights so that we had time to get a few things sorted out and do some minor repairs and to have a bit of a rest.
