The Yin and Yang of Luck

It has been a while since I last posted, primarily because we've had some pretty sketchy internet service for the past week.  And with the big holiday, we also figured most folks had more important things to do than read our blog....

Our campsite at Rancho Verde.

We certainly experienced the yin and yang of luck last weekend with our wheel bearing mishap.  It was unlucky that we broke down, but it was lucky that we realized the problem soon enough that things didn't turn out far worse for us (it was also lucky that we didn't break down 30 miles from the nearest town, which could have happened).  It was unlucky that we chose to break down in front of a paranoid property owner, but it was lucky that the Pemex was only a half kilometer away.  It was unlucky that we couldn't get a tow because of the holiday, but it was lucky because that probably saved us a lot of money, as compared to what it had cost to have the repair made in the Pemex station parking lot.  It was unlucky that the guy in Glendale over tightened our bearings, but it is lucky that I now know how to tell when they are properly adjusted (and will hopefully never have a repeat of this experience).

Camping at the Pemex was an interesting experience.  In the evening a semi arrived and parked for the night near us.  The first thing the driver did was to get a couple of packages out of the back.  Not long after, someone came to pick the items up and some cash was exchanged.  We didn't know what to make of that.  In the morning, another truck arrived.  A smaller truck with three men showed up later and waited for quite some time.  There were a couple of other vehicles that stopped by, each picking up an item or two.  Then the smaller truck went to work, loading up some furniture, then driving away, returning a short time later for another load.  They did this three or four times.  Then we figured it out - the big semis are too big to deliver in a small town, so the pickups are prearranged.  Pemexes just happen to be convenient transfer points.

After our weekend misadventure, the first thing I did after reaching La Paz last week was to e-mail Camp Inn for the link to a video showing the proper steps for replacing and repacking wheel bearings.  Then I made a trip to Autozone to get a replacement dust cap, some spare cotter pins and a lug wrench that would fit the lugs on the camper.  I also double checked the Camp-Inn owners manual for their description of what a properly tightened hub assembly should feel like when pulling the wheel perpendicular to its plane of rotation (it should have about 1/16" of play).

With that knowledge in hand, I removed the dust caps on both wheels, loosened the splined nuts roughly two castellations past where there had been no side-to-side play in the wheel.  That allowed me to sense when there was some play and when there was too much play.  I then tightening the splined nut by one castellation, which gave me my best approximation of achieving 1/16" of play.

It is a good thing that I thought to have Antonio duct tape the dust cap to the hub, as the gray goo that he applied in an attempt to keep it in place did absolutely nothing at all.  And when I inspected his work, I found he had over packed the end of the spindle with grease AND had failed to secure the cotter pin in place.  If that dust cap had come off, the cotter pin would have been next to go, possibly allowing the splined nut to loosen and come off.  That could have sent the trailer wheel flying off the end of the spindle, possibly causing collateral personal injury and/or property damage, and making it very difficult to maintain control of the van and camper.  From this point forward, whenever I have the hubs serviced, I plan to double check the work once I am at home or at a campground.  It only takes a few minutes per wheel, and it is well worth the peace of mind.

Having, after about two weeks of travel in Mexico, reached (more or less) our farthest point south on this trip, for the next five weeks or so we will be endeavoring to kill some time on our way north.  So we will be staying multiple nights at most of the campgrounds that we visit, and we are a bit more likely to stay at campgrounds without wi-fi access (assuming we can get things moving towards a resolution with the IRS).  As a result, we'll be posting to the blog less frequently.

Our favorite tope (speed bump) sign - surfboards flying off the car rack!

Our plan when we left La Paz was to camp at La Ventana, a site very popular with kite surfers.  The landscape that we saw differed dramatically from what was described in our guide book, which was published just four years ago.  I suspect the shiny new desalinization plant at the edge of town may have been the trigger that started the explosion of growth there.  None of the campgrounds we were looking for were still extant, and the two new campgrounds were stuffed to the gills with campers. 

Kite surfers at La Ventana.

So went about 60 km farther down the road and stopped at Rancho Verde RV Park (~150$, water, hot showers and wi-fi [no power]), which is about 20 miles west of Los Barriles.  We ending up staying here a full week after learning that the remaining campground in Los Barriles, is currently charging $35-$45 per night!  We stayed here for less than $45 per week.

This is one of the nicer campgrounds that we've stayed at in Mexico.  It has large camping pads that are widely spaced, and they provide a few amenities at some campsites - fire rings and tables.  On the other hand, the wi-fi is pretty sketchy here, and the one bathroom/shower is located a ways away from the campsites.  But it is quiet here, about 10 degrees cooler than the coast and not nearly as windy.  The campground dogs leave Lana alone, which is yet another bonus.  And even better still, the spring fed water here is as good as the purified water we buy in town, so when we leave we will top off our holding tank, Igloo cooler and our 5 gallon jug (that only saves us a buck or two, but it also means that we won't have to hunt down a water purification plant anytime soon).

We've used the campground as our base for exploring the area.  We've been to Santiago to see the Tropic of Cancer display, taken a trip to Cabo Pulmo, done a few training rides on a road north of Los Barriles, drove up into the Sierra De La Laguna and done lots of shopping in Los Barriles (for pleasure and for necessities).

Near Cabo Pulmo.

Our last day here we drove west to El Triunfo to visit Caffe El Triunfo.  We heard about this place (which is supposedly owned by a former Hells Angel) from the Baja Amigos.  The food is awesome and fortunately we were warned that the portions were huge.  Alea and I split three Ahi tacos and it was more than enough lunch for us.  The prices seem a bit high for Baja, but you are getting a lot more for your money, and the ambience was a step above the average restaurants down here.  The food was all the more impressive considering that we got there just after 40 Audi SUVs showed up.  That meant 80+ people who were part of a big press entourage landed there before us.  They were being wined and dined, in the hope of their writing nice things about this particular car (which is now being built somewhere in Mexico).

Various views from our training route north of Los Barriles.

On our way back to La Paz, we drove out to Baia de Las Suenas (Bay of Dreams), where we  had lunch at Restaurant 1535.  It is a beachside restaurant with a huge palapa-sheltered dining area.  A very filling lunch there was less than $30 US, including drinks.

The view of Baia de Las Suenas, as seen from Restaurant 1535.