Traveling Mexico 2015

I will be putting some of the Mexico rides we do here this year here and maybe a few other items.

We have already done a 65 day ride to Panama and back to Mexico this year. It was actually started in 2013, but had to be aborted. It was restarted Jan 2, 2015. The Jan 2, 2015 trip starts on page 46.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=954306

I will be leaving tomorrow for a trip to Dallas, TX and will then rent a car to take my daughter and granddaughter to Mississippi with me. When we return to Dallas, I have a small moto/camping trip planned with my cousin.

Stay tuned!

Other major trips planned for this year include a Northern Mexico/Baja trip. This will complete the Mexico states of which Ana has not already visited. This trip will last about two months. And in September, we plan on "jumping" the gap and head to South America. This trip will last five to six months. The other major travel objective this year is to secure a Tourist Visa for Ana, so she can accompany me on trips to the US.

I always do this, but I have never put it on a RR. I keep a spread sheet in my computer named "Things to do before going to the USA or Mexico". I keep a list of the things I need to order before going to the states and things that I need to get out of my storage trailer in Mississippi. I normally visit my daughter and granddaughter in Texas every three months and Mississippi every six months. Anyway, to give you an idea of what type stuff that includes I will list my things for this coming trip.

These are items that were ordered and are at Tracy's or on the way to Tracy's

Front Tire; Rear Tire; Two Sets of Rear Brake Pads; Drive Chain;
Front Sprocket; Rear Sprocket; Four Faring Bolts; Two faring Bolt Cups;
Right Front Blinker; Two Spark Plugs; Rear Exhaust Header Pipe;
Lambda Sensor; Four Graphite Exhaust Washers; One Header Washer;
Four Counter Sunk Foot Rest Screws; Chain Guard; Fuel Filters; Rear Wheel Bearings; All of my Prescription Medicines; Accumulation of Magazine Subscriptions; and Chain Breaker;

Thing I need to buy at Walmart: Plumber Goop; 100 Blood Sugar Strips;
36 Hearing Aid Batteries; 6 AA Camera Lithium Batteries; 9 AAA SPOT Lithium Batteries; Walmart Brand Tylenol; One Disposable Flashlight; Midol: Because Ana needs it!!! ; and One Roll Duct Tape.

Thing I need to buy at Cycle Gear: Three Quarts of 10W-50W Moto Oil and Quick Dry Socks.

Other things I need to buy: Tevas Sandles, Two Tool Tubes, and a pair of Levis.


I have to go for now, I will finish the list later.

The remainder of the list is things that are in my storage trailer in Mississippi.

Fork oil; syringe for brake oil; syringe for brake grease; Sweet & Low, left over from house; various over the counter medicines; hammer; mosquito spray; box of SS moto bolts; cologne; driver for stuck bolts; a long 1/4" extension; 1/4" 6mm socket; OEM headlight bulb; and spare helmet.


As I said at the beginning, I have a list like this every time I go to the states. Some of the items are things that I cannot get in Mexico, or at least not without a lot of trouble and expense. For example, I would love to be able to purchase tires where I live, but have been unsuccessful in locating anyone within 50 miles that can/will order them. I hate hauling tires! There are other things that are in my trailer and I already have, I just need to slowly get them to Mexico. And of course there are many specialty type items that just don't exist here.

i thought medicines/prescriptions were cheaper in mexico, no?

The medicine is much cheaper in Mexico but you need to go to the right cities some cities are geared towards pharmacies dentist you need to find the right ones over by yuma and Phoenix

My Prescription Medicines are provided by my insurance as part of my retirement package from my employer. But one time I thought I was going to run out of Blood Sugar medicine and the price in Mexico was about three times what my co-pay and my ex-employer pays. Most over the counter medicines in Walmart Mexico are substantially higher than Walmart USA. As a matter of fact, most things in Walmart Mexico are 30% or so higher than the US.

IN............Let the adventure begin

I left last Saturday, Mar 21 and rode to Palma Sola, MX. It was a little over 500 miles.

The Eurus Wind Farm which is the largest wind farm in Latin America and produces 4% of Mexico's electricity was not making any when I went through! :eek1 For the first time since I have been passing through there, there was no wind and not a single fan blade was turning.

Most of the day was just making miles.

<NOBR>Sunday</NOBR> I was headed for the Renoza border. I arrived there 587 miles later. I pulled into the Aduana a few minutes before 6:00. It took no more than 15 minutes to <NOBR>close</NOBR> my Importation. I did not close my Tourist Pass because I had gotten it less than two weeks before. It took less than 22 hours on the road to make it that far.

During the day, I saw three big rigs that had been involved in accidents. The first had run off the road into a big ditch. A large crane was set up on the road attempting to get it out when I passed. I did ask one of the workers if the driver was OK and he affirmed that he was. The second truck had run off the road into a low ditch and taken out one or two concrete electric poles. I did not stop. The third was close to Reynoza and it appears that the 2nd trailer in the tandem had went off the road and turned the truck over in the middle of the road. Folks were filling their cars up with cases of Vanilla when I passed. I already posted about some very poor areas of the road, so I won't repeat it here.

A lot of Federalies as you approach Reynoza, the same as it always is.

I paid 14.38 pesos per liter all the way through Mexico and up to 93 miles from the border. In Reynoza I paid 10.41 pesos. That works out to $3.59 and $2.60 per GALLON using 15.2 to 1 US dollar. I have been paying around $2.50 per gallon for Premium in Texas.

It took 90 minutes to get across the bridge! :eek1 I had not eaten in quite a while and felt poorly the rest of the night because of it. Diabetes can be a pain in the butt at times.

Monday it was another 560 plus miles to my daughters house. A couple of observation on this part. You know you are in Texas when you are passing through one of the largest metroplexes in the state, (San Antonio) and there is a dead deer next to the freeway divider in the middle of town. And, I only lost six or seven minutes going through Austin. That is pretty good!



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After arriving at my daughter's house, I had to get to work as soon as I had visited some with my granddaughter.

The major work on the moto included changing the rear header pipe. Almost the entire rear end must be dismantled to accomplish this! :eek1 Plus changing the drive chain and sprockets. I also had to go for an eye exam and get new glasses ordered. Plus make a few trips to various stores to begin purchasing things on my list to carry back to Escuintla. This all took place Tuesday through Thursday afternoon.

Friday morning Tracy, Madison and I headed for Mississippi in a rental car. While in Mississippi, in addition to visiting family and friends I must do my Income Tax, go for a couple of doctor appointments, plus get Dusty, a good friend, to transfer info from my dead computer's hard drive to my new computer.

We will return to Dallas next Thursday or Friday.

In.

So ...again, you do not give an update on Tracey. I think of her and her new baby quite often.

hey amigo

1. If latter you come to Baja let me know.
2. where are the pics?!???

Have a great trip!

Damasovi

Tracy and Madison are with me in Mississippi now. I rented a car in Dallas. I think I reported a while back that under certain light, Tracy could finally see the color of Madison's red hair. She is able to see it in most situations now if she is very close. She still can't see the color of her eyes. In the past several months, Tracy has noticed a very small improvement in her eye sight. Not enough to allow her to drive or anything like that, but since that small improvement follow about nine months of no improvement it gives us hope.

OK!

I rode 1,650 miles in three days with almost 1,100 miles of it in Mexico. There are no pictures.

Hola!

PM inbound.

you just want to get away from the border eh!! I would do the same. May the Mexican Gods protects you! and enjoy the ride!

Damasovi

Still not any pictures, but it is not that I have not been busy! We arrived to Mississippi last Friday. I went through most of the things in my trailer again, putting some things in a box to take to Mexico, give some more stuff away and throwing some in the garbage. While doing this, I was working on my Income taxes a bit at a time. I finally wrapped it up today and sent another butt load of money to the folks taking care of us! My laptop fell out of the moto trunk the day I arrived to Tracy's and cracked the screen, which made it unusable. After buying a new one and getting both to my good friend Dusty, MC Collector here on ADV. He not only got all of my info transferred, but also determined that a new screen would fix the old one. So a new screen is on order and Ana will get her first computer when I return to the US in a few months.

The biggest issue in the past week has been finding out that my doctor had closed up shop and it was going to be difficult to get my health records, plus find a new doctor in a timely manner. Due to the help of a lot of folks, including old work acquaintances, health employees at various places and a prior neighbor, Rusty, that spent a lot of time helping me find a new medical replacement, I am back on track!

We will leave Friday morning headed back to Dallas. My cousin, Billy from Amarillo will come down Monday and we will do a five day moto/camping trip. On Saturday, the eleventh, I will go to another friend's house that has invited me to go to the MotoGP race in Austin, TX. Thanks JD! JD is Schizzman here on ADV. And then I will head back to Ana and Mexico!

PS: I will try to take some pictures.

Don't forget the smart phone for...