“Mexico 🇲🇽 ~Part 2 of 2 Lazy Dayzzz (and drama) on the Gulf of California at The Reef RV Park in Puerto Penasco/Rocky Point”

• October 14, 2023
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

Still Here at Rocky Point, Mexico 🇲🇽

I’ve been watching the horse back riding happening on the beach. There are a few riding places around. We definitely wanted to go, but that always depends on the health of the horses, in foreign lands. Here, they all looked well fed and the handlers seemed to care. The horses also seemed well mannered. We never support a business that doesn’t care for their animals. So, I think we will go next week, for their sunset ride.

Next week came. I paid our deposit over the phone with a live human, and got a follow-up email confirmation, from “Rocky Point Adventures,” for the sunset beach ride.
We showed up at the designated place, 15 minutes before our time slot, as instructed, and they were a no show! I called the number, but it was after 5PM, and no answer.

In the morning, I called the same number. The person speaks good English, btw. He put me on hold to call the horse place. I was told “There was a delay and couldn’t make it to us in time.” When asked if we wanted to go on this next sunset, I said yes, but not after negotiating a cheaper price, which I got. $50

Horseback riding 2.0 worked out. We were told two people signed up to meet at their stables, and didn’t show, and they tried waiting for them, which caused a delay for us. The horses arrived at 5:15PM, but we had left at 5:10PM. Sunset was at 6PM, so we would have been shorted on time.  
We rode on a nice trail ride along the beach, and in from the beach and loved it. We had nice horses and a friendly guide, named Jesus. We recommend.

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Around the RV Park area….

⬆️ This is being set up to be a restaurant. It’s only been there for a few weeks. We were told future plans for this area is for a dock to be built, so cruise ships can stop here.

⬆️ Now this would be a fun nest watch, during the springtime. Pelican Nest? A Crane or Egret of some kind? There are plenty of these bird species here. But, I have no idea.

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⬆️ We’ve really been using our A/C’s like crazy this last month. In October of last year, the temps cooled down to the 70’s, here at Rocky Point. This year it is still in the 90’s.  

We have three A/C units, total, and only use the bedroom one at night. Strangely enough, it’s the one that decided to quit putting out cool, and only the fan was working. The other two A/C’s are working still (knocking on wood).

We ended up calling up a local professional for the problem. I’m glad, if it had to happened, it happened whist in Mexico. I love the more affordable mobile service options, while we remain in our home.

In 30 minutes, a guy showed up. We were hoping the A/C’s just needed the coils cleaned or something, but the A/C coils did not look very dirty at all. He did discover a wire that got loose and apparently got too hot and melted the connector. He left to get that part and returned very soon and fixed our #1 air conditioner. It’s working again! These units are heat pumps, too, so we needed the fix to have heat this winter, as well.

Honestly, these RVs are like a continual earthquake, as they roll down the road, so when something comes loose, it’s never a huge surprise to me. We had him look over our other two A/C units and all looked good. We are always glad when we can get such quick service! $50

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Bad News 

…something woke me at 4:30AM last week … I laid there feeling like I needed to go outside (I’ve never had that feeling in Mexico, in the dark, before, for good reason) even thought.. get the Bear spray.. go outside. It was so weird.. I didn’t go outside for 1/2 hour. I wished I would have followed my gut, but by the time I did go out, Daryl’s E-Bike was gone..

Daryl loves his bike and rode it all the time! He is obviously bummed-out!
So mad 😡 !!! So Sad 😭

Daryl always locks his bike up. In this case, it was locked to our metal steps on The Whale. The thief had an eye on the E-bike. It required bolt cutters or a hacksaw.

In the light, Daryl followed the trail in the sand, west on the beach, all the way up on the sandy road. This way, the criminal avoided leaving through the RV Park, thus avoiding the security gate.

My gut tells me things..like intuition at times. This is not new, but I should have listened to it, and woke up Daryl to go outside.

The size of feet in the sand around the bike indicated kid or kids .. teenagers… small adult. Daryl wears a size 14, so huge difference there!

The RV office said an ice maker and a bag of shoes got stolen, a few spots down.. strange thing is, we saw the ice maker and a bag next to our front wheel on the driver side of Motorhome.. wondered about it. Daryl moved them away from our Motorhome, towards the beach, thinking somebody was coming back to collect their stuff after their beach day  .. we didn’t know they were stolen and stashed….

We were told, theft at this RV Park has been unheard of, till now, with us. I told Jesus, our horse handler about the bike theft. He is not connected to the Reef RV Park in any way, but he says he’s lived here for 8 years and has never heard of any thefts. He was very surprised. 

The Policia showed up, after the office called them for us. and a nice RV employee translated for us. We got a case number and Daryl had to go to the police department in Puerto Penasco to file the official report at 3PM. Only he goes all the way over there and they told him to come back on Monday at 3PM.

So Monday rolls around and Daryl goes back to the Policia station at 3PM. He wad turned away again, since the individual was in an important meeting.
He was told to come back on Tuesday. 🙃 There won’t be another trip there. 

We were really looking forward to no drama, down here. Relax. Recharge. Down right be bored, if possible, even! No such luck. It’s just been a hard year for Team Saunders, but then again, living in this upside down world is hard on everybody, in one way or another…

“Same boat, just different Seas.”

We would learn Daryls E-bike is quite the talk of the town, by now. Word spread fast. Locals are watching out for us, but nobody knows anybody with a nice new bike in town.

The insurance we get when we come to Mexico focuses on coverage for Jonah and The  Whale. It’s an extra expense, with just that. Nobody ever expects to be stolen from, till it happens.
We haven’t had anything stolen from us in seven years of full-time of traveling the world; two years RVing.

Between Daryl getting hit by a crazy lady in a car, a few weeks ago, while he was on his bike, and now his bike being stolen… what’s the universe trying to say, anyway?

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In lighter news, we did contact the massage lady named Mary, and lined up massages. Our new next door camp neighbors used her services with another gal for two at a time, and they told us they were quite pleased. So we went for it. The Whale is big enough we got both massage tables set up inside with the air condition, as afternoons are quite hot, for being outside.

Not only did we get good massages; a job well done, we lined-up another couples massage on our last Friday, before we departed.

BONUS, Mary did my hair, too!
Since I’m growing out my hair, it is now in my face all the time, so now the sea breeze can blow, and my hair is secure. Ha!
Feels nice!

Mary is also helping us get some mending done on four pair of Daryls shorts, while we are here. She took a full bag with her and said next week she will bring back, fixed. Somebody always knows somebody who can help.

Mary came by the very next week to give the mending back, $20 and a great job done! 

As soon as the A/C guy left who fixed our unit, our two massage ladies showed up for our second scheduled ;1.5 hour appointment. It was fabulous and we felt very pampered.

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When we had shuffled items at our storage area, before and after our Alaska trip, we managed to lose track of our little folding camping table we’ve had, since we got Tiny the trailer. It got left behind, unfortunately. So, I bought a cute folding table that has a painting on it, and it’s perfect. Now I have a nice memento to remember the good things about this trip!

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Operation “Bay Door Replacement” is complete! The new door that was primer gray, that we ordered and had delivered to the states during the summer, and brought here, is all painted up and looks good!

It’s perfect. They did a great job. The picture shows reflection of its surroundings, so it looks marked up, but it’s not. It’s hard to show a picture of it, but it is finished.

This painting/repair shop stays very busy.  There is even a customer at the RV Park that is getting a brand new paint job on his entire motorhome. While it was stationary at their camp spot, the workers were sanding it all down. What a big job that is, and in the heat of the day! That RV (same size as ours) got moved over to the shop. $10,000 will get that big rig a nice new shiny paint job.

Somebody else in the RV Park is getting the stripes repainted on their Motorhome ⬇️ 

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⬆️ This might not look like much to anybody else, but to us, it’s very exciting! The skylight over our shower is a two-pieces set up. The outside piece needed replacing, since it got cracked during a storm last year, via a flying  branch.

After the guy took off the outside piece, he worked at cleaning up an amazing amount of debris, between the two pieces, that had been bugging me for quite awhile. Somehow debris got inside it. (you know, like how do dead flies end up inside light covers)?

⬆️ As the man was cleaning.. almost there!

Anywayzzz, we had a crack, not a hole and the debris (like fir needles) were there when we bought it. I passed up the Windex to the worker and the end result is amazing! So much light!!!! 

⬇️ We also have a small scuff mark on our paint, at the back of The Whale. We are getting that repaired, too. 

Before this bonding work, it was only about a three inch by half inch mark. It will be all blended and feathered out with the repainting in a few days. Most people couldn’t even see this scratch, but we knew it was there.
We take The Whale into their shop, on departure day. It’s suppose to take a few hours, is all, as the new paint needs to be set for an hour, before we drive it.
No problem. We are spending our departure night just back over the border.

More work done….

Daryl got a front hitch (receiver), that involved some welding, put on today. The original plan for moving the bike rack to the front of The Whale, from the back, was for Daryls E-Bike… you know, the one that got stolen…

The bike rack stuck out too far on the back of The Whale, and it actually scratched Jonah above her headlight on a tight turn, once. 😩

This hitch plan was in place with work already being fabricated, BEFORE Daryls E-Bike got stolen. 😡 So had to follow through.

*Life*

Carlos Hernandez is the contact name and we recommend him and his work. His shop is right next door to the RV Park. Who knows, when Jonah is no longer a tow vehicle, we just might make a trip down here, just to get her a new paint job.

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Something else that has kept me too busy, is being on the phone with Cricket customer service about my phone service, or lack there of!!

While still in Arizona, we went to great lengths to change my cell phone provider to join Cricket and be on the same account with Daryl. Cricket proved themselves through Canada this last summer, and my, then, current provider did not work outside the USA.

We went to a Cricket store in Tucson, Arizona to get changed over. We got a large package with lots of hot spot added, so we could use both our phones in an area where signal isn’t great, but enough, most of the time.  We were very clear with the representative who assisted us, we were going to Mexico; leaving the USA for the better part of October and I need my phone to work. No problem we were told. Only there was a HUGE problem.

The good news is, Daryls service continues to be what we expected, and we are grateful to have one phone that works down here! Mine doesn’t work AT ALL! If I get any service, it’s from Daryls hot spot we put on his phone.

Normally, our hot spot is used for any streaming we might do, blogging, and to process photos, since the provider is good enough here, checking email and going on social media can be accomplished, without using up hot spot.

After four days, every day for a few hours of being on hold with Cricket customer service, I finally got some actual help. Her name was Megan. It has been determined that my phone is not on roaming. No problem, right? WRONG.

In the beginning, I was told by technical support, I needed to get the latest update on my phone. Well, that takes internet. So we went to a local bar that offers free internet. Two hours later, I was updated to the latest IOS. BUT, in the end, that had nothing to do with why my phone doesn’t work down here.

The next day, I called Cricket again, since my phone still didn’t work. I was told I just needed to turn it off and on. Really? I told that gal we were way beyond that trick. I had done this a couple of times in the beginning, to no avail.

By day four: In order to get my phone set to roaming I have to do a complete factory reset!!! WHAT? Wouldn’t roaming be something that would be looked at, when I got set up at the Cricket store?

There are no Cricket stores in Mexico. So this is not going to get fixed while down here, through a store. Daryl and I are not techy people and have no desire to try to do this reset on our own. It’s basically resetting the phone; wiping it of everything on it. THEN, relying on The Cloud to put it all back. No thanks.

So, for example, Daryl left the RV Park to file a police report, and obviously takes his phone with him. Without his phone I am unable to use my phone, till he returns, and I can use the hot spot. It’s so ridiculous. I’m telling you. “the best laid plans!” We swore we would not be in Mexico this year without cell service. We went through similar in Mexico last year. We anticipated we could buy a local SIM card, but that was not an option after we got there. 

I reported to the customer service lady with Cricket, I wanted a complete refund for the month of October, which is over $100. She was only able to provide $30 credit and used this credit to add more hot spot to Daryls phone, for me to use. Since I provided the store identification number in Tucson, Arizona, I was told they would investigate, as any further credit needs to come from there.
Okay…

I would learn later, no investigation was launched.

I made it very clear, too. Had I been told, up-front at the Cricket store, my phone is not compatible with Cricket for whatever is going on, while still in the USA, I wouldn’t have changed providers to them. I would have gone elsewhere; again, while still in the USA, till I found the right assistance, because my old provider would have worked the same in Mexico as Cricket right now…. which is on par with a huge nothing burger!
The clerk at the Tucson Cricket store knew we were going to Mexico, this was made quite clear.

I contacted my bank to find out a phone number and address for the Cricket charge on my card, since the online info didn’t offer anything but the ID number. I was given a phone number. (There are about 20 cricket stores in the area we were in) I called the phone number and it was not a working number.

I called online customer service for Cricket, so they could match the store ID with a phone number. This person asked me for the zip code associated with the store I went to. I explained there was no way I would know that, since I was trying to get all the details from them, for contacting the store. The store #979 means nothing, so I began calling around to the many Cricket stores in Tucson, Arizona. I finally found them. I asked for a credit for all of our troubles over a solid week of my phone not working in Mexico. I was told by the manager, “we have a policy that settings on customers phones are not set by anybody but the customer.” I pretty much lost it on this manager, since no such policy was explained to me, verbally or offered in writing. I told him if he wanted me for an ongoing customer, he could fix my situation, or I would file a claim with my bank for monies refunded, and go elsewhere, with major bad reviews to boot; his choice. We were passed off to a kid who actually worked with us, using FaceTime, so he could see my phone settings and he figured it out, WITHOUT doing a factory reset. My roaming is now set (for which he said was challenging, because he has my same phone, personally, but mine has some differences). Weird, but par for the course.

So, for just under a week to go, out of almost a three week stay in Mexico, my phone finally works. I never got any credit for having to buy hotspot to keep me going thru Daryl’s phone.

⬆️ But, I did read a half a dozen books (pre uploaded books) while down here. I love to read and it was great having the luxury of time and little distraction, to do so! ⬇️

….Too much drama to keep us in wifi signal over the last year! Ugh. It’s just too much; like the “house internet” we got from T-Mobile, last year. We asked that sales person (in Arizona) if the T-Mobile Gateway program would work in Alaska and Mexico, before we purchased. We were told in many places it would work, just fine. We know there are places in both locations where there are serious dead zones.. BUT that services ended up not working AT ALL….even in Anchorage, which is a good test for all of Alaska, so we got lied to. That clerk lied. We ended up pausing our service, for four of those months, we were on that trip.

Prior to that, we purchased a Starlink package, which we already knew had a good reputation for service in Alaska. We got screwed over by them, too! I had to fight to get our $600 dollars back, after we sent the hardware back and were out $150 for the monthly service fee, for which we got no service in that time!

What started the whole thing was the in-house (RV) internet provider we had for over a year, that worked like champ in the USA, decided they could not provide unlimited service for $50/month, but needed $150/ month for a limited package. Really? We parted ways…. Oh and incidentally; months later, I got a message from this same provider (TravelData) they were running a special on unlimited data packages, and would we come back? Ha! They are probably out of business, now….

I’m so weary of dealing with this stuff!! FOR REALZZZ!

….Oh and for anybody thinking not being connected to the outside world isn’t a big deal and it’s good to go off grid for a while; this is true, but only in very small doses. Trust me. We are in year seven of this nomad life, and we have been off-grid for enough of the time, traveling the world, we know it’s not a zen thing, very often! We aren’t on vacation, this is our lifestyle and it’s more like how most people feel when your internet doesn’t work at your home, since you pay for it there, too. I guarantee you would be making a phone call or two to get it fixed. We need service for maps to get around ALL THE TIME in unfamiliar places, camping reservations, phone calling, bill paying, and more. It’s pretty essential for sure.

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FUN STUFF

We went to the shopping area of Puerto Penasco and walked both sides of the street. Our plan was to buy some gifts for the grandkiddos, which was a success! I also like to buy Mexican vanilla for baking, which was great.

It’s a nice area and the shops are fun. People are friendly. The hot part of the day is from 10AM to sunset, so we don’t last long, wandering around, outside.

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We did have water issues (no water available) within a few days of arriving at this RV Park. It seems to have improved, and we have been able to do loads of laundry, showers and run the dishwasher, like normal.
At the time of the water shortage, though, we felt so grateful to have consistent shore power, since last year we had a terrible time with that, way further south, in Mexico; but never ran out of water.

Well, I spoke too soon!

We had a terrible night and day with off and on power. It caused a sleepless night for sure and our generator kicked on every time, BUT, what we didn’t know, was a breaker flipped off and it was for our freezer in the basement. All of our fish from Alaska!!! By the time it was discovered, it was almost too late. It never cools down around here, more than 75 degrees at night. It was so stressful and awful, but fortunately we had ice crystals still formed, and were able to get everything frozen solid again in our inside freezer.
Other people lost power too, so it wasn’t just us.

Mexico RVing has def lost some of its charm for us, by the end of this trip, but we will get over it. I’m not saying we won’t return, because we know we will. It’s the best way to get our maintenance done on The Whale, enjoy beach time and buy fresh seafood.

Another service The Reef RV offers, we think is pretty cool…..They have a HUGE storage lot (hundreds of RV trailers). Patrons who come down here on the regular, can store their RVs for a fee, and just prior to arrival, the workers collect your RV from the storage lot and move that RV to their reserved site; hook it all up, and get the a/c going.

We are getting new neighbors next to us again, as we watched it all get set up for them. Neighbors should be coming soon, and if they really thought ahead from their last visit, I bet they might have left beers in their fridge, to get chilled! Looked like a mother/daughter visit and they stayed three days. When they left in their car, the workers came and unhooked the trailer and moved it back to storage.

We wouldn’t want to store our nice rig next to the ocean, personally (salt causes rust) but it would be super convenient if ya got a beater RV, for just coming down here, if your the type who likes returning to the same place on the regular.

It really is very pretty here. Our view never gets old, being right on the beach, and the sunsets are to die for, with no two alike. The waters are full of fish and shrimp. We see people catching fish from the beach, a lot. Big fish, too! There are many bird species to watch all day long as they feed constantly. Pelicans do a cool Kamikaze dive to catch fish.When the tide is out, it’s very fun to explore the tiny marine life.

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We have definitely not gone out to eat to much, while here. Dinners out are not cheaper in Mexico, and we have purchased fresh seafood and happy to cooked for ourselves. There is a restaurant here, though, called Mar Blue, next to the RV Reef, so we made reservations for our final Saturday night, in Mexico. It was a very nice date night out, for sure! 

⬆️ My handsome date 

⬆️ No clue why this picture turned out so bad.. 🙃 and I don’t have a clue why I am posting it, either  🤣

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We have gotten plenty of beach time, and we have definitely made-up for any lost time on sunshine we surely lacked from our rainy Alaskan summer.
That feels great!!

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Jonah Gets Pampered ⬇️

We have just one more project while here in Mexico. Jonah needs a good buff job! We have never gotten her one, yet. So, on our last day, in Mexico, she goes to the shop where they do auto painting. (where The Whale goes on departure day to get her ding painted) and Jonah will get a good machine wax and polish job; post Alaska; post Mexico.

She looks very shiny again! ⬇️

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Photo Dump Through End of Stay ⬇️

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For over six months now, it seems we have gotten a little stuck, in a specific pattern, wherever we go, that we are focusing very hard on breaking out of!

We have amazing moments in time, where we make great memories and have fun, but it’s the day-in and day-out that has changed. The world has changed. People have changed. It’s a heavy feeling. It feels darker.
There are more burdens we carry, and circumstances we must endure, for now. We have friends and family members who are suffering. There is inflation through the roof, making life hard for so many. We don’t like being on the struggle bus so much. The balance is just off: too many lows. It used to be the opposite; having way more fun with only limited struggles. But that was a different time in the world.

It’s all a sign of the times for sure, but we will keep plugging away, as we always do. We always have each other and for this I am forever grateful! We love this big life and won’t give it up, without a fight!
Ha!

Departure Day Has Arrived

We did not get any major wind storms while down here, but we did wake up to a big one, this morning.

⬆️ The horizon is full of dust and sand. It’s not smog or smoke 

It was really blowing, and we had to break camp and be at the auto paint shop by 8AM. As mentioned above, our little Jonah had been in that shop since yesterday, as she got a fancy polish done on her. So I moved Jonah out of the shop and Daryl drive The Whale, in.

Look at that dust storm!

We really don’t like driving in this kind of wind, but after we got our paint job done on the back quarter panel of The Whale, and waited for the paint to dry the sand storm was slowing down, after we hooked up Jonah.

We both looked forward to taking showers, to get all the sand out of our hair and ears!!

What’s Next

I’ve lined us out with a drive through New Mexico, into Texas, and then we head East to New Orleans, and Florida, then up North; visiting with friends and many more National Parks all along the way!

We will end up at an RV Resort; 13 minutes from the grandkiddos in North Carolina, to enjoy the holiday and New Year with them, and the rest of our family…It’s pretty much all I think about, lately!!! We miss our grands so much!

This next journey, from Mexico, will take 3,975 more driving miles to get complete! 
We may just decide to stay for awhile, on the East coast, with inflation causing fuel costs to rise to the point it’s getting hard to justify it. We actually would like to take a few trips out of the USA, while The Whale is stationary. That depends on how the world is functioning.

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If you missed Part 1 of this two part blog series in Mexico:

 https://2gypsiesinthewind.com/northamerica/mexico/mexico-lazy-dayz-on-the-gulf-of-california-at-the-reef-rv-park-in-puerto-penasco-rocky-point/

MEXICO