Mainecoons

We just drove to Albuquerque last week and completely bypassed Juarez using the Santa Teresa border crossing. It is by far the fastest and most direct way to get to Lakeside from Albuquerque. First day, we stopped in Camargo, Hotel Santa Fe. Second day all the way to Albuquerque, no problem. Going south I'd suggest stopping in Jimenez and then continuing on to Lakeside.

This is a good question, perhaps Sonia can answer it. Since they limit the Tourist Visa to 6 months but turn around and give people with Tourist Visas a 10 year TIP, it would seem that the latter wouldn't automatically expire upon the exit of a Tourist Visa holder. You should be able to leave the RV here, unlike a car, and only renew the Tourist Visa on return.

Apparently a very big outage beginning late yesterday afternoon, even affected Mexico City according to one Facebook poster.

Definitely agree there's nothing really good in or around Ajijic for a rig that big. When you come, stay on the macrolibremiento until you get to Lopez Mateos. That stretch between Chapala highway and Lopez Mateos will be opening very soon, they say October. The exit will likely be signed for Colima. Go a very short distance, staying in the right lane and exit onto the road towards Jocotepec. You go past the main entrance to the town and just a little bit further is the right turn for Roca Azul. That is a really nice RV park that can easily accommodate your big rig. Make sure you have full power protection as electricity in that area can be dicey. There's one part of this trip that will be more difficult and that is the primitive bypass around Lagos de Moreno. Notice what the double trailer trucks do and do the same. You may want to drop the toad for that bit and have your wife follow you through it. Huge Pemex at the end of it will be easy to rehook if you do this. Frankly, if you haven't had a lot of experience driving that big rig in Mexico I'd seriously consider whether this trip is a good idea. The fuel and tolls are going to be astronomical. You might be much better off driving the toad down and leaving the big rig in McAllen/Pharr. If you decide to do that, PM me as I know a perfect secure place to leave it, Dixie RV Storage in La Feria.

When I was riding up north last Fall on my moto, my TelCel phone defaulted to T Mobile and I was able to dial U.S. numbers like it was a U.S. cell phone. Wasn't cheap but very convenient. Didn't try to dial back to Mexico as I had other alternatives. TelCell is a screaming bargain compared to what we used to pay for Verizon service back in the U.S.

And that is why agency rentals tend to be more expensive. The best deals tend to be with Mexican landlords away from the high rent expat districts like Ajijic. It pays to shop around.

Yes but don't expect to see much as you are looking at the beginning of high season when the available rentals are fewer. You might want to post here the outline of what you are looking for, particularly size, location and price and see what people send you.

There was a single's group meeting at the LCS. I suggest you stop in there and check with the office to see if still active and who the contact persons are. Good luck!

Nice ad hom. Most of their reports BTW are picked up from other publications and have very specific and checkable information in them. For example, the article about the Lerma is well referenced even to the point of mapping the worst section. At the bottom of every news article, they list the sources like this complete with active links so you can click on them and see for yourself. For example: It is easier to play the ad hom game with a credible source than it is to accept that these gross thefts of public money and the growing insecurity actually exist. Until it shows up at your door. Then the head in the sand is apt to get lopped off.

Unfortunately as a formerly licensed and now retired Environmental Engineer I know many of the substances, particularly from industrial wastes, being dumped into this river don't just disappear. Natural processes will neutralize organics and even pathogens but heavy metals are here to stay. Having designed numerous waste treatment plants, the latter are very difficult to deal with. Those toxic substances have gone somewhere. I don't want to find out they are here by coming in contact with this water or the fish in it. My recommendation is that prudence dictates neither swimming in this lake or eating anything taken from it.

Well, if this is photoshopped it is one heckuva job. Notice the fish shadows are perfect, there's even a shadow under the foot of the guy on the left side where it hangs over the bulk head. Nice boat too!

Agree, see the thread I started on the Rio Lerma. http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/lerma-river-15-km-are-biologically-dead/

Yes, that's our Lerma river which actually starts over in Mexico state as an open sewer. This piece is a pretty good argument for me to not eat anything out of the lake or swim in it. http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/lerma-river-15-km-are-biologically-dead/

Just checked, working again, thanks.

It is true according to a bass enthusiast buddy of mine. Not surprising since bass like their lakes relatively warm and shallow and they aren't too picky about water quality. Has anyone been able to access the GDL Reporter web site lately? Not working since last Friday here. Did they change the site address again? Thanks.

My wife was accepted by SP on a temporal visa. Apply at the hospital in Jocotepec. For us, this is purely a last ditch emergency backup. If you are a younger person, health insurance is available for you here and it is considerably cheaper than the U.S.

Based on what I've paid for upholstery work I'd surmise that if you can replace the chairs for $70, it is probably not worth it. Question: Can you easily remove the backs and seats and take them in to be redone?

Our 18 panel system from STI with micro inverters will pay itself off in about another year. I approached this installation from both the supply (panels) and demand (power consumption) side. Low efficiency lighting and motors were retrofitted and more attention was paid to turning things off when not directly needed. Also attention was paid to the maintenance side of things, making sure it was easy to wash the panels with softened water as it is pretty dusty around here. We couldn't be more satisfied with the system or the supplier, STI. It was well engineered and installed. I did determine the sizing, location and basic design with their help. The other thing to keep in mind is that it is a lot of trouble to move these panels to get to the roof underneath. We renewed the roof before installing the panels. As the roof is now shaded by the panels it should last indefinitely.

I think you mean the solar cover cuts evaporation. The solar panels are a closed system, no evaporation there. The pool cover does cut evaporation but then our pool gets too hot and grows algae at this time of year.

It depends on the arrangement. If they are arranged in parallel, each panel heats. If in series, the temperature differential decreases with each subsequent panel, hence the heating decreases. Our setup is two banks of 4 in series. So the second bank will be a little less efficient than the first. However, remember we are not talking about a huge temperature gain here, this is not like house hot water. Although the temperature differential on the second bank is not as great, the percentage reduction in temperature differential is not that great either. Our 8 panels will not heat the pool sufficiently during December and January even with the use of a solar pool cover. Air temps are such though that we aren't big on swimming at that time of year anyway. Our friends have 10 panels laid flat on a red coated roof to heat a pool of similar size to ours and this arrangement can keep the pool warm enough even in December/January.

I have a friend doing exactly what several suggested here, working as a consultant to past employers or other contacts. Everyone loves the deal and his work is "done" in the U.S. and he gets paid there, drawing the money out subsequently using an ATM. It is perfectly legal and many locations here have fast enough internet service now to make it work smoothly.

Amen and they cause wax build up. It continues to amaze me that things that are this costly are still so primitive and prone to fail. I've had good experiences with Polo at LCS with repairs and he says he sells my hearing aids so when they finally fail, I'll check his prices first.

Now if they could just shake my delivery loose from customs....

Pretty much our experience too. I suspect this place survives on the overflow from Tango. Nice serene dining area though, very much unlike Tango.

We also have an STI system with microinverters. The original batch of microinverters were glitchy and STI replaced them earlier this year with much more robust units that are performing flawlessly and actually increased our output about 5 percent. We have 18 panels which makes all our power needs for a large house with pool and two fish ponds that have pumped waterfalls, plus the whole house domestic water pressure system. Very satisfied. At the time we bought I felt STI understood the engineering of these systems better than their competitors and their pricing was excellent.