Feb 27, 2019
The return of the generator
Chris and Juan dropped in early Saturday morning for a coffee. We had been up for a long while as today ( Saturday ) we were moving the bus. A good deal of outside prep such as moving flower pots, the satellite dish and disconnecting various things had been done Friday but there was still a good number of things to deal with at the last minute, most of it inside the RV. Engine on at 8:15AM. That was the cue for Alan and Laura to come over and help us back out. Wheels were moving at 8:30AM. Colin turned the RV around and we were heading out. Big smiles and waves to all as we started down what we call the horse road. Colin had even had the tree at the RV gate trimmed so that it did not brush along the RV as we drove past which it did when we first headed out on February 2nd to take the generator out.
We had not gone very far when our smiles turned into frowns. A grader or some other large machine had been moving the earth along the road and there was no way for us to turn right onto the paved road. We stopped and simply stared ahead. We could not go forward nor go back 😯 Fortunately I was able to reach Jose, the park manager by phone ( connections have been extremely bad this season ) and he said he would get right on it. I next called Erik and explained that we would be late. He said to simply wait until next week. Umm Erik, we can’t get back to the RV park either. We had to move forward. There was a narrow area that had been left open at an angle. It went to the left with more than a 90 degree turn to the right which is where we needed to go. We would not only bottom out but go into the ditch. Impossible turn. Also that small portion of what was supposed to be driveable was on a small slope on which we would have bottomed out.
Eventually a pickup truck came by, I think someone new, from RV2. One of his passengers got out and came over and explained that he was a big rig truck driver. He gave us a suggestion that might work and then he drove off! So Colin then did a U-turn on the spot by going back and forth. Not an easy feat on a road. Now the RV was in position to back down that slope. We were almost hanging over the sides and had to inch down ever so slowly and check from side to side. I was the one outside in the dust and the dirt stumbling over large rocks doing the directing. Had the cell signal been strong enough I would have contacted Alan and he would have helped. Of course we stopped the local traffic on the one way road into and off the Isla. What a mess 😥
We were within a 1/2 inch of bottoming out. Had we driven down that slope we would have wrecked the RV and of course still would not have been able to do the turn to the right. So once we backed onto the main road we were facing the correct direction. Relief. Well almost. There are no photos. We didn’t even think of taking any until we were driving towards the paved road.
You can see the shape of the road on the right, impossible to drive through. Suddenly the horses came around the corner. Some were panicking as they had to scramble up onto the pile of earth, others kept coming towards us. We simply stopped.
Some were going around us to the left of the RV. A few actually stumbled going up on the right but got up. What a start to the day.
This is the intersection that Colin needed to do a U – turn at. We don’t have a tight enough tuning radius so he had to do a back and forth. Just as he started the turn a smaller local bus pulled up behind us as in directly behind us. Colin could not back up and the highway 15 traffic wanted to get by. Eventually the bus backed up a tad so Colin could complete the turn.
Finally we got there and after a 45 minute wait we were ready to drive up on those ramps. Not much height but better than nada.
That is one enormous 480 pound generator.
This time there was a piece of plywood under the RV as well as a metal frame to help slide the unit into position.
This critter was there to give moral support 🙂
Getting it under the RV.
Erik decided to lift the generator into place before putting in the support beams.
Meanwhile I was working on setting up my new iPad. I had to use my iPhone as a hot spot and use the laptop to Google to understand what I needed to do when the process did not work. Biggest issue was Google shutting me out of setting up our email accounts on the iPad. All about security.
As I worked, Erik was directly beneath me doing his install of the generator.
Certainly a unique method. Layer by layer of height.
In the end it did not work. The supporting beams could not be placed. They needed to be installed first.
We were at the shop for a long time and away from the Isla for just over eight hours.
Finally they got the supporting beams in and then the generator. All done by manual labor. Now it had to be bolted in.
This guy must have had a rough Friday night to be able to sleep here when his brawn was not required.
Getting the generator secured. Actually they lost some screws/bolts and those still need to be added. For some reason the exhaust pipe would not go back into place so a small part needs to be manufactured. These things can be done back here on the Isla.
We were tired and happy to be heading back to Tres Amigos RV Park. However this was not the end of Saturday. Would we be able to get back to the RV park? Stayed tuned.
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What an ordeal , hope it all gets back together and working again.
It did and it is as of today Thursday.
How on earth are people getting rings in and out of the RV park with the road in such a mess? Here one lane is dug up and closed in front of the park as they are jack hammering up the road to lay pipe to supply all the new subdivisions. Ahhh….Mexico! Hope your generator is truly fixed.
Well the road was cleared for us but as of today, Thursday, Feb. 28th, it is not an easy access.
I typed rigs but spell check decided I meant rings!
What a mess, I was stressed just reading about your ordeal! Kudos to Colin for handling that challenge.
Colin was amazing. I was stressed just writing about it.
Wow, what a time you had. Hopefully the rest of the day goes well.
As you will now read, it did.
Glad you are ‘young’ and can enjoy these adventures. The mud bath just to get out of here is a deterrent going to Mazatlan. Enjoy your memories….. J