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RE: NIce RV parks in Mexico
Make sure that your Mexican plans fit with how you like to travel in the US and Canada. We don't like destination resorts anywhere so we don't usually need to make reservations when we travel. We find out of the way places, spend a while and then move on. We've never had to spend a night in the street yet and I don't expect that to change any time soon.
Mexico is a big country - there's lots of places to see. As you have already been advised, don't expect US or Canadian standards for power, water or sewer. I think its common courtesy to learn at least a smattering of the language of any country you intend to travel in, others may disagree. I'm sure you could survive in Mexico in English but I question why anyone would want to. Mexican maps can be hard to find. I prefer the Guia Roji series - they put out a Mexican atlas which isn't bad but their best maps are the individual state maps which are hard to find but well worth looking for. Your best starting point is the Church book and their website for updates.
Phone service has steadily improved over the time we have been traveling to Mexico to the point where my Canadian cell phone actually worked part of the trip this winter. Mexican cell phones are CHEAP so we just bought one of them to use once mine quit working. I think some of the American carriers have coverage over a large portion of the republic.
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bobofthenorth
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08/14/08 04:15pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: El Caracol Sold
We've been going to Alamos for about 15 years now & I can't remember ever seeing Caracol when it was actually busy. There have been times when there were rigs out there but that had to be their choice, not because they couldn't find some other spot. I'm sure it was a great spot but I never could understand why anybody would want to be that far out of town. Alamos is such a wonderful community that we always want to be part of the town while we are there.
I stopped in to have a visit with Dee last winter. At that time she thought that the new owners might be amenable to RVs staying there after the change of ownership. We have some friends who like staying out there so I was asking on their behalf. Its a good thing it sold because she clearly wasn't capable of looking after it anymore.
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bobofthenorth
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08/14/08 04:02pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: What if you can't speak Spanish?
You could probably travel in the U.S. without speaking any English and you could probably travel in Mexico without speaking any Spanish. But why would you? The travel experience in either country will be infinitely richer if you make an attempt to learn some of the local language. You don't have to be fluent but it seems to me that it would be common sense to learn a few words. Our experience has been that the Mexicans are much more welcoming when they see that you are trying to speak the local language.
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bobofthenorth
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08/07/08 10:37am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: A Newbie Look at RVing
Strathmoreguy we're leaving Tuesday so we'll likely miss you but I'm sure you will have a good time, especially so if you have kids.
And I've always wondered about the pine thing too cuz all I see is cedars, cherries and weeping willows. There might be some pines back along the creek - I'll pay closer attention tomorrow night when I take the cat for his walk.
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bobofthenorth
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08/01/08 09:49pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Moving to Calgary - should i bring my boat?
Minnesota bills itself as the “land of 10,000 lakes.” As the serious fisherman among you will know, Saskatchewan contains an astonishing 100,000 lakes. The aptly named Deep Bay on Reindeer Lake is the deepest body of water in the province. The 220-metre-deep, near circular bay was formed more than 100 million years ago by a giant meteorite. According to Saskatchewan Tourism, the northern half of the province is home to one of the largest concentrations of fly-in fishing camps in the world. In 2007, the world’s largest rainbow trout was pulled from Lake Diefenbaker.
Lorne McClinton – AlbertaVenture Vol 12 Issue 5
Don't take my word for it - note the source.
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bobofthenorth
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07/31/08 02:30pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: A Newbie Look at RVing
This is the kind of place Whispering Pines is:
The inmates organized a wing night at the local pub, putting in an order ahead of time for 600 wings so that the pub could be ready for us. About 40 of us showed up and ate the pub out of wings. Bernie and Sharon showed up too but they left early. They left early so that they could be sure to be able to pay for all our wings. And they did that two weeks running.
This is a great place. If the OP had a bad time then I'd suggest she check the mirror for the cause.
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bobofthenorth
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07/30/08 01:08pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Moving to Calgary - should i bring my boat?
I'll probably get flamed for this but I think Alberta in general and southern Alberta in particular is probably the worst place possible to try to use a boat on the prairies. All you are going to find are a few dammed up reservoirs - very few real lakes - and what you do find is apt to be wide open and wind swept.
We use our boat hard in SK and BC but generally just jump over AB because it isn't worth stopping.
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bobofthenorth
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07/28/08 04:26pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: A Newbie Look at RVing
I don't know what the OP's problem or point was but we have been in Whispering Pines since the middle of June. We come here every summer and have done so for the last 10 years. We are the newbies in the crowd - most of the people here started coming when they were kids and just never quit. If its really as bad as the OP suggests then we and they must all be fools. OTOH Bernie and Sharon have pretty well had a full house since the Stampede was over so there must be a lot of fools in this world. And for the record, I've seen SK, MB and BC plates here but there are a lot of AB plates. Don't be fooled by the province on the plate though because a lot of the rentals that come through here are Europeans.
Whispering Pines is in fact a vanishing breed along this route. Most of the campgrounds on Mara Lake have disappeared into the maw of condo developers. Some of us are very appreciative of the fact that this little piece of heaven still exists.
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bobofthenorth
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07/28/08 04:19pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Renting out home?
We've BTDT with the deadbeat tenants - there are no guarantees no matter how much homework you do. The real question is "where do you want to have that money invested?" In our case the answer right now is "residential real estate". That pretty well guarantees that we are going to have tenants either directly or indirectly. If you are in a market where you would rather have the money invested in something else then its time to put up a for sale sign.
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bobofthenorth
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07/04/08 10:23pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Renting out home?
We have rental property as well. We still have our home - sitting empty - waiting for us to decide what to do with it. Its in a hot real estate market so that is influencing our decision whether to hold it or sell it. The most important lesson we have learned with rentals is to screen your tenants VERY carefully. On the rare occasions when we switch tenants we have a process that has served us well. We advertise and hold an open house. On the night of the open house we tell everybody who is interested in renting that the first step in our process is to have them fill out a rental application. That application, once signed, gives us the legal right to do a very thorough credit and personal investigation. It also includes three rental references. The combination of that information plus our first impressions from their visit to the house in question gives us a very good basis for establishing a long term tenancy. We still get caught once in a while but not very often anymore. Above all - trust your instincts - if it doesn't feel 100% right then don't rent to them.
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bobofthenorth
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07/04/08 09:47am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Ready to sell House - Need Advice
I have sold two homes privately and a third one with an agent (the first one). I would never use a realtor again - they are leeches who bring nothing of value to the sale and may in fact hinder the process. However, if you are going to sell a house yourself you need to do it right. First thing to do is hire a genuine appraisal. Don't rely on a realtor's appraisal because they will BS you in order to get the listing. Get a real appraiser and pay him for the appraisal. Then advertise the property WITH YOUR ASKING PRICE. When you are selling a house you are in retail and in retail you need to include the price. You won't get near as many phone calls with the price in your ads but the ones that do call will be genuine and all you need is one buyer. Don't count on the internet alone for advertising - do what works in your local market. If all the local realtors advertise in the town's newsrag, then you need to advertise there too. And put a big home made sign up in the front yard, with your price on it too. Open Houses are a waste of time. Get the appraisal, run the ads, wait for the phone to ring.
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bobofthenorth
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07/03/08 07:16am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: calgary Campgrounds
You'll find something. And you won't regret attending the Stampede. It truly is the greatest outdoor show on earth.
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bobofthenorth
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06/22/08 09:23am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Canada Day LW?
We'll be driving back to Sicamous after hosting a pitchfork fondue for some friends in Airdrie on the 30th. We'll watch the fireworks over the water in Sicamous and settle back into Whispering Pines at Mara for the rest of the summer.
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bobofthenorth
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06/20/08 08:32pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: calgary Campgrounds
There's a couple of parks around Strathmore - don't know names but they'll be in Woodalls. As others have noted its going to be hard to find anything right in Calgary except as a last minute deal if somebody leaves unexpectedly and you happen to phone at the exact right moment. That park north of Cochrane has a lot of rig workers in it right now - it may be full too. There's also Symons Valley ranch which is pretty close in on the north side of Calgary - I'm not sure how full it is right now. The suggestion to go south of town is a good idea because that gets you off the #1 corridor but I don't know that area at all. There's also the provincial parks west of Bragg Creek but that's getting a little farther out of town than you may want to be. 50 amp hookups during Stampede week are going to be few and far between - you may find 30 amp but I think 50 will be a reach.
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bobofthenorth
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06/19/08 04:03pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Is Mexico Safe?
As long as there is A/C when it is hot.
.............
We will be in Cozumel in Dec on a cruise. Would like to take her over on the ferry and look at the RV parks. Are there taxis at the pier we could take? Dave and Patti
Good luck finding enough electric to run AC in a lot of the parks you will be in.
From Cozumel just catch the ferry over to the mainland as a foot passenger. When you get off the ferry at Playa del Carmen there will be lots of taxis waiting. Get Church's book before you go - I'm too lazy to get up and look in ours right now but as far as I recall the only trailer park close to Playa is Pa Mul but I could be wrong.
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bobofthenorth
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06/17/08 08:21pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: calling from canada
I don't know who your phone provider is but why not check with them? If you are with AT&T they have a toll free phone home service. I expect other carriers will have similar services.
AT&T direct
We use Canada Direct when we are out of the country. That gives us access to our home phone service plans. The toll free call from whevever we are back to Canada is free. YMMV.
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bobofthenorth
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06/12/08 10:24pm |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Fax while full timing.
I use RapidFax.com They provide me with a toll-free fax number that is my own personal number for $10 per month and its very rare that I go over the minimum number of faxes that is included for that base price. I don't get a lot of faxes but I don't think anyone could be in business dealing with traditional business customers and NOT have a fax number. I don't send nearly as many faxes as I receive but I have occasion to do both more than once per week.
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bobofthenorth
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06/07/08 10:28am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Calgary to Winnipeg - scenic route, sights, campspots?
The best advice to avoid terminal boredom when crossing Saskatchewan is to stay off of #1 Highway (the so-called TransCanada Highway). From Calgary if you go through Drumheller and then go north towards Hanna (#9 highway in Alberta; #7 in Sask.) that will take you into Saskatoon. At Saskatoon you can get on what we used to call the Yellowhead highway - its got some trendy new name now that I forget at the moment. Its a much more scenic route than #1 and not significantly more distance. And just a word of warning, the previous poster has advised travel in SW Sask - we're there right now and I'll agree - its scenic but most of the roads are worse than what we see in Mexico. And that's no exageration.
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bobofthenorth
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06/07/08 10:18am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Farther north than La Ronge in Sask?
We go fishing at Missinipi every fall - that's about 100 miles north of La Ronge. I've driven as far as Reindeer Lake but I was a lot younger and seriously in love. The road north of the Stanley Mission turnoff is "challenging". We take the bus up there so its by no means impossible but don't expect pavement - the pavement runs out before the Stanley turnoff and its poor gravel from there on. When its wet it turns to goosesnot and when its dry it has a fine dust that filters into everything. If its dead calm the dust will hang on the road and make visibility really poor.
As far as places to boondock, there's lots of little lakes with turnoffs - I'm sure you could overnight at any of them. There's a couple of campgrounds at Missinipi - can't remember much past there - like I said it was a lot of years ago and I was focussed on the destination. One thing I do remember from that trip though was the sign at Micky's (which used to be the jumping off point for the tote road to Wollaston). That sign essentially said "abandon hope all ye who enter here". I'm not sure if its the same arrangement now - I think it is - that road was a private haul road maintained by the mining company and you were pretty well on your own if you travelled it.
If it were me I'd take the towed as far as Missinipe, get a cabin at Thompson's Camps and explore from there. That way you could evaluate the road for yourself prior to taking an RV up it. There's a great provincial park in La Ronge.
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bobofthenorth
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06/03/08 11:54am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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RE: Looking for B.C. Campground Suggestions
Evidently there are a variety of names for the area but its a great region to visit nevertheless. I particularly love the drive from Kaslo over to New Denver and the ferry ride from Balfour to Riondel. If we can tear ourselves out of the Shuswaps at the end of July we will come back through there this summer.
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bobofthenorth
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05/27/08 11:46am |
RVing in Canada and Alaska
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