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RE: VIP question
Thanks! I'm also looking for a new insurance agent. We used Lewis and Lewis for the last 10 years - while in Mexico earlier this year I had a sample of extremely poor customer service (no claim, just needed some information) and was told just "not to have accidents on weekends". Mexpro was mentioned elsewhere as having good customer service.
The problem with Mexican insurance is that we all buy it but rarely ever have a claim to determine how good it is.
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Wm.Elliot
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07/14/23 04:52am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: VIP question
Yes, the motorcycle needs a TIP - I have entered and toured Mexico on the 1,000 CC motorcycle without any issues having gotten the TIP for the motorcycle. With advancing age and decreasing vigor we'd like to use the bike for day trips rather than the sole means of travel. The only difference this time is the SUV and the trailer with the motorcycle on it with just two US adults between the 3.
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Wm.Elliot
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07/13/23 06:19am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: VIP question
Thanks! It's a gamble; one can never tell what will happen when we arrive. I might get an online TIP for the SUV and the trailer and get the motorcycle TIP in person.
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Wm.Elliot
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07/12/23 02:59pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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VIP question
I hope to two a motorcycle behind an SUV into Mexico in 2024. That's 2 vehicles and one trailer. If the SUV tow vehicle is in both my name and my wife's and the motorcycle is in my name only can I get permits for all 3?
If the SUV and trailer go under the wife's name can I still drive the SUV in Mexico?
Is there a definitive government source for a question like this that has English speaking staff?
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Wm.Elliot
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07/11/23 02:59pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
When we first started traveling in Mexico occasionally we'd go out to the road and watch the night time traffic - cars with families, all taking what we thought were crazy chances by driving after dark. Only a few vehicles had burnt out or missing lights. We soon tried driving at night too after weighing the risks. We'd leave Durango at 2am so we could get on the old Mexico 40 before the trucks did. On our return trip we'd leave Teacapan at 2am for the same reason - to get ahead of the truck traffic on Mex40 to Durango.
Here in Maine night driving in rural areas carries the risk of hitting a moose - which due to it's long legs (the mass of the body hurtles towards the windshield) and dark coloring (can't see them) can kill or cripple the car's occupants. On a motorcycle it's said that any critter one hits that is larger than one could eat in a single sitting can cause a crash. Deer are wild cards 24/7.
Anyhow, driving at night in Mexico carries risks that I can weigh against risks of heavy truck traffic during the day (double trailers in Mexico are 130 feet long counting the tractor). Mexico has changed hugely and night time travel - especially on toll roads - isn't as dangerous as it once was. Daytime driving in heavy traffic hurtling along over narrow and poorly striped roads, unsafe passes (on 200 between PV and Tepic one can either pass or be passed with equal risks of a crash) carries its own risks compared to nighttime travel. I prefer daytime driving, but there are occasions when nighttime driving works for me.
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Wm.Elliot
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05/20/23 05:31am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
Back home in cool and cloudy Maine after 36 days in Mexico where we drove approximately 4,000 miles. Nothing stolen or vandalized while the car was parked, no one cut off the catalytic converter as they do in the US. We met genuinely nice people, had wonderful and reasonably priced meals, and stayed in nice hotels with rooms that were still cleaned each day. God willing we'll return to Mexico next winter.
In Durango there is a campground attached to the San Juan balneario. We did use the hot springs there and found the hottest water we've ever experienced in Mexico there. We didn't check out the campground but assume it's serviceable. Having a place with hookups to spend the night near Durango benefits us on the east coast of the US on our way to the west coast of Mexico.
During the 24 years we've RVed or toured in Mexico the most striking changes is the traffic. The standard of living has improved in Mexico and many more Nationals own and drive cars than they did in 1999. That's great, I'm glad they are enjoying a better economy there.
The truck traffic though is incredible. We wisely left Saltillo headed for Laredo at 3:30AM and passed tens of thousands of trucks parked along the road waiting for sunrise. When those trucks got back on the road both route 85's (toll and free) would be very slow going. The same with 57 south of Saltillo - the truck traffic northbound at least can create miles of backed up traffic.
Not sure if we'll ever do RV camping again - our present trailer is a 1997, the tow vehicle 1993. On the road our rig would look like we were carnies on our way to the next state fair to set up the Tilt-a-Wheel. We could afford to replace both but RV camping in the US isn't what it was back in the day. Camping spontaneously at an area we like to visit generally requires a reservation now. Once at the campground folks tend to be leery of neighbors. The days of walking through the campground, being invited in for a beer or inviting others in for a beer have changed. Holiday Rambler, Airstream, and other RV brands I knew have either ceased operations or been bought by another company. Filling our tow vehicle with diesel would cost $200 rather than the $75 we were used to. It might cost $3,000 in diesel alone to drive round trip to Mazatlan from Maine. The cost of diesel alone in my case would pay for 20 nights at a nice hotel in Mexico.
In any event I'm so thankful we started RVing 40 years ago - it's very different now.
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Wm.Elliot
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05/17/23 04:41am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
We were recently in Bucerias. Local police were almost always parked in the breakdown lane at the north end of town - one monitoring northbound 200 traffic and the other southbound. When we left last week early Sunday morning one of them stopped us for driving 39 in a 36 zone. Traffic normally flows on this stretch at nearly 55 mph. The police officer said we would have to pay a fine Monday morning. This is about the 12th time I've been stopped by police in Mexico and the "trick" is not to offer a bribe. Police now usually will never directly ask for a bribe but they'll wait and attempt to frighten a driver into offering a bribe. My advice is to remain calm, polite, and wait. Usually they will give up and allow you to go.
Mazatlan tonight is hopping. Most hotels are booked. Mexico's economy has improved greatly - nationals now fill resort hotels and restaurants - it would be great to add US and Canadian tourist revenue, but as it appears now to me, at least in the cities we've visited this past month - that the hospitality industry isn't hurting too badly... except for Acapulco.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/29/23 09:14pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
We're in Mazatlan now - staying at a hotel we always have stayed at previously. We are the only US guests here now, no Canadians either. I spoke with one of the security staff; he said Americans (US & Canadian) don't stay here any longer. The last time we stayed here was 2019 and then the hotel had a large population of Americans. The hotel changed hands since then and the entire staff we knew from past visits have been replaced. Changes are mixed... rates are higher, nights are quieter, no more pot smoke drifting by our balcony.
The hotel seems busy, full of nationals but it's hard to tell which are staying over night and which are just here for the day. I assume the hotel is busy since we had to change to a more expensive room to stay tonight (Saturday).
Since we were last here dozens of hotels/condos went up and I still can count about 9 cranes along the malecon. There are very few US or Canadians in town unless there's a cruise ship in port - which there are 7 cruise ships due to stop here in May ... not many compared to years past.
We were going to check out Tres Amigos RV park but I'm not so sure we'll continue RVing in Mexico or the US. Life has changed so much from what it was when we started RVing.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/29/23 01:19pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
In my opinion Teacapan offers the best beach experience I've ever encountered. We started in 1999 at the Rancho Los Angelos north of the Onac. It closed in the early 2000's and we then camped at the Onac - which was fairly busy so the owners usually put us on a site near the south boundary which we liked. Then the RVers disappeared - first the US ones, then the Canadian RVers. It's a shame.
Not sure what the deal is with currency exchange - Canadians get whacked with a very low rate that doesn't match USD exchange even when taking into account the USD/CND rates the US gives. It's always been like this and has always been a bone of contention for Canadians.
I recall the early days standing in a long line at a bank in Escuinapa with a handful of traveler's checks to buy pesos with... It's so much easier now with ATMs.
Also easier - internet access, calling home, watching movies at night. T-Mobile works great in Mexico, better than back home actually. 5 gigs of data per month are allowed and then the data is slowed but still allows watching Prime or Netflix with hardly any buffering. Sirius works again in Sinaloa and points north. The satellite is still positioned south rather than overhead (I can tell going under bridges) but Sirius must mask the broadcast shadow like DirecTV did.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/27/23 07:48am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
We stopped at the Color Marino (formerly Onac) near Teacapan Sunday. There appears to be more cabins now than there were when we last camped there in 2007. One cabin was still occupied although the guests were checking out. Some of the other cabins did not look like they had been used although an employee there told us all cabins had been booked for the weekend. The employee told us that the cabins are all booked every Friday and Saturday night as a rule. The one cabin we looked at was very nice, cookware, linens, and a mini-split. The cabin we looked at did not look like it had been occupied recently.
The campground looked like the hookups still worked, at least the water tap did. 30 amp breakers with the proper plug. The campground did not look like it had seen much use recently; it wasn't overgrown or neglected but there were few signs of compaction or vehicle traffic. The road in from the highway had been much improved from what I remembered it being; no sandy hollows to bog down in but gravel and stone to give a better base. It was still narrow but with carve outs to pull into when meeting an oncoming car or truck.
I've heard the RV spots are very expensive but couldn't find any information there or online. The public area with the pools was clean and attractive but there wasn't anyone using it or representing management.
The entire facility isn't well marketed. The beaches are of course as beautiful and deserted as ever.
On edit... The highway in from Escuinapa has huge high tension pylons along the road with cables up and everything rigged for use - it all ends where the ferry crossing used to be years ago. The last pylon has a small conduit tray connecting the overhead cables to buried conduit but that type of power isn't normally buried - too high voltage. Not sure what the deal is there. Fonatur ?(spelling) had big plans for Teacapan as the next Cancun tourist destination - but so far not much progress.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/25/23 08:28am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Semana Santa
We're just north of PV... Plenty of tourists here - I suspect most are Canadians. Still very few US or Canadian plated vehicles on the road - saw one from Illinois, another from Idaho. Most must have flown in. The restaurants are very sparsely utilized.
Had been expecting the toll road from Tepic to have been completed - unless I missed a stretch only a 40 mile (approximate) stretch is open that ends in Bucerias. 200 is very heavily traveled compared to previous visits.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/21/23 03:39pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Semana Santa
Spot on.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/18/23 07:28pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Semana Santa
We've been in Mexico nearly 3 weeks now. I've lost count of how many times we've been in Mexico - always for a month at a time. The number is between 15-20 times though. Practically every visit occurred around Easter. When I comment that there is a noticeable absence of people from the US and Canada there is some factual basis in my observation.
When we first started RVing in Mexico (1999) there were more campgrounds and more campers. First the campers from the US disappeared - it was then mostly Canadians - then those dropped off too, then the open campgrounds closed. Now even US & Canadian tourists seem to have absented themselves from Mexico.
I'm confident that the cruise ships will still be disgorging tourists at ports for a few hours at a time and passenger jets will be flying tourists in to Cancun, but out on the highways there is a very perceptible change.
Maybe it's Covid-19 nesting, media coverage which tends to ignore internal US violence in favor of Mexican violence, the economy, or societal changes away from Jack Kerouac's style of Mexican adventurism in favor of artificial Disney vacations... I don't know.
It is a shame that people will miss something that we've enjoyed so much, a shame that Mexico's tourist industry is now more internal than it was.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/18/23 07:01am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
Currently at Villa Corona - Chimulco. 3 RVs being occupied here; Quebec, Washington, and ?... Maybe 4 rigs here long term - all unoccupied at this moment. Looking at the RV park it doesn't appear that it's had much use over the winter.
The water park part of Chimulco is very busy. Most picnic tables in use and lots of young people in the pools and water slides. It's as busy as we've ever seen it.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/16/23 04:59pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Semana Santa
Morelia is very busy too. The hotel we're at is either full or nearly full every night. All Mexican nationals; families and business people. A noticeable scarcity of US or Canadians.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/16/23 06:18am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Semana Santa
A hotel we've stayed at previously in Taxco was very busy a few days ago - possibly full. Town, of course was very crowded. The post Semanta Santa slowdown has yet to arrive. Still, after 16 days in Mexico I've not seen a US or Canadian plated vehicle. The crowds are all Nationals.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/14/23 06:26am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Semana Santa
Puebla is busy. A few days ago we spoke with a National from DF - he laid my beliefs to rest that Nationals forsake the mountains for the coast on Semanta Santa. He said that money here is tight and many inland Nationals short of funds still travel but not to the beaches. Looking ahead to next week hotel availability still remains tight - Oaxaca hotels (the one I stay at) is mostly all booked through next week.
We encountered our first American yesterday. Still absolutely zero US or Canadian plated vehicles on the roads.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/07/23 07:35am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
Thank you for your service!
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Wm.Elliot
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04/03/23 02:42pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
Yes, I do recall. The escorts are optional and have been running for years in N.Laredo. I remain convinced that Mexico is not nearly as dangerous as it's reported to be. For example the murder rate per 100K is more than twice as high in New Orleans as it is in Mexico (the country). Murders and kidnappings happen frequently in the US but if an American is killed or kidnapped in Mexico it's on all the news outlets. I've been visiting Mexico since 1986 and it's always been said to be "very dangerous".
Maybe that's part of the attraction of Mexico for me - it requires a personal awareness of reality based upon actual experiences and observations. That alone creates a gateway that discourages some folks that are too frightened to experience life - but on the other hand it's unfortunate for Mexico to have this unfortunate reputation.
Last night we ate at a steakhouse and there must have been at least 60 attentive employees on duty. A great meal for $60. At the hotel there are cleaning staff cleaning the rooms daily. In the US it's much different - one hotel in the southeast offered to clean rooms after the 4th night. Many US restaurants have so few staff that service suffers.
Hope this explains what seemed like a contradiction to you. it's... complicated.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/03/23 09:11am |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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RE: Actual observations
In 1999 I bought a used DirecTV dish in Mazatlan - it must have been at least 3 feet across but still used the regular LNB. It worked for one, maybe 2 years in southern Sinaloa. I had the regular sized dish mounted on a plywood base, set it on the ground in preparation for hooking it up at the Creel KOA - connected the coaxial cable to the TV and it was spot on - no aiming, no meter. What are the odds of that? Should have bought a lottery ticket that day.
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Wm.Elliot
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04/02/23 08:53pm |
RVing in Mexico and South America
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