Day Two in S.M. Mexico

Today we ate breakfast here at the house we are staying. Well sort of a house, it has four bedrooms on one side of an open court, two bathrooms and the kitchen on the other side. You have to get dressed to go to the bathroom or kitchen. Anyway after breakfast we walked in a different direction and found the Mega market for food, walked around looking at what was offered and decided what we wanted to buy. Must have spent a good two hours just looking, came back to the house and put our stuff away and took a nap before going to lunch.
During lunch we talked about our first impressions of San Miguel, and it seems neither one of us are impressed with what we have seen so far. It does not live up to all the build up we have read about it. Do not get me wrong it is a nice place to visit just do not want to live here.. Lot like Mexico City or New York, nice to visit but not for me to live.

After lunch we did some more walking and decided to take the trolley tour of the city. Found the ticket office with no problem, then had to find a place to wait for an hour, so that meant coffee time.. Picked up a copy of the local paper that comes out on Friday ( mostly in English ), sat down to read and wait.

Once on the trolley we were driven down one hill and up the other. Lots of information, only problem is we did not slow down or stop except twice. For the most part I could not point out the "famous places" because by the time english was used we had passed them already.





























After the tour we went to find the thearter to find out what was playing and if we would like to go. Found it but could not find any information on what if anything was going on. Whatever....

From the thearter we went to find Mama Mia's to see what all the fuss was about. It is a nice place and the Pina Colada was very good, pizza was so so.. I think it would be a fun place to go late at night if one did not walk around all day. But we did not stay for the night life, headed back to the house.




Walking back we ran into a parade for what looked like a small circus. Not a clue were it was going or when it would be, but got a few good photos.

Once back I worked on getting all the photos edited and resized, Kay had tea, then went to bed. So ends day to in SM.

San Miguel De Allende

Made it to Mexico, Up at 0400 on the road to Houston at 0500 to catch a plane at 0905am. On the drive to Houston Airport noticed that power is still out in many places, wonder when it will all be back up. Could not stop for fuel and breakfast as hoped because of the power outage, so ended up eating at the MC D.. in terminal B. Love how you get riped off in Airports, it cost over $10 dollars for two to eat.

Airports love them less and less, too many people and much too much noise. At least the flight was on time and we made it to Leon without any problems. The driven taken us to S.M. was waiting for us and after a short delay well waiting for someone else we were on our way. The drive took about 90 min on a road that for the most part was in good shape.

Once in S.M. we put down our bags and started walking around. First order of business was lunch, after talking to the lady that runs the place we are staying at we went to a place called Sol for our first meal in S.M. Then it was off to find a bank to exchange money. Once money was exchanged we just walked around took photos, had coffee and looked. I should mention that S.M. is very hilly and the streets and sidewalks are mostly made of cobble stones, so that made walking a bit of a challenge.

Another view with more hills.

Found a nice place for dinner so after a short rest we went back and had a very nice dinner to end the day. So ends day one in San Miguel De Allende.

The men in blue riding horses in the middle of traffic are tourest cops, or so I am told. I am not sure how much good can be done on horse back in this type of town, it has a lot of people and small streets.

One of many views seen during our walk.

The view of the Church from the resturent we went to for dinner. I should mention the food was wonderful.

Mexico trip update

Here we are still in the escapee park in Livingston Texas, trip to Mexico postponed at the least. The only power we have is from a generator that was purchased off the back of a truck. Closest place for gas is only open because it has a generator and the line to get gas is long, takes over an hour to get to a pump. When we drove around town looking for propane yesterday we could not find anything open here in Livingston. May have to make a run north 50-60 miles to get supplies, heard Lufkin has power and some places are open. We need propane, and my phone needs to be replaced.

Been on the phone and Internet, believe we may make it to Mexico on the 18th and return on the 28th. Not as long as first planed but better then a total loss... One problem is the time of day we leave Houston 0905AM this means getting up at 0400 to be they in time to park the truck and get to the Airport. Was hoping to go in early Wednesday and stay at a Hotel, but all hotels are closed until further notice.

Yes!!! It is a go, headed to Mexico on the 18th and will return on the 28th… All systems are a go… So the next post will be from Mexico. Might even have a photo or two…

Ike

My crew-X was to take place Sept-8th, but due to hurricane Gustov chasing us around the gulf it delayed it a few days. Also part of the delay was due to not knowing about flights out of New Orleans, and if the oncoming crew could even get in. After all was said and done we made it off the boat September 10th, crew-X took place in Galveston. With one error in paperwork and another we did not get in until 10am, should have been in at 3am but Captain forgot to submit paperwork on time. Then because of hurricane Ike the oncoming crew had to be gone by noon of the sane day. All supplies had to be rescheduled for another day,

Once off the boat I thought I was safe from Ike, and soon to be on my way to Mexico for two weeks. Well Ike had other plans, my flight was canceled and I ended up riding out the hurricane in Livingston TX. We would have packed the RV and moved out except the weather channel we watched kept saying it would not be a hurricane by the time it reached us… WRONG!!!! It was still a Cat-1 when we got hit. To be honest I did not think the storm itself was a big deal, lots of wind and rain but I have seen a lot worse out on the boat.

The worst part of the storm in my opinion has been the loss of power. We do NOT have a generator so we are without power. If not for an inverter we would not even have a computer at this time. The computer battery is only good for two hours then it has to be recharged by taking it into the truck and plugging into the inverter that is plugged into the lighter.

We are also blocked in at both ends of the road by trees that were blown over, so we can not just pack up and move at this point. For now we are just going to sit it out and see what happens, do not expect to get power back anytime soon. Hoping Houston Airport will reopen soon and we can rebook the Mexico trip and get out of here.. If not then I would like to at least get out of this park and go North until we find a place that has power..

It seems that most of the down trees have missed any home or business for the most part. However they did not miss the power lines or polls, lines are down all over the place and it will take days if not weeks to get power back to anything close to normal. So being the spoiled American that I am I want to head out once the rain stops and find a place with power, and a coffee shop… Did I mention we did not stock up on food supplies, we thought we would be in MEXICO!!!! Whatever

Life on the Boat

Cables in the water tow our air guns for the job we do.

The other three boat we are currently working with. The one with long lines behind is the streamer boat, also the boss of the job.

This is mostly storage area, the boat is not large enough to store things very neatly.

This is the wonderful Compressor room that can run as hot as 110 F and as cool as 95F.

Came back to the boat Aug. 11th, for four weeks. First day on the boat the cables were crossed and less then 30 min from the time I came on I was in the slipway pulling in cables. It seemed that from then on nothing went right, and it has been one problem after another, broken ropes, bad cables, bad guns, missing supplies, you name it ......

Then just for fun we picked up all the gear and had to run from Hurricane Gustav.... Now a week later and only four days before we are scheduled to get off this "boat" the word has come down we are staying until this job is down then riding the boat into port. This means instead of getting off Monday we "might" get off Wednesday night or Thursday Morning, or later.... This would not be bad except I already have tickets and rooms starting Friday and the odds are it will not happen. This bullshit crew change off the fool ship Snapper is no longer getting old IT IS old... By my count we are working all holidays except Turkey day, and have been held over at least three other time this year. YES I am bitching so F&^&^* what...... It is this or yell and scream at the folks on the boat and that would not be right... I have come to think of being out here as ugly....

Do not let the photos fool you...

Livingston Texas

Well we are back in Livingston Texas, and it is time for me to start getting ready to return to the boat. The past four plus weeks have been a learning experance, sometimes fun, sometimes not. Will return later my dog is telling me it is time for a walk...

Not much really, just a few photos of the RV park here.

Touring Branson

We only had one day to take in shows and do the tourist thing in Branson. First we did the Branson Scenic Train ride. Nothing Scenic about the ride at all, I have been on several Train trips and this was the first time I did not get any photos from the train. First we waited on the platform for over 30 min. for the train to come back from the first run. Then for two hours I sat and looked out the window and watched trees go past. For me the best part was when the trip was over and I got off.

Went for lunch at a great Irish Pub and had Bangers and Mash with a Kellen's. This almost made up for the train ride and NON-Scenic train ride. Now back to the RV and a Nap before the Dixie Stampede dinner and show.

Both the food and show was very good, as long as you did not know U.S. history and watched the show for what it was you had a great time. However no photos were allowed so I do not have any for the blog.

Back late and off to bed, tomorrow we head back to Texas (again), but hope to get back to Branson soon.

Branson Mo. Visit

Tourest boat on the river

Someone, doing a birdseye view of the boardwalk

Water and fire show at the river boardwalk


The old bridge over the river we all have to cross

Arrived in Branson Mo. Aug. 3rd, 2008 Kay's 64th birthday. Found the Escapee RV Park ( Turkey Creek ) checked in at the office and parked the rig. Then we took a drive to check out how to get to the places we want to see tomorrow.

The maps that we were given for locating places could have been better, for the most part they show a general location and you then have to drive around the area looking for the exact location. Took us three or four tries to find one place that is really close, and should have been easy.

By this time it was getting close to dinner time so we decided to go to the landing in Branson and do the boardwalk and see what the light show was all about. Had Dinner at the Bass World resturant, had an excellent Ahi Tune meal for myself, Kay went with Trout. The photos that look like a hunting lodge are really of the Resturant.

After dinner we walked down the street with the mall, got a cold fruit drink and went down to the broadwalk along the river. Took some photos of the water and fire show, but it was still to light to get good shots.

Back to the rig to walk and feed the dogs, watch some television and off to bed.

Day Four Aug. 2ed Change of plan

Today Kay changed plans and we are now going to Branson MO. for a short visit before going back to Texas. Drove over 400 miles for the third day in a row, pulled into site at 1800 and it is now 1915 and I am just starting to cool down. We are camped at exit 78 off the I-70 ready to head down the us65 in the morning. I just hope we can stop early tomorrow and relax.. I have to return to the boat on the 11th and would like some time to just relax. This driving all day is to much like when I drove a truck for a living.

Another long day

Today was day three of the drive to return to Texas. Yesterday we drove over 400 miles and today was close to the same. Not doing any of the driving, I find sitting in the jump seat for eight hours or more very boring. The sights all run together and I can not tell one state from the next. In three days we have been through Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, and currently staying in Kansas.

Last night by the time we stopped for the night all we had time to do was setup, eat and go to bed. Not a lot of fun… Tonight we at least have a few hours to relax before going to sleep.

Photos are what I could see out the window as the truck drove past..

Have photos to be added when I get an internet connection again. Now been two days since my last working link.

Thoughts about this RV life, the living in the trailer is okay, however the cost is way out of sight. I thought this would help to save money, HAH!!!!! I estimate I have spent around $2000.00 USD, in the last four weeks, this can not keep up. I have no real bills and yet I have less in my account now after two pay checks then I did four weeks ago. Will wait and play until the end of the year and see what happens.