Zen And The Art Of Conversion Van Maintenance

So...that post a few weeks ago about how buying a cheaper older rig to make the trip south was the "smarter" thing to do? Please disregard that. in fact, do the opposite, buy a brandass new rig with a traveling pit crew a warranty!! Kidding, Kidding(mostly)... With the help of Manuel, the mechanic who came to our aid roadside in Loreto the transmission was fixed up and running like a dream. We wasted the days away at various resort pools on the Malecon in Loreto. If you act like you belong there, no one is the wiser! The next morning as we were shoving off to La Paz I leaned underneath the van expecting a dry and tidy underbelly only to spot another leak or "Fuga" in spanish. We went back and showed Manuel and after cleaning the underside of the van to find out where the leak originated from, he determined that it was just over-spill from the tranny fluid that he had added earlier. Phew.

Manuel!

parts from the van.

We enjoyed a drive to La Paz and some excellent free camping on the beach at Tecalote. We woke early to drive to Todos Santos but after taking the 'customary' look under the van we knew we had a problem. There was a fuga, it may have been wet due to overflow, but there was defiantly a leak as well. Off to find another mechanic! On the good advice of a Pemex employee, I met Chuy. 

Chewie!!

uuuh..? help?

 Chuys yard had about 15 broke down old cars in it and I was certain that ours was destined to join them...He said he needed a few hours to check into the problem, so Linds and I walked around town daydreaming about loooong bus rides and what to do for the next 6 months if the van was going down(my vote was ski season in Whistler, Linds had her eyes on Beunos Aires). We got back to Chuys after dark and the van was fixed! Yeehaw!! We high-fived our way back to Playa Tecalote, and toasted to good fortune. Scooter Mike putted up on his honda this morning and shared some stories and breakfast with us. More on him @ lostwithmike.com. Things are looking up!

scooter mike licks his plate clean!

Playa Tecalote

free resort pools are nice