oops

oops, I meant to post my carpentry question as a separate thread rather than a comment to this one.

EW

Hey EW, how long of a drive is it from your Cancun condo to (wherever in) Texas?

I saw in your desk-repair thread you mentioned checking Home Depot - is there one there in Cancun or do you mean when you were up in Texas.  I often wonder about stores and shopping we take for granted in the U.S., like Home Depot and other chain stores, drug store chains, grocery chains, etc - are there "Mexican" versions/franchises of those type stores?

Sorry if I'm being too nosey - just wondering.

Also wondered if the latest hurricane (forgot the name) that crossed the Gulf into Mexico affected you...

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

Home Depot Cancun??

Of course there is.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Home+Depot+Canc%C3%BAn/@21.1534684,-86.8437609,16z/data=!4m19!1m13!4m12!1m4!2m2!1d-111.6798976!2d33.357824!4e1!1m6!1m2!1s0x8f4c2b8c8033c5db:0xe4a3262ad8f0df0b!2shome+depot+cancun!2m2!1d-86.8454086!2d21.1537113!3m4!1s0x8f4c2b8c8033c5db:0xe4a3262ad8f0df0b!8m2!3d21.1537113!4d-86.8454086

Gary

Yes, I could have "googled" that, but I was just being conversational with another forum member...

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

road trip

Yeah, we have a home depot here, but it's not the greatest. Very little in the lumber section, a couple kinds of construction plywood, a few thicknesses of OSB, one kind of pink foam, some random bits of dimensional. 

I wanted an air filter (like for a furnace), I was going to strap it to a fan to clean my apartment air, no air filters at all, no idea what they were, nobody has a furnace here. 

The drive was 33 hours, I spread it over 5 days in both directions. 

My destination was Laredo, but the area on the Mexico side of the border there is a bit dangerous, so I played it safe and went a long way around, crossing the border at Eagle Pass Texas and then driving a couple 'bonus' hours in Texas down to Laredo just to avoid the 20 miles of dangerous territory. That way is 3 hours longer in total, but I didn't have any trouble. You never know if something like that is worth it without finding out the hard way that it would have been worth it.

On the way back I did a do-si-do with the hurricane. You'll need to consult google maps to find these place names. I had stopped the previous night in Orizaba. Normally, the next day I'd try to make it to Ciudad del Carmen. But I was worried the bridge over the Laguna de Terminos would be closed by the hurricane when I got to it, so I stopped early that day in Cardenas. There're no good places to stay on the west side of that lagoon, and the road goes right along at sea level there for quite a few miles, so I was worried I'd get there and get sent back. The hurricane at that time was more or less over Campeche or Merida, but it hadn't started raining in Cardenas (and I don't think it ever did). It went out to sea to the north and passed me in the gulf during the night, the next day I drove to campeche while the hurricane made landfall again but behind me. So it basically cost me an extra day because I'd been on a pace to get back in 4 days instead of 5, but ended up spending the night in Cardenas and then the next in Campeche. It wasn't a big one, only cat 1. When I got to cancun there were a few stoplights not working, that's the only sign of there having been a storm here.

I had a blowout on my left rear 2 hours from Cancun and it took me 3 hours to get it changed. I had to wait for a rescue crew to come and run a flag team to one-way the traffic so I could use the other lane to change the tire because there was no shoulder.

I just got the estimate, and the dealer wants over $2000 for all the repairs, not even including paint and fender bending yet. That's for two tires, a rim, 4 shock absorbers and a battery. (I hit a "few" bumps a little hard on the trip, most of the roads are great, but some are not). It's a chevy dealer, and their labor prices are just about US level. The van is a certified used van, under warranty for two more months, so I might get the battery for free.

EW

Thanks for the "road trip description" - fascinating following along on the Google maps.  Sounds like quite a trip!

You mention the territory near Laredo is "not so good" - are things "better", relatively safer up where you are in Cancun?

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA