Making my list and checking it twice !

CanuckBob wrote:Congrats and we will see you soon.

Thanks Bob!!   10 weeks into retirement and loving it !  

pamarie wrote:I like to broil most meats over roasting them but I can just BBQ stuff.  I also like to use the broiler for things like cheesy Italian bread & other special recipes that require broiler use at times. I can figure it out other ways but just letting the OP know about most rentals not having a broiler in the oven range or to look for that if it's important to them when they look at rental properties.  

Good point.  When you first move to Mexico you tend to assume things:  like a standing stove having a broiler in there somewhere.  Our first house had none, and I didn't know it until I got the idea of broiling something.  Surprise.
That stove had other features: the temperature dial on the oven showed no numbers, just a drawing of a chicken, a pie and a flame. Not encouraging.

I like surprises and adjusting to cultural differences which was one of the reasons I chose to move here. I just didn't read anything about many stoves in Mexico not having a broiler at the sites I researched from the web. Which is why I mentioned to the OP.

I'm not sure if broilers are cultural or not. I think it has more to do with everyone having gas ovens due to the high cost of electricity. Even NOB a lot of gas ovens don't have broilers unless you specifically look for one that does. The broiler ovens are more expensive so don't expect to find one in a rental.

Thanks CBob, I never realized it was also hard to find them NOB because I never in all my years of renting experienced a stove appliance without a broiler, in the US anyway. Maybe in Canada it is more common, but all the years growing up and moving every two years and all the rentals early in my marriage, did I not have a broiler that was part of the oven range wherever I have lived except for here. Guess I was quite lucky :)

We found it odd also, but that's the way it is.
When we bought our new stove, we opted not to buy the one with the broiler because it was inside the top and consisted of an electric coil.
We've adapted by using the toaster oven, it has a broiler setting.

pamarie wrote:Thanks CBob, I never realized it was also hard to find them NOB because I never in all my years of renting experienced a stove appliance without a broiler, in the US anyway.  Maybe in Canada it is more common, but all the years growing up and moving every two years and all the rentals early in my marriage, did I not have a broiler that was part of the oven range wherever I have lived except for here.  Guess I was quite lucky :)
 

They are only harder to find in gas ranges. Most houses in Canada have electric ranges (which all have broilers). I imagine it is the same in the US hence the reason you always had one. Nothing to do with luck.......

jeeze bob,most houses in alberta have gas and since that delivery infrastructure has spread i would suggest that that has become the norm all over canada and not electric. and i would think the lack of broilers here is cultural. again you are wrong about lack of broilers in canada. this is a 1930 beech manufactured in eastern canada and it was a gem but for our millet house i bought an american fancy gas stove circa 1920. both had broilers under the stove part because that's where the big burners are. at one time i also had a circa 1900 gas stove  and in another edmonton house a 50's gas stove with broiler  manufactured in hamilton[i think]. all 3 had storage for pots and pans as well. the beech under the knobs and the broiler to the right. the dogs loved these stoves on legs. repros of the merkin granite ware one we had go fer several thousand bucks now. i paid 500 usd for it and it went with the house. they were both a joy to cook on and waaaaayyyy better than any electric stove and last longer obviously because there ain't a lot of moving parts. nice low technology.

Got to agree with pedro, most stoves in houses in Alta, Sask and Man have natural gas not electric

Pedro, I never once said there was a lack of broilers in Canada. In fact I said they were quite common there. I lived in 3 houses in Edmonton, 2 houses in Regina, 1 house in Victoria and 7 houses in Vancouver and they all had electric stoves. I think you boys living in the sticks may have seen a lot of gas but not in the big cities. None of my friends in Edmonton or Calgary currently have gas stoves either so I think you guys don't have a clue.

CanuckBob wrote:Pedro, I never once said there was a lack of broilers in Canada. In fact I said they were quite common there. I lived in 3 houses in Edmonton, 2 houses in Regina, 1 house in Victoria and 7 houses in Vancouver and they all had electric stoves. I think you boys living in the sticks may have seen a lot of gas but not in the big cities. None of my friends in Edmonton or Calgary currently have gas stoves either so I think you guys don't have a clue.

So, is electricity less expensive in Canada than in Mexico?

Yes. Quite a bit cheaper when you get over 500KWH every 2 months.

Gee Bob, I lived in Alta, Sask, and Mb. for aprox 47 years, and allways had a gas stove. Methinks it's you out there in the boonies.

CanuckBob wrote:Pedro, I never once said there was a lack of broilers in Canada. In fact I said they were quite common there. I lived in 3 houses in Edmonton, 2 houses in Regina, 1 house in Victoria and 7 houses in Vancouver and they all had electric stoves. I think you boys living in the sticks may have seen a lot of gas but not in the big cities. None of my friends in Edmonton or Calgary currently have gas stoves either so I think you guys don't have a clue.

a picture is worth a thousand words and i suggest you have no clue. i was happy as a pig in dung when i moved west and all the stoves were gas. my mother in etobicoke was the first to have gas on her street when it was offered in 1981 based on my input as to what was cheaper and the future. i lived in 4 houses in edmonton and 1 in regina but not when i was wearing short pants. even the infamous marty graw agrees with me. this is like you argueing[sic] with the contractor from guadalajara about construction in mexico when your only experience was in van and not here.

gringal wrote:

CanuckBob wrote:Pedro, I never once said there was a lack of broilers in Canada. In fact I said they were quite common there. I lived in 3 houses in Edmonton, 2 houses in Regina, 1 house in Victoria and 7 houses in Vancouver and they all had electric stoves. I think you boys living in the sticks may have seen a lot of gas but not in the big cities. None of my friends in Edmonton or Calgary currently have gas stoves either so I think you guys don't have a clue.

So, is electricity less expensive in Canada than in Mexico?

my electric bill was 175 cdn/month in alberta because ya needed it more so no. just cheaper per kwhr.. here its about 40 bucks or less cdn fer 2 months.

martygraw wrote:Gee Bob, I lived in Alta, Sask, and Mb. for aprox 47 years, and allways had a gas stove. Methinks it's you out there in the boonies.

I can only tell you my own experiences Marty. I have never lived in a house with a gas range until I moved to Mexico. I only know 3 people that ever had a gas range in any of the cities I lived in Canada.

almost the entire province of alberta use natural gas ranges and propane in trailers[like here] or rural areas other than all the farmers who i visited as a picker who had natural gas to their property too. i knew very few who used electric and that includes edmonton and calgary. ya paid enough ta plug yer vehicles in ta start in the winter. anybody west of manitoba including bc has ta be nuts to use expensive electric stoves when natural gas is available to all the properties in the cities and most rural areas.

Ok back to Woody's list.
I'd say bring everything on mentioned.
If you take supplements, bring those as some of them are hard to get here or more expensive.
Have your relative check at pharmacies here to be sure you can get any prescription meds you take.
We brought a TeleSteps ladder which is compact and has been very useful. Here is a link: http://www.telesteps.com/en/pro/home/
Do bring your tools. I can't tell you how many times construction workers didn't have a particular tool and borrowed ours to do work at our house.
If you have good electronics like Blu Ray players, etc, bring them.
I bought a large size Hamilton Beach toaster oven at Walmart here for 1,500 pesos.
Good quality lamps tend to be expensive here.
Other things to consider bringing: cordless phones, wall art you cherish, art supplies, quality stemware, your best Christmas ornaments, basic garden hand tools (yes you might hire a gardener but in between, if you wanna plant something, it's nice to have), leaf blower, pressure washer, etc.

Well friends, we made it !!  Got in yesterday afternoon. Pretty tired and had enough windshield for awhile. Seattle to Nogales was pretty standard. We crossed in the morning and all went smoothly. The cuota road (15D) to Guaymas was in pretty good shape but Guaymas to Los Mochis was really slow going. Major road reconstruction which was switching back and forth from new to old surfaces. One minute your on new concrete for 5 miles then back to 20 miles of more potholes than I thought ever possible. Nevertheless, we had zero mechanical issues and are very happy to finally be here with our belongings and trusty '99 Rodeo.  Back in 2003 we drove from FLA and crossed at Laredo. I don't know what condition the cuota road is in currently but comparing it to what 15D is now it was like a sheet of glass..

Glad we made it in time for MX Independence day.. Should be fun.

Cheers to all !    

Welcome Woody.

Did you come down I- 5? Where did you overnight in Mexico?

nthensome wrote:Did you come down I- 5? Where did you overnight in Mexico?

No I-5 .. We took more inland route..  I-90 from Seattle to I-82 to I-84.. That would be through Yakima WA, Pendleton, OR, and Boise, ID .. At Twin Falls, ID we took SR93 south to Las Vegas.. Then stopped for a couple days visit with friends in Prescott, AZ.. From Prescott it was I-17 through Phoenix and I-10 through Tuscon and then I-19 to Nogales where we spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express at Exit 4 (truck Route to crossing).. Nice hotel and they had no problem accepting our kitty. There's a Candlewood Suites there as well with is a bit cheaper but I used points at HDIE..

We pulled a small trailer which of course slowed us down.. First night in MX we stayed in San Carlos right outside of Guaymas so we could be on the beach. It is off season so pretty much deserted.. Lots of hotels there to choose from but more expensive since many are beachfront.

We got a late start next day and headed to Los Mochis. Stayed at Hotel Doux which we liked. Nice room and good restaurant. Would have liked to have made it to Navojoa but like I said before, the road between Guaymas and Los Mochis was so bad that we were ready to stop.

From Los Mochis we had planned to stop in Mazatlan but had trouble finding vacancy at any pet friendly hotels. We decided to push on to Tepic that day. Stopped over night at the Best Western Ne Kié .. The staff there was fantastic and made an exception to our kitty. Restaurant was very good. Next day we made it into Jocotepec.

I'm sure we would have made better time solo but really wasn't in a big hurry and didn't want to risk tearing up something on the bad sections of road which were many..

All in All a good trip. Make sure you have plenty of pesos for the numerous toll booths.. Don't even think of taking the Libre routes.

Feel free to PM us..  Good Luck !

CanuckBob wrote:Welcome Woody.

Thanks CB ! Looking forward to Autodromo Guadalajara .. Let me know.

Woody, can you share what the tolls did cost you? Where you pulling a one axle trailer or two axle trailer?

Also, does anyone know if a two axle Motorhome towing a two axle car is charged the same as a two axle car towing a two axle trailer? THX

SLDavis wrote:Woody, can you share what the tolls did cost you?  Where you pulling a one axle trailer or two axle trailer?  

Also, does anyone know if a two axle Motorhome towing a two axle car is charged the same as a two axle car towing a two axle trailer?  THX

Sorry, I had intentions of keeping track but lost interest at about 10 toll booths into it.. We pulled a single axle trailer.  Bet we spent at least 1700 pesos.  Worth every penny to avoid libre routes.

SCT official autopista list and toll table LINK at the bottom of this page under "references".  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mexican_autopistas