After hearing some new and odd noises from Peggy over the last few days we had decided to take her for a full service before hitting Mexico. As we passed through Phoenix we called into a well reputed garage (according to Google). After waiting 15 minutes for someone to help me I was just about to give up. They must have sensed it and just as I turned to walk out a guy appeared to help me. ‘We can fit you in a week on Monday to take a look and then get you booked in after that’. 20 minutes of my life wasted and just about to head to another garage 20 miles away we noticed a small garage next door. I pulled in and 20 minutes later Peggy was up on a ramp getting her oil changed and to her embarresment also her under carrage insected by some strange man.

Whist waiting I went off to talk to an camper van specialist about fitting a water pump filter for Mexico. Probably the most over helpful person I have met in my life told me ‘$250 for a pump fitted…. but to be honest just drive a block down and go to home depot. You can pick the bits up there for $50′. Cheers! Heading back the mechanic had checked Peggy over and said there was nothing he could do as she was in tip top condition’. Cheers!

We headed to home depot smiling like it was christmas day. A quick nip into home depot and we had a water filter and the clips to fit it $35! It was only lunch time! Days like this dont happen to us when we are on the road…. And they didnt. First thing was where to put the filter, after taking the cupboards apart with a spoon and a pen knife and having no luck at finding the space I finally took the bed apart and found the place. I cut the hose that leads from the water tank to the kitchen sink and took the filter out the box… Clearly that was the wrong order. Well, clear to anyone reading this now, not clear to me hunched under the bed in 100’c heat with a matress on my head, torch in my mouth and a carving knife in my hand.

So basically the filter came with attachments that might just fit Danger Mouses little finger but not a 1987 camper van water pipe. Imagine trying to fit your finger through a needle head. Back into home depot to talk to ‘Tim the tool man’ I kid you not. Back out to the van; no chance, back in, back out, back in, back out. If I am honest I dont know how many times…but it took 4 hours to get the right bits. Well the right 8 bits. $75 later I clipped it all together tightened it up with my teeth (its all I had as the spoon wasnt very good at that job). Pump on, water all over me and the van it was back in to buy a spanner. Back out, the spanner was to small, back in, big spanners are $30. back out. Pump apart and back in. ‘Borrowed’ plumbers tape and there I was down an isle of home depot with a water filter doubled in length by the 4 progressivly smaller fittings at each end, pretending to decide over spanners by using them to tighten my fittings. By the end of it I had lost all shame and patience. I just put the filter in a demonstration clamp and proceeded to finish the job. Back to the van and within minutes the job was done. Easy as that and with the sun setting we headed for camp.

The next day we visited Saguaro National park in south Arizona, with its top of the range tourist office full of helpful rangers and a scale model of the park in the middle of the building. It even had a display cabinet full of all the wonderful things in the park you could see. Tarantulas, scorpions, black widow spiders, rattle snakes and some really scary flying bugs. Next to that was the virtually untouched tent registration desk. We picked up some post cards and opted for the 40 minute drive through tour. The loop road took us past some massive cactus some of which stood over 40ft and can take up to 150 years to reach that height. We even got to see a crested Saguaro cactus which instead of having ‘arms’ has a round top.

This anomally only happens one in every two hundred thousand plants! Next on the list was the infamous ‘Tombstone’ right next to the Mexican border. This sleepy town has made a real effort to keep the western feel. The old town is a close as you could get to an operational western style town. the fronts of all the buildings look old and inside the modern technology is kept to a minimum.

The streets are closed off to traffic but you can get a lift in a horse and carriage if you wish. Fully dressed cowboys wander the streets, some aimlessly, some offer bits of advice on where they heard might be good to go…others spit on the floor and just stare at you. No one ever giving up the game that its 2011 not 1890. It was nice that the whole town comes together to achive this every day of the year. Now thats what I call community spirit. We sadly couldn’t hang around for the OK Corral shoot out. We had the real wild west to get to!

Mexico here we come ready or not.

Find out what happens next on our wedding travel adventure!