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Mexico Trip 2009
Posted by PigPen , 28 December 2008 - 04:03 PM
Dec 28, 2008
Well, one week before we leave on our first trip with the TC to mainland Mexico. Packing up the camper & trailer with 2 feet of snow out there is no picnic, but at least it is starting to melt. I will keep this blog thread updated throughout the 3-4 month trip.
Jan 8th:
Still waiting to leave. Flooding in Washington state has made it impossible for us to get south. Maybe in a day or 2. Sigh. On top of that when I filled the camper with water I discovered the circuit board in the water heater had gone during winter storage. Fortunately I got it replaced under warranty.
Jan 9, 2009
We have heard they are opening Snoqualmie Pass, so we have decided to leave today & take our chances. We are stopping at our friends Torklift in Seattle where they are putting stable loads on the truck for us to field trial.
We arrived at Torklift around 2 PM and found out that I-5 has now been reopened between Seattle & Portland so we do not have to attempt the pass. We had a super hitch installed on our truck fro our cargo trailer which is a big improvement over the 18 inch extender & then we looked for a Wal Mart top camp overnight in. It seems Wal Marts in the Seattle area do not allow overnight camping so we ended up spending the night at the Camping World in Tacoma.
Jan 10, 2009
We drove to our friends, Jim & Sandy Amos, in Oregon City this morning. The flooding in southern Washington is really bad, but at least the freeway is now open. We had been planning to stay overnight, but we decided to push on to Myrtle Creek to Glen & Becky's place (tankeryanker on the NATCOA Forum). This puts us back on our original schedule. It was below freezing over the pass, but no snow. As soon as we got to Redding the temperature had risen into the low 20's (70's F)
Jan 11, 2009
A long days drive to Sacramento today to Kathy & Ken's place. We arrived just in time for dinner (funny how that happens). Ken & Kathy have 2 large Rhodesian Ridgebacks, so we let Tomas out into the backyard to play with them. 30 minutes later they returned, but no sign of Tomas anywhere. We eventually found him huddle under a woodpile, terrified.
Jan 12, 2009
Another long days drive to Simi Valley (Los Angeles) to Jerry & Joannie's (Budster on forum). Fortuitously we got there just in time for supper again. LA is in the middle of a bit of a heat wave & its over 30 (86 F). After the cold snowy winter at home, we are not complaining.
Jan 13, 2009
Managed to get Tomas bathed today in the heat, so now he's pissed at me. I also washed the rear seat cover he threw up over. We headed out at 8 PM to Quartzite, AZ. This was to avoid LA traffic, even so it took 2 hours to really get clear of LA, and we arrived in Quartzite at about 3AM.
Jan 14, 2009
Got ourselves set up in the desert this morning & paid our $40 for the 2 week camping, although we will only stay a week. I went to lower our jacks & found out I had gotten the remote wet, and now its all corroded. I guess I need to bring it in winter. The reason I even checked is that I managed to jackknife my trailer into a jack when I backed out of Kathy's driveway in Sacramento & wanted to check it out. That was when I discovered none of them would work. I phoned Bob at Reico and he is going to ship a replacement to my buddy in Phoenix. We plan to be there in time for supper on Tuesday. Anyone who thinks $24 a year for a NATCOA membership is not worth it is kidding themselves. We have already saved about $150 this trip alone on campsites & meals. Not to mention making some great friends.
Jan 15, 2009
Not much today except sitting around & relaxing. We went into town to the used bookstore which is run by a guy who walks around naked except for a pouch over his private parts. Looks like a left over Hippy. Jerry saw him bend over & said he's tanned where the sun shouldn't shine. Fortunately I missed that.
There is an unbelievable number of RV's camped around here. I knew this was a big thing, but I never expected this many. Apparently this town has a population of 3500, but has as many as 3 million visitors over the month of January.
Jan 16, 2009
Took Tomas out into the desert for his walk at 8:30 this morning and he started to growl. I immediately realized he smelled coyote & put his leash on. We were only about 100 meters from the camper. A second later he spotted it & tore out to the end of his leash. He has gone after a coyote in the past at home, and there is no stopping him. I suppose when he was in Mexico & with a pack, they did this, but alone he is taking a chance. A moment later I noticed we were surrounded by 7 or 8 of them. I had to throw several rocks at them to get them to back off. Had Tomas got loose he would have been torn to bits. From now on he stays on the leash in this area and he goes into the camper when he is unattended. The ranger later told us that several people have lost small dogs here already this year.
We walked the 1.5 Km into town & the flea market. It is huge, You can buy nearly anything, most at pretty good prices. She suggested walking, which surprised me considering her bum foot. She was limping by the time we got back.
A few more of Jerry's friends showed up this afternoon. Now Jerry has a Class C we are the only Truck Camper in the group. The others have huge Class A's or 5th wheels. Nice folks though, in the past I have found people in Class A's rather snobby, but these guys are OK.
Larry Christensen & Dean Emerson showed up & got into a show & tell about handguns. My wife got freaked, she hates guns. Me, I find them fascinating. Not that I would own one, but heck the thought of firing off a couple of hundred rounds in the desert turns me on. Guy thing, I guess or maybe its just because I'm Canadian & its no no in Canada. One of these days I have to get back to my buddy, Ralph Lermeyer, in New Mexico for a few days, and have him teach me how to handle them safely.
Jan 20th
Left for Phoenix today & AZ Ramblers house. Hopefully my replacement jack remote has arrived.
Arrived in the evening & Bob at Reico came through for me. The remote was there. I love the Reico jacks, far better than Happijacs IMO, but have learned the same compartment as water hoses is no place for the remote.
Jan 21, 2009
We left Phoenix this morning with a stop at Campers World to buy an expensive voltage conditioner. We have been advised to use one in Mexico, where power varies somewhat. I got away without one on the earlier trip to Baja, but this is a new Camper, and I'd rather be safe. Better to spend $250 on this, than have to replace a circuit board in our fridge or damage our air conditioner, especially if that happens 2000 km into Mexico, where the chances of getting it repaired is minimal. We arrived at the border town of Nogales, AZ in the afternoon & checked into the Mi Casa RV Park which has definitely seen better days. It now looks like a scene out of Trailer Park Boys. We are locking everything. Some Canadians in a huge Class A pulled in on their way back from Mexico, with a non-functional fridge, so maybe the power conditioner was a good idea. I spent a couple of sweaty hours after dinner installing it. I bought the model you hard wire internally. Much more of a pin than the portable model, but fortunately I have a lot of tools with us. I can imagine how long the portable model, you hook up outside the RV, would last, before taking a walk.
The Canadians coming north told us that Mexican immigration are real sticky about 2 copies of all documentation; passports, vehicle registration, you name it, so we will do that in town here tomorrow as well as arrange for our Mexican insurance. We are now ahead of schedule, so no panic to cross the border.
Jan 22, 2009
We woke up to heavy rain this morning, the first we have seen in a week. Maybe it will wash all the dust off we picked up in Quartzite.
Jan 23, 2009
Spent the day doing some last minute shopping & getting Mexican insurance for the RV. We ended up using Don Smith this time. The RV Park filled up with Canadians today.
Jan 24, 2009
We got up early this morning to try to get through the Mexican border before the rush. We drove right through the border without having to stop, but the main immigration is actually 21 km south. Once we got there we first went into the office to get our tourist cards, Then to the copy place to get copies of everything from drivers licenses to birth certificates, then to the bank to get the vehicle permit & pay for the tourist cards. It wasn't not so bad, only took about an hour, we were expecting 4 hours. Tommy was sitting in the back seat looking worried, it's almost as if he knows he is back in his homeland. Maybe he does. The road south is freeway, but its toll and its not cheap, we spent about $20 to get the 4 hours south to San Carlos. We checked into the Totonaka RV park (www.totonakarv.com ) a clean modern park with full hook-ups and the price to match ($24 a night). It has net access & a pool so we will stay 2 nights. The town is pretty, but the beach leaves a bit to be desired. The main sewer outflow for the town is located on the beach opposite the RV park, so that is a bit of a turn off.
My new power conditioner shut the power off about 4 or 5 times, so I guess it was worth it. I measured the voltage at 132 V when it shut off
Jan 25, 2009
It's hotter than stink here and we just discovered that they filled in the pool. That does it for my wife. IF she is in the heat and has no water, its a scary thing indeed. We are headed 50 miles south tomorrow to what is supposed to be a beautiful beach off the beaten path at Hautabampito. I doubt there will be net access and if we like it we will stay a week, so I may not update this for awhile. See El Mirador RV Park
Jan 26th, 2009
We headed south today looking for a beach, we have ended up at Huatabampito, near Navoja. We passed through Cuidad Obregon on the ay. This town blew me away with its cleanliness. You would have sworn you were in a Canadian or US City. Not an item of trash in site, modern buildings. The cleanest town I have ever seen in Mexico. We ended up at the El Mirador campground here. This place is beautiful, right on the beach, we paid for a week. ($110) I will try to upload some photos tomorrow. I have net access, but it is slow.
Jan 27, 2009
Quite cloudy today so we will wait to take some photos. I managed to get my home dial tone on my digital phone this morning but it was too early to try to phone anyone, but at least I was able to clear out my voicemail. Amazing. When I traveled in India & Middle East 40 years ago, I had to go to American Express to pick up 2 month old letters from home, if I was lucky. My parents only got monthly reports if I was still alive or not. Maybe just as well considering some of the situations I got in, some of which I still haven't told them about. Now I get frustrated if I can't get my home phone number to work on a remote beach in Mexico.
I put the antenna up and was pleased to see I can get a couple of stations. The most entertaining aspect of Mexican TV are TeleNovellas, which are horribly overacted soap opera's that dominate 80% of Mexican TV in prime time. They are so overacted, they are hilarious even to those who can't understand any of the dialogue. The morning show on Televista, 'Hoy', is still dominated by news & clips of the previous day's soap opera events. World news takes a secondary role. 2 summers ago I became quite hooked on 'La Fea mas Bella' which spawned the grossly inferior American rip off, 'Ugly Betty'. At that time, life almost came to halt here, when it was on. It now appears to be finished and the latest hot one is 'Manana es para Siempre' which translates to 'tomorrow is for always', probably actually 'tomorrow is forever'. My Spanish has improved a lot over the last couple of years & I can now understand most of what is going on.
There is Lance 1181 camped here that was in an accident. The truck was dented, but when they took the Lance off the truck the welds on one of the front Atwood swing-out brackets failed and it tipped about 70 degrees over on its side, Took a bunch of hydraulic jacks & a couple of hours to get it back upright & on the truck. I pointed out the telltale crack at the bottom rear slide corner. Not sure if that was due to the fall or a structural stress crack. He got the jack bracket re-welded. I guess he should have got Reico jacks. I will get him in touch with Garth Olsen at Lance, maybe they can use the camper as advertising, it looks darn good for having been on its side. In this case it appears Atwood is at fault.
Jan 28, 2009
The net connection has been down for 2 days here so I don't know when this will get uploaded. The weather has cleared. I ran out of the whole wheat bread I bought with me today. All you can buy in Latin America, anywhere, is Bimbo bread. I've seen this stuff in every Central & South American country I've been in. To my delight I found one marked 'double fibre'. However, it tasted just like white Bimbo bread with brown dye in it. If Bimbo ever goes out of business I am sure the price of sugar will plummet. This stuff turns to a sugary goo in your mouth before you get a chance to swallow it.
Jan 28, 2009
I have no idea what is happening up north but it got cold enough to use the heat last night. Finally got a good enough connection to upload some pics. The lovely camper below was already here.
Cleared right up this afternoon after 3 hazy days & its getting very warm again.
January 30, 2009
Damn, I went to dump our holding tanks this morning & my sewer hose has hundreds of holes in it. The ride in the metal bumper has aced it & I don't have a spare. I may find one in Wal Mart in Los Mochis, but I'm not optimistic. I put an appeal on rv.net for anyone still in the US & headed my way, otherwise I will have to see what I can do with Duct tape. Make a note to add sewer hose to my list of spares to take next year. I also need to remember to get replacement U-bolts for the trailer. I remember my friends Al & Carol who came down here with a trailer a few years ago (& now run a B&B in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua) having problems with those.
Update: Put a note on RV.net & someone said to try Noe at Celestino, about 70 km north of Mazatlan. I sent him an email. Here's hoping. Oddly enough someone in Arizona also told me we should head to his campground so he was on the list anyway. Tomas seems to be settling back into being a Mexican dog. He spends a lot of time picking burrs out of his feet and tries to walk on the highway where possible. I now figure this is why so many Mexican dogs (Tomas included) get clobbered by cars.
January 31, 2009
A thick fog this morning. Very reminiscent of the "June Gloom" phenomena in southern California. A post on RV.net has netted me someone on their way down to Mazatlan. He will meet me there on Friday with a new sewer hose. I am thinking of dumping my tanks in a remote spot in the desert in the meantime. Yuck. A few extra scoops of 5 start happy camper sanitizer will help. I will try more rolls of duct tape first. Tomorrow we head south to Guasave just south of Los Mochis.
Feb 1, 2009
A frustrating day today. We headed out for Playa Las Glorias near Guasave. We got lost 4 times and had one flat tire which was actually the extender on my rear dual. A Pemex attendant helped me pull off the wheel & fix it and then refused any payment which was nice of him. We ended up in a small fishing village once when we got lost & in a bunch of corn fields on another occasion., the pother bad thing that happened was I accidentally cut someone off. he blocked the road and came at me quite aggressively with a major case of road rage. Fortunately, I have enough Spanish to apologize profusely & got him calmed down. It was silly mistake, I swerved to avoid a deep hole & he was about to pass at the same time. Glad we are finally here at Mr Moro's RV Park, 8 hours later. Will take some pictures tomorrow.
Feb 2, 2009
Gorgeous day today. Here are some photos
Feb 4, 2009
Headed south this morning towards Mazatlan. No incidents this time, but it was a brutal day for tolls. We paid about $40 in them. The road is good, almost as good as a US interstate, but they sure nail you in tolls. The question is whether I would burn the extra in diesel anyway taking the free roads.
We arrived at Villa Celeste in El Celestino, 78 km north of Mazatlan. This is a very pleasant, small RV park with very friendly owners. It is almost completely full of retired Canadians staying here for months. `We have booked for a week. The guy from Calgary, I met on rv.net, is supposed to show up here on friday with my replacement sewer hose. In the meantime, my duct tape job seems to be holding. How Canadian is that. Red Green would be proud of me. Regardless, I tested it first with my gray tank, not the black. Will post some photos tomorrow.
Feb 5, 2009
Feb 6, 2009
Rick, from Calgary rolled in this afternoon with the new sewer hoses. What a lifesaver. I wasn't sure how much longer my duct taping job was going to last. We found out my step son will be in Puerto Vallarta at the end of the month, so we will try to meet him. My sister in law will be there Mar 23rd so we want to be back there by then, especially since she plans to camp with us for a week. If everything works out that gives us 3 weeks to get to Zihuantenejo & back.
Feb 7, 2009
I forgot my mothers birthday yesterday. Oops
Some pictures of downtown El celestino:
Feb 8, 2009
An email from my neighbour today to tell me I have a flood in my laundry room. Apparently my front load washer is full of water. I have no idea how thta could have happened, but another neighbor managed to get it cycled through & turned off the after & cleaned up. Only thing I can think of is the house cleaner accidentally bumped against it & started it then shut the main water off before she left leaving it in mid cycle.
Noe, the owner of this campground took us all out to a Mexican Restaurant in the town of La Cruz, about 15 km from here tonight. We heard good reports of him & this spot further north, and they have all turned out to be true. A great guy. Many people come & spend all season here, year after year. Maybe us too in few years when we get tired of touring around.
Noe is the guy in the baseball cap at the far end of the table. My wife made me delete photos til I got a good one of her. She does not care if I have a stupid look on my face.
Feb 11, 2009
We got up early this morning intending to head for Tepic, about 1/2 way to Guadalajara. Someone here mentioned he had seen the Mexico map books in 'Mega' in Mazatlan so we headed there to do some grocery shopping & pick one up. We managed to get ourselves lost in Mazatlan but also happened to stumble upon the store. It did have the map book & we stocked up on groceries. The most precious find was 2 loaves of Orowheat whole grain bread. The Bimbo bread in the fridge is headed for the garbage.
By the time we got out of Mazatlan it was noon & we headed the 250 km down the toll Highway to Tepic. Toll is an understatement. By the time we got 85 km from Tepic we had already paid 550 pesos (about $50 Can) in tolls. We decided to exit off onto the free road. It was actually far more scenic, but rather slow & windy. We got to Tepic at 4:30 Pm & discovered the RV park (the only one) had closed. An hour and a half til dark and we don't want to be on roads in Mexico after dark.
We thought of staying overnight in a Pemex station and we needed fuel anyway. I told the attendant to fill it up and he misunderstood and though I said I wanted 100 pesos worth ( the words for fill it up & one hundred sound similar if there is ambient noise). I straightened that out and never noticed if he continued pumping or re-zeroed the pump. When I came to pay he charged me 100 extra claiming he had re-zeroed. I am 99% sure he did not, but I had to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think I got ripped for 100 pesos ($10). This sort of thing happens a lot at Pemex stations, you have to really watch them. The most common is not zeroing the pumps before they start pumping. They will do this before you have a chance to get out the truck, which is why I have a locking gas cap. I was distracted by the other attendant letting air out of front tire. He had checked the pressure, decided it should be 35 lbs (It should be 80 with E Class tires) & I had to argue with him that 80 was correct. He had dropped the one to 60 by the time I stopped him and their pumps would not handle more than that so I decided to run with 60 for a few miles til I got out of town & I could get my portable pump on it. I wonder if the whole air thing was a ruse to rip me off for 100 pesos. From now on, both of us will watch while they are pumping. I decided this was not a good Pemex to overnight in. Contrast this with the other Pemex station 2 weeks back, where an attendant refused money for helping me change a tire.
With an hour before dark we figured we could make Laguna de Santa Maria del Oro, which appeared to be about 50 km SE of Tepic. We made good time, but once again got lost, this time in the town of Santa Maria del Oro, which fortunately is not too large. In cases like this, the trailer is a pain in the butt. After finding our way out of town and with dusk falling, we came to the rim of a large crater with the lake at the bottom. 10 km of steep winding roads and we reached Koala Campground on the lakeshore just as it got dark. We are the only ones here and I guess we will try to find the owner in the morning. No internet service.
Feb 12, 2009
Well, this place is absolutely gorgeous. The lake is very reminiscent of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, albeit on a smaller scale. The lake is very clear & nice to swim in. I suspect it is quite deep, being in a volcanic caldera. It appears to be full of fish, I wish we had bought our gear with us. Apparently this place is owned by an Englishman who does not seem to be around right now. It has only 8 RV spots & about 5 bungalows. The son, Christian, is currently in charge. Despite the fact he looks very British, he does not speak a word of English. The price is right at $12 a night. A couple from France pulled in today in a Rapido Class A Motorhome. A very sensible sized Class A diesel, they shipped it over from Europe & are touring North & South America. We have decide to spend 2 or 3 days here. Tomas has found a female lab senorita he appears to have amorous intentions on, despite the fact we had him fixed.
LAP DOG
EUROPEAN RAPIDO CLASS A
THRESHING CORN HUSKS
Feb 15, 2009
We left the lake early this morning headed to Guadalajara. We decided to take the free road and it was not as bad as we thought. We stopped briefly in Tequilla and bought, guess what - a bottle of Tequilla. We also stopped at a roadside chicken place where I amused the locals with showing how Tomas can hold a piece of chicken on his nose til I tell him OK. Upon arriving in Guadalajara, we found that both RV parks there listed in the Church's book are closed. One is now condo's the other we simply could not locate, so we think it is also gone. We pushed south to the Gringo enclave of Lake Chalapa. Hit a massive traffic jam in Guadalajara due to an accident en route. There we found another RV park also closed. It was getting late so we headed for the western end of the lake where supposedly there is another RV park, Roca Azul. We arrived just before dark and this one is still open. I managed to hit one Tope at high speed, and now half the stuff in the trailer is one the floor, including one broken container of liquid laundry detergent. Our poor shelves are really in bad shape. I have to build sturdy wooden ones when I get home.
Feb 16, 2009
Well this place seems quite pleasant. It has a gigantic swimming pool. I think we will stay a couple of days, then head to the old colonial town of Guanajuato, about 5 hours east of here. This place is infested with Canadians. Fellow NATCOA member, Jerry Gale was here about a week or 2 ago. A few people recognized the NATCOA sign & remember him. I will try to catch up with him somewhere further south. Another NATCOA member, Peter Tomas is in Mazatlan. May hook up with him in Pt. Vallarta.
Feb 18, 2009
We left for Guanajuato this morning. We determined a route using the map that would avoid having to go through Guadalajara. Big mistake, we ended up in a small village with narrow streets, totally lost & had a heck of job getting the camper out of there. Just an inch to spare on each side on one street. Thank God we left the trailer behind at Chapala, or we really would have been in trouble. This delayed us well over an hour & we ended up in Guadalajara traffic anyway. However, we managed to arrive at the campground in Guanajuato before dark. The campground is huge, but no shade. One small group is here, but when they leave in the morning, we will have the place to ourselves. The power quality is not good, as soon as I plugged in, the radio started to buzz, a bad sign. It's generator time for the A/C.
Feb 19, 2009
Took a taxi into Guanajuato. This is the best colonial city in Mexico I have been in, a maze of hills, & tunnels. Here are some pictures.
Feb 20, 2009
We drove back to Chapala today by another route. Once again we got ourselves lost once or twice. Funny thing about Mexico is you can pass a sign saying 25 km to a town and 3 km down the road another sign says its 35 km. We will spend one day here then move on. It was handy to leave the trailer behind for a couple of days, but this place is too Gringoville. Reminds me of southern Spain with condo enclaves. Next stop is Villa Corona which is only 50 km away for a night or 2.
Lake Chapala is polluted. I really fail to see why this place attracts so many Gringo's. They are apparently trying to clean it up. It is a large shallow body of water. Since about 40% of the lake changes each year, it is doable. Apparently it is swimable, but it doesn't appeal to me. it was drying up, but a few years ago the government prevented too much water being removed upstream & it is now 17 feet higher than it was in 2000. In most places it was only about 25 feet deep to start with.
Feb 21, 2009
We have decided to stay here until Monday. We have found out that Villa Corona where we were headed next, is a Balneario. These are very popular in Mexico. They are swimming pool complexes and on weekends, hundreds of city folk with kids in tow, descend on them. This one is close to Guadalajara, so maybe several hundreds. They usually have massive loudspeakers with deafening music 24 hours a day. A Canadian refugee from there showed up here tonight with his ears still ringing. You do not want to be there on a Saturday or Sunday. It was one of these where we picked up Tomas, our dog, 4 years ago. I'm surprised he is not deaf. They are popular with stray dogs due to the large drinking dishes available.
Feb 23, 2009
This morning we headed out for Villa Corona. Since we needed groceries & some stuff from the pharmacy, we decided to detour into Ajijic first. That caused us some grief. There was no parking in the pharmacy parking lot, so I parked across the street & stuck my 4 way flashers on while Terry went inside. A policeman came up & told me I was in violation of 5 traffic laws and I would have to pay 500 peso Fine (about $45 US). He took my drivers license & my vehicle permits and told me to pull up a side street which I did. Under normal circumstances I would have insisted we go to the station & fill out the forms. Previous experience has shown me they usually let you off with a warning as soon as you suggest this, but on this occasion, if he agreed, I would disappear & dear wife would not know where I had gone. I offered him 200 Peso's (about $15), no questions asked & he accepted it, as I figured he would since he was obviously trying to shake me down for a bribe to start with.
The only problem he had made me turn onto a narrow street & had a heck of a time getting back onto the main road. I only had an inch clearance on each side in some spots and I could not back up because of the trailer.
Anyway eventually I managed to get around the block, & we went on our way. I don't think I have ever driven in this country without paying at least one bribe.
We arrived here in early afternoon. This park is pretty well full. It is a Baleanero and has several pools including hot springs. A good place to chill out for a day. Once again, it is full of Canadians.
Feb 25, 2009
We got up early this morning to head for Puerto Vallarta across Hwy 70. This highway took us over 3 or 4 passes and was very scenic, albeit slow. It was a little disconcerting considering the slide situation, but we made it across OK and promptly got lost in the outskirts of PV. We were trying to find an RV Park downtown to reserve for Sunday when Terry's son arrives. We eventually managed to find the place & it was full, but we succeeded in reserving OK. We then headed 50 km north to Sayulta.
Upon turning off the highway we encountered a sign saying the road was closed, which we ignored & found ourselves trapped with a massive hole in the road ahead of us. After 30 min of trying to turn around (I am starting to hate our trailer), we found what we thought was a detour. Suspicious of how it looked, we parked & I headed off on our electric bike to scout things out. I determined an acceptable route & we headed down a very bumpy road, including driving through a creek & managed to find the RV Park. This place is beautiful.
My Telus digital phone works on the WiFi here so I have my home phone number operating. Bonus.
Here are some pictures from Hwy 70.
Feb 26, 2009
Went up to inspect my roof today & found a minor tear on the front edge in the TPO. damn trees, they are hard to avoid with the narrow streets. I will have to try to repair it before I hit rain.
Sayulita:
Feb 27, 2009
We woke up this morning to vomit all over the camper floor. Tomas is sick. We wonder if it was the left over fried cactus we fed him. We weren't crazy about it ourselves, but we bought it in Wal Mart so we figured it had to be reasonably safe. Maybe its one of those things that is toxic to dogs. Anyway he did not eat all day. Anyone who knows Tomas, knows the importance of food to him, even more so than most dogs. We are a bit worried about him. He is already a big hit around here, everyone keeps commenting on what a great dog he is.
This campsite is the most expensive we have stayed in so far, $350 Pesos a day. That is $27 US. If we stay here with Terry's sister it will be an additional $7. We have averaged about 150-175 a night over most of the trip. This is close to Puerto Vallarta, which is why, I guess. We are going to check out the other sites up the coast within 25 km of here tomorrow. This is a gorgeous beach, but the waves can be pretty rough.
Feb 28, 2009
We drove up to Rincon de Guayabitos today to check out RV Parks there. None of them impressed us, but we checked into one for the night, Tomas still won't eat and anything he does eat gets thrown up. I am very worried about him. This is 3 days since he has eaten now. This is the best dog I have ever had, it would be devastating if anything happens to him.
Tough to sleep tonight, I'm not only very worried about my dog, the bar next door has live entertainment, the worst Mariachi band I have ever heard, bar none. On top of that they are letting off fireworks.
Mar 1, 2009
Tomas still won't eat. I have decided to try and find a vet, but it's Sunday. While I was inquiring, another Canadian in the campground was having trouble with their dog having convulsions. We got a hold of a vet in Puerto Vallarta, 70 Km south of here, and the woman running the campground offered to drive us there & back. We met the vet in the parking lot of Sams club & he did an examination of both dogs. He did not speak a word of English. He felt the other dog had had a heart problem and gave him an injection. A side effect was a drop in body temperature and hundreds of ticks started abandoning ship. It was weird to watch. Tomas doesn't have any ticks, but I have seen fleas on him. He is on the program. The vet examined Tomas & said he had a fever & wanted us to go back to his office for a blood test, which we did. A couple of hours later I had 3 sets of drugs for Tomas and a 900 Peso (about 80 Can) bill. I was still not 100% sure of what the diagnosis was, my Spanish is adequate, but not fluent, but the blood test was negative. Judging by the drugs, he thinks it's an infection of some sort. We drove back to Ricon where I picked up the camper & we drove back to PV again where we have a reservation.
I am glad we stopped a few days ago & made a reservation. The spot we paid for in advance is the only vacant one here. The rest of the campsite is filled up with a huge French Canadian Caravan. Apparently they are occupying most spots at the only other RV Park in town. The regulars here are pissed because they have been forced to park on at the side of the building which has hastily been converted to RV spots. Most of them are not too fond of my Francophone countrymen whom they consider rather rude, for the most part. I hate to say that has been my observation as well.
The good news is Tomas seems to be improving after giving him the drugs. He ate a bowl of rice covered in chicken broth this evening & has not up-chucked yet. We are wondering if he can't handle Mexican water anymore, so we have been giving him only bottled water for the last 24 hours. Maybe he has canine Moctezuma's revenge. Anyway if he makes it through the night without throwing up, I think he is on the mend. Thank God, we love that dog.
Terry's son, D'Arcy, showed up later tonight. He is staying at Los Tules just across the street. Great, we can use their pool.
Mar 2, 2009
Tomas is completely back to normal. We spent most of the day over at Terry's son's hotel using the pool.
This morning I went to an ATM and tried to draw out 3000 Pesos, about $260 Canadian. The machine only gave me 2200 Pesos which seemed rather odd. I went on the net and checked my account & discovered it took out $2347.42 Canadian. That was ridiculous since my daily limit is $400. I phoned my bank & they are doing a trace on it. Good thing it was an HSBC ATM, not a Mexican bank.
Mar 3, 2009
We drove D'Arcy up to Laguna Santa Maria del Oro where we camped about 3 weeks ago today. A 3.5 hour drive each way, but at least he got to see more of Mexico than Pt. Vallarta. Checked my bank account this afternoon & it seems they have fixed the $2400 mistake.
Mar 4, 2009[/b]
I went diving today. I have paid for some lessons for D'Arcy (Terry's son), but the guy he came down with is a diver, so we went together. Terry's foot is giving her trouble with fins, so she just snorkeled. The visibility was not great, but the neatest thing was, there are Humpback whales in the bay. I could not see them, but the noise from them, underwater was deafening. A new experience. I did see some pretty sizable moray eels down there, however. I much prefer the Caribbean, any dive I have done in the Pacific has been poorer visibility. A dive is a dive. I think I am now over 50 of them. I wish I'd started earlier in life.
[b]Mar 5, 2009
D'Arcy did his first ocean dive today. They took him down to 60 feet after only 2 hours pool instruction. I don't think that would have happened in Canada, but this is Mexico. Anyway he is hooked and wants to go for full certification. Without going into details, D'Arcy has had some rough life periods. I am very proud of how far he has come, and I think of him as my own son. Now I might have a diving partner as well. This is the first time he has ever been out of Canada. I think this trip has been a real eye opener for him. I still remember how backpacking my way across Europe, the Middle East & India changed my outlook on life when I was in my 20's.
Tomorrow we head south to Chamela about 2/3 of the way to Manzanillo. I doubt there will be net access there. I sent today checking out the route out of town since I have the camper off the truck. PV has the worst traffic so far to navigate through. I really hate driving here.
Mar 6, 2009
We said goodbye to D'Arcy this morning & headed south to Playa Negrito at Chamela. The road south of PV is quite slow so it took us about 3 hours to go the 124 km. We would have never found this place if we had not been given the GPS co-ordinates for the turn off. However, in case anyone is interested, you pass through the small village of Chamela, cross the bridge at the south end of town & it's the first dirt road to your right. Down the hill, turn left and it's about 2 km straight on. This is an idyllic spot. The beach is wonderful, no surf. There are 2 dead Moray eels on the beach, so there are tons of vultures. One of the eels is huge and Tomas decided that we would really enjoy the smell of dead eel in our camper, so he rolled on it. No net here, but our neighbor has satellite internet we can steal occasionally.
March 7, 2009
We like it here so much we have decided to stay a week. The owner got rid of the eel bodies last night & the vultures have gone. One of them, as you can see in the picture above, swallowed a fish net, which is what killed it. That was one big eel. I have seen lots of Morays diving, but that one was one of the largest I have seen. I'm rather glad I did not encounter it under water. We have sanitized Tomas as much as possible, but he still smells a bit fishy. Dogs can be so disgusting.
There are only primitive facilities here. No power or water or sewer, but we arrived with a full tank of fresh water & there are primitive semi saline showers, so we should be OK. The price is right; about $5 a night. That should neutralize the expensive RV Park back in Sayulita, 50 km north of PV, where we plan to spend a week with Terry's sister, Bobbi. With the add-on cost for her, that one runs $30 US a night. She flies in on March 21st & leaves March 28th. We would like to bring her down here, but that is too much windshield time for someone with only 6 usable days of vacation, and a 3rd person would severely strain our water resources here. There is also far more to do in Sayulita for someone with only a week to play with. Here, it is swim & read and not much else. There is also a cheap hotel right across the street if she decides a tent is not her thing.
My solar panels are putting out 7 amps most of the day so we don't even have to use the generator, except to run the A/C for 30 minutes & cool down the inside before going to bed.
From here we will check out some campsites in Malaque, just north of Manzanillo, & then I guess, it's time to start our slow journey north. After Terry's sister leaves, that gives us 2 weeks to get back across the US border before Terry's passport expires on April 19th. I guess we will have to leave the coast of Michoacan State until next year. I think next year, we will boot down as far as PV, quickly, & then explore the south coast & Chiapas.
We are thinking of heading home back inland via Las Vegas. We haven't been there in a while. I might see if my son wants to fly there & ride back with us.
It's Saturday night, & as is the case with most Mexican beaches, the partiers have descended with loud boom boxes, etc.
Mar 12, 2009
Well, its our last day here. We have done absolutely nothing except read & swim, which is nice. Tomorrow we head a bit further south again. Tomas has discovered the joys of crabbing. He spends hours on the beach stalking them. I swear that dog is part cat. Click the 2 links below for video's.
Tomas on the hunt
Tomas makes the kill, then is scared of dead crab
Mar 13, 2009
We arrived in San Patricio Melaque today. The Trailer Park here has a few spare sites now the bulk of people are headed north. Still mainly Quebequois in here, however. The ocean in front of here has scary breakers, but it looks safe to swim a bit down the beach.
It turns out that this is the start of week long celebrations leading up to St. Patrick's Day, the biggest event of the year in this town. How an Irish holiday became the big event here is beyond me, but the town does have St. Patricio (St Patrick) in its name. My theory is when he banned snakes from Ireland, they all got sent to Mexico, since I have seen plenty. This is the way the Mexicans show their appreciation.
Actually, the real explanation probably lies HERE
Following a noisy parade through the streets of people carrying paper shamrocks, the whole town has descended into a flurry of fireworks & revelry which is terrifying poor Tomas. They set off a huge fireworks display in the town square, mounted on a bamboo tower that was a bit reminiscent of the movie "The wicker man". No safe distance rules here, bits of flaming debris rained down among the crowd. That was followed by men with large paper mache bulls loaded with lit fireworks running through the crowd, as they scattered, trying to dodge flaming fireballs. Needless to say we retreated, pronto. (see videos below). At first I misunderstood and was led to believe they were going to release real bulls in the street. I missed my opportunity to experience that in Pampalona in my youthful wanderings. I did plenty of other crazy things in my immortal youth
Videos
St. Patrick parade
fireworks display
fire bull1
fire bull2
Mar 14, 2009
Well, the fireworks started at 5:30 AM and at 7:30 AM the first noisy parade on the street in front of us. Sleep will be a iffy prospect this week.
Mar 14, 2009
Well another night of festivities, fireworks etc. I spotted the English language Guadaljara paper yesterday with the blaring headlines, "Mexico's Drug War spreads to Vancouver". Apparently they are connected and sure enough the Vancouver paper headline this morning says "17 hours of Mayhem & violence" with more drug gang killings. It is really getting out of hand . They need to do something before the Olympics or the US State Department will be issuing travel warnings for Vancouver.
We came across a puppy yesterday that looks a lot like Tomas. Our friends told us to bring one back if we found another. Unfortunately they are currently in Columbia, so we are trying to contact them by email. If he is a street dog, as it appears it is we may bring him back with us. Chances are we could find a home for him. The idea of a rescued Mexican dog appeals to a lot of people. He is cute.
For comparison sake here is a photo of Tomas just after we got him in Baja.
Mar 17, 2009
Well the big day has arrived. St Patrick's day. The festivities went on well into the wee hours of the morning with the usual 5:30 AM fireworks. At 7:30 AM the parade marched into the campground itself, ensuring everyone was up. Tomas got so excited he decided to grab his spider monkey & join the parade. He trotted off after them and then joined the parade through town, much to the amusement of everyone. I think he was the biggest hit in the parade. he is already well known around town here as the stuffed animal carrying dog. People now call him by name when I walk him through town.
Mar 18, 2009
We moved 50 km up the coast today to a lovely unserviced campsite at Tenacatita. Unfortunately, the hillsides at both end of the beach have been sold to someone who plans to build condo's, so this spot may be gone next year.
Mar 19, 2009
We managed to get ourselves well & truly stuck in the sand trying to get out of here this morning. Eventually, we unhooked the trailer & with sand mats, we got out. I then had to tow the trailer out with a tow rope. We have driven another 60 Km north to Punta Perla & checked into a small RV Park attached to a hotel. The nice thing is we can use the hotel pool. This is a wide bay with a long beach. We can see dolphins just off shore. Tomas managed to find another dead eel to roll on, so I had to bath him again.
Mar 20, 2009
Well I managed to get well & truly stuck in the sand trying to leave. I had problems getting the tires to spin no matter how much I reved, and it would not go into 4L, so I am wondering if I have a transmission issue. At least i have a warranty on it for another year & it seems fine on the highway. I eventually go out by unhitching the trailer which i then pulled out with a tow rope.
We drove back to Saluyita. Driving through PV is its usual nightmare. I lost a hubcap on a Tope, but there was no way to stop for it & retrieve it, so I now have to find another. Probably not til I get into the US. I then got pulled over north of the Airport in PV by the Policia for not being on the lateral. I had been previously told it was OK north of the airport, but the cop told me no, I had to be 1 km north of the airport. (maybe true, but who knows?) I had gone back on the main road 100 meters ahead of this so called limit. There was actually little option since the road ahead was so narrow due to a parked bus that I would have been hard pressed to get by. He tried to write me up for 1,200 peso's (ABOUT $100 Can). I bribed him with 500 which was probably still way too much, but I was in no mood to hassle anymore. This lateral business in PV is a real racket. There are no signs and they nail tons of Gringo's in RV's with it. You can't get upset about it, its just one of the experiences you have while traveling in this country.
Terry's sister arrives tomorrow morning.
Mar 27, 2009
A week relaxing without much happening. Terry's sister goes home tomorrow. The main road into this town is still blocked, so our plan was to leave very early on Sunday morning, the detour is a nightmare for an RV especially if you meet anyone coming the other way. There is a rumor the main road re-opens on Monday. If we can confirm that we will delay a day. It is getting noticeable more hot & humid by the day, so its time to think about getting north.
Mar 31, 2009
Well they did not open the road out of town on Monday, so we left at 6 AM this morning the hard way before there was much traffic on the road. A tight squeeze in a couple of spots & 2 trees i had to crawl under to avoid damage. We decided to do a long day & stick to the (expensive) Cuota's and drive the 350 km north to the spot we stayed north of Mazatlan. Cost us $60 in Tolls which effectively doubled our fuel cost. I think I will go back to the Libre when we leave here. We will probably stay for a couple of days. Nice pool here. This park has emptied out, though, only 4 of us here now, everyone else has headed north already.
April 3, 2009
We spent 3 days at Noe's and today we decided to drive about 130 km north to a Balenario (Aquatic Park) near Culican to break up the trip to to Huabampito a bit. We arrived around 11 AM and this one is real fancy compared to most. Like most, however, it features crowds & loud music. We ended up camping near the obnoxious teenager pool which was full of young hooligans or couples with raging hormones necking in the pool. Can't decide if I was disgusted or jealous. Tomas was quite intimidated as they seemed to delight in getting him wet, something he hates. Since this is the same sort of place we originally found him hanging around in, maybe it explains his dislike of water. However the quantity of discarded hot dog buns also explains why he was hanging around one of these to start with.
About 6 PM, they decided it was time to come around with the DDT spray truck & gas us. Fortunately, I spotted it coming & madly rushed around closing all windows & vents and shutting off the A/C. We sat there sweating inside for an hour while it dissipated.
Today is the start of Semana Santa. This place will be a zoo tomorrow so we are not staying.
April 4, 2009
We woke up at 6 AM, so we got packed up & pulled out around 7 AM. Our destination is Huabampito which is the second place in Mexico we camped on our way down. We figured its about a 6 hour drive on the free roads so we wanted to make an early start.
We arrived around 1 PM. The place is empty of RV's, a contrast with the way it was when we came through in January. We can, however see quite a few Mexican campers here for Semana Santa. There are teenagers dressed up in costumes collecting coins. I have no idea what it is all about, I figure it must be one of those combo Indian religion & Catholicism things that are so prevalent in Latin America. As you can see in the far left of the photo below, Tomas is also trying to figure it out.
April 5, 2009
We decided to spend another night here. Sunday traffic can be heavier. Besides we are maybe expecting some friends in a Class A from North Vancouver to catch up with us today. The strangely costumed kids showed up again today en masse. Trick or Treat, Easter edition.
Semana Santa clean up crew:
April 6, 2009
Left about noon for San Carlos. The map showed a shorter more direct rout than heading straight out to the Cuota, so we took that. Big Mistake. The hurricane that came through here last summer took out the road and we spent 2 hours negotiating through rivers & corn fields until we finally made it out. A lot of guess work about where to go. I am glad I have 4 wheel drive, we needed it in places. I was quite worried about getting trapped, as it's tough with a trailer you can't move by hand. We got here just before dark & have gone to the fancier El Mirador RV Park this time. Its pricey & fancy, pool, tennis courts, fancy RV pads, but we will spend 2 nights. Tomas threw up his dinner & is not feeling well, maybe it was the bumpy ride.
April 7, 2009
Tomas appears to be more chipper today. He probably ate something disgusting on the beach yesterday. Just a chill out day today. This place is mainly empty, a big change from January. A guy in a Lance from Washington State showed up. He drove his wife & 2 kids all the way down here for spring break week. I gave him a NATCOA brochure. He seems interested. Told him about the Anacortes Rally at the end of the month.
April 8, 2009
Today we drove up to Santa Ana, about 100 km south of the border & checked into a small RV park, run by Edgar & Anna a distinctly eccentric couple. Good place to make a run for the border from tomorrow.
April 9, 2009
We got up early to try & beat the border rush. We stopped at km 21 to return our tourist cards & vehicle permit. That was the easy part. There was a 2.5 hour line up to cross the US border. They went through our camper and confiscated a few vegetables, but that part was not a huge hassle. We then drove to just south of Tucson & overnighter in a Casino where we gambled away $2. Neither of us see the big thrill in Casino's, but is seems a big thing among seniors. Anyway free camping is always good.
Border backup
The infamous Wall
April 10, 2009
We made a stop at Camping world to change out a defective water pump we purchased on the way down, and then headed up to Cochise Stronghold Forestry Site where Jerry, a friend of ours (Budster on the forums) is camp host. Apparently Cochise himself is buried somewhere in this campsite although no one knows exactly where. Maybe Tomas will manage to dig him up. Already up here were Chet & Janet from Tennessee (Sleepy on Rv.net) whom I have never met, but he met my family 2 summers ago when we were actually traveling down near their area. Very nice couple and Chet can actually out talk Terry which takes some doing. We will spend 2 nights here then head for Tombstone which we have never visited. This is the coldest we have been in months, this place is high altitude, & we need the heat at night.
April 12, 2009
It's Budster's (Jerry) birthday today so we went out to breakfast with Chet & Janet & the birthday boy, and then headed fro Tombstone to do the tourist thing. Gunfight at the OK corral reenactment, the whole bit. We plan to spend the night here then go meet Chet & Janet again at the Casino In Chandler just outside of Phoenix.
Chet & Janet
April 13, 2009
Left Tombstone, this morning. You really need 2 days to see this place, so we will return next year. Headed for the Casino in Chandler where Chet & Janet are camped. When we got there, Merri & Steve Duncan whom I have conversed with on the phone before were there. They have a Bigfoot which was a lemon from the word go, so it was interesting to see the problems with that. The first substandard Bigfoot I have seen. That evening I made a comment to Terry that we had not encountered Bill & Mikell Adair this trip. They are a couple from Juneau, Alaska in a Lance that seem to appear at some point during nearly every trip we make. They are not stalking us or anything, in fact we like them a lot, but it's an odd coincidence. It's happened in both the US & Canada.
April 14, 2009
Headed up to Lake Havasu this morning. We pulled into the State Park just south of it for 2 nights. It is unseasonably cold. Nice area, though. This is where London Bridge was moved. Nothing real special about it, neither was there anything special about it when it was in London.
April 16, 2009
We drove to Vegas today & checked into Sams RV Park. 10 minutes after parking, Bill & Mikell, from Juneau knocked on the door. They just happened to be camping here. Actually they are here for a family gathering to see their son off to Afghanistan. This is just too weird. They are on their way north so we may travel together.
April 24, 2009
Haven't had net access for awhile. We are now at the NATCOA Rally in Anacortes, Washington and only an hour from home. I think I will declare this blog officially closed for this year. We want back in Mexico. It's too cold here.
Well, one week before we leave on our first trip with the TC to mainland Mexico. Packing up the camper & trailer with 2 feet of snow out there is no picnic, but at least it is starting to melt. I will keep this blog thread updated throughout the 3-4 month trip.
Jan 8th:
Still waiting to leave. Flooding in Washington state has made it impossible for us to get south. Maybe in a day or 2. Sigh. On top of that when I filled the camper with water I discovered the circuit board in the water heater had gone during winter storage. Fortunately I got it replaced under warranty.
Jan 9, 2009
We have heard they are opening Snoqualmie Pass, so we have decided to leave today & take our chances. We are stopping at our friends Torklift in Seattle where they are putting stable loads on the truck for us to field trial.
We arrived at Torklift around 2 PM and found out that I-5 has now been reopened between Seattle & Portland so we do not have to attempt the pass. We had a super hitch installed on our truck fro our cargo trailer which is a big improvement over the 18 inch extender & then we looked for a Wal Mart top camp overnight in. It seems Wal Marts in the Seattle area do not allow overnight camping so we ended up spending the night at the Camping World in Tacoma.
Jan 10, 2009
We drove to our friends, Jim & Sandy Amos, in Oregon City this morning. The flooding in southern Washington is really bad, but at least the freeway is now open. We had been planning to stay overnight, but we decided to push on to Myrtle Creek to Glen & Becky's place (tankeryanker on the NATCOA Forum). This puts us back on our original schedule. It was below freezing over the pass, but no snow. As soon as we got to Redding the temperature had risen into the low 20's (70's F)
Jan 11, 2009
A long days drive to Sacramento today to Kathy & Ken's place. We arrived just in time for dinner (funny how that happens). Ken & Kathy have 2 large Rhodesian Ridgebacks, so we let Tomas out into the backyard to play with them. 30 minutes later they returned, but no sign of Tomas anywhere. We eventually found him huddle under a woodpile, terrified.
Jan 12, 2009
Another long days drive to Simi Valley (Los Angeles) to Jerry & Joannie's (Budster on forum). Fortuitously we got there just in time for supper again. LA is in the middle of a bit of a heat wave & its over 30 (86 F). After the cold snowy winter at home, we are not complaining.
Jan 13, 2009
Managed to get Tomas bathed today in the heat, so now he's pissed at me. I also washed the rear seat cover he threw up over. We headed out at 8 PM to Quartzite, AZ. This was to avoid LA traffic, even so it took 2 hours to really get clear of LA, and we arrived in Quartzite at about 3AM.
Jan 14, 2009
Got ourselves set up in the desert this morning & paid our $40 for the 2 week camping, although we will only stay a week. I went to lower our jacks & found out I had gotten the remote wet, and now its all corroded. I guess I need to bring it in winter. The reason I even checked is that I managed to jackknife my trailer into a jack when I backed out of Kathy's driveway in Sacramento & wanted to check it out. That was when I discovered none of them would work. I phoned Bob at Reico and he is going to ship a replacement to my buddy in Phoenix. We plan to be there in time for supper on Tuesday. Anyone who thinks $24 a year for a NATCOA membership is not worth it is kidding themselves. We have already saved about $150 this trip alone on campsites & meals. Not to mention making some great friends.
Jan 15, 2009
Not much today except sitting around & relaxing. We went into town to the used bookstore which is run by a guy who walks around naked except for a pouch over his private parts. Looks like a left over Hippy. Jerry saw him bend over & said he's tanned where the sun shouldn't shine. Fortunately I missed that.
There is an unbelievable number of RV's camped around here. I knew this was a big thing, but I never expected this many. Apparently this town has a population of 3500, but has as many as 3 million visitors over the month of January.
Jan 16, 2009
Took Tomas out into the desert for his walk at 8:30 this morning and he started to growl. I immediately realized he smelled coyote & put his leash on. We were only about 100 meters from the camper. A second later he spotted it & tore out to the end of his leash. He has gone after a coyote in the past at home, and there is no stopping him. I suppose when he was in Mexico & with a pack, they did this, but alone he is taking a chance. A moment later I noticed we were surrounded by 7 or 8 of them. I had to throw several rocks at them to get them to back off. Had Tomas got loose he would have been torn to bits. From now on he stays on the leash in this area and he goes into the camper when he is unattended. The ranger later told us that several people have lost small dogs here already this year.
We walked the 1.5 Km into town & the flea market. It is huge, You can buy nearly anything, most at pretty good prices. She suggested walking, which surprised me considering her bum foot. She was limping by the time we got back.
A few more of Jerry's friends showed up this afternoon. Now Jerry has a Class C we are the only Truck Camper in the group. The others have huge Class A's or 5th wheels. Nice folks though, in the past I have found people in Class A's rather snobby, but these guys are OK.
Larry Christensen & Dean Emerson showed up & got into a show & tell about handguns. My wife got freaked, she hates guns. Me, I find them fascinating. Not that I would own one, but heck the thought of firing off a couple of hundred rounds in the desert turns me on. Guy thing, I guess or maybe its just because I'm Canadian & its no no in Canada. One of these days I have to get back to my buddy, Ralph Lermeyer, in New Mexico for a few days, and have him teach me how to handle them safely.
Jan 20th
Left for Phoenix today & AZ Ramblers house. Hopefully my replacement jack remote has arrived.
Arrived in the evening & Bob at Reico came through for me. The remote was there. I love the Reico jacks, far better than Happijacs IMO, but have learned the same compartment as water hoses is no place for the remote.
Jan 21, 2009
We left Phoenix this morning with a stop at Campers World to buy an expensive voltage conditioner. We have been advised to use one in Mexico, where power varies somewhat. I got away without one on the earlier trip to Baja, but this is a new Camper, and I'd rather be safe. Better to spend $250 on this, than have to replace a circuit board in our fridge or damage our air conditioner, especially if that happens 2000 km into Mexico, where the chances of getting it repaired is minimal. We arrived at the border town of Nogales, AZ in the afternoon & checked into the Mi Casa RV Park which has definitely seen better days. It now looks like a scene out of Trailer Park Boys. We are locking everything. Some Canadians in a huge Class A pulled in on their way back from Mexico, with a non-functional fridge, so maybe the power conditioner was a good idea. I spent a couple of sweaty hours after dinner installing it. I bought the model you hard wire internally. Much more of a pin than the portable model, but fortunately I have a lot of tools with us. I can imagine how long the portable model, you hook up outside the RV, would last, before taking a walk.
The Canadians coming north told us that Mexican immigration are real sticky about 2 copies of all documentation; passports, vehicle registration, you name it, so we will do that in town here tomorrow as well as arrange for our Mexican insurance. We are now ahead of schedule, so no panic to cross the border.
Jan 22, 2009
We woke up to heavy rain this morning, the first we have seen in a week. Maybe it will wash all the dust off we picked up in Quartzite.
Jan 23, 2009
Spent the day doing some last minute shopping & getting Mexican insurance for the RV. We ended up using Don Smith this time. The RV Park filled up with Canadians today.
Jan 24, 2009
We got up early this morning to try to get through the Mexican border before the rush. We drove right through the border without having to stop, but the main immigration is actually 21 km south. Once we got there we first went into the office to get our tourist cards, Then to the copy place to get copies of everything from drivers licenses to birth certificates, then to the bank to get the vehicle permit & pay for the tourist cards. It wasn't not so bad, only took about an hour, we were expecting 4 hours. Tommy was sitting in the back seat looking worried, it's almost as if he knows he is back in his homeland. Maybe he does. The road south is freeway, but its toll and its not cheap, we spent about $20 to get the 4 hours south to San Carlos. We checked into the Totonaka RV park (www.totonakarv.com ) a clean modern park with full hook-ups and the price to match ($24 a night). It has net access & a pool so we will stay 2 nights. The town is pretty, but the beach leaves a bit to be desired. The main sewer outflow for the town is located on the beach opposite the RV park, so that is a bit of a turn off.
My new power conditioner shut the power off about 4 or 5 times, so I guess it was worth it. I measured the voltage at 132 V when it shut off
Jan 25, 2009
It's hotter than stink here and we just discovered that they filled in the pool. That does it for my wife. IF she is in the heat and has no water, its a scary thing indeed. We are headed 50 miles south tomorrow to what is supposed to be a beautiful beach off the beaten path at Hautabampito. I doubt there will be net access and if we like it we will stay a week, so I may not update this for awhile. See El Mirador RV Park
Jan 26th, 2009
We headed south today looking for a beach, we have ended up at Huatabampito, near Navoja. We passed through Cuidad Obregon on the ay. This town blew me away with its cleanliness. You would have sworn you were in a Canadian or US City. Not an item of trash in site, modern buildings. The cleanest town I have ever seen in Mexico. We ended up at the El Mirador campground here. This place is beautiful, right on the beach, we paid for a week. ($110) I will try to upload some photos tomorrow. I have net access, but it is slow.
Jan 27, 2009
Quite cloudy today so we will wait to take some photos. I managed to get my home dial tone on my digital phone this morning but it was too early to try to phone anyone, but at least I was able to clear out my voicemail. Amazing. When I traveled in India & Middle East 40 years ago, I had to go to American Express to pick up 2 month old letters from home, if I was lucky. My parents only got monthly reports if I was still alive or not. Maybe just as well considering some of the situations I got in, some of which I still haven't told them about. Now I get frustrated if I can't get my home phone number to work on a remote beach in Mexico.
I put the antenna up and was pleased to see I can get a couple of stations. The most entertaining aspect of Mexican TV are TeleNovellas, which are horribly overacted soap opera's that dominate 80% of Mexican TV in prime time. They are so overacted, they are hilarious even to those who can't understand any of the dialogue. The morning show on Televista, 'Hoy', is still dominated by news & clips of the previous day's soap opera events. World news takes a secondary role. 2 summers ago I became quite hooked on 'La Fea mas Bella' which spawned the grossly inferior American rip off, 'Ugly Betty'. At that time, life almost came to halt here, when it was on. It now appears to be finished and the latest hot one is 'Manana es para Siempre' which translates to 'tomorrow is for always', probably actually 'tomorrow is forever'. My Spanish has improved a lot over the last couple of years & I can now understand most of what is going on.
There is Lance 1181 camped here that was in an accident. The truck was dented, but when they took the Lance off the truck the welds on one of the front Atwood swing-out brackets failed and it tipped about 70 degrees over on its side, Took a bunch of hydraulic jacks & a couple of hours to get it back upright & on the truck. I pointed out the telltale crack at the bottom rear slide corner. Not sure if that was due to the fall or a structural stress crack. He got the jack bracket re-welded. I guess he should have got Reico jacks. I will get him in touch with Garth Olsen at Lance, maybe they can use the camper as advertising, it looks darn good for having been on its side. In this case it appears Atwood is at fault.
Jan 28, 2009
The net connection has been down for 2 days here so I don't know when this will get uploaded. The weather has cleared. I ran out of the whole wheat bread I bought with me today. All you can buy in Latin America, anywhere, is Bimbo bread. I've seen this stuff in every Central & South American country I've been in. To my delight I found one marked 'double fibre'. However, it tasted just like white Bimbo bread with brown dye in it. If Bimbo ever goes out of business I am sure the price of sugar will plummet. This stuff turns to a sugary goo in your mouth before you get a chance to swallow it.
Jan 28, 2009
I have no idea what is happening up north but it got cold enough to use the heat last night. Finally got a good enough connection to upload some pics. The lovely camper below was already here.
Cleared right up this afternoon after 3 hazy days & its getting very warm again.
January 30, 2009
Damn, I went to dump our holding tanks this morning & my sewer hose has hundreds of holes in it. The ride in the metal bumper has aced it & I don't have a spare. I may find one in Wal Mart in Los Mochis, but I'm not optimistic. I put an appeal on rv.net for anyone still in the US & headed my way, otherwise I will have to see what I can do with Duct tape. Make a note to add sewer hose to my list of spares to take next year. I also need to remember to get replacement U-bolts for the trailer. I remember my friends Al & Carol who came down here with a trailer a few years ago (& now run a B&B in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua) having problems with those.
Update: Put a note on RV.net & someone said to try Noe at Celestino, about 70 km north of Mazatlan. I sent him an email. Here's hoping. Oddly enough someone in Arizona also told me we should head to his campground so he was on the list anyway. Tomas seems to be settling back into being a Mexican dog. He spends a lot of time picking burrs out of his feet and tries to walk on the highway where possible. I now figure this is why so many Mexican dogs (Tomas included) get clobbered by cars.
January 31, 2009
A thick fog this morning. Very reminiscent of the "June Gloom" phenomena in southern California. A post on RV.net has netted me someone on their way down to Mazatlan. He will meet me there on Friday with a new sewer hose. I am thinking of dumping my tanks in a remote spot in the desert in the meantime. Yuck. A few extra scoops of 5 start happy camper sanitizer will help. I will try more rolls of duct tape first. Tomorrow we head south to Guasave just south of Los Mochis.
Feb 1, 2009
A frustrating day today. We headed out for Playa Las Glorias near Guasave. We got lost 4 times and had one flat tire which was actually the extender on my rear dual. A Pemex attendant helped me pull off the wheel & fix it and then refused any payment which was nice of him. We ended up in a small fishing village once when we got lost & in a bunch of corn fields on another occasion., the pother bad thing that happened was I accidentally cut someone off. he blocked the road and came at me quite aggressively with a major case of road rage. Fortunately, I have enough Spanish to apologize profusely & got him calmed down. It was silly mistake, I swerved to avoid a deep hole & he was about to pass at the same time. Glad we are finally here at Mr Moro's RV Park, 8 hours later. Will take some pictures tomorrow.
Feb 2, 2009
Gorgeous day today. Here are some photos
Feb 4, 2009
Headed south this morning towards Mazatlan. No incidents this time, but it was a brutal day for tolls. We paid about $40 in them. The road is good, almost as good as a US interstate, but they sure nail you in tolls. The question is whether I would burn the extra in diesel anyway taking the free roads.
We arrived at Villa Celeste in El Celestino, 78 km north of Mazatlan. This is a very pleasant, small RV park with very friendly owners. It is almost completely full of retired Canadians staying here for months. `We have booked for a week. The guy from Calgary, I met on rv.net, is supposed to show up here on friday with my replacement sewer hose. In the meantime, my duct tape job seems to be holding. How Canadian is that. Red Green would be proud of me. Regardless, I tested it first with my gray tank, not the black. Will post some photos tomorrow.
Feb 5, 2009
Feb 6, 2009
Rick, from Calgary rolled in this afternoon with the new sewer hoses. What a lifesaver. I wasn't sure how much longer my duct taping job was going to last. We found out my step son will be in Puerto Vallarta at the end of the month, so we will try to meet him. My sister in law will be there Mar 23rd so we want to be back there by then, especially since she plans to camp with us for a week. If everything works out that gives us 3 weeks to get to Zihuantenejo & back.
Feb 7, 2009
I forgot my mothers birthday yesterday. Oops
Some pictures of downtown El celestino:
Feb 8, 2009
An email from my neighbour today to tell me I have a flood in my laundry room. Apparently my front load washer is full of water. I have no idea how thta could have happened, but another neighbor managed to get it cycled through & turned off the after & cleaned up. Only thing I can think of is the house cleaner accidentally bumped against it & started it then shut the main water off before she left leaving it in mid cycle.
Noe, the owner of this campground took us all out to a Mexican Restaurant in the town of La Cruz, about 15 km from here tonight. We heard good reports of him & this spot further north, and they have all turned out to be true. A great guy. Many people come & spend all season here, year after year. Maybe us too in few years when we get tired of touring around.
Noe is the guy in the baseball cap at the far end of the table. My wife made me delete photos til I got a good one of her. She does not care if I have a stupid look on my face.
Feb 11, 2009
We got up early this morning intending to head for Tepic, about 1/2 way to Guadalajara. Someone here mentioned he had seen the Mexico map books in 'Mega' in Mazatlan so we headed there to do some grocery shopping & pick one up. We managed to get ourselves lost in Mazatlan but also happened to stumble upon the store. It did have the map book & we stocked up on groceries. The most precious find was 2 loaves of Orowheat whole grain bread. The Bimbo bread in the fridge is headed for the garbage.
By the time we got out of Mazatlan it was noon & we headed the 250 km down the toll Highway to Tepic. Toll is an understatement. By the time we got 85 km from Tepic we had already paid 550 pesos (about $50 Can) in tolls. We decided to exit off onto the free road. It was actually far more scenic, but rather slow & windy. We got to Tepic at 4:30 Pm & discovered the RV park (the only one) had closed. An hour and a half til dark and we don't want to be on roads in Mexico after dark.
We thought of staying overnight in a Pemex station and we needed fuel anyway. I told the attendant to fill it up and he misunderstood and though I said I wanted 100 pesos worth ( the words for fill it up & one hundred sound similar if there is ambient noise). I straightened that out and never noticed if he continued pumping or re-zeroed the pump. When I came to pay he charged me 100 extra claiming he had re-zeroed. I am 99% sure he did not, but I had to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think I got ripped for 100 pesos ($10). This sort of thing happens a lot at Pemex stations, you have to really watch them. The most common is not zeroing the pumps before they start pumping. They will do this before you have a chance to get out the truck, which is why I have a locking gas cap. I was distracted by the other attendant letting air out of front tire. He had checked the pressure, decided it should be 35 lbs (It should be 80 with E Class tires) & I had to argue with him that 80 was correct. He had dropped the one to 60 by the time I stopped him and their pumps would not handle more than that so I decided to run with 60 for a few miles til I got out of town & I could get my portable pump on it. I wonder if the whole air thing was a ruse to rip me off for 100 pesos. From now on, both of us will watch while they are pumping. I decided this was not a good Pemex to overnight in. Contrast this with the other Pemex station 2 weeks back, where an attendant refused money for helping me change a tire.
With an hour before dark we figured we could make Laguna de Santa Maria del Oro, which appeared to be about 50 km SE of Tepic. We made good time, but once again got lost, this time in the town of Santa Maria del Oro, which fortunately is not too large. In cases like this, the trailer is a pain in the butt. After finding our way out of town and with dusk falling, we came to the rim of a large crater with the lake at the bottom. 10 km of steep winding roads and we reached Koala Campground on the lakeshore just as it got dark. We are the only ones here and I guess we will try to find the owner in the morning. No internet service.
Feb 12, 2009
Well, this place is absolutely gorgeous. The lake is very reminiscent of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, albeit on a smaller scale. The lake is very clear & nice to swim in. I suspect it is quite deep, being in a volcanic caldera. It appears to be full of fish, I wish we had bought our gear with us. Apparently this place is owned by an Englishman who does not seem to be around right now. It has only 8 RV spots & about 5 bungalows. The son, Christian, is currently in charge. Despite the fact he looks very British, he does not speak a word of English. The price is right at $12 a night. A couple from France pulled in today in a Rapido Class A Motorhome. A very sensible sized Class A diesel, they shipped it over from Europe & are touring North & South America. We have decide to spend 2 or 3 days here. Tomas has found a female lab senorita he appears to have amorous intentions on, despite the fact we had him fixed.
LAP DOG
EUROPEAN RAPIDO CLASS A
THRESHING CORN HUSKS
Feb 15, 2009
We left the lake early this morning headed to Guadalajara. We decided to take the free road and it was not as bad as we thought. We stopped briefly in Tequilla and bought, guess what - a bottle of Tequilla. We also stopped at a roadside chicken place where I amused the locals with showing how Tomas can hold a piece of chicken on his nose til I tell him OK. Upon arriving in Guadalajara, we found that both RV parks there listed in the Church's book are closed. One is now condo's the other we simply could not locate, so we think it is also gone. We pushed south to the Gringo enclave of Lake Chalapa. Hit a massive traffic jam in Guadalajara due to an accident en route. There we found another RV park also closed. It was getting late so we headed for the western end of the lake where supposedly there is another RV park, Roca Azul. We arrived just before dark and this one is still open. I managed to hit one Tope at high speed, and now half the stuff in the trailer is one the floor, including one broken container of liquid laundry detergent. Our poor shelves are really in bad shape. I have to build sturdy wooden ones when I get home.
Feb 16, 2009
Well this place seems quite pleasant. It has a gigantic swimming pool. I think we will stay a couple of days, then head to the old colonial town of Guanajuato, about 5 hours east of here. This place is infested with Canadians. Fellow NATCOA member, Jerry Gale was here about a week or 2 ago. A few people recognized the NATCOA sign & remember him. I will try to catch up with him somewhere further south. Another NATCOA member, Peter Tomas is in Mazatlan. May hook up with him in Pt. Vallarta.
Feb 18, 2009
We left for Guanajuato this morning. We determined a route using the map that would avoid having to go through Guadalajara. Big mistake, we ended up in a small village with narrow streets, totally lost & had a heck of job getting the camper out of there. Just an inch to spare on each side on one street. Thank God we left the trailer behind at Chapala, or we really would have been in trouble. This delayed us well over an hour & we ended up in Guadalajara traffic anyway. However, we managed to arrive at the campground in Guanajuato before dark. The campground is huge, but no shade. One small group is here, but when they leave in the morning, we will have the place to ourselves. The power quality is not good, as soon as I plugged in, the radio started to buzz, a bad sign. It's generator time for the A/C.
Feb 19, 2009
Took a taxi into Guanajuato. This is the best colonial city in Mexico I have been in, a maze of hills, & tunnels. Here are some pictures.
Feb 20, 2009
We drove back to Chapala today by another route. Once again we got ourselves lost once or twice. Funny thing about Mexico is you can pass a sign saying 25 km to a town and 3 km down the road another sign says its 35 km. We will spend one day here then move on. It was handy to leave the trailer behind for a couple of days, but this place is too Gringoville. Reminds me of southern Spain with condo enclaves. Next stop is Villa Corona which is only 50 km away for a night or 2.
Lake Chapala is polluted. I really fail to see why this place attracts so many Gringo's. They are apparently trying to clean it up. It is a large shallow body of water. Since about 40% of the lake changes each year, it is doable. Apparently it is swimable, but it doesn't appeal to me. it was drying up, but a few years ago the government prevented too much water being removed upstream & it is now 17 feet higher than it was in 2000. In most places it was only about 25 feet deep to start with.
Feb 21, 2009
We have decided to stay here until Monday. We have found out that Villa Corona where we were headed next, is a Balneario. These are very popular in Mexico. They are swimming pool complexes and on weekends, hundreds of city folk with kids in tow, descend on them. This one is close to Guadalajara, so maybe several hundreds. They usually have massive loudspeakers with deafening music 24 hours a day. A Canadian refugee from there showed up here tonight with his ears still ringing. You do not want to be there on a Saturday or Sunday. It was one of these where we picked up Tomas, our dog, 4 years ago. I'm surprised he is not deaf. They are popular with stray dogs due to the large drinking dishes available.
Feb 23, 2009
This morning we headed out for Villa Corona. Since we needed groceries & some stuff from the pharmacy, we decided to detour into Ajijic first. That caused us some grief. There was no parking in the pharmacy parking lot, so I parked across the street & stuck my 4 way flashers on while Terry went inside. A policeman came up & told me I was in violation of 5 traffic laws and I would have to pay 500 peso Fine (about $45 US). He took my drivers license & my vehicle permits and told me to pull up a side street which I did. Under normal circumstances I would have insisted we go to the station & fill out the forms. Previous experience has shown me they usually let you off with a warning as soon as you suggest this, but on this occasion, if he agreed, I would disappear & dear wife would not know where I had gone. I offered him 200 Peso's (about $15), no questions asked & he accepted it, as I figured he would since he was obviously trying to shake me down for a bribe to start with.
The only problem he had made me turn onto a narrow street & had a heck of a time getting back onto the main road. I only had an inch clearance on each side in some spots and I could not back up because of the trailer.
Anyway eventually I managed to get around the block, & we went on our way. I don't think I have ever driven in this country without paying at least one bribe.
We arrived here in early afternoon. This park is pretty well full. It is a Baleanero and has several pools including hot springs. A good place to chill out for a day. Once again, it is full of Canadians.
Feb 25, 2009
We got up early this morning to head for Puerto Vallarta across Hwy 70. This highway took us over 3 or 4 passes and was very scenic, albeit slow. It was a little disconcerting considering the slide situation, but we made it across OK and promptly got lost in the outskirts of PV. We were trying to find an RV Park downtown to reserve for Sunday when Terry's son arrives. We eventually managed to find the place & it was full, but we succeeded in reserving OK. We then headed 50 km north to Sayulta.
Upon turning off the highway we encountered a sign saying the road was closed, which we ignored & found ourselves trapped with a massive hole in the road ahead of us. After 30 min of trying to turn around (I am starting to hate our trailer), we found what we thought was a detour. Suspicious of how it looked, we parked & I headed off on our electric bike to scout things out. I determined an acceptable route & we headed down a very bumpy road, including driving through a creek & managed to find the RV Park. This place is beautiful.
My Telus digital phone works on the WiFi here so I have my home phone number operating. Bonus.
Here are some pictures from Hwy 70.
Feb 26, 2009
Went up to inspect my roof today & found a minor tear on the front edge in the TPO. damn trees, they are hard to avoid with the narrow streets. I will have to try to repair it before I hit rain.
Sayulita:
Feb 27, 2009
We woke up this morning to vomit all over the camper floor. Tomas is sick. We wonder if it was the left over fried cactus we fed him. We weren't crazy about it ourselves, but we bought it in Wal Mart so we figured it had to be reasonably safe. Maybe its one of those things that is toxic to dogs. Anyway he did not eat all day. Anyone who knows Tomas, knows the importance of food to him, even more so than most dogs. We are a bit worried about him. He is already a big hit around here, everyone keeps commenting on what a great dog he is.
This campsite is the most expensive we have stayed in so far, $350 Pesos a day. That is $27 US. If we stay here with Terry's sister it will be an additional $7. We have averaged about 150-175 a night over most of the trip. This is close to Puerto Vallarta, which is why, I guess. We are going to check out the other sites up the coast within 25 km of here tomorrow. This is a gorgeous beach, but the waves can be pretty rough.
Feb 28, 2009
We drove up to Rincon de Guayabitos today to check out RV Parks there. None of them impressed us, but we checked into one for the night, Tomas still won't eat and anything he does eat gets thrown up. I am very worried about him. This is 3 days since he has eaten now. This is the best dog I have ever had, it would be devastating if anything happens to him.
Tough to sleep tonight, I'm not only very worried about my dog, the bar next door has live entertainment, the worst Mariachi band I have ever heard, bar none. On top of that they are letting off fireworks.
Mar 1, 2009
Tomas still won't eat. I have decided to try and find a vet, but it's Sunday. While I was inquiring, another Canadian in the campground was having trouble with their dog having convulsions. We got a hold of a vet in Puerto Vallarta, 70 Km south of here, and the woman running the campground offered to drive us there & back. We met the vet in the parking lot of Sams club & he did an examination of both dogs. He did not speak a word of English. He felt the other dog had had a heart problem and gave him an injection. A side effect was a drop in body temperature and hundreds of ticks started abandoning ship. It was weird to watch. Tomas doesn't have any ticks, but I have seen fleas on him. He is on the program. The vet examined Tomas & said he had a fever & wanted us to go back to his office for a blood test, which we did. A couple of hours later I had 3 sets of drugs for Tomas and a 900 Peso (about 80 Can) bill. I was still not 100% sure of what the diagnosis was, my Spanish is adequate, but not fluent, but the blood test was negative. Judging by the drugs, he thinks it's an infection of some sort. We drove back to Ricon where I picked up the camper & we drove back to PV again where we have a reservation.
I am glad we stopped a few days ago & made a reservation. The spot we paid for in advance is the only vacant one here. The rest of the campsite is filled up with a huge French Canadian Caravan. Apparently they are occupying most spots at the only other RV Park in town. The regulars here are pissed because they have been forced to park on at the side of the building which has hastily been converted to RV spots. Most of them are not too fond of my Francophone countrymen whom they consider rather rude, for the most part. I hate to say that has been my observation as well.
The good news is Tomas seems to be improving after giving him the drugs. He ate a bowl of rice covered in chicken broth this evening & has not up-chucked yet. We are wondering if he can't handle Mexican water anymore, so we have been giving him only bottled water for the last 24 hours. Maybe he has canine Moctezuma's revenge. Anyway if he makes it through the night without throwing up, I think he is on the mend. Thank God, we love that dog.
Terry's son, D'Arcy, showed up later tonight. He is staying at Los Tules just across the street. Great, we can use their pool.
Mar 2, 2009
Tomas is completely back to normal. We spent most of the day over at Terry's son's hotel using the pool.
This morning I went to an ATM and tried to draw out 3000 Pesos, about $260 Canadian. The machine only gave me 2200 Pesos which seemed rather odd. I went on the net and checked my account & discovered it took out $2347.42 Canadian. That was ridiculous since my daily limit is $400. I phoned my bank & they are doing a trace on it. Good thing it was an HSBC ATM, not a Mexican bank.
Mar 3, 2009
We drove D'Arcy up to Laguna Santa Maria del Oro where we camped about 3 weeks ago today. A 3.5 hour drive each way, but at least he got to see more of Mexico than Pt. Vallarta. Checked my bank account this afternoon & it seems they have fixed the $2400 mistake.
Mar 4, 2009[/b]
I went diving today. I have paid for some lessons for D'Arcy (Terry's son), but the guy he came down with is a diver, so we went together. Terry's foot is giving her trouble with fins, so she just snorkeled. The visibility was not great, but the neatest thing was, there are Humpback whales in the bay. I could not see them, but the noise from them, underwater was deafening. A new experience. I did see some pretty sizable moray eels down there, however. I much prefer the Caribbean, any dive I have done in the Pacific has been poorer visibility. A dive is a dive. I think I am now over 50 of them. I wish I'd started earlier in life.
[b]Mar 5, 2009
D'Arcy did his first ocean dive today. They took him down to 60 feet after only 2 hours pool instruction. I don't think that would have happened in Canada, but this is Mexico. Anyway he is hooked and wants to go for full certification. Without going into details, D'Arcy has had some rough life periods. I am very proud of how far he has come, and I think of him as my own son. Now I might have a diving partner as well. This is the first time he has ever been out of Canada. I think this trip has been a real eye opener for him. I still remember how backpacking my way across Europe, the Middle East & India changed my outlook on life when I was in my 20's.
Tomorrow we head south to Chamela about 2/3 of the way to Manzanillo. I doubt there will be net access there. I sent today checking out the route out of town since I have the camper off the truck. PV has the worst traffic so far to navigate through. I really hate driving here.
Mar 6, 2009
We said goodbye to D'Arcy this morning & headed south to Playa Negrito at Chamela. The road south of PV is quite slow so it took us about 3 hours to go the 124 km. We would have never found this place if we had not been given the GPS co-ordinates for the turn off. However, in case anyone is interested, you pass through the small village of Chamela, cross the bridge at the south end of town & it's the first dirt road to your right. Down the hill, turn left and it's about 2 km straight on. This is an idyllic spot. The beach is wonderful, no surf. There are 2 dead Moray eels on the beach, so there are tons of vultures. One of the eels is huge and Tomas decided that we would really enjoy the smell of dead eel in our camper, so he rolled on it. No net here, but our neighbor has satellite internet we can steal occasionally.
March 7, 2009
We like it here so much we have decided to stay a week. The owner got rid of the eel bodies last night & the vultures have gone. One of them, as you can see in the picture above, swallowed a fish net, which is what killed it. That was one big eel. I have seen lots of Morays diving, but that one was one of the largest I have seen. I'm rather glad I did not encounter it under water. We have sanitized Tomas as much as possible, but he still smells a bit fishy. Dogs can be so disgusting.
There are only primitive facilities here. No power or water or sewer, but we arrived with a full tank of fresh water & there are primitive semi saline showers, so we should be OK. The price is right; about $5 a night. That should neutralize the expensive RV Park back in Sayulita, 50 km north of PV, where we plan to spend a week with Terry's sister, Bobbi. With the add-on cost for her, that one runs $30 US a night. She flies in on March 21st & leaves March 28th. We would like to bring her down here, but that is too much windshield time for someone with only 6 usable days of vacation, and a 3rd person would severely strain our water resources here. There is also far more to do in Sayulita for someone with only a week to play with. Here, it is swim & read and not much else. There is also a cheap hotel right across the street if she decides a tent is not her thing.
My solar panels are putting out 7 amps most of the day so we don't even have to use the generator, except to run the A/C for 30 minutes & cool down the inside before going to bed.
From here we will check out some campsites in Malaque, just north of Manzanillo, & then I guess, it's time to start our slow journey north. After Terry's sister leaves, that gives us 2 weeks to get back across the US border before Terry's passport expires on April 19th. I guess we will have to leave the coast of Michoacan State until next year. I think next year, we will boot down as far as PV, quickly, & then explore the south coast & Chiapas.
We are thinking of heading home back inland via Las Vegas. We haven't been there in a while. I might see if my son wants to fly there & ride back with us.
It's Saturday night, & as is the case with most Mexican beaches, the partiers have descended with loud boom boxes, etc.
Mar 12, 2009
Well, its our last day here. We have done absolutely nothing except read & swim, which is nice. Tomorrow we head a bit further south again. Tomas has discovered the joys of crabbing. He spends hours on the beach stalking them. I swear that dog is part cat. Click the 2 links below for video's.
Tomas on the hunt
Tomas makes the kill, then is scared of dead crab
Mar 13, 2009
We arrived in San Patricio Melaque today. The Trailer Park here has a few spare sites now the bulk of people are headed north. Still mainly Quebequois in here, however. The ocean in front of here has scary breakers, but it looks safe to swim a bit down the beach.
It turns out that this is the start of week long celebrations leading up to St. Patrick's Day, the biggest event of the year in this town. How an Irish holiday became the big event here is beyond me, but the town does have St. Patricio (St Patrick) in its name. My theory is when he banned snakes from Ireland, they all got sent to Mexico, since I have seen plenty. This is the way the Mexicans show their appreciation.
Actually, the real explanation probably lies HERE
Following a noisy parade through the streets of people carrying paper shamrocks, the whole town has descended into a flurry of fireworks & revelry which is terrifying poor Tomas. They set off a huge fireworks display in the town square, mounted on a bamboo tower that was a bit reminiscent of the movie "The wicker man". No safe distance rules here, bits of flaming debris rained down among the crowd. That was followed by men with large paper mache bulls loaded with lit fireworks running through the crowd, as they scattered, trying to dodge flaming fireballs. Needless to say we retreated, pronto. (see videos below). At first I misunderstood and was led to believe they were going to release real bulls in the street. I missed my opportunity to experience that in Pampalona in my youthful wanderings. I did plenty of other crazy things in my immortal youth
Videos
St. Patrick parade
fireworks display
fire bull1
fire bull2
Mar 14, 2009
Well, the fireworks started at 5:30 AM and at 7:30 AM the first noisy parade on the street in front of us. Sleep will be a iffy prospect this week.
Mar 14, 2009
Well another night of festivities, fireworks etc. I spotted the English language Guadaljara paper yesterday with the blaring headlines, "Mexico's Drug War spreads to Vancouver". Apparently they are connected and sure enough the Vancouver paper headline this morning says "17 hours of Mayhem & violence" with more drug gang killings. It is really getting out of hand . They need to do something before the Olympics or the US State Department will be issuing travel warnings for Vancouver.
We came across a puppy yesterday that looks a lot like Tomas. Our friends told us to bring one back if we found another. Unfortunately they are currently in Columbia, so we are trying to contact them by email. If he is a street dog, as it appears it is we may bring him back with us. Chances are we could find a home for him. The idea of a rescued Mexican dog appeals to a lot of people. He is cute.
For comparison sake here is a photo of Tomas just after we got him in Baja.
Mar 17, 2009
Well the big day has arrived. St Patrick's day. The festivities went on well into the wee hours of the morning with the usual 5:30 AM fireworks. At 7:30 AM the parade marched into the campground itself, ensuring everyone was up. Tomas got so excited he decided to grab his spider monkey & join the parade. He trotted off after them and then joined the parade through town, much to the amusement of everyone. I think he was the biggest hit in the parade. he is already well known around town here as the stuffed animal carrying dog. People now call him by name when I walk him through town.
Mar 18, 2009
We moved 50 km up the coast today to a lovely unserviced campsite at Tenacatita. Unfortunately, the hillsides at both end of the beach have been sold to someone who plans to build condo's, so this spot may be gone next year.
Mar 19, 2009
We managed to get ourselves well & truly stuck in the sand trying to get out of here this morning. Eventually, we unhooked the trailer & with sand mats, we got out. I then had to tow the trailer out with a tow rope. We have driven another 60 Km north to Punta Perla & checked into a small RV Park attached to a hotel. The nice thing is we can use the hotel pool. This is a wide bay with a long beach. We can see dolphins just off shore. Tomas managed to find another dead eel to roll on, so I had to bath him again.
Mar 20, 2009
Well I managed to get well & truly stuck in the sand trying to leave. I had problems getting the tires to spin no matter how much I reved, and it would not go into 4L, so I am wondering if I have a transmission issue. At least i have a warranty on it for another year & it seems fine on the highway. I eventually go out by unhitching the trailer which i then pulled out with a tow rope.
We drove back to Saluyita. Driving through PV is its usual nightmare. I lost a hubcap on a Tope, but there was no way to stop for it & retrieve it, so I now have to find another. Probably not til I get into the US. I then got pulled over north of the Airport in PV by the Policia for not being on the lateral. I had been previously told it was OK north of the airport, but the cop told me no, I had to be 1 km north of the airport. (maybe true, but who knows?) I had gone back on the main road 100 meters ahead of this so called limit. There was actually little option since the road ahead was so narrow due to a parked bus that I would have been hard pressed to get by. He tried to write me up for 1,200 peso's (ABOUT $100 Can). I bribed him with 500 which was probably still way too much, but I was in no mood to hassle anymore. This lateral business in PV is a real racket. There are no signs and they nail tons of Gringo's in RV's with it. You can't get upset about it, its just one of the experiences you have while traveling in this country.
Terry's sister arrives tomorrow morning.
Mar 27, 2009
A week relaxing without much happening. Terry's sister goes home tomorrow. The main road into this town is still blocked, so our plan was to leave very early on Sunday morning, the detour is a nightmare for an RV especially if you meet anyone coming the other way. There is a rumor the main road re-opens on Monday. If we can confirm that we will delay a day. It is getting noticeable more hot & humid by the day, so its time to think about getting north.
Mar 31, 2009
Well they did not open the road out of town on Monday, so we left at 6 AM this morning the hard way before there was much traffic on the road. A tight squeeze in a couple of spots & 2 trees i had to crawl under to avoid damage. We decided to do a long day & stick to the (expensive) Cuota's and drive the 350 km north to the spot we stayed north of Mazatlan. Cost us $60 in Tolls which effectively doubled our fuel cost. I think I will go back to the Libre when we leave here. We will probably stay for a couple of days. Nice pool here. This park has emptied out, though, only 4 of us here now, everyone else has headed north already.
April 3, 2009
We spent 3 days at Noe's and today we decided to drive about 130 km north to a Balenario (Aquatic Park) near Culican to break up the trip to to Huabampito a bit. We arrived around 11 AM and this one is real fancy compared to most. Like most, however, it features crowds & loud music. We ended up camping near the obnoxious teenager pool which was full of young hooligans or couples with raging hormones necking in the pool. Can't decide if I was disgusted or jealous. Tomas was quite intimidated as they seemed to delight in getting him wet, something he hates. Since this is the same sort of place we originally found him hanging around in, maybe it explains his dislike of water. However the quantity of discarded hot dog buns also explains why he was hanging around one of these to start with.
About 6 PM, they decided it was time to come around with the DDT spray truck & gas us. Fortunately, I spotted it coming & madly rushed around closing all windows & vents and shutting off the A/C. We sat there sweating inside for an hour while it dissipated.
Today is the start of Semana Santa. This place will be a zoo tomorrow so we are not staying.
April 4, 2009
We woke up at 6 AM, so we got packed up & pulled out around 7 AM. Our destination is Huabampito which is the second place in Mexico we camped on our way down. We figured its about a 6 hour drive on the free roads so we wanted to make an early start.
We arrived around 1 PM. The place is empty of RV's, a contrast with the way it was when we came through in January. We can, however see quite a few Mexican campers here for Semana Santa. There are teenagers dressed up in costumes collecting coins. I have no idea what it is all about, I figure it must be one of those combo Indian religion & Catholicism things that are so prevalent in Latin America. As you can see in the far left of the photo below, Tomas is also trying to figure it out.
April 5, 2009
We decided to spend another night here. Sunday traffic can be heavier. Besides we are maybe expecting some friends in a Class A from North Vancouver to catch up with us today. The strangely costumed kids showed up again today en masse. Trick or Treat, Easter edition.
Semana Santa clean up crew:
April 6, 2009
Left about noon for San Carlos. The map showed a shorter more direct rout than heading straight out to the Cuota, so we took that. Big Mistake. The hurricane that came through here last summer took out the road and we spent 2 hours negotiating through rivers & corn fields until we finally made it out. A lot of guess work about where to go. I am glad I have 4 wheel drive, we needed it in places. I was quite worried about getting trapped, as it's tough with a trailer you can't move by hand. We got here just before dark & have gone to the fancier El Mirador RV Park this time. Its pricey & fancy, pool, tennis courts, fancy RV pads, but we will spend 2 nights. Tomas threw up his dinner & is not feeling well, maybe it was the bumpy ride.
April 7, 2009
Tomas appears to be more chipper today. He probably ate something disgusting on the beach yesterday. Just a chill out day today. This place is mainly empty, a big change from January. A guy in a Lance from Washington State showed up. He drove his wife & 2 kids all the way down here for spring break week. I gave him a NATCOA brochure. He seems interested. Told him about the Anacortes Rally at the end of the month.
April 8, 2009
Today we drove up to Santa Ana, about 100 km south of the border & checked into a small RV park, run by Edgar & Anna a distinctly eccentric couple. Good place to make a run for the border from tomorrow.
April 9, 2009
We got up early to try & beat the border rush. We stopped at km 21 to return our tourist cards & vehicle permit. That was the easy part. There was a 2.5 hour line up to cross the US border. They went through our camper and confiscated a few vegetables, but that part was not a huge hassle. We then drove to just south of Tucson & overnighter in a Casino where we gambled away $2. Neither of us see the big thrill in Casino's, but is seems a big thing among seniors. Anyway free camping is always good.
Border backup
The infamous Wall
April 10, 2009
We made a stop at Camping world to change out a defective water pump we purchased on the way down, and then headed up to Cochise Stronghold Forestry Site where Jerry, a friend of ours (Budster on the forums) is camp host. Apparently Cochise himself is buried somewhere in this campsite although no one knows exactly where. Maybe Tomas will manage to dig him up. Already up here were Chet & Janet from Tennessee (Sleepy on Rv.net) whom I have never met, but he met my family 2 summers ago when we were actually traveling down near their area. Very nice couple and Chet can actually out talk Terry which takes some doing. We will spend 2 nights here then head for Tombstone which we have never visited. This is the coldest we have been in months, this place is high altitude, & we need the heat at night.
April 12, 2009
It's Budster's (Jerry) birthday today so we went out to breakfast with Chet & Janet & the birthday boy, and then headed fro Tombstone to do the tourist thing. Gunfight at the OK corral reenactment, the whole bit. We plan to spend the night here then go meet Chet & Janet again at the Casino In Chandler just outside of Phoenix.
Chet & Janet
April 13, 2009
Left Tombstone, this morning. You really need 2 days to see this place, so we will return next year. Headed for the Casino in Chandler where Chet & Janet are camped. When we got there, Merri & Steve Duncan whom I have conversed with on the phone before were there. They have a Bigfoot which was a lemon from the word go, so it was interesting to see the problems with that. The first substandard Bigfoot I have seen. That evening I made a comment to Terry that we had not encountered Bill & Mikell Adair this trip. They are a couple from Juneau, Alaska in a Lance that seem to appear at some point during nearly every trip we make. They are not stalking us or anything, in fact we like them a lot, but it's an odd coincidence. It's happened in both the US & Canada.
April 14, 2009
Headed up to Lake Havasu this morning. We pulled into the State Park just south of it for 2 nights. It is unseasonably cold. Nice area, though. This is where London Bridge was moved. Nothing real special about it, neither was there anything special about it when it was in London.
April 16, 2009
We drove to Vegas today & checked into Sams RV Park. 10 minutes after parking, Bill & Mikell, from Juneau knocked on the door. They just happened to be camping here. Actually they are here for a family gathering to see their son off to Afghanistan. This is just too weird. They are on their way north so we may travel together.
April 24, 2009
Haven't had net access for awhile. We are now at the NATCOA Rally in Anacortes, Washington and only an hour from home. I think I will declare this blog officially closed for this year. We want back in Mexico. It's too cold here.
Wireless camera & monitor for TC
Posted by PigPen , 26 September 2008 - 07:38 AM
After many attempts I finally came up with a wireless camera & monitor solution that actually works, and works very well. Both can be purchased on line.
The $99 backup camera system sold in Walmart & Costco does not work, plus the monitor is so small, its impractical
After 2 attempts, I found a suitable LCD monitor. This one allows me to select a reverse image so the driver & passenger side are the right way around. I bought it through this LINK. They were great, it arrived in less than 10 days. They are based in Saskatchewan, Canada, but no problem shipping to the US or Canada.
The wireless system needs to be either 1.2 or 2.4 gig or you will have serious interference problems, if you get a picture at all. The small backup camera system they sell at Walmart does not cut it.
1.2 gig camera's are now illegal in the US, as that frequency has been taken over by the FAA, so it has to be 2.4 gig. The monitor I mention, is still worth it, however. I have found a 2.4 gig transmitter/receiver combo so I intend to hook that up to the existing camera & then cut off the antenna on the camera so I am emitting very little on 1.2 gig.
Update, the 2.4 gig transmit receiver works well. It is made by Audiovox. Link
The original wireless camera came from Salt Lake City, but they are no longer in operation, here is another source. I have dealt with this company with good results. Here is the info:
1 - 802CWA+RC400A camera & receiver. The website is spy camera. Price is $120. However, not this camera is 1.2 gig which is not legal in the US. You can get away with it since it is always in motion if you wish.
However I believe this is the same camera, but not wireless, from the same source as the monitor: LINK for about $50. This could be hooked to the Audiovox Transmitter/receiver mentioned above.
If you hook the camera to the power at one of the riding lights, you can switch it on in the truck by driving with your parking lights on. In my case, I had the camper manufacturer cut a sizable hole behind the valence over the door to access power. The wall was thick & insulated so I am glad I had them do that, not me. I have the Audiovox transmitter module behind the valence. This is one less wall for the signal to the cab to penetrate. I had to cut off the RCA jacks from the camera, feed the wire through the wall then re solder them on again. This meant only drilling a small hole on the outside, which the wire passing through reseals.
I have a 2004 Silverado. In the case of this truck mounting was a snap. The camera comes with a dash mount. I used just the thin metal mount, put duct tape on the back to stop scratches, & found that it would slide behind the molding in front of the airbag disable switch very nicely. (That molding simply pulls out & you can slip it behind. No permanent attachment necessary)
So the entire setup cost $250. I wasted $100 on a monitor that is of no use since it won't reverse the image, but I can use it inside direct off the camera at the back door.
The $99 backup camera system sold in Walmart & Costco does not work, plus the monitor is so small, its impractical
After 2 attempts, I found a suitable LCD monitor. This one allows me to select a reverse image so the driver & passenger side are the right way around. I bought it through this LINK. They were great, it arrived in less than 10 days. They are based in Saskatchewan, Canada, but no problem shipping to the US or Canada.
The wireless system needs to be either 1.2 or 2.4 gig or you will have serious interference problems, if you get a picture at all. The small backup camera system they sell at Walmart does not cut it.
1.2 gig camera's are now illegal in the US, as that frequency has been taken over by the FAA, so it has to be 2.4 gig. The monitor I mention, is still worth it, however. I have found a 2.4 gig transmitter/receiver combo so I intend to hook that up to the existing camera & then cut off the antenna on the camera so I am emitting very little on 1.2 gig.
Update, the 2.4 gig transmit receiver works well. It is made by Audiovox. Link
The original wireless camera came from Salt Lake City, but they are no longer in operation, here is another source. I have dealt with this company with good results. Here is the info:
1 - 802CWA+RC400A camera & receiver. The website is spy camera. Price is $120. However, not this camera is 1.2 gig which is not legal in the US. You can get away with it since it is always in motion if you wish.
However I believe this is the same camera, but not wireless, from the same source as the monitor: LINK for about $50. This could be hooked to the Audiovox Transmitter/receiver mentioned above.
If you hook the camera to the power at one of the riding lights, you can switch it on in the truck by driving with your parking lights on. In my case, I had the camper manufacturer cut a sizable hole behind the valence over the door to access power. The wall was thick & insulated so I am glad I had them do that, not me. I have the Audiovox transmitter module behind the valence. This is one less wall for the signal to the cab to penetrate. I had to cut off the RCA jacks from the camera, feed the wire through the wall then re solder them on again. This meant only drilling a small hole on the outside, which the wire passing through reseals.
I have a 2004 Silverado. In the case of this truck mounting was a snap. The camera comes with a dash mount. I used just the thin metal mount, put duct tape on the back to stop scratches, & found that it would slide behind the molding in front of the airbag disable switch very nicely. (That molding simply pulls out & you can slip it behind. No permanent attachment necessary)
So the entire setup cost $250. I wasted $100 on a monitor that is of no use since it won't reverse the image, but I can use it inside direct off the camera at the back door.
OUTRAGE !!!
Posted by PigPen , 25 September 2008 - 06:05 PM
The 2010 Olympic committee has chosen the phrase "With Glowing Hearts: as the motto of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver-Whistler.
They quietly applied to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for trade-mark rights to the phrase �with glowing hearts� which is part of the well-known refrain in our national anthem O Canada: �With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the true North strong and free.�
Our National Anthem Act declares both the words and the music of our national anthem to be in the public domain.
A question to my American Friends. How you you feel about an organization trying to copyright part of your national Anthem? Shoot them right? You bet.
Get me a gun.
BTW this is not the first time this Nazi Olympic Committee as struck. Last year they filed a cease & desist lawsuit against a Greek owned Vancouver restaurant who has been doing business as Olympic Pizza for the last 40 years.
Their lawyers also contacted about my website <a href="http://www.vancouver.hm" target="_blank">www.vancouver.hm</a> about my use of the phrase Vancouver 2010 in one spot on my site.
<!--coloro:#FF0000--><span style="color:#FF0000"><!--/coloro--><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Trademark This, IOC & VANOC.</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<img src="http://www.vancouver.hm/temp/finger.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" />
They quietly applied to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for trade-mark rights to the phrase �with glowing hearts� which is part of the well-known refrain in our national anthem O Canada: �With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the true North strong and free.�
Our National Anthem Act declares both the words and the music of our national anthem to be in the public domain.
A question to my American Friends. How you you feel about an organization trying to copyright part of your national Anthem? Shoot them right? You bet.
Get me a gun.
BTW this is not the first time this Nazi Olympic Committee as struck. Last year they filed a cease & desist lawsuit against a Greek owned Vancouver restaurant who has been doing business as Olympic Pizza for the last 40 years.
Their lawyers also contacted about my website <a href="http://www.vancouver.hm" target="_blank">www.vancouver.hm</a> about my use of the phrase Vancouver 2010 in one spot on my site.
<!--coloro:#FF0000--><span style="color:#FF0000"><!--/coloro--><!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><b>Trademark This, IOC & VANOC.</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
<img src="http://www.vancouver.hm/temp/finger.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Barkerville - Sept 2008
Posted by PigPen , 20 September 2008 - 10:55 PM
Slideshow
Trip To Bella Coola September 2008
Posted by PigPen , 20 September 2008 - 10:03 PM
Ric (& Joanne) & I just returned from our trip to Bella Coola on the mid BC coast. My wife, Terry, decided to opt out of this one after hearing stories about the hill. We did the run in on Hwy 24 from Williams Lake in one long day (425 km), including the dreaded "hill". The hill was not quite as bad as feared, but it was 16 km long, gravel, one lane & in some spots up to an 18% grade. I went down in 4 high & second gear & let the Allison tranny do the braking for me. I was more concerned on the return trip having had a camper slide back in the bed once before, but no issues this time. The worst part of this hill is the possibility of meeting someone coming the other way on a steep grade with no room to pass. The first photo below is the top of the hill. Note Pine beetle damage.
The hill
We camped at a campsite on the Bella Coola River at Hagensburg, just East o Bella Coola. Ric & I chartered a drift boat to salmon fish, but the river was still too high. Ric go one nice salmon, the guide & I got skunked.
The campground
On the River
Bella Coola is not much as you can see by the pictures below. Only maybe 1000 - 1500 people at most.
On our way back we camped for a couple of days at Nimpo Lake. Great fishing there. Sizable wild rainbow and we limited out. If you want to buy a nice resort complete with Motel, cabins & RV Park, there is one for sale for only $900,000. Lots of lake front. The lady there cannot handle it anymore, her husband deed (she was quite young). Too bad.
As you can see the weather was great. Around 22 C (73 F) in Bella Coola, In the teens (60's) on the plateau & around 30 (85 F) in Williams Lake.
The hill
We camped at a campsite on the Bella Coola River at Hagensburg, just East o Bella Coola. Ric & I chartered a drift boat to salmon fish, but the river was still too high. Ric go one nice salmon, the guide & I got skunked.
The campground
On the River
Bella Coola is not much as you can see by the pictures below. Only maybe 1000 - 1500 people at most.
On our way back we camped for a couple of days at Nimpo Lake. Great fishing there. Sizable wild rainbow and we limited out. If you want to buy a nice resort complete with Motel, cabins & RV Park, there is one for sale for only $900,000. Lots of lake front. The lady there cannot handle it anymore, her husband deed (she was quite young). Too bad.
As you can see the weather was great. Around 22 C (73 F) in Bella Coola, In the teens (60's) on the plateau & around 30 (85 F) in Williams Lake.
Mexico 2010
Posted by PigPen , 15 January 2006 - 07:24 PM
Jan 15, 2010
Well we crossed at Nogales this morning. We spent the night in the Wal Mart Parking lot and got up at 6 AM to cross early. Boy was it cold, just a few degrees above freezing. This year, Homeland Security is checking you out for guns southbound, so we expected a longer delay, but when I told them we were Canadian & had to resort to poisoning each other instead of shooting each other, they waved us through. The usual hassle at km 21 with paperwork was done in about an hour although it was freezing and we drove to San Carlos, by the time we got there is was 30 C. Once again we are at the Tonaka RV park. This time we had to take a large detour as the main road in front is still washed out from last falls hurricane. We only have a week to get to Puerto Vallarta as Terry's son flies in on the 23rd, so we are booting it. Tomorrow it's Huabampito.
Jan 16, 2010
Terry pointed out a hole in the side of our camper this morning. It's about dime sized & we have no idea how it got there. A rock? Or did someone hit us in a parking lot. May have even happened in the US. Anyway I guess it means a trip to an RV or boat place to get some fibreglass repair done. i have filled it temp with putty til we get back in the US.
We drove to El Mirador in Huabampito today. A bit more crowded than last year but they immediately recognized Tomas, especially Daniel the waiter there. It seems he made a big impression last year. They seem disappointed we are only staying one night. I hit my first unexpected tope (speed bump) today. I spotted it about 20 feet before i hit it & slammed the brakes on, but still took it at about 20 MPH. This time everything stayed put in the trailer.
Fuel has gone up a bit this year, but the Canadian dollar is worth more against the Peso so it actually works out cheaper. About 70-75 cents a liter for liter for diesel. We are once again blown away by the friendliness of people here. Every time we pull over for a break, people stop & ask if we need help.
Jan 17, 2010
Made the long drive to Noe's at Celestino today, (just north of Mazatlan), We will stay here 3 nights.
Jan 20, 2010
We left Noe's at 10 AM this morning & arrived in San Blas about 3 PM. We decided to save some money on tolls & took the Libres most of the way although we did get nailed by 2 of them for $15 a crack, but I am sure we saved ourselves about $50 all together. The tolls near Mazatlan & south are quite pricey. We were actually glad we did it this way we went though some beautiful countryside. Once again every time we stopped at the roadside, people stopped to ask if needed help. It's amazing. We are at El Chaco RV park just south of San Blas. I noticed a Class C parked on the beach & it turned out to be Mr Tioga with his RV, Ms Tioga. I have emailed back & forth with George quite a few times but have never met him. He full times, most of the time in Mexico. He had a bout of cancer a few years back & decided to get the most out of his remaining years. here is a link to his blog. LINK. he took a picture of me so it will likely appear there in a day or 2. I will add some photos here when I get a proper connection. I am using a fellow RV'ers satellite link so I don't want to use up bandwidth.
On the road south of Mazatlan. Tomas is checking out a new spot to poop.
Ms. Toiga & her owner George on the beach in San Blas
Camped at San Blas
Another view of Ms. Tioga
The pool at the San Blas campsite
]
This class A belongs to a couple from Victoria who have been in Mexico for the last 3 years. They paid $2500 top have this palapa & patio built so they have the use of it.
Jan 22, 2010
We drove south to Sayulita today. I have a heart Resuscitator that I am bringing down for a medical clinic here. I had picked it up at Kathies place in Sacramento where it had been shipped & smuggled it across the border. The doctor has me registered as a patient & I had a letter form him stating I had a heart condition. Hey, it's Mexico. We parked on the highway outside of town & unloaded the scooter. I went into town to check out the RV park there. It's was full, so no way to stay here tonight. After visiting a few pharmacies I managed to locate the clinic and he came out tot meet us to get the equipment. He was extremely grateful to us for bringing it. I justify my smuggling career with the thought I am saving lives. Heck my mother is descended from smugglers of the Romney Marsh in Kent, England, so I have it my genes.
We continued onto Puerto Vallarta & checked in Tachos RV Park. This is large RV park and there were only about 3 spare spots, the rest (apart form 5 spots) were filled with people from Quebec, most form a 70 rig caravan. not a word of English or Spanish to be heard. Some where very nice, others a language barrier. Terry's, son D'Arcy arrive tomorrow.
January 23rd, 2010
Took the bus to the Airport to meet D'Arcy at 4PM. Since we booked late we had to book him via Edmonton. As soon as I got there the flight from Abbotsford (where we live) arrived. And the flight from Edmonton showed 2 hours late. Bummer. He eventually arrived. As it turned out it was just as well it was delayed as his flight from Vancouver to Edmonton was also delayed & he would have missed his connection otherwise. Fortunately Terry did come with me. The words "Terry" & "patience" do not mix.
January 24th, 2010
We booted out of PV real early this morning, probably waking up sever French Canadians (yes!) with my loud diesel truck. I hate driving through Puerto Vallarta. It is usually a very nerve wracking experience, but early Sunday morning was no problem. We arrived in Melaque around noon and I unloaded the scooter to find a way into the Laguna del Tule RV park avoiding low trees which is a real issue. I found a way in and here we are for 3 weeks. This is a different campground than we used last year. It has a pool which is nice since the ocean is rough here. The campground is full. This time mainly people from BC. I am glad I reserved. Fortunately, most Americans still think taking an RV into Mexico means they will be murdered or you would never get into anywhere. I have only seen about 10% Americans anywhere we have stayed. I need to keep posting scary stories on the RV forums to keep more people out. I have to make some stories about French Canadians being murdered. D'Arcy has found a hotel room for $12 a night a block away. Tomorrow we are driving into Manzanillo to sign him up for diving certification, which i an paying for as a combined birthday & Christmas present. They say the diving condition here are the best they have ever seen in years, which is great. I will probably do several dives myself.
Last one is the view out our back door
Jan 25th, 2010
Cloudy today. D'Arcy & I drove into Manzanillo to sign him up for the diving course. A bit pricier than I exepcted since he is th eonly one, but it means one on one instruction.
Jan 26th, 2010
Dropped D'Arcy off at 7:30 at the bus station rather than have to make the hour long drive into Manzanillo for his course. Its sunny again which is nice. It turns out the guy camped across from me is someone I worked with for about 8 years at Telus, John Williamson. Small world. D'Arcy got back about 5:30 from his diving course exhausted. He said he did well. I am going in with him tomorrow to do some diving myself.
Jan 27th, 2010
Woke up at 4AM this morning. Tomas was in pain. It seems ot hurt if he moves his neck. He was running around on the beach a lot yesterday. I massaged it for an hour & he seems a tiny bit better. I took off with D'Arcy to go diving & left him in Terry's hands. hew was much better when we got back late in the afternoon. Diving was pretty good, a lot better visibility than in PV last year and once again we could hear humpback whales down there. D'Arcy did pretty good, the usual normal arm flapping when you first start, but he made it down 60 or 70 ft without any problems. He has to study using the dive tables tonight as he writes the test tomorrow.
Jan 28th, 2010
Tomas seems back to normal so I guess it was just a neck kink. he went over to the pool with me. the great thing about Mexico is that taking your dog poolside or into restaurants is no big deal. As long as he does not figure its an all inclusive & start demanding unlimited food.
Jan 29th, 2010
D'Arcy passed his diving course OK, so we decided to take him out to dinner. Being Mexico, we of course took Tomas along. He enjoyed his restaurant meal & a Margarita. Such a civilized country, we don't have to disguise him as a seeing eye dog.
Feb 1, 2010
The net is really unreliable around here so updating is hard. Not much happening. There is a circus in town & they tow 2 Bengal tigers around town in a caged trailer every day advertising it. I feel sorry for them & the townsfolk if they get loose. Went up to the beach at Chamela today & let the dog stalk crabs. D'Arcy has to catch the bus to PV tommorrow at 4 AM to get his flight back.
Feb 2nd, 2010
It pouring today, but warm & muggy. First rain so far, but it is an El Nino year. Yesterday the speedometer on my truck quit. It quit in stages, showing 70 when I was doing 20, etc, now it is stuck on the max, 120 (MPH, it's an American truck). I think something has come loose due to the rough roads. All the electronics including the odometer work, so its not a computer problem. The warranty expires on the 26th of this month and they won't honor it in Mexico, so I am going to take it to the GM dealer in Manzanillo, pay them to fix it then go for reimbursement later, Chances are it may be less than my $100 deductible anyway. I only paid $40 labor 4 years ago to have a water pump replaced. I was going to go today, but if I have to hang around a few hours, I would rather not do it on a rainy day. I dropped D'Arcy off at the bus at 4AM. Since he never came back by taxi, I assume it arrived OK. He should get to PV 7 hours before his flight. He absconded with our alarm clock, the bastard.
Feb 3rd, 2010
Wow, what a storm last night. 6 inches of rain in a few hours with high winds, thunder & lightning. I know its 6 inches because the pool is overflowing & the water level was at least 6 inches below the edge before. Everything is flooded around here. I had to pull in my slide to prevent water from getting in, not an easy thing to do with the command seating. I need to try & rig up a way to operate it from the other end of the camper. Several people lost awnings, I got mine in in time.
The bank behind our camper eroding
The street next to the campsite
This is what water running down the street did to the beach
Feb 4, 2010
More pictures of the storm from another BC couple in this campground. LINK
Bright & sunny this morning so I decided to drive the hour into Manzanillo to have my speedometer looked out. I found there is a hidden warranty that seems to be for this very problem. It's good for 7 years and 70k miles. My truck is 6 years old & has 50k. There were a few washouts on the way, the biggest problem was in small towns where the sand from side streets had flowed over the highway creating large Topes.
I found the GM dealer and he said he had not heard of the recall. Not surprising it only affected 2003's & early 2004's which mine is. They worked on it for an hour & said it needed a part they did not have. I wanted something to prove it had been in. For that they told me i had to go to the Chev dealer. I never realized Chev & GM were considered different down here. so off to the chev dealer I went. Driving between the 2 I noticed it now worked. Mexican mechanics have a reputation for performing miracles, but obviously sometimes they are not even aware they do. I got tot he Chev dealer at 1 PM and they told me they needed an hour. I got back at 2 Pm & then noticed the "Closed between 2 & 4 sign. 2 more hours of hanging around. When they came back they told me no trouble found. I managed to get a business card with a note scribbled on back as proof I had it in. I doubt that will help me much with the extended warranty business, but I am pretty sure it is recall related so i am going to take it into a dealer in Tucson when I cross the border & ask them to do it.
Got back to find Terry had finished cleaning up the storm mess, like crushed screen rooms etc. Bless here heart. There was huge splash in the lagoon behind our camper after dark. I am guessing that means the rumored crocs in there are close to shore now. Have to watch the dog. Hopefully it was just an iguana.
Feb 6th, 2010
We both rode the scooter into Barra Navidad. We managed to wipe out on it on our way back into town. They have filled the potholes with sand and when we hit one the scooter came to a dead stop. We both got scrapes and i pulled a muscle in my chest. We have booked an extra week here to give some recoop time.
Feb 7th, 2010
We have a black lab like dog hanging around. He is just a pup but seems in good shape, although thin. I am not sure if he is a stray or not. Nice & friendly. Tomas keeps barking at him & telling him to go find his own Gringo. On top of that he stole egg-man, one of Tomas' favorite toys on the beach the other day. I got it back eventually.
Feb 8th, 2010
It appears the dog is a stray and a couple here from Victoria, BC are planning on adopting him.
Feb 11, 2010
Pretty stormy day all day today after a hot & muggy day yesterday
Feb 12,2010
Hot & Sunny again. I thought I had got away from the Olympics, but the Hotel has put a TV outside set to CTV, so we are subject to it. Every time I passed it tonight it seemed John Furlong was still talking. I see we already managed to kill someone. Its rather strange to be watching a Vancouver TV channel down here, mind you most RV'ers seem to have dishes, except the Americans. Their satellite services won't work down here, but Starchoice from Canada does. If we wanted one ourselves, no problem sharing a subscription with one of them and getting a second dish. Not so sure I want it, though.
Feb 14, 2010
Nothing new to report, so some more photos of Laguna del Tule
Feb 19th:
Not much happening we have been here a month and tomorrow we pull out. I ran into my ex-wife, Megan & her boyfriend, Ted, in town today, so we went over to their hotel & spent an enjoyable afternoon with them chewing the shit. We get along great & I really like her beau, so everything is cool there.
Time to head south, Jerry Gale is camping about 100 km south of here so we are going to go & try to find him tomorrow. May not have easy net access for awhile.
We had a big birthday party on the beach tonight for one of the people here. Tomas got overfed.
Feb 21, 2010
We pulled out of Melaque this morning & headed south. We decided to take the Cuota (toll road) around Manzanillo. Wow, talk about expensive, it was about $25 for only 40 miles, but probably worth it rather than have to drive through the center. After taking the truck in there without the camper, I know what its like. We still managed to get lost in Tecoman, 50 miles further south which did not have a bypass. South of there the road becomes narrow & windy after we entered Michoacan State. A lot of road kill, we counted 4 dead dogs, 4 dead cats, 1 deer, 1 cow & one vulture. The scenery down the Michoacan coast is spectacular, very much like the Oregon Coast, with even one snow capped peak to the east. We are encountering military checkpoints now. We were stopped at one today and they searched the trailer. They asked us for ID, but when they saw Tomas with his bunny, they figured we were harmless & sent us on our way. This remote stretch of coastline is where most drugs get bought ashore, and Michoacan is the home of a couple of the biggest cartels, so one has to avoid hanging around in bars and places where you may accidentally socialize with them. That can associate you with them in the eyes of the police. For this reason, it is not safe to boondock on the beach. We drove into the fishing village of Maruata. Gerry & Paula Gale from Nova Scotia, & the Cardwells from California are here, both are members of our Truck Camper Club. We last met Gerry up at Chute Lake near Penticton. I saw Jerry’s cracked fender. That happened when he hit a tope and it bend his Torklift tie down. I did not think that was possible, he must have really hit it hard. Camping here consists of parking next to beachside restaurants. No hook-ups, but the price is right at $4 a night. The seafood is great.
The last picture is Jerry playing some game I don't know the name of.
Feb 23, 2010
We pulled out of Maruata this morning & said goodbye to the Gales & Cardwells. We were initially headed to a new RV park at km 103, but when we got there it was empty, and so was its pool, so we figured we would head on to Playa Azul, just north of Lazaro Cardenas. The road was extremely narrow & windy and at one point we almost got clobbered by the second trailer of a double semi which cut the corner too much. The only other exciting thing was a saucer sized Tarantula crossing the highway. We are now camped in what amounts to a parking lot behind a hotel in Playa Azul. It does have a nice pool, however, so we think we will spend 2 nights here. There is only one other RV in here from Ontario.
Feb 25,2010
Well this place has filled up in the last 2 days. All Canadians. We are going to head south tomorrow. One of the people here say there is a new campground about 50 km south of Lazarro Cardenas, so maybe we will check that one out for a night at least. One is headed north but I just got a message from Sandy the owner of Rancho Buganvillas in La Placita that the road has been blocked due to an ongoing Indian land claim dispute and there are people with guns all over. There were tons of soldiers in that area when we came through & we got stopped at a few check points. I am trying to get a hold of Jerry who is still in Maruata which is only 20 km away from the area, to see what the locals are saying about it, so they can decide whether to risk it. We plan on going north inland on our way back & avoid the area.
Feb 26, 2010
We drove down the coast to Troncones where there is supposedly a new RV Park. We eventually found it after driving 5 km down a dirt road with huge Topes. We missed one & hit it real hard and everything went flying inside the trailer. It also threw off the gas can I had strapped to the back of the camper & it went onto the road & split open. No permanent damage fortunately. The Campsite was nice but with few amenities. Pictures are below.
Feb 27, 2010
Turned on the radio this morning & heard about the Chile Quake and a Tsunami warning. We packed up & headed to high ground. We sat on a hillside in the hot sun for 4 hours. We tried to warn people but no one listened including the campground owner. Oh well, I tried. We even pulled into Ixtapa (see photo below of the view from the hill we sat on) and tried to warn people. After the danger passed we headed down into Ziahuatenejo. Turned out it was just a large surge, you can set the wet sand mark in one of the photos below.
Ixtapa
Tidal surge mark
Feb 28th, 2010:
This is a real nice little campground (El Manglar). Nearly all Canadians here, most are seasonal. There is another campground up the road that only allows French Canadians. It is run by one. This one has a small lagoon next to it with a couple of alligators in there, so we have to watch the dog in that area. I remember this beach (La Ropa) from the first time I was here in 1974 when this was a sleepy fishing village. It was deserted back then.
We all sat in the restaurant & watched the US-Canada Gold medal Hockey game. One lone American & a dozen Canadians. It is a good job Canada one or the Alligators would have been having American food. Note the flag in the pictures below. Tomas enjoyed the game.
Mar 1, 2010
More pictures, El Manglar campground & Zihuantenejo
Mar 5th, 2010
We have been here a week tomorrow. We think we will leave Sunday for the drive to Acapulco. We have confirmed that there is a real bad stretch of construction about 20 miles long, so hopefully they won't be working on it on Sunday. The folks in the campground put jacks under the axle of the owners van the other night, so when he closed the restaurant at midnight & tried to drive way he went nowhere. It was pretty successful judging by the laughter at 12:30 AM.
Managed to get a photo of the gator in the pond behind us.
March 7 , 2010
We got up early this morning to leave. We stopped at the Soriana's to stock up on groceries. It had a Scotiabank ATM so we managed to get a bunch of cash without having to pay service charges. The trip to Acapulco was not as bad as we thought. We hit a long stretch of new pavement (toll road, mind you) that we figure was probably the bad spot we were warned about. There was about 10 km of rough road (see photo's below) but apart from having a tight squeeze passing oncoming buses & trucks, it was OK. Very hot today, about 38 C.
We got pulled over at a military checkpoint. they searched the trailer & camper pretty thoroughly. We have noticed most police are wearing masks. apparently they don't want to be identified and targeted.
We have pulled into Playa Luces RV Park just north of Acapulco. Very nice place. The ocean is too rough to swim in, but they have a nice pool & even individual pools in each campsite (see photo). It used to be a KOA, I never even knew there were any in Mexico. The lady who runs it does not speak any English, but she seemed thrilled I could speak Spanish. She quoted me a rate about $5 a day less than what everyone else here says they are paying and asked me not to tell them. Really nice lady. I told her we will stay a week. Everyone here is talking about the couple from Calgary who were attacked in an RV Park in Mazatlan yesterday. No one says it will discourage them from traveling here, but hope it will keep American paranoid so they don't fill up the campsites here in future. It won't discourage us. We love this country & its people, but we will possibly be a bit more cautious.
March 13, 2010
Well another week has gone. We pull out tomorrow to Cuernavaca. Not all was leisure here. We ran a new 30 amp service to a couple of new campsites for the owner. Being a retired telephone man, I of course, had most of the required hardware in my trailer, including an old central office soldering iron that you can almost weld with. Except a fish tape. As you can see in the photos below we had to go on top of a rig and try to get the string through the conduit with a weight. It actually worked. They bough too small a conduit, but we got it through with lots of grease and actually broke the pulls string twice. I did not think you could break that stuff, I wish I had a couple of balls of the stuff they used 30 years ago, you could pull a Mack truck through a conduit with that.
Tonight is a usual Saturday night party here, so I may have some more pictures of us drunk later.
Endless beach:
Surf is too dangerous here to swim:
Tomas spends a lot of time in the Air Conditioning, plus there is a very persistent beach dog who tries to hump him that he is always trying to seek refuge from.
Mar, 14, 2010
We left this morning around 9AM. We had a party last night as you can see by the photo above. I noticed a huge crack in my windshield. It originated form a small chip I had repaired a year ago. I think the heat must have triggered it. It can wait until we get home.
After leaving the campground, we managed to get on the wrong road. That was after crawling through Sunday market traffic as you can see in the first photo below. I don’t know how people manage with big 5th wheels & class A’s, it is hair raising enough with a Truck Camper & cargo trailer. The GPS took us up what I suspect was the shortest, but not most practical, route, and we ended up our worst nightmare a small village with too little clearance to get the RV through. We ended up having to disconnect the trailer to turn around, then Terry had to drive slow will I sat on the roof lifting telephone wires out of the way so we did not drag them down.
Eventually we managed to retrace our route & get on the correct road to connect with the Cuota to Mexico City. No sooner had we done that the road was blocked due to a motorcycle accident. I never figured out if he was still alive, but they put him in an ambulance. There was a lot of blood on the road when we finally managed to get through. He was not wearing a helmet. We were quite happy once we found the Cuota. It turned out to be an expensive one, it cost us almost $40 to get to Cuernavaca, but it was the best we have been on so far. Several large cable stayed bridges crossing gorges, & tunnels, which probably explains the high tolls. A beautifully engineered road. When we did exit we ended up having to go through several small towns with the usual narrow roads, topes & low trees to eventually get to our destination, Las Estaces. This is the most expensive RV Park in Mexico. $60 a night, but includes admission to the Balneario. This is the largest Balneario I have ever seen. Pools & lagoons everywhere. It also has a clear river running through it you can snorkel down. After paying for 2 nights we have discovered they do not allow dogs, so we have to keep Tomas hidden. The power also does not work, so we have to drag out the generator. It’s 36 C here, but at least the humidity is low.
This is fun?
I hope this is not intended as drinking water
Mar 15th, 2010
Spend a lazy afternoon drifting down the spring fed river here on foam noodles, trying to get our $60 worth. A bit cloudy & cooler today. Just as well since we have to leave Tomas in the camper all day.
Camping is popular in Mexico:
Mar 16th, 2010
We headed for Puebla today. Once again we got forced through some small towns with narrow streets. Just outside of Puebla we missed out turn and I had to cross 3 lanes fairly quickly to make a turnaround. No problems for nay Mexicans doing this, but a cop pulled us over & wanted to fine us 2000 pesos (about $160). We only had 70 Pesos on us. He took that. We tired the no speak any Spanish tact. I have a feeling the fine was not anywhere near that amount. In retrospect we should have just called his bluff, but after a stressful day of navigating narrow streets I was not in the mood to argue. We have been here for 2 months without getting shaken down yet, it had happened twice last year in this amount of time. It is just an expected part of traveling down here. You cannot get upset about it, just budget for it. We have decided to spend only the night here & push on to Teotihuacan and stay there for a few days. No net access here or the last location, so we need to either find WiFi at the next campground or an internet café.
Popocatépetl Volcano:
Mexican Cuota:
March 17, 2010:
Arrive at Teotihuacan around noon. An easy drive. All the way on Cuota (see photo). This is a lovely campground, all green grass & only a block from the town center. We plan on staying here until Sunday. We want to meet a friend who lives in Mexico City. Mariana came to Canada to look after our friends (Camilo & Rosario) kids. She was one of several they had & I think their favourite. We met her & her mother previously when we were backpacking about 4 years ago. Either she will come out here, or we will take the bus in. No way am I taking the camper into Mexico City.
Bath time for Tomas:
March 18th, 2010
We took a taxi to Teotihuacan today. I haven't been there in 30 years. Still impressive.
March 19, 2010
Nice relaxing day today, neither of us got much sleep. Its some sort of holiday, fireworks going off all night and I do mean all night. poor dog is terrified. Camilo, I suggest you go see Doctor Slash before showing the pictures below to Rosario, or you may be paying for another college education.
The church is Jesuit & dates to the mid 1500's
Mar 21st, 2010
Today we took the bus into Mexico City to visit our friend Mariana. It's crazy around here today with all the stuff happening at the pyramids with the equinox.
It took 1 hour to the end of a Metro Line, then a half an hour on the train. Mexico City's subway is very extensive and only costs about 20 cents to ride it anywhere. Riding the bus in convinced me to head north tomorrow and then east towards Morelia rather than attempting the circle road around the city which is shorter. Freeway or no freeway it was crazy even on a Sunday. god knows what Monday would be like. We cannot leave until 11 AM due to the traffic restrictions anyway. Mexico City is probably the worlds largest City, not a place you want to drive an RV through.
We met Marianna for a nice lunch, stopped at the main square on the way back to look around. Lat time we were there, a few years back, it was crowed with 1/2 a million people demonstrating over the federal election results.
March 22, 2010
We pulled out at 11 AM. After talking to some Germans in the RV Park who came the reverse direction we wanted to go, we decided to risk the ring road around Mexico City after all. They said the way to Querataro was well marked. Well maybe it was well marked in the direction they went, it was not marked at all in our direction & we ended up in a Mexico City suburb. I think I took 2 years off my life. Talk about traffic. We had one close call with a truck when we tried to go straight ahead instead of turning left at an intersection. Eventually we stumbled on the right road & got onto the Cuota. The new Cuota from Jilotepic to Atlacomulco is not yet open so we had to take the old highway which was pretty rough. Just as we reached the 15D Cuota to go across to Morelia, we were pulled over by the police. I knew I had done nothing wrong, so I wondered what sort of shakedown it was. I used the “no hablo mucho Espanol” tactic & convinced him we were lost (which we were not). I am not sure if he was trying to find something wrong we did or not, but he drew us a map, asked for all our paperwork & then asked for cigarettes. We just kept smiling through the whole thing. We shook hands and left & I handed him 40 Peso’s and told him to go buy himself some cigarettes. We eventually made Lago Cuizeo, the second largest lake in Mexico. Arturo, a Mexican-American is building a big RV park here, but it is not completely so temporarily he is sending people to a Hot springs Balneario nearby. Basic no service camping here, but we did fill with water & empty our holding tanks before leaving this morning so we are good for a couple of days. Arturo wants do some caravans down here, so I want to talk to him about maybe doing one for NATCOA in a year or 2. There is a lot around here like the Monarch Butterfly preserve. A bit late for it this year, but next year maybe, they peak in Jan-Feb.
March 23, 2010
Arturo showed up this morning and we went off together to take a look at what he is doing. He is extremely enthusiastic and has ambitious plans. He has started to work on what he hopes will become an RV resort that will attract seasonal RV’ers. He has a very large plot of land, the only fly in the ointment right now, is access. He has a very rough road into it that needs to be smoothed out and low hanging trees removed. The biggest problem is the grade to climb to get up there. The Cuota, however touches one corner of his property, but being a toll highway, you can’t get off it there. I suggested he approach the government and see if he could charge maybe 70 pesos for them for people to exit there. It would save them about 5 miles and the hill, I think people would pay it. He could prevent locals from using it by gating it. He has plans for a spa since the property has therapeutic hot springs and he has space for about 100 RV’s on large sites. The nice thing about this location is it is central to Colonial Mexico and very close to the monarch butterfly preserve where million of those come each year. Arturo wants to arrange tours to places like Mexico City & Guadalajara from here and he wants to bring caravans down form the US, something he can so safely since he is Mexican-American. I have has a lot of interest in a NATCOA caravan, but Terry is not too keen on it, so I think Arturo is the solution.
March 26, 2010
A very interesting day. Patzcuaro is a very nice place. It is one of the Pueblo Magico's which pretty well means no messy store fronts, clean streets, etc. We took a boat over to Isla Janitzio, a large inhabited Island in Patzcuaro lake. Quite a few photos below. Later this afternoon a couple pulled in with a Lance camper. As they were taking it off the truck, one of the jacks failed & the camper collapsed. Its quite a mess, the truck is damaged as is the camper.
Patzcuaro:
Isla Janitzio & lake Patzcuaro (the green stuff are Water Hyacynth)
Fishermen:
The boat comes with entertainment:
Camper Jack failure:
March 28, 2010
Drove about 5 hours today to Mazamitla & Hacienda Contreras RV Park. To our surprise Jerry & Ken were there as was another couple we met in Playa Azul a month back. In fact there were quite a few considering it is late in the season. This is a great place run by a very nice couple. She is American, he is Mexican. She baked a bunch of cookies for happy hour and we spent an enjoyable eve sitting around a big fire. (It gets down close to freezing at night due to altitude)
Mar 29th, 2010
Drove an hour to Roca Azul on Lake Chapala. We were here last year, but a month earlier. Still quite a few people here. We have to stall through Semana Santa. probably head over to Villa Corona for a couple of days after & try to hit Santa Maria del Oro at the end of next weekend. Then its down to the hot humid coast for the drive north.
April 1st, 2010:
We have decided to stay a week to wait out Semana Santa. No desire to deal with 1000's or drunk drivers on the roads. This place is filling up with tenters and we attended a big party on the beach tonight. It is non stop partying and the best strategy is to simply join in. Yesterday we visited Dan & Andrea in Anjijic. I met Dan on a political forum on the net about 5 years ago. He is what I call an intelligent Republican. We actually agree that the way to solve Mexico's drug gang problem is to legalize drugs in the US. Anyways they are a very nice couple. They are from New Mexico and have moved here permanent. They have a beautiful house. It's to die for. This lake is very popular with ex-pats, at 5000 feet it has a perfect year round climate. We took our camper over there which was a bit of a mistake. It was a nightmare trying to get out of there with narrow streets, overhanging balconies, etc. terry had to walk ahead of me & guide me. Some balconies i cleared by 1/2 an inch. We are invited back on Sunday for a BBQ. Despite witnessing the disaster in Patzcuaro, we are pulling the camper off. Its a bit too far to use the scooter, esp with the drunks on the road.
April 3, 2010
Spent an enjoyable day playing mexican train & cards with a large Mexican family camped here
April 4, 2010
Today we went back to Dan & Andrea’s house for a BBQ. We decided it was best to take a taxi rather than risk the narrow streets again especially on Easter Sunday. It was pricey at $15 one way, but a lot less stressful. We had an enjoyable afternoon and decided to try the bus back with the dog which was a lot cheaper. He decided sitting on the floor was beneath him so he promptly jumped up onto my lap much to the amusement of everyone else on the bus.
April 5, 2010
Made an early start today to head toward Santa Maria del Oro, the crater lake we discovered last year. We decided to take about a 50 km detour to avoid Guadalajara even though a lot of it was over a secondary road. However, we took the same secondary road last year & I knew there were no non-negotiable small villages along it. At one point here as a German Shepard walking down the middle of the road. Obviously not a stray since he looked purebred. We missed him, but I saw the car coming in the opposite direction clobber him. We drove a mile up the road until we found a place to turn and slowly cruised back looking for him but did not find him, we had to retrace back another km or so to turn around again and this time spotted him walking across a field in the distance, so I guess he just got bruised. We arrived at the lake in early afternoon and will stay 2 or 3 nights. Met the owner this time who is originally English and speaks it, unlike his son who was managing it last year. There are still plenty of Semana Santa hanging-on Mexican campers here, but he said if we has shown up a day earlier we never would have got in. We have dropped another 2500 ft so it is noticeably hotter, (it is at 2500 feet itself) we will definitely have to search out places with pools or bathing beaches, once we hit the coast. We are about 2 weeks later than last year. Have to time out our stops so we cross the border on the 19th or 20th. I am going to make an appointment for my truck in Tucson on the 21st. 2 warranty items & some general maintenance. At least with the Canadian dollar at par (maybe worth more by the time we get there), it won’t cost me an arm & leg.
April 7, 2010
Seriously considering buying a 2 bedroom cottage available on this lake for 30K. Will think about it when we get home.The place was for sale last year for 35K and I do not think it will go soon, this place is a hidden gem. A swimmable fresh water lake. There are about 5 other Canadian & Americans that have the other properties here. The thought of being bale to just fly here for winter is appealing. Only issue is no internet, but the other owners are thinking of going in on a dish to provide that.
Tomas got attacked by a pack of 5 dogs when I took him for a walk today. No damage except to his ego. I now know what house to avoid walking him past.
April 8, 2010
Drove to Teacapan today. This is the first time here, it is located at the end of a long peninsular, south of Mazatlan. Only 2 other Rv's here, an American couple on their way to Argentina and a Mexican RV'er. Seeing very few other RV'ers on the road now. It's not as hot as we expected, a brisk breeze make sit very pleasant. It was actually hotter at Santa Maria del Oro which is n a crater. We had some trouble getting out of there, a lot of Semana Santa hangers-on parked along the access road.
April 10, 2010
Drove to Noe's place at Celestino about 70 km north of Mazatlan. Hal & Marge, a couple from Santa Fe, in an Arctic Fox camper whom we met last year rolled in as well. They winter out in Sayulita near Puerto Vallarta and are on their way north. They are traveling faster than we are, they drove all the way in one go and intend on going all the way to San Carlos in one day on Monday. That is 450 miles. For us that is a 2 day trip even though it is all Cuota. Nice to have company, very few of us left down here now. We are 2 weeks behind last year, it's amazing how more empty places are in just 2 weeks. We are headed further north on Monday, probably Huabampito.
April 13, 2010
We decided to stay an extra day & do the marathon to San Carlos after all. It was not too bad except I got a flat tire on one of my duals. It happened in the middle of nowhere except for a shack which turned out to be a roadside tire repair place. They replaced a cut valve stem & we were on our way. I need to look into stainless steel ones.
Well we crossed at Nogales this morning. We spent the night in the Wal Mart Parking lot and got up at 6 AM to cross early. Boy was it cold, just a few degrees above freezing. This year, Homeland Security is checking you out for guns southbound, so we expected a longer delay, but when I told them we were Canadian & had to resort to poisoning each other instead of shooting each other, they waved us through. The usual hassle at km 21 with paperwork was done in about an hour although it was freezing and we drove to San Carlos, by the time we got there is was 30 C. Once again we are at the Tonaka RV park. This time we had to take a large detour as the main road in front is still washed out from last falls hurricane. We only have a week to get to Puerto Vallarta as Terry's son flies in on the 23rd, so we are booting it. Tomorrow it's Huabampito.
Jan 16, 2010
Terry pointed out a hole in the side of our camper this morning. It's about dime sized & we have no idea how it got there. A rock? Or did someone hit us in a parking lot. May have even happened in the US. Anyway I guess it means a trip to an RV or boat place to get some fibreglass repair done. i have filled it temp with putty til we get back in the US.
We drove to El Mirador in Huabampito today. A bit more crowded than last year but they immediately recognized Tomas, especially Daniel the waiter there. It seems he made a big impression last year. They seem disappointed we are only staying one night. I hit my first unexpected tope (speed bump) today. I spotted it about 20 feet before i hit it & slammed the brakes on, but still took it at about 20 MPH. This time everything stayed put in the trailer.
Fuel has gone up a bit this year, but the Canadian dollar is worth more against the Peso so it actually works out cheaper. About 70-75 cents a liter for liter for diesel. We are once again blown away by the friendliness of people here. Every time we pull over for a break, people stop & ask if we need help.
Jan 17, 2010
Made the long drive to Noe's at Celestino today, (just north of Mazatlan), We will stay here 3 nights.
Jan 20, 2010
We left Noe's at 10 AM this morning & arrived in San Blas about 3 PM. We decided to save some money on tolls & took the Libres most of the way although we did get nailed by 2 of them for $15 a crack, but I am sure we saved ourselves about $50 all together. The tolls near Mazatlan & south are quite pricey. We were actually glad we did it this way we went though some beautiful countryside. Once again every time we stopped at the roadside, people stopped to ask if needed help. It's amazing. We are at El Chaco RV park just south of San Blas. I noticed a Class C parked on the beach & it turned out to be Mr Tioga with his RV, Ms Tioga. I have emailed back & forth with George quite a few times but have never met him. He full times, most of the time in Mexico. He had a bout of cancer a few years back & decided to get the most out of his remaining years. here is a link to his blog. LINK. he took a picture of me so it will likely appear there in a day or 2. I will add some photos here when I get a proper connection. I am using a fellow RV'ers satellite link so I don't want to use up bandwidth.
On the road south of Mazatlan. Tomas is checking out a new spot to poop.
Ms. Toiga & her owner George on the beach in San Blas
Camped at San Blas
Another view of Ms. Tioga
The pool at the San Blas campsite
]This class A belongs to a couple from Victoria who have been in Mexico for the last 3 years. They paid $2500 top have this palapa & patio built so they have the use of it.
Jan 22, 2010
We drove south to Sayulita today. I have a heart Resuscitator that I am bringing down for a medical clinic here. I had picked it up at Kathies place in Sacramento where it had been shipped & smuggled it across the border. The doctor has me registered as a patient & I had a letter form him stating I had a heart condition. Hey, it's Mexico. We parked on the highway outside of town & unloaded the scooter. I went into town to check out the RV park there. It's was full, so no way to stay here tonight. After visiting a few pharmacies I managed to locate the clinic and he came out tot meet us to get the equipment. He was extremely grateful to us for bringing it. I justify my smuggling career with the thought I am saving lives. Heck my mother is descended from smugglers of the Romney Marsh in Kent, England, so I have it my genes.
We continued onto Puerto Vallarta & checked in Tachos RV Park. This is large RV park and there were only about 3 spare spots, the rest (apart form 5 spots) were filled with people from Quebec, most form a 70 rig caravan. not a word of English or Spanish to be heard. Some where very nice, others a language barrier. Terry's, son D'Arcy arrive tomorrow.
January 23rd, 2010
Took the bus to the Airport to meet D'Arcy at 4PM. Since we booked late we had to book him via Edmonton. As soon as I got there the flight from Abbotsford (where we live) arrived. And the flight from Edmonton showed 2 hours late. Bummer. He eventually arrived. As it turned out it was just as well it was delayed as his flight from Vancouver to Edmonton was also delayed & he would have missed his connection otherwise. Fortunately Terry did come with me. The words "Terry" & "patience" do not mix.
January 24th, 2010
We booted out of PV real early this morning, probably waking up sever French Canadians (yes!) with my loud diesel truck. I hate driving through Puerto Vallarta. It is usually a very nerve wracking experience, but early Sunday morning was no problem. We arrived in Melaque around noon and I unloaded the scooter to find a way into the Laguna del Tule RV park avoiding low trees which is a real issue. I found a way in and here we are for 3 weeks. This is a different campground than we used last year. It has a pool which is nice since the ocean is rough here. The campground is full. This time mainly people from BC. I am glad I reserved. Fortunately, most Americans still think taking an RV into Mexico means they will be murdered or you would never get into anywhere. I have only seen about 10% Americans anywhere we have stayed. I need to keep posting scary stories on the RV forums to keep more people out. I have to make some stories about French Canadians being murdered. D'Arcy has found a hotel room for $12 a night a block away. Tomorrow we are driving into Manzanillo to sign him up for diving certification, which i an paying for as a combined birthday & Christmas present. They say the diving condition here are the best they have ever seen in years, which is great. I will probably do several dives myself.
Last one is the view out our back door
Jan 25th, 2010
Cloudy today. D'Arcy & I drove into Manzanillo to sign him up for the diving course. A bit pricier than I exepcted since he is th eonly one, but it means one on one instruction.
Jan 26th, 2010
Dropped D'Arcy off at 7:30 at the bus station rather than have to make the hour long drive into Manzanillo for his course. Its sunny again which is nice. It turns out the guy camped across from me is someone I worked with for about 8 years at Telus, John Williamson. Small world. D'Arcy got back about 5:30 from his diving course exhausted. He said he did well. I am going in with him tomorrow to do some diving myself.
Jan 27th, 2010
Woke up at 4AM this morning. Tomas was in pain. It seems ot hurt if he moves his neck. He was running around on the beach a lot yesterday. I massaged it for an hour & he seems a tiny bit better. I took off with D'Arcy to go diving & left him in Terry's hands. hew was much better when we got back late in the afternoon. Diving was pretty good, a lot better visibility than in PV last year and once again we could hear humpback whales down there. D'Arcy did pretty good, the usual normal arm flapping when you first start, but he made it down 60 or 70 ft without any problems. He has to study using the dive tables tonight as he writes the test tomorrow.
Jan 28th, 2010
Tomas seems back to normal so I guess it was just a neck kink. he went over to the pool with me. the great thing about Mexico is that taking your dog poolside or into restaurants is no big deal. As long as he does not figure its an all inclusive & start demanding unlimited food.
Jan 29th, 2010
D'Arcy passed his diving course OK, so we decided to take him out to dinner. Being Mexico, we of course took Tomas along. He enjoyed his restaurant meal & a Margarita. Such a civilized country, we don't have to disguise him as a seeing eye dog.
Feb 1, 2010
The net is really unreliable around here so updating is hard. Not much happening. There is a circus in town & they tow 2 Bengal tigers around town in a caged trailer every day advertising it. I feel sorry for them & the townsfolk if they get loose. Went up to the beach at Chamela today & let the dog stalk crabs. D'Arcy has to catch the bus to PV tommorrow at 4 AM to get his flight back.
Feb 2nd, 2010
It pouring today, but warm & muggy. First rain so far, but it is an El Nino year. Yesterday the speedometer on my truck quit. It quit in stages, showing 70 when I was doing 20, etc, now it is stuck on the max, 120 (MPH, it's an American truck). I think something has come loose due to the rough roads. All the electronics including the odometer work, so its not a computer problem. The warranty expires on the 26th of this month and they won't honor it in Mexico, so I am going to take it to the GM dealer in Manzanillo, pay them to fix it then go for reimbursement later, Chances are it may be less than my $100 deductible anyway. I only paid $40 labor 4 years ago to have a water pump replaced. I was going to go today, but if I have to hang around a few hours, I would rather not do it on a rainy day. I dropped D'Arcy off at the bus at 4AM. Since he never came back by taxi, I assume it arrived OK. He should get to PV 7 hours before his flight. He absconded with our alarm clock, the bastard.
Feb 3rd, 2010
Wow, what a storm last night. 6 inches of rain in a few hours with high winds, thunder & lightning. I know its 6 inches because the pool is overflowing & the water level was at least 6 inches below the edge before. Everything is flooded around here. I had to pull in my slide to prevent water from getting in, not an easy thing to do with the command seating. I need to try & rig up a way to operate it from the other end of the camper. Several people lost awnings, I got mine in in time.
The bank behind our camper eroding
The street next to the campsite
This is what water running down the street did to the beach
Feb 4, 2010
More pictures of the storm from another BC couple in this campground. LINK
Bright & sunny this morning so I decided to drive the hour into Manzanillo to have my speedometer looked out. I found there is a hidden warranty that seems to be for this very problem. It's good for 7 years and 70k miles. My truck is 6 years old & has 50k. There were a few washouts on the way, the biggest problem was in small towns where the sand from side streets had flowed over the highway creating large Topes.
I found the GM dealer and he said he had not heard of the recall. Not surprising it only affected 2003's & early 2004's which mine is. They worked on it for an hour & said it needed a part they did not have. I wanted something to prove it had been in. For that they told me i had to go to the Chev dealer. I never realized Chev & GM were considered different down here. so off to the chev dealer I went. Driving between the 2 I noticed it now worked. Mexican mechanics have a reputation for performing miracles, but obviously sometimes they are not even aware they do. I got tot he Chev dealer at 1 PM and they told me they needed an hour. I got back at 2 Pm & then noticed the "Closed between 2 & 4 sign. 2 more hours of hanging around. When they came back they told me no trouble found. I managed to get a business card with a note scribbled on back as proof I had it in. I doubt that will help me much with the extended warranty business, but I am pretty sure it is recall related so i am going to take it into a dealer in Tucson when I cross the border & ask them to do it.
Got back to find Terry had finished cleaning up the storm mess, like crushed screen rooms etc. Bless here heart. There was huge splash in the lagoon behind our camper after dark. I am guessing that means the rumored crocs in there are close to shore now. Have to watch the dog. Hopefully it was just an iguana.
Feb 6th, 2010
We both rode the scooter into Barra Navidad. We managed to wipe out on it on our way back into town. They have filled the potholes with sand and when we hit one the scooter came to a dead stop. We both got scrapes and i pulled a muscle in my chest. We have booked an extra week here to give some recoop time.
Feb 7th, 2010
We have a black lab like dog hanging around. He is just a pup but seems in good shape, although thin. I am not sure if he is a stray or not. Nice & friendly. Tomas keeps barking at him & telling him to go find his own Gringo. On top of that he stole egg-man, one of Tomas' favorite toys on the beach the other day. I got it back eventually.
Feb 8th, 2010
It appears the dog is a stray and a couple here from Victoria, BC are planning on adopting him.
Feb 11, 2010
Pretty stormy day all day today after a hot & muggy day yesterday
Feb 12,2010
Hot & Sunny again. I thought I had got away from the Olympics, but the Hotel has put a TV outside set to CTV, so we are subject to it. Every time I passed it tonight it seemed John Furlong was still talking. I see we already managed to kill someone. Its rather strange to be watching a Vancouver TV channel down here, mind you most RV'ers seem to have dishes, except the Americans. Their satellite services won't work down here, but Starchoice from Canada does. If we wanted one ourselves, no problem sharing a subscription with one of them and getting a second dish. Not so sure I want it, though.
Feb 14, 2010
Nothing new to report, so some more photos of Laguna del Tule
Feb 19th:
Not much happening we have been here a month and tomorrow we pull out. I ran into my ex-wife, Megan & her boyfriend, Ted, in town today, so we went over to their hotel & spent an enjoyable afternoon with them chewing the shit. We get along great & I really like her beau, so everything is cool there.
Time to head south, Jerry Gale is camping about 100 km south of here so we are going to go & try to find him tomorrow. May not have easy net access for awhile.
We had a big birthday party on the beach tonight for one of the people here. Tomas got overfed.
Feb 21, 2010
We pulled out of Melaque this morning & headed south. We decided to take the Cuota (toll road) around Manzanillo. Wow, talk about expensive, it was about $25 for only 40 miles, but probably worth it rather than have to drive through the center. After taking the truck in there without the camper, I know what its like. We still managed to get lost in Tecoman, 50 miles further south which did not have a bypass. South of there the road becomes narrow & windy after we entered Michoacan State. A lot of road kill, we counted 4 dead dogs, 4 dead cats, 1 deer, 1 cow & one vulture. The scenery down the Michoacan coast is spectacular, very much like the Oregon Coast, with even one snow capped peak to the east. We are encountering military checkpoints now. We were stopped at one today and they searched the trailer. They asked us for ID, but when they saw Tomas with his bunny, they figured we were harmless & sent us on our way. This remote stretch of coastline is where most drugs get bought ashore, and Michoacan is the home of a couple of the biggest cartels, so one has to avoid hanging around in bars and places where you may accidentally socialize with them. That can associate you with them in the eyes of the police. For this reason, it is not safe to boondock on the beach. We drove into the fishing village of Maruata. Gerry & Paula Gale from Nova Scotia, & the Cardwells from California are here, both are members of our Truck Camper Club. We last met Gerry up at Chute Lake near Penticton. I saw Jerry’s cracked fender. That happened when he hit a tope and it bend his Torklift tie down. I did not think that was possible, he must have really hit it hard. Camping here consists of parking next to beachside restaurants. No hook-ups, but the price is right at $4 a night. The seafood is great.
The last picture is Jerry playing some game I don't know the name of.
Feb 23, 2010
We pulled out of Maruata this morning & said goodbye to the Gales & Cardwells. We were initially headed to a new RV park at km 103, but when we got there it was empty, and so was its pool, so we figured we would head on to Playa Azul, just north of Lazaro Cardenas. The road was extremely narrow & windy and at one point we almost got clobbered by the second trailer of a double semi which cut the corner too much. The only other exciting thing was a saucer sized Tarantula crossing the highway. We are now camped in what amounts to a parking lot behind a hotel in Playa Azul. It does have a nice pool, however, so we think we will spend 2 nights here. There is only one other RV in here from Ontario.
Feb 25,2010
Well this place has filled up in the last 2 days. All Canadians. We are going to head south tomorrow. One of the people here say there is a new campground about 50 km south of Lazarro Cardenas, so maybe we will check that one out for a night at least. One is headed north but I just got a message from Sandy the owner of Rancho Buganvillas in La Placita that the road has been blocked due to an ongoing Indian land claim dispute and there are people with guns all over. There were tons of soldiers in that area when we came through & we got stopped at a few check points. I am trying to get a hold of Jerry who is still in Maruata which is only 20 km away from the area, to see what the locals are saying about it, so they can decide whether to risk it. We plan on going north inland on our way back & avoid the area.
Feb 26, 2010
We drove down the coast to Troncones where there is supposedly a new RV Park. We eventually found it after driving 5 km down a dirt road with huge Topes. We missed one & hit it real hard and everything went flying inside the trailer. It also threw off the gas can I had strapped to the back of the camper & it went onto the road & split open. No permanent damage fortunately. The Campsite was nice but with few amenities. Pictures are below.
Feb 27, 2010
Turned on the radio this morning & heard about the Chile Quake and a Tsunami warning. We packed up & headed to high ground. We sat on a hillside in the hot sun for 4 hours. We tried to warn people but no one listened including the campground owner. Oh well, I tried. We even pulled into Ixtapa (see photo below of the view from the hill we sat on) and tried to warn people. After the danger passed we headed down into Ziahuatenejo. Turned out it was just a large surge, you can set the wet sand mark in one of the photos below.
Ixtapa
Tidal surge mark
Feb 28th, 2010:
This is a real nice little campground (El Manglar). Nearly all Canadians here, most are seasonal. There is another campground up the road that only allows French Canadians. It is run by one. This one has a small lagoon next to it with a couple of alligators in there, so we have to watch the dog in that area. I remember this beach (La Ropa) from the first time I was here in 1974 when this was a sleepy fishing village. It was deserted back then.
We all sat in the restaurant & watched the US-Canada Gold medal Hockey game. One lone American & a dozen Canadians. It is a good job Canada one or the Alligators would have been having American food. Note the flag in the pictures below. Tomas enjoyed the game.
Mar 1, 2010
More pictures, El Manglar campground & Zihuantenejo
Mar 5th, 2010
We have been here a week tomorrow. We think we will leave Sunday for the drive to Acapulco. We have confirmed that there is a real bad stretch of construction about 20 miles long, so hopefully they won't be working on it on Sunday. The folks in the campground put jacks under the axle of the owners van the other night, so when he closed the restaurant at midnight & tried to drive way he went nowhere. It was pretty successful judging by the laughter at 12:30 AM.
Managed to get a photo of the gator in the pond behind us.
March 7 , 2010
We got up early this morning to leave. We stopped at the Soriana's to stock up on groceries. It had a Scotiabank ATM so we managed to get a bunch of cash without having to pay service charges. The trip to Acapulco was not as bad as we thought. We hit a long stretch of new pavement (toll road, mind you) that we figure was probably the bad spot we were warned about. There was about 10 km of rough road (see photo's below) but apart from having a tight squeeze passing oncoming buses & trucks, it was OK. Very hot today, about 38 C.
We got pulled over at a military checkpoint. they searched the trailer & camper pretty thoroughly. We have noticed most police are wearing masks. apparently they don't want to be identified and targeted.
We have pulled into Playa Luces RV Park just north of Acapulco. Very nice place. The ocean is too rough to swim in, but they have a nice pool & even individual pools in each campsite (see photo). It used to be a KOA, I never even knew there were any in Mexico. The lady who runs it does not speak any English, but she seemed thrilled I could speak Spanish. She quoted me a rate about $5 a day less than what everyone else here says they are paying and asked me not to tell them. Really nice lady. I told her we will stay a week. Everyone here is talking about the couple from Calgary who were attacked in an RV Park in Mazatlan yesterday. No one says it will discourage them from traveling here, but hope it will keep American paranoid so they don't fill up the campsites here in future. It won't discourage us. We love this country & its people, but we will possibly be a bit more cautious.
March 13, 2010
Well another week has gone. We pull out tomorrow to Cuernavaca. Not all was leisure here. We ran a new 30 amp service to a couple of new campsites for the owner. Being a retired telephone man, I of course, had most of the required hardware in my trailer, including an old central office soldering iron that you can almost weld with. Except a fish tape. As you can see in the photos below we had to go on top of a rig and try to get the string through the conduit with a weight. It actually worked. They bough too small a conduit, but we got it through with lots of grease and actually broke the pulls string twice. I did not think you could break that stuff, I wish I had a couple of balls of the stuff they used 30 years ago, you could pull a Mack truck through a conduit with that.
Tonight is a usual Saturday night party here, so I may have some more pictures of us drunk later.
Endless beach:
Surf is too dangerous here to swim:
Tomas spends a lot of time in the Air Conditioning, plus there is a very persistent beach dog who tries to hump him that he is always trying to seek refuge from.
Mar, 14, 2010
We left this morning around 9AM. We had a party last night as you can see by the photo above. I noticed a huge crack in my windshield. It originated form a small chip I had repaired a year ago. I think the heat must have triggered it. It can wait until we get home.
After leaving the campground, we managed to get on the wrong road. That was after crawling through Sunday market traffic as you can see in the first photo below. I don’t know how people manage with big 5th wheels & class A’s, it is hair raising enough with a Truck Camper & cargo trailer. The GPS took us up what I suspect was the shortest, but not most practical, route, and we ended up our worst nightmare a small village with too little clearance to get the RV through. We ended up having to disconnect the trailer to turn around, then Terry had to drive slow will I sat on the roof lifting telephone wires out of the way so we did not drag them down.
Eventually we managed to retrace our route & get on the correct road to connect with the Cuota to Mexico City. No sooner had we done that the road was blocked due to a motorcycle accident. I never figured out if he was still alive, but they put him in an ambulance. There was a lot of blood on the road when we finally managed to get through. He was not wearing a helmet. We were quite happy once we found the Cuota. It turned out to be an expensive one, it cost us almost $40 to get to Cuernavaca, but it was the best we have been on so far. Several large cable stayed bridges crossing gorges, & tunnels, which probably explains the high tolls. A beautifully engineered road. When we did exit we ended up having to go through several small towns with the usual narrow roads, topes & low trees to eventually get to our destination, Las Estaces. This is the most expensive RV Park in Mexico. $60 a night, but includes admission to the Balneario. This is the largest Balneario I have ever seen. Pools & lagoons everywhere. It also has a clear river running through it you can snorkel down. After paying for 2 nights we have discovered they do not allow dogs, so we have to keep Tomas hidden. The power also does not work, so we have to drag out the generator. It’s 36 C here, but at least the humidity is low.
This is fun?
I hope this is not intended as drinking water
Mar 15th, 2010
Spend a lazy afternoon drifting down the spring fed river here on foam noodles, trying to get our $60 worth. A bit cloudy & cooler today. Just as well since we have to leave Tomas in the camper all day.
Camping is popular in Mexico:
Mar 16th, 2010
We headed for Puebla today. Once again we got forced through some small towns with narrow streets. Just outside of Puebla we missed out turn and I had to cross 3 lanes fairly quickly to make a turnaround. No problems for nay Mexicans doing this, but a cop pulled us over & wanted to fine us 2000 pesos (about $160). We only had 70 Pesos on us. He took that. We tired the no speak any Spanish tact. I have a feeling the fine was not anywhere near that amount. In retrospect we should have just called his bluff, but after a stressful day of navigating narrow streets I was not in the mood to argue. We have been here for 2 months without getting shaken down yet, it had happened twice last year in this amount of time. It is just an expected part of traveling down here. You cannot get upset about it, just budget for it. We have decided to spend only the night here & push on to Teotihuacan and stay there for a few days. No net access here or the last location, so we need to either find WiFi at the next campground or an internet café.
Popocatépetl Volcano:
Mexican Cuota:
March 17, 2010:
Arrive at Teotihuacan around noon. An easy drive. All the way on Cuota (see photo). This is a lovely campground, all green grass & only a block from the town center. We plan on staying here until Sunday. We want to meet a friend who lives in Mexico City. Mariana came to Canada to look after our friends (Camilo & Rosario) kids. She was one of several they had & I think their favourite. We met her & her mother previously when we were backpacking about 4 years ago. Either she will come out here, or we will take the bus in. No way am I taking the camper into Mexico City.
Bath time for Tomas:
March 18th, 2010
We took a taxi to Teotihuacan today. I haven't been there in 30 years. Still impressive.
March 19, 2010
Nice relaxing day today, neither of us got much sleep. Its some sort of holiday, fireworks going off all night and I do mean all night. poor dog is terrified. Camilo, I suggest you go see Doctor Slash before showing the pictures below to Rosario, or you may be paying for another college education.
The church is Jesuit & dates to the mid 1500's
Mar 21st, 2010
Today we took the bus into Mexico City to visit our friend Mariana. It's crazy around here today with all the stuff happening at the pyramids with the equinox.
It took 1 hour to the end of a Metro Line, then a half an hour on the train. Mexico City's subway is very extensive and only costs about 20 cents to ride it anywhere. Riding the bus in convinced me to head north tomorrow and then east towards Morelia rather than attempting the circle road around the city which is shorter. Freeway or no freeway it was crazy even on a Sunday. god knows what Monday would be like. We cannot leave until 11 AM due to the traffic restrictions anyway. Mexico City is probably the worlds largest City, not a place you want to drive an RV through.
We met Marianna for a nice lunch, stopped at the main square on the way back to look around. Lat time we were there, a few years back, it was crowed with 1/2 a million people demonstrating over the federal election results.
March 22, 2010
We pulled out at 11 AM. After talking to some Germans in the RV Park who came the reverse direction we wanted to go, we decided to risk the ring road around Mexico City after all. They said the way to Querataro was well marked. Well maybe it was well marked in the direction they went, it was not marked at all in our direction & we ended up in a Mexico City suburb. I think I took 2 years off my life. Talk about traffic. We had one close call with a truck when we tried to go straight ahead instead of turning left at an intersection. Eventually we stumbled on the right road & got onto the Cuota. The new Cuota from Jilotepic to Atlacomulco is not yet open so we had to take the old highway which was pretty rough. Just as we reached the 15D Cuota to go across to Morelia, we were pulled over by the police. I knew I had done nothing wrong, so I wondered what sort of shakedown it was. I used the “no hablo mucho Espanol” tactic & convinced him we were lost (which we were not). I am not sure if he was trying to find something wrong we did or not, but he drew us a map, asked for all our paperwork & then asked for cigarettes. We just kept smiling through the whole thing. We shook hands and left & I handed him 40 Peso’s and told him to go buy himself some cigarettes. We eventually made Lago Cuizeo, the second largest lake in Mexico. Arturo, a Mexican-American is building a big RV park here, but it is not completely so temporarily he is sending people to a Hot springs Balneario nearby. Basic no service camping here, but we did fill with water & empty our holding tanks before leaving this morning so we are good for a couple of days. Arturo wants do some caravans down here, so I want to talk to him about maybe doing one for NATCOA in a year or 2. There is a lot around here like the Monarch Butterfly preserve. A bit late for it this year, but next year maybe, they peak in Jan-Feb.
March 23, 2010
Arturo showed up this morning and we went off together to take a look at what he is doing. He is extremely enthusiastic and has ambitious plans. He has started to work on what he hopes will become an RV resort that will attract seasonal RV’ers. He has a very large plot of land, the only fly in the ointment right now, is access. He has a very rough road into it that needs to be smoothed out and low hanging trees removed. The biggest problem is the grade to climb to get up there. The Cuota, however touches one corner of his property, but being a toll highway, you can’t get off it there. I suggested he approach the government and see if he could charge maybe 70 pesos for them for people to exit there. It would save them about 5 miles and the hill, I think people would pay it. He could prevent locals from using it by gating it. He has plans for a spa since the property has therapeutic hot springs and he has space for about 100 RV’s on large sites. The nice thing about this location is it is central to Colonial Mexico and very close to the monarch butterfly preserve where million of those come each year. Arturo wants to arrange tours to places like Mexico City & Guadalajara from here and he wants to bring caravans down form the US, something he can so safely since he is Mexican-American. I have has a lot of interest in a NATCOA caravan, but Terry is not too keen on it, so I think Arturo is the solution.
March 26, 2010
A very interesting day. Patzcuaro is a very nice place. It is one of the Pueblo Magico's which pretty well means no messy store fronts, clean streets, etc. We took a boat over to Isla Janitzio, a large inhabited Island in Patzcuaro lake. Quite a few photos below. Later this afternoon a couple pulled in with a Lance camper. As they were taking it off the truck, one of the jacks failed & the camper collapsed. Its quite a mess, the truck is damaged as is the camper.
Patzcuaro:
Isla Janitzio & lake Patzcuaro (the green stuff are Water Hyacynth)
Fishermen:
The boat comes with entertainment:
Camper Jack failure:
March 28, 2010
Drove about 5 hours today to Mazamitla & Hacienda Contreras RV Park. To our surprise Jerry & Ken were there as was another couple we met in Playa Azul a month back. In fact there were quite a few considering it is late in the season. This is a great place run by a very nice couple. She is American, he is Mexican. She baked a bunch of cookies for happy hour and we spent an enjoyable eve sitting around a big fire. (It gets down close to freezing at night due to altitude)
Mar 29th, 2010
Drove an hour to Roca Azul on Lake Chapala. We were here last year, but a month earlier. Still quite a few people here. We have to stall through Semana Santa. probably head over to Villa Corona for a couple of days after & try to hit Santa Maria del Oro at the end of next weekend. Then its down to the hot humid coast for the drive north.
April 1st, 2010:
We have decided to stay a week to wait out Semana Santa. No desire to deal with 1000's or drunk drivers on the roads. This place is filling up with tenters and we attended a big party on the beach tonight. It is non stop partying and the best strategy is to simply join in. Yesterday we visited Dan & Andrea in Anjijic. I met Dan on a political forum on the net about 5 years ago. He is what I call an intelligent Republican. We actually agree that the way to solve Mexico's drug gang problem is to legalize drugs in the US. Anyways they are a very nice couple. They are from New Mexico and have moved here permanent. They have a beautiful house. It's to die for. This lake is very popular with ex-pats, at 5000 feet it has a perfect year round climate. We took our camper over there which was a bit of a mistake. It was a nightmare trying to get out of there with narrow streets, overhanging balconies, etc. terry had to walk ahead of me & guide me. Some balconies i cleared by 1/2 an inch. We are invited back on Sunday for a BBQ. Despite witnessing the disaster in Patzcuaro, we are pulling the camper off. Its a bit too far to use the scooter, esp with the drunks on the road.
April 3, 2010
Spent an enjoyable day playing mexican train & cards with a large Mexican family camped here
April 4, 2010
Today we went back to Dan & Andrea’s house for a BBQ. We decided it was best to take a taxi rather than risk the narrow streets again especially on Easter Sunday. It was pricey at $15 one way, but a lot less stressful. We had an enjoyable afternoon and decided to try the bus back with the dog which was a lot cheaper. He decided sitting on the floor was beneath him so he promptly jumped up onto my lap much to the amusement of everyone else on the bus.
April 5, 2010
Made an early start today to head toward Santa Maria del Oro, the crater lake we discovered last year. We decided to take about a 50 km detour to avoid Guadalajara even though a lot of it was over a secondary road. However, we took the same secondary road last year & I knew there were no non-negotiable small villages along it. At one point here as a German Shepard walking down the middle of the road. Obviously not a stray since he looked purebred. We missed him, but I saw the car coming in the opposite direction clobber him. We drove a mile up the road until we found a place to turn and slowly cruised back looking for him but did not find him, we had to retrace back another km or so to turn around again and this time spotted him walking across a field in the distance, so I guess he just got bruised. We arrived at the lake in early afternoon and will stay 2 or 3 nights. Met the owner this time who is originally English and speaks it, unlike his son who was managing it last year. There are still plenty of Semana Santa hanging-on Mexican campers here, but he said if we has shown up a day earlier we never would have got in. We have dropped another 2500 ft so it is noticeably hotter, (it is at 2500 feet itself) we will definitely have to search out places with pools or bathing beaches, once we hit the coast. We are about 2 weeks later than last year. Have to time out our stops so we cross the border on the 19th or 20th. I am going to make an appointment for my truck in Tucson on the 21st. 2 warranty items & some general maintenance. At least with the Canadian dollar at par (maybe worth more by the time we get there), it won’t cost me an arm & leg.
April 7, 2010
Seriously considering buying a 2 bedroom cottage available on this lake for 30K. Will think about it when we get home.The place was for sale last year for 35K and I do not think it will go soon, this place is a hidden gem. A swimmable fresh water lake. There are about 5 other Canadian & Americans that have the other properties here. The thought of being bale to just fly here for winter is appealing. Only issue is no internet, but the other owners are thinking of going in on a dish to provide that.
Tomas got attacked by a pack of 5 dogs when I took him for a walk today. No damage except to his ego. I now know what house to avoid walking him past.
April 8, 2010
Drove to Teacapan today. This is the first time here, it is located at the end of a long peninsular, south of Mazatlan. Only 2 other Rv's here, an American couple on their way to Argentina and a Mexican RV'er. Seeing very few other RV'ers on the road now. It's not as hot as we expected, a brisk breeze make sit very pleasant. It was actually hotter at Santa Maria del Oro which is n a crater. We had some trouble getting out of there, a lot of Semana Santa hangers-on parked along the access road.
April 10, 2010
Drove to Noe's place at Celestino about 70 km north of Mazatlan. Hal & Marge, a couple from Santa Fe, in an Arctic Fox camper whom we met last year rolled in as well. They winter out in Sayulita near Puerto Vallarta and are on their way north. They are traveling faster than we are, they drove all the way in one go and intend on going all the way to San Carlos in one day on Monday. That is 450 miles. For us that is a 2 day trip even though it is all Cuota. Nice to have company, very few of us left down here now. We are 2 weeks behind last year, it's amazing how more empty places are in just 2 weeks. We are headed further north on Monday, probably Huabampito.
April 13, 2010
We decided to stay an extra day & do the marathon to San Carlos after all. It was not too bad except I got a flat tire on one of my duals. It happened in the middle of nowhere except for a shack which turned out to be a roadside tire repair place. They replaced a cut valve stem & we were on our way. I need to look into stainless steel ones.
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