February 12 to 18, 2009 ; Puerto Angel, Oaxaca to La Placita, Michoacán
Thursday ; Puerto Angel, Oaxaca to Las Vigas, Guerrero
Today was sunny and very hot, temperature in the mid 90's. It's a bit unfortunate that we did not start this trip at the beginning of January as we had originally planned. If we had, we would have been through this very hot part of Southern Mexico along the Pacific coast and already coming north along the cooler coast of the Sea of Cortez. And ... based on where we are now, it seems unlikely that we will make it to Mazatlan by Carnaval ( Mardi Gras ), which was one of my main interests on this trip.
As we had suspected, we did not make it to Acapulco today. It was just too far, given that we are averaging about 40 km. / 25 miles per hour. Occasionally we can travel briefly at 80 km. / hr., more often we are at 70 or 60 km. / hr., and frequently we are at crawling speed going over topes every 150 feet in towns and villages. Today we travelled 400 km. / 250 mi., and it took us nine hours.
We left La Palmera Campground in Puerto Angel this morning, took half an hour to drive six miles back to the highway, then headed west on Mex 200 following the Pacific coast. HA ! The message must have been passed down the line ! We went through four military checkpoints today, and were not stopped for an inspection at any of them ! ! ! We refilled with diesel at Puerto Escondido, a very lovely beach resort town. One of our neighbours at Riverside RV Park Resort back home has enjoyed vacationing here. When we stopped for lunch we realized how hot it was inside the trailer, so we took Teddy into the air conditioned truck with us for the afternoon. He prefers to travel in the trailer, but appreciated the air conditioned truck today. Bo pouted in the back seat because Joanne had Teddy on her lap on Bo's Drop 'N Flop bed for the afternoon. When we crossed from the state of Oaxaca into the state of Guerrero ( Spanish for Warrior ) the road improved considerably.
We refilled with diesel again at Las Vigas, and parked overnight at the Pemex. When we saw this small Pemex, it looked like there was enough room for us to park overnight without being in the way. I pulled up to the diesel pump, got out, and began to ask the attendant in my very poor Spanish if I could park overnight if I filled with diesel. He responded to me in perfect English, albeit with a Chicago accent. He had spent twelve years in Chicago. He checked with his boss, who gave approval for us to park overnight. After getting refilled with diesel and parked, we took Bo for a walk back along the highway into the little village of Las Vigas which we had just driven through. We took a look at two small restaurants, but they had both just closed for the night.
My neck muscles were stiff and sore today. Reminds me of how I used to feel after doing face plants in the snow while skiing. Perhaps I'm getting too old for body surfing ? ! ? HA HA HA !
Friday ( the 13th ) ; Las Vigas to Acapulco, Guerrero
Well, what a noisy Pemex station ... all night long ! We didn't get much sleep ! Oh well, it was safe, and free. Today was sunny and very hot again. We were awake early, and on the road early, leaving the Pemex before 8:00 A.M.. We were only about 80 km. / 50 miles from Acapulco, so we were there by 10:00 A.M.. Yes, yes ... 2 hours to travel 80 km. / 50 miles. That's about normal for driving a large RV in Mexico. With just a bit of difficulty we found our way to Trailer Park El Coloso, got set up in a site, unhitched, and were ready for a day of errands in Acapulco. Our trailer is parked underneath a heavily laden mango tree, but the fruit are not yet ripe, so hopefully none will fall on us.
Our plan is to spend two days at Trailer Park El Coloso, in the city on the east side, the side we were approaching from, getting caught up on errands. Then we'll move around Acapulco to an RV park on the west side of the city, on the beach, for a day or two of relaxing. The only other rigs in this fairly large RV park were a couple of large motorhomes from Quebec. We asked them for some information on shopping, laundromats, water refill places, etc.. They were just leaving for a day on the beach, and offered to guide us to the shopping area on their way to the beach.
They have been here since November. The beach they go to daily is a twenty to thirty minute drive through horrendous traffic congestion on horrendous roads. We fail to see the appeal ! We followed them all the way to the beach, then backtracked to the big shopping area. We shopped for supplies and non-perishable groceries at Wal-Mart, of course. We had lunch at a chain restaurant in the mall called VIPS. It was ... mediocre, at best. We shopped for the rest of our grocery needs at Mega. On our way back to the RV park, we missed a turn. We had no choice but to drive all the way up the hill on the edge of Acapulco Bay before we could find a place to turn around. Well, at least that provided me with a photo opportunity of Bahía de Puerto Marqués. The terrible road conditions, heavy traffic congestion, and drivers whose aggressiveness crosses the line over to dangerous, left me frazzled. And it's the same in every Mexican city. We prefer smaller towns and villages, and we think we should replan the remainder of our trip to avoid large cities, or at least reduce the amount of time we're in or near them. Being in large cities like Acapulco simply isn’t a pleasant experience.
We put away our groceries then headed out for more errands. We had noticed a couple of water refill places nearby. The first water refill place “had no water”. What the hell is that supposed to mean ? ! ? Same thing at the second water refill place. Geeeeezzzzz ... welcome to Acapulco ! We found a lavenderia, and dropped off our dirty laundry to be done. Since we can’t find self-service laundromats, and have to use lavenderias, at least we like to have our own laundry detergent and dryer sheets used. The lady at the lavenderia couldn’t understand what the dryer sheets were for, until we finally figured out she had no dryers in her shop. She hangs the clothes out back to dry. Okay ! We found a third water refill place, and lo and behold, it actually had water ! We went to two propane refill places to refill the small propane tank for the barbecue. The first one couldn't refill the tank because of the Canadian OPD valve. The second said that they could refill the tank ... later, when they had electricity, which at that moment they didn't. But not tomorrow, they're not open on Saturdays ( rolling my eyes ).
We returned to the campground, tired and frazzled, to say the least. We blew off some of our steam, and Bo’s, by taking him for an off leash obedience session in the large, mostly empty campground. He did very well. Good boy, Bo, you’ve earned a Greenie. I climbed up on the roof of the trailer to sweep some accumulated leaves of the tops of the slides, and while up there, I straightened out the bent and battered Extreme vent. We chatted with our Quebecois neighbour, who is from the Gaspé Peninsula, to find out some information on Acapulco’s famed La Quebrada cliff divers, which we might go see in the next few days.
At the open air restaurant that is part of this campground there were a few Ethernet cable Internet connections. I spent an hour before supper and an hour after supper getting caught up on online work, sending and retrieving e-mail, retrieving phone messages, dealing with banking and credit card issues, and updating my blog.
Saturday ; Valentine's Day
Today was another sunny, hot day. Aren't they all ? ! ? I spent the morning doing chores, replacing the windshield wipers on the truck, downloading and processing yesterday's photos. I spent some time trying to make our Wi-Fi phone work, but the only Wi-Fi signals I could find were encrypted. Last night I had received an online message from MasterCard advising me that I must phone their security department. They have cancelled my U.S.$ MasterCard and reissued a new card with a new number, because of concerns that my MasterCard has been "compromised". I suppose that when I began using my U.S.$ MasterCard in Mexico it triggered some security concern. We took Bo, and the small propane tank for the barbecue, and went for a walk over to a nearby propane refill station. They had no problem refilling the tank, employing a "trick" to get their nozzle into the Canadian OPD valve on the tank. Since they're close to an RV park frequented by Canadians, mostly Quebecois, I guess they know the "trick" while other propane refillers don't.
After lunch I read then took a well deserved nap. We drove over to the lavenderia and picked up our laundry. We found the turn off to Hwy. 95, the route we have to take to get through and around Acapulco when we leave tomorrow. We thought it best to find the route today when we had just the truck without the trailer attached. The traffic congestion in Acapulco is the worse we've seen. Coupled with the abysmal condition of the roads and the drivers' tactics, driving here is really unpleasant. We returned to the campground and hitched up in preparation for departure tomorrow morning. We spent a couple of hours online, doing trip planning, researching RV parks along our route for the next couple of weeks. I retrieved and printed investment updates. I spent the evening updating and analyzing my investment files.
Well, I'm sure Acapulco is a wonderful place if you fly in and stay at a luxury hotel on the beach. But for the RV lifestyle, staying at an RV park inside the congested, noisy city holds little appeal except for providing an opportunity to get some errands done. Tomorrow we will move from this RV park inside the city on the east side, through and around Acapulco to an RV park outside the city on the west side, on the beach.
Sunday ; Joanne didn't get much sleep last night. She had difficulty falling asleep because of the loud music coming from across the street where there was a Valentine's Day wedding celebration taking place. Today was sunny and hot, as usual. Just before departing Trailer Park El Coloso I took an empty 5 gallon water jug and walked down the street to have it refilled at an agau purificado refill place. WOW ... a full 5 gallon water jug certainly is heavy after walking a block or so with it ! This morning we relocated from Trailer Park El Coloso in Acapulco, on the east side of the city, to Playa Luces RV Park, in Pie de la Cuesta, a beachfront resort village just outside Acapulco on the west side. It took 2¼ hours to drive 53 km. / 32 miles. The first half of that was inside the city, and it was the worst hour of driving yet on this trip. The Acapulco taxi drivers are stupid and dangerous. At one intersection a taxi turned right from the left side of me, and another turned left from the right side of me. It was highly stressful. The second half of the journey was outside the city, on highways. The highways have been repaired and rerouted and turned topsy turvy so much that the distances and mileage markers quoted in our guide book were useless. As we turned onto one highway at km. marker 21, Joanne zeroed the truck's odometer. We were supposed to turn off that highway at km. marker 11, and we did. The truck's odometer read 8 km.! The distance from km. marker 21 to km. marker 11 was 8 km.!
Pie de la Cuesta is a cute little beachfront resort village. We checked out two beachfront RV parks in Pie de la Cuesta, and chose to stay at the second one. It was a KOA Kampground at one time, probably more than 20 or 30 years ago, and had obviously been designed and built to KOA's standards. But it has been allowed to deteriorate horrendously. There were probably more than 100 campsites, but only about a dozen or so along the beach, and another dozen or so back in the trees have been maintained and are operational. The bathroom and shower buildings, the laundromat, the clubhouse and banquet pavilion have been abandoned, and are crumbling. We selected one of the slightly cheaper back sites, wonderfully shaded by a huge banyan tree. The beachfront sites were nice, but had no shade. As we were walking around with the manager viewing sites, I chatted briefly with a lady in one of the beachfront sites who is from Kelowna ( near where we live in B.C. ). The campground manager spoke a bit of English, and was helpful. She gave us directions on how to take a bus, then a taxi to see the La Quebrada cliff divers.
After lunch we took Bo for about an hour long off leash romp along the beach. It was a lovely, wide, soft sand beach with minimal development. We rested in the shade of our banyan tree. I read and napped. Late in the afternoon we headed off by bus and taxi to see Acapulco's famed La Quebrada cliff divers.
Well ! ! ! Quite an adventure ! ! ! Following the campground manager's instructions we caught a bus marked Pie de la Cuesta / Playa Luces in front of the campground heading to downtown Acapulco. We were to get off at Sanborn's Department Store. And we were to catch the same bus to return. The one marked only Pie de la Cuesta only goes to the edge of the village, not out to the beaches beyond where our campground was located. Okay ... got it !
We had been on the bus for awhile when a passenger walked up to the front of the bus, knelt down, and spoke to the driver. The driver stopped the bus, and stood up from his seat. The passenger stood up as well. Angry words were exchanged. A scuffle took place. The bus driver grabbed the passenger and threw him out the door of the bus, which had been open all the time, as bus doors in Mexico always are. A second man stepped up and began to struggle with the driver. The driver flung him out the door as well. The driver sat down, and attempted to get the bus in gear and pull away. The first passenger jumped back on the bus, wielding a knife. The bus driver spun around in his seat, leaned back against his side window, and kicked out at the passenger hard as the passenger attacked him with the knife. The driver managed to kick the passenger with the knife hard enough that he fell back out the door. The driver hit the switch to close the bus door, got the bus in gear, and drove away quickly. The knife wielding assailant was pounding on the bus trying to get back inside. The driver drove a few blocks, then pulled over and stopped. He swung his legs out into the aisle, and it was only then that we could all see that he had been stabbed in the lower leg. Some passengers rushed forward to give first aid. From somewhere a large gauze pad and a triangular bandage appeared. As he was being given first aid, the explanation the driver was giving was that the two men were trying to rob him. In Mexico bus fare is paid by cash to the driver, so on a busy Sunday afternoon bus drivers must have a reasonably large amount of cash. When another bus finally pulled up behind the one we were on, our driver sent the passengers on our bus to get on the other bus behind us. He was lying half reclined on his seat, somewhat white in the face ( well, for a Mexican ), his legs out in the aisle as his stab wound was being bandaged. I made eye contact, waved, and said gracias as we got off. He smiled appreciatively.
When we got on the second bus, the drunk old man who had been sitting across the aisle from me on the first bus said to me in Spanish "it's a good thing that the robbers didn't see that there was a gringo on the bus because you ( meaning me, and all other gringos, I guess ) have so much money". The man with Tourette's Syndrome sitting beside Joanne just twitched. We took the other bus to downtown Acapulco, got off at Sanborn’s, and took a taxi to La Quebrada. The taxi driver wanted 50 pesos but I quickly negotiated him down to 25 pesos which is what the campground manager said is the correct fare from downtown Acapulco to La Quebrada. We arrived at La Quebrada at 6:15 and the next cliff diving exhibition was at 7:30. We wandered around, found a simple restaurant, and had a simple but nice dinner. When the owner / cook came over to take our order I asked if he had Diet Coke. He said no, but that he would send his mother across the street to the convenience store to buy me one. He did, and she did ! HA HA HA ! Thank you / gracias, señor y señora !
We watched the cliff diving exhibition. Seven young men climbed up the 140 foot high La Quebrada cliffs, and jumped off into the water below. They have to time their jumps with the incoming surf, and jump far away from the cliff wall, or they will hit the rocks below. It was ... interesting. Joanne thinks that watching teenaged boys jump off 60 foot high Bromley Rock into the Similkameen River near our home is better. HA HA HA !
We returned to Sanborn’s by taxi. It was a bit more difficult negotiating the fare down to 25 pesos for the return trip from La Quebrada to Sanborn’s. I had to walk away from 3 or 4 taxis before I found one willing to accept 25 pesos. As we got out of the taxi we noticed that we were a block away from Acapulco’s main town square, and the malecon / waterfront walkway along the harbour. The main town square was packed with people, street entertainers, and vendors of everything and anything. Acapulco’s town square is a “happenin’ place” on Sunday nights. We wandered around for awhile, then wandered over to the malecon and walked along the waterfront for awhile. It was 9:00 P.M., we were tired, and decided it was time to head for home.
At Sanborn’s we waited for our bus for 15 minutes, asking many questions of many people before we found out from a policeman that we were on the wrong side of the street to catch our bus. We crossed the street and waited another half hour, asking many questions of many people before we found out from a bus driver and a woman passenger on his bus that the Pie de la Cuesta / Playa Luces bus doesn’t run on Sunday evenings, only the Pie de la Cuesta bus to the edge of the village. ( sigh ) We caught the bus to Pie de la Cuesta, planning to take a taxi through the village and out to the beach beyond where our campground was. We’re not sure exactly what the situation is regarding the operation of public busses in Mexico. They are extremely old and in extremely poor condition. We think they are family owned private enterprises operating under contract. Our bus was driven by a kid who looked to be about 16 years old. He had very loud music playing on the bus, with flashing neon lights on the bus pulsing to the music. We got off the bus at the edge of the village of Pie de la Cuesta. There was a collectivo sitting there waiting at the edge of the village. We asked if he would take us to our RV park. He said yes, and off we went.
We arrived home at 11:00 P.M., safe and sound ... I guess ! I think we’ve had quite enough of Acapulco and will leave tomorrow morning. Our expenditures for 2 bus rides, 2 taxis, and a collectivo totalled 84 pesos / $6.29. Pretty cheap, especially considering that the alternative was to unhitch the truck from the trailer, drive the truck into downtown Acapulco, then out to La Quebrada, find a parking spot large enough for a dually, not that easy to do in Mexico, then find our way back home in the dark, and have to rehitch the truck to the trailer in the morning.
Monday ; Acapulco to Ixtapa, Guerrero
Gee ... ( BO ! ) ... for all the sand we slept in last night, one would think that somebody took a soaking wet mop, rolled it in the sand, then threw it on our bed to dry ! Today was sunny and hot again. We left Playa Luces this morning, drove back through the village of Pie de la Cuesta ( Foot of the Slope ), and got back onto Mex 200 continuing west along the South Pacific coast. When we stopped for lunch in a little village there was a good produce stand, so we bought lots of fresh vegetables.
Just beyond the city of Zihuatenejo ( Zeewhatanayho ) is Ixtapa ( Ishtappa ), a resort city created by Fonatur, the Mexican Federal Government's Tourism Development Branch. It's miles and miles of luxury hotels along the beach, with beautiful landscaping, great roads, upscale shopping ... everything the real Mexico is not ! At the end of the long road through Ixtapa is Fonatur's Ixtapa RV Park. It's a nice park, although the most expensive RV park we've stayed at yet.
We got set up in our site. I went to the palapa covered lounge area where there was a Wi-Fi signal and used the Wi-Fi phone to phone MasterCard and sort out the security problem with my U.S.$ MasterCard. ( sigh ) MasterCard had already cancelled my U.S.$ MasterCard because of "suspicious" transactions in Mexico. I had not advised them that I would be using my MasterCard in Mexico. Guess I'll know better next time ! I ensured that Joanne's U.S.$ MasterCard and both our Canadian dollar MasterCards will be okay for use in Mexico. They have already sent me a new U.S.$ MasterCard, but obviously I won't receive it until I pick up a batch of forwarded mail in Yuma, Arizona a month from now, or maybe I won't even get it until we're back home in Keremeos in two months. The RV park had a laundromat so Joanne was finally able to wash the two pet beds from inside the trailer that Bo was sick on a few weeks ago. One of the pet beds seems beyond salvation, even after washing.
This fairly large RV park is half full of Quebecois, and a quarter full of Manitobans, which is odd. We haven't seen Manitoba license plates down here in Southern Mexico before. Neither group is particularly friendly, both groups keeping to their own clique. We went for a walk along the beach. We walked around the RV park. We chatted with a couple from British Columbia. And a couple from Ontario. And a couple from Washington that we met before at the RV park in Tehuantepec. And a couple from Colorado. By then it was dark. We had a late, simple supper. I went back to the palapa lounge with my laptop, sent and retrieved e-mail. I downloaded and processed my photos from yesterday evening at La Quebrada and downtown Acapulco.
This RV park is ... nice. The beach is ... okay. But nothing here is appealing enough to entice us to stay. We'll leave tomorrow morning.
We were kept awake by the very obnoxious behaviour of the group of four Manitoba rigs parked a few sites over from us. Four fifth wheel trailers, with Harley Davidson "hawgs" parked in front. Bikers ! Four disgusting, dirty old men, at least my age, probably older. Four bikini clad, blonde bimbo sluts, less than half the age of the men. Local hookers the bikers picked up, or biker sluts they hauled down with them from Manitoba. Very loud music. Lots of screaming, hooting, and hollering from the bimbos. At least as bad as anything we encountered from teenaged campers at West Hawk Lake when we were campground hosts during the summer of 2005. Worst behaviour we've seen in an RV park in more than 4½ years of full time RV'ing. Very disgusting ! In my opinion there is nothing more disgusting than old men who choose to function at the mental level of seventeen year olds !
Tuesday ; Ixtapa, Guerrero to La Placita, Michoacán
Today was sunny and hot. That's a pretty repetitive theme down here, isn't it ? We were planning to drive about 160 km. / 100 mi. today to stay at Las Peñas for a night or two, then drive about the same distance to stay at La Placita for a night or two. Things didn't work out at Las Peñas, so we ended up driving all the way to La Placita. Turned out to be a good decision, although it made for a long day of driving.
Yesterday and today we drove through 3 or 4 military check points each day. And were waved through every one of them. I wonder how far down the military line the word got passed to not waste their time or ours by stopping us for "inspections". We have discovered that if we administer 2 teaspoons of cold water by syringe to Teddy when we stop for lunch and again when we stop driving for the day, he doesn't seem to get dehydrated like he has been a few times. As we prepare to travel each day he jumps up on our bed, and apparently stays there until we are stopped and open the trailer door to come in. I guess it's just too difficult for him to manoeuver around inside the trailer to go get a drink of water while we're driving on Mexico's rough roads. So he stays on the bed, snoozes, and gets dehydrated as the trailer gets warm during the day. He never was the brightest kitty in the litter box, and now that he's 16½ years old ...!
At the first village we drove through today there was a woman on the side of the road selling fresh, home made galletas de coco / coconut cookies in a large, plastic storage jar. We bought a jar full, for 30 pesos / $2.28. Tonight I counted the cookies. There were five dozen small cookies in the jar. And the storage jar, which will be quite useful when emptied of cookies ( which won't take long at the rate that Joanne and Bo are eating them ! ) would probably cost that much if purchased at Wal-Mart in the U.S. or Canada.
At the second village we drove through today there was a woman standing in the middle of the road ( at a tope, where vendors often stand because the traffic must slow to a crawl to get over the tope ) selling pan de coco / coconut bread ... still hot from the oven. We bought a bag of three small, flat loaves for 20 pesos / $1.50. We didn't know what coconut bread would be like. It's flat loaves of bread with coconut inside the centre. Not exactly what you would use to make sandwiches, but a nice snack.
Unbelievable ! ! ! I have just returned from a late evening walk with Bo. I met a woman walking Charlie, her Standard Poodle. She lives in Keremeos ! ! ! As do we ! What a small world ! We chatted for a long time.
The third village we drove through today we stopped at a small roadside produce stand and bought some fresh vegetables and fruits, including the mini bananas that Bo loves. We call them Bonanas. At the fourth village we drove through we saw an outdoor panaderia / bakery with a stone bake oven. We stopped and bought a different type of galletas de coco / coconut cookies ( one can never have too many coconut cookies ) and some stone oven baked, huge empanadas de cajeta / turnovers filled with goat's milk caramel.
As we continued driving we passed an area where the houses were made of ... wicker ! A large greenish / bluish spiny backed iguana the size of Bo crossed the road in front of us. It looked like a new born baby dinosaur. As we drove through the village of Hua Hua I wondered aloud if there would be a giant fiberglass Canada Goose mounted on a pedestal on the edge of the village. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ... sorry ... Canadian inside joke !
When we got to Las Peñas we found our way to a questionable campground listed in our guide book. It's really just a couple of sets of RV hookups in somebody's yard. The drop from the village road to the campground's driveway was huge, perhaps close to a foot. Joanne went walking down the long driveway to check things out. I eased the truck down over the drop off. As I was easing the trailer down over the drop off I was watching the trailer's wheels in my truck mirrors. As soon as the trailer tires were eased down over the drop off, I looked forward ... and stopped ! An electrical wire was hanging down right in front of the windshield, already touching the truck's radio antenna. I considered that a bad omen, and couldn't see any reasonable way to lift this wire up high enough to get it over the trailer. I honked the horn and Joanne returned. I backed the trailer gently up over the drop off, Joanne guiding me from behind. As the truck tires reached the drop off, the dually mud flap caught between the drop off and the truck tire, and tore off, ripping all the screws out of the underside of the wheel well ! ( sigh ) With time and a lot of fussing around I can repair the mud flap and the wheel well ( using fiberglass epoxy on the mangled screw holes ) and reinstall the mud flap. We decided to continue all the way to La Placita.
Rancho Buganvilias near La Placita is a lovely RV park that was recommended to us as “do not miss” by a friend of a friend back in La Feria, Texas a few months ago. It’s a fairly new RV park developed and operated by a fairly young American couple. The park is developed and maintained to American standards. Correctly wired 30 amp outlets with stable electricity. Good water pressure ... a rarity in Mexico. Sewer at each site. Free Wi-Fi. No roosters ! Long sites to accommodate big rigs. A lovely open air thatched roof restaurant that serves dinner twice a week. The park is filled with large, flowering bougainvillea shrubs, papaya and banana trees. And very reasonably priced ! We are parked beside the couple from Washington with Molly the Border Collie and Buster the cat. We met them about a week ago in Tehuantepec and again last night in Ixtapa. The rest of the rigs in the campground are mostly Ontario and British Columbia license plates.
We got set up in our site, rested briefly, then took Bo for a walk to the beach. It was an eight minute stroll through a coconut palm grove to the beach. WOW ... a soft sand beach hundreds of feet wide, stretching miles in both directions as far as the eyes can see. We allowed Bo to be off leash, and walked slowly along the beach until the sun set. WHEW ... guess we’ll spend a few days here ! ! !
Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot, of course. Although now that the coast line is beginning to curve slowly northward, and the terrain is beginning to change from jungle to desert, the humidity is quite a bit lower, and the hot weather is more pleasant.
Today was a slow, relaxing day. I spent the morning working on minor maintenance tasks, a never ending responsibility in the RV life, and particularly so in Mexico where the roads take a toll on everything. Loose screws, loose mouldings, broken latches, broken shelves, ... everything gets rattled until it's loose or broken.
We spent the afternoon on the beach. WOW ! And did I mention ... WOW ! We walked along the beach. We romped in the surf frequently to cool down. Bo played with other dogs. We propped our beach umbrella up against the only piece of driftwood on the beach, Joanne relaxed, I read a book, Bo dug himself a cool hole in the sand underneath the driftwood and lay down. WOW ! I want to stay another day ! Or a month ! ! ! We had a lot of fun playing in the surf, all three of us. The water is knee deep out for hundreds of feet, although the waves crash higher the further from shore you get. A hundred feet from shore the waves crash at waist level. Two hundred feet from shore the waves are crashing at chest level, even though the water is still only knee deep. And the power of the crashing waves is tremendous. When the waves crash at chest level, it's impossible to stand in one place. The incoming wave lifts and propels you towards the beach a few steps. Then the receding wave's undertow tries hard to pull you back out into the ocean. It was a lot of fun, and good exercise as well.
We spent some time chatting with our new next door neighbours who arrived today in a truck camper. They are a middle aged white couple from Oregon with a Mexican 7 year old daughter. We assume she is adopted. Her name is Dulce ( Doolsay ), Spanish for Sweet. Their German Shepherd dog's name is Cholla ( Choya ), a type of cactus found in the U.S. Southwest and Mexico. They left Oregon a year and a half ago as full time RV'ers. We assume Dulce is home schooled. They are returning from a trip through Central America all the way down to Panama. They are travelling up the west coast of mainland Mexico around to the Baja where they purchased a piece of property last summer, to take up permanent residency there.
Tonight we had dinner at the park's restaurant where they serve dinner twice a week. Tonight's menu was burgers and baked potatoes, both cooked on a wood fire, and salad. After dinner we chatted for awhile with the young owners of the park about their development of this RV park over the last two years. They have done a great job so far, and have good plans for future development.
DSK
Thursday ; Puerto Angel, Oaxaca to Las Vigas, Guerrero
Today was sunny and very hot, temperature in the mid 90's. It's a bit unfortunate that we did not start this trip at the beginning of January as we had originally planned. If we had, we would have been through this very hot part of Southern Mexico along the Pacific coast and already coming north along the cooler coast of the Sea of Cortez. And ... based on where we are now, it seems unlikely that we will make it to Mazatlan by Carnaval ( Mardi Gras ), which was one of my main interests on this trip.
As we had suspected, we did not make it to Acapulco today. It was just too far, given that we are averaging about 40 km. / 25 miles per hour. Occasionally we can travel briefly at 80 km. / hr., more often we are at 70 or 60 km. / hr., and frequently we are at crawling speed going over topes every 150 feet in towns and villages. Today we travelled 400 km. / 250 mi., and it took us nine hours.
We left La Palmera Campground in Puerto Angel this morning, took half an hour to drive six miles back to the highway, then headed west on Mex 200 following the Pacific coast. HA ! The message must have been passed down the line ! We went through four military checkpoints today, and were not stopped for an inspection at any of them ! ! ! We refilled with diesel at Puerto Escondido, a very lovely beach resort town. One of our neighbours at Riverside RV Park Resort back home has enjoyed vacationing here. When we stopped for lunch we realized how hot it was inside the trailer, so we took Teddy into the air conditioned truck with us for the afternoon. He prefers to travel in the trailer, but appreciated the air conditioned truck today. Bo pouted in the back seat because Joanne had Teddy on her lap on Bo's Drop 'N Flop bed for the afternoon. When we crossed from the state of Oaxaca into the state of Guerrero ( Spanish for Warrior ) the road improved considerably.
We refilled with diesel again at Las Vigas, and parked overnight at the Pemex. When we saw this small Pemex, it looked like there was enough room for us to park overnight without being in the way. I pulled up to the diesel pump, got out, and began to ask the attendant in my very poor Spanish if I could park overnight if I filled with diesel. He responded to me in perfect English, albeit with a Chicago accent. He had spent twelve years in Chicago. He checked with his boss, who gave approval for us to park overnight. After getting refilled with diesel and parked, we took Bo for a walk back along the highway into the little village of Las Vigas which we had just driven through. We took a look at two small restaurants, but they had both just closed for the night.
My neck muscles were stiff and sore today. Reminds me of how I used to feel after doing face plants in the snow while skiing. Perhaps I'm getting too old for body surfing ? ! ? HA HA HA !
Friday ( the 13th ) ; Las Vigas to Acapulco, Guerrero
Well, what a noisy Pemex station ... all night long ! We didn't get much sleep ! Oh well, it was safe, and free. Today was sunny and very hot again. We were awake early, and on the road early, leaving the Pemex before 8:00 A.M.. We were only about 80 km. / 50 miles from Acapulco, so we were there by 10:00 A.M.. Yes, yes ... 2 hours to travel 80 km. / 50 miles. That's about normal for driving a large RV in Mexico. With just a bit of difficulty we found our way to Trailer Park El Coloso, got set up in a site, unhitched, and were ready for a day of errands in Acapulco. Our trailer is parked underneath a heavily laden mango tree, but the fruit are not yet ripe, so hopefully none will fall on us.
Our plan is to spend two days at Trailer Park El Coloso, in the city on the east side, the side we were approaching from, getting caught up on errands. Then we'll move around Acapulco to an RV park on the west side of the city, on the beach, for a day or two of relaxing. The only other rigs in this fairly large RV park were a couple of large motorhomes from Quebec. We asked them for some information on shopping, laundromats, water refill places, etc.. They were just leaving for a day on the beach, and offered to guide us to the shopping area on their way to the beach.
They have been here since November. The beach they go to daily is a twenty to thirty minute drive through horrendous traffic congestion on horrendous roads. We fail to see the appeal ! We followed them all the way to the beach, then backtracked to the big shopping area. We shopped for supplies and non-perishable groceries at Wal-Mart, of course. We had lunch at a chain restaurant in the mall called VIPS. It was ... mediocre, at best. We shopped for the rest of our grocery needs at Mega. On our way back to the RV park, we missed a turn. We had no choice but to drive all the way up the hill on the edge of Acapulco Bay before we could find a place to turn around. Well, at least that provided me with a photo opportunity of Bahía de Puerto Marqués. The terrible road conditions, heavy traffic congestion, and drivers whose aggressiveness crosses the line over to dangerous, left me frazzled. And it's the same in every Mexican city. We prefer smaller towns and villages, and we think we should replan the remainder of our trip to avoid large cities, or at least reduce the amount of time we're in or near them. Being in large cities like Acapulco simply isn’t a pleasant experience.
We put away our groceries then headed out for more errands. We had noticed a couple of water refill places nearby. The first water refill place “had no water”. What the hell is that supposed to mean ? ! ? Same thing at the second water refill place. Geeeeezzzzz ... welcome to Acapulco ! We found a lavenderia, and dropped off our dirty laundry to be done. Since we can’t find self-service laundromats, and have to use lavenderias, at least we like to have our own laundry detergent and dryer sheets used. The lady at the lavenderia couldn’t understand what the dryer sheets were for, until we finally figured out she had no dryers in her shop. She hangs the clothes out back to dry. Okay ! We found a third water refill place, and lo and behold, it actually had water ! We went to two propane refill places to refill the small propane tank for the barbecue. The first one couldn't refill the tank because of the Canadian OPD valve. The second said that they could refill the tank ... later, when they had electricity, which at that moment they didn't. But not tomorrow, they're not open on Saturdays ( rolling my eyes ).
We returned to the campground, tired and frazzled, to say the least. We blew off some of our steam, and Bo’s, by taking him for an off leash obedience session in the large, mostly empty campground. He did very well. Good boy, Bo, you’ve earned a Greenie. I climbed up on the roof of the trailer to sweep some accumulated leaves of the tops of the slides, and while up there, I straightened out the bent and battered Extreme vent. We chatted with our Quebecois neighbour, who is from the Gaspé Peninsula, to find out some information on Acapulco’s famed La Quebrada cliff divers, which we might go see in the next few days.
At the open air restaurant that is part of this campground there were a few Ethernet cable Internet connections. I spent an hour before supper and an hour after supper getting caught up on online work, sending and retrieving e-mail, retrieving phone messages, dealing with banking and credit card issues, and updating my blog.
Saturday ; Valentine's Day
Today was another sunny, hot day. Aren't they all ? ! ? I spent the morning doing chores, replacing the windshield wipers on the truck, downloading and processing yesterday's photos. I spent some time trying to make our Wi-Fi phone work, but the only Wi-Fi signals I could find were encrypted. Last night I had received an online message from MasterCard advising me that I must phone their security department. They have cancelled my U.S.$ MasterCard and reissued a new card with a new number, because of concerns that my MasterCard has been "compromised". I suppose that when I began using my U.S.$ MasterCard in Mexico it triggered some security concern. We took Bo, and the small propane tank for the barbecue, and went for a walk over to a nearby propane refill station. They had no problem refilling the tank, employing a "trick" to get their nozzle into the Canadian OPD valve on the tank. Since they're close to an RV park frequented by Canadians, mostly Quebecois, I guess they know the "trick" while other propane refillers don't.
After lunch I read then took a well deserved nap. We drove over to the lavenderia and picked up our laundry. We found the turn off to Hwy. 95, the route we have to take to get through and around Acapulco when we leave tomorrow. We thought it best to find the route today when we had just the truck without the trailer attached. The traffic congestion in Acapulco is the worse we've seen. Coupled with the abysmal condition of the roads and the drivers' tactics, driving here is really unpleasant. We returned to the campground and hitched up in preparation for departure tomorrow morning. We spent a couple of hours online, doing trip planning, researching RV parks along our route for the next couple of weeks. I retrieved and printed investment updates. I spent the evening updating and analyzing my investment files.
Well, I'm sure Acapulco is a wonderful place if you fly in and stay at a luxury hotel on the beach. But for the RV lifestyle, staying at an RV park inside the congested, noisy city holds little appeal except for providing an opportunity to get some errands done. Tomorrow we will move from this RV park inside the city on the east side, through and around Acapulco to an RV park outside the city on the west side, on the beach.
Sunday ; Joanne didn't get much sleep last night. She had difficulty falling asleep because of the loud music coming from across the street where there was a Valentine's Day wedding celebration taking place. Today was sunny and hot, as usual. Just before departing Trailer Park El Coloso I took an empty 5 gallon water jug and walked down the street to have it refilled at an agau purificado refill place. WOW ... a full 5 gallon water jug certainly is heavy after walking a block or so with it ! This morning we relocated from Trailer Park El Coloso in Acapulco, on the east side of the city, to Playa Luces RV Park, in Pie de la Cuesta, a beachfront resort village just outside Acapulco on the west side. It took 2¼ hours to drive 53 km. / 32 miles. The first half of that was inside the city, and it was the worst hour of driving yet on this trip. The Acapulco taxi drivers are stupid and dangerous. At one intersection a taxi turned right from the left side of me, and another turned left from the right side of me. It was highly stressful. The second half of the journey was outside the city, on highways. The highways have been repaired and rerouted and turned topsy turvy so much that the distances and mileage markers quoted in our guide book were useless. As we turned onto one highway at km. marker 21, Joanne zeroed the truck's odometer. We were supposed to turn off that highway at km. marker 11, and we did. The truck's odometer read 8 km.! The distance from km. marker 21 to km. marker 11 was 8 km.!
Pie de la Cuesta is a cute little beachfront resort village. We checked out two beachfront RV parks in Pie de la Cuesta, and chose to stay at the second one. It was a KOA Kampground at one time, probably more than 20 or 30 years ago, and had obviously been designed and built to KOA's standards. But it has been allowed to deteriorate horrendously. There were probably more than 100 campsites, but only about a dozen or so along the beach, and another dozen or so back in the trees have been maintained and are operational. The bathroom and shower buildings, the laundromat, the clubhouse and banquet pavilion have been abandoned, and are crumbling. We selected one of the slightly cheaper back sites, wonderfully shaded by a huge banyan tree. The beachfront sites were nice, but had no shade. As we were walking around with the manager viewing sites, I chatted briefly with a lady in one of the beachfront sites who is from Kelowna ( near where we live in B.C. ). The campground manager spoke a bit of English, and was helpful. She gave us directions on how to take a bus, then a taxi to see the La Quebrada cliff divers.
After lunch we took Bo for about an hour long off leash romp along the beach. It was a lovely, wide, soft sand beach with minimal development. We rested in the shade of our banyan tree. I read and napped. Late in the afternoon we headed off by bus and taxi to see Acapulco's famed La Quebrada cliff divers.
Well ! ! ! Quite an adventure ! ! ! Following the campground manager's instructions we caught a bus marked Pie de la Cuesta / Playa Luces in front of the campground heading to downtown Acapulco. We were to get off at Sanborn's Department Store. And we were to catch the same bus to return. The one marked only Pie de la Cuesta only goes to the edge of the village, not out to the beaches beyond where our campground was located. Okay ... got it !
We had been on the bus for awhile when a passenger walked up to the front of the bus, knelt down, and spoke to the driver. The driver stopped the bus, and stood up from his seat. The passenger stood up as well. Angry words were exchanged. A scuffle took place. The bus driver grabbed the passenger and threw him out the door of the bus, which had been open all the time, as bus doors in Mexico always are. A second man stepped up and began to struggle with the driver. The driver flung him out the door as well. The driver sat down, and attempted to get the bus in gear and pull away. The first passenger jumped back on the bus, wielding a knife. The bus driver spun around in his seat, leaned back against his side window, and kicked out at the passenger hard as the passenger attacked him with the knife. The driver managed to kick the passenger with the knife hard enough that he fell back out the door. The driver hit the switch to close the bus door, got the bus in gear, and drove away quickly. The knife wielding assailant was pounding on the bus trying to get back inside. The driver drove a few blocks, then pulled over and stopped. He swung his legs out into the aisle, and it was only then that we could all see that he had been stabbed in the lower leg. Some passengers rushed forward to give first aid. From somewhere a large gauze pad and a triangular bandage appeared. As he was being given first aid, the explanation the driver was giving was that the two men were trying to rob him. In Mexico bus fare is paid by cash to the driver, so on a busy Sunday afternoon bus drivers must have a reasonably large amount of cash. When another bus finally pulled up behind the one we were on, our driver sent the passengers on our bus to get on the other bus behind us. He was lying half reclined on his seat, somewhat white in the face ( well, for a Mexican ), his legs out in the aisle as his stab wound was being bandaged. I made eye contact, waved, and said gracias as we got off. He smiled appreciatively.
When we got on the second bus, the drunk old man who had been sitting across the aisle from me on the first bus said to me in Spanish "it's a good thing that the robbers didn't see that there was a gringo on the bus because you ( meaning me, and all other gringos, I guess ) have so much money". The man with Tourette's Syndrome sitting beside Joanne just twitched. We took the other bus to downtown Acapulco, got off at Sanborn’s, and took a taxi to La Quebrada. The taxi driver wanted 50 pesos but I quickly negotiated him down to 25 pesos which is what the campground manager said is the correct fare from downtown Acapulco to La Quebrada. We arrived at La Quebrada at 6:15 and the next cliff diving exhibition was at 7:30. We wandered around, found a simple restaurant, and had a simple but nice dinner. When the owner / cook came over to take our order I asked if he had Diet Coke. He said no, but that he would send his mother across the street to the convenience store to buy me one. He did, and she did ! HA HA HA ! Thank you / gracias, señor y señora !
We watched the cliff diving exhibition. Seven young men climbed up the 140 foot high La Quebrada cliffs, and jumped off into the water below. They have to time their jumps with the incoming surf, and jump far away from the cliff wall, or they will hit the rocks below. It was ... interesting. Joanne thinks that watching teenaged boys jump off 60 foot high Bromley Rock into the Similkameen River near our home is better. HA HA HA !
We returned to Sanborn’s by taxi. It was a bit more difficult negotiating the fare down to 25 pesos for the return trip from La Quebrada to Sanborn’s. I had to walk away from 3 or 4 taxis before I found one willing to accept 25 pesos. As we got out of the taxi we noticed that we were a block away from Acapulco’s main town square, and the malecon / waterfront walkway along the harbour. The main town square was packed with people, street entertainers, and vendors of everything and anything. Acapulco’s town square is a “happenin’ place” on Sunday nights. We wandered around for awhile, then wandered over to the malecon and walked along the waterfront for awhile. It was 9:00 P.M., we were tired, and decided it was time to head for home.
At Sanborn’s we waited for our bus for 15 minutes, asking many questions of many people before we found out from a policeman that we were on the wrong side of the street to catch our bus. We crossed the street and waited another half hour, asking many questions of many people before we found out from a bus driver and a woman passenger on his bus that the Pie de la Cuesta / Playa Luces bus doesn’t run on Sunday evenings, only the Pie de la Cuesta bus to the edge of the village. ( sigh ) We caught the bus to Pie de la Cuesta, planning to take a taxi through the village and out to the beach beyond where our campground was. We’re not sure exactly what the situation is regarding the operation of public busses in Mexico. They are extremely old and in extremely poor condition. We think they are family owned private enterprises operating under contract. Our bus was driven by a kid who looked to be about 16 years old. He had very loud music playing on the bus, with flashing neon lights on the bus pulsing to the music. We got off the bus at the edge of the village of Pie de la Cuesta. There was a collectivo sitting there waiting at the edge of the village. We asked if he would take us to our RV park. He said yes, and off we went.
We arrived home at 11:00 P.M., safe and sound ... I guess ! I think we’ve had quite enough of Acapulco and will leave tomorrow morning. Our expenditures for 2 bus rides, 2 taxis, and a collectivo totalled 84 pesos / $6.29. Pretty cheap, especially considering that the alternative was to unhitch the truck from the trailer, drive the truck into downtown Acapulco, then out to La Quebrada, find a parking spot large enough for a dually, not that easy to do in Mexico, then find our way back home in the dark, and have to rehitch the truck to the trailer in the morning.
Monday ; Acapulco to Ixtapa, Guerrero
Gee ... ( BO ! ) ... for all the sand we slept in last night, one would think that somebody took a soaking wet mop, rolled it in the sand, then threw it on our bed to dry ! Today was sunny and hot again. We left Playa Luces this morning, drove back through the village of Pie de la Cuesta ( Foot of the Slope ), and got back onto Mex 200 continuing west along the South Pacific coast. When we stopped for lunch in a little village there was a good produce stand, so we bought lots of fresh vegetables.
Just beyond the city of Zihuatenejo ( Zeewhatanayho ) is Ixtapa ( Ishtappa ), a resort city created by Fonatur, the Mexican Federal Government's Tourism Development Branch. It's miles and miles of luxury hotels along the beach, with beautiful landscaping, great roads, upscale shopping ... everything the real Mexico is not ! At the end of the long road through Ixtapa is Fonatur's Ixtapa RV Park. It's a nice park, although the most expensive RV park we've stayed at yet.
We got set up in our site. I went to the palapa covered lounge area where there was a Wi-Fi signal and used the Wi-Fi phone to phone MasterCard and sort out the security problem with my U.S.$ MasterCard. ( sigh ) MasterCard had already cancelled my U.S.$ MasterCard because of "suspicious" transactions in Mexico. I had not advised them that I would be using my MasterCard in Mexico. Guess I'll know better next time ! I ensured that Joanne's U.S.$ MasterCard and both our Canadian dollar MasterCards will be okay for use in Mexico. They have already sent me a new U.S.$ MasterCard, but obviously I won't receive it until I pick up a batch of forwarded mail in Yuma, Arizona a month from now, or maybe I won't even get it until we're back home in Keremeos in two months. The RV park had a laundromat so Joanne was finally able to wash the two pet beds from inside the trailer that Bo was sick on a few weeks ago. One of the pet beds seems beyond salvation, even after washing.
This fairly large RV park is half full of Quebecois, and a quarter full of Manitobans, which is odd. We haven't seen Manitoba license plates down here in Southern Mexico before. Neither group is particularly friendly, both groups keeping to their own clique. We went for a walk along the beach. We walked around the RV park. We chatted with a couple from British Columbia. And a couple from Ontario. And a couple from Washington that we met before at the RV park in Tehuantepec. And a couple from Colorado. By then it was dark. We had a late, simple supper. I went back to the palapa lounge with my laptop, sent and retrieved e-mail. I downloaded and processed my photos from yesterday evening at La Quebrada and downtown Acapulco.
This RV park is ... nice. The beach is ... okay. But nothing here is appealing enough to entice us to stay. We'll leave tomorrow morning.
We were kept awake by the very obnoxious behaviour of the group of four Manitoba rigs parked a few sites over from us. Four fifth wheel trailers, with Harley Davidson "hawgs" parked in front. Bikers ! Four disgusting, dirty old men, at least my age, probably older. Four bikini clad, blonde bimbo sluts, less than half the age of the men. Local hookers the bikers picked up, or biker sluts they hauled down with them from Manitoba. Very loud music. Lots of screaming, hooting, and hollering from the bimbos. At least as bad as anything we encountered from teenaged campers at West Hawk Lake when we were campground hosts during the summer of 2005. Worst behaviour we've seen in an RV park in more than 4½ years of full time RV'ing. Very disgusting ! In my opinion there is nothing more disgusting than old men who choose to function at the mental level of seventeen year olds !
Tuesday ; Ixtapa, Guerrero to La Placita, Michoacán
Today was sunny and hot. That's a pretty repetitive theme down here, isn't it ? We were planning to drive about 160 km. / 100 mi. today to stay at Las Peñas for a night or two, then drive about the same distance to stay at La Placita for a night or two. Things didn't work out at Las Peñas, so we ended up driving all the way to La Placita. Turned out to be a good decision, although it made for a long day of driving.
Yesterday and today we drove through 3 or 4 military check points each day. And were waved through every one of them. I wonder how far down the military line the word got passed to not waste their time or ours by stopping us for "inspections". We have discovered that if we administer 2 teaspoons of cold water by syringe to Teddy when we stop for lunch and again when we stop driving for the day, he doesn't seem to get dehydrated like he has been a few times. As we prepare to travel each day he jumps up on our bed, and apparently stays there until we are stopped and open the trailer door to come in. I guess it's just too difficult for him to manoeuver around inside the trailer to go get a drink of water while we're driving on Mexico's rough roads. So he stays on the bed, snoozes, and gets dehydrated as the trailer gets warm during the day. He never was the brightest kitty in the litter box, and now that he's 16½ years old ...!
At the first village we drove through today there was a woman on the side of the road selling fresh, home made galletas de coco / coconut cookies in a large, plastic storage jar. We bought a jar full, for 30 pesos / $2.28. Tonight I counted the cookies. There were five dozen small cookies in the jar. And the storage jar, which will be quite useful when emptied of cookies ( which won't take long at the rate that Joanne and Bo are eating them ! ) would probably cost that much if purchased at Wal-Mart in the U.S. or Canada.
At the second village we drove through today there was a woman standing in the middle of the road ( at a tope, where vendors often stand because the traffic must slow to a crawl to get over the tope ) selling pan de coco / coconut bread ... still hot from the oven. We bought a bag of three small, flat loaves for 20 pesos / $1.50. We didn't know what coconut bread would be like. It's flat loaves of bread with coconut inside the centre. Not exactly what you would use to make sandwiches, but a nice snack.
Unbelievable ! ! ! I have just returned from a late evening walk with Bo. I met a woman walking Charlie, her Standard Poodle. She lives in Keremeos ! ! ! As do we ! What a small world ! We chatted for a long time.
The third village we drove through today we stopped at a small roadside produce stand and bought some fresh vegetables and fruits, including the mini bananas that Bo loves. We call them Bonanas. At the fourth village we drove through we saw an outdoor panaderia / bakery with a stone bake oven. We stopped and bought a different type of galletas de coco / coconut cookies ( one can never have too many coconut cookies ) and some stone oven baked, huge empanadas de cajeta / turnovers filled with goat's milk caramel.
As we continued driving we passed an area where the houses were made of ... wicker ! A large greenish / bluish spiny backed iguana the size of Bo crossed the road in front of us. It looked like a new born baby dinosaur. As we drove through the village of Hua Hua I wondered aloud if there would be a giant fiberglass Canada Goose mounted on a pedestal on the edge of the village. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA ... sorry ... Canadian inside joke !
When we got to Las Peñas we found our way to a questionable campground listed in our guide book. It's really just a couple of sets of RV hookups in somebody's yard. The drop from the village road to the campground's driveway was huge, perhaps close to a foot. Joanne went walking down the long driveway to check things out. I eased the truck down over the drop off. As I was easing the trailer down over the drop off I was watching the trailer's wheels in my truck mirrors. As soon as the trailer tires were eased down over the drop off, I looked forward ... and stopped ! An electrical wire was hanging down right in front of the windshield, already touching the truck's radio antenna. I considered that a bad omen, and couldn't see any reasonable way to lift this wire up high enough to get it over the trailer. I honked the horn and Joanne returned. I backed the trailer gently up over the drop off, Joanne guiding me from behind. As the truck tires reached the drop off, the dually mud flap caught between the drop off and the truck tire, and tore off, ripping all the screws out of the underside of the wheel well ! ( sigh ) With time and a lot of fussing around I can repair the mud flap and the wheel well ( using fiberglass epoxy on the mangled screw holes ) and reinstall the mud flap. We decided to continue all the way to La Placita.
Rancho Buganvilias near La Placita is a lovely RV park that was recommended to us as “do not miss” by a friend of a friend back in La Feria, Texas a few months ago. It’s a fairly new RV park developed and operated by a fairly young American couple. The park is developed and maintained to American standards. Correctly wired 30 amp outlets with stable electricity. Good water pressure ... a rarity in Mexico. Sewer at each site. Free Wi-Fi. No roosters ! Long sites to accommodate big rigs. A lovely open air thatched roof restaurant that serves dinner twice a week. The park is filled with large, flowering bougainvillea shrubs, papaya and banana trees. And very reasonably priced ! We are parked beside the couple from Washington with Molly the Border Collie and Buster the cat. We met them about a week ago in Tehuantepec and again last night in Ixtapa. The rest of the rigs in the campground are mostly Ontario and British Columbia license plates.
We got set up in our site, rested briefly, then took Bo for a walk to the beach. It was an eight minute stroll through a coconut palm grove to the beach. WOW ... a soft sand beach hundreds of feet wide, stretching miles in both directions as far as the eyes can see. We allowed Bo to be off leash, and walked slowly along the beach until the sun set. WHEW ... guess we’ll spend a few days here ! ! !
Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot, of course. Although now that the coast line is beginning to curve slowly northward, and the terrain is beginning to change from jungle to desert, the humidity is quite a bit lower, and the hot weather is more pleasant.
Today was a slow, relaxing day. I spent the morning working on minor maintenance tasks, a never ending responsibility in the RV life, and particularly so in Mexico where the roads take a toll on everything. Loose screws, loose mouldings, broken latches, broken shelves, ... everything gets rattled until it's loose or broken.
We spent the afternoon on the beach. WOW ! And did I mention ... WOW ! We walked along the beach. We romped in the surf frequently to cool down. Bo played with other dogs. We propped our beach umbrella up against the only piece of driftwood on the beach, Joanne relaxed, I read a book, Bo dug himself a cool hole in the sand underneath the driftwood and lay down. WOW ! I want to stay another day ! Or a month ! ! ! We had a lot of fun playing in the surf, all three of us. The water is knee deep out for hundreds of feet, although the waves crash higher the further from shore you get. A hundred feet from shore the waves crash at waist level. Two hundred feet from shore the waves are crashing at chest level, even though the water is still only knee deep. And the power of the crashing waves is tremendous. When the waves crash at chest level, it's impossible to stand in one place. The incoming wave lifts and propels you towards the beach a few steps. Then the receding wave's undertow tries hard to pull you back out into the ocean. It was a lot of fun, and good exercise as well.
We spent some time chatting with our new next door neighbours who arrived today in a truck camper. They are a middle aged white couple from Oregon with a Mexican 7 year old daughter. We assume she is adopted. Her name is Dulce ( Doolsay ), Spanish for Sweet. Their German Shepherd dog's name is Cholla ( Choya ), a type of cactus found in the U.S. Southwest and Mexico. They left Oregon a year and a half ago as full time RV'ers. We assume Dulce is home schooled. They are returning from a trip through Central America all the way down to Panama. They are travelling up the west coast of mainland Mexico around to the Baja where they purchased a piece of property last summer, to take up permanent residency there.
Tonight we had dinner at the park's restaurant where they serve dinner twice a week. Tonight's menu was burgers and baked potatoes, both cooked on a wood fire, and salad. After dinner we chatted for awhile with the young owners of the park about their development of this RV park over the last two years. They have done a great job so far, and have good plans for future development.
DSK
No comments:
Post a Comment