February 19 to 25, 2009 ; La Placita, Michoacán to La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nayarit
Thursday ; Another sunny, hot day ... what can I say ? I spent the morning working on repairing the screw holes underneath the wheel well that were damaged by ripping off the mud flap. I used fiberglass epoxy to fill in the holes. To remount the mud flap I will redrill the holes, but that will be a big job requiring the removal of the dually wheels to allow me to get underneath the wheel well with a drill. And I need to buy some replacement hardware so that job won't get done until we're in Yuma, Arizona. I did some online research on digital TV converter boxes. We need one with dual voltage, 12 volt DC and 120 volt AC for use in an RV. The options are limited. I retrieved our Canadian dollar MasterCard statement, which is available each month a couple of days before our U.S.$ MasterCard statement.
We spent the afternoon on the beach. We relaxed under the shade of our beach umbrella. We played in the surf, all three of us. Bo played with Charlie, the Standard Poodle from Keremeos. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we didn't leave the beach until the sun was setting, not realizing that it was already 7:00 P.M.. This has been the best "RV park on the beach" experience in Mexico. It will be with reluctance that we leave tomorrow. In the evening I updated my blog.
Friday ; La Placita, Michoacán through Colima to Boca Beach, Jalisco
Today was sunny and hot. Some days travelling through Mexico is spirit crushing. Today was one of those days. We left Rancho Buganvilias this morning, stopping in the village of La Placita to refill with diesel before continuing northwest along the Pacific coast on Mex 200. My priority for today was to buy some prescription medication that I was going to run out of tomorrow. At the first village that we drove through I saw a farmacia and stopped. They didn't have what I needed. At the second village that we drove through I saw another farmacia and stopped. They didn't have what I needed. I had parked the rig beside the town square. When I returned to the truck after a few minutes in the farmacia a taxi had pulled up in front of the rig, about 6 inches from the truck's bumper, blocking my way, despite there being a lot of room both in front of and behind the rig. The taxi driver was standing in front of his taxi defiantly. Apparently only taxis are allowed to park by the town square. He spoke English, and advised me in a hostile tone that I wasn't allowed to park there. Since he spoke English I'm confident he understood the profanity I uttered at him. I had to back up to get out ! Since Acapulco I'm developing a real strong distaste for Mexican taxi drivers. It only got worse later in the day !
We left the state of Michoacán and entered the state of Colima. At the military checkpoint at the state line, the soldier standing out on the road deciding which vehicles to wave over for inspection and which vehicles to wave through waved me over for an inspection. I pulled off to the side to the inspection area. The soldiers in the inspection area saw me coming, and waved me through. HA HA HA ! In the city of Tecomán we stopped at a Bodega supermarket to buy groceries. I went to the farmacia inside the large supermarket. They didn't have what I needed ( sigh ). Joanne noticed that there was a large farmacia across the street. While she put away the groceries we had purchased, I went across the street to the large farmacia.
They had an acceptable substitution for my medication, but only half as much as I wanted to buy. The female pharmacy manager told the male pharmacist that was serving me to suggest that I wait for them to have another equal amount sent over from another location nearby by taxi. "Ten minutes !" Okay. I paid for the full amount. After 35 minutes of waiting I began to express some impatience. After 40 minutes I began to express some anger. The male pharmacist phoned the other location to verify that they had sent the order by taxi. Yes, they apparently had ! The female pharmacy manger disappeared. I found out later that she had jumped in her car to go to the other location and get my order. After 50 minutes I was throwing a hissy fit. For 10 minutes already I had been demanding a refund of half of what I had paid, and been getting a variety of stall tactics. I stomped out of the store telling them I was going to call the police. Five minutes later, after a wait of 55 minutes, the female pharmacy manager arrived with the other half of my prescription. I was really angry and upset, while still realizing that neither the male pharmacist nor the female pharmacy manager was to blame. Somewhere in Tecomán some a*****e taxi driver was on a lunch break, or took another fare, with my prescription in his taxi.
Getting through the city of Manzanillo was difficult and unpleasant. We drove through the state of Colima and entered the state of Jalisco. It was our intention to stay at either of two RV parks in the town of San Patricio-Melaque for the weekend. We were hoping that the town might have some Carnaval ( Mardi Gras ) celebrations in the town square this weekend. We turned off the highway onto the town's main street, narrow and pothole filled cobblestone. Near the end of the main street, at the beach, near the first RV park, I simply followed the example of the Mexicans, pulled over to the side, beside a "no parking" sign, parked and walked away to go check out the nearby RV park. So there ... take that ! The first RV park was full ... and very congested. We wouldn't have wanted to go in even if they had a vacancy. We drove about 12 blocks on the "road" ( more like a donkey trail ) parallel to the beach, to the second RV park. I entered the park through their "S" shaped entranceway ... and stopped ! Another congested park, with no manoeuvering room, and no visible sites available. “No problemo” they assured us at the office, two sites were available. As we walked through the park to see the two sites, a very large Class A motorhome was futilely attempting to get into a site. Good luck, pal ! We were tired, frustrated, and did not want to face what the poor Class A motorhome driver was going through.
With considerable difficulty I backed out of the “S” shaped entranceway, then backed down the street until I could turn around. Probably a distance of about 400 to 500 feet. Joanne did a great job of directing me, and of “convincing” ( she was getting pretty angry and frustrated by this time as well ) cars behind me to “back up or else”. When I finally was able to turn around, she climbed back into the truck, and we both felt completely dispirited. We drove out of town, continuing to head north.
Our hastily constructed “plan B” was to drive another half hour or so the beachside community of Boca Beach, where our guide book listed four RV parks right on the beach. Yeah, well ... three of them no longer exist ! ! ! We got settled into the one remaining park, and went for a long walk along the beach to try to shake off the strains of the day before preparing supper.
I have just returned from taking Bo for a late night bathroom walk. For the last two days, while romping on the beach, he had been drinking sandy saltwater on the edge of the surf. It’s taken a bit of a toll on his digestive system. He’s been passing copious amounts of “sand turds” for two days. HA HA HA ... poor Bo.
Saturday ; Boca Beach to Punta Pérula, Jalisco
For breakfast I took one of our little flat loaves of bread with a pocket of coconut inside, toasted it, and poured con leche syrup on it. HEY ... Daniel's Mexican Pop-Tarts ! HA HA HA !
Late last night we did some trip planning. Our next logical destination would be Puerto Vallarta. But the large resort cities we've been to, Cancún and Acapulco, haven't been all that appealing. So we've decided to bypass Puerto Vallarta. To position ourselves for a day of travel that includes passing through and / or around Puerto Vallarta, we decided to move just a bit further north today. We departed Boca Beach and drove less than a couple of hours north on Mex 200 to the little beachside village of Punta Pérula. We stopped at the first RV park that we came to on the edge of the village to check it out, and decided to stay. It's owned and operated by a Dutch man and his Mexican wife who live in Vernon, B.C. during the summer, a few hours north of where we live. He's put a lot of effort into developing this RV park over the last few years, and is proud of it. As he should be, it's nicely done.
There was only one other rig in the park, a fifth wheel trailer from Quebec. As we were getting set up in a site, I saw Rudy, the owner, giving a lesson to the Quebecois couple on the correct way to open a coconut with a machete to get the milk out, then the correct way to split the coconut with the machete to get the meat out. HMPH ... and I've been doing it all wrong with a drill and a saw, when all I needed was a lesson and a machete. HA HA HA ! We walked across the street to the beach, then walked along the beach into the village, looking for the other RV parks in town, to check them out. The first one we found was Red Snapper, an RV park and restaurant. We checked out the RV park, and the restaurant, deciding that we would like to return to the restaurant for their Saturday evening fish and chips special. At the second RV park the neighbourhood produce truck had just pulled in. Joanne bought some fruits and vegetables. I was looking at a vegetable I was unfamiliar with. The produce vendor said it was called "chayote", and said it was cooked like a potato. Okay ... I bought one to give it a try. Wish me luck.
We walked back through the village to our RV park. We had lunch and then I napped for awhile. Joanne started doing laundry. There was a washing machine in the park, with lots of clotheslines strung up around the park to hang laundry on. I went to the office and paid Rosalinda the very reasonable fee to have access to Wi-Fi. I got online and got some work done, then we used the Wi-Fi phone to phone our sisters. The call to Joanne's sister was brief because of a bad connection. I chatted with my sister longer.
We walked back into town to have supper at Red Snapper. We arrived there at 7:00 P.M., just as they were closing. HMPH ! We walked around the village looking at the small restaurants in town, and selected one, a very small, outdoor restaurant. We had interesting and tasty meals. I had pechuga de pollo, a spicy seasoned barbecued chicken breast, although not the sort of sterile, nicely formed chicken breast that we are used to. This was just a huge chunk of breast cut off a barbecued chicken. Joanne had chorizo, a spicy barbecued sausage. Both our meals were served with barbecued whole onions, with a side dish of tortillas. In the centre of the table was a large "lazy susan" condiment tray filled with pico de gallo, guacamole, baked beans, diced raw onions, shredded lettuce, and shredded cilantro. A "build your own tacos" kind of meal, very common and popular here in Mexico. Our meal, including 2 soft drinks and a bottle of water, cost 98 pesos, about $7.34.
Just as we were finishing our meal, a white Dodge pickup truck with Washington plates pulled up, and out jumped Molly the Border Collie. Hey, it's Dave and Mary, whom we have met in three other places in the last couple of weeks. We invited them to sit with us, and we chatted while they had their supper. There was a bit of activity going on in the town square across the street, but Saturday nights in the town square are not as lively as Sunday nights. Maybe tomorrow night we'll walk back down to the square and see what's going on.
Sunday ; Today was sunny and hot. Well ... DUH ! Today was a lazy day of rest. This morning we mostly did nothing but relax. We chatted with our new neighbours, an Escapee couple from Niagara Falls, Ontario. I processed the photos that I took over the last few days. Taking my sister's advice I did some online research on chayote, the vegetable I bought yesterday. It's a member of the squash family and can be cooked like a squash or a potato.
Ho-hum ... another sunny, hot afternoon on a gorgeous South Pacific beach. Just another day in the salt mines. HA HA HA ! Bo has become very adept at beach play. He knows how far to trot out following the receding surf, and he knows when to quickly turn and trot back towards the beach when an incoming wave approaches. He really enjoyed digging holes in the sand here. The sand was a little more moist than on most of the beaches we've been on, so when he dug a hole, there was actually a hole. This beach and village are in a large, sheltered bay, so the waves here were a little smaller and gentler than the other beaches we've been to. And the water is shallow for a greater distance out from shore. It's easy to lose track of time here. We stayed on the beach until we began to feel a bit hungry and the sun was getting low. When we returned to the trailer, we were surprised to see that it was already 6:45 P.M..
I cooked filete de dorado frito con gusto Cajun de Daniel for supper again tonight. Joanne baked the chayote like a squash. It was ... okay. More like a squash than a potato. We've always had a bit of trepidation when trying "new" vegetables, ever since we tried nopales ( sliced prickly pear cactus paddles ) a few years ago. They were just like eating green beans with snot on 'em !
After supper we walked into town to see if there was anything exciting happening at the town square. There wasn't. Children playing. Teenagers hanging around. Men chatting and getting drunk. Very drunk drivers ! ! !
Monday ; Punta Pérula, Jalisco to La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nayarit
This morning when I walked Bo at 7:15 A.M. the man who lives in the house next door to the RV park was walking out of his driveway ... drunk ... carrying a fresh bottle of beer. I guess "Sunday night" lasts a long time in rural Mexican villages. Our plan for today was to drive through Puerto Vallarta and stay at an RV park an hour or so north of Puerto Vallarta at Lo de Marcos. As is often the case on this adventure around Mexico, that's not what happened.
We departed El Palmar RV Park with a very friendly farewell from the owners. What a nice couple. We drove north on Mex 200 still following the Pacific coastline. As is always the case with large cities, getting through Puerto Vallarta was challenging. We stopped at the Wal-Mart to replenish groceries and have lunch in the parking lot. We refilled with diesel before leaving Puerto Vallarta.
An hour or so north of Puerto Vallarta we struggled with the rig through the little village of Lo de Marcos with its narrow, cobblestone streets. We found Pretty Sunset Trailer Park and pulled in. When we found out what their rate was, we left. Their rate was at the top end of what we have paid in Mexican RV parks, and there was really nothing there to justify the rate. We continued north another half hour or so to La Peñita de Jaltemba and found our way to La Peñita Trailer Park.
Well now, this is more like it ! A very nice RV park, owned by a couple from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We have realized that the nicest RV parks in Mexico are all owned by Canadians or Americans. Perhaps gringos have a better understanding of what other gringos expect in an RV park ? It's a large RV park with about 120 sites, almost all occupied by long term / seasonal occupants who stay here for the entire winter. Almost all the license plates are from British Columbia. It's a very friendly park, with lots of regular social activities, with a "personality" very much like Escapee RV parks. We suspect the owners are likely Escapees themselves. We're looking forward to tomorrow's regular weekly "Tuesday tacos and margaritas" night. A lady from the village comes down and prepares tacos for sale at 8 pesos / 60 cents each, and the RV park's owners provide free margaritas, served in the large thatched roof palapa overlooking the cliff and beach. Very lovely view.
While the campground is a teensy bit congested, when we arrived there was a site available that was deep enough for us to back in and not have to unhitch the truck. The campground is on a hill overlooking the beach, which is a very short walk down the hill. There's a lovely swimming pool area. Our site is filled with the fragrance of flowers. The sites are all full hookup. The rate is very reasonable, made even more so by a 15% discount for Escapees. There's free Wi-Fi. Self-service washers and dryers. The neighbours are very friendly. There's no roosters ! A nice enough RV park to warrant staying three nights, I think.
Tuesday ; Carnaval ( Mardi Gras )
Today was ... oh, why bother even saying it ? ! We spent the morning slowly doing some chores. I tightened more loose screws ! I polished my shoes and sandals. Joanne repaired another little hole in Teddy's tent. When Teddy is tired of being in his little screen tent, he pushes it over from the inside, then stands on the side mesh wall and looks forlorn. When he stands on the mesh wall he sometimes tears a little hole in the mesh with his back claws. A local man with a little pickup truck full of produce comes into this campground every Tuesday morning. Joanne ... and everybody else in the park ... bought lots of fresh produce today. The "vegetable man" was busy for the entire morning that he was here, with a line up of customers. I downloaded and processed yesterday's photos. Joanne patched a hole in Bo's bandanna. Bo's as hard on bandannas as I am on shoes ! Joanne did some laundry. We did some trip planning.
We spent the afternoon on the beach. Bo has become very bold in his surf play. Twice I carried him out a couple of hundred feet from shore, where it was only knee deep for me, and allowed him to swim back to shore. When he would swim against the undertow of a receding wave, he would make no progress, apparently "swimming in place". But he was propelled quickly towards shore whenever an incoming wave would pick him up on its crest and carry him as if he was a body surfing perrito. He romped on the beach and in the surf with three large dogs that belonged to other gringos in the RV park. He dug a lot of holes in the sand. He has come to quite like beach time.
As the sun was setting we went over to the park's large palapa for Tuesday tacos and margaritas. We were a bit disappointed to see that we were the only ones wearing Mardi Gras beads. I chatted with a couple of elderly women, explaining Mardi Gras activities, beads, "throw me something, mister", lifting one's top and "showing", etc.. One of the women yanked up her top and "showed" me. HA HA HA ... I had no choice but to take off one of my strands of beads and toss them to her. Her friend was appalled. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA !
We returned to the trailer and gave Bo a bath. With all the time he has spent in the surf and on the sand lately, he didn't really seem to need a bath, but ... ! Around 10:30 P.M. we began to hear the loud sounds of the celebration of Carnaval taking place in the town of La Peñita de Jaltemba, a mile or two south. I wanted to walk into the town, take part in the celebrations, then take a taxi back to the RV park. Joanne thought it was too late. I'm disappointed that we missed the celebration of Carnaval in Mexico.
Wednesday ; Today's weather was ... well, you know ! One of the amenities provided by this campground is free use of a satellite phone to make free calls back to Canada or the United States. I used the satellite phone to pay my U.S.$ MasterCard by phone. That's usually a very simple and straightforward process, but not this month because my U.S.$ MasterCard had recently been cancelled and replaced by MasterCard's security department. Paying the balance owing on a cancelled card was complicated ! Joanne did some housecleaning. We trimmed Bo's and Teddy's nails. I sent an empty trailer propane tank out to be refilled with the man who takes empty propane tanks from this park for refilling every Wednesday. I took Bo for an obedience session. Very well done, Bo.
After lunch we went to the swimming pool. Joanne wanted a change from our daily afternoon on the beach. We spent a couple of hours around the pool, and I became hungry and tired. We returned to the trailer, I ate some coconut cookies, and took a nap. Hey, it's a tough life. We went to the beach for another couple of hours of beach time. Bo found a small, long billed fish head, like a marlin or barracuda. He was unhappy when I took it away from him and tossed it far out into the ocean. Awhile later, when his bandanna was all wet and covered with sand, Joanne removed it from him and went walking out into the ocean to rinse it off. Poor Bo ... he was so upset. He was convinced Joanne was going out into the ocean to toss his beloved bandanna away. HA HA HA ! He rushed in after her, barking, ignoring the waves crashing over him. We stayed on the beach until the sun was set. A large orange ball coming down to sit, then sink, into the ocean framed by a point of land on one side and an island on the other. Beautiful ! ! !
After we returned to the trailer I decided to have a beer while I barbecued supper. I had recently purchased a six pack of Sol brand beer, with lime and salt added. It was ... well ... different ! Kind of like mondongo soup. An interesting experience ... not to be repeated. HA HA HA !
DSK
Thursday ; Another sunny, hot day ... what can I say ? I spent the morning working on repairing the screw holes underneath the wheel well that were damaged by ripping off the mud flap. I used fiberglass epoxy to fill in the holes. To remount the mud flap I will redrill the holes, but that will be a big job requiring the removal of the dually wheels to allow me to get underneath the wheel well with a drill. And I need to buy some replacement hardware so that job won't get done until we're in Yuma, Arizona. I did some online research on digital TV converter boxes. We need one with dual voltage, 12 volt DC and 120 volt AC for use in an RV. The options are limited. I retrieved our Canadian dollar MasterCard statement, which is available each month a couple of days before our U.S.$ MasterCard statement.
We spent the afternoon on the beach. We relaxed under the shade of our beach umbrella. We played in the surf, all three of us. Bo played with Charlie, the Standard Poodle from Keremeos. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we didn't leave the beach until the sun was setting, not realizing that it was already 7:00 P.M.. This has been the best "RV park on the beach" experience in Mexico. It will be with reluctance that we leave tomorrow. In the evening I updated my blog.
Friday ; La Placita, Michoacán through Colima to Boca Beach, Jalisco
Today was sunny and hot. Some days travelling through Mexico is spirit crushing. Today was one of those days. We left Rancho Buganvilias this morning, stopping in the village of La Placita to refill with diesel before continuing northwest along the Pacific coast on Mex 200. My priority for today was to buy some prescription medication that I was going to run out of tomorrow. At the first village that we drove through I saw a farmacia and stopped. They didn't have what I needed. At the second village that we drove through I saw another farmacia and stopped. They didn't have what I needed. I had parked the rig beside the town square. When I returned to the truck after a few minutes in the farmacia a taxi had pulled up in front of the rig, about 6 inches from the truck's bumper, blocking my way, despite there being a lot of room both in front of and behind the rig. The taxi driver was standing in front of his taxi defiantly. Apparently only taxis are allowed to park by the town square. He spoke English, and advised me in a hostile tone that I wasn't allowed to park there. Since he spoke English I'm confident he understood the profanity I uttered at him. I had to back up to get out ! Since Acapulco I'm developing a real strong distaste for Mexican taxi drivers. It only got worse later in the day !
We left the state of Michoacán and entered the state of Colima. At the military checkpoint at the state line, the soldier standing out on the road deciding which vehicles to wave over for inspection and which vehicles to wave through waved me over for an inspection. I pulled off to the side to the inspection area. The soldiers in the inspection area saw me coming, and waved me through. HA HA HA ! In the city of Tecomán we stopped at a Bodega supermarket to buy groceries. I went to the farmacia inside the large supermarket. They didn't have what I needed ( sigh ). Joanne noticed that there was a large farmacia across the street. While she put away the groceries we had purchased, I went across the street to the large farmacia.
They had an acceptable substitution for my medication, but only half as much as I wanted to buy. The female pharmacy manager told the male pharmacist that was serving me to suggest that I wait for them to have another equal amount sent over from another location nearby by taxi. "Ten minutes !" Okay. I paid for the full amount. After 35 minutes of waiting I began to express some impatience. After 40 minutes I began to express some anger. The male pharmacist phoned the other location to verify that they had sent the order by taxi. Yes, they apparently had ! The female pharmacy manger disappeared. I found out later that she had jumped in her car to go to the other location and get my order. After 50 minutes I was throwing a hissy fit. For 10 minutes already I had been demanding a refund of half of what I had paid, and been getting a variety of stall tactics. I stomped out of the store telling them I was going to call the police. Five minutes later, after a wait of 55 minutes, the female pharmacy manager arrived with the other half of my prescription. I was really angry and upset, while still realizing that neither the male pharmacist nor the female pharmacy manager was to blame. Somewhere in Tecomán some a*****e taxi driver was on a lunch break, or took another fare, with my prescription in his taxi.
Getting through the city of Manzanillo was difficult and unpleasant. We drove through the state of Colima and entered the state of Jalisco. It was our intention to stay at either of two RV parks in the town of San Patricio-Melaque for the weekend. We were hoping that the town might have some Carnaval ( Mardi Gras ) celebrations in the town square this weekend. We turned off the highway onto the town's main street, narrow and pothole filled cobblestone. Near the end of the main street, at the beach, near the first RV park, I simply followed the example of the Mexicans, pulled over to the side, beside a "no parking" sign, parked and walked away to go check out the nearby RV park. So there ... take that ! The first RV park was full ... and very congested. We wouldn't have wanted to go in even if they had a vacancy. We drove about 12 blocks on the "road" ( more like a donkey trail ) parallel to the beach, to the second RV park. I entered the park through their "S" shaped entranceway ... and stopped ! Another congested park, with no manoeuvering room, and no visible sites available. “No problemo” they assured us at the office, two sites were available. As we walked through the park to see the two sites, a very large Class A motorhome was futilely attempting to get into a site. Good luck, pal ! We were tired, frustrated, and did not want to face what the poor Class A motorhome driver was going through.
With considerable difficulty I backed out of the “S” shaped entranceway, then backed down the street until I could turn around. Probably a distance of about 400 to 500 feet. Joanne did a great job of directing me, and of “convincing” ( she was getting pretty angry and frustrated by this time as well ) cars behind me to “back up or else”. When I finally was able to turn around, she climbed back into the truck, and we both felt completely dispirited. We drove out of town, continuing to head north.
Our hastily constructed “plan B” was to drive another half hour or so the beachside community of Boca Beach, where our guide book listed four RV parks right on the beach. Yeah, well ... three of them no longer exist ! ! ! We got settled into the one remaining park, and went for a long walk along the beach to try to shake off the strains of the day before preparing supper.
I have just returned from taking Bo for a late night bathroom walk. For the last two days, while romping on the beach, he had been drinking sandy saltwater on the edge of the surf. It’s taken a bit of a toll on his digestive system. He’s been passing copious amounts of “sand turds” for two days. HA HA HA ... poor Bo.
Saturday ; Boca Beach to Punta Pérula, Jalisco
For breakfast I took one of our little flat loaves of bread with a pocket of coconut inside, toasted it, and poured con leche syrup on it. HEY ... Daniel's Mexican Pop-Tarts ! HA HA HA !
Late last night we did some trip planning. Our next logical destination would be Puerto Vallarta. But the large resort cities we've been to, Cancún and Acapulco, haven't been all that appealing. So we've decided to bypass Puerto Vallarta. To position ourselves for a day of travel that includes passing through and / or around Puerto Vallarta, we decided to move just a bit further north today. We departed Boca Beach and drove less than a couple of hours north on Mex 200 to the little beachside village of Punta Pérula. We stopped at the first RV park that we came to on the edge of the village to check it out, and decided to stay. It's owned and operated by a Dutch man and his Mexican wife who live in Vernon, B.C. during the summer, a few hours north of where we live. He's put a lot of effort into developing this RV park over the last few years, and is proud of it. As he should be, it's nicely done.
There was only one other rig in the park, a fifth wheel trailer from Quebec. As we were getting set up in a site, I saw Rudy, the owner, giving a lesson to the Quebecois couple on the correct way to open a coconut with a machete to get the milk out, then the correct way to split the coconut with the machete to get the meat out. HMPH ... and I've been doing it all wrong with a drill and a saw, when all I needed was a lesson and a machete. HA HA HA ! We walked across the street to the beach, then walked along the beach into the village, looking for the other RV parks in town, to check them out. The first one we found was Red Snapper, an RV park and restaurant. We checked out the RV park, and the restaurant, deciding that we would like to return to the restaurant for their Saturday evening fish and chips special. At the second RV park the neighbourhood produce truck had just pulled in. Joanne bought some fruits and vegetables. I was looking at a vegetable I was unfamiliar with. The produce vendor said it was called "chayote", and said it was cooked like a potato. Okay ... I bought one to give it a try. Wish me luck.
We walked back through the village to our RV park. We had lunch and then I napped for awhile. Joanne started doing laundry. There was a washing machine in the park, with lots of clotheslines strung up around the park to hang laundry on. I went to the office and paid Rosalinda the very reasonable fee to have access to Wi-Fi. I got online and got some work done, then we used the Wi-Fi phone to phone our sisters. The call to Joanne's sister was brief because of a bad connection. I chatted with my sister longer.
We walked back into town to have supper at Red Snapper. We arrived there at 7:00 P.M., just as they were closing. HMPH ! We walked around the village looking at the small restaurants in town, and selected one, a very small, outdoor restaurant. We had interesting and tasty meals. I had pechuga de pollo, a spicy seasoned barbecued chicken breast, although not the sort of sterile, nicely formed chicken breast that we are used to. This was just a huge chunk of breast cut off a barbecued chicken. Joanne had chorizo, a spicy barbecued sausage. Both our meals were served with barbecued whole onions, with a side dish of tortillas. In the centre of the table was a large "lazy susan" condiment tray filled with pico de gallo, guacamole, baked beans, diced raw onions, shredded lettuce, and shredded cilantro. A "build your own tacos" kind of meal, very common and popular here in Mexico. Our meal, including 2 soft drinks and a bottle of water, cost 98 pesos, about $7.34.
Just as we were finishing our meal, a white Dodge pickup truck with Washington plates pulled up, and out jumped Molly the Border Collie. Hey, it's Dave and Mary, whom we have met in three other places in the last couple of weeks. We invited them to sit with us, and we chatted while they had their supper. There was a bit of activity going on in the town square across the street, but Saturday nights in the town square are not as lively as Sunday nights. Maybe tomorrow night we'll walk back down to the square and see what's going on.
Sunday ; Today was sunny and hot. Well ... DUH ! Today was a lazy day of rest. This morning we mostly did nothing but relax. We chatted with our new neighbours, an Escapee couple from Niagara Falls, Ontario. I processed the photos that I took over the last few days. Taking my sister's advice I did some online research on chayote, the vegetable I bought yesterday. It's a member of the squash family and can be cooked like a squash or a potato.
Ho-hum ... another sunny, hot afternoon on a gorgeous South Pacific beach. Just another day in the salt mines. HA HA HA ! Bo has become very adept at beach play. He knows how far to trot out following the receding surf, and he knows when to quickly turn and trot back towards the beach when an incoming wave approaches. He really enjoyed digging holes in the sand here. The sand was a little more moist than on most of the beaches we've been on, so when he dug a hole, there was actually a hole. This beach and village are in a large, sheltered bay, so the waves here were a little smaller and gentler than the other beaches we've been to. And the water is shallow for a greater distance out from shore. It's easy to lose track of time here. We stayed on the beach until we began to feel a bit hungry and the sun was getting low. When we returned to the trailer, we were surprised to see that it was already 6:45 P.M..
I cooked filete de dorado frito con gusto Cajun de Daniel for supper again tonight. Joanne baked the chayote like a squash. It was ... okay. More like a squash than a potato. We've always had a bit of trepidation when trying "new" vegetables, ever since we tried nopales ( sliced prickly pear cactus paddles ) a few years ago. They were just like eating green beans with snot on 'em !
After supper we walked into town to see if there was anything exciting happening at the town square. There wasn't. Children playing. Teenagers hanging around. Men chatting and getting drunk. Very drunk drivers ! ! !
Monday ; Punta Pérula, Jalisco to La Peñita de Jaltemba, Nayarit
This morning when I walked Bo at 7:15 A.M. the man who lives in the house next door to the RV park was walking out of his driveway ... drunk ... carrying a fresh bottle of beer. I guess "Sunday night" lasts a long time in rural Mexican villages. Our plan for today was to drive through Puerto Vallarta and stay at an RV park an hour or so north of Puerto Vallarta at Lo de Marcos. As is often the case on this adventure around Mexico, that's not what happened.
We departed El Palmar RV Park with a very friendly farewell from the owners. What a nice couple. We drove north on Mex 200 still following the Pacific coastline. As is always the case with large cities, getting through Puerto Vallarta was challenging. We stopped at the Wal-Mart to replenish groceries and have lunch in the parking lot. We refilled with diesel before leaving Puerto Vallarta.
An hour or so north of Puerto Vallarta we struggled with the rig through the little village of Lo de Marcos with its narrow, cobblestone streets. We found Pretty Sunset Trailer Park and pulled in. When we found out what their rate was, we left. Their rate was at the top end of what we have paid in Mexican RV parks, and there was really nothing there to justify the rate. We continued north another half hour or so to La Peñita de Jaltemba and found our way to La Peñita Trailer Park.
Well now, this is more like it ! A very nice RV park, owned by a couple from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We have realized that the nicest RV parks in Mexico are all owned by Canadians or Americans. Perhaps gringos have a better understanding of what other gringos expect in an RV park ? It's a large RV park with about 120 sites, almost all occupied by long term / seasonal occupants who stay here for the entire winter. Almost all the license plates are from British Columbia. It's a very friendly park, with lots of regular social activities, with a "personality" very much like Escapee RV parks. We suspect the owners are likely Escapees themselves. We're looking forward to tomorrow's regular weekly "Tuesday tacos and margaritas" night. A lady from the village comes down and prepares tacos for sale at 8 pesos / 60 cents each, and the RV park's owners provide free margaritas, served in the large thatched roof palapa overlooking the cliff and beach. Very lovely view.
While the campground is a teensy bit congested, when we arrived there was a site available that was deep enough for us to back in and not have to unhitch the truck. The campground is on a hill overlooking the beach, which is a very short walk down the hill. There's a lovely swimming pool area. Our site is filled with the fragrance of flowers. The sites are all full hookup. The rate is very reasonable, made even more so by a 15% discount for Escapees. There's free Wi-Fi. Self-service washers and dryers. The neighbours are very friendly. There's no roosters ! A nice enough RV park to warrant staying three nights, I think.
Tuesday ; Carnaval ( Mardi Gras )
Today was ... oh, why bother even saying it ? ! We spent the morning slowly doing some chores. I tightened more loose screws ! I polished my shoes and sandals. Joanne repaired another little hole in Teddy's tent. When Teddy is tired of being in his little screen tent, he pushes it over from the inside, then stands on the side mesh wall and looks forlorn. When he stands on the mesh wall he sometimes tears a little hole in the mesh with his back claws. A local man with a little pickup truck full of produce comes into this campground every Tuesday morning. Joanne ... and everybody else in the park ... bought lots of fresh produce today. The "vegetable man" was busy for the entire morning that he was here, with a line up of customers. I downloaded and processed yesterday's photos. Joanne patched a hole in Bo's bandanna. Bo's as hard on bandannas as I am on shoes ! Joanne did some laundry. We did some trip planning.
We spent the afternoon on the beach. Bo has become very bold in his surf play. Twice I carried him out a couple of hundred feet from shore, where it was only knee deep for me, and allowed him to swim back to shore. When he would swim against the undertow of a receding wave, he would make no progress, apparently "swimming in place". But he was propelled quickly towards shore whenever an incoming wave would pick him up on its crest and carry him as if he was a body surfing perrito. He romped on the beach and in the surf with three large dogs that belonged to other gringos in the RV park. He dug a lot of holes in the sand. He has come to quite like beach time.
As the sun was setting we went over to the park's large palapa for Tuesday tacos and margaritas. We were a bit disappointed to see that we were the only ones wearing Mardi Gras beads. I chatted with a couple of elderly women, explaining Mardi Gras activities, beads, "throw me something, mister", lifting one's top and "showing", etc.. One of the women yanked up her top and "showed" me. HA HA HA ... I had no choice but to take off one of my strands of beads and toss them to her. Her friend was appalled. HA HA HA ( SNORT ) HA HA !
We returned to the trailer and gave Bo a bath. With all the time he has spent in the surf and on the sand lately, he didn't really seem to need a bath, but ... ! Around 10:30 P.M. we began to hear the loud sounds of the celebration of Carnaval taking place in the town of La Peñita de Jaltemba, a mile or two south. I wanted to walk into the town, take part in the celebrations, then take a taxi back to the RV park. Joanne thought it was too late. I'm disappointed that we missed the celebration of Carnaval in Mexico.
Wednesday ; Today's weather was ... well, you know ! One of the amenities provided by this campground is free use of a satellite phone to make free calls back to Canada or the United States. I used the satellite phone to pay my U.S.$ MasterCard by phone. That's usually a very simple and straightforward process, but not this month because my U.S.$ MasterCard had recently been cancelled and replaced by MasterCard's security department. Paying the balance owing on a cancelled card was complicated ! Joanne did some housecleaning. We trimmed Bo's and Teddy's nails. I sent an empty trailer propane tank out to be refilled with the man who takes empty propane tanks from this park for refilling every Wednesday. I took Bo for an obedience session. Very well done, Bo.
After lunch we went to the swimming pool. Joanne wanted a change from our daily afternoon on the beach. We spent a couple of hours around the pool, and I became hungry and tired. We returned to the trailer, I ate some coconut cookies, and took a nap. Hey, it's a tough life. We went to the beach for another couple of hours of beach time. Bo found a small, long billed fish head, like a marlin or barracuda. He was unhappy when I took it away from him and tossed it far out into the ocean. Awhile later, when his bandanna was all wet and covered with sand, Joanne removed it from him and went walking out into the ocean to rinse it off. Poor Bo ... he was so upset. He was convinced Joanne was going out into the ocean to toss his beloved bandanna away. HA HA HA ! He rushed in after her, barking, ignoring the waves crashing over him. We stayed on the beach until the sun was set. A large orange ball coming down to sit, then sink, into the ocean framed by a point of land on one side and an island on the other. Beautiful ! ! !
After we returned to the trailer I decided to have a beer while I barbecued supper. I had recently purchased a six pack of Sol brand beer, with lime and salt added. It was ... well ... different ! Kind of like mondongo soup. An interesting experience ... not to be repeated. HA HA HA !
DSK
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