Exploring Mexico in our Motorhome

Winter 2011 to 2012 -

2011-10-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

This year we are taking the big motorhome - the Alfa to Mexico. Right now we are spending some time in the Sedona, AZ area just enjoying the beautiful scenery. Next we head to Las Vegas then on to the west coast of Mexico for the winter. For the time being I'm posting to my blog The Golden Years at
http://lifeinbrowncounty.blogspot.com/ Come travel with us.

End of this winters Trip to Mexico

2011-04-17T09:05:00.000-06:00

I know I’m late in writing this but there are extenuating circumstances – really there are.

First and foremost – lack of Internet access. We can only get on line when the modem feels like cooperating. Called Hughes Net and they are sending a technician out next Tuesday. The joy of living in the sticks.
Back to the end of the trip. Thursday morning was our last day on the road. This year we did 6613 miles in Jennie – and God Knows how many in Willie going here and there. We were on the road 149 days.
As you can see from the map most of the driving was in the U.S. coming and going.

The final day of travel was pretty uneventful. There was a storm moving east but luckily we were moving east faster than it was. Drove through Illinois and into Indiana. Only stopping once at a Flying J for brunch at Denny’s (sure liked their old restaurants better but….) Just inside the Indiana border we left the I-70 and took State Road 46 towards home. Lots of pretty scenery. Green fields and blooming trees. Around 2:00 we turned on our road and soon were home.
First look at the house through the barren trees as we made the last turn.

Home Sweet Home

And here Jennie is right where she started out in November. The wild daffodils are blooming like crazy.

And the tiny violets popping up here and there.

Checked out the pond and there are still lots of fish in there.

Just a couple of the fish in the picture

So that is the end of our trip this past winter. Now we have lots of work to do around here. Lawn cleanup, house cleaning and repairing, Internet repairing, etc. etc.
For more on that check out my Brown County blog as that is where I’ll be writing from now on – or until our next trip somewhere. In case that doesn't work the URL is http://lifeinbrowncounty.blogspot.com/
If the Internet stays working I’ll try to post some of the interesting (annoying) ways of getting things done here in the country. And we have dealt with plenty this week.
See you over there.

Sorry - Not been able to post

2011-04-14T09:59:00.000-06:00

Our Internet here at home keeps going off and on. Have not been able to stay on line long enough to post. Hopefully this will work. A lot going on around house I want to share so will try later again.

WE ARE HOME

2011-04-08T08:59:00.000-06:00

Got home around 3:00p.m. yesterday. More later....

Almost Home

2011-04-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

Wednesday p.m.

The Driver battled the wind every mile today – finally gave up just west of Saint Louis, MO. Lots and lots of heavy wind. Depending on the weather tomorrow – it’s supposed to be raining – we might be home by late tomorrow. Less than 300 miles away. If it rains we will stay here until it quits.
Our TV and Internet are working. We did have to change spaces to get away from the trees to get the Direct TV working. We’re staying at another KOA campground and it’s quite nice. Next to us is a trailer with a family with four young boys – right now they are roasting marshmallows – smell good. On the other side is an RV that belongs to a bicycle group. It says on it “Cycling 50 States for America’s Veterans and Military” – has a great paint job. Big eagle and red, white and blue. And their tow car matches it.
Not much else to say about today’s trip – good road lots of green rolling hills and trees starting to bud. If it hadn’t been for the wind it would have been a nice drive.
Thursday a.m.
Well we're up and getting ready to leave - no rain here yet but it is about 200 miles behind us. Hope we can drive faster than it moves.
Cannot believe the mess the government is in. Enough said.

Ate at Worlds Largest McDonalds in Vinta, OK

2011-04-05T18:29:00.002-06:00

Tuesday p.m.

Another day another state – actually a couple of states. We’re at a KOA in Joplin, MO. Left Wichita Falls, TX this morning around 8a.m. Took the I-44 north planning on stopping in Tulsa, OK. Guess we overshot it a little.
The I-44 through Oklahoma is almost all a toll road. 353 miles and only cost us $31.75 – quite a bit cheaper than the toll roads in Mexico. Part of it was good road and part of it was purely Oklahoma road. Shake, rattle and roll. Mostly shake and rattle. I have a question. Why is the pavement on bridges always so much worse than the pavement on the road? Can’t find it on Google. But kind of figure that it maybe ‘cause bridges freeze sooner – the contracting and expanding maybe?
So far we’ve been on the road 147 days and driven Jennie 6088 miles in Jennie. We’re only 550 miles from home now.
The wind is picking up again – sure glad it wasn’t blowing so hard while we were traveling – The Driver says it was coming from behind us most of the day. Again we were thankful we were on the western side of that terrible storm that just passed through the east. Did have a moment last night though – all of a sudden the warning sirens near the RV Park started to wail. No one else seemed to get excited – turns out they check them every Monday. Wish they would have told us when we checked in.
Not much to write about – saw lots of rolling green hills, nice fat cows and trees just starting to bloom. The one item of note – we had lunch in supposedly “The Largest McDonalds in the World” It is between Tulsa and Joplin on the I-44. It is built over the highway so you can go into it from either direction. End of exciting news for today.

White Sand, Aliens and Texas

2011-04-04T19:21:00.001-06:00

Monday p.m.

We’ve been looking at the weather and it looks like the next few days will be good for travel. Here in Wichita Falls the winds have let up and the temperatures have gone down. Have finally decided what way we are going to go from here. We’re heading north on the I-44 through Oklahoma City and Tulsa then into Missouri. Probably only get as far as Tulsa tomorrow. In Las Cruces after getting back from the Missile Range we visited Mesilla just south of town.
It was founded in 1848 after the Mexican War by a group of Mexican settlers. The town was once a major stop for the Butterfield Stagecoach. This is one of the original brick buildings built in 1860. It is still in use as a gift shop.

One other claim to fame the town has is Billy the Kid stood trial for murder here and then escaped. Didn’t take many pictures as most of the buildings were plain adobe and have been fully restored and now are gift shops. Kind of reminded me of our hometown in Indiana except with a southwest look. Lots of places to eat and gift shops.
From Las Cruces we drove over the mountains to Roswell. Past White Sands National Monument – just a glance of some of the white sand.

And what is this? A check point? Yep, a border patrol check point. All vehicles had to stop. All they asked was, “Where is your next stop?”

“Why Roswell of course,” we answered. The Border Patrol agent laughed, shook his head and waved us on.
On the outskirts of Alamogordo we passed this giant pistachio nut. I’d just seen it on line a few days earlier as one of the strange roadside sites in the U.S. Wow – I can cross it off my list now.

Now that's a big nut!

Over the mountains through the big Mescalaro Apache Reservation.

Then through Lincoln County where Pat Garrett was sheriff and where the Lincoln County War was. Kind of interesting reading Link http://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-lincolncountywar.html We also passed through the little town of Ruidoso – why do I mention that? Well today I saw on the news that there is a wild fire there – glad we got through when we did.

Stayed at the Trailer Village RV Park in Roswell. Very nice park just on the east edge of town. If you’re ever there I recommend it. Also recommend the Cowboy Café for breakfast and/or lunch. It’s just a little place but very good.
Drove around downtown Roswell for a while – just looking at the residents.

Well Hello There!

Copy of a newspaper from the time.

Was there a flying saucer crash or not? It's still a mystery.
Just some fun things - party time.

A body?

We left the next morning for Lubbock where we spent the night. The trip was uneventful – lots of country without much scenery and lots of wind.

From Lubbock we continued on to Wichita Falls. Did manage to watch both NASCAR races over the weekend. Go Kyle – he is now first in points. Two good races.
We’re staying at the Wichita Falls RV Park here. Very nice place. Big level spaces, good WiFi. Haven’t done much of anything except go to Home Depot – still looking for the spigot and to Wal*Mart – where we finally found the spigot.
Going to watch the basketball game tonight then get ready to leave tomorrow morning.

Visit to White Sands Missile Range

2011-04-04T09:12:00.000-06:00

Monday a.m.

We have been making tracks the last few days. Now in Wichita Falls, TX. We’re going to stay here for a couple of nights and hopefully the wind stops blowing before we take off again.
Thursday morning we got out early had breakfast at IHop and headed to the White Sands Missile Range Museum and Park. Had to drive through the jagged mountains – 7200 foot pass.

A beautiful view of the valley – looking out at the many many empty square miles of the missile range.

The Missile Range was established in 1945. It now occupies 3,200 square miles of what used to be a private ranch..

Entering the Range - No Photography allowed except in the Missile Park and museum
We had to park outside the gate and walk in to the Missile Park. I had read that you could drive in but guess things had changed since that was written. Luckily it wasn’t too far as we were still over 5000 feet in altitude and it was pretty warm out. Heard the gate guard telling a couple of people that they couldn’t take pictures of the gate – just of the sign next to it. [Just a thought but doesn’t Google Earth take pictures of it?]
Any way a shot of the missile park – Lots and lots of different kinds and sizes of missiles.

This was interesting to me – it is a Patriot Missile – had no idea they – the whole thing – was that big. These are the ones Israel uses to shoot down the Scuds. It is designed to defend against high performance targets.

Interesting graffiti on it

Another shot of some of the park

This big gun was originally installed on the U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. Weighs over 73,000 lbs. In 1977 it was relocated to White Sands and was used for testing.

A Flying Saucer? Nope part of the Voyager Balloon System that was launched near Roswell, NM Hummm???? The information goes on to say “It is the only one in captivity.” Captivity? Weird.

This is a missile that was making groaning sounds – Did it want to go somewhere? Was it crying? Tried to get a video with sound but all I picked up was the wind noise.

After walking around checking everything out we went into the museum. If you ever get a chance it’s a very interesting place to visit.
One of the displays – a display of the old ranch house that was used as the assembly point for the Bomb. The house survived the blast with only broken windows.

It was pretty interesting. If you want to know more about it just Google Trinity Site New Mexico.
More later after we go shopping.

Lubbock, TX Closer and closer to home.

2011-04-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday p.m.
Haven't got the pictures together yet - maybe tomorrow evening.
We made it to Lubbock, TX where we are spending the night. Will leave very early tomorrow a.m. as there is a Cup NASCAR race tomorrow at 12 Central Time.......!!!! Kyle came in 2nd today in the truck race.
Tomorrow we are planning in stopping in Wichita Falls, TX - there is only one RV park there according to Woodalls - hope we can find it okay.
Paid $3.599 for gas today for Jennie then stopped for breakfast at a little cafe in Tatum, NM
Road was good all the way but lots of wind.
Had a couple of problems with the TV and Internet when we got here - had to change spaces to get away from the only tree around. Weather is very warm here - it's 10:00 at night and still warm enough to have the windows and door open. Lots warmer than Arizona.
Promise I'll catch up tomorrow with photos of White Sands and aliens.

Spent Night in Roswell, NM - didn't see any flying saucers

2011-04-02T06:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday a.m.
Getting ready to leave Roswell. Spent the night here. While in Las Cruces we visited the White Sands Museum and Missile Range and a short walk around Mesilla where Billy the Kid escaped from jail. Yesterday we crossed the mountains - up to 7000 feet and stopped for the night in Roswell, NM. Weather is getting warmer - go figure.
Today we plan on stopping in Lubbuck, TX - then the weather will decided which way we go from there.
Today we'll have even hotter weather, gusts of wind and lots of Texas. Fire danger is the weather alert for today.
Will do more updating today after we stop - including some pictures.

Left Arizona on to Las Cruces, NM

2011-03-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

Thursday a.m.

Surprise Surprise! We are in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Decided about 9:30 yesterday morning that we didn’t want to spend another day in Arizona. So off we went.
Stopped for the evening in a KOA in Las Cruces, NM. Going to spend a couple of days here.
Except for a low tire we discovered in Lordsburg, NM it was a pretty uneventful drive. Stopped for gas at a Flying J and The Driver trumped the tires. One instead of going Thump Thump went Bummp Bummp – Not good. Ate lunch at Denny’s and checked the phone book – there was a truck tire place right down the road.
Yep he could fix it – turned out it was a bad valve stem. Took about 20 minutes to fix it. Then came the bill Dismount/mount $40 + valve stem $2 = $47 + tax- $3 = $50…….new math? Creative addition? Discussed total and paid $45 in the end.
Another change in the time for us – New Mexico has Daylight Savings Arizona didn’t. Got late quick.
Lots of California cars on the highway going east – like three out of every five! What do they know that others don’t?
Passing a boat on the road. It was a big one.

And some of the only pretty scenery. Mostly it was just plain flat desert.

We did cross the Continental Divide – does that mean were in the east?

For the first time in a long time saw signs of wild life along the highway. Unfortunately the first one was deceased – a bobcat. Then crossing the desert a coyote ran into the brush next to the road.
Staying here today and going to explore around here a little.

Doing Nothing in the Desert

2011-03-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Wednesday a.m.

Yesterday was another do nothing day. We went to McDonalds for an early lunch. Been awhile since we’ve been to one. I see their prices have gone up too. Put some gas in the Jeep. It’s $3.559 a gallon here – glad we filled up Jennie in Mexico when we did. We’ll be able to get a few miles before another filling. Walked around the True Value Hardware store for a bit. We saw a squirrel proof bird feeder we liked – maybe we’ll be able to find a couple when we get home. The feeder is inside a big metal open ball shape that the squirrels can’t fit through. It is made by or distributed by Gardman

Several on-line places sell it. Probably not supposed to post a picture of it but it looks like a neat thing to use.

Made the mistake of taking a nap in the afternoon – So up until late – had no problem finishing a book before nodding off.

The weather here is so perfect – cool at night and in the low 80s during the day. At home there were snow showers again last night. And our house sitter says the yard is a mess from all the storms but the weather continues to be so bad he hasn’t been able to get anyone up there to clean it up. He also says at least some of our fishies (koi and goldfish) made it through the winter. He sees them swimming around when the sun is out. I never thought I's say this but I'm looking forward to be going up and down the stairs at home. Jennie is getting VERY VERY small and confining.

A little history in Tumacacori Arizona

2011-03-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

Tuesday a.m.

Surprise! Surprise! We are still in Amado, Arizona. So much for our plans – we won’t be leaving here until Thursday. Why Thursday? Well we were looking at the weather reports and it is still SNOWING at home. No rush to get there. So lets stay another day – then realized we’d get a better rate if we were here a full week so okay – BUT WAIT – if we stay a full week not only do we get a better rate we get an extra day too. So that’s why Thursday.
Watched the NASCAR race Sunday of course – Kyle lead 151 of 200 laps but not the important one – the final one. Oh well.
Since we’ve been here I’ve been watching the little tree next to us. It barely had little buds when we got here. Yesterday the buds started opening and turning into pretty little leaves – Spring is here – in Arizona anyway.

Spring has sprung here in AZ

Yesterday morning we went out to breakfast – Yum and then to Wal*Mart for a couple of things we’d forgotten and a new razor for The Driver as his took a crap. After coming home (?) and putting things away we decided to go a little south on the I-19 to Tumacacori. There is an old mission there I wanted to check out. And luckily it is a National Park so we could use our Golden Age or Senior Pass – whatever it is called now – so we didn’t have to pay the entrance fee.

The original church was founded by Jesuit Padre Eusebio Kino (he really got around) in early 1691. Kino founded the mission San Cayetano de Tumacacori on the banks of the Santa Cruz River. In 1767 the King of Spain banished the Jesuits from the area. The Franciscans eventually took over the area. They started to rebuild the church in 1800 – this is the church that stands here today.

The poverty of the area and the wars in Mexico and with the Indians eventually led to the missions abandonment in 1848. Soldiers abandoned the Presidio at Tubac and the last residents left Tumacacori. In 1853 with the Gasden Purchase the area became part of the US.
We were lucky to catch up with a tour that had just started. Looking in the church towards the altar with its domed ceiling.

Some of the original decorations on the walls.

There are 12 of these “frames” around the altar area. They are thought to have been portraits of the Apostles

A closer look at the ceiling.

Looking towards the front of the church. The roof is new. According to the priest who was conducting the tour the original roof was stripped away by the area ranchers and farmers who utilized the already cut and formed beams for their buildings. When the time came to restore the church the architects just went around to the neighboring ranches and measured the “borrowed” beams and framing to get accurate measurements to rebuild the present roof.

One of the side altars, there are four of them. This church never had the side aisles of most churches.

remains of a side altar

A rendering of what the church looked like in its glory

very colorful interior

The priest said that during the time the church was abandoned it was not necessarily unused. Many, many people used it as a convenient “Motel Six.” Many leaving graffiti behind. Including a faded signature from General Black Jack Pershing.
Behind the church is a small cemetery with a round building that was a Mortuary/Chapel. According to the priest the King of Spain decreed it should be built to house the dead before they were buried. A man before his times – this kept the bodies of those who had died of diseases such as measles and small pox isolated.

Then we visited the storage building.

The grounds were surrounded by a wall that had niches for the Stations of the Cross.

There is also living quarters on the grounds – called a convent.

One of the roofless rooms with a fireplace.

Just a look at the church through some of the winter sleeping bushes. Can’t you imagine it 200 years ago?

A bunch of poppies blooming in the garden

Very interesting visit. On the way back to the campground – what is this? A check point? Yep border patrol check point. Had to roll the back windows of the Jeep down so they could see in.

Today The Driver seems to have been bitten by a cleaning bug. He is going at it full force. Jennie really needs a thorough cleaning – so much sand and dust in here. But there is only so much we can do while still on the road. It'll take weeks to do a good job once we're home.

Our last day in Arizona -

2011-03-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday a.m.

Up early again so now I’ve got the whole day to do it in and nothing to do! Well actually I do have something to do later - watch the Cup race sometime around noon.
Go Kyle – good call in yesterday’s Nationwide race. Love to watch the number 18 win.
Just found out that there was a big wild fire in Big Pine, CA – my oldest son and wife live there. They had to evacuate but wind shifted and fire went around their place. Lots of their friends lost everything though. Every thing except the cars they got away in. 19 homes completely destroyed. With all the snow and rain the California Sierras have had this year you wouldn’t think there would be a wild fire this early in the season. Just never know when your whole life can change in a second.
Our friend/house sitter in Indiana called us yesterday – well his phone called us – but we ended up talking with him – says they were expecting three inches of snow last night. Come on weather – it’s supposed to be Spring already! Glad we’re still here in the south. Will really be watching the weather as we head across the states.
I want to mention the campground we’re staying in here in Amado, AZ. It is called the Mountain View RV. Full hook ups, WiFi, book and video exchange, laundry. We’ve stayed here either on our way down or back from Mexico for the last three years. Every year it gets nicer. The people who now own it have really been making improvements and they are such nice people. If you should come this way check it out.
Watched a soccer game between the US and Argentine national teams last night - it ended in a 1 - 1 tie. US is getting better and better.

Staying in Arizona until Monday

2011-03-26T12:00:00.002-07:00

Saturday a.m.

We are still in Arizona – and don’t seem to be getting ready to get going this morning.
Yesterday we did the laundry. I got spoiled in Mexico – took the dirty clothes in and got them back all clean and folded.
Got my NASCAR fix yesterday watched most of the afternoon. Kyle wrecked his Cup car before he even made one lap around the track. But still managed to qualify 8 And Bill got to see a soccer game or two.
We still haven’t figured out how we are going home. Will start out on the I-10 at least as far as Deming, NM. Kind of would like to go to Roswell, NM – the weather there seems to be okay. But still terrible in Indiana – snow – rain and cold.
Well its noon now and we’ve decided to stay here until Monday. So went out to breakfast and then to Wal*Mart to get a few things we need.
Looking forward to watching the Nationwide race this afternoon – if the weather holds in California.

Lazy Day in Amado, AZ

2011-03-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

Friday a.m.

We may or may not leave here today. Are we lazy or anxious to get home? Maybe we’ll just wait until this next big storm going through the plains is over. Though if we take the 10 east we’ll be below it. Decisions!!! We are thinking about going as far as Deming, NM for the first leg of the trip across – but as always our plans are subject to change.
Haven’t done much since we’ve been here. Just grocery shopping and go out to eat. I like that part.
The restaurant just across the freeway, the Cow Palace, has the best food – breakfast, lunch and dinners. Went there for steak last night – delicious – first good steak we’ve had since we left here in the fall.
Went grocery shopping to Safeway yesterday afternoon. Bacon is $8 a package???? A little bit of sticker shock there. And Folger Coffee $12! What really caught our attention while in the store were the customers. We aren’t what I’d consider young (72 & 74) – but everyone else shopping there made us look like kids. I’ve never seen so many senior - senior citizens in one place in my life. But then there are lots and lots of retirement communities in this area south of Tucson. Not sure how I felt about the employees working there…..they were almost too helpful as if they were dealing with people who no longer had all the lights on.
We found some of The Driver’s favorite sugar – Bakers Sugar – it is extra fine and he likes it for his coffee – so we bought four or five boxes ‘cause we can’t find it anywhere near home.
Dug out all our US maps and camping books and put all the Mexico stuff away. We ended up with just a little over 600 Pesos when we crossed the border. About $50 – one more toll booth and we’d of been short. In a couple of days we’ll be putting our shorts and t-shirts away and dragging out the heavier clothes. It still get darn cold here in Arizona at night. Had the little electric heater running all night last night. Yesterday morning I turned the main heat on when I got up – it was only 50 in here! Warms up nice during the day though.
Saw on the news that there was a shooting in a school in a little town not to far from where we live – any people think Mexico is dangerous.
Enough for now – no pictures yesterday – my camera is probably in shock.

Vehicle Permits, Tourist Cards and Potatoes -back in USofA

2011-03-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday a.m..

WE ARE BACK IN U.S. of A
We got up early yesterday and left Sonora RV in Hermosillo at 7:00 – first we had to go south to a retorno so we could get back on Mexico 15D to go north. No problem wasn’t too far and traffic was light. Before we got three miles we encountered the first of three toll booths to the border. 33 US dollars before we crossed the border. This section of the road they should have paid us to use. Either it was in pretty bad condition or under construction with all traffic in either the northbound or southbound lanes. By next year it should be fine.
About sixty miles further up the road was a Military Check point – mainly for trucks.

Usually the trucks all take the right lane and the cars and busses take the left lane and get right through. The truck back up is usually three to five kilometers long! As we approached the area the big trucks were in both lanes at a dead stop – crap.

He is coming over -notice double trailer

Slowly we inched forward. Smaller cars and pickups were pulling off the highway and going up the dirt center medium. Zipping past us. Finally we saw the problem – there was a truck stalled in the right lane and everyone had to go around him. Once past the trucks pulled back into there own lane and we were on our way again.

Just got asked where we were coming from and where we were going at the check point. About a 15 minute delay from first stop to getting through is all.
This section of the highway has lots more topes on it than other sections. So we had to be sure to watch for them. Especially around the little towns of Santa Ana and Magdalena. Made a stop for gas just before Santa Ana – another nice station – this one had a garden with a fountain and a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
And at each tope there was something for sale – from food to copper pots and pans, furniture and even blankets.

the yellow sign is a TOPE warning

We had to turn in our Vehicle Permits and tourists cards before leaving Mexico. We knew where we were supposed to do it – right across the street from where we got them. But we weren’t sure how to do it. Saw the sign – Vehicle Permit Returns – pointing kind of to the right – Nope not there that is a mechanic. Slowly kept going forward – oh there.
In front and to the right of us we saw an official looking area. There were four lanes marked by lane dividers and two small guard type buildings each serving two lanes. Three of the lanes were blocked with barrels. So we took the only open lane – #1 - the narrowest and more difficult to go through as it curved around the little building. Could not see into the building because of the tinted windows. Pulled up to the door of the building. No one came out – nothing. Hum…..Maybe we’re supposed to go to the bigger building in front of us. So we pulled up there and stopped again. The Driver got out with the paper work just as a young female official came out of the little guard house behind us. Bill tried to give her the paper work. No No she couldn’t take it there we had to go back through the lane and stop at the guard house.
But we already did that.
Well you have to do it again I was on the phone the first time. AND you went through the wrong lane you should have gone through the one next to it. #2
But #2 is blocked by a barrel.
Well I’ll move the barrel!
Why didn’t you move it before when you saw me coming?
I was on the phone.
Talking to your boyfriend?
And it went downhill from there. But she won. We had to make a U-turn out onto the highway over the topes and go back through the other lane – she didn’t move the barrel until we were right up to it. At this point I was glad I couldn’t understand what was being said.
When Bill got back in Jennie he was grinding his teeth. Turns out she wouldn’t take the tourist cards only the vehicle paper work. To turn in the tourist cards he would have had to cross the highway (six lanes of traffic) and take them back to where we’d originally got them. Huh?
So anyway….On we went. Stopped and filled up with gas again – at US$ 2.84 a gallon still cheaper than the US.
Through the last Mexican check point.

Into no man’s land and in line for the US border.

Only took 35 minutes to get through. most of that time was spent waiting for the Agricultural Inspector. Thought we were okay this time. Nope he found something – potatoes – can’t bring them into the U.S. from Mexico. Jeezeeee. They were past their prime anyway.
While waiting for the inspector I was moving my camera around and a gentleman dressed all in black with a very big gun knocked on my window and told me I couldn’t take pictures in that area. No problem – I was just putting it away.
So up the road we went – Bill still steaming about the fiasco with the vehicle permit – me wondering what bugs potatoes have. Thirty miles further at about noon we were at Mountain View RV Park in Amado, AZ. They are pretty full with people spending the winter here and heading home.
After settling in we went to the Cow Palace for lunch then back for naps and TV watching.
I was reading and Bill came up to me and said “Yum, Bahia Kino and Huevos Rancheros.” I threw my book at him.
Today we’ll have to do some rearranging – find the US maps and camping books and get out our cold weather clothes as it was very cold in here when I got up. Then have to figure out which way we are going to go home.

Last Night in Mexico

2011-03-22T20:41:00.002-07:00

Tuesday p.m.

We left Huatabampito at 7:30 and got to Hermosillo at 1:00 – 240 miles and 33US dollars in toll. The highway the whole way was pretty straight and flat. Mostly 4-lane divided. Just before Hermosillo it was like driving on a washboard! – the rest of it was pretty good. Weather was nice, not too hot and not too windy.
The only real excitement were the cows munching grass right next to the road and one lone cow that was running across the other lane and center medium towards us. Cowboy chasing her. She crossed our lane behind us though. Kind of funny if it weren’t so dangerous.
Drove through Navojoa – right through town instead of taking the truck route. No problems but one difference in the town. The traffic signals are all gone replaced by stop signs. Wonder what that is about?
We’ve stopped at the Sonora RV park here in Hermosillo – haven’t even unhooked – just plugged in and put Stanley up. Working fine and we even have Direct TV working. Why did I think I missed TV?

Tomorrow we’ll be in Arizona – still a long ways home from there.

Heading north in a few minutes -

2011-03-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday very a.m.
As soon as we get everything ready we'll be on the road again. Our destination for today is Hermosillo - maybe. From there it is an easy drive to Arizona.
Yesterday we didn't do much. Drove around Yavaros and Huatabampo a little. Both towns were pretty quiet. Did see one old man walking down the street with a wheel barrel full of little manta rays. But didn't get the camera out in time.
And found the white pelicans that were missing from Lake Chapala - they are in Yavaros. Dozens of them.
The beach was crowded again yesterday. Lots and lots of family gatherings - kids playing in the sand and water. Music playing. Even a couple of people in the water in boats and seadoos.
There are now six RVs in here besides us. And the restaurant has been full for the last couple of days.
In fact we ate fish and chips [nuggets con pappas] there last night. Still haven't cook our chicken.
Time to get things buttoned down and hit the highway - until later

Why put Chili on everything? Market Day in Huatabampo

2011-03-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

Monday a.m.

Happy first day of spring and Happy Birthday Benito Juarez! – Today is his birthday and a national holiday. All government offices are closed so we are expecting the beach to be busy again. Tomorrow morning early we will leave and head to Hermosillo about 240 more miles north – we say now.
Started using up our pork and chicken products yesterday – Bill fixed our last package of bacon for breakfast. I'll fix chicken for dinner tonight.

Yum

Here we are all by ourselves in El Mirador RV Park.

That is the net they put up to keep the blowing sand off us. And their restaurant in the background. Stanley isn’t up as we are using the parks WiFi. Its fast and doesn’t cut out in the afternoon like our HughesNet does. Very peaceful here.
Drove into town Huatabampito to go to the market yesterday late morning [had to get cookies for the seagulls] and saw these guys standing by the side of the road. No idea what it was about. But we would find out later.

As we got into town we discovered it was Farmer’s Market day – three or four blocks were set up with booths selling stuff – from apples to wheels and everything in between. So of course we had to stop and walk around. Pretty interesting. And crowded.

Several women had set up tables with delicious looking cakes for sale. You could buy a piece or the whole cake.

they looked good

As we walked around we saw more of the strangely costumed and masked people walking and dancing around. Bill asked a lady about them and she told us they are starting the celebration for Santa Semana – the last week of Lent and the week before Easter – getting an early start.

They had to be hot under those masks and costumes.

There were several carts selling mangos. They peel them cut into them to form petals like, put them on a stick and then sprinkle chili on them. Not for me.

Just one of the vendors spaces. Need a tool? a part?

This dapper gentleman is dressed up in his Sunday best. White hat, pressed black shirt and pants and white ostrich belt and boots.

Seemed like everyone from the town was here shopping. Even the very young.

Sometimes I’m glad I don’t understand Spanish. Bill overheard one young woman ask her husband why he brought her to the market place. They didn’t have any money to buy anything anyway. So it was just mean bringing her and the kids here.
Lots of junk food for sale – the always present cotton candy – the pink and blue stuff on the left.

And jicama – haven’t seen it served this way before. It’s cut into round slices, a stick is put in it – like a lilipop then it’s sprinkled with CHILI! Saw a little kid in a stroller happily eating one.

As I mentioned young and old were out shopping. This older couple stopped and looked at just about everything.

After checking everything out we got back in the car and went to the supermarket. While Bill was checking out I happened to notice this. You have to get your toilet paper before you go into the bathroom. Hummmmm

On the way back to the campground we passed a couple of roadside vendors. The hanging things are baskets of some sort. Some looked like they could be cradles.

The beach by the time we got back and late into the afternoon was very busy. People swimming, picnicking, riding all sorts of vehicles up and down the sand.

Sunset as is almost always the case here was beautiful.

A little boat heading home.

And this morning the dolphins were swimming way out.

Yesterday afternoon I watched the Leaderboard for the NASCAR race at Bristol – GO KYLE – he has won the last five races there – 1 truck, 2 Nationwide and 2 Cup races. And has led over 10,000 laps in the Nationwide series and he is only 25! I love to watch him race.
Other than that not much exciting going on. Lot of clouds in the sky today.

Change of Plans we're in Huatabampito again

2011-03-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

Sunday a.m.

The crowded Las Jaibas RV park – 25 rig caravan came in and parked in the back with us. A shot of just a few of the rigs that I took as we were leaving Saturday morning.

Well plans are made to be changed aren’t they?. One thing we can depend on is any plans we make will almost always change.
We are in Huatabampito instead of Las Glorias. Neither of us are really fond of La Glorias – it is a long way off the highway, a nice enough place but just doesn’t appeal to us. So what did we do? We drove further north and a long way off the highway to get here. 356 miles from start to stop, USD$78 in tolls again and eight hours with time out for lunch. We stopped at a Pemex just before Los Mochis and found a great “truck stop” all the amenities – showers, atm, hotel, store, lots of parking and a good restaurant. As nice as or nicer than Flying Js we’ve stopped at.
Not much to say about the drive except it was long. No hills, few curves and mostly four-lane divided so no Kamikaze drivers trying to make unsafe passes. Lots of groups of tiny topes though or as they are called vibradores – a series of little tope. Good name for them as even your teeth are vibrating by the time you get through them.
Not even much in the way of scenery. Farm fields with corn, cane, tomatoes and winter wheat. And a couple of baggie farms – you know where they grow the plastic to make the baggies.

growing plastic

Everything else was just scrub. About half way through the trip the wind came up pretty strong. We were glad to get here.
So here we are at El Mirador RV Park again, and we are the only ones here except for a couple staying in one of the hotel rooms. There were lots of locals on the beach yesterday enjoying the water. One boy got stung by a small manta ray so they took him across the street to the Red Cross station. There are bunches of teeny tiny jelly fish in the water here too – so we stay clear of it.
After we parked the owner of the place had a couple of his guys put up a big black net to try to keep some of the blowing sand off of us. Seems to be working.
This is our hose about 20 minutes after The Driver put it out – no he didn’t bury it in the sand – that is from the wind!

And it is a lot warmer here than it was in Mazatlan. Oh my gosh, we don’t have any crackers to feed the seagulls and by darn I think they recognized the motorhome cause all of a sudden there were a bunch of them out front of us on the beach squawking. Guess we’ll have to make a run into town to the store first thing this morning. (Right now they are walking on the roof – making noise.)
As always the sunsets are beautiful here

Thought this was neat – reflected in Jennie’s window.

And the big full moon over the water – wish I could have gotten a better picture – it was very pretty

And of course sunrise this morning.

Discovered something interesting about my Nook. When we got here the parks WiFi had such a strong signal I didn’t put Stanley up. Thought with the wind and sand blowing why bother. Though The Driver was muttering about not using something we spent so much money on. Guess I should have listened. All during this trip I have been downloading new books from Barnes and Noble with no problem. So I bought, or thought I did, a book in the series I’m reading last night. When I tried to open it I got a message about something being wrong with the payment. What? When I went on line with the laptop this a.m. there was an e-mail from BN that a person can only buy/download new books if they are physically in the US. And if I have a problem with that I can call them. CRAP – The RV Parks system must show it is in Mexico where as our satellite system is registered as being US. And just as a tidbit – right now the parks WiFi isn’t working at all so will put Stanley up later when Bill gets up. So we’ll be using it anyway.
Don’t know how long we’ll be here but probably until Tuesday as Monday is Benito Juarez birthday and it is a holiday. All government offices, schools, businesses etc are closed and everyone celebrates….don’t think we want to be on the road then.
Don’t know if I mentioned it or not but I’ve decided I like mangos so day before yesterday when we went to the market I bought another one. Didn’t eat it that night – so guess what?! For the first time ever instead of getting waved through an Agriculture Inspection we got stopped. I rolled down my window and he pointed at the door and said, “Open!” Okay – got up and opened the door for him. He came in and said, “Frigrater. Open.” Okay. He poked around a little and asked, “Mango? Papaya?” He had his finger on my mango. I answered “Mango.” He shook his head and said “Problem.” Out of my mouth pops, “How can it be a problem we bought it at Mega.” He answered, “No English.” Great – “BILL tell him we bought it at Mega not a fruit stand.” Didn’t make any difference it was a problem we couldn’t take it with us but we could pull over and eat it right them. Well right then I wasn’t hungry for a mango so he got the mango and we continued on - mangoless. As we crossed into the state of Sonora there was another agriculture inspection.

When asked if we had any fruit The Driver told the inspector that they had got it all at the last one. Inspector just laughed and waved us on. So all this reminds me that I have to cook our bacon, chicken and sausage before we cross into the US. Or we’ll lose that too to the US border guards.

Starting North

2011-03-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday

Friday our last day in Mazatlan dawned foggy again but by 8:30, the sun was out and the sky was blue.
We’re waited for the propane guy to come and fill the tanks. Much cheaper here than in the US. Then we went to Home Depot to get a spigot to replace the one that got broken in Guadalajara, Then to the grocery store to get a few things. Didn’t find the spigot will wait till we’re home I guess
Later we put things away in preparation for the journey north. It will take us a few days to get to the US border as we are going to make a couple of stops – we say now – along the way. It is too far to drive to Nogales in one day. Hopefully there will be room in the campgrounds as many, many RVs are headed north now. Right now we are planning on stopping at Las Glorias tonight for a couple of days. It is so far off the main highway it’s not worth just an overnight stop. Then up to San Carlos – another place a ways off the main highway for a couple of nights then maybe Hermosillo or straight on to Arizona. So we’ll have six or seven more days in Mexico then the long trip across country to home.
Wow 25 rigs just pulled in about 4:30 last night and will be here for a week. Glad we are leaving today.. It’s a caravan from Quebec, Canada don’t know where they’ve been as everyone speaks French. Everything from RoadTreks to 40’ motorhomes with tow cars.
Our friend Angelica came over for a while and visited with us. Had leftovers for dinner and Bill watched a movie and I read – just passing the time.
So now it is Saturday a.m. about 6:30 and time to put Stanley down and finish getting ready to leave.

Another quick trip to La Noria

2011-03-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Friday a.m. another foggy morning

We’ve been on the road 129 days now – I’m starting to get antsy to get home. But probably will just complain about the weather when we get there. They are getting a lot of rain.
Wednesday we started out the day by going across the street to the big Torres Hotel and having breakfast in their ocean side dining room. Good food and nice views. It is always amusing to watch the tourists taking advantage of the pool side lounges. It was not really warm in the morning, I had on a light weight jacket, but a lot of them were out there “working on their tans – by gosh.” Guess if you’ve only got a week to get one you best get at it. And while we were eating there was a ladies exercise class in the pool. Made me think about how lazy I am getting. When we get home I’ve got to get busy and do something constructive for my poor old body.
The hotel grounds are beautiful all kinds of interesting plants. This is in the parking lot -a tree that has been shaped like a bird – Bill says it looks like a chair to him – but then what is the birds head with beak doing in a chair?

After eating we drove inland to La Noria. The little town where the major business is leather work. Bill wanted to let the guys there know about the tannery he found in Guadalajara with the good prices.
It is only about 25 miles from the RV park but the temperature was 20 degrees warmer – over 90 there.
First we stopped at the saddle makers

And visited with him a while – since last time we were here he has aquired a little doggy – little being the operative word. He was so cute only two months old.

I want one!

Bill asked if it had any brothers or sisters so we could buy one. Thank goodness he didn't. I want a tiny puppy but I really don't want to be responsible for taking care of it. Kind of like a kid that way.
Then we crossed the street to the shop that makes sandals. Here one of the men is cutting leather into strips for the sandals

A bunch of sandals waiting to be made.

In the front room the owner was working on something I hadn’t noticed before. He was draining the milk out of small coconuts to make purses like the ones hanging in the background..

First the coconuts are drained, then cut in half and the meat taken out. Next tiny holes are punched along the cut edges and then the shells are dried. After drying zippers are sewn between the two halfs and they are painted and lacquered and straps are added.

We watched this man use this foot powered sewing machine – he was doing decorative stitching on a piece for a saddle

And wouldn’t you know Bill found another piece of leather that he wanted but it was an uneven thickness and not very pliable. So back to another old machine to remedy the situation. The machine is around 100 years old and made by a German company. It has been in use since way before the man using it was born.

A short video of it working - looks like it would be good exercise.

Left La Noria and headed back to Jennie. Later that evening we went to Fat Fish for dinner, ribs of course. Then we stopped at a craft fair set up in a big tent across the street from the restaurant. Interesting things in there but all we bought was a CD of flute music from the Andes. I keep looking at exquisite hand embroidered blouses and dresses but jut can’t justify buying one. I’d be afraid to wear it in case I spilled something on it. And they cannot go in a washer and dryer. All hand care. But I saw one that is still calling my name!
Took a drive along the Malecón to watch the sun go down. No clouds so not real pretty. Then back to RV.
Yesterday it was foggy most of the day. We met Angelica for lunch in the Plaza Machado at Beach Burger and had delicious Italian Chicken Salads. We both love the dressing they use. Bill asked the cook about it and the secret ingredient is sugar! They add sugar to the dressing. Everything is better with sugar and/or butter.
A picture of the newly painted gazebo.

Stopped on the way home for bread at Mega and that was our day.

Not doing much back in Mazatlan.

2011-03-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Wednesday a.m. very, very foggy out this morning

Our first day back, Monday, we took it kind of easy. I mentioned that Sunday night we went out for ribs – did I mention what happened to Willie? Driving towards the restaurant we noticed that the intersection was flooded – no way around it so right through it. However it wasn’t just water as soon as we hit it we knew – it was sewage!!! Stinky, stinky sewage. Poor Willie he was covered. So anyway…
Monday we drove over to the old district to downtown just for something to do and to get Willie washed. The Driver had wiped off the door handles so we could get in and out but the rest of him was………We parked in our favorite lot and the guy there said he would take care of the washing. Thank You!
We headed over to the central market – just before we got there I took my sun glasses off to put them in my purse and one ear piece stayed over my ear. Oh Oh –Luckily the optometrist where I bought them last year was just a couple of blocks away. [Talk about timing.] Walked back there and he said No Problem he could fix them. It would take about an hour. He also gave me another pair with plain glass lenses to wear while he was fixing them.
Back towards the central market. On the way there Bill stopped to talk to these chess players.

After seeing all the mango trees all over the place I decided I wanted a mango – I don’t think I have ever tasted one. If I have I don’t remember. So we strolled the produce section of the market. We asked what the dark green knobby fruit was but neither of us understood the answer and weren’t curious enough to try one.

At the next stand we found mangos – they are shades of red and green (for some reason I thought they would be all green.) Got a lesson in how to pick out a good one and bought one to take home with us. Finally tried it yesterday – they are bright yellowgold inside and delicious – I love them.
Passed this dry goods stand they sell everything from brooms to beans. The beans are sold by the kilo. Scooped out of the bin and put in paper bags.

And I had to get a quick shot of a piggy – why is it smiling?

Still had time to waste before my glasses would be fixed so we walked over to the Plaza for lunch. Since we left three weeks ago a couple of the restaurants have been painted and the gazebo was repainted. Looked splendid.

Shy Bill stopped to talk to this young man from North Carolina. He was sitting on one of the benches across from the music school playing his banjo.

And I caught a picture of this hummingbird up in the tree.

Sat down at Beach Burger and had Italian Chicken Salad. Very, very good. And just people watched for a while. The weather is perfect for that – mid 70s.

Back to the optometrist – my sunglasses were ready. While there I decided I liked the ones he had let me wear so we ordered another pair of sunglasses with those frames and a lighter lenses so I can use them in the car and still be able to read maps etc. My “old” ones are very dark for outside. They would be ready the next day and only US$45 with my bifocal prescription. Can’t beat that.
Returned to RV after that. Even fewer rigs here now – some had left during day. Everyone is heading home I guess. And right now I'm watching another one get ready to take off - that leaves 14 of us here.
Ate left over ribs and watched a movie.
Tuesday morning started out foggy too but cleared up by nine o’clock. We phoned our friend Angelica and made arrangements to meet her for dinner one evening then took a ride to Concordia. Bill wanted to see the guy who carves the Wind Spirit faces.
He got a couple more of the smaller faces and the carver and his wife presented us with a beautiful big face as a gift for our home. I love it. Forgot to take a picture of him before putting him in a safe place.
Then back downtown where we had lunch and picked up my new sunglasses. Then back to Jennie for the rest of the day. Bill is rearranging things for the trip home so we don’t have lots of rattles and squeaks on the way.
I actually fixed dinner – chicken and rice – last night as between now and when we cross the border into the US we have to eat up all our chicken and pork products or the US border guards will confiscate them. ?!?! Includes bacon, sausage, and lunch meat? Eggs, chicken and some fruit but all I can remember is apples and we don’t have any.
Our friend Angelica came over to visit us last night and when she left we watched a weird movie with Meg Ryan. Can’t remember the name of it – something about Moonlight I think) She duct tapes her husband to the toilet to keep him from leaving her…..She didn’t even look like herself – one too many trips to the “nip and tuck?”
When the fog lifts and the sun comes out we are going to drive up to La Noria – about 30 miles away. Bill wants to talk to his friend who works in leather there. In Guadalajara Bill found a good inexpensive tannery and wants to share the information. The rest of the day who knows. Just enjoying what’s left of our time here. Haven't been taking many pictures - unless it is very pretty or unusual or interesting to me and I hope to you.
I've been reading another new author, to me anyway, Laura Lippman she writes about a woman P.I. who lives in Baltimore. Light reading and fun.

Let the vehicles with no brakes pass you! Good idea.

2011-03-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Tuesday p.m.
Sunday morning we left Guadalajara bright and early – just after it got light 7:15. Got on the Periferico around 7:30. Arrived in Mazatlan seven hours later – only 304 miles. Not sure what time we got here as we changed time zones again AND daylight savings change was Saturday nite. Found out Mexico does do Daylight Savings time but doesn’t start it until April 3rd this year.
Most of the way here the Autopista was in good shape. The first part of the trip was a four-lane divided highway recently repaved. Noticed this sign - it says “Vehicles without brakes follow the red line.” The red line was painted down the inside lane.

Then the next sign – it basically says “Let the vehicles without brakes pass you.” Sounds like really good advice to me.

The red line has now moved to the outside lane – the sign in the distance says “1 km to the safety ramp.”

This sign says – “Don’t park in front of the ramp.” More good advice. The red line goes off the highway into gravel here.

Speaking of road signs there are some really strange ones here. And a whole lot of them. At one time I took pictures of them and put them on the web pages – four pages of them and I know I missed a bunch. Check them out Link
Once we were into the state of Nayarit the road narrowed down to two lanes – one each direction.

And it was still going over a lot of mountains so if we got behind a truck – we stayed behind that truck. As I mentioned in an earlier post the double yellow center lines and the hills and curves don’t seem to have the same meaning to the truck drivers as they do to us. Up a hill? Well I want to pass this double trailered semi.

this was the time we had to slam on brakes and pull over as there was on coming traffic and he couldn't make the pass

Following behind a 5th wheel heading home. This was at a check point where no one checked anything.

Just some of the hazards of the road. Going around the occasional bicyclist.

the truck is a double semi with two 52' trailers

Following behind a big truck with a torn up tire. Now we wanted to pass!

does he know he has a blow out?

An overloaded pick up stopped barely off the road.

The scenery was pretty though. Mountain, lava fields and farm fields full of bright green tobacco, sorghum with rust colored blooms, tall yellow green sugar cane, blue agave and new baby corn. Bright blue skies with white puffy clouds. And perfect temperature for driving without having to use the a/c. Lots of vendors – dried shrimp anyone? at the lots of toll booths. Seven toll booths in one day – USD$140 -
Drove through the outskirts of Mazatlan and headed to the Las Jaibas RV park again. Got in our favorite spot in the back. Just us there. After setting up and resting a little we went out for ribs and then to watch the sunset over the ocean.

It’s like coming home to be here.
There is another post I just finished right below this one about our second trip to Ajijic to see Jeff and deliver his stuff.

Jeff gets his Stuff and we visit Chapala to look around

2011-03-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday a.m.
Still catching up – Saturday we made another trip to Ajijic to get my winter clothes back and give Jeff his stuff. This time we opened the bag to make sure. Yep! Okay! His stuff.
The road there is a main highway in this particular section it is three lanes going each way. Passed the ATV just tooling along in the middle lane like he belonged there. Guess if horses can use the Autopista ATVs can use the main roads.

Also passed this guy – a little overloaded maybe?

You have to give Wal*Mart credit – 15 miles out of Ajijic is this road sign – road sign as in the kind the government puts up to list off and on ramps etc.

We went right to Jeff’s to give him his stuff then we drove into Chapala to have lunch and walk around the outdoor market there. We had lunch at one of the restaurants on the marina where we’d eaten before. Almost empty and not so good this time.

Last year there were hundreds of white pelicans here but this year didn’t see even one. Wonder where they went? And the lake is really full this year to the the heavy rains they had last fall.
But the company was great. Jeff has some tales to tell about living full time in Mexico. We keep telling him he needs to start up a blog again and share his stories. Every day living is an adventure there. This is Jeff in his billboard shirt. If a billboard along the road doesn’t have an advertisement on it it says Disponible (which means available) with the phone number to call. Jeff’s shirt says Disponible with his phone number on it. Says it gets quite a few comments.

Available

Just walking around the outdoor market. Lots of different things for sale: clothes, DVDs, food, toys, food, drinks, hand made items, food, drinks – yah lots of food and drinks.

She is dreaming about selling her ponchos.

This older man was busy weaving for lack of a better description a fishing net.

making a fishing net

Roasted corn for sale. Jeff says it looks and smells good but is not. It isn’t sweet corn like we’re used to but the corn the farmers in the US feed to the cattle.

And drinks with interesting glasses. You can keep the glass/bamboo, ceramic or whatever. You can get anything from water to hard liquor and mixed cocktails in them.

He is selling juice but like the lady before must not be selling enough to keep him awake.

Just a picture of the dock with some of the little boats that give rides out to the islands and around Lake Chapala.

The area around the dock is really nice. Pretty plants, benches and nice fountains. Last year I posted quite a few pictures of this area Link on the web page. Also wrote about it on the blog. 2010 March

This guy was all made up and posing for pictures. Not sure if he was authentic or not. But he was making money. And that is what counts.

The fisherman with his almost completed net.

We purchased five DVD movies for 100 Pesos around nine dollars. The lady selling them even took them out of the wrapper and played them on her DVD to make sure they were in English. I already mentioned that the one I really want to see (the 2nd time we’ve bought it – The King’s Speech turned out to be in Spanish – Well the first five minutes were in English the rest of it in Spanish! Now how/why did they do that? The other four are fine.

We bid Jeff good bye and had an uneventful trip back to the RV park where we started preparing for our journey on Sunday back to Mazatlan. Tried to watch The King's Speech - ended up watching Wall Stree 2 - or whatever it's name is. Pretty good. M Douglas is starting to look OLD.
Then to bed - Sunday was to be a long day

Some Interesting Sights from Guadalajara

2011-03-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

Monday a.m. - beautiful day in Mazatlan
(in the interest of trying to hurrry up loading time I have not made most of the pictures large size - but you can make them bigger by double clicking on them.)
I’m starting this Monday morning but it is actually about Friday in Guadalajara.
Bill was still looking for a special kind of leather and he also wanted the paint/dye to color it. He called some of the phone numbers he found on the web but they we all out of business or didn’t answer. So he went up to the office to see if there were any listed in the phone book. It just so happened the manager of the RV park used to live in an area where there are many tanneries. They called one and he had exactly what Bill was looking for. So Bill came back with a little map drawn on a piece of paper. “This is where we need to go,” he said as he presented me with the paper. Fired up Streets and Trips and started looking for the place. We found it and even figured out how to get there. Again the area was right near downtown Guadalajara. When we got here we figured we must be in the right neighborhood. These are hides lying on the ground drying.

We found the place we were looking for and the owner, Ramon, was only to happy to help Bill with what he needed. The hides he was buying were very irregular in size and had small holes throughout the hide. Ramon explained he had a machine that measured only the area of actual leather, not the holes or irregular parts. So he showed us how it worked. This is the machine with a piece of hide going through.
Close up of machine

You can barely see the tiny sensors underneath the measure the leather. If there is no leather it doesn’t measure it.

If you take a piece of paper and cut a hole out of the center and put the paper through the machine it only measures what is left of the paper not the missing piece. The machine is “very old.” He told Bill that it is left on all the time and every once in awhile they will hear it go “zipppp” when something like a roach or mouse goes into it by mistake. ICK!
A table piled high with skins – some not colored some already dyed blue, yellow or red. Bill got the uncolored ones.

Next Ramon took us to a shop around the corner that sells all the necessary chemicals, dyes etc for finishing the skins. This is Ramon, in red shirt, owner of shop and The Driver. The owner of the shop has a degree in Chemical Engineering.

We were there for quite a long time as Bill got instructions on how to paint/dye the leather and picked out what he needed. Both men were so helpful and were willing to take all the time necessary to make sure Bill understood what he needed to do once he got home and started on his projects.
My cousin asked what Bill was going to be doing and I found it very hard to explain so I’m including a couple pictures of items that were made using this process. (Bill did not do these - are are for sale in galleries) From time to time I’ve included other pictures of this leather work.

all molded leather

While I was waiting for The Driver I saw some very interesting things in the neighborhood. This was one of many pickups delivering hides to the various tanneries nearby. Kind of disconcerting the first time I saw so many pig? skins piled in the back of a truck. Did not smell good either.

right from the slaughter house I guess

Then I head the most gosh awful noise coming down the street. Cannot describe it. Loud, loud clanging sound. It would stop and start anc continued to get closer.Turned out to be the garbage men. Two guys with big “cow bells” were ring them.

see the bell hanging from his belt

They were walking in front of a modern garbage truck.

As they rang their bells the people would bring their garbage out and give it to the men, along with a tip of course. It was explained to us that the garbage cannot be left out on the curb because there are too many stray dogs and they tear into and scatter it. Then the home or business owner gets a fine for garbage being scattered out front. This method works much better.
Also watched the mail man deliver mail. Along came a young guy on his bicycle with an open basket on front. He’d stop at each house – didn’t see him stop at any businesses – and either put the mail in a receptacle or hand it to someone from the house. His uniform consisted of a faded red and green shirt that had an official emblem and wording on the front.

When I mentioned this to Jeff he said their mail carrier in Ajijic has a motor scooter and if there is no mail box he just throws the mail over the gate into the yard.
Once we finished our business there we went downtown and parked and walked around some more. Watched these guys unload a pickup full of produce for a Chinese restaurant. What made it interesting was the truck was stopped on a very narrow one way street and traffic was backed up for a couple of blocks. And believe me people here let you know when they are impatient. Lots of horns blowing.

We stopped to eat lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants in the plaza in front of the Cathedral. While sitting there we saw a strange sight – well not really strange – more something one wouldn’t think of. A clown came along and sat down to have his shoes shined. His big, black bulbous toe shoes. Never though about that before.
A couple of views from downtown. In the past years I’ve post many pictures of downtown. A nice fountain

The front of the Teatro Degollado.

And we watched the horses and carriages go by. Much to my delight and surprise The Driver stopped this one and we took a sightseeing ride.

Our driver

One street he took us down was lined with stores selling formal gowns and wedding dresses – block after block of them.

Then he took us past one of the older wealthy residential sections. Many of the homes have been beautifully restored.

Some of them have not.

A quick shot of us going by reflected in a window.

The horse didn’t seem to mind the traffic at all. The carriage driver has a piercing whistle he would blow if someone got in his way.

The end of our ride. The horse is 14 years old and has been pulling a carriage for about ten years. We asked the driver and he said it only takes a couple of months to get a horse used to the traffic and noises of downtown.

I asked why there wasn’t any horse poop in the streets so we were given a lesson in horse diapers. This contraption fits up under the horse’s tail and has a slide with a pouch at the bottom that catches the poop. The poop has to be disposed of in a special trash container.

He told us that years ago his kid used to follow him on a tricycle and scoop the poop up. Much better system now. And if you don’t do everything you are supposed to do there are big fines.
Stood and watched this man for a while. He is recementing the stones in the church where small pieces of cement have fallen out.

Walking back to the car we passed this group of people sitting out in a closed off street knitting and crocheting. Men and women alike. The whole area was full of shops selling yarn, thread, sequins, ribbons and such.

The altitude was getting to us by then so home we went to relax the rest of the evening. When we got home and I opened my e-mail I discovered the letter from my cousin about leaving him my clothes instead of his - so we knew what we would be doing on Saturday - going to Ajijic again. Next post Ajijic and Chapala.

Arrived in Mazatlan - Stanley cooperated.

2011-03-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday p.m.
Well we made it to Mazatlan. Got here about 2:30 mountain time. Left Guadalajara 7:30 central time. It was 304 miles and we stopped once for gas and SEVEN times for toll booths. USD$140.00 now that is a little much. The road was mostly good but a lot of it was only two lanes. A when trucks pass trucks in front of you on an uphill curve with double yellow lines it gets scary. The Driver had to slam on the brakes and pull hard right once. Luckily there were wide shoulders.

double yellow line? what double yellow line?

We are back at Las Jaibas RV – there are only 17 other rigs here now. Stanley went up and locked right on. Good boy. All the way here every time The Driver saw the Mazatlan sign he would yell RIBS. So we got set up, relaxed for a while and then at 4:30 went out for RIBS for dinner. YUM.
Then went out near the lighthouse and watched the sunset. Beautiful.

Tomorrow I'll try to catch up again with our last day in Guadalajara and our return visit to deliver Jeff's clothes and the time we spent in Chapala.
Also more about todays drive.

Leaving Guadalajara

2011-03-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday a.m.
It is still dark out but we are up and preparing to leave at first light. Today being Sunday we should be able to get out of Guadalajara without a lot of traffic. We are hoping to get to Mazatlan this afternoon. 320 miles of expensive toll road away. 300 miles isn't much in the states but here we have to deal with lots of topes and weird traffic even on the toll roads. But at least much of it is downhill. And the only other big town we have to go through is Tepic.
Don/t know if its the altitude, the smog or some kind of pollen in the air but both of us have been so stuffed up while here we can hardly breath. Have to get up in the middle of the night to blow our noses.
Had a fun day yesterday visiting with Jeff and walking around the Malecon in Chapala.
Bought some movie DVDs from a vendor in Chapala. Did I mention we bought The King's Speech at the central market here. We made sure it had the right region code so it would play but go home and found out it was in Spanish with Spanish sub-titles???? Anyway we bought it again yesterday. Region code - right one. The girl played it on her DVD for us - in English. Goody. So went to watch it last nite - first five minutes were in English - the rest in Spanish with Spanish sub-titles. Guess we just aren't supposed to see that one. So we watch Wall Street 2 - boy he is getting old. All in English no sub-titles.
Will catch up the bog about our last days in Guadalajara and Chapala - either tonight or tomorrow. Saw some real interesting things the last tannery we went to. And with that teaser I'll shut this down and pack it away. Hopefully dear Stanley will go up and behave when we get to Mazatlan.

A day of Duhs - or I guess you could say Oh Crap - Ajijic visit

2011-03-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday a.m. - will be a busy day today
Well Thursday turned out to be a day of Duhs!

A couple of days ago Bill got the plastic bag containing Jeff’s clothes (he had left them with us four years ago when he first came down here with us) out from the storage area and put them in the car. I called Jeff and made sure he would be home. So off we set….
There are two different ways to get to Ajijic from Guadalajara. Go out of the campground and turn right on the highway east to Colima then after about 11 miles take the road to Jocotepec. Or turn left (away from where we wanted to go) go in towards town and take the Periferico across town then turn east on the road to Chapala. Well we took the road to Colima – bad choice. Once we got on the road to Jocotepec we discovered that it was under either construction – adding another lane - or repair – lots of rock slides – almost the entire way.

Lots of rocks down

big road machine

Lots of delays waiting for one way traffic. Lots of dirt and gravel. And lots of wind blowing that dirt around.

will be nice when it is finished

Once we got beyond the highway construction we found more road work in the town of Jocotepec and Gypsy had a fit trying to figure out how to get us to Ajijic – everyway she wanted to go was closed or going the wrong way! Finally made it through town then across the zillions of topes in front of the lakeside restaurants. The Driver was gnashing his teeth when we finally reached Ajijic.
Found Jeff’s place with no problems.

He has a nice “bachelor” apartment with a good kitchen, washer and dryer and little courtyard. Gave him his bag and then the three of us jumped back in Willie and went out to lunch at Mom’s. Mom’s is a neat restaurant that has Gringo cooking as the name implies. I had a BLT and Bill and Jeff had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and biscuits. Yum.
Had a great time visiting. Jeff sure enjoys living in Ajijic. He keeps so busy and has so many friends.
As we were leaving the restaurant we decided to go to visit the campground we stayed in last year AND four years ago when we came here with Jeff the first time. Wow, has the owner, Hugo made a lot of changes.

view from patio of B & B

He is now building a bed and breakfast of four suites at the front of his property. He took us on a tour of it – amazing. To appreciate what he has done you really have to read what it was like four years ago. Link
And especially the pictures of the electric then. Just about the last picture is of the motorhome and jeep parked in the grass.
Also some pictures from last years stay here on the blog Link
So as I mentioned he took us on a tour of his B&B just a couple of pictures to show his imagination at work.
This is a picture of the house he built and put up for sale last year. Taken from the B & B patio

All four of the suites have their own bathroom and patios. This is the sink in one bathroom

This is the wall in the the main room/lobby - very pretty - picture doesn't do it justice.

another view of it.

love the big round window

The banister to upstairs is made from chain

a small part of the kitchen

Left Hugo and took Jeff home and bid him adios. We took the other road back needless to say. Much quicker and nicer trip.
Our second Duh! of that day - Checking my email yesterday afternoon I found one from Jeff it said “I opened that bag of stuff that you brought me. Lots of woman's clothes. Certainly nothing I can use. But, I appreciate the thought”. OH SH** - We had given him my winter clothes that were stored in the same place as his stuff. So today, Saturday, we are going back to Ajijic – taking the Periferico - and bringing him his stuff and picking up my stuff.
Yesterday we spent in Guadalajara - saw some really interesting/different things. More about that later. We are off to Ajijic now.

Glass Blowers in Tonala

2011-03-11T16:38:00.001-07:00

While in Tonala we stopped again to watch the glass blowers. They fascinate me. And how they do it in the heat. Today they were making a medium sized bowl with streaks of differnt colors in it. Enjoy

Taking the glass out of the oven. It was 85 degrees in Tonala that day. There is no a/c in this room - it is open to the outside

Twirling to shape the glass - it is orange because it is just out of oven

Blowing down the tube to expand the molten ball of glass

Glass ball is getting larger - twirling it again

sitting down in chair with metal arm rests. metal bar rolls on rest - blower used tongs to shape glass

hust starting a bowl - shaping blob of molten glass

the box is very hot and has some water in it and a curved form - more shaping of the glass

taking shaped glass to flecks to add color

rolling in the flecks

another bowl being shaped

He is working on the bottom of the bowl

now he is taking the bowl off the metal pole. man to his right has a big paddle the bowl is resting on

bowl waiting for next steps. From here it is picked up and the bottom is smoothed out then it is put into another oven for curing

Continue reading post below for the rest of our visit to Tonala.

A Day Spent Walking Around Tonala

2011-03-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

Friday a.m.
On Wednesday we drove across Guadalajara to the town of Tonala. We visited there last year and I posted a lot of pictures of the items made and sold there. So hopefully this year’s pictures are a little different.
Just thought I post a picture of the road into and out of the RV park. It is rather rough and narrow. A lot of the cobblestones are missing leaving deep potholes of hard, dry dirt. So we just have to take it easy and The Driver has to pay attention to the holes, curves and big trees that overhang it.

Going over the Periferico towards Tonala we get an over view of the city. Lots of smog out there.

But this time we kept the windows in the jeep down even though it would be easier to breathe with the a/c on. Don’t need to get stopped for the tinted windows again. Link
I never stop marveling at the initiative of the people here. Someone has something for sale at every tope and intersection. These guys are selling papers and/or offering to wash windshields. Sometimes there are two or three of them and they can wash your whole car while you are stopped for a red light. Amazing

notice soda bottle sitting on pavement - it has soap and water in it to wash with

Just had to take this picture. The bright yellow flowers of a tree in front of the bright blue of the building.

Turning on to the main street of Tonala some of the interesting stuff for sale. The man and agave plant are made out of metal and the chairs are hand carved wood.

Just caught a quick foto of this guy. Not sure what he is carrying it could be gas, water or juice or something else entirely.

We found an estacionamiento (parking lot- try saying that fast a couple of times) and parked. I have finally mastered the pronunciation of it -.took a while -just too many letters in it. Sometimes it is just easier to pay to park than trying to find a place to to park.
Took lots of pictures of stuff so will try to sort them out and not repeat any from last year. Found these kind of interesting. Don’t know what you would use the gun for but…..

A picture of The Driver admiring “stuff” in one of the shops. In the foreground is a juice stand. They will squeeze it as you wait. Then using a small metal plainer they shave ice off of a block that’s on a table behind them and add it to the juice. Smelled good.

A couple of posts ago I talked about the fake trees lining the streets in Tepic. These are the flowers the trees are made of. These are lite up. Very pretty – the picture doesn’t do them justice.

The next store we came to had wood furniture all hand carved. This is a crib.

And this is just one of the elaborate headboards.

Another store - another thing I liked. Might even be able to make something myself. It is about five feet high. It is a lighted waterfall. The water cascades down the rocks. The lights are top and bottom. Very pretty.

A person could walk and walk around this town and never see everything. Streets and streets and blocks and blocks of things. From the tackiest plaster frog to the most beautiful furniture and paintings and sculptures. If you are decorating a home and can’t find it here it isn’t made. And we weren't there on the busiest days - Market Day.

These remind me of some of the things Chilhuly makes. Like the ceiling in the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas.

Glass balls and bowls

And of course if you get hungry there is the KFC with its ChickyLandia. They are all over. Like weeds.

Speaking of all over – when we were in Applebee’s the other day the manager told us there are even Applebee’s in China now. Imagine that.
One thing while you shop you shouldn’t get hungry. Some kind of food is sold one very corner. This lady is selling candy, nuts and seeds.

They are selling fresh cut up fruit in tall plastic cups.

He has fresh cold coconut milk. Cuts the top off then drains the milk into a plastic bag, sticks a straw into the bag and ties the neck shut.

chunks of ice keep the coconuts cold

Noticed this cart – a metal frame lined with cardboard boxes. Guess it does the trick.

As I’ve mentioned they are inventive people.

Continued walking and looking. We must be becoming a little more used to the altitude as we weren’t huffing and puffing quite so much. Don’t know whether it’s the altitude or the smog but both of us have been really stuffed up and had bleeding noses. Saw this figure and love it me and Day of the Dead things.- she is about five feet tall and all hand painted ceramic.

Another inspiration – these vases are covered with tiny pieces of stained glass. Need to try that when I get home.

Here is a boyfriend for the above lady. He’s just sitting waiting for her.

Finally we got tired of walking around and headed back to the car. Took these as we drove down the street. Both pictures of 2nd floor of buildings. First one has metal horses on it

Second on has Don Quixote sitting on a balcony. Gotta love this town.

Can’t be in a hurry when driving here – narrow streets and people walking in them. He has quite a load.

he has pillows and quilts in plastic bags

Only missed one turn on the way home but figured out how to correct it quickly. Then stopped at Soriana (supermarket) and got a roasted chicken with potatoes, potato salad and coleslaw for dinner.
On Thursday we went to Ajijic to visit Jeff. Today, Friday, today,we are going back downtown. Later I will add a short post about the glass blowers we watched.

My BLING t-shirt

2011-03-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

Said I would post pictures of my t-shirt with the bling (lots of shinny gold paint) on it of Maria Sabina Priestess of the Magic Mushrooms. Here are a couple of pictures of it. Front

And back.

“Doña María Sabina, was the most renowned curandera in all of history. According to anthropologist Joan Halifax (1979), "For many decades she had practiced her art with the hallucinogenic mushrooms, and many hundreds of sick and suffering people came to her wretched hut to ingest the sacrament as she chants through the night in the darkness before her alter."
For more information about her life click here Link – Very interesting.
And I wore it today when we went to visit my cousin Jeff in Ajijic.
My first post of today - about Guadalajara is below this one. Enjoy

Finding Tanneries and visiting Guadalajara

2011-03-10T08:56:00.001-07:00

Thursday a.m.
It is nice in here this morning, remembered to set up the little electric heater before turning in last night. Makes a difference – don’t have to sit on my hands to warm them up to type.
Tuesday we went into the downtown area of Guadalajara to look for and hopefully find a tannery or two for Bill. We had looked up the area on the “Streets and Trips” map and we pretty sure we knew where we were going. It was actually a pretty straight forward drive. East on the highway the campground is on then south on Hidalgo. Hidalgo is a one way street through a residential and small business part of town. A pretty tree lined street.

four lanes of one way traffic

As we neared downtown we got a glimpse of the Cathedral.

Just past the main square we had to turn left and luckily the street I had picked to take was one-way the right direction. And we found the street one of the tanneries was supposed to be on and headed down it. Found the address – oops – just an abandoned building. Bill asked a man on the street where the tannery had gone. Turns out just around the corner. Walked over there but they didn’t have what Bill was looking for but the worker knew who did. Just a short walk a couple of blocks away. Away we went. And found the right place. Teneria Quintero. It was not what I expected. I had expected a big building but it was like a short alleyway with open rooms on both sides.

Tannery

As Bill checked out the leather I took a couple of pictures. One "room" had two or three of these big wooden drums. They are used to process the leather. The hides are put in them with various chemicals – depending on what needs to be done – and tumbled.

One thing they are used for is taking the grease out of the leather – another process is dying the leather.
A smaller tumbler.

Back along the wall are big metal drums of chemicals.

The owner was telling Bill that there used to be hundreds of tanneries in Guadalajara but the government has stepped in and made them clean up their wastes so many couldn't afford the changes and have closed down. Now there are only a couple left in his neighborhood.
Some of the leather in a store room.

Bill and the owner went up to a second floor. I waited wasn’t about to climb the open metal stairs. And Bill picked out what he wanted but we would have to come back later to pick it up as it was still being dried.
As we got back in Willie I set the GPS so we could hopefully find our way back without problems.
We headed towards the historic district downtown. Just made one wrong turn ending up on a dead end street getting there. Passed this plaza with big monument where all the Jacaranda trees were in bloom. They are all over the city.

Purple trees

Parked in the lot under the Plaza de Armas and set out walking to the big central market. Passed the clown – don’t know where he was going. The bell towers of the Cathedral are poking up in the background. And the big building to the right is the 19th-century Teatro Degollado.

Just one of the pretty fountains and old – 1800s – buildings we passed as we walked along the Plaza Tapatía a long pedestrian walkway.

We stopped at Chavas ‘n Charles for lunch. The building was a home in the early 1800s that had 48 rooms. Sixteen of them faced the street.

Inside it is interesting. Lots of Mexican flavored murals and decorations. And it’s a big place – has a play area for children in the back.

We tried Orchata for the first time. Compliments of the waiter as we had asked him what the pink drink the people at the next table were drinking. It is a drink made with rice water, milk, sugar and flavorings. Ours was strawberry. Pretty good – more refreshing then soda.
After eating we walked down to the big central market. This picture of the inside courtyard is for my youngest son – remember the nose bleed? Link

We spent a lot of time in there last year so this time we just wandered around a little. We did pick up a DVD of the King’s Speech and I got a crazy t-shirt. Lots of bling on it – and a picture of Maria Sabina – the Priestess of the Magic Mushrooms on it. Don’t know if I’ll ever have the nerve to wear it – but I like it. Will add a picture of it sometime.
As we headed back to the tannery we passed these carriages. I like the purple one.

Saw these guys using a shovel to fill the baskets with oranges from the back of this pickup.

And this shop that buys gold. Don’t know what the manikin that says “Want More?” has to do with it.

Gypsy was a good girl and took us right back to the tannery where we picked up Bill’s stuff. Then off towards home.
Guadalajara like many big cities in Mexico has an excellent rapid transit system. The bus lanes run down the middle of the road.

The stations are big.

The very modern buses outside of a station.

Just some graffiti I thought was cute.

And passed these two (one is behind the other) walking along with their wares suspended from poles over their shoulders.

When we got back to the RV park we discovered a Big Red Bus had come in. These are tour buses usually filled with German tourists. Called Rotel Tours. Link A very interesting way to travel - don't think I could do it.

The bus

They cooked dinner now they are eating it.

They were back on the road first thing in the morning.
Wednesday, yesterday, we went to the town of Tonala for the day. Will try to finish that post later today. If we don't go to Ajijic to visit Jeff that is.

Lazy day Monday in Guadalajara

2011-03-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesday a.m.

Sun shinny day here. But boy it still gets cool here at night. Think tonight I’ll put out the little electric heater to keep the chill off. But during the day it warms up into the 80s.
Don’t know what is the matter with the Internet. We can get on with no problem so it isn’t Stanley. And it has been doing this since before we left home – even at home. For some reason almost every evening between 6 and 9 we can’t get on AOL at all and IE and FireFox run really slow. Only thing I can figure out is too many people are on Hughes Net at that time and the system gets overloaded. Will try to straighten that out when we get home. I’m pretty sure it is a Hughes Net problem. Hate paying for something I can’t use.
As I said yesterday we took it pretty easy. Did go to the big Mega (supermarket) here and Bill found Mortadella (lunch meat) so he is happy. Also went out to dinner – again at Applebee’s.

looks just like home

The big road/highway between the campground and the stores is really weird. There are very few places where you can get to the stores businesses on the other side of it. There is one cross over right next to the entrance to the RV park where we can get to the other side going east – but we can’t come back that way because of the one-way streets. The next place to cross over going east is about 4 miles a way almost into the city. However we did find a short cut just up a ways. It’s an exit into a private housing and golf area. If we use it we can get across the highway and then make a sharp U-turn on a small road just before the gates into the private area. This brings us back out on the highway going west. Very strange. Yesterday we drove west looking for a laundromat and again it was about 5 miles before we could turn around and come back.
Never found a laundry. One of the ladies working here in the campground said she would take laundry this morning and bring it back to us tomorrow.
Today we are going into the city and try to find some of the leather tanneries.

Long Day - Short Drive to Guadalajara

2011-03-07T19:23:00.001-07:00

Monday p.m.

Well Sunday’s drive to Guadalajara was an experience not worth repeating. All started well as we left the campground at 7:45.

ready to go

A little haze over the mountains but otherwise a nice day.

About four miles down the road we started hearing a tick-tick-tick coming from the left front. Hummm? Continued on a little further until we could find a place to pull off - another couple of miles. Oh, Oh left front brake/wheel very hot. Not good. The Driver unhooked Willie and turned around and headed back towards campground. Got about half way there where there was a big parking lot and pulled off. I followed in Willie. By now the wheel was smelling and smoking – LOVELY. Driver got in Willie and went back to Aticama to find Ramon. He came right away and pulled the wheel and fixed the problem. The cylinder was stuck. What ever that means.
While he was fixing it a pickup pulled up between us and the highway. A family – Mom, Dad and daughter proceeded to set up a watermelon stand right next to the road – and the big tope.

They got plenty of customers.

All fixed. Hooked up again and started out. By now it was 10:30. Ramon followed us to the main highway to Tepic – we stopped again and everything was fine. Ramon gave us his phone number and told Bill to call him if there were any more problems. Okay. Off went up the road to the Autopista. It is a very pretty drive scenery wise. These yellow trees are in full bloom now.

We got about 15 miles when I started to smell something coming from the right front wheel. SH**. Had to continue on until we came to a place where we could pull off. Little town by the name of Cinco de Mayo. Luckily we had cell phone service. The Driver call Ramon. He said he would be there as soon as he could. Before he hung up the phone though we heard him say, “Chingodo!!! Esta muy lejos!” Kind of translated as “Son of a gun! He is far away.” So we sat and waited. Watched this boy up in a tree playing with his friends.

And the girls selling cups of cut of fresh fruit at the tope.

And Bill talked to an old man laying in a hammock in front of a little store. He is 94 years old and remembers when there wasn’t even a dirt road coming through here. Seemed like he was related to everyone who went in and out of the store.
Any way Ramon and his helper showed up. Same problem as other side. Soon it was fixed and we were on our way again – it was 1:45 and we’d made less than 25 miles.
A few more miles and we were on the Autopista. Stopped for gas just outside of Tepic. This was a nice big Pemex with auto and truck pumps, a restaurant and a hotel.

Four toll booths on this stretch of the road. US$64 in tolls. At least the road was good. Seemed to be recently repaved.

We finally crossed in the state of Jalisco.

Into different time zone too. Instead of 4 o’clock it was now 5 o’clock. (I need to mention that in all the time we spent waiting neither one of us thought to have something to eat. Smart huh?)
The highway really started to climb – Guadalajara is 5000 feet high. And we started to see fields and fields of blue agave.

Just before Guadalajara we turned off on to the Periferico around the western side of the city. Then to the Colima highway west. Finally about 6 o’clock we pulled into the San Jose del Tajo RV Park. Sure glad to be there.

San Jose del Tajo RV Park

Got settled in after we found a 30 amp plug that wasn’t being used and that worked. By now neither of us was feeling very good – got to remember to eat!
Tried putting Stanley (the satellite dish) up and he refused to find the satellite. So talked to him nicely and put him down. Didn’t feel like dealing with him. Probably too many trees.
Both ate and hit the sack early.
It actually got pretty cool here during the night.
This morning The Driver moved Jennie a little and I put Stanley up and he latched right on to the right satellite and voila! Here we are with Internet.
Took it easy today – went to Applebee’s for breakfast and some grocery shopping at Wal*Mart.

In Guadalajara

2011-03-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

Monday a.m.
Just a real quick post to say we made it to Guadalajara with some problems - nothing that couldn't be fixed - just took time. It was after 6 p.m. when we got here - of course in another time zone too. Finally found hook ups that work this park is going down hill. Satellite would not lock in last night so just put it back down. But this a.m. it went up and locked on fine.
Only 177 miles and it took all day.
Need to run some errands at WalMart and find a laundry today then I'll post about the trip here.
Alls well that ends well.

On the road to Guadalajara

2011-03-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday a.m. again it is foggy out - the tips of the surrounding hills are shrouded in gray clouds.
As soon as we get our act together we will be leaviing and heading south east to Guadalajara. Our journey today will take us away from the ocean and leave us high up in the mountains - I think Guadalajara is about 5000 feet. We'll take the San Blas road back up to the Autopista and stay on it all the way to the Periferico around Guadalajara then the Colima highway to the campground in San Jose Del Tajo on the western outskirts of the city.
Hopefully when we get there we'll be able to get Stanley (the satellite dish) up and working. For some reason last night he got really snotty and wouldn't work at all. Turned him off and turned him on, put him down, put him up. Worked for a few minutes and then puff.......Maybe something in the air as this morning he is working fine. Or maybe he just doesn't like his name.
Went into San Blas for dinner last nite. Lots of activity going on around the main plaza. They were going to be crowning the King and Queen of Carnaval later. Lots of traffic.
In fact we saw an accident right in front of us. A horse backed up into and sat on a little taxi - put a pretty good dent in its door. The rider got the horse back under control and continued on down the street. The taxi driver meanwhile was out of his car examining the dent and yelling at the policement stanting there to go get the horse. Couldn't hear the words but taxi driver was clearly mad and wanted the horse back rider to come back and pay for the dent. The police just listened to him - looked down the street where the horse was disappearing in the distance. Laughted and shrugged their shoulders. Driver got back in his cab and headed off after the horse. This was at the main corner of the town.
Had dinner and came home to ready Jennie for travel. So need to finish doing that now and hit the road. If we can get signal after parked I'll post again - if not will have to find an internet cafe....
Till then.

Last couple of days at Playa Matanchen, Nayarit, Mexico

2011-03-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday a.m.

Started out bright and sunny this morning but now the fog is starting to roll in from the ocean and the temperatures have dropped. People are already coming to the beach for the day and or weekend. The kids playing in the water and digging in the sand. Parents watching from their blankets or shade tents.
This guy was taking his horse for a run. Had him tied to the truck. Dog was following along behind.

The Driver is outside cleaning the windows in preparation for tomorrow’s departure. It is time to move on we are both getting antsy here.
Yesterday, Friday, was another lazy day. We went into San Blas to visit with Phil and have lunch at the Social Club – Caesar Salads, delicious. We’ll miss his cooking. He thinks he might work the summer in Toronto – so maybe we can see him there.
Driving in San Blas is always an adventure what with the narrow one-way streets; cars parked any where there is a space big enough to fit and the motor scooters and bicycles.
And the bikes and scooters don’t care about the one-way business. They go where they want.

At night it is even more of a challenge as most of bikes have no lights and no reflectors. You hope you see them in time. And most of them have more than one person on them – sometimes as many as four. This scooter has mom and two kids, one in front and one in back.

Only Mom is wearing a helmet

It looks like the community has bought a couple of new road work machines. They were proudly displayed in front of the plaza. Brand spanking new, not a speck of dirt on them.

Haven’t mentioned it before but Mexico has quite a recycling of plastics program in effect. Everywhere there are wire containers for depositing all plastic bottles etc. Seems to be working.

Later on in the afternoon we drove down the beach to Aticama to see Ramon the mechanic. While Bill was talking to him this guy walked by with a wheelbarrow full of pottery for sale. I would have thought it would break bouncing over the cobblestones like it was. Guess it doesn’t.

Back on the beach to go to the RV we watched as these people were piling into this truck – there were 15 that we could count – but know there were a couple more kids we couldn’t see. At least it has sides and bars across the back to hold people in.

Beach taxi

Last night was the prettiest sunset we’ve seen here. There were a few clouds in the sky to reflect the light.

Chip doing a fly by in preparation for landing

The Ultra Lite just took off – no passenger this time – guess he is just enjoying the flying before the fog gets too bad. It already has the tops of the hills covered. Before he could take off he had to ask one of the vendors to move her cart closer to the water so he wouldn’t hit her.

Lazy Days, New Brakes and Good Food

2011-03-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

Friday a.m. Bright and sunny already – going to be a lovely day.

The last two days have been pretty much stayed at home days.
Ramon came by early Wednesday morning with his helper

and got the back brakes put back on. Bill says he did a meticulous job. Checking and rechecking every piece before putting it back on. Got new disks and new pads. He also checked everything in the rear end to make sure there were no problems. There weren’t.

Then they took the front brakes with them – brought them back and installed them on Thursday.
We pretty much just hung around the rest of the day watching all the traffic on the beach.

Dinner time we decided to go into San Blas to the Social Club for dinner again. When we got there we discovered the restaurant was closed until 6 o’clock so we strolled through the plaza admiring all the Huichol beaded jewelry. And Bill stopped to play a game of foosball with three other guys. His team won he says. As we continued walking on I heard my name called “Carol? You are Carol aren’t you? And he is Bill?” I turned to look and saw a very pretty black haired woman walking towards us. It was Weng! – I recognized her from George’s and her blogs. She in turn had recognized us from George’s blog. How great. We felt like we knew her from reading about her for so long. Had a great conversation and met a couple of her friends from the states and her pretty daughter.
We returned to the Club for dinner when it opened and had salad, marlin cakes, steak, stuffed mushrooms and asparagus. Talk about a gourmet meal. Phil come home with us please!
Thursday Ramon and another helper came back to finish the front brakes. Now we’re good to go. The entire job cost $475 US dollars. A third of what it would cost at home.
Jennie is good to go now. We will leave Sunday a.m heading to Guadalajara.
Wondered why we hadn’t seen the car of one of the other people in the campground for a couple of days. Well he had an accident on the way to Tepic to play golf. His car is totaled. He and his friends are okay – bumped and bruised but okay. And luckily the people in the other vehicle weren’t badly injured either. Unfortunately it looks like it might have been his fault. So under Mexican law –“You’re guilty until proven innocent” he is in jail but has a cot in a room by himself. The owners of the campground, El Chaco RV, have been a great help to him and his friends. They are fluent in both English and Spanish so they are running interference with the language barrier. He now has a lawyer, which his Mexican Auto Insurance provided, from Tepic – who doesn’t have a car so they are having to pay for his taxi rides back and forth. And things move very slowly here. I feel so bad for them – this was their first trip to Mexico in their motorhome and they were so enjoying it. Makes you think about how fast things can change.
Good news. He is out of jail and can return to the U.S. when he wants. The insurance company and their lawyer came through for him.
Last night we ate at Chez Jennie – yes, I can still cook. Chicken with onions and mushrooms sautéed in lemon and wine with a side of angle hair pasta and salad – turned out pretty good.

Right now The Driver is outside cleaning some of the dirt off of Willie – poor thing was so dirty – probably missing all the car washes he had in Mazatlan.

Here no one watches and washes your car when you park on the street.
Starting to get cleaner

Last nights sunset is the prettiest sunst (can't begin to compare to Huatabampito) we've seen since being here on Playa Matanchen - the first one with a cloud or two in the sky.

Don't know what we are going to do today.

Another visit to Tepic Tuesday afternoon

2011-03-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

Thursday a.m. - very, very foggy again
Ramon is coming to finish the brake job today. The back brakes are done now he is working on the front ones.
Tuesday we headed back up the hill to Tepic. This time we took the road back towards San Blas and up the highway we came in on. It is not quite as far or as twisty as the road to Tepic. Crossing over this bridge we talked about the first time we came down this road in 1978.

At that time there were women washing their clothes in this river. Click here for link to web page about that trip

A flagger slowed us down as just around the corner were road workers fixing the holes in the road. That means when we leave Sunday the road will be pretty nice – no potholes left.

Check out the flowers entirely covering the roof of this little house.

These trees have just started blooming – they are bright, bright yellow with big puffy flowers.

After about twenty miles we were back on the Autopista climbing up to 3000 feet. Just after passing the toll booth and paying out our 47 pesos toll (about US$4) we came across this guy just meandering down the highway. Wonder what they charged him for a toll?

And do the cane trucks have to pay more because of their height and the fact they keep dropping cane on the road.

This is the way we’ll go in Jennie when we leave for Guadalajara so we continued to the intersection of Highway 15 and Highway 200 – just checking out the directions and traffic. Then we got on the street into the central part of town. For the last couple of years it has been under construction and hard to traverse. It is completely done now and all the effort well worth it.

Whole new meaning of Street Sweepers – At this corner there were 20 to 30 people, a lot of them women, sweeping the street. Even sweeping between the cannonball topes.

They were doing an excellent job and there wasn’t a stray piece of paper or twig anywhere to be seen.
I’m always amazed at how small so many of the stores are. Some can’t be any bigger than 10 x 10. And there is very little lighting inside them. Electricity here is very expensive.

After parking we walked around the main plaza for awhile. These are cocadas, a coconut candy that one vendor was selling. His cart was parked in the street next to the sidewalk.

This man was selling some kind of cooked meat by weight – when he wasn’t taking a siesta that is.

And I saw this darling little dress – Couldn’t resist – it is about a toddlers size 2. So cute.

On another corner we could buy decorations for the house. Large flowers and feathers and branches. It must get heavy to carry after a while.

Walking further if we were hungry we could have purchased tortillas and beans from this vendor. The griddle was almost too hot to walk by.

And if we wanted music – a lot of it was available just walking by us.

The Huichol Indians have a big presence here in Tepic. Just a couple of the men with their beautiful embroidered outfits. We asked last year and were told it takes up to a year and a half to complete the embroidery on one outfit – shirt, pants, belt and shoulder bag.

The women’s skirts and blouses aren’t quite as elaborate but they’re made of a silky material with lots of different colored rows of lace on them.

Discovered something new this time in downtown Tepic that I hadn't noticed before. This yellow building is one of the original buildings here. In 1761 it was the house of the town’s priests. Then from 1792 to 1811 it was the home of a doctor. Now it houses a 3 Hermanos shoe store.

We stopped for lunch at a very fancy hotel with a nice restaurant.

Just across the street from the big pink and white government building. On the menu they had te helado – ice tea - so I ordered some. I should have wondered when two more waiters came over to verify “Te Helado?” “Yes.” Imagine my surprise when I got an old fashioned soda fountain glass full of cool water, a couple cubes of ice and two tea bags in it. One black - the other lemongrass. Eventually they let up enough flavor to make a good tasting tea – but by then the ice had melted. So I kind of got almost cold almost tea.
I love the traffic in the big cities, never know what you’ll almost run into or find. There is “No Parking” in this area – no one seems to pay attention to the signs – in fact some people double park here. And this guy was standing in the middle of the street reading his newspaper as cars flew past him.

On another corner was an old fashioned organ grinder wearing a bugs bunny suit just cranking away!

no monkey though

And at a very busy intersection was this man performing in the middle of the street for the cars stopped for the red lights.

He is waiting for the light to change

His wife and child were standing on the center divider waiting for him.

We took the twisty turny road back to the campground. Most of the traffic was going up the hill so we just took our time going down. Again through miles and miles of mango orchards, banana plantations and cane fields. You know I don’t even know what a mango looks like, I know I’ve seen them but couldn’t describe one if I had to.
Coming through Aticama The Driver decided to take the short cut through the beach instead of the road going way around a couple of hills. Then we just continued on up the beach. Jennie patiently waiting for our return.

We almost got to San Blas before we couldn’t go any further. Once back on the road we stopped to buy banana bread then on home.
Come dinner time decided I didn’t want to cook so we headed for The Social Club in San Blas again. Another delicious dinner – salad, veal scaloppini and home made cheese ravioli. Phil is an excellent chef – wish we could take him home with us.

A Day Trip to Puerto Vallarta

2011-03-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

Wednesday a.m. - very foggy out
Bright and early Monday morning Ramon, the mechanic, and his helper returned to talk to The Driver about the brakes. We surely do need new brakes. Ramon says the brakes were “muy horrible” – very horrible. He assured us that the new brake parts he is getting will be US made not Chinese made. We’ll get the front ones replaced too while we’re at it. Because they would be taking the passenger side wheels off and bouncing Jennie around some before leveling her I put the satellite down. Rather have it down and secure then just losing the signal. So with nothing to do and all day to do it….

We took off and drove to Puerto Vallarta for the day. 180 mile round trip. Yes we are nuts – we’re in Mexico with the banditos aren’t we. (the only thing close to a bandito we’ve seen are the tattooed guys here at this park from LA who moved back to Mexico to safely raise their families.) At least our trip to PV did accomplish one thing. We are definitely not going that way in Jennie. Last summer the rainy season was pretty sever so the road between Aticama and the 200 is in pretty bad shape in places. Where there aren’t potholes there isn't any road. Well I’m not really being really fair – a lot of the road was good just a couple of bad patches where it was impossible to miss the potholes

Can't miss them all

And where we had to go down through a wash as a bridge is still washed out.

nice drop off on the right

The area that was worse is right before Zacualpan. This is mostly low lying watermelon growing country. And the watermelons are ripe now. We saw big trucks being loaded, pickup trucks full of them and they were stacked in big and little piles along the road.

lots and lots of sundias

Got into PV and parked in the covered garage right across from the Malecón. Walked around a bit looking at the great sand sculptures. There were more this year than last. Click on pictures to make bigger.

He is working on this one. Using a straw to blow the loose sand off.

Another one – lizards – one with a frog? on his back. This is the first one I’ve seen using colors.

And this one of the Virgin Lupita Los Bendiga (translates to “Lupita wants you to go with good graces) – lots of sparkles on it

And another one with mermaids.

Not completely finished yet

This one is being worked on. I was surprised to see that they are not all sand. They are built around stacks of boxes. Guess it makes sense just never expected it.

Hadn’t thought abut how they reached the top to work on it either. Learn something new every day.
I love these chairs – take pictures of them every year.

We ate lunch in a restaurant (who shall remain nameless) right across the street from them. We’ve eaten there before and had good meals – well…….mine was fine I had a half avocado with tuna salad, lettuce and tomato – very good. I got served……waited…..waited…..finally started to eat while waiting for Bills meal –Fried chicken and fries in a basket. Finally came just as I finished and it was uneatable! The chicken was like a hockey puck. As long as it took to get it they could have caught a fresh chicken, plucked and fried it. I think they found this one under a barrel somewhere.
Leaving there we ran the gauntlet of hustlers along the shops. Why do I always feel obliged to answer them when they ask questions? Where you from? Is that blouse Mexican? Nice ring did you get it here? Hi cowboy you from Texas? (Bill always wears his hat out in the sun.) Want a good cigar? NO! Seems they can always find something about you to comment on. That’s one thing I like about Mazatlan. Unless you go to the Zona Dorada you don’t get hassled. Enough of that.
Saw this weird tree in the plaza – Looks like roots….

Another thing I always take a picture of – the top of the church. It is so strange to see a church topped with a crown.

Do you think Puerto Vallarta is a tourist town? Most prices are in US dollars – they seem to prefer them to Pesos. AND they even have ATM machines that dispense US dollars instead of Pesos – never saw that before.

We found the tiny store that sells all the Huichol beading supplies and The Driver bought some more wax. Took this picture of one of the “pictures there” This is all done with beads. It's about 2 feet x 2 feet big

Done walking around. Picked up the car and headed home. Back through the tree tunnels – they are so pretty.

And much to our surprise we passed Tioga and George on the road. Guess he is on his way south again.
Got back to Jennie and now all her back wheels are off and she is pretty level. The satellite – I should give it a name – a nice name so he behaves for the rest of the trip. I’ll have to think about it. Any suggestions?
It was a long day – didn’t do anything evening except watch the sun go down and listen to the waves.
On Tuesday we went up to Tepic again.

Sunday on Playa Matanchen

2011-02-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday a.m.

For the first time since we’ve been here it is foggy out this a.m. But the sun is trying to peek through. The families are starting to show up to spend the day in the sand and surf. Don’t know what we’ll end up doing today.
We watched an old movie last night – Written in the Wind – with Rock Hudson and Robert Stack – they sure did over act in those older movies. I discovered another author I like Kyle Mills – we picked up a couple of his books in Mazatlan and I downloaded another one. He has a continuing character an FBI agent always in trouble.

Sunday later – the sun has come out

I’m hoping some of the clouds will hang around and make for a pretty sunset. So far they have been kind of blah – Just a big orange ball sinking into the water. Although last night I did see the “green flash” until then I’d thought it was just a myth.

And the beach is crowded – well for here anyway. Can smell all kinds of bbq cooking and hear all kinds of music playing. Lots of vendors going up and down both walking and in vehicles. Sell all kinds of stuff – one truck just went by selling pork tamales. A kid walked by with a tray of brightly colored coconut candy and another with bread.
Some people are under the palapas others have brought umbrellas or screen tents or just blue tarps.

I’ve been doing some beading – made this necklace but haven’t finished it yet – still have to finish the clasp for it. (I don’t like the one I made it is too big – will have to do it over I guess.)

No sign of the mechanic today – so Jennie sits here with one set of wheels off.

Waiting for new brakes

A couple of quiet days on the Playa Matanchen

2011-02-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday p.m.

Friday was a quiet day. Didn’t do much of anything except go into town for breakfast at where else – The Social Club. Again Phil, the chef, didn’t disappoint – Denver omelet to die for with freshly grated hash browns and toast.

Phil fixing omelet

The bicycle is a very well used mode of transportation all over Mexico – just a few sights from today.
Carrying this blanket on his head. He wasn’t hanging on to it when he was moving.

Awkard load

Child seat? Seat belts? Helmets? Child transportation

We took a short drive on the road towards Puerto Vallerta just to check it out. Have pretty much decided to just go to Guadalajara instead of going south along the beach. Lots of pretty scenery along there – Papaya orchards, mango and banana fields. Pink morning glories everywhere.
This morning George came over and visited for a while and his mechanic happened to show up at the campground while he was here. Introduced Bill to him. Bill asked about getting the back brakes on Jennie done as they were starting to wear. No problem – he could do it here at the RV park. We also need gas before we can go very far. Both gas stations in this area require drives through towns over rough roads. Again No problem.
He left for awhile and returned with a large container of gasoline and prepared to take off one of the back wheels so he would know exactly what he needed to do the job.
George, Bill and I left to go into town for lunch – hamburgers and fries – delicious.
When we returned the wheel was off, Jennie jacked up and the mechanic gone. He’ll come back when he has the parts.
I came in to go on line and NO INTERNET connection!!!! AGGGHHHH! Bill mentioned that I might want to put the dish down and back up again as Jennie was in a different position than she had been in. We are jacked up in the back left so tilted a little. So down it went – up it came – bopped around for awhile and then picked up the signal. Whew. It was here in Aticama where it quit working last year….. It’s amazing that just a fraction of a bit could make it lose its signal. So all is well
Got my NASCAR fix last nite – Kyle won the truck race – Go Kyle – and got the pole for the Nationwide race and so far he’s led 76 of the 77 laps. Now if he would just do as good in the Cup series
Because of the brake job we’ve decided to stay here another week – we'll be here until a week from tomorrow. Maybe I should take another Ultra Lite ride......

Old San Blas - Fort and Church

2011-02-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Friday a.m.
Just wanted to post a picture of our guest for lunch Wednesday. Hopefully George enjoyed his Italian meal.

And a pic of the palapa finished – it should be good for another couple of years.

Just about finished

Thursday we had to go into San Blas to go to the panaderia to get some fresh bread and while there we stopped at the Social Club again for breakfast/lunch. I had bacon, hash browns, eggs and toast – The Driver had a cheeseburger and fries
After eating we figured we’d try to find the way up to the ruins of the old fort and church. Well it wasn’t too hard as there were signs pointing the way – once we saw them. Up a steep cobblestone hill and we were on the grounds. Ten Pesos admittance per person.The view of San Blas from up there was spectacular.

Click to make bigger

The fort’s ruins had to be rebuilt after Keena a category 5 hurricane hit the area in 2002. A view of the rebuilt exterior

Outside in the back – the cannon is not real – made of concrete but gives the idea of what they were using to sink the attacking galleons out at sea.

The interior

Part of the original stone work can still be seen, especially in the corners.

Looking down towards San Blas – lots of palm trees.

This is all that is left of one of the real cannons

In December of 1529 a contingent of 267 Spanish soldiers invaded this area. At that time there were about 60 homes here with about 200 Indians living in them. The Spanish took over and eventually built the fort and settlement. This area was one of the major sea ports at that time. And because of the wood available in the area it was a ship building port also.
In 1768 the Spanish established a naval station here – it is still in operation. From there they sent expeditions as far north as Washington state.
Fray Juinpero Serra left from here in 1768 to establish the California Missions. So it was quite an important little town. Now it has about 20,000 residents in the area. The tropical foliage, estuaries and lagoons are popular with the tourists – us included.

From the fort we went down the hill a little to look at the church. It has not been restored. It was built in 1781 Looking up at the top of the front of the church – trees growing out of it.

Bell Tower

A carving of a man that is up near the top.

Looking in towards the altar. The ceiling is gone but the arch supports remain.

Another look at a couple of the arches.

A niche with lots of stone carving on it.

Looking towards the front of the church from the altar wall

Just one of the old pillars with some decoration carved in it.

These ruins were across the street from the church – Might have been a house?

A pretty flowering tree that we saw as we were headed back towards the highway.

Almost to the RV park we noticed a sign about a Crocodile Farm – of course I had to go.
Up into the hills by way of a dusty rocky road. Finally found it. 20 Pesos to get in. The Driver gave the lady 50 Pesos and she handed me the change which I just put in my pocket. Later I would discover I only got 20 Pesos change Humm 50 – 20 = 20 – new math.
We got to park right at the door to the farm cause we are old folks. Everyone else had to walk down and up a lots of stairs. It has its advantages.
He was just sleeping in the sun

A closer look at another guy/girl

And a real close look.

Wouldn’t want to meet those teeth when he was hungry. Speaking of hungry – they eat two pounds of fish once a week and one chicken a month. The handler told us they have a very slow digestive system. So maybe if you meet one in the wilds he won’t be hungry. Nice to know.
Then back to the RV to watch the activity on the beach. Fixed steak and potatoes for dinner. Was good.

Wednesday - visiting with a Friend

2011-02-24T09:11:00.002-07:00

Thursday a.m.

After Tuesday, Wednesday was an uneventful day (action wise). Stayed at the RV all day. It was pretty cool in the morning – the coolest it’s been since we’ve been here. Last night and this morning are warm again. Other than that the weather since we’ve been here in Playa Matanchen has been near perfect.
I worked on catching up the blogs – especially the Ultra Lite one and around noon George came over for a nice visit. The Driver fixed us a delicious Italian lunch. Fresh bolillos (buns) with chimichurri dipping sauce. Italian red sauce with meatballs and gnocchi and salad. He even did the dishes. What more could we ask for – beautiful weather, good food and great company.
Two Class B RVs pulled in for overnight so now the park is almost full – only one full hook up space is empty (there is another RV in one of the no hook up spaces) – of the six RVs here all but us are Canadian .
Today will probably be another relaxing. Have to go into San Blas to the bakery – other than that…….Maybe I can talk The Driver into finding the old fort that is somewhere up on a hill there.

Flight in an Ultra Lite - Another one off the "bucket list"

2011-02-23T16:19:00.002-07:00

Still Wednesday afternoon -
Tuesday flight in an ultra lite.
About 5:00 the wind had let up enough to take up the Ultra Lite. The pilot Chip told me to dress warm – so I put on long pants, long sleeved shirt and my fleece vest. And headed over to the “plane” Chip was doing his pre-flight.

Pre flight check

The “plane” - that's going to take both of us up in the air and keep us up there?

I"m going to get in that and do what!?

Me all dressed up and waiting to go.

First Chip put the thick earmuffs on me and then a helmet with a clear visor. The earmuffs had a speaker and mike attached so we could communicate while in the air.

Got my hat and pants on - Ready to go.

Getting strapped in. A seat belt and a place to put my feet. Chips seat belt also came across my chest. So I figured I wouldn’t drop off anyway. Seemed kind of strange not to have any “walls” around me though. The thought crossed my mind that maybe I shouldn’t be doing this. Too late.

Off we headed.

Bye Bye

Taxing down the sandy runway - other wise know as the beach

Had to stop at the end so Chip could remove some poles that might obstruct our landing. Oh good – wouldn’t want anything to obstruct the landing.

A quick shot of the instrument panel.

Not much there.

He got back in and told me to put the visor on my helmet down we were going to take off!!!!!!
Bill took this as we took off – WOW all of a sudden we were headed UP UP…..

After I let go of the seat belt strap I started to take pictures – God I hoped I didn’t drop my camera. But Chip made me put the strap around my neck before we took off. We headed north towards San Blas – some of the country side with the houses

A lot of the pictures you will see Chip’s hands and or elbows in.

Still going north but the wind had really picked up so he turned us around and headed south.
Going over little town of Aticama - starting to really enjoy this now. The wind was wanting to push my head back so I kind of hand to hold the helmet down with one hand and take pictures with the other.

Aticama

Lots of palm trees and vegetation.

Mango orchards

Just a shot of the waves and trees

blue blue ocean

Can see a long way now

Looking south towards Puerta Vallerta

Looking out towards the ocean and setting sun.

Unfortunately the wind was picking up even more and it was starting to get a lot colder so we turned around and headed back. Going over Aticama again

Coming in for the landing – had to go around as there were people in the way this time.

Here is our landing. I was holding on to the camera for dear life. Flight was over way to quickly.

A picture of my intrepid pilot Chip

Thank You Chip

This was kind of like my ride in the race car - over way to quick. I wouldn' hestate to do it again - for a longer time.

Ride in a panga - Ocean and Mangrove Forest

2011-02-23T10:19:00.001-07:00

Still Wednesday a.m. This is my 2nd post today. First post is below this one.
Tuesday morning we watched the work on the palapa for awhile. They were putting up the palm fronds as all the wood and string had been replaced.

Then we went into San Blas to the harbor to take a panga ride out on the ocean. A panga is a little fiberglass boat with an outboard engine – the fishermen use them for fishing. The panga we were going out in.

The one on the left is our boat

The ramp down to the boat was the most thrilling part of the ride. Each plank sagged differently as you stepped on them.

Hummmm???

Our boatman/guide Fabian.

We went past the light house on the way out. It sits on an island that is 30 miles long and most of it is empty beach.

We were going out to the rock in the distance

The Piedra Blanca de la Virgin del Mar – The white rock of the Virgin of the sea

Statue of Virgin on top of it.

Why the rock is white.

Lots and lots of pelican poop. Right now the pelicans rule it – a month or so ago the seagulls were there but then the pelican drove them off as they are bigger and meaner according to Fabian. But soon the seagulls will be back.
The back side of the rock – facing the open sea reminded me of a little dogs head laying down.

Puppy face

But as we continued around the rock the side of it formed a man’s face. Fabian called it Jesus Christo. Kind of looks like a fisherman with a hood and beard to me.

Then Fabian pointed out a school of sardines – it's where all the silvery ripples are. There were several schools of them out there. I always wondered how the fisherman found them, now we know.

Silvery ripples on the left

There was a shrimp boat out there too. He was anchored in one spot. They stay near shore during the day and go out to fish at night. This one was from Mazatlan and will be in the area for about a month.

All the birds on the lines. Look like little flags from a distance.

Leaving the ocean we went a ways into the Mangrove Forest. Some information I looked up about them if your interested link It was so peaceful there. Saw lots of different birds. Some Cormorants in the trees

An eagle eating his lunch

Another majestic bird in a tree

Saw lots of these and took lots of pictures of them.

Then we came across this wreck. It happened during one of the bad hurricanes nine years ago. Took it from the harbor and deposited it here where it still is today.

fishing boat wrecked in hurricane

Just a shot of some of the trees and their roots.

Some more birds

Fabian says this is a falcon – taking his word on it.

An area with a lot of dead trees – again caused from the hurricane.

Another bird.

One side of the river is black mangrove

The other side red mangrove

Poking our nose into a little inlet. All you can hear is the soft ripple of water and the songs of the different birds. Once in a while a boat with some fishermen in it would paddle by.

Too soon heading back towards shore.

Back at the RV park the shelter was almost finished. Bill got out his kites for a while but the wind didn’t last very long.

And it was TIME FOR MY ULTRA LIGHT RIDE

San Blas and The Social Club restaurant.

2011-02-23T07:40:00.001-07:00

Wednesday a.m.
I think I'll do two posts today cause I want to share what we/I did yesterday asap.
Monday morning dawned bright and sunny. We decided to go out to breakfast at a restaurant we had heard about in San Blas – The Social Club. It is right across the street from the main plaza.
- You can click on a picture to make it a little bigger -

It has a bar downstairs and a restaurant upstairs. Excellent food the chef is from New Jersey! The owner from New York. It also has an Internet connection. And a library of English books.

The efficient kitchen in The social Club

After breakfast we walked around town a little. Noticed that the main street heading west had been completely repaved in town. They used the same pavers that were used in Tepic.

A little sand on them

And the next street over between the plaza and church is all dug up being readied for repair.

Major construction going on here

The Government Palace had been repainted inside

And out since last year.

Lots of vendors stalls

The bell tower on the right hand side of the new church has finally been completed

But the old church is just getting older.

Continued walking towards the market place. Lots of big fresh fish for sale.

BIG fish

And I’ve been threatening to buy The Driver a sparkly t-shirt. Thought one of these would be great. Especially the Priestess of Magic Mushrooms one. He didn’t think that was funny – though he did stop and look at it.

This little girl with a great big doll walked by us. Then turned around and stared at us as we went by her. The doll is almost as big as her.

Back into the car and a drive to the small harbor. While there we checked on taking a boat ride – either out in the ocean or up the river through the Mangroves. It would be something to do one day.

When we got back to the RV park we noticed another motorhome had pulled in. Gee it’s getting busy here.
The palapa next to us is being redone too. All the old palm leaves have been taken off it and some of the wooden support beams are being replaced.

Of course Bill went over to investigate. He asked the guy why he was using string to tie the cross beams together and not using the plastic zip ties.

New string holding wood together

Simple answer “the wood and palm leaves rot so they have to be replaced every couple of years no matter what. The zip ties and the string both would have to be replaced at that time. The zip ties would cost about US$35 the string costs 50 cents.” Economic sense. So much for advanced technology sometimes it isn’t the best way.
Was going to cook dinner but Bill talked me into going back into town to the Social Club instead. Didn’t have to talk too hard. We hand a scrumptious meal – Veal Scaloppini, small roast potatoes, asparagus and salad made with ingredients fresh picked from a garden that morning. We both cleaned our plates good enough to just put them away.
Weather was perfect all day – what more could we ask for.
Yesterdays adventures coming soon - ocean ride in small boat and my ride in an ultra light plane.

Revisiting Santiago Ixcuintla's Mural and the Central Market

2011-02-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning already
When we got up Sunday morning there wasn’t any whale on the beach so hopefully he is okay and back with his family. But there were lots of people on the beach. Vendors, trucks and cars, lots of laughing kids and music. So we decided to take a road trip to Santiago Ixcuintla.

In one little town we ended up behind this humongous piece of farm machinery.

I don’t know how he managed to make it through town. He had to keep dodging cars and trees and going over topes and around people on bicycles. The street was narrow for us. But guess he was used to it.
We went through lots of tobacco fields. Some with the tobacco hanging on ropes to dry.

Lots of tobacco fields

Just before reaching Santiago Ixcuintla we started seeing some of the Indian men and women walking along the road. Always with the man leading and the woman a couple of steps behind him.

The outfits of the men are works of art.

Once in town we parked and walked along the two block long mural again. See last years trip for more pictures of it. There are a lot of pictures of the mural here Link
We stopped and talked to a very knowledgeable gentlemen and learned that the information we’d had about this being a large population of Huichol Indians was wrong. Actually there are more Cora Indian families there now. They are known for their embroidery work.
We also learned more about the Mural. One side of the street represents the history of the state of Nayarit. The other side the history of Mexico. This is just part of the side reflecting Mexico’s history.

History goes from right to left

On the far left of this section of the mural is the only figure that doesn’t represent the history of Mexico. It is the black round circle. When they were building the Mural in 1991 they were to this part of it when on July 11 in the morning there was a complete solar eclipse – so they included it in the mural.

Solar Eclipse

Supposedly next week they are supposed to start some much need repair work on it. I hope so it would be a shame if it was let got to ruin.
We walked around the plaza some. Looking at some of the beaded Huichol jewelry and the gazebo and church

Main Plaza church in background

Walked around plaza

The imagination of the people here never ceases to amaze me. These are light bulbs hanging from the trees – got to be pretty at night.

Tree lighting

Across the street is an old concrete building with lots of arches. Can’t really see them but the ceilings are painted a light peach color.

We continued on to the Central Market. I stopped at this houseware section – first because of the colorful display and then noticed the morteros – the stone bowls with the grinding stone and next to them the silver tortilla presses.

A little further down the aisle we saw this box of adorable baby chicks. Again a few of them are colored with food color. The lady selling them really tried to get us to buy a couple. Could you see them running around in Jennie?

So cute

As we got into the grocery section this caught my eye – have never seen anything like it before in all the markets we’ve been in. Even the regular shoppers were looking at it askance. One little girl held her nose as she passed it.

no comment

Leaving there we headed back towards the car. Passed the government palace and I had to go in in search of a mural. At first I thought they didn’t have one! But then I saw it at the top of these tiled stairs.

The mural wasn’t too big but was still impressive. The Indian, the Spanish Conquistadors and the Padres – not sure about the naked women –

Looking up the rest of the stairs to the second floor. Interesting ceiling.

Back outside heading towards the car we passed these interesting families .

Keeping baby close

As we pulled in to Jennie we noticed Ms Tioga parked down the beach from us.

Ms Tiogo on the playa

And just a few minutes later we had a knock on the door and George had come to visit. Spent an interesting hour or so talking with him.
Just out for a ride.

The beach was still full of families enjoying the surf, sand and sun until the sun went down. A vendor cart heading home in front of the sunset

The end of another fun and interesting day in Mexico.

Trying to Save a Whale

2011-02-21T08:15:00.001-07:00

More Monday a.m. The Whale Tale
Sometime after we left for Tepic and before we got back to the beach a small whale managed to beach itself.

Boat and People in the water

As we pulled down on the beach we could see a commotion in the water. There was a fishing boat close to shore and a whole lot of people out in the water. Some were running back and forth between the crowd and the boat.

When we parked Bill asked what was going on. He was told that a whale was stuck in the sand. So of course I had to pull my shoes off, grab my trusty camera and head out there.

Keeping the whale wet and out to sea

As I got closer I could see that the people were trying to push the whale to deeper water (the tide was coming in) but with no success. The ones at the boat brought a big rope to the whale – tied it to him and the boat tried to pull him out as people pushed. The rope broke.

The rope broke

I got a little closer trying to keep my clothes dry but a bigger wave came in so….any way this is about as close as I got. You can see the whales back and dorsal fin.

And here you can see his tail.

In the mean time everyone around him was trying to keep him wet and as far from shore as possible.
Eventually another smaller boat came and between the two of them they managed to pull the whale out into deeper water and get the ropes off him.

The two boats working together

Haven’t seen him since.
I hope he is swimming happy with his friends and remembers the people of Playa Mantanchen who cared so much about him.

The beach at Playa Matanchen, Tepic and Save the Whale

2011-02-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Monday a.m.
Saturday morning I got up in time to see the full moon before it set. Nice sight.

Full moon setting

Watched a fisherman come in and unload his catch into his pickup on the beach. Then he used the pickup to relocate the boat up out of the high tide line. And the beach in front of us is used as a highway – all kinds of traffic in the mornings.

The vendors are out early on weekend mornings too. Getting set up for the day.

Truck going to work and an early vendor

As you can see we are just a small wall away from the beach.

Bill, Willie and Jennie on the beach

A video of the sounds of the beach – the waves and birds. Turn your speakers on.

Looking down the beach towards Aticama

Looking up the beach towards San Blas.

Looking towards San Blas

Because the beach will be crowded with weekenders and noisy we decided to take a trip into Tepic about 40 miles away inland and up the mountain. The road is a good newly paved two lane road. The only problem is it is very curvy – I don’t think there is one 100 foot stretch of it without a curve. The vegetation is very lush. In places the trees grow together to form tree tunnels.

Tree tunnel

There are zillions of mango trees all over the mountains. i can't imagine how they harvest the mangos as the trees grow on the sides of steep mountains. The only thing I can think of is they shake the trees when the mangos are ripe and they all fall off and roll to the bottom of the mountain and then they can be picked up.

Mango and banana trees

And trees with beautiful flowers on them. White ones, yellow one, red ones and these gorgeous pink ones.

And trees with a real reddish colored bark don’t know what it is but it is pretty.

Red barked tree

Banana trees with the little bananas on them.

There are a couple of little towns to go through – this one has a bright yellow church.

Just before Tepic we passed the ladies that sell all kinds of fruit. Stopped to buy some lemons – yes real yellow lemons. their fruit stands look like works of art. so many colors and so well displayed.

Like a still life work of art

And we bought a whole bunch which The Driver juiced with his handy dandy little juice machine when we got back to jennie.

Once into downtown Tepic we noticed that all the road construction has finally been finished and the main street is now paved with dark shiny square pavers. Looks like driving on a very expensive black marble. Quite impressive.

Nice new street

We parked right across from the main plaza

Looking at Plaza from church

Which is right across from the Cathedral. We saw this same view a little over 32 years ago. Link

Looking at church from other end of plaza

Then walked around some. Of course stopping to check out the small street where the Huichol Indians make and sell their jewelry. One of the women beading – I got one of the dolls. Fell in love with them.

Got the doll on the right

Another lady in her elaborately embroidered blouse also beading.

Some of the bead work.

Beautiful woven bead work

As we walked by one of the older buildings I noticed this information sign in Braille. At one time I could write Braille but have forgotten so much all I could read was the number 2010 – (the first four letters on the second line – first the sign designating the following letters are numbers (the backward looking L) then the numbers 2 0 1 0 Wow.

Another addition to downtowns beauty are the fake trees that line the main street.

They are very pretty – the trunks and branches are a thick dark brown cord of some type and the flowers of the trees are plastic with tiny lights in them. Must be really pretty at night.

After picking up the car we went to WalMart – of course – managed to get behind this loaded cane truck. There is a big sugar plant between downtown and WalMart. These trucks leave deposits of cane everywhere. Especially at topes.

Back on the curvy road home. That is the road next to us after a hairpin turn.

And just one of the curves.

I’m going to try to use YouTube to post a video of the ride but it is kind of long so may not work. I was only going to film until we got to a straight part of the road. Finally just had to stop. Deceided to post it separately. It will be either before or after this posting. It will take a while to watch but its interesting.
Just wanted you to notice the guard rails – oh that’s right there are no guard rails. And the mountain is straight down.

You thought I was kidding – this is just a small part of the GPS route.

Once at the bottom of the hills and on our way back to the RV park we saw these beautiful Birds of Paradise – they were bright red. All red no orange or blue.

Then these fence posts that have taken root and started to grow. .

From Aticama The Driver made the decision not to go the long way around the hill to the RV park but to go the short way over a dirt road and across the beach. Much much shorter distance.

Beach shortcut - Jennie is the small white dot in the center

In the distance by Jennie we could see a commotion in the water. A fishing boat was close to shore and a lot of people were out in the water. What the heck? Check next post for answer.
I sure hope someone is reading these.

The road to Tepic - a Few curves

2011-02-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Dancing, Playing with Fire and Ulama in El Quelite

2011-02-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday a.m.
Before I chronicle our day yesterday I want to go back to Thursday and our fun time in El Quelite. Because the cruise ships are coming in again the shows for the tourists in El Quelite have begun again and we were lucky enough to be told when one was going to happen. Again it was a foggy day in Mazatlan but as we headed inland the sun came out and it was beautiful. I mentioned last blog that new bougainvilleas were being planted along the road into town. But before the rest of them can be planted the roadside brush needs to be cleared away. It is all done by hand with a machete.

Piles and piles of it. Can you imagine a US road worker asked to clear brush with a machete?

Just as we got to town we had to stop and wait for the traffic to cross the road.

got work to do

We had a reserved table in the restaurant – right up front. The waitresses waiting for the tourists to show up.

And then the show began – it was great. First a traditional Folkloric dance from Sinaloa – the area we are in. Two couples – the girls in dazzling full swirly dresses with their hair woven with ribbons.

The guys in tight black pants, cowboy boots and white shirts with red neckerchiefs.

Really neat dance – lots of strutting and twirling and fast music.
A short video of the dance

Then one of the couples did The Mexican Hat Dance – this is from the Jalisco area. Cute dance.

The final dance was from the northern area of Mexico – A Ranchero dance

After the dancers the Ulama players did a purifying dance with fire. Amazing the way they handle the flames and don’t injure themselves.

Fire in his hand

Fire around his leg

Passing the fire from hand to hand

And here is a clip of them handling the fire.

After that a ritual dance with four characters. The one with the eagle wings wins.

The winner

Then it was time to move outside to the street where the game of Ulama began. Ulama is an Aztec game. One of the oldest continuously played sports in the world. The ball can only be hit using the hip.

each man is on a different team

I posted a video of this game just before this post. It takes a while to upload but is worth it.

On the way home we decided to go to the grocery store for some last minute stocking up on things. We made a wrong turn as were trying to figure out where we were when a city policeman pulled us over. He said we were speeding (at most other times I would have agreed with him, but because we were trying to figure out where to go we were going very slow.) The Driver feigned not speaking Spanish but when the policeman saw his license and name – Guillermo – that pretense went out the window. The procedure is. The policeman writes a ticket and takes your license. Then the next day you go to court pay the ticket and get your license back. Well we were leaving the next morning bright and early – Guillermo told the polite policeman that as he took 200 Pesos out of his wallet. Well there was a solution – and it would be better for us. If we went to court the speeding ticket would be 500 Pesos. But we could pay the ticket right there (as long as we didn’t want a receipt) and it would be only 200 Pesos. Hummmm. So of course we paid the nice policeman right then and we both left happy. That’s the first time in four years we’ve run into that.
Finished our grocery shopping and went home and got ready to leave.

The game of Ulama in El Quelite

2011-02-19T09:00:00.001-07:00

This is the game of Ulama. El Quelite is one of the few places in Mexico that it is still played. It is played with a heavy solid rubber ball. I can testify to that as a stray ball hit me in the foot and it hurt. The ball can only be hit with the hip. These two guys were pretty good.