The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Cuitzeo, Mexico

We seem to have a problem getting on the road early. We left Bugamville RV Park at around 10:00am, but we keep on saying to ourselves that on travel days we really want to be on the road by 8:00am.

So we have a goal to change that!

Today, we backtracked to the road that leads south to Morelia. We’re not planning on going into Morelia, but the the area leaves us with a few choices, and we haven’t quite figured out direction from there. More on that tomorrow.

We use a 2008-2009 Guia Roji Mexican map book. It’s pretty detailed, and probably the best road maps that are avaiable of Mexico. But, it is 2 years old. And, our GPS unit works pretty good with the major roads, but doesn’t include any residential areas. But I’ve noticed that it’s maps aren’t very up to date either. And usually, I’ll check out Google maps to just confirm where we want to go. These seem to be the most up to date.

But today, the three venues of information together didn’t give us enough.


Heading south towards the town of Juventino Rosas, one map said there was a bypass around the town. This is fairly normal. We got to an intersection and we both agreed to turn right around the town. We even pulled over and checked. The road was not on the GPS, but it was a logical detour around the town. It was a good road and scenic. But when we realized that it didn’t go where we figured, it was kind of too late. Not a big deal, we just adapted. We were heading straight into the city of Salamanca (pop 160,000).

We were quite a bit further west from where we wanted to be, so rather than go through town we got on the toll road heading east. Just to enter the highway, it cost 86 pesos ($7.35). Then, we found out that the very next exit was the one we wanted and there was another toll booth. I tried to explain in my broken Spanglish that we had only just paid. Turns out they have a procedure for this, and when I handed him our billeto (ticket) from the first toll booth, he gave us 65 pesos ($5.55) change back.

At the toll booth, we pulled over for lunch. There was a truck and 5th wheel RV also pulled over here…another Quebec couple. We have to give the Quebecers credit. We have seen more of them than we have Canadians and Americans put together. Yeah, I know, Quebecers are Candians too! We said hello to them, and between our English and broken French and Spanish, and their French and broken English and Spanish, we had a coversation. Too funny.

Once again, the toll road was in great condition. It was expensive though. We paid 342 pesos ($29.00) for the next 80 or so kms (50 miles). They keep wanting to charge us heavy truck prices, where we are supposed to be charged autobus prices. I’ve argued the fact three times now, and have won each time despite our limited Spanish.

There is supposed to be a Mexican American guy building a new RV Park in this area and our Mexico camping book detailed his contact info. We tried with Skype, but couldn’t get through. We ended up parked at a Balneario (hot springs swimming) and paying 100 pesos ($8.50) for the night. Hopefully we can get in touch with him tomorrow because he apparently knows of a few free spots we can stay in the area. Whiskey isn’t happy because much of the ground here has “espinas” (prickly burrs) that get caught in her paws. But it is a pretty spot as you can see!



Todays drive...177 kms (110 miles)

11 comments:

  1. Poor Whiskey, I wonder how old Iron paws Rigg's would do. So far nothing has kept him from a good run or swim. Looks like beautiful country. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna...

    ReplyDelete
  2. We are really enjoying your travels! The descriptions are very good and the pictures and even better. Continued safe travels.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your early start plans sound just like ours! Haven't made our planned departure time since June!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Please go into the town it is a Pueblo Magicos and very pretty, walk in though not in Sherman, enjoy Les

    ReplyDelete
  5. Poor Whiskey....we ran into that in Myrtle Beach...every few hours we had to pick them out of Lilly's paws..love your blog and pics....wish we were there!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Whiskey,
    I have this same problem with those burrs. My Mom has really small feet so she just put some of her socks on my feet and duct taped them up around my ankles, I didn't like it but at least I didn't get burrs in my paws. I also hate those stupid booties for dogs cause they look so lame but the socks well, they look cool! Maybe your mom could buy some baby socks in Mexico for just this occasion! Let me know how it works out for you. Glad you're enjoying the sun, I'm really enjoying the buckets of snow that keep falling here in Whistler.
    Mojo

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice looking spot your camped at. It's been fun following your travels through Mexico. Sure hope Whiskey finds a place to walk where those prickly burrs don't get her.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow what a sunset! Beautiful spot, but hope you find a soft spot for whiskey to walk.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sam and Donna...I'm not sure how Rigg's would do, but I guess the Mexican dogs just get good hard pads because it doesn't seem to bother them. That or they know to stay away from them.

    John and Ellen...Thanks!

    Art and Gillian...One day we will do it!

    Les...Couldn't do it. We had already crossed the toll bridge and we were going to cross back over and then over again. Maybe we will catch it in another visit. We turned around before entering the actual town though, we could see it wasn't somewhere we wanted to drive into with Sherman.

    Rick and Elaine...With Whiskey it is almost every step and she will have one.

    Mojo...Thanks, Mojo but my Mom doesn't think socks would help. These "espinas" are very, very sharp and would go through the sock with no problem, although they might help by not letting them get between my pads. They would help you though with all the salt they will put down for all the snow you are getting. I don't like the salt either.
    Whiskey

    Rick and Paulette...She is looking forward to the beach in another week or two.

    Tony...Thanks! BTY Whiskey had a good walk today with no "espinas", just a lot of dust on an old mountain logging road.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great scenery. Beautiful spot in the picture above. Stay safe.

    ReplyDelete

There are more comments on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TravelwithKevinAndRuth

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.