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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Arrived at Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan

We've been to Mazatlan a couple of times before, and we've been to Isla de la Piedra once before, but without the motorhome. This time, we're staying at Isla de la Piedra with the motorhome, but we have no interest in going into the city of Mazatlan itself.

A bit of an interesting drive to get here, and not one that we'll ever make again!

We didn't have far to go yesterday...only 100 kms (62 miles) or so. We got an early start and were on the road by 8:30am. First order of business was to make our way through the city of Escuinapa (pop 30,000). We were on the free highway 15, and a lot of trucks use that highway so the route through town wasn't too difficult.

Driving through Escuinapa.

After Escuinapa, the libre (free) road is in good condition. 

Scenery along the way.

Some sections have a lot of topes (speed bumps) though!

A field of young agave plants.

Before we knew it, we were at the turnoff to Mazatlan airport. This is the route that you need to take to drive to Isla de la Piedra. It's not really an island...not sure why it's called that. Probably because the only logical way to get here is to take a boat from the Mazatlan port. You can do that easily, and it's the way that most people come here. Because if you absolutely have to drive, you have to take a 13 km (8 mile) dirt road that's in horrible condition.

And there's an RV park here with some people that we wanted to visit, so we had to do that drive!

As with many photos, this one doesn't do it justice. The road is much worse than it looks!

Getting ready to pave one small section.

The road is scheduled to be paved in 2015, but they've only begun work on one very small section. I'll be surprised if it's finished by the end of next year. In fact, knowing how quickly things like this happen in Mexico, I'd bet against it!

It took us an hour to do the 13 km (8 mile) drive. Terrible. Unfortunately, we do have to make the drive again, because it's the only way out of here!

There is one RV park here, called "Tres Amigos". There are two sections to it, and it's really just a gravel parking lot with hookups. But the attraction is the front row of sites that are located with a beachfront view. These sites are usually full, with RV'ers who come in order to stay the whole season.

But with prices quoted in U.S. dollars, and at dry camping rates of $20 USD (or 250 pesos, which actually adds up to about $18 USD) per day, it's not our style. We simply couldn't see what we were getting for our money other than a parking spot and use of the showers and bathrooms. So we decided to look around.

We parked, and went for a walk.

Cruise ship in Mazatlan port.

There are actually a lot of places that you could park for free. But it depends on your level of comfort, and we didn't think it would be totally safe to leave the motorhome alone while we visited with friends so we needed a little bit of security. Then, we found exactly what we were looking for.

A woman named Margarita who runs a little taco stand and palapa restaurant on the beach. She's really friendly and with a big smile and said that we could park the three nights for a total of 200 pesos ($16.50). That's only 66 pesos ($5.50) per night. Sold!

We'll make sure to eat at her little restaurant at least once while we're here. Perfect little spot for us, and we can even use her beachfront chairs and hammocks. Now that's our style.

A little difficult to get to, but no worse than the 13 kms dirt road!

We were driving through when we had to wait for traffic to clear up!

All parked up. GPS 23.18783 -106.41111

Now, the reason we came here? Friends Chris and Juan are here for Christmas and it was going to be our only opportunity to see them on this trip. Also, we get to meet up with some other bloggers and blog readers, and that's always fun too!

We found Chris and Juan (helping themselves to food!) at reader Carol's (with her dog Bandi) birthday party! Nice to meet some new people here.

We then went to Colin and Contessa's place to watch the sunset.

And the six of us went out for dinner to a little local restaurant. Ruth and I each had enchiladas. For only 50 pesos ($4.10) each. Great meal deal!

And so we're here for two more nights and then we head up into the mountains.

One of our readers bought a reversible RV Patio mat from Amazon. This is on our list of things to buy when we get into the U.S....





23 comments:

  1. I think Rae from A Life by Design is spending the winter there.

    http://www.raecrothers.ca/blog/

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    1. Yes, we'll be meeting her at happy hour this afternoon!

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  2. Merry Christmas Kevin and Ruth. Looks like a fun three days ahead.

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    1. Thanks Peter, it has been a great three days!

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  3. You have got to met "A life made simple" Derek, Teresa and their beautiful daughter Cassia are there too. I saw it on their blog that Chris and Juan were with them. Small world, here in Missouri that 3 blogs I follow are together for Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and Ruth! Safe travels

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    1. We've met Derek and Teresa before. You must have read an old post. Actually , they're at Zihuatanejo, about 900 kms south along the coast. So we're not anywhere close to them!

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    2. Hi Patti! Actually there were 5 of us bloggers together for Christmas here in Mexico two years ago - including Kevin and Ruth and Chris and Juan. As Kevin says, we are much further south then they are and missing the blogger get together in Mazatlan!

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    3. Too bad you weren't here to join us this year Teresa, it was another fun one!

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  4. Happy Christmas to you both, xx

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  5. Merry Christmas to you guys. Enjoy the Isla and say hello to our friends there,
    We stayed there in RV2 for 2 months 2009-10. Nice spot but the road in! Forget it, and like you said the camping was not cheap, by any means. More than we have ever paid.
    It was a fun place though.

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    1. We passed on the hello's for you George and many of the campers here remember both you and Suzie.

      Yep, the park is definitely expensive but I guess if you are staying for a long time the monthly rate is a little more reasonable but we really love our spot that is further down the beach and would rather stay here than at the park itself any day.

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks Karyn we had a lovely one. Hope that you did too!

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  7. Enjoy your Christmas Eve! Fun to meet up with folks for Christmas, even if the drive is a bit painful.

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    1. Thanks Bob, we had a great Christmas Eve!

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    2. Thank you Bob, we had a great Christmas Eve!

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  8. Xmas greetings from Australia - have a fun time with your friends over the holiday season. Safe travels in 2015 and thank you for your efforts in blogging in 2014. Your travel information is always informative and interesting. Merry Christmas to you both......lesalp.blogspot.com.au. ...

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    1. Thank you Leslie, we had a wonderful time with our friends over Christmas. It is always nice to spend time with friends, especially when we can't spend the holidays with our family.

      Hoping you had a great Christmas and that you have a Happy New Year.

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  9. Merry Christmas. Contessa has mentioned how horrible the road is but their views sure seem to help make up for it.

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    1. Merry Christmas Jim and Sandie, sure hope you had a good one. Yep, the road is terrible and other than making the trip back out again we won't be making the trip back in unless the road is paved even with the beautiful views! We are happy that we have been enjoying ourselves though!

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  10. Merry Christmas, Kevin and Ruth AND Contessa and Colin - we read both blogs - enjoy!
    Connie & Barry in PA

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Connie and Barry, we all had a great Christmas, sure hope that both of you did too!

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