Well that was an adventure!

Yesterday's blog was posted late because we got sidetracked into an adventure! If you missed yesterday's, here it is... https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2025/11/the-cost-of-entrance-is-happiness-and.html

And now... the adventure...

The cost of entrance is happiness and a smile

We woke up Tuesday morning, and we were the only ones in the park other than a few employees cleaning up a little trash left over from the long weekend.

But it was time for us to move on as well. Just to another part of the park to access some different hiking trails.

Beautiful views, and some crazy rock climbers

We've pretty much exhausted the hiking trails that are within walking distance from where we are, but decided to stay another day anyhow.

And good thing we did, because we found a nearby viewpoint that wasn't marked on the maps... and only a half hour walk away!

Just another beautiful day in Mexico...

We totally forgot that this was a long weekend here in Mexico!

Today is Revolution Day... a federal holiday. So when we saw a few more tents set up that looked like they were staying the night, it finally clicked. 

It's actually quite busy!

The last time we were here in March of 2020 it was only a two night stay and those were Wednesday and Thursday nights. It was pretty quiet then, and our group were the only people here. 

But we arrived on a weekend this time, and it's actually been quite busy. There are even tenters braving the chilly overnights.

We have finally returned!

The last Mexico RV caravan that we did was just ending when Covid began at the end of March 2020. Hard to believe that was five and a half years ago!

Anyhow, one of our favorite campgrounds on the trip was in El Chico National Park.

Hiking in Parque Los Peñas de Dexcani Alto just north of Mexico City

We are about 70 kms (42 miles) as the crow flies north of the center of Mexico City.

Yesterday, we went hiking in the nearby state park. Uphill all the way!

Trip in to town, and good news!

We did the 6 km (3.7 mile) walk into the town of Jilotepec yesterday morning. It was an absolutely perfect day with mostly sunshine and a high of 21C (70F).

First stop was Parque Urbano Las Sequoias... a municipal park.

Felt great to get out for a hike!

This was only supposed to be a short stopover to break up the drive to El Chico National Park, but it turns out that this is a worthwhile destination itself.

Yesterday we went for a nice walk... about 6 kms (4.2 miles) through the forest in behind the campground.

First day adventures

I figured we might get on the road around 10:00am, but that turned out to be too ambitious. It was just after 12 noon by the time we got going! A very late start for us.

We weren't going that far... only 153 kms (95 miles), but it's a three hour drive!

Ran out of gas!

We're taking off in our campervan Igor for three weeks. We're heading to El Chico National Park in the state of Hidalgo to do some hiking. 

It's going to be cooler up there... calling for highs of 19C (66F) during the day and only 4C (39F) at night. Perfect hiking weather though!

Lots of visitors

We started loading everything back into Igor to get ready to leave tomorrow. A few more items to go, but it's mostly kitchen stuff that we need to use in the house as well, so that can wait until tomorrow morning.

The main job remaining is to give him a bath! He hasn't been washed since last May! 

Never again!

As long as we own some kind of campervan, there are two things I'll never pay someone to do. The first is to wash it. I have never paid someone to wash my motorhome. If I'm still able to drive it, I'm still able to keep it clean myself!

And the second is an oil change...

There's a reason the lake is full!

Because we've driven by it before, we knew there was a waterfall that you can see beside the road that leads to Avandaro. We were going into town anyhow, so decided to do a little detour to that waterfall because we had been told of a trail that leads up to another waterfall.

There's always something interesting going on

The house we are renting is located at an actual working marina. At this marina, the boats are not kept in the water. The marina stores the boats on land, normally under cover, and when the owner of the boat wants to use his boat, he calls ahead and the marina gets the boat out of storage, cleans it up, and puts it in the water ready for the owner to use when he arrives.

Most boat owners live in the nearby cities of Toluca and Mexico City and come here on weekends. So obviously things are busier around here at that time.