Private, Keep Out, No Trespassing, Beware of Dog

We went for a bike ride yesterday morning. It seemed like longer, but it was only for an hour. Still, we got 15 kms (9.3 miles) done. It sure is enjoyable to ride decent quality bikes.

From Lake Corpus Christi State Park, we rode outside the park boundaries to the small lake-shore community of Lake City.

Missing the sunshine

During the four months we were in Mexico, almost every single day was blue sky and sunshine. Now that we have crossed the border, it seems the weather changed immediately. It hasn't even been a week since we crossed, but we are missing the sunshine already!

However, our batteries and solar panels are still keeping us powered up.

Work Camper Position at Cabri Regional Park

This is the park that we managed for four summers in a row. So we're just helping them out by advertising that they are looking for some help. You never know who might be reading!

They're looking for a work camper, single or couple.

Here's the deal...

Some bird watching at Lake Corpus Christi State Park

It was supposed to be cloudy with sunny breaks yesterday, but the sunny breaks never came. We never saw the sun all day. And, they were calling for rain showers after lunch.

So, with overcast skies we set out on a morning walk to do some bird watching.

Relaxing at Lake Corpus Christi State Park

That's what we're doing for the next four days!

Yesterday morning, we left Freer, Texas and headed towards the thriving town of Alice, Texas. Found a place near downtown to park Sherman, and went for a walk to see what there was to see.

Back on our own...

Well, we are on our own again. Everybody said goodbye to each other yesterday morning and we each went our separate ways. After spending four months traveling with a group of other RV's, it's a little different to be heading off on your own.

And so with no schedule to keep, (other than being at Austin, Texas airport on the morning of the 19th) we set off a little later than normal, headed in the direction of Lake Corpus Christie State Park.

March Expenses and 4 month Mexico Expense Review

Well, we just ended four full months in Mexico. So, a good time to go over our expenses with you for that period.

But first, let's start with the month of March itself. We had a good month financially. We spent a total of $1,461 CAD ($1,100 USD) for the month. But, I need to caution that does NOT include campground fees which were covered by the RV Caravan group that we ran.

Just a relax day with some rain.

Yesterday was a lazy day. We woke up to rain, for the first time in four months. And cold. And windy. I think we all wished we had stayed in Mexico.

The rain was actually kind of refreshing. Didn't mind that, and we had electric heat inside the motorhome, so we were toasty warm. The rain let up around 10:30am and we figured we had better go out and get some fresh air.

Crossed the border yesterday...

And we are now back in the United States.

We had a good night's sleep in the parking lot at Garcia Caverns and we headed out at 8:00am. We had to make our way around Monterrey, and we took the very expensive cuota (toll road) to do it. Cost was 196 pesos ($10 USD, $13.50 CAD) to do the 20 km (13 mile) stretch. But, the road was in great shape and not much traffic. Worth it to avoid the Monterrey traffic.

Visit to Garcia Caverns

Yesterday, we headed from Saltillo to Garcia Caverns. Just a short drive of 83 kms (52 miles), but it involved a bit of bad roads going through the town of Garcia.

Ruth and I had been to Garcia Caverns our very first winter RV'ing in Mexico. At the time, we had camped out for the night in the parking lot at the base of the caverns. We figured we would be fine doing the same thing with the group, and we were.

We don't splurge very often

Yesterday morning, we took the group to central Saltillo. It's not the most exciting city, but the central area is still worth a visit in our opinion.

Some of us walked both ways, about 3 kms (1.8 miles) each way, and others took Uber.

Getting close to the border

Yesterday was the longest drive of our four month trip. We did 375 kms (232 miles) yesterday. Normally, that would be a super long day of driving in Mexico, but the route between Zacatecas and Saltillo has long straight stretches of 4 lane highway, so you are able to do most of it at highway speeds.

We set out at 8:00am with slightly overcast skies...

Well, our Mexico RV Caravan trip is winding down

Yesterday was a relax day. We never left the Hotel/RV Park. Puttered around, checked the tire pressure... had a nap... that kind of thing. We had been in need of a relax day, especially since today is a long travel day.

We only have three more nights in Mexico!

Finally made it to the mask museum!

I think this is our fifth visit to the city of Zacatecas. After the first one or two, we learned about the Rafael Coronel Mask Museum. It's located in a beautiful old Monastery that was built in the 1500's.

But every time we have gone to visit it, it has been closed!

Back to the scene of the crime...

The day started off saying goodbye to Wendy. She's headed to the border a couple of days early because her fridge went out and we think it needs a new board. Also, she's flying back to Canada and wanted to give herself a few extra days in Texas.

La Quemada Ruins, and arrived at Zacatecas

We headed out of the Las Fuentes Water Park at around 8:00am. An early start considering it was less than a three hour drive to Zacatecas. But, we wanted to make a detour to show the group the interesting La Quemada ruins site a little bit south of Zacatecas.

Ruth and I had been here before... back in March of 2009, almost exactly ten years ago to the day!

Splishin' and a splashin'!

What a fun day we had yesterday!

We had stayed overnight Thursday night at the Parque Acuatico Las Fuentes (Water Park) in the middle of nowhere near Colotlan, Jalisco, Mexico. And we planned on staying overnight Friday night as well to give ourselves a full day of Friday fun at the water park.

Terrible roads and fantastic scenery!... photos updated!

We set off at 8:00am from Etzatlan.

We had to head through the outskirts of the big city of Guadalajara in order to take our exit road heading north to Zacatecas. This was going to be a new route for Ruth and I, and of course the rest of the group as well... normally we would take the Mex 54 highway heading north through Aguascalientes... but this time, we were happy to try something new for us.

One of Mexico's amazing natural wonders...

Yesterday, we did a day trip to Piedras Bola... the Stone Balls. It's a little known natural phenomenon that apparently has only happened in two other places in the world.

And it's not easy to get to!

And then there were six

Our Mexico RV Caravan is getting smaller as Brian and Kathy headed to the beach this morning. They live in British Columbia and decided to take the shorter (for them) west coast route out of Mexico.

So now we are only six rigs and 10 people!

Yet another fantastic day in Mexico

Yesterday morning at 9:00am we set out with our hiking partners Bob and Denise, with a goal of getting to the overlook behind the town of Etzatlan. Ruth and I have done this walk before, and it winds through the valley with a steady uphill gain on a quiet dirt road.

Once again, it was a beautiful day with clear blue skies. High 28C (82F), low 9C (48F).

And now we are seven...

Our group of eight RVs in this Mexico RV Caravan is now down to seven. Sadly, we said goodbye to Garth (http://wanderingwserenity.blogspot.com/ ) as his sister came up to join him to the trip down to Puerto Vallarta to visit family.

Also, he lives in California, so it makes sense for him to head up the west coast to California instead of up to Laredo and then through Texas.

Tequila!

We are close to the famous town by the name of Tequila... only about 40 kms (25 miles) away. But we've decided not to take the group there. Ruth and I have been before, and we found it a bit touristy, and with touristy prices to go along with it.

So instead, we found a local distillery in the next town. And what a great choice that was!

Only two weeks left!

We originally had five nights planned here at Delia's Trailer Park in Etzatlan. But there is so much to see and do here, and everybody likes it so we are extending our stay to seven nights.

Another reason that we have this flexibility is that we had been planning on visiting the city of Aguascalientes, but there is only one RV option close to the city and they have told me that they only have three available sites. So we've changed the route a little bit and we are cancelling Aguascalientes. That left us with a few extra nights.

Happy to be back in Etzatlan!

Yesterday, we did the drive from Chimulco Water Park in Villa Corona to Delia's Trailer Park in Etzatlan. Uneventful drive, but we took the route through the mountains just for the views. Ruth and I have been this way a couple of times before.

We think this is our fourth or fifth visit to Etzatlan.