A change of scenery for Sherman

We had such a quiet night parked up overlooking the canyon. A truly fantastic boondocking spot. We had hot chocolate and then breakfast, and then decided to walk the rim of the canyon here at Divisadero.

It's about 3 kms (1.8 miles) from the Divisadero viewing point along the rim to the cable car and activities center.

Yesterday...more spectacular stuff!

Yes, the rest of our day yesterday was just as spectacular as the first part.

We had asked about doing the longest zip line in the world, and the cable car in the canyon. It turns out that they're doing scheduled maintenance on them today and tomorrow, so if we really wanted to do them, we would pretty much have to do them yesterday.

Copper Canyon Train - What a spectacular day!

Well, as the title says, yesterday turned out to be one heck of a day! We got up early at the hotel in El Fuerte because our driver was picking us up at 7:40am to bring us to the train station in time for our 8:15 train back into the canyon. Except by the time I finished writing yesterday's blog post, we didn't have time for breakfast, and figured that we would grab something from the snack car on the train.

The train arrived on time, and we were lucky to get seats on the right side of the train!

The Copper Canyon train - Divisadero to El Fuerte

We got on the road fairly early from Creel. We knew the train didn't leave Divisadero until about 1:30pm, but we still had to get there about an hour away, and we didn't know for sure that we would find a secure spot to leave Sherman alone for the night.

Filled up the propane tank as we left Creel. It was a little expensive, at 8.21 pesos per litre but we knew we still had a few more chilly nights so better to have enough propane.

Sometimes we are too cheap for our own good!

When we woke up yesterday morning, the temperature outside here at 8,000 ft (2,400 meters) altitude was -5C (23F). Even worse, it was only 2C (36F) inside the motorhome. To make you understand how cold that is, it was one degree warmer inside our refrigerator!

Brrr.

Wandering around Creel, Chihuahua, Mexico

We relaxed for the morning, and also brought our laundry over to the office. They said it would cost 50 pesos ($4.10 CDN) to wash, and 50 pesos to dry. They only have big industrial sized machines because it's the laundry they use for the hotel. We had a lot of stuff to do, including sheets, but we managed to get it all in to one load.

For 100 pesos ($8.20 CDN) it was worth it to have it all washed, dried, and folded.

Guachochi to Creel - Wow!

We had heard that yesterday's drive was going to be scenic. They weren't kidding! What a spectacular drive! It was only 150 kms (93 miles), but it took us four hours and fifteen minutes. We rarely got over 60 km/h (35 mph) because the road was so curvy. We think it's more curvy than the Devil's Backbone highway we did at the beginning of the month. And, that does include a lunch stop and a couple of rest stops.

But again...what a drive!

Another great overnight spot!

It's always fun when we start a drive not knowing where we'll end up staying the night. It's only very rarely that we end up somewhere less than ideal. Most of the time, we're pretty happy with our overnight spot. And then occasionally, we really luck out!

We almost didn't drive yesterday. It was really foggy in Parral when we woke up, and part of the reason we are taking the route that we are is because we had heard about the fantastic scenery. Which you can't see if it's foggy.

Parral, Chihuahua. Another city worth a visit.

We only had a short drive yesterday. From Pancho Villa's hacienda in Canutillo, Durango we would drive north about 80 kms (50 miles), crossing the border from the state of Durango into the state of Chihuahua to the outskirts of the city of Parral. Should only take an hour or so, right?

Wrong.

Shake, rattle, and roll!

We were a little late hitting the road yesterday morning because they locked the gate at the western movie set parking lot. Of course it's a good thing that they locked it...only problem was that we had to wait for the guy to unlock it!

Still...we were on the road before 10:00am. With a bit of a long drive ahead us...

The day did not start off well...

But thankfully it ended up okay.

You'll remember that we had been parked up for two nights at the back of the parking lot at the City Express Hotel in the eastern part of the city of Durango. We were getting ready to head out relatively early yesterday morning. We were pretty much all set to go, and I turned the key to fire up the engine.

Nothing but a "clunk"!

The city of Durango, Mexico. Worth a visit!

I can't believe that people from the rest of North America don't visit the city of Durango, Mexico. For some reason, it's not on the traveler's radar. I know why RV'ers don't stop on their way south, it's because there are no RV parks in or near the city.

But that doesn't stop us!

Into the city of Durango!

Up around 7:30am yesterday morning. Put the furnace on for about 45 minutes to take the chill off until the sun started warming things up. We had a couple of storms pass through overnight and even had some hail beating down on the roof.

But we woke up to blue skies and sunshine.

Fixin' Friday!

(Third blog post of the day! If you missed the previous two, you might want to read them first.)

Yesterday was "fix it" day!

Once again, we didn't get up until almost 8:00am. This is unprecedented for us. We're almost always up between 6:30am and 7:00am. I know, we had a one hour time change that we're maybe still getting used to. And, it was another chilly night.

I got up and put the furnace on, but crawled back into bed for another 15 minutes while things warmed up a little.

New Year's Day. Parque Ecologico El Tecuan.

We slept in this morning. Possibly something to do with the one hour time change, but more likely to do with the fact that it was a little chilly and we really didn't want to get out of bed!

We figured that we would make a quick hot drink and get on the road right away, letting the engine warm up the interior. So we got things ready and fired up the motor. When it was a little warmed up, I switched on the heater fan.

Nothing.

December Expenses

Definitely a more expensive month than we had planned. We had a string of bad luck with things going wrong, and then Ruth's tooth problems towards the end of the month to top it all off!

I know...many people will think that $1,860 CDN is not a bad month considering where we were and what we did. But still, we're about $500 higher than we should have been.

Let's take a look at the breakdown...

Back in the mountains!

What a day we had! We drove the old Espinazo del Diablo (Devil's Backbone) highway that runs from Mazatlan to Durango. There is a new toll highway that opened a year ago, but it's very expensive and apparently the road surface isn't in very good condition, so we decided to take the old twisty windy free road instead.

And we're glad that we did...what fantastic scenery!

Fridge back on line, but dental work not finished yet...

First, the good news. Our fridge is cooling once again!

What a job it was to figure out the problem though. It was driving me crazy because it didn't make any sense. I would actually wake up at night thinking about it because I felt like I was missing something. It took a lot of work today, but eventually I fixed the problem.

Bad refrigerator. But a good dentist!

Yes, we have a bad refrigerator. But it is certainly more important to have a good dentist!

The gas burner on the fridge has been giving us problems for the past week. It was getting worse, and yesterday I took it apart yet again when it got to the point that it wouldn't effectively keep the contents cold.

Off to the dentist...

We were due for a lazy day yesterday, so that's exactly what we had.

Got up fairly early, around 6:30am and Ruth started by baking some chocolate chip cookies while I was writing the blog post. Nothing like the smell of fresh baked goodies first thing in the morning!

Into Mazatlan...yet again!

We woke up yesterday morning to a bad inverter and a bad power supply for Ruth's little laptop. So that's the reason yesterday's blog post was late! You can read it here if you missed it.

So the number one project yesterday morning was to get our power and our laptop working again...

I guess we're here for a few more days!

We had planned on being here at Isla de la Piedra for three nights. That turned into four, and now it's going to be a full week!

Ruth has a molar that's been bothering her and getting worse. Yes, it's the same tooth that we tried to have fixed in Toluca, although our dentist friend there had said the tooth was cracked and a temporary repair might or might not work. Turns out that it didn't work, so it was off to the dentist yesterday!

Great views of Mazatlan, and a dead inverter!

Christmas day yesterday, and what did we do? We went for a hike! And of course we had a delicious Christmas dinner get together with a few of the folks at the RV park here.

Chris and Juan came over to where we're parked at around 10:00am, and we walked over to the panga (water taxi) to get over to the other side of the port.

Christmas on the Road

Merry Christmas!

Just a little different post today as we take a look back at the places we've spent Christmas day since leaving Ottawa in the fall of 2007.

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!

Yesterday was a perfect example.

Yesterday was a perfect example of how we travel with the motorhome. We like to depart early, travel no more than 200 kms (120 miles) in a day, and be parked up at our overnight spot before 2:00pm.

And that's pretty much exactly what happened.

Bugs and beach

That's about how our day went yesterday. The sand fleas and/or noseeums are so bad, that you can't really sit outside your RV and enjoy the fresh air. And if you sit inside, you had better close up all the windows because those little buggers will come right through your screens and attack you.

And they're so tiny that you won't even see it coming.

A short distance...but a long drive!

When you're driving an RV in Mexico, you have to be patient. You have to realize that you won't get anywhere fast. Even on the toll highways, it makes sense to take your time. And when you're taking secondary roads, you have no choice but to take your time!

Yesterday, we did 95 kms (59 miles) and driving non-stop it took us almost two and a half hours.

RV Parks in Lo de Marcos

At last count, there were around 8 or 9 different RV parks in the little town of Lo de Marcos. The other day we showed you the granddaddy of them all, the fully equipped Tlaquepaque Resort. We have seen all of the other parks in the area, and chose what we think is the best of the rest.

So, here's a look at where we've been for the last two nights...the La Parota RV Park.

Moving...but very slowly!

On Wednesday, we made it to Lo de Marcos. A whole 18 kms (11 miles) up the coast!

Not that we're in any rush. But we are wanting to make it to Mazatlan for Christmas, and we want to stop in San Blas for a night or two. So we can't linger too long in one spot. Still, we're now on our fourth different overnight stop and we've only traveled 66 kms (41 miles).

Tlaquepaque Bungalows and RV Resort

Yep, we spent the night at an RV Resort. One of the very few actual full service RV parks in Mexico. Two swimming pools, beautifully manicured grounds, lots of activities, good wi-fi, and 30 amp electricity, and it's right on a great section of beach in a quiet Mexican town!

This place has it all.

The busy beach town of Sayulita

We hit the road yesterday morning at about 10:30am. We were headed for Sayulita, which is only about 22 kms (13 miles) away! But we weren't positive that's where we were going to spend the night, so wanted to get there fairly early just in case we had to move on.

We love short driving days...but this is pretty short!

We're on the road!

But before we could move the motorhome, we had to move the puppies! You'll remember that six puppies were born underneath Sherman just over a week ago. Mom had made a sort of a nest under there, and they were quite happy.

But, we had to get on the road so Garry built her a new nest.

There's a scorpion in the motorhome!

So I had just gone to bed last night, and Ruth was on the computer. I heard a bit of a shriek and Ruth saying "Kevin, there's a scorpion on the floor!".

Sure enough, there was a scorpion.

How does a scorpion find it's way into the motorhome?? Can't quite figure that out!

Picked up some deals!

Busy day yesterday. We didn't really plan on it, but we ended up doing a bunch of shopping. One of the other campers here, Rick from Washington, was going in to the Costco store in Puerto Vallarta and we were going to take the bus in anyhow so he offered us a ride. We ended up just staying with him and picked up a few items at each stop.

We were gone almost four hours!

Busloads of kids have arrived!

It rained yesterday morning, which is odd for this time of year. The dry season has begun, and usually that means no rain for months at a time. But it had cleared up by 10:00am, and we decided to go for a walk.

One of the things we like about this area is that there are lots of country trails to walk on that surround the farm fields.

Rancho Altarose RV Park

We really like it here. We're out in the country, and yet we're only 25 kms (15 miles) from Puerto Vallarta. It's quiet, and we have beautiful views of the hills from our side window. Occasionally a tractor, or a couple of guys on horseback will go down the road beside us.

It's about 20 minutes to walk in to town.

Figuring our route to Arizona

We had a good day yesterday!

We had been in contact with a couple from Louisiana. Pat and Geraldine had never driven in Mexico, but they were prepared to ignore the negative American media reports and not listen to the friends who called them crazy. They wanted to drive their little Toyota motorhome to Mexico! So we had several emails back and forth and we gave them some tips. Fortunately, they also contacted someone to travel with, and they made their way from the Texas border down here to Puerto Vallarta area.

Tilley Clothing Update

Thought we should give you an update on how we're doing with our Tilley clothing. We've now had our hats, socks, and underwear for over a year, so lets start with them first.

Around this time last year, one of Ruth's socks got a hole in it. Just a small one, and we think that she snagged it on something. The hole hasn't become any larger, and the socks are not showing any signs of wearing out.

Puerto Vallarta doesn't do it for us...

Yes, the big tourist city of Puerto Vallarta. People typically spend thousands of dollars to come here and spend a week or two vacationing in the sun. Many come for the entire winter. There are two Walmart Supercenters, a Sam's Club, a Costco, a Home Depot among all the other big box stores. And, you don't even have to know any Spanish to get by here. Walking down the malecon, everybody will talk to you in English. Most people simply love it!

Us? Not so much!

Puppies - and then there were six!

At the time I wrote yesterday morning's post, there were two new born puppies living under our motorhome.  As the morning progressed, the number of puppies steadily grew.

I watched the last one being born at 12:30pm. And then there were six!

We have puppies!

They were born last night...or maybe even this morning. And where were they born?

Underneath our motorhome!

Good thing we're not in a rush to go anywhere...