Pizza Party!

Tuesday is market day in Villa Corona, so a bunch of us walked into town. We had actually planned on having lunch there, but we were a bit early for lunch so we just picked up some fruits and veggies and walked back.

Also, it was pizza day! We had made a plan to have pizza for dinner for the group, so we stopped by Mr. Bigs Pizza to place our order and have it delivered later in the day, but the place wasn't open yet.

First thing we saw was Mexico's national bird

We had found an old dirt road that went from here at Villa Corona all the way to the town of Estipac 10kms away.

So yesterday morning we set out at 8:00am with our hiking partners Bob and Denise. It sure is nice to have some people in the group who are avid hikers like ourselves!

That's a lot of bull!

A relaxing morning for the most part yesterday, then at 11:00am we got together with whoever wanted to join us for a walk into the central area of the town of Villa Corona. Walking, it is 1.5 kms (just under a mile) one way to the central plaza. Some people took a moto-taxi.... one of those three wheeled combo motorcycle taxicabs.

We wanted to try to get to the Sand Church.... Templo de Arena. It's just one of those oddball small town attractions here in Mexico that you won't see anywhere else in the world.

Saturday is still a work day for a lot of people in Mexico...

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day.

We started it off with a 9 km (5.6 mile) hike. There were 7 of us to start off. We didn't really have a destination in mind, other than heading out along a causeway to see some bird life in a marshy area near the park.

I can see!

Yesterday, we took six other members of our RV Caravan group into the big city of Guadalajara. We are staying at Villa Corona for 7 nights, so Ruth and I wanted to get into Guadalajara the first full day in this area so that I could try to order some new eyeglasses and have them ready by the time we leave.

The last pair I had were from Zenni Optical online in June 2017. They were pretty flimsy and the lenses were getting scuffed up. I really needed a new pair of glasses, and I think my prescription had changed as well.

The deal is done!

Well, the money has arrived in the Swiss couple's bank account and we have officially purchased an RV in Australia! They will bring the rig to the storage place on Monday where it will sit until our arrival around May 20th.

Many of you made suggestions on how to transfer the money.

A lot can change in only three years!

Yesterday was another relax day. Ruth went into town with a couple of the others to pick up some stuff at the market. This area produces a lot of berries... raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries and they are so delicious and inexpensive.

And while she was doing that, Sherman and I spent some quality time together.

Lake Chapala water level is high!

Yesterday, we walked in with some of the group to the nearby town of Jocotepec. We had been to a roadside restaurant back in 2016 that sells only birria. Birria is like a type of soup/stew usually made with goat or sheep, but we have seen in made with beef as well.

It was about a 45 minute walk from the RV Park to the restaurant.

Our life is a logistical nightmare sometimes...

Well, I just spent the last hour and a half this morning on the phone to various parts of the world trying to figure out how to pay for an Australian RV using a Canadian bank account to a couple in Switzerland while I am in Mexico!

Our life is a logistical nightmare sometimes... but we wouldn't have it any other way!

We bought an RV for Australia!

Yes, the same rig we were talking to you about yesterday. We spent some time on the phone with the Swiss owners Raffael and Jasmin and they showed us some live video of the rig. The internet is wonderful sometimes, isn't it?

We came to an agreement, and now it is just the logistics to figure out!

A possible rig for Australia

As our regular readers know, we are going to Australia for three months starting in mid May. I've been keeping my eyes open for an RV or campervan of some kind just to get an idea on prices and what's available down under.

There are a lot of backpacker campervans... ranging in price from $6,000 AUD to $15,000 AUD ($4,500 USD to $11,000 USD) (the Canadian dollar is almost on par with the Australian dollar).

Just another adventure in Mexico...

Yesterday, we took the group ATV'ing! We had checked out one rental place a couple of days ago, and they had some pretty beat up looking ATV's for 300 pesos an hour. And some nicer ones for 500 pesos an hour.

We called some taxis to come and get us and bring us into Mazamitla. One of the cab drivers said he knew of a place that has better machines, so he took us there.

February Expenses

Well, we're off to a pretty good start on the year.

$1,430 CAD in January, and $1,471 CAD in February. (Subtract about 25% for $USD equivalent). This is pretty typical of our expenses when we are traveling here in Mexico. Food, booze, and restaurants are all reasonably priced... it is only gasoline that is now considered expensive to our travel expenses here.

Haven't done that for a long time!

Usually, a good hike takes us somewhere between 7 to 15 kms (4 to 9 miles).

Yesterday, we set off at 9:00am, and by the time we returned at around 3:30pm we had done 23.6 kms (14.6 miles). Yikes! Haven't done that for a long time!

Mazamitla, fish tacos, and waterfall

We took the group into the town of Mazamitla yesterday. It's a pretty little town, but really busy on weekends because it is a popular getaway place for people who live in the big city of Guadalajara. During the week is a better time to visit.

On the way, there is a new fish taco place that came highly recommended.

A visit to Whiskey's tree, and a fiesta!

Beautiful day yesterday, and we set off with a few others to walk down the road to the old Hacienda Contreras RV Park.

The main reason for Ruth and I was to visit Whiskey's tree, but we also wanted to show the others the park that we had spent so much time at over the years since our first visit in 2009.

I love going to the dentist!

Said no one.

Ever.

But if you need to go to the dentist, the one we go to here in Valle de Juárez is pretty easy to take. We've been to her several times in the past. The last time was three years ago in February 2016 when I had caps put on my two rear upper molars.

You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning!

An old Irish proverb I once heard.

And it applied to a lot of us yesterday!

We took the group up into the mountains of Jalisco in behind the town of Valle de Juárez in order to visit an old working mescal distillery. For Ruth and I, this was our fourth visit to this interesting and beautiful place.

Sherman gets another blemish

Another driving day yesterday as we made our way from Camecuaro National Park to Valle de Juárez and the state of Jalisco.

We have eight nights planned at Valle de Juárez, and I had noticed that there was a Walmart in the south end of the small city of Zamora. So I figured the group might like to do some stocking up on things.

Another one of Mexico's beautiful National Parks

Yesterday, we did the relatively short 128 km (79 mile) drive from Patzcuaro to Camecuaro National Park.

As is always the case, it takes a lot longer than you would expect to get anywhere in Mexico. Especially when you avoid the toll roads like we normally do!

Taking advantage of another gorgeous day

Nothing planned for the group yesterday, so it was just a day off to do as you choose. We chose to do a 15 km (9.3 mile) hike!

We headed off at just after 9:30am. Our destination was the overlook on a very old volcano crater on the opposite side of town. It's a great hike because you get views in all directions. And, it was another gorgeous blue sky day.

The copper production at Santa Clara del Cobre

Yesterday morning, we took 11 members of the group to the copper town... Santa Clara del Cobre. We ordered 3 taxis and it cost 200 pesos ($10.50 USD, $13.75 CAD) per cab for the 16 km (10 mile) journey.

They say that 80% of the inhabitants in and around the town of Santa Clara del Cobre are in some way involved in the production of copper items.

Wow, what a busy day!

With lots of photos! Yesterday, we went to both Tzintzuntzan and Janitzio Island. Yep, Tzintzuntzan. C'mon, say it. It's pronounced just like it's spelled!

The area has been inhabited since the 12th century. When the Spanish arrived in the 1520's there was a population of around 25,000 people living there. One of the first things they did was to build a monastery complex, and it is the most popular attraction in the area.

Perfect weather

Here at Rancho la Mesa RV Park, we are above the city of Patzcuaro. The altitude here is at 7,400 feet. But the sun is shining all day long with clear blue skies. It is only at night that it gets a little chilly.

High temperatures at this time of year are around 22C (71F), with overnight lows around 4C (39F). Great for sleeping, and by 9:30am it is beautiful and warm outside. Not hot. Just perfect for us.

An early travel day to Patzcuaro

This group is great because they don't mind early travel days, even when it's a short drive.

We made a plan to leave Uruapan's Hotel Pie de la Sierra RV park at our leisure and meet at the nearby gas station with a goal of being able to leave the gas station with everybody filled up by 7:30am.

And that's exactly what happened!

Maintenance day

One of the things we worked into this year's Mexico RV Caravan trip is lots of down time at each location. This gives the group the ability to get their rigs washed, do whatever maintenance is requires, do some laundry, or simply relax and read a book!

So yesterday was one such day!

Beautiful day to take the group to the Paricutin Volcano

In 1943, a farmer was working in a corn field when he saw the ground start to crack and steam, and a fissure broke open. By the next day, lava had been flowing out of the fissure, and  there was now a cone the size of a house. This was the first ever recorded human witness of the birth of a volcano. The Paricutin Volcano continued to erupt for nine years until February of 1952 when it stopped as abruptly as it began.

There were two villages buried in the lava flow over the 9 years of eruptions. One of the villages was almost finished building a new church at the time when the village was overtaken by the lava.

Mexico's smallest National Park

The city of Uruapan itself isn't really anything special. But, there are a couple of special things in the area, and that's why we're here.

The first, is Mexico's smallest National Park. And, the fact that this National Park is located right in the city, only 2.5 kms (1 mile) from where we are parked up at Hotel Pie de la Sierra.

Interesting driving day in Mexico, and the Tzararacua Waterfalls

With lots of beautiful scenery.

Always with a plan to arrive at our destination by 2:00pm at the latest, we set off from Ixtapa RV Park at 7:00am. We made a gasoline stop early, and then hit the toll highway heading up into the mountains and the city of Uruapan.

Bike ride, Zihuatanejo and the Crazy Potato

Sorry for the delay! We were on the road at 7:00am to get our driving day completed as early as possible. You can read more about that on Thursday morning!

Yesterday (Tuesday), in the morning, Ruth and I went for a bike ride! There haven't been many opportunities on this trip to get the bikes off, but Ixtapa has a fantastic cyclopista (bike path) that we wanted to take advantage of.

La Barrita to Ixtapa

A short driving day yesterday and so we didn't get on the road until 10:00am or so. Still, it took us about 45 minutes just to maneuver our eight rigs out of the Casa Rayo del Sol RV Park in La Barrita. Nice spot, and we will stop in again the next time our travels bring us to this part of the coastline.

But, despite the short distance of 69 kms (43 miles), it took us almost two hours to arrive at our destination.

Our beach time is coming to an end

We've said it many times... we are not beach people.

After traveling all over Mexico including all of the coastline of the entire country, we have learned that we are happiest where the temperature is a little less hot. Sure, it's pretty and it's nice to stare at the ocean and watch for sea life. But if you want to get any exercise, you have to do it at 7:00am in the morning. And then, what do you do all day?

After lunch, I figured I had better do something productive

It's not very often that we just sit around and do nothing. The blog posts would be pretty boring if that was all we did every day!

But as I said yesterday... it's pretty easy to be lazy around here!

"Hey, there's a whale!"

We are about 50 kms (30 miles) south of the tourist area at Ixtapa - Zihuatanejo at the town of La Barrita. La Barrita is not actually a town, as such. There are about 100 people living here... a few beachfront restaurants and a couple more out on the highway... and an elementary school. That's about it.

There isn't much in the way of shopping available, although there is a fruit and vegetable truck that comes in every couple of days. Yesterday, Ruth and I went with our host Lorraine into the small city (pop 20,000) of Petatlán.

It's always an adventure in Mexico!

Driving days are always interesting because you just never know what's going to come up! Yesterday was definitely one of the more interesting ones.

We were only doing 170 kms (105 miles), but as I've mentioned before, coastal highway 200 is pretty slow going. You'd be lucky to average 60 km/h (36 mph). So we planned to set off at 7:30am, with intentions of arriving at our destination by 11:00am or so. But we were a few minutes late leaving!

Boat tour and birds

Yesterday, we took 10 members of the group and booked a boat tour of the lagoon on the opposite side of Pie de la Cuesta.

The price was 150 pesos ($7.90 USD, $10.50 CAD) per person for what was billed as a three hour tour. We arranged it for a 10am start.

Acapulco

Yesterday, nine of our group took the local bus into Acapulco. Ruth and I have not been to Acapulco since 2013, but not much has changed. Although Acapulco doesn't receive as many international tourists as it once did, the city is still an ocean playground for many people from Mexico, especially since Mexico City is only three and a half hours away by car.

There are two things you have to do as a visitor to Acapulco... one is to see the famous cliff divers at La Quebrada... and the other is to take the local bus!

We walked out the gate to the road, and a bus was coming!

Saying goodbye to Tioga George

Sad news out this morning that long time vagabonder supreme Tioga George has passed away. I guess his family was finally able to post on his blog...

https://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net/2019/02/dear-readers.html

We first met George here in Mexico in 2013.

Playa Ventura to Acapulco

We weren't sure when we were going to be able to leave Playa Ventura. The problem was that they were holding their annual half marathon, and we were parked right near the finish line!

So at 7:00am, there was all kind of activity going on. Originally, we had been told it should be all over around 9:00am, but it did not look promising.

Puerto Escondido to Playa Ventura

We hit the road at 7:00am on Saturday morning, so did not have time to do a blog post that morning. So... a quick update about our activities on Thursday and Friday...

Thursday night, we went to see the bio-luminescence in the Manialtepec Lagoon west of Puerto Escondido.

January Expenses

Well, nice to see our expense report is finally back to normal for January! In fact, it's the cheapest month for us in almost a year.

Normally, we do not spend very much money while touring Mexico. Last year's trip was an anomaly because we were still responsible for our fuel and toll road costs and there was a lot more driving involved than usual. This year, our route is a lot less distance and we try to stay off toll roads when it makes sense to do so.

Bought some more flight tickets!

Our regular readers will remember that we cancelled our plan to go to Newfoundland with the motorhome this summer when I bought us some cheap tickets to Australia. The Australia flights are from Calgary to Melbourne on May 16th.

Then, I bought us a couple of tickets from Ottawa to Calgary on May 8th. We will rent a car in Calgary and go back to Cabri, SK for a couple of days to visit. These tickets were on sale for $220 CAD each and I had enough Visa Travel Points to pay for them both.

Beach time

Went to a few different beaches yesterday. We were actually trying to check out some tour prices for the group. We were thinking of doing either a dolphin/whale watching tour, or a trip out to see the bio-luminescence effect in the lagoon near here.

There aren't many places in the world where you can see the bio-luminescence... Ruth and I saw a similar effect in South Africa.

Happy to be back with our Mexican family!

Yesterday, we brought the group from Playa Tangolunda in Huatulco to Playa Carrizalillo in Puerto Escondido. Not a long drive, so we didn't set out until 9:00am.

We haven't been in Puerto Escondido since 2014! Despite the fact that it is our favorite coastal town in Mexico, it just didn't happen the past couple of years. And after doing last year's route that didn't include any of our three favorite places, we weren't about to miss it this year.