Our List of the Top Five Most Intriguing Movie-Inspired Theme Parks

One of our favorite pastimes to keep ourselves entertained as our beloved Sherman takes us from one destination to another is talking about the places we’d like to visit next – of course! Sometimes, we revisit old favorites on our list, other times we toss around slightly extravagant ideas and, often, we make lists of destinations that revolve around a theme. Last week, for example, we talked about theme parks as we remembered Arsenal Park – that interesting and weird Soviet military theme park that we visited a couple of years back while roaming Romania.

Third largest pyramid in the world...

Day two of our whirlwind two day trip to Mexico City. Knowing that the bus was picking us up at our downtown hotel at 8:30am, we had to get some breakfast before leaving. Hotel breakfasts are often a bit pricey, so Ruth and I went out in search of something a little more local.

We didn't have much success. It turns out that on a Saturday morning in the central area, even the breakfast places don't seem to open up until after 8:30am. I'm quite certain it's different Monday to Friday, but on Saturdays things are definitely a bit slower.

Mexico City!

The bus was there to pick up our group just before 8:30am. We were only located about 42 kms (26 miles) from the center of town, so you would think that it shouldn't take too long to do the drive, right?

Wrong.

It took an hour and forty five minutes to do that 42 km (26 mile) drive.

Relax day in Tepotzotlan

Nice to have another day off. Ruth and I hung out with Sherman for the morning and just did some cleaning and puttering around. Most of the group had wandered into town, and we did exactly that after lunch.

We've never been to Tepotzotlan before, and we had heard that they have a worthwhile church to visit.

RV Caravan... Cuitzeo to Mexico City

We planned for a 9:00am start, knowing that it would probably take us an hour or so just to get out of the RV park and through the narrow roads of the village below.

This group is great... always ready to go right on time! One by one, we made our way down the steep hill and on to the rough gravel road towards the village. It was pretty quiet going through town... until we hit the cattle drive!

Nice to have a rest day for a change

We're definitely going to be making some route and schedule changes for next year. Everyone on the caravan agrees that the first part of the trip doesn't have enough rest days.

Don't get me wrong... everyone is thoroughly enjoying their trip, but it could be even better. We all know that we have more rest days towards the end of the trip, but we need to even things out a bit.

Absolutely amazing... a must see in Mexico!

This was our fourth time to go see the monarch butterflies at their winter home. There are actually 15 different regions in the mountains of Michoacan and Mexico State where the butterflies congregate, however only six of them are open for public viewing. We have been to three of the six, and yesterday's trip was our second visit to the Chincua colony.

The butterflies arrive at the beginning of November and stay until early March. The best viewing is between mid January (now) and the end of February. However, even during those periods, conditions need to be optimal for the best experience. And so your trip will depend on the weather.

We didn't think everyone would make it... but they did!

Ruth and I did this exact drive with the RV caravan group we led for a month back in February of 2016. From Bugamville RV Park on the outskirts of Guanajuato, to San Juan del Lago RV Park near Cuitzeo, Michoacan.

So, we were pretty familiar with the route and we opted for a 9:00am start. Even thought it was only 160 kms (100 miles) we prefer to start out early and arrive early. Besides, we knew that once we arrived past Cuitzeo, getting to the park itself is a bit time consuming!

Busy day touring... almost too busy!

The tour bus was back to pick us up again at 8:30am Friday morning.

Friday's schedule took us through the city of Guanajuato and on to the road leading through the mountains to the historic town of Dolores Hidalgo. Then a quick stop at Atontinilco before having a late lunch in San Miguel de Allende.

This is our third time visiting this region, in December of 2012, and most recently in February of 2016.

Tour of beautiful Guanajuato

One of the complaints that we have about this 86 day tour is that it's not long enough. What I mean by that is that you are kept so busy that you don't have enough time to relax or do your own thing. When you're not busy with official tours, it's because it's a driving day.

We think the route is not bad, although we would make some changes to that as well. And the perfect trip length would be four months. This enables you to take advantage of the consistently great Mexico weather (something Arizona, Texas, and Florida can't offer) as well as have a few more days to catch your breath and simply relax.