Centanario

Saturday January 24…10:45pm

We were up at 7am, and ready to go by 9am. The big Chedraui store in Chetumal was on our way out of town, so we stopped to do groceries.

We didn’t buy any chicken or eggs because we would be crossing back into the state of Campeche and they are known to take those things away from you, although Kathe had told us she didn’t think they do at this particular border.

As Ruth was putting away the groceries, I noticed a little puddle underneath Shermans front end. It turned out that we had a leak in one of the heater hoses. Part of the hose had been situated so that it was touching part of the frame, and had finally worn through after all these years. It was only a pinhole, but would have to be fixed before we carried on.

We walked over to the nearby Bodega store because we had noticed last week that they have really cheap beer from Guatemala. It was on sale today! Lucky! 24 cans of beer for 124 pesos ($11.16 CAN, $9.00 US).

Went back to Sherman, and I repaired the heater hose. Fortunately, the bad section was only 6 inches further on, and the hose was long enough that I was able to cut that section out and still be able to reattach it. Still, it took a half an hour because it was not that easy to get at. It seems that nothing you have to repair on a motorhome is easy to get at!

We had a sandwhich and then bought a little more gasoline, and finally made it on our way at about 12:30pm. A little later than we had hoped, but still with time to get to where we wanted.

At the border from Quintana Roo to Campeche, we were stopped at the military checkpoint. This is the first time they boarded our vehicle for an inspection. Whiskey was barking like mad, and we did nothing to stop her. The guard just ignored her, although he did seem to be cautious. He opened a couple of cupboards and had a quick look, and then he was done. Immediately after was a border inspection where they asked for our vehicle permit. The female guard there also came on board, had a quick look around, said a long statement in Spanish, I nodded my head and we were on our way. I didn’t understand a word she said!

From Chetumal to Palenque is about 480 kms (300 miles). We had been given an overnight possibility around the half way point from some of the people we were camped with at the beach a couple of weeks ago. Around road sign “KM 52” (all of the roads in Mexico are all marked with a little sign every km…we think this is a great idea) just after the village of Centanario is the restaurant “Maya Campestre”. We had been told that they will allow Rvers to park overnight in their parking lot. It’s a nice little spot on a lake, and the guy working behind the bar spoke pretty good English. It turned out he had spent a year in Edmonton.

Our parking spot at the Maya Campestre Restaurant

Farm birds running around.  Dinner?

Laguna de Silvituc at the Maya Campstre Restaurant

We went to the restaurant for dinner. Ruth had fish. She got the whole fish, head and everything. I had some kind of a fried meat dish. They both came with a small salad, refried beans, a few french fries, and a stack of fresh warm tortillas. I had a beer, and Ruth had some kind of orange juice drink. It was really good, and the prices were really cheap. Including tip, it came to 190 pesos ($17.10 CAN, $13.75 US).

We watched a 3 hour movie this evening! “The Ring” was based on a novel by Danielle Steel. With Natassja Kinski and Michael York. Not a bad storyline, but the acting wasn’t great.

It warmed up again today, high of about 28C (82F). We better enjoy it, because we will be heading into the mountains soon, and it will be much cooler.

Total nights sleeping in a motorhome…458

January Fuel $ 90.50 CAN

January Grocery $ 218.62 CAN

January Overnight costs $ 87.36 CAN