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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A visit to the outskirts of Guadalajara

Yesterday, Barb was going back to Chicago to visit their daughters for a week and a half. Sal was driving her to the Guadalajara airport, and they asked if we wanted to go along for the ride. They were also going to stop at the Sam's Club and the Walmart, so we could pick up any items we might need.

It took about an hour and a half to get to the Sam's Club, and then another 40 minutes or so to get to the airport.  We all found the Sam's Club to be pretty expensive, although we did pick up a couple of items. We've always thought that Costco and Sam's Club offer a few good deals if you know your prices well, but there's no way it's worth the membership fees to us. Oddly enough, the Walmart was right next door and had much better pricing and selection.

The road leading down to Lake Chapala.

Not really much to see except lots of traffic on the route to the airport. The Pan Am Games are on in Guadalajara just now, so things are a little busier than normal. Sal says it seems like the prices of everything have gone up because of it. Then, when the games are over, prices will probably take some time to drift back down.

We said goodbye to Barb at the airport. We won't see her again until near Christmas time because we will be leaving here a couple of days before she gets back. 

Then Sal took a different route back to the lake that took us through the communities of Chapala and Ajijic.


The town of Ajijic is a popular expat community and quite a few Americans and Canadians live there, especially in the winter. The area supposedly has the most stable weather in all of Mexico with temperatures pretty much consistent in the 80's, with a few warmer days in the summer. Of course because of the number of expats, prices tend to reflect their presence. Personally, I'd rather live in a more Mexican community.

Lake Chapala. The town of Ajijic on the far left.

The town of Jocotepec on the far west shore of Lake Chapala.

Today will be a resting day...nothing special planned. Last night we kept Sal company and watched the Texas Rangers take a 3-2 lead in the World Series. But today is an off day as they travel back to St. Louis to get ready for game 6 on Wednesday night.

8 comments:

  1. I like the map.

    All I could think of was,
    Chicago = not that warm.

    Hope she took a jacket.

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  2. We don't often shop at Costco cause we don't have room for the large quantities.

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  3. Lovely scenery! We have stopped shopping at Sam's in Mazatlan, way too expensive. Even the locals are slowing down their visits there.

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  4. We were once staying in Villa Corona and took a drive to Chapala for the day. On the way back we stopped in a restaurant in Ajijic and asked for a menu in Spanish. They did not have one! Too many gringos in that area for me!

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  5. We have several friends that shop at Costco and love it. We used to be members of Sam's Club but found that we couldn't find them all over and didn't need the large quantities that they sale.
    Another beautiful day for you two!

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  6. Looks like you had a great day. We found that Sam's club and such have no benefit for us, we like to shop the local stores for the bargains and support small business. Be fulltime rver's we have limited storage as well. I had a small business once and know what its like.

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  7. Chuck and Anneke...Thanks, we will.

    Bob...Yep, she sure did.

    Jim and Sandie...We have room depending on the item, but for the types of things we shop for I can't justify the membership , it just doesn't work for us.

    Contessa...We found the same thing in Guadalajara. Walmart was busy though!

    Croft...We thought the same thing. The south shore is much more Mexican, it hasn't really been developed yet.

    FULL-TIMERS...I guess it depends on the type of items/products you are looking for. The few times we have been in we haven't found any deals on the products that we would generally buy. Plus we hate to pay money just for the privilege to shop at a store.

    George and Suzie...It was a nice drive and Kevin got to enjoy the scenery instead of watching the road. Sam's and Costco work for some and not for others like us.

    Kevin and Ruth

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