Roca Azul

We left Hacienda Contreras at our planned time of 10:00am. Said our goodbyes to Barb and Sal and their daughter Andrea who's visiting for a few days, and we look forward to returning in time for Christmas.

We only had to drive 81 kms (51 miles) today, and that is part of the plan. We have lots of time, so we won't be doing any long driving days.

Today's drive, 81 kms (51 miles)

A few rough sections of road, but overall a very easy drive. Most of the road going from Mazamitla to the shore of Lake Chapala was redone about three years ago so it's in pretty good shape. But the road that follows the shore is very narrow, with no shoulders and has one town that is a little tough to get through because the two lane road often has cars parked in one of the lanes...so you just have to be patient and take your time. Which is how you should be driving in Mexico anyhow!

One rough stretch of road. Many of the local police use pickup trucks!

Scenery along the way. This section of highway was redone three years ago, and is in decent shape. Very little traffic this day!

This is the road that follows the lake shore. Very narrow, and lots of people wanting to pass. Oh, and watch for cows on the road!

We pulled in to Roca Azul RV Park at about 11:45. Yes, almost two hours to do 81 kms (51 miles). This is why you don't want to rush getting anywhere in Mexico. The road leading into Roca Azul is over a mile of rough cobblestones. I bet it took us 10 minutes just to do that. 

We stopped at the office and paid for two nights at 200 pesos ($15.60) per night of dry camping, no hookups. They want 300 pesos per night with full hookups. There are two sections of sites, and they are in the process of building a row of sites that sort of overlook the lake. We stopped at the first section, and spoke with a few of the campers here. There are four couples who stay here all winter, and a fifth couple who are here for a month or so. Anyhow, we looked at the sites in this area, and were not overly impressed. Far too close together for our liking, however we were limited by the fact that we needed sun for the solar panels. Some of the shadier sites were a little nicer. Anyhow, for two nights, we pulled into a site that had sunshine, even though it wasn't ideal.

Then we tried their internet...but couldn't get connected despite the strong signal. It drives me nuts when they advertise internet, but it doesn't work. And it turns out that they've been having problems with it for a long time and from talking to the other campers, you have to go to the office to use the internet there. Our cellular internet seems to work okay so far though.

We went for a walk to explore the place. Very well looked after greenery, lots of flowers and green grass. It's part of a "sports club" and has two swimming pools, tennis courts, basketball courts...that kind of thing. We walked over to the other RV area, and it's actually quite a bit nicer than where we are, however all sites but one are in the shade, and the one sunny site was taken by a long term camper.

Sherman, parked up for two nights. NOT the most scenic of RV sites. This is exactly why we don't stay in a lot of RV parks.

However the grounds are very nice!

Lots of big flowering trees.

The long rough cobblestone road leading to the RV park.

Last night, we met the couple who are staying for a month. Gary and Susie (sorry if the spelling is wrong!) are  full timers from Texas, and this is their first time RV'ing in Mexico. We went for a walk with them and talked for a long while. We seem to have a lot in common, and look forward to telling them about some of the more interesting places we've been in Mexico. They have a car with them as well, so today they are going to Mazamitla and we told them to stop by Hacienda Contreras, so maybe they will take their RV over there when they leave here. They are in Mexico for the winter, so we'll probably see them again.

Overall, Roca Azul is nice, but not somewhere we would spend any length of time. First of all it's too expensive for us, but they also don't have internet at the sites, and many of the sites are simply too close together for our liking.