Lindsey and Cameron arrive!

Spent the earlier part of yesterday morning just doing some maintenance and cleaning of Sherman in preparation for Lindsey and Cameron's arrival. Checked their planes status on the internet and it looked like they were going to be about 45 minutes behind schedule so we didn't need to be at the airport until about 1:00pm.

But first, we had to say goodbye to John's sister Diana. She was flying out of Zihuatanejo back to Canada and John had to take her to the airport which from here is almost a four hour drive each way.

Kevin, Ruth, John, and Diana

Then, it was time for us to get to the Acapulco airport, which is 35 kms (22 miles) from here past the other side of the city.

Route to the airport and back.

We figured an hour and a half should be good to go 35 kms (22 miles) right? Wrong.

First, we must have just missed the bus that runs in front of the RV park so that wasted 20 minutes or so waiting for the next one. This bus takes us right to the central area, but it's very slow going. It only costs 6 pesos (46 cents) each! We had heard that there was another bus that would take us from el centro to the airport. Ruth asked the lady she was sitting beside if she knew what bus to take, and she did but she said it would take at least an hour from centro to the airport and we decided we should take a taxi. Of course when a taxi driver hears the word "airport" coming from a gringo, he figures he can charge more! But this nice local lady said she would negotiate the cab fare for us. (This lady spoke zero English, so we did all of this in our broken Spanish!)

The first cab we tried wanted 200 pesos ($15.40) which we thought was a little rich. The next guy said 150 pesos ($11.55) which we still thought was a little high, but he said he would be a very fast driver! Okay! We thanked the lady for all her help, and hopped in the cab. This guy was good, zipping his way through busy Acapulco traffic. Then, he says we will stop for a few photos along the way...the views are fantastic!

Acapulco 

Puerto Marquez and Playa Diamente in the background.

This guy was good, and got us to the airport at 1:10pm. It is not normal to tip a taxi driver in Mexico, but I gave this guy an extra 20 pesos because he was helpful and he made the extra effort. Lindsey's plane had arrived, but they were still processing people and it took her and Cameron a while to show their faces. but, they arrived safe and sound, and now we had to figure our way back to Sherman.

First we hopped on the airport bus and it took us as far as the Walmart. There, we negotiated with a collectivo taxi for 70 pesos ($5.39, very cheap) to take us back to where we could get the bus from el centro back to Sherman. This guy was also very good, he spoke some English, and we enjoyed good conversation. I ended up giving him 100 pesos ($7.70). He dropped us right where we needed to be and went out of his way to do so. But, we got on the wrong bus, so we ended up with a 20 minute walk to get to Sherman. 

So, it cost a total of 318 pesos ($24.49) for four buses and two taxis to go 70 kms. Not bad. 

Lindsey, Cameron, and Ruth with Sherman at Acapulco Trailer Park.

This morning, we watched the circus.

Just after 6:00am, two of the Quebec couples here decided they were going to get an early start. They weren't shy about making noise at this hour either! One of the rigs was a crew cab dually pickup pulling a huge fifth wheel trailer. The total length had to be 60 feet long! I don't understand why anybody would bring something like that to Mexico, you're just asking for aggravation. No idea how they got the rig in here, but they were sure having some trouble getting it out! Back up, go ahead, back up again, get out and look at it, back up some more, go ahead...and on and on. What a circus. It took them about an hour to get out of the RV park. No wonder they wanted an early start.