Valle de Bravo

We didn't leave the park yesterday until 11:00am to comply with the greater Mexico City driving restrictions. But, we only had to drive 160 kms (100 miles) so it shouldn't be a problem, right?

And we did make it with a little time to spare, but the drive wasn't without it's white knuckle moments!

But first, we took one last walk around the lake at Lagunas de Zempoala...

When we left, the first challenge was getting to the main highway that runs between Mexico City and Toluca. The roads are all secondary, and it can be a bit nerve wracking driving through the little towns. You never know how tight a squeeze you'll have to make because there's usually no bypass around the villages and the streets can be very narrow.

Coming into this town.

Had to follow this guy most of the way...made it through okay though!

The toluca volcano in the distance, yes that is snow!

There are a lot of these "campestre" places getting closer to Mexico City. I expect they are busier on weekends, but you would have no problem finding a spot for dry camping up here.

We made it to the main highway without incident. Now, to make it to the turn off for the toll road heading around the city of Toluca. We did pull over at one point just to double check we were making the correct turns. You don't want to make a wrong turn!

Traffic on the main highway was a bit nuts!

But the entrance to the toll road enabled me to relax a bit...for now...

Scenery along the toll road.

We've been to Valle de Bravo in December 2010. The road leading down to it is fairly long and steep, but we knew Sherman could do it. However, as we were approaching the turn off, we saw signs advertising a new toll road that goes down to Valle de Bravo. It's not on any of the maps, and it must have only just opened. This would make the drive down way easier!

Or would it...?

We took the turn off and paid the toll. A beautiful new highway, with hardly anybody on it...

The new toll highway to Valle de Bravo. The clouds look ominous, but it never did rain.

The problem is that this toll highway isn't quite finished yet! And, as we were driving it, the thought came into both our minds that the highway may come out on the wrong side of town and Valle de Bravo is NOT motorhome friendly!

So about 5 km from town, the highway simply ends, with a lot of construction going on and flagmen directing us to a very narrow old road. Yikes! But what could we do? I suppose we could have found a way to turn around and go all the way back up the toll road and back down the road we were familiar with, but I figured we had to be able to get through... maybe?

That beautiful toll highway became this!

The picture doesn't give you perspective, but this is the steepest road Sherman has ever gone down. And the guy with the backhoe wouldn't move. Yes, I managed to squeeze by with an inch or two on either side!

Luckily, we came into town towards the end we wanted to be anyhow. And, we got lucky with a new (though small) Super Che grocery store where we stocked up. Made it to our campsite (more on that in tomorrow's blog!) and got set up. We're going to be parked here for two or three weeks and the pictures over the next couple of days will explain why!

The view out Sherman's front window from our campsite.