New Year's Day. Parque Ecologico El Tecuan.

We slept in this morning. Possibly something to do with the one hour time change, but more likely to do with the fact that it was a little chilly and we really didn't want to get out of bed!

We figured that we would make a quick hot drink and get on the road right away, letting the engine warm up the interior. So we got things ready and fired up the motor. When it was a little warmed up, I switched on the heater fan.

Nothing.

Another thing to look at when I make the time. This one is fairly important since we're going to be in cooler weather for a little while.

We drove up to the entrance (or exit!) gate, and it was locked. We weren't in a rush since we knew that we only had about a 50 km (30 mile) drive to do. So we just pulled up to the gate and waited. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, the owner walked up and unlocked it for us. We thanked him for his hospitality, and we were on our way.

The logging town of El Salto.

We only had about 7 kms (4 miles) to go to get to the town of El Salto. There, we found a large Venegas grocery store, and it was open on New Years Day! Went in and did some shopping. Between the motorhome in the parking lot, and us in the store, we stood out like a sore thumb. This town doesn't get many tourists! Everybody stared at us.

This rickety old truck parked beside us.

Later, we passed him as he was crawling up a hill in the wrong lane. I swear the frame was cracked!

We put in another 1,000 pesos ($82.00) worth of fuel. I would have filled it up, but their credit card machine wasn't working. Most Pemex stations now accept credit cards, but you often have to check first to make sure their terminal has a communication connection. They sometimes don't, so you have to be prepared to pay cash if necessary.

Only 35 kms later, we pulled in to the El Tecuan Parque Ecologico. We had overnighted in their entranceway by the highway seven years ago! This time, we actually pulled in to the park itself. They have rental cabins and tent camping available, but they're not really set up for RVs. Still, we know people who had stayed here in small (under 30 ft) motorhomes, so we figured Sherman would be fine.

And he was!

The road in was a little rough. Just take it slow and easy.

But we were totally happy with our parking spot!

Especially for the price. Only 50 pesos ($4.10 CDN) per night!

We have a nice little spot overlooking the elk enclosure. Good enough that we'll stay for two nights. Lots of places to go for a hike, so that's exactly what we did. Very distant internet signal though. Not good enough to get a blog post done, so we're a day behind. We'll try and post another later today!

We watch these guys from our side window.

Out for a hike.

On the trail. They've built some short walls, we think for fire breaks but we're not sure.

A couple of these funny trees were growing here...and nowhere else that we saw.

The bark in certain sections turns reddish orange.

There are 8 or so rental cabins.

The big buck.

Slept like a rock, but it is sure chilly here. We actually saw snowflakes yesterday morning, and it was 8C (46F) inside the motorhome when we woke up. Definitely cuddling weather!