Speaking of the RV caravan, everything is coming together as we get closer to the departure date. There are lots of emails flying back and forth as the participants get prepared for a three month adventure... and what an adventure it will be!
We now have the list of participants. There is us, and 11 other rigs. Three of the rigs have been on Mexican RV caravans prior to this, but only in Baja California, not the mainland. Including us, there are six couples from Canada, and six couples from the United States.
We've already met two of the couples, one who used to live near our park in Saskatchewan had come to visit us there in September before we left. And another who lives in Kentucky took us out for lunch while we were in Lexington.
It took us a while to get out of Lake Corpus Christi State Park yesterday. But, we both had nice hot showers in the shower building, and we filled the fresh water tank and used the dump station to empty both waste tanks.
I think it was close to 11:30am by the time we pulled out. That's definitely a late start for us, and we need to get it in gear a little earlier, especially since many of our Mexico travel days will start at 7:00am.
Yesterday's drive, 150 miles (240 kms).
There's not a lot to see along our route to the border, so we did it all in one shot. We stopped for lunch in the town of Benavides and then carried on.
As we were leaving our lunch stop in Benavides.
You know you're getting close to Mexico, when you see dogs sleeping in the middle of the road!
Not much scenery along the way!
Not much traffic either.
One of the reasons we came this route was we knew there would be less traffic than the direct route to McAllen.
Lots of big ranches like this.
We had read of a free camping spot in Starr County Park, right beside Falcon State Park. But the free spot had mixed reviews, so we figured we would check it out first, and if it wasn't suitable we would pay at the state park.
Pulled in at 3:45pm. Saw one other larger motorhome, one smaller, and a couple of van campers.
Not many level spots, although I walked around a bit and saw one that I thought would be good for Sherman. I backed into it, and looked at my bubble indicators and we were perfectly level! That doesn't happen very often! I'm a stickler for being perfectly level, so usually I have to hop out and put some boards under one or two wheels. Not this time!
Sherman, parked up at Starr County Park, GPS 26.567105, -99.12733
If last night was any indication, this place will be fine for two or three nights. Then, we still have to make our way down to Mission, Texas about 50 miles (80 kms) further south east to meet the caravan group next week.
Coincidentally, Mark and Barbara (the couple coming on the caravan that we met in Lexington) pulled in to Falcon State Park yesterday, so they are right next door! We'll see them at some point today as we'll probably ride our bikes into the park to check it out.
Better weather here... calling for a high of 58F (14C), so that's livable, and up to 70F (21C) and sunshine tomorrow and Sunday!
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Comfy memory foam pillows...
And in Canada...
Now it is just hurry up and wait and get things all together for the group.
ReplyDeleteToo bad it is so cold there has been in the 80's here and sunny for the last few days.
We can still find lots to do to fill our time before crossing, it's just that we know the nicer weather is down there. :-)
DeleteGood Luck on your trip into Mexico. You had me interested in checking out the caravan outfit you are working for until you mentioned 7am morning starts. Is that 7am every morning??... or are there some/many late start or no start mornings.
ReplyDeleteWe are not morning people as you can guess.
Can you please point me the caravan outfit website you are working for and I'll research further. And yes we are Ontario-ans and are happy to be in AZ instead of the deep freeze back home.
Depends on how long our travel day is. Most starts will be 8 or 9am, but on longer travel days we need to start early in order to arrive at a decent hour. There is never a "late" start. Common sense driving in Mexico says that you are better to start early and arrive early. The trip is 86 days, and 33 of those days are travel days.
Deletehttp://www.mexicorvbuddies.com/
Keep that warm weather around for a while. We are slowly making our way to your part of Texas. Almost had to shovel the walk this morning. And always remember to "let sleeping dogs lie!
ReplyDeleteYou better get down here quick the because the cold will be back by Monday!
DeleteNice to see you in place with plenty of time to spare. I'm looking forward to this adventure...
ReplyDeleteYep, almost too much time spare but this is where the "nicer" weather is at the moment. We can't wait to cross!
DeleteThis journey through Mexico with newbies will be fun, I am sure you all will have a good time. You are definitely in the area with great Mexican food though already should you have the urge before you cross the border :)
ReplyDeleteWe are looking forward to showing everyone what a great country Mexico is. There is so much to see and so much history there, we are sure that it will be a fun time for us all.
DeleteWe may be close to some great Mexican food but we have found from past experience that the best Mexican food around is the food in Mexico itself so we will save ourselves for that. :-)
For me, that has been the best part about being a wagon master, showing newbies that Mexico is a great place to RV. A lot of them end up going down on their own after.
DeleteThanks for having me along for the trip. Maybe someday I can caravan along with you.
ReplyDeleteHopefully we can show you what a great experience the caravan will be and then hopefully you will want to come with us on the next trip. :-)
DeleteYour Mexican caravan tour sounds very exciting. Is this the first tour you hosted? Wishing you good weather and great times in 2018. Looking forward to your posts while on the tour.
ReplyDeleteIt should be a really fun time!
DeleteNot really our first, we took over a caravan for a month back in February of 2015 and really enjoyed ourselves, more than we thought we would. This however will be our first time leading a caravan from start to finish.
Sounds exciting to do a Mexican caravan. It may be the best way to introduce the country to others. Enjoy your rest time.
ReplyDeleteThat basically is the whole idea of doing the caravan. Most people that do one do it because they have never traveled in Mexico before and want to learn the ropes with others. Many times after doing a caravan, the participants will return on their own with a better understanding of how things work and will feel much more confident in traveling on their own.
DeleteWhile working in Texas a couple of years ago, I passed through Benevides and other small towns in the area. It was a beautiful area and one I thought we might one day enjoy.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we´ll see you next Sunday as you start out through Mexico.
You can definitely feel and see much more of the Mexican culture down in this part of Texas, we love it!
DeleteWe hope we can see you on Saturday too, that would be wonderful. Keep in touch with us.
Cant wait to follow the caravan adventures!
ReplyDeleteAnd, we can't wait to tell you all about them! :-)
DeleteYour Mexico caravan sounds like a) a lot of work and, b) a lot of fun! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteYes, there will be a bit of work involved but we think it will be more fun than work! :-)
DeleteYeah lots of work, but his one has more relax days in it than the one I took over the route in Fall
DeleteWe have been on two long caravans, both with 17 rigs. I often joked that gettting everyone moving in the same direction was like trying to herd mice. I am sure it will be a great time:)
ReplyDeleteWell we did survive the first one we did for a month back in February 2016 without many issues so hopefully with one will go just as good too. It may take a few days to a week to get everyone on the same page though. :-)
DeleteWe think it will be a great time too!
17 rigs is too many. Adventurer ran one with 18 rigs over this route last spring. Way too many. We were 2 weeks behind it with an 8 rig caravan. Caravans really do depend on the participants. A good bunch makes the job much easier. I was the wagon master on the caravan mentioned above by Ruth except for the month they did. That bunch were excellent. The key really is in the number of rigs. Too few and an awkward personality stands out, too many and you get cliques forming. 10-12 is the ideal number in my experience.
DeleteI appreciate you not leaving this sunday or I would have a lot of explaining to do, LOL. We already have a full caravan for 2019, but hope to run another 6 days behind it. I led a caravan over this route in Fall, but we wont do it again. Too wet and too much of a hurricane risk. This is the dry season. I ran one over it last spring and the weather was good.
ReplyDeleteNo we won't leave this Sunday but it sure is tempting!
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