It's only 234 kms (145 miles) from Villahermosa to Isla Aguada, but with lunch and fuel stops, I figured we might arrive at 2:00pm or so if we were lucky. As it turned out, it was closer to 3:00pm!
There is a fairly new toll highway that bypasses the city of Villahermosa. But because we had come into the city to use the Sam's Club overnight, we had to backtrack a little bit to get back to the toll bypass.
And as we are getting used to... it was raining.
The new toll bypass of Villahermosa.
Nice new 24 km (15 mile) stretch of highway, but fairly costly at 119 pesos ($8 CAD, $6.50 USD) for a motorhome.
The fields are water logged.
Vulture of some kind.
The birds seem to like the water.
Scenery along the way.
From Villahermosa, our route for the next few driving days has us going north... not south. We were at that funny part of Mexico where the Pacific Ocean was only about 300 kms (180 miles) away, but you have to get through the mountains to get there. And we are actually south of Cancun, so we will be heading north and then east to get there eventually.
We always think it's funny in Mexico that the driver has to wear a seatbelt, but you can ride in the back of a pickup without one.
Water logged.
Welcome to the state of Campeche.
The town of Atasta has over 40 topes. But they don't really need them because the roads are in such bad condition that you can't do anything more than a crawl anyhow!
Somebody must have stolen the road repair money.
Back on the Gulf coast. There's our bridge!
Crossing to Ciudad del Carmen.
That's our beach for the next three nights.
Freedom Shores Hotel and RV Park is a nice enough place, but the RV sites suffer from a bit of neglect. It wouldn't take much to fix them up... trim some tree branches and level them out a bit. But, they're also not designed for some of these bigger units. I know they tried to limit the sizes for this Yucatan trip, but with the height of some of them and the slideouts, they're not ideally suited to Mexico travel. Yes, it's doable... its just not ideal.
Sherman looks like he's all by himself.
But he's not!
There are 8 sites that have an ocean view.
Caravanas de Mexico bought everybody a margarita in the Freedom Shores restaurant.
So, we are happy to be parked up at a nice beach for two days (three nights). The clouds are dissipating this morning, and that big yellow thing in the sky is making an appearance! Supposed to be warm and sunny the next few days!
Sherman needs a major cleanup and I've got a few little repairs to do. Nothing serious, but enough to keep me busy tinkering. We are not ones to be sitting on the beach, but we do want to go explore the town, something we never did when we were here ten years ago.
Yesterday's drive, 234 kms (145 miles).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And in Canada...
You've gotten so much rain this trip, finally nice to get some sunshine! That beach looks nice, so many in the Yucatan have issues with beach grass. When we were in PDC 3 years ago they were constantly raking it up every single morning
ReplyDeleteWay more rain than we have ever seen at this time of year in Mexico! We have had nine days of overcast skies and rain and only two days in Catemaco where the sun peeked out a couple of times for a brief few moments, we are definitely due for some sunshine and yesterday we finally got it. :-)
DeleteNo, no problems here with any beach grass.
"Somebody must have stolen the road repair money." But they did provide some pretty nice yellow and black signs warning of upcoming topes! I'm just guessing, but from what Paul said about the weather last year and what you and Ruth are enduring this year, I'm beginning to believe that along the east coast of Mexico this weather is considered normal. Therefore, constant water cannot be great for the longevity of the roads. Heck, from your pictures of the fields, the local population could grow rice for a living!!
ReplyDeleteNo, this weather is not considered normal, not at this time of year anyways! They may get more rain than many other parts of Mexico at this time of year but the amount of rain and the length of time is very abnormal. Your theory may make sense if the roads before and after that particular town were in bad shape as well but they weren't they were in relatively good shape, it was only the section through that town that was deplorable, that is why Kevin made the comment about someone "stealing/pocketing" money that may have been slated for the road in that town.
DeleteSargassum hasn't been an issue this winter on Cozumel, fortunately. It was BAD a couple years ago all down the QRoo coast. I remember seeing this park as we bolted from Chelem to the US in our RV a few years back. There are some pretty bad roads on that coast, but some beautiful scenery as well! Glad you could bypass Villahermosa, that has always been a nightmare. Enjoy your days of "rest!"
ReplyDeleteI think in all our years of travel in Mexico the only time we saw a problem with sargassum was in the Baja and it was only on one beach area on the Pacific side of the Baja.
DeleteYeah, this coast is well known for not having good roads but if you take it easy and don't travel too long of a distance on travel days it wouldn't be so bad. You are right the scenery here is beautiful.
Well, let's hope the weather will improve and that Sherman will get all fixed up again. So far it looks to me that everybody is having a great time despite the weather...
ReplyDeleteThe weather has finally turned for the better, it was a beautiful day and a good day to do some cleaning up and tightening up on Sherman.
DeleteYes, now that just about everyone is feeling better, it does seem that like everyone is having a really good time and enjoying their visit to Mexico.
I would think the toll road would be a welcome relief from the road conditions in general, unless of course it was as bad as the other roads. The road conditions alone would be enough to deter me from travel in that area. The rain is something that no one can control but perhaps is a common occurrence in that area. The beach looks nice though.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your short time there.
The toll road is generally in better condition than the free road but along this coastal section both toll and free roads aren't in great condition although they seem to be working on many sections of the toll road resurfacing it with concrete so hopefully in the future some of the roads will be better.
DeleteIf you take the roads slowly and don't plan long travel days then it is sometimes worth the work because there are some beautiful areas around here to explore, like Catemaco for instance.
I like Isla Aguada, too bad Bill, the previous owner has passed on. I believe his wife is operating it now but I see it is falling into disrepair. Me and our French Canadian neighbor hired a fishing boat and guide for a day and caught enough to provide a feast for all the campers in the park, the owner and all the staff and their families. It turned into a fine Mexican party. The restaurant cooked the fish for free, everyone just paid for their own drinks, of which there were plenty, as you can probably imagine!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the topes on the way from Villahermosa! We finally got behind a truck full of propane bottles and followed him most of the way thinking (hoping) he would see all the topes and drive carefully.
It wouldn't take much work to "bring" it back to life! Some tree trimming and some leveling is really all that is needed.
DeleteNothing was mentioned about fishing but some of the group is going out for a boat ride to hopefully see some dolphins and birds and stop at one island on the way for some more birding. I think they are looking forward to that, especially with another nice day forecast.
Sounds like you had a great time when you were here.
We were a bit concerned the last few days. Watching the news, the rains were pretty heavy and rivers overflowing. Glad to see you're on safe ground.
ReplyDeleteYep, we managed just fine but we sure are happy to see the sun again! We went with nine straight days of rain with the sun only peeking out for a brief time when we were in Catemaco.
DeleteThree things I've been meaning to comment on. First, I love that you always have a new picture of where you are, for your header. Second, I caught myself, calling speed bumps topes, here in Arizona. And third, I really enjoy reading about your trip. Thank you for taking the time to do this blog, I know how hard it is.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment Evie and for following along with us.
DeleteWe had to laugh at your comment about the topes, that is too funny! When we are north of the border we do the same thing, speed bumps will always be topes to us. :-)
Hmmmmm, we kinda like the name CAMPeche!!
ReplyDeleteI guess maybe you just would! ;-) The town is a beautiful one, we are looking forward to seeing it again.
DeleteLooks like a beautiful beach. How do you decide who get's the ocean view spots?
ReplyDeleteSometimes it depends on the sizes of the rigs. But, we do try to keep track of who has had the better sites and when another opportunity comes along the rig that may not have had such a nice site last time would get the better site the next time.
Delete