This was a little one man operation, and he had everything! Veronica had made a list again, and it took them almost two hours to get everything together. Just adding everything up was time consuming...
Buying school and arts supplies for the kids...
At Papeleria Gaby, Ocozocouatla, Mexico.
Pretty sure we made his day. Perhaps even his month!
We met the local director of the orphanage. She had asked if we had enough money in the budget for a new printer for their office. I said it totally depended on what their priorities were. She said "we really need a new printer". And off we went to buy one.
After that, we simply ran out of time. We needed to get back to the group and on the road to Chiapa de Corzo. One couple of the group wanted to stay back at the orphanage for the three nights we would be gone, and help any way they could. We gave that couple the remaining 3,000 pesos and they went back shopping in the afternoon. I had a note back from Barb later in the afternoon and they had bought rakes, and some other hardware. Also bought 9 pairs of tennis shoes, 3 pairs of little girl shoes, and a pair of Nikes for Hector. Spent just over 4,000 pesos and Barb and Mark threw in the balance. Nice!
Hector, very pleased with his new shoes for under $20 USD.
Meanwhile, us, with the rest of the group got on the road...
That's a tight fit!
We've said it before... smaller is easier when exploring Mexico in an RV.
This rig is 13' 1". They had about an inch and a half of clearance, and really, the height of this rig hasn't caused an issue. But anything bigger would have.
Then we had a 51 km (31 mile) drive. Not a long distance, but it took us an hour and twenty five minutes. We were lucky that traffic through the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez (pop 600,000) was not bad.
The city of Tuxtla Gutierrez.
Traffic. Busy, but could have been worse.
The river. In the opposite direction it leads to Sumidero Canyon.
We will be doing the boat trip tomorrow.
Just a parking lot.
The only parking area large enough for us is just that... a parking area. There are no RV parks here, and the ones in San Cristobal cannot accommodate rigs this size. But, there are bathrooms and showers available for our use.
It was baking hot, and fortunately there was some shade to have happy hour.
We have six rigs with dogs in our twelve rig group. Five of the the dog owners are not happy here and have made a choice to go back to Hogar Infantil on their own and wait for the rest of us to return there after the boat trip tomorrow afternoon. Totally their choice, but it's mostly related to the heat. It is definitely a more relaxing trip without a dog. We traveled Mexico with a dog for four years, so we understand the choices that dog owners have to make.
The rest of us are off to San Cristobal de las Casas. It's such an interesting town, and we've loved it the two times we've been there. Looking forward to today's excursion!
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Adobe Photoshop is on deal of the day today....
And in Canada...
I was wondering what the dog owners do with their dogs while exploring, especially if you cannot run air conditioning. Love following your blog
ReplyDeleteThey will generally take turns opting out of tours to watch each other's dogs. In some locations a pet sitting service can be used but it is not available at all our stops.
DeleteLove the shopping trips to various local stores and the kids got shoes! Yes, traveling with pets is sometimes not very relaxing with temperatures high. In Phoenix summer heat, we walk our dogs at night or in wee hours of morning. Otherwise it's too hot.
ReplyDeleteWe loved being able to shop for the kids and especially in the little local stores. :-)
DeleteNo it isn't always easy to travel with a pet but if you have one then you just have to learn to adapt to the conditions. We traveled with our pet dog for 5 years and sometimes we just couldn't do things that we would have liked to have done but whenever possible we would take her with us. I think that pet owners know and understand this. It is especially hard when you don't have services and extremely hot temperatures.
Your campers might be pleased to know we offer pet sitting services while here at the Oaxaca Campground next week. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI am sure they will be very happy to hear this! Thank you. :-)
DeleteHave any of your group had enough experience from your guidance to travel around MX next year but in a group of 2 or 3. I just wonder if they are comfortable yet.
ReplyDeleteWe talked with several of the group members this evening about this and the answer is yes, most of them would. They are feeling quite comfortable, especially in a group of 2 or 3 but one couple in particular said they would do it totally on their own with no qualms.
DeleteLovely that the group was able to supply so much to the orphanage. Too bad there are no campgrounds in the area you are in it looks lovely. Pets can be an issue especially with no services and the unbearable heat. Enjoy your boat tour and looking forward to reading more blogs on this trip. Be safe!
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't get over how much we were able to buy for the orphanage, we were totally overwhelmed with the generosity of so many people that helped by donating.
DeleteIt is a shame that there are no proper campgrounds in the area that could support a group this size. Having now done this portion of the trip, the next trip will be revised and 4 days will be spent at the orphanage which does have partial services and then an overnight hotel trip will be made to San Cristobal de las Casas and Sumidero Canyon from there. It would really be nice if we could find a location in San Cristobal that could fit us, even if we were just dry camping because the temperatures are much more comfortable there, especially for those that have pets.
Makes us really appreciate the wonderful temperatures in Valle De Juarez! We took Ruth and Kevin serious when they chose two towns as their favorites. We absolutelty love everything about our adopted town - especially the weather! It was delightful to read about the great response to the orphanage. I took great pleasure in sharing it everywhere! Hope the fur babies find a cooler spot. LOVING your trip reports!
ReplyDeleteValle De Juarez, great place to spend the summer too! We love it there.
DeleteDon't rub it in Becky, we are pretty upset that we won't be staying up in Valle de Juarez on this trip. Hoping that we will be able to make a drive up there though when we are visitng Villa Corona.
DeleteWe are so happy with the response that we received from our readers as well as the members of the caravan group. We were really able to help the orphanage out with a lot of items that they just couldn't have bought at that particular time.
A very nice and generous activity for you all to do in buying things for the kids at the orphanage. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Randy, it was our pleasure to help them out as much as we could.
DeleteI have been in communication with Kevin over all of this. We have both decided that this segment would be easier to do out of Hogar using a hotel overnight. it would only jack the costs of the trip up by $50, half of which people would save in fuel costs. I think dog care could easily be arranged there. The entry to Hogar is something I think we could arrange to have raised a bit. I am in contact with the group in Oregon who run it and we can see how much it would cost. I think the company will cover it.
ReplyDeleteNow that we realize that this is the best way to work this segment it will make it easier in the future.
DeleteWe still feel that a height restriction should be set at 13' for this trip, if you raise the height on the arch you are only enticing bigger units, in our opinion!
Or, keep the arch the same height but raise the height restriction to 13'3". That way, one lucky rig can become a roaming billboard for the rest of the trip!
ReplyDeleteSome how I don't think that would work! ;-)
DeleteGood one Doug!
DeleteDoug, LOL! Too funny!
ReplyDelete