Of course, if we do it again next year it should feel like less work because we will be totally familiar with the route and the schedule.
So when the trip is over, we will add up our expenses and decide if it was worth it. We do a lot more driving on this route, which means we pay more for fuel, toll roads, and of course more wear and tear on the motorhome. And it's certainly not a route that we would do if we were coming down here on our own.
8,000 kms (5,000 miles).
To give you perspective, it's 6,000 kms from Vancouver to Halifax!
Anyhow, we will have to talk to the boss about a few things before we make a commitment for next year.
Ruth went with some of the group in to the nearby town of La Penita yesterday for the Thursday market. And, she forgot to take a camera. Oh well... no photos from yesterday.
And I just hung out around here. Did some cleaning up and some minor repairs.
And then I sat in a hammock for about two hours. Read my book, and had a little nap!
Not a bad way to waste an hour or two.
This morning, we were going to go ATV'ing with a couple of others, but by the time I got back to the guy who runs it, they had booked another group for today. Oh well.... maybe next year! So instead, we're going to drive up to the hot springs with Mike and Linda.
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And in Canada...
Man oh man, that's a lotta driving! Remains to be seen if it's all worth it. Also depends on if you think Sherman will hold up. He's getting to being a pensioner.
ReplyDeleteYep, a heck of a lot of driving! And yes, it is hard on Sherman, we certainly noticed it more this year than any other year of traveling with him in Mexico.
DeleteSo if you were designing a tour...
ReplyDeleteWe would drop a few portions from this tour and travel at a more leisurely pace but we would also add in a few other places. We will have to see what Kevin can come up with that would work best in our minds.
DeleteA hammock is never a waste of time!
ReplyDeleteYou have that right! :-)
DeleteYeah....we think this tour was a bit too long on the driving and much less on the down time despite all the beautiful sites and expereinces along the way. Would be very interested to see your report on the total expenses (other than the costof the caravan itself) you incurred...gas, tolls, food, tips, etc. Would you also include how many dinners and sightseeing tours were included in the caravan price? Thanks again for all your very informative and entertaining blogs. Nice to see you finally have time to “waste” in a good way. Hahaha.
ReplyDeleteThey put in lots of downtime at the end of the trip but in our minds it should be nicely spaced in throughout the whole trip. Definitely way too much driving in our opinion. I am sure that Kevin will do a expense report at the end of the trip. Keeping in mind that the amount we spent will be less than many of the others. They ate out a lot more than us and of course bought a lot of souvenirs/crafts that we didn't because we live full time in our motorhome and just don't have the space for it. I don't have the exact figures for tours and meals out but I think there were approximately 22 professionally guided tours and about 25 meals or so that were included in the price of the caravan itself.
DeleteOur intro to Mexico was via the Mexican Connection B.O.F. of Escapees. We went to Puerto Penasco. It took everything I had to convince my husband to drive in to Mexico. We made friends on that trip that we still see and dearly love. We enjoyed all of your reporting and the shipping of your parts using UPS was very interesting to know that it was reliable! We just love to go off on own too much to enjoy a caravan. I guess we are ANTI-schedule! If I were to participate in a caravan it would be Kevin and Ruth that I want to lead it. You are valuable. I do not know if you were paid to do this but with your knowledge your pay needs to be very good! When you give up some freedom to lead this kind of thing the pay has to be very very good.
ReplyDeleteGlad that you were able to convince your husband to go to Mexico and I bet now he has no regrets.
DeleteHappy to hear that you enjoyed reading about all the different aspects of our trip, including the breakdown and then getting the parts and the repairs done. It is all interesting information and hopefully helpful to others further down the road.
We are actually ANTI-schedule and that has made it a little harder to lead this caravan because we love being able to stop and smell the roses whenever we want to but we did go into this trip knowing that and overall we have enjoyed the majority of the trip itself, even though it isn't exactly how we travel.
Well, we sure hope the people on this trip enjoyed our leadership, and we hope that we were able to pass our love for Mexico on to them and that perhaps some of them will continue to come down to Mexico on their own and do some further exploring.
I think you both are more loners then group people. It was nice I am sure leading the group but it was more hectic then your other adventures for sure. I think your expenses will give you the true picture. Maybe if you could map your own tour then you would enjoy more down time. Enjoy your relax time. Be safe!
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I would say we are more loner type people but we do like traveling our own way, we just need to plan a trip/route that would cover that and take others with us. It has been an experience leading this caravan and definitely more work than we though it would be and certainly more hectic than we would like but overall we did have a good time and loved showing everyone many of the special places in Mexico that we love.
DeleteI think you are totally right about having even more fun mapping our own route and then taking a caravan on it! :-)
Maybe fewer stops and more time, especially those nice relaxing places. From our trip...Lo de Marcos would be high on our list. Also Patzcúaro, Isla Aguada, Hogar Orphanage, San Cristobal (minus the canyon) Teacapan, and Oaxaca City. More street tacos and less fancy tourist restaurants. We love the Sierra Gorda in Guanajuato, and the entire area around Pueblo Mágicos’ Mascota and San Sebastián del Oeste in Jalisco, but We haven’t tried to RV there yet. Also like the area around Queretaro, Delores Hidalgo, and Guanajuato. Looking forward to seeing your expenses. I think the gas and tolls were higher than we expected.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with fewer stops and more time! However some of the places that most people find the most relaxing are the ones at the beach and that's where we would have a hard time because to us those aren't much fun. We love Patzuaro, Hogar Infantil, San Cristobal, Oaxaca City but there are also other places that we would love to add. We agree the Sierra Gorda in Guanajuato, and the area around Mascota, Real de Catorce, Valle de Juarez, Queretaro and Etzatlan, the problem with some of them would be finding somewhere to park with a large/largish group.
DeleteThe gas and tolls are definitely higher than we expected!
That's a lot of driving, and I enjoy driving.
ReplyDeleteContinued safe travels.
We like driving too, just not quite so much so fast.
DeleteAs you know, La Penita is the area Sue and I hope to visit in the next year or so. Looking forward to some pictures from that area, then Ruth forgot her camera. We loved the La Penita market. Safe Travels.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you guys will love, many people do but La Peñita is not somewhere that we would want to stay, it just isn't our kind of place.
DeleteI think you both deserve a little or lot of down time. You have been hitting the pavement nonstop.
ReplyDeleteYep, but our kind of place for relaxing would be up in the mountains where we could go for a good hike. The beach will do for a short time though.
Delete5,000 miles? That's a lot of ground you guys covered.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is but we saw some amazing stuff in those miles! :-)
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