Arrived in San Miguel de Allende

It was about a two and a half hour drive from Lagos de Moreno to San Miguel de Allende.

But it's not a very scenic drive until you get to the outskirts of Guanajuato. There's a lot of industrial areas, and of course we had to make our way around the big city of Leon, and the smaller city of Silao.

What a disappointment.

Sorry this is late! We wanted to get a decently early start, and I had some computer work to do first thing, so we just decided to put off the blog post. Anyhow, here it is!

On Thursday, we drove from the overnight spot at the dam up to the small city of Lagos de Moreno. 

Knock, knock, knock... by the police this time

It was another beautiful quiet night in the Primavera Forest just west of Guadalajara. But we had to put some miles on, because we want to be in San Miguel de Allende by Friday... Saturday morning at the very latest.

So we got things packed up and hit the road around 10:15am for the drive around the western part of the big city of Guadalajara.

Soak in a hot water river!

This is such a quiet spot during the week, but I'm sure it gets quite busy on the weekends because it is so close to the big city of Guadalajara. In fact, we are only 25 kms (15 miles) from the center of the city.

Yesterday, we walked to the hot springs river. In fact, the river is named Rio Caliente (Hot River). And it was hot, temperatures vary between 35 to 40 C (95 to 104 F)!

Moving on to the Primavera Biosphere Reserve

We tried to get going by 9:00am yesterday morning, but it was almost 10:00am by the time we said goodbye to Bonnie and her daughter Sam. We always love visiting this area at Etzatlan.

Then, we had to go into town and fill Igor's fuel tank. And pop in for some groceries. Then finally hit the road!

Now *that* was a parade!

When we had gone downtown on Thursday evening, we had been promised a "parade" that turned out to be a little lame. But yesterday there was talk of another parade... and this turned out to be the real thing.

It was supposed to start at 10:00am. But we know how things work in Mexico. So we set out from the campground at around 10:20am and walked downtown.

Carnaval in Etzatlan

So it's Carnaval weekend here in Etzatlan and there is a lot going on in town. 

We had wanted to see a fancy horse show at the bull ring on Friday afternoon, but unfortunately it got cancelled. Still, there's a lot of other stuff going on, and most of it is free.

More flight tickets bought!

I love buying flight tickets! Planning the trip is half the fun!

As you already know, we are booked to fly from Mexico City to Madrid, Spain on the evening of May 5th. But we only wanted to stay in Spain for a month or so while waiting for Scotland to warm up a little bit!

February Expenses... pretty good, except...

We actually had a pretty good month when it comes to our expense report. The only thing that put us over was Ruth's new laptop. 

Otherwise, we actually would have been slightly under budget.

There's always some kind of fiesta going on!

It's been over a month since we got Igor's fiberglas roof cap painted and during that time I just haven't had the opportunity to give him a proper bath with actual soap and running water. 

He was looking a little dusty too, so yesterday morning I got up the ambition to get him cleaned up!

It was a clear blue sky day!

We tried to get out fairly early yesterday for a hike. It gets pretty hot by afternoon, and certainly the morning is better for a hike. The high temperatures here have actually been pretty warm, at around 30C (86F), but there is absolutely zero humidity.

I think it was about 9:20am by the time we finally got going.

Flight tickets bought!

Ruth went over to the bathroom here at the campground, and came back to tell me I have to take a picture of the lizard she saw because it's so tiny!

So I wandered over later and put a coin on the floor beside it so you could see just how tiny it is.

Just relaxing...

And puttering around with Igor.

When we bought Igor at the end of June last year, he was a mess. One of the things that we never got done was to shampoo the carpet in the front. I mean, these vans don't have much of a carpet up there to begin with, so it shouldn't have been a very big job.

Into the town of Etzatlan

Sunday morning we walked into town. We just have to cross the main highway, then it's about a 20 minute walk on a cycling/walking path to get to town.

We just wandered around, then found a spot to have lunch.

What's the plan?

We never left the campsite yesterday. Just a relaxing day, but we puttered around and did some cleaning. Igor was pretty dusty inside from the dirt roads we had been on.

I also adjusted some of our cupboard doors because we had two of them fly open recently.

Hiking part of the Ruta de Peregrinos in Jalisco, Mexico

After a totally silent night parked in a farmer's field, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise. It seemed like the color was going to last all day. 

By 9:00am we were ready to set out hiking. We wanted to do a difficult section of the Ruta del Peregrino (The Pilgrims Trail), a religious route running between the towns of Ameca and Talpa de Allende.

The gate was closed, but we went in anyhow.

Had a quiet sleep by the river. Got packed up around 10:00am and drove the short distance into the town of Talpa de Allende where we easily found a parking space for Igor.

Talpa de Allende is the end destination of a pilgrimage route that begins in Ameca. Pilgrims travel the challenging 117 km (73 mile) route to arrive at the church in Talpa to see the Virgen del Rosario de Talpa who apparently grants miracles.

Parked by the river in Talpa de Allende

The last time we did this route in March of 2016, I did a blog post titled "Next time we'll do this in a week instead of a day". I was referencing the fact that we drove all the way from Etzatlan to Puerto Vallarta on this same route in one day.

And here we are, doing exactly that!

Knock, knock, knock by the military

We left San Sebastien just before 10:00am, but we weren't going very far. We had read about the nearby La Hermita waterfall, and it looked different, we just weren't sure if there was going to be much water at this time of year!

We were surprised to find one other car parked up at the trailhead to the waterfall. On a Tuesday morning, we figured it would be pretty quiet.

If you don't like creepy crawlies...

Then it's probably not a good idea to visit the Santa Gertrudis mine in San Sebastien.

We were originally planning to do a long 22 km hike up to La Bufa... but I found out that the route uses the same path that the ATV's do... so it's not a true hiking trail. So we changed our plan to do a much shorter 7 km walk to the Santa Gertrudis mine... an old silver mine that dates to the 1800's.

Heading into the mountains

First though, I need to tell you the end of our Starlink story. I had mentioned yesterday that their support people were slow getting back to me, but once they did, the guy was absolutely fantastic. He spoke perfect English. He cancelled our Canadian contract, refunded the amount paid, and set up my email address to be able to easily start a Mexican contract. Once that was done, I still had a few glitches trying to get it paid with our Canadian credit card, but eventually our Wise debit card came though with the approved payment. 

The same guy was readily available until I got everything sorted. 

Time to hit the road!

This post coming to you via Starlink internet! No, we haven't worked out all the financial details yet, but the system is working as it should. The internet is fast enough, but their customer support is very slow! Anyhow, the main thing for now is that the system is working perfectly.

Saturday was our last day here in Puerto Vallarta.

What a circus!

We went to the circus a week ago, but now we are experiencing another one!

Yesterday was the day to activate our new Starlink Mini because our cellular internet plan runs out today at midnight. 

The price of eggs

We puttered around for the morning, then after lunch we walked inland to the Pitillal neighborhood to the laptop repair shop we had stopped in at the day before.

We got the data transferred to Ruth's new laptop, and ended up leaving the old one with him to see if the screen problem can actually be repaired rather than replacing the screen.

Extended our portable solar panel

We went for a walk yesterday. We had seen a pathway that led alongside a river here in Puerto Vallarta, and coincidentally it led by a store where I had been told I could buy the cable for our portable solar panel.

So we went there, and then continued on to a laptop repair place.

Apparently laptops only last two and a half years

Ruth had been having problems with her laptop the last couple of weeks. The screen would only come on after playing with the angle a little bit, and she would have to turn it off and turn it back on several times.

Mine had exactly the same issue last November, and I ended up buying a new one then. 

Some great ideas!

Yesterday, we hopped on the local bus to go out to the town of Valle de Banderas.

Whenever we have stayed in this area in the past, we went to the Rancho Alta Rosa RV Park which was run by a Canadian couple from Alberta. I think the first time we stayed there was in 2011, and then several times since.

We are open to suggestions!

We had a nice relaxing day yesterday.

The main priority of the day was to get some more cash. We had to pay another 3,300 pesos ($230 CAD, $160 USD) for our second week here at the RV park in central Puerto Vallarta. 

Market day, and everybody loves the circus!

There's a weekly local tianguis market just a 15 minute walk from us every Saturday morning. Here in Mexico, the weekly market is where most locals go to get the best prices and the freshest produce to put on their plates for the week ahead.

So that's where we go as well!

Out exploring with Lorne and Sue

Yesterday, our friends Lorne and Sue drove down from their winter hideaway in La Penita about an hour and a half north of here. 

Just to give you some background, Lorne and Sue were readers of this blog, and they contacted us way back in 2016 because we were going to be passing through Manitoba and they had just sold their house and bought a motorhome.

Crocodiles in Puerto Vallarta!

We set off in the morning to walk to the old historic district to meet up with our friends. We met them on the malecon and wandered around for an hour or so, then headed up to Pepe's tacos for lunch.

Views above Puerto Vallarta

Just for something to do, we went for a walk over to what they call the Romantic Zone of Puerto Vallarta. Ruth had found a viewpoint on the map that we could climb up to for some beautiful views.

Starlink and politics. And our refrigerator!

Yesterday morning we puttered around cleaning up Igor. There was still lots of bodyshop dust because we never got a chance to get him properly cleaned up after getting his roof painted, and then of course we were at the beach with all the salt and sand flying around. 

He's looking much better!

Good news, and bad news!

We needed to get some exercise, so we started out by walking on the beach. And we had to pass by the resort our friends are staying at, so when we got there we decided to walk right in. Worse case scenario, they would just kick us out. Everybody had wrist bands of some kind, but nobody seemed to notice that we didn't.

Sure enough, we found them enjoying themselves by the pool.

They sold our Starlink!

On Sunday, we did the 102 km (64 mile) drive from Tomatlan to the big tourist city of Puerto Vallarta.

You would think that would take an hour and a half or so, but it took us two and a half hours!

We met Igor's cousin!

We went for a walk around Tenacatita before heading further north. There was supposedly another camping area up around the bend on the other side, so we walked over that way.

Still early, so the beach vendors were only just getting set up for the day.

January Expenses

Well, January was finally back to our sort of normal expenses. Traveling in a motorhome is our cheapest way to live, and this is the first month in a long time where we didn't have much in the way of extraordinary expenses. 

But there were some.

Free camping at Tenacatita Beach

Tenacatita is a beautiful bay with a tumultuous history.

Back in 2010, the entire beach was shut down and many buildings were demolished due to a property dispute. Land owners (some American and Canadian) were evicted from properties they thought they owned outright.

Views above Melaque

During Covid, one of the projects for the town of Melaque was to improve the west shoreline, so they built a nice malecon along that section. 

During our two past visits here, we spent most of our time at the eastern part because that's where the big RV park is located. But now that we've spent some time in the western part, we like it much better.

Arrived in Melaque, Mexico

We took our time getting ready to go Wednesday morning. We knew it was less than a two hour drive, so we didn't leave Cuyutlan until about 10:00am.

Our route took us up and around the big port city of Manzanillo. It's a huge shipping port, and the busiest container port in Mexico.

Heading north up the coast towards Puerto Vallarta

Good news! Our new Starlink Mini Satellite Internet hardware has arrived in Puerto Vallarta and is ready to be picked up. That was fast!

And it has to be picked up within 7 days or they send it back, so we need to be there by Monday just to be on the safe side. That's about when we wanted to be there anyhow.

Day trip to some different beaches... and some great Starlink news!

Yesterday morning, we hopped in Barb and Mark's pickup truck with Barb and their son Shawn. Mark stayed behind because they were having some work done on their property.

We weren't going far... just a half an hour or so down the coast to check out some different beaches.

Beach time

Rancho B RV Park is located on a 10 km (6 mile) long stretch of virtually empty beach. There is a nearby town called La Placita, and occasionally you'll see some locals at the far end of the beach, but otherwise you can have it totally to yourself.

Yesterday morning, we tried to get out before it got too hot, but it was 10am before we got down there. We will do better today!

Down to the coast of Michoacan, Mexico

We tried to get going by 9:00am, but it was almost twenty after by the time we pulled out from Sue and Roy's place at Valle de Juarez. We had a great week with them while Igor was getting his top painted. Thanks for putting up with us!

We headed into Mazamitla to fill Igor's fuel tank at 24.70 pesos ($1.75 CAD) per liter. That's about $4.61 USD per gallon. 

Igor is finished, and we are off to the coast today!

For anybody just checking in, Igor spent Monday to Friday parked at a body and paint shop here in Valle de Juarez, Jalisco, Mexico. 

We wanted to get the fiberglass cap painted. They removed the striping and molding, smoothed out the seam under the molding, removed the awning brackets and filled the holes, and filled the kitchen exhaust vent hole on the other side. 

Igor will be painted today!

No, Igor was not ready yesterday, however they will be painting this morning and we should be able to pick him up this afternoon. We'll drive back over to Sue and Roy's, then tomorrow morning we'll head down to the coast.

Yesterday afternoon, Ruth and I took a walk over to "the castle".

A looong walk in the hills! And of course an update on Igor's paintwork...

We set off at 9:20am heading up into the hills behind Valle de Juarez towards the village of El Tigre, 12 kms (7.5 miles) away, and almost 2,500' higher up in altitude.

We've done this route before, the last time was with some of our RV Caravan group on New Year's Day 2020.

Igor update #2

Not much to report, really. They didn't start work until about 9:30am. We walked back over to Sue and Roy's at around 10:00am, spent the day there, then walked back to Igor around 6:30pm. 

It was dusk, and they were just finishing up. 

Progress report on Igor

We moved Igor over to the body and paint shop at 7:30am on Monday morning. We hadn't discussed with the guys what time they would get started, but we figured we would have him there before they opened, just in case they got started right away.

And there were pretty much right on schedule as they got working at about 9:00am!

Thinking about Starlink Satellite Internet

Actually, we're not only thinking about it, we've decided that we want it! There's only one thing stopping us.

Back to Mazamitla

There is a restaurant in Mazamitla called "La Troje". We've been there many times, and have never had a bad meal. We've never been there for breakfast, but Sue and Roy have and they highly recommended it. So the four of us hopped in their car and we went to Mazamitla for breakfast.

Slight change of plans!

Yesterday morning we moved Igor from the campground over to an empty lot beside Sue and Roy's place. 

Along the way, we stopped in town at another auto body and paint shop to get another price on painting Igor's fiberglass cap.

Off to the dentist, and good news!

Yesterday was dentist day!

We've been going to Dr. Lissette Gomez here in Valle de Juarez for quite a few years. She's really good, and of course we get charged the same prices the locals pay. Nobody likes going to the dentist, but at least the reasonable prices make it bearable!

Invited to a fiesta!

We went for a walk into town again yesterday afternoon. There's another body and paint shop we wanted to stop in and talk to, and we had to buy a birthday present because we were invited to a fiesta!

Igor makes another visit to the mechanic.

Roy and Sue came over at about 10:30am and we had Igor ready and waiting to go for a drive. They left their car here at the campground and we all piled into Igor to head to the body and paint shop at La Manzanilla de la Paz.

It’s only about a half hour drive... almost half way to the shoreline of Lake Chapala.

So, what are we thinking of having done to Igor?

Our friends headed out yesterday morning, so we're on our own here at the RV park in Valle de Juarez. We'll still be seeing Sue and Roy over the week though, in fact we might even be staying with them for a couple of days while Igor gets some work done!

All depends on if we decide to get the work done, and how long it might take.

Earthquake!

We were both woken up just after 2:30am this morning due to an earthquake. Ruth had got up to go to the bathroom, and when she returned I said "I think we just felt an earthquake". And she agreed. I checked my phone, and sure enough the epicenter was about 170 kms away at the coast near Tecoman, Colima.

News reports say that it was a 6.2 magnitude. 

Whiskey's tree

It seems like such a long time ago now, but when we first set out in the motorhome in 2007, we were traveling with our dog Whiskey.

Whiskey was our family pet. She pretty much grew up with our kids, and she had been part of our family since she was 8 weeks old.

Arrived in Valle de Juarez

It almost felt like old times leading a group of RV'ers through Mexico! Except that there were only three rigs this time... and the ones we were leading are now experienced Mexico RV'ers in their own right!

But nonetheless, they allowed Ruth and I to take the lead, and they even loaned us a radio to communicate with them.

Into the town of Atotonilco

We all hopped on the bus to Atotonilco at around 10:30am. Have never been to that town, so we just wanted to go in and wander around.

The bus cost 23 pesos ($1.60 CAD, $1.10 USD) per person for the 13 km (8 mile) ride.

This is where they grow tequila!

Tuesday was a bit of a cool cloudy day. With a daytime high of only 20C, that's a bit chilly by Mexican standards!

But, it was great hiking weather. So the group of six of us took off up into the hills behind the campground to find some nice views.

The numbers...

Our regular readers know that we carry some games with us, and almost every day we play either backgammon, yahtzee, or cribbage.

To add a competitive edge to things, a few years ago we started keeping track of annual totals so we could see who was in the lead. It makes things more interesting!

Arrived at a new RV Park

It was a bit of a long drive for us. Not so much distance wise, but we took a lot of back roads and you don't get anywhere very fast that way in Mexico... but, it is the most interesting way for sure.

We got a bit of a late start and didn't get out of Yuriria until 10:30am. Originally, I was thinking that we were going to stop somewhere along the way. There weren't a lot of options though.

We stumbled onto a fiesta!

Most people would just take the toll road heading west towards Guadalajara, however we like to explore. There was a route heading up to the small city of Yuriria (pop 70,000), and we had never been there before. In fact, until we looked up the route, we had never even heard of it before!

The only tourists in Ciudad Hidalgo

We got up at 7:00am and hit the road right away. Might as well use Igor's engine to heat things up. Overnight temperatures get down to 7C (45F) or so, so it can be a little chilly when we wake up.

We weren't going far though... only into the city of Ciudad Hidalgo (pop 80,000) to a big Bodega Aurrera grocery store parking lot.

Great first day back on the road!

We had a plan to set off by 9:00am, but our host Chago didn’t seem to want us to leave. He kept coming by to ask questions, and wanted my help to try to set up his smart watch. But I have no experience with smart watches! Anyhow, it's nice that he doesn't want us to leave! We may be back in April!

It was almost 10:00am by the time we left, which was totally fine. I figured we had about a two and a half hour drive to do.

It's time to hit the road!

We always love our time here at Valle de Bravo. Good friends, great scenery, and perfect weather. We could live here, but we're not ready for that yet! There is too much to see out there, and we're not even close to ready to settle down. 

And as much as we love it here, after a few weeks, we're ready to go somewhere new.

How much did we spend in 2024?

We'll start off with our monthly breakdown of the month of December, then I'll give you a recap of our totals for the entire year. We knew December was going to be an expensive end to the year due to our vacation with our daughter and grandkids in Playa del Carmen. There weren't any surprises and we came in pretty much right on budget! That doesn't happen very often!

We spent a total of $5,475 CAD ($3,800 USD), which was our second most expensive month of the year.