Another hike!

This time, we did about 7.5 kms (4.5 miles) but it included going up 580 steps!

Beautiful day for a hike

We took off for a hike yesterday around 10:30am. We had spent much of the morning on the internet, and it had finally started to warm up. It gets chilly overnight, but daytime temperatures are about 22C (72F).

A visit to Patzcuaro

Ever since we became fascinated with Mexico, we've wanted to visit Patzcuaro. Yesterday, we took the collectivo minivan bus from the place where we are staying, all the way around the west shore of the lake and down to the city of Patzcuaro.

The shore of Lake Patzcuaro

Yesterday was a travel day...a long slow travel day! We only had to drive about 200 kms (124 miles) but between the twisty, windy roads and the topes it was pretty slow going. We figure if you drove non-stop it would take about 5 hours to do this 200 km drive! Once again, never expect to get anywhere quickly driving in Mexico.

Mezcal

Yesterday was a great day. Anytime you get see and experience something that not very many foreigners ever get to see, it's a great day.

Birria

We have eaten birria four times in the last week! Yesterday, we were all invited to Sal's aunt's house for a birria family get together. What is birria, you ask...?

2012

Well, here we are in 2012. I wonder what the year will bring. You can make all the plans you want, but sometimes things don't go the way you expect. We are making plans, but there is nothing written in stone...yet.

December expenses

Once again, we are under our $1,000 monthly budget. Not by much though, and we'll have to be really careful in January when our daughter and grandson come to visit, plus we will have higher gasoline expenses because of our upcoming drive south of Acapulco.

Wedding #2

Yesterday started off beautiful, but we actually had some clouds move in later in the morning and even had thunder in the afternoon. Saw one or two rain drops, but certainly not enough to say it actually "rained" so we are maintaining our rainless streak that now stands at 11 weeks.

Wedding #1

Just another beautiful morning at Hacienda Contreras yesterday, but after lunch we were off to a wedding!

Las Jaras Hot Springs

Fellow campers Ulli and Heinz were going to the Las Jaras hot springs in the town of La Garita and they invited us to come along. So we left just before 11:00am. It was about a 40 minute drive on the other side of Mazamitla.

The castle

All of the campers hiked over to the "castle" yesterday morning. It's not really a castle, but it is an interesting building that you can see from the campground. Ruth and I were there just last February, but some of the campers had never been before.

Bike ride to town

You would almost think that sunset photo has been touched up, but that was the true color of the sky. We have beautiful  sunRISEs almost every day here at Hacienda Contreras, but it's not very often that we have a sunSET this colorful.

Hacienda Contreras (day 6)

We sure do like having shorts and t-shirts weather on Christmas Day! I've been reading some other blogs where RV'ers are freezing cold in most parts of Texas and Arizona. Although we would like to explore those areas more, those states obviously don't have warm enough weather for us in winter. And parts of Florida are nice, but Florida is simply too busy for us. Mexico has great weather, and more...

Another fun day at Hacienda Contreras

There is always something going on around here. Never a dull moment. We were just starting our morning walk around the park when we were hijacked by Barb and Sal who were going into town to see Barb's Christmas present. She had no idea what it was...and it turned out to be a burro!