What can happen in ten months?

Well, quite a lot apparently!

It was almost exactly ten months ago that we were here at Embarcadero Chago (Chago's Marina) on Lago Avandaro near Valle de Bravo.

Where do I start...

This is a fairly long post because it covers almost two full days! We keep fairly busy, so when we miss doing our daily blog post (like we did yesterday!) it's hard to remember where to start. Good thing we take a lot of pictures to help refresh our memories! Okay, when we left you last, we were about to hop on the local bus to go to central Morelia.

Hacienda Contreras to Morelia

Originally planned on leaving at 10:00am yesterday morning, but it was almost 11:30am by the time we finally headed out. Said goodbye to some people, sorry we missed most of you! Had we stuck around to say goodbye to everyone it would have been another half hour!

Hitting the road!

As much as we love it here at Hacienda Contreras, it's time to go out and find some new adventures! We're heading out this morning with the little blue car on a two and a half month Mexican road trip.

Hiking in Guatemala

Yesterday was a wet and windy day, and it got even more wet and windy through last night. It was definitely an indoor kind of a day and I spent a few hours of it researching travel in Guatemala.

Welcoming in 2013

We went with Chris to Sahuayo yesterday morning. Had to pick up some minor grocery items for last night's New Years Eve party, as well as some wiring and special nuts and bolts to fasten Chris and Juan's solar panel to the roof of their trailer.

December expenses

As expected, December expenses were back to normal. We know from past experience that we can live pretty well here in Mexico for very little money, and December fell right in line with that.

A drive and a birthday party

Yesterday after our morning power walk, Ruth and I decided to take a drive in the little blue car. We wanted to see if a particular route was motorhome friendly, and the results of that are in our previous post. We drove 170 kms (105 miles)! We made it back in time to get ready for 4:00pm when all the campers were invited to a birthday party for two year old Francisco.

Villa Corona to Hacienda Contreras

Or vice versa. Hacienda Contreras to Villa Corona.

At the town of Villa Corona, there is a popular RV Park and Waterpark. Many RV'ers often make there way from there to here and the other way around. Using the main roads, there's really only one route, and part of it is on a stretch of busy, narrow road that isn't really "RV friendly".

Where are the carrots??!!

What a great start to the day yesterday! At 9:00am, a bunch of us gathered in the camper room because Chris and Juan had offered to make everyone a popular Mexican breakfast...huevos rancheros.

Pajaretes and puppies!

You'll remember from a couple of weeks ago when we came across some people milking cows and they offered us a cup of pajarete. Well yesterday, Barb and Sal arranged for the rest of the campers to be able to taste this special local drink.

A great day out exploring!

When we visit different places around the world, one of the questions we ask ourselves is "could we live here"? Well we came across a little town yesterday and one of the things we said was "we could live here"!

Minor maintenance and a hike to the castle.

Yesterday morning, Ruth hiked over to the "castle" with Teresa and Cassia. We've been there a couple of times before, so I didn't go. Instead, I did some minor repairs to Sherman, including fixing one of the blinds that had come loose. Or at least I thought I fixed it!

Looking forward to Valle de Bravo

Yesterday, Christmas Day, was a pretty coasting kind of a day. I had a little too much Christmas cheer the night before, so was a little fuzzy in the morning. Things cleared up in the afternoon, and I managed to have a snooze for a few minutes in between doing not much of anything at all!

Lots of Christmas Cheer!

Most of the day yesterday was spent preparing for last night's big Christmas Eve feast. Here at Hacienda Contreras, we had all planned a potluck dinner for Christmas Eve, with everybody bringing a special dish or two. And what a feast we had!