Christmas on the Road

Merry Christmas!

Just a little different post today as we take a look back at the places we've spent Christmas day since leaving Ottawa in the fall of 2007.

Arrived at Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan

We've been to Mazatlan a couple of times before, and we've been to Isla de la Piedra once before, but without the motorhome. This time, we're staying at Isla de la Piedra with the motorhome, but we have no interest in going into the city of Mazatlan itself.

A bit of an interesting drive to get here, and not one that we'll ever make again!

Yesterday was a perfect example.

Yesterday was a perfect example of how we travel with the motorhome. We like to depart early, travel no more than 200 kms (120 miles) in a day, and be parked up at our overnight spot before 2:00pm.

And that's pretty much exactly what happened.

Bugs and beach

That's about how our day went yesterday. The sand fleas and/or noseeums are so bad, that you can't really sit outside your RV and enjoy the fresh air. And if you sit inside, you had better close up all the windows because those little buggers will come right through your screens and attack you.

And they're so tiny that you won't even see it coming.

A short distance...but a long drive!

When you're driving an RV in Mexico, you have to be patient. You have to realize that you won't get anywhere fast. Even on the toll highways, it makes sense to take your time. And when you're taking secondary roads, you have no choice but to take your time!

Yesterday, we did 95 kms (59 miles) and driving non-stop it took us almost two and a half hours.

RV Parks in Lo de Marcos

At last count, there were around 8 or 9 different RV parks in the little town of Lo de Marcos. The other day we showed you the granddaddy of them all, the fully equipped Tlaquepaque Resort. We have seen all of the other parks in the area, and chose what we think is the best of the rest.

So, here's a look at where we've been for the last two nights...the La Parota RV Park.

Moving...but very slowly!

On Wednesday, we made it to Lo de Marcos. A whole 18 kms (11 miles) up the coast!

Not that we're in any rush. But we are wanting to make it to Mazatlan for Christmas, and we want to stop in San Blas for a night or two. So we can't linger too long in one spot. Still, we're now on our fourth different overnight stop and we've only traveled 66 kms (41 miles).

Tlaquepaque Bungalows and RV Resort

Yep, we spent the night at an RV Resort. One of the very few actual full service RV parks in Mexico. Two swimming pools, beautifully manicured grounds, lots of activities, good wi-fi, and 30 amp electricity, and it's right on a great section of beach in a quiet Mexican town!

This place has it all.

The busy beach town of Sayulita

We hit the road yesterday morning at about 10:30am. We were headed for Sayulita, which is only about 22 kms (13 miles) away! But we weren't positive that's where we were going to spend the night, so wanted to get there fairly early just in case we had to move on.

We love short driving days...but this is pretty short!

We're on the road!

But before we could move the motorhome, we had to move the puppies! You'll remember that six puppies were born underneath Sherman just over a week ago. Mom had made a sort of a nest under there, and they were quite happy.

But, we had to get on the road so Garry built her a new nest.

There's a scorpion in the motorhome!

So I had just gone to bed last night, and Ruth was on the computer. I heard a bit of a shriek and Ruth saying "Kevin, there's a scorpion on the floor!".

Sure enough, there was a scorpion.

How does a scorpion find it's way into the motorhome?? Can't quite figure that out!

Picked up some deals!

Busy day yesterday. We didn't really plan on it, but we ended up doing a bunch of shopping. One of the other campers here, Rick from Washington, was going in to the Costco store in Puerto Vallarta and we were going to take the bus in anyhow so he offered us a ride. We ended up just staying with him and picked up a few items at each stop.

We were gone almost four hours!

Busloads of kids have arrived!

It rained yesterday morning, which is odd for this time of year. The dry season has begun, and usually that means no rain for months at a time. But it had cleared up by 10:00am, and we decided to go for a walk.

One of the things we like about this area is that there are lots of country trails to walk on that surround the farm fields.

Rancho Altarose RV Park

We really like it here. We're out in the country, and yet we're only 25 kms (15 miles) from Puerto Vallarta. It's quiet, and we have beautiful views of the hills from our side window. Occasionally a tractor, or a couple of guys on horseback will go down the road beside us.

It's about 20 minutes to walk in to town.

Figuring our route to Arizona

We had a good day yesterday!

We had been in contact with a couple from Louisiana. Pat and Geraldine had never driven in Mexico, but they were prepared to ignore the negative American media reports and not listen to the friends who called them crazy. They wanted to drive their little Toyota motorhome to Mexico! So we had several emails back and forth and we gave them some tips. Fortunately, they also contacted someone to travel with, and they made their way from the Texas border down here to Puerto Vallarta area.