The best laid plans. . . . . .

OK - so last we spoke the plan was to head home through Colorado, Wyoming and Montana . . . . well, it's never that simple.



We had a little problem with the truck - initially the mechanico thought that we had blown a turbo (whatever that means) and we were looking at a big expensive repair. But, as luck (and I use that term loosely) would have it, it wasn't the turbo, but a sensor . . . . so, in a little auto mechanic shop in Anthony, New Mexico we got that fixed and are now on our way again.



But wait . . . the weather in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana is going sour . . . . so back to Plan "A". We are off to Tucson tomorrow, and then to Casa Grande, and I (de Beeb) will fly home on March 2nd. Arturo will have to wait until a good weather window, and hopefully will be back in Water Valley soon after that.



Unfortunately, the "Nowhere to be and all day to get there" doesn't apply here - as I have to get back to work, and to Kipper, and of course Keri/Jon/Isaac/Paddy (due any day now)/Chris . . . we just need to get home and get our lives back in some sort of order . . . enough of this lazing around!



Take Care - and "Felices Viajes" to all our travelling amigos.



Arturo y de Beeb

Sunrises and Sunsets

Beaches

Homeward Bound

Well, we are homeward bound. Yesturday, we crossed over the border into the USA, and are now in New Mexico, just west of El Paso, Texas. Travelling north from Guadalajara was another interesting adventure! The cities in the interior of Mexico are really not “fifth wheel friendly” but we made it through. The toll roads are excellent, and we made good time heading north. The country side is unique – and we have experienced some of the most beautiful scenery. As we travelled north, and got closer to the border, we became a bit more apprehensive as we have had news of some “troubles” in Chihuahua City and Juarez. We have been travelling with another couple from Victoria, and it was a nice to have the company. On Saturday, we spent the night in an RV park just outside of Chihuahua City – and other than the horses, we were the only two rigs in the park. Of course, before getting to the park, we took an unexpected tour of one of the “rougher” neighborhoods of the city. I think I’ll just leave it at that . . . .

Along the road to the border, we were stopped twice by the military for inspections. It’s not too bad, though. The young men (and they look really young) just come on to the rig and look in all the cupboards – just in case . . . The only unnerving thing is the machine guns – but that’s just the way it is in Mexico. At the border crossing, they are actually in bunkers with machine guns pointed at the vehicles.

I took this picture from the mirror as they were checking Pete's rig (probably shouldn't have done that!)

Throughout this trip we have seen so much – and yet so little. Here’s a little list of the agricultural areas we have been through in different parts of the country – corn, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, melons, pineapple, coconut, bananas, papaya, corn, pecans, peanuts, corn, apples, oranges, limes, grapefruit, lettuce, cabbage, corn, tequila, mangoes – did I say corn? I have probably forgotten something – and these are not just little mom and pop operations, but huge farms and plantations that go on for miles and miles.

It’s interesting to be across the border – and having access to things that we take for granted – like good electricity, potable water, water pressure, WIFI, no topes (speed bumps) and it just seems so much easier here to get around – perhaps it’s because we can actually read the road signs without trying to interpret.

Tomorrow will be another travel day to Santa Fe, New Mexico – and then north through Colorado and Montana until we get home.

It has really been an excellent adventure!

Arturo y de Beeb

Flowers of Mexico

and now, the end is near . . . .

Guadalajara . . . . . what a wonderful place!!! It seems so different from being on the beach – as we are outside of a city of 6 million people that is very metropolitan. Driving in on the freeways is just like a city in North America, which seems odd for Mexico as I'm used to seeing it. Guadalaraja is a mix of old and new, rich and poor - very rich and very, very poor, Spanish and Indigenous, which makes for a wonderful place to visit.

On Sunday, we explored the Tonala market, which is on the original site of Guadalajara and the biggest outdoor flea market you could imagine - blocks and blocks of tarps covering everything imaginable. This is THE centre for pottery, and if we had a bigger truck, we could have brought home many treasures. I did find a chiminea – finally – and it is strapped into the back seat of the truck (gotto keep the seat belt on to protect her!) What an experience!! This is also the area that wholesalers come to buy all the Mexican goods you could ever want. It's almost overwhelming, with so many people and so much "stuff" - easy to get burnt out fast.

Val bought lots!!

Yesturday, we toured downtown Guadalaraja, which is beautiful and clean. Again, the shopping, shopping, shopping is unbelievable. I restrained myself, and only came home with pictures. Guadalaraja Centro (city centre) is built around a beautiful square, church and municipal buildings, much like I found in Britain. We took a tour of the city on a hop-on-hop-off bus but it only served to wet our appetite to come back and visit again.

(clockwise from top left - Rotunda of Illustrious Men; Plaza de la Ligeracion; Cathedral)

(Top to bottom - Arches on roadway; Plaza de los Laureles (central plaza); Municipal Palace; statue of not sure who - but will find out)

Finally cooked the Christmas turkey that we hauled down here. Some of our Tenacatita friends are here in Villa Corona, so we organized a little pot luck - as always, there was lots of food and good times.

Tomorrow we leave Villa Corona and head north. Well actually have to go back to Guadalajara, circle around it on the Periferico (Ring Road), and then head north. We did a dry run today of the route around Guadalajara, so are feeling confident to drive the fifth wheel in this busy, busy place. We really don't want to miss any turns this time! From here we will travel to Zacatecas, then and north to near Chihuaha . . . it’s a fly by the seat of our pants kind of trip. We are travelling with another couple we have met, Pete and Val, and will be crossing over into New Mexico at Santa Teresa hopefully in three days. The interior of Mexico begs to be explored in another trip . . . . .

Will keep in touch – 10 more sleeps! Where has the time gone . . . . the RV community that travels in Mexico is small and unique, and we have met some wonderful people. Arturo and de Beeb have only seen the tip of the iceberg in this country!

Arturo y de Beeb

On the road again . . .

Leaving Tenacatita - Feb 10, 2009

Today is February 14th - St. Valentines Day. We left Tenacatita on Feb. 10th, spent a couple of days in Manzanillo with Rupert friends, and arrived in Villa Corona on Feb. 12th.

We forgot what it was like driving with the trailer tied to our backsides, and it was a wee bit stressful. When we arrived in Manzanillo, we parked at the hotel where we stayed for two nights and enjoyed so much our time with our old friends.

Parking wasn't the problem, but when we went to leave, Arturo had to back out down a cobblestone paved hill that was only wide enough for one lane. Thank goodness Jose and Mirko were there to help guide Arturo through, because I don't think I could have done it. We said our goodbyes to the Rupertites,

and then headed off towards Colima. First of all though, we headed down the wrong way on a one way highway out of Manzanillo, and had to jump the median with trailer in tow to get into the right lane. Coming or going, we always seem to make an impression!!! But once we were in the right lane, we continued on through the state of Colima towards Guadalajara. We passed by Volcan de Fuego - a steaming volcano. The peak was covered in cloud so we weren't able to get a good picture.

Because it's what we seem to do best, we missed the turn to Villa Corona, and landed in a small Mexican town (trailer in tow) and had to manuver through the narrow cobblestone streets of Actolan until we were back on the right road. Aaah, Villa Corona never looked so good!

Villa Corona is a nice city of about 22,000 people. The RV park here is really a water park. There are quite a few pools here that are emptied each night and filled with fresh, warm spring water every morning. The temperatures are very comfortable - 30s in the day time, but it cools down to about 10 degrees at night so we have put the down comforter back on the bed. It really is a beautiful place and we are happy to be here. There are a few other RVers here that we met at Tenacatita, so it feels very comfortable indeed. Tomorrow we are headed to Tonola, which is THE shopping area of Guadalajara - and we'll see what kind of bargains we can find. Sunday is the market day - Arturo is so excited (just kidding!!)

Today we went on a little excursion to Lake Chapala (Mexico's largest natural lake) and, I don't need to say this, but we missed the turn that would have taken us there directly, so we headed off across country. Again, we maneuvered through narrow cobblestone streets and dirt roads to get to the main highway. This took us about one hour out of our way, but it was beautiful scenery. This cabellero (cowboy) was trying to lasoo a cow that had wandered from the herd (kind of like we seem to do) but he really wasn't having any luck.

Lake Chapala is quite a Gringo destination, and is built up with beautiful casas and haciendas. We had a bite to eat and headed back to Villa Corona where we enjoyed a Valentines Party hosted by the park.

Better go and get a good nights sleep, as tomorrow will be a busy day at the market.

Countdown is on - we will be heading north next week - it's been a wonderful experience!

Arturo y de Beeb

Tortuga!!!!

Hola! (no Osa today)

The most amazing thing happened this morning. A turtle (tortuga) came up on the beach, dug a hole and laid her eggs.

This is her path from the ocean up the beach.

Laying the eggs.

Heading back to the ocean . . .

These are a few pictures of her struggling to get back to the water. I doubt we will ever see this again, as they say this usually occurs at night. We were wondering if this is a young tortuga, and she didn't know better. . . .

And again, another stellar sunset last night in La Manzanilla. We went there with a few of our new amigos, as people seem to be leaving Tenacatita now and heading their separate ways.

Not much else to report - just beachin' it and poking arouond the countryside.

Arturo y de Beeb

What are we going to do today?

Now, this is the life!

Arturo y de Beeb

Back from our "Holiday in a Holiday"

Arturo y de Beeb
January 16, 2009

We are back from Manzanillo and it felt good coming back to familiar faces in our campground – I guess it’s really starting to feel like home here.

Manzanillo is only about 1 and ½ hrs. south of Tenacatita, and the roads are good. We actually were in Santiago, which is on the outskirts of Manzanillo, at the Tesoro Resort. It’s an all-inclusive resort – which was kind of nice for a break – and we met up with Doug and Janice and the crew who came down here for Megan and Mark’s wedding. It was a beautiful wedding on the beach – but I’ll leave it up to them to share their photos.

The Tesoro Resort itself is quite nice – but it was obviously not nearly full. Most of the people there were Canadians escaping the brutal winter weather. Here are a few photos of the resort and the beautiful sunset – I never get tired of those sunsets over the ocean!

Of course, there were the “rec” people at the resort, who gathered up the gringos to play volleyball, and hockey on the beach – and the “boom boom” music at the pool seems to be pretty standard. Our amigos will appreciate these pics from the night time show – doesn’t it all look too familiar!

Arturo and I renewed our vows on the beach –

NOT – ha ha, I can see some of you shaking your heads now thinking “Who are those people and what have they done with Art and Bev!!” (notice the golden bands!!)

I have been purposefully not mentioning much about the weather here – as we have been following the news from Canada – but it seems to be warming up in the west anyway, so that is good. We have had consistently warm weather since arriving in Tenacatita – it usually hits about 28 – 29 in the daytime, and cools off to 19 or so overnight. We have had a few days of very high humidity, which makes it really muggy, but those are days when we spend most of the time at the beach – the ocean is always good for cooling off!

Today we will head in to Barra de Navidad to meet up with Doug and Janice one more time before they head home to Victoria. Barra de Navidad is about half an hour from Tenacatita, and just a few minutes from Melaque. They are very different towns, though. Barra is much more “tourist” friendly, and seems very quaint – while Melaque has more of the Mexican flavor. We like them both – and feel very comfortable in either place.

Most people in the campground have plans to start moving on in the next month or so. We have decided to go to Villa Corona – which is on the outskirts of Guadalajara – around the middle of February. The RV Park there has natural hot pools, and it’s supposed to be very “therapeutic”. That might be good to get all the salt, sand and beer out of our system before we come home! We’ll stay there for a week or so, and then start making our way north.

“Where ever you go, there you are”

Arturo y de Beeb

Life's a beach!

December 29th, 2008

Yesterday was the finals of the triathlon at Tenacatita RV/tent/trailer Park. Arturo and Bev faced off in the Horseshoe competition and Bev and her team-mate, Brian, kicked ass!!! That put Bev and Brian at third place in the triathlon – can you believe it??

Today, we ventured off in a convoy to a town south east if Tenacatita - El Huerto – about 1 ½ hours from Tenacatita along Hwy 80. This is another real Mexican town – and it was absolutely beautiful. The Town Square just invited you in, and all the people in the shops were so friendly and accommodating. This is another town that has not had a lot of Gringo exposure, so you have to just fit in to their culture, and you’ll do fine. We travelled inland a bit and climbed up to some petro glyphs – and if I ever get wifi, I’ll put in a link. I didn’t take pictures cause I was too busy holding on to the rocks as we climbed up the cliff – maybe I should have taken rock climbing 101. Then we went to an abandoned hotel that one of the Mexican generals used to own that was built in the 1930s. The potential for development here is amazing – with infinity pools from a natural spring water. I’m trying to talk some of our fellow Canadians into cleaning it up and making a business . . . but we’re on vacation, right, so we know it’s only a dream. We just loved it here and will be back before we head home. There is a big difference between Gringo towns and Mexican towns – and we appreciate that. When we came back to the RV Park, the humidity had increased on the coast. It’s now +25 degrees outside and 75% humidity (7 pm). We are watching the junior’s game, and thinking we should turn off the friggin TV as it makes too much heat. The problem here is that we can’t’ go outside at night because of the bugs – we are eaten alive after sundown. That is a problem – but we’ll live with it.

What are we going to do tomorrow? Don’t know – we’ll decide in the morning.
No, that’s not right, we have already decided that we will go on a bike ride in the morning, and spend the rest of the day at the beach . . . . Sounds good to me.

Oh dear, the power has just gone out in the park. All the guys are running around trying to figure out what is wrong. I think someone turned on the Air con and blew the circuit – we’re not allowed air conditioning here – and it wasn’t us. Better go, as it’s all dark and don’t want to use too much power. Jeez . ….. such problemos!

Hasta Luego


Arturo y de Beeb


January 8, 2009

Well, it’s been a while since I sent some pictures, so better get on that. It’s hard because we don’t have WiFi, so have to take the laptop into town every few days to update the blog.. . . . the things we have to do . . . . !!!

What have we done since New Years . . . . hmmmmm, same S#$(%t, different day! We have been very laid back since ringing in the New Year. We did watch the Canadian Junior’s kick the Swede’s ass in hockey – you could tell the Canadians in the park – all inside watching TV while the Americans were wondering what all the hubbub was about! Go Canada Go!!!

Arturo and I both bought boogie boards, and have been “surfing” the waves at Tenacatita. I wait until the “girlie” waves, but Arturo and his new amigos go for the gusto! Well, they did, and today they are all on the injured list – Pete hurt his head, Terry has his toe wrapped up in Duct Tape, and Arturo is nursing a stiff neck. That’s what happens when you are over 55 and think that you are 25 again! Here’s some pics of Arturo and me boogie-ing. It’s a blast!

We have met some very interesting creatures since our arrival in Mexico (both human and otherwise!) – this beautiful little beach perro (Pan Terra) made friends with us in Celestino . . . she has since been adopted, and spayed (thank you, thank you) and will have a good life. If she hadn’t been adopted, she may have been coming back to Water Valley!

These little ones found some shade under our truck in Maleque. It’s not a great life to be a dog in Mexico . . . but they seem to survive somehow.

The coconut tree in front of our trailer is the home to “Earl” – the Iguana that lives in the tree. He pokes his head out of those holes that the woody- woodpeckers make, and then climbs up the tree to sun himself. We like our little friend, Earl!

Cattle drive . . . . . !!!

Now, this little creature was found on my leg . . . yes, on my leg!!! We think he hid under our chairs at night, and then we just carried him off to the beach in the morning. I screamed, Arturo killed him . . . and all is well. Scorpions!!!!

Termite nest!!! Yikes - this was from the petroglyphs area in La Huerta

We are still riding our bikes and walking the beach every day, and of course, a few cervezas a day at our own little palapa on the beach . . . this is just what we were looking for!

We are off to Manzanillo on Monday to go to Meghan’s wedding and see our amigos, Doug and Janice – and will be spending three days at the Tesoro Resort in Manzanillo. I think it’s kind of time for a holiday within a holiday! That should be really lots of fun and we are looking forward to it.

Hasta Luego

Arturo y de Beeb