Travel Log 9: January 29, 2009 - Acapulco or Bust? Bust, it is...

Just to back track a bit, January 2 found us in Mazatlan. Crossing the Tropic of Cancer meant warmer weather and the hopes of a warmer swimming ocean. We found the water still a bit cool, but certainly enjoyed the warm days and cool nights. At this time of year, it is truly the perfect temperate climate. 

 

We decided to stay a week in Mazatlan. We were enjoying our resort, and there was also a lot to see. Our resort was at the far north end of the hotel zone, which made it significantly quieter than the other RV resort offerings. We were able to do some sightseeing, and catch up on chores and shopping. We were over-the-moon to see a Walmart again! Familiar food brands and other reminders of home led us to wander the store aimlessly with a glazed look in our eyes. We stocked our grocery cart to overflowing, which garnered very odd looks from the other Mexicans shopping in the store. I’ve never been so excited to see “Bounty Paper Towel”!

 

There are also big-box Mexican stores which we have found to be just as good as Walmart – Mega, Gigante and Sorianna all provide a wonderful shopping experience and the ability to get most things that one needs.

 

Mazatlan as a whole was a lot of what we expected. It is a port city and an old resort town. The wear and tear definitely shows and the traffic in and around the business and shopping areas is incredibly busy and crazy. We visited the malecon, and found “old town”. The old town square area is a bustling artistic area, with an absolutely incredible theater for live concerts and operas. There is an Arts Academy where we saw Mexican students dance and art students practicing their craft.  

 

We left Mazatlan on January 10 headed south for Puerto Vallarta. We travelled south on Mex 15 to Tepic and then merged onto the Mex 200 directly south of Tepic and over to the coast through Compostela. We anticipated a big day so we left Mazatlan as soon as it was light, which was around 6:30 am. Leaving the gate of the park and negotiating a very tight turn onto the road, we just lightly clipped the back corner of our cargo box along the chain link fence. There was only a slight scrape, but little did we know it was an omen for the day.

  

Just north of Puerto Vallarta is a series of small resort towns; Rincon de Guayabitos, Lo de Marcos, and Sayulita. These little towns are only a few kms apart and are very popular destinations for RVers. Our aim was to land at a resort we had selected from our tour book in Lo de Marcos. This resort area is close enough to Puerto Vallarta that one can travel in for the day. 

 

We made very good time travelling and upon arriving in Lo de Marcos, found a few resorts which would have suited us. The streets in Lo de Marcos were narrow, and on that day clogged with local traffic driving every which way. We travelled through the narrow streets feeling as large as the buildings we were passing. We found the small resort for which we were searching, but we needed to turn around. We found ourselves on a road which became narrower and narrower. 

 

There was a large lot at the base of a hill on this narrow road which would have been good for turning around, however there was a very narrow gate through the fence and a low-hanging tree which blocked us from going in. The (helpful?) Tourist Police happened upon us, and through much charades, told us that the gate through the fence could be made bigger by removing another post in the fence, which was only loosely fitted for this purpose. Of course, they wanted 100 pesos ($10) for their assistance. The Tourist Police are supposed to exist to actually help the tourist – not for profit. Of course, if we had taken them up on their offer and entered their lot, would they have asked for more money to let us out? We felt annoyed, and decided to fix our problem the hard way. We had to back up for about 1 km to find an opportunity to turnaround. We found a driveway which seemed an okay size for us to back into. The driveway had two tall cement pillars marking each side. It would be a tight turn, but there was literally nothing else for us to do, other than continue backing up through town…which was not an option. 

 

Adrian drove masterfully, and as we tried to watch the pillars on both sides of the driveway, the huge rocks on the opposite shoulder of the road, the low overhead electrical wires and steep ditches, we just didn’t have enough eyes and ended up damaging our trailer in the effort. We hit the driveway pillar, scraped and punched two holes into the side of our trailer. The sizes of the holes were about the size of a loonie, and went right through the fiberglass. We also damaged some of the moulding and twisted the stabilizer jack which protruded slightly from the side of the rig. Should have spent the 10 bucks. It was our first major damage and, in spite of it all, we were able to keep a degree of our sense of humor. However, we both decided that we wanted to leave Lo de Marcos and try another town. It was still quite early in the day, so we aimed for Bucerias which is only about 25 km north of PV. 

 

Since we hadn’t “prepared” for Bucerias, we picked some resorts from our tour book and attempted to locate them. Usually, we confirm our picks on our tour guide’s website to make sure they are still in fact open for business, etc. Anyway, we pulled up to our best prospect and found it closed.   As we sat on the road pondering our next move, a North American fellow came along on his quad and offered some information on some RV parks which we he knew were in operation. He very kindly escorted us through the streets of Bucerias, across the main highway, to the Hideaway RV Park. We found a lovely place to stay and were so grateful for the help.

 

We find a constant challenge in selecting an RV park in that the sites within the parks are extremely close together. It is common to see two rigs together, and one awning, only partially extended, stops inches from the next rig. The approach to the park also seems to always be difficult. Gates are narrow and streets are narrow, not allowing a wide enough turn for a longer rig. Then add other cars parked along the street and the whole thing turns into a big mess. Even the “new” RV parks are not much improved on this front. The problem is, a Mexican fellow will get a bright idea to set up a brand new park, but he will base his measurements on the park down the road…which was built 25 years ago before slide-outs existed and before monster rigs came down this far. Power will be 15 amp (instead of the needed 30amp and desirable 50 amp) and the water only runs on the days when he wants to turn the pump on.   Electricity in Mexico is incredibly expensive, and most parks here charge their pad fee and then electricity is extra. In one month of running the air conditioner and pretty much doing what you want, it could add another $300 - $400 per month to your expenses. Costs can be kept down by running the fridge on gas and using fans instead of the air conditioner.

 

The Hideaway Park is a city lot which had been purchased by the owner with designs to build a house. The owner is from Texas, and subsequently bought an ocean front lot for building a house, and transformed the city lot into a small RV Park. The park holds 5 rigs and is completely grassed with concrete pads beside each site. When we arrived there were two other RVs residing; one from Quebec and one from Alberta. We were the third.

 

The beach was a five minute walk away, and our new home was smack in the middle of a very charming little town. Bucerias is predominantly North American, with many restaurants being owned and operated by North Americans, and many of the very lovely properties are owned by North Americans as well. The only downside was that the park was one block off the main highway through to Puerto Vallarta, and we were right across the street from a “Fiesta House”. The Fiesta House is rented by anyone wanting a party or gathering. The noise was something else! We told the owner, jokingly of course, that we wanted a “mariachi discount”. There were parties over the first weekend when we arrived, but we were fortunate for the rest of the two weeks and escaped further aggravation. 

 

Our neighbors in the park, Terry and Sandy Peterman are from Olds, Alberta. They had just sold their electrical business about the same time that we sold Adrian’s business. They are “homeless” as well, as their home was sold with the business deal. We have much in common as self-employed business owners, and have become fast friends. Together we enjoyed many restaurants in Bucerias, the beach, and Sandy and I took part one evening in the “Bucerias Art

Walk” when the artists and shopkeepers in the area stay open late into the evening and all the residents walk the shops. We enjoyed many displays of local art, and some fabulous high end décor shops.

 

Terry and Sandy have a big motor home coach and one of their outdoor compartments revealed a TV for the outdoors!!! How cool is that! So one night, we put in a DVD movie , pulled up our lawn chairs outside and watched a movie in the wonderful warmth of the evening (okay, and a few mosquitoes!!)

 

During our second week in Bucerias, there was a festival called “Bucerias Days”. We were worried this might translate into yet another mariachi party across the street, but the festivities contained themselves to the old town of Bucerias. We went out several evenings to the restaurants in the area and observed the festivities. There were carnival rides, street vendors, and fireworks each night. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…the Mexicans love their parties. One of our tour books has the Mexican fiesta and holiday calendar and they truly have no less than two events every month. 

 

We also took a day trip to Punta Mismaloya, which is just south of Puerto Vallarta. This is where the movie “Night of the Iguana” was filmed, and where the romance between Liz Taylor and Richard Burton began. Mismaloya is a small little cove, and fifty years ago, would have been incredibly remote. Puerto Vallarta is also the site of the homes built by Richard Burton for his love/hate relationship with Liz (weren’t they married twice?). Their houses are connected by a bridge; however the site has been purchased by a hotel and is being renovated for this purpose, so it is closed to sightseeing.

 

During our time here we were also able to have our rig repaired. The owner of the park had a contact for fiberglass work. We were very pleased with the work, and what would have easily cost $600 - $800 dollars at home, cost us only $180.

 

We left Bucerias, on January 25. We were very sorry to leave our new friends, but will be keeping in touch. Our next destination is Punta Perula. Our travel friends from further north, Rod and Jeannie (from Vernon) were parked there and it was a good distance for a day of travel. We are in Trailer Park Las Palmas, which is just across the road from the beach. The owners are a Dutch fellow and his Mexican wife, who also reside in Vernon during the summer. 

 

The travel south from Puerto Vallarta was short in kilometers but long in time. 160 kms took us 4.5 hours to accomplish. Travelling south from PV, the road was windy and steep as we travelled through a very glamorous residential area with both homes and vacation resorts. The drive was lovely as far as scenery, but trying as far as conditions. 

 

When we arrived at our park in Punta Perula, we began our unhitching and setup routine and discovered that we had lost one of our stabilizer bars on the hitch. The hitch head had cracked allowing the stabilizer bar to drop off. The town we are in is very small with one main road and a few dirt cross-roads. We unhitched and hopped into the truck to do a quick re-trace tour through town to see if we could find the stabilizer bar. Finding nothing, we decided to retrace our trip up the highway as far as we could before needing to turn around to get home by dark. We had travelled 4.5 hours down to our destination, and now retraced our steps for another 3 hours. Our hope of finding our stabilizer bar just lying around on the roadside was based in not-very-optimistic hope…but we had to do it. It’s not like there’s a hitch shop just around the corner where we can get a replacement part.

 

Anyway, we didn’t find our bar. We returned home to our RV Park and began investigating how to get one tow bar and a new hitch head shipped to us. We had explained our difficulty to our RV park owner. The next day, we had a knock on the door, and a North American fellow said that some Mexicans had found a metal bar and had turned it in to him. He owned one of the RV parks in town, and as soon as he saw the piece, knew that it was a towing bit. He had already heard, through the local gossip, that we were missing a bar. Adrian went along with him and sure enough, they had our bar. 

 

Having our tow bar returned was great, now all we need is a new hitch head, as our existing head is cracked cannot be repaired or welded as it is a one-piece forged unit. This is a warranty issue with the company admitting that there was a problem with this series of their product.  We are now waiting for this part to arrive from Oregon via UPS. Our part is due to arrive tomorrow (Friday, January 30) in Puerto Vallarta. Without the trailer, we can make PV in about 3 hours.  Also, our new friends, Terry and Sandy, who are in Bucerias for the winter, are also offering their help in picking up our part from the courier. 

 

In the meantime, we are walking on the beach, and spending time at the pool where Rod and Jeannie are. Their RV Park is a part of a hotel with a pool deck. The weather this far south is really warm (mid 80’s). It is humid day and night, and the ocean is a lovely temperature for swimming. We went to a secluded little cove with Rod and Jeannie yesterday and did some swimming and snorkeling. The water is clear and the bottom is pure sand. Lovely. 

 

If one is to be stranded in Mexico, let’s make it on a lovely beach near some friends!    This evening, we are invited to Rod and Jeannie’s for a seafood feast. We are bringing scallops, they have prawns and rice. We’ll have a great evening and hopefully Friday or Saturday, be travelling to Puerto Vallarta to pick up our new hitch part. In our Las Palmas RV park, we are currently the only resident. At this time of year, the crush has passed, and many RVers are headed for home in time for Easter. 

 

 Adrian made a little rhyme which I will share with you:

***

Here we sit brokenhearted,

Broke our hitch

And just got started!

***

Once we get our hitch part (assuming of course that the right part has been sent) we will evaluate our itinerary. Our goal had been Acapulco; however we may need to revise plans. 

 

Living in a quiet little Mexican neighbourhood on the ocean is indeed interesting and there is always material for a good chuckle. We are sharing our RV park with a bright green iguana (perhaps 2 feet long nose-to-tail). He made a lovely pose for Adrian’s picture before running away on his tippy-toes. Just this minute we heard a coconut drop from the tree only inches away from the trailer. We have the locals trying to smoke us out morning and evening as they build their cooking fires for their meals. There are a couple of fellows driving around in their tiny little pickup trucks with big loudspeakers on the roof. They prattle away in Spanish and Adrian was certain it was some kind of political propaganda. We found out they are actually selling pineapple…3 for 25 pesos! Mexican roosters have no concept of day or night, light or dark. They croak out their arias at all hours.

 

We are really having a wonderful time and even the challenges provide some “good stress” and keep us on our toes.

 

I know many of you keep us in your thoughts and prayers for safe travels. We appreciate this immensely. We are safe and sound and ….oh gee…stranded in Mexico!