"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer."
-Anonymous
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Hola Amigos!
Have you missed us? We've been a bit busy lately & I seemed to have let a month slip by without our normal update. I assure you, we have plenty of excuses, and are still very much alive.
It's now March and we're officially half way through the journey we'd been planning for over two years. Six months ago, we either sold, donated or packed away our belongings, rented our house and hit the road in our newly purchased, newly renovated 1992 27' Winnebago, named La Tortuga. We packed ourselves, our 9-year-old son, Noah (now 10) and 14-year -old dog, Quito (now 15) into the RV and headed south, ready for adventure... wherever it would take us.
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Stats
Miles Driven:
Over 4000
Campsites/Destinations:
41:
Campgrounds, beaches, parking lots, the side of the road, and one ferry.
Turtle Releasings:
2
Tacos Consumed:
5 million and counting!
New Friends:
Too many to count or name
(Mostly all Canadian, and can't pronounce Flan)
Serious Marital Challenges:
2
(maybe three, depending on which one of us you ask!)
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Where we've been...Where we are...Where we're going!
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After 3 and ½ months traveling the entire length of Baja, we ferried over to mainland Mexico and are now currently in
El Tule
, a small town just outside Oaxaca City, where we just finished 2 full weeks of Spanish school. We'll talk more about Oaxaca in the next newsletter. There's still a lot to catch up on from these past few months.
Read all about our time in Baja on the
blog.
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Ferry From Baja to Mainland Mexico
To get from Baja to the mainland, we hopped the TMC ferry from La Paz to Topolobampo (To-po-lo-bam-po). That’s just fun to say, isn’t it? Once there, we drove over five hours to the touristy town of Mazatlán. There is an option to take a ferry directly to Mazatlán and save the drive (and a bit of your sanity) but a few factors kept us from doing so. If you’d like to know what it takes to move yourselves, your dog and your 27’ RV across the Sea of Cortez, check out:
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Our original plans did not involve us spending much time in Mazatlán as I have always thought it to be just another large tourist trap. But advice from fellow travelers and Mexican locals who live there intrigued us just enough to check it out. I wouldn’t include it in my top 10 favorite places in Mexico (that is only a list inside my head at this time) but it was a good place to relax for a bit and figure out our next move.
Read all about our time in
Mazatlán, including our unsuccessful first attempt to leave Mazatlán
here
.
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After spending the last month along the coastlines of Baja and the mainland, we decided to make our way inland for a change of scenery...and weather. The coast is HOT (apparently hotter than normal this time of year) and if we've learned one thing about Noah during this trip, it's that he is a "mountain kid" through and through! The kid does not like the heat! Neither does Quito...or Gregg. Basically, I'm outnumbered. But even I was looking forward to a little "jacket weather."
The interior of Mexico lured us inward with promises of cooler weather, rich history, colorful cities, and mouth-watering cuisine. Too bad we're on a budget or I'd eat my way through every restaurant, cafe and roadside "tlayuda stand" in sight! There's always time for the gym when we get home, right?
Tequila
I knew Tequila had to come from somewhere, but I never thought I'd find myself in the very town where it's created. The town of Tequila, located a short distance Northwest of Guadalajara, lives and breaths this liquoir. It's a place where families and companies are one in the same, with tequila production dating back to the 16th century before the town of Tequila was even established. The fermented beverage, originating from the agave plant, is more than just a drink to the people of Tequila, it's a tradition.
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The town of Tequila is a
UNESCO Heritage Site
and the most beautiful, lively spot we’ve visited so far. If I had my way, we’d still be there now, renting a little apartment in town, strolling the streets and tasting all the foods (and beverages) throughout the square, in a bus shaped like a jalapeno pepper.
Unfortunately, our stay only lasted one night. The one thing Tequila doesn’t have is an RV park, or any place to park, for a rig our size anyway. The beautiful roads are all cobblestone, uneven and very narrow, but that didn’t keep us from driving down them anyway.
We squeezed past a bunch of large trucks hauling agave plants into the factories,until a very nice driver pointed us in the direction of what would become our accommodations for the night…the side of the road right past the Jose Cuervo factory.
Eventually, I'll have time to write a little more about our entire Tequila experience, including Quito's private city bus tour, but let's be real. I can barely get a newsletter out, let alone a story on every place we've visited. For now, the story lives only in my head. If you're following our social media channels, you'll be the first to know when we have new posts to read.
Guadalajara
(The cith we almost saw!)
We knew Guadalajara was big. In fact, it's Mexico's second largest city. We also knew it wouldn't be easy to visit in La Tortuga. However, it came so highly recommended we decided to give it a shot anyway, intent on witnessing its colonial plazas and landmarks, while enjoying the music it's so famous for- Mariachi!
The closer we came to the city, the heavier traffic became, and Google started spitting out road names and directions that sounded more like a spanish radio ad, leaving us confused and in the middle of a traffic nightmare. Sadly, we left the city in our rearview mirror as quickly as possible and continued on toward our next destination. Guadalajara will have to wait for another time...another vehicle...and quite possibly another husband. I'm not sure I'd ever talk Gregg into going back there.
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Las Mariposas
A Trip to the Monarch Butterflies
Our real destination and reason for heading inland was not just about tequila and mariachi, but rather to witness the orange forest high in the mountains of the state of
Michoacán
. We were headed to see the butterflies! Each year, the beautiful Monarch Butterfly makes the 3,000 mile journey from Canada and through the US to the warmer climates of Mexico, where they hibernate in the Pine and Oyamel Fir trees, literally sagging their branches and turning entire sections of the forest a distinct color of orange.
To get to the butterflies would require an all-day drive through $50 worth of toll booths as well as an overnight stay in the parking lot of the reserve, only to turn around and back-track the next day. So instead, we opted to stop half way in the little town of
San Juan
at the
San Juan del Lago RV Resort
. If you've been watching our Instagram and Facebook posts, this is where we found the wild horses, as well as a beautiful family with kids for Noah to play with.
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We made the 3 hour journey from San Juan to the butterflies in the company of our camp host Arturo, their three kids from the camp, and a few new friends from France. We were packed like sardines in Arturo's truck, but after winding our way up through the mountains and small towns along the way, we were thankful we were not making the trip in La Tortuga.
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The long drive was just the first step in reaching the butterflies. The next required a several mile hike deep into the forest. Luckily, there was public transportation to take us half way, which Noah and I litereally jumped on.
The remainder of the hike was on foot, winding us through a large, dense forest, filled with moss-covered firs and pines, along a trail carpeted in needles. If I wasn't deep in the interior of Mexico, I would have thought I was back home in the Pacific Northwest.
The trail finally opened up to a clearling and rewarded us with a spectacular sight of orange. And although we were in the company of another 50 or so people, nothing but silence filled the air. Butterflies were everywhere; hundreds of thousands of them. The tree branches hung low with the weight of these light-as-a-feather creatures, while even more fluttered about for the cameras. It was mesmerizing.
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An hour and a few thousand photos later, we made the hike back down the mountain (no horses this time) and found our way into the town of
Tlalpujahua
for lunch, before making the long drive back to San Juan. It was a day I'll never forget. If you ever find yourself in the middle of Mexico, I'd highly recommend jumping on some horses in search of butterflies!
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It took just over a week for us to start missing the beach, and the heat- I know, we can't make up our minds! So, rather than continuing south through the interior, we made our way back toward the coast to warm up a little. And warm up we did! About an hour from the ocean, we had all the windows rolled down, feet out the window (me, not Gregg) and sweat pouring off our bodies like an open faucet.
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I'm not sure about you, but when I hear that name, I think of Red and Andy (Morgan Freeman Tim Robbins) from The Shawshank Redemption. I picture a pristine beach and a quiet vibe, where we could waste a month away, helping Red sand his little fishing boat. Well, those guys have moved onto other movies and Zihuatanejo grew into something a little larger and more crowded! With limited RV accommodations in town and quieter options further south, we took advantage of the Soriana, a large Mexican grocery store, and continued on.
Is it just me or is anyone else feeling the urge to re-watch Shawshank?
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If you can't hang out on the beach with Morgan Freemon in Zihuatanejo, the next best option just might be
Casa Rayo Del Sol
,
about an hour south, and everything we'd been looking for along the Pacific shores. The campground sits above a long, gorgeous stretch of beach full of little restaurants and had all the amenities we could hope for, aka...showers and laundry. Yes, we have pretty simple needs these days!
On the other side of camp sat a little neighborhood full of very modest homes, and kids for Noah to play with, all of whom became constant fixtures at our camp during our stay. For 11 days, we surfed, boogie boarded, played football, flew kites, and somehow ended up with a TV and game station inside our mosquito tent! Some things don't change, no matter what country you're in.
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In addition to playing around camp, we also took on the task of cleaning up the trash along the beach. This beach is not un-like many others in Mexico, where many of the locals (tourists too) toss thier garbage in every which way. Everywhere you look, you see plastic bottles, cans, food containers, articles of clothing and so much more. Our first outing resulted in the collection of three large bags of basura.
A few days later, we included the neighborhood kids in our efforts, while checking off a school project for Noah at the same time. Noah did a presentstion about the effects of trash on the beaches and streets (in Spanish), and the kids were excited and ready to help. We all went to work, cleaning up the surrounding neighborhood and beach and returned with another 6 large bags. Our final week at camp resulted in the kids proudly bringing all kinds of trash to our campsite to throw in our bins.
Needless to say, it was hard to leave this place (and the kids) we had come to love. But we finally said our goodbye, leaving them with a few weeks of memories, less trash, and a surfboard we knew they'd enjoy much longer than we could.
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Acapulco
The city that shouldn't have been!
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The next phase of our journey would lead us through Acapulco, a very large resort town, overrun with high rise hotels, golf courses and retirees that have been in the sun so long they have turned a permanent shade of orange.
This town was definitely not on our list, but more a requirement to keep from beaking our one simple travel rule- Never Drive at Night!
After an hour of searching for it, we found our way to the only RV Park (if you can call it that) in the city of Acapulco. The park resembled a high-end retirement village, and was full of either French or French Canadian residents, none of whom spoke English...or Spanish. We quickly replaced our "Buenos Dias"and "Buenos Noches" greetings with "Bonjour" and Au revoir" (about the only two French greetings I remember) and left early the following morning. Not exactly your typical Mexican experience. Anyway, we were onto much better places, but that's a story for next time!
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Thanks so much for following along on our adventures! We'll check back in with you soon....depending on WIFI, of course!
Don't forget!
Communication goes both ways! We'd love to hear from you. Send us a note anytime @
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Follow us below for updates on where we are and what we're up to!
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