Nov 09, 2011
…I have so much to share with you but the sunset tonight was extraordinary…….
This was shot just sitting in my chair beachfront!! No wine ingestion interfered with this shot.
The spectacle just got better and better.
I just loved the reds in the sky....
...what else can I say....wish you were here!
Today was a great day for us and we relaxed. It only got to 88F inside the RV and we had a lovely cooling breeze all day… I have so much to share……adios till the next post!
Nov 08, 2011
Please accept my apologies for the delay in this post. Quite honestly it has been a wee bit of a challenge dealing with the temperature and dryness. We aren’t exactly just sitting around but trying to set up our new home for the next five months. We prefer to get it all done and set up ASAP and then do nothing for the rest of our stay.
These temps are making it more difficult to work fast plus we have NO shade on this new site. Can you believe this is our 3rd new site in 3 years......but it will be the final one. Any other Mexico travel will be just that, travel, not staying in one place which is what we need right now. We have no shade but that is also being dealt with.
We left Culiacan about 6:30AM and it was an easy drive via the autopista. Mazatlan itself is in the midst of major road construction. It is all very well marked, just follow the orange signs to Tepic. When this project is completed, driving thru Mazatlan will be a breeze. Actually the detour was quick, about 15 minutes.
Follow the signs to Tepic.
So back to the road!
The final 8.5 miles of the road into the RV PARK Tres Amigos is by gravel road. The road does get graded a few times per year but generally at this time of year they wait until all the puddles from the rainy season have dried up. The day before we got here the grading had begun. We actually felt that the road was in the best shape we have ever seen it. The pot holes had been filled with gravel and the road in general was smooth.
We left Estrella del Mar, a golf resort community, where the road begins at 9:30AM! We were so pleased to see that amount of grading that had been done but a mere 2 miles in we were stopped in our tire tracks!!
There was no way we were going to drive our RV thru those bushes with the long thorns and get our paint job scratched up.
So......Colin decided to get the ladder, grabbed a saw and some garden shears and tackle the bushes!! It was about 35C with no breeze.
So if Colin is walking down the road, who the heck is driving the rig? ME!!! I have not driven before, what a great way to learn, dodging bushes and ruts!
Hack to the right~ Can you see Colin in the mirror?
By now, Colin has been at it for over an hour. We have a line of vehicles behind us! This fellow jumps out of his truck with a machete and clears enough for us to pull to the side so everyone can pass.
Colin resumes the hacking!!
Salvation....finally someone we held up mentioned to the back hoe operator that we needed help.
...so when Colin got back in the RV....he said I might as well follow Sebastian. He needed to cool down. Do I look stressed? You betcha!
This fellow was a life saver. At this point we figured we would be here for one night, perhaps two. After a little over an hour Colin has to stop. He felt that his blood was boiling at 150 degrees. Thank goodness we have a generator and were able to keep the A/C at top notch. We explained our situation ( in our best Mexican we had ) to the back hoe fellow….Sebastian….he drove ahead and cleared and cleared and cleared.
He took care of height and width. At one point he stopped and indicated we should go ahead. The road ahead was good he said. We gave him 100 pesos and drove on. Soon we encountered a few more problems, Colin got out to do his hacking! Not 10 minutes later Sebastian and his backhoe appeared. The 100 pesos ( really a mere 9.00 CAD) must have spoke. Sebastian moved ahead of us and cleared the path right thru to Stone Island.
Sebastion was now having a good time....almost ballet like!
So we arrived at Tres Amigos RV Park on Stone Island about 12:45 PM. Those last 8.5 miles took 3 hours and 20 minutes. Certainly a new record. There were 4 RV’s that arrived the day prior to us and just plowed thru the brush, something we will not do.
So we arrived……
...dirty but in one piece.
...with a few gentle marks ( not scratches ) that can be washed & waxed out.
We have arrived in paradise and the road to paradise is open to you all. It is in the best shape it has ever been so now is the time to come and check out Isla de la Piedra and Tres Amigos RV Park.
If we and our ( well really my 288 bottles of wine can make it ) so can you!!
Today we only drove 140.1 miles, a very short distance yet much time involved.
Nov 06, 2011
We left San Carlos at 7 AM on Friday, Nov. 4th. Please be very careful with your electric use there and use a voltage/currant meter because they are putting 30 amp plugs on 15 amp wires!!! Never use anything at Totonaka that uses more than 15 amps!
Just before Santa Ana @ Imuris I noticed much more commerce, plant pots, stone carvings, etc. San Carlos itself is showing much growth since last year, new buildings including what might be a mini mall and a huge general spruce up of the main road into the town, a lumber yard, another Pemex, the vivero and more condos completed. Progress!
Speaking of progress we weren't certain how much further this trailer was going to go, certainly not even a mile.
We noticed a huge presence of Federales at the toll both just prior to Obregon , about nine fellows with weapons at the ready.
The worst road of the trip was from Guaymas to Obregon, rather rough. From Guaymas to to Navojoa there is major road construction happening which will make driving a bit slower. There must be hundereds of workers out there, I also noticed much construction at the Obregon airport. I think the economy in Mexico is slowly picking up.
The large Pemex just before Navojoa is caught in the construction but accessible over a wee gravel detour. We drove right through Navojoa. Now that the road is complete it is not an issue and a local Transito just waived us on. It does take a few more moments because of the traffic lights but we love to check out the local ambience. Since it’s make over last year the town has certainly perked up. If you are in a hurry and need to save 5-10 minutes you can still take the left turn detour @ the Best Western just North of the town.
When you go thru Navojoa be sure to have a look at the pedestrian crossings. As the countdown goes down, the legs start running!!
There were 3 or 4 stops by the various policia today but we were always waived through. I got the feeling that we as tourists were very very welcome and under no circumstances were we to be delayed. Once when we saw every other vehicle being searched from top to bottom but we were waived thru, I felt like royalty. I had a very strong feeling that the Mexicans wanted us to be there and were doing all they could to make the trip as easy as possible.
We stopped at the very last Pemex south of Culiacan, just before the autopista to Mazatlan. Once again we felt safe and special. There are a few security guards who patrol all night. Eduardo came by and asked if we were spending the night and when did we plan to leave in the morning. We asked if he would watch our coach during the night and gave him 50 pesos. We felt very secure and safe.
Doesn't look like we are suffering staying at this truck stop!!
Once settled in, our friends Heriberto and Isela arrived for a visit bearing dinner. We had close to a 4 hour visit. For those new to the blog Heriberto is a Mexican maestro with whom Colin stays each March when he attends the Culiacan International Guitar Festival. Last January we organized a concert here on the Isla. We visited, played the guitar, sang, ate, drank vino y cerveza, laughed and had no idea we were sitting in a Pemex ( this is a fuel station in Mexico, nationally owned by Pemex ). We finally go to bed after 10:00 PM….drove 371 miles today, the longest day this trip.
...the singing part...
...the guitar part....
...to make a very long story short...last March, Heriberto asked Colin a question, once Colin gave his answer. Heriberto asked if that was really true......Colin repied..."do pigs fly". That involved a huge amount of translation and discussion. For the last 6 months every email has had a reference to pigs flying, so when Colin saw this little guy he had to get it for Heriberto.
We had a huge day on the Isla, trying to sort things out on the new site and get some quotes for some work we want done. It was 32C and I did get too much sun but have used mucho aloe vera so I will be good tomorrow. Had a fabulous morning beach walk but just had to share the sunset tonight.
Tommorow……the story about the road………………..
Nov 05, 2011
We made it. However the last 9 miles took close to 3.5 hours and we are exhausted. You could almost make a movie out of that story. You will just have to read it for yourself in a day or two.
Just wanted to let you know that all is well and we are thrilled with our new site and so very happy to be here. I will bring you up to date wihtin the next day on the trip from San Carlos to Culiacan and then to here, Mazatlan. There are a few things I have noted down to share with you and of course some photos but I need to go to bed. Muy cansada!
For the first time ever we did nothing towards our set up on arrival. Once we parked and plugged in we went for a beach walk and early dinner at Puesta del Sol.
The girls just love being back home although it may take Caeli sometime to adjust, she kept sitting outside at our old site.
We have arrived!! This is our new site,, from the yellow post to the fence on the left.
This is all ours. Our wee tree needs some TLC. Most of my flowers survived, now to see how the ones in the pots did. I might just plant everything in the ground this year now that we have a permanent site.
I have given us two weeks to take this canvas and transform it….then is is strictly relax, relax and more relaxation.
Talk to you very very soon……..
Nov 04, 2011
I ( well we ) really love Mexico! So great to be back!
We started the drive at 6:15 AM….thank goodness as you shall see. We crossed out of the USA at 7:30AM ( I suggest using the truck lane on the right and avoiding the wacky barricades )but first we had to answer a guantlet of questions. How much money do you have? Exactly how much is pesos and how much is US? I really don’t know… do you want me to count my pennies?? Do you have guns ?…..well we are Canadians….No I did not say that, just a simple “no”!
KM 21 presented an entire new scenario today. First Migracion as usual but then you go the Banjercito to pay your Tourist Visa, then run back to Migracion to get the official final document, where you go to the head of the line. Then you go get a variety of copies made ( for way too many pesos, inflation has hit the border copy machine ), then go back to the Banjercito, but now there are 25 people ahead of you in line!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go to the front of the line to the original agent you stared with 38 minutes ago.!!! Finally she takes you, in front of the other 25 people….we paid by Visa for the Tourist Cards and also much later for the towed car permit. They are very modern now and you even have to type in your PIN # thru the tiny communication window. You are then asked to sign your ‘PIN authenticated Visa slip” and then your Visa card is put under a piece of paper while the agent runs a pencil over the numbers…making a copy just in case the ‘PIN” was not for real???!!!!
The next step was the deposit on your vehicle. First you had to pay the whopping huge fee of 666.67 pesos for the car permit then in our particular case a $300.00USD ( or credit card deposit if you chose to ) deposit on our 2006 tow car. What surprised me was that Colin as the importer of the car had to name a ‘benefactor’ should he die in Mexico, so that the car could eventually be removed from Mexico. That particular document had to be signed in 2 places in triplicate. Seriously, by now my head is spinning. Remember we have entered Mexico by RV at least over 12 years…it is not even 9:00AM and my head is about to fall off….not to mention the increasing anxiety of the 25, no, now 30 lined up behind us. I said to Colin, that they really needed a dedicated line to deal with just the payment of the tourist visas and that would speed things up. We finally were done in 80 minutes and when we left we could not believe the parking lot. At least 15 RV’s waiting to be processed!!!! This is not going to work in the long run.
There are RV's behind the RV 's not in the cameras eye!
Meanwhile we kept heading south. Not once today did we get stopped or boarded. Just lots of smiles and keep on moving along. At KM 111 we were astounded at the 4 mile line of semi’s waiting to go through the military check point. How do these fellows make any money??
4 miles of trucks waiting hours and hours to proceed.
Hermosillo is going through some major road constuction. Just as you pass the prison on your right you will see two signs, one says for heavy vehicles to go this way and for those with lighter vehicles to go that way….which is to the right and the usual way to navigate the perifico. The detour signs are in orange and very visible using the word Guaymas and directional arrows. We used the heavy load detour and were thru in about 20 minutes. Very fast and efficient.
We stopped for diesel just south of Hermosillo…..wow….992 per liter of diesel….best fill up in the US before crossing into Mexico. While at the Pemex I saw a car all wrapped up in what looked like Saran Wrap. I asked our attendant what was the reason and he replied ” the car is mucho frio”! I had to laugh. How many of you joke with these fellows. Just love communicating with the locals.
Are you cold little carro?
Before we knew it we were in San Carlos….the day seemed to fly by ( well… after KM 21 ). A bit of a surprise to see the park only 25% full. Jose at the desk mentioned that he had 15 RV’s pass thru yesterday and then already today at 3PM we were 6 RV’s. By nightfall there were about 12 checkins and we are the only ones passing through, some staying for the season, some for a few days. I really think there are more RVers in Mexico this season. Met a few couples late today who were behind us at KM 21, they said that after we left they added a separate window for just tourist visa payments……did I not suggest that????
For us it was a 323 mile day but seemed like just a few hours.
The beach, the glorious beach.....but the girls know its not the real thing!
Sat outside and enjoyed the breeze and listened to all the birds roosting at sunset. Took another family walk and back home discovered that something was not right electronically, you could smell that bad electronic fire smell. This is not the first time we have had problems here so please be extra careful. Living on the inverter tonight.
Next stop….Culiacan!