We're getting there

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

We keep awake most of the night from the traffic and the talkative, giggling prostitutes who are hanging out at the service station.
Then it is quiet for a few hours and we doze off. The sound waking us up this time is much more enjoyable. In the tress next to the RV are birds singing their heart out.
It is going to be a good day!
In front of the RV and old lone traveler opens up a few bags that contain freshly washed clothes. He spreads them out carefully on the hedge to dry in the sun and asks if he can wash our windshield. We don;t think he would be able to reach that high, but give him some Pesos anyway.

We buy a phone card at the service station and call Susan at Project Amigo in Cofradia. Telling her where we are, where we expect ot be tonight and that we look forward to seeing her tomorrow.
We are counting on internet access tonight, because Susan’s husband Ted will send us detailed driving instructions. Project Amigo Headquarters is in a small mountain village north of Colima, which is the capital of the state of the same name.

It is important that Ted is aware of what we are driving, and that we hang low to the ground. Will we be able to get through without any problem?

With the help of two Federales who happen to be walking right in front of the rig as we are ready to pull out, we are able to enter the busy road and are safely on our way to Guadalajara.
We appreciate the beautiful view of the green valley ahead and down below, with the mountains on both sides. The green valley, turns out to be acres and acres of sugarcane fields.

We are going up and down the mountains on a nice and quiet, four lane divided highway. Reaching quite a high altitude.

We pass Vulcan Ceboruco, which we visited last March with our friend Dee. At that time however we traveled by Van and took the free road in the opposite direction. This road is new to us, but it is a great road and very few trucks.
It’s slow going as we climb and it is tiring for Ramiro, but the view is spectacular.
In the distance we see the Autopista winding through the mountains for miles. What a sight. I would certainly recommend anyone to take this route from Puerto Vallarta.

We recognize the church in the city of Ixtlan del Rio on our right. Where we spend a night in March, right in front of the church, where that night the Passion Play was held.

We enter the state of Jalisco. We are in a little bit more familiar territory and it feels good. We are getting closer.
It’s time to set the clock ahead one hour and stop at a large rest area at the toll booth to stretch our legs and I buy an ice cream for Ramiro. I stay away from it, because it aggravate my stomach too much.
We notice a tree that is decorated with Cola cans. Then men, sitting next to is, ask if I like their Christmas tree. That’s what I call recycling.
It hurts me to see how little recycling is done here. All bottles and cans go directly into the garbage. I have been keeping them separate but there is never any place to put them. Mind you there are enough people going through the garbage sorting out the stuff they can use, eat or sell.
As we return to the RV, approaching it from behind, we see water coming from the front. “What the H... is going on?” Ramiro says.
We laugh as we see a Mexican, standing on top of a pail, washing our windshield. We give him some Pesos and move on, happy that he cleaned the window, so I can take pictures again through the front window.
We see the turn off to the city of Tequila. A place well worth visiting. We did it last March and enjoyed a drive through the Agave plantation and a tour of the Tequila factory, the best part was tasting the different grades of Tequila.
It is an interesting process to see how they extract the juice from the heart of the Agave and distill it into Mexico’s most favorite beverage.
If you have a well aged, good quality Tequila, it actually tastes pretty good. The stuff they sell at home is not even close to the real thing.
The Guadalajara area is where most of Mexico’s Tequila is produced.

We approach Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city. Butterflies are starting to fly in my stomach again. Thank God there is a decent ring road, which takes us along the west side of the city, south and direction Colima.
This is one of those occasions, where I expect Ramiro to do exactly what I tell him to do. We’re a great team. At least when it comes to driving together.
A big sigh of relief as we see the traffic thinning out. On our left we see Lake Chapala. We do plan on spending some time there as well in February.

Now we have to pay very close attention. The RV Park of our choice has some very detailed driving instructions. We follow them by the letter, and wouldn’t you know it, there it is: Chimulco. Next to the village of Villa Corona. A beautiful lagoon, with hot tubs and swimming pools from the warm springs. The RV park is to the north of the water park, filled with Mexicans, who are taking advantage of their last holiday (Epiphany) of the Christmas season.

We find a nice spot at the end of the RV park, away from all other RVs on a large field where we can easily turn in, without having to remove the car. All we see is Canadian Flags and license plates.
After a quick lunch I enjoy a half hour of sunshine. Considering the nice weather, we have had very few opportunity to soak up some rays other than our walk in Mazatlan.
We walk over to the lake, explore the park and meet some Canadians who can tell us some things we need to know about laundry, internet, and even the safest way to drive back north, for when the time comes. They invite us to play bean bags, but I need to do laundry and we need to buy some groceries.
We strip the bed and take the sheets and towels to the laundry room. Marta, who is in charge of cleaning the little rental cabins in the back, offers to do the laundry for me. No charge, she says. It’s included in your camping fee. Wow, that’s a good deal. That gives us more time to walk to town.
We end up empty handed however. The stores are closed. We missed the Tuesday market, which closed at 3 pm. We work our way back through the small streets where everyone is either cleaning up after the market or painting the speed bumps.
We decide to buy some Pollo Asado from a little restaurant on the corner . “Would you like rice, tortillas, salad and salsa with that”? The nice lady asks. Sure, why not. It is fresh is it? She digs into the chicken with a fork and says. “Look at this. If this is not fresh”. We laugh and agree, they look wonderful and they smell good too. She heats them up for us and back at the RV park we set a table for two, outside. Our first dinner outside. What a treat. This is what we came for.

As we enjoy our dinner, all of a sudden we hear a noise above us. There come thousands of Yellow headed blackbirds flying over. In Alberta we are lucky if we see one during the entire summer.

I return to the laundry room, where Marta has already started on the second load. She is done for the day and gives me instruction on how to use the dryer. I give her 50 Pesos and take the dry towels out of the dryer. They feel so soft. The water here is great.
We turn on our computers, hoping we will have a good connection. YES!!!!! just like at home. Hopefully there is enough time to download some of those pictures into the previous blog postings.
There are numerous e-mails from our friends and family, who live this adventure with us and are so happy that we are safe.
I copy the driving instructions Ted has send me and look forward to our last day on the road. Now I better get to work. Blogging can be time consuming and I need to get to bed in time.