Packing up for our next destination

Wednesday, February 11


I must say, I am a bit nervous this morning, knowing we are taking the RV out of Cofradia.
The best way to deal with this, is to go for a brisk walk and meditate. All thoughts must be positive. It works!!
There is an excellent team spirit as we all do our thing to get ready. Ramiro works outside, packing up the BBQ, the chairs and the outdoor carpet. He disconnects the water, power and sewer lines. Mom prepares breakfast and I put everything back in place and check for things that needs to be secured.
Communication is very important as we discuss our plan to take the RV out of the farm. We’re sitting pretty low and sunk even more during the five weeks we have parked here.
It goes much smoother than we anticipated and we are on the road in no time. It takes us more time to get the truck which takes the dolly out and getting the key to open the shed to undo the power cord.
We pay our power bill to Diego and say goodbye to the volunteers and PA staff, Ramiro drives the RV very slowly out of Cofradia and parks on the edge of town at the side of the road. I drive behind with the car and we prepare the dolly for the car to be put back on. Meanwhile Mom prepares a snack and some juice.
It’s 12:15 when we start the 45 minute drive through the narrow, winding road onto the Autopista direction Guadalajara.
Once on the main road we have plenty of space again.
Mom is lying on the couch with her seatbelt secured. She’s not doing all that well today. She’s got a cold sore on her lip and a cold on her eye. It’s all red an swollen. She’s been having way too much fun in the sun all this time.
She wants to participate in everything and likes the sun, but her 85 year old body is trying to put a stop to it. If I suggest to take it easy for a day, she rebels. “But there is so much to see and to do, and I like the sun”, she says.
Well, she can rest all afternoon, because we will be on the road for at least 4 hours. Our destination is Roca Azul RV park, just south of Jocotepec, at the most western edge of Lake Chapala.
We’ll be staying there for a while to explore and relax. In another four days Mom is going back via Guadalajara and we want her to be well rested and see some of the area.
The Autopista is very busy with large trucks. We need to a stop every now and then for the line painting crew. This makes the trip even longer. But as long as we are there before dark we should be fine.
We’re lucky to find a pull out at an old toll booth, where we stop for lunch.
In the morning I already prepared a shrimp salad, to which we add some lettuce and tomatoes. It tastes pretty good. The Rose makes it even better. Our chauffeur, Ramiro settles for Cola, which he enjoys just as much.

Ramiro argues with the toll booth attendant again, who wants to charge us for two vehicles. Only this time Ramiro tells him that according to Government officials we should only pay for the four sets of wheels on the ground, so four axles. This time he wins.
We reach Roca Azul at 4:00 pm where we turn off the main road, onto the, what seems to be a 2 mile cobblestone road, along which are some nice homes. Many are for sale. But I don’t think we’ll be buying right now.
We enter the gate into a large vacation resort, then another gate. There are cabins and a huge swimming pool and at the end is the RV park. I count about a dozen RVs most of them with British Columbia license plates.
The day after we picked up Mom from the airport, we already checked out this place and found the perfect spot. It’s still available and as we are told, we will have sun almost all day.
The people are very friendly and give us lots of information. We enjoy a bit of sun and a drink over a game of Rummikub.
Our neighbours Sonia and Dave from BC have their fifth wheel set up pretty nice. It’s just like home. They also have a hummingbird feeder which is pretty popular. At times there are as many as four birds drinking from the nectar.
In the evening we go to the main building to check our e-mail and put a load of laundry in the washing machine. It is so dark on the resort, we need a flash light to see where we are going.