Dec 11th to Dec 16th - Home for a While

There are only 2 other rigs in the campgrounds besides us and we know both couples in the other rigs – our friends Jan & Dale from Penetanguishene, ON and their friends Carol and Walter from BC, who we first met 3 years ago while vacationing in Melaque.

We finally get to put out our awning plus the additional side screen we had purchased in Alamo TX – our first chance to use it since we purchased it!  Despite the damage we sustained in San Lujis Potosi, the repairs have allowed us to use it. We also put up our solar lighting along the awning.  Our friends have their rigs and the shared palapa decorated for Christmas, inspiring Vic to put out Christmas lighting on our awning and our little Christmas tree on our outdoor patio.  We also put out the fresh poinsettia we had purchased in Villa Corona.

Our little Christmas Tree...WalMart special.

The RV at Night

We are enjoying this RV park.  We can access the Internet from our rig and have free use of the washing machine to do our laundry.  The lady who owns the local bakery brings her truck loaded with fresh bread and pastries every couple of days.  We also have a gentleman who has wonderful fresh veggies and fruits drop buy every few days.  Bev purchases a 20kg bag of oranges for 95 pesos and proceeds to make fresh orange juice.  Unlike the oranges we got in Texas, these oranges are juicy and we are nearly overflowing in juice. We freeze most of the juice but it will be consumed quickly as we love a large glass of fresh orange juice every day. There are still oranges left to be juiced that will make at least a liter. The red grapefruit here is so sweet and juicy – it makes the grapefruit at home seem terrible in comparison.

Bev at the juicer.

The oranges have very thin shins...but lots of juice.

Part of the 20 kilo bag.

Several days later, we will end up tossing out the last dozen we didn't get juiced.

Surprisingly, the garbage truck comes on a daily basis and there is a large recycle bin out on the street for plastics, glass and tin cans – quite a change from when we first came to this area Mexico in 1998. Back then one of the worst aspects of staying here was the smell of burning garbage every night…along with all the plastic mixed in the garbage.

The iguana scurried across the campground. 2' long.

It takes us a couple of days to play around with the dish set up, but we finally get satellite reception so we can watch CBC news to keep in touch with what’s happening back home. For the first couple of days, we get only SD stations but to our surprise we can get a few HD channels too. Hockey in HD. Hurray!

On Sunday, Dec 13th we feel the trailer rocking. At first we thought it was the wind gusting but here was hardly a breeze. We look out to see if someone is rocking the rig but nobody is around. The rocking lasts about 25 seconds. It’s gotta be a quake. Later determine there was an earthquake of 4.7 magnitude farther north on the Pacific Coast.

One unusual Mexican tradition we haven’t talked about is the Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. In the days leading up to the big day they shoot of giant fire crackers sporadically throughout the day. They are sort of little rockets that soar up a couple of hundred feet, and then go “BOOM”. No fireworks, no display…just a big “BOOM”. And not just the daytime, this goes on during the night too. This has been going gone since we arrived in Villa Corona and continues here in Lo de Marcos. Finally, today the booms are gone and the festival is over as of yesterday, Dec. 12th.

This little 3' Cayman lives in the swamp next door.

Manana is finally today and Vic finds where the propane is leaking from a ruptured copper line, in behind the water heater.  Alfredo, the manager of the RV park, calls up the local propane repairman, despite today being Sunday.  He arrives on site within 15 minutes, determines what repairs are required and leaves for parts. Within a couple of hours, he has replaced the ruptured line with a section of flexible tubing.  At last the problem of the leak has been resolved – we had lost 1/8 of a tank in 3 days!  That evening we head out to La Pina Loca restaurant in Rincon de Guayabitos to celebrate Carol’s birthday.  We enjoy “grande” Pina Coladas with chicken fajitas.

Dale, Jan, Carol (birthday girl), Walter, Vic

After dinner on our way back to the campground, we enter the town square in Lo de Marcos and find some kind  of festival underway. We watch a troupe perform traditional dances on stage. The music blares out of giant speakers, powered by an amplifier with a very large fan blowing on it, just to keep it cool.

The pretty chicas with the pretty dresses.

The weather is lovely here with an average 30C during the day and about 17C to 20C at night.  Days are lazy sitting in the shade of a tree to read our books, walking on the beach, socializing with friends, biking around town.  Vic has repaired the large chip in our windshield.  Another rig has set up in our park – Maurice from Montreal so we are exclusively Canadians at the park so far.  2 other sites were reserved starting Dec 15th but as of yet, no one has shown up.  Happy Hour is 4 pm to 6 pm every day when we all socialize.  We have set up a book exchange as we each brought down a box of books to read over the winter.