Unlike the song, it's not good to get back on the road again. Today we leave Lo de Marcos and head towards Guadalajara to a campground called Roca Azul, on the west end of Lake Chapala.
After two and a half months in Lo de Marcos, we are quite comfortable here. Daily walks on the beach, boogie-boarding in the surf, walks into town, the veggie guy and the bread lady coming into the campground...and all the pleasant company. We look forward to seeing this place and all our new friends again next year.
Sorry about the lack of updates but life has just been too good.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Feb 12 to 22nd
Nothing special happened in the past 10 days other than we had all day rain on Wed Feb 17th and more rain on Thurs Feb 18th (3rd Thursday in a row that it rained – which is the day of the outdoor market in La Penita).
Same daily routine of a morning walk on the beach, sometimes ending in a walk through town, have lunch then join friends to sit, swim, boogie at the beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon. When we walk the beach, we usually see little crabs dashing on the sand at our feet. When they stop, it is hard to spot them as they blend in with the colour of the sand. Vic managed to capture one so we got a photo.
One day dropped into the fish vendor on main street to pick up some filets of mahi mahi – they were excellent! Only 45 pesos for 4 servings. We’ll stock up on shrimp and fish fillets for our journey north. Luckily our freezer on the top of the fridge has plenty of room.
The mango trees are currently in bloom. One morning we walked some of the back streets of town in an area where there was once an orchard of mango trees.
A horse in a yard on the street comes to Vic looking for some food.
We have been following the Olympics thanks to our Star Choice satellite service.
Mon Feb 22nd we are preparing to leave Lo De Marco on Thursday this week. Vic did an oil change on the RV. Wednesday we will be packing up our patio furniture, awing, side curtains and string of solar lights.
On Wednesday evening, we all went out to our favorite local restaurant, Sugar & Spice, to celebrate Dale's birthday.
The birthday boy and Jan.
Mike and Mavis
Walter and Carol
Friday, February 12, 2010
Feb 4th – 11th
The local news publication states this area has not had a storm like we experienced last Tuesday since 1944. One article indicated it was part of a hurricane.
Saturday is action day. Vic installs the air bag for the front suspension, jury-rigs a plug for the fluid reservoir on one of the rear hydraulic levellers. Now only an oil change on the “to do” list before we hit the road to start north in a couple of weeks.
At 5 pm we head to the festival sponsored by The Amigos de Lo De Marcos in the town square. This event provides money to assist the town in projects such as repairing bathrooms at the Elementary School, building garbage collection centers, providing transportation for Senior Citizens, building Recycling Bins. An auction is held for items such as original oil paintings, a flight in an ultralight aircraft, surfing lessons, use of a condo in Puerto Vallarta for a week. There are also tables of clothing, household items and books for sale. There are vendors around the square selling food. We get ribs from Sugar & Spice for 20 pesos each, beef tacos from Saul for 20 pesos each plus drinks of squirt and tequila. We finish off the meal with a couple of churros each. It is a warm starry night – perfect for such an event.
The evening of Sunday February 7th we went out to Vista Guayabitos to celebrate Nancy’s 50th birthday! The restaurant is at the top of a hill located midway between the towns of Rincon de Guayabitos and Los Ayalos. The view is spectacular at night with the view of the bay and the town of Rincon de Guayabitos all lit up. Unfortunately we forgot the camera!
Monday the weather was dark and threatening rain most of the day. There were sprinkles off and on and one brief period of heavy rain. Mavis, Mike, Vic and Bev played Rumoli for the afternoon.
For a couple of days, we have been bothered by an animal that likes to roam our rig during the night. After escaping the mouse trap because this beastie was too big, we went into town and bought a rat trap. The next night, about 4 in the morning, we were awoken by a loud snap. Here is the victim of the Victor trap...12 inches looong from nose to tip of tail.
Wednesday afternoon the manager of Savages, Alfredo, and his wife Erica host a dinner for those of us who have been here for a month or more, plus some other gringos residing in the area that they have known for a long time. They served skewers of calamari, shrimp and fish as well as a full dinner of ribs, chili relleno, rice and salad. The food was delicious and a good time was had by all! Alfredo and Erica are hardworking individuals who keep this place running smoothly and the facilities spotless. We look forward to seeing them again next year. 
The guests included people from other campgrounds.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Week of Feb 1st:
Monday is a holiday, so no chance of getting our Internet up and running. Since the stores are all closed, we spend a lazy day at the beach. Friends arrive from Kitchener, ON bringing with them the replacement air bags we had ordered to fix the front suspension. The one air bag burst earlier on in our trip south.
Tuesday is a rainy day so we head south to Bucerias to shop. Everyone else had the same idea! The traffic on Hwy 200 going south is heavy and the Walmart parking lot is packed! Luckily we didn’t need to stop at Walmart but did go into Home Depot in Puerto Vallarta looking for a fitting for reservoir for our hydraulic leveller.
On our return to Lo De Marcos, we stop at an Internet café to check our mail. Wow! News from home that our granddaughter, Maxine Anne, had been born previous day! It is our first grandchild and we are the last ones to know. We purchase a sign for the front of our RV saying “ES UN NINA”. We drive up to the north end of town, to use the Internet at our friends campground to SKYPE to our son & his wife. It was great to be able to video conference to view our new born granddaughter – what a joy!
Later that evening, the rain becomes very heavy. We lost satellite TV reception just 5 minutes from the end of the first episode of Lost. Then high winds came and we, like other RV owners, were outside in the pouring rain preventing our awnings from being torn off. We were successful at our campground as there was no damage but at another campground down the road, 3 RVers had their awnings destroyed.
Wednesday morning we wake up to find no hydro, therefore no water as the pumps are electric. Many of the towns along this coast are without hydro and the state is busy working to restore hydro. We are warned that we may be without water for a day. Luckily all of us have water tanks in our RVs and generators if necessary.
Telmex shows up at 3 pm today to fix the phone line and Internet connection. The phone line has been down since Saturday and Internet since Sunday. They get it up and running and upgrade the internet service to double incoming traffic and triple outgoing --- Bonus!!
An hour later hydro and therefore water is restored. This is the first cool day we’ve had since we arrived in Lo De Marcos on December 10th. It only reached 21C today – yes, I know that sounds warm to you northeners but when you’ve been used to 30C every day, this feels chilly! We stick with our shorts but many of our neighbours are in jeans and shorts. For the second day in a row, it rains off and on, without a hint of sun.
Having the Internet back allows us to Skype our kids to get up to date and of course the see more of baby Maxine Anne. It also allows us to go online an order tickets for the NASCAR race at Martinsville Virginia for March 27 & 28th. Eat your heart out Randall!
Thursday starts out sunny but partly cloudy. Our walk on the beach started out under cloudy skies. Later on it was interrupted by the rain. At first we thought we could wait it out sitting under a palapa. But looking over the ocean we could see more coming, so we had to walk back in the rain. We were soaked.
Bev hasn’t been able to do laundry yet this week as the clothes must be dried on a line – no dryers here! Luckily we have brought enough to go for 2 weeks without doing a laundry if necessary. While in Mexico, if it doesn’t get done today…there is always manana.
Tuesday is a rainy day so we head south to Bucerias to shop. Everyone else had the same idea! The traffic on Hwy 200 going south is heavy and the Walmart parking lot is packed! Luckily we didn’t need to stop at Walmart but did go into Home Depot in Puerto Vallarta looking for a fitting for reservoir for our hydraulic leveller.
On our return to Lo De Marcos, we stop at an Internet café to check our mail. Wow! News from home that our granddaughter, Maxine Anne, had been born previous day! It is our first grandchild and we are the last ones to know. We purchase a sign for the front of our RV saying “ES UN NINA”. We drive up to the north end of town, to use the Internet at our friends campground to SKYPE to our son & his wife. It was great to be able to video conference to view our new born granddaughter – what a joy!
Later that evening, the rain becomes very heavy. We lost satellite TV reception just 5 minutes from the end of the first episode of Lost. Then high winds came and we, like other RV owners, were outside in the pouring rain preventing our awnings from being torn off. We were successful at our campground as there was no damage but at another campground down the road, 3 RVers had their awnings destroyed.
Wednesday morning we wake up to find no hydro, therefore no water as the pumps are electric. Many of the towns along this coast are without hydro and the state is busy working to restore hydro. We are warned that we may be without water for a day. Luckily all of us have water tanks in our RVs and generators if necessary.
Telmex shows up at 3 pm today to fix the phone line and Internet connection. The phone line has been down since Saturday and Internet since Sunday. They get it up and running and upgrade the internet service to double incoming traffic and triple outgoing --- Bonus!!
An hour later hydro and therefore water is restored. This is the first cool day we’ve had since we arrived in Lo De Marcos on December 10th. It only reached 21C today – yes, I know that sounds warm to you northeners but when you’ve been used to 30C every day, this feels chilly! We stick with our shorts but many of our neighbours are in jeans and shorts. For the second day in a row, it rains off and on, without a hint of sun.
Having the Internet back allows us to Skype our kids to get up to date and of course the see more of baby Maxine Anne. It also allows us to go online an order tickets for the NASCAR race at Martinsville Virginia for March 27 & 28th. Eat your heart out Randall!
Thursday starts out sunny but partly cloudy. Our walk on the beach started out under cloudy skies. Later on it was interrupted by the rain. At first we thought we could wait it out sitting under a palapa. But looking over the ocean we could see more coming, so we had to walk back in the rain. We were soaked.
Bev hasn’t been able to do laundry yet this week as the clothes must be dried on a line – no dryers here! Luckily we have brought enough to go for 2 weeks without doing a laundry if necessary. While in Mexico, if it doesn’t get done today…there is always manana.
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