MARCH 2009
MEXICO-Guadalajara
Sunday 1st we left about 0900, we
changed time zones yesterday. Yesterday it would have been
0800. We started was back towards town to shop at Wal-mart.
Next came tea break, we had to travel further into town to return to
Guadalajara and Villa Corona to a very friendly, pleasant camp by a
lake. We have had several chatty visitors admiring the van
(rig). Monday
Mervyn was up at 0615 to go sight seeing in Guadalajara, taking the
local bus. Howard stayed in the caravan to check what was needed
to stop the microwave moving around. Not having the necessary
nuts, bolts and screws he made a list for the ironmonger. The
rest of the morning was spent the Wi-fi checking bank accounts and
e-mails. After lunch Howard returned to the jigsaw he started
early in January. Mervyn returned about 1500 and then went on the
net. Tuesday we
did not make an early start but not a late one either. 
We set off for Ajijic where we had been
recommended to Francisco, a mechanic who, if he could not fix our water
heater, would know somebody who could. Francisco was out.
The water specialist we were sent to, tried to sell us a pump, and then
suggested Epoxy Resin to seal the leak. The ironmonger
recommended did not have Epoxy Resin, but he did sell us the nuts and
bolts to fix, we hope, the microwave. We went on to another local
camp at Jacotepec again very nice and not as crowded as last night’s
camp. Wednesday
morning Howard fixed the microwave, it shouldn’t shift now. The
only possible problem is that without a narrow spanner the lock nuts
may work loose. When Mervyn had finished helping Howard he went
for a walk. With everything tidied away the rest of the day was
spent relaxing i.e. Mervyn edited his videos and Howard carried on with
his jigsaw. Thursday
we started on the net and then left at 0900. The day was an
uneventful drive to Morelia and on to Zinapecuaro, to a hidden
camp. We found the office and were told to drive further along
the road to the entrance, there was no sign of the camp, we asked at an
electricity yard and were told to return along the road. Howard
saw the man from the office inside the fence as we were returning and
we parked outside a locked gate. The gate opened to admit us to
the camp site, Howard walked to the office to pay, then returned to
connect the electricity. It was not working. Mervyn set off
to the office and returned with a man who switched on the
electricity. Friday
when we wanted to leave the gate was still locked, security.
Mervyn set off for the office, it was closed, he found a man who
let us out after seeing our receipt. The drive to Atalcomulco and
on to Santiago Acutzilapan went smoothly and we ended in a country
park. No hook ups just find a space. It was very pleasant
countryside. While we have been passing through the Mexican
countryside we have seen many beautiful, brilliant colours. There
is huge variety of Bougainvillea colours growing everywhere and trees
covered in vivid red, pink, orange, yellow and blue (Jacaranda)
flowers of impressive size.
Saturday 7th we tried to follow the exit signs, but with chains across the roads we went deeper into the park. We turned round and took the only open road, it was the entrance road, one way, and too narrow to pass any other vehicle, but we made it. We arrived at Toluca in good time, two hours later, and with an armed Police escort to show us the way, we left. We travelled south to join the Autopiste to go to Tenango,
we missed the turning and
ended up at Ixtapan De La Sal. A cross-country route followed to
Xochitepec, where we camped two kilometres east of the village of
Chiconcuac. Sunday
a rest day. On Monday
we made a reasonably early start. We stopped at the office to pay
and had a little trouble getting onto the Autopista. The sign
said it was to the north and we wanted to go south, we
returned because it was the same entrance!! Once on the Autopista
everything went smoothly and we arrived at Texco by 1100. Mervyn
had an early lunch and set off to see the sights. As we were very
short of food Howard went out to an excellent lunch. Scrambled
eggs with Chillies, the speciality of the café (hot) and a small
salad. It was a true Mexican meal. Mervyn returned about
1500 to find Howard in the office having trouble with the net.
The receptionist brought in an expert who sorted it out in
15min. He did not explain his method to Howard We both
accessed our e-mails and then relaxed on the room’s balcony looking out
over the town, shielded from the sun, but with a cool breeze. We
went out for dinner, an excellent Mexican meal. Tuesday we reversed
yesterday’s route back to Chiconcuac where we turned off to go to the
ruins at Xochicalco. The ruins were at the top of a steep hill,
Howard elected to look after the caravan while Mervyn climbed the hill
to some excellent ruins. The ruins will soon be seen on Mervyn’s
DVD. In the afternoon we carried on to Cuernavaca, firstly to
shop at Wal-mart and then to continue to a camp in a motel, which is up
for sale. The swim in the hotel pool refreshed us both. Wednesday morning Mervyn
spent in Cuernavaca, Howard was in the caravan tightening the water
connections in the bathroom to stop a leak, and then securing the Air
Heater Control. The afternoon was used for relaxation. Thursday we made an early
start for Cholula, we drove out from the town and along reasonably good
roads. As we passed Atlixco, we had a vague view of the volcano
Popocatepetl through the mist. When we reached Cholula,
well before lunch, we missed the way and it took luck and half an hour
to find the camp, with the help of a policeman. The camp office
was closed we were told to pick a site. Friday Mervyn tried to
arrange our Atlantic crossing on the internet, without any luck, nobody
is answering his e-mails. After tea break he went for a
walk. Howard fitted the Air Heater Timer but didn’t
connect it as the electrical connections are very unusual. A
relaxing afternoon.
Saturday 14th was another day of internet and relaxation. Late afternoon a group of seventeen Rv-ers arrived and blocked off the Wifi. We spent the afternoon chatting with Caroline & William, an American couple and John & Elke a Swiss couple. Sunday the group left their vehicles in the camp and went off at 0900 on a bus tour of the area. Monday we stayed in the camp, Mervyn tried again on the net without any luck. A gentleman from the Tourist O
ffice arrived to see what
our problem with the windscreen was. As today is a holiday he
will return tomorrow to lead us to a windscreen repairer. Tuesday the Tourist Officer
duly arrived and led us into Puebla, at the first stop there was no one
to repair the crack. We went on to a second shop where a repairer
came to look at the crack and told us to wait 15min, then he would
repair it. A car bumped gently into us while we were
parked. No damage - to us. With the crack repaired it was
too late to go on and we returned to the camp. Wednesday with an early
start we set off for Veracruz to camp at the swimming pool. We
arrived soon after lunch and took a taxi to the K-Line shipping agent
to try to book for South America. The office was closed for
lunch, we spent an hour and a half in the town square, it was quite
pleasant in the shade of the trees, with ice cream. We returned
to the office to find the door open. In we went and were soon
talking with the agent. All business was conducted in Mexico
City, we e-mailed the Mexico City office. Another taxi returned
us to camp at a smaller fee. Thursday we made an even
earlier start for Poza Rica, it was a boring drive, but we passed the
Volcanoes of La Malinche and Orizaba. There was very high
humidity, it was most uncomfortable. We arrived soon after lunch
to book into the Poza Rica Inn, where we stayed in December.
2007. Friday we
made yet another early start. Just as we left
the town boundary, where two lanes became one, to cross a bridge, a
Mexican car drove into the side of our van, at 0820. We both
stopped at a police controlled junction. Both driver’s licenses
and the vehicle’s papers were taken by the police. After several
phone calls his insurance agent arrived and ninety minutes later a
representative of our insurance arrived. We explained it to our
English speaking representative, and then went to look at the scene of
the accident. Soon after this we were told we cou
ld go but another
policeman arrived and again took all our documents and we all went to
an adjudicating office. We were told six o’clock and the
van was to be driven to a pound. Howard went to accompany “Our
Home” but this was not allowed. Howard and the impounding driver
returned to our representative explaining about “Our Home“. Our
representative and the driver then disappeared into the office and
returned five minutes later with our papers and the comment “ we have
won”. We left Poza Rica at 1600 and drove north for 45 miles to
stop for the night at a very noisy fuel station.
Saturday 21st after a noisy night, lorry engines seemed to be running all the time, we made another early start for Tampico. It was only a short trip and we arrived at the Bonitto Inn Hotel just after lunch, the bypass did not seem as bad as we remembered it, it was quite good after some of the Mexican roads we had driven on. There were a few showers during the drive. Sunday we awoke to high humidity, breakfasted and left to continue towards the USA border. We arrived early at Ciudad Victoria and we decided to press on to San Fernando, to camp in the garden of the Hotel La Serena, our first stop in Mexico in December 2007. Early Monday we left for Matamoros and arrived in the town by 0845. One hour later we arrived at the border to the USA. With no problems we crossed into Texas by 1045 and into another time zone (1145). The journey north was interrupted by Brunch and we arrived at a camp south of Kingsville by 1415. Tuesday having put the clocks forward, it was light later. Our start was not so early, we shopped and then carried on northwards along Route 77 to La Grange where we arrived just before 1500. We had several heavy rain showers and lots of light rain. Wednesday was mostly a dry day, we drove from La Grange to Tyler. The last ninety minutes were in the town searching for a camp that turned out to be full when we found it. We had better luck at the second camp and had just settled in when heavy rain and thunder arrived. We saw a Coyote this morning, the first wildlife, except for two Rabbits and three Squirrels, this year. Thursday was another cloudy start to the day, we haven’t seen the sun since we entered Texas. The planned stop was to have been south of Texarkana, but we arrived there before lunch and continued on into Arkansas to the town of Hope, we arrived in early afternoon sunshine. Friday started cloudy as we set out eastwards towards Little Rock. Lunch was taken in sunshine before we arrived at Little Rock. Our journey through Little Rock passed quickly and easily and we continued east to camp at Heth, with an overcast sky, by 1400. No rain today.
Saturday 28th in heavy rain showers and strong blustery winds we drove out of Arkansas into and through Missouri and Tennessee to camp in Kentucky. We were told that there was a severe weather warning locally. Sunday was another day of driving along parkways, with an occasional turn of the wheel at the bends, and a lift of the right foot on the downhills with a glance at the Speedo. We ended up in Lexington at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground. For the last two days we have driven through heavily storm damaged woodlands. Mervyn has had the radio on listening for severe weather warnings. Monday was another day of driving, to Pax, where we camped at a wildlife reserve. There were no wildlife to be seen. Tuesday we travelled northeast heading for Front Royal. We arrived at 1500 to a pleasant camp.
We set off for Ajijic where we had been
recommended to Francisco, a mechanic who, if he could not fix our water
heater, would know somebody who could. Francisco was out.
The water specialist we were sent to, tried to sell us a pump, and then
suggested Epoxy Resin to seal the leak. The ironmonger
recommended did not have Epoxy Resin, but he did sell us the nuts and
bolts to fix, we hope, the microwave. We went on to another local
camp at Jacotepec again very nice and not as crowded as last night’s
camp. Wednesday
morning Howard fixed the microwave, it shouldn’t shift now. The
only possible problem is that without a narrow spanner the lock nuts
may work loose. When Mervyn had finished helping Howard he went
for a walk. With everything tidied away the rest of the day was
spent relaxing i.e. Mervyn edited his videos and Howard carried on with
his jigsaw. Thursday
we started on the net and then left at 0900. The day was an
uneventful drive to Morelia and on to Zinapecuaro, to a hidden
camp. We found the office and were told to drive further along
the road to the entrance, there was no sign of the camp, we asked at an
electricity yard and were told to return along the road. Howard
saw the man from the office inside the fence as we were returning and
we parked outside a locked gate. The gate opened to admit us to
the camp site, Howard walked to the office to pay, then returned to
connect the electricity. It was not working. Mervyn set off
to the office and returned with a man who switched on the
electricity. Friday
when we wanted to leave the gate was still locked, security.
Mervyn set off for the office, it was closed, he found a man who
let us out after seeing our receipt. The drive to Atalcomulco and
on to Santiago Acutzilapan went smoothly and we ended in a country
park. No hook ups just find a space. It was very pleasant
countryside. While we have been passing through the Mexican
countryside we have seen many beautiful, brilliant colours. There
is huge variety of Bougainvillea colours growing everywhere and trees
covered in vivid red, pink, orange, yellow and blue (Jacaranda)
flowers of impressive size.Saturday 7th we tried to follow the exit signs, but with chains across the roads we went deeper into the park. We turned round and took the only open road, it was the entrance road, one way, and too narrow to pass any other vehicle, but we made it. We arrived at Toluca in good time, two hours later, and with an armed Police escort to show us the way, we left. We travelled south to join the Autopiste to go to Tenango,
we missed the turning and
ended up at Ixtapan De La Sal. A cross-country route followed to
Xochitepec, where we camped two kilometres east of the village of
Chiconcuac. Sunday
a rest day. On Monday
we made a reasonably early start. We stopped at the office to pay
and had a little trouble getting onto the Autopista. The sign
said it was to the north and we wanted to go south, we
returned because it was the same entrance!! Once on the Autopista
everything went smoothly and we arrived at Texco by 1100. Mervyn
had an early lunch and set off to see the sights. As we were very
short of food Howard went out to an excellent lunch. Scrambled
eggs with Chillies, the speciality of the café (hot) and a small
salad. It was a true Mexican meal. Mervyn returned about
1500 to find Howard in the office having trouble with the net.
The receptionist brought in an expert who sorted it out in
15min. He did not explain his method to Howard We both
accessed our e-mails and then relaxed on the room’s balcony looking out
over the town, shielded from the sun, but with a cool breeze. We
went out for dinner, an excellent Mexican meal. Tuesday we reversed
yesterday’s route back to Chiconcuac where we turned off to go to the
ruins at Xochicalco. The ruins were at the top of a steep hill,
Howard elected to look after the caravan while Mervyn climbed the hill
to some excellent ruins. The ruins will soon be seen on Mervyn’s
DVD. In the afternoon we carried on to Cuernavaca, firstly to
shop at Wal-mart and then to continue to a camp in a motel, which is up
for sale. The swim in the hotel pool refreshed us both. Wednesday morning Mervyn
spent in Cuernavaca, Howard was in the caravan tightening the water
connections in the bathroom to stop a leak, and then securing the Air
Heater Control. The afternoon was used for relaxation. Thursday we made an early
start for Cholula, we drove out from the town and along reasonably good
roads. As we passed Atlixco, we had a vague view of the volcano
Popocatepetl through the mist. When we reached Cholula,
well before lunch, we missed the way and it took luck and half an hour
to find the camp, with the help of a policeman. The camp office
was closed we were told to pick a site. Friday Mervyn tried to
arrange our Atlantic crossing on the internet, without any luck, nobody
is answering his e-mails. After tea break he went for a
walk. Howard fitted the Air Heater Timer but didn’t
connect it as the electrical connections are very unusual. A
relaxing afternoon.Saturday 14th was another day of internet and relaxation. Late afternoon a group of seventeen Rv-ers arrived and blocked off the Wifi. We spent the afternoon chatting with Caroline & William, an American couple and John & Elke a Swiss couple. Sunday the group left their vehicles in the camp and went off at 0900 on a bus tour of the area. Monday we stayed in the camp, Mervyn tried again on the net without any luck. A gentleman from the Tourist O
ffice arrived to see what
our problem with the windscreen was. As today is a holiday he
will return tomorrow to lead us to a windscreen repairer. Tuesday the Tourist Officer
duly arrived and led us into Puebla, at the first stop there was no one
to repair the crack. We went on to a second shop where a repairer
came to look at the crack and told us to wait 15min, then he would
repair it. A car bumped gently into us while we were
parked. No damage - to us. With the crack repaired it was
too late to go on and we returned to the camp. Wednesday with an early
start we set off for Veracruz to camp at the swimming pool. We
arrived soon after lunch and took a taxi to the K-Line shipping agent
to try to book for South America. The office was closed for
lunch, we spent an hour and a half in the town square, it was quite
pleasant in the shade of the trees, with ice cream. We returned
to the office to find the door open. In we went and were soon
talking with the agent. All business was conducted in Mexico
City, we e-mailed the Mexico City office. Another taxi returned
us to camp at a smaller fee. Thursday we made an even
earlier start for Poza Rica, it was a boring drive, but we passed the
Volcanoes of La Malinche and Orizaba. There was very high
humidity, it was most uncomfortable. We arrived soon after lunch
to book into the Poza Rica Inn, where we stayed in December.
2007. Friday we
made yet another early start. Just as we left
the town boundary, where two lanes became one, to cross a bridge, a
Mexican car drove into the side of our van, at 0820. We both
stopped at a police controlled junction. Both driver’s licenses
and the vehicle’s papers were taken by the police. After several
phone calls his insurance agent arrived and ninety minutes later a
representative of our insurance arrived. We explained it to our
English speaking representative, and then went to look at the scene of
the accident. Soon after this we were told we could go but another
policeman arrived and again took all our documents and we all went to
an adjudicating office. We were told six o’clock and the
van was to be driven to a pound. Howard went to accompany “Our
Home” but this was not allowed. Howard and the impounding driver
returned to our representative explaining about “Our Home“. Our
representative and the driver then disappeared into the office and
returned five minutes later with our papers and the comment “ we have
won”. We left Poza Rica at 1600 and drove north for 45 miles to
stop for the night at a very noisy fuel station.Saturday 21st after a noisy night, lorry engines seemed to be running all the time, we made another early start for Tampico. It was only a short trip and we arrived at the Bonitto Inn Hotel just after lunch, the bypass did not seem as bad as we remembered it, it was quite good after some of the Mexican roads we had driven on. There were a few showers during the drive. Sunday we awoke to high humidity, breakfasted and left to continue towards the USA border. We arrived early at Ciudad Victoria and we decided to press on to San Fernando, to camp in the garden of the Hotel La Serena, our first stop in Mexico in December 2007. Early Monday we left for Matamoros and arrived in the town by 0845. One hour later we arrived at the border to the USA. With no problems we crossed into Texas by 1045 and into another time zone (1145). The journey north was interrupted by Brunch and we arrived at a camp south of Kingsville by 1415. Tuesday having put the clocks forward, it was light later. Our start was not so early, we shopped and then carried on northwards along Route 77 to La Grange where we arrived just before 1500. We had several heavy rain showers and lots of light rain. Wednesday was mostly a dry day, we drove from La Grange to Tyler. The last ninety minutes were in the town searching for a camp that turned out to be full when we found it. We had better luck at the second camp and had just settled in when heavy rain and thunder arrived. We saw a Coyote this morning, the first wildlife, except for two Rabbits and three Squirrels, this year. Thursday was another cloudy start to the day, we haven’t seen the sun since we entered Texas. The planned stop was to have been south of Texarkana, but we arrived there before lunch and continued on into Arkansas to the town of Hope, we arrived in early afternoon sunshine. Friday started cloudy as we set out eastwards towards Little Rock. Lunch was taken in sunshine before we arrived at Little Rock. Our journey through Little Rock passed quickly and easily and we continued east to camp at Heth, with an overcast sky, by 1400. No rain today.
Saturday 28th in heavy rain showers and strong blustery winds we drove out of Arkansas into and through Missouri and Tennessee to camp in Kentucky. We were told that there was a severe weather warning locally. Sunday was another day of driving along parkways, with an occasional turn of the wheel at the bends, and a lift of the right foot on the downhills with a glance at the Speedo. We ended up in Lexington at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground. For the last two days we have driven through heavily storm damaged woodlands. Mervyn has had the radio on listening for severe weather warnings. Monday was another day of driving, to Pax, where we camped at a wildlife reserve. There were no wildlife to be seen. Tuesday we travelled northeast heading for Front Royal. We arrived at 1500 to a pleasant camp.
USA-Front Royal