Waiting in Ajo, Arizona.

At Ajo Heights RV Park we soon got parked, leveled and connected. Art poured himself a large whisky while Gillian walked the dogs. She then walked across the highway to the IGA store to stock up a few essentials, such as the apples and oranges we had been relived of at the border.


Fortunately we were only two doors away from a Napa Auto Parts store part of  which is Kord's Automotive Center. At a few minutes before 8:00 Saturday Morning Art was out front waiting for the doors to open. His fears were realised: No mechanic on until Monday.

The park has a small but nice cactus garden with quite a few birds, including woodpeckers and the cactus wren (in the photo) which nest in holes in the cactus plants.

We passed the weekend mostly just lounging around, though the first chore was to take the Jeep to the car wash. Lots of quarters! (Why don't the Americans like the dollar coin? We came across a few in Alaska several years ago but never in the lower 48).  A bottle of degreaser and lots of work with the foam brush later, the Jeep, and Art's electric bike on the, appeared to be free of the oily diesel film. Time will tell.

Oh! And Gillian baked some oatmeal raisin and walnut cookies. (Art cracked the walnuts!)

Ajo is a small town, dependent in large part on winter snow birds; some in RVs and some who have bought house here. It seems a large part of the population escapes the cold and snow of the northern winter here then then move north to escape the desert heat in the summer.

The town has obviously seen better days, there was once a large copper mine here which was a major employer. There are many empty houses, stores, restaurants and service stations. Yet the main part of the town is quite bright. One of the bright spots was the combined  IGA grocery and Ace Hardware store. Very nicely laid out, good stock of groceries, beer, wine and Scotch Whiskys. Even one of Art's favourites, Old Pulteney!

Monday, 8:00 AM again; too busy today, (the shop and the lot were full) but we were booked in for 8:00 AM Tuesday. Art was told that when he brought the rig over to park on the dirt next door not the asphalt out front!

Next morning, 8:00 AM sharp (This doesn't sound like retirement!) The rig was parked and Art was inside at the counter.He filled out a work order and Kord came out to drive the rig into the work area. He said that by the sound of it one of the injectors wasn't getting enough fuel.

Art left the rig there and we went looking for breakfast. Gillian had seen a sign in the IGA for breakfast burritos so that is were we went. Following our recent string of luck there were no more breakfast burritos! Gillian chose a  bean and cheese burrito  while Art went for a breakfast biscuit; ham and egg on a biscuit. Not the Ritz but fresh and quite nice.

We then went for a drive through town, parking near the Plaza and visiting the Oasis for a double Americano Coffee. We expected the double Americano would be a double espresso with the hot water. What we got was a double espresso with double hot water. In other words, a very large coffee! Nice enough though.

We later went to the Desert Center, picked up some local information, watched a very interesting video about the Sonora Desert then set off in the Jeep on the 10 mile Ajo Loop. There is a very large protected area here which closed for the season last Friday! It closes for spring and summer to allow the wildlife and plants to reproduce and grow undisturbed.

The loop starts along side of huge piles of rock and rubble which we assumed to be overburden from the mine. We didn't see much of the wildlife, just a few birds that were too fast for the camera. Fortunately, the various cacti and other plants were a little slower moving.

 

 

 

Back in town we decided to return to the shop to see how the motorhome was doing, and as we drove past the RV Park we spied it parked in a site at the RV Park next door ! We pulled in and stopped at the little booth at the entrance. A lady arrived, we told her that Kord had parked our rig here so she said welcome to the park and left!

Art walked over to Napa to see what the results were. Sure enough, a broken fuel line to one of the injectors. Not just any one, but the most inaccessible one. It would require the removal of the others. Art elected to go with all new lines, since the labour would be the same in either case. The failure was probably due to years of vibration (and not directly caused by his ill advised manoeuver of the other day!) so who knows how far behind the rest of them would be?

He made a small deposit for the parts and was told that they should arrive Thursday, the work done Friday, pretty much a full day's work. Art asked Kord about checking in to the RV Park and was told "I'll take care of it, it's my park."

Friday morning, YEP! 8:00 AM again, the motorhome was dropped of next door and we went looking for breakfast.  A couple of people suggested a place called Marcella's, a mile or so back down the highway. There were several vehicles parked out front so we though we'd give it a try.

The waitress was a Mexicana, we automatically spoke Spanish too her! She was often singing along with the background music with a lovely voice.

We decided to go with the Mexican choices, Gillian with huevos a la mexicana, and Art the huevos machaca, scrambled eggs with shredded dried beef. Both were delicious. Art thought the machaca the best ever! Nice surprise.

We spent the rest of the day at the the plaza, going for lunch at the golf club (enough sandwiches left over for tomorrow's lunch), checked in with the shop, back to the plaza via a stop at a junk/antiques shop were we spent one dollar on four paper back novels, then back to the plaza.

At 4:00PM we returned to the shop to find it parked out side. Gillian dropped Art off then returned to the RV Park to take the dogs for a walk. Art went in, paid the bill, discovering that they had washed the rear cap as well as the engine and radiator.

Now we had to put everything back under the bed. Gillian decided to take the opportunity to get out the cold weather (we refuse to say winter) clothes for the trip home.

The rest of the evening was spent catching up on this blog, watching some TV and nibbling on cheese and biscuits and a glass or two of wine. Art of course uncorked the Old Pulteneys as well!

Time to post this now, we'll be off tomorrow to Yuma to look for a new GPS unit then hopefully to Desert Hot Springs for a night before hitting the I 5 northbound for home.

In the words of Samuel Pepys, "And so to bed."


 

San Carlos and the trip to North Of the Border

Thursday, San Carlos

We called Joe and Christine and left a message letting them know that we had arrived. Gillian took the dogs out for a good walk up the hill to the viewpoint and then down again to the beach for Trekker to be treated to a swim.

While out she did a little shopping, including a couple of kilos of the best tortillas anywhere--thin, light and very tasty!

 Art realised that the windshield needed a proper wash, the quick wipe down last evening hadn't really done the job. Midway through he noted that a nut was missing from the dual arm wiper mechanism which meant that the passenger side wiper wouldn't work. Not that we had needed them for a while, but likely would in a week or so! A check at a couple of hardware stores found one that would do. The Oregon coast on the way home should be the proof!

Christine called us back and confirmed the plans for tonight; dinner at their place with several other Canadian couples. On the the way out we remembered to put 100 pesos on each of our Mexican phones which would ensure that we would have the same number when we returned in the fall.

Diner with Christine and Joe was as always a very enjoyable evening. We had met one of the couples before but not the others. As always, an interesting and stimulating evening of conversation.

Fortunately the evening had started at 5:00 PM so ended at a reasonable hour. Perhaps we would wake in the morning for a reasonably early departure.



 Friday, March15th

We woke in time and were on the road by 8:00 AM, half an hour earlier than last year according to the log book. This too would be a long day. We wanted an early start since we thought we might have a bit of a delay at Aduana (Customs) arranging the return of the deposit on Jeep, paid when we entered Mexico. We had had our credit card compromised and had been issued new ones, with, of course, new numbers.

A lot would depend on the state of the roads. Fortnately, they were generally in reasonable shape, even excellent shape with new concrete highways for fairly long sections, and of course, a few bits of not so great.

For the most part we were able to travel at the posted speed and made good time. It would appear that plans are in place, and being carried out, to double-lane the entire route between San Carlos and Santa Ana where we left the 15 for the 2, so of course we don't know the condition of the 15 north to Nogles.

Approaching Hermesillo we were surprised to find that the intersection which last year had directed Traffico Pesado (heavy traffic) to the right and a 30 Km detour around the city, was no longer so signed, it just indicated the route to a different town. So we carried on straight. We weren't too concerned as there were a lot of semis and other big rigs with us.

A couple of kilometers later on we discovered why we had been diverted last year: At the very busy intersection where we had to turn right there was now a very new overpass taking Centro traffic up and over the cross street and we kept to the lateral and had two lanes available for the right hand turn. For others taking this route, it is signed for Nogales, Periferico Sur, the same intersection as in previous years, turning right at the San Sebastian Hotel . There are signs for this hotel 2 kilometers before you get there as you approach Hermesillo.

It's a big city but we were through in 30 minutes, the streets being in excellent condition. Remember though the mostly 60 Km/H speed limit for many many kilometers! We arrived at the tool booth to the north of Hermesillo at 10:05.

Two uneventful hours later, at noon we turned right in Santa Ana onto Highway 2 towards the border at Sonoyta. We were hungry by this time and the log mentioned us taking our lunch break along here. As we passed a large Pemex we saw the two motorhomes that had left San Carlos just ahead of us, where they appeared to be doing the same.

We remembered there being many rest areas on this highway (a rarity in Mexico) and soon saw a sign at Km 9. However there was no way a motorhome could get in so we simply parked at the end of the merge lane at the exit. 

Here we realised that we still had some frozen chicken thighs in the freezer. Not allowed into the USA. Since the sun was shining brightly we decided to use the inverter to power our small slow cooker and filled it with the chicken, tomatoes, carrot, onion, wine and herbs, put it in the small sink to secure it, and turned on the inverter. Dinner for tonight already dealt with.

While we ate and rested the two motorhomes went past. Fed, dogs watered and walked, we moved on again, a few minutes to one o'clock.

When we first came this way the road was just being improved and there were many gravel detours. Today we find it is being improved again, this time, to a divided 4 lane highway. There were no detours, progress is being made, in fact nearing completion.

Half an hour later we decided that "discretion being the better part..." etc. we stopped in the town of Altar for fuel. The outside temperature was around 35 to 36 and it was getting a little uncomfortable inside, the dash air keeping us cool but not helping the dogs much so we had decided to start the generator and run the heatpump. The Onan runs from the main fuel tank, its pickup at the 1/4 tank level and we were past 1/3 already. We had filled up in Los Mochis, some 760 kilometers ago and with another 190 kilometers to go to Sonoyta where we planned to fuel was cutting things a little too closely.

Half an hour later arrived at the Mexican Customs point at the small town of Pitiquito, near Caborca, where we had to stop in order to turn in the temporary import permit for the Jeep. (The motorhome's permit is for 10 years and has another 5 to go). The problem here is there is no provision for parking on the north bound lane and no provision to turn around to enter the new complex!

We had checked via RV.NET with others. The advice given had been to enter via an unused exit and walk to the office and have an official come to the rig. We couldn't see where they recommeded to turn in, we think this unused exit may have been temporarily blocked off, or we simply missed it, so we went past and turned around at a nearby side road and entered from the north on a nice wide road.

As we entered there were signs directing traffic for customs straight ahead and car permits to the right. We took a look and it the permit area was obviously made for cars, but since there were very few cars there it looked like we could get in and turn around. First mistake: We didn't park in that nice wide area and walk down to check things out.

Down we went, then it began to look tight. We rounded the first corner OK but 2 and 3 looked really tough. Second mistake: We didn't stop and unhook. With a little toing and frowing we could have turned the rig around with ut the Jeep attached.

We rounded corner 2 with the Jeep riding up and over the high curb—no problem, it's a Jeep after all. Rounding the second corner the right front wheel of the motorhome also went up and over the curb. This was a triangular part so we were up and over very quickly. Then the rear wheels. Up and over, down with a bang sooner than Art had expected and it came down hard. But we made it. The Jeep followed without difficulty and we parked beside the little kiosk.

The VIN number was photographed, the decal removed, scanned and we were almost done. Normally the import deposit would be automatically refunded to the credit card it had been charged to. Since we had had a problem with our credit card and had a replacement DW had to go up to the main office to sort our the refund to a different card number. She had the folded old card and the new one, the official typed out an explanation as to what had happened which she signed, and hopefully the refund will show up. Only took 15 minutes.

I moved the rig back to the top where we should have stayed, parked against the right hand curb (heading east) just before the lanes to customs. One of the staff told Art that to leave he could just make a U turn and head out the entrance lane (which is very wide at that point) and enter the highway through a gap in the cones. Worked fine. Eventually.

In the Aduana office Gillian produced her old card, broken in half, and the new one, and the explanation. The official typed it all out, had her sign it and hopefully all will be well and the money will show up as a credit in a few days.



Some time later Art noted that the fuel gauge was reading lower than expected. He chalked it up the the extra power required by the dash air and the generator, which drew from the main fuel tank.

As time and distance went on the fuel gauge continued to fall. Then Art noted that the image in the rear view camera was becoming quite blurred, as it becomes in the rain. It didn't take too long for the light to come on: it wasn't rain, it was diesel oil! We were losing fuel! Probably due to the incident with the curbs at Mexican customs.

At the US border we were delayed about 15 minutes waiting for Agriculture, who relieved us of the few apples and oranges we had left.  We had 40 miles to go the Ajo, the fuel gauge reading about 1/3.

We had one more delay, US Border service. We noted that the vehicles ahead of us were subject to quite detailed questioning and inspection. Except for one car with BC plates.  When our turn came there were just a few questions, where had we come from, where were we going, where in BC did we leave etc and we were on our way in a minute or so.

We arrived at Ajo Heights RV Park well after their closing time but the owner came down and said that he was in a good mood tonight so we could come in! He has been known to become annoyed with later comers. Art said that he had a fuel leak and should get off his nice asphalt and was directed to a pull through space while Gillian stayed to pay the rent. We'll hope to find a mechanic that works on Saturday!

Mazatlan to San Carlos

Out the gate at 7:00 AM, looking good so far. Today would be toll road travel, mostly boring but some nice scenery along the way. It's just that there is so much of the same!

We stopped at a rest area form breakfast, even though it has more or less been taken over for heavy truck safety inspections. We parked on the shoulder along side, fed ourselves and the dogs, who also got 10 minutes to sniff around and do their thing and were moving again in 45 minutes.

The terrain is flat farming country.  Though there are some small farms, most are the big multinationals. We usually spot several crop dusters working in this area, though this year only noted one. They may be slow, but are too fast for photos from a moving motorhome!

We stopped for fuel and lunch at Los Mochis, at a Pemex called La Pilarica. It had truck parking, overnight parking, and used to have a place in front of the diesel pumps where we could park and make our lunch. This area is now signed No Parking. All of the truck parking is back in only which is not possible when towing a vehicle 4 wheels down. Fortunately there was a small area to the right sighed Parking which at one end near the road we were able to pull straight in.

Across the road and across the irrigation canal there are a string of ramshackle building which at first look like they may be abandoned or possibly small farm out buildings. Then we noticed the satellite dishes!

We managed to squeeze fuel, lunch and dog walk into 30 minutes and were back on road at  1:25.

At about 6:20 Art had to pull over to wash the bugs from the windshield as the sun was now low in the sky and almost dead ahead, creating an awful glare. At 6:30 we paid the last toll on this section and arrived at Tonoaka RV Park in San Carlos at 6:45.

787 kilometers, 10 hours 30 minutes driving time. 75 Km/H average. Not too bad but we were glad to stop. Especially the dogs!

Mazatlan

MAZATLAN

For several days we had been trying to call Juan, the best body repairman in Mazatlan but had had no luck other than leaving a message on his cell phone last week, with no call back. On the way north we managed to get hold of him at his shop. Last year he had been too busy to do a small job so we had put it off for this year. When Art told him that he had another ding on the opposite corner he laughed but then said that he was too busy this week to do anything. We'll have to get it done north of the border. 

While here though Art decided to have the motorhome washed and waxed, hoping that all the grime we collect on the way home will wash off easier with a fresh coat of wax under it. Pepe, who works at the RV Park agreed to do it for 900 pesos, about 75 dollars. Before putting water on the roof Art had him put a "band-aid" over the cracked fiberglass to keep the water out.

While Pepe was up on the ladder we went into town to do the laundry and some grocery shopping and see about the bike. We found the bike shop, which had been recommended by Stan in Puerto Vallarta, (Fernando Kelly's) where Fernando had a look at the bike and said that it would be ready tomorrow. When Art told him that we wanted to leave for San Carlos in the morning he said that he could have it ready by 6:30 this evening.  We left the bike and carried on.

We were lucky enough to find a place to park on the street in front of the laundromat where Gillian dropped off Art and the laundry and headed back to the park with the dogs. Too hot to leave them in the Jeep for long as our mesh screens had been removed for towing.

Art enjoys laundry day anyway; a chance to grab a bite to eat and read a while undisturbed. Today he had a bowl of tortilla soup while waiting for the washer to finish its cycle and as usual a double espresso while the dryer went round and round.  When done he called Gillian to say he was just ready to start folding and by the time that was done she had arrived, again finding a parking place right out front.

We loaded the clothes into the Jeep in which we had left the dogs, the top partially open and windows partly down and the interior thermometer where we could see it. There was now a nice breeze and the interior temperature was hovering around 30C, just like at El Manglar. Since the dogs were comfortable we ducked around the corner for lunch.

Next stop was Mega, the grocery store to stock up on a few things, beer wine and whisky included and back to the RV Park.

Pepe was making great progress, the rig looking good again. Art had a very short nap, added a bit to the blog, Gillian walked the dogs, then our friends long time friends from Victoria Jacqui and Derick, and Paul arrived for happy hour before going out to dinner.

We first met Paul and his wife Eve about 1975, Eve being an O.T. where Gillian worked as a physio. We soon became good friends. Some years later Gillian met Jacqui, another physio, who had trained at the same hospital in Manchester as Gillian and also worked at another hospital in Yorkshire where she did, and at the same time. It was (and is) a very large hospital, but still, funny they should meet in Canada years later! The six of us became good friends, often dined dined together, often rotating Christmas dinner at each others homes.

For a couple of years we traveled by motorhome together. Eve passed away some years ago so Paul is now on his own, dividing his time between Canada, Mexico and England, were his family is. It is kind of nice meet up every year here in Mazatlan where we first all enjoyed wintering in Mexico. We are sort of an extended family.

Happy hour almost done Art phoned the bike shop. Fernando said that he was just finishing up one job and Art's bike was next, should  ready is half an hour.

So while the rest set off in Derek's car to the restaurant Art went in the Jeep via the bike shop. The bike was ready! Not only had Fernando tightened up all the spokes, he had also straightened the bent brake rotor! The cost? 180 pesos--$15.00 !

One small wrong turn, or more correctly one turn not made, Art finally arrived at the restaurant where the others were by now one margarita ahead!  The food was very good, service too, the company lots of fun; we had a great time.  One thing that I should mention, when the waiter realised that Gillian was looking out for a place for Art to park, one of the staff moved his car from right in front so when Art arrived Gillian was there to wave him in. Now that is great service!

We will be up early tomorrow, probably leave without breakfast and eat an hour or so down the road. It will be a long day, likely about 12 hours including breaks. Which won't be many or long.
 

So far it looks like we will be home before Easter.

Puerto Vallarta and on to Mazatlan

We stayed two full days in Puerto Vallarta. On Saturday Art took the time to check the flat on his bike. The tube was punctured in 4 places, all very close together! Too close for the individual patches he had so time for the new tube. He also noted a small dent in the rim. Likely the same grating that caused the flat.

As he was replacing the wheel a neighbour, an avid cyclist, came over to chat and see if he could be of help. Art mentioned the noisy brake and that he thought the brake rotor might be bent.

Stan had a look and noted that the spokes were very loose--spoke ends probably caused the flat when the wheel hit hard going through the grating!  He got his spoke tool (called a nipple wrench) but it wouldn't fit these spokes. Art put the bike back on the rack, he'd have it looked at in Mazatlan.



 On Sunday our friends Melcor and Marta and their son Alex dropped by; it looked like Melchor could be quite comfortable in the motorhome.

We then went with them for an excellent lunch at Beto's Mariscos in Pittial. The food was excellent, as good as any we have had. Again, we had left both  cameras behind.

We were surprised to realise that daughter Yesi graduates from university in Morelia this June! Melchor was our first Spanish teacher many years ago on our first trip to PV. We became friends, meeting his girlfriend Marta, and later received notice of their marriage. Years later we met their two kids. He now has his own Spanish School nearby. Time sure does fly!

That evening we met our expat Canadian friends Bill and Anita who first came to Puerta Vallarta in 1964 I believe when they started building Casa Anita. We had a great time with them and other friends at Blake's, a Canadian owned rest's Special, a 1 1/4 pound 924 ounce, 567 gram) T Bone steak for 185 pesos--$15.00.

Then in the morning just before 9:00 we set off for Mazatlan. You may remember last year we had a few problem on this leg of our return. Just to say for the moment that we made it unscathed this time. We navigated the laterals in PV without any incidents with buses and were soon well on our way.

The road was in pretty good condition though very sinuous for most of it and patience isn't so much a virtue as a necessity!We were fortunate to only once find ourselves part of a long line of vehicles caught behind a couple of slow trucks.

North of Bahia de Banderas there is a stretch where for miles, every so often, there are groups of roadside stands selling local fruit and delicacies. It seemed that there was a collection every few minutes. These two photos were taken half an hour apart.

We arrived and uneventfully passed through Compestela where last year we had the transmission problem and wound through the mountains and farming country towards Tepic.

12:20, we had a little of the city to drive through before we joined join the 15D, the toll road to Mazatlan.

 At 12:40 we stopped for lunch at one of the many toll booths and 50 minutes later were back on the road. The green sign reads MAZATLAN 289.
 

The plants on the dashboard were planted in Zihuatanejo along with the tomatos which of course we had to leave behind. The basil, cilantro and mint will be left with Christine and Joe in San Carlos, but not before we cut a few sprigs for ourselves.

At the end of the 15D (the toll road) it meets with the road from Durango then in a kilometer or so meets the libre into and through Mazatlan at La Union. Where the 15D ends it looks like it is going to be continued as bypass hopefull around Mazatlan, or at least La Union. This will be very nice.

 The above section is nice and flat, not like this:


There is also a toll road being built to Durango to replace highway one known as the Devils Backbone which is a very dangerous road winding amongst the mountain peaks. One of the major construction projects on this new highway is the Baluarte Bridge. Click this link for some amazing photos of this amazing bridge.





1090 pesos in tolls after leaving PV we arrived at San Fernando RV Park in Mazatlan at 4:50 PM.
 

Northbound from Zihuatanejo to Puerto Vallarta

We managed to wake up just as it was getting light, got us and the dogs fed, the dogs walked, jeep hooked up, goodbyes said to all the others in the RV Park and rolled out the door by 8:50. Pretty good going! Last year it was almost 11:00 and it soon got pretty hot in the rig.

(Julia: we need a photo here please! :)

Ten or so minutes later we parked along side of the road opposite Comercial Mexicana where Gillian dashed in and back with 2 liters of Lala Light. (milk). On a side note, there is a popular brand of particularly soft  and (to us) unappealing white bread in Mexico called Bimbo. It makes Art laugh saying: "Mexico, the land of Lala Milk and Bimbo Bread"!

We had thought (well, at least Art had mentioned) that if we got a good early start and reached Km 103.5 at an early enough hour, and he was still fresh, he might push on  all the way to Melaque, a further 5 or 6 hours. Fortunately, our friends and neighbours on the park were leaving the same day and said that they would see us at 103.5

Northbound out of Zihuatanejo we soon discovered that the approaches had been substantially improved. There had been a more or less bypass highway under construction since we first came here 10 years ago. We used to joke about the "Bridge to Nowhere" which was a new crossing of the river with a nice wide road at one end and ending in rock and jungle at the other. This year we crossed it! Nice new road all the way to the Morelia/Uruapan toll road.

The toll road to Lazaro Cardenas was also in excellent condition as was the main road though that city. Then we were into the small towns between Lazaro and  La Mira and all bets were off!   S l o w doesn't quite describe it, however we were eventually through, and two hours from El Manglar we were at the Playa Azul turnoff, a couple more hours to our stop.


The Michoacan Coast is very rugged and beautiful, the highway winding up the valleys then back to the coast. Art has found that the diesel motorhome makes this a much less stressful drive than our previous gas engined rig. The biggest differences are the air brakes, the exhaust brake, and the 6 speed Allison transmission's cruise control.

Highway construction was rampant between Playa Azul and Coleta de Campo, here are a few pics of the old road, the new sections and in between. We were often sailing along at a great rate on a new piece only to find that we were on gravel again because the bridge wasn't finished.

Here is a comparison of what the highway used to be like almost all along the 200.

And here is a new bit!

Somewhere along one of the old bits of highway heard a loud bang which seemed to come from the right side of the motorhome. Couldn't tell what it was but supposed we had hit a tree branch hanging down, hidden amongst the greenery. We later found damaged fibre glass at the top right of the front fiberglass cap. marks indicated that it likely had been a largish branch. We'll try to get it repaired in Mazatlan. 


This link shows where we stayed the night. Select the Satellite view and pan left and right to see the route. You can also zoom in and out.

This campground is run by a group of 8 families as an ecotourist area. It's full name is Zapote Tizupan Centro Ecoturistico so you can see why we refer to it by its location on this section of the 200, Km 103.5.

We arrived to find the restaurant palapa roof being repaired. It was quite interesting to watch. We quite enjoyed watching them work. Their efforts were continually accompanied by laughter and chatter. They quit about 6:00 PM and were back at work as the sun came up in the morning.

The interesting thing was that this side of the palapa was being thatched with different palms than the original. The new materials are fan shaped.

The damage was from storms last summer.

Although the restaurant was being repaired, the floor covered with pieces of dried palm leaves while the tables were covered with a thick layer of dust, when we arrived we were asked if we would like a meal. Gillian said that we would come later for a drink and perhaps dinner.

Just before dusk we wandered over to the restaurant, a worker appeared, cleaned off the table and took our order for a beer each. Later La Señora arrived to take our dinner order. We had a choice of fish or prawns. Gillian ordered prawns in garlic while Art asked for a filet of fish, also in garlic. She said "No hay filete, es entero" meaning it was not fileted but whole fish. The then decided that she could filet it for him!

Wish we had thought to take a photo because it tasted as good as it looked. Surprisingly the meals were not served with rice, the norm, but with some quite nice french fries. The bill for 4 beer, one large filet of fish and a serving of prawns was 305 pesos, about $25.00.

Come morning we were on the road again at 8:40, looking at a 5 to 6 hour drive to San Patricio de Melaqui. We again crossed many river valleys/canyons and again, road construction alternated with old and new highway.

By 1:00 PM breakfast had worn off and we were ready for lunch as we came across a view point overlooking the city of Manzanillo and Manzanillo Bay. Unfortunately, the haze made photography difficult.

From here on though the road was good and we arrived in Melaqui at 3:00 PM. We found space at the small RV park right in town. This use to be and I suppose still is, a very popular park. Unfortunately the owner died a year or two ago and the two heirs couldn't agree on what to do with the property. One wanted to keep the RV Park, the other wanted to develop it; cabins, apartments or what ever.

So a wall went up, and this is what is left. At least the RV Park owner has some income!

Next morning once again ten minutes before 9:00 AM we hit the road for a few minutes, stopped to fuel up and headed north for Puerto Vallarta.

The road had been recently resurfaced and was a pleasant though sinuous drive for the most part; we were half way to PV in less than 2 hours. Things were looking up. For the time being. Then  at the end of some very new road surface we came across an 8 kilometer stretch of mostly unpaved potholes. It looked like the road had been dug up, widened, and seal coated then abandoned. There was no sign of equipment or recent work, just the 8K of crappy road. We were down to under 30 Km/H, often to 20 or less.

Then we got back onto the untouched old road which seemed good in comparison. Until we arrived in Boca de Tomatlan. At the enterance to Boca, we missed seeing several topes which we hit pretty hard, then the road surface really went to xxx . From here to Mismaloya the road had not seen any repair or maintenance for years. It was a continuing series of potholes. 20 Km/H and less for the most of it.

Finally we got onto the new concrete road into Puerta Vallarta, arriving at the Puerto Vallarta Trailer Park at 3:00 PM. At our site of choice we later found that the Shaw Direct Satellite signal was blocked by a palm tree. The site next to that would have been OK except for the large overhanging palm tree with a large crop of very large coconuts which appeared ready to drop. We elected to go without the TV. We have several things recorded if we get desperate for something to watch.