Leaving Z

14th February, Valentine's Day. And yes, Art had remembered! In fact he bought Gillian more chocolate than vice versa!

The last week we have been tidying up and putting things away getting ready to go. To be fair, Gillian does 90% of the work, Art not having the strength, flexibility or stamina these days. This year we were well in time, not mad rush the last day.

Yesterday the side curtains went on the Jeep as did the towbar, bike rack and Art's Pedago electric bike. Oh--and tire pressure checked--all 6 still up to spec!

Today was the chairs, awning sunshade, ground mat, plus putting everything inside away where it could travel safely and without rattling and crashing around. Oh, and of course, putting the dinette into bed mode to make room for the dogs' soft crates which they travel in.

Since we would be leaving early in the morning, (the alarm would be set for 6:00 AM!) while Gillian walked the dogs Art moved the motorhome from its spot to a more accessible place, sideways across 4 small spaces alongside the driveway and facing the gate. Then he connected the Jeep ready for towing. This would allow for bring in the slides, retracting the stabilizers, filling the air suspension bags, and the air brake system checks, all of which required the diesel engine to be running. Better at 5:00 PM than 6:00 AM!

We were done, showered and dogs fed in time for dinner. Not cooking tonight!

Dinner tonight was in the El Manglar Restaruant, excellent as always, goodbys to the staff and neighbours and back to the rig to make our lunch for tomorrow. we were in bed and asleep at a reasonable hour, though of course Tia woke us up a few times.

15th of February, a few hours short of three months since we arrived.

6:00 AM the alarms went off. Glad we don't have to do that everyday! Tia got her meds (an hour before breakfast) we got our breakfasts, dogs walked, then they were fed, then another short walk. 

Art had hoped that by not putting the jacks down for the night the air would come up quicker. It did, but not as much as hoped. The air suspension had settled a bit overnight. There is obviously a slow leak somewhere. However it only took a few minutes longer and the neighbour behind us was already up and about. We were out the gates at 7:30. Art had hoped for 7:00 but no big deal. 

The road north was in reasonable shape, though it is narrow in many spaces. The Michoacan coast is very rocky, on the edge of the mountains; lots of curves, twists and hills. About 400 kilometers, Art guesses six to eight hours with minimal stops.

At 9:35 Art realised that he probably shouldn't have had two cups of tea at breakfast and drunk another two on the road. Fortunately at the Playa |Azul junction there was room to pull over to take care of that problem! We had done 118 kilometers in just over 2 hours. Though we were through the built up area of La Mira, which stretches almost from the city of Lazaro Cardenas, we hadn't yet hit the hills and tight curves. Yup, gonna be a long day!

For note taking purposes, an hour later we were at the kilometer 65 marker, just north of Nexpa. Averaging about 60 kph.  Another 15 kilometers further we passed the location of our incident of three years ago. Glad to get that behind us!

Here is a snap shot of the GPS as we traveled the really twisty bit.

As we went past "Zapote Tizupan Centro Ecoturismo" what was known as "Kilometer 103 and a half" consisting of a restaurant, pool, camping and RV Park, we had confirmed what we had heard: It had burned down. Three more or less separate building, it looked a bit suspicious. There had been some internal conflict and arguments about the development of this spot, within the Ejido.  Too bad, it had been a good stopping place.

12:25 Two hours later, at Maruata, we took a 10 minute P break for the dogs. Our average now 53 kph.

A bit further on at the town of Aquila we came across an Indigenous peaceful protest against the Federal Government where the highway was blockaded by heavy trucks and equipment. Mostly the southbound traffic was being held up; we were able to move on after just a short delay.

Once through the delay we were behind a couple of cars and a very heavily laden gravel truck and a couple of vehicles behind us. The truck driver occasionally signaled that it was safe to pass, even though we could see nothing and the cars all took advantage of it leaving us directly behind the truck.

Followers of the blog may remember a year and a half ago when entering Mexico he had managed to shatter the glass of the right hand mirror and successfully taped it together. Later, in Zihuatanejo, he had a glass shop cut another mirror which he glued over it. It had lasted quite well, though it was beginning to vibrate a bit. He had planned to replace it last summer but. . . . .  

Eventually, the truck driver signaled again that we could pass so Art pulled out, had a look and could see far enough (as long as a fast car didn't come around the distant corner too soon) though the road was narrow, absolutely no shoulders and the trees and bushes right to the edge of the highway. Concerned about the sharp edge of the road as we passed the gravel truck Art didn't notice how close the mirrors were to each other. Gillian warned "Watch the mirrors!" Art glanced right as he heard a slight "Tick" and the main glass of the right hand mirror was gone. This is what remained. With a bit of adjustment the small convex mirror would serve for now.







A couple of hours later we left Michoacan and crossed into the state of Colima and by 3:35 we had arrived at Coconutz RV Park in Cuyutlan.

403 kilometers in 8 hours. 50 kph average (including stopped time of about 20 minutes) To be generous, say 55 kph average travel speed.