Villa Corona

It's Spring Break in Mexico! And we're camped at an aquatic park in the little town of Villa Corona - just south and west of Guadalajara about 25 miles.
Hundreds of local Guadalajara families are enjoying the day in several hotspring-fed swimming pools, equipped with waterslides (see the first picture) and acres of shaded picnic grounds with tables.
It sounds a bit challenging for the RVers, but we are camped in a gated area adjacent to, but not part of the day-use area.
Pools are drained daily and refilled with fresh warm spring water each morning at 6, so RV guests can enjoy some early morning soaking time in the freshly-filled pools until the park opens to the public at 8. It's like having an Olympic size bathtub! Check out Larry taking his morning soak in the second picture at 6:45! A smaller, gated pool with fresh water is opened to the campers each evening from 7 to 10 as well, which gives a whole new meaning to the term "watering hole"!
A short walk into the town of Villa Corona today yielded a hidden treasure! Directed by those in the know in the RV park, we approached a bakery at the end of an alleyway we never would have been able to find on our own, and probably wouldn't have been brave enough to approach (no signs, old brick structure that looked abandoned) and were rewarded with baked goods that rivaled any bakery I've tried!
Another bonus! Today is tienges (market) day in Villa Corona. Most small towns have a market day once a week with the vendors (local farmers, cheese makers, etc.) traveling from town to town. The vendors set up their booths on several blocks of a street in town and offer fresh and dried fruits, vegetables, nuts, cheeses, fish, pork, chicken (I'm talking FRESH here . . .the poor, unsuspecting hens come to market alive and depart ready for cooking . . . a process not easy for the fainthearted to witness!); shampoos, soaps and lotions in interesting "flavors"; shredded vegetable cups (jicama, beets, cucumbers, carrots) topped with freshly-squeezed lime juice and chili powder, offered with a fork and ready to eat; food booths where tasty lunches are prepared and eaten at makeshift counters, clothing; bolts of fabric, kitchen items; sunglasses; tools; plants, etc. . . . AMAZING!
Tomorrow, we will head south and west to the coastal town of Melaque, where we'll have a visit with friends there. It's a small town on a beautiful bay that is a favorite of ours!

San Miguel de Allende

We spent Easter in one of our favorite cities - San Miguel de Allende. Surprise! Pre-sunrise service happened at midnight - Mass was celebrated outside the local cathedral, with loudspeakers broadcasting around the neighborhood. The final "AMEN" came in the form of a fireworks show, right above our campground and better than any I've witnessed, so I forgave the good Catholics for keeping us awake! Top picture is of the main cathedral in the Jardin when a procession was about to begin.
Great shopping opportunities have provided accents for the condominium - bedspreads, table cloths, lamps, wonderful original artwork created by expats who have migrated away from the stress and strain of the "real" world of the rat race up north.

Our accommodations were wonderful! We were situated behind a red gate in a small, quiet RV camp with tennis courts nearby. See the second and third pictures!

San Luis Potosi

Ahhhh! As the wind died down, we made a hasty exit from the Hotel Hacienda del Bosque, bright and early Wednesday morning and headed farther east to another, much larger silver city, San Luis Potosi (Population - 700,000+). We had heard mixed reviews about SL Potosi - maybe not as welcoming as Zacatecas is to tourists from the North - but, we were ready for an afternoon of exploring Centro, following our late morning arrival at Hotel Quintas San Jorge, situated near the small town of Enrique Estrada, about 5 miles out on the highway north of the city, toward the cities of Saltillo and Matehuala. We received vague instructions in espanol from our hotel host for bus transportation into Centro, and understood this much: TWO buses - first Central; then Centro - 5 pesos (50 cents) per bus. Exactly WHERE we made the transfer, we were not sure. No problema! We assumed our "no guts, no glory" attitude and crossed over to the other side of the carreterra to what looked like a bus stop. Larry flagged down a nice, luxury bus coming from the North (probably from the city of Matehuala); we boarded the full-to-capacity bus and immediately became the "main attraction" - the only gringos on the bus. Our amused driver responded to our VERY broken Spanish request to be let off at the right spot to catch the next bus to Centro. A nice lady directed us around the corner to a spot marked with a "Transito Urbano" sign, then motioned us onto the next yellow bus into Centro, and acted as our temporary tour guide once we arrived downtown, waving us in the right direction. With map in hand, we slowly found our way around to the different plazas and admired the incredible, ornate architecture of the structures such as the basilica, built during the Spanish occupation. A number of streets were blocked off to car traffic, which made exploring a lot easier. Contrary to reports of cool reception to tourists, we were approached in a plaza by some local folks, who offered (in English) to help us find our way around. Overall, we found the people to be quite friendly and welcoming.
Our return trip to our home on wheels in Enrique Estrada was not so successful . . . The bus from Centro deposited us in front of a very intimidating bus terminal (Central de Transportacion). There were LOTS of people and MANY lines and COUNTLESS luxury, long-distance busses waiting to depart, beyond a gate monitored by a security guard. Though this system seemed to be working very efficiently for the local folks, we were baffled by it all and decided to return to the street to hail a cab. With evening approaching, and not confident of our negotiating power for the fare, we ended up paying 200 pesos ($20) for the ride back to our hotel. YEOW!
Our camper accommodations were very pleasant - away from carreterra (freeway) noise - parked behind the hotel next to the (empty - it's winter!) swimming pool.
San Miguel de Allende, one of our favorite (and much smaller) cities is our next destination, so we made an early start Thursday morning.

Zacatecas - the Windy City!

It was another long drive from Guadalajara to Zacatecas, along winding roads . . . six hours to go 200 miles . . . curvy ups and downs through cattle country. We were treated to glimpses of a number of beautiful little towns along the way - clean, narrow strets lined with big pots of flowers; local residents gathered in town squares (Photo 1) for the weekly Sunday activities - mass, market day, visits with friends and family.

Our accommodations in Zacatecas sounded good, based on the report in the Churches' guide book - a luxury hotel, indoor swimming pool, nice retaurant. Little did we know that it was situated between the freeway and the railroad tracks! Ah yes, being in Mexico is an adventure! The trains were pretty quiet, but drivers of the big rig trucks coming off the freeway onto the bypass right in front of the hotel used their air brakes with particular relish to slow down throughout the night. Not much else in the area, except a Pemex fuel stop across the highway, so we settled in . . .

But, I digress . . . In the 1700s, after conquering Mexico, Spain reaped a steady supply of silver from the local mines of Zacatecas. The indigenous people were forced to work the mines in near slavery conditions by the conquistadors. This is a city very European in its appearance, with architecture that seems straight from Spain (Photo 2) and very vibrant. It is just amazing how much activity goes on any given weekday. Of course, being the start of Semana Santa - Holy Week - it's a good excuse to celebrate with music in the squares and performances by costumed entertainers. (Photo 3) Whereas American cities tend to be auto dependent, this city is pedestrian oriented, which leads to more interactions (kisses thrown by a toddler, for example). It's difficult to describe how much better it feels!

We encountered few other tourists from North America and Canada as we strolled the streets; probably because Zacatecas is in the middle of Mexico and not very close to any of the resort towns. It may also be because it rivals Chicago as the "Windy City"! Our departure for San Luis Potosi was delayed a day because of 60+ mph winds . . . At an elevation of 8,200 feet, and with clear skies, night time temperatures dropped into the low 40s, so we briefly returned to wearing winter clothes.

Guadalajara

We spent two nights at San Jose del Tajos RV Park on the outskirts of Guadalajara . . . this time, just a stop-over where we provisioned up at the local "big box" stores, conveniently located within walking distance of the park, and prepared for our journey to Zacatecas, a city of 100,000 - one of Mexico's fabled "silver cities". The photo above was taken on our way out of Guadalajara.
Our park neighbors were Javier and familia, local Guadalajara residents who live near city center and enjoy getting away from the city on weekends. We had a wonderful "conversation", mostly in Spanish, about the beauty and the cultural richness of Zacatecas, as well as a warning about the windy conditions we could expect there. Javier, his wife, two daughters and mother seemed very comfortably situated in their camper that was not much bigger than ours! Their campsite was immaculate - raked daily and watered to keep the dust down.
On the other side of us was a group of young men who partied noisily in their trailer during most of the afternoon and then took off early in the evening . . . probably for the local nightspot where the music cranked up and went on until 4ish in the morning . . . a social piece of Mexican weekend culture that can be a difficult adjustment for gringo tourists who are "of a certain age"...

The Road Inland

Day One: Mazatlan to Guadalajara - Seven LONG hours on the road, though most of the trip was on the cuota, the toll road with collection booths along the way.
As we planned our trip inland, we considered two choices:

Option A: East to Durango via "The Devil's Backbone" - a more direct route inland along narrow, steep, winding roads - a breathtaking, scenic, white-knuckle drive during which the driver has to manuever around oncoming big rigs that take up both lanes as they whip around the hairpin curves, while the navigator peers helplessly down the sheer drop just inches away (it seems) into the lush valleys FAR below;

Option B - South and East to Guadalajara; a longer, more tedious route, less interesting for sure, but a lot safer. Since we wanted this to be a relaxing trip, we opted for safe and tedious this time around. (You're welcome, Moms!)
The climb from the coastal region into the Sierra Madre Occidental range was fairly gradual, with manageable curves and nice vistas. Dry, brushy coastal terrain with some tomato fields and mango and papaya orchards along the way, turned into serious agave country as we approached the town of Tequila, with the hillsides taking on a blue-green color of the agave plants (see second picture above).
The temperature rose as we journeyed further inland, away from the cool coastal breezes.
With maps and journal notes from past years at the ready, we approached the Guadalajara periferico, the bypass road that rings the center of the city and provides access from other cities via highways from all directions that create a giant spoke-like pattern.

We merged with the periferico traffic, a flowing river of beeping trucks, cars and scooters. Lanes were marked, but seemed to be largely ignored as the vehicles jockeyed for position. Drivers most often chose the horn over the brakes to establish their territory on the road.
San Jose del Tajo Trailer Park, located on the outskirts of the city on the southern "spoke", was a familiar and welcome sight after maneuvering through traffic. Andreis, the park manager, remembered us (no doubt, because of the RED truck).

Once settled into a shady space (see top picture above), we pulled out the camp chairs and enjoyed some cold cerbezas on our brick patio and prepared a tasty barbeque dinner. The camper bed beckoned to us soon after dinner , , ,

Getting Out of Town

Okay, so maybe it's getting a little too comfortable for us in our Casa Sur . . . furniture and appliances are all in place; most of the painting is complete; documentation that elevates (?) us from tourist status to part-time residents is secured next to our passports.
The travel bug has bitten us once again! After two months of pretty steady work on the condominium, we are going to rewarding ourselves with a two week road trip inland through Guadalajara to Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato and possibly Patzcuaro; then back out to the coast to Melaque, one of our favorite sea-side towns. From there, we'll return to Mazatlan about March 27/28 and complete tasks that still need our attention here, before heading North in early April.
The other reason for getting out of town and heading inland is to avoid the crowds that are expected to flood to all the coastal towns and cities. Some 200,000+ partyers are predicted to descend upon Mazatlan next week for Semana Santa - Holy Week. Uniformed, armed and very young security forces are making their presence known already - hopefully, more posturing than anything else - as they motor around town in open trucks, with automatic weapons slung over their shoulders.
I have to say, we're more concerned about the 24/7 party atmosphere here and not getting our beauty sleep! At times like these, the cultural differences surface and tempers can flare as normal Latino partying goes into the early morning hours, depriving baby boomer Gringos of their precious sleep.
We have missed the road this year and the sense of adventure that comes with it! Condominium life is good, though a little insulated from new experiences and the "road rat" camaraderie we have come to enjoy as we pull into an RV park at the end of the day and join other sojourners for Happy Hour - a time to share information and advice about the road ahead or behind us, over a glass of wine and some chips and salsa.
Stay tuned for updates and pictures!.....

Nap Time!

This is the bedroom furniture - head board and credenza from Mesilles, a small town about 40 miles outside of Mazatlan where furniture is manufactured and sold - great prices and selection!

It SEEMED like a nice idea to have Larry pose for pictures! Obviously a tempermental, strong-willed model!

This is Larry testing the structural strength of the credenza as he searches for a place to nap.

And this is Larry showing his favorite sleep position - note that he takes HIS half of the bed out of the middle!

The Dining Room

This is the view from the living area looking into the dining area, kitchen and entry. Those are pretty jazzy dining chairs! Behind the table, refrigerator and in the entry way, you can see the accent color we used - a rich, burnt orange/brown. Most of the main room is a very soft cream. We'll be adding lots of bright accents in accessories - pillows, wall art, table decorations....

Bonnie's ready for a dip in the pool......

The Living Room

Ah! The long-awaited furniture arrived Wednesday night! As the gremlins allow us to upload images, we will give you a tour! This first photo shows the MASTER of the castle enjoying a moment of leisure!

First Dip

Really now, how COLD could that nice condo pool be, with several days of Mazatlan Sol beating down on it? Certainly no colder than The Lake in July! The time had come to test the waters . . . Steeling myself, I took a brave leap without doing a "toe test". After a few gasps and some frenzied frog kicking and stroking, the frigid water became "refreshing". Neighbors cheered me on from the comfort of their decks as I completed several circuits around the pool perimeter. My reward after completing my "polar bear swim" was a warm shower and a cup of hot cocoa laced with a touch of brandy.