Travel Journal

(Click on the photos for a larger version.)


We went to Matt & Jana's after Meadview. Got home on April 24th. What a winter! Had so much fun. We fortunately missed the swine flu. Not sure what we will be doing next winter. Got some great ideas. If we just did this trip over again that would be fun. Hope you enjoyed this travel journal. It was fun to do and I hope to do another for our next trip.
	We passed by Hoover Dam. There is a huge bridge being constructed. Amazing how they make that happen.

This cactus is all over the desert in Mexico and Arizona.


Meadview, AZ
	Next stop was Meadview. We picked this place so we could tour the Grand Canyon. The RV park was 15 miles from Lake Mead and about 20 miles to the west rim of the Grand Canyon. We definitely want to go back there. It was just beautiful. April 18th - 21st

Click this photo to see our pictures of the Grand Canyon!


Laughlin, NV
We stayed at a nice RV park/casino in Laughlin. Had a good visit with some old friends of Bob's, Julie & Terry. Left our trailer in Laughlin and headed for the bright lights of Las Vegas. April 11th - April 18th

	Left Vegas for Leona, CA to visit Tim and Nancy. They have a new home and it is just beautiful.


Yuma, AZ
	We left Mexico on the Mar. 27th. Stayed in Tucson for one night but found it a bit cold. Left for Yuma to hang in the sunshine until the snow melts up north. We are at the "Arizona West Mobile Park". It is very comfortable with a small pool and hot tub. We are just hanging out watching the jack rabbits and road runners scamper around. There are also mockingbirds here. They sing long into the night. Mar. 27th - Apr. 11th
		Spotted another painting by Hector from Mazatlán. It was painted on the door of the RV parked next to us. He did this one in 1995. "Borracho"
We left our RV in Yuma and drove up to see Shawn, Amy and the kids in Flagstaff. Took off the next day for Snowflake to visit some old friends of Bob's that live in Snowflake, AZ.


Celestino RV Park
		We headed up the beach from Mazatlán to an RV Park called Celestino. This park was just beautiful. Very inexpensive and well cared for. Our friends Karl and Maureen were staying there so we joined them for a few days. We wish we were still there. Mar.23rd - Mar. 26th
The beach was rocky at this time of year. The owner said that the beach changes. In October it will be all sand. It made for interesting walks.

El Quelite We took a road trip with Karl and Maureen to a picturesque pueblo that was so colorful.

We went to a beautiful restaurant for lunch. It is called "El Meson de los Laureanos".The interior is just beautifully done with Mexican murals and antiques. The food was as exceptional as the surroundings. We had a great day visiting this town. Mar. 25th


Mazatlán
We are back at Punta Cerritos RV Park in Mazatlán. This is a big city but the RV park is on the outskirts of town. Having a good time sight-seeing. Mar.8th - Mar. 23rd
	We were told that this is an old Levi Strauss factory.		Lorraine and Art invited us to a beach on the other side of Walamo, a small village, to look for sand dollars.
Found a few shells and sand dollars on this endless beach.
		Took a tour through the Pacifico Brewery. It was so interesting. The hops come from Washington State. That must be why we like it so much!

These two sculptures were close to the aquarium. There are sculptures all over Mazatlán.			Hector painted this and anything else you wanted painted. Amazing work.

			We toured a small village called Copala. It was so quaint. It was fairly touristy but authentic. It was a fun day.
		Copala is an ancient mining town with red roofs, steep, cobblestone streets, where time seems to have stood still. Church of St. Joseph is very old and beautiful and is in the town square.

		There were a lot of sand castings here. Loved this stone guy.


Etzatlán
		We are at Delia's Trailer Park in Etzatlán. This RV park has a rock wall that iguanas come and sun themselves on. This one is fairly large. We are leaving in the morning for Mazatlán. Mar. 5th - 8th

Tequila
Tequila is made from the distilled sap from hearts of the agave plant. This is an agave field.		We visited the town of Tequila. Did a tour of the Jose Cuervo Distillery. This is not our favorite tequila but this distillery plays an important part in this area. We could not take pictures inside the distillery.
	Cuervo means raven in spanish.
		Mundo Cuervo means cuervo world or raven world. "Where the tequila lives."


Pátzcuaro
The next place we stayed was Pátzcuaro. It is like entering old Mexico. The town is full of churches and plazas. The elevation is 7,150 ft. The variation in temperature was amazing. 38 degrees at night and 91 degrees during the day. We traveled to other small towns while we stayed there. Feb. 26th - Mar. 5th		We took a tour around Pátzcuaro on this trolley.	The town mercado (market) was excellent. Lots to buy both food and crafts.
	These dancers performed in the Plaza Grande. This is called "Old Men's Dance" (danza de los viejitos).
		Of course, lots of beautiful old churches.
	We spent some time touring with Karl and Maureen.
The wood carving shops in Pátzcuaro have great carvings. It is incredible what they can do.		This flower is called an Angels Trumpet. It is very poisonous but beautiful. They had a couple of these plants in the RV park we are staying in.
			Paracho This is a famous town for making guitars and other stringed instruments. We spent a day touring the shops.

Santa Clara del Cobre This town is just south of Pátzcuaro. It is famous for its copper metalwork.

	Isla Janitzio There is an island on Lake Pátzcuaro that we boated to. In the center of the island there is a statue of Morelos. Bob climbed to the top of the arm. Before we landed on the island the fisherman came out and did an exhibition with their nets. It was so cool.




There are tons of shops and restaurants on the island.


Villa Corona
	We decided to go inland so we headed for Villa Corona where there is an RV park called "Parque Acuático Chimulco". There are about 5 pools that are fed from a natural mineral hot spring. The pools are emptied each night and refilled each morning. There is a special pool that is filled each evening for the use of the RV Park guest only. From Villa Corona we traveled around to a few other places. Feb. 4th - Feb. 26th http://www.villacorona.com/
	WiFi is available in the center of the park. The temperature at Chimulco is between 80-90 degrees during the day and 50 at night.	Fun couple Dave & Marguerite!
This is a very popular water park especially on the weekends. It was not crowded at all during the week. We enjoyed being here very much.
	Villa Corona is a small town. It has a beautiful town square with a public market and a historic church. Sugar cane is grown here. Town rolls its sidewalks up by 6:00. Nothing is open after that.
	This is a church on the out skirts of Villa Corona. It is dug out of a sand hill. There are tunnels all through the hill. It was something to see. Check out the pitch fork he is using. Just like stepping back in time.

We didn't stop here to eat. Can't say I have ever tried menudo (stomach). Some things are best left to others.

Guadalajara
Claudia,Luz,Octavio, Paco, "Princess" Naomi, and Luz. They have another son Paco that was away at the time.		When we were in Sayulita we met this extraordinary family from Guadalajara that was vacationing there too. They gave us their phone number and told us to call when we were close. We did and spent one of our best times in Mexico with this family. They took us to museums, churches, and around the center of Guadalajara. We went back to their home where their daughter Luz made us a delicious supper. These are wonderful people that I am so glad we met. The pictures below are just a few of the ones I took. Way to many to post here. Feb. 15th
	This is the symbol that is often used for Guadalajara.		Bob on a throne.


This is a painting of Paco's grandmother (abuela) painted by his grandfather (abuelo). It is on display at "Los Artistas Del Centro Bohemio". Paco and Luz also enjoy painting. Very talented family.
	Luz took us on a tour through the "Intitueo Cultural Cabanas". I took so many photos that it is impossible to show all the beautiful paintings and sculptures. The murals were fascinating. This is a very important museum in Guadalajara.


	There were even a couple of Picasso's!
Tonala

	There are two major market places on the south-east side of Guadalajara. One is Tonala and the other is Tlaquepaque. We spent the day at Tonala.
Sayula

We went to a town called Sayula. A lot of the towns specialize in one thing. They manufacture knives. They are very beautiful. We purchased a set of steak knives and a carving knife for the girls and ourselves. We went to the factory and watched them work. They make both the blades and the handles in Sayula.


Punta Perula
We are still in Punta Perula. We will be leaving on the 4th of Feb. and haven't decided exactly where we are going next. We just love it here. There is so much to see and do. We have certainly ran into some new animals and food choices.		There is tons of coconut and pineapple here. We marinate the pineapple in dark rum and cook it on the BBQ. It tastes wonderful.
This is Jorge. He brought over 30 oysters last night. He shucked them and we put them on the BBQ. He also brought over some passion fruit. We had never had it before and it has an incredible flavor.
	Does this look like DINNER? It didn't smell like dinner........
		These are divers that we met on one of the beaches. They were diving and bringing up these shellfish. Bob said they were good. I will take his word for it. We have yet to really identify this shellfish.
Jorge brings us beautiful sea shells, fresh oysters and a few other things that we are not sure of.		At first we were terrified that he had brought us turtle feet to eat. These strange things are in the sea urchin family (we think). His father is a diver and Jorge peels them and eats them fresh. Bob also tried one of these. They look so strange. The tips are hard like a shell.
This is another strange animal we ran across. Bob did not try to eat this one.		This is a Kotimundi. We first saw about 5-6 of them in a papaya grove. I thought it was a dog. I saw the head and thought it was a cat until the tail went in the air and we had to stop the truck and check it out. We have seen them at other times but I have not got a good picture. This is not my picture but taken off the Internet. Very interesting animal.

We went to dinner with these folks at Delia's. We were able to wade across to the restaurant but needed to be boated back to the other shore. Fred & Val provided the entertainment. We had such a great time.
Lois & Neil	Carol & Bob	We have met some incredibly nice people in Perula. I feel like I have known them for years. They have helped to make our stay here so much fun. Hope our paths cross again.	Guess who
Ken & Donna			Fred & Val
			6 of us took a panga over to one of the islands. It is called Isla Cocina. We did some snorkeling.
Val and I are the queens of gecko. She is going to make hers permanent too. Notice no flies are going to land on us. Yep, una más cerveza, por favor..
	We swim almost everyday. Come on in........
A morning walk up the beach. Beautiful way to start our day.


		We went to the polo matches at El Careyes a small village south of Perula. It was fun to watch and and at half time we were asked to press the divots. Just like in the movies. Polo is fairly popular here. Some of these players were Americans here for the tournament.

We have fallen in love with Punta Perula. It is a small Mexican village just south of Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta. It has only a few tiendas (stores) and restaurants with a gorgeous swim beach.		The RV park we are staying at has a hotel attached. It is called Playa Dorada (golden beach).
		We had the good fortune to meet two kids traveling. They joined us in Sayulita and loved Perula as much as we did and stayed in a tent on the beach. We enjoyed their company so much. Julia and Luca are from Germany. Luca went back to school and Julia is staying in Monterrey, MX for 3 months to teach German.
	There are so many abandoned buildings here. We have been told that after the earth quake in 1992 the structures are uninhabitable. They are all along the coast line here. Big beautiful and abandoned.

We wanted to see if there was a nicer beach than we found at Perula. Luca and Julia need to go to Melaque so we headed south. We went to Tenacatita first and found the beach and village interesting but not as beautiful as Perula.
		We stopped at Boca de Iguanas for lunch. It is very tropical here and we actually spotted a crocodile.
	We stopped at a distillery and did the tour. They were distilling raicilla. Not as smooth as tequila.		Passed through this village.
We saw some beautiful beaches but we are still want to be here. We were going to stay a week but decided to stay a month more. Actually we may never leave. Jan. 5th through Feb. 4th		We left Luca and Julia at Laguna Del Tule in Melaque. This is an interesting RV-Hotel spot. There seems to be a lot happening at that camp ground. We miss them.........


Sayulita


	Yesterday the surf at Sayulita was huge. It was so cool to see. This is why the surfers come here. It has been so calm through Christmas. Dec. 28th

I really like these guys but sure am glad I don't have to touch them. There are some really huge iguanas here.		Interesting display.
		"Bocce Ball Time" Bob takes this game very seriously. Full concentration and a full cerveza is required. Game time is right after siesta........
Christmas eve was spent at a delicious potluck then over to watch the children perform a skit about Christmas. Then a mariachi band showed up and caroled through the park. Christmas Day was spent on the beach and ended with another wonderful potluck. Dec. 24th & 25th

	This is Christmas week and the Mexicans come out of Guadalajara to celebrate on the beach. We were with Dave & Mary at Rincon de Guayabitos for the day. Dec. 22nd

Merry Christmas

Bob and Mary in the Pacific.	We have met up with some folks from the Baja. David and Mary are staying in a casita in San Pancho (San Francisco). We also talked to John and Pat who are staying in La Pinita at a RV park!
Bob has turned into quite the biker! We both have one and they are fun little scooters.
This is a turtle beach. They released a batch last night. They are so adorable making their way to the water.
We are staying in a small town above Puerto Vallarta call Sayulita. It is loaded with surfers and old hippies. It is upscale for a little Mexican village. Prices are kind of high but this place is a real novelty. We are in the only RV park here and the places are reserved from year to year. We will be here through the New Year. It is a fun place to be with all the regulars here in the park being very friendly. There is a feel of Brisa del Mar RV park because a lot of these people have been coming here for years. They don't lease by the year like we did though. Check out this website for more info on Sayulita! It looks just like the slide show on this website. http://www.sayulita.com/ Dec. 9th - ?


Mazatlán
Next stop was Punta Cerritos RV Park in Mazatlan. We were hoping to visit with Gregg and Sue but they were not due until later in the week. We will catch them on the way back we hope. Dec. 7th - 8th

Los Mochis and Copper Canyon

We stayed at the Copper Canyon RV park in Los Mochis. This park is not the greatest but did give us the opportunity to leave our trailer and pickup and do the train ride through Copper Canyon. We got some good photos. It is something we have wanted to do for a long time so we just went for it. We did not go through a travel agent but just booked the train and found hotels in the towns we visited. We spent one night in Creel and one in Divisadero. It worked out well for us. The train ride was very tedious but once we started into the mountains it was great. Click the Copper Canyon link to see our photos. Dec. 3rd - Dec. 7th

San Carlos, MX

We are in San Carlos, Sonora MX. Our first night in mainland Mexico. It is just beautiful here. This RV park is really nice. The weather is at last warm. Heading to Los Mochis tonight. Love being here. Dec. 2nd http://totonakarv.com/

DOES this look like dinner? It didn't smell like dinner........

We are in a RV park in Nogales, AZ. We are heading to Guaymas in the morning. Not looking forward to the border towns but that should go by quick. Nov. 30th


Lake Havasu, AZ
		This is the original London Bridge that was brought to Lake Havasu in 1968. You have to cross it to get to John & Linda's RV park the "Crazyhorse Camp Grounds".

We joined John, Linda, Alisha, and Linda's Dad & Mom for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Great food, friends, and beautiful Lake Havasu made it just perfect. They have a gorgeous spot to spend their winters. We had a great time.


Henderson, NV

	Needed to do some gambling so we would have the money for this trip. Went to Winnemucca and didn't do well so ventured to the other side of Vegas.... Henderson, NV to make up the losses. Stopped at Sunset Station and broke even. We did our best but can't pay for the trip off this stop. Oh well. It was rainy but warm in Nevada.


Boise, ID

	We finally left home Nov. 23rd. Headed to Jana's for a few days. She cooked an awesome dinner and invited some great people in ....

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