Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Almost to Valle de Juarez


We left early yesterday morning as scheduled, at least from the driveway.   The trailer hasn´t been out in months and it was a real pain fitting it through the gates.   All good rvs need an initiation and the Funfinder was no exception.   As I was on my fourth attempt and almost sure this was it, I heard that famous Mexican whistle but I hit the breaks too late.  I tore off the rear awning arm but just the bottom screws not doing any other damage.  Same thing happened to the other Funfinder.   Those --- damn awnings.  We have never used our awnings, everywhere we go it has always been too windy.

Off we go through Monterrey to Lincoln Ave and over to Hwy 40.   We arrived to Ramos Arizpe and headed down Hwy 57 without a hitch.  By this time my bruised ego was recovering quite well.  We found our way to our destination of Realejo de Guadalcázar in SLP.  The town of Guadalcázar is a straight shot off the 57 and it is a nice place.  The first plaza you arrive to is a great place for overnighting.  A museum, an old church from the 18th century and lots of places to try the local food.  We opted to head up the mountain to Realejo.  The road is almost identical to Real de Catorce but without the washboard, paved all the way.  We got to the top and what a change, green, quiet, just a few people and the temperature was nice and cool.  Not a whole lot to see or do but a free place to stay that is safe and secure.  We parked in front of the school and asked a neighbor if it was okay.  No problem.  We hiked a bit in the rocks nearby, took some pictures and then fixed dinner.  After a movie on the laptop (Austin Power's Goldmember) I was fast asleep. 

Then at 1 a.m. it thundered, lighting was just one count away and the trailer would shake when the thunder broke.  It poured for almost three hours.  Needless to say, I couldn´t sleep worrying about how we would get off the mountain the next day.   I wasn´t far off on my thinking.  The fog didn´t break until 11 a.m. and we headed down the hill and to the Hwy 57.





Drove all afternoon hoping we would make it to the rv park in Valle de Juarez.   I gave up at 5:30 and we found another great boondocking spot in Yurecuaro, Mich.   We asked at a local hotel and the owner said we could stay as long as we like.  Hotel La Palma is a small hotel with a balneareo.  We are parked in the parking lot and he even hooked us up to electricity.  We will give him 100 pesos in the morning.  The town is bigger than we thought and there are several nice places to eat.  Had the hotel had the restaurant open, we would have eaten there.

So tomorrow I am estimating about 2.5 hours to finish our trip arriving before noon.   I hope Sal and Barb are reading this but I will follow up with an email.  This has been great so far.   We haven't passed any checkpoints or seen any accidents.  Trouble free and easy just like it used to be.  Let's hope this continues.  We will be at Hacienda Contreras until around August 20 hoping to spend some time with Sal and Barb. 

5 comments:

  1. What a great first day so happy for you and the boondocking site looks so nice...have a great time with Barb and Sal and please do all the mountains hikes and waterfalls cheers Les

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  2. Too bad about the little gate incident but now it is out of the way!

    Like Les says, nice boondocking spots!

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  3. A true RVer, just going with the flow, little glitches, delays and all. Good job. I know some people who have taken off their awning because they don't use it and less worry of unravelling while on windy roads.

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  4. Hey Chris, glad the trip was so good. And that you found some good places to boondock. We will try them out on our way back. You take care, and take care of the place. Hello to Chris, David, Valerie and all the animals. We miss the place already!

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  5. I am curious about how y'all pick out places in Mexico to boondock in.

    In other words what kind of locations (I assume centro plazas or near a Cathedral)and what visible signs do you look for when you pull in for a secure overnight?

    Is there any place on the net where people are keeping a Mexico overnight list?

    I have boondocked in a RV in the US on a 5-month long trip through the SWest back in 2009 and I have extensive experience driving in Mexico in my pickup but not RV boondocking down there. Since I might be doing that later this year or early next any help would be appreciated.

    Jim Graves

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