Mexico November 2008

Being good Americans we ‘early’ voted on the 9th of October. Early voting involved a 90 minute drive with our friends Stan and Mary to the County Courthouse in Raton. I think we voted on the second day of early voting. There were no lines. After lunch at the Oasis Café we drove home with a detour through the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge. There were lots of migrating birds there on there way south for the winter. Maybe this was part of our migration too. We were all heading south within a few weeks.

Thanks to Mary and Stan for the photos. I hope it is alright for me to use them here.

Just outside Cimarron we saw some buffalo and pronghorn antelope.

So, 2 ½ short weeks (and one snow) storm later, Gerald, Simon, Misty and I rolled out of Angel Fire with our home on our back. We had had the camper in the local campground for the last couple of weeks while we stocked it for the long haul south.

Our first stop was just 150 miles away in Albuquerque. Gerald had a couple of doctor appointments and we needed to buy some equipment for the camper. A few things were stolen during the summer while it was in storage and we were slowly learning what had been taken. Please explain to me why someone would want our used sewer hose?

After 3 nights at the Isleta Lakes RV Park south of Albuquerque we moved on down to Mesilla, just outside Las Cruces and only 50 miles from the US/Mexico border. The plan was to drive the truck down to the border on Sunday and get all the paper work taken care of so that on Monday we could just sail through without stopping. Wrong!
a) Someone (me/Jenny) forgot to take the map and we got lost taking the small roads I had previously chosen. We planned to use the crossing at Santa Theresa in New Mexico and stay clear of the big, busy crossing in El Paso, Texas. That is why we were on small, local roads. We ended up in El Paso but eventually found our way to Santa Theresa and got our visas and the import sticker for the truck

b) When we got back to Santa Theresa on Monday morning we were stopped by a very officious looking official. He decided that we needed an import sticker for the camper as well as the truck. We didn’t last year, but we were not about to argue with him. Gerald had to back the camper into a parking area and then we went back inside to get a sticker for the camper. Half an hour later we were back outside, back in line, waiting to cross. The same official then took a full 15 minutes deciding where we should put the sticker. By this time I had a very good idea where he could put it!
Maybe next time we should cross at the larger crossings.

The first day of driving was fairly non-eventful. The only major city was Chihuahua which has a great by-pass on the north-east side. The south east side is still the old by-pass, which by now is almost in the center of town. At one point the whole road was closed with a diversion heading towards ‘centro’. Believe me, ‘centro’ in any Mexican town is not a place you want to be with a camper behind you. Luckily it was mid-afternoon, not rush hour and with some fancy maneuvering Gerald got us back heading south and away from town again.

We spent the night at a Pemex station 336 miles from the border, just north of the town of Torreon. Pemex is the state owned gas/petrol company in Mexico. Out of the towns they tend to be large facilities that cater to the long distance truckers. At night they are full of truckers pulled over for a few short hours of sleep. We pull in behind the trucks and hope we aren’t too obvious. We always ask permission to stay the night, eat at the restaurant, and we haven’t had any problems yet. Campgrounds are few and far between in many parts of Mexico; Pemex stations are much more convenient. As in most places I have been, the truck stop food is often the best in the area.

The second day we kept heading south and slightly east and, again spent the night at a Pemex station. Torreon has a great by-pass by the way if you are heading south.

The third day continued south and southeast and by-passed Zacatecas. Further south we got to Aguascalientes. It has no by-pass. It has a road going round the town, but by now the town has grown up around and beyond the road. It was very busy, very bumpy and took a very long time to get round. We high-fived each other when we finally got back onto the main highway and celebrated with some chocolate. The most exciting thing of the day was seeing a tornado. We followed its path for quite a long time.

The Mexican and local state governments have recently spent a lot of money on new roads and by-passes. Although the road map I have says 2008, we sometimes find super new roads and by-passes that aren’t on the map. Most of these are toll roads but we willingly pay the tolls to avoid the rest of the traffic. It seems that only long distance truckers and a few Americanos can afford them.

By 3 pm on the third day we arrived at the Hotel y Balneario San Ramon, just north of San Miguel de Allende. A balneario is often a water park, in this case it is just a swimming pool fed by one of the local hot springs. The pool is empty during the week and cleaned and filled up on Friday for the week-end. We stopped here for a couple of days on our way home last year, liked what we saw and decided that we would come back sometime. There is a bus stop at the end of the driveway and the buses will take us, very cheaply, into the centre of town. No need to take the truck on the steep, twisty roads. A cheap taxi gets us home at the end of the day.
An added incentive for this visit to San Miguel is that friends from Angel Fire have rented a house here for a few weeks and other friends will be visiting them while we are here. It will be nice to visit this lovely little town with others who will appreciate it.


Our little spot at Balneario y Hotel San Ramon.

This is the view of the outskirts of San Miguel from our front door.

San Miguel is a delightful town set in the bowl of the local hills. It was a very important place throughout Mexican history and especially during the Mexican War for Independence. Now it is a tourist mecca/artist colony, similar to Aspen or Santa Fe, and home to expats from all over the world. Unlike other ex-pat colonies we have visited in Mexico, here the gringos seem to appreciate what is here and do not try to change it. This seems to be a different breed of ex-pat. They actually like Mexico and try to learn the language and fit in. They are not here just for the weather and the cheap living as they are in some other towns. I am glad to say that San Miguel has managed to keep its Mexican flavor. It has not been Americanized with air-conditioned malls or too many coffee shops.

We will stay here for a week this time. A good rest from travelling and a good opportunity to enjoy the local flavor.

Episode Four - December 1, 2007

So….. up and on the road by 6am. Not what we had expected. But, it did get us through Villehermosa – a large town, before the worst of the traffic was up and about. The morning was uneventful until about 9 am we were driving past a Pemex (the state run gas/petrol stations) when we saw a large 5th wheel. ‘Hey, that’s Bill from Monte Gordo’ said Gerald. So we pulled in to say hi. As he saw us coming Bill noticed that we had a problem. We had forgotten to tie up the loose umbilical cord. This is the electrical cord that gives power from the truck to the trailer. When hooked up between the two it hangs loose in the middle and has to be held up with a bungee cord. In the rain and the early morning light we had forgotten the bungee cord and now not only were we dragging the cord, but we had torn some of it. We had no brake lights on the trailer – a very dangerous thing. Luckily Bill saw it and even better, he had the equipment and parts to fix it with. He possibly saved our lives that day. Thanks Bill. His wife Jean had brewed some coffee and we supplied the cookies while they told us what had happened to them during the last few days.

First of all, they are in a muuuch larger and heavier rig than ours. A big 1-ton diesel ‘dually’ (4 wheels on the rear axle) with about a 35 or 36’ long 5th wheel trailer behind it. Apparently Bill had taken one of the topes too fast and done some axle damage to his trailer. Enough damage that they spent the previous night in the yard of the solderer while the axle was being repaired.

Quick aside: TOPE (pronounced toepay), known elsewhere as speed bumps, sleeping policemen or, in Santa Fe, a speed table. If you have ever driven in Mexico you will never forget the topes. They are used instead of traffic lights in the smaller towns. The sleepy fishing village of La Pesca had 22 topes. Some of them are vicious. Nobody messes with them. Even the craziest truck drivers slow right down for topes. Once you have hit one at speed you will try never to do it again. We very nearly jack-knifed the trailer because we saw a tope too late. They are not always marked. In fact it seems that the signs are not repaired or replaced. The tope lasts just about forever – the sign doesn’t. They are a very effective way of controlling traffic.

Bill and Jean told us that they had decided to continue on into the Yucatan after all and leave the west coast for later. So after coffee and cookies we all decided it would be a good idea if we travelled together. Of course, we promptly lost them after they stopped at the next Pemex with an ATM. Credit cards are not used in gas stations they are cash only. Luckily some of them do have ATM’s. Sometime during the morning we crossed into the state of Campeche. At the state line we were stopped and the camper was inspected. The state officials were looking for chicken. We had two packs of chicken breasts in the freezer that were handed over and tossed in the trash. We thought it would be nice if they had given it to the drivers going the other way where there were no such restrictions. About 12.30 pm we realized that we had just passed our planned camping spot for the day (remember we had started much earlier than normal) so we pulled off to the side of the road and made sandwiches while we waited for Bill and Jean to catch up. Over lunch we all decided to keep going to Chetumal, the state capital of Quintana Roo and just about as far south as you can go on the East coast of Mexico.

That afternoon was uneventful except to say that as we crossed the state line into Quintana Roo the sun came out, the sky turned blue and the roads improved immensely. We drove much further than we had planned that day. We were heading for the town of Calderitas a small town just north of Chetumal. We had to drive through Chetumal to get to it. Unfortunately the driving directions in the guide book were out of date and incorrect. From our one visit to Calderitas 2 ½ years ago Gerald and I knew that we had to keep heading east to the Bay and then head north. It was Saturday night, dark and the road seemed to be getting narrower and narrower and the area more and more congested. We stopped a couple of times and I got to practice my Spanish asking directions which did not really help. At one point we ended up in a dead end – luckily with enough room for both trucks and trailers to do a U-turn. We found the RV park eventually – more by luck than by skill. Good thing too – the next morning we discovered that the paved road we were on petered out about 100 yards beyond the RV park. That would not have been fun in the dark.

Imagine our surprise the next morning when we woke up and found we were parked here:

We had driven 373 miles to get to Calderitas. It doesn’t sound far but on these roads, pulling a trailer, it was a long day. We were on the road for nearly 12 hours by the time we found the camp ground.

Bill and Jean moved on the next day and are now just north of Puerto Vallarta on the west coast. That is the area of Mexico they are most familiar and comfortable with. We are comfortable on the Caribbean side. To each his own. Thank you for the photos, Bill.
If you are interested, here is their blog site: http://the-haulin-as.blogspot.com/

We contacted Stan and Mary in Bacalar about 45 minutes from Calderitas and arranged to meet them later that day. Then we stayed in Calderitas for 6 days decompressing from ‘the trip from hell’

I know the weather and the roads don’t look so bad in the photos. Believe me I only took photographs when weather and road conditions permitted. I felt like I was holding my breath most of the time - trying to help squeeze us through the small spaces the trucks left for us! Also, if next time you see me, I suddenly yell ‘tope’ do not be surprised. The navigator is also responsible for seeing all the bumps in the road and making the driver aware of them.

Episode Three - November 2007

Moving on from Monte Gordo, due to bad navigation and the need to make a split second decision we got lost in Vera Cruz. We were safely round the town on the by-pass and then somehow managed to find our way into the down town area. We made it out and Gerald was very gracious about my mistake. Because of this we ended up coming towards the Vera Cruz campgrounds (just 2 of them) from the wrong direction (as per the guide book) and were not able to find them. We decided to continue driving along the coast and eventually found a small restaurant with a large parking lot. The owner graciously allowed us to spend the night and would not take any money for it. We ate at his restaurant in lieu of payment. Gerald had Vuelvo de la Vida which is a seafood cocktail – shrimp, octopus, etc. I took one look at it and then looked the other way until he had finished. I had scrambled eggs with shrimp. So, there we were in a parking lot, just off the highway, in the middle of nowhere. I remember thinking before I went to sleep “I hope we wake up in the morning” and then we both had the best night’s sleep we had had in quite a while.

After an early start we had a long day’s drive to Villahermosa. This is the town that was devastated by floods just a few weeks before. We stopped on the outskirts of town at a Balneario. These are wonderful water parks that you see all over this area of Mexico. This one, according to the guide book had a large field reserved for campers. Not when we were there. We were invited to stay in the main parking lot at the front entrance. We were the only ones there. The closed field had parking places marked out with water and power at each spot. We got to use a long extension cord for electricity and had no water hook-up at all. Up until a week before the whole area had been knee deep in water thanks to the floods. Now they were working anxiously trying to get the park re-opened in time for the winter holidays. We were allowed to use the water park’s bathrooms. No water in the showers and, again, no toilet seats. We were warned that there would probably be snakes in the bathrooms. Luckily we didn’t see any. There were lots of mosquitoes though. We decided to spend two nights here so that we could explore the town of Villehermosa. We did go into town to look around, do some shopping to replenish our supplies and check the route through to the other side. What was fairly average traffic on the way into town became very heavy on the way back. 2 lanes of vehicles suddenly became 5. At one point we could not move because to do so would have meant hitting someone else’s side mirror. Then someone hit our mirror on the other side. After a while we saw three army trucks unloading soldiers as if something unusual was happening. We never did find out what it was though. We were just get to get out of it and back ‘home’ to the camper.

It rained a lot while we were in Villehermosa and there were still a lot of flooded areas around. On the trip into town I saw people filling sand bags as if they were expecting another spate of floods. On our last morning there Gerald woke me at 5.15 saying that he thought we should get moving as it had been raining all night and the camper was now sitting in standing water. Not surprisingly I had been dreaming about the camper sinking most of the night. We packed up and were on our way out of town by 6 am.

While at the Balneario we met what we thought was an elderly gringo. Closer up he wasn’t that old, just had agility problems. He had moved from somewhere to New Orleans about 3 years ago and all he owned was washed away by Hurricane Katrina soon after he moved there. He said to himself ‘enough of the US’, and promptly moved down here to the outskirts of Villehermosa. As soon as he got here he sold his car. . He now lives at the far end of a very rustic dirt track and the guys at the Balneario take care of him – take him grocery shopping, evacuate him during floods, etc.

Episode Two - November 2007

After three days of rest and relaxation in La Pesca we continued south and spent the night in a hotel parking lot just north of Tampico. We shared it with one very long motor home from British Columbia and about 15 semi trucks. We found the Super Wal-Mart in Tampico and stocked up on food and money. It was nice to find an ATM in the Wal-Mart. I had planned on changing money at the Border but could not find anywhere so we had been surviving on pesos left over from our last trip to Mexico. We also located the entrance to the Tampico by-pass for the next morning. We had read about and heard some horror stories about gringos who mistakenly try to take campers through the city. Local off-duty police are very vigilant and extort as much money as possible from the weary, nervous travelers. The following morning – Sunday, we got up early and started on our way around Tampico. Horrendous roads full of potholes and impatient drivers. It took us 1 ¾ hours to travel about 25 miles. Then, when we got to the end of this awful stretch of road we were expected to pay a toll. We paid gladly - just to get out of there.

This was a fairly long driving day. We did 235 miles in just under 8 hours. We had a lot of narrow, bumpy, twisty mountain roads with wet and foggy driving conditions. Occasionally the sky would clear a bit and we saw that we were driving through some lovely countryside. Remember the song from ‘Annie’? - The Sun Will come Out Tomorrow. We sang that a lot.

We finally stopped for the night (three, actually) in the town of Monte Gordo (fat mountain) in an area known as The Emerald Coast. Lots of hotels, campgrounds, restaurants and a long stretch of beach. Unfortunately we were still out of season. There were not many travelers about and most of the hotels and restaurants were closed. We found a campground called Alicia’s. It was right on the beach and also had 2 swimming pools. There was one other gringo in there apart from us. Thankfully the managers spoke a little English. The facilities included cold showers and seat-less toilets (is someone hoarding the seats somewhere?). Unfortunately it rained for three days. We stayed that long because we were hoping the weather would clear up and we would get to see the lovely place it only hinted at through the rain. According to the web-page Quinta Alicia’s has a restaurant and a shop. They were not open when we were there. http://www.ontheroadin.com/gulfcoast/quintaalicia.htm

In Monte Gordo we met some interesting and unusual people:

Across the road from the campground was a poor, local restaurant advertising pizza and ‘English spoken here’. We had to check that out. Inside the owner/cook was very hesitant about letting on that he actually did speak English. He was A******* from Tom’s River, New Jersey. He had left the US 8 years ago, married a local girl in Monte Gordo and told everybody that he was in paradise. He said that his restaurant used to be a lot nicer but it had suffered a lot of damage during the last hurricane season.

Also in the restaurant we met L**** who was on his way to Chetumal in the southern Yucatan and had met A******* and was staying in his pick up truck beside the restaurant for a while helping A******* get the restaurant back on its feet.

At a local coffee shop, The Italian Coffee Co., modeled on Starbucks and very out of place in this area, we met M*** from Massachusetts. He had escaped the US about 6 months ago and made it as far as Monte Gordo and has spent the last ½ a year living in the back of his pick up truck. We got talking and found out he was an electrician and as we were having some electrical problems in the camper he agreed to come and check them out the next day.

All of these three men were running away from nasty divorces. All of them had decided to come to Mexico so that the ex-wife could not get anything else out of them. That is why I have not given their names. Also all three of them also claim to be ex-military intelligence or CIA. They certainly had some interesting stories to tell. Or, maybe they just had vivid imaginations.

M*** from Mass is helping to manage one of the local campgrounds. When we went to pick him up to come and help us with our electrical problems we met Bill from British Columbia. Bill and his wife had been in the area for 2 weeks, were fed up of the weather and were moving over to the west coast. So he said – more about Bill and Jean later.
We also met Bob and Clare from England who for the last 8 years have spent 6 months of each year in their 5th wheel camper in Monte Gordo and the rest of the year in England. They have recently moved into a house in the area and M*** has bought their camper. It is the same as ours but a year older. He is excited about having something to turn around in after spending the last 6 months in the back of his truck. He is planning to stay in the area for a while and help run the campground.

While talking to the people in and around Monte Gordo we found out that we had been very lucky going round Tampico. It seems that most campers get stopped by rogue, off-duty policemen – even on the by-pass. Bill said that he showed the guy his wallet and said “look, very little money inside”. The ‘policeman’ reached in and took it all! The managers of Quinta Alicia gave us a form to have the ‘policemen’ fill out. Apparently once you start asking for badge numbers, etc. they back off. Let’s hope our luck holds.

While M*** and Gerald were working on the camper Simon and I took a long, wet walk up the beach. We both really enjoyed it. Found lots of shells and a couple of lovely little sand dollars. In spite of the rain and cold, Costa Esmeralda looked very inviting. I hope that we will be able to stop there again on our way home. Maybe we can time it to coincide with some sunshine and turquoise seas this time.

Episode One - November 2007

We left the US on November 20, 2007 and arrived in the southern Yucatan on December 1, 2007. We remember it fondly as ‘the trip from hell’. Bad weather and worse roads were not what we were expecting and definitely not what we came south for. Most of the bad weather and terrible roads have finally been forgotten and I will only mention the really bad bits. If I do not mention weather and roads you can assume it was probably raining and bumpy. Remember these are only the highlights. Also, remember this is our first trip driving a really big truck and pulling a 5th wheel camper.

As mentioned above we crossed the Border on December 20th. After paying a $4.00 toll we drove across the International Bridge between Pharr, TX and Reynosa, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. And we kept on driving. After entering Mexico some official looking people waved us through. We had driven a few miles when we realized that we were through the Border and had not completed any paper work! We found a large enough spot to turn round and headed back north to the border, parked a little way from what looked like the official buildings and walked in. Gerald then decided that we probably needed to get the truck and camper a little bit closer as our guide book had warned us that vehicles would need to be inspected. So, we pulled out of our nice large parking place, drove back to our turn-round spot and then back up to the offices and found a VERY tight little parking lot. Gerald managed to get the truck and camper parked and we walked to find the Immigration office. Sure enough it was the first building on the Mexican side of the Border. It had a small, hand-lettered sign wedged in the transom window above the door. No wonder we missed it the first time. Our personal paper work was a breeze. We then waited about 1 ½ hours in line to get the truck and camper taken care of. They did not inspect the vehicle. Great, now we’re in Mexico legally and officially, let’s get going.

We headed south and then east to the little fishing village of La Pesca. On the way we discovered about 80 km (60 miles) of road work. This road was now mostly 1 very narrow lane with no shoulder and a steep drop off. Sometimes it was marked as 1 lane but most of the time it wasn’t and Gerald found himself fighting for space with double trailered semi-trucks heading in the opposite direction. He really proved his driving ability that day.

In our campground/RV guide book we had decided on a camp ground called La Gaviota (the seagull), located on a river, just inland from the Gulf of Mexico. We found the campground and had to enter it very carefully. The caretaker was perched on top of a 10ft ladder holding up a 2 x 4 to prevent us from snagging the overhead power lines. By the time we got to La Pesca we had been on the road for over 8 hours and were feeling rather tired. We had problems getting the camper level. Because we had decided to stay for 3 nights we wanted everything to be just right while we were there. After a while we decided to start again, retracted all the legs, took the blocks out, hitched up the trailer and moved it forward – hoping to find a little bit more level spot to start with. CRASH. We had forgotten to engage the hitch and the truck pulled forward without the trailer! Luckily the trailer landed on the side walls of the truck and we were able to get it up and back in the hitch (correctly). We now have small dents on each side of the truck. Gerald thinks we should get them fixed. I think they look like we have passed the first test. I’m glad to tell you that we did manage to get it level on the second try.

The weather that first day was lovely. Temperatures were in the mid 80’s and the sky was blue. We had a beautiful sunset. Things changed during the night. The next three days were cold and windy with some rain. For some reason, I had put a blanket in the camper before we left Angel Fire. I didn’t think we would use it – but better safe that sorry. Believe me one blanket was not enough. We ran the heater for our first three nights in Mexico.


La Pesca is a sleepy little fishing village located on the Gulf of Mexico. It has a lovely beach and evidence that it is a busy little tourist/fishing village in the summer. We were not there in the summer. We were there in November – deep in the off season.

In our three days there we found one restaurant open once. There were a lot of closed restaurants including one called Titanic and one called Jenny. Neither of these was open while we were there. (Can anyone explain why a seafood restaurant would be called Jenny? I don’t even like fish.

One day Gerald tried his hand fishing in the harbor area. There were quite a few local fishermen fishing there when we arrived. It looked like they were catching some large fish in the surf. As soon as we arrived they all packed up and left – nothing to do with us, we hope. Needless to say Gerald did not catch anything. The locals obviously knew the fishing patterns and had finished for the day.

The campground was obviously very nice – in season. Although we are pulling a self-contained trailer it is preferable to find campgrounds with facilities. We can only carry so much water. In fact the hot water tank holds only 6 gallons. That does not make for a long, luxurious shower. Unfortunately while La Gaviota had very nice facilities the shower in the ladies wash room was being used for lawn chair storage, the toilet had no seat and the water was a not very inviting shade of brown. The guide book also mentioned that the resort has a restaurant. It was not open while we were there.
http://www.ontheroadin.com/gulfcoast/lagaviota.htm