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