Monday January 16, 2012
We set off this morning for a ride to the trailer parks along the Playa Los Cocos south of San Blas and Aticama. We are still toying with a safe route from Mazatlan to Los de Marcos and wanted to have another look before we made a decision. We had decided to look at the RV parks along Playa Los Cocos and see if there would be a possible stop over for our rig.
Now for the bad news. We received an email from Sam & Rita with some disturbing news about an incident at the Playa Amour trailer park on Friday January 13th. Sam had spoken to an RVer who had returned to Mazatlan after a short stay at Playa Amour. The RVer and his wife were walking their two dogs on the beach at Playa Amor and tried to strike up a conversation with two Mexicans on cell phones. They spoke perfect English but were unwilling to talk and seemed very nervous. As the RVers returned to the grassy area next to the park they heard a commotion behind them in the RV park. It turns out there was a vehicle theft in progress. The same two Mexicans had drawn a gun on an elderly RVer from B.C. and his wife and had demanded the keys to their truck. They complied. The park manager came running but the gun was turned on him and he stopped. The truck was stolen and driven away at high speed for a short distance and then it was transferred to someone else. To date it has not been recovered. ….I am writing this after I returned to Mazatlan and have verified this information with the RVers who were there at the time. When we passed by the park there were about ten rigs still there so I guess the panic was over. A sad thing to happen both for the RVers and the park.
On the road just out of Las Varas heading north.
Coming into Zacualpan which is one of the small towns that are loaded with those dreaded “Topes.” Sam & Rita also reported they were exhausted from bashing over topes and dodging potholes on the coastal route north through Las Varas, San Blas and Villa Hildago before they hit the free road heading north back to Mazatlan.
Mission control on Big Red!
A beautiful flower laden tree that we passed by. All these pictures are taken as we are whizzing along so it is amazing you can actually see anything. Panasonic Lumix ZS7.
These trees would definitely hit the top of the rig.
The ocean appears.
These trees would whack us too!
A view from the road.
Lots of vegetation along the way.
Coming into Aticama.
School children look the same everywhere.
Every Mexican town has a square.
Inside the restaurant next to the square. Eric had a coke and I trotted down the street for an ice cream cone. There was a huge amount of food on the barbecue but we had just had a big breakfast and weren’t that hungry. The “Helado…Ice cream store” was full of school kids and they were happy to help me pick flavors. I didn’t understand most of it but they explained that I wanted “dos pelotas…or balls if I heard them right when I asked for two in sign language. Fun!
A view of the beach from the square.
Big Red waiting patiently while we have a rest.
Coming into Zacualpan on the way back.
We were waiting to pull out onto the highway at Las Varas when I spotted this add. For most of my life I worked for an orthodontist and here was a sign showing the local rates. Maybe I should go and see if I can get a job!!
We turned north at Las Varas and stopped at the Pemex that is on the way to Tepic for a short rest before we headed south back to Los de Marcos.
This fellow was cutting tile with the manual cutter and then trimming them up with grinder. The tiles were going around the pumps on the commercial fuel island. I might also mention that he had a huge butt crack….no photo!
When we ride back to Mazatlan we will check the route up the hill from Las Varas through Compostela and through Tepic to decide on a preferred route. This might seem like a lot of preparation for a trip south but our rig is maximum height 14’ and maximum width and we do not want any damage.
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