Getting set up, a caravan arrives and now…a Fish Fry!

It’s Saturday and tonight we will have a fish fry over at John and Geri’s.  Yesterday we spent the day getting everything in order in the rig.  When the motorcycle and bicycle are out of the garage it becomes another room where I can set up my table, put out the electric cooler and the rest of the things I use over the winter.  As we are beach people we also have a place to  hang wet towels and bathing suits and not worry about sand in the main part of the RV. 

On Friday afternoon about 4:30 a smallish French Canadian Caravan pulled in.  There was a lot of yelling in french as the wagon master got them all parked but it only took about 1/2 hour before they were all done.  Very quick and painless.  I didn’t count the rigs but there was probably a dozen.  First they had a quick happy hour and by 6:30 the pulmonias showed up and they were off out of the park.  That would be the last thing we would be doing after a full days drive. 

Saturday afternoon about 1pm and the pulmonias were back and they were off again.  They are leaving early tomorrow morning and I guess they want to cram as much in as possible in the day they are here. 

So at about 4pm the invited all showed up over at John and Geri’s for happy hour.  Everyone had brought something to add to the fish provided by our hosts.  I made a huge crockpot of Mexican rice and a small fruit salad.  Above you see Carol, Sandi and Geri who posed for a picture.

Robin, Pat, Helene, Rita and Sam…Dennis in the back.

Some of us have only been here a few days and some have been here a couple of weeks or more so everyone is getting reaquainted.

Eric and Hal having a chat. 

Roger and Dennis having an intent chat. 

That’s Millie and Marilyn chatting to Carol, Sandi and Geri.

So the whole group of 20ish all in a circle. 

Millie and Geri have been friends for a long time and Millie is Geri’s right hand man at the fish frys. 

As the fish started to pile up the rest of us set out whatever we’d brought.

Dennis and Roger are still chatting!  Marilyn and Dennis used to RV but are now renting a condo not far from the park.

The food is out and it looks lovely.  Lots of salads, rice and beans along with tortillas and Geri’s secret fish sauce. 

Fresh deep fried dorado…what could be more delicious.

Lots of food for everyone.   At this point John had welcomed everyone and said grace.  As they had provided the fish he asked that we made a charitable donation to Rosie (from Gaby’s Beauty shop) to help her provide gifts for the poor over Christmas.  Happy to do so. 

As soon as everyone was seated eating and it was quiet I made a short speech thanking John and Geri for their friendship and all the parties they had hosted over the years such as fish frys, potatoe bakes and even one for breakfast.   I mentioned the chili cook-off that we did to raise money for the orphanage, cards, lunch and bingo with Geri and that we will all miss them.  This is their last year RVing and they are taking their south to Bucerious as it has been sold and will stay there.   

We are finished eating and now it’s time for Geri and Millie to eat. 

It’s getting dark and the sunset is quite lovely. 

You can see Escondido tower in the middle.

Just about dark and….the bugs have come out.  Some people like Marilyn don’t get bitten but most of us do to some degree.  I spray but it doesn’t help that much.  Eric wears pants, shoes and socks and when the bugs start biting he is gone as he gets an allergic reaction to the Mexican bugs.  No problem at home but here….no bueno!  A small group stayed for a while and some of us headed home. 

A delicious dinner with friends and lots of catch up chat….what more can you ask for. 

Los Mochis to Mazatlan…

Up fairly early yesterday morning for us…6:30 am hoping for an 8am start.  Had a nice “ pescado empanizado”  fried breaded fish dinner night before in the Elba restaurant after an enjoyable happy hour over at Otto and Edna’s rig.  They followed us in from Los Mochis and as we are in a pick-up truck and they are in a motorhome we probably go a bit slow for them.  The pounding you take in a pick-up truck is quite hard and we go slow where the roads dictate.  A motorhome’s ride is a lot more cushy than our’s and they can go much faster. 

Looking out the window to the fields beside us.  We thought the crops might have been wiped out in the late September floods but everything looked quite healthy.

Here we are…ready to go.  Otto and Edna headed out on their own about 1/2 hour before us and they can travel at a speed that suits them as can we.

As we leave you can see that Pemex 4925 is now a Smartgas station.  All sorts of new names as the stations are privatized.  Hasn’t made any improvement in fuel costs though.  Over 21 pesos per liter or about $1.43 a liter Canadian.  In 2009 when we first started travel in Mexico diesel was 8 pesos a liter or about .56 cents Canadian.  That’s quite a jump.  Tough on the people of Mexico. 

The sun is shining in the side window so there is a little reflection.  The crops are all happy and green.  Lots of agribusiness in this area with huge farms.

I think this is Gabriel Leyva Solano which is before Guasave.

Some sort of old derelict burner.

Coming into Guasave. 

The silos for the grain crops they store here.

Here you share the roads with tractors.

Long  line up for the military check point heading north.

And then it began.  The atrocious roads we know so well.  It used to be like this all the way from Guaymas to Los Mochis in both lanes.  Today we will drive in the fast lane until it improves.  We did not come here to pay huge tolls for horrible roads and break more springs in huge potholes.   Most people just went around us in the slow lane and then continued on in the passing lane the same as us.  One trucker pulling a double fuel load was quite irate.  He got really close and then we he got in front he whipped the trailer back and forth.  What a dick and how unsafe.   A couple of honks from a bus and a car and the rest just carried on….in the passing lane.

This station is “ redpetrol”  painted blue!

Still in the fast lane and not much traffic.

Now it’s bad in both lanes.  The Sinaloa highways dept. should be ashamed of itself.  In some areas we saw them making topes on the shoulder so you couldn’t drive on it right next to the horrible road.  In some areas they were sweeping the shoulder of the horrible road.  None of it makes any sense. 

Very green and nothing seems to have suffered from the flooding although we did see lots of fallow land that had been cultivated so maybe some crops were wiped out. 

We are now just north of Culiacan and the road is much better so we are driving in the slow lane….for the most part.

Here the Federalies have joined us.

We have paid the first big toll on the Culiacan to Mazatlan section and are heading south.  The slow lane is much better than the fast lane here.

Very green and pretty. 

Oh I know…. lets clear the ditches at the edge of the road by burning them. 

Depending on the wind visibility is not good. 

Heading down toward Mazatlan and the ocean which I could not get a picture of out the side window.  Too much glare. 

The last toll booth…another 311 pesos.  With the triple axle trailer and truck we pay more than a giant motorhome with a towed vehicle.  That’s not fair!   Right after the toll booth the roads were horrible all the way into Mazatlan.  Makes you feel like they are thumbing their noses at you! 

Coming down towards the Riu Hotel. 

Heading south on Sabalo Cerritos which is the street in front of the park.  We have made it all the way from Guaymas to Mazatlan without a blown tire or another broken spring so that is a good thing!

We pulled into the back of the park around 2:30 pm and parked were we stayed for the night.  We will back up into our usual spot but we have to unload the bike first and that can wait. 

The construction is going full bore around the park.  Lots of machines and lots of noise and dust. 

This morning Eric unloaded his bicycle and next came the motorcycle.   Parked next to us are friends John and Geri.  They are here for a couple of weeks before they take their RV south to Bucerious just north of Puerto Vallarta.  They have sold it to a friend and will leave it there before heading home.  They were last in Las Jaibas two years ago and we miss them after being friends since 2009.   But….all good things must come to an end for one reason or another and this is their last RV trip to Mexico.  Boohoo!

Looking north and you can see the piles of dirt.  They are dumping and compacting for the houses they will build on the north and east side of the park.

Huge machinery running steadily. 

Eric brings the bike out.

The bike is on the pad, the RV is parked and so is the truck.  Today we will set up most things.  We know that the construction will come right up behind us at some point but we’ll deal with that when it happens.  So it’s good to be back and our winter begins. 

The total road report is….decent from Lukeville to Santa Ana, pretty good from Santa Ana to Hermosillo,  horrible through Hermosillo as usual and good from Hermosillo to Guaymas.  Guaymas to Los Mochis the best it’s ever been except for a few patches and horrible from Los Mochis to Culiacan.  Culiacan to Mazatlan mostly good except after the last toll booth.

Robin says getting here is like having a baby…when it’s over with you don’t remember the pain and I say that is true but….you remember that it really hurt…just like the roads!