HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
After a noisy new year’s eve night at Las Palmas (17 on map), we were up and on the road by 8:45. We made some adjustments to our route to bypass San Luis Potosi and the curvy mountainous road that heads south from there. We opted to pay the tolls and stayed mostly on 4 lane divided highways.
On Mex57D there were several ranches, as well as cows, sheep, and goats grazing on the shoulder of the highway. We also saw several ranch families riding in wagons pulled by horses or donkeys and we passed several prickly pear cactus farms.
We had lunch in Ojuolos de Jalisco at a little open air restaurant. We had the plate lunch special – we think. We each had a plate with 3 corn tortillas (about 4” diameter) with grilled/ cooked pork, onion, and cilantro with a little sauce and a bottled soft drink. We also split a beef and onion quezadilla. It was all very good and only $80 pesos (about $5.75USD).
Just as we were leaving town we both spotted the most unusual bird – it was hot pink – SERIOUSLY! I wasn’t able to get the camera out and get a picture, but I promise you that neither of us had anything stronger than plain Coke to drink at lunch!
Going through Silao, we stopped at a roadside stand to buy “frescas con crema,” strawberries with cream. We actually just bought a market basket of strawberries and the young man at the stand gave us a sample of the sweet strawberries with the thickest cream (like whipped cream) and sugar. Delicious – and only $80 pesos.
On to Guanajuato! Driving in we were trying to follow maps & directions, but we caught a quick glimpse of some of the the pastel walled houses for which the area is known. 
We are camped at the Bugumvilles RV Park – once again, we are the ONLY people here. The RV parking area is a huge field with electric posts and a bathroom and shower house. The electric, however, is weak so we can’t run our water heater and microwave at the same time and their internet service is down! The owner, however, was very nice and it is only $180 pesos a night.
The wind has been very strong – we feel like we are rockin’ n’ rollin’ – but we were treated to a beautiful sunset. Tomorrow we plan to unload the scooter and explore the town.
Today we spent $556 (about $40USD) for toll roads and drove about 303 miles.
20.94561°N, 101.2585°W
4 comments:
Sue, I found your blog on Catemaco News, thanx for this blog!!!! My husband and I are planning our trip ...we are arriving in Veracruz on January 25th and leaving from Veracruz on February 5th. We have been deliberating what would be the best way to get from Veracruz to Catemaco.....bus, taxi or rental car....we are leaning toward rental car so we can get around Catemaco and the other small towns while there but are a little concerned about the road conditions from Veracruz to Catemaco.....Don Gringo the Facebook Catemaco page creator who posted your blog to find has painted pretty negative pictures about travel from Veracruz to Catemaco and we are confused as to what the SAFEST way to get there! If you could advise us as best as you know we would deeply appreciate it!! Thanx -Roxanne and Eric
Roxanne & Eric,
I have no idea who Don Gringo is or where he posted our blog, but ... we drove from Costa Esmeralda to Catemaco with no problems. We did bypass most of Veracruz city, but the airport appears to be easy to leave from. It looks like Highway MX140 runs right in front of the airport. You would then take MX150D (toll road) to MX180 all the way to Catemaco. We did have 3 tolls - 2 of them were bridges. In the RV it was about $140pesos ($10US) - in a car it will be a little bit less. We have NEVER felt unsafe. Everyone has been very helpful. The worst roads we encountered were on our scooter going to the Salto de Eyipantla waterfall and around the lake. We both wear helmets and watch for topes (speedbumps). Going through towns you need to really watch for them because they are not always marked. Make sure that you bring copies of your passports with you and if you have any more questions let me know. Happy travels! Sue
I leave you one of the many amazing pictures you can see at El Chepe in Mexico. A train route that covers the Copper Canyon 4 times bigger than the Colorado Canyon: http://on.fb.me/LoKNol
Cassidy,
El Chepe looks beautiful! We will definitely add it to our list of places to visit on our next trip to Mexico. Thanks,
Sue
Post a Comment