March 12, 2018 - Playa de Pascuales to Melaque, Mexico

Playa de Pascuales is located in Colima, the third smallest of Mexico's 32 states. Nestled between Jalisco to the north, Michoacán to the east, and hugged on its western boundary by the Pacific Ocean, Colima is Mexico's second-largest producer of coconuts, yielding an astonishing 0.7 tons of coconuts per acre. As we headed back out to the MEX200, we passed several fields of coconuts. It is interesting to see them drying the coconuts. The shells are often burned to make charcoal, but we don’t know if that is what they were doing here.They do plant new trees among the older trees to keep production fresh and thriving.As we passed Manzanillo, we could look out and see the huge port. This port is one of the busiest ports in Mexico, responsible for handling Pacific Ocean cargo for the Mexico City area.There is a huge power plant in Manzanillo, also. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the plant and efforts made to switch from coal to a cleaner fuel source. The smoke can be seen for miles.We thought this was unusual highway “art” maybe. Not sure what the arc to the right is for!We moved north today – 79 miles to Melaque and are camping at the Bungalows Laguna del Tule. When we stayed here six years ago, we were on the lagoon side of the RV rows; this year we are ocean side.There is a fence behind us, but we have access to the beach about 5 RVs down. It is a long beach, but the slope is again steep.We took a short walk and this is the view looking back at the hotel part of the Bungalows. The RV park is along the white fence behind the umbrellas.We took the motorcycle into town thinking we would get BBQ at Scooby’s Tacos. When we went by, they were closed, so we continued to the square. We parked near the square and walked several blocks and finally decided on a small taco stand and had some pretty tasty tacos. San Patricio - Melaque in the Mexican state of Jalisco is a busy community located 4+ kilometers northwest of Barra de Navidad on Bahia de Navidad. The area comprises two beachfront villages: San Patricio - Melaque and Villa Obregon all generally referred to as "Melaque."  Back at the square, the church was getting ready to have a St. Patrick’s parade, so we stayed to watch. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Malaque. (San Patricio)It didn’t last long, but was a fun surprise! We treated ourselves to a Nutella/banana crepe afterwards and watched some of the children rehearsing for a dance program later this week.The pyrotechnic team (one man) was getting this fireworks display ready to be set off later tonight. He said it would be around 10:30 or 11 pm when they light it, so we decided NOT to stick around. As we headed back to the RV, we had to go by Scooby’s and they were open! Guess we were just too early so we can try again tomorrow. We are going to have an easy day tomorrow taking the motorcycle out for a spin and maybe hanging out at the beach or pool.