Puerto Escondido to Bahias de Huatulco, 73 mile

Sunday, July 4th. What a day and at the end of it we are left with a huge problem. The drive to Huatulco was fairly easy and straightforward. This is election day in Mexico. As we pass through towns and villages, we can see the town squares "the zocalas" tented and ribboned for the occasion. It was around 5pm when we got to Huatulco and if we had only gone straight to the RV park. If only! Insead we decide to check out the location of the DHL office, where our package is. We found the street but not the office but we did find a large Super Che supermarket. Tom made a U-turn and decided to go and pick up something for dinner. If only! Whilst Tom went to shop, I walked Winston. Upon leaving we knew we had to make another U-turn to put us back in the right direction for the camp. I was checing our camping book and Tom was looking in the side mirror for traffic to enable making the turn. I look up. "Honey, you are really close to"......BAM! The side of the RV rocked and I could hear thumping and clanging. I look at Tom and say quietly "I think we just lost our awning". Tom pulled over and we got out. No, No, he kept saying. Sure enough the entire awning - top, cover, sides, bars - the whole thing had gotten ripped off the side by a tree limb. I follow Tom who is talking to himself like a sailor with Tourrette syndrome. What can I say? We pick up all the parts from the street and get them on the sidewalk. We look at each other. "Let's just put everything in the RV and get to the trailer park" I said, "we can check everything out then" Not having a better idea, Tom complied. Not much was said during the last part of the drive except for Tom muttering and blaming himself. We get to the RV park, settle in, pay for the night and assess the damage. It is awful. Completely broken and unreplaceable unless we head back to the States. That is not even an option. Tom blames himself. "Honey, let' take a walk on the beach with a glass of wine and watch the sunset" I tell him. It's an accident. It happened and now we have to deal with it and cope. But, self recrimination and loathing are not productive. We walk and talk and try to come up with a plan. We are still too upset and stunned by the suddeness of it all. We take photos in case the insurance company asks for them, we decide what we will keep - the cover and side rails and discard the rest. We eat lefoveovers for dinner, neither of us with much of an appetite. We go to bed, tomorrow is another day.