April 11th, 2010. San Blas to Lo de Marcos. 58 miles.

The towns and beaches to the north of Puerto Vallarta are well known for their beauty and sereneness, away from the hectic pace of the larger "touristy" city and Lo de Marcos is the most northern of them. We are at Pretty Sunset Trailer Park. It is quite small, only 8 spots but completely fenced in, so Winston can roam. There is a gate that opens directly onto the beach with palm trees for shade. Only one other couple is here, from Canada. The trailer park lived up to it's name at sunset, which was gorgeous. We made spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner, drank a Chilean cabernet with it and ate outside. As we finished up we heard the patter of rain on the awning. Ah, the tropical weather.

April 10th, 2010. El Chaco, San Blas South.

The day is bright and sunny. Tom couldn't wait to get in the ocean. He watched from our campsite, which has an unobstructed view of the water from about 15 feet away, some surfers out on a nearby point and had to go join them. I, feeling less energetic, took Winston for a walk on the beach whilst I drank my morning coffee. We ate lunch at the El Chaco restaurant, whole griiled fish and aguachile. I swam in the pool while Tom read. We are getting on Mexico time! Also, finding some things we forgot (or didn't know we needed) for the RV, so have been ordering on line. We are going to have to ask Jeanne and Bruce to bring them down for us. Again, live and learn. The sunset was a glowing orange ball tonight and early to bed because tomorrow is a travel day.

April 9th, 2010. Villas Onac, Teachapan to San Blas, 145 miles.

We left the Villas Onac, reluctantly having spent a super few days here but if we are to get to Puerto Vallarta by next week, we've got to keep heading south. The weather has changed a little. Last nights winds have brought clouds and we have light rain intermittently on our drive. We came on Mex 15 on the toll road. Expensive - 2 toll booths totalling 400 pesos, about $33.00. Leaving Mex 15, we wound through the mountains before descending into San Blas. San Blas is not like Puerto Vallarta or Mazatlan. There's no "Gold Zone" or scads of tourists. It is a small, rustic, off the beaten track place, with a beautiful old town. However, our intent was not to stay in San Blas but head a little further south to a campground recommended by Paul & Terry, a couple from Canada, who had arrived at the Villas Onac the day before we left. El Chaco R.V. Park is located just a couple of miles from San Blas but does not have the jejene(pronounced he-he-nee) problem. San Blas is home to this nasty little gnat that are most prevalent in the summer months but they can show up at any time. They're a sort of sand fly and are quite tiny but with a big bite. They are the reason given why San Blas has been saved from becoming another Cancun or Ixtapa. We arrived at the park and there is only one other RV here which looks as though the owners have taken up residency here. We will talk to them on Saturday. As with most places, the sidewalks roll up early and by sunset, which is a big red glowing ball in the sky, everyone is settling in and whilst Tom has a cold beer, I am sipping on a glass of white wine from Chile.

Villa Onac, April 8th, 2010

Decided to spend some extra time here. It is just the type of place we were looking for. Right on the beach. Seconds away from the sand and sea. Weather, sunny in the low 80's with a slight breeze to cool things off. Waves for us to play and body surf in. And a shady spot were Winston can start to feel better. We don't know what was/is wrong with him but he is definitely more alert and happy than when we arrived. All in all, a great couple of days. More tomorrow.

April 6th, Mazatlan to Teacapan, 100 miles

Good news and bad news. The drive was easy. The camp ground "The Villas Onac" is great. Right on the beach. We walk a few steps to the ocean. It also has a swimming pool and showers. A couple of the villas are occupied and there are 2 other R.V.s here. One, a Swiss couple from St. Moritz have travelled from Argentina through South and Central America, Mexico and plan on driving the complete Pan American Highway, all the way to Alaska. We visited with them for quite a while, chatting over a bottle of red Chilean wine. They were very helpful and gave us an insight on what we might expect from the various countries. In a nut shell, they loved South America and did not like or feel safe in Honduras, Nigaragua and El Salvador. Surprise! The other couple of RVers have been travelling down here for more than 20 years and have been as far as Nicaragua so they are also helpful. Now the bad news. Winston, who has been super the whole trip is not feeling good. He has shallow breathing and seems to have trouble getting into the RV. We can't decide if it is his back legs but his tail is down and he acts like he is in pain. If he doesn't get any better, I will contact his doctor in San Jose and see if she can help find an English speaking vet in Puerto Vallarta. We will keep you all updated. Also, thank-you for the emails back. I know quite a few of you are following us either by our blogs or Google calendar.

April 2nd, 2010. Los Michos to Mazatlan, 258 miles

The second leg of our 500 mile drive to Mazatlan. With the exception of more toll booths to stop at (5 in all), the road was easy and we made the town in about 4 hours. This is Good Friday and school is out, so for a lot of Mexicans this is a holiday week. When we arrived in town, Tom and I reminisced about our trip here a couple of years ago. At that time it was September and Mexican Independence Day, it was a mob scene in town and this was no different. The first camp-site we selected "The Mar Rosa", which is very close to the tourist center, was full. So we headed to another "The Punta Cerritos" that we had checked out on our last trip that is located to the north of town. Much quieter and we were glad the Mar Rosa didn't work out. We stayed until Tuesday. The weather was fabulous, in the 80's, with a breeze. Got to the beach and Tom played in some waves. But to be in Puerto Vallarta by the 17th, we need to move on. Next place - Teacapan.

April 1st, 2010. San Carlos to Los Michos, 240 miles

The first leg of our 2 day marathom to Mazatlan. Although there seems to be plenty of police activity, it appears to be directed more towards the Mexicans travelling than the Americans. The road was much better than when entering Mexico. Most importantly for Tom it was wider, so passing those trucks or when the buses pass us (they drive like demons), it doesn't feel as though we will be pushed off the road. This is agriculture country. Plenty of corn, potatoes and greens being grown. However, we were on the toll road and passed 5 toll booths for a total of $35 USD in tolls. Los Michos was desolate. We were the only people camping at the one R. V. park in town and against better judgement and all the advise we had heard about the dangers of camping alone, we stayed there. By nine at night - believe me, when darkness falls and with no exterior lights, nine feels late - we had sufficiently spooked ourselves into second guessing our decision to stay there and almost drove to the nearest hotel. We stayed because it had also been impressed upon us the dangers of driving at night but needless to say, we slept fitfully and got on the road early next day. Unharmed but promising ourselves that in the future, should we pull into a park with no other RVers, we will go to a hotel and request parking there. Live and learn.