Tuesday was moving day, so I was up early to get the finishing touches done on the inside of the Airstream. I had slowly packed away lots of things the past few days to make Tuesday go easier. Our take off time was to be 9am since getting to Lo de Marcos should be around 4 hours. I like to get to the destination as early as I can and also to have a buffer of time in case of trouble…..like traffic, road construction and getting lost. Deb had reviewed maps and instructions from Max. Max and his wife Jan, go to the coast every 6 weeks or so.
We were having Debbie lead us. Tino was going to join us and be Deb’s riding partner but needed to stay and oversee the construction on his new house. He’s hoping to come here in a few weeks when Max and Jan come. Next in the caravan line was John and Stephanie. This was their first big trip with their “new to them” motorhome. They also pull a SUV. We were to be the tail of our little convoy. We left at 9 am!! Perfect!
We all headed to the closest gas station. John needed gas and to hook up the car behind his rig. That was easier done after getting out of the park. Deb had some walkie talkies to use but we were having trouble getting them to work. Eventually we were able to communicate with them if we were in range. I think they only have about 3 miles or less. The group hit the road at a bit after 10am. Still looking good. Deb was an amazing leader! We never got lost, no wrong turns on any roads and no frustration like many of our other road trips! We did make a few stops for snacks and potty breaks. The toll roads were very nice to drive on. Deb drove faster than we anticipated so a few times she pulled over to let us catch up. Then we would look over and she would speed past us to be our fearless leader again! Deb is the Best!
We pulled into Lo de Marcos just after 2pm. We had Carol and Marvin waiting for us at the outskirts of town. We met their daughter Sarah who is staying in San Francisco, the next town over. We followed them through the tiny streets of the town to our respective RV parks. Sarah popped out of the car once to make a truck move so we could all pass through. It’s a 2 way street that really can only accommodate one car at a time! It was great having Marvin guide us through. Our campground was first, El Caracol. Marvin, Carol, John and Stephanie are staying at Cruz Maria Rv Park. Their stop was next. Marvin pointed Deb in the right direction for her park, La Parota but she kept driving up the hill….which will eventually end up at dirt road and dead end. Marvin to the rescue! He backed Deb’s trailer down the hill and into her park...which is basically nextdoor to Cruz Maria. Everyone arrived safely at their campgrounds by 3pm.
To celebrate our arrival, the first night we ate together at the restaurant by La Parota called Tomatina. They have good pizza and some very good beer too. I had Atotolin Lager Dorado by Los Cuentos brewery and it was pretty good! Atotolin Lager Dorada Deb had the tropical Kumukite. She had 2 so I’m guessing it was a thumbs up! I also tried their caesar salad and it was great. This place has live music several times a week and we watched folks dancing and having a blast. After dinner we went to see Carol and Marvin’s spot at Cruz Maria. We hung out there and had a shot or two of mezcal. Not sure what time we left to walk down the beach to our park but our gate was locked! Luckily or unluckily, however you look at it, we both were able to hop the fence to get in. Some of the parks take security very seriously, we suspect, El Caracol is not one of them. I do feel safe here and in town. No worries!
It’s great to be back on the beach! I think gypsy is loving it too. Funny thing, we met a Gyspy look alike cat here. He wants to be friends and immediately made himself at home. He helped himself to Gypsy’s food dish right away. We had a few hissing events but after the first week...she is tolerating him. We don’t let him in the trailer but have been feeding him outside in a dish. He’s very thin and his hair isn’t soft. That’s how gypsy was when we first found her. It didn’t take us long to fatten her up! Her fur is so soft now too. We are not planning on taking “Mr. Cat'' with us…...that’s what Larry says :)
During our first week, we have walked the entire beach nearly every day. It’s a fairly long beach...more than a mile I believe. It can be a great workout depending on the condition of the sand. At both ends of the beach are some fabulous tide pools and rocks in the ocean. There are interesting lava flows that frame the beach. We have also discovered a very large lagoon or maybe it's a river. It has many water birds and we are going crazy taking pictures of course! We are trying to identify as many of these birds as possible. Water birds are much like hummingbirds for me…..so many types it gets a bit overwhelming! We are planning on taking the kayak down the lagoon soon too.
We have walked into town a few times. It’s pretty small here but easy to get around on foot. There are many colorful houses and a good share of murals. We got here at the very end of Semana Santa (Easter week) and there was a good amount of people on the beach each afternoon and evening. In the morning our beach is nearly deserted. We like walking the beach in the morning because it’s a great way to start the day here in paradise. By the middle of the week, all the holiday travelers seemed to have left. Our campground is empty but we had one camper here when we came. Nice folks named Roberto and Maria. They said they would be back before we leave and we will drink wine together! Sounds great.
Friday we decided we needed to pay at El Caracol for the next month. They were kindly waiting for us to go to another town with a working ATM machine. I like when I can pay with my credit card but most places like pesos. Finding an ATM that has money is always a challenge in Mexico. We worked out a sweet deal with El Caracol when we shopped around other trailer parks. They matched prices and we saved $150 US dollars that way. Yeah us! We like this place because of all the tropical flowers and trees. I do enjoy the small cooling pool as well. It would be nice to have a bigger pool but this place is small...only 10 cozy RV spots.
Google maps said we could find 3 ATM machines in the next town of San Francisco and we really tried! No luck and it was packed with people and cars everywhere. We decided to head over to Sayulita close by because it’s a bigger town and we were very hopeful. Again we used google maps to locate an ATM…..which Sucked again! When we got into the main part of town, we just drove around looking til we found one. This one charged a lot of fees to withdraw but we were desperate. After we walked around the busy town toward the beach. We found a cute place to have lunch that said they had the best fish tacos. I had a Pacifico and a shot of tequila. It had been kinda a stressful time looking for the ATM machine. I did not have the fish tacos nor did Larry. I had a wonderful veggie burrito and washed it down with more beer and tequila. This was really a great tourist town! Lots and lots of restaurants and shops galore! I’m sure we will visit here again. They surf here and Larry will need to spend a day or two doing that. It’s a great place to visit but I’m happy with our deserted beach at Lo de Marcos!
Beach life! We really love living by the ocean. The temps are perfect right now too. Not too cold in the mornings or evenings and very warm during the day...about 80 degrees. I have only used the air conditioner a few times. Mainly during the day when I’m inside on the computer. We get together with Carol, Marvin, John and Stephanie every few days either by planning or just running into them on the beach or at a restaurant. We see Deb just about everyday some way or another. Soon Deb will have her daughter Sarah and her grandson Peyton here for a visit. Marvin and Carol’s daughter will be here too. We may need to have a party with cornhole to meet the new folks.
Sunday, Deb messaged me and asked if we wanted to go to San Francisco for lunch at Tierra Tropical Beach club.. Deb even drove us around! Yeah. What a great day. The place was easy enough to find...just down some skinny one way roads here and there. San Francisco is a super cute town. Lots bigger than Lo de Marcos but much smaller than Sayulita. We had an amazing lunch with a beautiful view of the empty north end of the beach. Deb drove us to the beach...or as close as we could get, after lunch to look around. I really love this place. It’s probably just as cute as Sayulita but less people and all the cool stuff. They had several vegetarian restaurants to choose from…..for the next time. I lucked out at a farmacia and found a New Ice Cream cone floaty thing!!! I had one last year while we drove around Mexico. It got a hole in Palenque and we left it with Inga and Torben to use if they could fix it......which they did! I missed my ice cream floaty but now I have a brand spanking new one. I’m so very lucky! We walked the beach and found out where they rent surf boards, etc. Deb found a place to get a massage on the beach and ditched us!!! What!!?? Lol We walked to the north end of the beach past where we had lunch. There were lots of amazing houses built up on the hill. I bet they have great views up there. It was a super great day with Deb…..our personal chauffeur.
I’m happy to be back living on a beach again and am looking forward to discovering what this new area has to offer us. Both Larry and I have been to Puerto Vallarta….for a few weeks at resorts. Now we are in the area to find out what interesting things that folks miss when they visit. I hope that a month will give us enough time…….probably not but we will do our best!