1/16/2015 – Why do we even make plans?

Except for a night at Magdalena and two nights at Alamos, we have been on the coast continuously since November 21, almost 2 months.  And, while it’s been beautiful and sunny and warm and all that, we’re sort of ready for a change.  We also want to spend a little time at our casita in Puerto Peñasco before heading up to the SF Bay Area in May to attend our niece’s wedding.  So, tomorrow we’re turning inland.

This change of plans has nothing to do with the predictions by the “doom and gloomers” on Facebook’s “On The Road In Mexico” group.  They’ve tried to convince us and others that a trip down MEX200 along the Michoacán and Guerrero coasts is a sure-fire recipe for getting robbed, kidnapped, or worse.  Mind you, the doom and gloomers aren’t actually on the road.  They’re getting their information from the internet, the US State Department, Mexican law enforcement and military personnel (supposedly), friends of friends, etc.  The people who are actually on the road are repeatedly reporting that they’ve just recently done this or that portion of the trip and had absolutely no problems.  Besides, it pretty much doesn’t matter what portion of a Mexican road trip one asks about on FB, someone will tell you not to do it, it’s just not safe.

No, the doom and gloomers aren’t the reason for our change of route.  It has more to do with being ready for a change of scenery and hopefully for a drop in the number of biting insects.  I have been a bug feast ever since we got down into the warmer and wetter climate of Mexico’s central coast.  Right now, I’d estimate that I have 40-50 bites on each leg between my knees and my toes, not to mention a bunch on my arms. And they ITCH SOMETHING FIERCE!  The four on my right instep are the worst at the moment but they all itch.  In Punta Perula I sprayed some 100% DEET repellent on my legs. I had my flip-flops on at the time.  A few minutes later, my flip-flops felt kind of sticky against my heel.  Oh man!  The repellent had melted the rubber on the insole!  Geez, what must it be doing to my skin?  I washed that all off and haven’t had the nerve to try anything since.  Also while there, our friend Debra let us use some citronella-based lotion-type repellent.  It was much more pleasant and seemed to work well for a couple hours at a time.  I was wishing we’d found some of that instead of the DEET.  Well, last night was my lucky night.  We were eating dinner with our friends George and Steve, who are owners of Coconutz RV Park.  It was just after sunset when the mosquitoes seem to be particularly hungry.  I walked up the street to an aborrote to get some repellent, expecting to find nothing other than a spray can of OFF!  But, I was happily surprised when the clerk handed me a bottle of “Mr. Repelín Citronella Gel”.  It worked.  Kept us from having to rush through dinner like we had the night before and smelled nice.  We’ve also been burning mosquito coils at night.  I won’t miss the biting bugs as we gain a little elevation and a corresponding drop in temperature.

That’s the other thing.  It’s been great avoiding winter this year, but too many 90+ degree days in a row actually can get old after awhile. I’m continuously wearing a sweat-drenched t-shirt.  Actually looking forward to wearing long pants once in awhile.  Not really looking forward to wearing socks but I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

So, anyhow, tomorrow we’ll be heading inland towards Lake Chapala.  We’re hoping to get as far east as San Juan Teotihuacán (just NE of Mexico City) to see the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon before heading northwards toward home (Puerto Peñasco).

As a send-off, this morning we got to watch a group of 3-4 whales just offshore from the RV park.  This afternoon we’re headed back to the malecón to get a michelada con camarón.  That’d be a michelada with some shrimp in it.  We first saw this in Loreto when our friend Alan’s wife had one.  We never figured out where she got it and have never really seen them advertised anywhere.  Might be common as dirt for all we know but we sure haven’t seen any signs for them.  Until yesterday.  There it was, big as life, “Micheladas con Camarones”.  We decided to come back later and have one but George and Steve gave us an unexpected, but welcome, tour of Cuyutlán, followed by tortas de pierna adobada for dinner and, by then the malecón was pretty much closed for the night.  So, today’s the day. We’ll toast our nice long stay on the Mexican coast with what should probably be the signature drink of the coast.