More travel

 More nice scenery.












Selling produce by the side of the road.












Not sure what they are harvesting in the water.                        An awful looking hotel in Mazatlan

Wish I had this nice looking soil in my garden instead
of heavy clay.                                                                       

   

 We have reached the tropics, lush and green.

This river is just south of Puerto Vallarta.  The summer rains have made the river muddy.  You can see the difference between the river and the ocean.





A common sight on the road.  The transportation of animals in the back of pickups.

Crossing into Mexico

 This is the wall at the US Mexican Border.  From here we went an additional 2 to 3 miles to reach the Mexican crossing.  We didn't see the sign for motor homes and started through a lane and was told to back up we were in the wrong one.  We can not back up with the Jeep attached.  So had to get out and unhook the Jeep.  We backed up and Tom took the motor home through the correct lane.  I tried to follow and was flagged to go back around and enter through a different lane.  This was because, now I was a single car and couldn't follow Tom.

At kilometer 21 we stopped for our visitor visas and vehicle permits.  But there was construction going on and the normal lanes were closed!  We drove very slowly to figure out where we were to park and enter so we didn't miss the parking lot and registration booths.  Once all the paperwork and payments were made we went to inspection.  They looked at our paperwork and waved us through without entering the motor home.  What luck that was.  In Hermasillo we were stopped at a red light and the man in front of us got out and waved at our motor home.  We thought, oh no a flat tire, but that can't be because we have sensors on all the tires that would tell us.  He ran to our rig and said the compartment door was open.  We asked him to slam it shut and we were both on our way again when the light changed to green.  What a nice person to help us!  We stopped for gas later in the day and Tom figured out that he got scammed.  The gas station attendant got an additional $500.00 pesos.  So what a fun day.

Now have crossed into the state of Sinaloa and we have gone from brown landscape to nice green landscape.  Also the temperature has increased dramatically to 90+ degrees.

Another day of interest

We couldn't be sure, but think this is a salt lake bed.








These power poles were just being strung and were a fascination for us.  They are in the shape of a V, which we had never seen before.  We were wondering if they stood up better in the wind or what other reason for the change from a normal power pole.

                   

Scenery

 As we drive down the road I take pictures out the window.  So, they get blurry or I shoot thru the screen and you will see mesh lines.  But, we can't stop every few miles or we'd never get to Punta Perula!

We see dirt roads that seems to go off to nowhere, like this one.  I wonder why it is there and where is it going.  I'd love to follow the road to see where it ends.

We were driving through an area that was brown and drab, we rounded a corner and were surprised with this bright yellow field between it all. 

On the road again

 Today we started our journey back to Punta Perula, Mexico.  We finalized the purchase of a small parcel of land and hope to build a small home.  After my disastrous tries at getting out to kayak last year, I now have a 14' sit on top.  I have yet to try it, as it arrived when the water in Usk was tooo cold.  You will get wet using this kayak, which is good for Perula warm air and warm water.

This was the weather as we were leaving, and only 29 degrees.





 









                                                                               Last year we had Sadie with us.  During our trip she was unable to wait for potty stops and when we arrived home we had to have her put down.  She was in poor shape and could barely stand.  We are missing one of our travel companions. 

Because the rug was a mess Tom decided to pull out the couch and eating area as well as the rug.  This is what the motor home looked like and below is what we have now.



New flooring, a dinette table and chairs and a love seat with reclining chairs.  It feels like we have more room, but I lost all the storage under the couch and the two large drawers in the dinette set.  Trying to figure our where to store things has been difficult. 

This year's adventure begins.  

Jocotepec

 

Well after spending 2 months in Punta Perula it is time to start home, but very slowly. One of our last nights a rainbow started forming.  Maybe to show us what we will miss until we came back in Nov and hopefully start building our casita.

 

On the way to Villa Purificacion we saw these road signs.

We are currently in Jocotepec on Lake Chapala. It seems strange not to hear the surf breaking on the shore.  Now we wake up to birds chirping in the morning instead. Market day is Thursdays, of coarse we had to go. 

 

 

 A delivery of beef for the meat market.

 

On the way to Jocotepec we saw these stacks.  Don't know what they are.

 

The towns around Lake Chapala are very touristy, with large homes on the lake and lots of gated communities on the hillsides. A very congested area. The lake itself is not one we would want to spend any time at. The shoreline is muddy and from what we've seen not very blue.

We took a trip to Tlaquepaque to look for articles for the casita and check prices. It was too much of a tourist town. We plan on going to Tonala where we're told the factories are that make the articles you see in Tlaquepaque. 

It is interesting to see how they have made the wheelbarrows hold more dried leaves.  Don't think you could move the wheelbarrows if you filled them with wet leaves.

Punta Perula and vicinity

Well we have decided to settled in Punta Perula.

 We are in the process of buying a lot. The paperwork won't be complete while we are here so we had to go to Cihuatlan, an hour south, to see a notary to give our Realtor power of attorney to finalize things. Notaries are lawyers that are allowed to handle land.  We are also in the process of trying to find contractors, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc to give us bids so we can hopefully build a casita come November. In the process we have met many nice people that have helped us, both with names and things we should know about building in Mexico.

We have tried to explore additional beaches, but again they have been gated with security guards. We spent a day with our RV neighbors going to Villa Purificacion. This is a very old town and they are in the process of restoring the church.

Restored

Back, not completed yet.

 

Beautiful colors inside the church.

It's a lovely town and much bigger than we had thought. We had lunch at one of the restaurants and had a lovely conversation with the owner, who spoke perfect English as he had spent many years working in a restaurant in the US.

 

A pole in the middle of the street. We can only think it is used for some sort of celebration.

 

  

We also did a day going into Tomatlan to get groceries and stop at the bank. These saddles are beautiful and displayed on the sidewalk. 

Fruit on a stick

Another church. They are all so different.

 

  A huge tree on one of the many dirt roads we have been traveling on

 

We went to the meat market in San Mateo. Got some chicken. Definitely fresh and not packaged.
   

Just a few tomatoes, fresh from the fields