South along the Mayan Riviera

We did some serious stocking up at the new Sam’s Club in Cancun. We then went to take a look at a beach camping spot just North of Playa Del Carmen at a location called Punta Beta. There was supposed to be camping at Los Pinos restaurant on the beach. As we drove in next to the big Coca Cola distributer we saw that the road was in much better shape then we had read. We then saw about a hundred new condos as we neared the ocean. We spotted a sign for the Los Pinos at the entrance to the condo parking lot, the guards said yes there was a restaurant but the road was down their wide sidewalk and it wasn’t good for our RV but a new construction road could get us there but was presently blocked by a big dump truck. I decided to walk down to Los Pinos and take a look. It is jammed between the new construction and the beach and they really had no room for even a small RV. The nice wide beach there looked great however, but this is what has been happening all over Mexico. You find a great spot and someone builds a new hotel or condo and eliminates the camping.


So we turned around and headed about 10 miles North to Puerto Morelos to Acamaya Reef where we stayed last month. There were three RV’s there and all the construction noise from the new hotel was still going on. I negotiated a little lower camping price of $25 instead of $30. I found out that the guy next to me was paying $35 but had a big fifth wheel camper. I guess they charge by camper size. We paid for two nights to see if we could take the noise and had a nice beach walk. Just as we returned it started to rain and it really came down, raining all night long and all the next day, which wasn’t a whole lot of fun.

The French speaking campground owner and his wife invited the other three campers who also happened to speak French to an early pot-luck dinner. Since we had made friends with two of the couples, they invited us to join them. Peggy quickly whipped up a nice cake in our microwave convection oven. We had a nice time, the other campers brought some vegetable and cheese  appetizers and the owners furnished the main course of pot roast and potatoes along with beverages. We had a good time but the rain dampened our spirits and we decided that we had enough of this campground.

We puzzled over where to go next,; head to the big city of Merida or stay on the coast. We decided we didn’t want to leave the beautiful turquoise water of the Caribbean yet. So we left early Wed morning to go back to Xpu-Ha another place that we stayed last month. It was full when we left but we held out hope that maybe we could find a way to fit back in. We got there early all and the other campers greeted us and showed us that the same place we had camped was available since someone had just left a few days ago. The big surprise was that they had totally rewired the electric power, installing 2 nice 30 amp grounded receptacles for each camp site. Of course the power was not working so we just plugged into our neighbors extra outlet. Maybe we can find out why they don’t work, they sure look good. I hung up my hammock and signed up for their slow Wi-Fi.
Map & Plans

Big Change in Plans


Our Mexican trip has come to a close. We just found out that Peggy’s sister in Atlanta is in the hospital with a serious illness and Peggy needs to get back there to help out. We had a great time. We especially loved the beach at Xpu-Ha and all the campers who made us feel very welcome. We had a cocktail hour every afternoon and enjoyed trading travel stories.

The trip was very relaxing and we enjoyed all the new campgrounds we went to this year. We have never taken the RV to the Yucatan before although we have been here a couple of times on trips where we flew in.

We hope the trip back though Mexico goes well, I’ll report on places we camped or problems we ran into.

Back at Trailer Park De Alba

We left at 7 AM from Xpu-Ha before any of our neighbors were up. After a 10 hr drive we got to Chiapas at the Pemex at the intersection of the road that goes to Palenque. We parked in the corner and it was not too noisy from the trucks going in and out.
We Left at 6 AM and found the the Cuota (Toll road) had worse pavement than the roads we traveled on Sunday. So it was a little slower going and we stopped a few times. I didn’t realize how expensive the tolls were and almost ran out of peasos.

Just before Vera Cruz we missed the cuota turn to Cardel and went around in circles until we got back on track. Found a bank machine in Cardel to get more pesos and got to Trailer park de Alba around 4:30 PM.

They haven’t improved the electric yet but Mike said they were working on it.

Hit the road this morning at 8 AM.

Almost to Atlanta

On Tuesday we left Trailer Park De Alba around 8 AM and made it through Tampico without taking the bypass. We went up MX-180 and stopped at a Pemex in Soto La Marina. For anyone heading to the border this road was widened and paved from Soto all the way to MX-101. This is the easiest and fastest way to get to the US border from Tampico rather than going through Ciudad Victoria.

Our Wednesday morning drive took another 4 hours from Soto to the border at Los Indios. We found a long line at US customs, in the past the most we saw was 1 or 2 cars, It took us 45 minutes which included a search of the RV for meat, fruit, eggs, and onions & potatoes. Of course they found none.

After a short shopping stop in Harlingen we drove all the way to my cousin Rich’s home in Houston. We found out that Tracey has one more week to go and they will have a new baby boy named Finn. We just stayed overnight and cleaned up to continue our journey to Atlanta. We relaxed Thursday morning and waited until the Houston traffic had died down. We left at 10:45 AM. We stopped for the night at a Wal-Mart in Picayune, MS at 5:15 PM.

On Friday we have about 450 mi left to go which should take another 8 hours. Making the entire drive about 53 hours and 2600 mi.

Still in Atlanta, GA

It’s been two weeks now since we took our long journey back from Mexico to Atlanta and the home of my Sister-in-Law, Bobbie. Both her daughters flew in to be with her while she was operated on. The Doctor removed a cancerous tumor from her Pancreas but the doctor said she looked cancer free and has a good chance of recovering.
She has been in the hospital for twelve days and we are still not sure when she will be released. Peggy wants to stay here until Bobbie gets back into her home. Bobbie’s daughter Kim, who is a nurse, will stay with her until March. At that point a decision will have to be made; if, when and where any Chemotherapy and Radiation will take place.
When we leave we will head south to Florida. It’s too cold for us in Atlanta, and I sure would rather be on the beach in Mexico. I certainly don’t want to go home to Cleveland which is buried under 20″ of snow.

We are now in Florida

We left Bobbie’s house early Thursday morning and got such a good start that we decided to drive to Silver Lake which is just off I-75 North of Tampa. The weather is close to 80oF, so unless it gets colder we may stay here a while since we can hike on the good trails, bike on the Withlacoochee State Bike Trail, a 46 mi paved bike trail or paddle my kayak on Silver Lake and the Withlacoochee River. There is a library with internet within easy biking distance and a grocery.

I talked to Bill Miller & Cathy and they will be heading north in a few days and may camp with us. Not sure of any plans after that we may head further south if it gets colder here.

We are now in Florida 2/2009

We left Bobbie’s house early Thursday morning and got such a good start that we decided to drive to Silver Lake which is just off I-75 North of Tampa. The weather is close to 80oF, so unless it gets colder we may stay here a while since we can hike on the good trails, bike on the Withlacoochee State Bike Trail, a 46 mi paved bike trail or paddle my kayak on Silver Lake and the Withlacoochee River.
There is a library with internet within easy biking distance and a grocery. I talked to Bill Miller & Cathy and they will be heading north in a few days and may camp with us.
Not sure of any plans after that we may head further south if it gets colder here.

Lithia Springs near Tampa, FL

Peggy hiking on the Florida Trail


Bill Miller & Cathy Needham spent 3 days with us at Silver Lake. We hiked the trails and biked on the Withlacoochee State Trail, a 46 mi long, 12’ wide, paved bike trail.

It was cool every morning but pleasantly warm by the afternoon.

I was able to paddle my kayak a few times but the river was very low due to the drought conditions. So I just paddled a few miles upstream and downstream of our camp.

In all we spent 10 days here. Bill & Cathy needed to head back North so that they could be back in Cleveland in about a week.

Peggy & I drove a little further South to Lithia Springs County Park on the Alafia River.

We got the same campsite right on the river that we had camped at the last few times that we camped here.

John at Lithia Springs Campground

 

Lithia Springs
Alafia River at campsite

This river was also very low so I just paddled downstream from our camp on the Alafia River past the springs until it became too shallow to easily paddle then paddled back upstream.

John back in his hammock

I had a nice rest in my hammock when I returned.

We went for a bike ride on Monday through FishHawk Ranch which is a housing development with over 25 miles of concrete bike trails, that weave through the community connecting parks, houses and shopping centers. We did some grocery shopping, and then headed back to camp. In all we pedaled 14 mi. on the sunny and breezy 70o day.

Lithia Springs near Tampa, FL

Peggy hiking on the Florida Trail

Bill Miller & Cathy Needham spent 3 days with us at Silver Lake. We hiked the trails and biked on the Withlacoochee State Trail, a 46 mi long, 12’ wide, paved bike trail.
It was cool every morning but pleasantly warm by the afternoon. I was able to paddle my kayak a few times but the river was very low due to the drought conditions. So I just paddled a few miles upstream and downstream of our camp. In all we spent 10 days here.
Bill & Cathy needed to head back North so that they could be back in Cleveland in about a week.
 Peggy & I drove a little further South to Lithia Springs County Park on the Alafia River. We got the same campsite right on the river that we had camped at the last few times that we camped here.

John at Lithia Springs Campground

 

Lithia Springs
Alafia River at campsite

This river was also very low so I just paddled downstream from our camp on the Alafia River past the springs until it became too shallow to easily paddle then paddled back upstream.

John back in his hammock

I had a nice rest in my hammock when I returned. We went for a bike ride on Monday through FishHawk Ranch which is a housing development with over 25 miles of concrete bike trails, that weave through the community connecting parks, houses and shopping centers. We did some grocery shopping, and then headed back to camp. In all we pedaled 14 mi. on the sunny and breezy 70o day.

E.G. Simmons County Park on Tampa Bay

Heron in the mangroves We left Lithia at 8 AM on Sunday morning for a short drive to another Hillsborough county park, E.G. Simmons Regional Park on Tampa Bay. We stayed here last year and enjoyed our stay and since they didn’t take any reservations we figured that it wouldn’t be hard to get a site on a drizzly cool Sunday morning. We got here after grocery shopping at 9:00 AM. We were 14th on the waiting list to get in but he said that he expected at least 20 persons to check out. You can’t check-in until after 11:30 AM but at least we got a nice site that was close enough to the office to have Wi-Fi internet access.

We signed up for three days but expect to stay until the following Sunday. A cool front had come in but it was supposed to start warming and be dry though the weekend. We biked into the town of Ruskin for shopping a few times and the temperature finally got back over 80o by Thursday.

Wood Stork