Saying good-bye to 2022 from Mexico!

We left Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument first thing Monday morning, December 12 with the plan to arrive at La Manzanilla, our final Mexico destination, somewhere between January 6 and 9, 2023.

We crossed the border in Lukeville, Arizona, which is a very small, safe border crossing into Mexico. I have to say, I was very excited, but a bit nervous due to all the warnings and stares we got from a lot of people who asked about where we were headed, you know, mainly from people who have never actually driven into Mexico offering their expertise! LOL! Bruce and Dorey had driven into Mexico with their RV for many years, so we felt we were in good hands and that we will well prepared. First stop at the border, guess what, NONE OF US were prepared!! Barry and I had printed out our FMM (Immigration forms) but didn’t print the receipt to show that we paid for them. Since you apply online and only receive your forms upon receipt of payment, it didn’t occur to us we needed to show the receipt (read small print!!). Same for Doug and Darcie! Although Bruce and Dorey printed the receipt, it wasn’t intentional! They thought they printed the FMM form…they did not! LOL. So that’s how we started out in Mexico! Doug & Darcie never did find their receipt and ended up paying for a new FMM, and the rest of us printed what we needed and we were off!

Having said that, Bruce and Dorey did a great job of preparing us for driving in Mexico...thank God!! Who would would have thought 2 lanes mean 3 lanes?? Barry adapted very quickly!

Our next stop was about ½ hr down the road at Customs. We had to fill out the proper paperwork for the trucks! Again, it took a while, but was no problem at all. The National Guards walking around can be intimidating at first, however they were friendly!

We pull into the town of Santa Ana, and right away, Bruce drives through an alto (stop!) sign right in front of the Policia!! After a quick cash payment on the side of road, we continued on to our first overnight stopover, Punta Vista RV Park. One would think, hey, we’re in Mexico, warm weather! No, we needed to go much further south; however, this was a good, quick overnight stop.

Next stop, San Carlos! San Carlos is a beautiful beachfront subdivision within the port city of Guaymas but is considered its own town in the Northern state of Sonora with a population of nearly 7,000. We stayed at the Tokonaka RV Park. So many Canadians!! The park itself was awesome and in a great location. A nice pool/lounge area, a pickleball court, walking distance to great restaurants and shops, and across the road from the Sea of Cortez!!

It was in San Carlos where we decided we were going to learn how to say “coconut shrimp please” in Spanish and order it throughout Mexico… Camarones con coco por favor!!! Since then we’ve had coconut shrimp I believe 9 times! It’s so different each time, it’s hard to get sick of it! We had pretty full days in San Carlos, visiting the downtown marina a couple of times, enjoying different restaurants, playing pickleball, and we also visited a pearl farm. I had no idea how pearls were harvested…so interesting! And because we had 3 fun looking pubs/restaurants within walking distance, we enjoyed an afternoon camarones con coco/pub crawl! The first one was somewhat of an eating competition between us and the birds!!

So San Carlos was a hit. Our 3 night stay was very busy and fun…oh wait, it was supposed to be 3 nights….

So when we left Tokanaka RV Park, we were heading to our next 2 day stop at Huatabampo. We travelled less than ½ an hour when we saw smoke coming from Bruce and Dorey’s rig. Apparently Bruce’s radio hadn’t charged (unbeknownst to him), so he couldn’t hear us radioing him to pull over, or see our flashing lights, or hear me yelling at him from our rig behind him. (LOL)!! Barry decided we should pull over hoping eventually Bruce would see that we were no longer behind him and perhaps pull over. It worked! Bruce broke a leaf spring hanger on his rig. Side note: Highly recommend learning mechanical terms in Spanish when driving in Mexico!!! Aside from some understandable frustration by Bruce I’m sure, we were very fortunate that we were still close enough to drive back to Tokanaka RV and Jose was there!! Jose ran Tokanaka RV Park and spoke good English. He contacted a welder and sent them out to Bruce where the leaf spring hanger was repaired. We left Tokanaka for the second time the following morning!

The roads are so much better than we expected in Mexico. Having said that, we stayed on the toll roads for the most part. In fact, we were making such good time, we all agreed to bypass Huatabampo and head straight to Las Glorias. Not our best decision ever! We also all agreed when we started this trip into Mexico that we would be off the road and set up before dark. When we made the decision to go straight to Las Glorias we determined we would arrive about 1.5 hrs before dark. Lots of time, right? Not so much! driving in Mexico can be very unpredictable. There were several tolls with line-ups! Not just the line-ups, but the people that would basically block you from moving to provide a service they wanted to be paid for whether you wanted that service or not. Like cleaning your windows. Some young boy appeared out of nowhere, running towards the front of our truck and threw dirty water on our windshield, then tried jumping on to clean it. Others would want to sell you fruit or baked goods and others would just beg for money, coming up to the windows with sad faces staring in and begging. It was so sad and disturbing. That was probably the most uncomfortable experience we’ve had in Mexico so far. We’ve experienced similar situations on the beach in various resort areas in Mexico, but this was much more aggressive and uncomfortable. Poor Merlot was a mess! We finally all got through the toll booths; however, the closer we seemed to get to Las Glorias, our GPSs were no longer aligning on driving directions to our destination. We decided to follow Bruce’s since they had been in this area before. We ended up on a road with lots of construction and very steep drops from pavement to dirt at dusk. Very sketchy! Then we realized that the name of the RV Park changed from Mr. Morros to Playa Bonita, which was very confusing! Having said all that, we arrived in the dark and set up in the dark. That was the first and last time that will happen!!

When we did arrive at Playa Bonita in Las Glorias we were tired, but very pleased. It was literally on the beach, and we were 3 of about 6 rigs on the whole property, so very quiet and comfortable. We were starving when we arrived and our camp host (husband and wife from B.C.) told us their restaurant was still open for us. Camarones con coco por favor!!! This was also Barry’s and my first experience with ceviche! Not a fan to say the least!

In the morning, we realized we basically had the whole beach to ourselves for the weekend.

The beach was so saturated with so many different kinds of beautiful seashells it inspired me!!! I’m not a crafty or artistic person…but Darcie is!! We’re planning a wine (okay, probably vodka…wine is terrible in Mexico!) and craft night for the ladies while we’re in La Manzanilla for 2 months. I feel Tracey, my sister, would be proud! Tracey, you may be the recipient of my seashell crafts!!! LOL. We spent the weekend, collecting walking on the beach, collecting shells, found a great little restaurant on the beach that served…you know it…Camorones con coco! They were exceptional!

We also met Canela (Cinnamon in Spanish). Canela is the RV Park resident stray dog. She was so sweet, gentle and lovable. It was so heartbreaking to leave her when we departed on Monday morning for Mazatlán.

The drive to Punta Cerritos RV Park in Mazatlán, Sinaloa was beautiful and non-eventful, which was great! We knew the small RV park where we were staying had burned down about 3 years ago and it was in the process of being rebuilt. This park is basically run by the residents. The sites are leased on an annual basis and the residents can rebuild their site however they’d like at own their expense of course. I tell you most of these rebuilt sites were like beautiful oases and pieces of heaven. Outdoor living at its very best. We loved our site so much we were seriously considering leasing it and rebuilding it to be our own piece of paradise; however, it would have to change our original plan of exploring Canada and the US. Much more time would be spent in Mexico, and we have way too much left to see yet. Although it would be a great investment, it’s just too soon! Check out the pics to understand what I’m talking about!! Each had huge concrete patios, covered with beautiful palapas, some having outdoor kitchen/bar areas, as well as living space. Also beautiful beautiful pool area overlooking the ocean!

We love Mazatlán; more specifically, we loved our area in Mazatlán. We were the last stop before the ocean so it wasn’t as busy as other resort areas in Mazatlán for sure. We also had a laundry service that picked up 3 times a week, a fruit/veg truck 3 times a week, a water truck 2 times a week and an ice cream truck once a week!! The park is very self-sufficient!! You never had to leave!! However, if you wanted to leave, right outside our park was a street with lots of gift shops and a couple of great restaurants! We also took a taxi to downtown Mazatlán a couple of times to check out the only 3 breweries in Mazatlán, walk the Malecon, check out the weekly market at the Plaza, and hang out for an afternoon in the Gold District. The breweries were a lot of fun!! Still really enjoying the stout!! Barry stuck with his IPA and Doug & Darcie had flights. Normally flights are 4, sometimes; at Tres Islas…8!!! Stopped down to the Gold District for some Camorones con coco! It was mediocre, but the company and the atmosphere of the Gold District was perfect. It was such a great afternoon!

Our taxi

Tres Islas Brewery

So because things can’t run smoothly all the time, such is life, Bruce had to make an emergency trip to the hospital a few days before Christmas! Bruce decided to do maintenance on the roof of his RV. The ladder was no challenge for the tile floor; however, the ladder did break Bruce’s fall, which possibly saved his life! With a concussion and over 40 stitches, Bruce joined us back at the park on Christmas Eve, just in time for the potluck!!! Finning Monday morning safety meetings will begin in the new year.

On a couple of really happy notes, remember Canela in Las Glorias??!! She is being adopted by some folks from BC who were at the RV park at the same time we were!! So happy for Canela!!!! As well, Darcie & Doug adopted Freyja! She is absolutely adorable!! Nine months old!! Canela and Freyja are so lucky these folks found them. They will be living their best life for sure. Merlot plays big brother to Freyja…it’s really quite sweet to see!!

Christmas was bittersweet! Who wouldn’t love to be in Mexico for Christmas, right? All of us decided to exchange small gifts which was fun and partake in Christmas morning Mimosas. Merry Christmas to Everyone!!

Barry, Merlot and I went for a long walk on the beach. It was beautiful! Would have been perfect had our children been here to celebrate with us.

For our second trip to downtown Mazatlán, we checked the box on the Pino Suarez Mercado Centro! The Mercado Pino Suarez is home to over 250 tenants and employees nearly 1000 people. It’s a vibrant, and extremely busy part of the Mazatlán shopping scene. It is divided in sections by food types. There are aisles with fresh seafood, chickens, beef and pork, miles of aisles of fresh fruits and vegetables, cheese vendors, herb and spices, groceries, and many vendors with tourist items. Anyone who knows me knows the smells and people congestion is not my idea of good time!! Way too busy and stinky for Barry and I!! We quickly decided the Gold District is more our speed with lots but not so many vendors, shops and great restaurants close to the beach was the perfect place to go for the afternoon. We stopped at Margaritas! Camorones con coco por favor! Our host, Harold (I think) was awesome! Intense poker game happening at the back by the bathrooms seemed a little sketchy…

New Year’s Eve was celebrated at Mr. Lionso, a fun, breezy, restaurant just outside the RV park on the beach. It was perfect! Lots of tequila samples! Barry and I ended up buying a bottle of coffee flavored tequila, while Doug & Darcie opted for the almond flavoured. The food was great, the entertainment was perfect! The music the live band played was all the oldies and goodies and reminded me of past summers in Charlottetown when Roger Jones was playing at the yacht club! The sunset was incredible. And of course, I can’t forget the balloon guy!!

It wasn’t a late night, since we were on the road in the morning heading further south to our final destination.

Overall, we loved Mazatlán! It was a great place to finish a wonderful year of travel and exploring and to celebrate the beginning of a new one. We are truly blessed!! Wishing everyone a very happy, peaceful and prosperous 2023.

Remember, don't forget to check out the rest of the pics from Mexico, 2022