Following the Tioga George Trail

One cold winter in Chicago a few years ago had me discovering and following a few blogs of folks RVing in Mexico.  No blog was more innocently charming (and popular) than that of the Grand-Daddy of all Mexican RV bloggers, Tioga George.  Ironically, the year I finally make it to Mexico is the first year George has not (he stopped blogging and moved back to the U.S. last year).

George spent his recent summers in the highlands of central Mexico and winters on the beach south of San Blas in a small town called Aticama.  Whenever he needed to go to town for extensive shopping or repairs, he would drive up the mountains to the city of Tepic (pronounced “Tay-PEEK”), and stay at the RV park in town, Los Pinos.

Since we were headed to central Mexico and Tepic was right on our route, “Winnie Lynne”, Ms. Millie, Ms. Winnie, Mr. Tracker, and Ms. Powershot decided to make Los Pinos our “Night Camp” in honor of Tioga George.

9 AM – Driving to Tepic

Ms. Millie is in her “navigator” position right between the cab seats as we make it off the long, dirt Isla road and back onto pavement.  We are headed south along Highway 15 to Tepic!

I doubt Tioga George ever took a toll road in Mexico, but we on the WinnieLynne team are still new to driving solo in this country, so we drive the more cautious, and more expensive cuota (toll road) route.  How much does this little 160 mile stretch end up costing us?  A mere 1123 pesos (US$86 !!!).   Yes, bringing the toad does make it cost about 35% more, but still…

This section of toll road is only 2 lanes, but has wide shoulders on either side.  Why the dashed lines?  It’s actually a pretty smart system--- basically, whenever there’s a dashed line, slower vehicles are to straddle that line and drive over to the edge of the road so that faster vehicles can go into the center of the highway to drive around them.  If one sees a oncoming passing vehicle, you straddle onto your dashed shoulder lane as well to give them room to pass.  Imagine how much less the US highways would be to build and maintain if we had adopted such a system through our rural areas!

Soon, MsWinnie is driving into our 4th Mexican state, Nayarit.  Things are starting to look greener, and we begin the 3000 foot climb up into the hills of Tepic.

 

1 PM – Los Pinos

Los Pinos RV park has a most unusual entrance—a simple archway within a half-circle shaped strip mall!  Just drive right through and curve up around a slight hill, and you’re at a lovely, lush green little RV park of about 15 sites.  A tall brick wall borders the park to provide added privacy and security.

We pay our 200 pesos (US$15) for one night’s stay and MsWinnie backs into nice, cool shade beneath the trees.  Could we be parked in the same spot MsTioga used to stay at?

Meanwhile, Lynne discovers a long-lost friend in the overhead storage bin for MsMillie to play with—hip, hip, hooray!  It’s Mr.Frisbee!!!

3 PM – Off to Town!

After the expensive tolls, the WinnieLynne team needs to find more pesos for tomorrow’s continued journey.  So, MrTracker takes Lynne and MsMillie to town in search of an ATM.  It’s a warm, sunny afternoon so we first do a quick drive through the downtown centro area around the cathedral and main square.  Pleasant enough, but not a “Pueblo Mágico” or a Mazatlán!

We make our way over to the other main road through town and this one has all the “modern conveniences” including a nice bank ATM, and a big Wal-Mart.  MsLynne decides to go buy some groceries while MsMillie takes a siesta in MrTracker.

We follow an old VW Bus across boulevards and side streets to make our way back to Los Pinos where MsWinnie has been waiting patiently for us.  Tomorrow, we shall continue the “Tioga George Trail” to another RV park he stayed at over in central Mexico!

Where ever you might be now, George, we thank you for giving us (any many others!) the inspiration to RV to this beautiful and historic country.  May you continue to have good health and peaceful days!

Hasta Luego, Mazatlán

It’s hard to believe that two months have gone by and our glorious time here in Mazatlán has so quickly come to an end.  Technically, our two months finished up a week ago but Millie, that ever so conniving little beach dog, figured out a way to extend our stay a few more days so she could get in a few more swims and beach walks!

A couple weeks ago, Millie developed some minor eye and ear infections.  My RV park neighbor, Jackie, had just taken her dog to the English-speaking vet, Dr. Rafael Aguilar at Veterinaria La Jungla, so she offered to accompany us to town and show us the way to his clinic.  It was Millie’s first ride on a panga boat taxi...

and her first ride in an open-air pulmonia taxi (“where are the doors on this thing, Mom?”)

 

Dr. Rafael got her all fixed up with a couple meds and we were soon headed back to the Isla.  Gotta love these Mexican vets-- same-day appointments and the bill (including drugs) is rarely ever more than 100 pesos (US$8).

After a week, Millie’s ear had healed up fine, but her eyes were still not improving, so we made another trip back to Dr. Rafael for some stronger antibiotics.  This time, our trip coincided with Caeli and Carmeh’s visit to Dr. Rafael, so Colin and I took all the dogs to town together.  What a difference it is to transport 2 quiet, well-mannered 8 lb wiener dogs versus one 80 lb cry baby (who kept wanting to jump out of the boat and the pulmonia!)

But the end result worked out exactly as Millie had planned—more time for beach walks and swimming!  Instead of saying our goodbyes to everyone at the RV park’s farewell party for us and another RVer, Ferne (and birthday party for Rolf & Jackie), I announced that we’d now be staying a few extra days to be sure that Millie’s new meds were working. 

The party was a lovely night with a great group who have now become friends after our 2 months on the Isla. 

The extra days also gave me more time to clean, pack, and test out the rig.  Everything checked out fine except for two items--- my cab battery was dead (leaving your cab radio on for 2 months can do that kinda thing!), and the brake lights on the Tracker were still not working when in “toad” mode.

It’s a good thing I needed to open the hood to recharge the battery as some little critter had made itself quite a comfy nest of bougainvillea petals on top of the battery (thankfully, no dead critters or chewed cables to be found).  This little “bed” could have started my engine on fire had I not looked first!

The RV1 guys got to work on the toad brake light issue.  It turned out to be a more difficult affair that took an extra few guys with extra testing tools, some “MacGyvered” diode switches robbed from some other electric panel, and a healthy dose of electrical tape, but after 2 days, John M, Rolf, and John L managed to get it fixed and working better than ever….this, despite no help from the canine “supervisors”!

 

The extra days also gave the opportunity for a few more farewell dinners.  Bob and Marjorie took me for a Valentine’s Day dinner to Miguel’s, my favorite little Mom & Pop grill on the Isla.

Then, on Saturday night, Colin, Contessa, John, Val, Rolf, Jackie and I all went out to my favorite beach restaurant, Carmelita’s, for one last fish dinner with flan for desert (pic courtesy of Contessa’s camera!). We happened to get a pretty nice sunset as well!

 

Finally, on Sunday morning with Millie now on the mend, we hitched up and pulled out of Tres Amigos to leave the Isla (photos courtesy of Contessa).

I will forever be grateful to Contessa for introducing me to this magical and very special place.  Her daily sunset photos got me through a very tough winter last year, and after both recently losing our moms, I believe these past couple of months on the Isla have been quite healing for both of us.

So as I made my way down the long, bumpy, dirt Isla road one last time, and was thanked by the exit sign for visiting, I resolved that there will be no more goodbyes to Mazatlan…simply, “hasta luego” (until later).

I will be back again to travel it’s wonderful new highway from Durango through the rugged Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range across the world’s highest suspension bridge (the Baluarte Bridge)…

and travel the highway’s other impressive bridges and tunnels..

I’ll be back to take more peaceful afternoon strolls through the lush botanical garden behind the RV park…

I’ll be back to cruise the paved and unpaved roads of the Isla beneath the coconut trees…

and buy more fresh fruit and vegetables from the back of Israel’s truck every morning…

I’ll hope Maria is still here next year to sell me more of her delicious homemade vegetable tamales!

I’ll look forward to more panga rides across the harbor into town with all sorts of interesting (and cute!) passengers…

and more pulmonia rides around the city.  The open-air taxis unique to Mazatlan are driven by some of the happiest cabbies I’ve ever met!

I’ll be back to explore more of the colorful Centro Historico and enjoy watching the world go by from a park bench or dining table in one of it’s small plazuelas…

I’ll attend more symphony concerts at the lovely, restored Teatro Angela Peralta…

and have my spirits equally rejuvenated at the city’s main cathedral…

I’ll take another hike to the top of El Faro, and to the tops of Icebox or Watchtower Hills to enjoy more panoramic views of the city and Olas Atlas beach.

I’ll also be back to marvel at the literal menagerie of goods for sale at the Mercardo…where one can buy sundresses and raw chickens right next to each other!

I’ll return to walk the long Malecon along the beach and admire its bronze statues and cliff-top homes.  Hopefully, next time I’ll also actually get to see the “Clavadistas” (cliff divers), and be here to attend the Carnaval parades!

But most of all, I will yearn to return to this quiet and peaceful Isla to enjoy long beach walks, enjoy it’s music, it’s always-interesting passers-by, and be renewed and healed by it’s magical sunrises and sunsets.  Hasta Luego, Mazatlan.  Until next time!