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Feb. 22nd
Fred and Sherry left this morning. We went out with our coffee to watch them hook up their Jeep to the back
of their motorhome and bid them farewell and good times on their way home. We'll see them again sometime, either in Texas,
Arizona or Mexico.
Not long after they left, Sandy had another camper from Quebec in their spot beside us.
We spent the rest of the day getting ready for our trip tomorrow. I know there hasn't been too many pictures
on the blog lately but I promise to take lots on the trip. I'm not sure if we'll have internet connection but I'm going
to pack the laptop.
One picture I did take today was from an unexpected guest that set up home under a towel that
was draped across one of our lawn chairs on the patio.
| Uninvited guest on the back of patio chair |
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Feb.23rd
Although aiming for a departure of 7:30 we made it out the gate of Rancho B. at 8:00am. The road south from Rancho B. to Lazaro
Cardinas goes through a mountain range following the coast and limits speed to where our average speed the first 90 or so
miles was about 35 mph. We stopped for gas at Colita de Campos about 90 miles south of Rancho B. and then headed
to Lazaro Cardinas where we had to get on the toll road going inland to Urapan. That was where we had our first problem as
the new toll road was not recognized by our GPS and had the same highway number as the old free road. We wanted the new road
as the old one would take us much longer going through the mountains. We tried to follow the highway signs to the new
toll road when we entered Lazaro Cardinas but soon got hopelessly lost in the old part of town and at one point followed what
we thought was the correct was but ended up on a dead-end going into a military base. We also had to pass through a Federal
Police road check and when asking them directions to the toll road found that their command of English was less than our command
of Spanish.
After wandering around the city for nearly an hour we finally stumbled onto the entrance
to the toll road we wanted and were on our way. We soon found ourselves out of any populated areas going up through the
mountains on the toll road that had four or five toll plazas to go through each costing about 40 pesos. The road
passed by a large reservoir lake that had a hydro plant and continued to climb from sea level to somewhere about 8000 feet. I
was hoping there would be a Pemex station as we hadn’t got gas since Colita de Campos about 200 miles ago and the Jeep
was having to work climbing up the mountain. I couldn’t see how much gas we had as the Jeep’s gas gauge quit several
months ago.
Without any other problems we found the little town of Zirahuen and Ken and Mary-Beth’s house where we would be
staying. The house they are renting is very nice and is located right across from a lake. Tomorrow we’ll visit
the town that does copper work and if time allows a visit to Petzcuaro.
Feb. 24th
After breakfast the four of us plus Ken and Mary-Beth's two dogs climbed in the car and headed for Santa
Clara de Cobra, the little town that is famous for its copper crafts.
After walking in and out of numerous stores, Diane decided on a new mirror for the bathroom at home in Texas
and I bought a copper fruit and veggi hanger for the kitchen.
The craftsmen in the town are very willing to show you the process of getting scrap copper heated in the
furnace to make a chunk of solid copper through the next steps of heating and hammering the copper into whatever shape is
wanted.
From Santa Clara de Cobra we drove to Patzcuero to look for kitchen stools but will check out another little
village that specializes in wood furniture tomorrow.
Feb. 25th
After breakfast the four of us drove in two cars to the little town of Cuanajo that specializes in wood
furniture making. There's a lot of really neat furniture to see with intricate carvings. It makes you wish you had a trailer
to load up stuff and take it home. Diane found two kitchen stools she's been looking for.
We came back to Ken and Mary-Beth's to leave our car and in the afternoon we drove in Ken's car to
Uruapan where there's a National Park that is centered around numerous fast flowing waterways and waterfalls. A couple
of young lads will dive off trees into a pool of water for a small donation. You walk around and through the park
that looks like a jungle and what is amazing is that its located on the edge of a fairly large city of 250,000 population.
We've had a great visit with Ken and Mary-Beth and will be heading back to Rancho B. in the morning.
Feb. 27th
We made it back from Zirahuen and our visit with Ken and Mary-Beth with no problem. It was an easy ride
down from over 8000 ft at Zirahuen to sea level and even easier since I didn't get lost.
The pups were well taken care of by Cynthia and were glad to see us when we drove up. The next morning we
took them for a long play period at the beach.
A lot of pictures were taken while in Zirahuen where Ken and Mary-Beth are staying, in Santa Clara de Cobra
that is famous for it's copper, in Cuanajo famous for its furniture making and in Uruapan, a large city that has
a National Park with many water falls.
I'll try to load as many as I can on the blog.
| Loading a corn truck. Seen on the way to Zirahuen |
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| Ken and Mary-Beth's house in Zirahuen |
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| Market Day in Zirahuen |
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| Market Day in Zirahuen |
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| Husband & Wife cleaning/selling fish at market |
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| Not sure what this place is. Not a butcher shop. |
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| Outside of Church in Zurahuen |
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| Inside of Church in Zirahuen |
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| Man on donkey going to work |
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| Same man returning with donkey loaded |
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| Copper craftware in Santa Clara de Cobra |
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| Copper Gazabo, Santa Clara de Cobra |
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| More copperware |
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| Another copper store |
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| Forge to heat copper before shaping |
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| Shaping heated copper with sledge hammers |
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| Diane trying her hand at copper work |
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| Hanging copper pots I bought for kitchen |
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| Working on furniture in Cuanajo |
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| Carved table for 8. in Cuanajo |
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| Waterfall in National Park, Uruapan |
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| Another waterfall in National Park |
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| Ken, Mary-Beth (hiding) and Diane in National Park |
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| Waterway in National Park |
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| High Diver climbing tree at National Park |
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| Diving from tree |
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Feb. 28th
Quiet day today although I had to drive into town to pick up a few groceries.
We gave the pups their monthly flea/tic treatment so they had to stay away from the beach today so it wouldn't
get washed off. They're not happy but the flea treatment is needed.
The park is starting to fill up again with only about three slots available. We're starting to talk about
packing everything for the trip home. Plans are to leave Rancho B. on March 10th so that only leaves us a week and a half.
We have to sit down with the couple from Ontario (Rick and Diane) who will be traveling with us to talk about travel plans.
Hopefully they're not the kind of traveler who likes to be on the road at the crack of dawn.
We're going to stop for a few days at a park near Guadalajara and leave there on March 15th. That should
get us home by the 20th or 21st.
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 and Diane in National Park)
