Well, That Didn't Take Long!

You always dread the first ding on a car and I got mine today! We were in a car wash and when it was time to back out onto the street the car wash guy went behind me to wave traffic down and back me out. Well, I was too busy watching him and cranked the wheel too much and contacted a white painted wood pole in the driveway! Crap! Darn! Heck! (and a few other choice comments).

There was an eight inch long scratch and a whole lot of white paint just above the front drivers side tire.

We had to stop at Mega on the way home for a few groceries so I bought some combination rubbing compound & scratch remover. When we got home there was still a half hour or so of light so I read the instructions, dampened a small cloth and started rubbing (back and forth, not circular). In just a minute or so, most of the white paint was gone! I applied more compound to a clean part of the cloth and rubbed some more. All the white paint was gone! There was a small dent left but hardly noticeable! I gave it three coats of car wax and it is as good as it is going to get, just about perfect!

On the way home we stopped in a nice riverside restaurant in Boco del Rio. Norma had breaded shrimp and a glass of vino blanco and I had Pescado Veracruzana and a dark Victoria beer. Both dishes were really good and Norma actually finished all but two of her camerones! My Veracruzana sauce was perfect. Mild tomato base sauce with olive oil, onions, capers, olives and bay leaf. Perfect! Most times when I ordered this dish away from Veracruz it has been spicy. Spicy is not the way it should taste. It should be mild and flavorful, just like it was tonight! It was a little more expensive than last night but the meal (at least mine) was a lot better. The tab was 390 pesos ($32) with tip.

So Long Stompin' Tom

Thanks for the memories! A true Canadian!

Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, (February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013)



A last letter from Stompin' Tom to his fans:

Canadian country-folk legend Stompin' Tom Connors died Wednesday at age 77. A few days earlier the musician penned a letter to fans that he wanted published after his death, his spokesman said. Here is a copy of the letter published on the singer's official website:

Hello friends,

I want all my fans, past, present, or future, to know that without you, there would have not been any Stompin' Tom.

It was a long hard bumpy road, but this great country kept me inspired with its beauty, character, and spirit, driving me to keep marching on and devoted to sing about its people and places that make Canada the greatest country in the world.

I must now pass the torch, to all of you, to help keep the Maple Leaf flying high, and be the Patriot Canada needs now and in the future.

I humbly thank you all, one last time, for allowing me in your homes, I hope I continue to bring a little bit of cheer into your lives from the work I have done.

Sincerely,

Your Friend always,

Stompin' Tom Connors

Today and Yesterday

Our spot in yesterday's sunshine.

The beach

 
Navy marines from their camp just up the beach. They were checking the water line for something. I think I know what.

The beach yesterday

And today

A bird tries the air

And the beach

The dish held down with concrete buckets, rope and a water bottle. The mast that we need tor the dolly mount got lost during the Honda paint job. It would have solved the problem. There is one place left to look but it involves emptying the trunk.

Laying Low In Veracruz

We are hunkered down for the day. We were pretty much up at 4:00 AM when even with the slide in the rocking and rolling and wind gusts made sleep impossible. As soon as it got light I went out and found two cement filled buckets used to tie down tarps, brought them over and re-adjusted the Starchoice dish. I then used the buckets to hold it in place, one jammed against each side of it. It worked until just a few minutes ago (2:00 PM) when the buckets fell over and the dish swung away. I looked out and a family that had come for a swim was getting into their car right beside the dish so I suspect one of the kids had something to do with it. No problem, it took only a few minutes to line everything up again.

We thought of heading into town but the best place to walk is along the waterfront and the wind would make that difficult. So, it is a TV day and Norma is busy cutting up veggies for "something".

Yesterday we asked Jose, who works here, if there was a nice restaurant in the nearby tiny pueblo of  Anton Lizardo. He told us of the one he likes, La Perlita. I had a hankering for Gulf shrimp so we drove down there. It is a very rustic beachfront place and we were the only customers. I ordered the camerones mojo de ajo and Norma the quiche de camerones y jaibas (shrimp and crab quiche). Mine was a bit disappointing.  The shrimp were few, small, unpeeled and the meat stuck to the shell. A lot of messy work for not much reward. I should have taken the owner's advice and ordered the coconut shrimp but it is generally not one of my favorite dishes. Thankfully there was lots of sliced, cooked garlic to mix up with the large scoop of rice that accompanied it. The camerones were 90 pesos ($7.50). Norma's 110 peso ($9) quiche on the other hand was delicious! Large and perfectly prepared. She could only eat half of it so I came to her rescue. All in all an enjoyable dinner added to by a chat with the English speaking owner or manager. We drove home in the dark, something we try to avoid but it was not far and we followed a bus which acted as a "Tope Detector" for us.

The wind is still blowing but nowhere near as bad. We have the slide out again. The forecast has been calling for a 50% chance of  rain tonight but there is not a cloud in the sky. I just clicked back on Weather Underground and they have changed the forecast to a 10% chance with overnight winds from 5 to 30 KMH. We will decide later if we are bringing the slide in overnight.

She's a'Blowin Out There Laddie

We are getting a real wind storm lashing tonight. The motorhome is parked broadside to the wind about a hundred feet from the beach and it is really rocking and rolling. We started loosing the satellite signal so I went out and leaned a 10 liter water bottle against the dish. jamming it up against the dolly. That worked, the dish stopped vibrating. For now. The dish is mostly sheltered by the motorhome, otherwise it would have blown away or at least blown over long ago.

We just put in the slide because the topper awning was flapping like a flag in a hurricane and the whole slide was groaning. I checked the weather for Veracruz and it says, "18 C and Blowing Sand"! That does not sound too good for the recent wax jobs on both the motorhome and car!

I just might get seasick in bed tonight!

Camped Out In Veracruz

We did not have a great sleep in the Costco last night. At about 1:00 AM a semi pulled in right beside us and parked with his engine running. I thought, "He is letting it cool down and will turn it off soon". Well two hours later it was still running and Norma could smell the exhaust. I stumbled naked into the drivers seat and moved to the other side of the parking lot. Unfortunately, this placed a parking lot light right in my face and by the time I rearranged pillows to block it, a bit of time had passed.

We got on the road by 8:30 heading for Veracruz. Ms. Garmin wanted to take us through town but we knew of the bypass on the Libramento. Ms. Garmin protested loudly every time I ignored one of her instructions but eventually fell into line on the south side of the city. We found the El Rey RV Park and pulled in. There were no other rigs but there was a red pickup. A young man walked over to us and we discovered he spoke great English. He told us there had been only one RV in the park and he had just left so they were temporarily closing the park! He said the same owner had another facility two KM to the south that had a couple of RV parking spots.

He locked the gate behind us and lead us to the Coco Aventura just down the beach heading south. We followed him down the narrow winding road past cabins to the beach where there was room to park two large RV's. There is a water faucet to share and one 20 amp outlet (actually two but both on the same breaker). No sewer but we are only staying five days and had just dumped. There is, however, a pool and the beach! It will do. We are paying 220 pesos a night.

Jose said he did put up a sign at the El Rey and they will open up the park again if people show up.

We hooked up the StarChoice and found the signal. Jose tells us it will not be nice tomorrow but pick up again on Thursday. If is not raining tomorrow, we will head into Veracruz for my Pescado Veracruzana. If is raining we will hunker down here.



More photos later. This is off their website.

Xalapa

We are boondocking in the Costco parking lot in Xalapa, the capital of the State of Veracruz. I wanted to head off the cuota to check out parking at the Museo de Anthropologia. I thought we might be able to see the museum and park in their lot overnight. Well... no! The museum is located in a very noisy, busy part of town and has no obvious large parking lot. The entrance we did see was much too small for us. We scratched that idea and headed for the Costco where we read on a forum that we could park. This city is a madhouse and Norma is right, we never should have gotten off the highway!

We did not want to carry on to Veracruz as we would get there at rush hour. We will make a pasta and sleep right here. It seems like it will be quiet.

Norma walked over to buy a membership and a few groceries and talked to the manager. He spoke English but did not understand what a motorhome was. He thought she wanted to sleep in her car. After he walked out for a look, he said "No problem. One night only though." It is 4:00 and is 84 degrees. Life is good!

If you look at yesterday's map, we are right at the top of the hump on the top route.

Plans!

We have plans! As you know so well we do not make plans too far ahead as we never carry through with them. Norma has been wanting to go to San Miguel de Allende on the way home so she can buy San Miguel shoes. I was sort of OK with it but I have seen San Miguel many times and there is no longer an RV park there. We would have to either boondock at the Botanical Gardens or stay in an RV park some distance from town. Our friend Les lives there and it would be great to see him but he is leaving in a day or two for a vacation in Canada. So MY reasons for going to SMA were quickly disappearing and whatever Norma said about it, her real reason was SHOES.

On Friday we started wondering if they sold San Miguel brand shoes in Puebla. I bombarded Google with search terms and sure enough, there was an outlet store downtown. We jumped in the car and headed down. There it was, a half a block from the Zocalo, the small  retail store! Norma headed into the store while I headed to the Zocalo and the Italian Coffee Company where I sat... and sat...and sat. Norma finally showed up with a shopping bag full of shoes. Three pair at under $40 CAN each. What a score! One third the price you pay in the USA for SMA Shoes (if you can find them)! Today I went for a few groceries while Norma watched curling and right there in the mall not five blocks from the RV park was ANOTHER San Miguel Shoe store! I came home to get Norma and she bought another two pairs before we went for dinner in the food court! She is now officially shoe shopped out!

We can now plan a different route North. Veracruz is experiencing some great weather and we have not been there for a few years. That is where we are going! Beach time!

The other day we followed Mex 140 to visit the Pueblo Magico of Huamantila and when we turned off the really nice toll road the signs pointed straight ahead to "Veracruz". We had discovered an alternate route! The old route was on 150D through Cordoba. That road is very rough and contains many very seep hills. It was where we shook the fender off the dolly last year,

I emailed my Blogging friend John of the Blog Viva Veracruz and Viva Puerto Escondido and asked about the road. John and Anita live half a year in the State of Veracruz and half a year on the Pacific shore. If anyone knew about that road, John would. He answered back imediatly, "We take 140 when we go to and from Xico (xalapa) - it is a good road - but dam expensive - in the long run worth the avoidance of wear and tear as well as jangled nerves. ;-)"  We are used to road tolls and the saving in damage to the vehicles makes it worthwhile. That is the way we will go! Thanks John and I am sorry we will have to go yet another year without meeting!

The RV park is just south of the city of Veracruz and is right on the beach. From there we will head up to the Emerald Coast before cutting over to San Luis Potosi and turning north towards Saltillo. Somewhere along the way I am thinking of getting a new timing belt installed in the Honda.

We leave in the morning and may spend the night on the road somewhere before Veracruz. Google Maps says it is 3 1/2 hours but they do not understand Mexican roads. I would guess double that. Here is our route. The top route is the way we are going and the bottom route is the old, jar your teeth out route.

Blocking Anonymous Commenters

I just had to spend two hours deleting 270 spam comments. They were all from "Anonymous" so I have had to delete anonymous comments. This will only affect one legitimate commenter that I know of.

Kelly, I do not want to loose you! Open a Gmail account and even if you do not use it, it will give you a Google ID to comment with. Give it a try here and email me if you have problems.

Same goes for anyone, email me at croftsmexicoatgmaildotcom (fill in the @ and dots) and let me know. I want to keep all of you!

In fact, everyone make a test comment here just to make sure! Email me if it doesn't show up.

A Cold Day In Chignahuapan

The two Pueblo Magicos of Chignahuapan and Zacatlan are both recommended in all the travel guides as a day trip from Puebla. They are about 100 and 110 KM north of Puebla and on the same road. What the books (or even Benjamin from Cummins who also recommended it) didn’t tell us is that it has it’s own micro climate and is very cold. Both pueblos remind me of photos of the Swiss Alps, narrow streets, lots of people, outdoor restaurants (but way too cold to eat at them) and a light fog in the air as if you are in a cloud. The altitude however, is not much different from that of Puebla. As soon as we got near the villages, it started getting cool in the car and the heavy mist closed in. We had the A/C on as it was quite hot when we left Cholula. We turned the A/C off and started seeing people walking on the streets. They were all dressed in heavy jackets, hats and scarves and it looked like they were used to it. We, on the other hand were (me) in shorts and t-shirt and (Norma) in light pants and top! I persevered but Norma went running to the nearest shawl salesman she saw.

They are both very beautiful towns and the people are obviously very proud of them. Here are some shots from Chignahuapan:

Zacatlan

It was so cold in Chignahuapan that we did not even look for a coffee shop to sit in and people watch. This is one of our favorite pastimes in Mexico. There are little coffee shops with tables on the street where you can sip a cappuccino and snack on a pastry while watching life pass by. Most people smile, stop to talk or to practice their English. It is always an enjoyable time and you are never rushed. Once you sit down, you can stay there all day without being pestered by the staff. You get your bill only when you ask for it.

We walked around the Zocalo and quickly decided to head another ten or twelve kilometers north to Zacatlan, hoping it might be a little warmer. Well, it was not. In fact the fog got even heavier and we actually needed the windshield wipers at one point. It was just as cold!

Zacatlan is known for clock manufacturing. The Zocalo has a huge working double faced clock made of flowers. We looked in vain for a store that sold these clocks but after walking ten blocks or so, we gave up. Someday we will come back to these friendly pueblos when we are dressed for the weather.

There was a celebration going on in the Zocalo celebrating 49 (XLIX) years of Indigenous education. They were getting ready to perform something with long poles but by then my legs were beginning to freeze and the locals were looking at me as if I were crazy for dressing so lightly. We had to get back to the car with it’s heater!

On the way home we passed another pottery stand where Norma just had to stop to buy a 250 peso swan for her garden.