2-23-05

It actually was a very good night in the walmart parking lot. I was far removed from the main road and was fairly quiet all night. It was however very humid. When I went in the store I felt the airconditioning right away and when I came out it was like walking into a locker room after hot showers were thaken. The Quebec guys say that that ‘IS’ Mexico,  welcome!!! They also said that it didn’t start getting good until south of Mazanillo which is a five hour drive he says.
 
I was heading down that road when I came to a little town that  had these trees planted along the highway. They were down off the road so I was able to get up close to take these photos of the tree flowers. They were absolutely fabulous.

Leaving Puerto Vallarta the road climbs into the hills and it seemed to be much dryer up there. The vegetation thins out and it is easier to see around.
I was actually looking  for a spot to take a nap when I saw a sign for RV camping three kilometers. I went down that road and found a very small town, I still don’t know what the name is, it is not on the map. The town is strung along about ten blocks with the main road running about a block off the beach. I took one of the little roads that went down to the beach and went out on this beautiful fine sandy beach to get my legs wet. When I came back to little red a little old man came out of what looks like a half abandonded villa and handed me a coconut that he had cut the top off. He was offering me this as a gift. I followed him back into the grounds of the place and sure enough it was abandoned at least at the ground floor level. He was just so friendly and asked me to take a seat and we laughed and gestured with each other for at least a half hour while I drank the milk of the coconut. I learned not to drink it  all at once like I had the first time I bought one. he said that  at one time he was a foot ball player, that means soccer player.  He got up and made the soccer moves and I could tell he was very comfortable with the moves. He took me up to he upper story where the door was locked and the windows barred and shuttered. I think he lives in the  lower area and watches the place for the absentee owners. I asked if I could camp there to night and he said Si. After thinking it over I decided that I didn’t want to get him in trouble if he was only squatting there so I said I was going to go drive around. I got in little red and drove down a couple of blocks to where the sign said RV parking. I really wasn’t interested in staying in  the RV park but I thought I would just take a look at the beach from there.

I pulled up about where these people are standing and took my look. There were a couple  of women standing  there and when I put lil red in reverse and started backing out one of them said, “hey you cant just pull in here and not get out and at least make friends” or something like that. well I got out and said that I really didn’t like camping with other people and I would be leaving. Well that was just not good enough for Patty and she decided that I could stay out on the street and use the shower and  bathroom for fifteen pesos a day. I thought that might not be bad and I could use a shower so I pulled lil red in the side of the street and set up camp. Mimi who lives in the motor home to the right had just come in form swimming and said the water was fine. I put on my trunks and headed for the surf. The water was wonderful. Not too cold and not too warm. It was perfect. Some people were saying  that the water in Puerto Vallarto was very dirty and probably polluted. I had a great swim and  came in and showered up. there was a guy that had just caught five bug eyed puffer fish that he was gutting and filleting. He said that they have a poison sack and you have to be careful to get it out. humm, that sounds interesting. He also said that they have only a back bone and no ribs. That is cool and it made filleting the fish easier. 

I happened to notice a satalite outfit on a tripod at the back of the motor home and asked the owner Mimi if  that was a internet hookup. Yes she said it is the internet café but they don’t serve coffee. I went and popped open the computer and bingo! What a life. I saw that one of the girls, their names are Jonna and Mimi, stepped out and took a photo of me with my laptop in camp.  I then went up and asked if they would take a photo of me with my camera.

You may notice the white legs. I have almost the whitest legs in all of Mx. It is so embarrassing when almost everyone down here has nice brown tans.

The girls are going to stay another day and I guess I may stay here too as this is a really nice bunch of people  that are here. I went up for happy hour and met quite a few of them this evening. There is a little store around the corner and several restaurants and taco stands. Jonna said that they had good food.

I met an older man and his wife from Santa Fe who come down here forever. He was showing me where the Monarch butterflies come for the winter.  He said that they would start the migration north in a week or two. I am not that far from there. They say that that is really something to see.