Day 13, Sunday, February 25, 2007

A number of folks went out on this boat to Stone Island on a tour. It included a bouncy ride in the Sea of Cortez to see some "pirate" caves on two of the islands and then a very small island with some sea lions resting. The sea lions come here in the winter from North America and Canada waters to have their babies. It was quite windy and therefore chilly.
















The Holland America ship Ryndam was in port and was expected to leave at 5 p.m. tonight. It is a small ship in comparison to the mega ships that they are building today but made our little vessel seem very small indeed.

Some went horseback riding, others snorkeled or took a banana boat ride to view the turtles, or a horse drawn carriage ride. All this was include in the tour price of $20 per person. Very reasonable.

We are all back now and getting our coach's ready for travel in the morning. We will be heading out about 7 a.m. and it will be a long drive back to Los Mochis where we will gather for a pot luck dinner.

Day 12, Saturday, February 24, 2007

Today was a free day and some of the group went off in a little rental car like this one and toured the area. Others watched their rigs being washed and waxed and others just rested.

Some walked the beach, others watched the beach walkers!

The evening was a Fiesta at the Hotel Playa. All the food and drink and a show, such a deal!

We have started a second photo album which can be found at www.picasaweb.google.com/mimmexico/mexicocaravanII

Please visit it often as it is updated daily.

Day 11, Friday, February 23, 2007

This morning we all took a bus tour of Mazatlan after a buffet breakfast on the beach at the Hotel Playa Mazatlan, the same hotel that we had dinner at last night.

The tour took us all along the beach front and to the area where the local fishermen drive their boats up on shore and then sell their fish. You can see the many pelicans looking for a handout. Many of us bought jumbo shrimp from a local that brings it right into the park daily. If you go down to buy fish it is the catch of the day and it varies but we never were told just what they do catch in the area.

Mazatlan is also noted for it's cliff divers. We were able to watch as a few jumped off into the pounding surf. Nothing any of us wanted to do, even feet first.

There is a lot of new growth and condos along the beach area. In fact, one of the few RV parks has been sold and a Costco is going in it's place.

We shopped in a local grocery store that carried many of Costco's brands so they are already heavy in the area.

We toured the old town market and this is just one of the many stalls that we found. This is the way most of the people in the area shop, just like big cities of old. I was really impressed with how high some could stack their wares.

Thursday, Day 10, February 22

We have arrived in Maztalan! This is our first look at the Sea of Cortez. And that is from some distance, but you can see the waves, a little.













We are parked in an old coconut grove that was turned into an RV Park about 30 years ago. As you can see, the trees are still here and the spaces are very small. This is a 42 foot coach being parked in a 34 foot space. And not a scratch on the coach or those around it. But it did take some good maneuvering.









Dinner was at the Hotel Playa, Mazatlan, on the beach overlooking a beautiful sunset and a cruse liner going out to it's next port. We are all tired and have headed back to our coach's for a good nights rest for another full day tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

Wednesday, Day 9, February 21, 2007

After overnight in a no frills rail yard it was time to begin the unloading process. The flatcars were brought to the unloading dock and the rails that they had put on the sides of the cars so that we could walk around were first removed. The ramps were added between the cars and the unloading began. You really had to trust the man leading you over the ramps and down the flatcar. You had only inches on one side of the coach before you would drive off the side.

We drove about 10 minutes to a campground where we rested up before being taken to dinner at a hotel in town. This had to be the best shrimp that I have ever had, and quite a few others voiced the same opinion. As downtown is also the "market" area a few ventured out to see what was available. Not much for us as either we didn't recognise it and couldn't read it in Spanish or had no place to put it. After dinner we all came back full and sleepy and all went to bed early as we'll have to be up early in the morning for our briefing and then we will hit the road for a 254 mile drive down to Mazatlan where we will camp for a few days. See you down the road.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007, Day 8

Today was an early start at 7 a.m. and we traveled down to 100 feet above sea level. This is a picture of one of the cut backs with a waterfall in the background. There were so many tunnels and one was over 1 mile long and had no lights inside at all. Occasionally one of us would turn on headlights but the light didn't travel very far. Many of us were outside sitting in our lawn chairs to enjoy the views. It was cold when we left but warmed up as we got to lower elevations.

Snow yesterday and the tropics today. The hillsides were covered in beautiful flowering trees. We say all sorts of fruits growing in the valleys. When we made it to just outside Los Mochis it was all farm land as far as the eye could see and all growing in various stages. Corn, tomatoes, beans/peas, peppers and many things we didn't recognise from the train.

Arnold and JJ enjoying the ride outside their coach. This picture was taken by one of the security guards that are riding the train with us, they move freely between cars but we all just hang on and stay on our own cars until we are stopped. Notice how close to the edge the drivers side is. This is the was of all the coaches. We must also have our steps retracted when the doors are not open so that the guards can walk by.

Tonight we are on the rails for the last night. We have been parked on a siding and will be moved into positions for driving off in the morning at 7 a.m. Already we can hear train cars being moved about and engines going back and forth, this will not be a quiet night for sure. We have a short drive to our next stop, an RV park for a night, then down the road to Mazatlan.

Monday, Day 7

This morning was started with an early breakfast at the hotel. The usual American fare as well as Mexican. Very good and enough to last us through the day. We left the land of the Tarahumara Indians and the selling of their wares. These are a very shy and unasuming tribe of peoples. We never did see any of the men, at least, we don't think we did. Todays trip was a bit more "rocking" than we've had so far as we traveled over bridges and through tunnels.

This was the color of the sky this morning when we got up so we were not surprised to see some snow and as we rode down into the valley it turned to rain. The sky this evening was also red so we are hoping for fair sky's tomorrow. It should be dry as we will be traveling across the desert.

Today we also crossed the La Laja Bridge at an altitude of 6,750 feet. You can even see the tunnel that we had just exited before crossing over a deep gorge.

We ended up our day in a little town called Bahuichivo and we are overnighting on a side railing. Most of our coaches have high rock walls on either side of them so we will really hear the trains tonight as they pass. The town is up a very high hill so most of us decided not to do the climb. There are no restaurants in town so we all ate in our rigs.