We are comfortably set up in this very nice RV park, again, close to the water but also close to one of the main drags of Mazatlan. Another beautiful beach but, again, much more populated than Punta Perula. We were truly spoiled there.
Our drive here from Rincon was quite uneventful but as we were leaving, a few of the park ladies insisted on giving us the Flamingo departure.
Rincon
Beautiful but polluted
Flamingo girls
Do the flamingo.... Wasn't there a song by that name?
We followed the coastal road through San Blas and ended up joining the toll highway just past Tepic. I would not recommend this coastal road to anyone driving a big rig. Although there was very little traffic the road was narrow, often without any shoulders and with vegetation growing right to the edge of the pavement. High rigs would be knocking branches above, not a good thing for those extra antennas, AC boxes, TV dishes and all the other protrusions most rigs carry. There were lots of topes (traffic calming humps) and curves making it impossible to keep up any semblance of speed until we arrived at the toll road. Speed comes at a cost, unfortunately. From Tepic to Mazatlan we had to pay about $50 Cdn in tolls.
Our Garmin GPS continues to be a pain. The machine, itself, is ok but the maps it uses are poor, even though they were updated online recently. Some roads that have been built in the last 5 years don't appear and the unit occasionally has us driving over blank areas on the maps. Obviously, routes are affected too and often it wants to take us miles out of our way to get to the objective. When entering co-ordinates it sometimes refuses to take what we enter and chooses something close but no cigar. I can't imagine having to rely solely on one source. We have Maps.me loaded on the I-Pad and this free app is more accurate than the Garmin so we often have both running simultaneously.
The coast road was very picturesque and took us through some important agricultural areas, mostly fruit producing. Roadside stands were everywhere and sold fruit in season, mainly watermelon, jackfruit, bananas and pumpkins. There were fields of tobacco, pineapples and huge orchards of mangos but it will be another few months before they are ready.
Speaking of food, I must comment on the Mexican version of Wonderbread. Bimbo is the national bakery in Mexico and they produce some amazing products. Amazing, because of their longevity. Whereas a loaf of bread will start turning hard and mouldy within a few days back home, Bimbo bread will stay fresh and edible for weeks without being refrigerated. It makes you wonder what preservatives the use. We don't eat much bread anymore, so this product lasts us quite a while. We are looking fwd to making our own when we get home. We have noticed that many RVers are using bread machines and making their own gluten free options. Jackfruit has always amazed me. I first tasted it in Kuwait when the Bangladeshi airforce people brought some in and invited some of us over for the treat. It was a big event for them. The following photos describe it quite well. It tastes like a cross between a mango and pineapple but without the acidity, an acquired taste for some.
Jackfruit trees
Fruit pods
The edible bits
We arrived in Mazatlan after a leisurely 5-hr drive, found the park easily and had our choice of spots. There were only a handful of rigs and the manager said that they were having a very bad winter and the park was up for sale. There will probably be another resort-style building erected here in the near future. We have heard of 2 other RV parks nearby that have closed. Nevertheless,this park is well maintained, has nice facilities, 24 hr security, easy access to the beach and is very close to our favourite restaurant, Fat Fish. Bus service anywhere down town is just outside the gate. Actually, we are just next door to the Quijote Inn, one of the resorts where we had stayed in 2007 while working on Royal Exchange.
Mar Rosa RV Park
We have been able to see a few friends while here. Lin and Debbie (Dolphin Tales) are still at the El Cid marina. We had coffee with them and caught up on all of the local cruising news. Gary Moore, a friend from my RMC days and his friend Jane have escaped the Canadian winter for a few weeks, he from Calgary and she from Ottawa. They are staying at a resort further down the beach and we have had some quality time with them over the past few days, first at Fat Fish and Twisted Mamas and last night in Old Town. Also. Our RV pals from Punta Perula, Craig and Allison, from Duncan arrived the day after we arrived and are parked just next door.
With Gary and Jane at Twisted Mama's
Fat Fish, great ribs!
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