Today we took a last look at beautiful Bahia De Los Angeles and headed north once again to San Quintin (pronounced San Canteen).  When heading south we stopped at Catavina, but we decided to get an early start and skip Catavina and push ourselves to drive to San Quintin in one day.

I was a little nervous about the military checkpoint I knew would come up since that is the one where they reprimanded me for taking pictures.  This time they asked where we were going and asked to come inside.  One very young soldier entered and stayed less than 2 minutes.  He was all smiles and very polite.  A piece of cake this time to our relief.  Once again the narrow mountainous roads with no shoulders was unnerving at times with all the tractor trailers passing on the other side.  There seemed to be a lot of truck traffic today.

A few observations.  Bill commented that there were very few billboards of any kind.  The towns are very small and few and far between, so the roadsides are not cluttered with billboards.  Airplanes of any kind have been nonexistent during our time in Baja.  The times we camped on the beaches we have seen very few boats and no ships.  In the 200 miles between San Quintin and Guerro Negro there is no place to buy gas so you have to really plan ahead.  There are no traffic lights the 200 miles from San Quintin to Guerro Negro.  The towns have tons of speed bumps and stop signs, but no traffic lights, unlike Escenada which has a traffic light on every corner and the traffic is bad.  Bathrooms and restaurants are nonexistent or few and far between.  You pass through agricultural areas with greenhouses and vineyards, but after passing through a couple mountain passes the area is desolate, barren desert.  

We decided to try a different campground in San Quintin, hopefully one with electricity and water.  The entrance to the campground was like driving on a washboard but we were rewarded with a site right on the beach and a beautiful view of the ocean.  Our Mexican camping book said this place had electricity and water, but I don’t know what made us think anything had changed in Mexico.  Again low voltage and low water pressure, but good water quality.  The low voltage is especially a problem for an RV of our size.   Regardless, we were happy with our campsite on the beach and settled in.  It is costing us $15 a night.  In the U.S. a camping spot right on the beach with a view like this would be more than $100.  

We loved going to sleep each night and awaking each morning to the sound of waves crashing on the shore.  Saturday was very foggy and the mist blew by like smoke, but by late morning the skies cleared and the sky was sunny.  It has been such a long time since we have seen rain to amount to anything…probably not since Houston in November!  We had a relaxing and enjoyable day walking on the beach.   We were the only ones in the campground and the beach was deserted.  Very nice!

The owner of the campground, Fidel, gave us some firewood and Bill built a great fire on the beach.   Fidel sat with us around the campfire and talked for awhile.  He said before the 2008 economic down turn in the U.S., many Americans came to Baja and camped.  He showed us a photo album with pictures showing the campground full of campers.  Now, he said, only Canadians come to Baja.  Then in September, 2009, a typhoon hit Baja and his campground was wiped out.  Everything he had worked to build was swept away.  He showed us pictures of the nice campground he had before the typhoon.  We tried to explain to him that one big problem is that Mexico does not have the new highly filtered diesel fuel.  Since 2007, the US environmental protection regulations made it so that diesel engines could only use filtered diesel fuel (low sulfur).   Our Mexican Connection group was told that Mexico had the filtered fuel, but when we got down here, they did not.  There were several in our group who had planned on continuing south but could not because of Mexico not having the right fuel.  Luckily our RV takes gas instead of diesel, so it has not been a problem for us.  Until Mexico gets the filtered diesel, traveling to Mexico for some travelers will not be an option.  Fidel spoke and understood limited English and I don’t think we were able to get him to understand about the diesel, even with the help of a Spanish dictionary.

Sunday was another relaxing day on the beach and we took another walk.  We came across some amazing views of the sand dunes carved by wind and water. Since it was Sunday there were more families enjoying the beach and fishing.  They drive their cars right down to the beach.   It was nice sitting outside catching up on some reading and enjoying our own little Happy Hour.  

Later in the day two RVs rolled into the campground and we were so glad that Fidel had some more business for his fledgling campground.

Tomorrow we head back to Ensenada to the Estero Beach Hotel and Resort where we stayed when we first arrived in Baja.  They have laundry facilities and fairly good WIFI so we will have a chance to catch up on laundry and email.

We said goodbye to the last of the Mexican Connection group members and headed alone back north toward the US border.  Everyone else was continuing further south and staying 6 weeks or longer.  Since we were 450 miles from the border, we decided it was time to turn around and head back to the U.S. to continue our plans to travel north up the coast of California to Canada.  If we waited too long we wouldn’t have time to get back south before cold weather in the fall.  Our first stop was at a Pemex to get gas.  All gas in Mexico is sold by independently owned stations called Pemex and therefore they are all the same.  The price per gallon is about the same as in the U.S. but the gas is provided to all stations by the Mexican GOVT. They always have an attendant to pump the gas for you and we had been warned by the Mexican Connection wagonmaster to watch them carefully since they don’t always clear out the pump before starting and therefore you get charged too much. Next we passed a military checkpoint.  When we passed through traveling south they waved us through.  This time they made us stop and asked where we were going and asked to come in for an inspection.  They wanted to see our passports but the wagonmaster had warned us not to give them our passports but just show them our FMM’s (Visas).  They wrote down both our names and while Bill was taking care of that I opened the door so one of the solider could come in.  He came in carrying a screwdriver and opened doors, cabinets and drawers.  He knocked on the ceiling and walls of the RV.  Supposedly they are checking for concealed weapons and drugs.  I think a lot of it is curiosity and they are looking for something they might want to ask for.  Our wagonmaster said they once asked for a highlighter they had sitting on a table.  The solider made no comments and left.  I started thinking about all the border patrol we have encountered in the U.S. since leaving Texas and I realized that Mexicans visiting the U.S. must go through the same kind of thing with our own border patrols. The rest of the trip was uneventful and we entered the tiny town of Bahia De Los Angeles.  It was absolutely beautiful!  We happened to have a military truck it front of  us while entering the town and I caught them in the picture.   The town seemed almost deserted with very little traffic or people.  It did have a little roundabout   when entering the town and we stopped at a little restaurant for lunch.  Bill had fish tacos and I had a club sandwich and fries.  The sandwich was okay but the fries were horrible.  How I miss those Idaho potatoes.  It seems to us the prices in restaurants are about the same as those in Mexican restaurants in the U.S. which was surprising to us.  The difference is in Mexico the meals take longer and you get more for your money with the meal coming in several courses.  You usually get chips and salsa to begin, followed by some kind of soup.  They never ask what kind of soup you want, it is just whatever the cook has prepared for the day.  The main course usually includes the traditional rice and beans as well as several garnishments of fresh tomato, onion and cilantro and a bowl of fresh guacomole.  Meals take longer to be served since everything is prepared fresh. We pulled into our campground with a beautiful view of the Sea of Cortez.  Bahia De Los Angeles is on the Bay of California also known as the Sea of Cortez on the gulf side of Baja.  This is another dry camping site but staying here is well worth the view!  We have learned not to expect electricity and water while camping in Mexico because even if they advertise electricity the voltage is often too low to be of much use.  If we have water we only use it for showering and flushing the toilet and we use bottled water for everything else.  Many campgrounds on the beach in Mexico have thatched roof shelters called “ramadas” or “palapas” which are sometimes located at each campsite and sometimes spread out among the campground.  We have also noticed that picnic areas and rest areas with tables always have this shelter over the tables.   Even had a space set aside where you could clean your fish!  Wednesday we got up early to watch the sunrise and spent the day relaxing and enjoying the view.   Thursday we rode our bikes the two miles into town.  We were getting low on propane and found a place where we could take the RV to get it filled.  We then biked further into town and found a small grocery store to buy peanut butter and oranges.  We walked next door to a little restaurant where no one spoke English.  We managed to order some chicken burritos for Bill which he said was very good.  The town again looked deserted and it seems their busy season is the summer which is surprising because it must be very hot then. The bike ride home was pretty challenging due to us pedaling against a really stiff wind.  We felt safe riding on the road because traffic was so light and only a couple cars passed us. Later in the day we drove the RV into town to get propane.  It was a family business with the wife speaking a little English but her husband did not.  While the tank was filling she introduced me to her 6 dogs and 5 cats.  She wanted to give me a cat but I used the excuse that I would never get it across the U.S. border.  We have noticed a large number of dogs running loose throughout the towns and campgrounds throughout Baja.  Most campgrounds have a welcoming committee of dogs but we have found that they leave us alone and do not hang around the campsite and beg for food. Tomorrow we head further north towards the border.

Today for my birthday Bill took me on a whale watching tour.  A van picked us up at the campground and drove us down to a huge lagoon called Laguana Ojo de Liebre off of the Pacific Ocean.  On the way we passed a salt mine which is the largest in the world.  They process and ship salt all over the world.  We boarded a small boat which held 15 people, passed huge sand dunes and the view was beautiful.  We saw many gray whales since this is where they migrate to from February to April to give birth.  The whales came right up to the boat and we were able to touch them.  They were curious about the hum of the boat’s engine and went from one side of the boat to the other passing underneath.  The water was clear enough to see them swimming and they were very playful.  They were close enough to see their eyes   and blowholes…I never knew they had two blowholes, just like a human nose.  We were sprayed by the mist from their blowholes and a couple times I was drenched as they flipped in the water and splashed their huge tails.  They had many barnacles and not the prettiest creatures I have ever seen, but I was in awe of actually touching a whale!  I once in a lifetime experience!    Everywhere we looked there were whales swimming and jumping in the water.  We did not see as many baby whales as we thought we would, but there were plenty of other whales and our guide told us there were some pregnant whales in the water.  Unfortunately none of them decided to give birth while we were there!

After a box lunch of sandwiches and fruit provided by the tour company we started to return to shore.  Along the way we passed a large mooring where seals and sea lions were sunning themselves.  The seals barked at us as we passed by.  

Monday evening we had dinner at the campground at Mario’s restaurant.  Bill had some great shrimp broiled in garlic sauce.  I ordered fried chicken and should have known better.  When my food came I thought it sure didn’t look like fried chicken.  I gingerly tasted it and the waitress who was also Mario’s wife, asked me how I like it.  She then told me it was fried scallops.  Not good news for someone who does not eat seafood.    I sent it back and declined their offer to fix something else when she said they didn’t have any chicken.  I thought it strange they would automatically substitute scallops for chicken without asking.  But, this is Mexico!  I am finding Mexico is a great place for me to lose weight.  I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich again for dinner.

Our group of 8 returned to the Catavina hotel restaurant this morning for breakfast before leaving for the 130 mile trip to Guerrero Negro.  The mileage doesn’t seem far, but with the Mexican Highway 1 roads through the mountains it took about 4 hours.  We had one uneventful military checkpoint where they waved all of us in our caravan of 4 RVs through the checkpoint, and I took NO pictures!  Today there was a lot of tractor trailer traffic which does not make for easy travel on these roads.  We sure were glad we had the reflective tape on the driver’s mirror since some of the trucks came really close when passing.

As we traveled further south the terrain reminded us more and more of the desert in Arizona and we saw donkeys and horses along the sides of the road.  It was not unusual to see cattle along the side of the road and there were many signs warning of cattle on the roadways.  As we neared the outskirts of Guerrero Negro we left the state of Northern California Baja and entered the new state of California Baja Sur (south).  We had to go through an agricultural inspection where they asked if we had oranges or potatoes.  We then had to pay 20 pesos (a little under $2.00) to have the bottom of our RV sprayed so we would not be bringing any insects into Southern Baja.

We arrived at Mario’s Campground in Guerrero Negro and tried to find a place to set up.  We found the electricity and water here is very limited.  One site had voltage too high and one too low.  We thought we found a good site but our surge protector cut the power off and on all night as the voltage fluctuated dramatically.  We also had no water pressure and they said the pump was off but they would turn it on.  As I took a shower that evening I found the water suddenly stopped and we had to use our water tank.  They seem to cut the water off and on at random and we had to go each morning and during the day and ask them to cut the pump on.  Well, it IS Mexico!!  We used their water, when we had it for showering and flushing the toilet and our good tank water for cooking and drinking.

When we left Catavina this morning the temperature was almost 90, but by the time we reached Guerrero Negro near the ocean, the temperature dropped to 70 with the ocean breezes.  The wind really picked up at sunset and it was windy throughout the night.

Today is a travel day and we are breaking up into even smaller groups as some are headed back to the border, some headed north and some further south.  We are in a group of 4 heading south.  We had a final pot luck breakfast before saying our sad goodbyes.  

Our group of 4 headed out to Catavina where we would be staying overnight on our way to Guerrero Negro.  Once again the roads were very narrow with no shoulders, but today there was little traffic and there is basically nothing between San Quintin and Catavina.  It is very desolate and reminded us of parts of the desert of Arizona with lots of saguros and huge rocks.  

We crossed one military checkpoint and that is where I got in trouble.  I snapped a couple pictures of the military police with my camera from a distance.  I didn’t think they would see me but they did through the RV windshield.  They came over and I had to open the door and hand them my camera.  They were obviously upset with me.  I kept saying “lociento” (I am sorry).  One of them asked where we were going and went through the pictures on the camera.  He showed me which ones he wanted deleted and watched while I deleted them.  He then sternly said “No photos!” and walked again.  Whew!  We were on our way again.  A rather scary lesson learned.  I really thought they were going to confiscate the camera.

After crossing a really bad place in the road that had almost been washed out, we arrived at our destination.  It was very hot but quickly cooled off at sunset.  Our destination was a large dirt lot with no hookups.  We circled RVs like a wagon train and made camp.  After everyone was settled we all drove back about 2 miles to a beautiful hotel with a restaurant for a late lunch.  The hotel appeared to be deserted so I have no idea how they stay in business.  My lunch came with French fries and I learned Mexican potatoes are very different from Idaho potatoes back home.  I did not like them at all.  While they look like potatoes, there is no resemblance in taste!

When we arrived back  at the campsite we had a 3 hour Happy Hour with fresh pineapple, strawberries, margaritas, pina coladas and chips and salsa.  We enjoyed the warm breezes, watched the sunset, swapped RV travel stories, and did some stargazing under a beautiful full moon.  Later we could hear coyotes howling in the distance.

A Valentine’s Day like none other!

A day to enjoy the beach!  A little chilly with the breezes off of the Pacific, but a great day at the beach.  We noticed that the day here started off sunny and then around 9:00 a misty fog blew in and stayed until 11:00.  Just when you think the day is going to be cloudy, the mist blows out and the day is once again sunny and bright.  We love our beach campsite at El Pabellon!  

Bill began the day at 8:30 by meeting a few members of the group to go to an elementary school about a mile from the campground.  One of the members of the group had a computer they no longer needed and we heard the school could use it.  Bill, the computer engineer, went along to set it up and get it working.  They took along some school supplies they had also saved for the school.  The school had 3 classrooms with grades 1 and 2 in one room, grades 3 and 4 in another room, and grades 5 and 6 in the last classroom.   School is compulsory through sixth grade in Mexico.  They had a little kindergarten/preschool in a separate building.

When Bill and the group returned we all drove into San Quintin to a restaurant recommended by those who had been there before.  We were told they served great cucarachas which is Spanish for roaches.  We knew that was really ham and cheese quesadillas.  The quesadillas were delicious and the chips and salsa very spicy.  We enjoyed great food and company.  On the way back home we noticed how they used sticks for fences around their homes and yards.  

We barely got home before it was time for Happy Hour.  During Happy Hour Bill was presented with a Mexican Connection 8 volunteer patch for his service to the school and a picture drawn by the children.  

Our friends Bob and Sharon invited us to their RV for dinner.  Bob grilled salmon he caught in Alaska and Sharon made a great Caesar salad.  Wine and margaritas were added to the meal…delicious!!  The evening passed too quickly and we had to wish them a very sad farewell.  Tomorrow they are headed north to San Felipe and we are heading further south in Baja.  I am sure we will meet up with them again somewhere, sometime.

Of our original group of 87 people and 49 RVs, only 22 RVs continued south.  With the charity work done, the others decided to return home or head north to another destination.

With our smaller number, we still divided up into groups with a group leader and a tailgunner and stayed in touch by CB radio.  We had heard that the road from Ensenada to San Quintin which is Mexico Highway 1 was bad in places due to road construction.  This had no connection with the toll road collapse between Tijuana and Ensenada.  We knew the 122 miles from Ensenada to San Quintin would probably take four and half to five hours due to detours onto dirt roads.  

We did encounter 4 detours onto dirt roads with pot holes, but the trip was not as bad as expected.  In Baja there are many many “topes” which is Spanish for speed bumps.  The Mexicans love speed bumps and you can come across them very unexpectedly.  The most unnerving part of driving in Mexico are the narrow roads with no shoulders and big dropoffs.  The driver has to constantly be on guard and I did quite a bit of watching out my side window to be sure we were not over the white line on the shoulder side.  

This area is largely agricultural and we saw asparagus and a type of prickly pear cactus growing.  We saw a lot of the cactus for sale in the grocery stores and were served it in restaurants.  They scrape the spines off the cactus before selling.  They can be sautéed or boiled and taste very much like green beans.  In this area they also grow peppers, onions, strawberries and tomatoes.  We saw many greenhouses and Baja’s largest tomato processing plant is in this area.  We also saw many vineyards.  We stopped to take a break and there was a truck selling oranges and one person in our group walked over and bought some.  As we got closer to San Quintin (pronounced San Canteen), we saw 5 inactive volcanoes of San Quintin Bay.  Due to haze we were not able to get a picture from the window of the RV.

About 5 miles outside of Ensenada we came to a military checkpoint.  Every RV in our group was inspected which meant a military policeman with a large rifle came inside to look around.  He asked us where we were going, if we had a dog, looked under the bed and then asked if we had a GPS.  When we said yes he asked where it was.  When we showed him he said okay and left.  It seems everyone in all the groups were asked if they had a GPS.  We had been warned in advance that sometimes they ask for Coke or candy and one man had his rib eye steaks “confiscated”, but we did not experience that happening.  We passed through one other military checkpoint but they just waved us through.

Everyone arrived safely at El Papellon RV Park and we pulled onto the beach for dry camping.  That means we are self sufficient and do not rely on electricity, water or sewer hookups.  Bill set up the solar panels he bought to recharge our batteries and we used fresh water from our RV water tank.  We all set up in time to continue our Happy Hour 4 P.M. tradition, except this time it was on the beach!  During Happy Hour a man pulled up in a pick up truck loaded with fresh clams.  Several of the people in the group bought the fresh clams…..a dozen for 50 pesos which is about $4.00 in dollars and they were huge! 

Bill and Bob spent some time discussing engines and RV stuff.  You can see the reflective tape on the driver’s side mirror.  We had been warned before leaving for Mexico to put reflective tape on our mirror so the truck drivers and buses could see the mirrors on the narrow Mexican roads and not knock them off.

We finished the evening by going next door to Bob and Sharon’s RV where we enjoyed a spirited game of Mexican Train dominoes.

Monday brought a much needed rest and a day to catch up.  We had our yearly Mexican Connection 8 Board Meeting followed by a General Session where new officers and wagonmasters for 2015 and 2016 were chosen.  The rally next year will be held in Kino Bay on the Mexican mainland, and after this rally is over the new wagonmaster will travel to Kino Bay to begin scouting out a places to stay and possible activities in the area.  A Mexican Connection rally was held there years ago and we hear it is beautiful.

Tuesday was our final day in Ensenada and it was spent doing laundry and preparing to head further south on Wednesday to San Quintin.  They say San Quintin is where you start to see the real Baja.  Ensenada is a cruise ship destination and that has made it very touristy.  The traffic is pretty bad in Ensenada and the Mexicans drive fast and recklessly.  While I was waiting for the laundry to be done I took a few last pictures of our campsite and the Estero Beach Resort property.  The laundry consisted of two working washers and 4 dryers that took two cycles to fully dry.   But I was grateful for them!  The resort had a nice pool and hot tub,   as well as a nice building for us to have our meetings and Happy Hours.  

In the early afternoon we went with Bob and Sharon to another large grocery store for some supplies.  The store was large and very clean with many fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat.  Just like Walmart, they had bins of fresh but unrefrigerated meat sitting out for you to select what you wanted.  Again, very limited supply of any frozen food.  You never know what you may see on the side streets of Mexico.  

Tuesday evening we had a farewell dinner at a Mexican restaurant where there was much good times and cheer.  

On to San Quintin!!

Sunday we took two tour buses to a place where they have a ocean blowhole called La Bufadora.  The drive there was beautiful and we had the same tour guide as we had on the tour of Ensenada.  Her husband was the driver of one of the buses and her son who is 18 years old and working on his license to be a tour guide was the on the other bus.

The blowhole was more of a tourist trap than I expected with a street full of vendors and restaurants.  The blowhole was not as spectacular as we had hoped since the tide was going out, but the view was wonderful.

We had lunch at Habana Banana where we ate upstairs and enjoyed the view.  Our friend Sharon decided to take the slide down from the second floor instead of the stairs! 

After lunch we went to a local orphanage.  This is a good time to to talk about one of the goals of the Mexican Connection 8 which is to do charity work in Mexico.  One of the members of our group is a retired fireman and his town of Durango, Colorado donated $30,000 worth of used equipment and supplies to the firemen in the outlying areas of Ensenada.  The town of Ensenada has a fairly decent fire department, but the outlying area have practically nothing.  They were given uniforms, jackets, boots, hats and other equipment firemen must have when fighting fires.  Some of the men in our group took the equipment to the firefighters and the retired fireman said it was such a humbling experience  to see how much the help was appreciated.  The fireman said the fire engine they had was older than the engine he rode on 30+ years ago when he was a rookie fireman.

Mexican Connection 8 donated clothes, toiletries and other personal items, as well as school supplies and money to several charities in Ensenada.  The money raised during our auctions and raffles during Happy Hours was used to help the children in the orphanage we visited today as well as several other charities in Ensenada.  Some of the ladies had made beautiful dresses for the girls.  When asked what the orphanage needed, the reply was food and toilet paper, so several leaders of our group made arrangements to take them to Costco.

The orphanage we visited was called Kids Kingdom run by an American minister and his wife.  If you are interested you can google them and read more.  They had children ranging in age from 5 to 24.  They were well cared for and happy, though somewhat awestruck by the large group of Americans visiting.  The two older children had grown up in the orphanage and were now attending college.  They choose to continue to live at the orphanage and help out.  One younger child has muscular dystrophy and is taken twice a year to Mexico City for treatment.  Another older boy is a special needs child and is currently taking classes at a school that will teach him a trade so he can get a job.  Before leaving we had some time to go to the playground and interact with the children.  Visiting the orphanage was truly a humbling and sobering experience. 

Later that evening we had two auctions, one silent and the other a regular auction, all items donated by members of the group.  Through the sale of raffle tickets, $440.00 was raised, with half going to the winner and half to the orphanages.  Of course the winner immediately donated his winnings back to the charities.  Women baked pies and cakes which were bought at big prices…all going to help the children of Mexico.  When the owner of the resort where we were staying saw the huge amounts of items we had brought with us for the charities, it warmed their hearts and opened doors for us.  The same happened with the tour bus company and tour guides.  When they were asked where their were orphanages and people needing help because we wanted to help them, again it opened doors for us.  We were initially only supposed to have the one tour of Ensenada with the buses.  When the tour bus company found out about our charity work, they gave us buses to go to the blowhole at significantly reduced rates.  They were also willing to make a side trip for us to visit the orphanage instead of returning straight back from the blowhole.  The tour guide and her husband made treats for us to have on the trip and thanked us over and over for what we were doing for the people of Mexico.  I am proud to say that our little Mexican Connection 8 group raised over $7,000 in addition to the $30,000 donated by the firemen.  The group in charge of charities scouted out the area and visited all the possible charities to receive our donations.  They presented a list to the group and we voted on the charities and how much each would receive.  The money and supplies went to several orphanages, a shelter for abused women, and a group that provides wheelchairs and supplies to ambutees and handicapped.  We did check into a nursing home but they said they were okay.  A couple people from our group went to visit the shelter for the ambutees and were driven there by a woman who is a double ambutee herself.  They later told us she drove her car through busy downtown Ensenada traffic using a stick with a crossbar at the bottom that she used to push the gas pedal and brake.  Needless to say the couple came back wide-eyed from the experience.

After the auction we went home tired but feeling like it had been a very fulfilling day.

Saturday found us taking a tour of the Estero Beach Museum here at the Estero Beach Hotel and Resort near our campground.  The resort provided us with an English speaking guide and the collection of over 400 years of Mexican history and culture accumulated by the owner of the resort was amazing.  

Saturday afternoon we drove into Ensenada to Walmart and Costco.  I expected Walmart to look like the Walmarts in the United States.  It was small and crowded with merchandise like washers and other appliances flip flops and clothes crowding the aisles.  The food selection was limited and I had trouble trying to read the labels.  I thought I would be able to figure out what items were by the pictures alone, but I was sadly mistaken.  Besides being in Spanish, the pictures look different.  The selection of frozen food such as vegetables and tv dinners was very limited or not available.  To my dismay they do not have Diet Coke in Mexico, but instead they have Coke Light which I did not care for.  No Diet Coke, no Breyers ice cream…..WAWAAAA  🙂  In the meat department they had a huge bin of fresh chicken legs cut up and you just got a bag and selected your fresh chicken.  The bin was huge…like what they put watermelons in at the store.  I really wanted to take a picture but I was afraid they might get upset if I started snapping pictures.  Between not being able to read the aisle signs and labels, shopping was a little frustrating.  I was uncomfortable buying meat because I didn’t understand the labels and I wasn’t sure what I was really buying.  It took 4 Walmart clerks to understand I wanted frozen chicken.  I knew pollo was chicken but I didn’t know the word for frozen and Bill was in another part of the store with the spanish/english dictionary!

Next we went to Costco which was exactly like the one in the United States.  You would not know you were in Mexico if it wasn’t for the signs in Spanish.  They were even giving out samples of cheesecake and beef and sausage.  Or at least I think it was beef and sausage!!

On the way home we stopped and had lunch at a little taco stand that had been recommended to us by a hotel employee at the campground.  Bill and our friends had fish and shrimp tacos which they said they were better than the ones we got down at the fish market. 

The day ended with more fun and cheer at Happy Hour!