Travel Takes A Toll
We felt pretty fried after the past few days of travel and had to address some issues with the RV (oil change, radiator issues) and then stock up and boondock at the Walmart in Manzanillo, Colima before moving on. On top of this, it’s getting to the end of the dry, winter season and the weather is starting to get REALLY hot. Once it hits the high 80s/low 90s with high humidity we are kind of done… Just too hot for us to function in.

Mexican Roads Are Hard On Your RV
The RV was getting more shook up and jolted on numerous topes (Mexican speed bumps) and iffy road conditions and the last day ended up with us stocked up, filled up on gas and ready to venture into a sort of “no man’s land” leg of our trip with no gas stations and only minimal supplies from tiny town stores available. Roads through here were narrow, twisty, 2 lanes with barely enough room for us and a large truck coming the other way to pass and no shoulder.
In some places, a steep drop down the cliffs on one side to remind us there was little to no room for error. A few of the grades were the steepest we’ve encountered yet and this was only a tiny taste of the very first part of this coastal route (the only one!) through Michoacán we needed to pass if were were going to continue on to Zihuatanejo and past Acapulco down to Guatemala. And we heard roads could be even worse in Guatemala…although we only planned to cross the border at a low elevation and travel just 1 hour to our destination this has been making us quite nervous.
Getting Stopped By The Police: Pros & Cons of the Mordida Culture
On top of that, in the last city we went through in Colima (Tecomán) before crossing the border into Michoacán we got stopped by the local police. And of course, the games were afoot shortly after that happened. It’s just the way it goes that the local police really would rather that you pay them something in cash…they don’t want to write you a ticket because, well, then they don’t benefit from that. So we knew what was up and I quickly let them know that we knew we could just pay any ticket at a local bank. Most gringos don’t know this so it’s a little bit of a game-changer.
Then they focused on trying deal with Chris since they thought he’d be an easier target. But actually he’s a better negotiator under these circumstances than I am. And as it turns out, they started out wanting $450 pesos (a little over $20US) and then that went up and finally they demanded $100US from Chris and he told them 1) We didn’t have U.S. dollars 2) We didn’t have that amount in pesos either (lie like a dog if you are in these situations…not looking like you have money helps a lot).
After all was said and done He got them back down to the original amount, or less, and it ended up being around $20US (in pesos) AND he got them to escort us back to the edge of town where we could get back on the hwy.
Mind you, we DID break the traffic laws here…we were unaware that larger trucks and RVs were not allowed in certain lanes on certain road configurations going through the middle of town. Most gringos don’t know this so easy pickings. BUT if we would have insisted on a ticket and went to pay it 1) It would have cost us MUCH more money 2) It would have taken us MUCH more time.
So, under such circumstances the mordida (bribe) culture is not always a bad thing once you learn a few basic rules and some tricks and are mentally prepared ahead of time.
After that, fortunately, the border crossing from Colima into Michoacán was a total uneventful nothing burger. We are grateful for that!

We’re Calling It Quits, For Now
But the damage was done and we kind of melted down after we arrived at our next destination at a very remote ranch on 3 hectares of land. We planned to spend 4 days to a week but now that we’ve pretty much decided this will be the furthest south we get on the west coast of Mexico this go-around. We will stay until the Semana Santa Mexican holiday is over (roads and towns are overrun with Mexican celebrants/vacationers) and then head up into the higher elevations of Lake Chapala, Jalisco (40 minutes south of Guadalajara)…a journey that will only take us 2 easy days. Then we will ride out the summer season in cooler temperatures and enjoy the mineral water swimming and soaking pools at the RV park we plan to stay at (a couple of hot springs are in the area).
While it’s a bit sad that we are cutting our original big, hairy, audacious goals short, we are relieved to connect with other travelers here and the wonderful owner, Sandy, (an ex-pat Surfer from the states) who has been here for many moons. We’ve gotten a lot of reassurance, new intel, recommendations for options for doing our visa run not to mention, hearing lots of hair raising and funny stories about traveling Mexico from the very seasoned RVers staying here.
The Universe Provides (Again!)
And we could not have dreamed of a better spot to spend our last few weeks of this winter’s journey at. It’s the best place we’ve been yet! Even though it’s remote, there is a really amazing little Mexican village about 1 mile away and the owner runs back and forth every day and we are free to join him if we need any supplies. For such a small park on private land owned and managed by one person the level of hospitality has been through the roof. From the first minute we pulled up to the gate (We called his cell and the owner rolled up on his motorcycle to let us in) and every single day we’ve been asked if we “need anything” and if everything is okay. Sandy and several of the other RVers gathered under the big palapa before sunset until after dark to share stories, laugh, drink, eat, etc. Everyone is 100% chill.
Artisanal Pizza In Paradise
On top of it all, on the weekends Sandy rolls out a bunch of artisanal pizzas (took him years to perfect his sourdough recipe!) and you can put an order in early in the day to receive piping hot (amazing!) pizza for dinner. Some of you know that I had some pretty nasty chronic issues with my gut/digestion for a number of years and had to totally eliminate all dairy and gluten from my diet in order to just function. As soon as we entered Mexico my issues started improving and a few months into the journey I had zero symptoms. Just the past month I’ve been able to eat things I have not eaten in years and I’m being careful but so far so good In my mind, a great artisanal pizza is like nature’s most perfect food. We ordered one from Sandy tonight and IT’S MY FIRST PIZZA IN YEARS! I’ve literally had dreams about pizza and now, interestingly enough, here we are at this strange juncture in our journey and this happens. Life is so funny sometimes.
Making New Plans
So our new plan (after laying low her for a few weeks) is to turn around and backtrack a little to Colima and head up into the mountains on the nice, wide toll roads for easier travel to Jocotepec, Jalisco. There is a large RV park there at the west edge of Lake Chapala near a Mexican town that we feel will be a perfect home base for the summer. While we were super excited about staying in Oaxaca that’s quite a distance more so we will shelve that plan for a later date. We will also be close to the big ex-pat enclave of Ajijic and just about 45 minutes from Guadalajara City and any resources we may need now that our plan has changed and we will do our visa run via plane.
We received some tips on where and how to do our visa run that should make things much easier, faster and cost us much less money and stress in the process as opposed to driving or even flying to Guatemala. Actually we’re quite relived now…it’s amazing how freeing just giving up and realizing it’s time to throw the towel in can be.
And the saga continues to unfold…plans change but new opportunities always open up.
Also see another blog post and photo gallery about this location here >>
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Great post! I’m glad you found an awesome place to stay and get to eat pizza again. ☺️
Yeah! Me too. On top of that, Chris went fishing for the first time here and actually caught a fish!
WOW! I think you’ve come to a good decision since it brings you so much peace. And how incredibly awesome it is to have support and advice from fellow travelers. Fly on blue butterfly!