Checking out all the changes at Xpu-Ha La Playa

We haven’t got our sleep cycle adjusted yet to Central Standard time. It has been a two hour change from when we left Cleveland.

Our early morning walk on the beach found the workers picking up seaweed as usual.

Of course our little rest stop under the palapas at the end of the beach is still there but we could find any good seats to rest on yet.

There was one lone Pelican.

There was a new structure at Esencia, the small boutique hotel, right on the beach.

The old water tower, bathrooms and two story beach structure that was between our camp and the beach has been leveled..

Top view from camp, bottom view from beach

Nicole & Stephan built a large palapa to cover their fifth wheel, making this the third big palapa in our camp. It’s starting to look like Paamul. Rob & Shirley’s little Sprinter RV on the right.

We heard that all summer long lots of Germans were passing through on their way to Central & South America. They have big military looking rigs and usually only stay for a short time.

A Little Fog–Wrong Turn–Bad Day

We left Catemaco early in a light rain and fog. The traffic was light. But getting on the cuota at Acayucan is a little confusing. Once before I took the wrong ramp. So this time we see the sign that says turn left for Villahermosa, so I do. But, in the fog I turned too soon. I’m driving down the out ramp not the in ramp. So I need to make a U-turn but there are 3 young Mexicans that tried to direct me.

I didn’t see the low guardrail while backing up, BANG, I hit the corner of my bumper, and the guardrail was so low that when I pulled forward it caught onto the bumper and pulled the corner of the fiberglass bumper out from the RV and also broke one tail light.  But, I finally got turned around and even with their help managed to do a minor ding on the left hand bumper.

We made it out OK and into the correct turning lane which was about 50’ further down the highway. I guess when we get to our winter destination at Xpu-Ha we will need to have some fiberglass repair work done.

The roads were a little better this year but there were three long traffic tie ups. One near Minatitlan which was just a rough section of pavement that took 20 minutes because of all the heavy truck traffic. Another long delay was just before Villahermosa. They are building a new freeway interchange. I can’t see why it was so slow, no lanes were missing. The third delay was at the toll booth just East of Villahermosa. I’ll bet we lost a total of an hour but we still made it to our planned destination by 4:45PM. It was a long tough day’s drive.

The restaurant, Campestre Rest Bar-Familiar Maya, is 52 KM past Escarcega. It is back in the trees next to a lake and if you eat there you can camp for free. The fauna are Peacocks that roam freely around the grounds. This year the place looked closed and workman were putting up Christmas lights. We were the only ones eating there this evening. They had no shrimp so we ordered a breaded filet of fish dinner. The filet covered the entire plate with barely enough room for a small salad. Peggy could only eat half, it actually was pretty good.

On Saturday we woke up to clear skies and plenty of sun. We stopped to fill our Propane tank and do some grocery shopping in Tulum. We still got to our campground by 1PM. Our camp spot between Dierck and Carol was still available, so right in we went.

We now need a good rest and will see the beach on Sunday morning.

Thanksgiving at Catemaco

View of the church from the town fishing dock.

We got here on Monday and it was very hot & sunny, with temperatures reaching into the 90’s^o F. A big cool down came in on Tuesday and it threatened to rain but turned out dry, so we walked all over town. On Wednesday it was even cooler and it lightly rained on and off most of the day so we got in a lot of reading. The Low Thursday morning was 60^o  and black clouds were around but no rain. The sun came out and it warmed to the low 70’s.

Gene’s annual potluck Thanksgiving dinner was another big success even though there were not many campers here this year.

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Friday's Driving Plans

Catemaco Veracruz–Beautiful Mountain Lake

It’s about a 5-6 hour drive from the Emerald Coast to Catemaco. The roads are improving every year but it is taking them years to build the bridges on MX180 near Veracruz.

We did some grocery shopping at the Soriana Super Market in San Andrés Tuxtla since it is easy to get in and out of their parking lot.

When you get to Catemaco, stay on MX180 don’t go into town. Right after a big Pemex you will see their sign, they are right down this side road second camp gate for RV’s.

Our little Phoenix Cruiser looks small compared the this big Class A from Mexico. We are the only two campers here and the owner. Gene Gaudi, is preparing a big Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday.

The pools are set to go for the winter guests.

They also have some nice cabins for monthly or seasonal rental.

The lake is popular for taking boat rides and seeing the monkeys on one island.

One block off the Malecon and 4 blocks from the campground, we found this little local restaurant with good food at a reasonable price. Peggy had a shrimp dinner and I had filet of fish Veracruzan style, tomatoes & onions with spices. We each had a Corona and the total price with the tip was only $15 USD.

Stopping for a rest on the Emerald Coast

The kayakers were driving back to Tampico to fly back to DC. Two paddlers stayed on and I could have run the Micos again but we were getting anxious to get to Catemaco. We got an early 7 AM start and had heavy traffic until we pulled off on this beautiful straight road to our El Higo short cut. After about 17 miles the road really got bad for 15 miles all the way until we almost got to MX127. They are rebuilding and repaving the road from that end. I guess the huge sugar cane trucks beat it to death. It sort of reminds me of Mountain Dale road by our cabin with twice as many potholes and some 6”-12” deep.

The weather since we entered Mexico has been great. No rain, high’s in high 70’s at the Micos but cloudy. Hot in high 80’s and sunny along the Veracruz coast.

We got to our favorite campground on the Emerald Coast, Neptuno. This year we found lots of tropical storm damage, almost all their big palm trees have lost their tops. There is no Telcel internet signal reachable from here. There is an option to drive a few miles to the Italian Coffee Company where free wireless is available, or even better if you have a external modem with an antenna you can reach a signal from El Doral Hotel a few doors away. I was able to get the young boy, that helps out the campground owner, to ask the hotel what their password was. It worked for me. This Alfa Wi-Fi Adapter that I use, is only $20 and it brings in wireless from way further than any computer’s internal wireless card.

There are no other campers here but the pool is busy with daytime visitors.
We parked up front this year since the day trippers were parked  where we normally camp, closer to the ocean.

There are sewers here and better electricity but there is more road noise at night.

Peggy got down to the beach, she is worried she won’t make it back up.

All the hotels and campgrounds along the beach have lost about 5’-10’ of land, which included their steps, palapas and palm trees. There  are lots of trees down all along the beach. We took a 2 mile walk on the nice flat dark brown beach.

My girls keep asking why they never get to see me, I guess I take all the pictures. I had Peggy take this one to show them that I am alive and well.

So early on Monday morning we expect to hit the road to Tepetapan Campground in Catemaco. Gene the campground owner, from Chicago, usually puts on a great Thanksgiving dinner.

Monday's driving map & plans