Overland Adventure Excursions

We left Texcoco and stopped by Walmart to pick up some supplies. We needed paper products, some dairy, and some meat. I picked up some more cash so we don’t have to keep looking for ATMs the next several weeks. We were packing the truck and had to dispose of two small bags of trash and I put one in one of the containers in the parking lot. Getting rid of trash in Mexico is not a simple task, especially in CDMX where 20 million others are doing the same. Some dude came out from Sam’s Club and started yelling at me in Spanish and then hovered at the back of the truck indicating I had to go get the other bag back, which had now been removed from the trash container. When we finished putting everything away, he reached for my second trash bag, I handed it to him with $100 pesos ($5.50) and he instead took it AND the other bag to the big trash bin in the back of the store. Problem solved.

We made our way out of the parking lot and on to the 52 miles we were going to drive today to Paseo de Cortez, between the two volcanos outside of CDMX. It took us about 3 hours to get up there, including a stop to repair those pesky tie-downs on the camper after hitting yet another ridiculous bump at 60kph on the freeway. uggh.

We arrived at the Parque Nacional Iztaccíhuatl – Popocatépetl around 2:30 and set up a quick free camp in the parking lot. Jaime is a National Park Police Officer and he was doing his 48 hour shift this weekend and he met us in the parking lot and gave us a tour of the visitor’s center with a great explanation of the park, the volcanos, and the history. Popocatepetl is closed due to its activity and the safety of the visitors as well as refurbishing the natural setting. Iztaccihuatl is open for business and at the peak it sits at 17159 feet (5280 meters). He said you can hike to the summit in 5-6 hours from the parking lot and some people do the up and back in one day. We will skip that, mainly due to the requirements for cramp-ons above 5000 meters and our lack of protective gear. My mom’s hiking club traveled here and did this in the 60’s.

Jaime gave Kathy a ride on the official 4-wheeler and showed here a good hike we could do the next day to a local lake. She bundled up tight because it was about 50 degrees and as the sun set it quickly dropped to 40. She came back slightly frozen and I made some good chicken potato soup for dinner. The temperatures dropped to about 30 degrees overnight and we were thankful for the heater in Howie. We met a young German couple, Nick and Emily, who have been traveling in their Mercedes van since 2024. They have been from Halifax, Canada, to Florida, across Texas to California, up into Alberta and British Columbia, into Baja California last winter, back to Florida (to store their vehicle over the summer) and then back to Mexico this year. It was great talking to them and getting their insights on travel.

Saturday this place is packed with hikers and the sparsely populated parking lot was filled to the brim by 8AM. We made a quick breakfast, took the pups for a walk, and then headed down the trail Jaime recommended. It was a beautiful hike through a pristine forest (minus all the trash next to the trails) and on to a lake. The lake area is an ecotourist area with a few cabins, some paddle boats, and a campground. There are some roadside stands and caminas where we had a three blue-corn tacos and two drinks for about $13 USD. The hike to the waterfall was short and the waterfall was beautiful.

We decided to do a loop back and hiked up the road (yes it was all uphill) back to the parking lot. The whole day was about 7.5 miles of hiking and took us about 4 hours. What a fantastic day. Kathy made her beef stroganoff for dinner and we shared a plate with Jaime after his return from his patrol (he takes his quad up to the end of the road, about 10km, and then hikes up to the shelter, about 5000 meters. Then the patrol follows the other trail down and back to the pass. He said there used to be a problem with hikers getting robbed but after the government put patrols out there 10 years ago, there has not been any issues.

We had a nice relaxing night and will be heading down to a town called San Andrés Cholula next to the larger city of Puebla. We will stay a few days there to explore and enjoy the atmosphere.

Here are some additional photos from the days in the pass.

Tuesday I spent some time cleaning out the camper and getting old unused items removed. Keith and Yudi were still here waiting to get their van back. We spent part of the morning over at the Autozone getting him a new battery and discussing with the mechanic the need to get the vent lines all hooked up. He had to have his water pump replaced and the mechanic unbolted his entire font of the van to get to it. Since he had done all of that, he was planning on replacing the pulleys and tensioner, the belt, and the thermostat as well. The whole process is a bit unnerving given the mechanic’s shop is a dirt lot next to a road with the office being the detached cargo bay of an old delivery truck.

Jaime had a front-loader scheduled to come out to do the road on Tuesday, but the guy called and said he would be there Thursday. Jaime’s son had soccer practice and I was invited to ride along so we could stop at one of the few round pyramids in the area and then get some Pulque. The pyramid is in the middle of a farmer’s field and there are tons and tons of broken pottery pieces strewn along the freshly plowed rows. The pyramid itself is fenced off and remains a study location for the local archaelogy community. It predates the Aztecs in the area, and of course, most of the good stones from this and some other pyramids in the area can be found at the local church.

Pulque is a regional beverage made from the fermentation of the agave plants in the area. It contains proteins and probiotics that are good for gut health. It is found almost everywhere in this region and locals sell it in bottles or in this case, a historic location that had been fermenting it for several generations. They were out of the natural flavor, but pulque is often blended with local fruits to give different flavors. They had the guava flavor and the proprietor scooped two liters from a 55 gallon plastic trash bin and poured it into our cups. I guess they brew it and add more ingredients every night and let it continue to ferment. The taste is light and somewhat fruity with a hint of carbonation and the texture is like a thin shake or fruit smoothie. Apparently the proteins found in the drink are the same as those in milk.

We made it back to the soccer field to pick up his son and then headed back to the camp. I walked into town to retrieve my laundry that I had dropped off on Monday. I took Zuzu on the trip and she seems to like the extra walks. Maggie has healed up mostly and goes on the morning and evening walks with a little coaxing. Her partial blindness probably does not help much, but I have found a route that only had a few barking dogs behind fences and amounts to about 3/4 of a mile.

Wednesday was kathy’s flight and I hung out with Jaime and Keith for a while. We chopped some weeds in his yard around the area he was getting leveled. The front loader guy decided to show up Wednesday, so I moved Howie out of the way and we watched as he graded the area to a bit more of a flattened landscape. Jaime had some guys installing his new garage door and we watched them for a while. The door is a bit heavier than what we get it the states and the gearing mechanism alone must have weighed 300 lbs. All was installed into the concrete pillars and the guide channels were welded into place.

We headed down a bit early with Keith since his van was supposedly done. He and Yumi had packed their stuff in the car and she moved back in to their home in the van. She told me that several years ago they had sold their house and everything and moved into the van they had built and started traveling. She said they were down to the van and one small storage unit. Everything seemed good with the van repairs except a couple of clips that we found needed to be attached and they were on their way. We headed to the airport to collect my bride.

The flight and everything worked out well and Kathy had two large bags of American items along with her backpack. We managed to get that into the truck as it began raining and after a bit of work we got everything put away. It is a good thing I cleared out the pantry and shelves as we are fully stocked again. It rained all night and I teased Jaime that he must have an ability to coordinate with his land being leveled, garage door being completed, and then a good moderate rain all night to seal it all down.

On Thursday Kathy and I walked to the town to go to the local market. We bought a few fresh veggies and avocados from the vendors, then stopped by the laundromat to get our comforter and sheets and then picked up a couple of rotisserie chickens for meals and for the spoiled pups. We had arranged to take Jaime and his family to dinner (as it was Jaime’s birthday) and we ended up at this great seafood restaurant. It was a 4 course meal starting with a veracruz style shrimp soup and bread followed by oyster Rockefeller. We shared some breaded shrimp (complete with heads on and beady little eyes staring at you) and then some fried plantains and a sweet shrimp and cheese dessert. Jaime and Monica invited us back to their house where we celebrated Jaime with a few beers and a flan cake

I spent a total of 11 nights at Jaime and Monica’s place and made some great friends. We look forward to hosting them sometime if they end up in our neck of the American woods.

Here are some additional photos of the last few days.

Sunday I decided to go look at some of the local ruins called Texcotzingo, south of the town where I am camping. It is about 1.5 mile through the town, so I set off about 8:30. This area is famous for the ancient botanical gardens (considered the first in the world) created by Nezahualcóyotl in the 14th century. Nezahualcóyotl was a brilliant man for his time and is famous for everything from poetry to hydraulic engineering and military strategist to legislator. He designed the aqueduct systems in this area that brought water from the mountains to the gardens and cities on the shores of the former lake.

Anyway, I hiked up the hill to the first ruin and it is truly impressive. The water to this site is brought from the far away mountain and is channeled to this place; a big pool that overlooks the valley and former lake. There are two other pools in the area, the concubine pool and the kings pool. I can only imagine 500 years ago sitting on the edge of this pool looking at an unpolluted and sparsely populated landscape. It must have been impressive.

I hiked around the north side of the mountain and on to the Temple del Sol. The temple is situated on the eastern slope with what looked to be a long man-made road to the other mountain. It turned out to be the remains of the old aqueduct that brought water to the temple and baths. This was impressive itself, but to find out on the other side of that mountain the aqueduct continued for another 3-4km to the further hills. There were steppes carved in to the side of this big mountain that apparently were part of the ancient gardens. Talking to Jaime, who is passionate about this area, he said that evidence exists that the gardens had plants that originated as far away as Brazil, indicating that Nezahualcóyotl had collected specimens from a vast area back in the 1400’s.

I wandered around the temple of the sun and then climbed ot the top of the mountain, which had additional ruins that were apparently part of a palace. There were some cool carvings on some rocks as well.

I wandered across the old aqueduct and to the farther hill and marveled at the possible path that the water had been channeled. There were storage areas, pools, down the side of the hill that apparently acted as reservoirs for the water.

I hiked down the hill and back through town and returned to the sleeping puppies. It was about 7 miles of walking today and it felt really good to get out. My lungs are still getting used to the altitude here, but I did pretty well on the climbs. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting the pantry and camper cleaned out and made some good progress on our taxes. I still have not gotten the extra tie-downs done for the camper, but I figured I will do that Wednesday morning before Kathy comes back.

Keith and Yumi were back at camp Sunday night as their van had some codes related to the water pump that had been cleared, but came back the next day. So they were heading back to the mechanic Monday to get that replaced.

On Monday I decided to take another walk down the hill into Texcoco, aiming for a bank. I ended up at the local mall that has a Walmart, Sam’s Club, and many other great stores. I actually had lunch at the local Carl’s Jr in the mall, which was $189 pesos, or about $10 USD. As long as I was at a Sam’s club I stopped to replenish the puppy treats and coffee, which I had run out of several days ago. I walked back up to the pups and finished the hike at about 8.5 miles. Keith and Jaime were hanging out and I saw pictures of the work being done on Keith’s van. They had to disassemble the entire bumper and radiator to get at the water pump. Needless to say, Keith is getting new belts, a thermostat, and other items as long as the thing is pulled apart.

Jaime is having some work done on his road and property in the morning and I’ll move Howie for a bit while that is being done. I helped him chop out some weeds from the property last night as well so they won’t grow back when he levels the land.

Here are some additional photos from the archaeological site.

On Thursday morning Maggie was in a good amount of pain, but she slept well and was eating and drinking well. I needed to get some more meat for the pups and for me so I headed in to the little town of San Miguel on Thursday. They have a cute little yellow church here that is filled to the brim inside with lillies, Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel de Tlaixpan. I sat in the church for a bit to listen to a small group that was praying and singing. It was very comforting and cool in the afternoon sun. On Thursdays the town has a street market and although I did not get anything there, it was a typical market with meat, fish, chicken, veggies, and all sorts of goodies, new and old, for sale. Maybe when Kathy gets back next week we can go there.

We returned to the vet on Thursday night and he was happy to see the wounds were not swollen. He told me I was going to have to clean the wounds for the next 4 days and make sure they did not seal up so they could seep if her body required it. He taught me how to use a little strand of twine to hold her snout shut so she would not bit me. We got back to camp and then Jaime and his wife invited me out for some tacos, so I got the pups settled and then met them. We drove about 20 minutes to another town and we sat down for some local tacos. I asked them how they had found the place and they said “ticktok”. The tacos were fabulous. A total of 10 tacos and 2 cokes was $290 pesos (about $17).

I cleaned Maggie’s wound three times on Friday, but I was having trouble keeping it from scabbing over. She was still taking the pain killers as the area was pretty bruised and she was very sensitive to touching the area. I kept the betadine spray handy to keep the area disinfected and scabs soft. I headed back to the store in the afternoon to stock up on some beverages and ham for the pups. I saw several pollo rotisserie places on the way back and stopped by to get a regular chicken and a spicy chicken. They were $125 pesos each, or about $7.50 USD and I pulled all the meat off of them and stored it away in the fridge. The puppies are getting rice and chicken while Maggie is healing. (TBH, I have taken to spoiling them these days).

By Saturday morning she let me touch her wounds and clean them without yelping or biting and they were not hot or swollen at all. She seemed ok so I did not give her the pain killer in the morning to see how she could handle it. So far she has not needed it, which makes me feel confident she is getting better. I got really lucky that mean dog got her across the shoulder and not the ribs, belly or neck. She even went on a short walk with Zuzu and I Friday night and then again on Saturday morning.

We got some new neighbors on Friday, Keith and Yumi, from Washington. They are here traveling around Mexico in a Sprinter van that they built. They have been at Jaime’s before but are stopping through because they need some work done on their van. On Saturday I started to change the fuel filters on Howie and realized I did not have a 28MM socket and after checking the local ferreteria, I asked if I could hitch a ride to Autozone to pick one up. Jaime and Keith were heading to get the van so we made a nice trip of it. I also purchased a 1/2 ratchet drive since mine had failed when the set screws had fallen out.

After dropping Keith at his van, Jaime invited me to have a beer with him and his family at a local restaurant. The place is in the back yard of a local family who grows their own fruit and livestock. We sat and had some great tacos and some fresh guava juice and of course some great beer. The family also has a coffee plantation down south and they showed us their recent batch of coffee berries they were in the process of drying. We sat and ate in the yard filled with chickens, ducks, puppies, and citrus trees and chatted for a couple of hours and I felt so welcomed. I did not understand much but worked at listening to the conversation, tempo, and trying to pick out words I knew. On the drive back I told Jaime how special it felt there and he said he loves his life here in Mexico. Lots of family, local traditions, and a slower pace than most experience in the USA. He said his cousins keep trying to get him to go to Indiana and get a job for $35 per hour, but he said it is much better here with a simpler life. I would have to agree.

I got back and successfully drained the rear filter without spilling any fuel. I wasn’t as lucky on the front, but only a little dripped over the underside components. The filters were filthy and I guess i will have to change them every 10K instead of 20K. The last change was at 60K miles in Hamilton, MT back in June.

Keith and I had a couple of beers Saturday night and he showed me some of their route and all of the great things that they have seen. I was trying to figure out where to cross from Mexico into Guatemala and he said the southern crossings are known to be less safe, so our original route up to the Yucatan would be best. He showed me the best route and all of the cenotes and ruins that are great to see. After that, I went over the Alaska and Canada routes that we traveled last summer since he and Yumi were starting this route in June 2026. Man, that is only several months away when I think about it. We have been on the road for 9 months.

Wednesday was flight day for Kathy and we had arranged a ride to the airport. It took about 45 minutes to get there and apparently I cannot drive into the city without a seal. I am still looking for the place online to get the three-day pass, but for now rides are working fine. We dropped Kathy off and she found her way through security and then to the passport control and was off to the states for a week.

I got back and cleaned up a bit at camp and then in the evening I took the dogs for a walk. All was good and we were making a loop through the little town. At the end of the road where jaime’s place is we turned to get back to the camp and there were these three dogs behind a fence. We had walked this way before and had seen them and they barked but nothing seemed an issue. But as we got on to the road, a big white pit bull came through a hole in the fence and went for Maggie. I tried to pull her to me but the dog grabbed her across the shoulder and pulled her from her harness. I lunged at the dog and he dropped Maggie, but by that time Maggie was in full Demon Mode and was biting/snarling/screaming. As I picked her up to get her safe and calmed down, she bit me a couple of times. Zuzu had bolted when the dog came out and yanked her lead from my hand. She came back to check on Maggie with the leash dragging. Uggh. So many loose dogs so far in Mexico and one behind a fence was the one that got her.

The owner had come out and got his mean dog back in the yard and I had Maggie safe and calmed down. She was bleeding a little on one side but she was aware and bug-eyed. Poor little blind pup never saw it coming. The owner of that dog did not even attempt to check on us as we walked by, which is also uncharacteristic of what we have experienced down here.

A couple hundred yards down the road she wanted down so I put her down and she walked the rest of the way back with that Maggie walk smile; wide-eyed, but smiling. But back at camp I put her in the shower to clean up the now matting blood and the water caused more pain and she bit me again and screamed more. Poor thing. I dried her off, comforted her, and reached out to Jaime to see if he knew a good vet in the area. One cut on her left side was about an inch wide and I thought it might need stitches. There were two other lightly bleeding holes on her right side.

About 7:45 we got to see the vet and he shaved her back to inspect the wounds. He said two had pierced the muscle and hit the shoulder bone and might cause infection. The larger one he said it was better to not stitch it and it was only a deep flesh wound. He checked her lungs and heart and based on the location of the bite felt she did not have any internal damage. He gave her a shot of an antibiotic and gave us some pills and a prescription for a pain killer and told us to come back on Thursday night so he can check to make sure she was progressing well.

This morning she is alert and perky albeit a bit slow. She ate well last night and again this morning and I took her outside for baño duties and she did that without too many issues. She actually walked back up the steps into the camper by herself. I’m watching her today and between the betadine and cuts, it looks bad, but she seems to be recovering. We are lucky she wasn’t killed and the bite was across her shoulder and not her neck or abdomen. TBH that dog is lucky she wasn’t killed. We have been traveling 3 months in Mexico now and there are tons of dogs down here running everywhere. So far none have been aggressive.

We sure appreciate our camp host for arranging and taking us to the vet. Jaime is more the norm for what we have experienced in Mexico. We sure appreciate him. Never a dull moment these days in Mexico.

We woke from the lockdown to a cold morning. I used the nice parking lot there to raise the camper from the truck, recenter the rubber mats, and reposition the camper in the bed. I got the three turnbuckles retightened and then made a quick breakfast before heading out. The autopista was open and traffic was light, but flowing. We mapped to the destination and it said 5.5 hours. At the next exit it had me turn off and I passed a ferreteria, backed up, and checked to see if they had any eye bolts. No luck so we proceeded. Over several other Topas and then another blind, unmarked one in a shady area. I hit the brakes, but we bounced again. UGGH. No more back roads until I get this thing secured again. We turned around, adjusted the map for toll roads, and the time dropped to 2.5 hours.

We cruised comfortably on the highway for 90 minutes or so and paid the tolls as they came up, about $300 pesos. Then we had to turn to the loop road around the northern part of the city. Right after we exited the toll gate we were driving behind two semis and noticed a police car up ahead. We merged to the left and then one of the cops flagged us down to stop. I obediently pulled over, my first mistake.

Crooked Cops

The cop walked up to the passenger side of the truck and started to speak fast spanish. We said no comprendo and he was quick to pull out his phone and type in that the radar had caught us going 110kph and we had to get a ticket. I told him that we have not gone that fast all morning and that I have a camera mirror that records everything. He agreed to look at the footage, which I was glad to show him. My speed never got above 81kph from the time we left the booth until he flagged us down. He was undeterred and said it was before that. I said great, show me the radar, I’ll look at the time stamp, and we could look at the video. He said they were sending it to him.

Then he pulled out his phone and said the fine was $11,000 pesos (which is something like $600 USD) and I said no way, I was not speeding. I said ok, let’s get the radar and we could see. He said no, we will write you the ticket and you’ll get the radar when you go to pay. I said no way. By that time he had my license and our TIP paperwork and was being really stubborn. And then, he brought out the 50% pay now discount. I told him no way, I wasn’t speeding. He went down to 5000 pesos. Again, no. Finally he was starting to walk away and Kathy let out a panic cry and he quickly dropped it to $3000. I offered $1000 and he ended up with $2000 ($100USD). I told myself I would never pay a bribe, but I ended up doing it. Uggh. Embarrassing. But we got our paperwork back and were on our way. Paid the stupid tax, once, not again.

Safe at camp

We continued on and mapped out a Home Depot to get the eye bolts that we needed. I bought all 5 that they had. We stopped at a grocery and got some food, as the place we were heading is up in the hills and a good distance from larger markets. The next was to find a bank to replenish what had been scammed from us, which took a while because apparently you cannot park free here or with larger rigs. Finally, about 4PM we made it ot the camp safely.

The camp is basically the yard of a young couple that are taking care of their mom’s house. They have built their own place next door but keep that open for an AirBnB as long as their mom is away; she’s been in Indiana for the last 20+ years and our host Jaime went to school there. He is a forest ranger on the weekends and goes to school during the week and is an adventure guide as well. They started this camp because people hiring him for the adventure recommended a campsite for overlanders since sites were few around CDMX. We can use the AirBnB bathroom and shower as long as its not occupied for $50 pesos per day, so we signed up for the hot shower. There is a horse here to amuse Kathy and we can hear cows and goats in the neighboring properties. And of course, dogs everywhere.

Jaime and his wife, Monica took us to town to a great bakery the first night and really made us feel welcome. The bread was sweet and fabulous and we had some Goat Milk Caramel Cheesecake for dessert that night. He offered to guide me up to the local mountain with is something like 4000 meters high, and I may take him up on that after my chores are done. Its a great quiet location to hang out. His place is called Quetzalcoatl Travel Experience if you want to stop by. He is on iOverlander as well.

Some cool Germans neighbors showed up last night, Tomas and Cristine, and we will be able to hang out for a few days. They have been traveling since 2016 off and on and started in South America. They travel for 4-6 months, store their vehicle, then go back home for a while. They excitedly shared all the great places they’ve recently spent as well as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, etc. They said don’t miss any of it. They also told me how much of a PIA it is to get a tourist visa for the USA due to the last 5 telephone numbers they’ve had, all social media, etc. I joked that we are great at red tape. Here is their website: www.vollzeitreisen.de if you are interested.

I’ll be here for the next week while Kathy flies back to the home base to get some medical appointments completed and Rx stocked back up. I already replaced the two eye hooks and have some inquiries out on how to eliminate this issue in the future. This week I’ll get our taxes done, fuel filters changed on the truck, spring cleaning in the rolling home, adding more tiedowns to Howie, and I’ll finish off the app I am working on.

Thanks for reading.

We got up slowly from the boat launch and I had mapped out a path to a city outside of CDMX named Salazar. We had taken the expensive toll road to Patzcuaro so I wanted to take the slower roads through the towns and mountains of central Mexico. It is dry season, but the views are really nice and the roads are pretty good, give or take a few topos (speed bumps). I set the GPS for a little campground near the Mariposa Butterfly Sanctuary outside a town called San Felipe de los Alzati. I figured it would be nice to at least pet the butterflies since they are world renowned in their migrations.

Busses

The day started off fairly normally and about an hour into our drive we came across a valley that was on fire or had recently been burned. Things are pretty dry here and we passed some flames at the edge of the road. Not far past there was a burned out carcass of a Ram 700 and what looked like a Honda or Acura on the other side of the road. We commented that this must be the source of the fire. There were wrecker trucks backed up to each of the cars to take them back to the scrap heaps, and we were ushered through by some National Guard officers. Another 30 minutes down the road and we came across a bus that was across the road, still smouldering, and another National Guard crew routing traffic around the accident. He said something in Spanish about cables, which we saw were electrical lines laying across the path, apparently burned in the bus flames. We snapped some photos making comments about sending them back to our friends about narrowly escaping the cartel here in Michoacán.

We continued down the road and thirty minutes later there was another bus in the road, blocking the lanes with two flat tires. There was a bit of a edge to the road, but this seemed odd to have both tires blown out on one side. Again, the National Guard was routing cars around the block. I got to thinking how lucky I have been with the Falken Wildpeak tires, not having the issues the other drivers on the road here seem to have. We kind of joked at that being an odd place to leave the bus, unless it had been high-centered.

Please forgive the camera photos. I ordered this last March and have been carrying it in the truck since and I finally installed it on the camper in Patzcuaro. I am still getting to know it, but it records the front and rear cameras as we drive and has a g-force sensor to capture if major events occur.

Bumps

So we continue on down the road and of course, on these back roads there are the famous Topos (speed bumps) that are used to regulate speed; some are painted, some have signage, and some are just plain hard as hell to see. Well after going over several, one caught me in an area that was shaded and I did not have other cars to watch over the thing. This time it was bad on the truck as it hit the shark fin antenna and dented the top of my truck. UGGH… more on that in another post. It straightened the eye in the eye bolt and I had to go back and get my tie-down from a considerate observer. I had another eye bolt in my spare bin, so I replaced the (now bolt) and got it all situated on the truck. I’ll have to figure out how to straighten the roof dent. But more on that later.

We were noticing that the region was kind of devoid of activity. Regular types of stores were closed on Sundays, but additionally, nothing was really open, including the convenience stores at the gas stations. Something is always open in Mexico. About that time Kathy was noticing some warnings on our Pan American Travel Facebook group about issues in Mexico. And then her brother and sister-in-law started texting. It turned out the Mexican Army killed the head of the cartel in Puerto Vallarta on Saturday night and there was backlash and the Cartel was warning everyone to stay indoors while they fight it out with the army/guard/police. Now we know why there was such a strange setting on our drive today.

Well we were about 30 minutes from our stop, Kathy was getting a bit nervous, and I was just working my way around all the road construction. We hit another bump on the road construction where a cement drainage was not completely level with the new pavement and of course I had to stop and gather the stupid tie-down again from the road. Uggh.

Roadblocks

So as we pass yet another gas station with a handwritten sign on the doors “Cerrado” and entered the little town of San Felipe de los Alzati, cars were backed up again. As we approached, there was a lot of foot traffic and I could see the road was blocked by the minibuses that shuttle people around in Mexico. Some guy was indicating we had to turn around, so we 5-point-turned in the road and headed back out. (I wish I had saved the camera footage from that town.) I knew enough we needed to get back to a safer area and I went to the iOverlander map to find a place to stay. There was nothing in the area and I could not find a route around in town I felt safe enough to get to the campsite.

About 30 miles back we could get to the Autopista which had a place to stay the night. The toll roads are considered much safer for travel, mainly due to the barriers they already have restricting traffic and heavy Guard patrols.

By this point Kathy’s research fingers were finding all kinds of real and fake news of the area and she was getting pinged by family and friends in the states and we had to put down the phone. She has crossed into fear at this point. In the next town of Tuxpan, I stopped to top us off with fuel, and spoke to the attendant about safety and the road. He said he had not heard anything and heading back to Maravatio and toll road was a good idea. So we bounded forward.

Buffets

We have a rule, like most, to not drive after dark in Mexico. Some of it is for safety from bandits, but mostly it is due to animals in the road, people without lights, potholes, topos, etc. So we arrived at the Mobil station about 15 minutes before sunset. We had not stopped for lunch and were famished, and there was a Mexican Buffet place with two busses out front. Time to treat my beautiful bride to a celebratory dinner after escaping certain death.

The place said it was open til 9, but today only until 7. It was 6:25 and we were hungry. The food sucked!!! Maybe it was because we were there right before close, or because they had just been ravaged by two busses of people, but nothing was really tasty. I miss those early days of Mexican Buffets in Tucson like Gordos or Pancho’s. The cactus even tasted bad here. LOL.

Well we asked to stay the night and they said yes, out front. I checked with the lady in the convenience store next door and she talked too fast and basically said no. So we asked the Mobil station attendant next door and he said yes, park in the back. Two to One, she looses. We settled in for a rather rough night, not knowing if the country was in a full out war. Google maps showed the Autopista closed until 7:30 am and several roads blocked on the way toward Mexico City. I got about 4 hours of sleep, but I could not comfort Kathy as this was her first experience with events like this.

Fun times… and I still had to fix the broken tie-down on the truck.

I am a few days behind in the blog, due to being sick and some long days on the road. Publishing this on the 24th, but dating it the 22nd.

We both caught some sort of cold as we got to Patzcuaro and decided to stay an extra day to recover from it. The campground cleared out on Friday and we were the only ones left on Friday night. Other than the booms that seem to constantly go in in Mexico, it was a really quiet night and we both got some good rest. We packed up the traveling road show and since we paid the premium price for the toll roads on the way out here and we had several days before we had to be in Mexico City again for Kathy’s flight, we’d take the back roads to a cool little town I was surprising Kathy with named Salazar. But before that, Graeme recommended a local town called Tzintsuntzan that has an old Aztec ruin that we could visit. It was a quick 30 minutes down the road, so we headed that way.

The town is named Tzintzuntzan, which means “place of the hummingbirds” and was settled in the 12th century and was the most powerful from 1450-1521. The ruins were built between the 12th and 14th century and contained 5 circular pyramids, each with a wooden structure on top that was for ceremonies and burials. The town was conquered by the Spanish in 1521, the emperor was burned at the stake, and most of the population left the area. The Spanish resettled it and built a monastery in the 16th and 17th century, using most of the stones from the pyramids. It was a nice walk around the HUGE structure (430 meters by 240 meters) and the grounds. Here is a link to some more information if you are interested. We headed back to the truck and headed out to find some camping.

We stopped and had lunch at a little cocina; me chewing on the carne asada and the grilled nopalas (cactus) greens and Kathy having some fried shrimp and a horrible margarita. We settled at a spot at the local town boat launch beneath some huge trees. It was a Saturday night and we expected to have some visitors later in the evening with stereos, but only one showed up around 9:30 and left soon after. It was hard to tell if his bass was louder than his truck with it’s missing muffler. We slept pretty well and of course the pups got their nightly and morning walks that ensure they deserve the 18-20 hours of sleep they get every day. LOL.

Here are a few additional photos from Tzintzuntzan.

We found a really peaceful campground here in Patzcuaro. Graeme Bell stopped by the first night to say hello and we had a nice chat. We met again for dinner the following night at a nice little restaurant in the main square. We had a nice discussion about traveling, places to go, things to see, and people we met. Graeme and his familly have been traveling since the early 2000’s and have so far been to Africa, South America, North America, and Europe. He has published 5 books (four travel memoirs and one how-to). He is a very experienced traveler and holds a wealth of knowledge. You can read about him here. He has a store with his books and other items. I’d recommend his books as he is very witty and down to earth on his experiences.

I had picked up some sort of nasty sniffle the night we arrived and was fighting it with nasal spray and Vitamin C, but it did not work. I had to bring in the Nyquil and Dayquil to get this under control. On the 18th, I did not sleep much, as I was battling it. I slept better the next night with only a bit of a cough and heavily medicated, and today the residual medications have me a bit groggy, so we will be hanging here for another day because I cannot drive in this state. Kathy has caught it as well, unfortunately, so she is a day or so behind me. Hopefully it will not linger.

Kathy is heading back to the states to get some medications we cannot get here and to pick up a couple of things. We looked for flights out of Oaxaca or Acapulco but nothing was reasonable, so we are headed back towards Mexico City, as she can get a straight flight in and out. I checked on her visa and I think she has to stamp out and then get another when coming back. We will deal with that online. We are not asking for extended time, only re-entry. We will see how that goes. I think this will allow us to stop by the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary on the way there. Plus, while waiting for Kathy, I can head north a bit into some of the mountains. I will have to check out what is up there.

I did finally get the rearview camera installed. I bought the Wolfbox mirror last spring and intended to get it installed and have been carrying it around since. I had to drill a hole in the rear of Howie and route the wire, but it is working; not ideally though. I need a disconnect from the truck to the camper as right now I have to disconnect the jack and pull it out of the truck before offloading Howie. I have an adapter, but I don’t have a solder gun with me, so I will wait on that. I have two things to do on Howie the week Kathy is out; change the two fuel filters and try to find a source for tires.

Here is a map of our travels to Patzcuaro.

We contacted the owner of the campground who had sold us a ride to CDMX and asked if he wanted us to get an Uber or for him to pick us up. He said he would be there between 9 and 10. He arrived about 10:30 due to traffic and we spent the next 2.5 hours in the car driving the 32 miles back to the campground. It took longer to get back than it did to get there (1 hour). Traffic in CDMX can be bad.

Howie was sitting pretty, but a bit dusty, and had been parked with good solar. I had forgotten to shut off the Starlink and I thought it would kill the battery after a week, but it worked like a champ. I could monitor the system remotely and it dropped to about 85% every day to keep the fridge cold and the Starlink on and then recharged by noon each day. I had to run in to Autozone, which turned out to be about a 4 mile walk due to incorrect references on the map.

I did manage to get an oil filter wrench and a spare filter, which I changed after I got back to the campground. I had been changing oil every 10K on this truck, usually with the dealer’s free oil change, but I had to change it in Montana at 70K and again in Baja at 79k. I could not get the filter off until now, so I will change it again at 85K with a new filter.

We packed up on the 17th to head to Patzcuaro to say hello and hang out with Graeme from A2A Expedition. I decided to take the toll roads since non-tolls was 7-8 hours of driving. We managed this trip in about 6 with a lunch stop in the middle. I think the tolls were about $50 along the way. Expensive on top of the fuel costs here. It’s good we have slowed the roll on this side. The first leg to Canada and Alaska we did 20K miles in 4 months. So far we have done 5K in 2.5 months, which is a lot easier on the travel budget.

The truck has been doing its DPF Regen thing again the past two weeks and I got an engine light yesterday. I am sure it is the code for “too many regens”, but I don’t have my code reader to be sure. I suspect it is this because it came on right at the time it did a regen on the way here. My overall goal with this truck is to leave it un-deleted until I have to delete it. It should run fine as designed, but I have read all sorts of things. If I do delete it, it will be nice to get better mileage. I am currently averaging about 12mpg, and would love to get it to 16-20 after removing all of the emissions. I am hoping for the best with this thing.

We pulled into camp at about 4:30 and set up for the next several days. Graeme came over and we got to meet the famous Chewy. We chatted for a while and compared notes. He has lots of experience and knows tons of people from his journeys. Blessed to be doing this. Life is Incredible.