Day 25 - 23 Jan - Sayuayo to Malaque, MX

Odometer: 126,145 Weather: sunny and hot

After waking up in our luxurious hotel room, Wayne refilled the Jacuzzi and we lounged for a bit and then packed up and hit the road. The signage Gods were good to us and we had no trouble finding the roads to Calima, where we first intended to stay the night.
We drove through the mountains and hit one 8 km stretch that we thought would shake the LuvMasheen to bits—the road was totally torn up and a real mess but once again, if the big 18 wheelers can do it..so can we. It was a beautiful drive and we hit a very large valley that must have decent soil and they were growing….something….I haven’t figured it out yet but I will. There was also some fruit trees but for the most part it was miles and miles of that something. I think when that ‘something’ is dried, it’s chopped up for livestock feed…not sure but I think I’m close.
As we got closer to Colima, we saw the two volcanoes in the distance. One is still active and the other is dead. The active one last erupted in 1999 and as we continued driving we could see that the white fluffy stuff above it wasn’t clouds but smoke coming from the volcano. Very interesting to see and certainly a first for us.
As we drove out of the valley and back up in to the mountains, we would have sworn we were in BC as there were huge stands of pine trees and it was neat to see these massive trees with cactus growing beneath them. The roads were very steep (up and down) and at one point there was an 18-wheeler sitting about 2 feet off our back bumper. They don’t slow down one tiny bit and at the first opportunity, Wayne pulled off the road to let it pass. We needed to cool down the brakes..and ourselves..so we had 2nd breakfast with a cup of tea and then continued. This particular area looks almost like Mexican cottage country. There were some smaller ‘cabanas’ for rent and many beautiful homes up in the hills. As we can down through the mountains, the terrain changed again to the dryer, rocky hillsides that we have been used to seeing. I’m continually amazed by the rock fences that run for miles and miles through the countryside. They are about 3-4 ft high and each rock is fitted into the next so that the result is a very sturdy fence. The amazing part is….they run for miles and sometimes continue up and down hills to mark (I guess) different property lines. There was one area where the bottom 1 ft of the rock wall was made up of small stones, almost like shale. Another mystery on the ‘how did they do it’ that I need to find out.
By the time we got to Calima we realized it was too early to stop for the night so we headed for Manzanillo, which is a large port city on the Pacific. We thought we might stay there but circumstances changed our itinerary. Wayne had commented that the van seemed to be swerving but there was a breeze and I figured that was making the van sway. Fortunately, we stopped to check the map again and when Wayne walked around the back….yep, we had a flat tire! Now, getting a flat tire is no surprise and almost expected as each little town has these 12-14” speed bumps or a 10 ft ‘vibrator’ patch. We had been warned they were killers and had been very, very careful but the roads and the rest had taken their toll I guess.

Wayne’s input. Here is an opportunity to try out my new air compressor. The tire started to inflate but when it reached 30 pounds (need 80) it started to lose air. OK we need to resort to a can of puncture seal that Graham Wells gave me for just such an emergency. The juice from that started spewing out at the base of the valve stem. I had the same experience this spring with a wheel on the front. When I took the flat to the Dodge dealer I asked him to replace the other three valve stems as my logistic training had taught me that rubber has a limited life time. He told me that he didn’t change the other stems because they looked OK. I knew this wasn’t going to help me on the road but didn’t say anything. The life of that rubber had time expired. (Note to self. Have the other two stems replaced in Puerto Vallarta). OK that wheel has to come off.

Lynne is back. So here we are—on a toll road, in the middle of nowhere, haven’t changed a flat tire in years, let alone on this rig….and it’s got to be about 90 degrees outside. Traffic is flying by. We’d made up our minds that we would change it, even if we died of heat stroke and got out the jack, etc.—but here comes the best part of the story. There was a farm across the road (growing watermelon) and a family consisting of Dad, Mom, and about 5 kids had finished working for the day and were walking home. They crossed the road to where we were parked and they stopped. The man was in his 30s I guess and they were all carrying various bags filled with fruit or whatever else they’d been given for working in the field that day. He couldn’t speak English but indicated he would go home and get a ‘mechanic’ who would come and help us. His wife walked over to me and and with the sweetest smile, handed me the watermelon she was carrying—I guess she thought it would help if we didn’t have water. The whole family walked up the highway and then down into the woods where I guess their little village was located. About a half hour later, the man comes back up the road with his friend, who could speak quite a bit of English. Between them, they crawled under the van to set the jack and changed the tire for us. The farmer from across the road had also driven over and said if we needed anything else (he spoke very good English) not to hesitate to come over and see him. We gave the two guys each $20 in pesos, a cold drink, and they wished us a good trip and off they went. See Carl, no bandits, no murders…just kind and helpful people. Honestly, the whole experience could have been real crappy, but it just re-confirmed our faith in the Mexican people and made our day!
We pushed on to Barre de Navidad, near Melaque (where Lee & Mary-Lee go) and we are in an RV site that is right on the ocean. The big rigs that come every year have taken dibs on the front row facing the ocean but we are right behind them and can’t wait for the morning to hit the beach and start working on our tans. We are only 200 kms from Puerto Vallarta so we will probably stay here for 2 or 3 days before going the home stretch. I expect we will go there on the 28th and then to the resort on the 29th and wait for Gail & Graham.
There are still so many things I haven’t blogged about yet…the Mexican cemeteries (finally stopped at one today), the half-built buildings everywhere (some new, some really old), the miles of fence-posts made from tree branches, the millions of palm trees planted around Manzanillo with banana trees under them. It has definitely been a wonderful adventure so far and there’s still so much more to come. I’ve missed not having the internet but we’re told one of the big rigs here has a wireless system and he ‘rents’ time for $1 per half hour. I’ll check that tomorrow.
It will also be an early night tonight…we need all our strength for laying on the beach tomorrow.