March 4-15 - Beach Boot Camp

March 4 – 8: We spent 4 nights in touristy Mazatlan.  We didn’t enjoy the city as much as we anticipated.  We found it to be noisy and there were constantly people trying to sell us tacky souvenirs, tours, and time shares.  However, we did take the opportunity to get out and explore what Mazatlan has to offer. 

We hiked the hill to the second highest lighthouse in the world.  It was a relatively easy hike up, (a good one for the kids),  as Trae had tremendous energy. He decided that he was going to run from the bottom to the top…and he did it.  He was pretty red in the face when he got to the top!  At the top, there were nice views of the city and ocean. 

We also went for a boat tour to an island where we were able to view sea lions, go horseback riding and a little bit of ocean kayaking.  Trevor even managed to hook up with the owner of a local bike shop for a 3 hour ride.  The bike owner gathered about 8 of his friends and allowed Trevor to join them on a mountain bike ride on the outskirts of the city and had a great time.  He was even welcomed to join them for breakfast afterwards.

March 8-15: On March 8th we left Mazatlan and headed for Teacapan,  a small fishing village on a relatively isolated peninsula.  The road there is riddled with potholes.  It’s not a matter of trying to avoid them because you simply can’t.  You just have to try to choose the smaller ones.

The Teacapan area is filled with the aroma of jalapenos.  The backs of trucks were jammed packed with men, women and preschoolers on their way to and from the fields to pick jalapenos and other peppers.

When we arrived at the RV park we were excited to see that there was another family.  We soon found out that they are actually travelling for a year from Ireland.   We seemed to have a lot in common and their children Hazel and Danny, were similar age to Kiah and Trae.  The couple were very active in running and cycling.  In fact, most of the RV park were going on daily rides at 8:30am each morning. Evidently we chose to stay for the week, our longest stay in one place.  The kids had loads of fun playing together as they enjoyed the beach, pools and just being kids.  Trevor and I had partners for running and biking along the endless km’s of sandy beach and on the road to town.  Over the week we also shared meals and stories.  We will miss there company and hope to meet up again in BC in June. As we stayed the week, we began to notice that many RV travellers are getting ready to head north.  Many have been in Mexico since November/December.  There are not too many headed south.  This makes us happy as we will have quieter camping areas and less busy beaches and tourist areas…we hope!