November 29, 2008
We are here! We are here! We are here at La Penita RV Resort and it is not anything like I imagined. I guess we get something in our heads and it seems right, but looks so different when you actually get to see. Let’s see .......what seems different. The setting first….I imagined a big open campground and much more level. It is all built on a hill overlooking the surf below. The palapa community party place, in the park, is like a terrace on a hill. The beach….you walk down to the beach or up to the town. The people are different than I imagined. We have yet to meet many of them….the ones we have, that are guests, are mostly Canadians. People of the USA are the minority of those we have met. They tell us that there are less US people since 9/11, could that be? So many nice people here…especially the other Shirley that goes on walks early in the morning with a group (and we joined this morning) and the young Mexican at the office that arranges for everything you need and signs you up for all of the things on his bulletin boards. He arranged for someone to pick up all of our laundry (four loads anyway that we have accumulated) and will have it delivered back at our site later today. Carole, that runs the park, is a surprise. I am not sure what I expected, just a more business woman type. She is a cute smiling blond that is always relaxed (nothing gets her down), friendly, and into every phase of making sure the venders that come in are only quality and the people in here are happy. She is a dynamo with personality…..looks a bit like Deb and Lin’s friend, Paula. Her personality is somewhere between my cousin, Jackie, and Dick’s Alma. Now you will know her when you see her.
The trip to the park, driving from Tepic down to Rincon de Guayabitos, the toll-free way, was one of our big adventures, not being dissimilar to the Wildcat road, only without any shoulders and with different rainforest and farming kind of scenery. Most of our trip, we have used the toll roads, to the tune of 2600 Pesos (about $210 USD) total to get down here, that we purchased from the bank before leaving home. Fuel needed also to be paid in Pesos, so we had to be well prepared with Pesos. We have the top bus drivers in the USA: Andy, Bob, and John! I was only terrified once bad when Andy decided to look really well in his rearview mirror to see where John was behind us. I cannot imagine what would happen if one wheel went off the edge of the pavement. It was beautiful though and tropical with little palapas along the edges with mouth drooling fruit piled high for purchase from the farms that we drove by, pineapple, coconuts, mangos, and bananas. Fields of sugar cane and banana plants are all part of this agricultural area....these people have to eat like kings (except not much beef). Coming in yesterday, we made good time and got here around 2pm, so had the afternoon for a bit of local tour….at least around this park. It is sooooo exciting just to be here. The pool is different than I expected, too, for some reason, but contains all the right stuff for swimming and water sports. There is sort of a center road in the middle of the park with the sign up office, another area for the washers and dryers (outside), and an area for tent camping that has counters with sinks and hot plates for cooking. Everything is left open and there are no misquitos to speak of….some no seeum bites though. We have a resident Iguana in our tree.
We are here! We are here! We are here at La Penita RV Resort and it is not anything like I imagined. I guess we get something in our heads and it seems right, but looks so different when you actually get to see. Let’s see .......what seems different. The setting first….I imagined a big open campground and much more level. It is all built on a hill overlooking the surf below. The palapa community party place, in the park, is like a terrace on a hill. The beach….you walk down to the beach or up to the town. The people are different than I imagined. We have yet to meet many of them….the ones we have, that are guests, are mostly Canadians. People of the USA are the minority of those we have met. They tell us that there are less US people since 9/11, could that be? So many nice people here…especially the other Shirley that goes on walks early in the morning with a group (and we joined this morning) and the young Mexican at the office that arranges for everything you need and signs you up for all of the things on his bulletin boards. He arranged for someone to pick up all of our laundry (four loads anyway that we have accumulated) and will have it delivered back at our site later today. Carole, that runs the park, is a surprise. I am not sure what I expected, just a more business woman type. She is a cute smiling blond that is always relaxed (nothing gets her down), friendly, and into every phase of making sure the venders that come in are only quality and the people in here are happy. She is a dynamo with personality…..looks a bit like Deb and Lin’s friend, Paula. Her personality is somewhere between my cousin, Jackie, and Dick’s Alma. Now you will know her when you see her.
The trip to the park, driving from Tepic down to Rincon de Guayabitos, the toll-free way, was one of our big adventures, not being dissimilar to the Wildcat road, only without any shoulders and with different rainforest and farming kind of scenery. Most of our trip, we have used the toll roads, to the tune of 2600 Pesos (about $210 USD) total to get down here, that we purchased from the bank before leaving home. Fuel needed also to be paid in Pesos, so we had to be well prepared with Pesos. We have the top bus drivers in the USA: Andy, Bob, and John! I was only terrified once bad when Andy decided to look really well in his rearview mirror to see where John was behind us. I cannot imagine what would happen if one wheel went off the edge of the pavement. It was beautiful though and tropical with little palapas along the edges with mouth drooling fruit piled high for purchase from the farms that we drove by, pineapple, coconuts, mangos, and bananas. Fields of sugar cane and banana plants are all part of this agricultural area....these people have to eat like kings (except not much beef). Coming in yesterday, we made good time and got here around 2pm, so had the afternoon for a bit of local tour….at least around this park. It is sooooo exciting just to be here. The pool is different than I expected, too, for some reason, but contains all the right stuff for swimming and water sports. There is sort of a center road in the middle of the park with the sign up office, another area for the washers and dryers (outside), and an area for tent camping that has counters with sinks and hot plates for cooking. Everything is left open and there are no misquitos to speak of….some no seeum bites though. We have a resident Iguana in our tree.
The temperature is to
....die for…......you’d love it…..all of us do!
Right next door here is one of the B & Bs that we were looking at for the kids, when they come, and we drove by the one that we booked. It, too, surprised me, in that it is in a gated yard and among a hundred little houses on a back street. It looks like an Italian or Greek villa in white stucco, but we couldn’t see the pool area. We will when we get more settled.
Meanwhile, we have already driven and walked around La Pinta town and Rincon de Guayabitos, walking with the early morning group four miles through town, looking at the many stores and even grocery stores that will be so fun to explore, and having dinner at a new Italian restaurant, would you believe? (One that Patty and Joseph will especially love – opened in what was once a rich man’s home of more white stucco overlooking the sea). The food was excellent and the company, too, as we took Carole from the park with us too and she has stories and jokes that kept us entertained ……..also, a flute guitar player kept us entertained (playing both flute and guitar at the same time!) Right now two good looking young Mexican “Pool boys”, as Shirley calls them, are washing our bus and car that have enough dirt and diesel fuel on them to make mud pies. They are going to do both for 400 pesos….that is about 37 dollars and the kayaks will be on top of the cars….a good investment, along with having the laundry done. I’ve been told that we will be so pleased when we get the laundry back and how neatly folded it will be…..small things please me. One, especially is the fruit and vege market that comes into our park twice a week. We bought fresh shrimp too from them and cooked them on our barbcue skewered to colorful peppers and brushed with oil, garlic, and lime. Shirley is getting really excited about cooking with all of the wonderful fresh food down here, and I didn't think she even liked cooking!
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