THE ROAD FROM LA SALADITA TO TIZUPAN

Last post, I DID promise you our photos of Zapote de Tizupan, but as I was preparing them I realized I had been pretty camera happy on the way there.

So - in the interest of showing you the real Mexico - and what it is like driving here, (well, sort of like - to know about driving in Mexico you truly have to experience it first hand) and what it is like for us from point A to B here are the photos from our trip last weekend.

Following our trip back up to the highway from La Saladita and stopping at the Pemex Station at La Union this is what happened to the road. It became a ditch - and a narrow one at that.

It was a sign of things to come....

The 200 just south of Lazaro Cardenas. All is well.

Yup - a goat herd on the side of the highway. Nothing new about that down here in Mexico. A pretty normal sight.

 To get past the port city of Lazaro Cardenas we had the choice of the libre (free) or cuota (toll) road. We opted for the cuota even though it went closer into the city. 'The road doesn't go into any difficult parts of the city' wrote Kevin.

And he was right ..... just a few congested parts but pretty straight forward. All you need is TIME.

If we didn't know that Lazaro Cardenas was an industrial town we sure knew it was after driving though - just a bit of smog.

Always stuff to buy - even right beside the road.

After the main part of the city there are still the outlaying towns and villages.

We've seen a few of these but the only one I've gotten a sort of good shot of. It's a newly built community. 

Derek just shudders - and from the outside they do look a bit sterile. I'm thinking that the residents make it quite homey inside - but I'm not totally convinced either. Progress?

We had to take a sharp left turn at La Mira. Just after that Derek and I spotted two panaderias - we STOP for panaderias. By this time Cassia was asleep, so we left her in her seat and went to get some stuff.

Clay ovens - just look at those croissants!

Yup - those are going into the bag for us!

At the panaderia next door we bought a few of these and two other stuffed breads - one with coconut and the other with cajeta.

Back at the croissant shop we were looking over the cookies. The fellow in the picture knew some English so he was a great help. He offered us a cookie to try. As Derek and I were both munching on that we looked at each other and said 'We'll take a bag of those' - the OTHER cookies. I find some food items in Mexico just aren't for us.

As I was taking photos he invited me to take a picture of the production area. You can tell by the smiles on the faces that the producers were pretty shy about it all. It was dark in there but cool - which I guess is the point - it was HOT outside.

Back on the road - we have miles to make.

At this point, not to far north of Playa Azul the road is still quite straight.

The Church's list a camping spot at Las Penas - at the Hotel Flor de Las Penas. We had not found one person that had stopped there. Since we had been on the road for a bit we thought that we would stop in and take a look - if it looked ok - we'd spend the night. After all, we knew it was another 3 - 4 hours to the next stop.

After circling around a bit and getting frustrated in the heat we ended up parked here for some lunch and some down time. We did find the hotel but the itty bitty parking lot in full sun was not going to work. 

We are parked in a public parking lot on a very steep slope that leads to the beach.

A very rocking beach and really hard to swim in. But it was enough to cool Cassia down.

As we were leaving I took a picture of the Hotel de Las Penas - the yellow one on the left. It would probably work as an overnight spot for a van or trucker camper but that's about it. The Church's also list the hotel next door as place to camp also - ditto for that one as well.

More beautiful scenery along the way. Most of the trip is in the trees - winding it's way through the mountains. Every so often we were given a REALLY breathtaking view of the ocean and beaches below. Problem is the view pops up quickly and is gone. Plus since we are headed north - they were all on Derek's side.

I was attempting to take a picture of the HUGE drop off on one of the gravel construction roads. 

I managed to take a picture of one of the great beach shots - excuse us Derek.

Hey - a goat!

In Mexico you must deal with road construction at your own risk. They are poorly marked and those darn drop offs! 

The view for the last two hours of the drive - winding up - winding down - winding up - winding down.....repeat over and over. Remember how I ranted about the road from Sedona to Prescott - heck - they have NOTHING on some Mexico roads.

The really quaint and clean village of HuaHua.

It always strikes me that the humblest buildings have a satellite dish on them. Then again - they don't need to protect themselves from the northern temps and snow.

Could THIS be the beach we are headed to?!!!!!!!!

It sure is! A mere minute later and we see our signs. 

Zapote de Tizupan. Just off the highway....

I'm usually pretty happy to reach our destination point. That was no truer than today - after all the back and forth I was relieved to be standing still.

 The map of our travel day - La Saladita to Zapote de Tizupan. Not far by the map but about a five hour drive thanks to the winding roads and construction.

We had a GREAT time at Zapote de Tizupan - we stayed for two nights! Those pics coming tomorrow night.

My apologies for disappearing for almost a week - yet again. The combo of no wifi, traveling and then me picking up whatever kind of flu/cold that Cassia and Derek were circulating around the van, meant that I just couldn't my butt in gear to get a post out. We are now all on the mend, even walked up to the store today, we should be as good as new soon. 

We are so glad to have arrived back here at Villa Corona Thursday afternoon. After a week of travel it was nice to return to one of our favourite spots. Lots more about this fine place once I get caught up with the week we took to get here from Zihuatanejo.

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: A few of  my favourite bloggers are on their way to Finland - of all places! It looks like Finland decided to get some exposure via some well known blogs. Both Bacon is Magic and Hecktic Travels are on their way. Imagine - Darlene and Peter of HT went from Guatemala to Finland! Yikes! The only way to find out about it at the moment is through Facebook.

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