MEXICO BOUND

Yep - the Wood Clan is headed to Mexico!!!!

After a cold and wet summer and a cold and wet past three months we are completely done with cold and wet. 

Give us some ☀! 

Somewhere during our trip from Hendersonville, NC to Nashville - blame it on the boringness of the I40 - we decided that we were going to have to make a return trip to Mexico this year if there was going to be any hope of hot temperatures.

To know us is to know that we LOVE hot.

We were completely fooling ourselves when we thought that we would be ok with cooler temperatures this winter. 

Our destination? Well, the main one is Palenque, specifically the Palenque Ruins and the Maya Bell RV and Camping Park. If you recall we had almost decided to travel there last winter but then decided it was all a bit far based on the distance we had already come down the west coast. This year it was an obvious choice since we are on the east side. 

Since I don't have my own pictures - yet - of Palenque and Maya Bell I figured I rip a couple off for you to see. 

May as well take from those you know - right?! 

Thanks Croft!

Here's the map.

Far from exact I'm sure - my best guess at the moment. 

Google map tells me we are about to travel about 1,600 miles (2,574 km) to get there.

From here - New Braunfels, we will make our way down to McAllen. Rather than straight down we'll have time to meander a bit. Stops include the Luling City Market for some real Texas BBQ that Pastor Jerry told us about, Victoria for a couple of e-cig shops for Derek - and to look around town since we haven't been there yet. Then, we may as well head to Rockport and Fulton along the coast - we haven't been there since our first winter down in 2008. From Port Aransas to Corpus Christi and then south. We'll probably have about a week for this trip.

We are dragging our feet a little because we have arranged to meet our friend Chris, of Living and Boondocking in Mexico, in Reynosa on the 16th. We will follow him back to his and Juan's place just south of Monterray. We wanted to stop in and see them on our trip north last spring but our schedules didn't jive. After a few days of visiting and a Mexican mind meld, we'll continue our way south.

Since we've arrived here a few days ago I have been busy with my Mexico research. Since it wasn't in THE plan this year I have a lot of catching up to do - fast. I have a bit of an idea about our stops and such because we were planning on making this trip a few years ago - which never happened. 

And of course there is a ton of information out there - from the Church's Guide to Mexican Camping to On the Road in Mexico, to all of our Mexican travel blogging friends such as Travel with Kevin and Ruth, Croft's Mexico, The Golden Years and of course Living and Boondocking in Mexico. Darn do they make it look easy!

John Kobak's Mexico Trip Reports will be very useful this year because he and his wife travel down the east coast and over to Chetumal every winter. John provides extensive information about routes and sleeping spots with maps.

Our 3 1/2 month trip to Mexico last year definitely prepared us for this year. Although we are still apprehensive - as we are before any trip, at least there are many hurdles we crossed last year  - so we feel pretty ok with it this year. 

We've never been worried about our safety in Mexico. Many people wonder about that. You can find trouble anywhere. Not once last year in Mexico did we feel unsafe in any way. And the roads? Well, there is the added trickiness of some of them especially with topes - but really - driving around the SE States of the USA or even with the really high speed limits here in Texas, isn't always a piece of cake either.

One of the things I do as the navigator is spend a lot - and I mean a lot - of time on google map. You know that little yellowy orange guy? He can show you a LOT of stuff. Because I'm the one looking for signs, that are at times not so easy to see, I use him to show me the signs before we even head out.  I have already looked at many spots on the roads we will be traveling on. LOVE that. It takes a lot of the trepidation away for me if I have a bit of understanding as to what the road is like. Of course - there will always be surprises - but that is traveling and dare I say some of the fun of traveling. Aren't we travellers kinda hooked on the thrill of the unknown?

So, there you go. The posts here at Rantin' n Raven are about to take a dramatic turn and get really interesting.

We're excited - we hope you'll join us for the ride. 

Where are we going after Palenque? Who knows. We may go east or we may go west. Were not sure. Ultimately we will go north though - we are thinking to be back in the USA - most likely at the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez crossing mid March. 

As always - remember to pass along your ideas, advice and places that you suggest we check out.

Now, back to my research!

Hmmmm - sure hope the all the rain Mexico is getting right now tappers off before we get there…..

Teresa

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