We had originally planned to go to the Yucatan peninsula after San Miguel. Our friends Matheu and Stacey had returned to Mexico and our original plan was to meet up with them and go to the Yucatan Peninsula together at the beginning of November. However, they got an offer to housesit and manage the RV park they were staying at in Oaxaca until the end of December. After our experience in Acapulco with the heat and humidity and the forecasts that this would be one of the most active hurricane seasons on record in the Caribbean we decided that it would be better going back to Oaxaca and hang out with Matheu and Stacey until December.
I expect going to the Yucatan will be quite expensive. If it is hot and humid we would most likely need to rent an apartment or Airbnb which would be pricey. There also a few theme parks we wanted to visit which were super pricey, like over US$100 a person per day. Then there would be the boat tours, cenote swims, pyramids, and all the other tempting pricey tourist attractions. Also the Belize borders had not re-opened yet so it was a better idea to wait in inexpensive Oaxaca rather than pricey Cancun. When it was cooler and/or when the Belize border reopened we would go to the Yucatan.
So bright and early Saturday we left San Miguel de Allende and drove back to Queretaro. Holly wanted to visit the mall to do some shopping before returning to Oaxaca since the mall in Oaxaca was very small. We went to the best mall in Queretaro, the Antea Mall. We had a bit of a hassle since most of the entrances had gates of limited height but eventually we found a delivery entrance and after talking with the guards they let us use that. The mall was very nice, as modern as any fancy mall in the US would be. It had all the expected stores such as Forever 21, Pottery Barn, Levis, William Sonoma, Hugo Boss, Starbucks, American Eagle, etc. Olivia particularly liked the Crispy Crème doughnuts. It was just like being back in the United States except instead of Macys they had a Liverpool department store. We had a limited amount of time since it was only 2 hours free parking and we had a lot of driving left so I took Olivia to the food court for some KFC while Holly picked up a few outfits. We don’t often buy clothes since we can’t fit much in Rover so I was more than happy for Holly to do some shopping. After the mall we stopped by a Japanese grocery store and Costco before hitting the highway again.
We drove the entire afternoon until we it started getting dark and we pulled into a public parking lot in the small town of Tule de Allende. The parking lot was only 30 pesos a night which was great for secure parking. The town to Tule de Allende had some pyramids but we opted to just stay in the Rover for the night and head off again the next morning.
The next morning we headed out again. We had a good six to seven hour’s drive so it was going to be a long day. By lunch we had made it to Puebla where we stopped at the Costco for gas and a couple of items we forgot to get in Queretaro. When we got to the Costco though we found that the line to get into the store was huge, wrapping around the store. They were only letting people in as they came out as they had limited the number of shoppers inside due to the Pandemic. Instead we just got lunch at the Costco food court. The Costco hot dogs are just as large and delicious as in the US. Yum, tastes like home.
We made another long run and got to Oaxaca just as the sun was setting at 6:00. Matheu and Stacey were at the Oaxaca Campground, a different RV park than the EL Rancho. It did not have a pool and was not as fancy as the El Ranch but at 200 pesos a night was less expensive than the El Ranch (300 pesos a night). We opted to forgo electricity and pay just 150 pesos a night. With our fancy solar and battery system we really did not need to plug in to electricity and while saving US$72 a month isn’t a lot every little bit helps.
Olivia was very happy to see Matheu and Stacey’s boys Rafael, Gabe and Django and vice versa. Oaxaca campground was a little higher up with low walls but still a nice large field for the kids to play and hot showers so it had everything we needed. We settled in, had dinner and caught up with Matheu and Stacey a bit before heading to bed.
Here we will pause the journal again since we plan to staying in the Oaxaca Campground for a month or two. At this point our plans are a bit up in the air. Our Mexican visas run out at the end of the year so we will have to go somewhere at that time. We might go to the Yucatan and renew our visas at the Belize border. We might go to Guatemala. We might even take a quick flight back to the US. A lot will depend on the status of the borders and the pandemic. We hope to be able to continue south this winter and go to Asia next summer but with the pandemic resurging, we will have to see what the future holds.