More Scrapes and Bruises

-->

Cholula, Puebla

Feb 16

We decided to leave with Pat and Barry ahead of the main group this morning and headed out at about 6:30 AM.  We had about 225 miles to drive but almost all of it was on very good toll roads.  Expensive but well worth it.  We arrived at the Las Americas Trailer Park in Cholula about 11:30 AM.  We ate lunch and took a nap before the rest of the group arrived around 2:00 PM.

The trip, however, was not trouble-free.  Somewhere along the way something hit one of the brackets for the awning that covers the bedroom slide-out when extended.  I discovered it after we arrived and tried to extend the slide.  Butch got on a ladder and Randy got on the roof (I handed them tools) and they removed the awning so the slide would extend completely.  I have also collected more scratches on the motorhome, which is going to require some touch-up paint after we return to Nacogdoches.

Carol Ann also has a few more bruises to show for the trip.  She was bringing me a cup of coffee this morning after we left Oaxaca and I had to apply the brakes.  She ended up with her rear end between the steps and the door, her legs up in the air, and coffee all over both her and the dash.  She also managed to pull two pieces of wooden molding from a slide-out corner. 

Jim and Cathy managed to put a ding in their motorhome while maneuvering in the Las Americas Trailer Park this morning.  Tomorrow Carol Ann is going to ask for a show of hands from those in the group who have had no problems on this trip.  We don’t expect any hands to go up.

This RV park has seen better days.  There are three separate parking areas, divided by concrete walls.  We are parked in the part that is to the right of the entry.  Grass and cobblestones make up the surface.  The other two areas are grass and dirt.  The pool is empty except for some brownish rainwater in the bottom.  The pool house is a wreck and the pool bathrooms are worse than horrible.  There is a clubhouse that can’t be used at night because the lights don’t work.  Wi-Fi is available in a corner of the clubhouse but I haven’t tried it now that I have my cellular modem.

Cholula is at an elevation of 7,100 feet and it is much cooler here.  Snow capped mountains can be seen around us, including the tallest peak in Mexico at a little over 19,000 feet.  There is also an active volcano very near Cholula.  As we were driving in today we could see white smoke or steam rising out of it.  It will be just our luck for it to erupt before we leave town!

A large group of us ate supper tonight at a VIPs restaurant (a Mexican chain) only a couple of blocks from here.  The restaurant is very nice and clean, the food was excellent, and my VISA card worked!

Tomorrow we go on a double-decker bus tour of the city, the Cholula ruins, and the Pyramid of Tepanampa.  The pyramid is billed as the largest pyramid, by volume, in the world.  Archeologists have dug over 5 miles of tunnels (which are open to the public) in their exploration of the pyramid.  If I don’t get lost in the tunnels I’ll let you know more about it tomorrow.