167 Miles = 253 Miles

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Guanajuato

Feb 21

The itinerary said it would be 167 miles.  The trip logbook said it would be 215 miles.  My GPS said it would be 198 miles.  When we arrived at Bugamville RV Park in Guanajuato my odometer said it was 253 miles.  We used the toll roads most of the way so it wasn’t a cheap drive by any means.  However, the toll roads are far better than the alternatives with the many small towns and villages and their hundreds of requisite topes.  Even on the decent highways it was still a very tiring drive because the traffic was heavy and crazy.  There were a lot of 18-wheelers, buses, road construction, and toll booths, all of which slowed us down and managed to keep us spread out over 3 or 4 kilometers much of the time (I said “kilometers”!  I’ve been down here too long).  The logbook hasn’t been updated since the new toll roads were opened but we still made it to the RV park, even those who traveled separately from the caravan.   The “separatists” also made it in about 2 hours less travel time because of not having to worry about keeping everyone together.

Bugamville RV Park seems to be in the middle of nowhere but is only about 6 kilometers (there I go again) south of the colonial city of Guanajuato.  When we turned onto the dirt road leading to the park it looked as if we might be parking in a junkyard there was so much construction equipment and material just inside the entrance.  The park is a large flat, mostly dirt, area with electric (15 amps with voltage too low, thus unusable) and water hookups at each site.  There is one common dump station that we will need to use before we leave the park.  I will have to wait until tomorrow to see what the rest of the park has to offer.

I must say that I was very impressed with the welcome committee that met us upon our arrival.  First, there was a guy up on top of the park’s gate.  I believe his job was to make sure that the low hanging wires over the entrance did not become entangled with any of the RV antennas or other roof protrusions.  Then I noticed a pickup truck loaded with blankets, shawls, serapes (ponchos) and three eager vendors.

Once we had parked and setup our RVs, we brought out our lawn chairs and drinks to relax, unwind, and discuss the day.  The blanket salesmen provided some impromptu entertainment by parading around our circle of chairs with their blankets, which they swap out after a circuit or two.  If you looked the least bit interested they would stand behind your chair in the hope of capturing your attention.  Their technique seemed to begin working quite well after we had a few drinks!  By the time we broke up and retreated to our RVs the blanket salesmen had done quite well and even promised to return tomorrow afternoon with more blankets and great prices.  I can’t wait.

As the sun sank slowly in the west (cliché intended) our hard day of travel was rewarded with a remarkable sunset, making up for much of the day’s tension.