One of the reasons we opted to linger in the highlands was the oppressive temperatures and humidity and powerful storms that descend on the Mexican coast this time of year.
The second reason was the chance for the boys to be involved in some sort of summer camp. This would also give Lori and I a chance to get some additional work days in to pad our travel kitty.
Our initial plan was to enroll them in a soccer camp in Mexico City/CDMX. We knew that Mexico City offered a ton of summer programs in July and August, and a soccer camp seemed like the natural choice.
But Lori had trouble finding a soccer camp that was convenient to an RV park or to central CDMX. We really didn’t want to have to commute via public transportation every day in CDMX, so that option was out.
Lori did stumble across a number of arts and science-based summer camps in Mexico City, so that became the plan…until she found a bunch in San Miguel de Allende.
We hadn’t considered spending much time in SMA since we had spent a week there a few years back and were excited to explore other places in the region. But the stars aligned with Lori’s work, summer camp schedules, and our loose rainy season itinerary.
The boys ended up spending not one, but two weeks at two different camps in San Miguel de Allende and couldn’t have been happier.
Why two weeks? We paid the deposit on our first choice camp, only to discover a few days later that it was a week later than we thought. Because of Lori’s work schedule, we needed a summer camp for the week before. Rather than try and get the refund back, we figured we would just do two.
Most of the summer camps we came across were between US$40-US$80 per kid per week, which is a steal by U.S. standards. And we don’t know when we’ll have the chance again. Plus, we knew the boys would be excited to have TWO full weeks of activities and hanging out with kids their own age.
On Sunday morning, we moved our home to a storage spot, defrosted the freezer, disconnected the battery, locked everything up and said see ya later to the Winnebago.
A short Uber later, we rolled up to our brick-and-mortar home for the next week, a couple of blocks from the central plaza.
It’s a small, two-bedroom apartment but seems spacious compared to the RV—though we will miss our outdoor living space (and the comforts of a home how we like it).
One of the things we’ve never gotten used to over the past several years of renting other people’s homes is the lack of customization.
Everything in the RV is more or less how we want it. And if it’s not (and we feel strong enough about it), we can change it. We love that aspect of RV life.
What we will undoubtedly love about staying in an apartment this week is how we can step out, walk a block or two, and be somewhere fun and interesting.
The boys’ summer camp this week is still a 15-minute walk from here, but it beats a 20-minute bus ride from the RV Park, plus a 20-minute walk (each way).
After the boys first day of summer camp, we decided it would be fun to mark the occasion with…dental checkups/cleanings!
We used to go every 12 months or so, but in Mexico find ourselves going about every six months. The price is right, and the boys are getting older.
Don’t ask me why, but Noe, in particular, loves going to the dentist. I thought all that would go out the door when he went through the not-so-pleasant experience of needing to get fitted for a special retainer, then having to wear said retainer for the next nine months. But, nope, still loves it. The rest of us are much more ambivalent.
Afterwards, we meandered the pleasant city streets of SMA until we arrived at the real treat of the day…pizza!
La Favolosa ain’t cheap (I somehow was hoping otherwise), but it’s got an exceptional view at sunset and the pizza is some of the best we’ve had in a long time.
Just another evening in Jardin Allende. Que romantico.
A quick breakfast for the boys before taking them to summer camp. It’s Lori’s turn to take them. It’s my turn to make breakfast.
We may or may not have paid a visit to City Market yesterday. Figured we’d do something different than our typical hardboiled egg and bowl of cereal while we’re staying in the city. Plus, we needed some sort of incentive not to eat breakfast out every morning before getting to work.
On Wednesday, we took a quick trip out to the RV park to check up on our home. Last week, we got a ton of rain, but no leaks to date, fortunately.
One of the big selling points of the Winnebago is it had been sitting outside for weeks in a particularly rainy Oregon January when we first viewed it. All the other RVs we looked at had moisture and leaking. This one—nada.
Fast-forward six months later (including a very wet and tropical past month), and still bone dry. Still, there’s always the feeling in the back of my mind that I left something opened, or a seal had come loose.
Nope, all good. Back to SMA we go.
Of course, we had no idea that the biggest storm we’ve seen in SMA was on its way that evening. Just in time for our long-awaited date night.
In La Paz, we were up to one date night per week, which seems unbelievable now. At US$15 total for three hours for a sitter from a legit agency, it was not hard to justify our Saturday night tradition.
In the RV, it’s either not been practical or too expensive to justify. Plus, we felt a little self-conscious having a sitter over to the RV. But as soon as we learned we’d be in an apartment and SMA had sitter services, we jumped at the chance.
Let’s just say that in SMA it ain’t US$5/hour. But for one night every six months, it was well worth it.
Our evening started out great. We decided to retrace some steps from our last date night in SMA two years ago when Lori’s parents were visiting. We returned to Quince Rooftop where we had our first ever Carajillos and got…you guessed it…the Carajillo trio.
The skies were threatening when we arrived, and they moved us around once, in preparation for the storm, then a second time when the rain started coming in sideways.
Now a month into rainy season, you would have thought we would have known better by now and brought umbrellas. But the weather had been dry for several days. Why on earth would it rain cats and dogs on our date night?
Because this is Mexico, and because it can (and will).
After finishing up our Carajillos, we knew we needed to continue on. We had reservations and also wanted to squeeze in one other stop.
But the rain was falling too fast and furious to go anywhere. Even hailing a taxi or Uber wasn’t exactly straightforward.
Quince just happens to be on a pedestrian-only street, which meant that even if we managed to get a ride, we’d have to walk 100 meters to the end of the street to get there.
After a while of waiting for the rain to let up, we finally convinced one of the restaurant staff to lend us an umbrella. Fortunately, there was at least one Uber driver crazy enough to accept our request in this torrential downpour, and we were on our way.
That’s the street our next two stops are on. The curb is about six inches high, so that gives you some idea of how much water is on the road.
We still had a little bit of time before dinner, so we ducked into the Mezcaleria next door, San Mezcal. It turned out to be a very good choice, and turned out to be one of our favorite places in all of SMA.
Time to head over to dinner!
Our third and final stop of the night is La Parada Peruvian Restaurant, where we ate on our date night in 2021. The ceviche is even better than we remember.
We planned to spend some time in the central plaza after dinner, taking our time and wandering about aimlessly without kids. But the rain made Jardin Allende a virtual ghost town, and it was getting later, so we made our way back to the apartment.
In other news, the boys have really been loving their summer camp at Jardin El Tecolote. This week’s camp is more play-based and geared towards younger kids. Next week’s camp is a bit more structured with multiple age groups.
In addition to having a fun time, the boys of course have gotten to play with a bunch of kids, including the first other American kids they’ve met since we crossed back into Mexico in March.
They’ve hung out with kids from Mexico, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and elsewhere, but not from the States until this week. And the U.S. is Mexico’s next door neighbor. Crazy.
Before we all knew it, the boys’ first week of summer camp came to a close.
I had a hankering for burritos and this place did not disappoint. Mama Mela is a small mom and pop place that’s been around forever with HUGE burritos (nearly a foot long). And very tasty ones at that. Plus, the guy working there was really friendly, especially after he realized the boys speak fluent Spanish.
In Mexico, we’ve never had good luck with Airbnbs. No matter the reviews, the town, or the price, we’ve never had an overwhelming positive experience. Contrast that with Southeast Asia where we literally never had a single experience that was anything but wonderful.
Mind you, we’ve lived in Mexico for almost four years in local neighborhoods and are intimately familiar with what we can expect. Still, with each new stay, we’re somehow always surprised.
It’s gotten to the point that we’d much rather stay in a small two-bed hotel room or guesthouse than have to deal with an Airbnb. That’s exactly what we did last summer driving up (then back down) the length of the Baja Peninsula and had mostly positive experiences.
Still, this week because we were planning to work “from home” and have been living in 150 square feet of space, we thought we’d try the Airbnb route, once again.
Ay Caramba.
By day, the place was fine. Lots of road noise, but nothing that headphones couldn’t fix.
By night, holy moly. It was all because there’s another unit above that shares an interior common space, making it feel like you were sharing a house with your neighbors (not evident in any way on the listing). Plus, the ceiling was extremely thin with no sound proofing.
Two large families in the span of a few days occupied the unit, staying up into the early morning hours (midweek), bouncing balls, talking loudly, running, turning on and off lights constantly (our unit had frosted windows that opened into their unit and no curtains).
After the third night of only an hour or two of continuous sleep (and the third day of asking the host to do something), she finally told us we could move to her other property (after berating us for bothering her, of course).
We took her up on her offer, packed up all our stuff, and moved up the street. The second place wasn’t perfect (it overlooked a popular brunch restaurant), but it was sufficiently quiet at night, save for the requisite barking dogs and loud music from cars cruising the road that is a normal fixture of Mexico living.
Sunday, we return to the RV and prep for Week Two of summer camp fun in San Miguel de Allende. It’s been great to be right in the center of things, but it’ll be nice to be home.
