We were in Mazatlan for a total of two weeks and could have stayed for much longer. But the boys are excited to get back to their old stomping grounds, and we’re excited to get back to the warm waters and idyllic shores of the Riviera Nayarit, so south it is.
Stone Island’s been good to us. We’re happy to be staying at this RV in the off season, even if it’s not quite off season for everyone else.
King David RV Park is extremely popular between mid-November and mid-March with seasonal residents from Canada. It’s also a regular stop along the Caravan route from the U.S. We just barely overlapped with a caravan when we first arrived. But the last ten days have been pretty sleepy here, which is fine by us.
Unplugged from 120v shore power. Poop tanks dumped. Fresh water tank at 1/3. City water, spray, and sewage hoses stowed. Starlink Dishy lovingly tucked-in to its Dishy box. Windshield cover bagged. Propane off. Awning up and locked. Time to roll out.
Two weeks since we turned over the engine. Started right up on the first crank. Now, do I remember how to drive this thing?
We’ve got a 180-mile journey ahead of us today to Tepic. My map app says 3.5 hours, but due to the 3,000-foot climb in the final 30 minutes and the fact that we’re not cruising up there in a Corolla, I’m gonna estimate closer to five.
Weather conditions for our travel day? As nice as it gets.
And just like that, we’re back in Nayarit—the state we called home for almost two years.
Two hours later, we roll into Tepic.
It took us 4 hours and 15 minutes, door-to-door, which isn’t bad at all. The toll road was one of the better ones we’ve driven on, though we did have to part ways with just under US$100 in tolls.
If we decide to take the toll route, it’s hard to know ahead of time how much the total journey will end up costing. Google Maps gives you an estimate—if you happen to be making the trip in a light vehicle (MX$1,048 / US$60 on this journey, for example). But RVs are charged at the same rate as heavy trucks—on a sliding scale based on the number of axles you have.
Still, the alternative “free” route would have tacked on two additional hours and taken us on some gnarly mountain passes through Cartel country. Not exactly ideal when you’re hauling your 5-ton home with your family and most of your worldly possessions on board.
I’ve made my peace with the cost.
The one lonely RV park in Tepic is one of the funkier ones we’ve stayed in so far. Frankly, it’s a miracle Tepic even has an RV Park, and one that’s relatively centrally-located.
MX$390 (US$23) gets you a level grass pad in a shady grove with 15 AMP outlets, serviceable water pressure and sewage.
15 AMP isn’t enough for us to run A/C, but thankfully we’re up in the mountains where it cools off at night. Here in mid-April things are starting to get steamy in the lowlands. We’re heading back down to the coast tomorrow so hopefully this will be the last 15 AMP outlets we see for a while.
Something else worth mentioning is that the voltage in Mexico tends to run higher on average at the receptacle than in the States, so 125v is not uncommon in residential buildings.
Due to poor infrastructure in some of the more rural areas, RV Parks let the voltage run into the low to mid 130s to cope with high season demand (i.e. dozens of rigs from Canada running their A/C units all day in January to cope with the 78 F “heat”).
During these times, that will bring the voltage down to an adequate 110v-115v. But in the off-season (like right now), that means it’s not unusual to see voltage over 132.
That’s not a problem for things like computers and gadget chargers that are built to convert high voltage (110-220v) down to 5v~20v. But for appliances like air conditioning units and microwaves, we’re told +/-12v from 120 volts can cause long-term damage.
Knowing we were going to be spending most of time in Mexico, we invested in a Hughes Watchdog surge protector with auto-shutoff, which is designed to protect the RV electrical system against a long list of electrical maladies, and shuts off the power at the pedestal if things get too sketchy.
Which is great 90% of the time.
But it’s designed to shut the power off if voltage goes above 132 volts, which is exactly what happened to us in Celestino (and is the case here in Tepic as well). That meant that in Celestino, we found ourselves without a surge protector, leaving us with no choice but to do some fairly expensive dry camping.
The kicker is, once you put a load on the system (like your air-conditioning), it usually brings the voltage down into safe territory. But our Watchdog wouldn’t let us do that. It would just shut off.
So…I decided to order a second Watchdog without auto-shut-off from the U.S. and have it shipped down here. That way, if we needed to, we could still plug into a 133v volt pedestal and monitor the power (via bluetooth) and still have a certain level of protection without getting kicked off the grid.
Not ideal, but it’s about the best we can hope for in Mexico.
The RV Park itself is a nice little place. Lots of grass for the kids to run around and was deserted when we got there. The boys, of course, were drawn to the hammock like moths to a flame.
The access is one of the more unusual we’ve seen. You have to enter a tight strip mall parking lot and drive through a tunnel between a coffee shop and DHL office. A bit on the narrow side with low clearance, but not a problem for our Class C.
We grabbed some pizza around the corner, then headed out on a little walk around the neighborhood.
When we returned, there was a Class B with European license plates that had pulled on the other side of the park. It was a family from Germany and they happened to have two little boys to play with.
The boys had fun running around and exploring together for an hour or so until the two- and five-year-old discovered Noe’s stash of forest treasures he had been collecting that afternoon. A heated exchange ensued between the children, so we thanked them for playing and decided to call it a night. Sometimes road friends work out. Sometimes they do for a while until they don’t anymore.
Tepic was a nice stopover. But the next morning we were more than ready to get back on the road. Riviera Nayarit, here we come!
But not before a provisioning stop.
The Salchichoneria. Every large supermarket seems to have one in Mexico. An entire department devoted to ultra-processed mystery meats.
After numerous failed attempts to keep our RV microwave on life support, we finally broke down and bought the Walmart special. Price seemed ok, so I was pleasantly surprised when they took another 20% off at the register for no apparent reason.
I always try to go with Mexican-made Oster appliances here in Mexico. For one, they are made in Mexico (generally much better quality than most Chinese or even American brands (which are usually made in China these days anyway)). But the best part is that they solid warranties with dozens of service centers scattered across the country. AND you can often by replacement parts, even at Walmart.
If you’re looking for a powerful and virtually indestructible margarita blender for a good price, the Oster we had prior to RV life is exactly that. I would expect nothing less from the birthplace of crushed-ice cocktails.
I was actually really excited about this day of driving. Really excited.
Why? After more than a decade, the Autopista (toll expressway) connecting Guadalajara with Puerto Vallarta was finally complete. And the final (and most challenging) section opened just days ago.
This meant we could finally avoid the infamous stretch of Highway 200 between Compostela and Las Varas.
We drove the stretch countless times in the Montero when we lived in Nayarit and it counts among my least favorite drives in all of Mexico.
So I’m ecstatic to not have to deal with it in a 25-ft motorhome.
And all of us are looking forward to getting back to the beach and revisiting old friends and favorite places.
So nice!
Back in Blue Agave country—a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Those are tunnels in the distance on the right (above). The new Autopista meanders through several. This part of the country is nothing but rugged jungle covered mountains. The old road was a narrow winding two-way road and the main route for trucks up and down the Pacific Coast. The new road? Heaven.
No brakes? Follow the crazy red line.
The exit for Lo de Marcos is just south of Monteón. Suddenly, we’re back on old Mexico 200. Thirty minutes to the north is Chacala, where we lived for the better part of a year in 2021-22. Twenty minutes to the south is Sayulita, where we lived the year prior.
Yep, we know this road well.
Crossing from Compostela Municipality into Bahia de Banderas. Time to set the clocks forward an hour! Until we return to Chacala in a few days.
I pulled into the RV Park and didn’t even bother hooking up. We’ve got more important things to attend to, after all.
