This is a message I posted on another forum. To counteract all the negatives about Mexico! Susie (Gary's better half)

Good Stuff about Mexico

We just returned from two months in Mexico in our 34ft MH towing an Explorer. Four years ago we had driven our van to San Miguel so we pretty much knew what to expect in the way of Mexican highways. Neither of us spoke any Spanish, but I now have a new New Years resolution...learn Spanish!

This time, we called this our Voyage of Discovery, a la Lewis and Clark. And boy oh boy! The things we discovered. Wonderful people, wonderful climate, wonderful beaches, wonderful food, wonderful music, and the list goes on. In fact, I said to my husband, there is something to be said for third world countries. They worry about the RIGHT things. They don't worry about time. And that took a little getting used to. Coming from a society that values being on time, the 9-5 workday, the 5 day work week, just doesn't happen there and it took me about two days to get into their groove! And what a relief!

We intended to drive to the _______ area. We bought the Church book, got our insurance, extra belts, etc for the RV, and just took off. The only time I was the least bit nervous was crossing the border coming back from Mexico. I had a tiny live Christmas tree that my daughter had sent me from Harry and David before we left the country. No problem getting it in. But there would have been a problem getting it out! No more will be said on this subject.

We also discovered that the Canadians have this thing figured out. Many more of them down there than Americans, (that's what they call people from the US). And we think we figured out why. Our country thrives on fear. Fear of EVERYTHING. We actually were amazed that people were afraid to come to Mexico. But my husband said, "Shhh...don't tell them how great it is, it's already too crowded."

Last night we were having dinner with some neighbors who are also RVers. She said, �you mean you just went down there BY YOURSELF??� yup. She said she�s heard that they hate RVers and actually TRY to hit you on the road�.she said that she�s HEARD (that seems to be the operative word) that they TRY to knock your mirrors off by driving close to you. Really, now? I began to dispel their fears and my husband began jabbing me in the leg. We agreed to keep silent about our Mexico trip, cause we�re going back next year..but none of this two month stuff. We�re staying at least three months.

But I am now breaking my code of silence. (of course I won't tell you exactly where we were) NOT Baja. Too American for us. We also found that as we drove north back toward the US the cities became more and more "Americanized". Too bad. The American culture seems to permeate everything it touches.

On our way home we left a beach campground very early one morning to avoid a caravan who was leaving at 7:30. We didn't take time to hook up the car, but I followed in the tow car for the 25 mile stretch to a larger town. When we felt we were clear of the caravan we stopped to hook up. We suddenly discovered that one of the pins for the hitch was missing. In our haste to get out before the caravan we had inadvertently forgotten to fasten the clip. Hmmm...in a town of about 100K, we didn't speak Spanish, but we DID have the other pin. Sign language was the order of the day.

We started at a tractor parts store. We had to park in front of another store and the owner of that store said he would watch the RV. (our door lock on the RV was broken) The store didn't have the pin but the man who was watching the RV said to try a place just across the street. They didn't have it either. But he suggested the car dealership and he told us how to get there. They didn't have one, nor did they speak English, but they actually sent one of their employees to a store about three blocks away, on foot. I saw him returning empty handed, and my heart sank. However, when he approached me he made me understand that, yes, they did have it but it was 27 pesos! (that's about $2.50). I told him that was fine and to show me where the store was. He led me back there. I bought the pin, tipped him 40 pesos, about $4.00 and actually felt guilty. It was worth so much more than that to us. When we got back to the states we stopped in Tucson and bought two extra pins. Ten dollars each.

At the beginning of our trip we had met a couple from Calgary that we really enjoyed. They were basically traveling south, so we agreed to meet up again. We did, about four weeks later in a large city. He had a sudden stroke two days before we got there. They went to the emergency room and an excellent neurologist saw him. He spoke very little English but I guess the human body functions the same way regardless of what language it speaks. He was given some medicine and his wife also contacted his doctor in Calgary. The doctor in Calgary told them that the medicine he had been given was RIGHT ON. They made arrangements for him to fly home. We just got an email from them and they were back in the frigid temps!

I also had some emergency dental work done. I was somewhat hesitant about seeing a Mexican dentist, but I asked around the campground and was referred to an excellent man, who did, thankfully, speak English. Minor compared to a stroke. (and the cost was a fraction of what it would have been in the states)

Also, before we left the states I backed out of a parking spot in San Diego and scratched my driver's side car door on some wire wrapped around a telephone pole. I now had a lovely red car with about 5 deep, white scratches running from the back door to the back panel. On the way to Mexico we were commiserating about the cost of having it repaired in the US when we returned. However, at this wonderful campground where we landed for about 6 weeks we were parked next to a man from the US who had his red car painted white by a local man. This man, Premier, happened to be at the campground, talking to another man about painting his RV. It seems he gets most of his work from this campground, and the others in the area. My husband examined the newly white truck and was most impressed by the paint job. He asked him if he could do our door panel and back panel. He said yes, bring it to his shop the following Monday. So we did, and he took my husband into a paint store in the major city (notice I am not mentioning names here), where the owner put the make, year, model etc into a computer, came up with the formula, mixed the paint, then charged my husband 350 pesos for the paint and clear coat (about $35.00). Then, Premie, as he is called charged us $90 for painting it. In fact, Premie and his family joined the campsite for our potluck Christmas Eve dinner. He bought his guitar and sang Mexican Christmas carols. Lovely.

The negative part? I would have to say the highways. The toll roads are the way to go, if possible. Expensive, yes. And some of the toll roads are nothing to write home about, but then so are some of the interstates in the US! And the topes! I became the official tope spotter! But strangely enough that job continued once we were in the states. You'd be amazed how many times I have said, "tope!!" (meaning everything from pothole to dip) in the US! (actually, we decided that they are damn practical, though maddening, especially where lots of traffic is merging and in school zones)

We found where there are gringos, there are also English speaking Mexicans. The campground where we stayed for 6 weeks had everything you could ask for. And if not right at the campground, then within a couple of blocks. The only mishap we had was a palm frond falling on our coach. And within an hour an employee was shimmying up the palm trees cutting off all the suspect palm fronds. We had been told that all the coconuts had been cut down earlier.

Were we just �lucky� that our trip went so smoothly? I think not. We went there with the right attitude. We had no idea what we were going to encounter, but we were up for something �different� than the US. And different we got. Good different.

But I would add, if you are afraid to go to Mexico, then don't go. I firmly believe that people with fear bring fearful things upon themselves. And besides, there are already too many gringos down there anyway!

Susie

THANK YOU, BOTH OF YOU. Dale

Hey Sugar, I spent most of the month of November in Mexico, clocked more than 4,000 miles on the odometer. From Austin, Tx. we headed SW to the Pacific Coast at Cihuatlan then headed SE spending a night or two at various places along the coast for the next two weeks. At Zanetepec we headed NE to Tuxtla Gutterrez where we stayed for a week, then on to the Mayan ruins at Palanque (in the state of Chiapas, where if you really want to be paranoid, read all the warnings from our State Department and other fear mongers) and then back to the US hugging the coast along the Gulf of Mexico. It was a wonderful trip and I ditto all you said about the people, food, climate, music, etc. I can't say enough about all the wonderful, helpful people we met. And, you mentioned dental work at a fraction of the cost in the US. That was actually how I justified the trip. I needed some extensive dental work and was able to get everything I needed done AND pay for the entire trip for less than the cost of just one phase of the dental work I had been quoted here.
Now, for the topes; (pronounced toe-pay or toe-pays, plural) For those who don't know, topes are basically speed bumps located at least at each end of every little village but may also be found on just about any roadway, anywhere. But you never know where they will appear. There may be a warning sign as you approach them, there may be a sign with an arrow pointing right at them or there may be no sign of any kind and likely as not they blend into the highway so they are really hard to see. Here is a little song I wrote which may only be appreciated if you've been there and done that, make up your own tune :~)

Topes, topes, topes, all through Mexico.
Topes, topes, topes, make you drive real slow.
Drive, drive, drive, drive your car.
You can drive all day but you won't get very far.
Topes, topes, topes, make you drive real slow.
Topes, topes, topes, all through Mexico.

Bill, would LOVE to talk to you about the area in you did in Mexico. And yes, I can imagine what people said if you were going into Chiapas! Gary and I did the west coast this year. We are going back there next year but would like to do some of the interior. Haven't been to any of those places you mentioned. Did you use Terri Church's book? What were the interior roads like? Lots of questions! Susie