The trip home

All winter we had been thinking of going to Tepic, the capital of Nayarit. Since we hadn’t found a pet sitter, we never took any overnight trips. We decided that we would go to Tepic, spend one night, then leave for Texas. Pretty much the most difficult part of the whole trip is the portion of road between Las Varas and Chapalilla, between Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. By going to Tepic first it would be smooth sailing from there.
We took the non-toll route to Tepic. We drove up the coast on roads that were mostly in good shape. We passed through several towns that had the usual speed bumps. The last section before Tepic is pretty mountainous but we were lucky and didn’t get stuck behind any slow moving trucks.
Some of our “internet friends” we have met live in Tepic. Cliff runs a bulletin board about life in Tepic. Alice, his wife, is a frequent visitor to Puerto Vallarta and contributor to the All Vallarta board. Earlier in the year we had met Alice in Puerto Vallarta. Cliff had made a reservation for us at the LaLoma Hotel. We easily found the hotel and got checked in. We called Cliff and Alice and they met us at the hotel.
One of the places Cliff writes about on his board is called Dutch’s. We went there for lunch. The menu mostly consists of sub sandwiches, salads and baked potatoes. It is a very nice, clean place with a small patio for outdoor dining. We all enjoyed our meals there and the service was good.
After lunch, Cliff gave us the nickel tour of Tepic. It looks interesting and we will surely return there in the future. One thing Tepic has that Puerto Vallarta is lacking is public parks. Our hotel was across the street from a park also called LaLoma. We walked the dogs all the way around that park. It takes probably 45 minutes to walk around the outside of it. In the park are tennis courts, a swimming pool, children’s playgrounds, a zoo and a small train. We didn’t get there early enough to use any of the facilities but the park itself was a great place to walk.
In the morning, we ate breakfast at the LaLoma coffee shop and hit the road for Matehuala. Other than a couple missed turns, one in Guadalajara and one near Lagos de Moreno, it was an uneventful trip. The dogs by this point are veteran car riders so they just sit and look out the window or sleep as we drive along.
In Matehuala we decided to check out a few other hotel options. We knew we could always stay at the Sol y Luna if there weren’t any other pet friendly places. We checked the Las Palmas hotel. It is very nicely landscaped, has a pool and a lot of open space. But they had a sign in the lobby saying no pets allowed. Also, at about 600 pesos, the price was a little higher than we were wanting to spend. Next we checked the Hotel Capri and ended up staying there. It sure looks like it is or was a “no-tell motel”. You enter the property through a gate by the office. There is a large center courtyard with plenty of room to walk the dogs. There were benches and hammocks, paths to walk on and plenty of trees. It looked like the place probably used to be pretty nice. In the courtyard there was a swimming pool that now looked more like a reflecting pool with a small fountain. The rooms all open onto the courtyard. There is parking in front of the rooms. The rooms had no window facing the parking lot, just a window in the back of the room. The bathroom was so small that when you sat on the toilet, your feet were in the shower. Even though the place was obviously past its prime, the room was clean, there was a TV with in the room, and it seemed very safe. We paid 275 pesos for the night. The Capri is located on the main highway through Matehuala, just north of the big arch. It as OK for one night, we give it a solid one star rating. They get the star because the dogs could stay there, too. Next time we will try another place.
We drove into Matehuala for dinner. There was activity at the square for Mothers Day. The last time we were in Matehuala there were very few people in the square. This time there were hundreds of people there. The usual balloon vendors, food stands and entertainment that go with a Mexican fiesta were all there. We decided to eat at a pizza place we had seen the other time. The pizza was very good and we even had a few extra pieces for the dogs.
In the morning, we ate breakfast at a hotel nearby called Motel El Pedregal. I took a look at their rooms. Similar set-up with the courtyard, but these rooms had windows and were a little nicer. Another notable point for a future trip is that some of the rooms are air conditioned. The desk clerk assured me that dogs were allowed. The rooms are in the 300 pesos per night range.
The trip from Matehuala to the border was also uneventful. On the trip down, we had never been stopped by any of the military checkpoints. This time we had to stop twice. Both times they wanted to know where we were coming from and where we were going. One time, they asked to look in the back of our car. One guard took a cursory look while the other guard played with Fox. Neither time were we asked for any documentation or identification.
We had a little difficulty deciding which bridge we should cross at Laredo. Bridge 2 was the correct choice. We waited about 20 minutes to cross the border. The border guard tapped on our car apparently looking for hidden compartments and we drove past a drug dog. Once in Laredo, we returned to the Family Garden Inn where we had stayed on the trip south. This hotel is a good value. For $50 we got a room with 2 queen size beds. The price includes an evening social hour. It is held in a large gazebo near the pool. For 2 hours, they have hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, lemonade and beer. You can also buy margaritas and steaks. This was a popular thing with the guests of the hotel. The clientele varied from traveling families to guys working for an oil company. We talked to a couple from Waxahachie, Texas who was traveling with 3 small dogs. A continental breakfast is also included so once we got settled in our room we didn’t even have to leave the hotel until it was time to hit the road.
We made a quick stop in San Antonio to drop our camera off at the repair center. 2 weeks later, we still don’t have it back or even have a verdict on what’s wrong with it. Last week, a person from the San Antonio repair center called us and said they were sending it to the main repair center in New Jersey as it was a new model camera and they hadn’t had training on it yet in San Antonio.
The smooth, wide highways in Texas made for a fast trip back to Waco. We got to our house and it almost seemed like we had hardly been gone at all.
The three months in Puerto Vallarta seemed to fly by. Since we have been home we have been making slow but steady progress in getting our house ready to sell. We have been continuing the almost endless task of going through all our stuff and deciding whether it is to be kept, put in the garage sale, given to charity or thrown away. Boy do we have a lot of stuff!
Today we are off for a vacation with my parents, brothers, sister and their families. Reports and pictures to follow (of course!)