Bill and Cathy McArthur on the Road 2004: 13

    Friday, March 5 was a free day in San Cristobal. Bill noticed that, around 3:00 AM, the furnace stopped coming on. It was 46 degrees at 5:00 AM, so we needed some heat in the camper. Bill discovered that the working propane tank was empty and the other wasn't working. A bit later, he found that the connection to the backup tank wasn't tightened properly which probably allowed some gas to escape from the primary tank and also disabled the secondary tank. Once the connection was rectified, we got gas and heat once again. After breakfast we drove Pete and Phyllis into San Cristobal and did some shopping in the outdoor market area. We bought some fruit and vegetables in the market and also bought some items in a nearby pharmacy and a bakery. We drove into the center of the city and parked near the central plaza. We bought some cute little hats for our granddaughters and then visited an Internet Café where Bill uploaded sections 11 and 12 of our travel journal. We also used a telephone to talk with Bill's brother Jack and our daughter Alex. We browsed around the central area for a while and then headed back to the campground for lunch. After lunch we drove several miles up and down the main highway in order to fill our empty propane tank. We accomplished the mission and picked up Pete and Phyllis for another trip into town. This time, we found the main area of craft vendors near San Sebastian church. We were able to buy a wall hanging for home and a rainstick for our granddaughter Erin. Phyllis, a demon shopper, managed to acquire a multitude of items in the crafts area. We stopped at several stores on the way back to the campground in order to buy a bag of ice for our cooler; we finally got one at the edge of town. The group had a briefing for the next day's travel and then Larry drove us along with Nancy, Melva, and Ann Marie to a restaurant for dinner. We had a good meal served by a sullen waiter. Many in our group felt uncomfortable while in the state of Chiapas. We were subject to hostile looks and, in some cases, hostile gestures as we moved around the state. One of the group had his motor home intentionally sideswiped in our campground. There were many dogs barking again overnight and also some worries for our security.

    The temperature was 55 degrees at 5:00 AM on Saturday morning as we hustled to get ready for the road. We got underway shortly after 7:00 AM and headed into the fog toward Tehuantepec. The first step was to climb a foggy mountain to a height of 7700 feet, following a horribly slow truck. The good news was the the fog ended for us at the summit. We were heading for the Pacific coastal plain, so we had a lot of mountains to cross and much altitude to descend. We all drove with the aim of using our engines for braking in order to save our brakes. The terrain began to look like the American southwest and the temperature moved up to a high of 104 as we traveled about 230 miles. We arrived at our destination around 4:00 PM; the temperature was 101 degrees. Our campground was located in a mango grove and was quite picturesque. We could see oxcarts and horses nearby during happy hour. We had an outdoor dinner in a romantic setting enhanced by dramatic lighting in the trees and live music. After dinner, we were treated to a fashion show using local girls as models. The colors in the dresses were brilliant and the models seemed to enjoy the show as much as we did. Many of us had a hard time sleeping overnight due to some very loud music from the adjoining neighborhood which lasted until 3:00 AM.

    On Sunday, we had a group breakfast to start the day. After a travel briefing, we got on the road at around 8:00 AM. It was already 88 degrees. We had another day of heavy mountain driving, this time ascending to an altitude of around 6, 000 feet during our 160 miles. We drove through a valley vegetated with a variety of cacti and agave plants (used for making Mescal). The drive was another good test of drivers and equipment and we all came through it well. We ended up in a field at the edge of the city of Oaxaca (wah-HA-caw). We had a water source for filling fresh water tanks and those of us without generators buddied up to get some AC power. The field also had a dump station, so we had enough facilities to get by. The good part was that there was a large Chedrai supermarket right across the street. We scouted out a restaurant for dinner and then did some shopping at the supermarket. After happy hour, 10 of us went to dinner at a hotel restaurant and enjoyed a good, inexpensive, boisterous meal. We were all happy to be in this special city of Oaxaca for a couple of days to come. 

    The main problem with our campground was the dust and the wind that carried it into our rigs. A secondary problem was that the water source for our fresh water tanks petered out during the day on Monday. We had a group bus tour of the city of Oaxaca beginning at 9:00 AM and running until 1:00 PM. Our guide, Esther, is half Irish and half Indian; she claims that the half with her heart is Indian. She took us to some churches, up on a hill for a panoramic view of the city, to the central plaza, and to the markets. It was a beautiful day with the temperature in the 80s and a refreshing breeze. Our impression of the city was very favorable. We decided to stay in the city instead of taking the bus back to the campground and ate lunch on the town square with Jim, Rick, and Blanche. We had Queso Manchego from Spain and it was the real thing. It brought back fond memories of many weekend lunches in Spain last winter. We also enjoyed a good corn soup. After lunch, we browsed in the market some more and then began to walk back to the campground, a distance of just a couple of miles. We stopped in at an art museum on the way and also both got haircuts at a tiny "unisex" barber shop. As we neared the campground, we bought a large machete for $4 in a hardware store. This will prove useful for keeping our dune trimmed when we get back home. After returning to the campground, we did some shopping at Chedrai. The group took a bus to the El Seguario restaurant for a 6:00 PM group meal. The meal and the ambiance were both good. We had until 8:30 PM to browse around the central plaza, which was quite active during the evening, before we took our bus back to the campground. We had an emergency call concerning some family health matters and talked to our daughter Alex on the Wagon Master's cell phone before showers and bed.

        Bill and Cathy