The Pilgrimage Continues

We left the RV park just north of Acapulco early in the morning and headed south. We circled around Acapulco for a bit, but eventually got on the 200 south of the city. This is were we saw about 8-10 Federali trucks with at least 4 officers each in full swat gear refueling at a Pemex. We decided to stop at the next gas station. Haven`t heard anything about it in the news so far -- maybe they all just happened to need gas at the same time?

There also seemed to be a higher concentration of military checkpoints along the way, and we had to stop more than once to have the van searched -- it was the first time they actually checked the roofpod or asked for our passports. They are all still quite friendly though, and I think they got a kick out of a tall pale freckled shirtless Canadian. Especially when I misheard a question and told them that I was from Mazatlan -- somehow I don't think they believed me.

We also encountered our first Federali checkpoint. On this occasion I was again driving shirtless to avoid decimating another shirt with sweat. They all just laughed as we pulled up, and let us go through after only a couple questions.

Puerto Escondido looks like a pirate cove that slowly and grudgingly became a tourist town, not because it wanted to, but as a last ditch effort to adapt to the changing times. It`s now a great surfer / beach bum town and I truly feel at home here. Mainly because it is the place that has the highest ratio of chin straps that I have ever seen. The first night we got there it seemed like every 2nd or 3rd guy was chin strapped. I may no longer be sporting chin strap (I'm now just a normal beardy), but I still feel a sense of kinship with them. It also had a good pizzeria that was empty. Pizza isn't big in Mexico, and we saw a few Mexicans wander in looking for tacos and being shocked and walk off when the waitress told them they didn't have them.

We lazed about the town for a couple days and I revelled in being clean for the first time in awhile, and not driving for a full day. We had been on the move for the last 5 days and it was nice to relax for a bit and a break from the pilgrimage to Tierra Del Fuego.

After Puerto Escondido we had our first shakedown since coming to Mexico. You can read all about it in Ben's blog http://www.thebestbenandshaneblog.blogspot.com/ .