Momentarily Stationary: Lo de Marcos to Sayulita
We haven't moved much in the last two weeks. Although we planned on spending an extended period of time in Sayulita, there wasn't any camping available when we rolled into town. So we turned around and headed back up the coast to a sleepy little town called Lo de Marcos. There are a surprising number of RV parks there, so we picked the last one at the end of a road called La Parota, and moved in. It's full of retirees down here (mostly Canadians), as there were in Baja. They come down in huge motor homes and stay for most of the winter. We did feel like we had moved into a retirement community, but what is interesting is they all seemed much younger than their years. This park has a happy hour, yoga, Spanish lessons, a great beach bar/restaurant, and they go on excursions together. Just like any retirement community. But here they also cruise into town on their mountain bikes, take a Harley motorcycle out for a spin along the coast, or frolic in the waves on boogey boards. And hey, they've driven to Mexico! These folks are in their 70's and we felt like slackers. I think getting the hell out of the cold in the North, and living simply at the beach with a more free lifestyle is the fountain of youth. It felt like Pleasantville on wheels and we really liked it.
La Parota Camping
Our beach at Lo de Marcos
We need a new water system on the mainland. This ain't it...
We took Spanish lessons in the mornings with our neighbors from the campground owner, Juan Jose
Big rigs living the good life
I sort of adopted this one for a few days. He was chained to a wall all day and I couldn't stand it any longer. We went for runs on the beach together and everyone said I should take him with us because his owner didn't really want him. He was tough to leave, but a 1 year old lab isn't a good fit. Yet.
We stayed 5 days at La Parota and would have stayed longer, but we had tickets to the Sayulita music & film festival so we needed to head back to Sayulita and find a place to stay close to town. We cruised into the next town, San Pancho (San Francisco on the map) but camping was on the beach with no services. With still no camping available in Sayulita, we decided to rent a house. We weren't sure we would like Sayulita since it's pretty touristy, but once we spent some time here and figured out a routine away from the touristy bits, it grew on us. Since then our days have been filled with just town living. We ate good food, went to the farmer's market, did yoga and stand up paddle boarding, went whale watching, shopped in the galleries, and tried to surf a bit. And we've been lazy at the house. Then we got sick. Horrible cold/flu stuff that kept us holed up in the house for days.
Lunch in San Pancho at Chez Lolo - French food! A welcome change from the usual
Our home in Sayulita. One block from the beach
These two little M*Fers lived next door and went off every morning at 4 am. Roosters are an ever present part of Mexican life
The festival was fun. We saw a documentary film on the beach and we went to a concert in the jungle. The Kongos and Dirty Heads. Never knew we liked them but we do now.
Security at the concert. Not so amused to be tourist attractions.
Salsa in the plaza
Locals make it look so easy.
LoJo was too big to park on the streets so we rented a golf cart. The mode of transport in Sayulita
Great restaurants and a wine shop were really appreciated.
Although having a house is lovely, and I am thankful for a bit more extra space while miserably sick, we feel more isolated in a house. And people have second homes here or are on vacation, so it's a different vibe. We have met some nice people but I can't say we feel the same openness we experience on the road from other travelers. So, tomorrow we get back in the rig to head to Puerto Vallarta and I'm ready. We won't be in the rig for more than a week because we are meeting some friends in Yelapa, but I'm feeling more and more like that's home. The one on wheels. Who knows, maybe down the road we'll find our own Pleasantville on wheels.
Sayulita Life: The Movie
(big thanks to Andrew Hsu for the GoPro!!)