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Published: April 1st 2013
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Entrance to Hacienda Contreras RV Park.
This well run park is a favorite of north American RVers especially because the owners Sal and Barb go out of their way to entertain and make their guests feel at home. We spent several days at the agua caliente (hot springs resort) Villa Corona. Since we wrote about and posted pictures from there last year, I won't go into any detail about the place except to describe the town's only sit-down restaurant. I don't recall the name of the restaurant but it is just across the street from the Pemex (gas) station.
We had dinner there with Paul and Terry. The menu offered rabbit but I didn't think much about it. Paul and Terry ordered fish, Ray ordered chicken and I had shrimp. While waiting for our food to arrive Terry struck up a conversation with the restaurant owners. They showed her around the property. She came back for me. There were several pens of bunnies whom I'm sure will soon be slaughtered and served. Terry and I each picked out favorites to cuddle. Kittens, unused to handling by humans, are skittish. These bunnies were not. I put my little black and white bunny down three times and she seemed to wait to be picked up and nuzzled again and again. Terry is still talking about her little brown bunny.
From Villa Corona we drove about two hours to RV
Park Hacienda Contreras near the small town of Mazamitla. Mazamitla is another of Mexico's 54 Pueblo Magicos, designated for retaining historical or cultural identity. Mazamitla, more or less overlooked by the rest of the world, somewhat resembles a Swiss alpine village. It is a popular destination for Mexican tourists.
Hacienda Contreras is one of the most popular RV parks in Mexico because the owners, Barb and Sal Contreras, really go out of their way to entertain their guests. Barb is an American from Illinois. Sal is a Mexican who, for years, worked for the Chicago transit authority. They met, married, and had five kids. After Sal retired, Barb quit her job and they moved to Mexico to build an RV park on farmland they bought from Sal's grandfather. Barb says since Sal has so many relatives in the area to visit with, she knew she'd need something to keep her busy.
The elevation is 6400 feet. The days were warm and sunny but the nights were cool - good sleeping weather. We enjoyed a whole week of full moons and clear starry skies. One afternoon, we were treated to sudden thunder storm followed by a cross sky rainbow.
Being used to moderate humidity, the dry air caused our lips to chap and skin to become scaly.
Barb and Sal have a large map of Mexico and North America where they ask guests to stick pins indicating their home towns. Clearly, the most visitors hail from British Columbia and Quebec but interestingly, Colorado comes in third place in terms of visitors. When we visited, the only other Americans there were also Californians. One lady, a retired nurse from Sacramento, was traveling alone with her poodle Lacey and two cats Lincoln and Eleanor (named for the former president and a first lady). The other Californian now lives full time in Mexico.
Each evening at Hacienda Contreras, folks gather for "happy hour". Everybody brings their own beverages and a snack to share. We ran into several people who we've met in previous travels. Plus, we had the opportunity to meet other folks whose blogs and travel postings we've followed for years. One such couple had just returned from hiking in Guatemala. Because I didn't obtain permission to share any of these folk's blogs I can only provide a general link where they can be found -
http://www.rollinghomes.com/mlinks.htm On
Tioga George is a full time RVer living in Mexico year around.
It was an honor to finally meet George. He has been blogging since 2003. I have followed his travels since our first trip in 2009. George calls his motorhome Ms. Tioga and speaks of her as human. the Saturday before Palm Sunday, Ray and I walked to the small nearby town of Valle de Juarez to visit the market and explore the town. On our way home, we stopped for Margaritas. Our bartender, Chema, turned out to be Sal's cousin. A few days later Sal and Barb asked all of the campers if they'd like to attend an authentic Mexican BBQ. Turns out, the occasion was Chema's birthday. He remembered us.On our last day there, Sal and Barb invited the entire group to go peach picking in a friend's orchard. The park and orchard are in the state of Jalisco. Sadly, our peaches were confiscated when we entered the state of Sinaloa where we now are. Fortunately, we each ate three fresh peaches while still in the orchard.
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