Anyone Heading South 1st Week of April

CanuckBob wrote:Hahaha......I used to stay at the Azteca 25 years ago when we used to hit Mazatlan for "Spring Break". Best valued hotel in the triangle with a nice beach and great bars just across the street.

Has not changed. Still a great value and the swing shift guy is a very nice fellow. Bar feeds you in the pool without you even having to move. Hot tub and a decent if
not fancy resturant. Beach accross street. Sorry to say but Mazatlan is pretty slow this winter. Hope it changes for the sake of the workers and families.

Z

Zedinmexico wrote:I must say that it is true for Google maps also. We put in Azteca Inn in
the golden triangle of Mazatlan and it put us 4 miles inland on a cul de
sac ................ Z

I had my Garmin directing me to an RV park in Mazatlan and it ended up forcing me late afternoon drive the strip from the north beaches all the way to the closed RV park just around the corner from the Azteca. This was not a fun afternoon when you consider I was driving a Dodge Dually pulling at 40' King of the Road 5th wheel that was well over its 21,000 lbs gross weight. I would have sold you that GPS pretty cheap that afternoon. The only good thing was that it didn't take too much effort to break the lock on the gate and find a place to park. Closed RP park or not nothing was going to force me to go one inch further.

Usually I pre-plan all my routes on the laptop using Mapsource software then upload to the Garmin. This way I can see ahead of time where it is sending me. As CG pointed out above, I haven't had much luck finding a place by simply entering a Mexican address because of the multitude of streets with the same name in each town.

Hey, I had preplanned this and the (&*$%(* Garmin landed me exactly where it thought it should be. Then the adventure started. I do a lot of reconized "Iron Butt" motorcycle rides and pre planning is always a must when your off to do 1500 miles in under 24 hours.

albertrv wrote:Hey, I had preplanned this and the (&*$%(* Garmin landed me exactly where it thought it should be. Then the adventure started. I do a lot of reconized "Iron Butt" motorcycle rides and pre planning is always a must when your off to do 1500 miles in under 24 hours.

Mazatlan folks. We always get lost with Maps GPS computer insturctions doesn't matter. Last time they had a marathon around the golden triangle and none of the
hotel guests could leave. Finally they let us go across the street to a neighborhood that only had one exit. It looked like a survivor game with all the gringoes driving
around looking for the secret exit street. We would pass each other and wave and go try another direction. Twenty minutes later we found the exit behind a super
market and got out. EVERYBODY has problems with Mazatlan especially during consturction. We get stressed out with our Frontier pickup I can imagine a dually
with a big a** trailer. Glad you made it. We love the triangle and the resturants and the Azteca but what a battle to get there every time.

Z

Zed:

I would guess that you were highly motivated to get back on the highway and head off for your next destination thus the frustration with the inconvenience of the marathon. I believe that it is part of our NOB thinking that we always feel that we need to be in control by knowing where we are at all times and always keep that next goal in mind. Granted it took us a number of years before we finally tossed those concepts out the window while traveling throughout Mexico but some of our best educational experiences have occurred while lost or off plan. It is just a different mindset that we now turn on the moment we enter Mexico.

Now if you really want an educational driving experience, try driving to and around the City of Guanajuato! I defy anyone to know just where they are and where they are headed when traveling through the many tunnels that crisscross that city and your GPS does absolutely no good since it cannot receive a signal underground!

CheenaGringo wrote:Zed:

I would guess that you were highly motivated to get back on the highway and head off for your next destination thus the frustration with the inconvenience of the marathon. I believe that it is part of our NOB thinking that we always feel that we need to be in control by knowing where we are at all times and always keep that next goal in mind. Granted it took us a number of years before we finally tossed those concepts out the window while traveling throughout Mexico but some of our best educational experiences have occurred while lost or off plan. It is just a different mindset that we now turn on the moment we enter Mexico.

Now if you really want an educational driving experience, try driving to and around the City of Guanajuato! I defy anyone to know just where they are and where they are headed when traveling through the many tunnels that crisscross that city and your GPS does absolutely no good since it cannot receive a signal underground!

It's not just that situation. It happens every time we come and go from the place. We can have GPS/MAPs/Backup Maps/ Sextant and something will happen there to slow
us down. We now just go to the beach north of the city and drive the last 10 miles along the water to solve the problem and save the marriage:-) Yes we know we should
go with the flow but we couldn't wait four hours as we would have been driving in the dark which is a no go. Believe us we have been in a ferry between islands where the
Atlantic waves and Caribbean waves meet bobbing up and down in a oblong rotating direction wondering about our sanity and deciding to go with the flow but sometimes
the flow is just flat out to slow to get done what you have to get done.

Z

Anybody passing through LA and can bring me a few things from my parent's home there? If you agree to bring me a few more things I can arrange a free week of lodging at a 2br, 2 bath place almost on the malecon!