Mexico Day 111: Another peculiar place

Altavista, Nayarit //

The night was perfectly silent. Having inadvertently found out yesterday that this is a holiday weekend with Monday being ex-president Benito Juárez’s birthday, we are rather lucky to have ended up somewhere so peaceful. Last night the bugs were manageable, and so this morning we decide to stay another night, maybe two. (These last few weeks on the coast, we learned not to pay for more than one night until we determined if the bugs are tolerable or not.)

We’re the only ones camped here at Altavista RV Park, and today I can feel the void of Heather & Adam’s absence. Traveling long-term through a foreign country can get lonely. I’m so grateful to have had their companionship for three whole months. And even more so to have friends that have lived the same unique experiences. This trip leaves us with much to reminisce about.

We may be all alone, but this RV Park certainly appears to have once attracted many campers. Though, whether that be in dream or reality, we’ll never know. Every campground establishment in Mexico offers one peculiarity or another, and here it is the copious amount of utility hookups ready to host a smorgasbord of RVs. Each pedestal is adorned with unique features like the plastic bowls taped to the electrical panel, the buckets that cover each light, and the stacks of towels and old clothing on many of the oddly designed sewer hookups. What’s even more strange are the number of hookups that are placed in locations that an RV could never access. And strangest of all is the three-story-high concrete structure that houses two bathrooms. I’m not sure what it was meant to be or what it may become, but it’s a prime example of Mexico’s lack of building code.

The only life we interact with all day is a flock of turkeys that walk past while grazing. That is until dusk when a skittish puppy appears outside our door. Mark feeds her and gives her water, both of which she accepts without hesitation. Not sure what else we can do, we go inside for the night. It’s not easy closing the door as the puppy looks up at us and whines. She lies down right outside our door and is still there hours later when we go to sleep. If she thinks spending the night here will earn her another meal come morning, she’s a smart dog.

I go to bed wondering what it takes to take a dog back to the US from Mexico. It feels like just a matter of time before one of these homeless pups latches onto us. And one of these days we may be too weak to turn her or she away.

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