Mexico Days 61-63: Tending to chores

Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo //

The four of us know a good campsite when we see it and when we arrived here at Gran Cañon Parque, outside the town of Ixmiquilpan, we knew this was one.  The setting itself was practically ideal with a fairway-like strip of green grass to park on, beautiful views of the rugged canyon walls on each side of us, and a calm river flowing right past camp.  The amenities of trash disposal, unlimited water, and shoddy but usable electricity all at the cost of $5 US per night added to the draw.  A steady string of eighty degree days in the forecast solidified the deal.  For three beautiful days and four nights, there was nowhere else we wanted to be but here.

Putting the truck in park for several days allowed for both Mark and I to tend to various chores and work tasks.  The very first order of business was getting clean.  We’d reached day eight without showers which is one day past having reached a bad attitude about it.  Wet wipes will only get you so far before you become offensive to even yourself.  That was the point we had reached.

Next on the list was laundry, four weeks had somehow passed since our last time near any kind of laundry facility.  Our options were to go spend a night in a city, drop off our laundry and hope to get it back in a timely fashion (self-serve laundry is hard to find here) or try washing some clothes by hand.  With access to unlimited water, Mark decided on the latter and did several small loads of laundry using our collapsible camp bucket.  To be clean AND have a portion of our wardrobe freshly washed was a major boost to my spirits.

While Mark worked on various outside tasks… laundry, filtering water, washing the truck, topping off our batteries, etc., I spent many hours inside at the computer each day catching up on writing, photo editing, and tending to some of the needs of our photography business.  

In the morning and afternoon we took leisurely strolls around the Eco Tourism park that we can only assume we’d found ourselves at during their off-season.  There was hardly anyone else around but the zip lines, kayaks, suspension bridges, restaurant, and climbing wall indicated a popular attraction.  A few families came and went over the weekend but it largely felt as though we had the place to ourselves.  

A sweet but seemingly mentally-tormented dog who Adam named “Bob” was our self-appointed host for the weekend.  He took solace in the shade of our trucks and Heather tried to satiate his hunger with dog food she purchased just for the strays.  Unfortunately Bob always thought his tail was attempting to hijack his meal and he’d end up barking at and chasing his tail in circles rather than eating the food he seemed to so desperately want.  Aside from the natural beauty of Gran Cañon Parque, Bob and his neurosis are probably what we’ll remember most about this stay.

While it would be easy to remain still for several more days, Mark, our researching wizard, has advised that we get going in order to work around the weather that’s moving in mid-week.  He’s chosen a destination not far from here that looks quite attractive, leaving me excited to get back on the road and to see what’s in store for us next.

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