Drive Chavo Drive!!!! My history in Mazatlan

We just left Mazatlan. I have quitea history with this city. Being here brought back many memories of growing up in a family which loved Mexico and its people. They also loved to deep sea fish. 

In 1952,  the year my brother and I were born, my father took a trip to Mazatlan. He was going there to fish for marlin and swordfish I didn’t even know of this trip until I discovered a newspaper clipping featuring my father and the swordfish he caught in Mazatlan. In 1952 a trip like this was considered high adventure it seems. And, my father was quite an adventurer. 

In those days Mazatlan was undiscovered. On one of his trips to Mexico, my  father brought home Tony, the deckhand on the boat he fished on, to live with our family and learn English. I remember having Tony as my Mexican brother and how fun he was. 

 I also remember traveling with my family (in a converted bus) to Mazatlan when I was around seven or eight. At that time we stayed in Hotel El Dorado who's owner was Senor Louis Patron. Louis and my father became friends and most of Louis’ children came to live with my family in California. Louis, Jaime, Sergio, and Gloria all spent a year with my family. My sister Pat and her husband Warren hosted Sergio in San Diego. 

When I was 13 Gloria was living with us and I went home with her to live with her family in Mazatlan for a summer. We took the bus from the border and I remember being scared the entire 24 hours it took to get to Mazatlan. My next trip to Mazatlan was my honeymoon in 1972. (with former husband Stan) 

So, I have seen this city go from a quiet lovely city to a tourist destination over the years. 

So here I am back in Mazatlan again. We stayed on the beach in a campground way north of the old city and the hotel district.  We took a bus to go to the grocery store, Mega, and saw how congested Mazatlan can be. 

The good news is that in Mazatlan lives a man from Canada who repairs RV’s. He came to us in his van and fixed our macerator in an hour…for $30. He just put his drill into the motor to get it moving again and that unplugged it. No more paper down the toilet, though! 

From Mazatlan we drove north to camp close to the ferry to La Paz. We are now in a small village Las Glorias in a run down campground on the beach. Tomorrow we will drive to Topolobombo to catch the ferry to La Paz. There is no Internet in this village at all so we cannot make reservations in advance. We are going early and can wait hours if needed…We have our van, our books, food, and games to keep us occupied while we wait. We are taking the ferry which allows us to stay in our vehicle and also our doggie can stay with us. 

So…see you in La Paz

Visited this town a few days ago. We love the name. 

It has ruins destroyed by guess who?

The Spanish!!! It is also known for baskets.