Yesterday we had anticipated camping at the volcano (the laguna just north of Santa Maria del Oro) but about 5km before Tepic, we all decided to stop at Tepic. *I* didn’t want to camp in Tepic because (miser that I am) I was thinking that the camping fee was going to be really inflated (as we’ve read that the camping fee is the same as a hotel room). When we pulled in (after our police escort) we saw an empty lot, full of grass and trees. The kids found two playmates and loved playing with them so much that last night, after dragging them in, they begged for another day. Still not knowing the camping fee (but imagining it to be stupendous), I told them we’d be going to the Volcano today and that it was probably too expensive here.
This morning, Pike woke with the dreaded tummy bug, but he’s the last, so when he is done we can
breathe a sigh of relief, and I was dissapointed (fiscally) to realize we were going to spend another night in the terribly expensive campground (though, as I write this, at sunset, we STILL don’t know how much it is 
). I even asked him numerous times if he thought he could stand only an hour (I was hoping just to get him to the town above the crater lake, Santa Maria del Oro) but he consistently declined. I offered a movie in his seat; declined.
So, off to Santa Maria del Oro, Tata and Papa and I headed, as Jesse and the girls could not be convinced to leave their playmates. The road to Santa Maria (MX15 libre) was slow and full of trucks – the slowest going were the grossly overloaded cane trucks – trucks full of sugar cane just harvested, but the road off MX15 to Santa Maria was beautiful. Wide; two lanes, a giant shoulder and brand spanking new pavement; it was a cyclist’s dream. Oh, and an RV’s dream. The town was cute and the crater lake (La Laguna) was beautiful. These are pictures from the campground we anticpated staying at.
The 
campground was full of campers from the state of Jalisco (we assumed Guadalajara) and the low hanging water and electric lines as well as the congestion of cars IN the campground made us realize that there was no way we’d be able to navigate with the trailer and/or RV. The road down from Santa Maria to the laguna was do-able, but you’d need the entire width of the road (both lanes) in very many places during the 7km descent, to be able to navigate the road. It was an incredibly narrow road and a little tight in just the van. There were also low hanging branches and trees that looked like really efficient A/C traps (the A/C is the highest point on the RV/trailer – it sticks up from the roof and creates
the height of the RV/trailer). So, we decided to enjoy the area a little and head back. At the top of the descent to the laguna, there is a "mirador" (viewpoint) where Indians are selling their craft. It is a beautiful view of the laguna and pictured here. I’d like to take the kids to the mirador tomorrow, perhaps dropping the trailer (so I don’t have to drag it through the teeny tiny town) at a Pemex outside the town. If we stay late, we might ask the Pemex station attendant if we can spend the night there. As far as Pemex stations go, it is a great location. Way off the main road but lots of parking and looks really modern. Course, ALL the Pemex stations look modern here on the mainland. They put any and all US stations to shame.
When Mom and Dad and I got back, we decided to visit the center of this town and
check out the plaza. We took a bus to the center but didn’t pay a LOT of attention to which bus it was (course, any identification of the bus was done in hard to read chalk/paint on the outside of the front windshield and was almost impossible to read). I didn’t think it would be too difficult to figure a way back… We visited the principal plaza, and Ellen found the horse much more exciting than the stodgy old cathedral. We found the area along the plaza where local indians sell crafts and spend about 3 hours watching Sissy, Ellen and Jesse marvel over one item or another. Tata was buying stuff left and right and I was shadowing Ellen trying to keep her from walking away with stuff. She loved everything and wanted to buy it ALL. We 
walked at a snail’s pace, trying to entice Ellen along (as she would stop about every centimeter and exclaim over something, or pick garbage up, or ask for candy) and finally made it to a taqueria where I got fresh orange juice for the girls. Jesse got an introduction to "liquados" (milkshake like) and LOVED it. I think I know what he’ll be ordering from now on. We had 8 tacos, 2 liquados, and one fresh squeezed OJ for 58 pesos. It was absolutely the cheapest meal yet.
We dragged the kids out of store after store and finally found a street and bus that I thought might take us back to the campground. It got real close, but then turned up a bumpy side road that caused the poor conductor to loose his lunch (literally) all over his steering wheel and seat. I finally managed to get his attention and disembark. Ellen was asleep by now, so we carried her back down to the main road and walked to the campground. Trying to figure out which bus to take, I was studying the busses passing. Suddenly, the bus we had left, some 10 minutes earlier came bounding down the street; same conductor, and many of the same passengers.
Tomorrow we’ll either be in Guadalajara or at the Pemex station outside of Santa Maria del Oro.
