We traveled down to the town of Los Barriles, or the lost barrels, which only took an hour or so from our last camp in the mountains. There was a water station on the way so we stopped by and purchased 25 gallons for $80 Pesos (about $5) and then headed in to find a camp spot. We had looked on iOverlander and there was not much for free camping in an around this town that was close enough to shopping, etc., so we headed to a campground in the center that had reasonably good rates. They were full, but had two overflow spots, which turned out to be really nice as they still had power and water and were 10 meters from the pool, showers, laundry and bathrooms. They charged $30 USD per day, but with showers and a pool in the center of town, we were all in.
We took the pups for a walk around the campground to get our bearings while Kathy headed out to the street to start looking at the shops. Once the dogs were walked, I met her along her parusing and then we set out for something to eat. The street that the campground was on was very busy and narrow with people parking on one side or the other. The traffic worked its way in and out and for the most part the drivers found ways through the congestion. We walked along the sidewalks, checked out one of the local grocery stores and several more curio stores. We eventually found our way to Smokies, a bar and restaurant about a quarter of a mile south, where we learned how to make proper margaritas. The food was good too and our spanish is much better as we can now pretty much read the menus. We headed back to the campground and hung out for the afternoon and then took the pups on a long walk along the beach, which they thoroughly enjoyed. We enjoyed a nice dinner at another place just up from the campground and talked with some long-termers and bartenders before heading back to camp.
It was now New Year’s eve and we found out the town had two places that were celebrating. We ended up again at Smokies for our lunch and margaritas and then headed back to camp. I took the pups for another long walk along the beach and saw one of the venues, where some areal spotlights were dancing in the mists and some reggae music was playing. It was a bit crowded with cars running along the beach, so the pups and I headed back to camp. A couple of fireworks blasted off around 8PM and of course the pups were a bit nervous, so they took some pills and we all just watched movies for the night. The fireworks at midnight were nonexistent, which we were thankful for (for the dogs).
The next morning I got up a bit later and took the pups for a really long walk, rather unplanned, along the southern beach. We passed one of the exits and I thought there was another a block or two further, but everything was blocked. I ended up walking them through a resort to get back to the street. Maggie had her tongue out so far it was half the size of her head. Zuzu was loving the 2.5 mile walk, but Maggie lagged a bit and was carried for a bit of it. Needless to say, the pups slept the afternoon away in comfort.
We ended up at Smokies again for lunch, and then headed further into town to find a bank to get some more Pesos. It was about 3/4 of a mile down the road and up the hill, but we enjoyed the afternoon walk. We found the big grocery store and I left Kathy there to browse while I walked the 100M further to the bank. When I got back, she had a handful of things already. We ended up with a basket half filled and had to purchase a bag to carry the load back to the camp. We spent one last night in Los Barriles and then pointed Howie south on Highway 1 for some free beach camping. We did not take many photos in Los Barriles. I can tell when the scenery hasn’t changed much as we don’t take as many photos. LOL.