Hard to believe it’s almost been a year since we set up house in the Oaxaca Trailer Park – last March.  We’ve discovered the OTP is perfectly located for walking almost anywhere we need to go – to work, to the Zócalo, shopping, restaurants, the vet, our local IMSS clinic, auto parts places, you name it, we’ve found it, somewhere in the neighbourhood.

In fact, we’ve become the resident experts as other RVers roll in and need a laundromat, an internet fix or a quick and cheap copy shop.  Calvin has enjoyed the interaction and has even put his tools and talents to use again fixing various problems caused by vehicles not faring so well over the mountainous roads that lead from any direction into Oaxaca.  But it’s snowbird season, and the ambiance in the park is changing.  With only two months left until we need to renew our FM3 visas, we thought we should take advantage of the opportunity to make a move…

We had skipped past several places in the interior of Mexico on our make-time trip to Bacalar before Christmas 2007.   We’d intended to look at Morelia and Pátzcuaro at least, and now, having experienced the almost-perfect Oaxaca weather, we’re searching for similar – yet greener – pastures in perhaps a smaller centre.  We’ve been quite happy here, but it’s like my colleague Theresa said, “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt”.

So tomorrow, Monday February 2, Mexico’s Día de la Candelaria, we’ll leave Oaxaca, heading first for Cuernavaca on our way west.

We know we’re not done with Oaxaca.  We’ve made many good friends here that we’ll want to see again, and we feel at home here on the streets of Colonia Reforma, our neighbourhood.  But there’s more of Mexico to explore – it’s now or never.  And if we decide to return we know we can easily renew our life and our lifestyle,  and I still have my Berlitz shirt…