0 to 9,000 Feet in 4 Hours: Return to Teotihuacan

It’s never easy for us to trade in the beach in Mexico for the highlands. As in November, we take comfort in knowing that we’ll be back on the Pacific Coast in a couple of months time and even have a few new stops in the works as well.

Lori and I really wanted to cover all new ground on our return trip. We seriously considered continuing north along the Gulf Coast into Texas, or aiming for San Luis Potosí and Durango instead.

Both of those options didn’t put us in optimal position for the summer rainy season, which we knew we wanted to avoid this time around.

Our Mexico-USA RV Journey 2024-25

Learn more about the route (and our home-on-wheels)

We’ve also been reconsidering converting our temporary residence here in Mexico to permanent residence when we become eligible at the end of July. That means we would have to still be in Mexico in 3.5 months, which in turn means dragging our feet and slowing our pace a bit. The Texas border is just 750 miles away, and the Arizona border, twice that.

There were two new places on our radar between Veracruz and the Pacific that looked like good RV parks for spending some quality time: Charly’s and Roca Azul on opposite ends of Lake Chapala.

We also thought that Tepotzotlan (where we parked ourselves for a month last August) might be a good location to base ourselves during this year’s Easter weeks (Semana Santa and Semana Pascua). And that’s where we’re headed now, by way of a quick night’s stop in Teotihuacan.

One final visit to the beach at El Corsario before heading out. We’ll miss this place.

Despite a 9,000-foot climb from the Gulf of Mexico to the central plateau, the five-hour drive to Teotihuacan was surprisingly pleasant—thanks to the well-maintained and over-engineered autopista (toll highway), and its many bridges and tunnels. It’s pretty impressive.

I was a bit concerned about how our 11,000-lbs. home-on-wheels would handle such a climb, but Winnie did just fine climbing—yet again—back up to the top of Mexico.

Then, just like that, we were back in Teotihuacan and the outskirts of Mexico City—some seven months since our last visit.

The boys caught up on a story while I did a quick, one-night, setup. Then, it was off to see what we’ve been missing for the past eight months.

We wondered how much of this place the boys would remember. Right off the bat, Riley remembered the churro and gelato sandwich place next door.

But just like last visit, the place never seemed to be open when we wanted it to be. Sorry [again], Riley.

It’s wonderful being here in dry season this time. The sun seems so brilliant and the sky, bluer than we’ve seen in a very long time.

We had just enough time for a quick stroll around town before the sun set.

The next morning, we packed up and got ready to make the hop over to Tepotzotlan. Yep, just a quick one-nighter in Teo this time around—but enough time to air up the tires and grab a bit of breakfast.

I’ve been wanting to put air in the tires for some time, but thought it best to wait until we were done with our beach time and sand/dirt road driving for a while. The rear dualies require a dual head air chuck, which I have, but it’s next to impossible to find a gas station with an air pump that is compatible with it.

Fortunately, in Mexico, it’s not too difficult to find someone to come out and do it for you. This guy came well equipped. The domicilio (mobile) service cost US$10 and took all of ten minutes.

Tierra Cafe is one of two (maybe three) brunch places in town. The other(s) were closed, so our decision was made for us. The boys were excited to take a trip down memory lane, playing dominos and saying hola to the cafe’s resident sheep.

I remember the drive last year from Tepotzotlan to Teotihuacan being uneventful and even pleasant, taking just under two hours door-to-door, including a stop for gas.

This time was a different story. The drive still took two hours but was one of the worst drives we’ve had in a long time. That 120 minutes really packed a punch—lots of traffic, lots of backups, lots of impossible navigating.

At one point coming into town, we found ourselves one lane to the right of where we should have been (on a six-lane highway). That mistake cost us about 20 minutes as we struggled for what felt like an eternity to get over to the adjacent lane.

This being the Friday before Palm Sunday may have had something to do with it. Or maybe it’s like this here every Friday.

With white knuckles and sweaty palms, I pulled the beast into the familiar front drive of Pepe’s RV Park as Lori went about the familiar business of finding someone to open up the front gate.

We were surprised to find we wouldn’t be alone in the massive complex like most of our stay last August. Last year, it took a couple of hours to figure out which spot we should park in. This time we thought it would be easy—we’d just roll into our old spot.

However, a Swiss overland vehicle was currently occupying it (a couple we had met in Oaxaca last November). So, the search was on for a level spot with functional hookups—not an easy feat at Pepe’s these days.

After 30 minutes of searching, we pulled the RV in sideways across three spots and called it good. We usually wouldn’t do that, but the RV park was 90% empty with dozens of available spots. However, most are either two small for our rig’s awning, aren’t remotely level, or don’t have functioning power.

We put a bit more effort into this than we normally would, as we had no plans to move the RV for the next 16 nights.

Lori finished check-in with the onsite manager and I was very happy to see her return with a large, rectangular box—the new Starlink. Finally, Lori could do video calls again for work without paying up the butt for phone data.

With new Starlink in hand, it was time to head down to the DHL office and ship off the broken one.

This is our FIFTH Semana Santa in a row in Mexico and this is the first year I’ve seen a sign like this. “Security Tips,” but also tips on how not to be a total a-hole. They could use a couple of these up in Nayarit if they don’t have them already.