In this family, we ♥ tequila. Sipped nice and slow with some lime and salt, is the best way to enjoy it. Our friend Mario introduced us to this tequila and now we love it too. 
The name says it all Quita Penas, literally meaning "take away your worries." We're not sure what we love more though, the tequila itself or the enormous blue bottle! 
So, as I've already said, Guadalajara was the next destination following San Miguel de Allende. Down the road from San Miguel, we made a little stop in Guanajuato, another colonial city. I had forgotten how the whole town is basically a maze of tunnels, at least to enter and exit. Makes for absolutely confusing driving, but still very cool.
The second largest city in Mexico, Guadalajara was a place we new very little about and therefore we didn't really have any expectations either. Arriving after dark we made our way to San Jose del Tajo Trailer Park after a few circles past on the highway. (The whole lateral road thing gets tricky). No one was around in the management office, but a friendly permanent resident from Thornton, CO told us to pick a space and make ourselves at home. I'm not gonna lie - it was pretty much one of the grossest campgrounds we've been to and to make it even sadder, there we a bunch of permanent residents that had built themselves patios, carports and additions to their rigs. They were parked and not going anywhere. God, I hope my retirement never looks like that. The bathrooms were Nasty (with a capital N) and we didn't stick around long after we got up. Actually not even long enough for the main office to open up, so we slipped some pesos under the door with a note that we had paid what we thought the short stay was worth. 
After lunch we headed on our way to the nearby suburb of Tlaquepaque, where swanky design boutiques line pleasant cobblestone streets offering everything from ceramics to exquisite light fixtures and handmade wood furniture. Guadalajara's best interior designers are said to do much of their buying there. We strolled the afternoon away, stopping in a few of the more moderate looking galleries and boutiques. I even found a few Mexican hand blown glass items to add to my collection. If there's one thing that I may love more than textiles, it's glass. 
Not sure what we'd be doing for the night, we luckily stumbled by a cute hotel that accepts and welcomes pets! Yay! How could we say no? All three of us were ready for a break from camping. Not only did Mia have a cute little playmate for the rest of the night (the owner's pup), but the hotel also had a courtyard full of parrots and pygmy monkeys. Very cool again. 
The next day we rose early to hit the much talked about market in Tonalá. Supposedly there are great finds at a fraction of Tlaquepaque's prices. There were certainly a TON of choices at the market, but it was such a headache pushing through the crowds with our hot little dog that we gave up and hit the road for the long awaited return to our favorite beach trailer park!
I swear we have seen this monstrosity another time during our southward bound Mexican road trip. The campground manager told us that it has been stationed in the park for a year - at $17/day that's kind of pricey - but considering that they shipped a tank across the Atlantic, I'm sure money ain't a thang. Ben swears it is a legitimate converted garbage truck and I think he maybe right. Anywho, let's just say that the folks inside (and their cats) didn't seem to be so happy that we pulled in next to them and pretty much didn't speak (or show their faces) to us during our entire 3 day stay. Well actually that's a lie. The woman did make an appearance one afternoon to polish her case of jewels (not kidding) at their outdoor table. The whole thing was a bit comical considering it was at one of our last trailer parks that we met a super friendly, humble German guy.
ToniCol - a vanilla flavored soda.
