BICYCLE TRIP TO THE SAYULITA NURSERY: Challenges of Landscaping without a Pick-Up Truck

Plant Shopping By Bicycle, Fence Building By...?

My Bike Basket Holds Two Bougainvillea Plants 

     Gardening and nursery shopping are two of the things that I've missed while living in an RV full-time. Since Jon and I have decided that we will be staying at the Sayulita Trailer Park for three to four months each year, I have been itching to plant some tropical plants in our little RV site. And how about sprucing it up with a bamboo privacy fence and a bamboo/tarp shade cover? But we don't own a car or pick-up truck! How do we haul materials for projects like this?

Jon is Willing to Haul Tropical Plants For Me

     When we decided to become full-time RVers last year, we made some dramatic life changes. The biggest change came about when we decided to sell our car and pick-up truck. This would be the first time we had traveled to Mexico in our motorhome without a tow-car. Instead, we decided we would become healthier by riding our bicycles and walking most places.

Colorful Entrance to Sayulita's Nursery

      The Sayulita Nursery (Vivero Sayulita's) was only a short bike ride away from our home at the RV Park, about one mile each way. I convinced Jon to ride with me so we could haul several plants home on our bikes. Jon is such a good sport about going along with my ideas for getting exercise! We each have good baskets installed on the backs of our bikes, so I figured that we could each carry two one-gallon pots comfortably. Riding bicycles to the nursery added another activity to our "healthy living in Mexico". 
     Jon might not admit it, but I think he actually enjoyed shopping at the Sayulita Nursery as much as I did. There were so many beautiful tropical plants in all shades of green, purple and pink that it was difficult to choose only 4 plants. We each chose a different color of bougainvillea and then agreed on two complimentary plants with purple and green leaves. 

I Like this Purple Bougainvillea the Best!

     I admit that the two bougainvillea plants were heavier than I expected on the back of my bicycle. I was glad that our beach-side RV Park was downhill from the nursery so I was able to coast most of the way home. But, before I could start planting, we had to finish our other two landscaping projects: our bamboo and reed fence and our bamboo and tarp shade cover.

Local Men Building the Bamboo Fence Framework

     We hired some local Mexican men to bring bamboo, natural vines, concrete, and other supplies needed for our privacy fence in the backyard of our RV site. As a retired Building Contractor, Jon enjoyed supervising this job. It was fun to watch how the men used plastic tubes filled with water for levels, natural vines from the jungle to wrap the bamboo joints, and five-gallon buckets to haul the wet cement. Who needs a pick-up truck? The work was done in a calm, peaceful manner and the fence looked beautiful and natural when it was finished. Our backyard was framed--now I could begin my garden creation with plants and treasures from the beach. Maybe next season Jon will lay a brick patio...

Fence of Reed Mats Tied to the Bamboo Frame

          The side patio in our RV site was a really sore subject: we could not get our RV awning to extend due to a poorly placed palm tree. The birds sat in the palm tree and s--t on our heads, chairs, and patio rug. Jon had a real problem to solve if I was going to agree to stay at the Sayulita Trailer Park: How to build a patio cover with no Home Depot in town and no pick-up truck to go get materials with?

Local Men Built the Awning Frame from Bamboo

      Jon designed a bamboo frame to be set in concrete next to our patio. The local Mexican men studied his drawing and set out to gather more bamboo, jungle vines, and concrete. It was a pleasure to watch Jon work with these men as he speaks enough Spanish to be able to communicate with them and they enjoyed that. When he needed to, he would use SpanishDict on the Computer, a very good Spanish/ English translator program to create a Spanish sentence for him. I could see him practicing it in his head for several minutes before he would go outside and continue his conversation with the workers. I know they appreciated that this gringo went the extra mile to speak to them in their own language. 

Jon Relaxes: The Awning is Up!

   In the meantime, Jon had ordered a heavy-duty beige tarp with eyelets from a specialty company in Puerto Vallarta, "Lonas Y Toldos Vallarta". They made it to his exact specifications communicated via e-mail, then we rode the bus to Puerto Vallarta to pick it up. Who needs a pick-up truck!

     We couldn't wait to stretch it between the motorhome roof and our new bamboo framework. We enjoyed it for more reasons than we expected:

*No more bird s--t on our heads! 

*A nice shady area to sit and read in the afternoon. 

*Rainy day cover for our chairs and table

*Our next-door neighbor's RV was shaded and cooler, too! 

     Our awning is easily detachable so we can take it down and store it in the RV until we return next season to our favorite RV park: Sayulita Trailer Park.

My Favorite Purple Bougainvillea

     I've planted my two bougainvillea plants, four bamboo starts, a red rose, a candy-strip geranium, and two tropical plants that I have yet to learn the names of. The rains will come to Sayulita soon and hopefully, will keep our plants alive until we return next season. All of those plants cost me 160 pesos (about $11.00 U.S.), so even if they don't all survive till we return, I received my money's worth in enjoyment this year. It's fun to "homestead" a little piece of the earth, even in an RV Park. And, we didn't need a car or pick-up truck to do it!

I invite you to get a free sample of my eBook "Healthy Living and Traveling in Mexico" by clicking at: "Healthy Living and Traveling in Mexico" at Amazon.com .

You can follow our adventures at www.HealthyLivingandTravelinginMexico.com