Medellin again

We had a nice sleep in the restaurant parking lot and Dd woke up early to watch the 12 dogs do their morning routine. He was so sad that we were not staying another night. The sky was beautiful for the drive down to Medellin on a glorious highway that led to a lot of traffic. We wanted to get propane filled at an auto GLP station and there were two in Medellin. The first one was broken. A price smart was close by so we stopped by there for some snacks and lunch. $150 later we went to the other station and we were successful. Unfortunately, and I am not sure why, but the pump only filled up to over half. I am not sure if the altitude makes a difference or the pressure for propane tanks is different for cars compared to cooking. We then headed out of Medellin towards Guatepe. The drive was lined with restaurants geared toward weekends holiday makers from Medellin. We stopped at a gas station to fill up water and dump water. The water pipe location looked dubious but I am confident in the filters. I tipped the gas station attendant a dollar.

Guatepe is famous for a massive rock that they built a staircase on so people could climb to the top. It is also on a massive man made lake so there are boats and boatyard. The water level seemed a little low despite being rainy season. We had bookmarked a restaurant parking lot for camping for it was not even. The French man who I met when getting our RV from the port had been communicating with me told us he was camped on the lake on the other side of the town so we went there not with any high hopes but it was across the bridge from the cute downtown area so we parked for $5 a night. 

We met up with Nico and met his wife Pauline and children Tia and Liam. We spent the rest of the night with them. The town was decorated with holiday lights but it was also very pretty and we walked the streets to the zocalo, town square where people were setting up for a concert on a stage. The kids played tag and chased each other around. I bought some mini sausages and a sheet of fried dough that tastes like a giant won ton chip for $2.50. We found a bar that served food upstairs over the zocalo and ordered food. I had pork shank osobucco. Christine had a burger and the kids had chicken tenders $35. The kids goofed around on their end of the table and we got to know Nico and Pauline. Nico runs a rafting business in France and is able to do the Pan American highway when the season is over. He is also training to do the Dakar rally on a dirt bike hopefully in the next three years. It was really fun to meet up with other travelers with children.

We walked back to the lake side camp. The boys wanted to still play but told them they could play in the morning.

We had bought some apple pie at price smart because Dd wanted some so we had a slice. The remnants of Thanksgiving.