Down Mexico Way, vol.7

Hidy Ho neighbors. I guess I'm gonna finally sit down for these last posts on my trip to Mexico. We went down to the coast one day for some beach wandering, bird watching, and picture taking. It was interesting to see these little cabanas that were set up for rent for anyone wanting to use one, although there was no one within 1/2 mi. or more to take money or oversee the use of these in any form. As Suzanne and I wandered the beach with Ray, David drove ahead to meet us at a little restaurant on the beach. The water down here is nice , but it does have a little green tint to it. I guess that's the difference between the Caribbean water and Gulf of California water. Any way we got on up the beach to a little cabana eatery. I had the shrimp, as usual, as did David and Suzanne. We were the only people there, the waiter was the cook as well, and he spoke English which made for a pleasant time without trying to translate, etc. The next time around, I'm gonna bone up on Spanish for sure. After a few hours on the beach , we headed back to Alamos with a little side stop on the way at the world's largest sardine processing area. There were ships unloading as we were there with the most vile odor I've ever tried to put up with over a period of time. The bird watchers were ignoring the smell as they pointed out this bird and that bird. Some people just love what they do.

Anyway, we were soon back in town for a meal and a nice night sleep. The next day I walked downtown to pick up two white shirts, just like the Mexicans wear. These are extra thick cotton with a nice full fit, great for a Mexican summer I bet. That night it was back to the fancy little restaurant in Aduano. The owner was there and since we were the only patrons, he felt comfortable plopping down at our table for some small talk. We learned he had restaurants in Spain and Italy as well as this one. He regaled us with his worldly wanderings as we had our meals. I had shrimp again, so predictable, as David had a chicken dish, and Suzanne had a beef filet. This was a world class restaurant so the food was magnificent, but the tab was only 500+/- pesos. That's fifty bucks to Norte Americanos.

As I've said, sleep is no problem down Mexico way......except for this last night in the casita. The first thing I saw as I flicked on the lights to get ready for bed was a scorpion scooting across the floor. You can imagine what I thought every time I felt a little tickle as I was trying to sleep.

The next day it was off to Guaymos for the flight home, but a stop at the local bakery was in order as we left town. It was the same kind of pastries, etc. that you'll find in Austin or elsewhere, but just having come out of that wood fired oven made everything seem more tasty. This last picture is of a boulder in the center of a road. There were barricades, signs, etc. trying to block entrance to this road that we thought was under repair. I guess the locals couldn't be bothered with plastic warning signs, so someone rolled this in the road. Once again it's just the Mexican way.

I had a pretty uneventful flight back to Austin if you don't count the mad dash through the Phoenix airport after 15 min.s in line at customs, then realizing my flight was within ten minutes of departure time. I was steppin' and fetchin' like my head was on fire and my ass was catchin' as I made tracks down the moving sidewalk and got to my gate as one of the last three people in line. Oh well, the flight to Austin was pleasant, and I bid adios to my brother, his wife, and the memories of old Mexico.

P.S. This post was the first on my new computer, so the pictures are placed in reverse order of what I would like. A minor glitch, but something I'll figure out eventually. Adios muchachos!

Down Mexico way, Vol. 6

Here we go again. A couple of days after the ranch trip we went to visit this little town, Aduano. This first pic is of the square surrounded by the few stores and houses that make up the town. There are very few people living here but once a year there is a pilgrimage of 10,000 people or so who come to see the cactus growing on the outer wall of the local church. Somebody once saw the Virgin in the cactus, although if you can find it in this picture you've got a better imagination than me.I was much more impressed by the huge fig tree growing into the side of a house just above the arroyo running through town. Our family had a fig tree in our yard when I was growing up, but nothing compared to this. I wonder if the figs are proportional ? There's a nice restaurant in town where we'll eat later on in the trip. A report will ensue upon finishing a meal.
After wandering through the town a little more, we headed on back to Alamos. Siestas are catching around here. I think I got an hour in almost every day. A little later, we rode into town to recycle some of the wine bottles accumulating in the house. The shop that took the bottles had a video store on one side. Wrestling videos...hundreds of 'em. Anyway, Suzanne called me to the other store, so I went over there to see this table full of green mango jelly. I don't know what stage they were in as far as being finished goes, but they looked scrumptious as was. I guess the two ladies do this on a regular basis. I have no idea why they're in these little bowls, but it was a tasty little treat for the afternoon. Once again, speaking the language would have been helpful.
Later on we met these two ladies that David and Suzanne had gotten to know. B.K. and Donna are from Canada, I think, have lived down here for a while, and were in the process of building a new house on this high point on the edge of town. We met there, took a little tour of the house as it was, and headed back into town for a meal. This last picture is of Alamos from B.K. and Donna's house site. Somewhere down there we went to a little Italian restaurant that was supposed to be the best in town. As we were ordering, we all had pizzas with different toppings, someone noticed that one of the toppings was "cherries". Being versed enough in what goes on pizzas, there was the general opinion that they were talking about cherry tomatoes. Well....the pizzas arrived a little later and spotted around on the one pizza were reddish/pink maraschino cherries straight from the jar. The same kind that go into fruitcakes. We all got a good laugh then proceeded to finish all of the pizzas. That was a funny night, and I was glad to meet the ex-patriots. It seems they have a couple of houses in town, although they still make it back up to Canada at times. Ah well, after the meal it was back to my casita for a nice windy night. The wind was howling for several days while I was down there which was nice considering the normal heat during this time of year. It made for some nice times hanging out on the roof right at sunset shooting the breeze with Suzanne and David. Oookaaaayy! I'll get back to y'all later. I've got a few more posts to go, but I'll catch up later. Adios mi amigos y compadres!

Down Mexico way, Vol. 5 Pt.2

Here's the picture of the group heading back to the truck, and the mountain behind the ranch house. Pictures I talked about in previous post, but couldn't fit in. I got this picture of the road most traveled. This is pretty typical of what we rode on for a couple of days. On the way back to Alamos, we made a turn in the road, and boom! there's this little chapel in the middle of nowhere. One of the main themes I got from these couple of days is there is a lot of stuff out here in the middle of nowhere. Stephanie says it was built by one of the drug lords that have ranches out in this area. This last picture is of a vista on the road back to Alamos. This was quite an experience for me, two days of seeing this ranch area around Alamos, wth the mountains, creek, and surprises as we went. I've got a few more posts to get through this trip, so hang in and we'll get together later. Vaya con Dios!

Down Mexico way, Vol. 5

After a good night of sleeping without too much snoring and roaring coming from the other guests, we all got up a little after sunrise and chowed down on eggs, fruit, cheese, and Tang. I hadn't seen Tang in a long time, especially what we had, "Mango Tango". It hit the spot. Later, I hitched on with Suzanne, Steph, and Mingo for some more travails on the ranch road. I was just along for the ride but I think the main purpose of this whole trip out to the ranch was to get Suzanne oriented on the areas, and ranches that Steph was wanting to buy for this Tropical Deciduous Forest. "Buy" meaning solicit money from government grants, and private individuals. We were jiggling along, stopping every now and then for a quick planning session from the front seat. Mingo and I had the back seat under control. Another case of me not speaking Spanish with someone not speaking English. After some time, we pulled over in front of this thatched hut, with cocina to the side as usual. Stephanie said a young couple was living here for a while. I mean this is out at least 7 mi.s from the nearest other residents with no electricity, clean water, or any amenities. I couldn't do that. Anyway we piled out of the truck and took off walking toward these mountains pictured. After 30 min.s +/- of walking around this mountain on a barely detectable trail, we ended up at this oasis in the desert. It's a small stream, (I couldn't say it was flowing), that runs between the mountains and was the perfect place to flop down, shake the shoes and cool your feet. As we hung our feet in the water, these small little fish, not minnows, would swim up and start nipping at our feet. That was a wonderful experience as we sat for 15 min.s or so just letting them nibble away. I didn't want to leave, but we had to get on back to the ranch so we could get our stuff together for the ride back to Alamos later that afternoon. This one pic is of Mingo, Steph, and Suzanne on the trail back to the truck. I liked this part of the ride a lot. As we were tooling along, heading back to the ranch, Stephanie pulled over and pointed out this cross along the fence line. I got this picture, but it really struck me that someone had been buried there for who knows how long, and probably no one had any idea who it was, who had buried her/him, or if there were any relatives that had any idea where this was. Strange.
We finally got back to the ranch house; still living on Stephanie time; and got everything ready for the ride back to David and Suzannes. I took this one last photo of this mountain right behind the ranch house. I've got some more pictures to share, but being out of room, I'll go on and say bye for now and get some pics on Vol. 5, Pt. 2. (Doggone it, I got mixed up on some pictures I talked about, and what actually got downloaded. I think the only one that's not in this group is the one of Suzanne, Stephanie, and Mingo on the trail back to the truck. I'll make sure that gets in Pt. 2.)

Down Mexico way, Vol. 4

We got up the next morning for our trip out to a friend's ranch for a couple of days. Her name is Stephanie and I found out when we got to her house that her thing is not getting in any hurry. I'm glad we had stopped in the plaza on the way over to Steph's for some breakfast fajitas. Smoking!
Anyway we finally got on the way in her SUV. I can't remember what kind it was but there were some well worn seats, a lack of A.C. and some shocks that had reached their limit long ago. It made for a bouncy, dusty 4hr.s or so getting to the ranch. We took a gravel road for the 7 mi.s or so with a stop at a small village on the way. Stephanie has been trying to get the villagers into selling arts and crafts so they can make some money. I ended up paying 20 pesos ($2.00 north 'merican) for a clay duck. Even though the pesos are 10 to 1 in relation to the dollar, I had trouble the whole time I was down there with looking at a 200 peso bill, for an example, and remembering that is only $20. It just never clicked.
After some time in the village, that's a picture of David bargaining away, we got back on the road for the rest of the ride. There is a place on the road called a "ramada" where Steph keeps a few burros and a couple of horses. We hung out for a while, took a little walk, and ended up at this covered shed for a break. That's when I went over and laid hands on this one burro. It was the frendliest of the bunch and now it's been healed. It was time to get back on the road, so we headed back out. There are some real nice vistas along the way including this flat-topped mountain called "cerro rodondo" (round mountain). This is the focal point of the trip that I remember. We finally got to the ranch building where we spent the night. The ranch hands pictured are, (from their right to left), Amalio, Pancho, Mingo, Tavo, and Dario. They took good care of us, feeding us supper that they made in the seperate cocina (kitchen). The whole meal was cooked over a wood fire and consisted of machaca, (shredded beef), rice, and veggies with tacos. That picture of David and the dogs shows the kitchen to the left and our sleeping quarters behind him. Before we hit the beds, which consisted of a frame with latticed ropes between and a sleeping pad thrown on top, we strung up mosquito netting, as much to keep any bugs from falling out of the thatched roof as any mosquitos. Sleep came pretty quick and I think the only noises were Stephanie chasing away a skunk before the dogs got hold of it. We had another day to go at the ranch, but I'll get into that next time. Toodles.

Down Mexico way, vol. 3

Leaving Guaymas after a day on the water, we headed down to Alamos, which is where David and Suzanne live, and will be our base of operations for the next 10 days or so. The trip was not without its moments as we first stopped at a roadside cafe to get some BBQ chicken. If you can't eat with flies then carry yourself on down the road because this place was pretty wide open to the outside and I assume the flies have had chicken before. Despite the buzzing the chicken was as tasty as any I've had recently. I'm not sure what the spices were, but it was different from BBQ chicken found around Texas. With full stomachs we tripped on along having only to stop for a police roadblock between Guaymas and Navajoa. This was a total blockage of the road in both directions with a troop of police checking vehicles. There was a sand bagged position in the middle of the road with a couple of policemen armed with automatic weapons. David pulled up, said whatever needed to be said, got a couple of glances, then we got flagged along to continue. No big deal. The only other time we were accosted was going through larger towns. At all stop lights, especially if you've got north American plates, there would be a swarm of kids, 10 to 15 yr's old, that would come flying from the sidewalks and start washing the windows. They got a few pesos from us and, once again, down the road we went. It's about a 3.5 hr. drive with scenery that reminded me of the south Arizona area. We eventually got to Alamos and went to the house to unload. I have to say the house was really nice as they've spent 5 or 6 yr's getting everything repaired, replaced, etc. Ray met us at the door and I think he remembers me now as opposed to other times when he seemed a little stand offish from me. (Ray is the dog). After unloading, I got a quickie tour of the town and its cobblestone streets, plaza, church, etc. When we got back Suzanne was there and we all had a good get together sitting around and supping on one of Suzanne's specialities....ox-tail stew. Man that's some good stuff. There is a deck on top of their house where we sat around laughing and eyeballing the sunset and mountains not far away. Well, after a while everyone decided to hit the rack for the night. That one picture in the yard shows the casita where they had me bedding down for the duration. It's a nice little two room house with an industrial strength fan. I forgot to say there is no a.c. in the house, but I got used to that pretty quick. The pics here are some of the house, the sunset from the deck, and the casita. Getting to bed early was mandatory for we were getting up early the next day to take a trip out to the ranches that are to become a recognized tropical decidiouos forest. I'll get to that next time. Hasta lumbago.

Down Mexico way, vol. 2

This was supposed to be the big fishing day.....that's what the skipper was saying the day before, Sat., when we were checking with him on anything extra that would be needed for the Sunday out on the Gulf of Cal. He was saying that the swordfish and dorados (aka.. mahi mahi) were going to be tearing it up the next day, and we could not have picked a better time to come down for the fishing. We sat in his office shooting the breeze for several minutes when this guy who looked like he had been fishing all day, you know, red face, red eyes, red neck, came screaming in thanking the skipper for the best day of fishing he had ever had...David and I looked at each other and simultaneously asked; how much did you pay him to come in right now yelling that crap? Of course he denied any forehand knowledge that this guy was going to be busting in....uh huh. Any way we were up bright and early for the fishing on Sunday and took off down to the pier to get with whoever was going to show us what needed doing. I guess we were a little early so we just hung out on the dock by the boat until our captain for the day showed. His name was Chino, and he spoke very little english, which made us even since I speak very, very little spanish. David was the saving grace as he can somewhat communicate in espanol, enough to get us by anyway.
We got our dead sardines together with the artificial bait and got going not long after the intros, and the scoping each other out. The channel coming out from the docks passes right beside this rock formation, the one that can be seen in the pic without the wake. This is known to the locals as "tete kawi" (goat teet). I can see why.
We headed on out into the gulf for about an hour or so before Chino decided this was the area we wanted to fish, which made sense since there were about 7 or 8 other boats in the same area. Chino got David to steer the boat while he got the bait together and smoked his Marlboros. As David started steering, Chino would stick his head over every now and then and tap on the compass saying "190". That kept us going a little bit west of due south. I got David to let me steer after a while, thinking this 190 deal is a piece of cake. Wrong! The waves would push the boat one way and as I would try to compensate the boat would fall back the other way, so I was turning the wheel like hell to keep going straight when here would come Chino tapping and saying 190, then David had to add his two cents saying the wake we were leaving looked like a sine wave. Aaarrgh.
Our luck, as far as catching anything, was not so good. We had a couple of bites but the fish would end up with the sardine and we would be left with the artificial bait. There was, however, some great whale watching as they would lollygag on top of the water blowing plumes then as we would get within about 50 yrd.s or so, they would dive, going straight down with their tail flukes pointing straight up. I was so fascinated that I didn't grab my camera..didn't think of it 'til later dammit. I'm not sure we ever figured out what kind of whales they were, but they were big. There were also flying swordfish sightings every so often..not hooked, just jumping. Then we would see one of those dorados jumping. A strange sight for me was the manta rays that we'd see every now and then just wallowing around on top of the water. On the way back in I saw one of the mantas just fly out of the water a good 4 or 5 ft. in the air. I enjoyed the hell out of our day on the water as I've never been that interested in loading the boat with fish, but I do enjoy just being out there especially with the sights we caught. On the way back in we passed this other rock formation. It's pretty neat seeing these formations right on the sea shore. There was the matter of money changing hands when we got back to the docks. The boat owner felt so sorry for our not catching anything that he gave us a real nice fillet of dorado out of his freezer. With fish in hand, it was off to Alamos. I'll talk about the ride to Alamos in the next post, so be patient. Adidas.