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.