San Luis Potosi

Our trip down to the south was uneventful, even if we were subconsciously asked if we knew what we were doing. In San Luis Potosi we arrived to a wonderful AirBnB apartment that welcomed us with Christmas decorations and wonderful treats for celebrating the Day of the Magi (actually the day that the WiseMen left Bethlehem to return to their homes).   The hosts were very nice and even allowed us to park our car in the very small courtyard, with barely enough room to spare in order to open the gate to the outside. Still we were pleased to have it under lock and key.

We spent the next few days wandering around the area, taking in the sights. Of course, this included a "double decker" city tour - well not really, it was a converted old bus into a trolley thing that did have an upper floor viewing area, but none the less, a tour of the old historical town. Very interesting to see and required much concentration to understand the Spanish. The street venders were out in force, including the traditionally dressed mamas with their babies strapped to their bodies. The historic streets were very narrow and filled with the milling generational families  and with the usual money making entrepreneurs. 

We of course, visited the traditional churches which, although colored and adorned differently inside and out all were of the same general Spanish architecture of the time.  We did come across a pleasantly different church in looks, design and feel: Very modern in fact. 

One of he plazas had been turned into a skating rink (had to wait in line and then pay to get in, even to just take a photo) while outside was the usual fun Christmas tree. This one was put up by Coca Cola with the usual adornments from the soda pop culture.

Once more we packed up and headed out. This time we headed to Dolores Hidalgo. See you there ...

Real de Catorce, MX

Danny has been talking about Real de Catorce since we first started talking about Mexico - hmmm about 16 years now I guess.  :) Today we finally made it. The skies offered a brilliant blue although a yellowish haze hung over the landscape as far as one could see. Are we seeing the pollution from  Monterrey? Who knows what lies between there and here in the way of industrial factories.

Turning from the highway we started up the cobblestone road.

 I believe 17 mi of cobblestones to be exact, taking one up to approx 9000ft. Bumpy, you can't even begin to imagine. Is this a new road? Can't find the answer to that question but I did find that it is designated one of the most spectacular roads in the world. (  http://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/mexico/5835-real-de-catorce.html  )

This road lead us past a small  town off to the right called Potrero which turns out to be the name of the man who cleaned up the town (law enforcement term). Visiting and driving around was like stepping back into the 18th century (except for the coca cola sign on the whitewashed building in the middle of town).     You can even see the Moorish influence all the way into the middle of Mexico.  The church is a magnificent on the inside and with it's rendition of St Francis of Assisi, has become a pilgrimage destination.   

Continuing up the road, we go through another small town La Luz and then on to the top,   where we encounter the Ogarrio Tunnel.   This is a dimly lit, very dusty, very narrow (one car width only),1.5 miles long tunnel that is rumored to have been made from an old mine tunnel.   Up until it was built in 1902 más o menos, the road to the town was a horrific road in from the backside (I do believe that this is the road we tried to take yesterday) that is steep and narrow with one of the caveats being that you must like to back up while taking that road and have nerves of steel.  But for us today, it was an easy drive.

Arriving on the other side of the tunnel I was shocked to see what I saw. I was expecting this cutesy, artsy hole in the wall old mining town with a fantastic grouping of old architecture. Instead I was treated to some beautiful old architecture, a parking lot full of cars and rows upon rows of tacky vendor stalls.   The food stalls however, smelled ravenously inviting. If you had a hotel room, I have no idea how one would get to it as there was no room for a car to drive through. I have to be honest however, we are at the tail end of the Christmas holiday and 99% of the visitors were Mexican. Still, I can't help but wonder what it would be like midweek when school is back in and people are back at work.

The town actually flows up both sides of the canton where it is located.   

New buildings built to  meld in with the old,  the old somewhat dilapidated as they were made out of stone and adobe,   and amazing colonial architecture found in the building high upon the one side. The walking was incredible: cobblestones  and at the same time, up and down steep inclines and at 9000 ft. No wonder we were huffing and puffing, coming from just slightly above sea-level.

 the old mint where they minted silver coins

 the church. Much more magnificent than any we viewed in Uruguay.  

And what would be without a trip to Starbucks? Well maybe a slight exaggeration .... 

So until the next real adventure:  

2017 a new year with more blank pages

Our entry into 2017 was one that allowed for only forward movement and better things to come. Our attempt leave the country before Dec 31 was all for naught. We needed a car registration and ours was nowhere to be found. Thus we saw the New Year in from a hotel inSan Antonio, the seat of the regional DMV office, waiting for it to open on Monday. We stayed in - saw the fireworks  from afar but even better on the TV and then watched the happenings in NYC. A champagne toast and then to bed. As we watched tv I continued to practice my new form of knitting - continental style - on the Christmas 2017 sweater.

Jan 2nd found us in the DMV office and 10 minutes later, we had the registration paper and 3 hours later we were back in Laredo and after a couple of stops and errands, we arrived at the border. 2 hours later, much longer than originally anticipated, we were across the border and on the road towards Monterrey. I was not a happy camper when I calculated our arrival time in Monterrey when I discovered that we would arrive after dark. But arrive we did, in one piece and checked in to our first hotel - the Fairfield Inn.

 Despite the name, it was a very old hotel with European sized "small" rooms where there was just enough room to walk around the bed.

Jan 3rd and we were back on the road again with a destination of Real de Catorce. Easy driving as we stuck to the toll road as much as possible. And thus comes our next fun adventure. Our trusty gps took us down the road as it should. We turned where we should. We again turned where we were told. And herein lies our next adventure. We continued on down the road which took us through a couple of progressively smaller towns. Nothing said anything that could be taken as an indication of tourists and Real de Catorce is a tourist destination. Eventually the road turned to gravel, leading into the mountains - no problem,  a little dusty yes, but nothing we couldn't handle. As we had to go through a tunnel to get to the other side, we weren't worried. With a maximum of 5-10 mph I was a little worried that we would hit dark before arriving. Then we turned a corner and saw a group of cowboys on a mule and a horse, leading saddled horses.      hmmmmm what is wrong with this picture. The back rider, the older one, stops and says "No no no", wagging his finger. Pointing at our front tires, "cuatro por cuatro solo" and continuing to wag his finger. The light bulb goes on - if no 4x4 vehicle, you can't make the the trip. He then proceeds to give us directions to the proper road. Yup, go back the way we came, 30 km, stay on the main road and then turn off towards the mountains. The cowboys continue on towards town, chuckling to themselves I am sure, "gringos locos".

But for us, we now have to turn around to get back and this is no more than a track. Backing up until we came to a wide enough spot, we Austin Powers it, and get ourselves turned around. Back to the main road, through the same two villages, turn onto the highway and go another 8 km. A sign, "turn  to Real de Catorce" - all the while the gps keeps trying to tell us to go back the other way. My goodness, a cobblestone road and only 30 minutes until sunset and in the mountains. NOT, we head on into town and to our hotel for the night. Tomorrow we will return and make the trip.

We stayed in what felt like an old tourist court from Route 66 - Las Palmas. It was very clean and comfortable although had an old smell to it - not musty, just old. There was also a good restaurant associated with the hotel. In the back there were RV spots, with all of 15amp service. Yup guess we won't be staying here in the RV without solar panels.

And so we are well into our next journey ... follow us as we explore Mexico in the car for a month.

December

December is a month of excitement, anticipation and yes, stress. Koodoos go out to those who can plan for Christmas ahead of December. I used to be one of those but now, well, I don't know what has happened to that trait - it has flown off into the wild blue. It is also the month for lists, multiple lists: food lists, ideas list, definite lists, and hopeful lists to include the hopefully finished items that more often than not get carried over to next year.

This year December has been challenged by the crud. This crud however has lasted longer than 2 weeks. I am finally starting to feel somewhat normal and am now able to try and make up for the lost 2 weeks of December time. I do get one more day than I normally have. We are celebrating Christmas with Jamie and the grands on the 25th. This ideas are finally starting to flow and I have managed to get a few of the hopefuls done with the others in line.

Beside our planning for the holiday season planning we are planning a road trip to Mexico for January, leaving Dec 27. This means putting the RV into storage on the 26th; leaving our Christmas parking space in the morning and cleaning and storing in the afternoon. Hoteling starts that night. This trip will not be a trip that includes living out of a suitcase. Oh we will be exploring and seeing new things, but from a base that is provided by AirBnB, probably in Guanajuato. I am even taking projects with Danny's blessing.😁

So with that, I close by saying ...

Santa is scooting in to wish you all a very

 Happy Holidays,

and all the very best for the New Year

Aargh, way too long .

My friends have pointed showed that I have been remiss in blogging at all. The focus has not been on writing, in fact I haven't even had the urge to write as I usually do. Is THIS what is fashionable called writer's block?

We have done a lot of traveling during the last few months, in the US, Canada, and Uruguay, S America. This has included the western US and Canada, but in Canada we can only lay claim to parts of Alberta and Southern BC. We spent some time parked in Spokane in the parking lot of a repair shop with troubles with our slides. From there we car tripped around the state and into southern Alberta all the way to Edmonton and then down into south eastern BC. In Alberta we attended our niece's wedding in Calgary and had the best time. Throughout this time I avidly collected Row by Row patterns as we collected miles, and as in miles, I collected way too many.

A notable activity done during this time was a bike ride along a rails to trails outside of C'oeur d'Alene, ID called the Route of the Hiawatha Trail. The scenery was fantastically beautiful and the ride an easy one. We came back with our backs covered in mud from the wet and damp tunnels but with a feeling of euphoria from having such a wonderful day.

 one of many

Then we went international again  ... Uruguay, South America. See you again sometime - I hope that this writer's block takes a hike and follows Miss [quilting] Mojo on vacation ......