Rolling on home

25-March-2016

Avon nc

We made it!

40 nights on the road

7903 miles on the gunship.

Almost 4000 miles in Mexico.

Lots of great experiences.

We spent at least one night in 9 of the 31 states of Mexico
Tamaulipas
San Luis Potosi
Hidalgo
Oaxaca
Chiapas
Veracruz
Puebla
Guanajuato
Queretero

Truth is, we moved faster than we expected and covered a lot of ground.

We stopped in north Georgia at the foot of the Appalachian trail for a night.

Saw a gator not 50 miles from our home on Hatteras Island.

That's the way the prairie chickens are down in Texas

Falfurrias/San Antonio Texas

Atwater prairie chicken preserve

Columbus Texas

22-March-2016

We rode from the border up toward San Antonio looking for the spring wildflower bloom.

We found it about 30 miles southeast of the Alamo then pointed the gunship east.

We landed west of Houston in Columbus Texas, home of the Attwater Prairie Chicken Preserve.

The Attwater Prairie Chick (APC) is one of the most endangered birds in the US. Only a couple hundred exist and 99% of the wild ones live on the preserve. 

Many reasons exist for the decline of population including habitat loss, etc. Based on the number of Hawks and Falcons flying around the preserve I'm guessing the APC is one tasty bird. The Hawks were everywhere just waiting for one of those chickens to stick their heads up. 

In spite of the hard work going on there , I'm not hopeful for the species.

We did not see an APC during our visit but we did have a nice visit and walk.

You could lose more than you'll ever hope to find

Pharr international bridge

Pharr, Texas 

20-march-2016

We ate carnitas at Lalo's in Tamaluipas as our final meal in the great country of Mexico.

I got a few chicharrones for the road

Under cover of darkness we sneaked back across the border. 

Donald Trump was nowhere to be seen.

Good thing I finished the last of the chicharrones on the bridge as the customs agent specifically asked whether I had any pork products.

He cared not about the case do mescal I had under the bed.

We went to a wings place and slept at a walmart in McAllen Texas. We go looking for wild flowers in the morning.

Last Chot !

State of Tamaulipas

Ciudad Victoria.

Still no chorty.

The blog stands by waiting for extradition.

The smell of tamarind in the morning

XState of San Luis Potosí

Xilitla

19-March 2015

Well get back to the colonel  Kurtz wannabe living in the jungle later.

Just to get you up to date.

The blogs spent  four days in San Miguel de Allende.

A few museums, a church or 2 , a botanical garden, lots of tequila.

About the only substantive creation was my latest idea for creating a coffee table book on the taco stands of San Miguel de Allende(SMA)

Truly things of beauty.

Anyway, SMA is full of expat gringos with a large infrastructure in place should you not speak Spanish. It's a little pricier than a lot of other places in Mexico but if you want a Starbucks on your plaza central, then somebody has to pay.

It is a nice place, there is lots to do, and the climate is beautiful. We enjoyed our time there.

After SMA we backtracked past Bernal , through the Sierra Gorda mountains, drove around Jalpan and ended up in the little San Luis de Potosí town of a Xilitla. It was raining pretty hard, dark and Bob stuck the gunship up a very steep, one way street with no good way out. After a few minutes of assessing the situation, we decided to employ the "F troop" maneuver. Retreat and reverse into victory!

All done we spent the night camped in the parking lot of a taco stand. The next morning, in the rain, we visited the main attraction in Xilitla, the concrete statuary of Edward James. Back in the 60's this wack job (my opinion) retreated  to the rain forest of Mexico and began 20 years of constructing concrete "statuary". One is immediately taken by the imposing presence his work makes, almost erupting out of the jungle. 30'seconds later it hits you- "Apocalypse Now".  Or an awful lot of hallucinogenic drugs,which turns out to be the real reason. Anyway, you be the judge.

General San Miguel de Allende 

The San Patricio's

State of Guanajuato 

San Miguel de Allende 

17-March-2016

The blog has taken a few days off while we relax and see the sights in this very popular town

The San Patricio's were a group of US Army immigrant Irishmen who, for a variety of reasons, switched sides and joined the mexican army to fight against the US during the Mexican-American war (1846-1848).

While the San Patricio's were known for their bravery in battle, their side did not prevail, and many of the surviving members were ultimately tried for treason. The luck of the Irish.

The San Patricio's are still revered in both Mexico and Ireland.

On this Saint Patrick's day, our first inMexico, we send best wishes to our friends Pat and Frank Clark and wish we could attend their annual parade and party. 

Perhaps a little green mescal?

Still no chorty

State of Guanajuato

San Miguel de Allende

Just a drive by in traffic but no sign.

We were not followed.

Pi, the circumference of a circle, the radius of a hill

State of Queretero

La Pena de Bernal

15-March-2016

The 3rd largest monolith on the planet is a rock known as La Pena de Bernal.

If you wonder what a monolith is, or what the bigger ones are, those answers are not here

A geological feature consisting of a single stone or rock.

The rock of Gibraltar , Corcovado in Brazil.

Ok, I lied.  Again.

To some Mexican people it is a place to come as a pilgrimage to their faith.

For us it was less that than a big rock sticking up out of the ground.

Our first trek was up the side like the other pilgrims.

That took a couple of hours and left us ready for beer and grilled meats.

Nummy num num Nummy! Love those grilled meats. 

Stayed the night and decided (that is Carol decided) we would hike around the circumference of the rock. After all, there was a trail marked on map. It must be ok.

Off we set in a clockwise circular motion. Rub it! Time will tell that counter clockwise might have been a better play. We trekked down one arroyo,then another, making progress but knowing a climb was ahead at some point. We slipped through a few cattle fences then started up the hill. Soon it was just cattle trails , mesquite and cactus, albieit as Carol pointed out, quite a biodiversity of things that could stick you. Cattle hide is indeed thicker than Bob's hide.

We got pushed up a ravine and soon there were no more cattle trails. I couldn't help but think of the shed snakeskin we had seen earlier. Up we went, with lots of rests  and finallycrossed over the ridge.

Shortly thereafter we found a trail

4 hours after we started we hit the first beer shack .

We were tired and had a few cuts and tears in our wardrobe.

But we had beer and popcorn. Happiness is such a relative thing.

Some nature stuff from around the place

La Pena de Bernal 

Apparently this rock is a darling of the rock climbing set. There exist over a hundred known climbs to the summit so climbers come here to get lots of practice. Bob is the guy in the picture with the yellow hat. Lying gets so much easier with practice.

Biznaga for everybody!

Ms Sciency leads the team over the wall

Blogger at work. Note glass of mescal.

Mr Trump....... Tear down this wall!

State of Veracruz

Tepeyahualco

Archeological Site of Cantonac

Not really Donny.

A few thousand years ago near the borders of Veracruz and Puebla states the Contona people created  a community of almost 100,000 people. The site is spread over 6 square miles with roads and walkways and temples and more ball courts than any place on the planet. If you're not familiar with the ball game they played fear not. Over the millennium It lost favor as wining and losing was closely tied to living And dying. Anyway, approximately 25 ball courts exist on the site so these guys were into it.

In the end, much like a lot of the people in the area, a great drought wiped most of them out.

We spent a few hours hiking around then ate duck with pistachio mole and stuffed chipotle peppers. Mescal was involved.

Check it Orizaba in the clouds

Ms Sciency walks the ball court 

That's a big Mountain

Pico de Orizaba 

State of Puebla

Tlachochuca

12-March-2016

A long day's drive from Chiapas to the town of Orizaba in Veracruz. We found the best tacos so far  in this town. I also got a parking ticket and the gunship got booted! Who even knew they booted cars down here? Fortunately some smooth talk ( and $15 US in cold hard Mexican pesos) got the boot removed on the spot. I tried to get a photo with the traffic cops but they were having none of that.

We decided This town was not for us. Under cover of darkness, we left.

After our first night sleeping in the van at a PEMEX gas station ( the US equivalent of camping at a Wal-Mart but with much more mariachi music) we headed down the highway toward Puebla. All of a sudden a giant snow-capped peak popped up on our right. They call it Pico de Orizaba and it stands over 18,000 tall,which is pretty tell, even for a mountain.

We had to investigate. And we did.

We arrived  in the little town of Tlachichuca on the north(Puebla) side of the mountain. There we met Gerrardo Reyes. Gerrardo's family has lived in this town for over a hundred years. Originally his great grandfather built a soap and glycerine factory. The soap business went bye bye back in the 1960's but the Reyes family continues on. The converted factory now serves as base camp and supply for serious mountaineers who come to climb. The family boasts four generations of climbers. 

Gerardo was a most gracious host. We parked the gunship in the compound and slept there although there are facilities for a dozen or more in a big cozy bunkhouse. The food is great. Gerrardo took time to direct us to some local sights and good hiking- a little lower on the mountain than the glaciers.

If you come to Orizaba , make sure you check him out at www.servimont.com.mx

Highly recommended !

I know There are many photos of this mountain all over the Internet. Yet, as we hiked up a trail around 11,000 feet, we could not help but take even more. Like moths before the flame so are photographers before this mountain.

Grain silos. Believe it or not.

At SERVIMONT in Tlachichuca 

A single $3 pork rind that's bigger than your head.

I ate off it for 2 days the fed the car park attendant for a day or two.

Amazing the power of pork!