Hello again everyone,
Well, where were we? Ah, yes....Zihuatanejo with the flu. We were feeling a bit better and decided to leave beautiful Zihua on the day we originally planned and headed up the mountain to beautiful and cool Patzquaro. I think the elevation is 7,000 so it really was quite a bit cooler. Even though it's one of our favorite places we both felt too ill to do a thing. We had planned to stay two nights but spent three just laying around and trying to get our energy back and to STOP coughing.
Our next stop was San Miguel de Allende, which we visited on our first trek to Mexico eight years ago, and loved. It's inland and high, around 6,000, so quite pleasant and is actually one of the favored places to live year round in Mexico. There are a great many ex-pats in San Miguel.It is such a beautiful old city. Even though my sciatica was still pretty severe we walked around a lot just taking in the sights and the people. We stayed a week at the only RV place that I'm aware of right in the city so could walk to everything within about twenty minutes. The place is small and very much a tight squeeze to fit into the gate but we knew we could do it because we did before. Somehow it seemed smaller this time...lol. And there were cats everywhere so poor Aja had to stay inside. She spent a great deal of time at the back screendoor hissing at the passing pussies.
We ate dinner out every night we were there. The food is great and there were so many places to choose from. We had Italian two or three times and made it to our favorite, Hank's, which is New Orleans style cooking. Mike bought a Hank's hat.
It was the beginning of Semana Santa which is Saint's Week (or weeks as is the case in most all of Mexico), the week before and after Easter. This is the biggest celebration there is in Mexico....bigger than Christmas. And a great many locals travel to places like the beach or the favorite cities like San Miguel to celebrate. It can be quite crowded and very festive. These people know how to enjoy themselves. I loved feeling the energy that was surrounding this most beautiful of places. I just love Mexico.
Many families travel to the area to sell their wares and one of the things that you see everywhere are people selling these little handmade donkeys carrying earthenware pots. I wish I had learned the significance of this particular craft by asking the artists but I have since looked it up and the donkey is signifying the beginning of Holy Week, on Palm Sunday, when Jesus arrived triumphantly into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. We bought one for the asking price of $50 pesos, less than $3.
We bought a lot of stuff actually. It will be fun to get home and try to find a place for everything. I've always wanted a Zacateca rug and now I've got a beauty. We found lots of Talavera items from nearby Delores Hidalgo. A couple of the Talavera items we had in our patio at home had been broken and we were able to replace them. Hope they get home in one piece!! We've an entire suitcase of items purchased from all over the country. Partially we bought things because they were so inexpensive this year but also because it's our last trip in our camper.
We were 1,000 kilometers from the border at Eagle Pass, Texas and we spent two long days driving and driving to get back to the good old USA. We had been so spoiled by the hot and dry weather we didn't even think about the fact that it would still not be that nice in Texas. We crossed the border in cool air and drizzle on April 11th, three months after our arrival in January. They searched us, of course, and even had a sniffing dog so Aja had to vacate the premises. Went to the WalMart first thing, sold our pesos at the money exchange and spent the night in the parking lot in a big wind. Welcome to Texas.
I think we're a bit early but someone wanted to get home! We had made reservations for May 30th to Kauai and we had a camper and a truck to sell. Plus all the logistics that go along with moving out of our vehicle that holds more than you can ever imagine.
More to come, Gayle and Mike
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