Mexico Part 1

Leaving for Mexico was not as easy this time as it has been in the past. Now that Alan and I work for Adams & Co/ Krumpet’s, we live our jobs more than we used to. It is different working for a company that you really like and enjoy. Before when we would leave for vacation we would just leave and forget everything else behind. But just leaving our jobs behind this time was not as easy. Alan in fact still works while we are here in Mexico. He has his phone and makes and receives phone calls and emails all day long. It amazes me how much technology has changed and developed that we are able to send emails from anywhere in the world. As hard has it has been to leave for Mexico now that we are here I am loving it.

We left for Las Vegas on Thursday, and flew into Dallas Thursday night. The flight was supposed to be 3 hours with a 1 hour layover. There was a storm so we got stuck in a holding pattern in the sky for an extra hour. Luckily everyone was behind schedule and we were able to make our next flight from Dallas to Mexico City. On our flight from Dallas we saw an amazing lightning storm from the plane. It was beautiful to watch the sky light up without ever seeing the lighting bolts.

Finally we made it to Mexico. There is just something about being in Mexico that excites me. It is truly a different world. We went straight to our motel room and slept a few hours. On Friday morning we went to the Mexico City Temple. Anyone that knows me knows that I get a little teary eyed more than normal people do. The temple was beautiful and it was absolutely amazing how the spirit in the temple is the same all over the world and no matter what language the ceremony are preformed in it is all true and the same. Going to the temple made the trip worth it all.

After the temple we got our rent-a-car and headed to our first stop Tula. Tula was meant to be a short stop where we were going to buy some leather. We never found the leather market but we did find some ruins instead. I love going to the ruins and seeing how people lived and worshipped so many years ago. It always fascinates me how there is little bits and pieces from our beliefs just distorted.

Next we went to Queretaro. (Don’t ask me to say the name of this town. For the life of me I can’t say it.) This is where most of Rosa’s family that still lives in Mexico lives. I was able to meet Alan’s Grandfather and uncle for the first time. We meet in the center of town ate on the patio then went and explored the town.

In Mexico the center or Zocolo is the best place to be. Everyone comes and just sits, eats, and shops. There is always beautiful architecture and a few grand cathedrals, all in a few block ratios.

We spent the night in Queretaro then moved on to San Miguel De Allende in the morning. Because it was a Friday the center was buzzing with people, and venders selling everything from balloons to bracelets. Mariachi bands filled the air with music and the smell of corn on the cob smothered in mayonnaise and cheese completed the ambiance of being in a small town of Mexico. We had churros and hot chocolate and just enjoyed being surrounded by culture. We spent the night a block from the center in an old rundown hotel, with an amazing view of the city.

Dolores Hidalgo was our next stop. This was a very short stop but we still had time to buy some handmade pottery and ice cream. Dolores Hidalgo is known for having homemade ice cream vendors in the four corners of the center. After trying 20 different flavors of ice cream including sausage and Alan trying shrimp I settled on “Beso De Angel”.

Guanajuato is a favorite of Rosa and she wanted to spend as much time there as possible. So we quickly left and drove to the Motel in Guanajuato. In Guanajuato the streets are so narrow that we left the car and took the bus to the center of town. We walked up and down the streets until our feet gave out. It was a beautiful city full of color and buildings built hundreds of years ago. There is a street that the buildings are so close that they say people on opposite balconies could kiss. The street was adequately named “Callejon Del Beso.”





After Guanajuato we started our 3 hour drive to Tlelpujahua. This town is known for it’s hand blown Christmas ornaments. Not many people know this but it is not Christmas time and it was hard to find any of the ornaments. After some “Mexican directions” (Mexican directions take a simple direction like “walk two blocks then head north 3 blocks, turn left then at the next block turn right, half way down this block there is a black door that is the factory. No their directions are oh “just up that street, you will see it.”) If you are ever in Mexico and need directions ask someone then a block or two later ask again, keep doing this until you are at your destination. You will never find it by asking only one person. We finally found the factory which is no bigger than my house. It was really cool to see them painting and making the ornaments. Interestingly we found out that they are the suppliers for some of Wal Mart’s ornaments.

We then went to El Oro. Oro means gold. This is an old mining town, it was a busy town but the mine has been shut down many years ago. There wasn’t much to see so we drove around for a minute then headed to Tulca.

From El Oro to Tulca it was only supposed to take an hour to an hour and a half but I missed a turn and took us down a yellow road. On the Map we were only supposed to take red roads with yellow line in it or solid red roads. Yellow roads take much longer and are not safe in Mexico. I did not realize until we were half way down it that we were on a yellow road and it seemed faster to continue on the road than turn back. We safely made it but not without a lot of speed bumps and massive potholes in the road. Hours later we found the red road and quickly made it to Tulca.