Las Cruces to Zacatecas

Trip Start Jan 11, 2009

Trip End Jul 2009

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(Zacatecas hotels)

Flag of Mexico Zacatecas, Mexico
Monday, January 19, 2009

Hi to those who I don't send specific emails to. This gives you the option of reading a long email or not. Below are two emails which tell stories about what we have been up to in start of our Mexico trip. For those who got the email, there are some photos here that relate.
Cheers

Hola mi hermana,
Estamos en Chihuahua Mexico ahora!
We managed to get through migracion and the banjercito (tourist permits and vehicle permits) no worries. We travelled from Near Juarez (Santa Theresa crossing in NM) to Chihuahua. It was mostly desert even with sand dunes. There was an army check point going the other way and it was an eye opener to see the amount of army and guns! loads of Hummers with big machine guns mounted up high and manned

Leaving ABQ

. After that we saw about ten different convoys of army hummers and trucks heading North. We thought that they must be readying to invade the US! We also agreed not to piss the army off!

Chihuahua is a big city with some large "residential estates". WOW talk about close living! Other than that it was just another big city and we managed to negotiate through no worries. We found an RV park on the south side of the city and were lucky to get a pull through site with full hook up (we're the only ones here!)
Dinner was at the restaurant out the front, Hamburguesas, sopa de tortilla, chile relleno burrito and, tacos de abrigada. Bueno.

I forgot to mention that before we crossed the border we spent the night at Las Cruces. Lindsay got sick during the night and vomited (a lot) all over her bed and on and in my sleeping bag! SHe was up all night vomiting and sitting on the loo. The next morning she had a shower and only threw up three times in the car. By 2pm she was managing to keep down some gatorade. She had about quarter of the Hamburguesa but was feeling much better. THis morning she is a box of birds again.

Galen on the other hand is plagued by a chesty bronchial type cough

The border

. When we get to PV we will get some antibiotics for him. This cough has lasted for a long time and wakes him up at night.

We are just sitting having desayuno en el RV with Haley finding our next stop.

One thing we found is that we don't know shit about the spanish language! But we have managed with what we know and have even told a few jokes. Education will be rapid I feel!

Love to all.
McGinlays

Hola mi amigos,

After the night before, we had a great nights sleep in Chihuahua.We were all in bed and asleep before 8pm.
We were up and out by 10am and on the way towards Torreon. We were looking on the map and saw a big lake with a road going out to it. As it was only 30k off the road we decided to visit. We drove through a very quaint lake side fishing town, Boquilla

Antonio and puppies

. We kept on the road until it turned into dirt. There were two old mexicanos sitting on a wall chewing their cud. We hopped out and had a chat to them (in very broken espanol!) "donde hay un lugar para nosotros trailer por la noche?" We deciphered their response to mean "just head over this shady looking track and there is a big place to camp and turn around".

Cut a long story short and we headed over the hill and found an old campo resort "San Estaban" in the area "Los Filtros" that looks like it hadn't been used for years. There was one Senor there doing some work and we had a chat and he showed us around. There is some natural hot springs here and plenty of space to park. He said we were welcome to stay and didn't charge us anything. He told us how to get to the lakes in the area and where to get propane and some supplies.

We unhooked and went for a tiki tour. At the big lake, Boquilla, we saw that there wasn't much access around it so we opted to have a chat to the locals. They had just come in from their daily fishing for Carpo and were cleaning quite a few. We had a nice chat about the fishing and then we got to try some of the fish that they were frying up right there on the shore. (well all tried it except the boy!) We then went and drove to the next lake where there were grandiose hotels that all had huge barbed wire fences around them and were water front

Lago Boquilla

. Not one looked like it had any guests. Perhaps we are just out of season. Most looked like they had no maintenance done for a decade.

On our return to our camp the Senor, Antonio, was pottering around with his wife and daughter. We spent about an hour in conversation while the kids were swimming in the natural hot pool (not too hot only about 25deg celsius). We pulled out a bottle of vino and had a few drinks and then they came and checked out the trailer and had a cup of coffee. Lindsay kept the ladies entertained with her Bilingual Computer.

They were a very nice couple and we will do some work for them in the manana. It seems that the hard economic times are here as well as Antonio had no work (this place is his fathers and does not operate) His daughter who is 23 is out of work aswell. After a brief discussion on the world economy they left for home and left us to our own devices. The kids are tuckered out from their lengthy swim and we are just about to go to bed after this last game of Stop The Bus.
I'm hoping to get the missus into the hot tub illuminated by the estrellas and unos candelarias. I'l let you know how that goes ;o)

Adios todos nos amigos

Well its the day after the day I wrote this last email so an update

more cactus

. I did get Haley in to the springs that night but only for a minute as it wasn't as warm as we had of hoped. After we got to bed Galen threw up all over my other sleeping bag (two down!) He threw up the rest of the night and had the runs aswell. In the morning Antonio gave me a recipe for a dodgey stomach.... Mesquite Bark and Spearmint which he got for us and I made a tea. Haley wasn't feeling too good either so she had some aswell.

We decided not to travel in this state so Haley laid down for a rest while I climbed the nearest big hill. I managed to walk/crawl through the thickest bit of scrub in the area. In which even the jeans did not prevent scratches. I'm sure that every plant in the area has prickles or spines of some sort. I eventually got to the highest point after about two and a half hours. A beautiful view! On the other side of the hills was the big lake that we visited the previous day. It was huge! Apparently over 65km long and 15km wide with many arms. It looked like Queen Charlotte Sound. After sitting for a while and chilling out I wondered why I wasn't hungry as it was 3pm and I had only had breakfast to eat. Well maybe it's mind over matter but thats when I began to feel crook. I beetled back down to the trailer and had a quick swim with the kids as they had been hanging out all day for something to do. Then I went to bed, and got up again several times to visit the "Restroom" in which I had no rest

Prickly bugger

!

Haley had felt a bit quezy but had not been sick. I wondered if it was just Haleys ability to never get sick or if that special tea had worked aswell. Probably Haley's amazing immune system which is great when she gets to be the nurse!

We left relatively early the next morning headed for Gomez Palacio/ Torreon about four hours away. A lovely drive....... Until we hit Gomez Palacio! Our fantastic guide book gave us directions through the centre of the city to a hotel that had some RV parking sites. Well after searching in the area, including a few u turns, we came to the conclusion that a "Sams Club" had swallowed up the hotel and the landmark Dairy Queen that we were looking for.

We decided to head into Torreon and see what we could find. Now for those that don't know me very well..... I'm not the best in big cities and you could say they are not my favourite of places. Now times that by a crazy foreign city with no lane markings strange road rules and drivers with no courtesy. Divide that by narrow roads, a thirty two foot travel trailer and several u-turns and the result will somewhat resemble my stress level. In Spanish "No Me Gusta!"

So we ended up driving right through the centre of Torreon aswell

Cactus

! And straight out of it! I had made the executive decision to head towards Parras which is a smaller town about 150 km away. It is an agricultural town with the oldest winery in all the americas. Stress levels decreased to non existent as soon as we hit the country.

Haley made the executive decision to go via the Libre route (free route) and follow the map. Well to cut a long story short we took about a 150km detour. We went through a lovely little town called Viesca and through the main street that is about as wide as most peoples driveways. We got all sorts of funny looks by the people and bicycle lined street. I guess they don't get many tourists down that way. We were supposed to cross a railway and then turn left. Well after heading 10 km out of town and not finding a railway or a left turn we flagged down a pickup truck load of locals. "No esta camino no existe!" The road doesn't even exist! The railway has been abandoned for ages and we didn't even see a sign of it! We had to go back the way we came and get on the "Cuota" (toll road). We did save 128 pesos though as we got on the Cuota after the toll gate!

That got us into Parras after dark so we pulled up at a gas station on the main road and asked if we could stay there the night. No worries.

We had tremendous fortune the next day. All feeling better we unhooked and drove into town. We drove past a little wine shop and parked up. We tasted a few wines (all of which were no better than draino!) when the owner happened to walk in. Don Ignacio or as he prefers "el Barron de Parras" . He spoke great english and when he found out that we were from New Zealand and winemakers he opened some special bottles

Parras centro

. He also invited us out to his Hacienda to meet an Alaskan couple who were living there and also making wine. He was busy that day as he had arranged for three doctors and twelve nurses to come and he was giving the public free medical care and medicine. He drew us a map and also pointed out a few areas of interest in the town.

We wandered around the town and had some food from a curbside stall. Es muy bien. Then we had a little trouble following the map as some streets were blocked with construction (even went the wrong way up a one way street!) The streets are amazing! so narrow with the houses right on the street. We got to the Hacienda de Perote and found it to be a very nice modernised place. The original buildings were built 400 years ago when the winery was there.

The Alaskan couple were lovely and showed us around the winery and the source of water. A spring that comes from a cave where there are many bats living. The winery looked lke it had come from the dark ages and I now know why the wine is crap! The Alaskans on the other hand made their own wine from their own grapes. This was much better. I tried their three wines with lunch at the hacienda. They were very passable especially with the small quantities that they make. They asked many questions about wine and grape growing and we had a good old chat. On the way back to the trailer we stopped in at the local super market and bought some supplies. Haley has taken the kids out to the local cinema to see Bolt. I'm sure they will get something out of it! We plan to leave in the morning to go to Zacatecas. Our fabulous guide book says there is an RV park with laundry facilities. We need it!

Ok hopefully this will get sent before I have time to add another adventure on!

Adios nos amigos.