The Loretto Chapel has an interesting story about it's staircase to the choir loft 22 feet above the floor. When the Church was built they forgot to put in a stairway so there was no way anyone could get to the loft. One day a man on a donkey with a box of tools rode into town looking for work. After several months he completed work on a circular staircase to the loft and left town without pay or thanks. The stairway makes two 360 degree turns and has no visable means of support. It was built without nails, only wooden pegs and has baffled experts for years about how it was built. Originally it was built without handrails but they were added later for safety.
San Carlos, MexicoWe arrived in San Carlos, Mexico on January 19, 2006 and checked into our RV Park. San Carlos is near Guaymas (about 5 miles) which appears on most maps. The park is full but there is quite a bit of turnover as many people are using this as a stop off place on their way south or north. Seems to be more Canadians than Americans. Another observation is that most people have a dog. If that's a requirement to owning a Motor Home we missed it and don't plan to get one. Seems like a lot of work to worry about a dog. There is a man who comes through the park periodically though not on any set schedule with fresh fish for sale. One day he had scallops, yellow fin, red snapper, oysters, crab, & shrimp. So we do a fair bit of grilling fresh fish.
Los Alamos, MexicoJanuary 26 through 28 we spent in the neat town of Alamos, Sorora, Mexico for their music festival. What a really neat old Mexican town. Stayed in the Hacienda de los Santos which might be the nicest place we have ever stayed. Treated like royalty. Attention to detail was amazing!! We will post some pictures but they don't do it justice. The resort was a hacienda about 300 years old or so and the owners (who live in Tucson) bought it and 4 surrounding hacienda's and restored them and combined them into one. After checking in they give you a tour so you don't get lost and to tell the history. You can check it out here: http://www.haciendadelossantos.com/resort.htm
The town of Alamos is a very old Mexican town with very narrow cobblestone streets and your typical looking buildings, just like the movies, except this is for real, not a set.
We went to Alamos for their music festival so the town was full of locals and turista's. We saw a Ranchero band, a world famous concert pianist that was incredible, Mexican Opera, and street band. Everything is free except the Opera but it is even projected onto the side of a building so if you can't get into the hall you can sit on chairs in the street and watch what is going on inside, which is what we did. We aren't much for Opera but was fun for a couple of minutes. After the Opera is over, about 9:30 the street band appears with a burro loaded with wine. They start though the streets of Alamos playing, everyone singing, dancing and handing out glasses of wine. We went along with the crowd, yes the wine was good, and had a great time. The locals got a kick out of the gringos. It was a blast!!! Lasted about an hour to hour and a half.
On Saturday morning we toured 3 hacienda's that have been restored. Each one was owned by a gringo. Alamos is a town of about 10,000 with approx. 200 American families and 50 Canadian familes living there, many fulltime but some parttime. Most of the restoration has been by gringos. Anyway, the homes were beautiful and very interesting. The money they raise from the tours is to pay tuition for the kids of Alamos. Education is free in Mexico up through 6 grade. After that you have to pay and if the family is poor, only the boys go to school, if any children go. This group, again mostly gringos, pays tuition for about 300 kids. On the street you can't tell what is behind the walls but the homes are quite large and all have beautiful courtyards. We would definitely recommend a trip to Alamos.
We're back from a 3 week trip to Mazatlan, Guadalajara and several other small towns. We had a great time and saw lots of really neat things. First stop was Mazatlan where we stayed at the Mayan Sea Garden resort. It was on the beach which was beautiful. Roger and Brenda joined us for the week. We had a great time.
After a week in Mazatlan we headed inland for Guadalajara to vist Anne Rameriz (Bill Kindred's sister) We stayed with Anne and her husband Jim for 2 weeks. They took us to a Bull Fight where one of the Matadors was from Spain and was on horseback. Both the matador and the horse were amazing to watch.
We toured the Herradura Tequila factory and got a few free samples. The factory is quite modern now but the old factory was in use until 1972, over 100 years. The interesting pictures were of the old factory and the pictures didn't turn out well as it was too dark for even the flash to do any good. Very primitive process in the old days for sure and very interesting...
We went to the market in downtown Guadalajara where you could buy anything!!!It was huge, at least a square city block if not bigger. This picture is of a very small portion.
Anybody for a cow's head?
Maybe a pig's head?
Taking your kids to the market would surely get them to eat their vegtables wouldn't it??? Actually they had lots of beautiful things there. Sandi bought sandals and some jewelry. Leather goods were plentiful and at very good prices.
Guadalajara has a sister city in Japan so they have a beautiful Japanese Garden in one of the parks. We also visited Tlaquepaque and Lake Chapala while in the area.
We saw so many beautiful churches and old buildings that we lost track of what some of them are. They were very ornate, especially the churches. This building is the theater that seats over 1500 people. We got to go inside but they didn't allow photos.
Below is another beautiful church in downtown Guadalajara.
Anne offered to take us on a little 3 day excursion to some smaller villages so we gladly accepted. On Monday morning we headed for Patzcuaro, about 2-3 hours southeast of Guadalajara where we stayed in an old hotel. It wasn't as expensive as the one in Alamos. This one cost us $35 per night.
Patzcuaro is another little town that is about 500 years old. The streets are very narrow but it's clean and with very friendly people. There are 2 plaza's in the center of town, one seemed like more of a market and the other more like a park where people gather. They are only about 2 blocks apart. In the evening I think everyone in town heads for the two plaza's. It reminded me of the Iowa State Fair.
We ate at this little place and Sandi started talking to a man from Oregon who said he spends most of his time in Zihuatanejo and knows a farm couple from Iowa. Sandi said "that's got to be Dee and Zola Kruger from Bagley". He about fell off his chair. And so did we! Couldn't believe it.
From Patzcuaro we headed for Santa Clara. Most little towns seem to have a specialty. Some specialize in pottery, some in leather and Santa Clara specializes in copper. Even the bandstand and street lights are made of copper.
After Patzcuaro and Santa Clara (and a couple of other small towns) we headed for Morelia which is the capital city of the state of Jalisco and is much larger and busier. Lots of people and traffic. The easiest way to see Morelia was to take a tour. Only problem...it was in Spanish, so Anne had to interpret. We saw lots of the city in about an hour but again lost track of some of the buildings. Here are several shots of Morelia.
This "home" was built originally for a Priest about 200 years ago. I've forgotten how many rooms but it was enormous. The Church definetely had all the money in the old days. Maybe they still do?
Our last stop in Morelia was the Church or Cathedral of Guadalupe. It was magnificant to say the least. We were there on Ash Wednesday so it was fairly busy.
We are now back in San Carlos and trying not to be thinking about leaving. Heading for southeastern Arizona when we do leave here so will try to update again then.
