This is the latest in the weight loss craze - I may have to try it when I get home . . . Duck Tape and Saran Wrap - what a combo!!
On to better things - after leaving Villas Onac, we were headed to Alamos . . . but to get there, we had to follow the right road - NOT! Getting through Esquinapa should be a no-brainer, but I guess I was looking at the road side BBQ instead of the road signs
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| but just look at the pollo and peppers - I couldn't resist snapping a photo! |
Anywhooo - instead of turning onto the cuota (toll) road, we kept on going through town and when I figured we were not on the right path, I asked some locals "Mazatlan???" and they pointed to the left - so that's where we went. Thing is, it wasn't to the toll road, but to the "libre" (free) road - which in itself is not a bad thing, but to get there - you guessed it - we had to maneuver through narrow cobblestone streets. At one point, we tried to turn around (right!) but again, the locals just pointed up the hill and told us to turn left and we'd be on the road to Mazatlan . . . so we did, and we were - on the libre road. Now, normally, that wouldn't be a bad thing, but you do go through many smaller towns, which makes travel slower - and there has been a few reports of "violence" on those free roads - but we didn't see any evidence of that. On a good note, we missed a few heavy tolls, but did make it back to the 15D and pulled into Celestino for the night.
You could see the results of the "episode" at Celestino last year - we stayed at an RV park that is usually packed - but there were only 2 rigs there, and then about 4 others came just to overnight. It was cool and windy, but we did get another sunset and Kipper got a long run on the deserted beach chasing the sea birds.
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| Beach at Celestino |
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| Our travelling companions - Craig and Denise |
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| Celestino Sunset |
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| Yup - got the jackets back on! |
Now, on to Alamos . . . sort of. To get to Alamos, we need to take the 15D (toll)
around the big city of Culiacan (pop 950,000) and then continue on to Navajoa. Somehow, we ended up going
through the big city of Culiacan, and then onto the libre road - which again, isn't a bad thing, but it's slower and there is more potential to run into problems - but we didn't - so that is all good.
Now . . . on to Alamos!
- The town of Alamos is about 30 miles off the main highway - inland from Navajoa. It is both a national historic monument and one of Mexico's Pueblos Magicos (Magical Towns) - and is currently bidding to be come a Unesco World Heritage Site. In 1683, silver was discovered near Alamos, and it soon becam a boom town of more than 30,000 people. After Mexican independence, Alamos became the capital of the province of Occidente (present day Sonora and Sinaloa). During the Mexican revolution, Alamos was attacked repeatedly, and left a virtual ghost town of beautiful mansions and haciendas. Alamos was "reborn" in the late 1940's when it was discovered by north americans who bought and restored many of the beautiful properties. Carroll O'Connor used to have a place here - who knew?
Here's a picture tour of what we saw in Alamos - and I have to say, we just loved the whole place!
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| Looking down an old street |
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| ... and another street ... |
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| The church - just off of the town square |
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| The town square zocola |
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| Looking up at the roof of the zocola |
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| Inside one of the restored mansions |
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| Outside of the mansion |
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| another part of a restored mansion - this is the "guest" house - btw - the place is for sale if anyone is interested |
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| This was once ONE house - a whole block!! |
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| Alamos from viewpoint - each of the mansions used to fully enclose a court yard, and were typically one block square |
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| The cemetary - many old, old graves of the original townfolk |
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| The graves are all above ground - that's a sign of wealth |
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| Of course, we had to go out for street tacos! |
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| Bev and Arturo |
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| Arturo tried to ride the horse!!! |
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| City Hall at night |
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| The RV park is pretty much empty |
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| ... and off to San Carlos - adios Alamos |
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| Had a leaky valve stem - so had to have it fixed in Navajoa - 70 pesos (< $7!) |
- and now we are off to San Carlos, and then on to the US border. One thing we had heard of, and really noticed, was the huge amount of frost damage to the vegetable and fruit crops here - probably north of Celestino right to the border. We saw fields of tomato plants black from frost, and fruit trees that had lost all their leaves and fruit due to the unusually cool temperatures here this winter. . . . we will all be paying dearly for our fruits and veggies in the future, I'm sure!
Next stop - Arizona . . .
Again, another excellent adventure -
Arturo and de Beeb
