Our Mantra "RECALCULATE! RECALCULATE!"

Translate this Page

Monday, February 29, 2016

Visiting Guaymas


Yesterday we went into Guaymas with one purpose in mind. Getting the Jeep washed, I don't think I've ever seen him so dirty. We always got him washed in the Walmart parking lot. There were several guys there with portable car washing machines. As we pulled into the lot we saw the three machines lined up in a corner and nobody around them. Hum?  So we parked and Bill asked the lot security where the washer guys were. Come to find out they no longer worked that parking lot because Walmart wanted money from them to use the lot. Nuts. So we went in Walmart and got a couple of things we needed then headed into the center of town. There were always men around the main plaza who washed cars. 
We parked across from the church and were soon approached by a young man with a bucket and rags. I think when he got a closer look at Willie he wished he hadn't come over. But he went to get a couple of buckets full of water from the plaza and we started walking around the area.
A Mass was in progress in the church so we didn't go in. Bill stood and listened for a while.There are soccer fans everywhere. The guy next to Bill is a fan of Messi as are we. Messi plays for Barcelona in Spain. And Saturday Barcelona won - they have not lost in 34 games. They are tied for longest streak ever. 
 Across the street from the church is the plaza. This man was setting up a table to sell hand made jewelry. We stopped to look at it and he and Bill started talking. Surprised?
 The pieces closer to the bottom of the picture have leather chains.The pendants are rocks and semi precious stones. They have silver wire around them. The pieced closer to the top of the picture have more metal worked into the designs. 
 I liked the piece second from the end. It is polished sand stone. 
 Bill bought it for me. The front of it. 
 The back
While waiting for the car to be done we just wandered around the area  - needs some TLC.
 A magnificent old building. The bottom floor is being used, don't know if the upper floor is. I hope it is taken care of it is starting to show it's age. [for anyone who has followed the blog for some time - this is the House of Shells we spent so much time hunting for one year while we were here.]
 Two priests patiently waiting for something. 
 The gazebo in the plaza. Such intricate work on it. Every time we are here I take pictures of it it is so pretty. 
 Across the plaza from the church is this building.l It kind of gives the impression it at one time might have had something to do with the church. Just the shape of it and the interest doorway. 
There is some kind of carving on the two square corner pieces, but it is to worn away to really tell what it was. 

 Interest restoration - it is a doctor's office. Notice the corner pink building.  
 Here it is - It is a museum - or was - on the door is a notice of how much it cost to go inside. Tried to find something about it on line but all I found was a Facebook page from 2012. 
 Another building across the street had this plaque of hands and a notice above the hands. It is about a mutual society for something. 
 The lettering on the door. 
 Just another interesting building. Only one I've ever seen like this in our travels here in Mexico. Wonder when the wooden second floor was added. 
We took a stroll through a parking lot as I saw some murals. The original walls were hand made adobe. 
 Bill cheeking out the walls. Can you read the sign next to him "Just Having Fun"
One of the murals
A closer look at the wall. See all the sea shells that were in the adobe. The little white bits. 
More of the murals - Asian men?

On the opposite wall . Lot of work in this one. 
Then we looked down. The lot at one time was a house. Some of the tile flooring was still there. On a closer look we realized it too was hand made. We have seen this type of tile made in Malpica. The light colored top is poured into a frame, the color or design is added next then the cement. It is pressed and then air dried. 
You can see the distinctive layers here. 
Just another look at the wall. It seems to be melting with time. 
And Willie is now sparkling clean. Bill talking to the guy who washed him. Ended up giving him quite a bit more than he asked for. 
We have been carting around a couple of bags of candy in the car to give to kids when we see them. As we are now on our way home and wouldn't dare give kids candy in the states we wanted to give it away. So Bill gave it to the priests to give to their perish children. 
Back in the car and road around town some more. But that will keep for another day. 
I cannot get over how full Totonaka RV Park is. There are only a couple of spaces empty. And even the town of San Carlos is full of people. Never seen this many people here. Traffic is terrible and every restaurant we see is full. Good for the town.
Almost forgot. We stopped at McDonald's in Guaymas to eat. Bill was hungry. Anyway while sitting there eating I saw a couple come in and they were carrying full coffee cups from another restaurant. Don't see that in the states. Then another group of five came in. They ordered a few things and sat down at a long table. In a few minutes a woman came in to join them. She had a big bag of food from another restaurant. She proceeded to distribute it to the others at the table. Then she sat down to eat. What? A we were leaving Bill went up to talk to them. They said they do that every Sunday. 
Order some things from McDonald's and bring other things from other places. Can you imagine McDonald's in the states allowing that...I think not. 
Oops forgot to mention. My favorite NASCAR driver #18 Kyle Busch who started from 39th ended up 3rd at the end of the race and he now is leading in points. I know it's only two races but...

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Huatabampo


Seeings how we didn't do much to write about yesterday I'll finish up Huatabampito. How did it get it's strange name. Well it is from the local Mayo language, Huata means willow and bampo means water. the ito part means small. the main town is Huatabampo - Willow near the water. and Huatabampito is the little town of willow by the water. Make sense?
The town of Huatabampo has about 80,000 people. The main industries are fishing and agriculture. I did a couple of posts about the fishing. Here is a picture of the agriculture. Fields and fields of winter wheat.. 
 The main street in Huatabampo. The last time we were here a few years ago it was all tore up as the wiring was being put underground. Now it is a nice wide smooth street. 
 There is a big cemetery just as you come into town. Old time president Obregon was born here and is buried in the cemetery. This monument maker is right across the street from the cemetery. Some nice monuments here.
 The cemetery. Now that we're not there I wish we'd stopped and gone into it.
 The craftsmen at work. I imagine they keep busy.
 Another monument about a block in front of the cemetery. It forms a round about in the street. 
 While stopped getting gas these guys passed by us. I remember they have something to do with demons and Lent. We'd seen one or two of them walking around every time we came into town. 
 On their ankles they have the ornaments worn during the Yaqui deer dance. They rattle and symbolize the insect world

 Taken  from the campground - doesn't that boat look like it is floating in the air?
 Also from campground. These tiny plants are sure trying. See the bird print next to it. Yes it is actually growing there in the sand.
Into town to the supermarket Ley. A Ley is kind of like a WalMart or Target. Sells groceries, clothes, household stuff etc. etc. 
Frozen piggy heads. 31.50 pesos I don't know if that is by the each or by the kilo. 31.50 is about 1.75 dollars.
 Chicken feet. Price is 13.69 package or kilo not sure. 13.69 is less than 1 dollar. 
 Any kind of donut you could want. About 30 cents each. 
 I just get a kick out of the brands sold in the stores here. Here is Heinz relish and SW canned green beans. They also sell Del Monte vegetables. The relish is about 2.11 dollars. The beans less than 80 cents.
 Some gigantic tomatoes. I think in the US we call them beefsteak tomatoes. Smelled so good. They are bigger than the red peppers next to them. 
 And a selection of organic foods. 
 And they also sell appliances and ATVs.  The price of this is 1,888 in dollars. Which seems cheap to us. 
 A picture of the ATV. Is it cheap?
So back to where we are now - San Carlos, Sonora, MX  San Carlos is basically a  North American town. More English is spoken here than Spanish. It is a pretty place to spend a few days to rest up for the 300 mile north to Arizona. And just a few miles away is Guaymas - a true Mexican city.