Back to Last Week - Santiago Ixcuintla

Let’s see when did I start to goof off and not keep this up? Probably about the time when Tom got here – and he left for home today – so I have a lot to catch up on.
I wrote about going to Puerta Vallarta to pick him up. The drive down there was fine. It’s about 80 miles between here and there – and an hours time difference. PV is in Central time Aticama is Mountain Time. So we had to keep that in mind. We got to the airport early so had a very expensive lunch – sandwich and cola each US$25. And not good. Toms plane was on time and we started back to Aticama after a short stop in WalMart.
I wrote about our trip home. Willie had a boo boo and the help we got from passers by and the mechanic and tow truck driver was wonderful. Tom rode the rest of the way to Aticama in the back seat of Willie on top of the flat bed. He said he felt like the Rose Queen. I wonder if he was waving?
The next day the mechanic came and assured us he could fix the problem. A broken water pump. However when the pump broke it also broke a few other things. Mainly an extra fan that comes on when the engine gets hot. It was made of plastic and ended up in several parts. The mechanic went up the mountain to Tepic to the Jeep dealer for the parts. They had the water pump but not the auxiliary fan. That will have to be replaced at a later time. In the mean time – we’ve been having problems with Willie ever since we got that darn truck, Rambo. And the problem continues. The Jeep doesn’t want to shift into third after the engine gets warm. We thought the problem was taken care of when the sensors were changed in Mazatlan. It wasn’t. So this has changed our plans for the rest of this year. Monday we are returning to Mazatlan instead of going further south. We will take Willie to the dealer and hopefully get it fixed once and for all. In Mazatlan we should be able to rent a car or just use public transportation if we want to go somewhere. (At least it should be cooler there.) So all of that out of the way……
We all have had bad colds. Tome came with one, I had one when he got here and Bill came down with it a few days later. Lots of hacking and sneezing and blowing of noses going on around here.
After Willie was fixed we took Tom for a ride around the area, just to see how tropical it is. Heading back to the RV park I noticed this cloud formation. Looking East towards the mountains.

Looking West over the water. Guess there is a change in the weather coming.

Bill cooked us dinner that night.

The next morning we drove into Aticama along the dirt beach road. This area was a new experience for Tom; he’s usually visited us while we’ve been in Mazatlan. These towns are SMALL towns and quite different. The first thing he saw was the oyster fishermen going out for their day’s catch. The inner tube has a net hanging from it to hold the oysters. After filling the net they bring the oysters into town and sell them usually making about 200 Pesos a day. About US$15.00.

Then we got on the main highway to drive into the bigger town of San Blas. I don’t think Tom had believed us when we told him about the livestock we’d seen on the road. He believes now.

The next night when going into town for dinner we saw everyone coming towards us with their hazard lights on – one pickup had stopped and was waving to everyone to slow down. Why? Another cow in the road – just strolling along the highway in the absolute dark. Always exciting to drive here.

Sunday we had a busy day. Started off with breakfast at Tradiciones in San Blas. Don’t remember what Tom had but it included eggs, shrimp, beans and salad.

With full tummies we headed to Santiago Ixcuintla. We go there every year and I’ve written a lot about it. Toms first glimpse of the wonderful clothing of the Huichol men.

Then the congested driving in town.

I couldn’t resist posting this picture. Those panties had to be three feet across – wow!

Our main reason for taking Tom to Santiago was to show him the fantastic wonderful mural in town. It is two blocks long on both sides of the street. It is the history of the area. It was built in 1995 and is starting to show its age. Sure hope it gets repaired. Just a few pictures from this years visit.

A view of part of the town from the plaza.

The plaza was full of activity. We saw some very cute puppies for sale – hard to resist but necessary. One enterprising couple had all of these little cars for rent. The kids were having a great time in them.

From the plaza we took Tom to the Central Market. He’d been to the big market in Mazatlan and the tiny market in San Blas but this market has a flavor all its own. One of the first things he saw. So we left the meat section.

Another section had beautiful dresses for little girls. Six or seven year old girls.

Left the market and headed towards home.

Later in the evening we went out to dinner in San Blas. Of course with the obligatory stroll through the plaza. Always when doing this I think about the US media campaign about “Dangerous Mexico.” See how dangerous it is. These kids are painting plaster figurines.

Bill bought a plaster figure of a parrot and took it to the the Cora Indian couple who sell bead work in the plaza and asked them if they could bead it for him. They said of course. We picked it up yesterday - will take a picture of it and post it in a day or two. It is stunning. 

These kids playing futbol.

Bill and George talking to a Captain in the Marines. There is a big marine base in San Blas.

On to the restaurant for dinner. Tom

George

And Bill. We all had an excellent meal. Notice the decoration of the restaurant – all sea shells. I control the camera - no pictures of me. 

So we did manage to keep busy most days while he was here.
I am over in the restaurant using the WiFi as to try to catch up using the TelCel Banda Ancha would take until tomorrow. I'll write more about Tom's visit over the next couple of days as we won't be doing much around here. Though we all are going out for pizza tonight. Very good pizza I might add. And Monday we will be heading back to Mazatlan. So Sunday will be spent readying Jennie for the trip.