Tapalpa day trip

We took a day trip to Tapalpa.  It was one of the prettiest places in Mexico that we have visited.  The town sits at 7,300 foot elevation and there are lots of Pine trees.  It's a two hour drive from the Chapala area.  There are so many things to do, we will be returning for several days.

You drive the four lane toll road half of the way there, then it is a two lane road the other half.

Monday is market day.  These are little eateries that cater to the the locals.

 

The sides and the ceiling of the Church are made of individual bricks.

Vicki, J. C. and Debbi have found a Ponche shop.  They mix Tequila with Cherry, Mango, Peach etc.   Then they sell it by the bottle, usually 3 to 5 us dollars.  Here, they are sampling different flavors.

This is a very different look for the outside of a church in Mexico.

Horseback rides are a 15 minute drive from Tapalpa.

Land is expensive here.  You can pay 50,000 per acre US for bare land.

The East County in San Diego has some large boulders, but these are huge. 

One of the things we want to do when we return is ride horseback.  The cost is 11 dollars per hour per person.

If you didn't know better, you would think you were in Montana or Wyoming!

A new lease with a different house

We have been in San Nicolas for 1 year and 4 months.  We still love our village life.  There are many things to learn here.  Like our 1 year old house that we moved into when we arrived, we really liked the looks of the inside and the outside.  But unfortunately, it was in a state of disrepair.  Specifically, the roof leaked in 4 different areas.  Now I am not saying drip, drip, drip.  I am talking small waterfalls.  Of course, we complained to the owner.  All she ever did was to put a band-aid on it.  There were other problems with the house too.   So we looked for another home in the village.  The very first one we looked at was the right house for us.  It was a 3 bedroom and 3 bath home with a split floor plan.  The house was recently built with new everything.  All the finish work is top quality.  We are paying $600 US every month with a one year lease.

Front of the house taken from the carport looking towards the front door.

Taken from the street with the automatic gate closed.

Front door entry hallway looking into guest bedroom.  My family pictures on wall at left.

Pictures of my grandkids in the entry hallway.

Living room with our 33 year old T. V.  We have a Boveda ceiling that is brick and mortar.  No rebar or reinforcement of any kind.  I'm hoping we have no earthquakes!

Dining room.  Glass is underneath the table cloth.  Mexicans really like glass tables. All the windows and sliders are bordered with black metal.

Looking into the kitchen from the living room.  The kitchen has a great view of the lake.

Master bedroom.  All rooms have ceiling fans.  No air conditioning or heating.  The weather is temperate all year.

Master bathroom with spa tub.  This is a real luxury in Mexico.

These are 2 of the 4 skylights throughout the house.  We have an outdoor concrete stairway that leads to the roof.

We have great views of the lake from every part of the roof.

Los Cazos waterfall

We went to Mazamitla yesterday.  I have done an earlier blog on this beautiful town.  We returned during the rainy season to ride horses to the waterfall.  The ride, with a half hour at the waterfall was three hours round trip.  If you go, plan on spending an hour there.

You can see some horses in the background.  There were about 50 of them.  The cost was 16 dollars per person for the trip. 

 The ride was difficult in some places.  We were riding most of the time on slippery cobblestones.   The horses were sure footed with good dispositions.    



This is where we hand our horses to the guide while we hike to the waterfall.   It's about a ten minute walk. Vicki and I had already given our horses to the guide.  

As the rainy season progresses, there will be a higher volume of water coming over the falls.

J. C. and Vickie with Debbi in the background.

The waterfall is 90 feet high with a wading pool at the bottom.

We have rented a lot of horses throughout Mexico.  These were the healthiest and the best trained ones we have seen.





Driving to Mexico

I am very embarrassed to say that I have not done a blog on our move to Mexico.  We have been here for well over a year, so it is overdue.  My friend, Frank Rose agreed to help us.  Me, Frank, Debbi and Peso drove 3 days from Prescott Valley, Arizona to Guadalajara in Franks' Chevy Dually, towing a four horse trailer.  To say it was an adventure is a vast understatement.

Our friend, Shelly helping load the trailer in Prescott Valley.

Arriving at the border in Nogales.  We were fortunate they did not make us unload the trailer.

We obtained our car permit here in Mexico.  The permit allows you to drive your vehicle throughout Mexico.  When you come back across the border, you must return your permit.

Peso did well on the trip.  He never got sick.  Here, he is wrapped up in the bed cover.  Sweet dreams!

An interesting shadow created by the truck and trailer.

Sometimes the Cuota was two lane blacktop and sometimes 4 lanes.

This hotel was in Culiacan, a major drug trafficking city in Mexico.  There were about 20 Federales who spent the night here.  One of their trucks is in the foreground.  This hotel was $30 per night. 

There was a steep grade just before Tepic.  We had to pull into a Pemex gas station to cool the engine.  The Pemex workers will do everything they can to get you back on the road.  My buddy Frank is helping them get the job done.

Arriving at our new house in San Nicolas, 45 minutes south of Guadalajara.