On Mexican Time

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by achesley

Man, what a different approach to a trip report from Mexico. Love it. I guess I'll be looking at some of these tour guide services in a few years when I retire and hopefully, can still ride my bikes. Guess I need to start studying Spanish ASAP.
Thanks for the effort to bring this to us.

Andy!

Andy, don't wait to go to Alaska or Mexico. Your 650 or 1150 will be the perfect bike.

Your first dream is Alaska. Go find Shoganai's trip report on her trip there. You'll be on autopilot after reading that.

I became friends with a guy your age this trip, and he and I and a few others are going it alone in Mexico in the spring of '08 (which is right around the corner). We'll take care of you.

I have some spanish training stuff getting ready to be deployed in this thread, but let me tell you now, knowledge of spanish can change the way your ride in Mexico goes over. The satisfaction factor goes up exponentially.

Come with us! Vamanos!!!!!!


Bob

[psychsurf]

Camino Sinuoso=
Winding road

Great thread, Trice! Really informative and well put together.

Be careful to whom you offer dinner on the riverwalk, though... It just so happens that San Antonio will be the jumping-off point for our late-janurary mexico ride.

I'm just sayin'...

[tricepilot]

Mrs. Tricepilot wants me off the computer , so I'll leave you with this teaser until tomorrow, when we head for Alamos.

What does this guy, Carroll O'Connor, have to do with Alamos? If you can give any detail other than a basic guess, you win DINNER on the Riverwalk with Tricepilot AND a tour of the Texas Hill Country!

Hasta Mañana!

"Those Were The Days"
by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse

Boy, the way Glenn Miller played. Songs that made the Hit Parade.

Guys like us, we had it made. Those were the days.

Didn't need no welfare state. Everybody pulled his weight.

Gee, our old LaSalle ran great. Those were the days.

And you know who you were then. Girls were girls and men were men.

Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.

People seemed to be content. Fifty dollars paid the rent.

Freaks were in a circus tent. Those were the days.

Take a little Sunday spin, go to watch the Dodgers win.

Have yourself a dandy day that cost you under a fin.

Hair was short and skirts were long. Kate Smith really sold a song.

I don't know just what went wrong. Those Were The Days.

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by psychsurf

Camino Sinuoso=
Winding road

Great thread, Trice! Really informative and well put together.

Be careful to whom you offer dinner on the riverwalk, though... It just so happens that San Antonio will be the jumping-off point for our late-janurary mexico ride.

I'm just sayin'...

San Antonio won't be you're jumping off point, Casa Tricepilot will be your jumping off point. Just Sayin'!

[FemmeFatale]

GREAT RIDE REPORT!!!

Pics and details were awesome!! Thanks for sharing!!

p.s. Especially liked your confessional at the end

[Squeaky]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

This is too good Bob! You've got me glued to the edge of my seat!

Gracias por compartir tu aventura con nosotros (? did i get that right?)



-future Mexican adventurist thanks to folks like you

[OldBMWMaster]

I recall in an interview that he either has a house there, or lived there once.

I believe he still owns a house there.

[patsymack]

Originally Posted by OldBMWMaster

I recall in an interview that he either has a house there, or lived there once.

I believe he still owns a house there.

I don't think Carroll is amomg the living but his estate still had the Hacienda as of last feb. when I pasted through there.It was for sale at around 600-650,000USD .

[Hootowl]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

In all seriousness, in the 4 trips over the last year, I personally have not been involved, nor witnessed, much in the way of erratic driving or bad behavior.

I did make mention earlier in this thread of "Canada Dave II" who got rocked in Durango by a drunk driver. And I will tell that story, when this thread gets to the Creel part, because that's where I met him.

On all of the autopistas, highways, cities, towns etc. over the past trips, not once have I seen someone blow a red light, stop sign, or, really, do much erratic driving on any of the highways.

I have found drivers in Mexico to be pleasant, helpful, and pretty much a docile crowd.

[FONT=Fixedsys][COLOR=#f5deb3]Its when I get back to the U.S. that I palpably feel the hostility, lane crushing, cutting off, and distracted driving that sends chills down your spine and makes entries in Face Plant.

That's been my experience as well. I've always felt safer riding in Mexico than the USA

[OldBMWMaster]

Originally Posted by patsymack

I don't think Carroll is amomg the living but his estate still had the Hacienda as of last feb. when I pasted through there.It was for sale at around 600-650,000USD .

Yes, he is dead; but he still owns property there. Or did the last time I checked.

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by OldBMWMaster

Yes, he is dead

[tricepilot]

About twelve miles southeast of San Carlos we passed through Guaymas and hit the tollway, Mex 15, through Cuidad Obregon and down to Navojoa, roughly 115 miles from Guaymas.

It was nice and warm in Mexico!:



Here, you simply head east From Navojoa on Mex 13 to Alamos.

I break out the Guia Roji, which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND, even if you use a GPS:



And check out the map. Alamos is just about 30 miles east of Navojoa:




Alamos is a sleepy little town that appears to be what San Miguel de Allende might have been back in the '60s.

I pulled in and dumped some stuff from the bike at the hotel:






...Which was very close to the plaza de armas and the church. I grabbed my camera and took off...

Snapping pics of the courtyard on the way out:







By the way, I always walk around with one of these little gems in my pocket:



It will give you spanish to english, english to spanish, and conjugate all the verbs in all the tenses, plus provide commands and a ton of other useful stuff. I have not been to Mexico without it, in any situation. This and my camera are all I need when I go exploring. And exploring is why I come to Mexico.

There is a book about the doors themselves of San Miguel D.A. There are just as many interesting carved doors in Alamos:





Down at the Plaza de Armas is the beautiful Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (finished in 1804) and square, a combo that is the charmer of many pueblos in Mexico:





The same catherdral from the perspective of the mirador on Cerro de Perico. Its steep cobblestones all the way to the top of the mirador - fun! :





Not sure about these guys who came right by:






At the end of the 1600's, silver was discovered near Alamos, and the silver mines gave rise to the town.



I tucked into a doorway and found this little scene:





And then darted down this alley right off the Plaza:



And found myself in the market area:



I walked in and out of severl dozen shops and talked with the locals to keep my spanish up to speed:





All of the ways to pick up the language, nothing works like throwing it out there with all the mistakes and goofs, and not caring if its perfect or not. The lovely people of Mexico appreciate the effort, and even a rudimentary knowlege of the language from a phrase book will take you pretty far. The more you know, the more fun exploring is.

The gang was gathering back at the hotel:



(This is, I believe, the last known photograph of Canada Dave I's 1974 Harley flathead in working condition. Tomorrow, the motor would blow up underneath him on Mex 15)

It was time to relaxe with a botella de vino tinto and think about dinner. I'll be right back with Phase II of Alamos, including the most amazing hacienda and a discovery by serendipity that I never would have expected.

Got to go catch my breath for a moment.

Ya regreso...

Bob

[Lobby]

Alamos, eh?

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by FemmeFatale

GREAT RIDE REPORT!!!

Pics and details were awesome!! Thanks for sharing!!

p.s. Especially liked your confessional at the end

FemmeFatale!

You need to bring your 650 to Mexico at the earliest opportunity!

After paying a mordida, the Father forgave me!

Originally Posted by squeakysquirrel

Gracias por compartir tu aventura con nosotros (? did i get that right?)

-future Mexican adventurist thanks to folks like you

Rebecca, your spanish is excellent. You will be a Mexico adventurer and that is something so great to look forward to!

Originally Posted by patsymack

It was for sale at around 600-650,000USD .

I am about to post photos of the buildings and the street surrounding the place. I'll let you all decide if this price is worth paying. Six years ago, the house next door sold for a fraction of this price.

Originally Posted by Hootowl

That's been my experience as well. I've always felt safer riding in Mexico than the USA

I think part of the answer as well is far fewer vehicles. But another reason I thought of is that the Mexican people either don't have the stress we put on ourselves here and/or don't take it out on the road. I relax when I cross into Mexico and tense up when I return. Happenes every time.

Originally Posted by OldBMWMaster

Yes, he is dead; but he still owns property there. Or did the last time I checked.

Yes, according to Richard, the neighbor to the left of the O'Connor estate, it is still owned by his widow. Expat opportunity knocks for the right price!!!!!

Originally Posted by Shoganai

This is such a fresh approach to a RR
Ok back to

Thanks Gwen, I am just being myself and I try to express the joy in riding that I get and the joy in discovery I have found in one of the most magical places on earth to me. June thinks I am a goofball so perhaps some of that Payaso type stuff is coming out from the seams in the report.

[Uncle Pollo]

May I interject with my Alamos photos?