Re: [Texascavers] mexico traveling
About 3 times out of ten I've been searched on my way to Mexico from Tx, one in particular where the guy was asking me a bunch of questions and tried to catch me off guard: so how long did you tell me that you have been a lawyer for? I never said I was a lawyer, officer. Where did that come from? Go ahead, be safe El jueves, 13 de diciembre de 2012, Fofo escribió: > Cool trip report! Thanks for sharing it. > > I'm glad you had a great time in Mexico. And yes, they're starting to be > more proactive about searching for guns entering Mexico (it used to be that > there was almost no search when going from the US to Mexico). > > - Fofo > > On 13/12/12 12:36, Nancy Weaver wrote: > >> Thursday Dec 6th Brigit Alexander, her 16 yr old daughter Mimi and >> school friend Teresa, and I drove to Real de Catorce for a multiday >> celebration of Humberto Fernandez' 70th bday. The drive down was swift >> and easy and uneventful. A bit bizarrely, before being allowed to enter >> the bridge on the US side, each car was being searched with that nifty >> flashlight and mirror on a stick. When I asked why - we were sonorously >> told that 'bad things were going in and out of Mexico'. Then we were >> quizzed as to whether we knew what they were. Brigit won points for >> quessing drugs were coming in. It was my opinion that bad manners were >> being exported, but no, turns out guns are being taken into Mexico >> strapped underneath tourist cars. Who knew. We asked when this search >> had started and were informed 'it was always this way'. Quess we were >> just lucky all those border crossings over the past 30 years never to >> see this. >> >> We had a short stop on the other side for papers for Teresa. While >> waiting in the parking lot, Mimi and I noticed a tv crew interviewing >> several of the other drivers. Turns out they were doing a story about >> campesinos traveling in caravans for safety. They were pretty impressed >> that 4 gringas were traveling alone and wanted to interview us. We >> wanted to get going and saw no reason to advertise our presence on tv. >> Most of the autopista traffic is trucks, probably 80- 90%. Made it to >> Real by dark, and got up before dawn to hike to the peak of the sacred >> mountain for a sunrise Huichol ceremony. Then the partying started in >> earnest with dinners, dances, drinks, live bands, and spectacular >> fireworks for the next 2 days. There were about 80 guests who had >> bussed, flown and driven (and in the case of the 4 Huichol, walked) in >> for the celebration. Hollywood was represented by the director and >> camera people of The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribeean. As usual >> there were at least 4 languages being spoken. >> >> Simultaneously, the town was celebrating one of their biggest holidays - >> the procession of the virgin, a weekend of promenading the virgins >> portrait thru the streets from one church to the other, then back, wild >> ringing of church bells, dancing in feathered sequined costumes (not >> sure what that was about) and live music. There was a group of about a >> dozen ATV's at the hotel next to Brigits. And perhaps 30 Harley riders >> at the Hotel Mina Real. A good time was apparently had by all. Mimi >> Teresa and I drove down to the partially completed Museo del Desierto, >> an ambitious underground complex with a fancy road, enormous parking >> lot, elaborate sculptures scattered across the creosote and cactus. and >> completely abandoned. Worth a visit, very UFOish, and protected by >> numerous peyote plants. >> >> On the drive home, we decided to try Colombia, since none of us had been >> there for several years and we were intrigued by the flashy billboards >> advertising crossing there. The Mexicans are building a multi lane >> divided highway parallel to the river and there are enormous complexes >> of factories, perhaps maquilidores? along the way. We were briefly >> dismayed by 2 long lines of trucks and only one other passenger car, >> idling. But Brigit opted past all the vehicles, driving up onto the >> grass to get to the vehicle permit booth to turn in her sticker. It was >> still trucks as far as we could see, but the Mexicans promptly opened >> another lane and waved us past everyone and onto the bridge. A >> delightful gesture. >> >> The US side as ever was far less friendly and seemed irritated that a >> passenger car had entered there interrupting their inactivity. Finally >> after forbidding Brigit to get out of the car, and questioning us >> numerous times about our occupations, why we were in Mexico, etc. they >> got bored and waved us on as well. >> >> >> --**--**- >> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com >> For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com >> >> > --**--**- >
Re: [Texascavers] mexico traveling
About 3 times out of ten I've been searched on my way to Mexico from Tx, one in particular where the guy was asking me a bunch of questions and tried to catch me off guard: so how long did you tell me that you have been a lawyer for? I never said I was a lawyer, officer. Where did that come from? Go ahead, be safe El jueves, 13 de diciembre de 2012, Fofo escribió: > Cool trip report! Thanks for sharing it. > > I'm glad you had a great time in Mexico. And yes, they're starting to be > more proactive about searching for guns entering Mexico (it used to be that > there was almost no search when going from the US to Mexico). > > - Fofo > > On 13/12/12 12:36, Nancy Weaver wrote: > >> Thursday Dec 6th Brigit Alexander, her 16 yr old daughter Mimi and >> school friend Teresa, and I drove to Real de Catorce for a multiday >> celebration of Humberto Fernandez' 70th bday. The drive down was swift >> and easy and uneventful. A bit bizarrely, before being allowed to enter >> the bridge on the US side, each car was being searched with that nifty >> flashlight and mirror on a stick. When I asked why - we were sonorously >> told that 'bad things were going in and out of Mexico'. Then we were >> quizzed as to whether we knew what they were. Brigit won points for >> quessing drugs were coming in. It was my opinion that bad manners were >> being exported, but no, turns out guns are being taken into Mexico >> strapped underneath tourist cars. Who knew. We asked when this search >> had started and were informed 'it was always this way'. Quess we were >> just lucky all those border crossings over the past 30 years never to >> see this. >> >> We had a short stop on the other side for papers for Teresa. While >> waiting in the parking lot, Mimi and I noticed a tv crew interviewing >> several of the other drivers. Turns out they were doing a story about >> campesinos traveling in caravans for safety. They were pretty impressed >> that 4 gringas were traveling alone and wanted to interview us. We >> wanted to get going and saw no reason to advertise our presence on tv. >> Most of the autopista traffic is trucks, probably 80- 90%. Made it to >> Real by dark, and got up before dawn to hike to the peak of the sacred >> mountain for a sunrise Huichol ceremony. Then the partying started in >> earnest with dinners, dances, drinks, live bands, and spectacular >> fireworks for the next 2 days. There were about 80 guests who had >> bussed, flown and driven (and in the case of the 4 Huichol, walked) in >> for the celebration. Hollywood was represented by the director and >> camera people of The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribeean. As usual >> there were at least 4 languages being spoken. >> >> Simultaneously, the town was celebrating one of their biggest holidays - >> the procession of the virgin, a weekend of promenading the virgins >> portrait thru the streets from one church to the other, then back, wild >> ringing of church bells, dancing in feathered sequined costumes (not >> sure what that was about) and live music. There was a group of about a >> dozen ATV's at the hotel next to Brigits. And perhaps 30 Harley riders >> at the Hotel Mina Real. A good time was apparently had by all. Mimi >> Teresa and I drove down to the partially completed Museo del Desierto, >> an ambitious underground complex with a fancy road, enormous parking >> lot, elaborate sculptures scattered across the creosote and cactus. and >> completely abandoned. Worth a visit, very UFOish, and protected by >> numerous peyote plants. >> >> On the drive home, we decided to try Colombia, since none of us had been >> there for several years and we were intrigued by the flashy billboards >> advertising crossing there. The Mexicans are building a multi lane >> divided highway parallel to the river and there are enormous complexes >> of factories, perhaps maquilidores? along the way. We were briefly >> dismayed by 2 long lines of trucks and only one other passenger car, >> idling. But Brigit opted past all the vehicles, driving up onto the >> grass to get to the vehicle permit booth to turn in her sticker. It was >> still trucks as far as we could see, but the Mexicans promptly opened >> another lane and waved us past everyone and onto the bridge. A >> delightful gesture. >> >> The US side as ever was far less friendly and seemed irritated that a >> passenger car had entered there interrupting their inactivity. Finally >> after forbidding Brigit to get out of the car, and questioning us >> numerous times about our occupations, why we were in Mexico, etc. they >> got bored and waved us on as well. >> >> >> --**--**- >> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com >> For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com >> >> > --**--**- >
Re: [Texascavers] mexico traveling
About 3 times out of ten I've been searched on my way to Mexico from Tx, one in particular where the guy was asking me a bunch of questions and tried to catch me off guard: so how long did you tell me that you have been a lawyer for? I never said I was a lawyer, officer. Where did that come from? Go ahead, be safe El jueves, 13 de diciembre de 2012, Fofo escribió: > Cool trip report! Thanks for sharing it. > > I'm glad you had a great time in Mexico. And yes, they're starting to be > more proactive about searching for guns entering Mexico (it used to be that > there was almost no search when going from the US to Mexico). > > - Fofo > > On 13/12/12 12:36, Nancy Weaver wrote: > >> Thursday Dec 6th Brigit Alexander, her 16 yr old daughter Mimi and >> school friend Teresa, and I drove to Real de Catorce for a multiday >> celebration of Humberto Fernandez' 70th bday. The drive down was swift >> and easy and uneventful. A bit bizarrely, before being allowed to enter >> the bridge on the US side, each car was being searched with that nifty >> flashlight and mirror on a stick. When I asked why - we were sonorously >> told that 'bad things were going in and out of Mexico'. Then we were >> quizzed as to whether we knew what they were. Brigit won points for >> quessing drugs were coming in. It was my opinion that bad manners were >> being exported, but no, turns out guns are being taken into Mexico >> strapped underneath tourist cars. Who knew. We asked when this search >> had started and were informed 'it was always this way'. Quess we were >> just lucky all those border crossings over the past 30 years never to >> see this. >> >> We had a short stop on the other side for papers for Teresa. While >> waiting in the parking lot, Mimi and I noticed a tv crew interviewing >> several of the other drivers. Turns out they were doing a story about >> campesinos traveling in caravans for safety. They were pretty impressed >> that 4 gringas were traveling alone and wanted to interview us. We >> wanted to get going and saw no reason to advertise our presence on tv. >> Most of the autopista traffic is trucks, probably 80- 90%. Made it to >> Real by dark, and got up before dawn to hike to the peak of the sacred >> mountain for a sunrise Huichol ceremony. Then the partying started in >> earnest with dinners, dances, drinks, live bands, and spectacular >> fireworks for the next 2 days. There were about 80 guests who had >> bussed, flown and driven (and in the case of the 4 Huichol, walked) in >> for the celebration. Hollywood was represented by the director and >> camera people of The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribeean. As usual >> there were at least 4 languages being spoken. >> >> Simultaneously, the town was celebrating one of their biggest holidays - >> the procession of the virgin, a weekend of promenading the virgins >> portrait thru the streets from one church to the other, then back, wild >> ringing of church bells, dancing in feathered sequined costumes (not >> sure what that was about) and live music. There was a group of about a >> dozen ATV's at the hotel next to Brigits. And perhaps 30 Harley riders >> at the Hotel Mina Real. A good time was apparently had by all. Mimi >> Teresa and I drove down to the partially completed Museo del Desierto, >> an ambitious underground complex with a fancy road, enormous parking >> lot, elaborate sculptures scattered across the creosote and cactus. and >> completely abandoned. Worth a visit, very UFOish, and protected by >> numerous peyote plants. >> >> On the drive home, we decided to try Colombia, since none of us had been >> there for several years and we were intrigued by the flashy billboards >> advertising crossing there. The Mexicans are building a multi lane >> divided highway parallel to the river and there are enormous complexes >> of factories, perhaps maquilidores? along the way. We were briefly >> dismayed by 2 long lines of trucks and only one other passenger car, >> idling. But Brigit opted past all the vehicles, driving up onto the >> grass to get to the vehicle permit booth to turn in her sticker. It was >> still trucks as far as we could see, but the Mexicans promptly opened >> another lane and waved us past everyone and onto the bridge. A >> delightful gesture. >> >> The US side as ever was far less friendly and seemed irritated that a >> passenger car had entered there interrupting their inactivity. Finally >> after forbidding Brigit to get out of the car, and questioning us >> numerous times about our occupations, why we were in Mexico, etc. they >> got bored and waved us on as well. >> >> >> --**--**- >> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com >> For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com >> >> > --**--**- >
Re: [Texascavers] mexico traveling
Cool trip report! Thanks for sharing it. I'm glad you had a great time in Mexico. And yes, they're starting to be more proactive about searching for guns entering Mexico (it used to be that there was almost no search when going from the US to Mexico). - Fofo On 13/12/12 12:36, Nancy Weaver wrote: Thursday Dec 6th Brigit Alexander, her 16 yr old daughter Mimi and school friend Teresa, and I drove to Real de Catorce for a multiday celebration of Humberto Fernandez' 70th bday. The drive down was swift and easy and uneventful. A bit bizarrely, before being allowed to enter the bridge on the US side, each car was being searched with that nifty flashlight and mirror on a stick. When I asked why - we were sonorously told that 'bad things were going in and out of Mexico'. Then we were quizzed as to whether we knew what they were. Brigit won points for quessing drugs were coming in. It was my opinion that bad manners were being exported, but no, turns out guns are being taken into Mexico strapped underneath tourist cars. Who knew. We asked when this search had started and were informed 'it was always this way'. Quess we were just lucky all those border crossings over the past 30 years never to see this. We had a short stop on the other side for papers for Teresa. While waiting in the parking lot, Mimi and I noticed a tv crew interviewing several of the other drivers. Turns out they were doing a story about campesinos traveling in caravans for safety. They were pretty impressed that 4 gringas were traveling alone and wanted to interview us. We wanted to get going and saw no reason to advertise our presence on tv. Most of the autopista traffic is trucks, probably 80- 90%. Made it to Real by dark, and got up before dawn to hike to the peak of the sacred mountain for a sunrise Huichol ceremony. Then the partying started in earnest with dinners, dances, drinks, live bands, and spectacular fireworks for the next 2 days. There were about 80 guests who had bussed, flown and driven (and in the case of the 4 Huichol, walked) in for the celebration. Hollywood was represented by the director and camera people of The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribeean. As usual there were at least 4 languages being spoken. Simultaneously, the town was celebrating one of their biggest holidays - the procession of the virgin, a weekend of promenading the virgins portrait thru the streets from one church to the other, then back, wild ringing of church bells, dancing in feathered sequined costumes (not sure what that was about) and live music. There was a group of about a dozen ATV's at the hotel next to Brigits. And perhaps 30 Harley riders at the Hotel Mina Real. A good time was apparently had by all. Mimi Teresa and I drove down to the partially completed Museo del Desierto, an ambitious underground complex with a fancy road, enormous parking lot, elaborate sculptures scattered across the creosote and cactus. and completely abandoned. Worth a visit, very UFOish, and protected by numerous peyote plants. On the drive home, we decided to try Colombia, since none of us had been there for several years and we were intrigued by the flashy billboards advertising crossing there. The Mexicans are building a multi lane divided highway parallel to the river and there are enormous complexes of factories, perhaps maquilidores? along the way. We were briefly dismayed by 2 long lines of trucks and only one other passenger car, idling. But Brigit opted past all the vehicles, driving up onto the grass to get to the vehicle permit booth to turn in her sticker. It was still trucks as far as we could see, but the Mexicans promptly opened another lane and waved us past everyone and onto the bridge. A delightful gesture. The US side as ever was far less friendly and seemed irritated that a passenger car had entered there interrupting their inactivity. Finally after forbidding Brigit to get out of the car, and questioning us numerous times about our occupations, why we were in Mexico, etc. they got bored and waved us on as well. - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] mexico traveling
Cool trip report! Thanks for sharing it. I'm glad you had a great time in Mexico. And yes, they're starting to be more proactive about searching for guns entering Mexico (it used to be that there was almost no search when going from the US to Mexico). - Fofo On 13/12/12 12:36, Nancy Weaver wrote: Thursday Dec 6th Brigit Alexander, her 16 yr old daughter Mimi and school friend Teresa, and I drove to Real de Catorce for a multiday celebration of Humberto Fernandez' 70th bday. The drive down was swift and easy and uneventful. A bit bizarrely, before being allowed to enter the bridge on the US side, each car was being searched with that nifty flashlight and mirror on a stick. When I asked why - we were sonorously told that 'bad things were going in and out of Mexico'. Then we were quizzed as to whether we knew what they were. Brigit won points for quessing drugs were coming in. It was my opinion that bad manners were being exported, but no, turns out guns are being taken into Mexico strapped underneath tourist cars. Who knew. We asked when this search had started and were informed 'it was always this way'. Quess we were just lucky all those border crossings over the past 30 years never to see this. We had a short stop on the other side for papers for Teresa. While waiting in the parking lot, Mimi and I noticed a tv crew interviewing several of the other drivers. Turns out they were doing a story about campesinos traveling in caravans for safety. They were pretty impressed that 4 gringas were traveling alone and wanted to interview us. We wanted to get going and saw no reason to advertise our presence on tv. Most of the autopista traffic is trucks, probably 80- 90%. Made it to Real by dark, and got up before dawn to hike to the peak of the sacred mountain for a sunrise Huichol ceremony. Then the partying started in earnest with dinners, dances, drinks, live bands, and spectacular fireworks for the next 2 days. There were about 80 guests who had bussed, flown and driven (and in the case of the 4 Huichol, walked) in for the celebration. Hollywood was represented by the director and camera people of The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribeean. As usual there were at least 4 languages being spoken. Simultaneously, the town was celebrating one of their biggest holidays - the procession of the virgin, a weekend of promenading the virgins portrait thru the streets from one church to the other, then back, wild ringing of church bells, dancing in feathered sequined costumes (not sure what that was about) and live music. There was a group of about a dozen ATV's at the hotel next to Brigits. And perhaps 30 Harley riders at the Hotel Mina Real. A good time was apparently had by all. Mimi Teresa and I drove down to the partially completed Museo del Desierto, an ambitious underground complex with a fancy road, enormous parking lot, elaborate sculptures scattered across the creosote and cactus. and completely abandoned. Worth a visit, very UFOish, and protected by numerous peyote plants. On the drive home, we decided to try Colombia, since none of us had been there for several years and we were intrigued by the flashy billboards advertising crossing there. The Mexicans are building a multi lane divided highway parallel to the river and there are enormous complexes of factories, perhaps maquilidores? along the way. We were briefly dismayed by 2 long lines of trucks and only one other passenger car, idling. But Brigit opted past all the vehicles, driving up onto the grass to get to the vehicle permit booth to turn in her sticker. It was still trucks as far as we could see, but the Mexicans promptly opened another lane and waved us past everyone and onto the bridge. A delightful gesture. The US side as ever was far less friendly and seemed irritated that a passenger car had entered there interrupting their inactivity. Finally after forbidding Brigit to get out of the car, and questioning us numerous times about our occupations, why we were in Mexico, etc. they got bored and waved us on as well. - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] mexico traveling
Cool trip report! Thanks for sharing it. I'm glad you had a great time in Mexico. And yes, they're starting to be more proactive about searching for guns entering Mexico (it used to be that there was almost no search when going from the US to Mexico). - Fofo On 13/12/12 12:36, Nancy Weaver wrote: Thursday Dec 6th Brigit Alexander, her 16 yr old daughter Mimi and school friend Teresa, and I drove to Real de Catorce for a multiday celebration of Humberto Fernandez' 70th bday. The drive down was swift and easy and uneventful. A bit bizarrely, before being allowed to enter the bridge on the US side, each car was being searched with that nifty flashlight and mirror on a stick. When I asked why - we were sonorously told that 'bad things were going in and out of Mexico'. Then we were quizzed as to whether we knew what they were. Brigit won points for quessing drugs were coming in. It was my opinion that bad manners were being exported, but no, turns out guns are being taken into Mexico strapped underneath tourist cars. Who knew. We asked when this search had started and were informed 'it was always this way'. Quess we were just lucky all those border crossings over the past 30 years never to see this. We had a short stop on the other side for papers for Teresa. While waiting in the parking lot, Mimi and I noticed a tv crew interviewing several of the other drivers. Turns out they were doing a story about campesinos traveling in caravans for safety. They were pretty impressed that 4 gringas were traveling alone and wanted to interview us. We wanted to get going and saw no reason to advertise our presence on tv. Most of the autopista traffic is trucks, probably 80- 90%. Made it to Real by dark, and got up before dawn to hike to the peak of the sacred mountain for a sunrise Huichol ceremony. Then the partying started in earnest with dinners, dances, drinks, live bands, and spectacular fireworks for the next 2 days. There were about 80 guests who had bussed, flown and driven (and in the case of the 4 Huichol, walked) in for the celebration. Hollywood was represented by the director and camera people of The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribeean. As usual there were at least 4 languages being spoken. Simultaneously, the town was celebrating one of their biggest holidays - the procession of the virgin, a weekend of promenading the virgins portrait thru the streets from one church to the other, then back, wild ringing of church bells, dancing in feathered sequined costumes (not sure what that was about) and live music. There was a group of about a dozen ATV's at the hotel next to Brigits. And perhaps 30 Harley riders at the Hotel Mina Real. A good time was apparently had by all. Mimi Teresa and I drove down to the partially completed Museo del Desierto, an ambitious underground complex with a fancy road, enormous parking lot, elaborate sculptures scattered across the creosote and cactus. and completely abandoned. Worth a visit, very UFOish, and protected by numerous peyote plants. On the drive home, we decided to try Colombia, since none of us had been there for several years and we were intrigued by the flashy billboards advertising crossing there. The Mexicans are building a multi lane divided highway parallel to the river and there are enormous complexes of factories, perhaps maquilidores? along the way. We were briefly dismayed by 2 long lines of trucks and only one other passenger car, idling. But Brigit opted past all the vehicles, driving up onto the grass to get to the vehicle permit booth to turn in her sticker. It was still trucks as far as we could see, but the Mexicans promptly opened another lane and waved us past everyone and onto the bridge. A delightful gesture. The US side as ever was far less friendly and seemed irritated that a passenger car had entered there interrupting their inactivity. Finally after forbidding Brigit to get out of the car, and questioning us numerous times about our occupations, why we were in Mexico, etc. they got bored and waved us on as well. - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] mexico traveling
Thursday Dec 6th Brigit Alexander, her 16 yr old daughter Mimi and school friend Teresa, and I drove to Real de Catorce for a multiday celebration of Humberto Fernandez' 70th bday. The drive down was swift and easy and uneventful. A bit bizarrely, before being allowed to enter the bridge on the US side, each car was being searched with that nifty flashlight and mirror on a stick. When I asked why - we were sonorously told that 'bad things were going in and out of Mexico'. Then we were quizzed as to whether we knew what they were. Brigit won points for quessing drugs were coming in. It was my opinion that bad manners were being exported, but no, turns out guns are being taken into Mexico strapped underneath tourist cars. Who knew. We asked when this search had started and were informed 'it was always this way'. Quess we were just lucky all those border crossings over the past 30 years never to see this. We had a short stop on the other side for papers for Teresa. While waiting in the parking lot, Mimi and I noticed a tv crew interviewing several of the other drivers. Turns out they were doing a story about campesinos traveling in caravans for safety. They were pretty impressed that 4 gringas were traveling alone and wanted to interview us. We wanted to get going and saw no reason to advertise our presence on tv. Most of the autopista traffic is trucks, probably 80- 90%. Made it to Real by dark, and got up before dawn to hike to the peak of the sacred mountain for a sunrise Huichol ceremony. Then the partying started in earnest with dinners, dances, drinks, live bands, and spectacular fireworks for the next 2 days. There were about 80 guests who had bussed, flown and driven (and in the case of the 4 Huichol, walked) in for the celebration. Hollywood was represented by the director and camera people of The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribeean. As usual there were at least 4 languages being spoken. Simultaneously, the town was celebrating one of their biggest holidays - the procession of the virgin, a weekend of promenading the virgins portrait thru the streets from one church to the other, then back, wild ringing of church bells, dancing in feathered sequined costumes (not sure what that was about) and live music. There was a group of about a dozen ATV's at the hotel next to Brigits. And perhaps 30 Harley riders at the Hotel Mina Real. A good time was apparently had by all. Mimi Teresa and I drove down to the partially completed Museo del Desierto, an ambitious underground complex with a fancy road, enormous parking lot, elaborate sculptures scattered across the creosote and cactus. and completely abandoned. Worth a visit, very UFOish, and protected by numerous peyote plants. On the drive home, we decided to try Colombia, since none of us had been there for several years and we were intrigued by the flashy billboards advertising crossing there. The Mexicans are building a multi lane divided highway parallel to the river and there are enormous complexes of factories, perhaps maquilidores? along the way. We were briefly dismayed by 2 long lines of trucks and only one other passenger car, idling. But Brigit opted past all the vehicles, driving up onto the grass to get to the vehicle permit booth to turn in her sticker. It was still trucks as far as we could see, but the Mexicans promptly opened another lane and waved us past everyone and onto the bridge. A delightful gesture. The US side as ever was far less friendly and seemed irritated that a passenger car had entered there interrupting their inactivity. Finally after forbidding Brigit to get out of the car, and questioning us numerous times about our occupations, why we were in Mexico, etc. they got bored and waved us on as well. - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] mexico traveling
Thursday Dec 6th Brigit Alexander, her 16 yr old daughter Mimi and school friend Teresa, and I drove to Real de Catorce for a multiday celebration of Humberto Fernandez' 70th bday. The drive down was swift and easy and uneventful. A bit bizarrely, before being allowed to enter the bridge on the US side, each car was being searched with that nifty flashlight and mirror on a stick. When I asked why - we were sonorously told that 'bad things were going in and out of Mexico'. Then we were quizzed as to whether we knew what they were. Brigit won points for quessing drugs were coming in. It was my opinion that bad manners were being exported, but no, turns out guns are being taken into Mexico strapped underneath tourist cars. Who knew. We asked when this search had started and were informed 'it was always this way'. Quess we were just lucky all those border crossings over the past 30 years never to see this. We had a short stop on the other side for papers for Teresa. While waiting in the parking lot, Mimi and I noticed a tv crew interviewing several of the other drivers. Turns out they were doing a story about campesinos traveling in caravans for safety. They were pretty impressed that 4 gringas were traveling alone and wanted to interview us. We wanted to get going and saw no reason to advertise our presence on tv. Most of the autopista traffic is trucks, probably 80- 90%. Made it to Real by dark, and got up before dawn to hike to the peak of the sacred mountain for a sunrise Huichol ceremony. Then the partying started in earnest with dinners, dances, drinks, live bands, and spectacular fireworks for the next 2 days. There were about 80 guests who had bussed, flown and driven (and in the case of the 4 Huichol, walked) in for the celebration. Hollywood was represented by the director and camera people of The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribeean. As usual there were at least 4 languages being spoken. Simultaneously, the town was celebrating one of their biggest holidays - the procession of the virgin, a weekend of promenading the virgins portrait thru the streets from one church to the other, then back, wild ringing of church bells, dancing in feathered sequined costumes (not sure what that was about) and live music. There was a group of about a dozen ATV's at the hotel next to Brigits. And perhaps 30 Harley riders at the Hotel Mina Real. A good time was apparently had by all. Mimi Teresa and I drove down to the partially completed Museo del Desierto, an ambitious underground complex with a fancy road, enormous parking lot, elaborate sculptures scattered across the creosote and cactus. and completely abandoned. Worth a visit, very UFOish, and protected by numerous peyote plants. On the drive home, we decided to try Colombia, since none of us had been there for several years and we were intrigued by the flashy billboards advertising crossing there. The Mexicans are building a multi lane divided highway parallel to the river and there are enormous complexes of factories, perhaps maquilidores? along the way. We were briefly dismayed by 2 long lines of trucks and only one other passenger car, idling. But Brigit opted past all the vehicles, driving up onto the grass to get to the vehicle permit booth to turn in her sticker. It was still trucks as far as we could see, but the Mexicans promptly opened another lane and waved us past everyone and onto the bridge. A delightful gesture. The US side as ever was far less friendly and seemed irritated that a passenger car had entered there interrupting their inactivity. Finally after forbidding Brigit to get out of the car, and questioning us numerous times about our occupations, why we were in Mexico, etc. they got bored and waved us on as well. - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] mexico traveling
Thursday Dec 6th Brigit Alexander, her 16 yr old daughter Mimi and school friend Teresa, and I drove to Real de Catorce for a multiday celebration of Humberto Fernandez' 70th bday. The drive down was swift and easy and uneventful. A bit bizarrely, before being allowed to enter the bridge on the US side, each car was being searched with that nifty flashlight and mirror on a stick. When I asked why - we were sonorously told that 'bad things were going in and out of Mexico'. Then we were quizzed as to whether we knew what they were. Brigit won points for quessing drugs were coming in. It was my opinion that bad manners were being exported, but no, turns out guns are being taken into Mexico strapped underneath tourist cars. Who knew. We asked when this search had started and were informed 'it was always this way'. Quess we were just lucky all those border crossings over the past 30 years never to see this. We had a short stop on the other side for papers for Teresa. While waiting in the parking lot, Mimi and I noticed a tv crew interviewing several of the other drivers. Turns out they were doing a story about campesinos traveling in caravans for safety. They were pretty impressed that 4 gringas were traveling alone and wanted to interview us. We wanted to get going and saw no reason to advertise our presence on tv. Most of the autopista traffic is trucks, probably 80- 90%. Made it to Real by dark, and got up before dawn to hike to the peak of the sacred mountain for a sunrise Huichol ceremony. Then the partying started in earnest with dinners, dances, drinks, live bands, and spectacular fireworks for the next 2 days. There were about 80 guests who had bussed, flown and driven (and in the case of the 4 Huichol, walked) in for the celebration. Hollywood was represented by the director and camera people of The Mexican and Pirates of the Caribeean. As usual there were at least 4 languages being spoken. Simultaneously, the town was celebrating one of their biggest holidays - the procession of the virgin, a weekend of promenading the virgins portrait thru the streets from one church to the other, then back, wild ringing of church bells, dancing in feathered sequined costumes (not sure what that was about) and live music. There was a group of about a dozen ATV's at the hotel next to Brigits. And perhaps 30 Harley riders at the Hotel Mina Real. A good time was apparently had by all. Mimi Teresa and I drove down to the partially completed Museo del Desierto, an ambitious underground complex with a fancy road, enormous parking lot, elaborate sculptures scattered across the creosote and cactus. and completely abandoned. Worth a visit, very UFOish, and protected by numerous peyote plants. On the drive home, we decided to try Colombia, since none of us had been there for several years and we were intrigued by the flashy billboards advertising crossing there. The Mexicans are building a multi lane divided highway parallel to the river and there are enormous complexes of factories, perhaps maquilidores? along the way. We were briefly dismayed by 2 long lines of trucks and only one other passenger car, idling. But Brigit opted past all the vehicles, driving up onto the grass to get to the vehicle permit booth to turn in her sticker. It was still trucks as far as we could see, but the Mexicans promptly opened another lane and waved us past everyone and onto the bridge. A delightful gesture. The US side as ever was far less friendly and seemed irritated that a passenger car had entered there interrupting their inactivity. Finally after forbidding Brigit to get out of the car, and questioning us numerous times about our occupations, why we were in Mexico, etc. they got bored and waved us on as well. - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
