October 24, 2008 Mina el Eden Entering an old mine is always exciting.  The cramped spaces, the feeling of danger, that the whole world about to crash down upon your head.  As a child I was afraid of going down mines.  But I did it, but was constantly nervous, looking up and the ceiling and [...]

October 17, 2008 Dangling from the Heavens Friday was a quiet day; I slept in, read my book, and played some solitaire.  Around noon the hostel manager stopped by and told me that the other room with the good view was available.  Would I like to switch?  So I moved to the penthouse suite, the [...]

October 15, 2008 PEMEX Before leaving Parral, I stopped at the gas station. “Hola” I say. “Hola” She returns. “Lleno (SP?) Por Favor.” (Fill up please) I check the oil while she fills up the tank. All gas stations are owned by the government and are called PEMEX.  It’s all full serve, and almost all [...]

October 14, 2008 At the Mine In the morning I hear the marching band again.  The horribly discordant marching band.  I wonder what they are doing.  They were out playing last night, as the rain poured down.  They must be dedicated, but for being so dedicated they are horrible.  Horrible like when I played trumpet [...]

October 13, 2008 Creel to Hidalgo de Parral Do you remember two days ago, when I was complaining that Copper Canyon was not as beautiful as I thought it was going to be? Well, the motorcycle ride today made of for all of that. I think I need to go out on a limb and [...]

October 12, 2008 Rainy Sunday The ride down from Creel to Hidalgo de Parral was planned for today, but the remnants of the hurricane sauntered through late last night and this morning.  But I am in no hurry, so I wasted the time away.  In the afternoon the sky cleared up somewhat, so I walked [...]

October 11, 2008 A Day in Creel There was a warm shower when I awoke, which was nice because the night before it only a thought of it being warm.  Last night while walking to the bar, Alex the hotel manager said he would give me a map of the area and tell me the [...]

October 10, 2008 Nuevo Casa Grande to Creel It was about a 250-mile drive, in California that is 4-5 hours on a motorcycle, in Mexico it is eight hours. In the morning along the open plain with mountains on either side, the roads were small, flat, and straight.  On each side were barbed wire fences [...]

The hostel in Zacatecas is beautiful. I have decided to stay here a week or two or three. This is the view from both my miniature decks: The room includes a vintage pedal-wheel sewing machine desk, chair, and my own personal bathroom.  All for 115 USD a week. I will probably wander the city today, [...]

I just arrived in Durango, Not very impressed with this dusty hot city, Was gonna stay here a day, but I think I will head off to Zacatecas tomorrow. I have tons of backed up writing from the last couple days. Hopefully will get to them soon. But now I am going to relax, find [...]

October 9, 2008. The early morning customs in a small town was pleasant and easy. Once inside Mexico, I had no map of this small town, I did not even know it’s name, and still don’t. I just knew that I needed Hwy 2 east.  First I found a bank and withdrew some money and [...]

Oct 12, 2008. It is 8:20 Sunday morning and I was to travel south from Creel to Hidalgo de Parral today, but the remnants of Hurricane Norbert are directly overhead.  It rained all night and the sky is black and it continues to drizzle steadily.  I was initially annoyed at the random butterfly’s flapping in [...]