Hiking in the mountains near Orizaba

We had a very peaceful night sleeping in the village of Palo Verde. Surprisingly, not even any dogs barking or roosters crowing!

And we woke up to a beautiful clear blue sky, although they were calling for showers in the afternoon. 

We ended up at a beautiful overnight spot.

Our goal is always to arrive at our overnight spot by 2:00pm because that allows lots of daylight hours to fix any problem that might come up. So when we only have a two and a half hour drive ahead of us, we don't need to rush out in the morning!

And so we didn't hit the road until about 11:00am.

Views around Cholula

As I said yesterday, we've been to the Cholula Trailer Park in the outskirts of Puebla many times, but the last time was six years ago... so we still wanted to go wander around Cholula one more time.

Cholula is where the largest pyramid in the world is located. The pyramid is also the largest man made monument in the world.

Nice drive to the big city of Puebla

We were a bit lazy getting going yesterday morning, but we knew it was only a two and a half hour drive so we would still be close to our goal of arriving at our destination by 2:00pm. 

We hit the road at 10:45am to do the 140 km (87 mile) drive.

Well that didn't go according to plan

We figured it would be busy on a Sunday, so we set of before 9:00am to do the climb up to the Tepozteco Pyramid.

A series of rocky steps lead you up a steep path. It gains about 352 meters (1,150') in about one km (0.62 miles)... so it really is steep.

Those are some weird looking trees!

We originally planned a hike that would take us to some waterfalls. But this is dry season... the waterfalls aren't running!

So instead, we hiked up to a viewpoint... about 10 kms (6 miles) round trip.

Finally made it to Tepoztlan!

The caves at Grutas de Estella didn't open until 10:00am, and we were there right at the open. We wanted to see the caves, but we still had a fairly long drive, part of which would take us through the middle of the big city of Cuernavaca. And, we wanted to stop at a Walmart along the way.

So... busy day!

Igor was up for the challenge!

We managed to get on the road by 9:20am... not bad, considering our planned 9:00am departure time. 

We had to go through Valle de Bravo, so we made a stop for a few groceries and an ATM before carrying on southeast.

And, we're off!

Igor hadn't had a bath since we got back from our last trip with him towards the end of January. And he was sitting underneath a tree and covered in bird crap. So my job for yesterday was to give him a bath.

I went outside about 10:00am to get started... but the job was already done!

Igor is a happy camper... and our route east

A month or so ago when Lindsey and the kids were here, we had been out in Igor when I heard some rattling from underneath the motorhome. 

One of the exhaust hanger brackets had broken, and I ended up doing a quick fix with a wire coat hangar to temporarily hold things in place.

Aiming for a Thursday morning departure

Just as I thought I was done with fixing things for a while, Ruth reminded me that Igor's windshield wipers have been acting up the last few times we used them.

Which fortunately at this time of year doesn't really matter because there's not much in the way of rain. But still, I figured I had better have a look.

It's a good thing I'm not paid by the hour

It takes me forever to do a project like this. Don't get me wrong... I like it this way. Putter around for a couple of hours, then come back to it again tomorrow. Of course that's the way it's supposed to be when you're retired!

But if I was paid by the hour, they would have fired me by now. 

Fresh baked bread!

First of all, Ruth thanks you all for your well wishes. Her arm/wrist is feeling better, although that could be because of the medication. 

She even felt well enough to make some fresh baked gluten free bread!

Off to the doctor...

On Thursday, we did the 15 minute walk into nearby El Arco to pick up a few things. 

On the way back, the sidewalk is very uneven and Ruth was wearing shoes with very little traction. There was one sloping area and it was a bit sandy and that's where Ruth slipped and fell.

What does it cost to fly around the world?

Obviously there are a lot of variables, so I can only tell you what it is costing us!

Our first flight takes off May 17th... a direct flight from Mexico City to Madrid, Spain.