What's on the agenda for December?

On Sunday, we went for a long walk in the forest. We followed an old trail in the state park near Jiltotepec that wasn't showing on any of the maps, so we didn't know where it ended up or how far it went.

We ended up doing 13 kms (8 miles)!

But while it was great exercise, with quite a lot of uphill, there was no destination involved like a cave or a waterfall or a viewpoint.

Old dirt road through the forest.

Ruth, coming up behind me.

This would be a waterfall during heavy rain.

But there was no water falling that day!

A bit of a view through the trees.

Pretty butterfly.

Still, it was a good hike. 

Sure enough, all the campers who had been there on Saturday night had disappeared by 3:00pm on Sunday, and we had a totally quiet Sunday night.

Monday morning, we got packed up and headed back "home" to Valle de Bravo. We were on the road by 9:30am and had to do a planned 154 kms (95 miles). But we know that's almost a four hour drive here in Mexico. On many of the roads, you're lucky to average 50 km/h (30 mph) because of either the road conditions or the many topes (speed bumps).

Yikes, Hope this guy doesn't lose his load.

He better not make a left hand turn too quickly!

Google maps was showing us a big construction slowdown on one of the major roads, so we decided to try the backroads. It didn't go se well. We drove about 30 kms to find out that there was a pass through the hills that was totally blocked off to cars... no warning, no notification... nothing. We had no choice but to turn around and get back on the main road to deal with the slowdown.

School just got out.

Stuck in the town of Ixtlahuaca.

Selling things on the main highway.

We came to a stop on the main highway. There was only one alternate route, but it was as backed up as the main road. So we decided to just sit and be patient. Good thing we were in no rush!

This was our view for two hours!

It took us two and a half hours to go five kms (3 miles)! Brutal. It's a busy highway and they had it down to one lane, plus at the same section there was the alternate route that connected at the same location. So there were essentially three lanes going into one.

But, nothing we could do. At least we were in the van, so we had snacks and a bathroom!

Got home just in time for sunset!

We had left at 9:30am and didn't get home until 5:30pm! We had only stopped for lunch and for gasoline. What a long day! Especially considering we only drove 192 kms (119 miles) including the useless detour we attempted. Oh well... such is life on the road in Mexico!

Our driving route yesterday, including the detour that didn't work out!

So, now that we're back home, what are our plans for the month of December?

This coming Saturday is our good friend Paco's 70th birthday, and we've been invited to the celebration which is taking place in the nearby city of Toluca. Should be a fun party!

And we're going to spend the next two weeks continuing improvements on our house and completing the guest quarters. Because we have our first guest coming! My younger sister Alison is working as a zumba instructor at a resort in Ixtapa later this week, and her son Marshal is joining as a guest. Then they are flying to Mexico City on the 14th, and we are meeting them there. Marshal has to fly back to Canada for work, but we'll spend a few hours showing him the highlights of Mexico City while we (and my sister) spend two nights in Mexico City. She will then return with us to Valle de Bravo to spend a week here.

When she heads back to Canada around the 22nd, we will be taking off in Igor again for a month on the road. We're heading to some of our old haunts... Valle de Juarez for the balance of December, and then Etzatlan in early January. 

So, lots on the go! Should be fun!

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