2-20-05

It actually got a lot better than I thought. It was still hot and humid with my shirt sticking to me, but I found a few things that I found interesting.
I was cruising along with the computer on and checking every so often for a wifi hot spot. When I was at the little internet café I found I could not send email out. I have no idea what happens, but sometimes it will not send out email unless I only send a reply. Well, this time it wouldn’t even send a reply, but I was able to upload my new road log. Anyway I got a hit for a hot spot and pulled up next to this.

the interesting thing about this new 1200 BMW is the license plate. Montana!!!

I bet Bob at Bob’s Motor Werks in Red lodge, Montana knows who this is. He must know about every BMW in the state. I hung around a while to see if the owner would show as he was parked in a yellow zone, but he must have been one of those Montana people who disobey the laws.

So I headed on down the road and came to the ‘Malacon’ that goes along the beach. There is a main public beach after all.

Those little VW Things are the taxis around town. There are others but they get most of the gringo trade. The Mex use the bus or take one of the little pickups with a shade top and benches in the back. A little further down the road I found a bronze one. A family had just gotten out of it,  they had ‘driven’ it for the kids.
 
I had no idea where I was going as the AAA map is  a piece of shit as the guy that gave it to me said. I just kept going around the bay and up the hill where I came to this bronze Harley Davidson.

It was WAY cool to see. It is polished on the rear fender from people riding with him as well as the headlight and front fender. I want The ‘Bumm’ to see this but his email keeps bouncing back. Ken- can you get it to him please? He needs to see this full size bronze Harley. Great detail!!!

After those two bronze sculptures I was actually rather pleased with Mazatlan. I kept going and ended up in a somewhat  risky neighborhood but it finally got better and I found a sign pointing out of town to Tepic.
Not too far south of town I came to a gas station where I filled up lil Red. On my way out I came across a parking lot of trucks that were stopped to eat at a restaurant. I had been wanting to get a good photo of one of these trucks as they are the major agricultural transport vehicle. These trucks don’t brake for anything smaller than an elephant and are usually well over loaded. Please notice the mega grill guard of two inch steel pipe.

They take great pride in these trucks and have them painted and dolled up. They all have a rack in the rear for two spare tires. They are almost always twin screw (don’t you just love that term?). When you see one of these big boys in your rearview mirror, and you are driving something as small as lil Red, you start to wonder if this might be your last breath. When the Mexicans are about to pass they get about two feet from your bumper. It is nerve wracking at first but I now have gotten so I understand how it is done.

 The road got quite nice and I was flat cruising on south when I noticed something big cooking along side the road.

On a second look I saw that they must be burning Adobe bricks. Screech, I made a quick exit and headed back down a small dirt track to the ‘Factory’.
It all starts here with this guy. He is the Macho Man as far as I am concerned. He is doing the major work.

Hi is mixing the adobe with a bent over square point shovel with the handle shortened. This is heavy work and here he is mixing in sand, oat hulls, old sawdust and maybe some old  manure. I couldn’t tell  how much of it he was mixing but there are piles of the stuff around and he was mixing some in here. You can see he has scraped off the wall of dirt for his main material of dirt. After it is mixed
he throws it up into a barrow for the little kid, which is no easy task I might add.



Some of the barrows are home made of wood.
Here the boy is just starting to flop a double handful of mud in the form that he has removed from the last batch. He washes the form before he adds the new mud.

Here he has filled all the form and slicks off the top with wet hands.

After the bricks have dried somewhat they are picked up and stacked in small open units.

Yes I did happen to pick out this particular person that was stacking the bricks. She was just so colorful you understand, it helps the graphics and adds interest to the page.
The next stage in the process is for them to be loaded on a truck and stacked in such a way that there is firewood inside the structure.
 
This is a nice arch system he has so he doesn’t need supports. I see in some of the final products, some come out a little bent and I would imagine that this is why. After is it all built it is covered in brick that has been laid up with mud mortar to seal the sides and fired up.

This man was adding more fuel to the already hot glowing coals that extended the length of the pile. He had three fires going and he could get to each from both ends of the stack. He had a long rod with a cross paddle to rake the coals into an even bed. This photo of the fire didn’t turn out but I will put it in anyway.
 
That is the new wood in front and 30+/- feet of coals behind.
  The guy that  was doing all the work sort of indicated that he would like something to drink. I don’t think he could talk as he never said a word. I ended up giving him all the change in my pocket and as I was leaving I thought that I really owed these guys something for letting me come in and take all these cool photos. I went out the road and found what I thought was a bar but what  turned out to be a restaurant. There were three ladies there and I indicated I needed some cervesas. After much discussion between themselves and how  many I wanted a price was agreed upon for two six-packs.  It turned out that one of the ladies happens to own the little store just down the street and she sent a couple of little girls down to open the store and get them. It is a ‘process’ and not always easy or makes a lot of sense, but things get done, like open a store on a Sunday afternoon to sell a gringo some beer. It all just takes a little time and a lot of discussion. The ladies were grateful for the distraction and something to do as they had no customers. One of the women grabbed a young boy that just happened to be passing by and asked him to translate. He spoke perfect English. I asked where he had learned such good English and he said Tucson. He had lived there for five years. He will have a big advantage on most of the boys around his area when it comes to getting a job in the tourist industry. He was a nice looking young man too by American standards. I asked him if he liked it better up in Tucson or down here and he just shrugged his shoulders. Same O, same O when you are a kid I guess.
I went back down in the Pits to see the boys and they sure did like the sight and taste of a cold one on a hot day. I wish I had gotten a close up photo of this guy because he had the most interesting face but I am reluctant to do that to someone. He was just so proud of the work that they did making this big stack he wanted me to take his photo with him and ‘his’ stack. I showed him the small screen photo on my camera of him but I don’t know if he could see it or not. He is cross eyed and cotton eyed too. He actually looks like he went through a big cement mixer with a load of scrap iron. He probably just got in a bad car wreck. When I was there first I don’t think he liked me being there. But with beer in hand, he was my friend for sure. I shook hands all around and thanked them and headed out down the road.
I stopped to take a photo of this small building that used this type of brick, probably these same ones. This is very typical of the construction all through the parts of Mexico I have been to. They use the fired adobes for in-fill between the poured concrete post and beams. They usually let the rebar from the pillars extend on up in case they go up a story in the future.

Here is the over view again.

These fired adobes are fairly hard and depending on how good the ‘fire man’ is they will last. If not protected from the weather and not fired well, this happens.

You can see how some of these blocks are harder and more weather resistant than the others. Along this line of thought I now remember that one of the guys wouldn’t let me give the fire man a beer. He said that he had to stay with the fire for three days and two nights straight and he could not have a beer. He was VERY emphatic about it. I told the dude to give him the two extra beers at the end of the firing, but I doubt if they last that long. The above photo is an  example of  old construction. All the new construction has cement pillars with the fired adobe as infill.

this is a good example of the newer construction. They pour the structural elements with some rather crude forms. It is really something to see them handing up buckets of concrete to pour these ‘high rises’. I saw someplace where they were working on a three story hotel and they had a bucket brigade handing up those three stories. All the cement I have seen poured so far has been hand mixed as well. In the three-story pour they had three big mixers running with guys hand shoveling into them. After the cement has cured, they infill with the block and then you can see that they have started to plaster over them.

I am starting to get into hilly country and now the farms are smaller and more orchards and a few Agave row crop. I don’t know what kind of orchards they are, but the trees are big and have long green pointed leaves. They seem to have flowered out on the ends but I cant identify them. There are what I think might  be dogwood blossoms on a few trees scattered through the forest and maybe yellow dogwood trees or at least something that looks like that. I am now out of the desert type stuff mostly. Once not too far back I saw an organ pipe cactus in the forest. There  are no evergreens like pine or fir but some of the trees seem to have kept there leaves. Most of the main forest trees are just getting their new leaves. The forest is fairly dense but I don’t see lots of big trees.  It is hard to tell from the road whizzing by at fifty miles an hour. It was starting to get dark again and I pulled off the main freeway at I don’t know where for the night as I saw a gravel pit that looked interesting. I finally found it and am here for the night. It  looks like I am in for it too with mosquitoes! Dang, I knew I should have brought more DEET. I have to start looking seriously for a mosquito net. Where do the Malaria mosquitoes start? Any one out there know? What are the first symptoms?

While on a medical topic, I will mention that my own personal digestive and extrusion device seem to be plugging along without any problems. Actually I am happily farting along as usual.

2-21-05

Early this morning I saw a guy come by camp on his donkey. It is the first donkey I have see being ridden so far. When I went through Mazatlan there was a vendor that said “Gail’s bilingual horses” it was a place to rent horses for a ride on the beach.
I went on down to the next big town which was Acaponeta. After I had just written that piece about the trucks not breaking for anything short of an elephant, guess what I saw there?
    
There evidently is a circus in town and  they had the little horses and the zebra out grazing. The poor elephant just swung back and forth with that one let tied to the truck.

This is another use for the big Mexican trucks.  Notice the spare wheel carrier below, holds one each side.
I went on into this town, which is only a couple of clicks off the main road. The main road connects Mazatlan and  Tepic/ Puerto Vallarta and I don’t think many tourists get off that road and go into these towns. I parked lil Red in front of this cute little store. It looks like the lady that runs it lives upstairs.
 
you can see where it is wet between the cars and out in the street. I was unlashing the bike when she came out with a bucket and was about to douse me with it when I yelled. She hadn’t even seen me there. She wetted down the walk and quite a few shop owners wet down the street as well to keep down the dust. This is the store next door that sold oil and a few other things automotive. Aren’t these little stores and houses just  so cute?

See what I mean about no doors? I took a photo of one of the big buildings down town that must be something like a court house, but it didn’t turn out. my little Cannon digital camera has a self closing cover over the lens and some times now it sticks. This is the first time it has stuck closed, it usually does it on closing. I have been very careful to keep it always in the case when not in use and try never to get it out in the blowing sand or dust. The building had these big windows with bars on them that must have been six feet wide and ten feet tall. They opened the big doors and there was no glass. You could stand on the street and look in and see the guy at his typewriter and hear him talking to his secretary. They still use typewriters here although I did see he had a computer too. but they must have no mind of flies or dust in the offices. I suppose that  is the way it has always been, the building was well over a hundred years old. It was morning but as the day wears on it will be hot and it is humid here. In the morning the humidity in the air is heavy and limits the visibility. All these towns along the coast have had this and some have a serious pollution problem as well.

This is a common Mechanic’s business. They work on everything, even the new ones which I thought was impossible but I see them in there with the guts hanging out. I suppose that they get them back together and running again.

This is sort of one  of the main streets in town, you can tell because it is a wide street with parking allowed. Some are very narrow and most one way. Bicycles however can go either direction and even the three wheel push cart type bikes. Everyone seems to make way for the pushcart guys.

 
This was a nice flowering tree outside a yard that was well kept up.

Most of the yards are concealed behind a wall but this person has the street interaction and probably more air circulation.

I just rode my bike around the town looking things over. I found a bicycle shop and I carried my bike inside and pointed to the seat. He went in the back and came back out with three. $3, $4, $5. I handed him a fifty peso note and he tossed the seat to a young kid who was standing there. The kid went to work installing the seat. Way cool, installed!! I gave the kid what little change I had in my pocket, probably 75 cents worth or so. He was very pleased. The used seat and tube I bought for two bucks was really hard and had been puppy chewed around the edges. The streets here are round river rock that are probably embedded in concrete. It is really hard on my bicycle butt and shocks of the little car. You never know what you are going to find in these towns. I saw twice money being handed in and out of small opening in barred doors. There can be a store in a block of houses and it appears a lot of the restaurants don’t even have signs. You just gotta know where to go.

When I moved to san Francisco with a friend Dan many years ago(‘66), we had a room above a joint in North Beach. This was at the time Carol Dohta (sp?) was dancing topless just down the street in the same block. This was a big deal back  then. Anyway we could see people going up the alley to a door and just going on in. There was no sign only a number like 29 which was the address in that alley. One night my friend Dan boosted me up so I could look in the window and all I could see were about five guys down on their knees shooting craps. One evening we got brave and just went up and opened the door and walked in. A waiter showed us to a big long table and sat us down next to the people that were already there. He put a wine bottle on the table for us, it had no label, and must have been filled out of a large kask? Some more people showed up and were set down next to us. It was a Basque family style dining and there was no menu. A waiter brought a big kettle/platter of ?? out and everyone at the table just helped themselves to what and how much they wanted. It was amazing and we both filled up on the first course, as we had no idea that there would be more coming. We were clueless. After paying the tab, which as I remember wasn’t that bad, Dan picked me up and threw me across his shoulder and packed me out the door. We had been to the beach and I had jumped off an old anti-aircraft gun emplacement on the beach (since torn down). I had sprained my ankle pretty good and after sitting eating for an hour I couldn’t even begin to walk on it. Dan is a big guy and I think he is 6’8”.

I pulled out of town and headed to Tepic which looks to ge a fairly good size town. it must be the capitol  of the state since the map has it a a big star. The main road forks at Tepic and goes to Guadalajara. I intend to stay on the coast and see Porta Vallarta where the famous madam of the Cotton Tail Ranch, Esmeralda County, Nevada had her home for the winter/retirement. I remember back thirty years ago how exotic that sounded. I suppose it has changed a lot since then and of course Madam Beverly Harrel is now deceased.

After leaving town I passed through more hilly country and quite a bit of it is now being planted to Mango tree orchards. I finally asked what they were.

There are thousands and thousands of acres of these trees being put in. The new plantings are everywhere. They must think they will make a lot of money off of them. I couldn’t stand to see Susan eat a Mango. It was the one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen. She would have juice all over her face, dripping from her chin and both elbow’s, with a mouth full of yellow strings in her teeth. Yuck, I would have to go outside, I couldn’t watch. Susan said they were delicious and I should try one.

I stopped to peal an orange and  noticed that I had stopped out side of one of those secret hotels. You drive in here with your little sweetie and into one of the garage places. You close the curtain and go in the room. I guess you some how pay for the room by the hour. It is all very private and married guys bring their girlfriends here or ????????? What ever you want to do. A friend of mine told me that a Mexican boy took her to one of these and there were mirrors on the walls and ceilings with a big red bed in the middle. The stories I read say that there are sex movies and you are liable to get video taken of you too with one way mirrors.

A little restaurant all fixed up nice along the highway. This is fresh coconut time as they are all over the place.

 
I saw a sign on the road for San Blas and took it. I don’t remember where or why but I have heard someone had a boat here or ????? So I left the highway and headed down the road. It  turned out to be really down the road. I hadn’t realized how much elevation I had climbed. On the way down the road there are several small villages as I am finding that my map only shows the larger towns. The hills look like something out of National Geographic about jungle destruction. There are many new Mango plantations along the road and even a nursery where I guess they start them from seed. This is getting to be really a jungle. You couldn’t get far without one of those machetes that I see a lot of guys carry. You can see several orchards (are mangos grown in orchards or plantations) that have been over taken by the vines. There are lots of palm trees that seem to be an invader as well.

 
It isn’t much of a photo but you can see a mango planting and these big purple flowered trees mixed in with the yellow flowered trees and often with some white flower trees. They will often give the hill a purple haze effect. This photo was taken back a ways in the hills before I got to the jungle part.

These are the flowerz of those purple flower trees.

I made it down to the main drag in San Blas and stopped before heading down the main street to turn on my computer and see if by chance I could get a wifi connection. Three blocks in, BINGO. An excellent powerful connection. [Isn’t it amazing that here in a third world country in a little poor town with dirt/rock streets, I can get wifi and in Miles City, Montana there is not even an internet café, or connection at the progressive, cutting edge, bookstore. Maybe the new café next to the health food store?] I jotted off a couple of quick emails and drove on down to the end of town. It is much cooler here than inland and I guess it is the ocean breezes. It was still muggy as hell. I went around the end of town to the beach area but couldn’t find a place to camp. I went back to town and asked a gringo if he knew of any place to camp. He rattled off a bunch of directions that I have no idea what he was talking about. It was one of those cases where he has been here two years now and he wants to build a fence around it and not let anybody new in. I thanked the asshole and struck out on my own. I finally found a beach area were there must be fifteen restaurants all along the water. They all have shade canopies of palm fronds and some more fancy than others. I kept going to the very end and there is a beach there where I checked the water. Not too bad but still somewhat chilly. It could be done but I wanted to get clean so I stripped off my clothes and took a wash pan bath and shampoo. That felt great! I pulled over in the shade of some palms and got out the computer and noticed these little black, biting bugs making my life miserable. I packed up and went back down the road to the restaurant area thinking that in a restaurant they must not have the bugs. I saw a few gringos sitting around a table under the shade and I figured it must be ok. I stopped and went in and ordered a beer and opened the computer and started writing. Well the little back bastards were there too as well as a cloud of smoke that appeared to be coming  from down the beach and smoking  the shit out of the gringos not too far from me. I didn’t last long and finished the beer and when I turned around I saw that there was a pile of smoldering coconut hulls not far behind me. I guess that they put these smoke bombs up wind from you to keep the little bugs away. it may help but they still ate the shit out of me. I am very tender and sweet. I fought off a determined attack of vicious hungry militant mosquitoes last night and not looking forward to the prospect tonight. It doesn’t look like camping on the beach down here is the way to go so I kept going until I found a rock quarry I am writing from now. It is so dang humid I do not like it at all. There is a weather system passing through and it even rained a little yesterday. I guess I didn’t realize that Mexico was going to be a jungle and humid. In all those cowboy movies I have seen, it has been dry, dusty, dirty and my kind of place. I don’t remember ever having seen them fighting their way through a jungle with a machete. I will wait this storm out and see if it gets better, but if it is going to be a jungle, hot and humid, this dezert dog is headed north to the Chihuahua desert. I didn’t take on this journey with the idea of becoming a food source for Mexican insects.