Rough Road

This captures how well hidden the drainage trench was. Only a tractor could free me so a Mexican onion farmer helped pull El Conquistador out of the trench in the shadows of a volcano where Hernan Cortez walked.

This still angers and disappoints me that I would be hunting for a nonexistent short cut to the autopista, off road, knowing I had sworn never to do that again, and try to avoid a mud puddle and not walk out the route first and end up in a trench that threatened to derail everything. Really dumb decision like many I have made, and I fear may have cracked the axle weld.

differential buried in the asphalt, axle hanging, muffler mashed, ego tortured

As bad as my day was, it wasn't as bad as this Python's day.

There comes a time when a man is either going to wear snake skin boots or dismiss the idea for eternity. I found a pair that fit Oggy's arthritic toes and were not audacious and had a zipper and were 3/4 height and my day had come to either be the guy in snake skin boots or be the guy who never wore snake skin boots. I wore them out of the store and I gotta say they demand a certain attitude to wear in public.

an example of a toilet with no flush mechanism, and the bucket used to flush it. (I think I left my purple water bottle there in Leon after snapping this photo. We had some good times together and I wish it well.)

Viva Mexico!

Puente De Amor

Oggy dressed as Miguel Hidalgo and the museum devoted to Senor Hidalgo

Oggy trying to feed Bukowski's face some Guyaba Pulque

I think I finally got some of the dates straight... The Mexican Revolution started in 1810. Miguel Hidalgo was the leader of the revolution until he was executed. This was one of the few major political changes in Latin America that the United States didn't influence for evil. But it took another 10 years for the war to come to some conclusion. But the start of the revolution is celebrated on 16th of September which is complicating my life for reasons I will go into later, These are small details in the story of traveling with nonexistent plans...when I least expect or want it I will arrive in a town on the day of Independence Day.

Final Days in the highlands.

Yet another Spanish Courtyard, the guard called it a Placillo or Patio

The meek shall inherit the earth, so everyone should give me their money and land.

Zapatista dolls. One is Comandante Marcos

Soldering Skills

I tried

I did find a replacement electrolytic capacitor and soldered it onto the legs of the old one that blew up but this didn't work. The soldering job isn't the problem. I think the integrated circuit is also toast. I hooked it all back up and nothing happened except a little static came from the alarm speaker. This may be the end of my decade old alarm system. I put the new cap on both controllers and neither one worked so it's toast.

But in other projects I'm finishing before my escape from Mexico

Gourmet Coffee. (I put so much honey, condensed milk and chocolate in it that it barely qualifies as coffee)

Native Spirit and a new strap courtesy of a sheep and some local macrame artists. Gracias.

Chicken Bus Fever Part IX Coming Full Circle

I promised I would not write anything about Antigua because the town should be experienced. And I will only share one photo of the Ex-Convento.

Tranquility defined

I will design a house for myself and that house may or may not be built but I will have the plans. And part of my research into this dream house is seeing interior open courtyards are designed. There are actually Hacienda or "Spanish Courtyard" blueprints online for free...

too complicated

but if I want to see exactly how the monks lived in 1700 then one needs to walk where they walked. The number of Exconventos I've visited in my quest for the perfect representation of Spanish Colonial Spiritual Retreat Simplicity could fill a book. There was one in Huaqechula...and one in Tochimilco that

Huge Tochimilco Courtyard. Pretty Ridiculously pretty.

 I had completely forgotten about and a few in Leon and an epic Spanish Courtyard in Granada. Epic!