Day 17

Saturday, Feb 9^th. Travel Day from Los Mochis to Guasave.  Saturday dawned bright and sunny to the tune of our favorite music – the beautifully colored and noisy roosters. 

  
A night spent in our own RV found us well rested and looking forward to our next adventure.  But first, an exciting trip to Wal-Mart was essential to refill our refrigerators.  While there, we shopped and compared our new found treasures to those of our Amigos.  

The journey continued in our RV’s through rich farm lands growing corn and tomatoes.  Grazing cattle and brightly colored houses lined the roads.  The sequence of the trip was corn, topes, tomatoes, topes, cattle, topes, and then repeats.

In late afternoon, we arrived at beautiful Playa Las Glorias on the Beach of the Sea of Cortez.  After settling in, tales of the journey were shared at the Afternoon social.  One RV was temporarily detained by the Police for taking a short cut through a round-about which here-after will be called a George-About.  Charles and Joyce, from Tennessee, shared their local “moonshine” which warmed our hearts. 

Evening brought a beautiful sunset viewed from the beach by happy and relaxed caravaners. Shown here: Joe, Liz and Dan, and John & Harriet on the Beach.

Joe and Mary Jo

Day 16

Buenos Dias, Amigos. After enjoying a wonderful buffet breakfast at the Mission Hotel in Cerocahui (in front of a blazing fire in an old stone fireplace), we set out on an early morning bus trip to Urique overlook, where we enjoyed a sweeping panorama of the deepest of the 6 Canyons composing Copper
Canyon.

What magnificent vistas were ours to enjoy and savor (including even more “baskets” to behold).

That afternoon, we all “waited patiently“at the train station in Bahuichivo, for the long trek back to El Fuerte and our return to “civilization.”

Adios Copper Canyon! Gracias for your warm hospitality and beautiful memories.  You’ll remain in our hearts forever!

 PS.  Portrait of one of our “genteel and lady-like” fellow travelers at the end of our long day’s journey.

John and Harriet

Day 15

We left the lovely La Posada Mirador after lunch after many of us enjoyed hiking to a small Tarahumara community down the Mountain.  Some walked around the town and shopped. After another good lunch, the bus took us to the Train Station in Divisadero for the trip to Bahuichivo and Cerocahui.  After arriving in Bahuichivo, we took a bus to Cerocahui and the Hotel Mision.   

After settling in at the Hotel, we visited a Tarahumara Indian Girls Boarding School down the road and had a chance to see several nuns and about 40 of the Girls ages 4-14 coming out of Church. The Church is beautiful  with a golden colored dome. We admired the Jesuit Mision Church of St Francis Xavier.  We followed that with a wine tasting at the hotel and learned something about the wine making process used by the hotel.  They grow grapes in their back area.  Back inside the hotel, our group was entertained by Spanish musicians. We had a great dinner and many ended the night in cozy fire-lit rooms.

Mari and Mark

Day 14

As Day 14 begins, we are all sad to be leaving Margaritas in Creel, on a clear sunny day, where the Hotel staff have been great to us. Everyone is anxious to be off on an adventure. Today, we are going to Divisadero & more stunning views of Copper Canyon. Our first stop is at an overlook of the Oteras Canyon & River. Fabulous. 

 Continuing on our scenic trip to Divisadaro, we stop at the “Fertility” Rock for  a photo-op of this unique sculpture & one of the eighty six train tunnels on the Copper Canyon railroad. The scenery is never ending, never disappointing & always spectacular. 




 


  
 Our next stop is back at the Canyon close to the Tram & Zip Line, more great photo-ops. Can a person ever get tired of the views? I'm taking pictures on the outside observation deck. It's been an enjoyable day, finished off with a two for one happy hour & a three course meal.
















 


We watched a man bouncing on the Balancing Rock, as we all held our breath.











  


After a walk across a suspension bridge for lunch in Divisadaro, some of the Caravaners shared their lunch with the local children. The dogs made sure there were no scrapes left on the ground. We bought more baskets, wood carvings and t-shirts from the Tarahumara Indians who have been at every stop we have made today. It is now off to the Mirador Hotel. The Hotel is perched at the edge of the Canyon, every room has a spectacular view of Copper Canyon, including the outer terminus of the 1.9 mile (3000 meters) Tram as well as several portions of the Zip Line. Our time at the Mirador is free to explore the grounds & walk the many trails around the grounds. Several Caravaners partake in an escorted walk by a local guide. The Humming birds kept us entertained as they flittered around the bird feeders on the decks of the Hotel.

Dan and Liz

Day 13

Feb 5, 2013 Batopilas to Creel

After great merriment the night before with music, fire water (moonshine from the natives) and dancing, we awoke the next morning to the calls of the rooster. It was before 4:00 AM when he crowed the first time.  
 
The night before, we also celebrated Lois’s 65^th birthday with a cake that the hotel staff and guides organized.  She was so surprised.

After eating a hearty breakfast of eggs and refried beans, we started on our journey up the canyon to Creel.   Our guide, Cesar, talked to a road construction worker and was told that they were blasting today and there would be a possible 3 hour wait on the road.  We all decided we would like to take the more scenic route back up the canyon, which was the detour or PLAN B.  It was 3 hours longer.  It didn’t seem too bad crossing the river on a cemented pad with water running over it.  As we climbed higher, we could understand what was meant by shake, rattle and roll.  The road snaked up the mountain with steep switch backs.  The views from different altitudes were breathtaking.  We saw the Urique Canyon as well as other canyons. We drove through river beds that were more bumpy than you can image. 

At one point after the rain last night, we were trying to avoid the mud puddles and got stuck.  We all got out of the van and the men surveyed the problem.  Some local men in a pickup truck came by and offered to help.  Together, the men pushed the van out of the mud. 

The roads were one-way traffic only in some places with barely enough room for 2 vehicles to pass. Another time, the brakes stuck on one of the vans and the men had to push it to get it unstuck. Since there were no bathrooms along the way, we made do.  The women went one way and the men went the other way.  We stopped many times to take pictures of the beautiful view.  

One of the vans was getting low on gas so we stopped at a small store in a town. They sold us 2 gallons of gas and we had to use a make shift funnel  (see photo) to pour the gas in.  At that same store, the lady let us use her private bathroom. So there was about 20 of us lined up to use it.  At that same little town, there were school children playing games.  The girls were running with sticks and throwing a ring on the road.  The first one that got to the ring was the one to flick it a few more feet.  The boys were kicking a ball with the same principal; whoever got the ball first got to kick it. We finally got to pavement and drove for another 2 hours to Creel. We arrived at 7:00 PM, glad to be back home and ready for another meal at the Hotel Margarita.

Conrad and Janet