Old is New

Yup, sometimes it is. I'm usually a pretty reliable blogger so I know I'm late but I was waiting for the fishing to get better and something exciting to happen. well both have.

It's time for the snook here I guess . I rang in the New Year with two Robalo landed and I lost a huge one the other day when it spit the hook the second it went dry on the beach...heart breaker.  Just this morning Ernie caught an unassisted ( I was resting from our trip ) 9 pounder so for all you Team Xers on the way...it might not be the peak of the run as us salmon guys say but it's a hell of a lot better than it's been. I think all these gorgeous sardines we're seeing in the last pic account for it.

AND THIS IS WHERE WE WENT

We met Marrisol at a Christmas sale and we didn't buy any painted rocks from her but we did buy a two day one night trip to a small town and archaeological site about five hours south of  here near Tepic. It is some of the most northerly evidence of the Meso America civilizations here between before the time Christ, long time ago that is. 

We left on the bus with about 30 people like us, well sort of like us if you know what I mean and we arrived in the town of Ixtlan Del Rio a little late, just time for a taco stand and a Bud Light. MP and I woke up from our Hotel smack dab in this way smaller than Mazatlan town and went to adventure the Sunday morning markets and energy of the best day in Mexico. This is the view up the street and down the street from the nicest place in town, the Plaza Hidalgo Hotel at 7:00 a.m.

Our room was #118 which was on the second floor, a Mexico deal. It was clean but spartan and for 30 bucks a night it was just right . We had a little Jeffroism occur when somebody told me that the water wasn't all cold you just had to let it run for ten minutes before you shower. So...that's what I did as I attended to other things when MP let out that yelp I've heard many a time. We had water all the way out in the bedroom from a blocked drain that has a deal on it that you remove before use ( obviously if you know about that ). The drain plug is engineered to keep cock roaches from climbing out of the pipe...mmmm... I think we'd of rather had a few cock roaches than a full blown flood. But we squeegeed it back from where it came and carried on.

Of course being Ixtlan Del Rio I had to find the Rio. A short walk and the help of Google Maps we come across the river....well...I guess it's like everywhere, in some places and with some people it was taken care of . And in other places , well it ain't habitat for ol slimey, let me put it that way.

Everyone was setting up for the Sunday Market as we walked through first . Friendly, friendly and friendly is all I can say. The locals here are way less used to seeing Americano's than in Mazatlan. The Juarez Sunday Market here is famous and huge, this one  was different. It was smaller but way more spread out, it was the entire downtown and the stuff that was crafted in Nayarit were things we'd not seen before.... we helped the economy. I got new Levi's, MP got a hat, some shoes, a blanket we/ never seen and some fresh blueberry's. The first booth we saw had the usual cool old stuff and he was selling money, what a great idea !

You can tell it's winter when the dog has to wear to coats...It was cold here, it's all relative to where you're at but I think it was relatively a lot colder at Mile 14 of the Kenai river....Sorry friends, the ice dams sound terrible, hope the cold streak ends for you all.

Some people think Mexico is dirty...I like to think it's just well used. We came across a laboratory like clean Tortilla factory. Spotless clean, you could tell the the guys liked their lives, and me.

As we like to do we sat at a counter and ate breakfast in this food court. It's new and modern. MP had eggs with Machaca and I had Pozole with Papa which means 'paw' but they were really pieces of hoof like I routinely see in my Sunday menudo. It was really good, red chili based broth with a lot of hominy and bone and marrow. The man in the first pic is selling the most meaty chicaroons we've ever seen.

By this point of the morning I've resigned myself to going off diet....it;s starting to get a little Anthony Bourdainesk and it got more so as the day went on. We had breakfast desert with the mother of all Churro's...pass the milk. 

MP took a shot of your now land locked guide. I was just a few bites away from weighing two extra pounds...

Noonish we arrive at what the locals call Las Toriles which is derived from the word Toro for bull. This 80 acre site was discovered by a cattle rancher who was excavating a unused plateau on his land and came across a crypt with artifacts and long dead people. The artifacts created an obvious urge to investigate as they were typical of 3 other mesoamerican civilizations with Los Toriles being the northern most. The crypt was lost but it was recreated for the site as close as could be done, everything else is as found accept a few places where repairs were made.

On Marrisol's promotion page there were just a couple pics of pretty modest structures so I wasn't expecting so much. The 80 acres are groomed for you to roam anywhere you want and only a few delicate structures are fenced off to walking and climbing. This is the first structure you come across,

The guy giving the info was so cool. On his left is Marrisol and you can see MP with keen interest in her face in the background. He explains the community is 2500 years old and went on about the use of the structures for ceremony and houses etc. Of course every crowd has that Jack Ass that knows everything and has to ask the 'smart ' questions....well we had that guy, oh they bore me, always have.

He explained how the structure pictured below is very rare and only one of four so far discovered in Central America. It is by far the most impressive structure in the place and it would be easy to think that all the cross shaped opening were christian and brought by the Spanish when they conquered Mexico but obviously that could not be as they predate the conquest my thousands of years. Instead it is supposed the crosses the elements of life, earth,wind, fire and water all abundant right here at Los Toriles. They are not called petrogyths but some of the rocks have been worked to create snakes and the other animals they lived with.

It was explained that 40 structures have been uncovered and they have identified 50 more that someday will be revealed. As the neighboring property is under use he said that even though they are certain it wasn't contained to just this place that everyday life has erassed the trail. The rocks were used for homes in the modern era and remains of walls were plowed over to make fields, But in it's day with the current evidence they community population was around 6 to 10 thousand. Here's picture of the grounds. We walked the entire perimeter and I wish everyone with us could have but it was hot and some of the folks just weren't able to see it all.

I watched across the circle as MP took it all in....I could tell she was thinking. Thinking about our place in the world and the flash that is our time here,

And as she was thinking I was thinking....how lucky we are to have this lifestyle and especially each other. Thinking how all the work and focus pays off when you can walk 21,000 steps in a day and still feel good....but I did sleep pretty deep. I was thinking that if this place arouses the curious in me we gotta go further south, venture farther and harder to see more anitquity and how and why we're here, that's what I was thinking.

So it was taking some of the folks a bit to get back off the plateau so we found a shaded spot for a picnic. We had good cheese and sausage, some olive / tuna pate with crackers and a ....Tecate, yup no Pacifico.

 

the bus driver suggested a stop at a lake for Mariscos.put us a bit behind schedule and the possibility of getting to Mazatlan for the end of the SeaHawk game was gone . ( I did manage to get it on my phone so I saw the season painfully end for us ). But Lake Santa Maria De Oro was fantastic. It's water filled volcanic crater that is rumored to be bottom less. C'mon I told our friends, if that were true that would mean there's hole in the earth. The place is undeveloped and wild. Continueing our food fest we had Shrimp Ceviche tostados again, so good.

Here's a pic of us four traveling friends, us and Ruben and Candace Dressler...thanks for the fun times you guys.

And if you ever get here take a hard look before you let your kids swing in this baby....things are bit different south of the border.

I'm gonna take a chance here and post one finale pic, me at 186 pounds, Ya know I'm comfortable in my own skin and it feels good to be closing in on that goal I've had for years....see you guys next week or so....