from otis

Left Rockport at 9:30 on Valentines Day. Dave Blatt and Carol Jacobsen went with us . Ten others carpooled in various ways and we met at the Hawthorne Suites, Mission TX. Otis wanted to visit Circle T so we stopped about an hour there to visit old friends before going to the motel. The accomodations are really nice. They had a comp. happy hour in addition to a hot breakfast the following morning. Day 1--traveled to Monterrey and lunched at VIP'S which is owned by Walmart. Every day on the bus we moved 2 seats in the morning and again after lunch. The right side moved back and the left moved ahead. We spent the night at a former hacienda in Parras. The street was so narrow that the bus parked at the village square and we walked the rest of the way with our carry ons. The luggage underneath was delivered to our door each night. We set it out in the am and magically it found its way back to the bus. There wa s a wonderful welcome dinner this night--chicken kiev and steamed veggies. Quite possibly the best meal of the trip!Our room had a window on the street. Cars with loud boom-boxes kept mom awake into the wee hours. Day 2 The bus was resdy to go at 8:30. It is a beautiful day. The Madera inery was the first stop. It was a lovely place and interesting. The original buildings date back to about 1567 when it was built by the Spaniards. It was abandoned at the time of the revolution (1810). Now ownd by the same family since the late 1800's. I took a lot of pictures here. There was a chapel next to the visitor's area. The entire ceiling area was draped with colorful twisted streamers. Also, statue of Jesus dressed in a black robe. I assumed this to be because of the lenten season, but didn't ask. Just before we reached Durango, we stopped to visit a mock wild west town which had been used to shoot several John Wayne movies and others. Some actors and some visitors participated in a bank robbery while the crowd watched. The man selected to be the robber was one of our neighbors. A lot of dirt and dust was flying. Our hotel was a Best Western. The beds were very hard as were at most of the places we stayed. Day 3-- the weather is cooler. We had a very nice breakfast at the restaurant connected to the hotel. All breakfasts were complementary. Nearly all served fresh fruit and yogurt along with eggs and creal. The oatmeal was very different. It was steel cut oats and I think cooked in cream with vanilla beans and very thin--very delicious. We left the hotel and not far away was a cathedral that we were to visit. It was Sunday and mass was in progress. One woman had left a dental appliance at the hotel so the bus took her and our guide(Raquel) back to get while we waited. This is the day that we traverse the Sierra Madre's , sometimes called the Devil's Backbone. We climbed to 10,000 ft where there were kind of rest areas on either side of the road. People had set up food booths, but the hotel had provided us with a picnic lunch. There were no toilets here . It was quite a thrill going over these mountains on a narrow twolane highway and as we were going down, there were many trucks coming up. The truckers communicated to our driver by holding up fingers to indicate how many trucks were coming behind. So we waited until it was all clear to go around the corner. This continued for several hours we arrived at our hotel (playa Mazatlan ) in late afternoon. After the manner of many beachfront hotels, the lobby and restaurant are open to the ocean breezes. There are three swimming pools and a large hot-tub which is located just outside of our patio doors. Most of us gathered at The Shrimp & Lobster Factory for dinner as it was highly recommended by Raquel. It was very good although Ihad cheese quesadilla instead of seafood. The hotel has a fireworks display on Sun nites. Dad didn't want to go so I went along with Jim & Shirley. It was cool on the beach but the show was delightful! Day 4 Otis had the runs last night, so he decided to stay at the hotel instead of going on the optional city tour with Raquel. We saw many sculptures which are everywhere in Mex. Stopped to watch some young men cliffdiving for a fee. We had an hour or more at the Mercado. I always enjoy the market. We saw many cars waiting to be shipped to LaPaz then up to CA. Later had lunch at the hotel overlooking the beach. Put on swimsuits and went to beach about 2. A beautiful afternoon and so relaxing. Sam and Marilyn each went parasailing and Jim and Shirley rented a catamaranfor an hr. $30. Not too bad. Ocean too cold for swimming so we went to the pool. It was wonderful and no chlorine. We had our comp.cocktails and watched the sunset befoore going to dinner. The sunset wasn,t great, but enjoyed spending some quiet time with Jim and Shirley. Les was still not feeling well and didn,t go to dinner. Jim, Shirley, Doris, Otis and I walked a block to an ItLian restaurant which was very good. We spent two hours over dinner. Played dominos w/J&S. A full day!