We left Morelia midday on Tuesday by taking a
taxi to the little airport about 15 miles out of town. We picked up a dumpy
rental car and headed out for a couple more Pueblos Magicos.
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| Church door in Tlalpujahua |
It’s a bit tough driving in Mexico because there
are NO road signs or any kind of sign to let you know where you are or where
you are going. It was by luck, and much stopping to ask that we made our way to
the Monarch butterfly country, incredibly wooded high mountain country
straddling Michoacan and the state of Mexico. The narrow winding road was full
of green scenery. We passed many small towns complete with ‘topes’, speed bumps
that could send your car flying if you don’t slow down enough.
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| Church on the bill in Tlalpujahua |
We pulled into Tlalpujahua in the early
afternoon. We found a little posada just a couple of blocks from the town
center.
Tlalpujahua is a very small town in a steep valley, a colonial town
famous for making Christmas decorations.
We had planned to visit the butterfly sanctuary
from there but the weather pattern wasn’t conducive, too cloudy and chilly.
On to Valle de Bravo… again there was no signage
to guide us to our destination. At one stop to ask for help Keith approached a truckload
of heavily armed state police. Not only did they try to give us directions they
volunteered to take us part way. This type of police interaction isn’t what I
expected in Mexico, we followed the police escort truck complete with three men
standing in the back with machines guns pointed in all directions. A bit spooky
it was!
Valle de Bravo was a great surprise! Set next to
a lake with tall mountains surrounding it, it’s another colonial gem.
Our main activity
here has been meeting up with our friend Will and watching an international
paragliding competition that just happens to being held here this week.
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| Will & Keith at the launching site |
It’s been nice to spend time with Will, one of
Keith’s rescuers when he fell out of the sky nearly five years ago.
We went up to the mountain launching area and
observed over 100 pilots inflate their wings and jump off a steep cliff. Again,
the site was wonderfully green, how I love summertime weather & activity!
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| Will getting ready to launch |
We have hung out a
few times lakeside where the accomplished pilots land. It’s a party atmosphere;
people celebrating their flights & congratulating new friends from,
literally, around the world.
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| Michael from Holland waiting for his turn to launch |
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| Competitive pilots waiting for launch |
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| There were hundreds of paragliders in the air at once! |
This morning while showering, I looked down and
saw this little creature. Yes, a scorpion. Keith captured it in a cup and took
it down to the hotel’s owner who also runs the little grocery next door. He
pulled the stinger off (their sting is just a bit stronger than a bee) and let
it crawl up his arm, super yuck!
This morning we went down to the artisan market
where we purchased some colorful serving pieces. The old woman recited some lengthy
poems to us, in Spanish, which was very cool. Our purchases made her day and
she blessed us with firm pats on the back.
This has been a super trip. We have loved having
some relaxing time together. Tomorrow we will need to drive a little longer
than three hours back to the airport north of Morelia. We are going to pay the
tolls to take the highway back, it’s more direct and safer.
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