Dec 15 2015
Greetings loved ones,
Last week we left tropical paradise for a few days. We took a trip north and west and up into the mountains to Monterrey MX. We went to visit our new friends César and Sylvia and their lovely family. Capt. Johne had met César on Isla last summer. César (a professor from the University Tecnologico de Monterrey) wants a boat but has very little boating experience. So Capt. Johne has been him teaching him boating skills. They invited us to come to their home in Monterrey, so on Dec. 4th we flew up for a long weekend.
Flying in we could see how rugged the mountains were on both sides of the city. The Sierra Madre mountains are shear rock cliffs that rise thousands of feet from the valley. They are very young geologically speaking. The city of Monterrey and the surrounding metropolitan area, which has a population of about four million, sprawl in the valley between the cliffs.
When we arrived, they picked us up at the airport and took us back to the house to drop off our bags. Then we took a drive up the closest part of the mountains to a water fall called Cola de Caballo (horse tail falls). It is stunning. The weather was beautiful, fresh and chilly. The rocks are huge and the clear, clean water flowing around them is gorgeous.
They live south of the city, in Santiago. After the falls we went to the old plaza of Santiago where the church from the 1700's was getting all dressed up for Christmas. The plaza has charming restaurants and shops. We got to look through an art gallery and saw some beautiful courtyards. Then we went back to the house and César grilled steaks for dinner.
Saturday they drove us to the NW side of town, back up into the mountains to Grutas de Gracia park. It has a cave with huge stalactite and stalagmite formations. There's a cable car from the parking area up to the entrance of the cave. There's also a walking path, if you feel up to the climb, but they said it would take about an hour and we opted for the ride. The tour of the cave also takes about an hour but they've put in stairs and paths and the guide stops often to point things out so it's not too tiring. After the caves we had dinner at a local brew pub with their son and daughter-in-law whom we had met before on Isla. That evening they had a wedding to go to so we had a quiet evening at the house, reading and relaxing.
Sunday was another trip up into the mountains. This time to a family gathering. Their son-in-law's family has a house way up past the horse tail falls next to a dry (at this time of year) river bed and a canyon that is a rock climbers heaven. We loaded up four vehicles with enough food for an army, and about 15 people, and drove up switch-back roads for over an hour. When we got to the house we unloaded everything and they lighted wood fires in the beehive-oven-thingy and the grill. (A little tip for wood fire cooking. Vegetable oil works as lighter fluid and doesn't make the food taste like gas.) Then cooking started (and continued all afternoon and evening). Potatoes, onions and beets were wrapped in foil and put in the beehive. The elotes (mexican corn on the cob) were roasted in the husks on the grill. After the elotes were done the steaks went on. While all this was going on there was much visiting, munching on snacks, laughing, watching the kids and dogs romp, drinking and fun. During that time Johne and I took a brief walk in the river bed and enjoyed the surroundings. When the steaks and potatoes were done, we all sat down and enjoyed the meal and the company. Conversation was in both English and Spanish. We tried to use our Spanish but everyone there spoke better English than our Spanish so it kept switching back. They were all really great about making sure we were included. We were made to feel like part of the family, not just visitors. (We have had the privilege of being invited to, and included in, several different family events and homes throughout Latin America. At some I've felt like an observer. At some like royalty, which is very uncomfortable. But in this case we were just part of the family and it was wonderful.) Half of a huge pumpkin had been put in the beehive to roast and after dinner some of the ladies made dough for pumpkin empanadas which were also baked in the beehive-oven-thingy. The smoky flavor added by baking both the pumpkin and the empanadas in the wood oven was wonderful.
After dinner they loaded everyone into two 4x4's and drove us farther up into the canyon to see some amazing rock formations cut by the waterfall (when there is water).
After a long, fun and exhausting day, we loaded everything up to head back down the mountain.
Monday, Sylvia took us downtown to see the historical area and do some of the museums. When we got there we discovered that Monday all the museums are closed, so we saw some of the historic part of town, did a bit of shopping, then met up with more of the family at a local restaurant that specializes in goat. During the time we were there, we got to experience a lot of food indigenous to the area. They introduced us to several dishes we hadn't tried before and it was all good.
We spent that evening quietly at the house, visiting and watching Monday night football. Then it was time to pack and sleep before the early trip to the airport in the morning.
Overall it was an amazing experience and we're very grateful to our hosts for sharing their home, their family and the area in which they live, with us.
Live your dreams...
