Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out and defiantly shouting "GERONIMO!". -Anonymous I’m baaaaack! I apologize for the long span of time between my last segment and this one, but I have been dealing with some difficulties that wouldn’t be brushed aside. (I am sharing this very personal information with everyone so that you will understand my situation, what I am dealing with on a regular basis, and maybe to help those that are dealing with the same type of problems to see that it can be dealt with.) You see, for those of you who do not know it, I deal with clinical depression on an on-going basis, and when my latest medications were no longer effective, I had a rough time, especially during the Christmas holidays while traveling alone in Mexico. I notified a couple of people, and they kindly gave me some encouragement, and I am finally at a place where the depression is not overwhelming, although it is still a constant factor until my new medications can kick in. Although sharing this information is difficult for me, I feel that it is important to do so, because I have found that there are many people who deal with the same, or similar, problems, including friends that I had no idea that this was the case. It is a problem that can be dealt with by using the proper medications, so if you are dealing with a similar situation, please seek assistance with it instead of trying to “just live with it” as I did for so long. Back to the traveling As I mentioned in the last segment, I visited both Sotano de las Golandrinas and Las Pozas in Xilitla, and I have included an additional photo of each one. (See the photos “Sotano skydivers” and “Las Pozas Fall”.) The “Sotano skydivers” photo is of a couple of guys from Canada and the States that had come here on vacation to do some parachuting into the sotano. It was quite awesome to watch, as they would climb to the edge of the hole, psych themselves up, and then leap into this giant posthole. After what seemed like ages, they would finally open their chutes, and then they would slowly glide downwards in circles for another extremely long time before landing at the bottom, more than 500 meters (over 1600 feet) below us. Then with a “mule”, actually a gasoline engine, they would be hauled back up by rope with grins that couldn’t be chiseled off their faces they were so happy. After spending about a month and a half in this wonderful area, I was ready to move on again. (Plus the temperatures creeping up to the hot level was an extra reason to head out. Summers in Cd. Valles get up to about 105° F (40° C) and higher, so I had no desire to stick around too long. Me, a translator? I decided to head over to the East Coast portion of Mexico (along the Gulf of Mexico), so I stopped at Tampico, Tuxpan and Tecolutla. Along the way I ran across a group of three RV’s between Tuxpan and Tecolutla that had hit one of the speed bumps too hard and bent an axle. With my limited Spanish I helped to translate to a couple of Mexican mechanics what needed to be done, and while we were waiting for the work to be done, we met a Mexican Federale and his friend. The Federale was showing off a scar in his leg where a bullet went after going through the door of his car that had occurred during an earlier drug bust. He really liked the fact that I was learning his language while in Mexico, and he was showing his appreciation in a very loud voice and with some wild arm gyrations, so that the other Americans were starting to be afraid that he might be getting upset and start causing problems, since none of them understood any Spanish. At the time I had not noticed the concern of my new friends, but they were starting to put the kids in the RV’s just in case their was a serious problem. When I walked back over to see how the work was coming along, one of them asked me what the problem was with the Federale. I assured them that there was no problem at all, and we later had a good laugh about the misunderstanding. While I talked with the Americans, I found out that they were heading over to Belize to live with some others of their family. They were a great bunch of people that I have stayed in contact with. It was interesting to see the Mexican mechanics at work. Since they had no torch to cut the bracing with, they turned up the amperage on their welder and cut the metal that way! When they were done, the bracing was stronger than before. These guys are very ingenuitive when it comes to mechanical work on vehicles. Beach Time! The beaches at Tuxpan and Tampico were unimpressive, but Tecolutla had some very nice beach areas. (See the photo “Beach Camp” to get a view of my camping spot while in Tecolutla.) There were a few Americans living there, so I ended up sticking around and checked out some of the sights around the area. One such sight was El Tajin, a ruin from the Totonac civilization, that was very interesting. They had some fine rock carvings on the walls of their ball courts, where they seemed to have played a form of soccer, but the winning team had the “privilege” of being sacrificed to their gods! (Go, team, go?) One of the pyramids there was the Pyramid of the Niches, which has 365 niches built into its sides to represent each day of the year. (So what happens on leap year?) (See the photo “Pyramid of the Niches”.) While I was in Tecolutla, I met Myriam, the owner of the restaurant “El Manglar” (the Mangrove, see photo “El Manglar”), and her family. Surprisingly she spoke English well, so it made for a nice break from having to speak Spanish all the time. We would switch between speaking Spanish and English so that we could each practice the other’s language. I also met David, her boyfriend from Canada, who has recently moved to Tecolutla to enjoy the sand and surf. He is another neat person to know. This restaurant is actually the second one, since the first was washed away in a flood that occurred about 2 years ago. It is quite impressive how nice her restaurant is in such a short time. She has put a lot of time and effort into it. If you ever get over that way, make sure you stop by and sample some of her wonderful seafood (I personally like the “filete al mojo de ajo”, filleted fish cooked in garlic), or some of her Mexican food. Her restaurant is located on Av. Hidalgo, a block and a half from the church on the square. They also have rooms to rent for reasonable prices. You can call 01-766-846-0040 within Mexico. Truckin’ on When my 6 months were up on my visitors’ card for Mexico, I headed back to the border, and I ended up spending some time with friends in Texas. During this time my Tacoma truck was stolen!, so I had to look for another truck to replace it. I ended up finding a ’90 GMC Suburban 4x4 that was in good shape, so I bought it and headed back down into Mexico (photo to be added later). And so ends this segment of my trip, but I will try to add more to it soon. As always, "HAVE FUN", Brad |
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| Sotano Skydivers |
| Las Pozas Falls, which feeds the pools |
| Beach Camp - not a bad view huh? |
| Pyramid of the Niches - with a couple of Mexican cuties |
| Myriam inviting all to come to "El Manglar" |
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