Well we spent a lovely few days at Mr. Moro's at Las Glorias. The side trips made it really special as we felt not like tourists but like guests. A great big thank you to Horatio at Mr. Moro's!
Our next stop was El Fuerte, a colonial town inland. The Copper Canyon Railroad runs by this town and you can catch it here to go on the train to Creel in the Copper Canyon. The Canyon is larger than the Grand Canyon in the U.S.A.We found the campground recommended by the Church's in their book, but there was only one camper there and many, many, many mosquitos. We also found out already that the price for the trainride was a large chunk of our budget, and decided against the train ride this time around. We'll save that for next time.
So we hoofed down to the main highway again and went further north to another little colonial town called Alamos, recommended by our friends at Mr. Moro's. There we found, just before dark a campground at the beginning of town (we drove past this one as it looked less appealing than the one in town, but the one in town steered us away after eyeing us up and saying he wanted $200 pesos for camping. The other one was $150. The bathrooms left something to be desired and the showers...well we didn't even check the water if it was hot. There were some bugs flying around but more moths and such than mosquitos. It got pretty cold at night but still not too bad, because we were more inland than at Mr. Moro's by the ocean.In the morning we packed up and checked out Alamos. It was a mining town which was deserted and almost ghost-town until a group of expat Americans and Canadians with a bit of money came and rebuilt the town. Some grande casas and mansions are rebuilt, the town theatre and hotels, the old zocolo or town square and the church, we walked around town for a few hours admiring all the sights. We wandered through some of the restored mansions which are now hotels, boy, are they awesome. Magnificent fountains, paintings, woodwork - enormous wooden carved doors and furniture for example - we were surrounded by colonial Mexican splendor.We took the van (which fits into the little narrow cobblestone streets quite nicely, by the way) up to a lookout point and met some people who recommended a campsite on the other side of town, by the graveyard. We'll remember that for next time.
After Alamos, and some snacks from a streetvendor (beef tacos! yummmmm) we drove to San Carlos. Got there in the late afternoon, and some folks remembered us from the first time we came, over a month ago! The place was way busier than we remembered, but we got our original spot again by the toilets and showers and laundry. We spent the next day doing laundry in the morning and then taking off to the beaches in the afternoon. There was a Valentines party that afternoon, potluck with free beer and marguaritas.We brought some nachos with sugar and cinnamon, talked to a few people and turned in early. We're hoping to make it to the border tomorrow. Appearantly it is a long weekend in the States, President's Day on Monday so we are warned that the borders will be busy sunday and monday.
Saturday, Valentines Day we say goodbye to San Carlos at 7 a.m. We totally recommend staying in San Carlos your first night in Mexico. It is all American and Canadian, the owner speaks English, superclean and friendly and we paid for camping $16 usd per night. A great intro or adios to Mexico for us Gringos.From here we hit the border at Nogales at noon. An easy drive on a 4 lane divided toll highway. We got stopped a couple of times, army checkpoints, and by the border we actually had to get out and the army guys did a search of the van. "you are vacationing? In THIS? All of you sleep in this?" Why do people find that so hard to believe? Anyway, no problemos. We return our driving permit at the Banjercito, then cross 4 lanes of highway traffic to return our touristcards, and then off to the U.S. border checkpoint. Well, the line-ups were for truck traffic, lined up for a few miles, but we ended up waiting about 40 min. in line, then had to go through a search (we had 4 eggs in the cooler and 6 potatoes - a 'no-no' to bring across into the U.S.A). So then, around 1:30 we were back on American soil and into the culture of materialism, the HAVEs as opposed to the Mexican HAVE NOTs. We decided right away we much prefer the Mexican way. Much more respect and friendlyness. Ever tried to say hi and wave to an American stranger? You sometimes get a weird face or they just ignore you....although yes there are a few that may smile.We are still speaking Spanish here and there and luckily most people here in southern Arizona speak both languages too...we don't seem too out of place yet but we sure feel out of place.Our stop here is in Patagonia State Park where we stayed on the way South.
We had heard about snow in Tucson, and even in Nogales! Well, at night it went down to 0 degrees celcius. Very VERY cold for us! We are SO not ready for that! But then we are at an altitude of 4000 feet or so..We leave early in the morning 8 a.m. under partially cloudy skies. We totally recommend this State Park for staying in before or after crossing the Mexican Border. The Church book recommends an RV park next to the Sanborn insurance place in Nogales - we do NOT recommend this. It looks very run down. The State Park is beautiful, a lovely scenic half hour from the border, a large lake, a haven for birders! This weekend there were lots of families as well, and there's a wonderful visitors center with snakes and a Gila monster!

Sunday the 15th we visit Casa Grande National Monument in between the cities of Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. There was a Native Music Fest going on as well, and we had fun trying out several handmade wooden flutes and recorders but the prices were a little on the high side so we have to 'think about it' before buying it. The music was incredible and we talked to many of the artists making arrowheads and bows, and making native pottery and beadwork. Got some great earrings with juniperberry seeds and silver. Lots of ideas for things to make at home to trade for or barter with at Rendezvous throughout the year at home. (you know, the period 1850 gatherings we go to).
Then we drive through Phoenix and emerge on the west side in the town of Surprise! where we find a hotel and hot showers. We can rest comfortably and WARM here at a $$$price$$$$ of course. And figure out our next course of action.