The Cousins Mexican Adventure
- Thread starter Jeff
- Start date
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Day 4 Chihuahua to Cuauhtemoc
Today was an easy travel day. We left the RV Park in Chihuahua at 9:00AM after we pulled into the Pemex station adjacent tot he Park and topped off with 199 literes (52.6) of diesel at 1.92/gallon, the lowest we have paid in some time! The trip over took about two hours with one break and we had an easy afternoon to run downtown and catch up on shopping, laundry, etc.
We gathered this afternoon for Margaritas and enjoyed another hilarious gathering as one 60 year old demonstrated what buying a five dollar sombrero can do to an otherwise semi-respectable man. ;D This was a takeoff on the folk lore dances we saw last evening and a bit of Pancho Villa thrown in. The first presentation of the Love Chicken was made to Isabella and Eugenio from Canada. The margaritas were supplemented by Chef Hex's (our tail gunner) spicy fried zucchini. Fourteen of us then climbed aboard the campground bus for an informal dinner at a Mennonite steakhouse a mile down the road.
For the past two days we have been sharing campgrounds with a Tracks to Adventure caravan of 22 coaches that are duplicating our route in 28 days while we will spend 42 days covering the same trip. We arrived in Cuauhtemoc early and had a free afternoon to relax while they got up and pulled out of the RV Park at Chihuahua this morning for a tour of the city that we spent all day doing yesterday, returned and drove here arriving late this afternoon, set up and gathered for dinner an hour later. We will tour the city tomorrow and have dinner while Tracks has to be out of here by 9:00AM to drive to La Junta and load on the train.
It has made everyone appreciate the relaxed pace we are getting to enjoy while they push to maintain a very aggressive schedule. If you decide to try this trip definitely choose the slower paced 42 day trip.
We are all coming to really enjoy Cuauhtemoc and I'll cover more tommorrow after our tour of the area.
Miles Driven: 67
Expenses:
Tolls: $18.00
Fuel: $100.92
Groceries: $14.00
Dinner for Two: $15.50
Today was an easy travel day. We left the RV Park in Chihuahua at 9:00AM after we pulled into the Pemex station adjacent tot he Park and topped off with 199 literes (52.6) of diesel at 1.92/gallon, the lowest we have paid in some time! The trip over took about two hours with one break and we had an easy afternoon to run downtown and catch up on shopping, laundry, etc.
We gathered this afternoon for Margaritas and enjoyed another hilarious gathering as one 60 year old demonstrated what buying a five dollar sombrero can do to an otherwise semi-respectable man. ;D This was a takeoff on the folk lore dances we saw last evening and a bit of Pancho Villa thrown in. The first presentation of the Love Chicken was made to Isabella and Eugenio from Canada. The margaritas were supplemented by Chef Hex's (our tail gunner) spicy fried zucchini. Fourteen of us then climbed aboard the campground bus for an informal dinner at a Mennonite steakhouse a mile down the road.
For the past two days we have been sharing campgrounds with a Tracks to Adventure caravan of 22 coaches that are duplicating our route in 28 days while we will spend 42 days covering the same trip. We arrived in Cuauhtemoc early and had a free afternoon to relax while they got up and pulled out of the RV Park at Chihuahua this morning for a tour of the city that we spent all day doing yesterday, returned and drove here arriving late this afternoon, set up and gathered for dinner an hour later. We will tour the city tomorrow and have dinner while Tracks has to be out of here by 9:00AM to drive to La Junta and load on the train.
It has made everyone appreciate the relaxed pace we are getting to enjoy while they push to maintain a very aggressive schedule. If you decide to try this trip definitely choose the slower paced 42 day trip.
We are all coming to really enjoy Cuauhtemoc and I'll cover more tommorrow after our tour of the area.
Miles Driven: 67
Expenses:
Tolls: $18.00
Fuel: $100.92
Groceries: $14.00
Dinner for Two: $15.50
Attachments
Day 5 Cuauhtemoc
Today we spent the morning visiting a Mennonite school, museum, church, having lunch in a Mennonite home, and being served a Mennonite family style dinner by our hosts here at the RV Park.
What is amazing is that we are in the middle of several hundred thousand acres of Mexico that is not like Mexico at all! As we drove by modern western style homes, several John Deere farm equipment dealerships brimming with large new tractors, and several North American style family restaurants we began to understand the extent of the Mennonite settlement in the middle of the State of Chihuahua in northern Mexico.
The trail of Mennonite pioneering in agrarian development leads back to moving from the Dutch and German low country to the Prussian Delta in the 1500's, on to Russia in the 1700's, Canada in 1870, and finally to Mexico in 1923. In all instances the Mennonites chose to move if they were not assured of three personal freedoms, religion, private schooling in German for their children, and freedom from conscription into the armed forces. In the case of Canada it was a national requirement for English schooling after WWI that brought on the move to Chihuahua. After three years of research President Ortega of Mexico signed a personal guarantee of those rights for the Mennonites.
The children you see in the photos entertained us with songs and group reading all in German and got rewarded with our group singing the "Hokey Pokey" in exchange. ;D The Mennonite Cultural Museum documents the migration of all 22 communites from Canada to the area stretching north from Cuauhtemoc and their lifestyle here in Mexico. The church we visited was quite barren and only used on Sunday morning from sunrise for two hours for weekly services.
Dinner this evening was delightful and followed by an extensive briefing as tomorrow is the big day! We will leave early for a short drive to La Junta and then load our RV's on the Copper Canyon train in preparation for departure Saturday morning. After loading is completed we will spend the evening having dinner in La Junta and sleeping in the motorhome in the train loading area.
Miles Driven: 0
Expenses:
Last minute Groceries: $22.00
Today we spent the morning visiting a Mennonite school, museum, church, having lunch in a Mennonite home, and being served a Mennonite family style dinner by our hosts here at the RV Park.
What is amazing is that we are in the middle of several hundred thousand acres of Mexico that is not like Mexico at all! As we drove by modern western style homes, several John Deere farm equipment dealerships brimming with large new tractors, and several North American style family restaurants we began to understand the extent of the Mennonite settlement in the middle of the State of Chihuahua in northern Mexico.
The trail of Mennonite pioneering in agrarian development leads back to moving from the Dutch and German low country to the Prussian Delta in the 1500's, on to Russia in the 1700's, Canada in 1870, and finally to Mexico in 1923. In all instances the Mennonites chose to move if they were not assured of three personal freedoms, religion, private schooling in German for their children, and freedom from conscription into the armed forces. In the case of Canada it was a national requirement for English schooling after WWI that brought on the move to Chihuahua. After three years of research President Ortega of Mexico signed a personal guarantee of those rights for the Mennonites.
The children you see in the photos entertained us with songs and group reading all in German and got rewarded with our group singing the "Hokey Pokey" in exchange. ;D The Mennonite Cultural Museum documents the migration of all 22 communites from Canada to the area stretching north from Cuauhtemoc and their lifestyle here in Mexico. The church we visited was quite barren and only used on Sunday morning from sunrise for two hours for weekly services.
Dinner this evening was delightful and followed by an extensive briefing as tomorrow is the big day! We will leave early for a short drive to La Junta and then load our RV's on the Copper Canyon train in preparation for departure Saturday morning. After loading is completed we will spend the evening having dinner in La Junta and sleeping in the motorhome in the train loading area.
Miles Driven: 0
Expenses:
Last minute Groceries: $22.00
Attachments
Smoky
Well-known member
Jeff:
I had no idea there were Mennonite settlements in Mexico.
Thanks for the map on the train route. For some reason I thought the train took up the greater part of the route.
I had no idea there were Mennonite settlements in Mexico.
Thanks for the map on the train route. For some reason I thought the train took up the greater part of the route.
Betty Brewer
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2005
- Posts
- 4,778
Jeff Cousins said:
Jeff,
You captured that history lesson better than my memory of the day. I was tickled to see that the little boys we saw two years ago have moved up 2 rows in school and still look like they might be quite mischievous!
Betty
Ron from Big D
Moderator Emeritus
Keep it up Jeff. Excellent tour so far. ;D
Day 6 All Aboard!
We departed Cuauhtemoc at 7:30AM this morning for a 36 mile drive to La junta to load everyone aboard flat cars and tie the vehicles down. We climbed from the high plains of Chihuahua state to the mouuntains surrounding the Copper Canyon and are now at 7200 feet.
The loading went very well and entertained everyone most of the morning. The men loading us do so four days a week through the winter months so they know what they are doing. Around 7:00AM the three lines of cars will be shunted together and we will be on our way.
After lunch a local Catholic priest arrived to accept clothing and supplies for Indians in the surrounding mountains. The caravan managed to fill his pickup and most have more to donate to a school we will visit in a few days.
To celebrate our departure we were to have a margarita (What else!) party around the cars this afternoon but the high mountain winds picked up to 35-40 mph this afternoon so we had a first for most of us, a party in a box car. We all climbed in an empty box car hooked to our flat cars, threw up the chairs, and had a great time! (I am beginning to think this group can have fun anywhere!
After the party we all walked a few blocks downtown to Rosita's for dinner and were entertained by local dancers including some of our own. By then it had been a long day so we all headed back to our RVs, pulled up our ladders and retired for the night. The train pulling out will be our alarm clock in the morning.
Miles Driven: 36
We departed Cuauhtemoc at 7:30AM this morning for a 36 mile drive to La junta to load everyone aboard flat cars and tie the vehicles down. We climbed from the high plains of Chihuahua state to the mouuntains surrounding the Copper Canyon and are now at 7200 feet.
The loading went very well and entertained everyone most of the morning. The men loading us do so four days a week through the winter months so they know what they are doing. Around 7:00AM the three lines of cars will be shunted together and we will be on our way.
After lunch a local Catholic priest arrived to accept clothing and supplies for Indians in the surrounding mountains. The caravan managed to fill his pickup and most have more to donate to a school we will visit in a few days.
To celebrate our departure we were to have a margarita (What else!) party around the cars this afternoon but the high mountain winds picked up to 35-40 mph this afternoon so we had a first for most of us, a party in a box car. We all climbed in an empty box car hooked to our flat cars, threw up the chairs, and had a great time! (I am beginning to think this group can have fun anywhere!
After the party we all walked a few blocks downtown to Rosita's for dinner and were entertained by local dancers including some of our own. By then it had been a long day so we all headed back to our RVs, pulled up our ladders and retired for the night. The train pulling out will be our alarm clock in the morning.
Miles Driven: 36
Attachments
Ian
Well-known member
Jeff, loving the trip commentary, the photos just top of the feeling that you folks are having a wow of a time!
Just a question that has probably been answered in other similar odysseys, why the train? I love train travel but why the train being used for this leg of the journey?
Oh, and any chance of saying how to track you on the datastormer site? Be nice to follow your movements day to day but I cant find any track of your number.
Just a question that has probably been answered in other similar odysseys, why the train? I love train travel but why the train being used for this leg of the journey?
Oh, and any chance of saying how to track you on the datastormer site? Be nice to follow your movements day to day but I cant find any track of your number.
ArdraF
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2006
- Posts
- 10,695
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but, unless you want to go four-wheelin' in your RV, there's no other way to go from Cuantomoc to Los Mochis. And, the companies rent an entire train of flat cars. Otherwise, you take the tourist train which isn't nearly as much fun.
ArdraF
Ian
Well-known member
Thanks Ardra, I wondered if that was the case. I love the idea of hooking everybody up on flat cars for the journey. Getting out for a walk is of course something to be discouraged LOL
Ian
Well-known member
Thanks Jeff, perhaps I should check out Google Maps so I can see the kind of country you are going through. Enjoy your journey.
Well although the detail isn't great Google found Los Mochis for me so that is a start (warning, these pictures could have long downloads for those not on broadband).
Well although the detail isn't great Google found Los Mochis for me so that is a start (warning, these pictures could have long downloads for those not on broadband).
Smoky
Well-known member
Dang! A party in an empty box car! How cool does cool get??!!
Have not had time yet to look at your latest pics with that message but I am hoping they include a shot of the box car party. I will be viewing them Sunday.
Have not had time yet to look at your latest pics with that message but I am hoping they include a shot of the box car party. I will be viewing them Sunday.
Day 7 On The Rails
At 6:30AM this morning we were all awakened when our locomotive slammed the couplings together as it made up our train. We pulled out of La Junta at 7:30 and proceeded west and then south as we climbed into the Sierra Madres and towards the canyon. The Copper Canyon RR took 100 years to complete and is the only way to travel the full length of the canyon which is three times as long as The Grand Canyon.
Riding in an RV as it sways along on a flat car was a new and exciting experience for all of us. We almost immediately passed from modern Mexico to a countryside filled first with Mexican farmers and ranchers using horses for locomotion and later with barefooted Indians living in caves. What a transformation viewed from our own private vista observation cars.
The train moves at less than 20 miles per hour which makes it possible to be outside on the flat car while moving. While some of the group bundled up and did so today it was still quite chilly as we climbed to over 8,000 feet at the Continental Divide. Sue and I decided we would wait until we move further south and to lower elevations before venturing out to the fresh air platform.
We passed through three small towns today before pulling onto a siding in Creel around 1:00PM where the engines disconnected and left us for the evening. We were parked 2 blocks south of the center of town and as it is Saturday afternoon in a small country town so there were people everywhere.
Our bus tour today took us out to visit a church, boarding school, and cave home of the Tarahumara Indians. This tribe is one of the least changed groups in Mexico, indeed North America, and are living as they have for centuries. The interaction with civilization is going forward with help with healthcare and schools but the Tarahumara live much as they did migrating up and down the Canyon with the weather.
The boarding school was closed as it is the weekend and the Indian children walk back into the hills to their homes for the weekend, some as many as 30 kilometers. They spend Mon-Fri living at the school from age 6-12.
Tonight was -what else!- another fun evening having dinner at the Mexican Hotel and listening to a local Mexican music group. A great ending to an exciting day that was really the highlight of the trip so far. Tommorrow we travel further into the Canyon to Divisadero.
At 6:30AM this morning we were all awakened when our locomotive slammed the couplings together as it made up our train. We pulled out of La Junta at 7:30 and proceeded west and then south as we climbed into the Sierra Madres and towards the canyon. The Copper Canyon RR took 100 years to complete and is the only way to travel the full length of the canyon which is three times as long as The Grand Canyon.
Riding in an RV as it sways along on a flat car was a new and exciting experience for all of us. We almost immediately passed from modern Mexico to a countryside filled first with Mexican farmers and ranchers using horses for locomotion and later with barefooted Indians living in caves. What a transformation viewed from our own private vista observation cars.
The train moves at less than 20 miles per hour which makes it possible to be outside on the flat car while moving. While some of the group bundled up and did so today it was still quite chilly as we climbed to over 8,000 feet at the Continental Divide. Sue and I decided we would wait until we move further south and to lower elevations before venturing out to the fresh air platform.
We passed through three small towns today before pulling onto a siding in Creel around 1:00PM where the engines disconnected and left us for the evening. We were parked 2 blocks south of the center of town and as it is Saturday afternoon in a small country town so there were people everywhere.
Our bus tour today took us out to visit a church, boarding school, and cave home of the Tarahumara Indians. This tribe is one of the least changed groups in Mexico, indeed North America, and are living as they have for centuries. The interaction with civilization is going forward with help with healthcare and schools but the Tarahumara live much as they did migrating up and down the Canyon with the weather.
The boarding school was closed as it is the weekend and the Indian children walk back into the hills to their homes for the weekend, some as many as 30 kilometers. They spend Mon-Fri living at the school from age 6-12.
Tonight was -what else!- another fun evening having dinner at the Mexican Hotel and listening to a local Mexican music group. A great ending to an exciting day that was really the highlight of the trip so far. Tommorrow we travel further into the Canyon to Divisadero.
Attachments
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Pulling Out (Medium).JPG -
Looking Forward (Medium).JPG -
Looking Back (Medium).JPG -
On the Siding (Medium).JPG -
Headed to Town (Medium).JPG -
Creel 2 Burrows (Medium).JPG -
Creel 3 Town Square (Medium).JPG -
Indian Cave Home (Medium).JPG -
Indian Mother Baby (Medium).JPG -
Indian Frisbee (Medium).JPG -
Table (Medium).JPG -
Band (Medium).JPG
Betty Brewer
Moderator Emeritus
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- Posts
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Jeff Cousins said:
Jeff,
The problem with your thinking is that while it may be warmer at lower elevations, you will be going through so many tunnels that the black dlesel smoke will choke you if you are outside. I never did sit outside as I liked the comfort of my motorhome with nice big picture window views.
Too bad the school was closed. It was a highlight. Was the 102 year old man playing his fiddle when you visted the cave dwellings? Did Sue buy baskets?
Betty
JerArdra
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2005
- Posts
- 1,814
Jeff,
Re your photo "pulling out." As an experiment take another one that is similar where there is lots of bright sky in the top half of the photo. But first set you camera's menu so the METERING is on SPOT. Then when you take the photo aim the metering point that shows in the middle of the lens, as you aim the camera, at the DARK area that you want to show us (not the sky).
This will make the dark area show up brighter for us to see and it will make the sky look white because it will be over exposed. In this case you don't care because you're probably not trying to show a a beautiful sky, you're trying to show us the area alongside the train.
JerryF
Re your photo "pulling out." As an experiment take another one that is similar where there is lots of bright sky in the top half of the photo. But first set you camera's menu so the METERING is on SPOT. Then when you take the photo aim the metering point that shows in the middle of the lens, as you aim the camera, at the DARK area that you want to show us (not the sky).
This will make the dark area show up brighter for us to see and it will make the sky look white because it will be over exposed. In this case you don't care because you're probably not trying to show a a beautiful sky, you're trying to show us the area alongside the train.
JerryF
ArdraF
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2006
- Posts
- 10,695
Betty was right about the smoke when you go through a tunnel. There's one tunnel that is a mile long and makes a 360 degree circle - BUT the diesel fumes are really bad and you don't want to be outside then. Also, agree with Betty - it's too bad the school was closed. The kids were delightful and the place was really interesting. They were making tortillas in the kitchen the day we were there.
Jeff, you're getting some great photos of the Tarahumaras. Don't you just love their colorful clothes and the multilayered skirts? We saw some of the most gorgeous baskets there. If you want baskets, that's the place to get them.
The Copper Canyon is both longer and deeper than our Grand Canyon, the major difference visually being in the vegetation. We saw Kapok trees there - used to be the primary filler in life jackets.
ArdraF
Jeff, you're getting some great photos of the Tarahumaras. Don't you just love their colorful clothes and the multilayered skirts? We saw some of the most gorgeous baskets there. If you want baskets, that's the place to get them.
The Copper Canyon is both longer and deeper than our Grand Canyon, the major difference visually being in the vegetation. We saw Kapok trees there - used to be the primary filler in life jackets.
ArdraF
