Head for the Hills

Carrie is responsible for most cool things we do. I’d be fine hanging around the area where we’re staying. It never fails that I’m glad we go with her ideas instead. This time it was Mazamitla, “The Mexican Alps”.

It was to be a two hour drive, construction turned it into almost three. This picture shows one of the gentler parts of the construction. For much of it, if you went an inch out of your lane you’d be down about 10 feet in a trench. Stacks of rocks with white paint drizzled over them serve as the edge markers.

After detouring around yet another parade and having the worst bottom-out on a speed bump yet, we found the hotel. It was a $27/night beauty. We were given a cozy, no frills interior room (common here; your window looks into a courtyard instead of outside.) For under $30, we certainly weren’t going to complain. We went out to see the town and stopped back by Carl, parked front and center outside the hotel, literally three feet from the door. While I was grabbing the stroller, the attendant spotted me and asked if everything was OK and if we’d like to switch rooms. I was confused by the question because I hadn’t said a word, much less complained. But I took the opportunity to ask if they had any exterior balcony rooms available. With a pleasant smile she showed me the new room options and with no increase in price, I chose one of the coolest hotel rooms I’ve ever seen. We could have brought at least four of our friends and still had plenty of room to sleep. There were bunk beds plus stairs that went up to a loft that had a queen bed on one side and a full on the other. There was a nice balcony, a dining table, a sofa, & a fridge too. It even came with a bottle opener key chain, which I took as a clear hint to enjoy a Corona on the balcony.

So that had me feeling like I was a real winner for most of the afternoon and evening. We watched the finale of the kid’s parade, had a great dinner, & walked around the quaint town. What a fun little town it is. The architecture is charming, the small ma & pa stores take you back to a mostly bygone era for the US, and the people are friendly as usual. The main plaza, 1/2 block from our hotel, was the site of more festivities into the evening.

And then came the point when we realized why exterior rooms aren’t a great idea, at least not on holidays and weekends. The sounds are incredible…as in incredibly loud. Blaring music, loud ATV’s, singing, etc. I woke up at 4:30 AM thinking, “wow, it’s finally quiet.” And no sooner did that thought cross my head, the church bells started ringing, as they did the entire night. Just one of the various sounds would have sent our neighbors of years past lining up at city hall to lodge a complaint. Here, no one seems to care, or think it’s any of his business, and life goes on. We laugh and enjoy it for what it is. iola took to plugging her ears, no joke.

And this is how we spent a few days, enjoying the sights & sounds of Mexican Revolution Day festivities in a whimsical Mexican town. Parades. Lots and lots of parades.