Day 6 Autlán, Chimulco and Guadalajara

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Carmen was up bright and early this morning getting the boys up, dressed, and off to school. I tried to sleep in as long as I could but that is a difficult feat with both girls in bed with me. Then Mia had one of her overflowing diaper episodes and that did it, I was up and stripping the bed in a flash! The boys didn't get out of school until 12:30pm so Carmen took all of us around the town for some more sightseeing and to go find out if the town pool was open or not. On our way out there, we stopped at a building where they were making tequila. They had a display out front with bottles of tequila lined up. One of the only things Jose asked me to bring home was a bottle of tequila. And guess what? Only $7 for a liter bottle of tequila. You can't beat that. I don't know the quality of it but the way that they drink at home, I don't think they are going to notice. I didn't really understand what the guy was telling us about the process but it was interesting to see the mash that they make from the maguey plants and the pure tequila smelled very strong! Too bad I can't bring a case of this stuff home with me!

After the tequila factory, we stopped by the swimming pool and it is closed today for cleaning and maintenance. So now Erika wants to head for the ocean to go swimming. While we waited for the boys to get out of school, we went back to the town center and bought some baggies of fresh cut fruit. I will have to say that the fruit here is so juicy and sweet! That is until they sprinkled salt in my bag of watermelon and pineapple, then I could barely eat it. Perhaps it is something they do to help with hydration and get enough sodium in their diet. I'm not sure but it wasn't exactly to my liking, or Erika's.

The boys were tardy getting out of school so we were sitting on the walkway outside for close to an hour because Andres' teacher wasn't releasing them. It would seem that here the teachers pretty much have complete control over their classrooms and students and they can do as they please. Carmen finally went in to find out what was going on and it turns out that Andres had lost his school workbook and then laughed in the face of the teacher as she was disciplining him. So Carmen cuffed his ears and we were off for the house. Somewhere in the plans I had thought that Carmen and the boys were going to accompany us back to the aquatic park but I guess it's too far for them to go and they already had plans to go visit their father Jose on Friday. So Erika didn't realize that when she made her choice to go swimming or stay another night that the boys wouldn't be going with us. Carmen was pretty upset that we were leaving as well and I felt terrible. I would imagine that she probably has a pretty lonely life here with just the boys to drive her to drinking. I'm not sure that I could do the same unless I had internet access, my scrapping stuff, and geocaches to hunt for.

We got to Chimulco around 5pm and we were afraid that it was going to be closed and we really didn't want to drive another couple hours just so that Erika could go swimming at the beach. The first entrance was closed but Fernando was smart enough to drive through town and come in the back entrance. The lady said that they were closing in 45 minutes but Fernando sweet-talked her into letting us in for free to swim until they closed. And the water was very nice! I hadn't put aguascalientes together with the concept that this was a water park built on a hot springs so the water was perfect. We hadn't been able to find a bathing suit for Mia so I stripped her down to her onesie and Erika and I had on our bikinis. There were leaves falling off all the surrounding trees and landing on the surface of the water so Erika swam around collecting them up. Her swimming lessons are definitely paying off in that she has no fear of going underwater and swimming around to the best of her ability. When we finally got out of the water, Mia had a little surprise for me. Her disposable diaper had absorbed water to its maximum and basically exploded up the back of her shirt with those little beads. I tried to brush it off her and put her in a clean dry shirt. I never realized a diaper could hold so much liquid. We're talking like 10 pounds here or thereabouts. Erika was shivering since we didn't have any towels with us so her dad put his big tshirt on her.

We headed back the last hour to Guadalajara. The girls both fell fast asleep for the last part and we finally had a little peace and quiet in the truck. Erika wanted to go visit Ceci and Pao as soon as we got back. Fernando called over there but no one was home. We went to a little shopping mall for dinner. Erika ate cheese quesadillas for 7.50 pesos and I had two tacos de carne asada for 6 pesos each and a soda each. We went to a little internet cafe that only charged 5 pesos an hour and I attempted to find cheap plane tickets to Mexico City. I was looking at close to $200 to fly the three of us there on two tickets so I kept calling Jose and his sister while attempting to find the best deal. I found one relatively low priced with Aero California but Jose told me to wait before buying it because he was going to make some phone calls and see if anyone knew of a bargain airlines down here. Mia was fussy so we headed home and called it a day.

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Photos

Shot of Tequila
At the tequila factory, it comes in all sizes of bottles and barrels. Now this barrel is just my size! I wish I could have brought a small one home but I'm not sure how well it would have traveled in my suitcase.

Fresh Fruit
We bought baggies of fresh cut fruit in the town center. I got a bag of pineapple and watermelon and they sprinkle salt on it, yuk! Erika wouldn't eat it that way and I had a hard time with it. I love the sweet juices so why would someone salt it down??

Carmen and the Gang
Erika, Andres, Mia, Je, Carmen, Julian and Pepe

Agave Fields
The countrysides here are covered in fields of blue agave plants called maguey. From a distance, they look like lakes but as you get closer you can see the spiny stalks sticking out from the plants.

Chimulco
Erika was determined to get some swimming in during this trip so we stopped at the hot springs/aquatic park on our way back to Guadalajara.

Comments

[Autum]

Agave fields forever.....
doesn't quite have the same ring as Strawberry fields, but oh well. Those fields are cool. I didn't realize agave were blue....strange.