Guanajuato and Dolores Hidalgo

November 11 and 12

Thursday morning we were southbound at 9:30 in reasonably light traffic. A pleasant discovery that improvements to the periferico were continuing and were almost complete. We were pleasantly surprised 8 months ago northbound through here to find a real bypass partially completed. The first time we drove this route about seven years ago the truck bypass essentially went through the edge of town on narrow roads that were in terrible condition and punctuated by topes.



Before long we were again rolling down the highway on wide open roads. Today our route would take us around the city of Aguacalientes on the outer periferico, which in March was in terrible condition. It was not a lot better this year, though the worst spots had been repaired.

Once clear of the city traffic we began looking for an open area on the 45D for lunch . At 2:20 we found a suitable place and took a 40 minute break.

Around the city of Leon, though there was lots of traffic, shops, businesses and industry we were still far from the city proper, then through Silao where we turned off onto the toll road to the city of Guanajuato. (Map below)

Guanajuato is nestled in a steep sided valley, the toll road really the only option for larger motorhomes.

It is a beautiful city with lots of history but we decided to forgo a detailed visit here this round. We were most interested in visiting the town of Dolores Hidalgo in hopes of purchasing a vanity sink for the downstairs bathroom.

Shortly before five we had arrived at Bugamvilla RV park. This is the only place in the area where a large motorhome will fit. We have been here many time. It is essentially a large field with power and water and a semi-primitive dump station located at the far end. We were the only rig here.

We left the rig while Gillian took the dogs out and Art went to check power and water before choosing a site. Good thing he did too--none of the sites in the first two rows had electric power. A close look explained the problem. A grass fire had burned the wiring at several posts beyond salvage!

Next row over was fine, a young man with as lawn mower was in the progress of cutting the long grass. We suspected that the grass fires had been intentionally set as a quick way to control it. We later found this to be true, the owner was not happy when Art informed him that the first two rows had now power and showed him the burned wires. He called his son over and had a few words!




We spent the remainder of the day relaxing, playing with the dogs and not doing much of anything at all. Dinner at home was a shrimp pasta, followed by white wine and dark chocolate. Later we vegetated in front of the TV for a while watching the news from home.




Friday: shopping day. Much of our route planing had been to bring us to this point. Off by car to the town of Dolores Hidalgo, hoping to find a bathroom sink for downstairs. Size, shape and colour had to be just right. Gillian was unsure that she could find the exact shade of turquoise that she was looking for but had brought a hand towel as a colour swatch!



The car could have used a wash, but there was a large "No Car Wash" sign prominently posted. Perhaps we could find a place in Dolores Hidlago. Meanwhile the pixie prints on the hood would accompany us.






Since the RV Park was on the southeast outskirts of Guanajuato we decided to take the circle route, southeast from the campground on the yellow road then curving north to Dolores Hidalgo. This again is high dry country, though there were signs of the good rainy season which had just ended. The pointer indicates the campground's location.





We have been this way before but still don't tire of the scenery, it's different every time, depending on the amount of rainfall and how long it has been since the last rain. In March, following four or five rain free months things look very different. The dogs however seemed to think they had seen it all.


Entering the town we went directly to the strip where all the artisans shops are located. Starting at one end of the street we wandered the entire length of the street, though we had found the sink we wanted about half way along. The particular shade of turquoise Gillian was looking for was not available, even on special order. However she found one basin that contained the colours she wanted, but the surrounding tiles were not available. Special order could be arranged.

After checking the rest of the town we returned to the shop and ordered the surround tiles. We will stop in on our way home on March to pick up our order.




During our wanderings amongst the artisan shops Art was taken with this wonderfully whimsical dragon ornament. At 190 pesos ($16.00 Canadian) it was impossible to ignore. Art calls it "La Suegra" (Spanish for The Mother-In_Law!) He hopes she still has a sense of humor! It has a place of honour beside the hammock.








Returning to Guanajuato via the "red" road (map above) we traveled first through farm country, acres of drying cornfields. As we climbed into the mountains the countryside changed, greener and cooler.

As you can see from the GPS map the route was just a little twisty!



At the approach to Guanajuato we stopped at a funky looking "Restaurant Bar" that we had bypassed several times before. This time we were hungry and decided to check it out. They still had the "Dia del Muertos" decorations. Gillian was particularly taken with one of them. We asked the waiter what had happened to his friend and he responded that he didn't eat enough! Remember to enlarge a pic just click on it. You can click again to further enlarge. Use the "<" at the top left of the screen to return to the blog. We each ordered a beer and a main course, then "on the house" appies appeared! Art ordered the chipotle chicken and Gillian a fish dish with green chile salsa. Both were surperb.







Moving on after a wonderful lunch we had planned to go into town for groceries. We were pleased and surprised to find a new grocery store right on the main road, which meant we didn't have to navigate through the town centre. The photos and the GPS picture will give you some idea why this was a good thing!




Back at the RV park we fed the dogs, (we were not really interested in supper!), watched the sunset, a bit of TV then called it a night.