EL QUELITE

If you can BELIEVE it - we have another sight seeing trip to tell you about. 

WoW! - right?! 

I know! But hey - Malpica and Concordia were last week while this trip to see El Quelite was this past Tuesday. Yup - I am closing in on my posts - only 2 days behind now!

So - Tuesday morning we all headed out again in Willie to see the quaint town of El Quelite.

This time we passed over the 15D - the toll road - to the 15 - the free road - and headed north and then east. One way was about 30 miles. 

The free road is in good shape.

A pleasant drive through the countryside.

EL QUELITE!

The entry arch and a tope - the two things you can count on when entering into a Mexican village or town.

A statue commemorating the Mayan Ball Game - body parts such as the hips and thighs were used - the use of hands and feet was not allowed.

Upon entering El Quelite we first drove down the extent of the 'main street'. It wasn't all that bad but it was still funny to see a semi parked at the end.

THE BEAN LADIES .... AND MAN

Our first stop .....

To visit with the 'bean ladies'. This is the bean sorting table - the ladies spend the day sorting the debris from the beans. Bill and Carol visit here each time they come to El Quelite so it was a bit of a home coming for them. 

Not just the ladies...

FIRST, WE EAT

From there we went back to the main strip, found a parking spot and went for breakfast at the El Mesmon D Los Laureanos.

This building was once the home of a General in the Revolution - he died at the age of 28 years old. I am sure there is much more to it but this is what I recall from Bill's translation. 

A large mural just inside the door.

Not really sure exactly what this is but he is positioned over the door. As you walk in this fellow is looking down at you. Interesting.

After you walk into the main door and down a flight of stairs you are brought into this courtyard - the dining room. Amazing since you would have no idea from the street. LOVE Mexico and their inner courtyards.

While we were waiting for our orders we were served chips, salsa and cheese - local cheese - more about that below. Derek was pretty quick on the draw - that's his fork there. Lucky I got a picture before it was gone. 

What's a meal without roosters walking around.

Cassia was pretty interested if not a bit perplexed.

Yup - a pretty cool way to display your family tree.

BRING YOUR CAMERA TO THE WASHROOM 

Said Carol.....

The sink in the women's washroom. For a minute there I had to think about the water faucet. It looks so much clearer in the photo.

And the men's. Guess what the pig is for?

The men's sink.

When we returned Lola had arrived.

Lola seems to be the restaurants main attraction.

Carol offering Lola a chip.

Me, trying to convince Cassia to visit with Lola. I bet she was really wondering about all the wildlife in the courtyard. 

SPEAKING OF ORANGE THINGS IN THE TREE........

Just LOOK at that! Look at what? Why -- the ORANGE iguana of course!

With all the things going on in the restaurant courtyard I didn't get a chance to tell you how GREAT our meal was. REALLY. It's right up there with one of our best meals EVER. Remember Shucks in Abbeville, Louisiana and Moon Spin Pizza in Thomasville, Georgia from last years trip?! Well, put our breakfast from the El Meson D Los Laureanos on the list. 

The tall glass of cold fresh squeeze orange started the meal only to be out done by the caramel pudding that finished it off. I had the huevos rancheros - one of my favourites, while Derek had the Pork Carnitas which was delicious. I'm not even sure what Bill and Carol had since I was so distracted on our side of the table. Thanks to Bill and Carol for treating us to this VERY memorable meal. 

With our meal, and look around the restaurant, complete - we began our walking tour.

I'll take it - just my colour!

Derek admiring a tree - not even sure what kind of tree. 

I'll take this one too! On a bit of a slope - not the house - my arm! I was also carrying Cassia.

And YES! They had a fragrance - LOVE it when a beautiful flower smells beautiful.

As we were walking down the street we spotted this place and decided to go in. Good thing we had our trusty tour guides. How would we have ever known that this is a .........

cheese factory!

The cheese maker at work. 

Further a long - a VERY large tree. 

And cactus growing on the roof. Boy this place has it all.

You have to laugh - Bill and Carol call this a 'mother in law paint job'. A very nice looking house - strangely it is painted on the other side. 

COCK OF THE WALK - NO NOT DEREK!

So, El Quelite is home to cock fighting. As Carol said - more glamorous to talk about then to see. No way would I have the stomach for that! This is the place where they are raised and housed. Each is on a leash. Do you see the dog sleeping in the picture - middle right.

And yes, they all had something to say while we were there.

Well now, who knew that roosters could be so darn handsome!

The rooster yard is right beside the El Quelite cemetery.

On to the bakery......

We can always use more Mexican pastries.....

Next stop -- El Quelite's Plaza.

It didn't disappoint and offered much needed shade.

More unguarded stairs - we sure have to keep an eye on Cassia with these.

There was music playing so there goes our father and daughter dance team.

El Quelite's Church. Again - asymmetrical - very nice.

Fairly modern design.

A drive by tour of the interesting cacti lining the side of this house.

And we had good fun explaining to Cassia that this little girl was getting a ride home from school on a horse.

What's a trip without stopping in at the local shops.

This beautifully coloured building housed a women's boutique.

LOVE this dress. Probably more on the hanger than on me.

And next door the leather shop.

 It's been a while since I've seen a ceiling this neat.

And with the leather shop was the end of our tour of El Quelite. Could you tell how HOT it was. We were jumping in and out of the air conditioning of the Jeep. 

Good thing that Bill and Carol - separately - warned us to make sure our camera battery was charged. I think this MAY be a record for photos (63 by the way) - to date - but we have a lot of trip left.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of El Quelite as much as we did. Remember to visit Carols' blog for her pics of El Quelite and more importantly for her story about the iguana poop.

If you can believe - we came home from this tour - spent the afternoon at the beach and then went and toured Mazatlan by night. Those pics in tomorrow post. 

Buenas Noches from Mazatlan

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: Yaaaaaaaaaaa, I have found ANOTHER homemade beauty site! Fresh Picked Beauty surfaced today on facebook linked from another blogger. I cannot WAIT to spend some serious time here and fingers Xed that I can make some stuff in the next few weeks. 

MALPICA & CONCORDIA

Since I am still a few days behind on my posts our day out to Malpica and Concordia was actually last Friday.

Once again Bill and Carol offered to take us on a site seeing tour. Malpica and Concordia are favourite destinations of their's - they visit each time they are in Mazatlan.

We'd already heard about the amazing bread at the Malpica Panaderia - it was time to finally sample some.

 From our RV Park we backtracked to the toll highway - 15D. We then headed into and through Mazatlan and along to the 40 which is a left turn into the hills. We will be taking this route as far as the 40 when we leave next week so it was nice to see it ahead of time. 

Although it's quite congested - yikes!

I didn't take a picture right inside the door but you literally walk through the living room to get to the Panaderia in the back.

The croissants - mmmmmm.

The unassuming oven. 

A tour bus had arrived just before we did - another one pulled in just as the first was leaving. So - we toured around a bit before we made our purchases. There's Bill in the back with the hat.

And we visited with the new family - yes - right in the Panaderia.

 Derek and Cassia waiting for the crowd to thin. Plus it was pretty warm inside - and well, outside too. Have I mentioned how HOT it's been in Mexico - in the high 80's everyday. One of Derek's new shirts purchased at the central market, by the way.

Just across the street is a swanky new jewelry store and the tile maker.

Since the tour buses were in town the tile maker was doing his thing. The white concrete is poured into the mould after the colours have been sprinkled on. Lines and swirls are drawn on the concrete with the eraser at the end of a pencil.

Cement is then placed over the concrete. An interesting process to watch - and quick too. I guess he has done this a few times before.

The finished tile is carefully pulled away from the mould. Yikes! Sorry for the blurry picture.

The tiles then cure for 18 hours.

We then made the short walk over to the small plaza fronting the Church.

Derek looking out at the Church and well, yes, Cassia looking at the photographer.

Quite the stair - guess you wouldn't get away with that in Canada.

A house in Malpica - decorating for Christmas in process.

Between Malpica and our next destination - Concordia, we stopped in at a furniture maker/carver shop along the highway.

There were quite a number of furniture shops along our route - sadly they are not as busy as they once were since the cruise ships stopped docking in Mazatlan. 

We stopped for a few minutes to visit with a couple of little girls and their grandmother. We swapped names and ages - about as far as we could get with our Spanish - or lack thereof.

Next, we stopped in to visit with some friends of Bill and Carol's. This fellow is a very skilled carver.

Carrying on down the highway we pulled into a small town and went to visit the laundry.

Yup - this is it! 

The concrete pools are fed by a hot spring. The local ladies come here to wash their clothes.

Then on to Concordia.

The beautiful Church along the central Plaza. I LOVE the asymmetry of the facade. And the red door.

It was so nice to stop for ice cream treated by Bill and Carol. The central plaza was very active since the kids were out from school. We purchased a little wood carving for Cassia from a boy. I so wish I had remembered to photograph him! A great little salesman.

The Concorida Arch on our way out. Every town seems to have an entry arch - pretty neat.

Who knew that there was so much to see around Mazatlan! I wonder how many fly in tourists are able to see a little bit of the real Mexico while they are here. 

We are VERY spoiled to be toured around by Bill and Carol - particularly with Bill's impressive expertise at driving in Mexico. They are happy to show us the places they have found during their travels and we are very willing companions. Even though they have been to these places numerous times before they are still excited to visit.

All for now, another busy day today - I'm pretty wiped! 

I'm slowly but surely catching up on my posts - another 3 should do it. Just in time to - we are scheduled to leave here and head further south on Monday.

Thanks for checking in! 

There is a TON of info that we have learned in Mexico so far - please let me know if you have any questions. In future posts I'm hoping to add more information about actually living and traveling here - what we eat, where we shop, how we do this or do that.....

Remember to visit Carol's blog, The Golden Years, for her take on our trip to Malpica and Concordia.

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: Know much about bodysurfing? After a week in the ocean riding the waves with a few blowouts - Derek's been doing some research - reading articles and watching a few YouTube videos. Good idea - the water is very powerful as I learned back in my 20's.