Everyone was up early cooking and preparing for the picnic at Los Organos. Since neither Jen nor I were involved in the cooking, we got dressed and watched The Weather Man. I’d heard it was bad, but actually found it to be funny.

Around 1:30 we got everything ready to go. Miguel had gone to the doctor, and wasn’t back yet. Raphael had his F350 all loaded up and ready to go. Tila’s family had their truck all ready to go. So we just waited.

Finally around 2PM Miguel arrived. Turns out Miguel has a hernia and gastro-intestinal infection. He just has to take it easy til we get back to the U.S.

Around 2:30PM we got to Los Organos. Los Organos are an interesting stretch of rock in the Sierra Madre mountains. It was just as awesome as I remember it being when we went in 2004.

We unloaded everything and started setting up the picnic. Cracked open a beer. We brought plenty of Barrilitos and other alchoholic essentials:

Got bored so the nephew Jacob and I took a little walk over to the arroyo. There was no water of course… things are dry in the spring. I hear in the summer months the area gets flooded with water, which is interesting. You can see the erosion and formations from when the water was last there.

Jacob and I walked back to the camp, where food hadn’t even started. So I left by myself and started climbing up to La Copa – “The Cap.”

I continued climbing. After a bit I caught a flash of pink shirt. It was Jen’s cousin Melissa up ahead, climbing higher up the side of the peak. She had a video camera and was getting video of various things. With nothing better to do, I caught up to her.

We climbed a bit, and then split up. I was getting a bit winded, so I took a more even path around the peak, stopping to rest as I needed. Got some great views of the surroundings though.

After a while it got quiet. I looked around and didn’t see or hear anyone. I thought Melissa had gone back to our camp. But as I rounded a bend, I found a gap between some rocks that led up to a higher point of the peak. It looked like something interesting to climb through.

Just then I heard sounds coming from the rocks above. I climbed through the gap and found Melissa had climbed up some tricky expanse of rock. She asked if I was able to climb up there, I said no. She climbed down and we made our way further around the peak. We had gone far enough that we decided to go in a full circle around the entire peak to get back to camp. Along the way I saw some small lizard, and a pack of roaming horses.

Eventually I found the Tres Frailes ‘Three Friars.’

Then we continued back to camp. When we got back Jen was a little irritated that I had wandered off. Food had been served and nobody could find me.

I ate, then Jen and I wandered over to the arroyo, as Jen hadn’t seen it yet. Then we walked back to camp.

Miguel wanted to take everyone to a cave. It’s not really a cave but a sheltered gap between the rocks.

Along the way I got other pics of course.

Eventually we got back to camp, where I continued to drink some Barrilitos. I started playing with the tripod, and got a few pics of Jen and I wearing our Zacatecas t-shirts.

With our stomachs full, we continued with lively conversation and knocking back the beers. I lost track of time. Jen alerted me to the setting sun, so I ran out with my tripod to capture it.

Nobody wanted to stay past dark, so we packed everything up and left. We rode away down the bumpy road away from Los Organos. The clock said 7:35PM

When we got back to the house we started making plans for the drive back to Texas. Alas, all good things must end. But we had one more day. It was my top priority to make it a good one.

Woke up a little late. Visited Guerrero again. Did some shopping in the markets. Upon return from Guerrero we got ready for Atotolnilco. Gorditas and swimming!

On arrival we piled out of the Sequoia and paid our entrance to the swimming pools. We ordered some gorditas from the stands and set up by the swimming area to relax. Joe and I started drinking Tecates. Other family members from the town showed up shortly after. We had a decent sized group.

I spent much of the day drinking beer and having great conversations with Jen’s cousin-in-law Raphael, who owns a trucking company out of El Paso, Texas. Raphael’s son Jesus is really into video games. Being my industry, I got to chat with him for a while too.

After a day in the sun, we packed our things in the car and sat down to eat a few more gorditas. It was going to be our last time there, and since they are my favorite gorditas in the world I had to take some pictures.

Of course I can’t talk so highly of the gorditas without having a picture of sheepish old me next to the gordita lady!

The sun sets on another day well-spent.

I was excited and happy for Day Seven–Los Organos.

Dalila and Miguel were sick. Dalila from the greasy gringas we ate at the restaurant the night before. Miguel was sick from partying too hard, I think. We didn’t do much in the morning. Later, Joe, Dalila, Jen, and I walked around town.

We climbed the church bell tower, where I took some pictures.

Then we went to the town library. It’s very small. They don’t have a lot of books. For some reason a lot of the old caballeros (cowboys) hang out on the steps of the library. I don’t think they hang around there for the books.

We went to Prieta’s for chile rellenos. If you don’t know what those are, hold on while I slap you. Ok. They’re bell peppers stuffed with cheese, and covered in a batter. The kids were watching a King Kong bootleg dubbed in Spanish.

Finally, we left to go to Saltito. Jen’s cousin Melissa came along, as did her other cousin Leslie. At the last minute, we couldn’t find the nephews. Samantha had to stay behind and wait for them at the house. They disappeared. I thought maybe they climbed the nearby mountain the adults had been talking about, that had a statue at the top. But we couldn’t be sure. We left without them.

Along the way we talked about volcanoes & Saltito. Saltito is an extinct volcano. A crater formed from a blast thousands of years ago. In the blown out caldera is a waterfall and lake. And a forest filled with twisted trees growing among the layers of loose volcanic rock. It’s a very interesting and beautiful place.

When we got there we discovered one of the three waterfalls had dried up in the last two years. Nobody wanted to climb down into the caldera with me, except Melissa. Made me glad we brought her along. I would have gone alone, but I went alone in 2004. It’s a little bit of a hike in and out of the caldera down a long, steep staircase. Glad we don’t need ropes!

Anyway, going down there with Melissa gave me a chance to practice Spanish because she doesn’t speak English. She took our video camera with.

Melissa and I made our way down, taking stills and video of the crazy rock wall sides formed when the volcano exploded eons ago.

We reached the bottom, where we got more stills and video of the ‘enchanted forest.’

We headed back towards the staircase leading up out of the crater, when we noticed a junked car through the trees that had been pushed over the edge of the cliff.

As we got to the steps, the rest of the group called us from the top of the crater. We ran up the staircase, taking several steps at a time. After one flight we were both winded and laughing–or trying to laugh, between gasps for air. The others kept yelling but we couldn’t respond for lack of breath. We ran til our lungs felt like they would explode. When we reached the top, I couldn’t breathe. Everyone was waiting in the car. I had to walk off my exhertion.

Then we got in the car. We stopped at La Constancia to see something called Manantial–natural springs not far from Saltito. The town of Constancia is beautiful. The volcanic soil and natural springs make everything lush, even in March when everything else is brown and dry.

On the way, the sun was setting behind the mountain, so I rolled down the window of the car and snapped a pic.

On the way back we stopped at a 500+ year old church. I got some interesting photos.

This old woman came buy and offered to let us into the church. The top of the altar is made of pure gold. This is common around Mexico. Gold sometimes lines bevels in the church walls and entrances.

After the church adventure, we climbed in the car again and headed back to town and the house. I think Jen’s cousins Melissa and Leslie had fun. Living in the small town of Villa Insurgentes, I don’t think they get out that much. All these interesting places nearby and they never go!

The kids were at the house. Sure enough, they had climbed the mountain to check out the statue. That’s why they were missing when we left for Saltito. Figures.

After we got home, we got ready for bed and put the movie Two For the Money playing on the laptop. Jen fell asleep. That’s ok, she didn’t miss much.