We took a short side trip to the tiny town of Mata Ortiz which is famous for the finest pottery in Mexico. It's about 20 miles on a new road through really desolate country but at the end is this dirt street town with not much going on. We found the workshop of the famous potter and when we got inside we were dumbfounded. The most beautiful, intricate, gorgeous pottery I've ever seen. The designs were incredible with detail and cutouts and colors that amazed us. The prices were good for the quality but still high for what we could pay. We did buy two small pots, I would have loved one of the larger ones but we have no place for it and no need for it.


When we came out of the workshop, there were several trucks and cars around our rig. It seems that everyone in town saw us drive in and half of them drove over to see if we wanted to buy from them. Also a very old lady had followed us into the workshop. She was pretty cute, less than 5' tall and carrying her umbrella and 2 purses. I couldn't understand her spanish, she spoke so softly and she didn't have any teeth. After she had followed us around for awhile, I asked the guy in the workshop what she wanted and he said she was a guide. When we left, after telling her that we didn't need a guide, she walked off to another pottery shop. I think she wanted to "guide" us to that shop.


We had to drive back to Nuevo Casas Grandes to get on the highway south. We drove all day, finding our way around the huge city of Chihuahua was fun just as it was getting dark. We went another 50 miles or so and stopped in a Pemex gas station, we are parked next to a truck scale and we had a good dinner at the cafe. We're still at around 5000' elevation, we'll sleep well tonight.

As usual, we started late from Deming. Two other Lazy Daze pulled into Dreamcatcher RV park before we left. One needed a jump for their toad and we had to stop for propane before driving the 40 miles south to the border. We had stopped before the border to put all of the meat from the freezer into our cooler with a couple bags of ice and some sodas on top. No one looked anyway and we sailed on through the nothing to declare line. We arrived in Nuevo Casas Grandes about 7pm. We heard that others had boondocked behind the Pistoleros (gunslingers) restaurant and we found it a couple blocks off the main drag.


They told us it was fine to park there and pointed around the back against the kitchen and patio wall. There was a halloween party going on, I think it was a haunted house thing, the music from the Exorcist was blasting, ghouls were screaming and occasionally there was the sound of a chain saw. Lots of teenagers with screaming girls and brave boys whose voices cracked a bit. We went into the restaurant for dinner. Beautiful rock building with a stone floor, they specialized in barbequed turkey and it was excellent. After we sat down they started a karaoke machine with ranchero music and a DJ, more young girls singing along.

When we got back to the rig, I thought I should defrost the freezer since I had most of the stuff out already. So, I'm writing this and the fan is blowing in the freezer. It's only 8:30pm but we are both beat, I hope the snow in the freezer melts soon so I can go to sleep.

We're on the road. Tomorrow we pick up our mail in Deming NM, we had it sent overnight to a friend's house there. Our absentee ballots are in it and we will vote, mail the ballots and then cross the border.

We spent last night at a rest stop along I-25 just north of Las Vegas, NM. It's windswept high desert, about 6500', and we slept like logs. We are so comfortable in our Tortuga, snug and warm with the wind howling outside. Today we parked at a mall in Albuquerque, went into PetSmart for a 6 month supply of Frontline for the dogs and 3 cases of cat food for our friend's cat in Guadalajara. Then we turned on the tv for a couple of hours until rush hour was over. We're heading south now towards Deming. We'll probably spend another night at a rest area and go on in the morning.

The best news is that our friend in Guadalajara emailed us that Lila Downs is performing there on Nov 4th and she's getting us tickets! She is one of our favorite singers and to see her live will be a big thrill. In addition, some other friends are going as well. We call them the Bubba Family, I originally met him on a mexico forum and we've had dinner a couple of times and met his wonderful french wife. So, all of us will meet for dinner and drinks and then go to the concert.

Driving along tonight through southern NM, the stars are so bright and so close. There is no light here except the occasional oncoming car and our headlights. I can see the milky way by just looking out the window.

We kept going and arrived in Deming around 4am, posting this from WalMart.

We're still in Denver. We have finally talked to our friends in Akumal and they say all is well. In fact, they say they don't need anything and that all will be up and running, business as usual within a week. I find that hard to believe.

At any rate, we are still heading to Akumal from here. We will go through Guadalajara and pick up some stuff for our condo. They did say that all the furniture that was upholstered would have to be replaced along with the mattresses... again! They were all replaced after hurricane Emily as well. So, I think it is not as rosy as they portray it. Some friends from down there are going by this weekend to take some pictures for us and also measurments for the sofa cushions.

We have meant to leave for the last 2 days but had other stuff to do. Tomorrow we will head for Albuquerque where there is a BOA so I can make a deposit and pay the property taxes. Then we plan to cross the border south of Demming NM in Palomas.

It will be good to see Akumal again, we didn't go there last year. Still, I'm more enamored with the Pacific coast of Mexico these days, I am sorry we won't get to spend a few months on the beach there before having to head for the Yucatan. That's pretty picky, I know. This is a tough life when the worst that happens is you have to go to the Caribbean instead of the Pacific.

OK, it's pretty bad in Akumal where our condo is. Wilma has done some serious damage. We are heading south tomorrow, hoping to get in touch with our friends before we cross the border and find out what we can bring that will help the most. We are considering buying a small generator at least and stocking up on other stuff as we think of it. We are self-sufficient in our RV, we don't need electricity or a place to stay and we can bring a lot more that a car can. We can also provide internet access to those around us with our satellite dish. We are hoping that it is not as bad as we are hearing.

It's 27* here in Denver as I type this, time to go anyway!

The little information we are getting from Mexico does not sound good. In Akumal where our condo is, the waves are breaking over the road that is 'behind' our building. In other words, they are rolling right through the first floor condos. In this picture the island of Cozumel is inside Wilma's eye, our condo is on the mainland straight across from the southern tip of Cozumel.

We had been waiting here in Denver for the new LCD TV we ordered to be delivered. It came today and Mimi and her brother installed it. wow! It's really nice. It rotates on a bracket so that you can see it from the bed or the dinette. It's a 20" screen which is a lot larger than the 13" we had before, it's brighter as well and the color is great. All that and it weighs less than the old one, fits in the same area and uses less electricity.

Another cat 4 or 5 hurricane is heading for our condo in Akumal, Quintana Roo. Hurricane Wilma looks pretty brutal and, unlike the direct hit from Emily earlier, it looks like we will get a hit from the south/west wall. That may cause more damage than having the eye pass directly overhead. All fingers crossed for our friends who are there.

The warm weather here in Denver may be over. It started raining a few minutes ago, the temp has dropped considerably and thunder is rolling overhead. A few days ago we got the dogs some kids sweatshirts at WalMart, they are happy to wear them tonight and their blanket as well.

Good news! Had the additional mammograms as well as sonograms today and it's just the same cystic stuff I've always had. It's a relief, that stuff gets you at some level even if you know it is probably OK.

Off to dinner with Sarah, Pete, and Suzanne. Time to celebrate!

I haven't quite got the hang of posting often enough to keep the conversation going. I thought about going back and recreating, and I might still do that, but for now I'm just going on.

We are in Denver visiting Mimi's mom and for me to get a follow up mammogram. I got a call while we were at the balloon fiesta in Albuquerque that they wanted more pictures. It was an interesting logistical arrangement, I had to figure out the closest Kaiser (Colorado), get a temp Kaiser ID for that state, get an appt in Denver and get the films from NoCal sent here for the radiologist to read with the new pics. It was actually a lot easier to do than I thought it would be. Everyone I talked to was so helpful and it all got set up so easily that I got scared the other night that they knew something I didn't. I think it was just the late night willys, I've had to do this before and it was nothing so I'm going to assume it will be the same this time.

Today Mimi and I went with our friend Sarah to meet another friend Suzanne in Boulder to have lunch and shop for Crocs. These are the shoes I never want to take off and they originated in Boulder. There is a store there that claims to have the largest selection of Crocs in the country. Suzanne gave us a short tour around Boulder, up to an overlook and around some of the old neighborhoods. It's beautiful in Colorado right now, surely this is the most beautiful season of the year here. The colors of the trees just blows me away. There are such brilliant yellows, oranges and reds everywhere. Plus, the weather is spectacular! In the high 70's every day with nothing but sunshine.


Boulder's downtown pedestrian mall is really nice. The Croc store had a whole room with nothing but crayon color Crocs. I got my 4th pair and we got some for friends as well. This is Sarah trying to decide between yellow and purple.