Rather recently a long delayed trip to the State of Michoacan seemed in order, primarily to the Lake Patzcuaro area. This is about 175 miles from here and higher in the mountains at about 7,000 ft. Naturally I wanted to wait until late in the year when it would be colder, why go during our hot season when it might be nice to cool off? - that wouldn't be in keeping with my philosophy of life, better known as "I'll do it my way and suffer without your pity or laughter!"

The trip was somewhat forced on me by my neighbor who wanted to see the area and offered to pay for the hotel rooms for the overnight stay - what could I say? So, one sunny day we headed out to explore Patzcuaro and other delights including Santa Clara del Cobre the copper village where our supplier of copper sinks etc. is located.

Much of the trip is on the couta (tollway) and so nice roads, then you turn south toward the lake and begin to climb more into the mountains. Our mountains are volcanic, so not like the Rockies, but began to resemble the area around Estes Park as we wound our way through the small villages, tall trees and relatively poorly marked roads. It has to be said at this point that my years of travel engrained in me three things, you plan for a trip, you plan for a trip and then you plan for a trip. Primarily you need to know where you're going, you especially need to know where you're staying (and be darn sure you know where the hotel is located) and then you need to have your appointments set up - oops, forgot, that was the business years, this is more pleasure, so strike #3 more or less.

I did make reservations at a hotel, but maps of Patzcuaro are somewhat like hen's teeth, few and far between. So, one good thing, I made reservations, but one uncertain as to location, but we pressed on with some information and directions from my partners who had been there a few months earlier.

We found our way through Comanja, turned right at Quiroga and headed for TzinTzunTzan (forget the T's) which is a small village and the setting for our first adventure; all the while being narrated by my neighbor from tour guide books (I had no idea anyone ever actually bought those things?). Actually it was very interesting as this area was part of the early Spanish exploration and conquest territories as is Mexico in general. An early tyrannically Governor tortured and killed a local chief when he wouldn't or couldn't tell where the gold was hidden, eventually so extreme he was replaced by a priest who began to work with the natives rather than persecute them.

The village of TzinTzunTzan was an early territorial Spanish outpost prior to 1540 although settled in the 1300's by indians. The village today is known for Christmas (and other) decorations made from reeds. They also have pottery and carved wood as this is in the forested areas of the mountains. We initially stopped on the main street after seeing a shop or two with some woven decorations for sale. This hardly seemed like "the Christmas village" so in poking around I saw a dome peeking over the buildings a couple blocks away and decided to explore. Arriving at the site it was a large walled compound, obviously very old with huge wooden entry doors. This turned out to be a church and monastery which we visited. The church in typical fashion was dramatic and very ornate down to the glass coffin containing someone my Baptist heritage didn't recognize, and sadly my Spanish so far was unable to identify, but it was a serious place for the faithful to be sure.

We bought a couple of wreaths for something like $4 each and returned to the car. Driving a few blocks further we came around a bend and there was the town square and THIS was the main mercado with everything Christmas you could imagine intricately woven from reeds etc. The beauty and craftsmanship of the work has to be seen to be appreciated, it's gorgeous. Also the pottery was different and very attractive including some "pineapple" pottery. Now until recently I wouldn't have known this art form from a rock until we were in Tlaquepaque shopping and my partners helped to educate me. So, here are all these pineapples in various forms and patterns and to make a long story short I was conned (by my neighbor) into buying one, a huge investment of $150 pesos, or about $10.80. It's a lovely green and amber colored thing with 6 small cups and a sort of flower on the top. It's meant to show hospitality and so I placed it near the back door, no one much comes to visit and the cats come to the back door to eat, so I'm showing my hospitality back there I guess? - or, it might be a great "after Christmas white elephant exchange thingy".

After carefully loading my precious acquisition into the Jeep we headed on to Patzquaro about 15 miles further. This became the regional center of Spanish authority after 1540 and is a city of about 50,000 today. We had noticed a subtle different look to the villages and towns, more open, less claustrophobic and cleaner, very pleasant all in all, and quite pretty as it nestles among the trees and mountains. This was our destination for the night and as mentioned I had NO map of Patzcuaro, a serious red flag and I didn't know the half of it.

As we wandered into the town we headed for "centro" and immediately found ourselves in a huge traffic jam. Then the real fun began when we hit a 5 way split in the streets with absolutely no idea which way to go - and of course I guessed wrong which was to become a theme for the trip. We knew there were two squares and after some juking around found one, but didn't know if it was the large or small one, add to this my natural sense of direction was now off by 90 degrees, what I thought was north was actually west or something? The square was jammed with people, a very busy place and we began to notice that everything was painted uniformly, the bottom half of the buildings is an oxide red, the top white with red tile roofs and the name of stores painted in red/black 6" letters - the whole town is this way, not just a few, IT'S EVERYWHERE! As it turns out, all three of the towns we visited were this way, so maybe it's a Michoacan "thing".

I managed to find a spot to park and my navigator (who wasn't much help to this point) found a local tourista place and they provided a map drawn by the local 6th grade class of 1924 - I kid you not! After some more wandering which took us down and down and down a jogging street, hardly wider than the Jeep, to a dead end facing a 30' abutment. I managed to turn the Jeep around in a space hardly more than 4' longer than the jeep by repeatedly climbing over curbs - but we retraced our path (I could easily tell we'd been there by the tire scuff marks on both curbs I had bounced off from earlier.

Eventually we found the hotel, it was the only one of the turns at the 5 way street I hadn't taken earlier - naturally.

The hotel is around a center court and must be an old estate hundred of years old. We entered to find our host Alfredo sitting in the court typing on his wireless PC (yes). We collected our keys and headed for our rooms, each room is large with two large beds, a fireplace with supply of wood and at least 15' ceilings. Very charming and very chilly. Yes, my mistake of visiting late in the year was coming into play. While the days in the thin air are warm, it cools immediately when the sun goes down. My neighbor knocked on the door and said she tried the hot water and thought the heater was probably in Morelia - um, that would be about 45 miles away - oh goody.

There was no garage or parking except on the street, but a garage was apparently nearby, but first something to eat was in order. We walked down the row of hotels and stores, all painted the same and looking like something out of an old movie, to the huge basilica (gotta have one of those) and to a restaurant recommended by my partners. After an enjoyable meal we decided to explore - this is where things went horribly wrong - and started driving aimlessly which in Patzcuaro is bone stupid, especially when your sense of direction is 90 degrees off, even though direction mattered little as we had no idea of where we were going.

I would judge this area to be less prosperous as we saw considerably less cars and hundreds of mini buses serving the local population. In fact, there are so many little buses I'd say they contribute significantly to the traffic problems. But as we careened aimlessly down streets that went forever without a cross street we continued to notice the same exact paint scheme and no cars parked on the streets. This is a good thing because the streets were very narrow and then a narrow sidewalk and then the front of the residence - they ain't got no yards! In some cases I would say you'd be well advised to peer out before flinging open the front door to make sure you don't loose the door to a passing car. But you have to remember this was a center of government in 1540, the streets were adequate and random - and boy, do I mean random!

After wandering aimlessly for some time we broke out onto the sort of beltway around town and ended up where we came in and found our way back to the hotel. I decided to park the car in the "garage" around the corner. The "garage" is a big open door which you drive through, honk your horn and wait. Eventually a lady who lives there comes out and you give her $30p and she points to parking in the middle of the open area and I headed home for the evening.

Back at the room the TV received some English channels and so I started to settle for the evening, but it was getting darn chilly, reminding me of my Grandfather's house in Nebraska with only a central floor furnace - except this place didn't have a floor furnace and was all brick and tile floors which were cold. I started the fire with the wood provided which helped somewhat, but was about as far from toasty as east is from west (or whatever, I'm still 90 degrees confused). I elected to go to sleep, after the stress of the day that wasn't hard, but I thought seriously about turning on the hot water a little so it would be warm in the morning but didn't. Somewhere in the dark of the night after the last BTU's of the earlier heat provided by the fireplace had been sucked out of the room, my feet were freezing, I got up and found my socks and a tee shirt. And I swear to Aunt Ethel that's the first time I've slept with socks in at least 50 years - well, 40 for sure! My neighbor said she slept with her fleece jacket and hoody.

The next morning arrived on schedule, chilly as a mother-in-laws greeting and it was at that moment I wondered what madness had driven me to burn all the firewood the night before - el dumbo. I looked at a couple pieces of the furniture but decided to try the hot water instead and fortunately is was hot and pretty quick, so things were looking up. We tried the coffee at the common area and were warned it was "strong" - Chihuahua, this stuff made chicory coffee in New Orleans taste puny, so we opted for a trip to the now familiar town square and found a nice little place with a good breakfast to fuel our day.

I went to pick up the car and the windows were fogged over so I hit the windshield wipers and heard an almost forgotten scraping sound as they rasped over the ice on the windshield? - yes, it was chilly, but I got a chance to test the defrosters and the rear window heater and am glad to report they both worked - eventually, it was then as I sat there waiting in the cold I remembered why I live where I do. Our host produced another colored version of the 1924 map (guess that's as good as it gets) and we headed out of town with a manual 90 degree course correction added to my driving.

On the way out of town there is a stretch for maybe a half mile or more that is completely walled with carved canterra stone statues of every size, kind and shape, literally thousands of pieces - for sale naturally, we passed, but it was amazing.

On to Santa Clara del Cobre, a smaller town, harder to get lost in which is a good thing. Like many towns in MX they have a specialty and theirs is copper. They have a local foundry that reclaims copper and produces sheets that are crafted and I do mean crafted into everything from pots large enough to stand in, to copper bath tubs you could retire in, to the tiniest little trinkets and going shop to shop you soon get burned out on everything copper, it's amazing and very interesting, I'll go back, but maybe not through Patzcuaro?

Eventually we found our suppliers showroom and they directed us to the production facility that was very interesting and amazing to see all the stages of production. At peak times they employ up to 70 workers although things are a bit slow now. To watch all that work done totally by hand, no mechanization, is amazing and a testament to the skills of the artisans working there.

After more shopping and more shopping and exploring we called it a day and headed back toward home. The route took us back through Patzcuaro and I (foolishly) elected to swing back through town to eat at a restaurant we'd been told was good. At least by now I could find the square without too much trouble and we did have a very nice lunch and then some more shopping before hoisting anchor. I headed toward the street out of town only to find it blocked by the police? - so, I made another executive pilot decision and careened down a narrow side street and again this was so narrow I was scuffing tires on both curbs at times, but at least it didn't dead end and after hoping over another curb or two we managed to find the main road out of town.

As we were leaving Patzcuaro my copilot remarked that she enjoyed the town and was coming back - I looked at her in disbelief and asked "DON'T YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY CURBS WE HAD TO DRIVE OVER IN THE PAST TWO DAYS?" - I suggested she take a bus next time.

On the way home I managed to miss a turn to the couta and we saw some more of the lovely country in the Michoacan mountains, plus a couple of towns on our way to Zamora. Eventually we found a sign which led us to the couta and back to the Ocotlan turnoff - which I managed to miss as a truck was blocking the exit sign. It all worked out as we needed gas and soon hit an ever present Pemex on the Guadalajara couta. It only took us about 20 miles out of our way so all in all an interesting and busy two days.

A great trip (primarily because the Jeep and I both survived) and will be worthy of another trip, but the next time I'm going the south way to see more of the villages including the "pineapple" village, but until then my pineapple hospitality thingy is proudly decorating the back door entry and the lovely wreath is on the front for all to see (except I live behind 8' walls?)

Ho Ho Ho to all, and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !