Saturday Shopping and Sightseeing

After a long (but yet short) week of work on projects, we earned some time off. Alfredo planned a full day of activities for us to enjoy.

The morning started with a visit to the workshop of a woodworker. This man and his son primarily do their work on turning lathes, making tops, rolling pins, and various kinds of spindles. While we were there, the man must have turned out at least one dozen tops. It takes him less than a minute to make each top, it is amazing to watch. The equipment he uses would be considered junk in America. The lathe appeared to be homemade. The cutting knives were made out of old files. It is quite interesting that he can make a living in this way.

Next we stopped into a leather working shop. Ah… the smell of new leather. This place makes all kinds of leather goods – saddles, bridles, whips, chaps, belts, and wallets – just to name a few. The prices were incredibly low, and so there was quite a “feeding frenzy” of purchasing there. Bull whips were the biggest seller, I’m sure the man must have thought the gringos (Americans) were quite loco (crazy). It was quite a sight out in the street as the young people went outside to test out their whipping skills. Even the young ladies in our group have developed quite a knack at cracking the whip. A skills that is sure to serve them well as they marry and have children of their own. The proprietor of the store was an interesting fellow. He appeared to do all of the math for the purchases, including the currency conversion, in his head. His cash register was his wallet, as he received payment and made change.

We planned to stop at a very well known baseball glove manufacturer next. This company is very well known for their products throughout Mexico. Unfortunately it was closed that day, so we had to settle for some Mexican popsicles (paletas) from the store next door.

After our cool treat (sponsored by the Gunns) we drove out to Maguirres (Ma Gwee Dus) to visit Julia (who lee ah) and Fernando’s store. The drive there is always fun because it is a true Mexican road. It is “paved” with rocks about the size of a baseball with a little bit of clay and sand binding it together. The result is a fabulously bumpy road that produces a nice buzz if driven at the right speed. Julia was so happy to see us, and after another round of purchasing activity, she took us to see her home. Fernando was looking for the little Cuban, and said he had pictures with him from last year. The store is much better stocked than last year, her business is really growing. Julia testified at church the next day regarding her gratefulness for our visit, and noted that we bought many things, even things we did not need.

With our sacks of snacks we returned back to the DeHoyos’ home to pickup our picnic lunch and head for the mountains. Approximately one half hour later, we were driving right into the beautiful Sierra Madres mountain range. The views were quite breathtaking, a simple picture from a camera fails to capture. We drove quite a long ways into the mountains, and finally stopped at a quaint little town nestled right into the mountains. The main street through town was impressively clean, and all the building were painted bright colors. We had our lunch in a park along the highway, and then headed back home.

On the way back, we stopped in Vista Hermosa for a short while to finish up a few leftover tasks. We touched up some floor paint, un-hung the benches from the ceiling, hung the curtains, and stained the newly installed doors.

Our day was brought to a close with dinner a la leftovers in the DeHoyos home, with lots of talking, laughing, and games.

~Mike (with input from Phil, Kerry, Jerry, and Wendy as we drove from Mex to Tex)