Friday, July 18, 2008

Mina, N.L. & Petroglyphs of Boca del Potrerillo

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Just arrived back to the house in Monterrey this afternoon. I couldn't help but stop by since we will be heading South on Sunday or Monday morning. Good thing I did. The Gardener has a key to the gate and I asked him to make a copy and hide it. He did. But, he thought we would be gone four weeks. So when I made the surprise stop home, I found the key but the grass hadn't been cut, at least this week. I guess he was passing by and saw the gate open and when I woke up from my nap he is here now cutting, trimming and watering. Call me I-Spy! BTW, I had him put down some fertilizer two weeks ago, Monsanto Water something or other, and it really made a great difference. Yard pics tomorrow.

Yesterday took us to Mina. The name says it all. Mina was a mining town, now crawling at a snail's pace but with some interesting changes.


Several sponsors came together and formed the local museum. It is interesting in local lore and history. However, what one would expect from a tiny town is not what we found. We found a museum well-laid out, using technology to save energy and with a sense of self-pride. The most interesting are two family trees that cover local families from 1500 to date. Amazing for someone like me who can only trace their family back to their great-grandparents and even that is somewhat shady. Mina Museum also has a wonderful restaurant with delicious Mexican dishes and very affordable prices.




But one of the main reasons for the trip was to visit the petroglyphs at Boca del Potrerillo. As most history goes, these glyphs date back thousands of years and written or drawn by several tribes in the area. We drove from Mina North 15 kms and then took a left where the sign is posted. It is exactly 4.5 kms to the petroglyphs. At the visitor's center, there is plenty of information and pictures about the history surrounding the area. You are invited to follow the trails, a walk of about 500 meters, through the rocks. Obviously, there are thousands of petroglyphs, over 4000 but the area within the center supposedly has the most detailed although we did see some outside the fencing that looked pretty interesting to us.



Is this a "trilobite"?



You wonder what these drawings really mean. Maybe mom and dad sent the kids out to play and told them to go paint a rock, and they did! This guy was out in the sun and changing colors. As we chased him down he changed to this. It was almost as if he was posing.
And people don't believe that others have visited Earth. Puhleeezeeeee!
Since I will be home tomorrow and getting ready for our adventure to the South, I will post information about our place in Potrero Chico. It is worth reading as well as visiting. Our hosts have great plans for the place and it is already a wonderful respite after your first day crossing the border. Lots of great stuff there.

Also, a short report about how our Honda 2000 has been doing. I love that machine, one of my best investments. Have a good one!

Thought for the day, "Never ask for more than you yourself can give".


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