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living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com
Cañada de la Virgin San Miguel de Allende
My little brother (I guess I should say "youngest"), arrived last Monday and we have been on the go since then. We toured the city of Monterrey, Santiago, and then we took a trip to San Miguel de Allende for five days to show him the colonial side of the country and a bit of history. That trip included Dolores Hidalgo, Atotonilco and other sites in between.
We had the opportunity to visit with our friend Barbara and have dinner out one night.
Visited the pyramids outside San Miguel de Allende and enjoyed a wonderful tour.
On the list of activities was a formal tour of the botanical gardens. As often as we have stayed there, walked the gardens and lake, we had never taken a tour. It was great and my brother truly enjoyed it. One thing we learned is that there is a fight for the land by developers. The wall in front of the parking where I have parked the trailer in the past was torn down by the city claiming it was violating the passage of vehicles. We have now lost that boondocking spot. I know that progress comes at a price, however, this is coming at a cost to the environment as well as the community. Many homes between 3 and 5 million pesos that make it impossible for Mexicans, especially locals, to purchase.
We spent a few hours at the thermal water, La Gruta. It has now become the gringo tourist center and prices have really shot up. There has to be another more economical and less crowded place.
Philip left on Wednesday and we hope he enjoyed his stay and will come back soon.
On another note, we were trying to get some things done before his visit. The rains were heavy for more than three weeks. People couldn't make it, couldn't do the work or something. One of the things we wanted to remedy was our showers. Both had old plumbing and it required opening the tile and concrete walls. It didn't happen.
Now that he's gone, the plumber found the time and did an incredible job. We had saved a few pieces of tile just for this type of event and it came in handy. Before there was little pressure and it took forever to get hot water. We don't take long showers. In fact, we pretty much follow the boondocking method of getting wet, soap up and then rinse turning the water off in between. At the gym, I never use hot water. If I won't waste my own, I won't waste someone else's, doesn't matter if we are paying for it or not. Water is a valuable resource. The faucets were changed out for a mono-faucet. We had to wait until today to use it. Full force water stream (water saver showerhead), and instant hot water. Total cost of materials and labor, 1500 pesos ($80 U.S.).
