Colorado

Nice to be back in Colorado again for our yearly visit. We stopped in Pueblo for a few days to visit Marlene and Dan, who live in the mountains outside of Pueblo in a little town called Beulah. The weather wasn't too cooperative, rainy and chilly, but we were able to take a nice hike around Beulah Mountain Park which has lots of streams and ponds.

One area of the park has several buildings including a small hotel. The building below is used for community events, weddings, and so on. The stone work is incredible especially considering it was constructed before the use of heavy machinery to move all the rocks and boulders.

Of course on the day we left Pueblo the weather improved - the sun came out and it warmed up. Our next stop was the Longmont/Lyons area where we spent much of our lives. So much has changed since we left here as the area continues to grow and grow.
We stayed for a week at the Boulder County Fairgrounds where we have stayed in previous years. In addition to being conveniently located, there are interesting walking trails in and near the Fairgrounds. We followed one trail that went by an osprey nest, then wound around several ponds and had beautiful views of the Front Range.

The osprey nest has a mounted camera to follow the  ospreys. The camera broadcasts live from the following link  Longmont Osprey Camera. There are 4 eggs in the nest but we haven't seen any hatch yet. We'll be keeping an eye out to see how things develop.
We  were able to observe the ospreys fishing and carrying their catch to the nest. As far as we could tell, after catching the fish the osprey doing the hunting returned to the nest and shared the fish with the osprey sitting on the eggs. After that it flew to another perch and continued eating the fish.

The ponds have an abundance of geese as well as other birds and waterfowl. We saw something different every day.

The Fairgrounds are busy every weekend - horse shows, car shows. antique shows, rodeos, a farmers market and all sorts of other events including what appeared to be a miniature horse or pony show. Not sure exactly what the difference is but this one was decked out for the occasion.

Tilly

The last month or so has been a bit rough for us and I just haven't felt like blogging. Two days after arriving back in Fountain Hills we lost our dear, sweet Tilly. She was a member of our family for 14 years, and not surprisingly she has left a huge hole in our hearts and lives.
Tilly was a pretty well-traveled dog. She began her life with us in 2002 at our house on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. After leaving Vieques in 2006 we moved into the motorhome. Since that time she has traveled throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada with us, making lots of friends along the way. Brian has put together some photos of Tilly and her travels we thought we would share.

Tilly at 2 months with those huge ears she eventually grew into.

Our Vieques house was on a ridge with a steep hill. Tilly loved to carry coconuts up the hill, and no matter how many times she dropped them and they rolled back down the hill she never gave up. Most of the coconuts weighed around 5 pounds - pretty strong jaws.

Hanging out at Green Beach, Vieques. Bit of a gouge on her head from running around like a maniac.

Brian was always trying to get Tilly to swim. She loved the beach, waves and water but didn't want her feet to leave the ground. Lots of great memories from Orchid Beach in Vieques.

Tilly and her buddy Keeper hanging out on our patio in Vieques.

Tilly and Keeper kept their friendship going for many years. Here they're having one of many reunions at Bici's house on North Haven island, Maine. They never forgot each other and always picked up right where they left off.  

Tilly grew up with our friends Patti and Denny and their 5 dogs when we all lived  in Vieques. They all move to Florida and when we got the Bus our first stop was their new place. They watched Tilly for us while we were in Belize - it looks like she tried to re-join the pack by taking over little Gracie's bed. She was so happy to be back with her buddies!

One of Tilly's favorite spots in the Bus, sitting in the driver's seat with her favorite Kong toy

Walking one of the many, many beaches we visited. This one is Race Point near Provincetown, Massachussetts.

Another thing Tilly did with us is visit wineries. Many of them are dog friendly and welcomed her, and she often made friends with the winery dogs.

Tilly went pretty much everywhere with us. In Mexico she was allowed into the restaurants, where she would promptly go under the table and lie down for the duration. Here Brian has coaxed her out for a photo, nice tablecloth on her head.

One of our very favorite dog beaches in California near Morro Bay. We'll never forget the first time we went there and Tilly was so excited to be off-leash at the beach that she just went nuts.

Ready to catch some ground squirrels in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Exploring along the Ice Fields Parkway in Canada.

Back in Arizona, sweet to the end.

San Miguel de Allende, Otomi Grand Prix Horse Show

One of the largest horse jumping shows in Mexico takes place at Otomi, a luxury residential/equestrian community on the outskirts of San Miguel. The horse jumping competition has the best horses and riders from all over Mexico as well entrants from the United States, Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil, and even Switzerland.  The show is run by the Federacion Ecuestre Mexicana with winners receiving new cars, cash and other prizes. As far as I can tell, the cash prizes ranged from 50,000 pesos (about $2,800 USD) to 500,000 pesos (about $28,000 USD).
We saw posters and advertisements for the horse show and decided to head out to Otomi to see the show as well as the community and facilities. The event was definitely geared to the wealthier equestrian crowd so it was interesting to see that side of things. There were several arenas with a nice restaurant in between them.

I don't know much about either horses or horse jumping, but enjoyed watching anyway since the horses were amazing. This horse raised its tail every time it went over a jump.

We went to Otomi on the last day of the show, and we're not sure exactly what event we were watching. If my Spanish was better, I still don't think I would have known exactly what was going on. It was fun nonetheless.
I was able to capture a series of shots showing one of the horses jumping. Brian pointed out that the horse had all 4 legs off the ground before jumping, then used its rear legs to push off.

In the 1960s San Miguel was known as an equestrian center with people from all over the world coming to learn how to ride and train their horses. It's hoped by some in the area that San Miguel will once again be known as a 'horse town' and this seems to be a good start. 

More Guanajuato

Although we have driven by the Templo de San Cayetano, or La Valenciana, this is the first time we stopped and looked around the church. It was built between 1765 and 1788 with funds donated by the Count of Valenciana, owner of the nearby mine also called La Valenciana.
The exterior of the church has pink limestone walls, typical of this area.

The interior of the church has 3 altars with lots of gold and colorful figures. All built on the backs of the miners. Up to 3,300 indigenous Mexicans were enslaved and forced to work for the Spanish and in return the Temple La Valenciana was built for them to pray in their new converted religion. Doesn't seem like such a great deal to me.

After touring the church we hiked to what we think is the mouth of La Valencia, the original mine. However, we're not really sure about that because we've also been to ruins that are referred to as La Valencia Mina.  From what I can tell, we went down the original shaft but the new shaft where prospectors struck it rich is in the ruins we saw to the west.
We joined a tour and went down a steep stairs where the original miners hauled up loads of ore on their backs. It's hard to imagine how terrible life must have been for them. It was hard enough just going up and down the stairs. The mine made the Spanish owners and the Count of Valenciana very wealthy.

There was a room with a shrine and keys hanging from the ceiling. Not really sure exactly what the significance of the keys is, but it has something to do with good luck.

There was another shrine at the foot of the stairs. I would guess the miners could use all the help they could get.

The mine is a bit of a tourist attraction and has a fully operational bar

and some rather cute statues.

Captain Gabriel de Barrera was another Spanish 'silver baron' whose family was descended from the founders of La Valenciana Mina. At the end of the 17th century he built a grand hacienda and ore processing center currently known as Ex-Hacienda San Gabriel de Barrera. It's a museum with extensive landscaped grounds.

The hacienda displays furniture from the 17th to the 19th century and is somewhat of a furniture museum.

There are 16 gardens on the grounds, each landscaped in a different style. It was enjoyable walking around them - it's a tranquil oasis in the middle of a bustling city.

Guanajuato - Museo Iconigrafico del Quijote / Don Quixote Iconographic Museum

 

We have always wondered about Guanajuato's fascination with Don Quixote. There are numerous statues around the city and many references to Don Quixote, his faithful companion Sancho Panza, his ideal woman Dulcinea, and his aged horse Rocinante.

Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote Man of la Mancha,seems to be the patron saint of the city. The International Cervantes Festival is held there every fall. The origins of the festival are from the mid 20th century, when short plays by Cervantes called Entremeses were performed in the city’s plazas. In 1972, this was expanded with federal support to include more events to add a more international flavor. Since then, the Cervantes Festival has grown to become the most important international artistic and cultural event in Mexico and Latin America, and one of four major events of its type in the world. In addition to the Entremeses which are still performed throughout the city, there are a variety of acts and artists performing from all parts of the world, I'm sure it would be quite an experience to attend the festival.

This year we finally got around to visiting the Don Quixote Iconographic Museum. The exhibits are presented in many different media by different artists in different styles. Paintings, statues, tapestries, even chess sets, clocks and postage stamps all feature Don Quixote and his companion Sancho Panza.

The museum has over 800 pieces scattered throughout 17 rooms and courtyards. A few of them were closed but we saw so much stuff that it's hard to imagine that we missed very much. Some pieces showed Don Quixote and his companions as beaten and battered while others showed him as the chivalrous knight at the beginning of his quest to defend the helpless and destroy the wicked.

Naturally we wondered why Eulalio Ferrer was so obsessed with Don Quixote that he became the patron of this museum. Ferrer was born in Spain and became a journalist covering the Spanish Civil War. He was on the losing side and imprisoned in a concentration camp. In July 1940 after being released he wrote (rough translation) "When I entered the camp Argelès sur Mer, an exile who lost the Spanish Civil War, a militiaman gave me a book in exchange for a pack of cigarettes; I am wearing one that had been given to cross the border and did not smoke; then I changed it by the book. I got the bag and went to the concentration camp, where there were no seats or anything; I had to sleep on the sand and my pillow was the backpack. The next day, remove the sweater she wore to wrap myself because it was so cold, I saw the book, it was Don Quixote, an edition of Calleja, 1912. Imagine a 19 year old boy reading daily at Don Quijote as one book and an almost religious obsession, because everything idealized." One room of the museum is devoted to various editions of the book that Ferrer has collected, including the one that he read to his fellow inmates in the concentration camp. It's well-worn.

Ferrer also wrote in his diary from the concentration camp La Barcares in 1939 "There are moments when the sands of this beach transform into the plains of La Mancha and I see Don Quixote and Sancho riding along as though theses characters were real. I can touch them, hear them, they are with us. Cervantes created them to be immortal. What great solace I find in reading Don Quixote. Reading this novel in a concentration camp is like a minute hand marking human hours, like the discovery of ideas that justify the madness of this genius to summon the control of reason." After his release from the concentration camp Ferrer was exiled to Mexico.

We found this history of the museum to be not only interesting but touching. The idea that this book helped Ferrer cope with being in a concentration camp gives it a whole new meaning.

As we were leaving the museum we came upon a couple of unique exhibits. The first was a huge, room-sized mural depicting Cervantes and the characters from Don Quixote.

The other exhibit was a carving of Don Quixote. The stone used for the carving was found inside the wall it is now mounted on during the remodeling of the building.

Obviously we enjoyed our visit to this museum. Very fascinating and informative.