Roaming Through Retirement




August--Striving through COVID
While COVID-19 has presented some challenges these past six months, it has also provided opportunities that we did not take advantage of pre-COVID. This includes much more walking, biking, and more recently day road trips.  Here are some of those opportunities in August. 

Recently, the state of Jalisco undertook this infrastructure project to improved the bike path along Lakeside.  4-1/2 miles of the 20 mile project is already done. The remainder is waiting to be improved.	On one of our Sunday morning bike tours, we rode along the back streets and found this hotel and event center tucked along the lake and used for small weddings and romantic get a ways.
For those more daring and energetic than us don't stop at ten miles but rather circle from Guadalajara to Lake Chapala and back for a 90 mile ride.	Larry and Steve Balfour, Executive Director of the Lake Chapala Society recorded a presentation for the Annual General Meeting on LCS's long-range plan, dubbed LCS 2.0.
This is the first of three road trips we took to break up the routine of COVID-19.  It was about a 150 mile tour around Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest natural lake.  Here we are overlooking the lake on the far west side in the city of Jocotepec.	These plastic tunnels outside of Jocotepec provide cover for nearly 1/3 of all the berries grown in the state of Jalisco.  Most of these farms are tied to Driscolls Berries.
Our next stop is Tuxcuela, a village of 5,000. The town parish looked like something out of Guadalajara.   We counted 13 huge bouquets of fresh cut flowers and this was on Wednesday.	A short stroll toward the lake where we ran into this tree well over 100 years old and a spread of 100 feet.
We admired this great egret, stalking for fish on the nose of this fishing boat. Most of the shorelines on this side of the lake are shallow with reed hugging the water's edge.	On the top of the highest hill in this village was the home of the first parish (now closed), along with this replica. They took, "on this rock, I will build my church" literally.
Our next stop was Tizapan el Alto, another farming community of about 20,000.  It was originally settled in the seventh century and conquered by the Spaniards in 1529.	The church was our only stop which sported two steeples, a domed rotunda and two dozen bouquets of flowers.
Petatan was our next stop and home of the largest congregation of white pelicans in Mexico.	Unfortunately, they were currently in the USA and Canada and will arrive about the same time as our snowbird friends.
Lake Chapala has a maximum length of 50 miles, width of 11 miles and depth of 35 feet.  This picture was taken at the midpoint of the lake along the south side.	This picture was taken on the southeast corner of the lake, where the water is the shallowest.  The lake resides mostly in the state of Jalisco, but at this point we are in the state of Michoacán.
Rainwater and the Lerma River are the source of lake water. The Lerma is the largest river basin in Mexico. Its headwaters are near Mexico City at 10,000 foot elevation and drains into the Lake at 4,900 elevation.	While we were amused by these shepherds herding their sheep as they grazed along the roadside, agriculture and manufacturing line the river, making it one of the most polluted rivers in Mexico.
Jamay (pronounced Ha-My) is on the far northeast corner of the lake.  Next to the church in the distant is a monument to Pope Pius IX.	Our last city we toured was Ocotlan, noted for their large furniture manufacturing.  While this may employ lots of people, we noticed more poverty here than any other community along Lakeside.
A few miles from the mouth of the Lerma River, is the beginning of the Grande de Santiago River that drains water from Lake Chapala to the Pacific Ocean. Together, these two rivers make up the longest river in Mexico.	Under the footbridge is the home to several of the victims of poverty in the area.  And what is more disgusting were cattle in carrels within feet of the footbridge.  Not the way we wanted to end our road trip.
As we exited the city, furniture stores like these lined both sides of the road. An easy one hour drive from Guadalajara and Ajijic.	Blue Agave, the raw ingredient for Tequila, can be found growing in most parts of Jalisco and can grow about anywhere you plant it.
Although Glorine has lost some muscle mass, she is doing quite remarkable otherwise.  She had this physical therapist come to the El Parque gym to give her a routine to get her back into shape.	Our next weekly road trip took us an hour west of Ajijic to an ancient ruin that dates back to 300 bc.  Unfortunately, because of COVID, it was closed.
The security guard pointed out a road to take us to this overlook of the ruins, a nearby community and mountains in the background.	We haven't seen corn this tall since we drove through the Midwest.
About 10 miles from the ancient ruins stands this modern Hacienda El Carmen built in 1728.  The hacienda once included 150,000 acres of farmland.	Over the past three centuries, this property saw many transformations, including serving as a convent.  It is now a hotel, spa and restaurant.
The landscape and hardscape were impeccable. The huge pond has an island in the middle to extend the entertainment.	The character of the building has stayed intact as well. Could you imagine seeing this in America?

August's web page includes August 1 through August 31.