By this Author: divatmotoros

There are two museums related to automobiles in Puebla and last weekend we have visited one near the Children's Museum (Museo Infantil) and the Puppet Museum (Museo Casa Del Titere).

The Museo del Automóvi de Puebla MAP is basically a Volkswagen outlet with different versions and years of the Beetle. Not much to see especially now that the Audi race cars were removed from the first floor.

This weekend we have visited the second car related museum in Puebla, near the historic center. This one has a more promising collection starting from Ford T Models to the custom bus used by the Pope's visit to Mexico, a Delorean, some US models and several different European manufacturers (DKW, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and more).

After seeing the collection we also checked the "Mirador" on the top floor of the building, which gives you excellent view of the city. Altough almost all museums are open for free on Sundays this one is an exception, 70 pesos for adults and 50 for kids. Kids under 3 go free!

Let the pictures talk for themselves!
(For more classic car pics check our earlier post about the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska here.)

We looked for an excursion not too far from Puebla to spend two days with the grandparents who visited us. Las Estacas Parque Natural was recommended to us and it was a hidden paradise indeed!

The large area is built around a slowly moving, crystal clear and quite cold river, in which you can swim beneath the beautiful and lush green trees. There are many pools ("albercas") which are warmer, and a huge area for camping with tents, glamping, restaurants, a wedding place, even a scuba driving center!

We spent a great splashy day and used the asador (ie. grilled some chicken, sousages amd bacon) to fill some tacos!

After 14 months spent with the kids 24 hours a day we much needed a break. Luckily the grandparents were willing to visit us in Mexico again and agreed to watch for the kids for a week! So we started planning a getaway and we picked our favourite location in Canada: British Columbia and more specifically Vernon.

The trip was relatively easy: a two hour bus ride from Puebla to Mexico City, a direct flight to Vancouver and then a scenic drive to Vernon (about 5 hours). We spent a day in Vancouver after arriving and then headed off to Vernon.

In Vernon we visited the Okanagan Lake and enjoyed hiking in the surrounding hills with nice views. Also visited Kelowna.

We also drove to explore some nature nearby at Revelstoke, where we have hiked to two waterfalls. First we checked Moses Falls a bit North of town.

Then after a "classic" Tim Horton's lunch with donuts and a "double-double with an espresso shot" we went to Begbie Falls a bit South of town. The falls were about 2,5 kms from the parking spot we stopped but it was a beautiful autumn walk across the forest, some remote camping spots and the huge shoal of fish at the bottom of the falls was really spectacular.

After the beautiful excursions we got a great farewell with a full rainbow seen from the car and a beautiful sunset from the airplane. Will return for sure to this beautiful and friendly corner of Canada.

We have visited Chihuahua from Lazaros Cardenas, when we stayed with our extended family.

Aquapark Delicias

We have relatives in Mexico! Last time we met about ten years ago in Budapest, Hungary at a wedding and now we are coming their way, visiting thier town at Lazaros Cardenas. It was great to reconnect and they very kindly offered us a place to spend a few nights at their shops (between the "Dulceria Adelita", a candy shop and the car repair workshop they are running as a family, working a lot every day!

The welcome was lovely and warm and we had great hospitality from them, we did some joint barbecues and talked a lot. It was great to meet the extended family and to reconnect after so long time!

The kids enjoyed a lot helping a few times at the candy store and they even went to a volunteering day to clean the nearby riverbed from trash. It was a good Saturday morning.

One of the family members keeps bees so he also invited us to see how honey is packaged from the hives to the bottles.

Warm, loving and very positive to meet your relatives so far from home, we were very happy for the opportunity!

We wanted to stop at a small farm/motel enroute which was just a few kms from the main road we were travelling. We took the turn and arrived in a nice valley. The first part of the road was a medium quality dirt road, but after a few kms it became quite good again.

After arriving to our destination we realised that the gate of the farm was way too small to fit in, not only width but height for sure. So we simply stopped next to the road in a small widening and set up the trailer for the night.

We were a bit worried about safety although it was a very quiet stretch of road. After dark, around 9pm a truck stopped next to us and someone started to shout in Spanish. Will we be robbed on our first boondocking night? I answered the door and it was a very kind local farmer. He offered to spend the night at their farm nearby, with water, electricity and wifi and some dairy for sale. As the kids were already in their beds and I did not want the hassle of packing everything again we decided to stay where we were. After a peaceful night we continued.

We selected this place based on its proximity to the border and it was a pleasant positive surprise. Could have spent more than one night. It had beautiful views to the surrounding mountains, a nice pool and playground and a laundry. The facilities were excellent and very clean, well maintained.

Wanted to stop at a Mountain Valley Lodge & RV Park in Rodeo, a small town enroute bit we did not fit in. but Next door a roadside place looked very much run down and was permanently closed. Asked a man walking with a dog and he said it was not ok to spend the night there, but there was another RV patk nearby, Rusty's, about 6 miles down the road. So we went there.

The office was already closed and an elderly couple helped us to park at the dry camping area, which was fine for us. After setting up the trailer we checked the mini bird-zoo.

In the morning while I packed the trailer the kids had a chance to feed the birds with the help of the owner and they even petted the little animals.

After visiting the White Sands National Park we drove a bit to the North to Alamogordo to check The Museum of Space History.

It had some outdoor exhibits like a fighter jet and a scale model of a rocker launchpad amd several full sized rockets. The building was a 5 story block shaped modern building and the elevator was already nicely themed, as taking us to a launchpad. We started on the top floow and ascended slowly walking with the kids.

The two favourites were the display demonstrating the sounds and vibrations of several rocket launches, and the photo wall where the kids could dress up as real NASA spacemen.

First we stopped for the night near the Holloman Air Force Base, as we noticed a public access area next to Holloman Lake. The entrance was a small gate with a sharp turn right after it but we managed to fit in with the trailer.

Next morning we have visited the White Sands National Park and we kept it short in the extreme heat (39C or 102F). The landscape looked as of ot snowed, the white sand is made of gypsum, quiite an unique sight. Due to its color it was surprisingly not too hot, despite the burning sunshine.

After a few minutes of walking across the dunes we all wanted to get back to the car and cool off. Our next stop was a nearby space museum!