Brian’s Microblog

February 25, 2026

We got up around seven again, and after we showered, we went downstairs for breakfast. The receptionist had to call the chef to come make our pancakes for us. I think we were the only guests in the whole place that night.

We got packed up and on the road around 9:30. It was cool, but not cold. We thought we would try a different route out of the city to the road that goes over the pass to Dolores Hidalgo. There is a tunnel that cuts under the center of the city. Unfortunately, we missed the turn into the tunnel, and these streets are so narrow that they are almost all one way, so we ended up making a fairly long loop to get back to the tunnel entrance. There is actually a network of tunnels, and we had to turn at a couple of intersections underground.

Once out of the city, I really enjoyed going back over the mountain pass to Dolores Hidalgo. It’s a pretty curvy road that goes through an oak forest. As we dropped elevation, it started warming up and we stopped to take off some layers. As we headed further south I could see that there was more water available. Agricultural operations started looking more successful.

We stopped for lunch in Juventino Rosas. By then it was over eighty degrees. Eventually we turned off the highway onto a narrow paved road that leads to the small village of San Joaquin. Then we took some small streets to a primitive dirt road that goes a couple miles to the home of Gustavo’s friend Jose Luis.

As soon as we got our riding gear off we met the dogs, and then Jose Luis brought us some beer and peanuts. The three of us sat in the shade of some long needle pine trees and talked while Jose Luis’s wife, Letitia, finished cleaning the guest room.

Then we took a little tour around the three or four acre property. The house is at 8,000 feet elevation so the temperature was pleasant. Jose Luis has a funny or interesting story about everything, and they have spent a lot of time working on the house and property for the eight or nine years that they have lived here.

Letitia made a tasty dinner and then we all sat on the couches and talked. I was able to follow a fair amount of the conversation but there are a lot of Spanish words I don’t know.

I was staying up after everyone went to bed to put this trip report together, but then the Internet went out. The house is primarily powered with solar panels and I think the Starlink modem is on a timer or something to save electricity.