The Road to Garlic....and Back

What's this!??  Paved road?

Paving....over...for now.

Our road trip up to San Jose de Magdelena...or "the little garlic town"....is very different from last year, at least in the beginning.  The road is paved!  Zipping up the new road, we wonder, what changes will we find in the "town?"   Then suddenly at the 8km mark, the pavement is gone.  The last five kilometers are prepped for paving, but who knows when that will happen...or if.  Mostly, in Mexico, it seems it's a matter of "when"...which goes to manana...meaning...another day, some other time, or...not now!  

It doesn't take us long to come across the same cowboy we saw last year, using a mule as a main means of transportation.

Photographia senor?  Si!

River crossing....

 The river crossing point is now many times wider as far as water to cross.  Hurricanes change things!

We find no farmers weaving garlic ropes, but we do locate a little house up by the school and clinic and a woman waves garlic ropes in the air.  YES!

Ann gets dos!

Noticing a boiling pot in the back yard, I can't help but wonder what's cooking?  It's papaya!

Green papaya for a sweet treat...sugar added!

The papaya tree provides lots of fruit, the ladder provides the way to get the fruit, and the local woman cooks it, adding sugar...lots and LOTS of sugar...to make a batch of "Dulce Papaya."

See the green papayas?

Access!

We pass on purchasing the sweet treat.  But it's interesting to think about!

Before stopping for our picnic beside the river, we drive up the road a little further.  The "town" of San Jose consists of now three tiendas (stores) instead of only one.  The shelves show a low inventory...and oh my goodness...think about Costco!?  We buy tiny bottles of Coke from the government store, notice a roadside shrine cut into a rock wall, and peer inside a grate at a store long closed.

There is a candle burning

Never to be picked up?

The river provides a good picnic spot and our caravan of four cars stops here to have lunch.  All dogs have a swim, which is welcome for long haired dogs on this hot day.  Then...it's back to the beach!

It's always so amazing to see water ....in the desert.