Monday, 2/29 ... Run For The Hills!

The morning went very smoothly and as planned.  Luggage was loaded into another secured, canvas-covered cart and we went off to the poolside restaurant to cash in our remaining breakfast coupons.  This buffet was of a more reasonable size than the one at the main restaurant, but featured all of our favorites.  An unexpected addition was an entire roast haunch of pork, juicy and delicious.  A proper dose of fruit, enough "elephant ear" pastries to see us through to next year, and it was already time to trek over to the rendezvous location.

A good stroll and a trolley ride later, we found that despite our best efforts, Oscar was being held at the entry gate.  We were able to untangle that and shortly he arrived.  He and the luggage handler managed to fit it all into the back of Emilio's SUV (on loan for this purpose), so we strapped in and set off for Tepic.

The roadways varied dramatically from place to place, though all WERE paved.  We went from 4-6 lane divided highways to 2-lane twisty mountain roads, and through some very beautiful terrain.  We had very good luck and encountered just a couple of slow-moving trucks on our side of the road; on the flip trip, every few miles there were vehicles slogging along behind a fully-loaded semi or a sugar cane transport ... hoping for a short stretch of straight road where they could pass safely.

A solid couple of hours later we arrived in Tepic, and found a parking space right in front of Martha & Emilio's.  They enjoy a spacious home right downtown, a narrow sidewalk between their walls and the street.  We piled out of the car and got unloaded; each of us enjoys a generous guest room with private bath.  Luxury!

After getting everything sorted out, we were introduced to a Mexican concept:  LUNCH.  LUNCH is the main meal of the day, and is taken some time between 1 and 4 in the afternoon.  We, of course, were thinking of something more like a snack than a meal, but having gotten our education, were happy to tuck into good tacos and a sweet pumpkin-with-milk dessert at a small restaurant right across the street.  In keeping with their clientele, they're only open until 5!

Martha's daughter Veronica and granddaughters Chelsea and Hilda arrived and we chatted well into the evening.  We had always intended to do some cooking for Martha & Emilio, and now this expanded to include them and Adrian, Veronica's partner.  Time to get to bed so there's energy for grocery shopping tomorrow!