Epilogue

Epilogue - Tucson, Arizona

(Shari) Gee, I think we should turn around and go back to Mexico. I'm cold. The weather report looks worse with snow expected in higher elevations and definitely rain all around with temperatures dropping. In Mexico we never had to listen to the weather. Every day was sunny and warm without fail. We are spending the night at Gilbert Ray County Park in Tucson tonight. Here, Carmen and Larry are parked also and they are joining us for chili and a movie tonight. This will be my last journal entry of the trip. I think you readers do not want to know the gritty details of warranty repairs on R-TENT. But I do want to summarize our 61-day adventure into Mexico. I think Mexico gets a bad rap. It is purported to be corrupt and unsafe for travelers. I have done my share of traveling in my life and there are few places that I feel safer. Once you get away from the border towns and the American influence, Mexico is a different country. People are poor but are willing to share what little they have. I remember the man with the bananas. He hardly had a peso to his name, but wanted to give us some bananas that he picked. All the people are friendly and happy, willing to offer a smile and a wave. My mind's eye still sees children standing on the side of the street in front of poor small one-room houses of brick, waving and smiling to us. Some may look dirty and have bare feet, but wash hangs on every available fence around their yard. I still taste the wonderful Mexican plates at the restaurants we attended. I remember the new tastes of Mamay in the morning and sweet tamales at night. I can still see the Tarahumara Indians with their sad eyes and sadder lives. The beautiful train ride and scenery of Copper Canyon will remain with me forever. So will the potholes in roads, the steep pavement edges built so going off the road would cause damage, the signs with words needing a dictionary's help to translate, and the slow moving trucks laden with millions of tomatoes. Dust and trash are a part of the picture too. But it is with an understanding of the culture that I can say, "So what." Mexico is a place to experience. By all means, I recommend traveling with a group. My enjoyment was heightened by seeing things through other's eyes as well as my own. If cost is a factor, find one of those companies that offer a la carte tours, as we did. A modest charge is accessed for the services of a wagonmaster and tailgunner, and all the rest is separate. You pay for only those things you want to attend, with no profit to the caravan built in. So until we start writing again in May when we take our trip to the Canadian Maritimes, "Adios mi amigos."

(Bert) I find it hard to believe our Mexican trip is over. I'm not ready for it to end. But we can relive our trip through the journals we have written and by the photographs we'll see when we develop our 21 rolls of film. Shari has already started the plans for our next adventure: Newfoundland and the Maritime Provinces. God willing, we leave Texas in early May and will travel into October. And then, next January and February, we hope to visit the eastern coast of Mexico, traveling to the Yucatan peninsula. We'd be happy to have you armchair travelers join us again through our travel journals. So until then, "Hasta luego."

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