Month: March 2026

Sunday I decided to go look at some of the local ruins called Texcotzingo, south of the town where I am camping. It is about 1.5 mile through the town, so I set off about 8:30. This area is famous for the ancient botanical gardens (considered the first in the world) created by Nezahualcóyotl in the 14th century. Nezahualcóyotl was a brilliant man for his time and is famous for everything from poetry to hydraulic engineering and military strategist to legislator. He designed the aqueduct systems in this area that brought water from the mountains to the gardens and cities on the shores of the former lake.

Anyway, I hiked up the hill to the first ruin and it is truly impressive. The water to this site is brought from the far away mountain and is channeled to this place; a big pool that overlooks the valley and former lake. There are two other pools in the area, the concubine pool and the kings pool. I can only imagine 500 years ago sitting on the edge of this pool looking at an unpolluted and sparsely populated landscape. It must have been impressive.

I hiked around the north side of the mountain and on to the Temple del Sol. The temple is situated on the eastern slope with what looked to be a long man-made road to the other mountain. It turned out to be the remains of the old aqueduct that brought water to the temple and baths. This was impressive itself, but to find out on the other side of that mountain the aqueduct continued for another 3-4km to the further hills. There were steppes carved in to the side of this big mountain that apparently were part of the ancient gardens. Talking to Jaime, who is passionate about this area, he said that evidence exists that the gardens had plants that originated as far away as Brazil, indicating that Nezahualcóyotl had collected specimens from a vast area back in the 1400’s.

I wandered around the temple of the sun and then climbed ot the top of the mountain, which had additional ruins that were apparently part of a palace. There were some cool carvings on some rocks as well.

I wandered across the old aqueduct and to the farther hill and marveled at the possible path that the water had been channeled. There were storage areas, pools, down the side of the hill that apparently acted as reservoirs for the water.

I hiked down the hill and back through town and returned to the sleeping puppies. It was about 7 miles of walking today and it felt really good to get out. My lungs are still getting used to the altitude here, but I did pretty well on the climbs. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting the pantry and camper cleaned out and made some good progress on our taxes. I still have not gotten the extra tie-downs done for the camper, but I figured I will do that Wednesday morning before Kathy comes back.

Keith and Yumi were back at camp Sunday night as their van had some codes related to the water pump that had been cleared, but came back the next day. So they were heading back to the mechanic Monday to get that replaced.

On Monday I decided to take another walk down the hill into Texcoco, aiming for a bank. I ended up at the local mall that has a Walmart, Sam’s Club, and many other great stores. I actually had lunch at the local Carl’s Jr in the mall, which was $189 pesos, or about $10 USD. As long as I was at a Sam’s club I stopped to replenish the puppy treats and coffee, which I had run out of several days ago. I walked back up to the pups and finished the hike at about 8.5 miles. Keith and Jaime were hanging out and I saw pictures of the work being done on Keith’s van. They had to disassemble the entire bumper and radiator to get at the water pump. Needless to say, Keith is getting new belts, a thermostat, and other items as long as the thing is pulled apart.

Jaime is having some work done on his road and property in the morning and I’ll move Howie for a bit while that is being done. I helped him chop out some weeds from the property last night as well so they won’t grow back when he levels the land.

Here are some additional photos from the archaeological site.

On Thursday morning Maggie was in a good amount of pain, but she slept well and was eating and drinking well. I needed to get some more meat for the pups and for me so I headed in to the little town of San Miguel on Thursday. They have a cute little yellow church here that is filled to the brim inside with lillies, Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel de Tlaixpan. I sat in the church for a bit to listen to a small group that was praying and singing. It was very comforting and cool in the afternoon sun. On Thursdays the town has a street market and although I did not get anything there, it was a typical market with meat, fish, chicken, veggies, and all sorts of goodies, new and old, for sale. Maybe when Kathy gets back next week we can go there.

We returned to the vet on Thursday night and he was happy to see the wounds were not swollen. He told me I was going to have to clean the wounds for the next 4 days and make sure they did not seal up so they could seep if her body required it. He taught me how to use a little strand of twine to hold her snout shut so she would not bit me. We got back to camp and then Jaime and his wife invited me out for some tacos, so I got the pups settled and then met them. We drove about 20 minutes to another town and we sat down for some local tacos. I asked them how they had found the place and they said “ticktok”. The tacos were fabulous. A total of 10 tacos and 2 cokes was $290 pesos (about $17).

I cleaned Maggie’s wound three times on Friday, but I was having trouble keeping it from scabbing over. She was still taking the pain killers as the area was pretty bruised and she was very sensitive to touching the area. I kept the betadine spray handy to keep the area disinfected and scabs soft. I headed back to the store in the afternoon to stock up on some beverages and ham for the pups. I saw several pollo rotisserie places on the way back and stopped by to get a regular chicken and a spicy chicken. They were $125 pesos each, or about $7.50 USD and I pulled all the meat off of them and stored it away in the fridge. The puppies are getting rice and chicken while Maggie is healing. (TBH, I have taken to spoiling them these days).

By Saturday morning she let me touch her wounds and clean them without yelping or biting and they were not hot or swollen at all. She seemed ok so I did not give her the pain killer in the morning to see how she could handle it. So far she has not needed it, which makes me feel confident she is getting better. I got really lucky that mean dog got her across the shoulder and not the ribs, belly or neck. She even went on a short walk with Zuzu and I Friday night and then again on Saturday morning.

We got some new neighbors on Friday, Keith and Yumi, from Washington. They are here traveling around Mexico in a Sprinter van that they built. They have been at Jaime’s before but are stopping through because they need some work done on their van. On Saturday I started to change the fuel filters on Howie and realized I did not have a 28MM socket and after checking the local ferreteria, I asked if I could hitch a ride to Autozone to pick one up. Jaime and Keith were heading to get the van so we made a nice trip of it. I also purchased a 1/2 ratchet drive since mine had failed when the set screws had fallen out.

After dropping Keith at his van, Jaime invited me to have a beer with him and his family at a local restaurant. The place is in the back yard of a local family who grows their own fruit and livestock. We sat and had some great tacos and some fresh guava juice and of course some great beer. The family also has a coffee plantation down south and they showed us their recent batch of coffee berries they were in the process of drying. We sat and ate in the yard filled with chickens, ducks, puppies, and citrus trees and chatted for a couple of hours and I felt so welcomed. I did not understand much but worked at listening to the conversation, tempo, and trying to pick out words I knew. On the drive back I told Jaime how special it felt there and he said he loves his life here in Mexico. Lots of family, local traditions, and a slower pace than most experience in the USA. He said his cousins keep trying to get him to go to Indiana and get a job for $35 per hour, but he said it is much better here with a simpler life. I would have to agree.

I got back and successfully drained the rear filter without spilling any fuel. I wasn’t as lucky on the front, but only a little dripped over the underside components. The filters were filthy and I guess i will have to change them every 10K instead of 20K. The last change was at 60K miles in Hamilton, MT back in June.

Keith and I had a couple of beers Saturday night and he showed me some of their route and all of the great things that they have seen. I was trying to figure out where to cross from Mexico into Guatemala and he said the southern crossings are known to be less safe, so our original route up to the Yucatan would be best. He showed me the best route and all of the cenotes and ruins that are great to see. After that, I went over the Alaska and Canada routes that we traveled last summer since he and Yumi were starting this route in June 2026. Man, that is only several months away when I think about it. We have been on the road for 9 months.