Discovering San Miguel

NEW ADDITIONS to My SEARCH 

our goodbye to padre Isand 

padre island castle

Mexico welcomes us     ----- signs along the way

ubiquitous 7-11....

                                                 

10 hrs. later the sign to SMA .... we arrive



 San Miguel is alive with street music, festivities, and artisans.  Neighborhood taco shops; convenience stores selling shoes, bread, milk, t-shirts; stalls of fresh fruits and vegetables and, even, neighborhood dwellings serving fresh cooked evening meals all nestle beside the cobblestone streets. Rather than government regulations and corporate establishments being the norm,  economic gain and  connections remain within the neighborhoods.

Tortilla Shop around corner from Joan's house

not 7-11 convenience shops

Joan's home is beautiful and full of life with two little boys and two dogs. And she demonstrates the ultimate kindness in her soft and generous presence.

x

Youth Lagoon - Montana

San Miguel de Allende

With a little help from our friends (Dolores, young man at visitor's center, Adrianna, and Mr. Mapquest), border crossing was smooth and easy and slow as was the 10 hr. 46min. drive down central Mexico.
We arrived tired and happy. I am loving Joan's home here....beautiful and comfortable
...more later...Buenos Noches para ahora.....

Laredo, texas

Our night time preparations for early morning border crossing and, then,  to find the most simple and quickest route south consists of 2 GPS's; mapquest; a local map and instructions from Larado visitors center; and an i-phone map.  All with differing instructions.
Joan is organizing all the options and I am writing the blog.

We will be in touch in Mexico...

WHEW ... here we are

travel time is slippery as is memory. 

Today is Tuesday and where have we been since Sunday? 

As we leave on Sunday, The New Orleans trees with the same gesture, wave goodbye and beckon us to stay.


Traveling for two days (10+ hrs.), I find the long Texan highway to Padre Island tedious while Joan points to the positive possibilities wherever we are.

 Lots of dead corn, dead palm trees, and dead gas stations on flat lands going 75mph dropping to 55 for no known reasons and back to 75.

I am entertained by the stories Joan and I tell about the people we see along the way and our guesses about the geography and making up our own names for the brown topped dying folliage.  Our word games and road- giddy- tearful- bellyful -laughter keep me awake. Then there was the adrenalyn lift when we were literally running on empty in some strange part of south Houston searching for gas and accommodations for  Sunday night.

After turning down 4 motels south of Houston on endless US 77S, we chose Super 8 where we need to change rooms because the toilets don't flush. Tired and hungry, we order chinese take out which I fed, the next morning, to the stray cat at our door.  (If you are coming with us on this journey then you must know about the tedium, also.)

I just want to know who is licensed when I meet them

Arriving in Padre Island on Monday in midday squelching heat we rest. Then running down the center of the road we, two 'old' ladies, wave down the WAVE, the local free bus, to take us to dinner. After ordering a chocolate martini, taking one sip and, then, returning the Herseys chocolate syrup in water and vodka, my cynical skepticism from our ride through the endless barren Texan road is fueled and I held low hopes for the dinner.

 I was surprised and put in my place. Our dinners of Mahi Mahi and crab cake and salads were quite good.

An evening walk along the gulf in the salt air before bed and,then, rising to a long early morning walk  and a dip in the Gulf before breakfast clears away the road weariness.

Only a few hours later to be startled alert in our quest to firm up our preparations for what's to come at the border.

The woman at the Visitors Center and her friend, a border officer, clearly warned us against crossing the border.  Joan asks "what is the best entrance to Mexico?" Raolle answers "Fly"
We revisited and discussed and belabored about 14x's and 3 hours how to and where to make the crossing.

Thus, we will rest and enjoy this lovely island tonight and head to Laredo tomorrow for an early arrival at our hotel. Where we will put together our car, ourselves, food, water, and our direct non stop route to San Miguel for early Thursday morning.

our view tonight as we ate fish taco's a short walk on the beach from our hotel.

The Beatles - "Tomorrow Never Knows" Mono

new orleans

with New Orleans ahead
We take a morning walk in Tuskegee National Park, Alabama.  Joan sweeps the road clean....leave it to Joan to tidy up before moving on.

A Thunderstorm and the gulf of Mexico on the road through Biloxi guided us into New Orleans. Gray skies, glistening gray rain, and gray gulf water melding together wrapping mists around us in shades of gray and memories.

I remembered 40 years ago another road trip from San Antonio to Ft. Bragg, I was 8 months pregnant, Rich and I played on the beach in Biloxi. A new wife, mother, and uncertain how it will turn out.

Now revisiting this beach and memory, I know how it turns out.

Now wondering how it will turn out on this end.

Road trips take us on a memory lane as Joan and I travel we visit together old loves, mistaken turns, surprising gifts, and unexpected destinations and get to know each other from before our time together. And in this way we each get to re-know ourselves.

Pat is our hostess at The Rathburn Mansions. Good breakfast and lovely room in the heart of the city with the Tomato Festival, Zydicon Festival, the Three Muses, and the Melange entertaining us. Dancing on the streets of the French Quarter, walking in the rain and listening to music everywhere. The New Orleans Moon Shiners and The Speakeasy our favorites.

Artists and musicians are everywhere.
Joan asks "why can't we have music and muses and mimes on our beautiful waterfront in Norfolk?"

Fun, laughter, food, and giant plants blooming green and pink and white and yellow, visual and auditory and olfactory senses bursting with stimulation.

Glad to visit New Orleans and glad to leave.

Heading to Padre Island, another memory of a youth place.
The Beat Goes On.

Patricia Barber-The Beat Goes On (Chicago Live 2010)

DAY TWO

 Also, night two of sleeping in a Sleep Inn, first in Statesville, NC and tonight in Auburn, Alabama. Travel is easy.

Mostly it keeps flowing forward through lush green and ubiquitous yellow and orange tiger lilies along the road side of the interstate.

 Spontaneous Serendipity is the theme today. Our travel took us with perfect timing to the Green Sage in Ashville for breakfast and, then, a visit with Ellie this morning. And, I do believe she remembered me from 3 wks ago.  She revisited with me all the things Chad and I did with her during our last visit. She is a happy engaging child. I am glad to be her grandmother, Mima or Mimi seems to be the name emerging.

 Joan and I travel with ease...timing for  food and stretching stops seem to be in synch.  We can be silent or find the views of mountains and sky and roadside attractions entertain us while we converse over our lives before this time and the time moves smoothly with the miles.  We are heading tomorrow for two nights in New Orleans. I am now drifting into slumber and ready for another day on the road to find out........

On The Road To Find Out Cat Stevens

Patricia Barber - Summertime

SUMMERTIME
and SEARCH FOR CHANGE takes a road trip.

After a short beginning of this blog and, then, many months away, I am jumping in and making a U-turn..  My search now is not for counterculture subversive activities that inspire us to live congruent with nonviolence and justice.

My new Direction, navigating with GPS and map quest in hand, has become more personal.

 I will be talking about about my road trip to San Miquel de Allende with my friend Joan Hecht. The search now, not so much for the grander social fabric change agents, but for hotels, fresh local food, fun,  and loose change.  The twists and turns in the road may turn my mind in a new direction. A change much needed.

Perhaps a personal journey of searching for soul peace and making this offering to the mix of humanity grows change.

Searching for change of mind. perhaps this will be the theme. As the road disappears behind me, and  glancing in the rear view mirror only for purposes of maneuvering forward. This may be a summertime journey of letting go..... A surrender into deeper acceptance of my life's journey; and, thus, an expansion into  thriving.

For now this blog will take a break from my original larger search for change and reveal and revel in our summertime road trip travels from Norfolk, VA to San Miguel de Allende.