10/10/24
Today Lurko and I drove to Guadalajara with our two large dogs, who were excited about being on a road trip again. So were we. Other than our mini-vacation in La Cruz in June, we hadn’t done a road trip since April to see the eclipse in Playa Novillero. We were tired of staying home and being hot in Nayarit, and it seemed like a good time to get away. This time we were going to actually spend time in Guadalajara instead of just rushing through it on the way to somewhere else. I was looking forward to showing Lurko the city I used to live in thirty years ago when I was in high school and just getting used to living in Mexico.
The four hour drive through the Sierra de Vallejo mountains had no major mishaps. The toll roads were lovely, winding through the lush green wildlife preserve recently designated as the Sierra de Vallejo-Rio Ameca biosphere. There were many tunnels and many wildlife overpasses. This is where the jaguars live, and although we will probably never see any hanging around the toll road, it was fun to imagine them roaming the jungle around us.
This trip so far has been marked by what we didn’t see. We didn’t see jaguars, and we never remember to look for the Ceburoco volcano until after we’ve already passed it. And the outskirts of Guadalajara are so built up now, I couldn’t find the Colonia I used to live in thirty years ago.
To find our way to the Airbnb, we basically did the drive from my old house to the American school I used to attend, but apart from the familiar street names (Pablo Neruda, Avenida Américas, Colomos), I recognized none of it. Granted, it’s been over thirty years, but I thought more of it would look familiar. The giant topes (speed bumps) going through the University — those were still there.
Another thing that came back to me was how much rush hour suuuuuucks here. We arrived at the outskirts of the city right at 5pm and it took us over an hour to get to the apartment. The place was near the same street as my old school, and I remembered it took about this long to for Mom to drive us to school every day. Lurko couldn’t fathom a commute like that, commenting that he only lived 10 minutes away from his high school in suburban Texas.
The Airbnb is in a cute five-story red brick building with parking in a downstairs garage. The dogs needed to pee, so we quickly learned things like: where the closest patch of grass was (a block away on Avenida Américas), and where the neighborhood dogs lived (next door behind a metal gate). We passed a hot dog stand called “Doggos Americanos,” which made us chuckle. We also found a Star Wars themed burger place, a tiny hole in the wall called Galaxy Wars with a big smoker out front. We weren’t super hungry, but Lurko promised we’d try eating there another day.
We schlepped all our stuff up the tiny elevator to the third floor, used the keyless entry, and were soon settled in and snacking on tostadas. The dogs got fed, but 20 minutes later Auggie was whining at the door because he had to go outside to poop. Back outside we all went, down the tiny elevator, past the hot dog stand, back to the patch of grass on the corner, then we explored the grassy median on Avenida Américas. Auggie did his business, but Dutchy was too distracted (and hadn’t eaten much in the excitement so she didn’t have to go). We trekked back to the apartment, pausing in front of the Al-Anon building next door. They had just finished a meeting and everyone was doing the typical hang-out-in-front-and-smoke that seems to happen after every 12-Step meeting. Except this is Mexico and you’re not allowed to smoke anywhere, so they were just hanging out. A couple of the dog lovers saw Dutchy and wanted to pet her, so we let them. People always want to pet Dutchy — she’s a pretty girl and she knows it. They wanted to pet Auggie too, but he stayed behind me per usual and glared suspiciously at this crowd of strangers. The strangers laughed at Auggie “el negro” and cooed over Dutchy “el coyote.” Then we took the dogs upstairs and started winding down for bed. The bed was a nice sized king and all four of us fit on it easily.
Tomorrow morning we will meet my friend for breakfast, and see about looking for coin shops. Already enjoying Guadalajara’s cool and dry weather, the opposite of the hot and humid back home in Nayarit. Mom did always say the weather was what she liked most about living in Guad.
