Day Six, Seven and Eight

This Blog has been edited - Pictures have been added and text. New text is in dark blue.
Karen

Calamity!!!!

My laptop will not power up. The blogs that I created for day six and seven are on there, along with the pictues. And I didn´t get to write last nights blog, nor edit the pictures and format for the web. I won´t try to fix the Macbook on the road, so I will have to create the rest of the blog when I get back and process the pictures. We did have a great time at the Canyon, and celebrated Bill Hartman´s birthday on Saturday. There were numerous hummingbirds there and everyone on the trip I think bought at least two baskets made by the Tarahumara. The train ride was spectacular thru the canyon, and we are now off for a float trip to see the bird and animal life. Tomorrow we head to San Carlos.

I will try to write more tomorrow as I have 10 minutes to get back to the hotel for the float trip.

Day Six

A lovely sunrise again. We are on our way to Divisidero and the canyon. Here is a picture of the sunrise from my hotel room.


We stopped at a Mennonite farm and heard about their presence in Mexico. They have several colonies in Mexico and the family farm we stopped at had 160 acres, mostly farmed in corn, beans and dairy cattle. They had Mennonite cheese for sale at the stop and several people purchased it, but I think alot of it was eaten before the final flight home. Below a couple of pictures of the farm.



After the farm we drove on through apple orchards. There are peaches and pecans grown in this region as well. We stopped for lunch at a family-owned restaurant in the orchards. The picture below is from the outside of the restaurant.

This is a picture of two sisters that were serving us. They had great personalities and alot of fun. We got back on the bus for the long drive to Divisidero. We stopped once for a bathroom break at a museum in Creel. Although we did not pay admission to the museum, they let us use the bathroom, and several folks also purchased a couple of items in the store. It was our first taste of Tarahumara Indian items. The town of Creel is also known for another feature - drive thru liquor stores.
While driving we also came upon this mode of transportation - not a usual hazard in Claremont.
We finally made it to the hotel in Divisidero at just after sunset, and had a little chance to wander around to see the sights. Tomorrow will be the day for that.

Day Seven

Up before breakfast, and here is part of the hotel perched on the rim of the canyon.

Here is the view of the canyon from my hotel room:


We went on a tour and stopped at the home of an old couple, not 100% Tarahumara, but each half. They let us see their house and the husband demonstrated some of his skills as a curandero. They both also dressed in traditional indian style. This is a picture of Teresa, our guide, and the husband, whose name I did not remember.
When we returned, it was time to take a group shot of the HMC participants at the Canyon.
And here is a cute picture of the instigator of this trip, Bill Hartman, his lovely wife Sandie, and Jim Dewar, hamming it up for the cameras.
And this is the canyon behind the people.
Some of us went on a trip to the Tarahumara village. We had brought pieces of fabric, purchased some ribbon in Chihuahua, and also brought needles, thread and scissors to give to these people. At first everyone was gathered at the church for a weekly town meeting, and Teresa was worried that we wouldn't be able to give away our things. But we approached the church slowly, and Teresa met a couple of the women that came out as well, and soon all the women were crowded around, admiring the fabric, and getting a chance to pick out a favorite.


Two happy customers, above. We then proceeded to walk around the village. Horses, sheep, goats and chickens were scattered around with each other, eating and generally hanging out, as below.
We learned that the wooden structures, which to me looked like bear caches in Alaska, were actually chicken coops. The chickens could walk up the long poles angled out of the door, where the predators could not.
We also saw a traditional Tarahumara adobe dwelling, and got to talk with the owner, a woman.
We returned to the hotel, and had a basketweaving demonstration before dinner. The Tarahumara are known for their baskets. They use the needles of the Apache pine, which are very long, over 12", and one other fiber from a type of agave plant whose name I did not catch. The next two pictures are the start of the basket, and some of the wares for sale.

All in all a very full day, and I look forward to tomorrow.

Day Eight