Brayde and I woke up early to take a walk around the village of Casas Grandes before breakfast. All the local children were on their way to school, and it was fun to watch all of them with their backpacks and uniforms.
After a great breakfast of huevos a la Mexicana (Brayde‘s favorite!), fresh fruit, and potatoes, we walk over to the ancient ruins of Paquime for a quick look around. It is amazing how advanced their culture was with their water storage, architecture, and horticulture.
Today’s ride is one of the longer ones, but the roads are twisty, and the scenery is breathtaking as we wind our way up to the upper Sierras. Passing cars on the highway and through the towns is reminiscent of our adventures in Italy and the Swiss Alps. The system is very efficient once you get the hang of it but takes a lot of trust in the other traffic.
Along the way our entire group was stopped by a Policia Municipal. He, Alfonso, and Juan have a long discussion while the group waits nervously. It turns out they just wanted to know who we were, why we were riding in such a big group, and where we were headed.
At one of our rest stops, we are approached by some Tarahumara Indians who are selling candy. Juan quickly jumps into the support truck and starts inflating balls for the children with an air compressor. The children were very happy to leave with some new toys to play with.
Lunch in the city of Guerrero was delicious. A bowl of beef soup was followed by huge platters of chiles rellenos, enchiladas, steak, and guacamole. For dessert, we were served what had to be the best Mexican apple pie and vanilla ice cream on Earth.
Tonight we stay at the beautiful Noritari Lodge outside of San Juanito on the rim of the Copper Canyon. Our hostess greets each of us with a hug and a kiss on the cheek before we even have a chance to dismount our motorcycles. We also meet Ivan, an additional guide who will be with us just for the Copper Canyon section of our tour. Within minutes of meeting him, we can see why MotoDiscovery has incorporated Ivan into the trip: he has a deep level of knowledge about the area and answers every question we can think to throw at him.
Dinner was amazing. Everything was home cooked by their chef. I peeked into the kitchen to check out their setup–complete with a woodfire stove–and even managed to get the recipe for a a great, smoky sauce made with olive oil and roasted chiles. I’m looking forward to trying my hand at it when we get home. Stories from the day were passed around the table over a bottle of wine, and then we all retired to our cabins for the night. Tomorrow will be another long day as we begin our descent into one section of the Copper Canyon.
Click HERE to read about the second day of the trip.