Change of plans, and another busy tour day

This time, the vans arrived to pick us up at just after 8:30am. But first, while everybody was gathered around, we had to have a quick group meeting to discuss how Sherman was going to get caught up with the group.

As the group leaders, we had decided that everyone would spend two extra nights here at Oaxaca, and have the group carry on to the next destination of Puebla on Thursday morning. Ruth and I will return to Sherman on Wednesday. Then, with any luck at all Sherman would be ready on Thursday and we would catch up to the group in Puebla in time for their departure on Saturday morning to Patzcuaro.

Then, Richard suggested we only do one extra night here in Oaxaca, and add a night to Puebla where we only had a one day visit planned. Most thought this was a good idea, so that's what we're going to do. The group will leave here Wednesday morning.

This problem with Sherman has thrown a bit of wrench into the schedule, but when you're traveling with 12 rigs one of them is bound to break down at some point. I think we've been lucky so far, and we're glad that it was Sherman that had a problem rather than one of the customers. Had it been one of the customers, it would have caused even more logistical problems.

So, all we can do now is hope that the (correct) parts arrive either today or tomorrow as we had been told they would. Once they have the parts, it's not really that big of a job and hopefully the alignment isn't out too bad. Won't know until everything is back together.

Anyhow, 20 of our group of 24 hopped in the vans for another interesting day of touring. There is so much to see in the Oaxaca city and surrounding area. Ruth and I spent a week here back in 2013, and still didn't see and do everything we wanted to. So it's tough to try and pack it all in to two days of touring.

First stop, the Monte Alban archaeological site.

Monte Alban. 

Great to get there early when there's hardly anybody around.

Some of the group!

Great views from Monte Alban.

Big Jacaranda tree.

We went to the huge La Capilla restaurant in Zaachila, a suburb of Oaxaca City. I had read mixed reviews on tripadvisor and sure enough that's what we ended up with... mixed reviews! Some people said they had a great meal, while others were average. Ruth and I had a plate of beef enchiladas and we've had better. Some things were a little overpriced, we thought. 

The place is huge, and seats about 300 people.

Anyhow, with food in our stomachs, we moved on to the next attraction... the alebrijes artisans at the town of San Martín Tilcajete.

We visited the studio operated by Jacobo and Maria Angeles, who are world famous alebrijes artists.

The alebrijes are wooden animal figures that are hand carved from the wood of the copal tree. Once carved, the wood is left to dry for about a year. Then, the carvings are hand painted with natural dyes. The paintings are very intricate and detailed, and the painting process itself takes the artist anywhere from six weeks to six months depending on the piece.

The wood carving area.

The people doing this are mostly young.

Jacobo himself began carving when he was 12 years old. Then, he had to learn how to paint. 

Carved figures drying for up to one year. 

They do the carving while the wood is still soft.

These people are learning how to do the painting.

The studio trains new people in the art. These people learning are doing so with water based acrylic paint. Once you become a professional (after one to three years of study depending on your skills), you get to use the natural dye paints.

Learning how to paint intricate designs.

This young man is one of the professional painters. 

Look at the piece he is working on!

Another young professional!

Then we went upstairs to see some of the pieces for sale that were done by Jacobo himself.

Owl.

Grasshopper.

Snake.

Jaguar and snake. 

I think this one was priced at 52,000 pesos.

($3,600 CAD, $2,800 USD)

Our guide at the studio. I can't remember his name, but he has been working here for 25 years. He is holding the piece he is currently working on. 

Amazing stuff. I don't know how anybody has the patience to do this kind of work.

The vans parted ways as some people wanted to go to see the black pottery artists, while others had had enough. There was still one more stop along the way, at the magnificent Tule Tree...

The tree is not really all that tall. 

But it's girth is a world record.

Located in the pretty little town of Santa Maria del Tule.

Hard to get perspective because it is fenced off so you can't get close. 

But you can see the size of the person walking near the right edge of the tree.

Ruth, and the Tule Tree.

Statistics. More than 2,000 years old. 

Estimates range from 1,500 years to 3,000 years.

5:45pm by the time we got back to the campground.

Today is a day of rest! I think it's almost a good thing that the schedule is changed. After two full days of touring, I think everybody needs a rest day although some are talking about going back downtown again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The RV 30 amp version of Progressive Industries electrical management system has dropped in price again...

Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C Portable Electrical Management System - 30 Amp

And in Canada...

Breville Sous Chef 12 Plus Food Processor