The readers have spoken

And quite overwhelmingly!

It was really nice to hear from so many long time readers who rarely comment. We really appreciate that, and it gives us the impetus to keep going with this blog. I still enjoy writing it, so you can expect to continue to be able to read about our adventures for a few more years yet. If it ever starts to feel like work, that's when we'll re-think things.

So, the ads will remain as they are. The vast majority of people aren't bothered by them.

It was interesting to get feedback though. It seems most people who have problems are reading on a phone or tablet. Those using a laptop or desktop computer don't seem to have any issues at all. The problem could be the format. When you go to this website on a phone or tablet, the phone will automatically display it in responsive format to optimize the display. However you can still read the original version on your phone by scrolling all the way to the bottom of the home page and clicking the link that says "View web version". Maybe that will help.

Oh, and thank you so much to the several people who made donations anyhow! Once again, there are many long time readers who never comment. We often forget this fact, and you are appreciated!

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming!

The number one thing consuming our day? The heat. Holy crap it gets hot here. We thought it was just a heat wave going through, but in April and May it is hot like this all the time. In fact the average high temperature in this area for the month of April is 36C (97F).

Yesterday it got up to about 35C (95F). Today, they're calling for 38C (100F). Fortunately, there is pretty much zero humidity. 

View from my seat in the shade.

Ruth defrosted the freezer section of our 12 volt electric fridge yesterday morning, and with the heat, it ran pretty much all day to get itself cooled down again. It was an important reminder to us that it uses very little electricity under normal circumstances, but when it's running nonstop for hours the usage is quite high. Fortunately, the solar panels are able to keep up when we have the clear blue sky that we do.

We puttered around here and stayed in the shade because it's really too hot to go out and do anything during the day.

But around sunset, we walked into town. There's a dirt road back route that is about 3.5 kms. The plan was to walk in, get something to eat, see the sights, and take a taxi back later on.

The back route into town.

It was actually a really nice walk. 

Fortunately, the temperature had dropped to 31C (88F)!

Cows.

The town of Jalpan de Serra.

Our host at the campground had mentioned there was something going on in town, and there would be some music and stuff, but he wasn't specific. It turns out the Jalpan annual fair is this weekend, and it's a pretty big event.

We made our way to the central plaza.

All of the side streets off the plaza are decorated.

It doesn't look like there's anybody around in the photos above, but everybody was either in the plaza or in the main church which was having a service at the time.

Jalpan is famous for its church.

The church is a Franciscan Mission built between 1751-1758. The facade is quite interesting. We weren't able to see the inside due to the service, but we will go back today.

The facade. Click the photo to make it full size, and click again to zoom in to see more detail.

We needed some dinner, and there were a lot of street food stands surrounding the plaza. it's always a good idea to choose the busiest one... the locals know where the best food is. We managed to get a couple of stools side by side, and I asked the guy sitting beside them if the seats were available, and he motioned for us to sit down.

We stand out like a sore thumb... there are zero other gringos here. So the guy starts a conversation by asking where we're from. He has spent a lot of time in Dallas, TX, but hardly speaks any English. And he has sons living up there. Anyhow, really nice guy and we enjoyed the conversation.

I had my favorite... chicken enchiladas.

That guy got up and left, and another guy and his wife and young daughter sat down. This guy asked the same question, but in quite good English. He had spent a few years of his youth in the United States, but returned here to live his life. He says he hardly ever gets the opportunity to speak English so he was a little rusty. Once again, we enjoyed the conversation. By the time we were done eating, he was getting ready to pay their own bill. I thought I overheard him say to the guy to include our bill with his, and sure enough he insisted on paying for our food. Wow. 

We asked if we could contribute for "postre" (dessert) and his daughter was quite happy with that! So we all walked over to another stand that had all kinds of pies and pastries and Ruth and I each had a slice of flan.

One of the fair queens going by.

Ruth, sat on the Jalpan sign.

The stage set up for the show.

We didn't stay for the show. It was already 9:30pm, and we might have had to wait an hour for it to even start. But, we enjoyed our evening out, and hopped in a taxi to get back home.

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Good deal on this Samsonite Carry On Luggage.

And in Canada...

Apple AirPods Pro2 Ear Buds.