Well, not exactly on purpose you understand, but it all worked out as you'll see. It's Friday and time for an adventure, look out Tonala here we come. Maps? - we've been through this, no maps on an adventure, besides my friend in NM says you just go to GDL, turn right toward Mexico (city), take the Tonala turnoff and park where you can and shop until you drop - hey, I can do this.

So, that was exactly the plan and it worked out great except I modified it a tad bit, after turning left at the light in Tonala I decided I'd get some gas at the local Pemex and started driving and one thing led to another and pretty soon I had wound my way into Tlaquepaque - of course I can't pronounce Tlaquepaque - I can't even spell it except by copying it. Anyway I toured a bit of the town and found a Pemex and found my way back to Tonala for the shopping experience. Actually finding a Pemex station in MX is like finding a grain of sand on the beach, there's a million of them. You think there are a lot of stations NOB? - just as many or more per capata here and they're ALL Pemex, don't know why so many?

Anyway, back to the adventure: Tonala, everything and anything except the two things I went for, a recliner and some table runners for a couple of the areas I have. Now, I'm sure they were somewhere - it's just that I didn't have days and miles of shoe rubber to dedicate to the project. Take a look at the pics for Tonala Shopping in the left hand column of the blog for some of the flavor of the day.

I had on one of my UT tee shirts and met a guy on the street who said "great shirt" - I said we'll see after tomorrow and NE.

So, it was fun and I walked for and hour and a half and didn't begin to see a lot of it, I suspect it's like the Smithsonian in DC, weeks wouldn't do it justice. But I did see some neat things and will no doubt go back. A serious shopper would have to take $10K and a trailer to haul it all home - me? - I got out stark free except for a Coke, the large bottle that costs $1.19 at the local convenience store costs $70p here, or about $.65.

Then it was off to find the Autopista (highway) that takes me to the far side of GDL to swing by WalMart and Home Depot. Now would be a good time to post rules of engagement for anyone coming down to visit. Rule #1: I AM THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO PANIC IN GDL TRAFFIC, no one else is allowed to, I can generate all the panic needed! Rule #2: If we die - we part friends and that pretty much covers GDL traffic.

WalMart was mostly a bust and Home Depot a total bust, so I had a late lunch at Applebees and came home the back way which was the other end of the adventure with no maps. I had come into town that way once, but not home, so I rashly assumed there would be signs at some point saying "Jocotopec" - Duh for the day, not until you're almost in Jocotopec. So, I'm heading along at 100 (km's) toward Colima and thinking "I should be turning back SE at some point" - when I came upon a toll road to Colima, now I knew this was a bridge too far, so looped into a little snack stand and bought a Coke and asked "Jocotopec?" - puzzled look, so after twice I asked "Chapala?" - and motioned right turn which was only about a hundred yards back and she nodded and I thanked her and headed on home. So, I repeat maps? - who needs them, you see I can ask directions (only when absolutely necessary and I don't have a map).

Side notes: One of the great hazards here and especially in GDL is the trucks, they're everywhere and driving behind them you can't see the signs and that makes things exciting. Now, one thing I've noticed is that here they generally put turn signs way ahead of the actual turn which can also lead to premature exiting your current route and the craziest thing here at the Lake is instead of putting the red light on the far side of the intersection so you can see it when red and wait for it to turn green - they put it on the near side of the intersection and so you pull up to the stop line and it's straight above you, now that's where the sun roof in the Jeep comes in handy.

Also, it's interesting moving from a place where I knew a fair amount about a lot of things in general to a place where I know absolutely nothing about everything period!

And a tiny bit of bathroom humor which I don't normally indulge in and this is only for the guys, so I was in Sams and went to the bano and the wall mounted urinal had this sizable plumbing protuberance projecting out near my foot with a large pedal. Now, some marine heads have a pedal to flush and this was obviously it's purpose, but the size of the piping brought some hesitation to engage and the pedal itself was no shrinking violet, it somewhat resembled what you might imagine the kick starter on a 1949 Harley Davidson Hog might look like - never-the-less I seized the moment and it functioned as designed.

So, another fun day with another successful adventure and no battle scars on me or the Jeep - oh, and it was 72 this afternoon, so a very nice day in paradise.