BodesWell

Tequila!

Posted on March 30, 2010 by angela3 Comments

The first bout of touristista has happened. We’re about 8 weeks into our Mexican journey and it was bound to hit one of us. Poor Bode. It’s mostly fever, but the little guy has been a trouper. We sat in a hotel with wifi for the day, but learned that many major online video sites do not allow viewers from Mexico. No cartoons today. Oh well, at least we had some movies.

Like any good mother, I left the boys in the hotel room while I headed out to tour the Jose Cuervo distillery and take photos. I felt a tinge of guilt as I headed out the door just as Bode  got up and headed for the bathroom for the 10th time.

The entire town has a patina and every other store around the main square is a tequila shop.  I toured the museo de tequila, and then coughed up the 105 pesos for the Jose Cuervo tour.

I was the only person on the English language tour, and had 3 guides to torment with my questions. We’ve been on several vineyard and brewery tours, but this was by far my favorite. Perhaps it was the 3 tastes and a margarita they included in the tour. Perhaps it was just the solo respite from a 4 year-old’s gastroenteritis issues.

The heart of the agave plant (not a cactus) is cooked in a huge oven for 38 hours, cooled for another 9 and then taken by hand to the press. The pulpy stuff is used as compost and donated to artisans for things like  paper making. The rest is the good stuff. The ‘heart’ of the plant can be eaten like sugar cane, but it is much sweeter. I swiped a couple extra pieces for the boys.

After it’s distilled twice, it is 50% alcohol, and a bit rough.They water it down a bit for consumption. If it’s gold tequila, it’s got other additives and is best for mixing drinks, not drinking straight. The good stuff is put into oak barrels for a while; Reposado for 2-11 months, Añejo (Aged) for over a year, and Extra Anejo for over 3 years. Extra Añejo is the really good stuff.

After the tour, they drop you off at the bar for 2-for-1 margaritas. I love supporting the local economy here.

When I came out of the distillery there was some sort of spring celebration going on. All the kids were in costumes, so I ran back to the hotel to get Bode. He was fast asleep, poor thing. Luckily, the stuff I picked up for him at the pharmacy worked wonders and he was much better by morning.

Small Towns and Big Volcanoes

Posted on March 28, 2010 by angela10 Comments

The next day we wandered around  the town above the lake. Laundry, internet and a few awesome roadside gorditas. I believe this town is the Mayberry of Mexico.

On the road again, we decided it was time for more volcanoes. We headed for Volcan Ceboruco, just outside of the town of Jala. Amazingly, there are 20 miles of cobblestone road that lead up to the top of the mountain and down into the fuming crater. Can you image working on a 20 mile cobblestone road to the top of a volcano? After a few wrong turns (not many sings out here) and miles and miles of agave fields, we finally made it to the top.

We didn’t see a single person the entire trip and the drive was really nice. After climbing 6000 ft, we descending into the cinder cone and checked out the steam vents. The inside of the cinder cone is more like a meadow and you can drive all over. Its pretty, quiet and much cooler than the valley far below.

Since it was just us and the crickets, we thought about boondocking right here for the evening but realized we drove all the way up with very few supplies. Next time. Back down the cobblestone. We saw about 20 of these long-nosed, ring-tailed creatures cross the path in front of us, but we didn’t know what they were. After a bit of research, we think they are coati.

Onward we went, realizing later that we passed another time zone and considered a camping spot that was listed as “near” Magdalena. Nice town, where riding horseback was as common as driving a car. Unfortunately, the campsite was another hour in the wrong direction, so we opted to get a hotel at our real destination just 20 miles away. After a very long day in Red Beard, we celebrated dinner in Tequila!

Also, we’ve been asked to write a summary of our trip so far for a Spanish language magazine. We’ve written it and can translate it via Google translate, but would appreciate if a native Spanish speaker out there could edit it for us. Just let us know…

Also, the Guayabitos show for VolksBrothers TV aired over the weekend on Sky TV all over Mexico. Our interview is somewhere in there. It’s not too bad. Do I really sound like that?