21 October, 2021

[Edit: just a note that I took another tour with the same operator and can no longer recommend them. They took me on what I call a ‘gringo cruiseship jewelry store’ tour. It was a sad revelation as the tour operator had told me once he started his own company because he was tired of doing tours like that. If you want a gringo cruiseship jewelry store tour, please use one of the other operators – they have flexible times and dates and the prices are very similar.]

Trip to Concordia and Copala today with Julio from Mazatlán Travel Club! Hadn’t been there since 2010, so I thought it might get my mind off of the upcoming trip to Puerto Vallarta, México City, and Acapulco.

9:00 am – hit the road and first stop at the brick yard. Still hard to think that people do this for a living and it’s not something that’s gone the way of automation. Clay, manure, sawdust, water, a little baking = brick.

Next stop down the road was a family fruit stand selling mangoes and white cucumbers. I’m one of those people who thinks mango tastes like soap (but I love cilantro), and cucumbers remind me for hours that I had the audacity to eat them, so I don’t. But I bought a mango and will make a little slushie tomorrow! Next we stopped in Malpica for the ceramic tile place, then at a ceramic shop on the highway, and finally one of the furniture shops. The other time I did this trip we missed the ceramic and furniture shops because we dilly-dallied at the tile place.

Concordia was the next stop. Nice walk around the town and the option of getting a raspado from one of the street vendors. The day wasn’t overly hot so I saved room for lunch 🙂

Back in the van and on to the last stop – Copala! Sleepy little town that used to hustle and bustle from mining. Not so much of either any longer, but they have a sculptured leather shop with interesting pieces. Didn’t get prices because that would tempt me to buy! Lol. I’m not going to mention the restaurant other than to say they doubled their price for my meal from what the menu stated. Didn’t want to make a fuss but if I do the trip again I’ll have the raspados and skip the restaurant in Copala.

Note that the girl told me that I needed to take her picture, so I thought if she was that adamant I’d cooperate and even give her some exposure!

And now I’ve been home for a few hours and it’s quite apparent that I missed my daily nap! I also realize I haven’t had dinner yet – and a peanut butter & jelly sandwich sounds really good to my diet hazed brain! Nine days to Puerto Vallarta! Woo!