I am still having fun, but I pretty much just lounge around now, there is less riding, and more eating.  Luckily the trip to Queretaro was slightly more exciting than my time actually spent in Queretaro thanks to the random route my GPS set me on.  On the way to Queretaro the GPS took me down some country roads/dirt roads/cobble stone roads, and by a small but sweet church.  Nothing special happened but I thoroughly enjoyed it, plus there was a wedding going on and in hind sight I should have tried to crash it, but the area was kind of cool, and really I was just happy to make it out of San Miguel.

So even on the easy rides Churro usually has something up his sleeve. I have previously mentioned I cannot access gas below the petcock, so despite having gas in the tank I can run out of gas. Well Churro decided it was time to come to a halt with a Pemex tauntingly in sight, but too far for me to want to push that fat bitch. So close yet so far, that green sign says Pemex!

That’s right bitches, I built a door, cause that’s what you do when in Mexico. Actually, one of the 1st things I asked my friends when I finally arrived after weeks of telling them I was on my way, was what work needed to be done, as I like a little manual labor now and then, and sitting in hotels was making me soft.

With my GPS set to avoid highways and major roads, we took of from Ajijic headed for Aguascalientes. The road followed the lake and turned rough somewhere past Mezcala. It was full of locals walking around, and being a small road I was constantly stuck behind other cars. It was a pretty sweet road, but I eventually turned around after a few more towns with the road getting smaller and smaller, leaving me unsure it would continue around the lake and I wanted to get to Augascalientes that day. Now looking at google maps I am sure I could have continued on, and regret turning back, but the maps.me app has led me down the wrong path before.

Churro and I were headed to Lago Chapala, AKA Gringolandia, an area I have not previously explored since it is Mexicos epicenter of gringos, full of Americans and Canadians. I figured like Sayulita, covid times would make the towns of Chapala and Ajijic tolerable for me.

Batten down the hatches, I am turning 25!!! Oh wait, I already used that title when I sailed from Panama to Colombia during my Bday on the van trip. That was an awesome time, spent with some great people hopping around beautiful Caribbean islands. Ok, so there are no hatches to batten down this time, but my 25th birthday is coming up, yet I have no plan on doing anything out of the ordinary. I knew I didn’t want to spend it in Morelia since there was not much going on, so as previously mentioned, Churro and I headed West to Uruapan looking for adventure, despite not knowing what a Uruapan even was.

Now, el Churro and I had such a good time on the Ruta de Mezcal, we both completely forgot about that problematic carb previously mentioned as Problem #5. But el Churro and I hate pavement, so as soon as we got on the highway he reminded me twice on the short trip over to Quiroga about the problem, bringing us to a halt on the side of the road each time.  What the hell bro we are trying to go get some delicious carnitas. Ok, ok I get it you need some attention, better here than hours deep in the back of vigilante forest I guess. A quick draining of the carb each time and we were back on the road.

Edit: I have no idea what ruta de mezcal is, I have seen signs for it out near Dolores Hidalgo, so probably has nothing to do with where I was, but this is already written so it is what it is.

So Morelia may be tame, but the surrounding area is AMAZING (once you get off the 15!). At some point while still in Morelia, el Churro and I ride up the nearby mountain looking for an aerial view of the city. The view is there, but I continue on further since el Churro now has that professional looking switch I have added, and yes it solved the overheating problem. If this adventurer stuff doesn’t pan out I can always fall back on my electrical work. We continue on to explore and eventually see legit blue tourist signs for the “ruta de mezcal”….well I dont know what that is but that sounds like fun, so away we go.

Always the diva!

I didn’t really fix el Churro during my stay in Patzcuaro, but moved onto Morelia which is a much larger city, so figure I can get him back to normal there. It is an easy drive from Patzcuaro, maybe an hour or less on the free road. The centro of Morelia is a beautiful colonial city, the entire centro is pretty large but it doesn’t feel overly big, which is the perfect combination. I basically walk around and eat….why do you even read this when this is all I do? I always walk away from the centro so I can get a feel for outside the touristy areas, so I did a bunch of that too. I am not necessarily bored with the city, but being solo I don’t take advantage of any of the nice looking bars or restaurants.  Most are empty anyway most likely a result of covid, though everything seems to be up and running in general here.

So after cruising past convoy after convoy of military trucks, I finally arrive in Patzcuaro. I find the hotel easily and pull up in front, shut off the engine, and through the ear plugs faintly hear something is not right. I look down and el Churro is pissing on my leg (Problem #6). Now, at first I think my battery has exploded and it is acid as it is coming from the same location, so jump off the bike expecting el Churro to go up in flames.