Hasta la vista Winter..heading south as far as we can on a new Rad-icle Edventure

Kudos to Rad and good luck to you

When the guys showed up It did not occur to me that one of em' might be vegetarian. It was Rad, At least I had some of my Chile's Tim, this consisted of jalapeno. cut in half, de-seeded, queso Oaxaca, dried cranberries, slow roasted over mesquite using the indirect heat method, in the Weber. Rad appeared to really enjoy those. We washed that down with a couple ice cold Coronas, then with a little Glenlivit, with a big icecube, poolside. ......That was just for starters.

Fun times!
I am still recovering!

Come on, Ed. We all know you can cross those borders without permission.

Amen brother!

I hate ultra thin walls on nights, when my name is not "Up in lights"
The next unicorn is right around the corner....

?? magic string ??

Rad and I, when together, seem to encourage each other to push our Adventure level up a few notches. Now that I am flying solo again, I thought this might be an opportunity to slow my pace down and take it easy. That meant, hopefully less dirt roads, less speed and less meeting guys with big guns.
My goal this first day was to go to Hierve el Aqua. Basically translated as a frozen waterfall. My gps tried to steer me in to take the long way but I convinced it that the shortest way was best. And it took me up the side of a mountain and down the other side on a fantastic but Adventurous dirt road......so much for taking it easy. And when I got to the end a half an hour later and within one mile of my destination, there was a big chain stretched across the road with a lock. I thought that was crazy. Their were signs directing me this way to Hierga el Agua. Why wouldn't they have a sign warning that the road would be closed at the other end. I noticed it would be possible to get my big 700 pound bike around the chain if I rode it down in to a ditch, made a hard turn and up the other side. A piece of cake on a enduro bike but a challenge on a GS1200. I took my right pannier off so I could make the turn and I managed to get on the other side of the chain.
When I got to the entrance to Hierve El Agua there was a big fortified locked gate there..... meaning this place was closed. I am assuming for Covid reasons.
I came all this way, managed to make it this far, I just wanted a glimpse, even from a distance. I tried hiking down a trail to see if i could get to a vantage point to get a photo. But the trail just lead away from the waterfall and pools. So i tried another direction and this was successful. There was an open gate and I was able to get on the inside property. This was a bit risky as I was sort of trespassing at that point. But the gate was open so it wasn't like I was breaking in. It would have probably been hard to plead ignorance when my Spanish is so bad but continued on the last 400 meters. I wanted that photo. I was able to get right up to the falls. Hierve El Agua is a waterfall made of calcium with a natural infinity pool at the edge of a 100+ foot drop. It would have been really nice to take a dip there but I knew I was pushing my luck getting this far. I snapped a couple of photos and just then I was spotted by a couple of guys working there. And they were not happy. They said no more photos. And they were making some phone calls obviously reporting it to their superiors. They tried to get me to stay there and wait until someone came that could address the issue. I wasted no time trying to leave. They wouldn't touch me or use force but they were doing everything else to get me to stay there, which I was suspecting for the police to arrive. I didn't want to go to jail so I kept walking and telling them that the back gate was open and there were no signs saying to keep out or the place was closed. The trail actually went thru some agave plantations and there were other people around so it wasnt like it was anything special, just a normal looking hiking trail. One guy ran up ahead and closed the chain link gate that was originally open. This was their last stand. I tried pushing it open and the guy pushed back. At this point I got a bit scared and used anger to get them to know I was serious about leaving. I was able to sort of climb and step over the fence and got to the other side. One of the guys asked for money. I asked how much. He wanted 1000 pesos and I just laughed. That is about $50 and the normal admission price is only $2. Then they lowered it to 500 pesos. I was at my bike at that point and I quickly put on my helmet and said Hasta la Vista to them. But now I needed to get the hell out of there before the police arrived. There were 2 roads in. I went to leave using the easy road out as it would be faster and there was a chain across the road there too. This was a real surprise for me. This meant the entire village was locked in and everyone was locked out. It also told me I had no reason to be here in the village, let alone at Hierve El Agua. I went back and left using the mountain road I came in on. I figured that if the police were coming, they would be coming in on the easy road. I was able to get around the gate a second time and made my way back over the mountain in record time. I kept thinking the police were going to have the road blocked off as it was only a single lane dirt road but it never happened. Once on the other side, I felt safe that I wasn't going to jail. I once asked a guy that had been to jail before if Mexican jail was as bad as people say and he replied.....no, it's worse.
Ok starting tomorrow, no more Edventures. Moderate Adventure is ok but nothing that will possibly send me to jail just to get a photo.




Last night I found this spot to camp in an agave field. There was a chance of rain so I was able to find a shelter. It was my first night alone. I slept well.

Maybe it needs a recharge.
The truth is, I don't want any girl to travel with me. Even if I found a unicorn. I would like to meet someone for a few days, do some small side trips together and spend some quality time together. But now and perhaps never again do I want to have a girl riding with me. Too much weight on the bike and too much stuff to carry.
Ideally, when i go to Europe this summer, if borders are open again, i hope to rent places on Airbnb, travel around to explore the area. And if i meet someone, she can stay with me and we can explore the area together on my bike. But when it is time to leave to another place, i will go alone. If she wants to meet me at the next place, then she can easily take a bus or plane.
Maybe this is not realistic but i would rather travel solo and feeling lonely at times rather than travel continuously two up like i did before in the past. And frankly, the majority of girls dont want to be on the back of the bike for days or months at a time. Especially if it involves camping out.

Camping out is Hilton to many of the ladies I've known. Camper is roughing it.
I can certainly understand that line of thinking about travel solo. Neither above option is ideal for inexpensive adventure...and tougher yet for Ed-venture.
Your last Europe trip had me thinking you really did have a cool game plan. And met some cool people to boot. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and travels. Gives this guy here more to consider.

Maybe its possible to find a Unicorn with her own bike.

Jon

Maybe you'll meet a European women touring and riding her own moto???

Seems you've got the same attitude of many Euro travelers.

Otherwise for a fun time right now I'm sure you can find it in Zipolite or Tulum.

I even considered that option and at this point in time, I don't want that. Right now I am alone but half the fun of the Edventure is the people you meet along the way. When you travel as a couple, you are less likely to meet and interact with people.
And any female riding here own bike and is into that sort of thing is generally not as feminine as I like. There are unicorns out there but for the time being, I want more Adventures with some short meetings and Edventures.
And besides, if I met a unicorn today, I might have to settle down a bit......and that means no more RRs
Lol

Hierve el agua means boiling water not frozen water

What's that I hear in the background? Is it 'Free Bird' ? Hey Lynyrd Skynyrd, how ya do'n!

I see someone is paying attention here.....

"Hit it and quit it"
Don't be surprised then if you meet one that digs you but is hesitant. They can smell a non-committal rolling stone. Believe that happened to you 3 or 4 Edventures ago and you were puzzled but a good call.

Always

If a women became involved it would change everything. It would all become about her one way or the other, it always does. Whether you wanted to or not, you would feel responsible for her safety. Even if she rode her own bike I guarantee you would be basing how and where you rode on her abilities and what is best for her. Not saying this is necessarily a bad thing. There are a lot of couples that make it work but it would amount to you giving up a lot of freedom.

I guess this all boils down to what you want in your life. If you want a partner or not? I'm definitely the quiet more introverted one out of me and my wife. Whenever I go somewhere with her I end up meeting *more* people and having *more* conversations than if I was by myself.

From this day forward, I will never buy another bottle of tequila again. Because I have discovered Mezcal.
Mezcal is basically the same thing. It is distilled from Agave but it can be made from different agave plants, not just blue agave like in Tequila. Tequila is made in 4 states in Mexico that are licensed to produce it (think Champagne). Also Tequila can be made from up to 49 percent other stuff where Mezcal is 100 percent agave. But the biggest difference in that the agave in Mezcal is cooked using fire and tequila uses gas. The fire gives Mezcal its characteristics and its smoky flavor. Mezcal is more complex and it is usually less expensive.
I visited the heart of Mezcal land in Oaxaca. The entire city streets are lined in shops that produce and sell Mezcal.


This is called the pineapples. This is what Mezcal and Tequila are made from



And the little worm that is added to some bottles is just a tradition and adds a touch of flavor

When we took a trip through the Copper Canyon area, we tried to find Mezcal. I frequently buy it here and wanted to try some from down there. We completely and totally failed at finding any. None of the bar tenders or people in stores knew what were were talking about. My buddy returned to our hotel room one night with a bottle of what he claimed was Mezcal, the best way to describe it was all purpose bathroom cleaner and liquor.

Is there something specific you are asking for or is it referred to Mezcal?