Niagara Falls

Our next house sit will be in Massachusetts, and we have a two-week gap between when it starts and when our Kentucky sit ended. Maricela’s brother will be joining us as we travel around upstate New York, Philadelphia, and New York City. Then we will part ways and complete our drive to Massachusetts.

After driving through the snowstorm in Kentucky and Ohio, our first stop was at Niagara Falls in New York. The weather was great in Niagara; the only bad weather was on the drive to get there, not while walking around the tourist sites.

Niagara was more impressive than I had anticipated. I was expecting to be a bit disappointed by another over-hyped site that didn’t live up to expectations. But that was not the case. The Falls carry a massive amount of water – 20% of the drinking water for the East Coast passes through the Falls!

The other surprising thing to me was the river itself. It makes sense that for such massive falls, there must be a substantial river leading up to the falls. And the river is very accessible – you drive along it, park right next to it, walk out to it and cross over it. Some stretches have powerful rapids; you can really sense the magnitude of water passing through.

We visited at an interesting time of year. It was early March, when it’s very cold, which made for some interesting landscapes. There was no ice in the river, except for a little along the shores, but at the Falls themselves, since the Falls generate a lot of spray, the frozen spray settles onto the nearby cliffs and rocks and gives the Falls a whole different look than if we had visited during a warmer season. There was so much ice as a result of the spray that the observation decks below the falls were closed – they were inaccessible because they were buried by many feet of ice.

Lots of ice below the falls, including on the observation deck

While there we made a brief trip across the border to the Canadian side. We walked across, figuring it would be easier than taking the van across and back. The Canadian side had a more touristy and commercialized feel – large casinos, expensive restaurants, flashy gift shops, and Ripley’s Believe it or Not types of places – a whole different vibe. There were some on the US side as well, but it was more low key. I like to say that my favorite part of our visit to Canada was crossing the border back into the US!

International border, in the middle of the river

Goodbye Kentucky

During our last couple of days in Kentucky we received one of our heaviest snows yet, probably around 4 inches. Apparently this is what’s common for the area, and it melts off quickly. Heavy snowfall beyond 6 inches or so is uncommon.

Our house sit in Kentucky is complete and we will miss the lovely home we stayed in and the friendly dog. We will miss the peaceful quiet by the lake, and the pleasant walks around the forest and pastures. We had a great experience and made some new friends in the process.

We had never experienced a “real” winter before, besides visiting the snow occasionally for a day or two. In Kentucky we got to live out the winter for two months, which gave us a much better idea of what real winter is like. Snow was never much of an issue, since we didn’t have anywhere that we had to be. The house was always comfortable due to the type of radiant heat in the floors. The only times we were uncomfortable were when we had to go out somewhere and the air was bitter cold (to us that’s anything under about 35 degrees!) Overall we actually enjoyed winter in Kentucky – maybe because we know we can return to California any time.

We had to drive through heavy snowfall on our way out of Kentucky. For three or four hours we were driving through falling snow on slushy roads in Kentucky and Ohio. The slush was very wet and had accumulated at least 3-4 inches on the road. That’s not what this Californian is used to driving in, but we took it slow and made it safely to our destination.

We undertook this journey to meet new people, visit new places, and have new experiences. Our stay in Kentucky more than accomplished all of these goals!

Kentucky

We are spending two months house- and pet-sitting in central Kentucky. We are in a rural part of the state near Lexington. The house is a 250-year old log house, which was recently remodeled. The interior has been fully modernized, and the exterior is well maintained.

The house sits about 50 feet from a lake, on a large property with few neighbors.

The pet is a 6-year old English Springer Spaniel, with a very easygoing personality.

Even though it’s winter, the weather is often pleasant enough to sit out by the lake.

All in all, we’re having a great time on our first long-term sit!

Life on the Lake

Our first long-term sit is at a house on a lake in rural, central Kentucky. The house is about half a mile off a main road, and about 50 feet from the lake. We are in a 250-year old log house. We have a dog to look after while we are here, and we need to keep a watch on the pipes to ensure they don’t freeze during the winter.

See link below for a 1-minute video of the lake.

Use the following link for a 25% discount when signing up for TrustedHousesitters: https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF123171/

House Sitting

I heard an interview on a podcast a couple of years ago, of a guest who had spent several years traveling the world inexpensively by house sitting for others who were temporarily away from their homes. That led Maricela and me to look into it further.

We found there are several websites that connect house sitters with those needing the service. In about 99% of cases, the homeowner has one or more pets, which is the primary reason they need someone to stay at their house while they are away. A house itself can usually be left alone, but not so for pets that aren’t able to travel with their owners. The ability for the pet to stay at home in familiar surroundings is a much better experience for the pet than to leave them in a dog kennel, for example.

We also found there are a wide variety of sits available – short term (a weekend), long term (some are 6 months or even a year), domestic, international (Europe and Australia are popular), dogs, cats, even some with farm animals.

Maricela and I signed up on a website while we were still in California, and did a couple of house sits while we were working, to try it out. We wanted to get a feel for it while we were close to home.

Once we were in Mexico, we checked the listings occasionally. There aren’t as many listings in Mexico, but eventually we found one in Mexico City, about four hours away from where we were staying. So we traveled to Mexico City for ten days. While there we were responsible for taking care of three dogs and two cats. They could be left alone for several hours during the daytime, giving us ample time to explore the city. It worked out great for both us and the home/pet owners and the pets, and it reaffirmed the experience we had in California.

As mentioned in another post, we checked to see if there were any interesting listings in the US, since we had to leave Mexico at least briefly to renew our visas. We liked one we found in Kentucky, and that’s where we are currently.

The website we go through is TrustedHousesitters.com. There is an annual fee to join and to be able to see the full listings, although it does allow non-members to see some information. The last time I checked, the fee was $119 per year. If anyone is interested, use the following link for a 25% discount: https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF123171/

Let us know if you try it out!

A Detour

Last summer we left Pleasanton to move to Mexico. Not necessarily permanently, but for several years at least. As a friend of ours put it, we’re not moving permanently, but we’re also not purchasing a return ticket.

Our first stint in Mexico lasted almost five months. Since we’re on a tourist visa, we are required to leave Mexico within 180 days. And since we drove, our vehicle also must cross the border within the same time frame. We can re-enter Mexico at any time, even the same day, and have another 180 days. The point is that we knew we were going to have to drive out of Mexico at some point within the first six months, we just had to figure out exactly when we would exit as well as when we would return.

As I’ve said to many people, our time in Mexico has been better than expected. We visit people often, we have plenty of time to spend with each other and by ourselves, we enjoy the slower pace, the food is amazing – the list goes on. However, as we started planning our trip to cross the border, we started considering other experiences we might pursue. One thing we had tried previously in both the US and Mexico is house/pet sitting. We said to each other, we don’t have any permanent commitments yet in Mexico – no chickens or goats, no gardens to take care of, etc. – so let’s see if there are any house sitting opportunities that sound interesting.

We looked toward the central US – our kids are on opposite coasts, and we’ve never spent time any further east than Colorado. The most interesting sit that came up was in Kentucky. We’ve never been there, so why not give it a try? We applied for the sit and were selected. Due to the needs of the home/pet owners, it meant we needed to return from Mexico a few weeks earlier than originally planned. We took care of affairs in Mexico, headed to California to visit family and friends, then drove on to Kentucky.

US-Mexico map with overview of our travels

We have not abandoned our plans to return to Mexico but, as the title of this post suggests, we are taking a detour before returning again. We want to make the most of our newfound freedom and explore other places. We are blessed by good health, and we are able to keep our expenses low, both of which help make this possible.

One anecdote about our travels – on our way to Kentucky we drove through the Petrified Forest National Park. As we were enjoying the winding roads and the amazing scenery, Maricela summed up our situation by saying, “Or, we could return to cubicle life!” Our minimalist lifestyle that makes our travels possible is not for everyone, but for us, it’s much more satisfying than the alternative!

Tree bridge in Petrified Forest National Park

Off-Roading in the Minivan

Before we left California we bought a used minivan with 90,000 miles on it. Since then, we’ve driven it about 12,000 miles across the US and Mexico. I have to say, despite all the abuse we’ve thrown at it, it has held up very well.

I’ve mentioned that the roads in some parts of Mexico are in poor condition. In some places we have to travel on dirt roads. One of them is up to our uncle’s house. Our uncle and aunt have lived there for over 40 years, and they and their neighbors have lobbied for years to get the road paved, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Here’s a short video of us driving up the road in the minivan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s0Q0CUNd34

Our Backyard

As a follow-up to the video about our house, here’s a link to a video of our backyard: https://youtu.be/rNBwnvMaAG8

Here’s a photo of the doorway into the backyard:

Our House

I made a video today to give a quick glimpse of our living situation. You can find the video on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/9tEBPhjfInY

This is not in the video, it’s just a photo I like of the house at night:

Merry Christmas

Here’s a photo of our tree, cut from the nearby hills. No Christmas tree farms here!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Posadas

This week we’re participating in the Posadas here in town. It’s a little like Christmas caroling, but there’s more to it. Every evening from the 16th through the 23rd of December, people from town gather and march through the streets, singing of Mary and Joseph’s journey and stopping at various houses asking if there’s room for them to stay. There are also displays along the way, typically with kids posing as angels or shepherds waiting for Jesus’ arrival. At each stop along the way the crowd is turned down, until they get to the last house. The last house welcomes everyone in and provides traditional treats for everyone. Each evening the route changes, leading to a different part of the neighborhood.

On Wednesday, our house, along with several neighbors’ were the final stop. There’s been well over 100 people participating each day, so it’s pretty fun.

Setting up in front of one of the houses

I’m trying my first video post today. I can’t do it directly on the blog, but you can see it on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/7xnowoMfqWo. If you listen closely you can hear me describing what’s going on. I didn’t want to speak too loudly and disturb the crowd. Same with the lighting – it’s dark, but it gives you the spirit of the event. (Note that at one point in the video I say “Jesus and Mary”, but meant to say Joseph and Mary.)

Traffic

We don’t have many automobiles in our town, but we do still have traffic jams from time to time. Sometimes it’s goats, today it’s cattle…

Note the truck that is stuck behind the cattle. This guy drives through the neighborhood a couple times per day selling fresh fruit and vegetables. Just listen for his loudspeaker announcing his arrival and walk out to the street in front of your house. If you want something he doesn’t have, just ask and he can probably bring it in the afternoon or the next day.

Road Signs

What street is this? Can I turn here? If the signs below look difficult to read, keep in mind I took these photos while out on a walk. Imagine trying to read the signs while both driving and attempting to find your way at the same time. At least these streets had signs, which is often not the case.

There seems to be a lack of standardization among roadsigns, and definitely a lack of maintenance.

By the way, we have Google Maps on our Mexican cell phone, but there are several problems with it. For one, if it tells you to turn on a certain road, it’s unlikely that you will see a corresponding road sign confirming that you found the correct road. Second, if there is a road sign, it is often as pictured in the photos above. Third, I would say about 75% of the time, the app identifies roads differently than posted signs do. An example for those familiar with Pleasanton would be if the app said to exit at Santa Rita but the only sign indicated Tassajara. Locals know that this is the same road (on different sides of the freeway), but if you aren’t already familiar with the area, how would you know? Fourth, and I don’t recall if it does the same thing in the US, it often says something like “Follow the route toward Main Street.” Since I’m in an unfamiliar area, how would I know where Main Street is? Finally, the Google maps app frequently “goes crazy”. You’re heading along fine, and out of the blue it will tell you to exit, make a bunch of turns, make a U-turn, etc., until it eventually brings you back to where you just were. I’ve learned that you have to strategically ignore (i.e., make an educated guess) certain instructions from the navigation. Find the route that looks correct, and then if any of the subsequent instructions seem to deviate, ignore them. If you’re lucky, this will keep you on the correct route; otherwise, at least you still have the navigation and eventually it will take you back to a workable route. When we were in Mexico City, we took a trip one day that was just nine miles away but took us 90 minutes to get there. It was partly due to bumper to bumper traffic all the way, but the navigation played a role as well. Thankfully, people are friendly and are always happy to help get you back on the right path.

Pyramids

A few miles north of Mexico City in Teotihuacan, an ancient civilization built several pyramids and other structures. This culture thrived between 100 BC – 550 AD. In it’s prime, this area supported an estimated 150,000 people. The largest pyramid is known as the Pyramid of the Sun, the third largest pyramid in the world.

A view from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun

A view of the Pyramid of the Moon as seen from the Pyramid of the Sun

Below is a view down what is called the Avenue of the Dead from the Pyramid of the Moon. This was seemingly a massive settlement at one time. The Pyramid of the Sun is on the left:

Interestingly, much of the area, especially underground, remains un-excavated, i.e., unexplored, with the likelihood of more artifacts to be discovered in the future.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Among Catholics, there is a tradition that over the years there have been a number of apparitions of Jesus and Mary throughout the world. In Mexico, Mary is said to have appeared to an Indian peasant in the year 1531. When he reported the appearance to church authorities, they asked him for proof. He presented them with his cloak, upon which was imprinted an image of Mary. Many Mexicans still venerate this image (known as Our Lady of Guadalupe) and you will find it everywhere.

The original cloak is on display at a large (holds 10,000) church (basilica) in Mexico City and it is a popular destination for visitors. The most popular day to visit is December 12, the “feast day” for this Saint. Since we happened to be in Mexico City on that day, we made a trip to the church. Below was as close as we got to the cloak, due to the crowds. The cloak is in the frame below the cross between the green and red banners.

On the drive we encountered dozens of buses, bicyclists, caravans, torchbearers, etc., making pilgrimages to the church from miles around. It was hard to get a good photo, but here’s a group of cyclists on the highway following a truck carrying a small shrine.

Bicyclists on pilgrimage to the basilica

As we approached, the crowds were significant. We saw many people carrying statues or paintings of the Lady of Guadalupe. Some come crawling on their hands and knees. People believe they will be blessed for making the journey, such as receiving healing from an illness, forgiveness, or the ability to give up alcohol or other vices.

Masses run all day, while outside, dozens of groups perform Aztec and other types of dances.

Aztec dancers; diorama in the background

It was an impressive display of faith.

Traveling Photographer

Documenting our Adventures

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