It doesn’t matter if you haven’t seen Madonna’s new “Hung Up” video, you need to see the parody.

Click here to watch, courtesy of Google.
¡Time goes by so lowly con Loli!

Within the city limits of El Paso, there is a huge state park just off of Transmountain Road. There are no big signs letting you know it’s there, so it’s easy to miss and, according to the ranger, most El Pasoans do.

The park is huge and has quite a few trails ranging in levels of difficulty. There are also some bolted rock-climbing areas, as well. It’s very well kept and the rangers were exceedingly nice. When we first pulled in, the ranger said we could do a drive-through for free as long as we didn’t get out of the car. He gave us a map and after driving through, we stopped back to chat and ask questions.

After a brief conversation about this and other parks in the area, namely Carlsbad Caverns, he told us we could go walk around for free as long as we were out before closing time.

With two hours left, we decided to do the hike to Aztec Cavern. The information sheet said it was a moderate 1.5-2 hour hike. In spite of making it up in 20 minutes, I could hear my body telling me I need to get more cardio exercise. There was much huffing and puffing done by both of us.

I’m not sure of the starting elevation, but the cave is up at around 6000 feet. Take a look at the photos I took.

All you fashionista anti-Juárez nay-sayers can choke yourselves with your tired-ass Burberry scarves for a Diesel store has opened in Juárez. I wonder if that will lure some of the terrified El Pasoans over the border.

I’ve accomplished many of the personal goals I set out with when moving to Mexico, but I’ve yet to fulfill my role as gringo tourist. Armed with Lonely Planet’s Guide to México, Sergio and I laid out a plan (and revised several) for a road trip.

He’s pondering a move back to Boston, so we’re hoping to bring Miguel and Marco in on the action and make it a sort of last hurrah, of sorts. I think it’ll be a lot of fun, very educational, and will prevent me from feeling like an idiot when I tell people I used to live in México but have never visited any of the places they’re asking about.

So here’s the list of places to hit:

We’ll drive from El Paso to Ft. Stockton, Texas and then head south until we reach Saltillo, known as “The Athens of México.”

From there we’ll go to Real de Catorce, a “reawakening ghost town” with a population of 1500 and located above 9000 feet. It’s a very special place. The area around the town is a Huichol spiritual ground known as Wirikuta, the place their peyote and corn gods live.

From Real de Catorce, we’ll head down to Queretaro. and then to Guanajuato. Aguascalientes and Zacatecas are next. After a heavy dose of Colonial México, we’ll head up to Delicias to stay with Arenna’s mother before visiting the area surrounding Nuevo Casa Grandes, which includes Paquimé and Mata Ortíz. After that, it’s back to Juárez.

The trip would take 8 days, cover approximately 2300 miles and require 8 tanks of gas. Accomodations are cheap, $125 for doubles. We figured about $270 each for shopping, food, and liquor. All told, it’d be around a $450-500 trip and I bet I could knock the food and fun expenses way down and make it a $375-400 trip.

The destinations and places in between are of high historic and cultural value. Click through the links above and check out the pictures to see what a rich experience this would be. I sure hope it comes to pass!

Just imagine the centerfold…

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Fooooooo!

These images were taken from one of my favorite, laugh-out-loud blogs I Am A Japanese School Teacher. Funny, funny stuff. Read it from start to finish!