December 27 To Los Minas

Early in the morning, we joined the local women in the river for laundry day and drew a crowd of curious men in boots and white cowboy hats who had never seen men wash clothes. Señora Monse told us we were the talk of the town -- the women thought we did a pretty good job and they were surprised to learn that men could do housework. We decided to lay low for a while. Troy's feet were badly bruised and he stayed in the riverside cabana all day, while the rest of us followed Bob up to the old mining ruins above town. Earlier, we had made arrangements to join Doña Micha and her family for dinner. We patiently waited on the porch for fresh tortillas and Doña Micha's fine home cooking, while Bob slipped away to find the only Tecates in the dry town. Drinking cerveza is acceptable during the winter holiday season, if it is kept respectfully out of sight. NEXT PAGE