Aguascalientes

We left Ajijic Sunday morning, August 5, on our way to the States (well, Alabama) for a couple of weeks. We are driving since we have the dogs and a load of Mexican patio accessories for Corey's and Candy's new house. Our itinerary included a stop in the city of Aguascalientes to take of bag of things for Esmeralda's family who live there. She hasn't seen them in about 4 or 5 years. The trip from Ajijic to AGS (shorthand) was only about 3 hours and on good autopistas all the way. AGS is on a flat plain, also about 5000 ft high, yes, it does have hot springs. But it's a remarkably large industrial city. On the way in, we passed a huge Nissan plant that probably rivals Toyota in Kentucky. It seems to be a central distribution hub as well, and on the north side of town, we passed Walmart, Sam's Club, Home Depot, and other huge box stores. We stayed at a small motel just on the edge of the historical district. It was pretty much a dump, but we had to have some place where the dogs could stay, and Mexican hotels are not very pet-friendly at all. Once we got there, we called Emmy's mother (also Esmeralda) who was expecting us, and we took a taxi to their home. There we met Emmy's mom, her father, her sister, and her grandmother, and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours outside on the patio. The conversation was in Spanish with an occasional assist from Montserrat (Emmy's sister) who I suspect has more English than I have Spanish. It was her father's birthday so we had refresca de jamaica to drink, fruit, and cake. It was lovely, and they're wonderful people. Later Bob and I went to dinner at a Mayan restaurant near the church of Encino with a beautiful garden. The city is so clean and prosperous-looking. If the city is the result of NAFTA, I do wish more of Mexico had had the same opportunities. See Pics.