20K and a Year Away

The days are pretty uneventful for us, but the bugs are having a field day! We keep applying the repellent and they keep laughing in our faces. We were good for the first week, but then BANG! Smorgasbord time! They are eating us alive. They are tiny, no-see-ums that attack without warning or fear. There is no end to their voracious appetite. They cannot be sated. I applaud their tenacity, but I will not mourn their death. I believe we will be needing blood transfusions next week if this keeps up.

We are starting to get into a rhythm here, but I am still not used to the time and don’t sleep as well as I would like. I think my body had just gotten used to the time change from Florida to Washington and is protesting the move backward. We have been here 10 days, which seems like plenty to adjust, but I guess not. Who knows, maybe I have some stuff on my mind that might be contributing. Nah, that’s crazy talk. I don’t have a really rigorous schedule, so I am not rundown, yet.

Today, we decided to try a walk that the hotel owner, José, told us about. All you do is go up the hill past the supermarket and cafe, turn right, pass the cemetery, turn right at the fairgrounds and follow that road to the end and you will be at the river. Easy, peasy! HAHA! You already know where this is going.

Axel has been a trooper. Today, was no exception. I told him he had to go on walks Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and he could have Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday off. We walk in the morning while it is cool then he heads to class in the afternoon while a fan blows on him. It’s a pretty good deal and he gets a ton of exercise. He calls the walks Forced Walks, but I don’t have to drag him so I think he secretly likes them.

We ate breakfast then started our trek at 9am. We got lucky with some cloud cover that made the walk up the hill a little less difficult. We turned the corner at the cafe and the road flattened out a little, but then went up again. Not as bad as the road to the store, but still up. We passed by people and waved and said good morning. It was a beautiful day for a walk and the clouds kept it a very nice temperature.

We finally got to the fairgrounds road and it immediately went from paved to dirt and rocks. It is a good thing it was not raining because this was orange clay dirt – just like at the waterfalls – and it would have been one long mud pit. There were no cars on this road either, which was good since there was nowhere to go if one came barreling by.

We started down the hill and noticed the hill was getting steeper and steeper. I immediately processed this information for the return trip. I thought I would get a little pushback, but no, we just kept walking. The road keep getting steeper and I kept thinking, man, this walk back is going to be a bear. Axel heard the river and we just kept going. The scenery was amazing and I made some new friends along the way.

The walk was a lot longer than we had imagined. The end of the road never seemed to get there. We could hear the river, but couldn’t tell how far away it actually was. I watched the road continue to go down and down and made reassurances that we would take time to cool off by the river, once we actually got there.

We finally arrived at the footbridge that crosses the river. It is the same as the footbridge at the other section of river we visited the other day, but on the other side of this one is an amazing little area to sit and relax by the water. It is really peaceful. We crossed the bridge and went straight down to the water to see everything. The water was cool and there was a soft sound of water moving. We took a break and cooled off.

After about 15 minutes, we heard this banging sound. It sounded like a train. There are no trains up here, let alone down where we were. We looked all around to see what was making the noise and finally, we saw a guy riding his horse across the bridge and the horseshoes were making a huge noise when they hit the sheet metal on the bridge. We just sat there and marveled at the horse crossing the footbridge. I am sure the guy wondered why we were staring at him, but it was pretty cool.

After he crossed the bridge, he headed straight for where we were sitting. That was a little weird since there were no roads down there, but we said hi and chatted for a bit. He asked if we lived in Santa Fe and we told him we were just visiting. We asked him if he lived nearby, and he said right up this hill. He was heading up the narrow, very steep hill on the other side of the river with his horse to go home. Adios, we said, Buen dia, he said and up the horse went.

I decided to explore some of the rocks a little and went up the hill. Axel stayed by the water, still cooling off and relaxing. A few minutes later, I look over to where he is and see another guy on a horse coming down the same path the other guy just went up. That is a busy path! He stopped in the water to let the horse get a drink then headed up the hill to where I was. We chatted for a bit about the river and the swimming hole right around the corner, about the beautiful area where his house was, and then he said he had to get to town to buy some stuff. See you later! We watched him cross the river on the footbridge with his horse. It made the same huge noise that echoed off the water.

We decided to head back, too, but not before we ran across some sensitive plants. You touch them and they close up. We touched them all! So sensitive!

Tomorrow we are heading on another waterfall hike. We are taking some extra shoes and swimming stuff. There is supposed to be a swimming hole right next to the falls on this one. If this hike is anything like the last waterfall hike, we will need to jump in just to wash off the enormous amount of mud we collect. Let’s see if I can stay upright for this one. From what I have read, the chances are pretty slim. HAHA!