More Guanajato - hillsides of colorful houses.

They have big theaters in Guanajato!

Feliz neuvo ano from Gunajato

Further south into Mexico, about four hours from Mexico City. Large town, once a booming silver town, nestled in the hills, gorgeously colorful houses stacked up on the hillsides. Lots of colonial architecture, and three gigantic theaters! All the streets go one-way east. To go west you have to go through freaky claustrophic tunnels. I guess a town full of miners made tunneling seem logical. We spent an hour and half driving in Mister Toad's Wild Ride trying to find anything we could recognize from our map or our travel book. Spent new year's eve here and like it so much, we'll do one more night. Tomorrow, on to more of Mexico, probably the Veracruz coast on our way to Guatemala.

Real de Catorce

Sorry didn't get a picture, so busy looking at things and tasting things and smelling things, and butchering the Spanish language. Real de Catorce is a very magical feeling city. I think some of the magical quality comes from how hard you have to work to get there. Long drive through a desolate desert, then up into huge mountains, then more desert, then a 10-mile cobble stone road - not exaggerating, ten miles - then a tunnel that looks like it was built by hand by miners, (think Disneyland-quality imitation) so narrow cars can fit only one-wide (so you have to wait for a guy on a radio to tell you it's OK to go), then you're there. Windy cobble stone streets and sleeping placess stacked high. It's like Mont St. Michel, but Mexican. High in the mountains, completely isolated, filled with artisans, and the light is unwordly.

Alan is climbing that gigantic rock in the background. I'm here at our camp drinking a Tecate and eating a guava I got at a farmers market down the road. It's 75 degrees. Lots of freaky extreme sports people here. Very friendly locals - I got offered rides many times on the long walk back from town. Lots of roosters everywhere. Sorry the picture is sideways - tricky sending messages and pictures from the cell phone.

over the border and on to crazy shit

Austin was all kinds of fun and a perfect place to hide out from the holidays. Tomorrow, early, we head south for Monterrey. Just outside of Monterrey is Potrero Chico, one of the top ten places to rock-climb. Due to the holidays, not much demand for rock-climbing lessons, so Alan was able to arrange one-on-one instruction. He'll spend the day hanging from rocks while I'll walk all around the beginner trails. My back is well and I want to keep it that way for the whole vacation. I'll try to catch a good action-shot of him doing something crazy for the Blog. Happy new year everyone!

Everything is bigger in Texas, even the Playwright Center's cat. For anyone who remembers readings at the PWC before they remodeled, you probably wondered what ever happened to that adorable cat Tigger. He used to wander around the room during readings, often hopping onto an actor's lap during the most dramatic moments of the play. Well, here he is living with playwright Colin Denby Swanson in Austin, TX. He's grown Texas-sized, and now his hame is Orson Welles.

I wonder if he misses all that drama.

just exactly what we were hoping for

Wow, this is a big country, especially when you try to leave it heading south from Minnesota. We're still in the U.S., now hiding out from the holidays with friend Colin in Austin, Texas.

Last night she showed us a bit of the town, starting with delicious Tex Mex food. Two kinds of tamales and tacos al pastor ... mmmm.

Then we went to a club expecting to hear Omar and the Wailers. Before the pleasure of Omar, a big man with a very deep voice who works a big Fender like it's an amazing little toy, the stage was taken over by a bunch of locals and visitors, all musician friends of Terry Allen. I don't know all of their names, but I think I probably should have, judging by their talent and the crowd's reverence. We did recognize Joe Ely. Yeah, really. And a Dixie Chick was spotted in the crowd.

Favorite song by Joe Ely was "Deportee" and favorite song of the night was when they all got on stage for "Not Fade Away" which transitioned to "Who Do You Love?" and back again to that great Buddy Holly tune. And Omar was great too. Finally I realized I was kinda sleeping while still bouncing my head to the Wailers' beat, and we called it a night.

Wow, that was so exactly what we were hoping Austin would be like, but how often does it actually work that way? Happy holidays everyone.

Crawfish massacre on the banks of the Bayou Teche.

Cypremort Point, our first beach, in Southern Louisiana.

Michael and Eric, our fabulous hosts in New Orleans.

This is Ozzy. We're drinking in his favorite bar.

crawfish, beignets, and bulldogs

Made it to New Orleans, warm at last. It's 70 degrees here, but a bit breezy and it looks like rain. Got in last night, settled down with Michael and Eric, our kind hosts. Then wandered off to the quarter, had some dinner - crawfish and tasso alfredo for me, jambalaya for Alan. Some drinks. Some more drinks. Ended the evening at a late-night coffee shop so Alan could finish an article for the Rake. I just sat there and read a book by Faulkner I picked up on the road. The sandwich board outside asked, "Have you ever had a hot white russian?" Well, now I have. A late-night coffee shop with wireless, liquor, and ash trays. Yeah, New Orleans makes me feel cozy with my vices.

Today, we're wandering the quarter some more. Beignets for breakfast. A glass of wine in a neighborhood pub for lunch. Finally parked the car last night and walked here today. After driving for a whole week, it's nice to walk a bit. In New Orleans, actually, we saunter, slowly. Good place to slow down and get the travelling meander rhythm going.

Dogs in all the bars and restaurants here. Makes us miss Future. Bill says that when asked if he misses us, Future said, "Didn't they just leave?" Yeah, he's too cool.

When we first arrived, first thing we did, you know, to get our bearings, was stop in a nice gay bar called Good Friends. Michael, the bartender, had just arrived in New Orleans three weeks ago, and got a job there a few days later. Help Wanted signs everywhere. Lots of jobs. Hmm, Future would like it here. So fun to fantasize while on the road.

We'll be here through Friday, then back on the road toward Austin.

Big, slobbery, adorable bull dog in the corner here, barking a bit. Two framed pictures of his adorable, sloppy mug hang over either side of the bar, one with a birthday hat sliding down the front of his crabby face. Oh yeah, I'm gonna have to go pet him. Gotta go ...

Birmingham, AL. Alans brother, Marty, and his family. Beautiful house in beautiful Alabama. Yeah, beautiful Alabama. Seriously, lots of trees, very green. OK, lots of churches too, kinda scary. But really nice to hang out with Marty, Amy, Annie Rose and Maddison for a night. Never expected to visit Birmingham, but now I can say I did.