Wednesday March 21, 2012
Eric has been reading about local points of interest to visit and today we rode to Estacion, Dimas and San Ignacio for lunch.
We set off at 9:30 am out to the free road for a ride by ourselves. A far cry from two years ago when I was afraid to ride because of the traffic. Today the traffic was light and the temperature was cool so a great day for a ride. We turned west just north of the turn-off to San Ignacio and headed over to Estacion, Dimas. Lots of agriculture along the way and then we were up and over the Toll road and into Estacion, Dimas.
Hugely wide streets with very little traffic.
Recently there was an article in El Debate about Estacion, Dimas and the history of the area. I have tried to copy some of the article and also the link to it but it seems to be locked so…briefly…here it is.
The railway was constructed back in the 1890’s and the people from nearby areas came to Estacion, Dimas for work and good wages. Buildings were needed to store the ore and the Cordobas built a grand building to hold the gold that was been sent from San Dimas, Durango by pack mule. It was then either shipped overseas or sent by railroad to San Francisco. The article states that this was a very grand building that housed a room sized safe for the gold and was also furnished to entertain royalty. At this point the building is in such disrepair from the elements it is unlikely anything could be done to save it. The town at that time was prosperous due to mining and now that is all finished it is just another small agricultural town with an old derelict building. The streets are wide and divided which means there must have been grand plans and this never happened.
Today’s ride from Mazatlan to Dimas, back to San Ignacio for lunch and then home.
These are pictures of the actual railroad station which is no longer in use. Built in ???
Cordoba House built to house the ore from San Dimas.
Cordoba house….once a building of grandeur.
A beautiful building but it wouldn’t seem like there is any chance of repair.
The church was built in repayment of a bill and replicates a church in Guadalajara.
We rode back over to the free road and on to San Ignacio for lunch. A nice ride without much traffic.
Coming into San Ignacio.
Last year when we were here with Sam and Rita we ate at a restaurant in the square that had a performing arts theatre attached to it. We walked over to have a look but there were a few guys drinking beer and no one else around. I had a look in the kitchen but it didn’t look like much was happening so we walked back to the Taco stand in the square.
We sat out on the street and had tacos with chunks of barbecued chicken on the side. It was a little smoky because the barbecue was actually inside the restaurant and the chimney didn’t seem to be working. All the smoke came right out at us! Oh well, the food was good.
There was a hardware/feed store next to the restaurant and this wooden form for a saddle was attracting quite a few looks. Just needs a little leather….right!
When we moved out into the square to sit on a bench I pulled out the camera to take a picture of the restaurant and the owner saw me….the Mexicans love to have their picture taken!
Relaxing. While we were there the ice cream guy passed by with his wheelbarrow of ice cream and Eric bought us each one. Delicious!
The motorcycle always attracts attention and today it was the children playing in the square. A couple of the boys came over and we all made attempts at communication. They are learning a bit of English and we all introduced ourselves. This is one of the many times that our inability to speak Spanish is hugely frustrating. I am learning more and more vocabulary words and can order food and shop but light conversation is impossible. Next year!
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