Off to Copala with Ian and Linda

Thursday morning and Eric and I were off to Copala with Ian and Linda.  We all felt like it was time for a road trip and.... Copala fit the bill.  We started out by heading up to the free road, then onto the Mazatlan bypass and from there to highway 40 which takes you past Concordia and on to Copala.    Today's journey was only about 60 miles so not a long trip. 

Here we are on Highway 40 heading toward Concordia.

Just before Concordia the pottery and furniture shops start to appear.

Some of it is very nice and some of it...just crap but that's just my opinion!

I did like the trio of large pottery vases on the left as they match the colors in the house.  I asked the price and it was 550 pesos for three which I thought was quite cheap.  I decided to think about it.

Here you can leave the pottery outside year round while at home it has to be emptied, cleaned and stored inside.

Lots and lots of things to see.

This dog was half heartedly barking at us from the roof of the next shop.

We made a quick run through Concordia and up ahead you can see the very old beautiful church.

The town square was all decorated for Christmas.  We'll bring Ian and Linda back another day so they can have a look around and....have lunch.

Just past Concordia is the sign for the turn off to Mesillas.  This is a very high end furniture town which includes imports from Europe.  That too will wait for another day.  I do need a couple of things for the house so I want to have a look which makes Eric shudder as it's all very expensive.

Off the main highway and onto the cobblestone road into Copala.  Very easy ride in the Jeep and difficult on the Harley.  The roots of this huge tree always amaze me.

Today we'll have lunch at Alejandro's which is the only restaurant left in Copala.  Daniels used to be open until a few years ago and is now operating in El Quelite.  It was a lovely restaurant overlooking Copala and was located over old silver mine shafts.  Famous for it's banana cream pie.   When the new highway to Durango and the Bulauarte bridge opened most of the traffic that passed by Copala started using the new route.  Very little traffic means very few tourists and very little business.  When we were up here in 2015 Alejandro was serving food in a small restaurant over the bank down behind the square. 

Now he has a restaurant in one of the old buildings at the end of the square.  Linda is telling me about how their wine opener broke and she is doing a fine imitation. 

We sat down to order and the chips and salsa appeared. 

You can see how the old building is deteriorating and many have just crumbled.

I guess I should just fast forward to....lunch is over.  Somehow I just forgot to take any pictures as we ate and drank a couple of little tiny beers. 

Ian and I had chicken fajitas.

I guess I liked mine more than he did!  Eric had camarones relleno (shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon) and Linda had camarones empanizado or breaded shrimp.  All very good.  We were too full for banana cream pie!

Back out to the square. 

We all trooped across the street to Alejandro Rodriguez's studio where he sells leather masks.  Ian and Linda bought one.  Cost about 800 pesos. 

The square has been painted up very nicely.

A small tour bus came in while we were there so there were more customers for the shop and the restaurant.  A very quiet place.

Now for the very old church built in the 1600's. 

It is not in very good repair and will likely just crumble away at some point.  However it will outlast the four of us!

Lovely look through. 

Obviously services are still held here and it was all decorated for Christmas with the nativity scene.

Down the narrow streets and out of town.

Amapa tree

Featured snippet from the web

Tabebuia impetiginosa (amapa, amapa morada) Tabebuia impetiginosa is a widespread hardwood tree of the New World tropics, extending from southern Sonora to Argentina. In Sonora it grows 15 to 50 feet tall with a straight trunk that is usually unbranched to about half the tree's height.

After the huge rainstorm a few weeks ago the hills are just covered in pink.  At this time of year we will usually see a few but right now they are in bloom everywhere.  The hills are also nice and green due to all the water. 

These pictures were taken by my Samsung S7 phone out a dirty window at speed so they all actually turned out pretty well.  I am usually on the back of the Harley with my arm up in the air holding a camera.  This year the bike had to stay home so I was riding in the rear of our little Jeep with Linda.

A good time was had by all and we were home by about 3:30 pm just in time to pack up and head off to bingo.   Never a dull moment!