Estacion Dimas for lunch and then Las Labradas

Monday seemed like a good day to go on a road trip as that's when our maid Mireya comes to clean our house.   We decided to head north on the free road to Estacion Dimas and restaurant Mariscos Pissis for lunch.  Ian and Linda were up for a trip as well so off we went.  We'd asked Frank and Sandy to join us but Frank has been battling a chest cold and they had to take a pass.  Next time!

Eric and Ian in the front of the Jeep and Linda and I in the back.

Heading north on the free road.  Harder to take pictures from the back seat of the Jeep.

They are four laning highway 15 up by El Quelite.  Not sure why but they are.

Turn left onto highway 2 towards Estacion Dimas.  We could get to Dimas by taking the toll road north from Mazatlan but...that means a big toll.  No gracias!

We took a quick run into Piaxtla de Abajo which is along highway 2 on the way to Dimas.  We always wondered what was there and...now we know.  Another small farming town out in the country.  A pretty square in the middle of town.  This area is hugely agricultural due to the abundance of water from the Piaxtla river.

Back out and heading towards Dimas.

Every year when we come out this way I take a picture of the church in Dimas and every year it's a bit different.

In 2012 I did a blog on Estacion Dimas and the following is a quick explanation.

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.

The grand old building still stands.

Must have been something in it's time.

What shall I order?

Someone is always either cutting up fish or shucking shrimp here.  This young man was just a blur cleaning shrimp.  How do they do that!

Always something passing by.  Right now the whole main street is under construction and you have to use the laterals to get around.  Not sure why as the main street is beautiful just the way it is.

Ian and Linda had breaded or empanizado shrimp.  Both said it was just excellent.

We had our usual pescado (fish) relleno (stuffed.  With octopus and shrimp on top and peppers and cheese over top.  Delicious except today the shrimp was tough which was unusual.

On the side...rice and salad.  I had a coco cola which I never drink except here.

Need a cucumber anyone.

This little princess is the grand daughter (we think) of the owner.  She started out as a baby and now she's hell on wheels! 

Linda and I.

This older toddler next to us was still in a diaper and had to be changed twice while we were there. 

Lunch done...everyone back in the Jeep. We  off south on the toll road to Las Labradas.

Las Labradas is north of the final toll before coming into Mazatlan. 

A whole herd of goats along the way in.

The rain last week really made a mess out of the road going in.  We used 4 wheel drive.

Quite a few vehicles there when we arrived including a small Nissan car who made it through the mud hole.

History of the site.

Beautiful mother of pearl necklace.

This dog skeleton was interesting as the write up said it was found with it's front paws crossed and showed that it is an older animal that would have been a valued family pet. 

Dogs were also raised as livestock at that time this one was lucky to be a pet!

The last time we were here the facility was under construction and we didn't have to pay.  Today it was 130 pesos each.

From Wikipedia .....Swietenia humilis is a species of tree in the family Meliaceae. It is one of three species in the genus Swietenia, all three of which are regarded as "genuine mahogany." At 6 metres (20 ft), it is one-fifth the height of S. mahagoni and one-sixth the height of S. macrophylla. Its species name, humilis, means "small" or "dwarfish".

Common names include Pacific Coast mahogany, caoba del Pacifico, caoba del Honduras, caobilla, cobano, gateado, sopilocuahuilt, venadillo and zapaton. In the wood trades it is known as Honduras mahogany and Mexican mahogany.

The tree has been over-exploited for its wood which is valuable for making furniture. The plant also is of interest as a possibly commercial source of seed oil and pharmacologically active

Heading down to the beach. 

The explorers ready to go!

A cloudy but very warm day.  It would have been too hot without the clouds.

This appears to be the same ground cover that we saw in Maui (Hawaii).  It stabilizes the dunes there.

As we wandered along the paths there were many explanatory signs about the volcanic rock carvings.

Some were hard to find and many are so faint you can hardly see them.

I think this egret was hunting.

Perhaps he was full of these snails that were tightly attached to the rocks.

Linda was taking pictures of....

....this iguana who was ever so still. Perhaps he was full too!

Basalt rock.

The beach was just beautiful.

You really had to look carefully to find them.

Lovely even without the carvings.

The happy brothers.

Linda is still taking photos.

Very funny!

There was a cactus fence along the path as we walked out.

A long interesting day and we're ready to head home.

We went north on the toll road to highway 2 at Estacion Dimas and then back to highway 15 south to Mazatlan.  No point in paying that big toll when we weren't in a hurry.

A really nice day!