We thought we were having lunch in Copala!

 

I've only been out on the bike with Eric once this season so yesterday was the day for a ride.  My choice was Copala and Alejandro's restaurant for lunch.  The best laid plans don't always turn out!

Here we've ridden from our place on the Mazatlan bypass to the highway to Copala just east of Villa Union.

We rode mostly on the blue route and partly on the grey blue route.  We were on the road just before 10am with about 50 miles to go. 

As we rode along it was just so dry. It's been droughty here in this whole area this past year. 

We're heading up hill here and there's a big, slow truck up ahead. 

This is a twisty, turny ride!

Looks like Momma's been shopping in Concordia.  All sorts of modes of travel here. 

The big gate into Condordia. 

Heading east and up to Copala and below you can see the new toll road to Durango.  We're on the old road. 

One of the small villages along the way 

Right turn for Copala. 

The sign for our lunch destination further into town. 

This cobblestone road used to be a nightmare on Big Red the Harley Ultra. 

Winding our way in. 

So easy to drop a bike on the cobblestones.  The triumph Tiger is so much lighter and more nimble.  

The bougainvillea are so beautiful and so many different colors.  

Very quiet and no one's out and about.  

Almost there.

Coming into the main square.

The very old 1740's Church of San Jose.  Copala was founded in 1564 by Francisco de Ibarra conquering the area for Spain.  A silver mining area so the town was founded to serve the mines. 

Just as we rolled in an parked another travelling motorcycle rolled in looking for lunch.  Unfortunately Alejandro's was closed and nobody was getting lunch here.  Tourism in the small towns close to Mazatlan has dropped due to the drug wars that started back in the late summer.  Many tourists will not leave the city of Mazatlan and less people have come due to the worry of violence.  We do our research and stay away from hotspots.  

This young man is Yang from Singapore!  He quickly sat down to have a cigarette and we got to chatting.  He left Singapore about 9 months ago and he is on a two year motorcycle journey by himself.  He landed in London and then had the bike shipped to North America.  He had been to Alaska and Prudhoe Bay in October...that must have been cold. He came over from the Baja and arrived on the La Paz ferry at 10am this morning and ...here he is in Copala hoping for lunch.  At this point he's gong to ride the old highway ( the Devil's spine) inland and then on to Mexico city and ??  We chatted a bit about a hot spot up ahead (El Palmito) and he'll avoid stopping there and continue on to La Ciudad for the night.  Eric suggested it and Yang said that was his plan as they have hostels there in the Mexiquillo park.  He and Eric discussed bikes and he thought Eric might want to downsize.  He was surprised when Eric said he had downsized from the big Harley.  Yang is 29 and he was surprised again when Eric said he was 78. I said I wondered if he'd be riding in another 50 years like Eric and he said they'd all be electric by then.  His bike is a Yamaha Tenere 700 is about 70 hp and is about 50 pounds lighter than the Tiger which is 482 pounds without boxes etc. and 90 hp.  The Harley was just over 900 pounds!  A very interesting, friendly relaxed guy.  We wished him luck and hoped he'd find lunch! You just never know who you'll meet.

The bike is really geared up. 

Looks like he's ready for anything.

 

Yang was riding from the red pin to La Ciudad for the night and then on.  A favorite motorcycle ride because of the twists and turns.  Called the Devil's Spine as it falls off on both sides of the highway in places. It used to be the main two lane highway to the coast from inland.  The new four lane highway opened up easy travel to to the Mazatlan area.

For us it was time to head back to Concordia and lunch. I checked later on Facebook and it looks like Alejandro's is only open when they know a cruise ship is coming.  The Google site said they were open...wrong!

No water in this river in one of the small towns. 

In through the big gate.  We've been here many times before so Eric knew where he was going. 

One way streets in, out and around town.

Up ahead we found El Granero where we've eaten before and...it was open. 

It's a large restaurant and we were the only ones eating. 

Very interesting and well decorated. 

So many things to look at. 

Refried beans, salsas and slightly scorched tortillas as an appetizer...gratis. 

That's the very famous Mexican artist Freda Kahlo on the wall.  Lots of historic art on the walls. 

I ordered enchiladas suiza with a poblano cream sauce.  Sad to say the enchiladas had dry stringy chicken in them but the sauce and salad was good.  I must quit ordering enchiladas here in Mexico as they are always a disappointment.

Eric had camarones rancheros El Diablo which was good.

Heading out of Concordia and one of the old buildings.

On the road out of town and heading home.

Pottery and furniture making shops dot the highway on our way out.  We've stopped many times in the past but..not yesterday.

Full of ornate Mexican style furniture.

Back to the Mazatlan bypass and home.  Another interesting ride and it's always refreshing to get out of town.