We started the day by visiting the Zacatecan cemetery where the mausoleums looked like miniature Greek temples.

Then we drove towards Guadalajara (200 miles). Along the way we made a stop in Jerez.

We ate lunch at Dos Jorges (carrot and squash enchiladas with tomatillo sauce, rice, beans and café de olla) where half the restaurant was taken up by grinning skulls.

We arrived exhausted, with just enough energy to eat at Bariachi restaurant where we paid to hear La Llorona (the unofficial Day of the Dead Anthem).

At our hotel a mariachi band that used to back the most famous mariachi, Vicente Fernández, was playing. They had several violins and clarinets in addition to the standard instruments. Outstanding!

Our hotel looks better today than it did last night…

We had breakfast (nopal paninis with yummy café de olla) with pastor José from our church and Bible institute in Saltillo, where we had our first ever Gorditas (Mark’s second, if you catch my drift ;-).

After getting some valuable tips we left for Zacatecas, 250 miles away. We drove past a Dodge plant…

… and a village where I met a cute little Catrina.

Zacatecas is gorgeous. Most of the buildings in this Unesco world heritage city are made of a rust colored sandstone called sangre de paloma (pigeon’s blood) and were built during the wealthy silver mining heyday.

Our hotel faced the stark Plaza de Armas.

We spent a good while wandering through the streets, mesmerized by the architecture, eating mango-guanábana sorbet and window shopping (Mark’s favorite activity). We also found his house…

…(Retired Person’s Home).

Since the city is at 2,500 meters above sea level we hurried up to visit the Bufa (historic hill) before it got too chilly.

Three equestrian bronzes honor Pancho Villa and fellow revolutionaries for winning the battle here against the Federales in 1914. The corresponding museum presented information in novel formats (holograms, silhouettes projected onto shower curtains, murals made of pistol parts and interactive screens).

To get back to town we first rode a gondola…

…and then walked down quaint alleys until we saw a tour bus, so we hopped on and completed our Zacatecan education.

My favorites: a tiny park dedicated to mothers, the bull fighting ring tuned into a hotel, a cultural center

…and the replica armory that replaced one that exploded during the famous battle for Zacatecas.

We discovered the beautiful Edificio Calderón…

We ate at Cantera Musical while watching musical videos of Mexican charros like Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante and Cuco Sánchez. We ate a variation of asado de bodas (vegetables in a dark sauce) and Chingorolo (mezcal with orange and grapefruit juices served in a cantarito rimmed with chili powder).

Our evening was regaled with the quarter finals of the National Charro Competition.

Women clad in gorgeous long dresses with crinoline slips on side saddles performed hair raising Escaramuzas de las Damas Charras, in which they raced their horses at full speed in a convoluted figure eight configuration, barely missing each other!

Charros wearing fancy suede outfits and their characteristic sombreros chased calfs and flipped them over by simultaneously pulling their tail and kicking them on the hip.

In case you want to see more videos here are some of the events in the competition.

We started our day by walking along the Macroplaza (a long urban park built above one of the streets) where we listened to a marching band playing “Bésame Mucho.”

We ubered to a building where young people were giving fun acrobatic demonstrations.

The Fundidora, a steel foundry turned into a museum, boasts gigantic cauldrons that have been converted into unique fountains.

A fabulous concept, the museum comes complete with a guide (included with the ticket), a 300 foot tall laser and fireworks furnace show, a ride on the ore elevators (adapted to elevate humans), a river with pleasure boats that connect it to the city, and a gourmet restaurant with sweeping vistas of the mountains.

Mark made me drink from the fountain of youth… I hope it works!

Whoever invented tacos had a sense of humor…they are so messy and fun! We had the vegan version, rustic pizza, pistachio bread and a vegan brownie with local berries and coconut sorbet. Washed it all down with a glass of Mexican pinot.

We hopped on a boat back to Monterrey and managed to fit in a quick tour of the candy museum… who could resist?

We then drove 52 miles to Saltillo, arriving just in time for the crazy, fun Day of the Dead parade. There were lots of floats, mariachi bands, Coco impersonators, gigantes (giant puppets), motorcycles and dancers.

Many onlookers were just as appealing as the Calacas (skeletons) in the parade.

We also ran into the local T-Rex at the archaelogical museum, and its twin sculpture that had travelled to Burning Man.

For dinner we only had a free piece of the largest ever Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead), at least that’s what Saltilloans are hoping to talk the Guinness World Book of Records into!

We made it to Mexico! We woke up in Laredo, which Mark called Mexico Light because people were speaking Spanish everywhere, the AT&T store played salsa music and our buffet offered Beagles for breakfast…

Around noon we crossed the border and left th U..S on the rear view mirror…

Getting through the Mexican border with a car was complicated, but after about half an hour we completed the paperwork and headed southwest. The view was eerily beautiful. I made a clip that is in soft focus, and conveys the feel of the exotic landscape.

After 150 miles we arrived in downtown Monterrey, and went for a stroll. There were lovely parks, a contemporary art museum (designed by Legorreta) and pedestrian streets. Many people were outside, and nobody seemed concerned about drug wars, corrupt cops or anything but the nice weather. A friendly atmosphere and gorgeous gardens and architecture is what we found.

Papas asadas with tomatillo sauce and a fiesta burrito were in the menu. We headed to the University theater for a piano recital as part of the ongoing cultural festival. We ran into another giant pencil!There was a lobg line to secure free seats, but it turned out to be woth it, the pianist was outstanding.

Ubered back to our hotel, exhausted and satisfied.

This morning we drove 200 miles to San Antonio. After lunch on the Riverwalk we hurried to our Segway tour. We saw, among other places: The Mercado, the convention center (according to the guide the largest in the world), the courthouse (red sandstone building) the King William historic district, the Villita, the San Antonio river flood controls, the Tower of the Americas (2nd tallest free standing observation tower in the country) and the Alamo.

For dinner we had wild mushrooms and, yes, more vegetables! We took a lovely boat rise along the horseshoe section of the river and saw the Firendship Torch. To top this romantic evening we decided to take to the road and travel 150 miles to Laredo!

We attended Joel Osteen’s church, with 14,000 other people! It was a great service, even though Joel wasn’t there today. Lakewood is the largest church in the country.

We then visited the Menil Collection, which has a Cy Twombly Gallery and a Rothko chapel.I was only allowed to take a picture of this beautiful Yves Klein work from a distance.

Afterwards we had lunch at a Chineese café where they make your preferred type of noodles while you wait. Fascinating…

We wandering through the Hong Kong City Mall; we bought delicious snacks at the Asian grocery store that also sold live crabs, roasted quail and cone shaped hats among other necessities. We enjoyed listening to a Chinese musician while a Buddhist monk stood by. Houston has the largest Asian population in the U.S., just behind Los Angeles.

In the evening we walked around downtown, saw the baseball stadium (Astros) and a lovely park with a friendly Dubuffet sculpture. At the Bombay on Main street I ate a Frankie naan roll filled with poatoes mashed with Indian spices, onions, ginger garlic, sweet peas, carrots and tpped with pickled onions and cilantro-mint chutney. Tasty!

Today we woke up in Van Buren, Arkansas and drove 500 miles from the top to the bottom of Texas. Our goal was to reach Houston, and we did, after a long day. We stopped in Dallas to eat (spinach and mushroom enchiladas in red sauce) and to buy allergy medicine. The highlight of our day was a nice sunset followed by our highway dinner from Buc-ee’s Truckstop: Garlic hummus and black refried beans with chips and pretzels, complemented by fresh Guatemalan (or maybe Hawaiian) pineapple.

Bonus – I an including some images from a couple of days ago in Branson: A disparate group of objects vying for attention along Country Boulevard: a giant Titanic, a life size King Kong, the biggest rooster I’ve ever seen, a vintage Dodge truck, a yellow airplane, an oversized Bust of Ronald Reagan, a 20 foot Transformer, and an army of duck boats!

Today we managed to see the Down Home Country performance before driving 85 miles to Bentonville. On the way we stopped for lunch in Eureka Springs, a quaint town un the mountains with a great taffy store, beautiful antique sttructures, and a convenient Husband Daycare!

Crystal Bridges Museum belongs to the Walton family. The design echoes the shape of the hills into which it is nestled. It sits over a creek which was dammed to create a pond. The museum houses an excellent collection of American art. We saw Rosie the Riveter by Rockwell. We also toured a Usonian house by Frank Lloyd Wright and had a tasty dinner of toasted quinoa and Anasazi beans at the museum’s restaurant under a giant Jeff Koons heart. After dark we drove 77 more miles to a hotel along the road.

People in Missouri are sooo nice! Branson is a music enclave in the middle of the Ozark mountains. The day was rainy and gloomy, but our hearts were warmed by Yakov Smirnoff, a group of young Chinese acrobats and the Oakridge Boys’ gospel songs. Yelp reccomended a great Indian restaurant where we had curry with spinach naan, mango chutney, and coffee spiced with ground cardamom. We also drove to see the dam at Table Rock Lake. Here are some images of our day.

Today we started with the SLAM (St. Louis Art Museum). A gorgeous building with amazing exterior art. Highlights: Claes Oldenburg’s giant 3 way plug, a life size stainless steel tree, and a monumental equestrian sculpture.

Inside the museum we saw world class works. I was happily surprised to find Guatemalan art… a small painting by Carlos Merida, “Three Princesses,” and a Mayan vase showing ball players with fun animal headdresses.

After lunch we headed to The City Museum. An eclectic, interactive quirky place. We saw displayed together (among many other crazy objects): a school bus hanging over the ten story building, airplanes, architectural elements salvaged from century old buildings, aquariums, mosaics, a 100 foot long pencil (with actual lead and a genuine rubber eraser), wrought iron sculptures, antique self-playing pipe organs, and a ten story slide, which Mark was brave enough to ride!

On the roof we rode a ferris wheel and Mark caught a praying mantis!

After this long day of adventures we still hopped in the van and drove 270 miles to Branson, Missouri!