FreakAuth_light®

Our plans for this day were far too ambitious. We did not take into
account, the two hours we lost by not getting to Querétaro the day before.
We had planned to by-pass Mexico City via Puebla, then go directly to
Oaxaca. At best, that would have meant a 13-hour day of driving, so we
had left early to make it.

The countryside outside of San Luis Potosí was rolling farmland. The
new highway seemed to by-pass most of the towns along the way. As we
approached Querétaro, we were thrilled to see a lengthy Roman-type
aqueduct that ran from the hill on one side of the road, to a hill on the other
side. The highway ran through the arches that held up the aqueduct. I
could not help but think, What a great place for someone to build a
MacDonald's!

Because the highway was very good, it was just around 9:00 a.m. when
we hit the morning traffic on the outskirts of Mexico City. We had been on
a toll road all morning, and from the way my ears were popping and the
car laboring, I could tell that we were climbing at a good rate. Of course,
I knew that Mexico City was at an elevation of around 7,000 feet.

The fields between Querétaro and Mexico City were cultivated and
looked quite productive. They reminded me very much like the fields of
Ireland that are separated by rock fences. In this case, the fields were
separated by fences made of stacked lava rock that had been taken from
the fields to make room for cultivation. Volcanoes were quite visible,
verifying the lava rock source. You could get a fortune for the rocks in those
fences in Los Angeles.

As we neared the intersection where we were to turn off to Puebla, I
could detect disappointment in my wife's face, and the fact that she had
become so quiet. Mexico City was her favorite city the years she had flown
on this run with American Airlines. I knew that she really wanted to see
if some of her old "hang-outs" were still there. We had discussed the
possibility of spending a day there, sightseeing and resting, but had ruled
it out to save money. It would be a shame to be so close to her old memories,
and not visit them.

When we came to the "Y" where one arrow pointed to "Puebla", and
the other to "Mexico" (Mexico City is called just Mexico or Mexico, DF, and
not "Mexico City"), I continued on the Mexico City route with the morning
traffic. I made lots of "brownie points" with that decision. She was really
back to her old excited self when we turned off onto "Avenida Reforma".

We spent an hour or so driving around her old stomping grounds
where, I am sure, she used to terrorize the natives. We found her old "crew
hotel", but not her favorite restaurant, the Villa Fontana.

Then I decided to put the icing on the cake, and drive down to her second
favorite place, Cuernavaca, for lunch. She had always talked about the beauty
of the place. From the map, it did not appear much further by taking
highway 190 south to Oaxaca, than highway 131 from Puebla.
By the time we decided to go via Cuernavaca, we had no idea how to
find our way through the maze of streets of downtown Mexico City to the
road to Cuernavaca. We resorted to a trick we had been using when we
were lost or needed directions. We spotted a little Volkswagen bug with a
very nice looking young lady driving it. As we came to a traffic light,
Audrey rolled down her window and caught her attention, and asked her
what street to take to get to the road to Cuernavaca. She explained to
Audrey, who seemed confused in trying to translate the directions to me
in English while talking to her in Spanish.

The lady in the VW pulled up beside us at the next traffic light, blowing
her horn and waving to Audrey. She told Audrey to follow her. Then she
pulled in front of us, and meandered through town for at least five miles.
Suddenly we were on a beautiful four-lane divided parkway heading out
of town. She pulled over. We stopped beside her and thanked her for her
trouble. She told us this was the road, and for us to watch for a turn-off
several miles down the road. Then she waved good-bye, did a U-turn, and
headed back to town. We were overwhelmed by her deed.

We found Cuernavaca and had lunch. The city was every bit as beautiful
as Audrey had remembered. After driving around and looking at the stately
mansions, we headed out of town.

After getting into and out of a traffic jam, at about 2:30 p.m. we headed
for Oaxaca.