Rio de Medino y Zacatecas

I drive through México toward Zacatecas and I think I could be in California or New Mexico.  The land is so similar, just somehow much bigger.

But the reddish dirt exists, the golden grasses, the cacti and small trees that look like mesquite, the flowing mountains and broad stretches of even land.

I see a sign for Rio de Medino when I am about 50 kilometers west of Zacatecas. The sign says it is only 9 kilometers away and the road looks like it is newly paved.

I take the cutoff and drive happily down the road for what I think is 9 kilometers. The paved road suddenly ends and I advance on a dirt and stone road. I go over a mile and see nothing but endless dirt in between fenced fields of some cows walking between furrowed rows.

I don’t see a river – or a town for that matter. I wonder if the river was where the paved road ended. It is approaching dusk so I decide to turn back and head on to Zacatecas and find a place to park for the night.

I arrive in the town – actually I don’t get off the major road going thru Zacatecas but see the city growing and expanding uphill on either side of the road. I see a Pemex gas station with big trucks parked there and I decide to park there overnite also.

It has a 24 hour toilet but I have to pay 3 pesos to use so I wait until morning to use it. It gets very cold, but not as cold as it was at the national park!

In the morning, I wake up, make myself coffee, wave to the 5 or 6 guys congregated across the parking lot staring at me, and head into the beautiful city of Zacatecas.