3 Kg (6.6 lb) Bag of Cheese Puffs/Wonders of Copper Canyon ~ Derek's Travels

Once in Creel, Michelle and I decided to take one of the many tours offered by the local hotels, opting for a drive along the lookouts of the incredible canyon South of the city, which basically meant a ride in the Suburban with Joel (pronounced Ho-el), a friend of the family, who served as our tour guide. Speaking only in Spanish, with me translating parts for Michelle, he told us about the area as well as his life. Asking me about my family, I told him that I was too young for a wife and kids, yet he told me that he is also 26 and has had three children from three different marriages. ''I hope your current wife is the best one,'' I announced after his stories. ''Women are all the same,'' he replied. He also wondered why Michelle was so quiet in the back seat, and she mentioned that her Spanish wasn't quite up to par, so he then pointed out that not being able to talk back made her the perfect woman. Along with a few other stories, we had a good time making our way around the lookouts, stopping at one amazing point after another. Numerous rivers have carved their way through the area, creating huge cliffs and plateaus upon which the locals live, managing a meak subsistence through farming and bits of money from tourism. The endless landscapes continued on, turn after turn along the winding road. Soon, we found a few rock formations, with the phallic one being hailed as the Rock of Fertility and/or the Sacred Rock. Another lookout brought us to a steep dropoff with a few rocks jutting out into the abyss. On top of the structure is the Piedra Volada/Flying Rock. After making Joel try it first and having him assure me that it was somewhat safe, I climbed up and shook back and forth, feeling the rock sway beneath my feet, just a few feet away from the cliff´s edge. Just a few seconds on this rock was enough to instill a bit of vertigo and fear in anyone, so we continued on, back to Divisadero, the train station with the local market and amazing views.

At Divisadero, I once again had an amazing meal of gorditas, a thick shelled soft tortilla cut in half and stuffed with beef, cilantro, onions, tomatoes and potatoes. The food stalls were all set up with a stovetop placed on top of a metal barrel with a fire pit below, providing a hot cooking surface and a colorful display of the meat and tortillas, in various shades of green, red and yellow, all ready to eat. Speaking of food, at the store on the way out to our trip, I found one of the most amazing mass quantity items that I've ever seen. This was the legendary 3 Kg (6.6 lb) bag of cheese puffs...those Cheetos substitute items that aren't much more than bright orange food coloring and air. Now, I realize that weight doesn't sound like that much, but these things are weightless, meaning that it takes millions of them to tip the scales, and that's the reason that this bag caught my eye. It took up the entire bottom shelf, probably about 4 or 5 feet tall. The thing that I couldn't understand about this incredible feat of food engineering is why someone would want that many cheese puffs, all at one time. Now, I am supremely sympathetic to gluttony, so that's not my point. The point is that there's no way that you could eat all of these before they start going stale. Unless, of course, it were given at some sort of massive party...like a wedding...nothing like wedding cake and cheese puffs.

Anyway, we eventually finished our tour, and I spent one more night in the house, ready to leave the next morning, trying to decide between taking a bus to the city of Chihuahua, in the center, or taking the train back to the coast. Right at the last minute (surprise, surprise), I decided to go back on the train, and I couldn't have been happier with my decision. The afternoon light on the magnificent canyons, looming mountains and green forests was unbelievable. I spent most of the ride in between the cars, taking picture after picture and being astounded by the passing scenery. Passing through mostly untouched land, this felt like another prehistoric landscape with the rugged rock mountains breaking through the lush green forest, giving way to the rushing river below. All the while, we were passing along the edge of the steep canyon, through tunnels and over bridges. The unbelievable scenery continued on and on for about three hours, gradually scaling down into smaller hills and plains, just as the sun set over the horizon, providing nice shades of yellow and orange fading into the blues and black of the night. Again, I couldn't believe a place this beautiful, yet relatively unknown, existed in what I had imagined to be a dry, desert sort of landscape. There was little that this ride was missing in terms of impressive scenery, and I was so glad that I had opted to take the train trip back.

Upon arriving back in Los Mochis, I went back to the same hotel, and I splurged and opted for the room with tv and air conditioning for an outrageous $3 more, which turned out to be a great decision. In addition to the air conditioning, the mattress was somewhat firm, which was a nice change from feeling like laying on a spring with a sheet on top of it, and the pillow wasn't nearly as lumpy or unforgiving as before. So, in the complete darkness and comfort of my bed, I slept. And slept. And slept. I woke up from a deep sleep, figuring that I should probably get up and get something done, since it was already late morning. As I looked at my watch, I realized that it wasn't even late morning, it was 12:45, and I had slept for 12 and a half hours. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the complete darkness of the room tricked me into believing that it was still morning. So, I quickly packed my stuff, headed out into the bright, scorching daylight and walked to the bus stop for my next adventure. From Los Mochis, I'd be taking the bus down the coast to the town of Mazatlan.