Yesterday

With acute precision both Carol and I awoke yesterday at 5:40 a.m., both of us with a degree of apprehension over the explosive, clanging alarm sounded by the infernal bells bells bells of the church across the street. Such a clamoring uproar in the middle of the night surely signaled a dire emergency. Was the volcano spewing ash, lava, and poisonous gas toward Colima? Was this a warning to flee for our lives?

As the frantic hammering of the bells continued I peered out our window to see if the street was filling with people fleeing in panic, and if escaping vehicles were forming gridlock. I saw only two indifferent souls shuffling along as though things were normal. They were heading to the church. I soon grasped that this was a call for church-goers to assemble. This realization placed an immediate test on my own Christianity. I was ready to apply for membership in Boanerges (check it in the Bible concordance if necessary). I looked up to the bell tower and could see the little demon working vigorously on the bells. I confess if I had a sling like David, a smooth stone like David, and the marksmanship of David, I would have rung *his* bell.

So our long day of travel had an earlier start than the anticipated 7:00 a.m. Before I leave this subject, here is a video taken by me from our hotel balcony at about 5:42 a.m.

After our baggage was ready we went downstairs for breakfast in the café. The waiter got our order wrong inspiring in me serious apprehensions about the way this day was going to unfold.

After breakfast we took a last look, and photo, of Old Smokey ...

 Going to miss checking on this fellow.

I had taken the phone number of José, the English-speaking taxi driver who had taken us to a shopping center, and called him to pick us up and drive us to the bus station in Tecoman. Tecoman is the city, 40 minutes away, where we would get the bus to Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo. Taking a taxi to Tecoman was a little more expensive than taking a bus there but it was worth it to avoid loading and unloading our luggage. As a JW one cannot travel light like ordinary tourists. We need light casual clothes for the warm temperatures at sea level, heavier clothes for the mountains where it's cool, dress clothes for meetings, clothes appropriate for the service, etc. We need camels.

Our eight-hour bus ride went very smoothly and comfortably, and carried us along some outstanding vistas. Photo samples follow ...

 So much beach, not a house.

 Shallow rivers crawling to the sea.

 More isolated beaches.

 Serpentine roads cut into the mountains. They go uphill and downhill with endless turnings. And no, there are no guard rails between the edge of the road and oblivion.

 We followed the coastline the whole way.

 And a scenic coastline it was.

A half-hour bus-driver break at The Dusty Tables and Plastic-molded Chairs Restaurant.

 Carol at the restaurant entrance.

A banana plantation, with bananas growing inside blue bags.

Our bus entered the familiar surroundings of Zihuatanejo around 8:00 p.m. and by 9:00 p.m. we were in our rented condo in Ixtapa, marking the end of a month-long exploration of Mexico in which we traveled 2700 kilometers (1678 miles). We learned much about this country and the people living here. We are glad to settle down for a while and stop living out of a suitcase.