16 April 2024 My room in Monterrey

This is my typical room in Monterrey. The hotel has an acceptable restaurant and there are a few close by restaurants when I am daring. Outside of time at the local facility, it is a quiet, isolated existence. The television broacasts spanish dubbed programs. Long work days make the trips more bearable.

14 April 2024 South of the Border (Again)

Business trips to Mexico are brutal. They start between 3 and 4am when I leave home for the airport. With a two-hour time difference, I am still at the facility 16 hours later when I finally head to my hotel. Sunrise makes it's way above the horizon as the jet heads to a southern first stop.

Breakfast of champions... I always fly coach per company policy. It means three across and a Coke for breakfast.

Sunrise...

Dropping in for the landing....

Time for the office. Three days to a return flight.

28 March 2024 Passing in the Air

It's rare to see a second jet passing this close even near the airport. This sighting caused some chatter on the jet. The ever-present thick layer of pollution over Monterrey was a perfect backdrop. I was happy to be on my way home.

25 March 2024 Yet Another Mexico Visit

It was time for yet another business trip to Mexico. It was fun to spot a Seat Ibeza in the facility's parking lot.

Luckily my hotel has a good restaurant. Work days with mornings spent flying to Mexico and being in the facility until the evening make me too tired to consider a meal elsewhere.

22 February 2024 Another Day of Pollution

I needed to travel to Monterrey airport to meet a collegue arriving from the US. Over the years the level of visible pollution has become more intense. This trip was my worst. The heavy smog changed the tone of the colors of the terminal.

21 February 2024 Yet Another Mexico Trip

Monterrery still had a visible bit of moon when I arrived in the early morning.

The blue sky was above the ever-present pollution of daily life.

9 January 2024 First Flight to Monterrey

Leaving the house at 4 in the morning to travel to Mexico or Washington state has become a part of my life. Sometimes the first light of day can be awesome.

31 October 2023 Spending Día de los Muertos in Mexico

I was in town for business and experienced the Day of the Dead first-hand. The company facility and my local hotel were both quite festive.

15 December 2022 Cancelled Flights

 Flying post-COVID has been unique.  Flights get delayed and cancelled at a whim.  My flight from Monterrey back home was cancelled today.  American at least gave me a room and meal voucher for a nearby hotel.  The hotel was a CN which I've never used before.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but was surprised to see a decorated tree in the lobby, a small (and very good) restaurant, and a comfortable room that was very quiet.

14 December 2022 Back In Monterrey

 

I travelled during the pre-vaccine times of COVID, but all my trips were in the US by car.  This was my first return to Monterrey.  The changes in the pollution levels were very obvious from my first step out of the airport.  Clear days used to be common.  Now the mid-day sky and sunset were blanketed in a think layer of pollution.

22 August 2019 Hiking Monterrey

The timing worked for one evening hike on my visit.  We stopped for a different climb at a familiar park.  Pollution is a problem in the metro area. The mountain ring surrounding the area locks in the air from the vehicles and industry.  Tonight the cloud was pushing into the metro area.

I wasn't expecting to see these in the dry rocky climb.  There were many of them at the lower range of our hike.

This was a new trail for us.  It was quite steep in areas, but a pleasant hike.

I happened to look at my gps and noted there was an unfound cache at a slightly higher elevation.  We had talked that there was an old planetarium at the park.  I was surprised to find it was near the locations of the cache.

It would have been too much to happen upon this on an evening when it was open.  Still, it was a fun and unexpected discovery.  As usual, we didn't find the cache, but we had fun looking and exploring.

It was a long, dark walk back with just the lights of Monterrey as a guide.  We were treated to a sighting of three coatis.

6 June 2019 Cars of Mexico

It is always interesting to see the cars in Mexico.  Many of them have a US counterpart or were brought in from the US and sold, but many are unavailable and unseen in the US.

There were two Mitsubishi Eclipses in the parking lot of the hotel.  These were once a common sight in the US.  Two of them in the same hotel lot meant they were probably traveling together.

This is a slightly older Seat Ibiza.  They are fairly common on the local roads.  The newer ones are now sporting an LED headlight configuration.

The Dodge Neon name lives in Mexico.

The Ford Figo is an import from India.  The future of this car is unknown as Ford has relinquished most automotive management in India to Indian manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra.

4 June 2019 Hiking Monterrey

Ghost bikes mark the side of the trail heading into the steep rides on the side of the mountain.  My local engineer loves to ride here, but I am aware these peaks are beyond where I want to ride.

Our company truck sits in the shadow of the base of a peak.  Our target this evening is across the road.

The trail climbs quickly shrinking the road and vehicles.

Canyon wrens were abundant on the climb.

We were about 200 feet from the peak when we pulled back and started down.  Reaching the peak would have been easy.  Making the big descent on a treacherous trail in the dark was more risk than we can afford.

A few times a year on my trips to Monterrey, I indulge myself with a favorite dish.  Queso fundido with chorizo is a real treat for me.  The hotel does the dish well.  The hike seemed a reasonable warm-up for this dish.

28 June 2018 Walking Around the Compound

When I am in Mexico for business, I usually stay in a large compound with three hotels and a handful of restaurants. I usually spend time in the courtyard area of my hotel, but I was restless this evening. Wandering along the edge of the property I was able to spot a white-winged dove and a purple finch feasting on the sunflowers.

Years ago the chicken tax ended the import of smaller trucks into the US. Small trucks of all brands faded from our roads. They are still quite popular in Mexico. The Fiat Strada Adventure is one of the forbidden fruits.

The Ranger is returning to the US. It dwarfs the Starda, but will still be a reasonable size alternative to Detroit's overgrown truck offerings.

They haven't been made for a long time, but Mexico still has a number of Volkswagon Beatles in use. This one at a nearby restaurant was in nice shape