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REASONS NOT TO DRIVE AT NIGHT

Our friend Katie came over yesterday to hang out and bake some goodies for this weekend and to play Just Dance.  It was a fun day and a nice break from how hard we have been working to finish up some school stuff.  (Austin and India have just about completed the school course they started in May.)

The sun was setting as we hopped in the car and started driving to Jocotepec where she lives.  To get to her family’s home we usually take a bypass road that is smoother and quicker than going through town.

As Ginger Kitty and I started our drive home from dropping her off it was pitch black.

Once the sun sets here it gets super inky black until the moon comes out.

We are on the very dark, very windy, very high mountain bypass and are kind of staying in the middle of the road because it has rocks and gravel on both lanes from unfinished construction.  And I might add the edge of the road just drops off a steep cliff.  The darkness was actually absorbing the light from my car.

Out of nowhere in the middle of the road is a COW.  There was not a lot of room on either side of it.  And I wasn’t sure if it would just stay in place or not.  We squeezed by and the cow’s face was inches away from Ginger Kitty’s window.  Her eyes were huge as she realized there was a cow RIGHT THERE.

Note: Mikee added this inaccurate description of what the cow MAY have looked like if we could have seen it, and if there was an orange fire behind it. 🙂

She and I laughed about our little adventure.  She said, “I never had a cow face that close to my Kitty face before.  That sure was something!

Then a couple hundred feet up, there was another one in the middle of the road.  Only this time it’s behind was the first thing we saw.  And as we continued we saw about a half dozen in the lane we were driving in.  At least they weren’t in the middle and it was easier to pass them.

Point is… there are many reasons you DO NOT DRIVE IN THE DARK.

Often the only news people from Canada and the United States hear about Mexico is bad news.  Many people worry for our safety.

We do exercise caution and we do have to be alert.  But if we felt it was too dangerous to be here -especially with young children- we would not stay.

Avoiding driving as much as we can in the dark is not just to avoid crime.

The roads here drop off on the edges or have have potholes.  People walk and ride bikes and horses and are on the roads in the pitch dark.  Animals sleep or hang out in the middle of roads.  They like the warmth and will often sleep in the roads at night.  (thanks Jill for the reminder :))  And you can’t see these things until you are right on top of them.

Once we had 5 horses standing and grazing -in the dark!

Our friend Justin came across several pigs lying in the middle of the road -in the dark!  After he went by there were 2 less.  Oh, and he messed up the front end of his car.

So we usually managed to avoid being out in the dark.

“Hey Camille, where are the pictures?” I hear you asking.

No pictures today.

Sorry.

First of all it was too dark to get a picture of the animals.  Secondly, it was too dangerous to stop and get a picture.  And, thirdly, and most sadly, my camera is not working.  :'(  ::sniff sniff::

I am hoping that Mikee can perform surgery to get it going again.  And if not, I have no idea how to replace it.  We don’t buy those kind of things here.

 

This is my loyal companion.  It was my 20th anniversary present and I love it because it’s red.  Mikee picked it out because it takes hi-def video.  I would like to stick with the same camera.  It’s a great size and easy to use and does a fabulous job.  Unless anyone out there has any other recommendations…

 

PS- WELCOME HOME JUDY!!!  WE MISSED YOU.

{ 11 comments… add one }
  • Jill November 30, 2011, 2:10 pm

    Do you know why animals often go to the roads at night? It may be the same reasons tarantulas often got on the road in Texas at night. For the warmth. I found your story interesting and wondered if it was for the same reason. Of course, cows are just dumb anyway but they must have been smart enough not to walk off the cliff…..of course, you didn’t check to see how many cows had gone over the cliff so we will never know:))))

  • Ellice Skretvedt November 30, 2011, 4:59 pm

    You can send a camera to me and I can bring it to you, if you want. Just lemme know!

    BTW, driving home, in the dark, almost hitting a small doggie, is how we ended up with Chica! So at least you don’t have a pet cow now. : )

  • Stephanie Bartek November 30, 2011, 9:50 pm

    This has nothing to do with cows, but we are watching a documentary on monarch butterflies which migrate to Mexico. This is definately something you should go check out. There’s millions of them! There’s a town that celebrates them coming, I missed the name. But they cover the trees the ground, everything it’s amazing. They come late October and stay 5 months til they migrate back.

  • Jessica November 30, 2011, 10:07 pm

    I don’t know if it’s possible to send to the States but my Dad found a guy in Georgia that repairs Canon camera’s. He fixed both mine and my moms (or little point and shoot). Let me know and I can get you the info.

  • DAD December 1, 2011, 12:09 pm

    GOOD EXPERINCE!

  • Susan December 1, 2011, 3:58 pm

    Ok. I’m not trying to “walk on the moon” (Brian Reagan’s line….) REALLY. But one time driving home after the meeting in Malawi, there, in the middle of the road was a HYENA! No foolin’. We couldn’t avoid driving at night, because near the equator, it’s light by 5 am and dark by 5 pm nearly year round. If I remember right, our meetings started at 6 pm, so no choice….

    But the hyena didn’t stand there long, actually, kinda wanted to get a good look at one, because we heard them all the time, but never had seen them. They are HUGE, think: dog, size of pony, but ugly. (they eat dogs by the way….) nasty things. I’m sure as a “clean-up crew”, they are very useful though. But I wouldn’t want want coming through the car-window either…. the headlights hit his underside so he was pretty tall.

    anyway, liked your story, and just sharin’ hope that’s ok. Have you ever watched Brian Reagan?

    • admin December 2, 2011, 8:34 am

      We love your stories Susie. Share Share Share!
      ps-India says “hi” to Maddie

  • Elly December 1, 2011, 10:24 pm

    And I thought it was bad on THESE back roads in the dark…especially in the rain!

  • Rebecca and George Duarte December 2, 2011, 8:16 am

    BAHBHAHHAHAHAHHa I know it dangerous and all but mikes picture of the cow made spit my coffee out this morning. I am glad you didn’t get hurt but that is funny. Hope your camera gets better soon. : )

  • ginny brown December 2, 2011, 8:59 am

    wow, you might find a lot of roadkill at daybreak?! I have a hard time seeing at nite, so i don’t go out much up here. Are you able to buy from Amazon? They usually have good prices and Steven has some kind of student membership that gives us all free 2 day shipping. Not sure if you need to be a college student or regular student. but, they have camcorders and cameras. I just bought a Canon camcorder and am using it also as a camera. I love it so far. gonna send away to snapfish for some pictures to see how well they come out.

  • Claire Janvary December 11, 2011, 12:06 am

    The city with the monarch butterflies is Morelia. But sadly, the area up in the mountains where you go to see the butterflies has reportedly been unsafe this year due to drug cartel activity in the area. At least that’s what I heard. Seeing the monarchs is one of the things I MUST do while living in Mexico. Maybe next year.

    Will send a private email soon. We returned from the U.S. a couple of weeks ago after an emergency trip – my daughter was killed in a motorcycle accident – so we are still in shock and have just started checking emails again since we returned.

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