Scanned in December 2001; and cleaned up a bit. Photos by Nathan.

We had talked about going on this outing for several years and decided to do it as my 50th Birthday Party; a month early. Invited various friends to go with us but, not unexpectedly, the only non-family member who went was Tim Roethig. The week was selected to match Nate's Spring Vacation from Reed since he wanted to go and for awhile we thought Sabina might skip a week of high school and go with us; but that turned out to not work out ...... so we four took off. 

Sunday - Caught a 7:25 AM plane from San Jose to San Diego. Meanwhile, Nate had come to Cupertino on Friday night and Tim drove down on Sunday morning so we were off. Arrived on time, exchanged a bit of money (the man at the San Diego airport only had about $50 worth of pesos), caught a bus that went to the center of town, transferred to the trolley that goes to the US-Mexican border (a real buy getting from the S Diego airport to the border for $1.50!), had a bit to eat at McDonalds and then walked across the border. No officials to even show our passports or tourists cards to. Bargained with cab drivers and then took a cab to the Tijuana airport. Killed a lot of time there and then took our Aero-Mexico flight to Los Mochis, with a stop at Hermosillo. Much to our surprise the plane actually left Tijuana about 5 minutes early. Pretty good views of some real desolate desert country and of the Bay of California. Arrived Los Mochis about 7 PM, cab to hotel, reservations were in order, had dinner (Dawn's flaming shrimp were the best item), and walked the town. Not a very great town, but we had expected that; the key was we had successfully moved ourselves from Cupertino to the starting point for the Copper Canyon train trip. 

Monday - Slept in and then breakfast, with my scrambled eggs with chorizo being good fun and Dawna liking her refried beans. Headed off to get pesos and found that banks had very long lines, and some would not exchange money, and finally ended up in a line and when got to the front it would only take cash - not traveler’s checks ..... but Dawna and I had a fair amount of cash so did eventually (two more lines to stand it) get pesos. Caught a local bus that took us to Topolobampo, which is a fishing village on the Bay of California. The bus ride was about a half-hour and had plenty of local "charm" including looking out the window at fields of marigolds, some of which were being harvested. The village was non-fancy but interesting and we walked all over it. Great views of the bay. After walking all around the town we had a beer at a local spot and then took a couple mile walk around the edge of the bay to the Yacht Hotel. Had lunch there ..... various types of shrimp which were good but too greasy. Walked back, bussed back to Los Mochis, walked around the town in the area of bazaars and did a tiny bit of shopping. Dinner. At first at a seafood place but since only seafood, which Nate wouldn't go for, we went to a different place. More local and much cheaper than the hotel and quite friendly and a good meal, with my chicken livers being excellent. 

Tuesday - Hotel lobby at 5:15 and found the transport to the train station was all signed up for by group tours, but caught a cab and got there. Onto the train and away it went at 6 AM. For awhile the countryside was flat. Had a pretty decent breakfast in the dinning room. Train quite comfortable and mostly occupied with tour groups. Climbs from sea level to 7,500 feet and goes through 86 tunnels and over 39 bridges. Quite spectacular, although not really of the Copper Canyon (which is larger than the Grand Canyon) but of nice rugged Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains which are a few miles from the Canyon itself. One stop near the summit does have a super view of the canyon and the train stays there for 15-20 minutes both ways so one can see the view and also buy souvenirs from the Tarahumara Indians if so desired. We didn't buy anything since we were going to be staying in the area for several days; some people just do the train trip but don't stay along the route. Arrived Creel and went to our hotel which at first didn't have any record of us but eventually convinced them that it was just a confusion of names and so had a room. Did a bit of shopping at the mission store, then dinner at the hotel where my Chicken Mole was good but steaks which Dawna and Tim had were terribly tough. Loafed around, met a fellow who had written a couple books on the area, got a long night's sleep, although at first were quite cold so got extra blankets and also a fix job on the.heater system - all via sign language since they didn't speak English. 

Thursday - Big breakfast (some good pancakes) at the hotel and then to the bank. For a minute it looked like you could get some pesos for dollars but not traveler’s checks, but then turned out none. Back at the hotel Tim managed to exchange 200 dollars worth of traveler’s checks before they also ran out of money! So, getting pesos was difficult but we were charging most everything we could so not in a real panic. Train was to leave at like 11:45 but was about 1 hour late. Fun seeing the scenery from the other direction (we were heading back now), and then the train stopped. After awhile looked out between cars and saw workers on the roadbed ahead so climbed out and explored. A 30-foot section of track was missing. They gradually put it back and eventually we moved onward. No one should be in a hurry in this country!!! Arrived at our stop Bahuichivo about 3 hours late and caught the hotel bus (an old school bus) that was converted which took us into the mountainside for 40 minutes or so and arrived at our next accommodations - the Mission Hotel which was a converted Mission. Quite nice. Electricity only by a generator which is only on for certain hours of the day; but kerosene lamps for the rest of the time. Sorta like Franklin stoves in the room for warmth. A little warm water but not enough for a real shower so we were beginning to feel dirtier and dirtier. Full American plan - which meant all meals included, and we had a nice dinner (mushroom sauced chicken) and a good red wine. Oh, yes, when stopping at the lookout spot this time we ended up buying a very large and nice Indian rug - the most major souvenir purchase of the trip and also an added item to carry (along with a few small baskets, some carvings, and Nate's violin we were getting heavier by the day). Before going to bed we arranged for our next day's activity - a trip to the edge and then bottom of The Canyon. As an aside, again we were spending two nights at a given spot so had a full day to really explore. Most people came in one day and left the next so couldn't really do much exploring and also when things got behind schedule - like very late trains - then they really lost out. 

Friday - Breakfast at the hotel and then The Ride. We had a pickup truck with driver and in the back there was a board one could sit on. Started out the trip with Dawna and Nate in the cab and Tim and I in the back. In about an hour and a half we were at the canyon rim. Quite spectacular. Then another hour and a half of driving down a twisty road to the canyon bottom. Very spectacular and all four of us were in the back end with great 360 degree views. Again quite dusty. At the start of the day we were quite cold and by the time we got to the canyon bottom it was quite warm. Had dropped about 5000 feet. Very quiet little village at the bottom and much more friendly people than we had met previously. Speaking of people ....we met and remet several people. One pair was a fellow and wife both of whom were professional photographers. They were on the train going to Creel and going back from Creel. Spent a fair amount of time in the club car hooting and hollering with them and looking out the back end of the train at the spectacular roadbed during the trip from Creel to Cerochauci. The other “group” was a pair of "girls" from Arizona who were really exploring. We had run into them at the Indian cave near Creel and then they were on the train to Cerochauci but not staying at our fancy Mission hotel but rather took the local transport (and old truck) all the way to the bottom that night and had stayed at the bottom - in a boarding house. Anyway, we ran into them at the village and they showed us around a bit, including getting a couple of huge papayas from some of the local folks. We had brought uninteresting box lunches with us from the hotel and eaten them but after meeting up with the "girls" we had a second, much more interesting lunch in a local cafe. They spoke quite a bit of Spanish and got along with the locals very well. Then the long pickup truck trip back up the canyon wall. Oh, yes ..... on the way down we had a flat tire; rather exiting to put it mildly. The driver didn't fix it at the bottom so we had to make it back all the way with no useable spare! Then on the way back up the truck boiled over several times. We were saved by using water he had brought along; but when it was all gone we began to wonder about spending the night stranded.

However, 'we struggled along far enough to finally find a tiny stream and all was saved. A long day, quite an adventure, and the highlight of the trip in terms of real scenery and really getting into the Canyon. Clean up and a "well-earned" nice dinner - fish Veracruz style - it was Friday. 

Saturday - Leisurely breakfast and leisurely wandering around the little village that is around the Mission. Pretty friendly kids and interesting activities going on including loading of trucks with logs to go to the mill and also the killing, butchering, and selling of a cow sorta in the middle of town. Did quite a bit of wandering and looking, including one lady letting us into her house to see her very nice sun porch and lots of plants. Nice lunch at the hotel and then the rather long bus ride to the train station. The train was supposed to leave at 2:17 PM and we arrived at 2:30 PM and the train left at about 7:15 PM!
All of the waiting time was outside sitting around a tiny station. At first we were hot and eventually we were nearly cold. Actually had a fairly fun time with everything from Nate playing his violin and a bunch of local kids watching to Dawna carrying on long "discussions" with kids and Nate playing tick-tat-toe with them. Got a bit boring and was frustrating not knowing when the train would (or wouldn't come) but was also part of the adventure and the local kids made it not too terrible. Also we did some talking with fellow travelers. Most were on an Elder-Hostel tour and they are quite the people.
Must be over 60 to join and they do lots of traveling (Tibet, China, Siberia, Guatemala, etc). This tour was being run by a couple of young teachers from a small school in Arizona and the teachers make an effort to educate the group on the local area, people, etc. as part of the tour. We still prefer doing our own trip but when we get ready to let someone else worry about things for us and join a tour this will certainly be a likely bunch to get involved with for they are much, much more adventuresome and relaxed than typical tours.
Finally the train arrived and the excuse was they had to change engines because the one's brakes had given out ...... Very plushy train car we got in to, but getting dark so really only had a half-hour or so of scenery. Really felt cheated, but at least it was territory we'd already covered. Again., someone who was doing it only one direction and fast would have completely missed out on part of the highlight of the trip.
Arrived Los Mochis late and went to bed. Oh, yes, I had picked up a cold so was not full of as much energy as usual. The shower that night sure felt good. 

Sunday - Had to catch an early plane but Nate wanted breakfast so got up at 5:30 or so and had nice meal and then to the airport. Retraced our steps from the previous Sunday .... Los Mochis to Hermosillo to Tijuana and then local transport to border. This time did a little shopping for liquor to take back and then walked into the US with the customs people only taking a minute or so. Trolley and bus to airport. We were there quite early and Dawna had a headache so she stayed at the airport while Tim, Nate and I went to the San Diego Zoo for a couple hours. Fun. Then flight to San Jose where Sabina met us. Nate had a quick meal and then caught the plane onward to Portland and the rest of us went to our local California beds and slept mighty well. 

Summary - All in all a good but not great trip and glad we went. It would probably have been better in October since their rainy season is late summer and thus it would not have been so dry and dirty in the fall and also more growth. The people were generally not as friendly as we had expected. On the other hand we did have a fine train trip with Spectacular scenery, did see the Indians as desired, and really had a full day into and out of the canyon. Had a reasonable number of good meals. Was lots of fun to have Nate on a trip and watch him do things at his own pace and take loads and loads of photos - mostly of native kids. He had a good time and we enjoyed having him have a good time. It was certainly weird to go on a one-week trip and never cash one of our pile of traveler's checks, but good old plastic charge cards made this not a problem. We had spent quite a bit of pre-trip time making plans and reservations and that paid off for we had places to sleep everywhere and had scheduled things in a slow enough paced manner that we had time to see and do what we wanted in spite of the constant breakdowns of transportation systems. We were, however, staying where the tour groups stay and the service at the hotels acted accordingly - i.e. sorta bored and uppity. The weather was about as expected although we brought a few too many heavy clothes for it really was never cold (except for the early morning ride in the pickup truck and for the middle of the night.