Posted 5/20/2006
We got away from hotel about 8:30 and made it up to Saltillo's Museum of the Desert at about 10:00. The museum was opened in 1999 and is certainly one of the finest such museums in the world. Daimler-Chrysler, a major employer in the area, donated $16 million to it's construction and they've been in a constant state of development since it opened.
This group shot is taken facing the south with our backs to Saltillo, just inside the area after buying our tickets to see the museum.
Some of the guys posed for a picture outside in the park area prior to entering the museum.
The group checks out a big wall map of Mexico to see where they've been and where they're going.
DrTee tells the group what they can expect and what to look for in the Museum. "Let's be here about noon for lunch."
Dinosaur fossils have been found all around the area. Here's a velocoraptor and Jerry Romero is checking him out. Yep. He's dead.
Apparently, dinosaurs came in small sizes, too.
The museum was built as a learning environment and they even have places where little kids can do projects about dinosaurs and fossils with clay. Ethan and Nathan fit right in.
They're not dinosaurs, but they existed in this area. Mammoths and saber tooth tiger and some sort of turtle and a straight-horned elephant like creature are shown here.
A huge upgrade has been made to the section on animals of Mexico. Just look at these four footed beasts.
Where's my gun?
Various species of bear. There was also a brown bear, commonly found in northen Mexico, but it sneaked out of the picture.
Mary Romero and the kids pop up through the floor between two lions.
DrTee and Jerry Romero are shown mounted above the mantle.
Luis and Mary also pose for gag shot above the mantle.
Ethan and Nathan also get into the act.
Apparently Daimler-Chrysler made sure the local policia are well equipped with a new Dodge Charger cruiser. I dare you to speed with these guys around.
We then moved on down to the mountain city of Zacatecas, Zacatecas. Our hotel here is the Meson de la Merced, which is located within walking distance of all of the major sites in the historical center of the town.
This is the atrium of the five story hotel. Not air-conditioned, but the town is at 7,890 feet altitude, so it's not required. Warm days and cool nights.
We ate dinner and got out to see the town before dark. Here's the Palacio de Gobierno with the bufa in the background.
The catheral was built in the 16th century. The front is local red sandstone with the apostles carved in separate niches and the Virgen above the door. This is the churriesque style from Spain.
Another church with the lights on in the bell towers. Good shot, huh? Mary Romero did it.
Zacatecas was one of the greatest mining towns of all time. It once produced more silver than any other mine in the world. It was on the Camino Real, a road that stretched from Mexico City all the way up to Santa Fe, New Mexico. This was a map on display along our walk.
DrTee shows Ethan where we're located on the map.
There's a tradition of drinking mescal and following a old guy who leads a burro with two barrels of mescal on his back. They stop and play trumpet music and toast the area with mescal. Somebody had modified this by having small band of 6 pieces. These women were following the band and have stopped here to do some line dancing. Fun, huh?
Our couple of the day are Mayra and Sandra Garcia. They are from NMHU and Mayra is a Psychology major and Sandra is majoring in Accounting.
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