[John Lee]

Hi, all,

All well said regarding those who depend on us.

I have two children, but both are grown and on their own....my wife has a 21-year old studying Medicine back home in El Salvador, staying with her Grandmother, which is a very Latin way to operate.

I used to have 6 horses, and they too were like children, so I understand how difficult it can be to be light on ones feet, so to speak, when it comes to big moves.

Carol, to a couple of your questions, my infrastructure, at least as I primarily refer to it includes several hundred meters of all-weather road to be able to access the place and get out when it rains.....before the dry mountain-top would turn into a swamp at such times.....I have some great pictures (not included in the posted album) of a team of horses trying to pull out my stuck van! [they failed!!] I have also installed appropriate underground drainage tiles needed to help in water management.

I have a 27 KVA substation fed by several hundred meters of 13,000 Volt high-tension line ...all of which I had to install to have decent grid power. I have potable water, a few thousand liters storage now (more to come), I have irrigation lines to water a 40 tree orchard and several hundred roses, bougainvilleas.

I have refrigerator and 2 backup generators. Also have LP gas tanks and stoves for cooking. LP also provides very decent lighting if needed.

I have three houses in different stages of construction, the smallest, the two-story one seen in some of the pictures, is nearest completion, the bottom floor is effectively complete except for some details...has concrete floor, stone walls, electricity, steel doors and steel window frame....this is where I sleep when I go there.....(I have another storage room that is OK for sleeping for those who are not too shy about rustic things)...... the upstairs 'only' lacks windows, doors, kitchen cabinets and appliances as well as paint and some electrical to be complete....I plan to complete this as quickly as possible to make the whole house comfortably livable.

Sometimes when guests have come in the past, they have brought tents (some shown in the pics) and all have had a blast...great cook-outs, ghost stories, air-rifle plinking and hikes down through the canyon to the river.

If someone wanted to visit tomorrow, I would suggest they fly into México City or Toluca, I could meet them and we could go to the mountain the next day....2 1/2 hours away and a lot of great scenery on the way.....we could then return that night to Toluca or could get a room in the nearby town (about 10 miles from mountain).....nice old colonial town with 400 year-old churches and charming town square....very colorful on weekends.

With some finesse one could access the place with a motor-home if not too big, though there is one corner that would be a bit tricky. Actually one doesn't see too many motor homes in México and I would be reluctant to bring one there.

Something related here though maybe a wee-bit off subject... I've found as a "Gringo" living and traveling in México, is it is best always to try to be as inconspicuous as possible.....I've learned and developed a lot of little things I do to achieve this...anybody coming here, that would be part of the "training"!......these tricks really help to avoid marking yourself as a target for the predators, including regular street thieves as well as the typical traffic policeman looking for a "mordida" ...we tend to stand out, so it's always best to try to effectively camouflage ourselves.

Hope I've answered your questions and provided some useful info....because, yes, there are so many nitty-gritty details that one needs to learn to deal with if he is to successfully adapt to living in another country....any country......really can save a lot of bad experiences if you have a mentor!

John Lee'

[quote=Carol;142573]Neo.. you hit the nail on the head. We have a 13 year old and a 42 year old. That gives one a sense of us off the bat with respect to having to look out for the younger one.