So one day after spending three hours in a van with twelve other people doing a tour of Guanajuato we are again at the San Miguel de Allende Public Library at 7am for a 12 hour tour. We get the same rattletrap van but this time it is just the Bailey’s, a driver, a guide and us. There is minimal heat in the back of the van so it is a cold four hour drive to Mirador Peña Blanca to see the amazing monarch butterflies.
The annual migration is a phenomenon unique to the North American monarch butterflies as all other butterflies can survive the winters. The monarch makes a two way migration as birds do traveling upwards of 3,000 miles from Canada and the USA. Their journey is a wonder in itself. It truly was a spectacular site for us to witness.
From October to March, this forested mountain area is home to a huge number of monarch butterflies. The Reserve comprises over 56,000 hectares of forest between the states of Michoacan and Mexico 
After our 4 hour drive from SMA we rode horses for about 30 minutes up the mountain, then walked another 20 minutes to the 11,000 feet elevation site of the Monarch migration. 
Our tour guide Daniel was very informative and accompanied us the whole way opting to ride the horses with us 
This raised platform made mounting the horse easier for Eugenea and Sandy 
At this point Sandy is thinking this better be worth it 😲. As you can see from her double layers of clothing it was very chilly in the mountains. 
Gary and Jim felt very comfortable on horseback. 
Sandy not so comfortable. As you can see her shorter legs did not fully reach the stirrups making for a very unstable ride. 
Eugenea was comfortable enough to even take pictures. Sandy on the other hand was gripping the saddle horn and holding on for her life. 
We had a brief stop to enjoy the scenery at this overlook and the astute guide readjusted Sandy’s stirrups for her thus putting and end to her incessant moaning and groaning. 
Monarch butterflies migrate to central Mexico to overwinter. This area is perfect as the climate is both cool and moist. About 99% of all North American butterflies make it safely here. 
We had a perfect weather day of full sunshine so the Monarchs were quite active and gave us a good show. Unfortunately we have been unsuccessful in downloading our amazing video’s on WordPress.🤨 
You can see in this photo how high up we were in the mountain. You can also see how happy Sandy is to be off the horse! 
We opted to forgo the horses and walked for about 90 minutes on rocky terrain to get down from the mountain 
Holding each others hands. How sweet😍! ( actually it was to keep us from falling😏) 
Even the children on the Reserve have their jobs which is to clean your shoes from the dusty trails (for pesos of course). They actually did a pretty fair job of it. 
We enjoyed a tasty lunch here prepared by these ladies 
Cheers to our full day of adventure or shenanigans as Eugenea would say. 
Back in SMA for the Bailey’s last two days. A fully loaded Mexican street peddler 
Another nice brunch shared with Ivonne and Miguel. 
Eugenia is a master of the selfie stick. It also converts to a tripod. 
After brunch we had a stroll through Park Juarez and enjoyed chatting with a local artist who grew up here 
May we never stop rocking and rolling🕺 
This photo was taken through a restaurant window which reflected the Churches in back of us. We thought it looked quite “heavenly” 
Our final evening meal with Gary and Eugenia at Zumo, another fancy rooftop restaurant. We were almost completely alone in the restaurant. 
This is the view that was reflected in the window. We eat out every night here because there are so many wonderful restaurants and most have rooftops with great views over the city 
Holiday decor on the bare tree 
The church at night is a spectacular site 
One of the most popular places to take a photo in SMA 
Our last meal together before Eugenea and Gary left was a lovely Sunday Brunch at a rooftop hotel restaurant Taro 1810 and this Art Gallery was on the ground floor. 
Love these little planters.
We are not sure if this video will make it but if so enjoy. We had better ones of them flying all around us but it was frustrating trying to add it on this site.
Eugenea’s cousin works for the US embassy in Mexico City and she sent a private car to bring them to Mexico City for a visit.
It is amazing to us how a brief childhood friendship has blossomed into such a warm comfortable relationship including both spouses. Eugenea and Gary we had such a great time with you and hope that you will be willing and able to make another long trek to visit us in some other part of the world.
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