Desde Monterrey, Mexico a Monterey, Louisiana

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Last January, you may recall,  I traveled to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for a birthday getaway vacay. When not lounging on the terrace, I visited Galeria Photo/Graphic in the Centro and learned about an upcoming summer juried exhibition called Interpreted Reality.  I submitted to the show, got in (!), then went on a road trip with a friend, driving from New Orleans to SMA to attend the opening in July.  

The drive from the border to San Miguel de Allende is a breathtaking odyssey, parts of it include the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range.  Mexico has a great system of toll roads but they go around the city of Monterrey, sad face. Knowing that there was a Monterey, Louisiana I was a little disappointed to not drive through the city.  (Ok, so the disappointment lasted about half a second as I was preoccupied with one spectacular view after another)

On the way back...I was navigating....we took a right...oops, i mean wrong ..turn

and ended up in Monterrey!  Though I SWEAR it was an accident..~there are no accidents~.. I was not-so-secretly thrilled to get a glimpse of this worldly metropolis...because that meant that I was headed north when I got home, straight to Monterey, Louisiana.  

If you search for Monterrey, Mexico on the innerwebs, you will surely find out it is one of Mexicos largest cities, both industrial and cosmopolitan with plenty of natural areas and parks.  We drove in just long enough to find a spot for a questionable u-turn, so we only got a peek of the impressive outskirts.  Grabbing the shot with the city name was the peak of the drive para mi. 

Back home in Louisiana, it was time to hit the road again, this time to Monterey, Louisiana.  Monterey is located in the  eastern central part of the state near the Mississippi River - east of Alexandria and South of Sicily Island for reference.  It was exciting to travel to this unexpectedly new  location on the World Tour, because it took me along both familiar and unfamiliar routes. Hwy 1 is a favorite of mine - sugar cane, random crop duster,

and the Morganza Spillway.   

In contrast to the soaring Sierra Madres of Mexico, there are the flat floodplains of Louisiana.  

Though for what Louisiana lacks in elevation, the ginormous cumulus clouds make up for it. 

For a moment driving north in Louisiana didn't seem much different from driving in north Mexico. 

Louisiana

Mexico

Hwy 15 takes you through the Red River State Wildlife Management area

 Past the Old River Control Structure (to match Morganza)

 And then to the unincorporated town with a post office I didn't photograph, Monterey. 

In Monterey I photographed all the usual suspects. 

The Water Tower,

 the market,

the fire truck,

and then I cooled off at the church. 

(I do have a tale about a Very Curious Monterey Resident, but much like the Transylvania Bat, some stories are meant to be sung.)

I have to admit I was wondering what I was going to think of  Monterey, Louisiana after my trek through Monterrey Mexico. How would it hold up?  Turns out,  like the rest of my travels, my favorite part of both Monter(r)eys was the journey itself.  I was as awe-inspired in Louisiana as I was in Mexico, verifying once again that the World is as Large or as small as you want it to be, how we choose to perceive it is entirely up to us.  

Til next time...

All content (c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com

*Shout out to Alex Bosworth for the use of her iPhone in Monterrey as my camera battery died and my phone was the GPS. 

Up Next:

The Ancient World Tour returns!

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The Louisiana World Tour, a philosophical and photographic road trip through the state of my world, began in 2011 under the premise that the world is as large or as small as you want it to be. Since that time, over 20 "international" destinations have been visited in Louisiana. The Ancient Louisiana World Tour began in 2016 and aims to complement the Louisiana World Tour by honoring the  natural landscape and those who came before us.  Follow the blog for more exciting adventures! 

Check out a preview of the Louisiana World Tour on my website
http://www.nattie-concepts.com/portfolio_-_photography/world_tour

You can also purchase The State of My World songbook, a printed version of my one-woman show, "Louisiana:The State of My World" on blurb.com

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Check out my other books available on blurb:

Nattie at the DMV

Crescent City Illumenations

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A Sense of Self - in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

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After a recent vacay to San Miguel de Allende, I made a rookie mistake (that I never made as a rookie) in the darkroom.  I ruined 2 rolls of film by processing them in the wrong chemistry. By the time I had discovered my film faux pas no amount of silver saving CPR could rescue the images.  When the blank rolls revealed themselves, I was disappointed, yes, but mostly all I thought was “Cool, now I have more material for my Mardi Gras costume”.  It also gave me the opportunity to write lines like “silver saving CPR”, haha. 

In truth, I didn’t lose that many photos.  Most of what I shot was for handtinting purposes, so I had captured the same images in digital.  Still I was very careful when I processed the next roll. The camera I brought still had film in it, I wasn’t sure what was on it, but I soon discovered images from Zwolle, Louisiana – shot in 2014!  Apparently it has been a while since I used that camera…There was only one image of San Miguel on the roll  – an image of a Buddha.  Somehow, it just made sense.   

Christine's Terrace

 
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The statue was on the terrace of the apartment I stayed in.  The first day I was there, my birthday, I woke up to a shadow of myself on the terrace.  

Shadow Selfie

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The next day I woke up to a hot air balloon, which I since learned is a fairly common sight:

Morning in San Miguel

 

Signs of the spiritual were everywhere, not just on terraces, but all along the picturesque landscape of San Miguel. 

Sunset Cross

La Parroquia

So naturally I was drawn to sacred and somewhat sacreligious selfies.. 

San Miguel Selfie

Slightly Sacreligious Selfie

 

The last day of my trip was spent at the amaaaazing La Gruta hot springs.

La Gruta

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(Where I took weird shadow selfies)

Weird Shadow Selfie

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The color is intense in San Miguel, hence my desire to handcolor the film photos. (4^th roll was the charm)

Streets of San Miguel

 There were two images in particular that I really wanted to handcolor – one was  the shop with the colorful brooms & bags,

Shop with the colorful brooms & bags

 

 the other was of towels at La Gruta.  The brooms survived, the towels did not.   I have no idea why, with all the intense color in San Miguel, that this was the one image I was sad I did not get on film. 

La Gruta Towels

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It would have been nice to have those extra two rolls of film to explore some printing options.  But unlike my 22, 32, or (who am I kidding..) my 42 year old self, my 44 year old self recognizes my good fourtune of the experience and what I was able to capture.  At the end of the day I was chillin with the Buddha on the terrace anyway.  All's good.  

Me 'n B

 Now I've got a Mardi Gras costume to prepare.

Til next time.. 

(c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com

Oh wait - carrots!  I also shot some carrots..  :)

(c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com