The ride to Durango was across a high plateau marked by dramatic skies and long views of the Sierra Madres. I must be hitting the season just right because the plains seemed so green and lush. Many of the cacti were blooming. I rolled into Durango City around 2:30. It's a fairly big city with lots of traffic. I got confused at a large intersection and rolled through a traffic light that clearly turned red. Before I even cleared the intersection I saw the police lights behind me. Damn! I pulled over and two young officers approached. I said in English... "I'm sorry officers, I don't speak any Spanish". They looked confused. I just shrugged my shoulders and said (again in English) "I'm sorry, it was clearly my mistake". The officers looked at each other and shrugged. One of the officers scolded me in Spanish saying "be more careful next time" and then they waived me on. Sometimes it helps to be a stupid tourist (not always).

Soon I arrived in the historic central district and I found my hotel Posada San Agustin. I had to go around the block three times trying to figure out where to park. I finally squeezed in between two cars in front of the hotel. I went in and registered. The owner walked over and pulled open the front door of the hotel and said. "Trae tu moto aqui" (bring your motorcycle in here). She pointed to the lobby. I said "De verdad? Aqui dentro?" (Really? Inside here). She replied "Si, por supuesto" (Yes, of course). I went back out to the busy street and tried to figure out how I was going to manage getting my bike turned around and into the hotel. I rode down to the end of the block and pulled a u-turn up onto the sidewalk. Pedestrians gave me no notice as a rolled down the sidewalk, in through the front door and parked squarely in the lobby. The owners have a cute little dog that immediately ran over to greet me as I dismounted. I spent the afternoon exploring and Durango really blew me away. So many interesting things to see. The cathedral next to the hotel was built in 1624! The central cathedral has a silver mine shaft that runs under it! I read a sign about this in the central square and then spied a set of stairs that lead down to it. Of course I had to check that out! Durango is also Mexico's Hollywood with a thriving film industry. I wandered down their walk of fame complete with stars in the sidewalk and bronze statues of many actors who have worked here. The architecture for blocks and blocks was so cool. I was quite taken with the many little shops stashed away in these centuries-old buildings. For dinner I had a very unique green molé chicken dish made with pumpkin seeds. I'm getting a whole new appreciation for Mexican food.