Las Grutas and ETA

Well

we almost went to "Las Grutas de Telantongo" in Hidalgo, Mexico. I have no doubt in my mind that it is stunningly beautiful. Here are some pictures I took from the internet. . . 

   

But I wasn't really quite prepared to go. We left with Iajia's family and we were actually headed to a hot springs aquatic park, but they decided that we weren't too much farther from Las Grutas and we should go ahead and go there instead. 

So we went. Before you get to "Las Grutas" which is another word for "caves" you basically have to go down a long, windy, unpaved road on the side of a steep mountain- not unlike the Grand Canyon to get there-- except in the U.S. they would never allow you to go down the Grand Canyon in your car.. or do they? 

Here you can get an idea of what it is like going down the side of the mountain to get to Las Grutas. I'll admit, I was so scared that when I took pictures, I was facing away from the camera for fear of shifting the center of gravity over the mountain. I was also worried about getting the van back up the mountainside as well. And I didn't really like the idea of being so far from civilization at 31 weeks pregnant either. I really was about to just start crying when I asked Iajia to stop and ask our brother in law, in the other car, if he wanted to keep going.. "for the cars' sake". Fortunately, my sister-in-law had already started crying so we all went back up the mountain. Took some pictures, and went back to the aquatic park! My other sister-in-law already has a tour scheduled to go this Sunday, but I don't think I want to go. Besides the fear and the risk, I just don't think now is the right time. I don't think I'll be able to enjoy completely as a pregnant woman and taking care of Noori. We'd just end up hanging out at the pool area, but I think the natural areas.. the caves, the waterfalls, the river, is just too risky for the both of us. And what's the point in going if not to enjoy those aspects?

Here's what it's like to go down the side of the mountain to Las Grutas: 

At about 46 seconds, you get the idea of the depth of the canyon. I think I was told that the windy road down to Las Grutas is about 8 km.. which I think is about 2.5 miles or so.
At about 1:20 seconds, you get the idea of how steep and the road on the way down is. 

In other news, my trip back to the U.S. has been rescheduled for the weekend of April 20th. Coming by car.