Presa Pedro J. Mendez, Mexico

4.Presa Pedro J. Mendez

When our friends John and Kay Lowman went to El Chorrito, they noticed a large lake from the parking lot of the pilgrimage center. It's hard to miss if you look out that way at all. They decided to find it, and they explored side roads until they did. "The lake is less than a couple of kilometers on a good gravel road from the town of Guadalupe Victoria, " John said, "and you turn in to the left as you are going from Highway 85. There is a little government campground there."

Early morning mists rise over the peaceful lake.

On our way to El Chorrito, we decided to find the lake and dam. There was a sign for Presa Pedro J. Mendez (presa means dam) pointing left, and so we turned in -- to a one-lane dirt road. A man was walking along so we asked him, and he said, no, it was a little further along. So we backed out and repeated this scenario with another little lane. The third time, we found the right road, and almost immediately were at the lake.

It was a stunning spot. "If this were in the U.S., it would be ringed with second homes," Kelly said. Here there were two: one on an island, and one near the little government campground. We decided to come back and camp at the campground for the night if we didn't feel like staying in El Chorrito.

And that's what we did.