Book Review - Fodor's Travel - Mexico City

If you're planning a trip to Mexico City or even a stopover, get this guide. It is full of useful information and full-color maps.

Chapter One highlights Mexico City starting with "20 Ultimate Experiences" with colorful photographs. I like the "What to Eat and Drink in Mexico City" guide (especially for someone from Texas who is used to Tex-Mex) and the "What to Buy in Mexico City" guide. There's "Best Museums" and "Under the Radar" guides as well. And for history buffs, there's "A Brief History of Mexico City".

Chapter Two contains the vital information - "Know Before You Go", "Getting Here and Around", "Essentials" and even a pullout "Helpful Phrases in Spanish" guide.

The next eleven chapters are the various neighborhoods (barios) such as Alameda Central, Benito Juarez, Roma, Condesa, Coyoacan, Sn Angel, and more. Each chapter has a snapshot guide and a full-color map with highlighted bullets along with sights, restaurants, and hotels with ratings and detailed information.

"Side Trips from Mexico City" is a great chapter with suggestions on quick trips to places with ruins or beaches. There's a useful planning section.

The last sections include Maps and Indexes. The very last page includes a handy Metro map.

Overall, a great guide to Mexico City. This book was published in 2024 but still verify all the information before travelling.

Title: Fodor's Mexico City
Author: Fodor's Travel Author
ISBN: 978-1640976993
Pages: 368

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Book Review - Wild Play: Parenting Adventures in the Great Outdoors by David Sobel

If you've never heard of David Sobel, do a quick google search. He has extensive information and has written many books on enjoying nature and the outdoors with including children.

This is a not a travel guide but rather a blend of memoir of David Sobel's family's adventures as they expored nature through different experiences and a guide on how you can enjoy nature with your own family. You might be inspired by the many stories to try new experiences as well.

This book is divided into parts based on a child's developmental phase along with a location that metaphorical aligns with that age. Part one focuses on Early Childhood (which he suggests covers ages two to seven) in the Meadow. Part two deals with Middle Childhood (ages seven through thirteen) in the Forest. Part three goes into Adolescence (ages thirteen up to eighteen) on the Rocky Ridge. Part four jumps up to Early Adulthood (ages over eighteen) in the Orchard.

I found the little snippets throughout the reading where there's a date and David's children's ages so we get context on what they are experiencing.

Chapter Nine disrupts the dreamlike narrative with discussion on the divorce that David experiences (a bit unexpectedly). The desire to continue taking his two children on natural adventures is touching.

Overall, this is a nice read and you may find some suggestions on experiencing your own natural adventures. Try to find a copy at your local library.

Title: Wild Play: Parenting Adventures in the Great Outdoors
Author: David Sobel
ISBN: 978-0996267694
Pages: 256

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Book Review - Modern Rockhounding and Prospecting by Garret Romaine

My family and I have visited many amusement parks and historical sites. At a large majority of them, there is usually a gemstone mining area or trough. You pay for a bag of dirt mixed with precious stones and then you wash the dirt in the water trough. It's a rather messy process so if you have younger children be sure to bring change of clothes.

We've done these many times over the years and you always get a nice pile of rocks to take home. Here's one of the better bags that we purchased which clearly listed what had been contained inside it.

Digging for special rocks and fossils is really fun for adults and children and always feels rewarding when you find something unique. That led me to pick up this book and it's a real keeper. The author, Garret Romaine, has extensive experience and expertise on this topic.

So what is rockhounding? It's the activity of searching for rocks (or gems or fossils) to collect. Almost everyone has probably seen a cool-looking rock in the dirt or in a stream and picked it up to examine it. That is rockhounding. Now, prospecting, takes it a step further and searches for treasures that can be valuable or profitable. The book's introduction lists the different types of rock hunters.

The book starts with a basic guide to geology and different types of rocks, gems and fossils. The listing of rock types is valuable as the author includes the best locations to find the specific rock type. For example, halite stones (common rock salt) can be found in Utah's Great Salt Lake area.

Look for the section titled "Gator Girl's Best Advise Ever" in Chapter One which gives suggestions on how to get started, finding support or like-minded people to help you, where to go, and some really sound advice on protective gear.

Chapter Two discusses "Where to Find It" with lots of resources, websites, applications, maps, and more. This book was published in 2024 so most of the information is still relevant but always double-check before heading out.

Chapter Three highlights preparations and tools for venturing out including vehicle prep and maintenance, emergency gear, and setting expectations.

The next chapter goes deeper into the actual physical labor of hunting in different environments - beaches, creeks, deserts, and more. I really appreciated the warnings about trying to search around old mines. The chapter ends with some really interesting meteorite hunting which I hadn't considered before but now I'm adding it to my list.

Chapter Five has suggestions on what to do with the treasures you have found like tumbling (remember those old-fashioned tumble machines we all wanted as kids?) and preservation techniques.

Overall, this is a great resource especially if you are a beginner and need some basic information to get started.

Title: Modern Rockhounding and Prospecting Handbook
Author: Garret Romaine
ISBN: 978-1493078493
Pages: 264

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