July 13, 2002
ATTENTION!

Rancho Cerro Gordo is CLOSED!

I'm sorry to announce that our dream of making a good life for Mel's family and ourselves has crashed and burned. Mel kicked us out last week, threatened our lives, and declared the Rancho, the land, and the whole business his and his alone. It's a long story and you will read about it someday, but for now all I can tell you is we have been screwed out of 4+ years of hard work. Not to mention a ton of money invested is down the tubes. He has taken control of the Business and wants the Casitas we built with investors for himself. Along with Valentin and Suzy they are trying to have the Rancho all to themselves. We are looking at our legal options currently and getting great advice in Monterrey. The US consulate is interested in our case as well. Please if you can avoid it, don't stay at RCG and don't use the RCG taxi service.

Believe it or not, we still love Mexico! We believe in the Potrero, the town of Hidalgo and all the good people who live there. We have lots of friends in that town who are saddened by what has happened and have come to our support. The best part of the Rancho was all the friends we made along the way and now many of you have emailed us to lend your support....

We will not turn our backs on Mexico and the Potrero and someday soon will return to climb and bolt all those killer routes that call to Elaina and I. We will keep www.potrerochico.com online and soon have a new site that will give you all the info you need for the Potrero and all the surroundings areas that are waiting for you...

We thank you for all the support over the years. Please do not let this experience turn you off to Mexico or the Potrero! Homero´s, La Posada, La Pagoda, and Checos will be happy to take good care of you. Enjoy Mexico and the Potrero Chico. Drop me an email and let us know how you feel or if you need any info…

Kurt and Elaina Smith
&
Emilio and Tomas