Wednesday, 15 March 2017: Austin

We drove to Fredericksburg as part of our bluebonnet adventure.  It was still a bit too early unfortunately, but we did enjoy our time at Wild Seed Farms nursery. Justin and I took time to refine our ideas about our property and how we will set up a pond and different areas.  Everywhere we go we look for ideas.  We visited the Wedding Oak Winery too.  Texas wines are getting better; we bought a few bottles to take home.  

On to Willow City Loop.  We enjoyed the stunning views of the Hill Country on the  13 mile loop off Hwy 16 outside of Fredericksburg.   We went back to Austin on Hwy 71 and while we saw a few more of my beloved bluebonnets, we are still too early.

Tuesday, 14 March 2017: Austin

After the hard driving in Mexico new tires, oil change, etc were at the top of the list of our priorities.  We had our car in the shop before 7:00am and then we were on our way to the Capital. 

Justin and I were like a couple of kids as we walked hand-in-hand around the rotunda and on the grounds.  We hadn't been back here since our wedding so we took time to walk down memory lane by driving by the Stephen F. Austin Hotel and Austin City Limits where we paid homage to Willie Nelson. 

Monday, 13 March 2017: Austin

Now that we were back in Texas and in Austin, we had a few chores to take care.  With our new toll tag firmly affixed to the windshield, we headed to Georgetown.  We saw that all of our treasures were safe and sound when we visited the storage shed.  We enjoyed a fabulous sushi lunch on our first day back in town and followed with Indian fare for dinner when Dellene got home from work.  No, we were not ready for Tex-Mex food just yet. 

Sunday, 12 March 2017: Austin

Homeward bound, oh yes we are homeward bound.
Justin drove the first three hours or so to the border.  We saw more rain in the last two days than in the entire trip combed.  Over the years, I've almost become an expert at "hurry up and wait" so I was prepared for the queues.  After paying our toll and basically leaving Mexico, we circled back around to find the place to turn in the papers for the car and our visas.  (I'd never had to turn in visas before -- anywhere.)  When you enter Mexico with your car you pay a $400 deposit to temporarily import your car.  If you don;t turn the paperwork back in, you don;t get your deposit refunded because they think your car is still in Mexico.  With that much money on the line and since that would spoil things for later return into Mexico we were rather eager to wait in that line.  

Once across the boarder it was my turn to drive.  We saw our first bluebonnets just south of Dilley.  There were only lone sentries here and there but I was thrilled to see the iconic symbols of Texas and 'home".  For some reason I felt the need to point out every single one to Justin.

Saturday, 11 March 2017: Saltillo

We are definitely back in the mountains; it was 57' this morning in Puebla.  It had been a while since I needed a sweater.  We got on the road pretty early and just like Cousin Mike almost never got out of Monterrey at the beginning of the trip, we had difficulty getting out of Puebla.  With a grueling day of driving ahead, we had our sites set on Saltillo.  We lost a bit of time but were soon on our way.

For next time we are looking for an interim location to break up the drive, we need to remember the township of Apodaca.  There is a City Express hotel right off the road in an easily accessible spot.  It is very near the Puerto International Del Norte on Hwy 85. Just north of Monterrey.

We saw a rainbow while driving today.  We are winding down 67 days of travel in Mexico. Yes, we had a few bumps along the way, but all in all, the trip has been charmed.  It is funny, when we first started and I read all the warnings about not to drive at night, main main concern was safety from banditos.  I don't want to get to the point where we are careless about our safety, but now I've learned that the reason you shouldn't drive at night is because you can't see the potholes in the roads.  

This was our last night in Mexico --- for a while.

Friday, 10 March 2017: Puebla

Today was Lilly's birthday -- we shared our hopes that she had a very special day.  

We woke up this morning to a flat tire.  Yes, again.  I took Gemma for a walk while Justin asked the good folks at the desk to call someone who can come and repair the tire.  Looks like two new tires are in our immediate future.  

We had time for a nice breakfast on the square while waiting for the car.  Our early start got pushed back to just a bit after 10am.  Still not too bad for retired folks like us who don't want to have to set alarms.  

Our Norte migration found us back in mountains where it was 64' and heading to springtime.

We saw buds and blossoms on the trees.  There was a bit of rain in the desert and within a day or two, you know the dessert will be in bloom.  We drove through pineapple fields that went on for days.  We bought some of that delicious fruit that was already cut up and then we bought another whole fruit that I could cut up for later.

Justin and I are finding that our conversation more and more often turns to plans for "1429."  We both have thought about the property almost constantly since 30 November when we closed and now our conversation is much more pragmatic and directed.  What will we do first?  What colors? 

After calling a vet in Puebla, we knew we could get Gemma in there today for her healthy vet check that is required before we cross back into Texas.  We looked around in the nearby neighborhood for a hotel and found the Hotel Castellanos.  Yes, it was rather creepy but fine for one night.  A kid on the street asked us if we wanted some "pot" and actually all I really wanted was an ATM.  Justin ran into some folks as they were heading into their house who were kind enough to offer him some pulque.  They had a huge pitcher and were set for their happy hour.

We should go back to Puebla.  We drove through the bustling zocolo area.  The catherdral there was huge.  It would be fun to stay right in the city center and explore for a few days on another trip.

Pozole from the Pozoleria was on the menu for our first course of dinner this evening.  We stopped for tamales for the second course of our progressive dinner.  They had four flavors and we tried each: mole, salsa verde, salsa roja, and fresas (yes, strawberry). Yes, I had to try it and yes, it was weird.  

Thursday, 9 March 2017: Acayucan

Lucy prepared our breakfast and after a chat with Nico, we were on the road headed home.  This is bittersweet for me.  As much as I'd love to head back to the beach, I want to see bluebonnets.  Given the early blooming season after a mild winter, we are bound for home.  The paraphrase Justin, ...we know this erly spring hasn't been caused by global warming because that has been outlawed by executive order...  or something similar.  

We passed through a security checkpoint today.  The guard made reference to the sticker on our car and wanted to see the corresponding paperwork.  Since Justin's name is associated with that, he then wanted to see Justin's passport.  Even though I was driving, he didn't want to see my passport.  As we drove away, we both thought, that is exactly why we went back to Nuevo Laredo before we left San Miguel de Allende at the beginning of the trip.  Yes, we will do that differently next time.

Guitar band in the Zocolo

Our drive to Acayucan was about 8 hours.  We chose this town only because of geographic location.  We had planned to stay in Minatitlan, but felt like driving a bit farther so we wound up here.  This town doesn't see English speaking tourist very often so we were almost the entertainment at dinner for some of the locals.  After we walked around the park that was

 right across from our hotel, we settled in a little nearby outdoor restaurant. The table of folks next to us were very interested in Gemma as was the young man who came by our table to tell us every word of English he knew.  For our dinner we ordered a yummy soup and sandwich.  It was a bit different fare than we've had for a while.  The change of the tastes and textures was welcome.

Wednesday, 8 March 2017: Xpujil

Lucy came at 9:00am this morning to prepare our breakfast.  The kitchen is in the same building as the rest of our private casita, but separated by a door and the windows in the kitchen only have screens.  Lucy comes in the morning to prepare your breakfast and then comes later to clean.  What a deal!  Our menu of huevos Mexicano, coffee, fruit and tortillas was excellent.

Leaving Gemma at home today, we headed for Calakmul.  It is older, larger, and less restored than any of the other ancient sites we have visited.  We drove for a hour or so, reapplied sunscreen and got out of the car only to learn that we still had a 40km drive before we were there.  That 40 km took well over a hour as the road was mostly a single lane and full of holes. We were able to see wild turkeys, deer, and a few other types of wildlife along the way.  Again, we were almost by ourselves when we were visiting the ruins.  We wanted to see as much as we could so we hurried through the grounds.  


Justin was Mario Andrade on the way back out since we wanted to see the bats and the day was drawing to a close. Bats?  Yes, Calakmul has a colony of over two million bats that come out everyday at dusk to eat.  You know that I could have passed on this one but it was pretty cool.  I found it amusing that while there was almost no one at the ruins we'd been at the past several days, there were about 200 people to see the bats.  There were four tour busses of folks with us to see the little critters.  [Note to self:  Be sure and bring binoculars on the next trip.]

Tuesday, 7 March 2017: Xpujil

Justin found even more conch shells this morning before breakfast.  We enjoyed another of Justa's omelet with Gouda before hitting the road to Xpujil.  Both Justin and I were Jonesing for real cheese.  After breakfast and goodbyes we picked up our laundry.  It wasn't completely dry unfortunately...grrr.

As is typical, there were vendors along the highway at every tope.  Today we bought fresh pineapple.  Some of the juicy tidbits were sprinkled with chile but we asked for plain.  We also stopped to get a snack and found "Gouda" and bread for a lunch on the road.

Next stop was a Mexico "brown sign tour."  When Justin and I were in Germany, from time to time when we were out exploring, we'd just follow a brown sign to see a castle, or visit a village.  Today we stopped at the Konulich Mayan ruins.  Gemma got to go in too after some sweet talking from me.  We saw perhaps only twenty other people the entire time we were there.  The grounds were very jungle-like.  You could just imaging what it was like here in 500AD.

Later in the afternoon we checked into our hotel, the Casa Ka'an outside of Xpujil.  The location was marketed to to be in the jungle, but it wasn't exactly jungle.  OUt in the woods maybe, but not jungle.  There were four rooms at the Casa Ka'an; we were in the Casa Aquacate.  The others were Mango, Pimento and Zapote.  Nico, the owner, met us and told us the scoop of how to operate everything.  We already had the AC on so we were set.  We drove back into town for dinner and then came home.  Since we haven't had reliable internet in a while, we caught up on SNL and John Mayer and a few others with the plentiful         fodder our president is providing...I am so proud...

Monday, 6 March 2017: Mahahual

Justin found the mother load of conch shells this morning.  We'll find room in the car to get them all back to "1429" -- that is how we most often refer to our home on the bay.  We've entertained a dozen other names, but since that if what we most often call it, that is probably what will stick.  Albert explained that the conch shells with holes indicate that is how they got the animal out.  Between these and the collection we amassed in Celestun, we do have quite a few that will find their way to Wisconsin.

Since our hotel is about 6 km outside of town, I still think of "going into town" which of course includes anything that means I need to wear something other than a swimsuit.  As it is, we went into town and a swimsuit would have been just fine.  We had breakfast on the beach and then turned our laundry in for pick up tomorrow.  The ATM machines are not reliable nearby so we drove 6-8 minutes up the beach to the port to get cash.  Only recently six to eight cruise ships have started to dock pull in Mahahual each week so this town is sure to change dramatically within the next few years.  I am glad we are visiting now.  We explored a bit and then headed back down our bumpy 6km back to the jungle.

Albert ran the generator for a few hours this afternoon to ensure electrical stores were fully charged.  Justin donned mask and fins and tried to snorkel but the water was just too rough.  All the smelly sea grass had washed away, but the seas were still too rough.  I didn't get my chance to kayak so we will save that for another day.

Sunday, 5 March 2017: Mahahual

View from our room at Travel In'

It rained a bit during the night and we awoke this morning to an overcast sky.  



Gemma was eager to play with her new friends -- Justa and Albert have poodle-ish Zita, puppy Tess and big dog Yogi.  Justa asked Justin if he'd groom Zita and, nice guy that he is, he said yes.  Now Zita is almost two years old and she doesn't get groomed regularly.  I stepped away quickly and got involved in working on our blog but Justa was very present in trying to help cajole Zita into cooperating.  The next several hours were truly animal against man and the 4-6 pound wiggling animal was winning.  He didn't want to terrorize her and at a few points, you'd have thought he was torturing her.  Maybe she is just a little drama queen. 

Mar and Allen are also here on the property.  They came here as "volunteers".  I want to check out the websites of HelpX and WorkAway.  These sites connect individuals who work  in exchange for food and lodging  Surely Justin and I have some skills that would be of benefit to someone, right?  Since I don't really want to "work" it is a long shot, but I'll check it out.  Mar is Spanish and 41; Allen is from Ireland and is 39.  This is their life and they are following their dream.  They got to Mexico in January and they will work their way down through South America.



Trimming session morphed into cooking lessons.  Justa and Albert had a visiting chef /friend who was hosting a cooking lesson for Albert, and for Chef Stephan's father and a few cronies.  Justin ensured that I was invited too.  I made the icing and topped the carrot cake, I separated the wrappers as others rolled lobster spring rolls.  I peeled, chopped, shredded and diced as we made a dozen Indonesian and southern Indian dishes.  The restaurant at Travel In' is closed on Sunday's but this evening we joined a more "family" type meal.  Fortunately we didn't have an unplanned visit from the food inspector.  Who are all these people in the kitchen?  Where is their safety and sanitation certification?  Do I see four dogs in this kitchen?  Where are your shoes?  I certainly learned a thing or two and since is has been months since I'd been in the kitchen I did enjoy myself.  

Daniel called this evening.  He is the guy in New Orleans who owns the property we are interested in in Celestun.  We had a fairly long talk with him and found out more of the ins and outs of owning property in Celestun.  Perhaps we will be able to go meet with Daniel when we go to Louisiana to see Cousin Terry later this spring.

The Travel In' is very eco-friendly with solar collectors and rain water as well as waste management that is totally green.  Since the weather has been overcast, the electricity went out just after dinner.  Everyone quickly transitioned to flashlights and candles as we wound down from the day.

Saturday, 4 March 2017: Mahahual

Breakfast on the Caribbean. It is beautiful.  There is quite a bit more traffic here and the constant offering of massages and various vendors on the beach.  Snorkeling on the reef appeals to both Justin and I.  We are heading to Xcalak to see what we see today but we might just come back here for the next few days before we head to Calakmul.

Took the beach road for the first 6-8 km when we found the "Travel In'". We stopped and talked to Albert.  He has a room for tonight available but we wanted to go check out Xcalak before we made a decision.       In Xcalak, however, there wasn't really much of a decision as there was precious little there.  This is the farthest point south we will be on our trip.  It is also the real turn around point as now we are heading home.

Back to Travel In' for the next three or four nights.  I've never been kayaking so this may be my chance.  There are tons of sea grass here; Albert says it has washed up only during the past two weeks.  Once we can get out past that though, the entire Caribbean awaits.

Albert and Justa are from the Netherlands and they have been here 15 and 11 years.  The two room hotel is very ecologically minded with solar panels, rain water, etc.  Justin talked to Albert about reducing the footprint and such.  Of course I'd expect that from Justin.  Justa runs the restaurant and she did not disappoint with the garlic and cheese pita, whole grilled fish and chocolate gateaux we enjoyed this evening. 

Friday, 3 March 2017: Mahahual

Justin talked to kite-surfer Justin for a long time this morning while I took one more walk along the beach.  We made one more call about rental property as we were heading out of town.  The gentleman came right away to meet us and to show us two houses and a piece of property.  We are very keen on renting one little house owned by a guy from the Netherlands.  We really like the community in Celestun but the beach is better here.  I need to download the What'sAp app to stay in touch with him.

On to Tulum.   What we found was a quite hipster town that might just be too cool for us.  We should come back here to check out the biosphere.  We had paella for lunch which is a nice break from tradiational Mexican fare. 

On to Mahahaul for the evening.  This beach is a bit slower and that is more our style.  After a bit of a walk along the beach, we ordered a Caesar salad dinner. The waitress asked when we arrived if we wanted a menu in Spanish or in English.  I said both since I am trying to learn the language and my "menu" Spanish is rather good at this point.  What we noticed was that we had two menus and we had two sets of prices.  Yes, the Ceasar salad on the English menu cost $10 and the same salad on the Spanish menu cost 90 pesos (about $4.50).  Yes, we ordered from the Spanish menu.

Thursday, 2 March 2017: El Cuyo

Justin calls days like today "duff" days.  I said that I wanted a day without being in the car so that is what we planned.  Actually I may be the only one who had a duff day.  I read; I went to the beach; I took a nap.  After we all came back from our morning swim, yes, even Gemma, Justin got busy with grooming Gemma.  She wasn't too excited about the down day because that meant she spent the day on the grooming table and that she got to go swimming.

Our casita is actually part of Cuyo Kite-Surfing School.  Louis seems to run the place and Justin, the kid we first talked to on the street, works with Louis.  Today was a very busy day as there were nine students from Guadalajara.   They were in the middle of lessons when I was out on the beach.  Each student has an instructor and a life guard/spotter.  When Justin talked to Justin on the first day, he told him that it would take at least 6-10 hours initially just to get into the swing of things.  Later we learned that South Padre Island is the best place to learn since that entire bay is so shallow and the winds are predictable.  

Late in the afternoon, we headed into town for an early dinner and then to meet with a real estate agent to look at rental property.  She showed us one house and then her own house that we could rent for next winter.  The property is nice and would suit our needs.  We also looked at the house Louis has for rent but that is too large.

When we got home we took one more moonlight walk along the beach.  There is virtually no ambient lighting here so you can see so many stars.  We sat and talked for a while and then continued our talk inside where we made a plan for the rest of the trip.  Dellene and Lisa have reported that bluebonnets are coming out earlier than expected given the mild winter and warmer that usual temps.  We've decided to head home about two weeks earlier than planned as I do not want to miss the wild flowers!

Wednesday, 1 March 2017: El Cuyo

How glorious to awaken to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. And, what's even better was that was only sound until we were fully awake.  And, what's even better than that is that I had a coffee pot in our room to make my very own coffee.  (We stopped at a convenience store after dinner last night to get milk and yogurt and then we stopped at a produce truck and bought pineapple, bananas and mango.)  After a walk on the beach, soaking in the solitude, basking in the morning sunshine, and collecting shells, I was ready to think about breakfast.

Until this morning I would have said that icy cold pineapple right after you snorkel is the best on the planet.  However, our piña today tops even that.  Über fresh and oh, so juicy, you just can't beat it!  

We took a drive to Rio Lagartos.  What should have been an hour and a half drive there turned in to more than a three hour stint.  We were operating without a map and without GPS.  The old school compass on the car worked though.  That along with a general map of Mexico, courtesy of Dellene ...thankfully! ... ensured we got back on track for a shorter drive home.  Once there, we did enjoy the beach view and a early dinner.  On a quick detour through Los Colorados on the way back we saw acres of salt flats and dozens of iguanas.  I never tire of seeing these prehistoric animals.  They have a regal sense about them as they lounge in the sunshine.  They are in abundance in this terrain and this might even be their mating season.  

Louis was here when we got home and after a short recap of our day with him he came in to repair our shower and to put up a new rod and shower curtain.  Heck, I was just happy that we had a toilet seat.  It seems that it is very common here just to have the porcelain bowl.  I understand the cleanliness aspect, but a girl needs a (clean) toilet seat.  

Tuesday, 28 February 2017: El Cuyo

Music and messages over the loud speaker again but today I was wide awake and annoyed before 6:30am.  And I thought the "big voice" on military bases was invasive.  Wonder what I'd say if I decide to review this hotel?  Let's just go back to the beach... but first, let's look at the cenote here in town and a few other sites.  Didn't we see some ruins right down by the church?  

A priority stop today was the ATM in Vallodolid.  Roaming around the town we found a cute little restaurant at another cenote. The traditional food was good and the scenery was fabulous.  This morning I chose huevos motulenos, another Yucatan favorite -- kind of like a breakfast chalupa -- fried eggs on tortilla chips that have been topped with refried beans.  The whole thing is then topped with a tomato sauce and garnished with ham and peas. 

Next stop was El Cuyo.  This is a sleepy little town on the northern shore of the Yucatan.  The water is fabulously clear here.  We can tell that we are closer and closer to the Caribbean.  We looked at a hotel on line that looked interesting -- cabanas right on the beach.  But, when we looked at them, we were not too impressed.  We looked around town and made a few calls following up on "se renta" signs.  I looked at one house with a lady while Justin was on the phone with a gentleman who sent his representative to meet us at another venue.  The guy who came had a huge ring of keys and took us to four different properties.  Nothing really suited our fancy and as we were pulling away, we stopped and talked to a guy in the neighborhood.  He connected us with the kite sailing school where he works which is right on the beach and the cabanas they have there.  We decided to stay here for three nights.  No AC, no wi fi, no tv but we are right on the beach.  This is very secluded and magnificent.  I am listening to the waves crash as I write.  It is a hardship.