Cruise Ship Day In Progreso

Wow, over a month between posts...That's unacceptable.
In honor of the blizzard conditions in Wisconsin last Wed I went into Progreso that day to have lunch with some friends. There were three cruise ships docked at the pier that day so the town was full of visitors. All the vendors were out hawking jewelry, cigars, souvenirs, hammocks, even a massage on the beach.

Here you can see the three large cruise ships in the inset photo.The pier in Progreso is over 7 kilometers long. The Yucatan sits on a huge shelf of limestone and the Gulf is very shallow in this area. At the end of the pier it is only 40 feet deep. There is are three large harbors out there and a complete container port. The pier itself is a two lane highway, with some cutoffs for trucks to pull aside or park.

This is the older section of the pier, it's built out of concrete and has water passages like a bridge. The newer section comprises about 2/3 of the pier and is built like a dike of limestone and rubble with no water passages

 

Most Gulf Coast villages have a long street along the beach called The Malecon. There is a concrete seawall between the beach and the city street...with a sidewalk and places to sit much like a boardwalk

 

A shot of the Malecon filled with vendors

More vendors...selling jewelry, hammocks, local carvings, crafts and misc seashell products. Havana cigars, tequila and silver are big items for many cruise ship passengers

 

The restaurants and bars are in full swing on cruise ship day

 You can even get a massage on the beach.

 

Had to take a shot of myself...not in Wisconsin, not shoveling snow...no snowplows, mittens or jumper cables in sight!! 

The weather that day was mid-90's...a light warm breeze.

Later that afternoon I took a bike ride along the beach road and went swimming in the Gulf

Dias de los Muertos

It's a very nice day here in Chelem. We had several storms blow through over the weekend...the sky was cloudy much of the time and the temps dipped a bit. That was actually a welcome break from the hot weather last week. I'm glad that the weather has cooperated with the Mexican celebration of Day of the Dead. The Mexican people love celebrations and can figure out something to celebrate almost any day of the year. But one of the most important holidays is Day of the Dead. It's actually two days Nov 1 is Dias de los Inocentes (Day of the Innocents) on which they honor infants and children who have died...and November 2 which is Dias de los Muertos on which they honor adults who have died.
For their celebrations they build alters at their homes, light candles, present "the dead" with gifts of food and drinks which they enjoyed in their lives, present toys for the infants. Many will go to the cemetaries and set up what look like picnics...talking and singing to the passed family members.
Today while driving through the normally sleepy town square in Chelem there were lots of people around. Many people sitting and walking in the square and all the restaurants and stores were open and there were food carts all over. When I drove by the cemetary there were many food stands set up as well as a number of stands selling religious items, candles and skull candy. Yes, skull candy! The skeleton and skull are the most prominent images associated with the Dias de los Muertos. And, funny thing is (at least to me)...the skull image is most like the image that was used by the band The Grateful Dead! Skull candy is available almost everywhere...it is literally white sugar molded into the shape of a skull with the eyes, teeth and other bones painted in...most of them are smiling, which is a nice touch.
There are many foods associated with Dias de los Muertos...but the most important is a sweet bread called Pan de Muerto. It's a rich bread made with sugar and eggs...it's usually baked in a round loaf with a couple of strips of dough forming a cross on the top. After baking it's most common to cover the bread in sugar.
So...I told you all about the Day of the Dead and the Dead Bread so that I could tell you this. In the local Aureura Bodega (Walmart) store the bakery has been baking pan de muerto around the clock all weekend...most of the cases which usually carry cinnamon rolls, buns, doughnuts and Mexican pastries are now full of various sizes of pan de muerto. At the end of one of the aisles of display cases they have set up a folding table as an alter...on the table are a couple of religious candles, some white and green sugar jack-o-lanterns (not sure why they aren't sugar skulls, must be a corporate thing) and of course a couple loaves of pan de muerto...in the middle of the table is a photograph of Sam Walton, the founder of the WalMart corporation. And that's how important this holiday is to the Mexican people...and I think that is great!
(out of respect for this great tradition and celebration I purposely did not take any photographs)

This was the sunset in my backyard on Saturday. The palm tree silhouettes looked so tropical


Wicker Living Room set


New Dining Table & Chairs looking out the front window


Dining Table and Kitchen Counter


I love the classy new stove!! It has a flip-up glass top


My new kitchen...Fridge, stove, coffee maker...the rest of my cooking gear is stowed under the counter.

Almost exactly 3 weeks from when my 3200 mile journey ended at my home in Chelem, Yucatan, MX I am finally moved in and have set up at least rudimentary housekeeping. There were the usual home renovation bumps-in-the-road...a couple items had to be finished when I got here...a couple more things had to be re-done. I had to find some furnishings, appliances and a bed. Thank goodness for my Caravan, I can haul about anything in that workhorse! The wicker patio set that I managed to haul down with me will do for living room furniture for a while. It looks good with the new floor tiles. Buying and hauling the stove home was the easy part...once I had it hear I had to get a plumber to come over and hook up the gas...sounds easier than it was. But...after a few days the new range was up and running. The plumber also fixed some water problems and found a couple new ones. Last week I bought a hammock from a local vendor. It seems like buying something in this part of the world is the easy part...getting the rest of the stuff to make it work is the hard part. When you get a hammock you also need to buy two ropes about 2 meters each to connect the hammock to the hooks in the wall. Everyone said that you can buy the ropes...soga para hamaca...anywhere. Well the first three places I went didn't have them...one supermarket did have them but they were hot pink...not what I was looking for. Finally my friend Pedro checked at a local hardware store and bought a 4 meter length of rope and just cut it in two. Then he showed me how to make the simple knot that fastens to the hammock and doesn't slip. I also got a lesson on how to knot (fold, store,???) the hamaca. It's a simple over and under and around kind of thing that the locals must born knowing how to do. I kind of get it...I better because I sure don't want to have to untangle all those strings in my hammock!! So...Long-Story-Short...the hammock works great and my front porch is the perfect spot to use it to relax. Over the weekend I did some cooking for the first time on the new range in the new kitchen. My biggest problem was having to stop what I was doing to go dig through boxes for a knife, pot, spatula or something else I needed. But the stove worked very well, the burners were plenty hot. The oven will take some getting used to like all gas ovens do...the first pizza I baked turned out a little too "crispy" on the bottom. Last Saturday the weather changed a bit. It had been very hot everyday, lots of sun, nice breezes. On Saturday afternoon a storm moved in across the Gulf...the clouds looked worse than the eventual storm turned out to be. It rained for almost 2 hours, some wind...but nothing serious. When that storm moved on the weather on Sunday was much different than it had been. Lots of wind, partly sunny skies with temps much cooler than last week. "Cooler" is definitely a relative term...my friend Pedro described last night as "cold"...for a mid-western boy it was a perfect night to sleep with the windows open. Honestly, it was maybe 75 degrees! The plumber was just here again today...fixed my water pump so I can fill the tenaca on the roof...he also did something so that my kitchen faucets now have water. My next adventure will be getting my satellite TV system hooked up and getting an internet connection at the casa.

Photo Catch-Up Day!!

It's been almost two weeks since I arrived in the Yucatan. My Van was repaired last week. Last Sunday we had a nice party with my realtor friend Pedro and his family as a farewell for Gigi. She flew back to Minneapolis on Monday. Much of this week has been spent finding furnishings for the new casa. Next week I'll be moved in and setting up full-time housekeeping in Chelem.
So...it's time to catch up with the photos from the last week. Hope you enjoy the show!!

Pedro in his hammock on my front porch:




Farewell Party for Gigi, Pedro's wife made Posole:



Sailing race last Sunday:



Guy on a paddle-surfboard in front of the octopus fisherman:



Dan served us Dragon Fruit for breakfast one day:




Pedro holding court with the girls in my new kitchen:



Full moon at the beach:


Sunset on the beach:


MrBuzz on his new front porch:



The end of the line, my beach casa:



2800 miles into the trip...The Yucatan Border...just 2.5 hours to go:



The replica of Columbus's ship The Nina, permanently moored in Corpus Christi, TX:

The Holiday Inn in Veracruz...a beautiful, old colonial hotel:






Some really bad advice from Tom-Tom. He said this washed out road, complete with turkeys was supposed to get us to Veracruz. We declined the GPS advice and found Veracruz on our own:



Beautiful valley, the sun was finally out and the rain was moving on:




My dirty van in front of a huge wash-out on top of a mountain:


MrBuzz in front of the flooded river:





Here's a flooded river in the mountains above Veracruz:

Podcast #2: Week One Wrap-Up

This is the wrap up podcast for the first full week in Mexico. We talk about the last days of the trip down here, the van problems and Gigi's last day before flying home.
http://mrbuzz55.podbean.com/mf/web/87bnbq/BuzzGigi_100409_Carmen.mp3

The closer I get....

When we left Cuidad del Carmen the tropical storm had past. Ahead of us were very good roads...even road signs that made sense. It was like the closer we got to my new home the better things were going. We left Cuidad del Carmen aroun 9:30am...the route would take us to Campeche then to Merida and finally Progreso and Chelem. The road seemed to just fall away before us...we made excellent time, stopped for that good OXXO cafe Americano (think U.S. convenience store coffee) along the way. We made it to Campeche around noon and to Merida before 3pm. We were at my new casa in Chelem at 3:20 Monday afternoon. It looks wonderful, better than the photos Pedro has been sending. But...I didn't have keys and hadn't been able to get my Mexican cell phone working so that I could call Pedro. So, after walking to the beach and playing in the waves we drove to our friends Dan and Cindy's house which is just on the other side of Progreso. We had dinner with them in the evening, cooled off in their pool and planned to see the house on TuesdayWhen I went to meet Pedro at my casa on Tuesday I made it half way there and my van overheated! It had been making a growling noise in the area of the water pump since Cuidad del Carmen so it didn't completely surprise me when the temp light came on. I pulled over and called Pedro to bring me some water...I added almost a gallon and was able to make it back to Dan & Cindy's house. This morning it wasn't leaking, still had water in it and was running just fine (other than the growling noise) so I thought I would just load an extra gallon of agua and drive the 5 miles to the new casa in Chelem to unload my stuff and get on with setting up housekeeping.We drove just a couple of blocks from our friends home and when we went over a small bump in an intersetion the right front wheel almost fell right off!! The lower ball joint had failed. Considering the miles we drove in crazy conditions, through potholes, around washouts and over topes(speed bumps) of every shape and size...it's a miracle that this happened two blocks from our friends house at less than 5 miles per hour!! We must have had a guardian angel looking out for us for the entire 3000 miles. Cindy said that my mother was watching out for us on the trip...Thanks Mom!!There were several local guys who showed up while we were directing local traffic around the immobile van...one went to find a mechanico, another was dead-set on getting my car off the road. We messed around with the steering and pushing and finally got it off the road. The mechanico came and got some info then left. I was worried about what all this was going to work out because they said that they don't have tow trucks in Progresso...only in Merida 30 miles away. But with the van pushed off the road we went to buy some grilled chickens for lunch and wait for a call from Ricardo the mechanico. Ricardo called me a half hour ago and said he needed money for parts. I took Dan's scooter over to talk to him, not knowing what to expect. He is replacing 4 parts...the ball joint, a suspension link, the axle joint and the axle boot...with his labor and a good tip the whole job is going to cost me less than $200. And we didn't need to pay for a tow truck because he's working on it on the same street corner where it broke down!! Auto repair in Mexico is a way different beast than it is back in the mid-west. Tomorrow I am planning the same thing I plan every day...to see in the inside of my casa!! Until then life on the beach with good friends can't be beat!

Destination...the city of Carmen

Veracruz was a great city...we definitely needed a break, a nice hotel and a fun evening. The minute we hit town we found the downtown Holiday Inn in Veracruz. It was a very old colonial-style hotel...tall ceilings, huge staircase, outdoor court with a swimming pool and small lawn for relaxing. The wood work and tile work in this place was beautiful.
From the hotel we walked to a downtown square...we heard a live band. It was the typical Saturday night celebration with couples doing traditional dancing in the square. The square was lined with many outdoor restaurants. While we sat and had dinner there were other bands that were playing...most of them traveling through the crowd working for tips. We walked around a few blocks and found a band that was playing Cuban style music...there were people enjoying the evening everywhere we went. Like I said...just another typical Saturday night in Mexico.
Yesterday (Sunday) we left Veracruz and drove to Cuidad del Carmen.
In Mexico there are "libre" roads which are free, but go through all the little towns and can be very slow. Between major cities there are some "couta" roads. Couta roads are toll roads and are the equilivant of U.S. 4 lane freeways. The roads are usually in very good condition and there is much less traffic. We took the couta roads from Veracruz, to Villahermosa in the state of Tabasco and almost to the state of Campeche. The scenery was so interesting, nothing like what I would expect...such lush vegetation everywhere, huge trees...very hilly country, great valleys and lots of rivers to cross. Mexico has built some beautiful bridges!! As we got closer to Tabasco there were many more tropical trees...banana and pinapple plantations.
From there we were back on the two lane roads...through the little towns, lots of topes (speedbumps), traffic. To add to the stress we were running low on gas with no PeMex stations in site for a couple of hours! We arrived in Cuidad del Carmen on fumes and then had another struggle to find a hotel. We need to get better at that! We drove around for quite a while...one way streets, construction zones, dead ends...finally Gigi saw the green Holiday Inn sign!!!
Last night there was a huge tropical storm that blew in sometime after midnight. Incredible lightning and thunder...sounded like it was going off right on top of our heads. It rained so hard that the balcony outside our room flooded and water was coming in our room through the sliding patio door!!
Today looks like a beautiful sunshiny day. Perfect for our last driving day...tonight we should reach our destination. We have driven over 2800 miles already and today we will be on the road another 6-7 hours. Our final leg will take us through the historic pirate city of Campeche...I'm looking forward to seeing that and maybe taking a break to have lunch there! From there we will enter the state of Yucatan and drive to the capital of Merida which is 45 minutes from my new home.

See....You told me so!!!

It's been quite a 2 day trip from Corpus Christi to Veracruz. We made it across the border with a minor hiccup...then the trip seemed to take on a life of it's own. Yada, Yada, Yada...over 24 hours later we were in Veracruz.
Listen to the details on our podcast. It's our first attempt at podcasting. Comment to tell us how you like it.
http://mrbuzz55.podbean.com/mf/web/bhndcz/BuzzGigi_92609_Veracruz.mp3

We will be leaving Veracruz by noon Sunday...not sure what today's destination is. We have been enjoying the ups and downs of the trip so far but we are very excited to get to Chelem and see the new home and our good friends there.
Thanks for reading the blog and check back as the tale continues

Old Ships and Fried Oysters

Yesterday we set out from Oklahoma City with the goal of getting within a couple hours of the Brownsville on the U.S. - Mexican border before we stopped. But somewhere around Dallas we discovered that we had both always wanted to go to Corpus Christi. So, we re-routed Tom-Tom and turned Left when we hit San Antonio. We drove almost exactly 10 hours yesterday and arrived in Corpus Christi at 7:30...just in time for a wonderful meal of Fried Gulf Oysters. Our hotel room faces the Gulf...it's hazy this morning so the sun was making crazy colors as it tried to break free from the horizon.
The weather wasn't that bad yesterday but we did drive in rain for most of the afternoon and evening. We had plans of stopping in Austin with hopes of meeting a good friend of mine but it was raining hard and we just followed the flow of traffic and kept going. We thought we night stop in San Antonio...but it was still raining and we were within 3 hours of the Gulf Coast so we just point the Caravan east and didn't stop until we saw the hundreds of refining towers that signaled we had arrived at the Gulf Coast.
Another coincidentaly note...in 1992 a replica of Colombus's ship The Nina was built in Spain...sailed to the U.S. ... and my family actually saw that ship on Lake Pepin, Wis as it sailed up the Mississippi. Last night while walking the docks in Corpus we came across a very old looking wooden ship...it was the same Nina!!
We have seen hundreds of signs for local businesses and eateries...shacks seem to play a great importance in the local Texas cuisine...chicken shacks, B-B-Q shacks...Buzzard Billy's Swamp Shack. Texas is known for cattle and great beef restaurants...but from the look of the interstate signage they really put a hurt on chickens and pigs too. I would say it would be hard to throw a pig off the interstate without hitting a chicken joint...and vice-versa!
Stats: Gas price is higher in Texas $2.29 - $2.35. The Caravan has been getting great fuel mileage: 23-24mpg. Also...according to Tom-Tom we passed the halfway point on our trip yesterday afternoon! We have traveled just over 1500 miles so far...Tom-Tom says the total trip will be 2800 miles.
Thanks to everyone who has read this and commented.
Today it's on to the Mexican border. We will be crossing at Brownsville in to Matamoros, Mx.

OK...LA...HOMA

Early along their epic journey in the movie "The Lord of the Rings" ...Sam...one of the hobbit characters, abruptly stops and says "If I take one more step I will have gone farther from my home than I have ever been"
That's how I have felt most of today! Even though I have been much farther from my home...I have never driven the route directly south through the heartland. With every mile that ticked away I felt the same pull on my heart that Sam felt.
This morning we set out from Albert Lea, MN...drove through Iowa without setting foot in that state...on to Missouri, Kansas and final Oklahoma. The land flattens out more than it is in Wisconsin, but it looks very much the same. Our goal was to make it to Dallas and spend the night with a friend but after over 12 hours of driving I had to call it a day in Oklahoma City.
For this trip I purchased a GPS unit. I bought a Tom-Tom XL340...it works well, easy to program...AND...includes maps of Mexico. Early in the day it proved to be a really good navigator...however after Kansas City, MO it seemed like Tom-Tom lost his good senses and we ended up on smaller and narrower two lane roads, in small towns...seriously wondering if we were still on the way to Texas or just plain lost! I finally reprogrammed Tom-Tom and it turned us around...only to have to take two gravel roads to get back to anything resembling a highway.
I have come to the conclusion that GPS units do have their place and are great tools but they also epitomize the old adage "the correct answer is not the same as wisdom". Tom-Tom tells me with great accuracy where I am at the moment...but it's not good at really telling me where I am in relation to anything else. It also tells me what to do next...but it does not tell me where that next turn will take us and what route we are taking...you have to trust that Tom-Tom will get you there. Long-story-short...use your GPS, but check out a map ahead of time and take the atlas with you on your trip.
The Caravan keeps trucking down the road with no problems at all (knock wood). We spent some time this morning doing Spanish lessons using MP3 files on the van radio. For the record...Gas was $2.39/gal in Albert Lea, MN....$2.15/gal in Kearny, MO...and $2.17 in Oklahoma City, OK. There were two slight sprinkles of rain in Iowa and an amazing sunset in Oklahoma.

...and so it begins

Where do I start to write...might as well start at the end. The end of my long (54 year) association with the great mid-west. It's been a whrilwind to get to this point...somewhere north of the Iowa border on Hwy 35.
Almost exactly one year ago I made arrangements to spend 5 weeks in Chicxulub, Mexico...that's on the north shore of the Yucatan Peninsula, the shores of the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. While staying there renting a cassita from a wonderful Canadian couple I hatched my plan to buy a home in that area and get my sorry self out of Wisconsin winters once and for all.
Over the next 6 months, while back in Wisconsin and for about 6 months in Minnesota, I worked with a realtor from Merida to find and buy a home in Chelem, Mexico. Over the Memorial Day holiday I flew to Merida to look at properties and finalize the details of the sale with an abvogado (lawyer).
The purchase of the home was finalized in July...and the home was renovated...and now it's sitting under the four coconut trees waiting for me.
In the last year I have also lost a job in Wisconsin...worked on my Wis. home...found a job in Minnesota, moved into a condo...listed and sold my home...and moved out of my condo. Plus...I had to get rid of almost everything I owned that wouldn't fit into my Caravan for the trip to Chelem!! I literally had to condense 54 years of life in the mid-west into one van-load!!
In the last week I have found that the Good-Byes have been more difficult. My two wonderful children...my good friends who mean so much to me...family that is worried about me...hugs and tears all around. I miss you all so much already.
So...here I am at the end of that long, busy, wonderful journey...and I'm also at the begining of the new adventure...4 hours into a journey that will take us over 2800 miles from Wisconsin to Chelem and my four coconut trees on the Gulf Coast of the Yucatan.
Just like the song in the movie says..."...that's where you'll find me"