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"