We hiked around town this morning and Beebee got to feed a sheep some grass. Wheee! She also got up close to a baby, baby sheep. The mother was looking a little nervous, but the little baby sheep thought Beebee was the most interesting thing he'd seen all morning. She talked to him and he looked and looked. But then he got hungry and decided she wasn't going to provide him any food…

The larger hotel of the two we were doing web pages for, has it's own little trout pond and Steve had been craving one since the first day we arrived. We finished up the pages over a fantastic appetizer, beer and very nicely prepared trout. Unfortunately, what Steve had in mind was a whole fish, grilled or fried. What we got was beautiful, but much more gourmet than we expected. The fish was portioned into three separate preparations with three distinctly different sauces. The fresh broccoli that came with it was Beebee's favorite part. Seems we've been a little short on fresh veggies lately.

Steve checking out the view	Big spire at the start of our hike	A far away view of the rocks	Steve's perched on what he calls the Chicken Head

Beebee hardly ever sees her name on a sign, much less spelled her way. Oh, the excitement!		Marshland outside of Mineral del Chico. Landscape like we never would have expected in Mexico.

We made it by mid-afternoon to Cordoba, a fairly large city. We found a hotel first thing. We've decided, thanks mostly to Kelley and Lori, that finding the hotel first is such a good way to do things. Gets stress and anxiety out of the way. The rooms at this hotel, however, were not what we'd accustomed ourselves to! Back to being fairly poor travelers! We actually opted to sleep in the tent in the parking lot. And boy, we had such a good night's sleep. Decision well made and at 30 pesos, the price was hard to beat. Besides, there was an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in town from what appeared to be everywhere so all of the other affordable accommodations seemed to have been taken.

A pretty church in Cordoba	Countryside in Veracruz state	"Elvis Crossing"	The Hotel Iberia: quite a change!

With our hotel out of the way, we immediately went in search of food. Our morning stop at an incredibly clean and gorgeously tile-decorated cafe, hadn't stuck with us for the eight hours since we'd eaten it. The zocaló (town square) was lovely and had several outdoor cafes from which to choose. They all had a menu del dia (menu of the day) which includes soup, a small salad or pasta, main course, dessert and coffee- all for about 45 pesos per person (about $5 US). We had a lovely long lunch and then went to do our update. The internet cafe we found, Bichos, was the first we had tried that was completely unfazed at our request to hook up a laptop. Either the girl behind the counter was savvy enough to realize that it would be no big deal (for the first time) or she was so totally oblivious as to what we wanted that she just didn't dare ask for more information. Either way, it went smoothly.

We traipsed around town, peeking into stores -- Beebee found some cool buttons to use as clasps for her necklaces -- and enjoying being outside at night and warm! We're back in the tropics, whee. We sat in the park for quite a while, listening to a live band, reading and beading.

We'd read about Laguna de Catemaco and it sounded wonderful and it was only 15km from the beach and a swimming hole. Well, the weather still hadn't improved and the lake was a disappointment. Turns out it's a big tourist trap for taking people on little boats out to an island where they have monkeys from Thailand in some sort of preserve that the keepers beg not to be fed. But the boat drivers give their passengers food so they can get good pictures. Ugh. Needless to say, we didn't stay at the lake very long. We drove around the lake a little ways and found a wonderful spot to camp. We enjoyed our evening and slept very well. We were sad the weather wasn't better, as it would be a nice place to spend a few days. If you're ever in the area, definitely camp at La Jungla.

A very, very windy day: notice Steve's clothes	Pretty tree by lake Catemaco	A bug's eye view of Beebee and Steve reading	Such a pretty place, but very foggy	A little friend that Beebee almost stepped on!

We opted to take the longer, non-freeway route towards Villahermosa as we had plenty of time to get there, and the freeways so far had been boring. So we wound around back into the hills near the lake. The drive started off rainy and misty with green, green fields everywhere but as the day progressed we found ourselves cruising signless double-track out by tiny little thatch hut villages. Beebee also discovered that she thinks its fun to get mud on the roof whenever possible in mud puddles. Sandy was just about brown by the time we finally made it back to the paved road, four hours later. One of the funny quotes of the day was from a rural cowboy from whom we had asked directions. The town we were looking for was "far, far away," he said as we exchanged nervous glances at each other. "It must be at least 30 kilometers from here" he clarified, to our relief. Apparently distances aren't quite the same when you travel by foot or horseback vs. by Land Cruiser. Its funny how people can have such different perspectives.

A very bucolic and beautiful landscape	The horsey had a good, long scratching session with the post	Rural village in the hills by near Lake Catamaco	Another rural village, looks alot like the last

Once we hit the pavement again we headed on down hwy 180 towards Villahermosa and covered more ground in an hour than we had covered in the previous four. At about two in the afternoon we read about a trailer park in a 1989 (egads) edition of "RV Camping in Mexico". Beebee was definitely not accepting anything in this book for fact. It's just too old. But we did find the trailer park, and it worked out great! We are discovering that we prefer to get somewhere by about two or three so we have some time to actually enjoy our setting before darkness falls. Cuts down on our available travel time, but is much more pleasant this way.

Anyhow, it appears that the Hermanos Graham (Graham brothers) have lots and lots of land, all of which we had to ourselves until just before dark, when two RVs pulled up. Being alone in the afternoon was a good thing as it gave us a chance to pop the hood and fire up the Glind shower. After a dusty, muddy, muggy day of driving, a hot shower is just the thing you need. So the RVers didn't bother us at all and we spent another lovely evening camping and Steve woke Beebee up to hear the rain in the night. (This is one of her favorite sounds.) Tried birdwatching from their concrete tower, but again the birds were uncooperative.

The park itself was interesting to us- it had obviously been quite nice at some point, but like so many things in Mexico, it has just been left to take care of itself, it seems. The end result is that the place is pretty much falling apart. Too bad, with some paint and a few days of handyman work, it would be a much nicer place. We've decided that in much of Mexico, they build something once and when it has fallen apart sufficiently, they either build a new one, or remodel entirely. Not many people seem to spend a lot of time with upkeep.

Not so long ago there were ferry crossings along the coastal freeway and it took all day, now there are nice bridges	Beachfront palapas as you enter Ciudad del Carmen	Beebee goes shell hunting	There were cute little crabs all over the beach	Fantastic free-camping near Isla Aguada on the gulf. Just watch out for sand fleas.

The road winds out towards the coast and through Ciudad del Carmen- a major city that doesn't really appear in our guidebooks (one mentions it very briefly) but probably should. Sure, it isn't a destination in and of itself, but it is the best place for a few hundred kilometers to gas up, check your email, buy some provisions and whatnot. There are several hotels in town, including a Holiday Inn. Ok, but we don't do Holiday Inns… so we kept going towards the beach. After crossing a long bridge to get to Isla Aguada, we checked out Las Cabañas trailer park before heading out to a deserted stretch of beach to freecamp. The park was nice enough, but we figured that we didn't need to pay to set up next to the the bunches of gringos in their RVs that were already there. Ok, Steve was actually somewhat interested in meeting some new people and chewing the fat, but Bb wisely pointed out that ten bucks for camping is silly when we can camp on the beach nearby for free. So we picked an unmarked track from the highway to the beach, drove out on the sand, and had as far as we could see all to ourselves.

The gulf water was very stirred up and quite green from a storm somewhere, so we opted not to go swimming, and the wind was blowing like crazy, but it was still beautiful. We played a game of backgammon, went for a run, did a little shell seeking and cooked up some rice for dinner. The wind brought in some clouds and covered up the stars, so we climbed into the tent, bug free. Oops. We thought we were bug free. In the middle of the night, the wind stopped completely and the noseeums started. We hadn't closed up the tent well and they got inside. We spent the better part of an hour finding and setting up a coil (getting eaten alive in the process of climbing down to the car) and killing the bugs inside the tent. Ugh. The whole experience was a very good reminder to us that just because there are no biting insects when you set up camp doesn't mean that there won't be any later. We got pretty well bitten up and expect to be itching for the next week or so for our oversight. Thank goodness we didn't sleep on the sand like Steve had suggested!

On the way, we passed our first big RV caravan. Beebee played leapfrog and got us past the first 11 or 12 rigs, then the remaining 12 or 13 turned off onto a different road, thank goodness. Still, it has got to be a fun way to travel if you've got a huge RV and don't want to do Mexico solo. We just can't imagine what it is like to be in a park or town when 25 or so big RVs pull in. Seems like they would pretty much use up all the fuel, beer and water all at once!

We got to Mérida safely and checked into the hotel, where we thought it was ironic that the place had a AAA (American Automobile Association) endorsement, but didn't have its own parking lot. They do extend a discount, however, at the lot a half block away- only 50 pesos/24 hrs. That is more than we've paid to stay some places! Strange the different worlds of budget travel vs. staying in "nice" hotels. Once we got to the room and Beebee saw that she could actually take a hot bath, she pretty much decided that she didn't care about the parking after all.

The best and biggest news of the day is that Steve's parents flew in! We've been awfully excited to see them for the last few weeks and now that they are here it is wonderful. We got them checked in as well, then Dad took us out to dinner at a really nice place where we ate on an upstairs balcony across the street from a 400 year old church. We introduced them to some authentic cuisine and Cheladas- beer with lime, ice and salt. Our very attentive waiter gave us a little history lesson, told us about the upcoming Carnavales and even taught us some phrases in Mayan.

One of our big goals of the day was to buy some hammocks, Mérida is famous for the great hammocks made here. After walking around for a while, shopping in some tourist-trap looking spots, we ended up buying four handmade hammocks for about $20 each from La Poblana, a place recommended by our guidebook. Buying them was a kick- a kindly older salesman took us upstairs and gave us a 10 minute demonstration on how well made they were and how to set them up, take them down, fold them for transport and untangle them. Heck, we probably could have gotten better prices somewhere else in town, but the show he gave was worth the very small amount of additional money we may have paid. The other great thing about where we bought was selection- the salesman estimates that their inventory is about 50,000 hammocks at any given time. All of them unique and handmade. Very cool.

Beautiful colonial building on the main avenue in Mérida		Steve's parents in the main square of Mérida, Cathedral in background		Part of the hammock sales-show, loading four of us into one

Checking out of the hotel this morning wasn't much better than the ticks. After hassling with the front desk for just shy of an hour, we finally managed to get going. The hassles stemmed mostly from a tab in the restaurant that had neither our names nor our room numbers nor our signatures on it, but that nonetheless, was charged to our room.

The drive out to Valladolid was great. We took the free road to show the 'rents a little bit of "real" Mexico. Dad seemed really amazed at the level of poverty that we've come to expect in some of the villages- and we all agreed that the common disregard for landscaping and trash collection is surprising compared to other poor areas we've visited (mostly Asia and other parts of Central America).

Steve also decided to get off of the road a little and follow a double track that paralleled the highway as a little demonstration. Fun wheelin, even if we did feel silly sometimes a few feet from the pavement. One hill descent in particular impressed everyone. But we headed back onto the highway shortly after that when we realized that we were more or less in somebody's front yard.

We pulled into Valladolid a little after lunch time. Steve instantly like the city, nobody else seemed particularly impressed. After driving around the beautiful center plaza and admiring the cathedral, we quickly found and checked into what the guidebook calls the nicest place in town- El Mesón del Marqués, on the main square. We got a kick out of the idea that the most expensive place in town is still less than $50 per night.

After cooling off in the shade for a bit we walked a few blocks to Cenote Zaci. We had heard an awful lot about cenotes and their historical importance, but not about how magnificently beautiful they can be. This particular cenote is a huge limestone cave that arches halfway over a shimmering, dark pool that, according to locals is 100-150 meters deep. The water was the perfect temperature for a hot afternoon, so Steve and Bb jumped in a swam around a little. Some local boys were jumping from the sides so Steve followed suit. He did a series of successively taller walls- the highest being 15 meters, according to the locals (about 50 ft). The next jump would have been off of a tree that arched over the water from the top of a wall… and the 15m jump was scary enough. Bb also did a few jumps and was very brave. If you look carefully you can barely see us in the picture, the cenote was huge!

As night fell we decided to head out to do some updating and had the worst time yet finding an internet cafe that would let us hook up the laptop. Seems that all of the prices are high here, about $2/hour compared with $1-$1.50 elsewhere, but we did finally find a great little place with a very fast connection. Just two streets off of the plaza, on calle 43, Servicios para Redes de Datos is the best place in Valladolid to get online.

We finished off the night by walking around the town, enjoying the warm night air.

Smooching with a view of the Cathedral		Updating the site while Mom looks on		The lovely garden courtyard at our hotel

When we drove into Playa del Carmen, we were all surprised. Not the beach oasis we were expecting, but more like a small, concentrated Cabo San Lucas. Not quite as loud and crazy, but incredibly overdeveloped and high priced. We had a bit of a time finding a room for four nights. We passed up the first hotel as the rooms just weren't all that great for what they were asking (a plain hut with concrete floor, small window, tiny bathroom was $40 US!) went to two more hotels that were completely full, ran back to the first hotel, prepared to overpay, only to find that it too had become full. Eek! Steve was irritated that we didn't take the rooms in the first place, the 'rents were hot, and all of our tempers were running a little high. Beebee was the only one who was calmly philosophical about the situation and it turns out she was right- we found something far better than all of those choices -- the sweet little Hotel Cohiba. About a half block from the ocean, with balconies and gorgeous decor, this hotel was perfect. Like most of our experiences, what at first seems to be a minor disaster often is just fate's way of telling us that our original plan was lousy.

After checking in we relaxed on the upstairs patio and played some cards and enjoyed the breeze rolling in off of the sea.

We whiled away our evening playing hearts on the balcony while watching the sunset. A pretty perfect time of it we had.

Ugly (in a cultural sense) gringos notwithstanding, the Caribbean view is breathtaking. If we had been Mayans, this might have been our first choice of places to live- we've found most of the Yucatan to be a limestone desert, hot and humid, with landscapes full of not-so-lush plants. We poked around at some hotels on the Tulum coast and ate lunch at the most disgustingly touristy place Beebee's been to since the Zoo in San Diego. The overweight-American-dollar-toting-cheep-souvenier-buying-rude-gringo crowd really put Beebee out. Steve and the parents did their best to ignore the company, but it was difficult.

We did, however, manage to come across an all-inclusive resort on the coast that seems to have just turned over its management and therefore is offering incredible rates and somehow is still nearly empty! We made plans to come back and spend two or three nights.

Yeah, that sign means everyone else…	Notice how flat the surrounding area is	The ruins here aren't as developed as some others	Proud iguanas kept watch over the tourists

The gray cliffs and blue ocean make a dramatic vista		Steve, Beebee, Bonnie, Bill		Lovely swimming beach, but not much elbow room

After a heated discussion on politics and the state of the environment we all went to bed a little less than happy. Mental note: no more political debates with republicans over 50.

Around 3 p.m., dad had had it with scrabble (thanks for all the practice K and L!) and we all headed out for more snorkeling, this time just off the beach. Beebee spotted two baby fishies and boy was she happy! Baby fish are almost as adorable as puppies. They are just so tiny!

In other animal news, we also witnessed a two iguanas mating by the pool. Wow. Pretty cool! Kept considering a dash to the room to grab the camera, but figured that we didn't have enough time. Turns out that the much-larger male carried the female around for a good five minutes or so, holding the nape of her neck in his mouth, before they actually appeared to copulate. The copulation was quick, just a few seconds. The male wrapped himself around the female and sorta flipped her onto her side a little, then in a second or two they were both just standing there, a few inches apart. A minute later the female wandered off.

By far the most important email was that we are again an aunt and uncle!! Steve's sister Karyn gave birth to Claire Larkin Tillett on the 21st (her first child). Welcome to the family Claire!! Both the Mom and baby are doing great. After some tears and joyous exclamations, and more than a few confused looks from other people in the internet cafe, we headed across the street to our "old" hotel and had cheladas to celebrate. Mom and Bb also stopped to buy two adorable little baby dresses for Claire from some women in the parque central.

We drove on to Chichén Itzá and the beautiful Hacienda Chichén. We had planned to go to the ruins to see the light and sound show, but a refreshing downpour convinced us to stay and enjoy dinner at the hotel instead. The food was excellent. After dinner Mom just couldn't stand the wait any longer so we called home to check in on the new baby. Many thanks to Don who loaned us his cell phone to call Karyn and Randy to congratulate them when the hotel phone couldn't get through. It was an odd sight, sitting out in the driveway (where we could get cell reception) within sight of much more comfortable seats on the colonial patio, but we enjoyed the talking. Bonnie was torn: she wanted to go home right away so badly that she could barely stand it, but also wanted to see what they had come to see. Since we had to return to Mérida to change the plane tickets, we decided to tour the ruins tomorrow as planned, then go straight to the Mexicana (airline) office.

We enjoyed some more hearts, cheladas and a lovely dinner. Boy, life sure is hard!

We spent Saturday in Celestún, home of the pink flamingos. Prior to our boat ride, we stopped for a chelada at an eco resort and then had a bite of ceviche at a restaurant right on the water. What an incredible day. There are over 90 species of birds in this preserve. We took an 80 minute boat ride with a great guide and saw several types of birds including a kingfisher, black hawk, three types of herons and thousands of flamingoes.

Having never seen pink flamingos before, we were all awed. They stand about 1.5 meters tall and feed (this is their feeding ground as opposed to their mating ground a few hundred miles away) in the shallow water on plankton, brine shrimp and critters and minerals in the mud. The carotene from their food (mostly the shrimp) is what turns them pink, i.e. the young ones have less pigment than the older birds. Lucky us, we saw a totally white one. Our guide told us that this is very rare (in fact, he was going to write it up when he got back it was so unusual) and that the white flamingo is probably from Africa, not Mexico. Talk about far from home!

We also got to stop at probably the most beautiful cenote yet. This one was shallow and crystal clear, just inside the mangrove forest. We couldn't swim in it as we had on bug gunk and sunscreen (very bad for the water), but our guide happily jumped right in. Notably, it seems that the guides and whomever is in charge around there is doing a good job of trying to preserve the mangroves/feeding grounds. There were several signs that asked people with sunscreen/bug stuff not to enter the water. That made us happy (though we would have liked to swim).

Fishermen on the beach in front of the restaurant in Celestún	Black hawk perched on a branch high above us in the mangrove swamp	A blue heron. Wow. We saw quite a few of these majestic birds	The most crystal clear cenote we've seen yet
Cormorants nestled in a tree. Notice how orange their beaks are	The mangrove swamp with the black hawk and a termite nest in the background	Termite nest. These are all over and huge. Made out of mud and muck, we think	Notice the pink line on the water. This is the flamingos from about a mile away

We drove to the far northern end of town and found a trailer park that was reasonable and in decent shape. We decided though that we'd rather be in town for the rest of Carnaval, so we hiked around trying to find a hotel manager who was actually in the office at 2 p.m. We wanted to do an exchange: a room for a minipage on our web site. We have success whenever we try this, but today it seems that everyone was out, or not interested. We stopped in at Hotel Colonial, just around two corners from where we'd been staying with mom and dad, and struck a deal.

We enjoyed the parade again tonight and dined Sandcruiser-style at a tiny place serving all kinds or tortas. Tortas are Mexican sandwiches with cheese, generally chorizo or ham or other meat, tomato, onion, and lettuce. Even though they have what seems likes the same ingredients, they don't taste much like an American sandwich, which is fine, because they are excellent.

The top of a church poking its head out about the streets of Mérida		The little diner called Pop where the four of us enjoyed two really good breakfasts