We made it back home the afternoon of Tuesday, March 24th after nearly four months of driving through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and Mexico again. As promised we stopped in at the Dollhouse for happy hour. The next morning when I woke up and realized I was at home, I thought to myself, "hey, this is nice". We were happy to be home and Chuck and I took a few days enjoying being back in our home. Friday, April 3rd we drove to Hibbing to see the family. We have three grandkids; Benny, Kirsten "Bebe", and little Eddie Spaghetti Goober Bug. [View Full Entry]

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Tuxpan was a nice place to spend a couple of days. The sun did come out while we were there and so we spent a day by the hotel pool since it was more to our liking than the nearby beach. After a few hours of playing in the pool and lounging in the sun, the bugs came out in full force and again we were ate up! The archaeology museum was closed for renovations; go figure. We were told the quickest and easiest way to go to the Cuba-Mexico Friendship Museum was to take a boat across the river [View Full Entry]

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The afternoon of Saturday, March 7th we arrived to the town of Acayucan, Veracruz. Chuck and I paid for a room at the Hotel Arcos del Parque, located across the street from the main square. We paid less than $35 USD for a nice and clean room with air conditioning, cable television, comfortable bed, hot shower, a pool, bar and restaurant, and off-street parking. That evening we noticed our van was four rows deep in the parking lot; good thing we planned to stay two nights because we knew there was no way we would be able to leave at [View Full Entry]

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On Thursday the 5th of March Chuck and I were on the east coast of the Yucatan in Playa del Carmen for the sunrise. That day we drove across the peninsula and watched the sunset on the west coast at a beachfront restaurant on Isla Aguada, where we camped for the night. The next morning Chuck and I drove to Villahermosa, in the state of Tabasco. Villahermosa is home to La Venta Park, where there is a zoological park and a collection of monuments from the ancient Olmec cities. The Olmec monuments date from hundreds of years before the birth of [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday the 25th of March our friends Andy and Patti came from Hibbing, Minnesota to visit us for a week in the Yucatan. We stayed their first night in Valladolid, a traditional and authentic colonial town. In the evening we walked around town and through the government house where there are paintings that portray the history and culture of the area. In the morning we went to the cenote and afterwards made our way to Merida along the free road so Andy and Patti could see many small towns along the way. We then spent four nights in Merida, the [View Full Entry]

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While in Playa del Carmen Chuck decided to get certified in Scuba diving. During his first open water dive he could not equalize (un-plug or pop) one of his ears. We went to a dive clinic to find out he had an ear infection and would need to wait a week before diving again. So, we were headed towards Merida for Carnaval and a bullfight. Along the way we made stops in Tihosuco to visit the Caste War Museum, Valladolid for an overnight, Balankanche Caves, and the ruins of Yaxuna. Tihosuco is about an hour drive south of Valladolid, which [View Full Entry]

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We pulled into Merida just after 4 o’clock on the afternoon of Friday the 20th of February. Since we had originally planned to arrive on the 22nd and did not have reservations until then, we decided to check out the hotel Montejo Palace, which we always frequent when in town. As we drove nearer to Paseo Montejo (one of the main avenues in Merida) we realized that the intersections with this street were getting ready to be closed down. There were bleachers set up all along the median and rows of chairs lining the sidewalks. We pulled into the hotel [View Full Entry]

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Chuck and I have been to Quintana Roo many times; the Cancun international airport is located there. Flights from Minneapolis to Cancun can be very cheap and car rental is cheaper there as well. Whenever we fly to Mexico we arrive at Cancun, rent a car, leave, and always spend our last day or two at Playa del Carmen relaxing on the beach. We have also driven through Quintana Roo to visit some of the archaeological zones and some of the cities farther south. Always we have a nice time. We decided we would return to Mexico through Belize and spend [View Full Entry]

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After staying nearly a week in the Cayo District we drove the Hummingbird Highway towards the coast. Just west of Dangriga (Stann Creek Town) we followed the Southern Highway into the district of Toledo to visit some of the ancient Mayan cities of southern Belize. This drive could easily be done in half a day were it not for Belizean road conditions; pot holes, ruts, single lanes, construction, soft dirt roads, and intermittent pavement. Nim Li Punit was the first archaeological site we visited in Toledo District. The name means “Big Hat” and is due to one of the stela [View Full Entry]

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We spent four days in the Cayo District of Belize in the town of San Ignacio. From San Ignacio we visited two Mayan ruin sites, Xunantnich and Cahal Pech, and Chuck went on a cave tour of Actun Tunichil Muknal. Actun Tunichil Muknal is about 12 miles and 45 minutes driving time from San Ignacio. Tours are advertised throughout town and they depart daily from multiple locations. After the ride from town, which crossed two rivers, you then cross three more on foot. Next is a 35 minute walk through the jungle to the mouth of the cave, which also [View Full Entry]

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