Blogs from Yucatán, Mexico, North America - page 64

Friends, my work assignment has now come to a close and I will be returning to Texas. But first I am going to take a vacation! Where? Why, right here in the Yucatan, of course!! There is still so much I 'need' to do! So much for me to get into, as Brenda has said...... The last few days have been a hoot! Susie, daughter Amy and Susie's two cats arrived safely from Houston on Thursday evening. Cats were less tramatized by the travel than Susie who was not happy with airport security regarding said felines. The three of us humans (cats stayed home-one permanently under a bed) tried to do everything in a few days and had one hell of a weekend! Amy left for the US again this morning and we'll all recoop in ... read more

They call the stretch of land down the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula the Mayan Riviera. It is a great spot on the carribean sea with white sand beaches, the most amazingly blue sea bordered by jungle. Ben was dreading the thought of ´beach days´ but I really wanted to stop here and enjoy the coast. Our first stop was Tulum, and we picked up an overpriced cabaña on the beach. Cabaña sounds reasonably romantic, but it was little more than a concrete floor (some were just sand), some sticks for walls and a thatch roof. We walked in to find a crab had already claimed the room and it snapped at our toes before scuttling under the bed. The setting was superb. We were right on the beach and we could see tracks in ... read more

Day 6 Hurricane Dean has arrived Tuesday, August 21, 2007 8:35 a.m. Merida, Yucatan, Mexico The storm has spared the upper coast of the Yucatan. Currently, it is very overcast, slight wind blowing (although some good size gusts happening) and drizzling rain. The wind is stronger than it was two hours ago. Diario de Yucatan, http://www.yucatan.com.mx/, reports that if the storm does not abruptly change routes, Merida can expect rain and tropical force winds all day, ending early evening, with the most intense winds after the noon hour. Diario de Yucatan reports the ‘what will happen’ thus far this morning. Even Quintana Roo’s newspaper, http://www.novenet.com.mx/ , does not yet have damage reports. Floods are expected in the southern areas and are expected to impact farming. The State decreed the red alert last night. Apparently this alert ... read more

Day 5 Anticipating Dean Monday, August 20, 2007, 11:35 a.m. Part 2 Weather reports are indicating Hurricane Dean’s path to have moved even more south now. Took a walk in all this heat and sunshine to see what is happening and to secure some backup adult beverage refreshments. Military helicopters flying - normal; traffic - normal; parking at all the businesses - normal. Went to the American owned big box store. Normal crowd for the vacation season, which means the crowd is a lot less than when it's not vacation. No big carts of hurricane supplies. People buying normal, every day things such as washing detergent, sodas, cooking oil. Lots of men on the automotive aisle. I call that real normal. Families shop together here in Mexico. Brilliant idea on Mama’s part. Guarantees that someone will ... read more

Merida, Yucatan, Mexico at 9:00 p.m. The National Hurricane Center had issued an update to advisory #31A at 8:35 this evening that reported maximum sustained winds of Hurricane Dean had increased to 160 mph making it a potention Cat 5. Channel 6, Beaumont, is reporting that it is now a Cat 5 and I am sure that they are privy to info before it is available to the public. The storm is on a mean westward route. The latitude of 18.2 hasn't changed in hours. Still chugging away at 20 miles an hour. Looks like he is on a mission. Poor Belize, poor Chetumal, Mexico. My prayers are with them. They, Belize, do not have resources in place as Mexico does. I am doing well here. Merida is not yet feeling anything. The good breeze we ... read more