After 19 months and 30,000 miles, it’s time to head north and end our trip to Mexico and Central America. We have seen a good part of this area of the world and are both sad and happy to be on our way. We visited 8 countries and nearly every state in Mexico. We lived in 13 different cities and visited hundreds more. It has been both a challenge and greatly rewarding. Things that were unbelievably foreign to us have now become commonplace. People that seemed unique and completely different than us are now our neighbors.Foods, language and customs that once seemed unique and different are now everyday occurrences that we have come to take as normal. Seeing grand churches, colorful birds, volcanoes, beautiful beaches and cobblestone roads don’t seem odd to us anymore. We arrived ... read more

Today marks the end of our stay in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. When we left off last time we were anxiously awaiting our son Michael’s arrival from California. His plane was delayed by 2 days, but luckily he was able to extend his visit by two days. He finally arrived a little after midnight on Christmas day. Another American couple was stranded at the airport because the cabs had stopped running, so we decided to give them a ride to San Miguel. It was a tight fit in our tiny car, but we had a nice hour and a half drive back to San Miguel. They had a nice house on the hill above town and graciously offered to pay for gas, but we told them they could buy us an ice cream if we ... read more

We put our coats on for the first time in more than a year today. We had enjoyed great weather in San Miguel for the last month when last night it turned windy and cold for the first time in the month that we have spent here. Suddenly about 2 AM our terrace door blew open and a cold wind passed through the house. The windows rattled and a ghostly sound filled the night. We awoke this morning to blustery skies and a light drizzle for the first time since our arrival. We have spent a good portion of our time in the last few weeks just walking around the streets of San Miguel’s Centro area. During our journey we have normally not gone more than a couple of days without getting into the car and ... read more

After nearly a 4000 mile road trip, we have reached our new home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We left Merida, Mexico for Texas to have our car repaired. It was a drive of almost 1300 miles to repair the windshield, ignition and front end of our trusty (sort of) Saturn. We estimated it would take us about 4 days to get from the Yucatan to Brownsville, Texas. We planned to take the coast road through Veracruz and Tampico, which would have been the shortest route, but at the last minute a friend in Merida said they had a very difficult trip on that road in the past and recommended using a different route. We thought the shortest route would be best for the car, but perhaps if the road was very difficult, it ... read more

We have now crossed the one month threshold in our new town of Merida, Mexico. This is the first time in 8 months that we have lived in one house for more than a month. While not having to pick up and move has nice advantages, it also introduces some new challenges. When we stay in a place for one month and try to visit as much of the surrounding area as possible in the short time we have, we are seldom lacking for things to do. Normally we start by following the guide books and as we see the featured items we usually find that we discover other places or things of interest that warrant a more in depth visit. We rarely lack for things to do and often find that we are busier than ... read more