May 6, Wednesday I checked out of the hotel and got to the Vesca BMW dealer right at 9:00 am as they opened. After a bit of back and forth explaining what I wanted - the routine 12,000 mile service - I was told to expect it to be done by 4:00. So, since they didn't offer loaner bikes, unlike the Beaver Falls WI shop, I walked a few blocks to a big mall. Breakfast, coffee, and walking around the mall took up about two and a half hours, then I walked back to the dealer in the 90 something heat. I was hoping that they'd be done earlier so I could get some miles behind me but the mechanic, who is apparently the only guy in the place that speaks any English, came and told ... read more

May 1, Friday Another pack the bike event, this time with lots of extra clothes aboard, and we headed north from Playa del Carmen looking for the cut-off road to the west so we could miss the snarl and mess of Cancun. After a short back and forth, we found the proper road, which looked originally like an entrance to an amusement park. This short cut began as a brand new blacktop road, and we whizzed along with almost no traffic. When we reached about 5 kilometers from the next main highway, the construction vehicles showed up, then the road turned to "under construction", then to gravel, then to dirt. It got narrower and narrower, and I started wondering if we'd have to backtrack the 20 some odd k's and go the long way around. Finally ... read more

April 28, Tuesday I had picked up a brochure for BioMaya, a jungle adventure site just north of Bacalar, where the beautiful 7 shades of blue fresh water lagoon is located. Deb was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to try zip-lining while in Belize, and this place offered us the chance, with the added benefit of its being directly on the way to Playa del Carmen. We pulled in to the site and were greeted by an employee with a surprised look on his face. Come to find out they didn’t expect to see anyone, as all the holidays are over in Mexico, and this was early in the middle of the week. They easily could have told us they were closed, but instead they went all out to make us feel welcome and ... read more

April 22, Wednesday Happy birthday to me. I've never been 51 before, so I'm not sure how to act, but I'll just keep on faking it as I've done for the last 50 years and everything will work out fine. I decided to sign up for the Open Water Scuba course at the Splash Dive Shop. Cost is $350 USD and it includes all gear, books and 4 dives out on the reef. Today was all academic work, I read some of the manual and watched 5 videos. Patty, the owner, who has certificates plastered all over the walls of both "offices", including one that praises her for having 100 certificates, is my academic instructor. She quizzed me after each video section, then gave me a final quiz at the end. PADI, the sanctioning body for ... read more

April 17, Friday Packed up and on the way to the Belize border. We rolled up to the Mexican authorities, and had to stop and pay 200 more pesos. I'm not sure if that was to get out of the country, or to allow us to return since he did stamp my paperwork "dos entradas" and told us we wouldn't have to pay anything on our return. Across the river we were hailed to the side of the road at the "Auto Insurance" shack. Belize requires you to buy their own liability insurance, $20 USD or $40 Belize Dollars (bz). Turns out that the Belize dollar is mandated as twice that of the US dollar. At least it's easy to figure out the exchange rate. Also interesting is that US money is completely accepted in Belize, ... read more