Yucatan/Mexico 08 with Brewers

[Betty Brewer]

Did I miss it - did Terry buy that really cool-looking turkey after "thinking about it"

Wendy,

Yes Terry did buy that really cool looking turkey.  They finished it up and brought it to the RV Park this afternoon.  I met the woman who painted it and her child.  She spent hours finishing it  just before she brought it out.  He husband carved it out of copola wood using a machete.   It is very lightweight and they use it to make incense for burning in church services.

Betty 

[Wendy]

Way cool. I can see it riding on the dashboard kind of like a dash dog. And wouldn't it look great on a t-shirt?

Wendy
San Onofre SB

[moreaual]

More pix from Cooch(Fern) & Nann(Annette) for the Moreau's, Carriere's and friends to enjoy.  Moving on-up, last week of travels, more site-seeing and much more fun things in the works!

[ArdraF]

Betty,

What a fun, fun day in Oaxaca-Day 4!  Love those pig noses!  Thanks for a good laugh with that one.  Traveling in Mexico is always an adventure - pig farms and all!

But what a neat experience to participate in that festival.  And, yes, great for international relations which are always better on a personal level anyway.  The locals certainly seemed to be enjoying your experience too!

ArdraF

[Betty Brewer]

March 1, 2008, Puebla/Cholula (Las Americas RV Park)

Pat and Alice  sent us on our way this morning mindful of the  pig area we were in.

Usually at this time of year Terry and I are at the Nascar Races in Las Vegas.  Leaving Oaxaca today the taxicabs made up for anything we might have missed at the races. We had to maneuver the lanes ending up on the right side as if we had been to England and then back again.  It is actually a very efficient way to move traffic but a bit disconcerting to use the wrong side of the road. Our travel day was relatively easy and interesting as we moved North and West today.  We noticed a change of terrain as we climbed in altitude.  At 6,000 feet we saw pine trees.  We also avoided a car broken down that had used tree limbs to notify on oncoming traffic of their predicament.  There were lots of kids outside the stalled vehicle and we noted how ingenious it was to use the local flora to indicate a problem.  Our top altitude today was 7,950 feet but this was many up the mountains and down again.  I’m sure our fuel mileage was not so good today.  The mountainous terrain was very steep and yet we saw forests of Cardone cactus, thick much like you might have imagined pine trees.  The cacti were single trunks and over 30 feet tall. 

We followed the book and within the city of Puebla the traffic grew heavy and the PEMEX fuel station that was to be our meeting place if we got ahead of the caravan, was not so easy for Terry and I to find, so we missed the side road and waited on the interstate within the bus stop area, until the caravan arrived to lead us to this little RV Park.

At a wonderful Happy Hour tonight provided by Eileen, Shirley and Sherry, I was awarded the Goofy Award because at our lunch break, I noticed number 16 (Fern and Annette) parked ahead of us.  I radioed on the CB.  “Fern are you in you rig or in the restaurant?  He was reminded of Doreen who has had this communication “issue” on earlier travels with them and thought of her as he awarded the Goofy to me AGAIN.  I was just being neighborly.  Sandy shared with the group a heart-warming incident that reflects on the positive nature of Mexicans. Hex had to pull over and assist number 14, Bill and Sherry with a slide out problem early in today’s journey.  They pulled over in front of a local camper shell business and the guy opened his restroom so Hex could wash the grease off his hands.  One never ever knows the boundaries that an act of kindness can travel.   

We have passed from the State of Oaxaca to the State of Puebla and will have a city tour in the morning.  Before we get too far away from the State of Oaxaca I wanted to share a few more details with you. I learned the city of Oaxaca is almost 800,000 people and has spread out into suburbs as the city continues to grow.  Eugene related to us that one of the biggest problems Mexico has is Education. He asked if we had heard the bad news from their city a year age.  Most of us had not.  He related to us that the teacher union is the strongest in the country. They seem to strike or picket each Friday.  Their workday is from 8 am to 12:30 pm including ½ hour for breakfast.  The teachers involved are from Kindergarten to college.  They are supposed to work 186 teaching days (about the equivalent of a California public school year 180 days) and they have 20 sick days, 9 days they don’t have to call in for anything special. They can get their credential from their parents if their parents were teachers for a mere $5,000.  (Bribe)  He showed us graffiti on local fences that were messages from teachers about their request for benefits from the regular demonstrations.  The starting salary for the 4 1/2 hour workday is $1900 dollars a month.  Plus they have medical and retirement.  I will check these details again with Eugene, as I was so interested in Teacher Union problems that may have over stated the cause.  I just recall from my workdays that negotiations for benefits and salaries with teachers were a stressful time.

 Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:  226
  Temperatures: High 82   Low 43   Humidity 21%   
       GPS Coordinates: N 19 4 22.8  W  98 17 38.8

[ArdraF]

It sounds like the kids are the ones getting shafted and also poor educations.  So sad!....

ArdraF

[Betty Brewer]

March 2, 2008, Puebla City Tour

Today Eugene joined us again to show us Puebla.  Two of his sisters live here and have a grand familiarity of the city. The bus toured us around this big city of 2 million, which is fairly prosperous.  Buildings are in a state of completion and some of the residential neighborhoods we toured show prosperity. The State of Puebla does not have tourism as one of its local economic industries.    The VW plant is here is as are several manufacturing plants. Puebla has the 5th largest population in Mexico. Mexico City has the largest population with 25 million people.   We visited Cholula, a ruin in partial restoration. It was interesting as it showed the amount of labor and energy it takes to uncover a ruin.  Notable here was the  Catholic Church atop one of the mounds that indicate when the Spanish came to occupy this territory they built their churches over the temples of the ancients to show who was boss.
 Do you know how many states are in Mexico?  Answer to follow. Puebla has a water shortage and the city pumps water only 3 to 4 hours each week.  If you run out then you have to pay for a truck to deliver more.  No one hoses off his or her sidewalks or porches, as this is wasteful.   The city has a very French influence with their architecture. We visited the zocolo or town square today and as it was Sunday got to enjoy an afternoon of free band concerts, balloons for sale and a very pleasant afternoon in a nice setting.  Our first tourist spot was the Talavera Tile factory famous for colored tiles.  My pesos were mostly spent the last few days so I did not purchase any of the lovely tiles or dishes but I really wanted the entire set of dishes I photographed. We were given free time to explore the handicraft markets, a nearby Cathedral and then we met at an upscale Hotel for a buffet lunch. We were serenaded by a pretty good musician and enjoyed ourselves.

Tonight Terry and I shared the slide show of the photos he has taken so far to any who had time and interest. I served champagne and we all ooooowwed and ahhhhheed about the memories we have made so far on this trip!

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:  0
  Temperatures: High 73   Low 42   Humidity 25%   
       GPS Coordinates: N 19 4 22.8   W  98 17 38.8

[johanna]

More pix from Cooch(Fern) & Nann(Annette) for the Moreau's, Carriere's and friends to enjoy.  Moving on-up, last week of travels, more site-seeing and much more fun things in the works!

Hi nice pictures, thank you very much Betty for the post they are very interesting.  I would need to talk to my mother though, is it possible for you to have her call me before they get to Texas.  It is not urgent but still i would need to talk to them.  Thank you !!!

[moreaual]

ok Jo... we will try to find a phone close by.
Dad is fixing something on the motorhome then we will walk down the road to find a phone.  Since it`s not urgent I will let dad complete the work on the slide-out.
Take care, talk to u soon!

[Betty Brewer]

March 3, 2008   Travel Day to Costa Esmeralda

Another day,…..another adventure!

The trip briefing the night before indicated this should be an easy travel day.  We only had 166 miles to go and we had already been to the RV Park so we knew what to expect.  We were split into 3 groups to allow us  a better chance to keep us with each other out of Puebla as this city of 2 million prepared to go to work on the Monday morning we were to leave.  We had a couple of little problems getting everyone out the gate in-group 2.  Bob and Trish' rig would not fit through the gate at the angle they approached it so many had to juggle positions and Fern’s mirror was cracked by some close calls in backing up.  Pat and Alice were to lead group 1.  Bob and Trish were to lead group 2 and Hex and Sandy were to lead our group 3,  & rigs each.  Piece of cake.  Well, we hear on CB that the leader of group 2 missed the first turn onto the freeway taking one rig with them.  So now Shirley is the wagon Master and not wanting the job!  Bob led Art through a returno and back on course. Hex got his group out but we had huge traffic as the local school was starting and LOTS of kids were walking and parents driving them to school down our little narrow road.  At mile 21 our first tollbooth of the day, we spotted John and Marilyn’s trailer parked along side the road.  WE figured he had a tire problem but actually he was there to inform us that the book was wrong and that we needed to do a returno and then turn left to go on the road to Tezuitulan.  We were happy that he spent an hour there waiting to make sure we all made the turn.  Someplace between Acajate and Rafael, we ran into road construction and a detour that took us under a freeway up onto the oncoming lane and were told to turn on our lights that we had to share the road going this way.  It was very disconcerting to be traveling up an onramp while oncoming traffic is coming down.  But hey we can all share the road. By now it is ever apparent that our book is not going to have reliable information today so Alice and Trish set out ahead of us in the car to  “find the best way” for us to go.  We lost CB radio contact as hand held CB’s are no so long ranged. 
We come upon Werner and Phoebe sitting in their Roadtrek at a Pemex station and they have been left as sentries to inform us we are to turn left at that corner.  The first group made this discovery after driving several miles out of the way and Walter who can speak Spanish ask a local, the way.  They come back and wait for the Wagon masters to catch up with those ahead.  One by one we travel up almost 8200 feet and come to the city of Tlatacoyan (I think) It reminded me of San Francisco with the terrain.  The narrow one-way streets were obviously built for horses when originated.  The streets were definitely not suitable for 102 inch wide bodies. But we had no choice but to follow the rig in front of us and make no turn until we could see the guy behind us. We heard Pat radio to Walter (who speaks Spanish) to hire a taxi cab driver to lead us out of town.  Walter flagged the cab in front of him who had customers inside and could not deviate but he did at least give us the clue city to look for Nautla.  So we followed the Nautla signs.  Keep in mind there are 21 of us and some are way behind having had to stop for overheated tires, heated brakes, and watching a pick up truck roll over 4 times and land on it’s side missing all other traffic.  Hex rushed over with his fire extinguisher and to assist but no one was hurt.  Whew our caravan has a guardian angel but I think Connie earned some more gray hair witnessing the near miss.  While driving through the streets on this little mountain town I stand up near the right side and cal out to Terry how many inches he has before he hits the street sign and posts, which are built directly at the curb. I call to 12 inches, 8 inches 6 inches, minus 2 inches.  He  “swerves” with the 4 inches he has to spare as the opposing traffic comes by.  This day was not as much fun as others we have had.  A police officer assists some of us in making a very narrow sharp turn.  Some have to unhook tow cars and back up to make the turn.  Then we head down hill out of town over new road construction.  A grader is plowing up the entire black top so we drive on dirt for a few blocks wishing that this were not happening to us.  Finally we head out of town and down from 8,000 feet or so to 2,500 feet in a few short miles.  Narrow sharp dangerous curves are what had us smelling burning brakes. We are out of the desert region and back into humid tropical climate where bananas flourish as do fruit of all kinds.   When we arrived at Costa Esmeralda it was my turn to prepare happy our snacks.  What a rush.  I had planned on arriving around 1 and having a few hours to prepare but thankfully the time was moved back and at 5:30 we all had some stories to tell about this drive.  Happy Hour for me became Happy Evening and I did not get this typed until today. 
Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 166.7
  Temperatures: High 77   Low 66   Humidity 88%   
       GPS Coordinates: N 20 17 03.6   W   96 49 44.5

[Wendy]

What a fun day, Betty   !! Sounds like traveling in Mexico in an RV is NOT for sissies.

I do like the term "returno".....Spanish for U-turn??

Wendy
San Onofre SB

[Jeff]

As Betty named the day, "Adventure" describes traveling in Mexico.

[Ron from Big D]

I must say, you and Terry are having quite a time.  Looks like fun. (haha)  Enjoying your trip.

[Betty Brewer]

March 4, 2008   Free Day in Costa Esmeralda

Today we enjoyed a much-needed free day with no structured activities.  It was a cool cloudy overcast day at the beach.  Many errands were completed and I slept in.  A wonderful hamburger feed was held tonight and we welcomed the homemade French fries and expert chefs.  Following the meal, Goofy went to Jim and Susan because here we are on day 43 of a 46-day trip and he finally learned how to use his CB radio to transmit.  Now we may hear from him on the road.  Sandy (Mrs. Pepper) organized a fantastic auction and Bob T ( in costume)  served as auctioneer while Mike( also in drag)  was the Vanna White for the items.  The items auctioned off were actually souvenirs many had purchased and now had second thoughts about even wanting them!  Zillions of laughs were had as we got into bidding wars with each other and ourselves. We have to pay up tomorrow. At the end of the evening, Jerry provided a most touching moment.  Jerry has a broken foot and used a colorful carved cane for the better part of the trip.  He and Connie worked in Rehabilitation Therapy for 25 years and know how disabilities can conquer people or people can conquer disabilities.  He awarded the    “man of men among us” tribute to Les as one who has overcome so much more than most of us ever could.  Jerry gave his cane to Les, which Les had come to admire.  We gave Les a standing ovation.  We called it an early night as we have along travel day tomorrow. 

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0
  Temperatures: High 77   Low 66   Humidity 88%   
       GPS Coordinates: N 20 17 03.6   W   96 49 44.5

[JoAnn]

Wow Betty, I'm exhausted just reading your adventures.  Seems hard to believe it's almost over.  I will miss catching up each day.  Thank you for thinking of us with your journal.

JoAnn

[vlady daddy]

I must admit, I enjoy listening to your journal while viewing the pictures at the same time.

I use Alive Text to Speech software with a toolbar inside Internet Explorer that I click after highlighting your daily text journal and the program converts the text to a spoken voice. The photo comes to life having the background voice describe in so much detail of your adventure with the accompanying pictures. Although the program needs additional functionality to distinguish a spoken voice from a song, Old MacDonald’s Farm was still delightful to listen.

On a second thought, have Terry convert the text to speech and save it as mp3 files for his next slide shows.

[moreaual]

Finally, more pix for the Moreau's, Carrière's and friends... almost over and I'm still trying to catch-up with the downloading, cropping and cleaning all those photos.. not to mention backing a copy onto CD's... here are a few you might enjoy !  Don't laugh too hard.... Then those favorites that I have to print for my album.  This will probably take me a year to complete.... oh but what wonderful memories !! 

[moreaual]

More pix ... hope the groupies are not angry with me for posting pictures of our new bathing gear cover-ups. Just had to share.   Oh well, they can't do me too much harm at this point in time. Two days left of the trip then we part and we are on to another period of our lives.  It`s been a great trip and we have made such great friends.
Annette & Fern.

[Betty Brewer]

March 5, 2008   Travel Day to Tampico

We left early and I sort of dreaded traveling this road as when we traveled this road many weeks ago it was so terrible.  It’s funny how things look different going the other direction.  Many potholes had been fixed and we took a bit of a different route. We left at 7 am and arrived at 3:40 pm.  It was not raining so that made a difference. We arrived at he Country Express Hotel Parking lot and the group did a hobo dinner of soup.  Lane made corn bread to go with the dinner. Werner and Phoebe watched the pot boil.  Pat set up his TV to show the DVD that Terry had made of the entire trip.  At the trip briefing each couple was given a copy of the DVD.  Pat and Alice gave each couple a souvenir of photos from the trip and room for even more memories.  Ted and Ann arrived late with Hex and Sandy as his alternator acted up again.  We’re convinced they love attention of a late arrival. Terry and I skipped the group soup as he had a rib eye in mind from our past trip here.  Tomorrow is our farewell dinner.  It is amazing how fast 46 days can go. 

While at the Hotel restaurant tonight, we met 3 people from Lubbock Texas.  We told them we have others on our trip  from that city.  They had left 3 am and had already traveled 700 miles today.  They help at a clinic in Chiapas and do eye surgery for the people there.  They were only stopping for dinner and were going to drive on another 200 miles to be closer to Lubbec.  Some people really know how to make a difference.  We agreed that we kiss USA ground when we arrive and our washer and dryers. Life is good.
. 

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:  230
  Temperatures: High 83   Low 61   
       GPS Coordinates: N 22 30.170    W   98 07.100

[Betty Brewer]

March 6, 2008   Travel Day to CD Victoria

I’m having push pull emotions today.  I don’t want the trip to be over but I want to “go home.”  Tonight is our Farewell dinner so the end is very near.  As we drove our short distance today we were all happy to arrive at an RV Park before noon.  It gives us the afternoon to unwind and reflect and get ready to say our good byes tonight.   During the travel morning we noted that we are back in the desert portion of Mexican climate and the scrub brush is dry along here.  We see the contrast of new cell phone towers with herds of goats being tended by a farmer on his donkey walking underneath. We see many donkeys tied up along the road acting as grass cutters. We see organ pipe cactus and lots of prickly pear cactus. We passed by a marker signifying we were at the Tropic of Cancer.   We traveled this road almost 6 weeks ago and I have no memory of it.  Everything still looks like Mexico.  There are plastic bags on the ground and litter is present.  We are used to it.  We are counting the number of pesos we have to trade back and still allow enough to fill up one more time with fuel. Mexican diesel prices are better than those in US so we want to top off.
At the trip briefing we broke into 2 groups to head out early in the morning for the border. We took two busses to a very nice restaurant and said our thank yous and “farewell until we meet again” words.  We celebrated Marilyn Long’s birthday.  We gave the Goofy permanently to Fern and Annette.  Mike and Eileen tied with Bob and Lane for Care Bear Awards, Chicken will live forever with John and Marilyn and Shirley keeps the unending glass.  Walter, Terry and Ted were acknowledged for providing Internet access to the group this whole time.  It was nice to keep in touch with family and friends and to pay our bills while gone for such a long time. Terry was able to get a satellite signal every day on the trip.  Pat and Alice gave a vote of confidence to our trainees Bob and Trish who completed the training with flying colors and we will look forward to having them as a wagon master or tail gunner on any other trip. Pat and Alice thanked Hex and Sandy for providing such terrific back up support.  Alice spoke kindly about each person on the trip.  Pat said it was a hard trip and he was appreciative that so many had been so helpful, kind and flexible to make lifelong friends and memories for all.  A group of us sang a tribute to the trip.  Lyrics are courtesy of Bruce, Barb, Sherry, Shirley and Eileen.

                                        YUCATAN 2008   
   
The adventure began and ended in Pharr   
and in between we saw it all   
Including the ruins one by one   
The challenge to some climbers was surely won   
   
The road from Tampico was the worst we would find
Topes and pot holes were taxing the mind   
Club Nautica was a beautiful park   
Our super bowl party continued way past dark   
   
Vera Cruz beach had lots of trash   
with helping hands it disappeared in a flash   
We gathered up kindling and lots of logs   
Then enjoyed the fire and Mexican hot dogs   
   
To Chichen Itza with a guide   
Smart people with lots of pride
A ferry ride to Islea Mujeres   
Riding golf carts was a pleasure   
   
Xel-Ha had water, food and fun   
Something there for everyone   
The new figures for the girls   
Had everyones head in a twirl   
   
Off to Belize 35 of us went   
Fun on a boat and ruins was spent   
When we returned we were welcomed back   
By a bunch of cross dressers that entered the pact   
   
In Oaxaca we stayed in a park   
The pigs smelled even after dark   
The roosters crowed to give us warning   
Whether it was at night or early morning   
   
Apart from that we had great busy days   
The rugs, wood carvers and pottery left us amazed   
We decorated a table with flowers   
and served drinks for two hours   
   
The travel log we thought we could live by   
But from Pueblo we found it to be a lie   
Thru mountains & towns we wished we could shrink    
At the end of a long day we were glad to drink   
    
Our leaders of Pat and Alice,  Hex and Sandy too   
Came thru with colors like red, white and blue   
We'll keep the memories of these four   
And praises for them more and more

The trip is now in the past
46 days of having a blast
New Friendships made that will never end.
Travel home safe with God's blessings we send.

Chorus:

Eye eye eye
Round the Yucatan we travelled
We had lots of fun, we sat in the sun
and we all drank margaritas.    

 

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:  117
  Temperatures: High 101   Low 61   
       GPS Coordinates: N 23 44.603      W   99 08.197

[Jeff]

Betty:

Great trip report.

Welcome home!

[chrpennings]

Betty & Terry,

Thanks so much for your travel logue and pictures. It was entertaining, educational and enjoyable to read. I made it a habbit that I would not go to bed before I  had read the latest daily issue. I only missed one night when I had to wait till the next morning  . I hope we have a chance to see the slide show in Moab.  I"m trying to tell Tom that he should get a 45ft 4 slide coach so that we have a little more space to watch Terry's DVD.
Be sure to top af that tank and maybe some additional 5 gallon contianers with diesel before you cross tyhe border, we are heading for $4-$5 gas prices.

Thanks again and welcome home.

Chris

[JoAnn]

 I enjoyed every word and picture!  So glad you had a wonderful trip.  THANK YOU!!! 
 Have a safe trip home.

JoAnn

[Jim Dick]

Hi Betty,

Wonderful job on reporting your trip. Now I can say I've "been" there after reading about both of your trips. Welcome home!

[Lorna]

Thanks Betty and Terry for a wonderful trip report and great pictures.  Looked forward to your report every day.  We look forward to seeing your slide show in the near future.  Ned and I are near our lot in Spring Branch north of San Antonio if you have time to stop we would love to see you.  Safe travels

[Tom and Margi]

Thanks so much for taking the time to take us along with you on your trip.  We're going to miss reading our "daily Betty".  Welcome back to the good ol' USA.

Margi

[Ron]

Thanks Betty for taking us all along with you on your Mexican adventure.  We enjoyed each and every report.

[polarbear1]

Betty and Terry !!! Thanks a bunch for allowing Kathy and I to  travel along with You and Mike and Eileen and all those other amazing folks. We looked forward every day to read and see and "travel along." SAFE TRAVELS TO EVERYONE on you'r continued trips!!

[BigLarry]

Betty,

Like many others we've been reading your posts every day.  Thanks for going to the trouble to spend all that time on the computer!!!!!!!!!  You did a great job.  We  feel like we've been down there with the group.  I've worked in southern Mexico....its beautiful (and humid)...... and we have always said that there is no way we would go down there on our own, however you have enlightened us to the extent that we might consider giving it a try.

Thanks again.

Larry

[Joe Bee]

Betty & Terry:
Our deposit went in today for 1/24/09.