The Actual Countdown Begins
Time for another update on our trip through Mexico.
As many of you know we are leaving for 3.5 months and driving from Charleston, SC to the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, where we will plant ourselves for two months before heading home. We are bringing our dog Maya Alux in our Mini. We depart January 7th and will share the adventure in an on-going blog and highlight the trip with articles.
We have been working on this trip for almost a year now. Our final To-Do list is quite long and very detailed but the research has been done, our home rented and now we know where we will be and when. That was a major under-taking but it was also a lot of fun, as we made the plans and reservations with our friends Caroline and Bob, who will be meeting up with us in San Antonio and traveling as far as Telchac, on the Gulf side of the Yucatan Peninsula.
We still do not have a clue which route we will take from Charleston to San Antonio. Originally it was going to be the Florida Panhandle, but we need to reassess that when we get closer to our departure date. We do know we will be spending 2 nights on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. From there we will drive a short distance to Eagle Pass, which is where we will spend the last evening before crossing the border.
On our 28th Wedding Anniversary we will be crossing the border into Mexico. That first day will probably be our longest on the road. Our goal is to make it to Matehuala, Mexico and spend our first night there. From there we will have a relatively short drive to San Miguel de Allende, a Colonial city in Mexico’s central highlands. We will stay here for 5 nights in an Airbnb home. We plan to take the time to not only explore San Miguel, but also some of the surrounding areas.
Our next stop is Cholula, Mexico where we will spend 3 evenings in a small Airbnb home just outside of Puebla. This area may sound familiar to you, probably because of the hot sauce, or maybe because Cinco de Mayo or, if you are a lover of pottery and ceramics, like I am, it is known for its colorful Telavera. In addition, I hope we will get to ride on the incredibly huge ferris wheel and see the world’s largest pyramid. Who knew you could do that in the middle of Mexico?
We follow this up with 5 nights, also in an Airbnb home, in Oaxaca City. My mouth waters just thinking of all the types of mole we will be trying here. In addition to being one of the greatest places for food it also has amazing sites to see.
There is one night that we still are not sure where we will be staying and that is from Oaxaca City to Palenque. It is too far to drive in one day with 2 dogs, so we will be getting suggestions from the locals regarding where we should stop for a night. Then it is 2 nights in Palenque. You can’t drive all the way through Mexico and not stop and see the incredible ruins, but I also have been told the gentle waterfalls here are amazing as well.
The Spanish fortress city of Campeche is our next stop. I am imagining a smaller version of San Juan, PR. We have an Airbnb home within the historic district for two nights.
On February 1st we get to take a break and will be spending 17 days in a laid back fishing village on the Gulf Coast, about 40 minutes from Merida. Our last evening will be their annual Full Moon Jazz Festival.
Six weeks of our trip will be spent in Puerto Aventuras. Never say never, I always say, because if you had told me 20 years ago that I would plant myself in this designer, gated, marina community for the longest part of our trip I would have said you were crazy. That just wasn’t us! But we are older, our friends are closer and we couldn’t be happier to have a 2 bedroom condo on the golf course, walking distance from restaurants, shops and beaches.
That is not where the adventure ends because we will still have to get back home – I think – but for now that is as far as we have gotten. In the meantime, we have 2 months home to enjoy birthdays, Thanksgiving, a trip to Disney with our grandkids and to see family – not to mention Christmas, New Years and our Annual Re-gift Party. Let the fun begin! My mantra lately: “there is life after you pay off your kids college!”