Goodbye (for now) Mexico

We are getting ready to cross into Guatemala tomorrow and I find myself sitting here with wet hair from a river swim, a glass of delicious Mexican wine, Gus looking out the window longingly at the new squirrel / rabbit / gerbil mix creatures he wants to chase, and howler monkeys sounding like velociraptors from the nearby treetops. We're in Palenque Chiapas now and will cross at El Ceibo early on Sunday morning.

I told Gordon this week that this has been the best trip of my life....because it doesn't end. We get to keep going. Also the best trip of my life because I've got him and Gus with our van that are our home on the road. We are almost 4,000 miles from home but are home all the time in our portable napmobile!

We've found our rhythm in Mexico, Gordon maps the locations, I get the music and books ready, we both wear our 'special wristbands' for motion sickness as we wind over the millions of 'topes' or speedbumps as we navigate this amazing country. We look at the stop signs that serve only as decorations, red lights that people go straight thru, and realize clearly why this country has topes - they force you to slow down. There is no choice to skip around them. And boy do they pop up in the least expected places - and like waves, they usually come in sets of two, with the odd rogue one thrown in.

We've met many tolls, people working their asses off in the hot sun to get a few pesos selling road snacks, and been very fortunate to not meet any police or road blocks. In fact, we haven't had a single problem on the roads in Mexico and are very grateful that our trip has been wonderful so far. I'm sure we're tipping the scales and will get pulled over as our right of passage in upcoming countries, but we appreciate us getting a bit more road toughened with ease.

We recently heard a podcast that said it only takes 3% of people to be bad to 'ruin it for everyone.' Well Mexico, your cartels must be your 3% because, I'm simply enamored by your beauty, ruins, people, food, strong culture, and love of family and fun. There's been parties every single day near us, cakes, drinks, picnics, smiles. We've met people allowing us to stay for free just because, I've had my palm read in a park on a random Saturday by a random 70 yr old man in a white suit, I've shared smiles while trying to explain how to cut my hair in Spanish, and we've met strangers so happy to pet this fluffy dog we have with us. Every single day is a new adventure as the road sets the travelers stage.

Mexico truly has a piece of my heart and I feel so fortunate to have traveled so much of the country and seen so much that is off the beaten tourist path. Thanks to this lovely country and its people who have treated us so kind and so caring when we know Mexicans aren't treated with the same warmth in the USA.

And now for a quick photo tour of some favorites, we've been having too much fun, moving too much, and a splash of too lazy to post too much. We've used googlemaps to mark all the destinations we hear or read about and as you can see Mexico has kept our days full.

Gordon had a birthday here and we attempted to make him a tres leches cake. It's always fun cooking in foreign countries, this is whipped evaporated milk as we couldn't find whipped cream anywhere!

Probably my favorite stop in Mexico: Hot springs + gorgeous blue water = Megan's happy place

We scored a 2 week cat sit where Gus and myself managed not to get our faces scratched off.

We're going to miss how Mexican processed food comes with a warning system of labels on it. Blue cheese had the most warnings we could find on one package...we were hoping for 5 warnings but never made it...

We ate at roadside stands whenever we could and really got into blue corn tortillas.

This was Megan's favorite meal in Mexico - Mole Poblano with chicken and rice. The 37 different spices combined to make this a well balanced sauce that is impossible to stop eating.

Basaltic prisms and suspension bridges...

Gordon's really gotten into sketching the places we go as Megan meditates or reads a book. It feels really good to 'soak' a place in and just sit there and observe.

We've met some really nice people along the way and can’t say enough good things about our stay in Mexico City. It wasn’t the gritty grimy city gridlocked with traffic and crime we had imagined. It was tree lined, peaceful, quiet and full of delicious restaurants and gorgeous museums. A truly liveable city!

Had a once in a lifetime experience with Los Luchadores....because twice would be too many....

Our favorite luchadore didn't care what he looked like in spandex....let it be a lesson to all....

Visited my old stomping grounds in Puebla where I lived for 6 months in university with this volcano shedding ash still 23 years later….

Unfortunately, we never did try the chapulines - or grasshopper snacks often sold....I just couldn't wrap my head around a little leg getting stuck in my teeth.