A Pineapple of a Day

Hola:  Got up early this am; walked the boardwalk by the hotel in Veracruz, took some photos and then hit the road for Villahermosa, the capital city of Tabasco MX..   

                                     The Veracruz version of the Winnipeg Polar Bears 

We traveled  through the jungle and the largest pineapple producing area in Mexico.

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 MMMMM  freshly made cold jugos de pina (pineapple juice) for only 20 pesos.... Just what we needed for the rest of our trip. The locals set up their stands under each overpass on the autopista ( Toll highway)...

A quiet day today.. no banditos or policia ...just very friendly hotel staff, vendors and military soldiers at the various check-stops curious about where we were from and where we were going.  Most did not speak English but when we said Canada they smiled, repeated and waved us on. 


I know we will be back in the area as tourists when we speak more Spanish...travelling in a car, when we have the time to stop more often especially at the small towns and cities along the way.  There is so much to see and learn about. 


Tomorrow we head for home...  10 hours and we will be in Chuburna at the beach house. ... More blogging from there .


Buenos noches .... ( Good night)
Dorothy and Gord

Mexico Day 2

Hello everyone... We had a wonderful day becoming re-aquainted with all the reasons we want to move here.                                                                                                                                        
         
We are at the Holiday Inn in Veracruz tonight after travelling from Altamira/Tampico.   The best part of the drive was the many small pueblos we passed through, seeing familiar neighbourhood activity.   The drive took us through lush, green jungle growth, mango, orange, sugar cane, lime and banana orchards. 
         
Midway through today's trip in Tuxpam, A Good Samaritan came to our car when a police officer pulled us over after we made a U-turn.  He spoke enough English to ask us what was happening in case the officer was trying to get money from us.  The officer listened to what the fellow was telling us, then gave us a warning and left.  It was incredible that this stranger saw what was happening, found a parking spot on a busy street, and came over to ensure we were going to be treated well.   Certainly made up for yesterday. 
While the photos below don't do justice to the beauty of the scenery we hope they give you an idea of our day .

    

     

      

                   

                         Banana orchard...
                       the bunches of bananas are enclosed in net bags to protect from birds while the                 
  Mountainous...hazy with humidity 

Our lunch spot in Costa Esmeralda.
We could see the Gulf of Mexico  from where we sat ... the fish was fresh and wonderful

One of the venders who appear at our car windows to visit, sell their wares while we are stopped at red lights or slowly travelling over the many topes in the pueblos... "speed bumps with attitude"
I didn't get a photo of the vender who sold us  frozen maracya ( marakooya) made from the local passion fruit.  MMM perfect on a hot 35 degree day as we took a break from the drive. 
Tomorrow we spend some time in Veracruz as we have a short 5 hr drive to Villahermosa.   Then the long day to Chuburna on Thursday!... 


From a beautiful hotel room overlooking the Gulf of Mexico ......Good Night!.... 

Mexico - Day 1

UP EARLY at 6:00 a.m.
Red Light at Customs.... this does not mean STOP but rather LET'S GO THRU THE KAYTOR's TRUCK!!!!!...  Yes, everything in the back of the truck, neatly packed just so,  was taken out, moved around, and opened...  45 minutes later, everything stuffed back into the truck by 3 friendly border crossing agents, a payment of $178.00 tax and we were on our way. 


Next Stop the OXXO store to purchase a phone to have in case of emergency.. With a little help from a Mexican customer who spoke English and  friendly helpful clerks we soon had a new phone complete with instructions about activating it one hour from the time of purchase... Of course the recorded instructions were in Spanish so it wasn`t until we reached the hotel at the end of the day that we got it activated with the assistance of a bright, young hotel clerk who spoke English.  As the young will do, she quickly activated the phone and we shared stories about Canada as she has been to and loves Victoria. 


Highway Robbery... We had been told it might happen and it did!.. Gord tells me we will be laughing about it in a week...but  this morning it was not funny and it could have been worse.   We cleared a second checkpoint several miles from the US-Mexican border.  Within a few miles a black car appeared from nowhere with police lights on top signalling us to pull over.  As the car drew closer we realized it was not the police.  We pulled over as they drew up beside us.  At first we feigned not being able to understand what they wanted.   I asked them in Spanish to give us the ticket. Their English improved as they clearly said they wanted $100.00 (about 1,000 mexican pesos)  They settled for $80.00 as we handed over a bit at a time stalling as we knew they would not be able to stop us for long as other traffic would be coming along. 
Needless to say, it put us on our guard the rest of the trip to Altamira where we again found helpful, kind Mexicans.  The rest of the trip is expected to be safer as we are a far distance from the border and travelling on Toll roads.   This is definitely one adventure we do not want to repeat. 


What a day of Contradictions!.. we have seen the best and the worst. 


The Scenery..... The rest of the drive was through beautiful green rolling hills, with grazing cattle, fields of sorghum and lots of green John Deer tractors. 

Mexican grain bin.

 

 We completed this adventurous day at a wonderful Holiday Inn... planning to stay at another on the ocean tomorrow night...
Will blog from there!

Hasta Luego.....Dorothy and Gord 

KAYTORS ARE HOT, HOT, HOT!!

HOT AND DRY...  33 degrees at THE ALAMO

THE ALAMO...VERY INFORMATIVE...  NEW RESPECT FOR  THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN  THE MEXICANS AND THOSE WHO  EVENTUALLY TOOK THEIR LAND 

140 YEAR OLD TREE AT THE ALAMO ..ORIGINAL STONE WALLS 

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS...  we toured the USS Lexington and walked the beach... hot and beautiful! 

Over 3 football fields long; crossed the equator 33 times

Captain Gord on the Bridge  while Dorothy is peeling potatoes in the Galley

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS...   37 degrees and we are grateful for air conditioning..  

Monday we cross the border into Mexico, following the Gulf Coast Highway;                                                                           Driving to Tampico/Altamira (  Holiday Inn) , then to Veracruz,  Villahermosa and finally Merida/Chuburna..  Plan to be at our beach house sometime on Thursday, September 30th..  ( a month from the time we left Castlegar)

 

 We are both a little nervous about this part of the trip and glad to know we are taking you all along with us...  We will blog our experiences ( may they be few) as we cross Mexico (if we stay at places where there is internet)..  For sure you will hear from us once we have arrived.

D and G 

Everyone we met said  they were glad I had returned to Kansas...Several asked about my dog TOTO!!!...  Here is the house that belonged to my Aunty M before the Twister...........

Always the farmer.. We watched harvest begin across miles and miles of crops. Corn and Sorghum ( Milo) fields are everywhere, as far as the eye could see; and in Kansas, that is quite a distance.  Everyone we met is praying for rain...irrigated  crops  looked fine.  Others are parched and burnt..

 This is the first time Gord and I had ever seen sorghum grain ( RED and JAWAR) so it was interesting to see it growing and to read that: 

•  Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world and is very drought resistant. 
• Sorghum is a gluten-free grain.

Unlike our prairie towns, every one we passed   through had MEGA Elevators regardless of how small the town or how near to each other.








Elevators are accompanied by huge bins.... we also saw them in farm yards. 


 GET THE HELL OUTTA DODGE!!!!!.... We ignored this old adage and spent a great day in Dodge City....  featured in that old western,  Gun Smoke.  
Bring back memories????

Cowboys were buried in shallow graves with their boots on.....hense Boot Hill!

Barely in Dodge and already in trouble! 

We toured the various shops stopping for a beer at the Saloon.....complete with a skillful, informative piano player who shared lots of history with us in between songs.

 I am writing this Blog from the Wyatt Earp Room, down the hall from the Miss Kitty and  Doc Holiday rooms... at the Boot Hill B& B. 
Tomorrow we will cross Oklahoma on our way to Texas... Will Blog from THE ALAMO!!!

   

Entering the US

Hello and thanks to everyone who graciously hosted us as guests while we caught up on news and shared stories, laughter and tears.  We visited in Regina; I mourned the Bomber loss to Saskatchewan Rough Riders.  It was likely safer I had little to cheer about standing up in my gold t-shirt amongst a sea of green at the game!.. 
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                                                                                                    Sorry the video won't work..

We spent a great weekend in Gimli having appetizers on the beach, strolling the boardwalk, and sharing a steak and lobster meal with our friends as the prize from the local Arborg firefighter fund-raiser.  A dinner for 12.  Thanks to the Marks/ Jacobson families for including us...  the volunteer firefighters served wine, french onion soup, salad, steak and lobster.  MMMM  chocolate cheesecake for desert. 

Digging in...Everyone had a bib as the juices were squirting when we all dug into the lobster after a lesson in how to eat them. 

 Toasting the firefighters for volunteering their time to keep everyone safe and for the wonderful meal 

T

Gord had a couple rounds of golf but won't share the scores only saying " I had fun"..  He is looking forward to golfing more once we are settled in Chuburna.  We spent the rest of the week with my parents seeing more friends and family.  Sad to say goodbye this morning but ready  to begin our trip down south. 


We  crossed  the border into the US this am at Emerson without any problem. A quick look at our passports, a few questions, and the friendly young border agent  sent us on our way wishing us a safe trip. 

 Lots of corn fields and farmers harvesting as we drove to Sioux Falls, North Dakota on this sunny warm day. 

We stopped for the night and took some photos of the trucks hauling the propellers for wind generators..  LONG AREN'T THEY???

Still not sure how you can comment on the blog without signing in... I think it is part of a security setting I can't seem to change.  Once you sign into the google site as one of the choices, you can comment as many times as your want or email us at kaytordg@gmail.com....


Our next Blog will be from Dodge City.... Boot Hill B & B...  in a couple of days.


Hope this finds you all well
Dorothy and Gord 

           

         

               

Finally on our way

A long time in coming, we are finally on our way.  As our friends  Mark and Kate wrote:

"We are all adventurers

We left behind what was familiar 

We branched out to discover more,

We made friends along the way!

Look in the mirror.... you are not leaving us... we are behind you!"

I couldn't have found a better way to describe all of the good wishes from friends and family these past few months.  We are going to try our hand at Blogging as the way to take you along on this adventurer with us; with this being our first one.  

From Regina, 
Dorothy and Gord

ps..we'll be in the stands at the big game tomorrow between Saskachewan Rough Riders (Gord's team)  and Winnipeg Blue Bombers ( mine) .... thanks to our friends Harvey and Donna!